Toddler ID Shoe Tags: Countdown to Disney

Before motherhood, I never thought I'd take a two and a half year old to Disney World. The idea of a toddler in Disney used to seem so ... slow and sticky. (And it probably is.) But now that I'm a mom, my perspective has changed. I couldn't be more excited about our upcoming Orlando trip - stickiness and all.

The timing just seems so right, for our little family to visit Disney World. Did you know that children under three get free admission into the park?  That was one of our motivators to go before her birthday. Plus she is currently enthralled with all things princess. The "Disney magic" will certainly be felt as she spots the Magic Kingdom castle for the first time, or meeting her princess friends at lunch.

In preparation for our trip, I decided to make an identification tag for our toddler's shoes. I pray to God that she never becomes separated from us, but should that happen, I our our cell phone numbers (and her name) to be easily spotted by whomever finds her.

I dug out a random rewards card for the base of this project. To help with glue adhesive, I lightly scored the plastic with a craft knife before covering with her identification stats. Then I smothered the top in a protective layer of clear nail polish.

(Photos have been edited with fictitious names and numbers.)

Dump Truck and Duckies - A Baby Shower

Pretty much every one I know is pregnant or has recently had a baby. It's baby mania around here and I love it! The most recent baby shower I attended was themed Dump Truck and Duckies - such a cute theme for a baby boy. The hostess did a great job putting all the details together. Come take a look....

The serving dishes were a mixture of trucks and sand toys.

How clever is that? She used baby bottles instead of vases for the flowers.

The diaper cake I contributed.

Sand shovels and sand castle forms hold the vegetables.

 Such a beautiful baby shower. The hostess did a wonderful job!

A Baby Bump Belly Sash

Baby Shower trends (and baby items in general) change so incredibly quickly! There are all these new cute baby items, that weren't around just three years ago.

One of the latest trends in baby showers is for the expectant mother to wear a belly sash at her party. The belly sash, is a flower adorned satin ribbon - worn empire waist style. I think it is a super cute trend.

Inspiration photo from Simply Living

Above is my inspiration photo, from Simply Living blog. Read Kim's post HERE.

Loving this new trend, and using the inspiration photo as a guide, I made this royal blue and white belly sash. The sash matched the diaper cake I had also made for a recent baby shower. [diaper cake tutorial HERE]

I displayed the sash wrapped around the center layer of diaper cake until the guest of honor arrived. 

I wish I could show you a photo of the belly sash being worn, but it didn't actually ever get worn. A little disappointing to me, but oh well!  

And because no blog post should end on a low note, here are a few more pics :)

Lucky Clover (Eucalyptus) Wreath

Here's my touch of Irish charm for St. Patrick's Day.... a lucky clover wreath.

Actually, the fact that I crafted this boxwood inspired project during the month of March was pure coincidence. I never intended for it to be seasonal decor. And it's not really boxwood or clover. It's artificial eucalyptus. And it's one of the final touches in our laundry room renovation. Every room needs a touch of green, wouldn't you agree?

I started this project by searching for boxwood wreaths. Purchasing a boxwood wreath is expensive! I switched gears and chose the DIY route after reading blogland advice for making boxwood wreaths. I thought I wanted boxwood....

It wasn't until I was standing in the middle of the floral department of the craft store that I realized what I really wanted. While I liked the look and texture of boxwood, I found that artificial eucalyptus had a better shape and a brighter hue. Five sprigs of eucalyptus and a grapevine wreath later and I was ready to craft.

Want to make your own?

What you need: 

1 - 14" grapevine wreath

5 eucalyptus sprigs

Burlap ribbon

Hot glue sticks and scissors

Step 1: Snip branches into short pieces (2-4 pairs of leaves per snipping)

Step 2: Apply bandaids for finger tip burn protection

Step 3: Hot glue onto wreath. I found this easiest when I applied glue to the bottom set leaves, rather than the main stem.

Step 4: Glue, glue, and more glue. I'm not gonna lie, this part was tedious and time consuming.

Step 5: Admire your work. Happy Spring!

I think it might need a burlap bow at the top. What do you think?

Sharing this project at the link parties listed HERE. and My Repurposed Life.

  

Framing Cherished Handwritten Letters

In an old shoebox under my bed is a collection of handwritten letters from back in the day. From a time in my life before email and text messaging, when sending a message actually required picking up a pen and a piece of paper.

Wow, I suddenly feel old.



Anyways...

Inside the shoebox are dozens of letters from a variety of different people - cousins, grandparents, friends who moved away, and even an overseas penpal. They all hold special memories, but my most cherished letters to reread are those from my grandparents who have passed away.

I was/am blessed to know three special grandmothers throughout my childhood. All of these women are/were unique and wonderful, but there was one in particular whom I want to write about today.

This is my great-grandma Esther. Not everyone gets the chance to know their great-grandparents. I feel lucky and blessed to have known mine for twenty-one years.

My great-grandma was deeply religious, in the most refreshing sort of way. She was the type of person who could incorporate God into ordinary conversation without being "preachy". She could casually share with you what a particular Bible verse meant to her. She was genuine. And spiritually encouraging. To me, she made religion personal.

Because we lived so far apart, many of our most meaningful conversations were carried out through the exchanging of letters. Words written with pen on paper. Letters that I can now reread and cherish. Because she was such a key player in shaping my faith life, I wanted to display a few of her letters around the house.

Part of this letter from my great-grandma reads, 

"One of my favorite Bible verses is this - Romans 8:26-27. Its so beautiful. Sometimes we don't just know how to pray, but then the Holy Spirit takes over and prays for us - we just ask the Holy Spirit to take over- its one of his promises. Sometimes our hearts are so sad we just can't put into words what we want then we remind Him to pray for us...."

To outsiders, this may seem overly spiritual, but in the context of a long letter about current events and daily happenings, her words were a genuine and gentle faith presence.

I had trouble choosing a favorite letter to display, so I ended up framing two. The first is currently on my nightstand while the second is in the laundry room. Don't you just love this deep set rounded frame from Hobby Lobby?

I printed and matted this with regular printer paper wrapped around a thin piece of chipboard. The grey chevron printable can be found HERE for free.

Sharing this project at the link parties listed HERE.