Father's Day Recap {Gift Ideas}

I know it's a little late, but I finally have a minute to sit down for a little Father's Day recap!  I wanted to share some gift ideas.  These can be used for any special event really - birthdays, Christmas, etc.  They aren't just for Father's Day!

When Carson was just about a month old, I started one of our first traditions.  (I love traditions!)  I bought these wooden letters and snapped some photos for a Father's Day gift.  I put the photos in a 3-slot frame and they get replaced each year with a newer version.  Nick loves seeing how the photos turn out and it's fun (and super hectic) being the photographer.  I can only imagine what our photo session will be like next year when Mason is 1 and Carson is 3.  Oh boy!

Father's Day 2012 (Carson: 1 month)

Father's Day 2013 (Carson: 13 months)

Father's Day 2014 (Mason 2 months, Carson 25 months)

 I also like to do a "handmade" craft/art project for most holidays.  In the past we hadn't done anything for Father's Day so I decided to start yet another tradition.  You can't have too many traditions, right?!  I found an extra scrapbook I had laying around and made a little cover sheet:

Next I made a craft with each of the boys.  I browsed Pinterest for some inspiration (obviously) and found some cute ideas.  Carson loves wearing Daddy's shoes.  He'll put them on, laugh, and say "too big!"  When I saw this idea I knew it was perfect for him.  

Here's a close-up of the poem in case you want to copy!  I just traced one of Nick's shoes and put Carson's foot print inside.  Then we did a little photo shoot of Carson wearing Daddy's shoes.  Nick thought it was adorable!

For Mason I needed something simple and something with a foot print.  He still has his hands clenched shut a lot of the time so hand prints are pretty much out of the question!  I found this cute bee foot print idea and made it go along with Father's Day:

Each year we'll add a page or two to Nick's book and it will be a fun keepsake to look through.  Carson already loves looking through and we only have 2 pages!  Eventually I think the boys will do crafts together but for now, I wanted to do a page for each of them.

We also made a grandpa craft this year.  My dad loves fishing so I thought this was perfect for him!  I envisioned it turning out a little cuter, but I think you can still tell that it's a fishing pole with a fish.  Maybe?

I also got Nick a couple small gifts I knew he would enjoy.  Here are some links in case you need husband gift ideas!

    

Easy Mother's Day Craft

I promise I'll get back to blogging soon.  I have a list of post ideas and I just need to take the time to sit down and work on them!  Does anyone know where I can get some extra time to do that?!

Anyway, I wanted to share a quick and easy Mother's Day craft idea.  My mom and mother-in-law love getting little "handmade" gifts from Carson so I knew I wanted to include Mason this time!  I had to do something easy since he's only 3 weeks so I decided on foot prints.  I based this off a picture I saw on Pinterest and made a few modifications.

For the foot prints I used 3 colors on Carson and then one on Mason.  Carson loves it and says "tickle!" the whole time.  Mason was not a fan of the cold paint....poor guy!

It's not perfect but it was made with love! :)

"Tie-Dye" Painting Craft

My original inspiration for this craft was found on Pinterest (see original post here).  I knew Carson wasn't going to make straight lines like the pin I saw, but I liked the process.  Here's a look at what they did:

I didn't want to buy anything for this craft so I decided to use cotton balls instead of pom poms.  I'm not sure if it was Carson's artistic creativity or the cotton balls, but our egg came out looking tie-dyed which I LOVE!  Carson had so much fun making this, too!

What You Need:

-Paints (I let Carson choose 4 colors)

-Cotton balls & clothespins (you'll need one set for each paint color)

-Paper plate to use as a "palette"

-Egg template (I just found mine on Google images, you could also just sketch one out)

How to Make:

1. Clip a cotton ball onto each clothespin.

2. Squirt a little of each color paint onto your fancy paper plate artist's palette.

3. Depending on your child's age, you can give them all of the clips at once, or choose one at a time.  I let Carson explore a clothespin with no paint first because I knew he'd put it all over his body.  Once he was ready, I gave him one color to start "making dots" and eventually he used two at a time.  Like I said, use your own judgment!
4. Once your child is satisfied with their egg, set it aside and let it dry.
[Optional]: I cut out Carson's egg and glued it to a background with his name, date, and a Happy Easter message.  Do whatever you want with yours!

Here are some pictures of Carson creating his masterpiece:

The cotton balls started to fall apart and he didn't like the "fuzzies"! :)

Toddler Hand Print Easter Craft

For Easter I knew I wanted to do some painting crafts because Carson is SO into coloring and painting right now!  At the same time, he's a super wiggly 22 month old so I wanted to keep it fairly simple.

What You Need:
-white paint + paintbrush
-pink paint (or marker)
-black marker
-pastel paper

How to Make:
1. Before putting paint on your child's hand, make sure to have your paper near and ready.  Carson wanted to make a fist the whole time so this took a few tries!  Paint your child's palm and two fingers.  I chose to paint Carson's index finger and pinky.  Once the hand is painted, don't waste any time and get that print on the paper!
2. Once the hand print dries, you can add the nose, mouth, whiskers, and eyes.  I used pink paint for the nose and sharpie for everything else.

Easy peasy!  Here are a few that we gave as little cards:

Here's a look at the hand print craft we did for Easter last year:

Toddler Easter Basket Ideas

Last year I did a post with ideas for Baby's First Easter Basket.  This year, I decided to share some ideas for toddlers.  At 22 months, I feel like Carson is in an in-between stage with Easter baskets.  He's not quite ready for candy, but he also doesn't need Easter bibs/outfits anymore.  This year I didn't want to spend a lot since a.) we just moved, b.) we have a new baby coming very soon, and c.) Carson's birthday is in May!

