Halloween Pinterest Idea Faves

It's no secret, I heart pinterest! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays in terms of decore, so I have had fun trying to make some of my pins realities. Here are some of my favorite Halloween Pinterest ideas past, present, and (hopefully) future:

• Last year I fell in love with a white pumpkin that was carved with a Jack Skellington face and made into a flower vase. I made it, and loved it so much that I made it again this year.

This year's Skellington vase

Last year's Skellington vase

The kids LOVE it!

Tip: Dollar Tree stores sell little fishbowl type vases that are perfect for medium sized pumpkins!

Original pic from Pinterest

• Next up I wanted a little-kid-friendly Halloween activity. 

I saw this pin and decided this was the one! 

From TinkerLabs

Simply cut out pumpkin shapes from orange and black construction paper and cut out green stems. The kids draw faces on all of the pumpkins, and help assemble it all with glue and string/ribbon. My son's preschool has been focusing on emotions lately so I decided to incorporate those lessons into our Halloween activity. I encouraged them to draw different emotions on their pumpkins and we talked about each one as they drew them. It was a great time and we ended up with happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, and disgusted pumpkins decorating our entryway:

•  Next on the Halloween agenda I plan to make these fun cake pops:

From Treats 4 Ta-tas

• Here's one from a couple of years ago that was a huge hit at our Halloween party as well as a very popular pin since then:

Guacamole Puking Pumpkin

• A couple more I hope to be able to get around to this Halloween:

Skull string art from A Beautiful Mess blog

Skellington Nails - Source unknown

Thank You Pinterest!

What are your favorite Halloween Pinterest ideas?

Boo's Fish Party

This party happened about 9 months months ago. . . but it is only fair that it be included in the lineup. I'll make it easy on myself and call it good since I'm getting it in before her third birthday. I'm OK with keeping expectations low.

For my baby girl's second birthday party, I wanted a theme that was not based on a licensed character since she was too young to be too opinionated on that yet anyway. I went with a blue and orange fish theme: like a fish in a bowl. I banged the whole thing out in the 2 days prior to the party. It was a hectic couple of days, but I'm used to my procrastinating ways at this point.

I did have the kids help with a few things so that they weren't bored during the party prep, and so they could have their own marks on the decor. We started with some finger painting: 

Yes my kids finger paint naked  -easiest cleanup ever! 

I had them do several pages worth of painting on blue paper. I gave them cool hued paints to use to keep with the color theme.

 The next day I cut them into big ol' letters and threw them up as a Happy Birthday banner:

Simple yet effective!

The kids also helped me decorate some cookies. I went with a simple fish cutter and they helped me cut them out. I piped the royal icing, but the kids helped me fill the middle with squirt bottles.

They were really excited about helping, until I told them it was bed time and that i would have to finish up:

After a lot of baking and prepping, it was party day and everything turned out beautifully:

I used cute mini bowls from the dollar store with some clean gravel on the bottom for plastic wear holders: 

The cookies came out great with some fun and simple marbling effects:

I even found a couple of fun fish guys on clearance at TJ Maxx the week prior to the party. I couldn't resist:

Swedish fish inside of course!

Boo had a blast on her second birthday with lots of family & friends:

Her cake was a huge hit. It had my favorite white chocolate buttercream frosting, as well as strawberries and fresh cream on the inside:

Delish!!!

Creative Pregnancy Announcements!

As social media continues to grow and become the new American past time, it is becoming increasingly more common to see special announcements in picture form for all sorts of life events; one of the most common I've been seeing lately are pregnancy announcements. Pregnancy announcements run the gamut from simple: a status update, to the very elaborate: professional photography sessions.

Wait. . .  quick backtrack here: I'm pregnant! 34 weeks today actually so I figured I'd better get some pregnancy related material on here while it is still relevant. 

Back to announcements; I never did anything fancy for my first 2 pregnancies. With my first in 2008, I simple started posting some photos of me with my belly in them at some point, and people got the hint from that. With my second in 2010, I the picture route with the "I'm going to be a big brother" shirt, definitely nothing fancy. Not this time though, I was fully ready to jump on the elaborate announcement bandwagon! 

There are so many adorable ideas out there, it took me a long time to really come up with something I liked. There are definitely some popular ideas that I really like such as the shoe lineup:

From: The Carolina Couponer blog

I have seen a few friends use this one and I think it is adorable, not to mention nice and simple since there are no wiggly children to pose!

The other one I really liked that has been gaining popularity are the math related ones:

From: The Road to Hope blog 

That last one is a personal friend of mine and the best part about it is she was a math teacher so it just fit so well.

I wanted something to fit perfectly for me too, but as the weeks started to fly by, I was still at a complete loss. Then I saw the perfect inspiration from one of the many photography blogs that I follow on Facebook. The sad part is that I don't have the link saved, nor do I even remember who the photographer was to go searching for it. It was an outdoor scene with 2 kids at a fancy party table with a caption stating they were celebrating the fact that they were getting a new sibling. I hadn't seen anything like it at that point which was refreshing. 

