Monday, March 25, 2019

Monday Must Haves- Girls Easter Outfits

Easter is right around the corner!  I love all of the pastel and light colors associated with the holiday.  I especially love shopping for my kids.  I think it's more fun than shopping for myself, which I still love to do but don't as often.  I've compiled some absolutely precious dresses, bubbles and sets below for little girls.  Mary-Grace already has the top left plaid print dress which is a contender for her Easter dress.  She still loves wearing dresses and girly outfits all the time so I'm sure she'd also love to wear any of the others.  I've posted the links below for you to find each piece.  Make sure to check back later this week for Easter outfits for boys.  Also, check out my Easter basket post for ideas for your little ones baskets!






1st Row: Plaid Dress: here | 2 piece Side Tie: here | White Dress: here
2nd Row: Pink Bunny Set: here | Flower Bubble: here
3rd Row: Light blue sailor dress: here | Light Pink Colored Dress: here| Smocked Bunnies Dress: here
4th Row: Pink Two Bunny Romper: here  |  Gingham Romper: here
5th Row: Pink Gingham Dress: here | White dress with yellow trim: here |  | Blue and White button dress: here

Friday, March 22, 2019

Custom Invitations- Weddings, graduations, and more!

There are always happy, life changing events going on with ourselves or someone we know.  Birthdays, engagements, graduations, weddings, new babies, retirements, etc.  I feel like this time of year, the spring, is when these events are the most common.  We already have one wedding to look forward to this year, along with a new baby in the family (not ours though!), Josh's graduation from his PhD program at the end of the year, a milestone anniversary for ourselves and one for my grandparents!

With all that being said, the perfect way to announce these special events and to invite your loved ones to celebrate with you, is with a thoughtful and beautiful invitation.  I love being able to open an envelope and pull out a crisp invitation that I can have as a keep sake if I choose.  I have already saved our children's birthday party invitations, our wedding invitation and also special invitations and announcements we've received from loved ones.

I recently came across an invitation company specializing in customizable invitations, Basic Invite.  They offer instant, customizable cards and invitations with over 180 color options and over 40 different colors of envelope which are peel and seal so no licking icky tasting envelopes!  With all of these color choices you can match your invite to any theme or color scheme you choose!  Basic Invite is also one of only a few websites that allows its customers the ability to receive a printed sample before placing a final order.  This may be my favorite feature because it allows you to see the colors in person and to actually feel the quality of the paper.  Basic Invite also offers recipient address printing at no cost on all card orders so no getting hand cramps from writing all of the addresses!  Another favorite feature is their address capturing service.  They provide you with a link to share on social media to request your family and friends addresses which can be stored in your customer account. How awesome is that?!

As I mentioned, Josh is graduating with his PhD in math education and I plan to have a graduation celebration for him.  I'm not sure where yet since it's still a while from now, but Basic Invite has beautiful gradation invitations to choose from for the party.  If you happen to know someone graduating from a residency program or college, their residency graduation invitations and college graduation ceremony invitations are also stunning.  There are so many styles to choose from with different fonts, colors, personalized photos, and more to let you be as creative as you want!



If you're planning a wedding, how stunning are these invites?  I especially like the coordinating information cards and thank you cards- perfect to tie everything together.



How pretty is this sweet 16 invitation option with the cheerful colors?  



Right now, Basic Invite is offering 15% orders with code 15FF51 which makes it the perfect time to try them out if you haven't yet.  I hope you all have a wonderful first weekend of spring!



**Thank you Basic Invite for sponsoring this post. All opinions and statements are my own.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Inspiration- Easter Basket Goodies

Easter is finally on the horizon!  Bunnies, dyeing eggs, egg hunts, church, and lunch with family all make it a special holiday for us.  Do you celebrate the holiday and if so, what are your traditions?  Of course the meaning of the holiday is the most important reason for it being special to us but the other things mentioned also make special memories.

I've been slowly grabbing some things for the kids Easter baskets when I see them.  So far I've gotten them each a garden tool set, a flower pot painting set, and each flower seeds to plant... all from the Target dollar spot!  I didn't intend to have a "gardening" theme but it seems to be going that direction.   A few other things I plan to add are a chocolate bunny and maybe a couple of the things from the idea board below.   I have the nestler eggs shown below that I gave to Benton last year with little treats inside.  I plan to reuse them again this year.  I love putting together gift baskets so getting the kids Easter baskets together is right up my alley.  Below, I've put together some gift ideas that would make fun additions to an Easter basket for your little bunnies!


Chocolate Bunny: here | Runaway Bunny Book: here | Bunny Ears: Bunny Ears | Plate, Bowl, Cup Set: here | Bonnet: here | Bucket Hat: here | Stuffed Bunny: here | Nestler Eggs: here | Chalk Eggs: here | Sandals: here | Bow: here | Bunny slippers: here

Friday, March 15, 2019

Benton's 2nd Birthday

Benton turned two back on February 28th and we celebrated with a party the following Saturday.  I seriously cannot believe he is now 2 years old!  I know every mom says they can't believe how fast time is flying by and they can't believe their child is another year older, but it is so true.  I really love this age.  His little personality is shining through every day and he is a joy to be around.  

I went round and round deciding which theme to have for his party.  He's not talking much so he couldn't tell me what he wanted, so I based it off of things he likes.  I decided on a beach themed party because he loves the beach (and so do we!) and I thought it would be easy to put together.

It was very special to be able to celebrate another of Benton's birthdays with our family and close friends.  I think he had a great time and hopefully everyone else did as well!  The weather turned out to be beautiful the day of the party so we blew up the kids bounce house and set it up out back.  After the kids got tired of bouncing, they came inside and played in our "play room" which is really just a corner of our basement.  The party was set for 3pm, which is right after Benton usually wakes up from his nap.  We decided on snack foods we thought everyone would like such as Chick-Fil-A nuggets, fruit, veggies with ranch dip,  cookies, goldfish,  mash ups for the kids, Pirate Booty, and of course no birthday party is complete without cake and/or cupcakes.  We tried to tie in some of the snack foods with the theme of the party such as the goldfish and Pirate Booty.  I found the most adorable paper boat cake topper from Easy and ordered the cake and cupcakes from Walmart.  We had most of the "decor" and serving dishes/bowls/etc already.  I did get the basket that's holding the Pirate Booty from Home Goods for $7 and I know I'll use it for something else.  I also got him the Beaufort Bonnet Company beach towel and stuffed seagull for Benton as a birthday gift that also made cute decor. 

Below, I've listed where everything was purchased from.  For party favors, we gave out sand pails filled with Swedish Fish, bubbles, Go Fish cards, and water guns.  

Boat cake topper: SEToppers
Happy Birthday banner: Peachy Paper Crafts
Invitations and gift tags: Paper and Play Design
Sand pails: Dollar Tree
Beach towel and seagull: The Beaufort Bonnet Company
White Bowls and Cake Stand: Home Goods
Balloons: Party City