Little Finds: Vol. 2

December 8, 2011

Here is my second round up of fun finds for the little ones I found on Wayfair. Hope to do more of these in the future! Its nice to hear from other mamas what their top choices are! I learn from you gals!

1. Giraffe Babymat – This is going on the wishlist for our next little one. Soft, plush, and safe for the new babies, as well as a great lounge mat for when they are older!

2. My First Piano – My son is really into musical instruments right now. Drums, xylophone, harmonica, you name it! When I saw this I immediately thought of him and how much he would enjoy this. I love to encourage music and art at the toddler age because its so beneficial for their cognitive development.

3. Chalk Table – I have this dream of having an entire room dedicated to art for the kids. I don’t think you can do too much music and art when they are young. Gabriel has been sitting at the table for hours lately painting, coloring, playing with play-dough, etc. He would probably never want to leave this table.

4. Alphabet Nesting Blocks – I can’t say enough good things about these stacking blocks. After seeing Gabriel play with them at an early age and learning to stack the blocks as well as practice his ABC’s on them, I started giving these as gifts to friends as well. They are easy to stack, easy to story, and are super affordable (on sale for 9$!).

5. Skiphop Bib – Now that Veronica has discovered cheerios, we are on our way to table foods;) After doing way too much laundry last week filled solely with her clothes caked in biscuits and cheerios, I decided it was time to get a few of these bibs. Large, water resistant, and has a catch all food pocket. Score!

6. Wooden Tea Set – I am counting down the days till I can have a tea party with Veronica. I think I might have to get more than one tea set. I love wooden toys and how durable they are, so this tea set I could actually have tea in;) And then of course, we will have to get a Little Play Kitchen to go with!

7. Boon Odd Ducks – Considering Rubber Duckies are a classic bath toy that 99% of American kids own, why not a set of bright bold patterned ones?? These are obviously right up my alley;) Veronica actually uses our rubber ducks as teething toys these days…

Hope you enjoyed this little round up! I’d love to here your children’s faves!

St. Nicholas Surprise Bags

December 7, 2011

My family celebrates the feast of St. Nicholas, where the tradition is to put out your shoes or stockings for him to fill. This comes from the story that St. Nicholas placed gold coins in a poor families’ stockings that were hanging to try to help them get out of financial debt and slavery. (You can read the story here.)

Well yesterday, I wanted to create little packages to give to my 1st grade students and children (for their stockings) in honor of his celebration day:) You can easily create a version yourself…

I used the following:

Chocolate Gold Coins

Mini Paper Bags.

(These Chevron bags are from Monograham. You can also find them here.)

Washi Tape (Mine is from Urban Scarlet)

Imagine the possibilities:) So many fun surprises you could place in these little packages.

They would make a fantastic advent calendar as well!

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas?? I loved hearing some of your traditions on facebook!

P.S. Thanks to all of you who have entered the giveaway so far!

Giveaway: 50$ Gift Card to Double Dutch Boutique

December 6, 2011

1., 2., 3., 4., 5.

This is just one of many fashion forward looks you can throw together with Double Dutch Boutique! Totally went a little limp over that glittery bow belt…and pretty much all of these items. It has my name written all over it;) I am so excited to share that Double Dutch is generously offering a 50$ gift card to an IHOD Reader!

To Enter (must be a follower or subscriber of IHOD):

1. Visit Double Dutch and let us know what strikes your fancy!

Additional Entries (separate comment for each):

2. Like Double Dutch on Facebook

3. Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about the Giveaway and let us know you did!

ie: Just entered the giveaway over @inhonorofdesign for a 50$ gift card to Double Dutch Boutique! http://bit.ly/sOkep4

*Giveaway is open to international readers (yay!) and will end next Monday night. Please leave a valid profile or email address to be reached if you are the winner!

Lookbook: December Sunday

December 5, 2011

(Coat: Old Navy, Top: J. Crew, Skirt: J. Crew, Boots: Target (similar), Belt & Necklace: F21, Headband: c/o BMB)

Due to the fact that this was right before we snapped our Christmas Family photos,

the distraction level was high and the outcome …well….the mediocre mess above. However, we did manage to come away with our Christmas Card photo which was the main goal! Success.

(I will be posting an awesome outtake of today’s outfit post on the fb page later today btw.)

I so look forward to getting the mail at this time of year. The snail mail Christmas cards and photos from family and friends is like taking a shot of Christmas Spirit. I bet you never heard that comparison before, have you?? 😉

P.S. Tune in tomorrow for a fantabulous giveaway from one of my sponsors! You won’t want to miss!

DIY: Holiday Tassel Earrings

December 2, 2011

Remember how I was Holly Golightly for Halloween? I had these fantastic earplugs and it made me want to turn them into earrings. Well then I saw these on the Matchbook blog I was motivated to make a pair and share it here:) You know I like to keep my DIY’s simple, so its just 3 steps and 3 supplies!

Supplies:

– Earwire Hooks

– Any 2 Beads (I used these lucite beads)

– 2 in. Upholstery Tassels (bought from Hobby Lobby with several color options)

Steps:

1) Loop beads through top of tassels.

2) Tie a knot to shorten the length.

3) Hook earwires through the tops.

That is it! 3 steps, 3 supplies.

Time: 5 minutes

Cost: $3-$5

Perfect for a holiday party:) I might be wearing them with this top.

We started advent last week, so I pulled out our advent calendar and am trying my hardest to really make the most of this season, and help my little family prepare for the coming of the King!

Do you have any advent traditions??

Wishing you a Happy weekend ahead!

15 Friends Project

December 1, 2011

So I have been waiting on a very special package to arrive and when I got home from our Thanksgiving trip, I found the 15 Friends Project at my door. I am so excited to be a part of this amazing group of bloggers who are collaborating on an ongoing piece of artwork that will ultimately be two separate completed canvases. This project was the brilliant idea of Steve and Michelle of Twig Creative.

When I received this the first thought was the fabric addition looked like a brick wall waiting for a garden to bloom from it:) So I decided to add a paper cut flower garden I had, and change the colors.

Tracing the outline of the space.

Adding a touch of 2011;) Glitter of course.

I dabbed the glitter glue on top as well as the paint colors to hold the paper cut down.

Keeping to the warm colors I added yellows, oranges, and reds over the greens and blues using paint and sharpies. Definately a few mixed mediums!

Of course, my addition took a totally different direction than originally intended! I had to rock it out during naptimes so didn’t have much room for error. I originally hoped to mute the colors more, so it wasn’t so Lisa Frank, but since I accidentally destroyed the first paper cut, I had to just go with it on the second attempt and work with it already on canvas! However, I realized that its no secret I am a girl who loves bold and bright colors so its definately a reflection of me;) I packaged it up and shipped it off today to Naomi over at Love, Taza! Cannot wait to see the finished piece! Follow along both line ups!

Style Files: Holiday Party with Spiegel Clothing

November 30, 2011

(1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7.)

I hadn’t been over to Spiegel in a while, but so glad I went through their site….found some amazing holiday goodies in womens clothing I had to share. And some of these items are very affordable! I put together a look that I would love to try out and wear to a Holiday party:)

Any holiday trends you have been wanting to try??

P.S. I have an exciting project I was a part of that I will be sharing on the blog tomorrow. Stay tuned!

*This is a compensated post that is 100% my own opinion!