Chasing Cheerios

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Crocheted Monkey Hat Review and a Giveaway

We love handmade knitted or crocheted hats, so I was very excited to find these adorable monkey hats on Etsy.  Tiffany from Luckeymade sent us a crocheted monkey hat for E, and I bought a matching hat from her for O.  These hats are absolutely adorable, and the girls look so cute in them!




The hats are crocheted with 100% cotton yarn.  They are very well made and very affordable...only 15 dollars!




The girls wore their monkey hats when we went on a recent shopping trip, and they received many compliments!




Tiffany is offering a custom shell stitch beanie to one lucky commenter.  In order to enter the giveaway, go to Luckeymade and take a look around at her items for sale as well as the items she has sold.  Come back here and leave a comment telling me which hat you like best.  I'll randomly choose a number on Wednesday, so make sure to leave a comment before then!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Our Pom Pom Garland

O and I recently made a pom pom garland for our Christmas tree.  We used a blunt tipped needle, embroidery thread, and pom poms to make the garland.




O has been learning to embroider at school (and occasionally at home), so she is very interested in sewing now.  We had fun taking turns threading the pom poms onto the thread.  We are both very happy with our garland!




Here is the garland with some of my favorite ornaments.















Our tree is only 4 feet tall...it's a hand-me down, it's fake, its pre-lit with colored lights, and we love it!  Almost all of our ornaments are either handmade or bought while on vacation, so they have stories behind them. It was so much fun to decorate the tree, and tell O and E the stories behind the ornaments as we decorated.

I'm not sure if our pom pom garland is going to survive Miss E...she's determined to pull it off and eat it!  She calls the pom poms "ball, ball," and she's determined to get them.  She was also determined to help us make the garland, so I let her string a few pom poms on the thread...she does not like to be left out of any activity!






Our first advent activity was setting up our Nativity scene.  We never actually set it up...




I'm really looking forward to our daily advent activities.  I'm going to try to relate the activities to the specific Christmas books that we read each day, but I haven't gotten everything organized yet.

Here's a list of some of our planned activities (in no particular order):

set up nativity
hang stockings
make and drink hot chocolate
watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas
make beaded candy cane ornaments
make beaded stars and Christmas trees
make painted gifts for grandparents
cut paper snowflakes
make chocolate and sugar cookie playdough (to play with and to give as handmade gifts)
make and decorate sugar cookies
decorate a gingerbread cottage
go see the lights at the zoo
go see our beautiful ballerina (O) perform in the Nutcracker Ballet
donate toys to Toys for Tots

I have a list of almost 30 activities, but I don't have it with me.  After meeting on 38 kids at work today, my brain is tired and I can't remember any more of the activities...I'll add the rest of the activities when I have a chance.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Personalized Color Blocks

I've finally finished a set of personalized color blocks for E for Christmas.  I'm glad to be done with them and happy with how they turned out.  I hope she likes them!





To make these blocks, I sanded the edges and corners of the blocks before painting them white (I bought the blocks from Casey's Wood Supply).  I then used scrapbook paper, pics of O and E, and numbers and the letters of E's name printed on photo paper to cover the sides of the blocks.  I used mod podge to glue the paper to the blocks and then coated them with a layer of protective mod podge to finish them. 








The pictures on the link are missing, but I will have them up soon (I hope).

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Fun with a Parmesan Cheese Container

E had fun putting popsicle sticks into a parmesan cheese container last week.  She also really loved opening and closing the container. 






They also use this container in the rice pit and the bathtub...gotta love free toys!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Thirty-One Giveaway and Review

Christy from Thirty-One sent us a thermal lunch tote to review a couple of weeks ago, and she is offering a thermal lunch tote as a giveaway to one lucky commenter! 


I was initally unsure about reviewing a lunch tote since I usually only review items for children.  However, after browsing the Thirty-One catalog, I thought these products would be a good fit for me to review.  Since receiving the thermal lunch tote, I have used it almost EVERY day!  I've used it to take my lunch to work, to store pumped milk, to hold snacks for the girls while traveling, for keeping the girls' drinks cool while tailgating (at their first college football game!), and for keeping their antibiotics cool while traveling.  Since everywhere we go is at least 20 minutes away and most places are about an hour away, I always pack snacks and drinks to have in the car.  This thermal lunch tote is perfect for that purpose.  It's also MUCH cuter than the soft cooler that I've been using since O was a baby. 

Christy has this to say about Thirty-One...

Thirty-One offers gifts with a purpose. Our mission is to celebrate, encourage and reward women through offering quality products and an outstanding opportunity to become successful business owners. Our products are exclusive to Thirty-One and provide style and convenience at an amazingly affordable price. From our signature purses and totes to kid's items and stationary, you'll find something for everyone on your holiday shopping list.







To make your holiday shopping easier, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite gift ideas for the people in your life. Make sure to click on the links to see each item and the fabrics that it comes in. Here is my Holiday List.