I figured I could do my own spin on it. Logistically it was a pain because I was on a tight budget, but I wanted the adorable table setting in an outdoor setting. I have loved several photo shoots in the past that incorporated tea parties so I decided to do a tea party picnic. I didn't want the pregnancy announcement part to too subtle, so I figured a 3rd place setting with a "reserved for baby brother" sign would cover that pretty well. I hit up a local junk/thrift store, and for less than $40 I came up with a picnic basket, and a bunch of fancy looking china for a 3 person tea party. The trick to keeping it inexpensive was to buy mismatched items which of course sell for a fraction of full sets. I don't think any 2 items matched, but it worked so well.

My mom made the dress for my daughter, and the only item I had to buy for my son was the hat so that was all very inexpensive. The photography was done by my lovely sister who is an amateur, but has a pretty good grasp on things already. We did the shoot right before sunset so that the lighting would be perfect, and I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

It was a big hit amongst friends, though at 28 weeks pregnant, most already knew. It was still a cute announcement, and I may just have a canvas printed to preserve this special time.

Here are a few more ideas for those currently brianstorming:

From: Paint the Moon Photography

This kind has gotten some crap from joke blogs, but I find it hilarious:

From: Ben's Photography Secrets blog 

Last one:

From: Haven Love Photography

Trolling the Web for Toddler Fashions!

First of all, yes I still plan to keep up this blog. I realize I haven't posted in FOREVER, but ruts happen (and unhappen hopefully) so here I am!

I love this blog for collecting my ideas, and that is what brought me back really. I am hoping to get our annual family photos taken soonish, so I have been brainstorming ideas.

Last year's photos were bright, sunny, and in the middle of beautiful mother nature. I decided that I want a contrasting look this year with something more structured and urban. I haven't completely decided on a location yet, though I really should work on that. I also want a fall vibe versus a summer one. I'm thinking layers, jackets, boots, scarves, etc.

Here is one of my favorite inspiration photos for the style I want for the kids:

I hate putting up photos without giving credit to the original source, 

but unfortunately, I haven't had any luck finding it.

I wish I had a boy equivalent to get inspired from, but I'm thinking cargo or wool jacket over a cute printed button up and faded pants. Not sure if a newsboy hat would be over the top or not, but I'll have to consider it!

I want the looks to be a mix of preppy, fashionista, military, utilitarian, vintage, and romantic all in one. That's a tall order considering I have some opposites in that list, but I sure am going to try!

-Some boy outfit ideas after a little bit of surfing about-

Jersey Duffel in Navy by Boden USA - $38.00

Jacket in Black (I prefer the Navy) by H&M - $49.95

Secret Wash shirt in Gingham Hyacinth by Crewcuts - $39.50

Plaid Double Pocket Shirt by 77Kids - $22.95

Stripe Cotton Cardigan in Brocade Blue by Crewcuts - $52.50

Cardigan in Green by H&M - $14.95 BARGAIN BUY!

Sweater Vest in Brilliant Blue by GAP - $26.95

Slim Jeans in Light Denim Blue by H&M - $14.95 BARGAIN BUY!

Destroyed Bootcut jean in Light Wash by 77Kids - $34.95

Palladium Kids Pallabrouse boot in Dark Khaki/Putty or Metal/Black - $45.00

I can't decide which color I like best!

Railroad Stripe Newsboy Cap by GAP - $7.99 (sale price)

-and some girly stuff-

Hooded Cape by Zara (low on sizes - sad face)- $17.99 BARGAIN BUY!

Pintucked Ruffle Dress in Portal Purple by Old Navy - $16.94 

Structured Bermuda Shorts in White by Zara - $9.99 (sale price) BARGAIN BUY!

One of my favorite little girl clothes brand is The Measure Designs. They sell adorable handmade vintage inspired little girl clothes that are to die for! I bet my mom could duplicate a lot of the fashions herself, I just need to find the right fabrics. Here are 3 pictures showing off the clothing:

Their FB page is great too!

Minnetonka Moccasin 3 Layer Fringe Boot in Hot Pink Suede - $65.00

doubt that's in the budget though :(.

Ukala by EMU Taj Hi in Charcoal - $28.97 (sale price down from $59.00!) BARGAIN BUY!

Errrm. . . I might have ordered that one on the spot.

I would have loved an Ugg Bailey Button Triplet boot. . . but for over $150 less, it wasn't much of a decision:

That's enough online shopping for now. Hubby has now watched me "look at kid clothes" online for a couple of hours and thinks I'm crazy enough as it is. Who knows what I come up with after hitting the brick and mortar stores. At least I have some awesome inspo for now!