Here is what I came up with for a toddler Easter basket on a budget!

I feel like Carson's Easter basket looks like it was sponsored by Crayola but I promise it wasn't....they just have good prices!

Here's a look at what's inside (click the links to find the products)

• Crayola Coloring Book (Target dollar spot)
• Crayola Twistables Crayons (I bought these with a 50% off coupon at JoAnn's)
• Crayola Bath Dropz (I got an 8-pack at the Target dollar spot)
• Jelly Belly Scented Bubbles (Target) - these are pop-up NO SPILL! :)
• Crayola Bathtub Finger Paint (Target Dollar Spot)
• Circo Swim Trunks (Target clearance)
• Spring Board Book (Target dollar spot)
• Crayola Sidewalk Chalk (Target - purchased with 15% cartwheel discount!)
• Pottery Barn Kids Bunny Ears (Target Dollar Spot has some that are almost identical!)

I think I might also add in some bunny-themed treats like bunny crackers or bunny grahams.  Here's a breakdown of what I spent and my total approximate cost:

Coloring Book: $1

Crayons: $2

Bath Drops: $1

Bubbles: $3

Bathtub Finger Paint (2): $2

Swim Trunks: $5
Book: $1

Sidewalk Chalk: $2.50
Bunny Ears: $0 (these were saved from last year!)
Total Cost: $17.50!

What are you putting in your child's Easter basket this year?  

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Earlier this week I think I forgot to mention on of my husband's "gifts" in my Valentine's recap post.  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

This is one of my most favorite super easy recipes that I make almost every year on Valentine's Day.  You only need 4 ingredients to complete the dessert.  Even my husband who claims he "isn't really into sweets" always requests theses and ends up eating most of them!

Ingredients:
1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs (as always, I use Egg Beaters)
1 container whipped white frosting

How to Make:
-Preheat your oven to 375°.
-Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.  I used my hand mixer for this but beware, the batter gets really thick...almost a dough like consistency!  My 7-speed kitchen-aid almost couldn't handle it!

-Once your mixture is thoroughly moistened and combined, use a cookie scoop to shape dough into balls.  Place the cookie dough about 2" apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

-Next, use a glass dipped in flour to flatten your cookies.  They should be about 1/4" thick.

-Throw your cookies in the oven for 6-8 minutes.
-Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from cookie sheets.

-Once your cookies are completely cool, you can frost the bottom of one cookie and then add another to create the sandwich whoopie pie!  Add as little or as much frosting as you like.

-I like to store my cookies in an airtight container in the fridge.  They're delicious right out of the fridge, or if you prefer softer frosting, you can let them set out for just a few minutes!

**This recipe made about 26 whoopie pies for me and I used a 1.5" cookie scoop.  I had plenty of leftover frosting as well!

• 

Valentine's Recap

We had a fairly uneventful Valentine's Day this year, but it was still full of love!  I tell my husband and Carson every day just how much I love them, but I like to do something a little more on special days like Valentine's Day.  It's fun!  

Here's a look at what Nick walked in the door to see.  Carson picked out the balloon for him at the grocery store and was SO excited about it!  :)

I borrowed this cute and corny idea for Valentine treats from eighteen25 and Nick loved it!  For some reason I couldn't get their labels to print so I just created my own on Word.  The labels say "DONUT what I'd do without a HUNK like you", "You are all that and a can of CHIPS" (I had to modify that one since he likes Pringles, haha!), "So Glad You're My STUD MUFFIN", and "I'm NUTS about you".  Like I said, corny but cute!

Carson got a fun heart shaped lunch that day...flatbread with hummus, cheese, and grapes.  Too bad we didn't open the cute Valentine's plate from his Memaw before lunch!  :)

When Nick got home that evening we opened gifts.  Carson had one from his Memaw and one from us.  He loves opening presents and cards!

He found the most challenging way to open the envelope: rip it to shreds!  Haha!

This is the backpack he got from us.  As soon as he figured out where the zipper was he loaded it up with balls and trucks.  Such a boy.  :)

Nick brought me home some of my favorite flowers, a pack of Reese's Valentine hearts (YUM!), and a super sweet card.  He said he felt bad that I went all out but I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate the thought he put into my gifts!  :)

I also did a little mini photo shoot with Carson on Valentine's Day just for fun.  He's a tough model these days but we got a few cute shots!

outtakes!

Sweets for your Sweetie!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a little flashback from last year:

Today I'm sharing 5 fun and easy Valentine's treat ideas.  These treats are super simple and easy to make for your sweetie!

{one} Red Velvet Puppy Chow.  Need I say more?!  Find the recipe here.

{two} Valentine pretzel "buttons" with Hershey Hugs or Dove chocolates.  YUM!
**To make: Preheat oven to 175 degrees.  Arrange pretzels on baking sheet.  Add a Hug or Dove chocolate to the top of each pretzel.  Pop in the oven for 2-3 minutes until candy is shiny.  Remove from oven and press an M&M on top of each pretzel "button".  Allow to cool.

{three} Valentine M&M cookie bars.  Use my favorite recipe and add in some Valentine colored M&M's.  Festive and delicious!

{four} Whoopie Pies!  I love making these because they are so simple and SO delicious.  I love red velvet with a fluffy white filling.  Another idea is to do chocolate with a pink filling (could be strawberry or just white icing with food coloring).
**To make: Use this simple recipe for cake mix cookies.  Allow cookies to completely cool.  Frost the bottom of one cookie and add another cookie to create the sandwich.  Easy peasy!

{five} Valentine Rice Krispie Treats.  So easy and so addicting.  Find the process here.

What is your favorite dessert to make for your sweetie?  

I'm planning on making something red velvet!