For my daily purse I like to carry the Retro Metro Bag. It is the perfect size for a mom of 2 kids. I don't really need a diaper bag anymore but I need more room than a purse. It fits the kids' water bottles in the side pockets. In it I have a wristlet wallet or hard case wallet, a mini on the go organizer for all of my shopping cards, a fold and go organizer for my to-do list and a large zipper pouch for the diapers and wipes. I love that after a year my kids still cannot open the hard case wallet, thus keeping all of my receipts and cards from curious hands. I have all of these items in either Cool Lime Ditzy or Floral Fanfare patterns and they coordinate really well.





For my car organization I have a Large Utility Tote in the trunk or the back of the van. This holds all items from going all over the place. After a trip to the grocery store I put all of the bags into this large tote (I usually forget to take it into the store) and then when I get home they are all nice and neat and ready to be carried in. Inside the car I have an Organizing Utility Tote. This has one large compartment and 7 outer pockets. I keep snacks, band aids, gum, toys and water bottles in the outer pockets. Then I have a zipper pouch in the large area to put coupons and receipts in. When the kids come to the car with stuff I put it all in the tote and have just one thing to carry in to clean up the car.



For the babies we have both infant bibs and toddler bibs as well as pacifier clips. For your preschooler, the toddler backpack is just the right size or for the older kids a Cinch Sac. To organize your school or art supplies, you can fill a mini organizer with markers, crayons, glue, scissors and coloring books. The Teddy Bear and Blanket is super soft and so cute. The blanket rolls up and stuffs inside the bear. I love our aprons and there are matching ones for kids. How fun to match mom when making Christmas cookies






If you have a tween or teen then the Demi Purse is great size and the Zip Flap Messenger Bag with zip off reversible flaps is perfect for tweens with their desire to keep up with fashion. Just zip off the front flap and reverse it or purchase a new one for a new look







For the all the women in your life we have a lot of things. If a mom needs a diaper bag, the Accessibility Tote is perfect. The bag has a stain resistant laminate canvas which easily wipes clean. A bonus is that when you have outgrown the need for a diaper bag, this bag has many other uses. The Fold and Go Organizer is great for holding coupons, receipts, gift cards, and all the papers you need along with a notepad. You can also use it for your kids to hold a notepad and crayons. The Mini On-the-Go Organizer is a great way to keep up with frequent shopping cards and gift cards with alphabetic tabs.


One of our signature items is the skirt purse and the city skirt purse. These purses feature a removable skirt so you can change the look of your purse easily with a new cover. We have several other purse styles that fit any need. Our stationary is adorable and you can get matching address labels or notepads. Personalization is included.



Grandmothers love to talk about their grandkids and brag about how cute they are. What better way than to personalize stationary, notepads or a tote bag with their grandkids. The Lil' Expressions line allows you to select hair style and color as well as skin color and outfits. The totes are also really cute for teacher gifts.





As you see, we have something for everyone so keep me in mind this holiday season. You may order directly from my website. Remember, most things can be monogrammed and items can be shipped straight to out of town family and friends.


For Black Friday through Cyber Monday I will be having a special. Everyone who places an order over $31 will receive a free set of holiday address labels and everyone who places an order between Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be entered to win the Large Utility Tote in the Holiday Toss Pattern. This is in addition to the regular monthly specials. In December it is that for every $31 you spend, you get either the Flat Iron Case, Hard Case Wallet or Mini-On-the-Go Organizer for half off. (This order will be processed on December 1st so that is why we will use that special. Your order will charge full price but before I submit it, I will make sure that it is changed to half price.) That makes all of these great stocking stuffers. So get those orders ready! Please use this link to place an order this weekend and go ahead and add your holiday address labels. I will then pay for it when I complete the order next week.



Christy is offering one thermal lunch tote with monogramming to one lucky commenter.  In order to enter the giveaway, please go to Christy's website and look around.  Then come back here and leave a comment telling me your favorite lunch tote pattern.  If you mention this giveaway on your blog, come back and tell me for a 2nd chance at the giveaway.  If you go to Christy's facebook page, and "like" it, come back and tell me and you'll have a 3rd chance to win the thermal lunch tote.  I'll randomly choose a number on Friday night, so make sure to comment before then.  Good luck and thanks for reading!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Animal Puzzle Blocks

These animal puzzle blocks are a recent handmade Christmas gift that I've made for my girls. 





To make these puzzle blocks you need: 9 blocks (1.5 inches square), scrapbook paper, sand paper, stencils, scissors, mod podge, and a pencil.

I've been thinking about how to make these blocks for a VERY long time...I originally planned to stencil them using paint, but then decided that it would look much better if I cut the animal shapes from scrapbook paper and glued them to the blocks. I really enjoyed working on this project, and I love how the blocks turned out. I hope the girls like these blocks as much as I do!

When making these puzzles, I started by sanding the edges and corners of the blocks. 






Here's what I did next...
chose my animal stencils
traced the animals stencils on the back of sheets of scrapbook paper
drew the graph of blocks over the stenciled animal shape
cut out the squares
then cut out each animal shape from the squares (does that make sense?). 







I glued each animal part to the blocks using mod podge. 







After letting the blocks dry for a few days, I painted them with a layer of protective mod podge.