Posts tagged as:

holidays

Easter Lovely

by Stacy on April 4, 2010

“Easter is the demonstration of God
that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.”

~ Charles M. Crowe

[This collage is a collection of photos from Flickr, sadly the mosaic builder crashed before I could credit the original photographers. Thanks for looking, if one of these is your photo please let me know so I can give you credit ]

Here’s hoping your Easter was as laid back and peaceful as ours. I really couldn’t have asked for a better day, the kids were fabulous, the day wasn’t rushed and the food was delicious. I’ll go to bed this evening thankful for this special day and all that it means to us.

If you’ve never made a resurrection roll, I HIGHLY suggest you do so right away. Not only were these a nice way to share the story of Easter with my young children and toddlers but they tasted like homemade cinnamon rolls – on the table in less than 20 minutes! (And the kids made them even)

My healthified version of the carrot cake was a smashing success (if I do say so myself), but my icing recipe could still use some work though – I’ve never seen cream cheese icing go so horribly awry. I’ll share the carrot cake recipe with you very soon (promise) and keep my yucky icing recipe all to myself.

{No Picture Here – It was a cake only a Mom could love}

The Egg Hunt was a blast, but my 4 year old was a bit underwhelmed that the Easter Bunny put raisins and cereal in his eggs instead of more candy. (He did get a chocolate Easter bunny and some M&Ms in a few of the eggs). I salvaged the Easter Bunny’s reputation by having the kids dump their cranberries, assorted cereals and M&M’s into a bowl and showing them the Easter bunny really left them Easter Trail Mix. * This made it much more fun for them and I felt as if I succeeded in not turning Easter in to a sugary, sweet holiday *

Originally, I planned to fill the eggs with puzzle pieces but our eggs were too small to hold the pieces. Next year, though – there will be puzzle pieces in our eggs and Easter trail mix too (I love new traditions, especially ones you stumble on to by accident)

New to Us Traditions

Baking Carrot Cake & Leaving it out for the Easter Bunny
Making Resurrection Rolls for Easter breakfast
Easter Bunny Trail Mix
Puzzle pieces leading to the baskets and in the eggs

Did you start any new traditions in your home this year? I’m all Ears … get it

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Handmade Holidays: DIY Christmas Ornaments

by Stacy on December 12, 2009

There’s no need to spend any money on ornaments this year when you have all these eco-fantastic ideas to choose from. Make something special using items you probably already have on hand and use the money you save to buy your self something you’ve been wanting all year, consider it a gift from your Secret Santa.

Retro Snowflake Ornaments from Family Fun

Paper Ball Ornaments from Goddess Hobbies

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments from McCormick

Stained Glass Cookie Ornaments from Simply Recipes

Thrifted Sweater Ornaments on Alpha Mom

Christmas Orange Pomanders from That Artist Woman

Christmas Tree Circle Ornaments also from Family Fun

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Salty Snow Prints

by Stacy on December 10, 2009

There’s not a whole lot of snow here in Texas, but I’m of the mindset that if you have lemons you should make lemonade! No snow you say? That’s no reason not to have a White Christmas as long as you have some salt on hand. Our Advent Art Activity for the 9th day of December was making salty snow prints. I got the idea from an amazing “friend” and fellow crafty Momma, Val from Frugal Family Fun Blog

Why KSW Loves These: Nothing could be simpler to make and chances are, you have everything you need to make these hiding in your cabinets

To make your own Salty Snow Prints, you’ll need:
~ Construction Paper
~ Elmer’s Glue
~ Baking Sheet or a Box Lid
~ Crayons or Chalk
~ Salt

First, have your kids draw images on construction paper using crayons or chalk. Next, help your kids trace their drawings with glue. Now, here’s the REALLY important part … place the picture on a baking sheet or some surface with a lip to catch the salt. Have fun pouring or sprinkling salt over the glue with your little ones, shift the salt around to make sure all the glue is covered. Empty the excess salt off your paper and let it dry {additional salt will also need to be shaken off once the pictures dry}

Have a blast with these and please send me photos of your Salty Snow Prints

*~*~* Pictured: two snowmen, a snowflake and a red bird *~*~*

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What to wear for Family Portraits

by Stacy on November 4, 2009

You may recall a few weeks ago we offered our services FOR FREE to any willing takers for all matters decor, style, and shopping. The perfect gift from us to you, just in time for the holiday season. Well, today – we had our first opportunity to help a friend out with a style dilemma.

Many of you may already know Jackie from her fantabulous site, Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle {how can you not love her with a website name like that}. Jackie found herself in quite a conundrum when preparing for family portraits this week. I know the feeling – I usually end up buying WAY TOO MANY pieces and then throwing it all together at the last minute. Fortunately, Jackie had purchased some amazing pieces but asked for a little help pulling all the outfits together. Here’s what we recommended for her outdoor photoshoot:

Sweetie_Pie_pics

Jackie had already purchased that scrumptious cardigan for herself, the floral dress and both pairs of Old Navy shoes for her daughters, and a similar brown sweater for her husband. We recommended she pick up the sweater coat, skirt and tights from BabyGap and the vintage style top also from Anthropologie.

How adorable will this family be posing in these woods and on this bridge. Jackie, we hope you have a wonderful photo shoot and we can’t wait to see your pictures!

Scott Criswell Photography

We hope you enjoyed this post. Do you need some stylist advice of your own? Or would you like to gift someone a virtual wardrobe this Christmas? Great, we’d love to help you out and who can turn down FREE gifts? Just email us and we’ll shoot you a copy of our personalized questionnaire to get started on your new look. Psst, don’t forget to tell your friends about our fun, FREE services

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