Golden Easter Basket Tutorial

I'm a basket kind of gal. I don't like those Easter baskets that are plastic and pastel, that are doomed to sit in the basement only to see the light once a year, since you can't throw them out because you spent more than $2 on them. Holidays are the enemy for me; stores are always filled with unitasking items. Since I'm a cheapskate thrifty shopper, I refuse to spend money on costumes and holiday dresses too. Instead, I like to make costumes and use them in Lil's dress up bin, and her holiday dresses are always something she can wear at least for the season. Since I just got her Easter gear, I think it's important to let you know that Lilly acquired gold gladiators. GOLD GLADIATORS. And her dress is gold, white and coral pink. No pastel taffeta here, folks. 

Where was I going with this post? Oh yes, her basket. This year, I decided to raid my mom's basement for a nicer wicker basket that can multi task for Easter as well as to hold some of Lilly's tiny hair accessories. She's a hoarder of headbands.

So, I made this little cutie: 

Coffee Sleeve Thank You Note - Gift Card Holder!

I used to teach swimming lessons for 15 or so years, and getting a little something special at the end of a session of classes was the best little surprise ever. My favorites were handmade pictures from the kids, a home made treat, and Wawa (only the best convenience store ever), Starbucks, or Dunkin Donuts gift cards. One of my girlfriends is Lilly's swim instructor, and of course I've got to reward her amazing skills with a coveted Starbucks gift card. 

But no generic holder would do, obviously. And I didn't want to go with the predictable swedish fish or goldfish cracker baggie and a "thanks for teaching me to swim like a fish," because almost 3-year-old Lilly doesn't actually swim like a fish (she does back float, go under, blow bubbles and tread water for a few seconds like a champ though) and I know a coffee card would be more appreciated, though I'm not discriminating against free food. Lifeguards love that too.

Chalkboard Menu with Food Coloring Frame

I don't know about you, but I have this problem where I make a dinner menu for two weeks, with a matching grocery list, then halfway through the meals, I just lose control of my dinner plan. My solution was to make a chalkboard for my kitchen that would stare at me when I hadn't filled it in, thus making me feel guilty. The guilt part totally works. 

Here is my chalkboard menu, complete with a frame I painted with craft paint and food coloring.  And if you'd like the recipe for the cornbread taco casserole, I've got you covered! Because that, my friends, is amazing. 

Basically, I wanted a big enough frame so I could write anything I needed to jot down - renegade groceries, nightly dinner or a week's worth of meals. So, I hit the local Goodwill and found a mirror in a frame for $2.99. Sold! Add some craft paint and chalkboard paint, and you're off to the races.

Fabric Covered Magnet Board

I've been so excited to share this project with you all! Lilly has been turning out a boatload of artwork, and we were running out of places to display the favorite pieces. There's only so much room on the fridge. We came up with this... 

A fabric covered magnet board for her bedroom!  I am so in love with how it came out, and so is Lilly. She's so proud of herself and all her art. Want one? It's pretty easy, especially since you won't have to repeat my painting fail.

I had originally thought about doing a magnetic chalkboard, and decided that would end in disaster because Lilly knows what a chalkboard is and where her chalk is kept. It's all in the living room, where I can watch her not draw on non-approved surfaces. Then I had the fleeting thought of a cork board - which is just stupid because push pins spell disaster. I mentioned that I really wanted just a magnetic board for her to use, and he suggested some sheet metal. Genius.

DIY Marble Magnets

Lilly, who is 2 1/2, is a total artist (at least she thinks she is. She is.). She's been into drawing spiders (which look like suns) with happy faces and a door (don't ask). And the thing is, they're really cute. Who'd have thought a spider with a door that looks like a sun smiling, would be super cute. But they are. My sister-in-law got her an easel from Ikea for Christmas, and she loves to draw and paint and wear her neon green smock. With all these pieces of art hanging on our fridge and stuffed in the crayon drawer, we needed somewhere else to display the favorites. 

Which lead me to these ideas:

Cork board + push pins + toddler = NO.  

Magnetic chalkboard + chalk = potential chalk on my walls, NO.

Magnetic board + magnets = WIN. 

So on Thursday, I am revealing Lilly's new display board in her bedroom! And yes, you'll see a spider/smiley sun. Any cute magnet board, requires a bunch of cute magnets. 

I remember in middle school (early 90's. Ugh.), I had a ton of these handmade magnets in my locker. Most of them had a teeny photo of a boyfriend, best friend, or favorite band logo under a clear glass bead. Whatever was under the bead would then be magnified, and look pretty neat. For Lilly's, I just left these plain, because I was in love with the blue colors in these beads.

Wrapped Wreath for Spring

I've had our winter wreath holding strong on the front door for months because I hadn't yet decided what on earth to do for spring. Until I saw Jen over at Tatertots & Jello post an adorable navy blue and yellow wreath, with some adorable gingham and chevron fabric.

As far as this house is concerned, when pitchers and catchers report for spring training (lets go Phillies), it's springtime.

Lilly's 2nd Birthday Bash!

We now have a 2 year old child. What the what? A 2 year old! I'm confused as to how on Earth that happened, but it did, and here we are. I found it pretty depressing that she was turning 2, for the simple fact that our not-so-little baby isn't a baby any longer, but instead a human being that talks, gives dirty looks to strangers who invade her personal space, gives a bit of an attitude, gives hugs and kisses, loves her friends (read: sock monkeys and cousins), actually shares and takes care of her toys, poops on my hardwood floors and denies it (potty training), and asks to be tucked in like a burrito at night. How sweet!

The theme for her party and decorations was inspired by a local park/playground that has beautiful equipment for the kids to play on, beautiful setting and scenery, recycled tire wood chips, and a pavilion. That's all wood. RUSTIC WOOD. I drool every time I go there. Once we nailed down the location of the party, I knew instantly I wanted to do a rustic-country vibe party, complete with vintage fabrics I found at Happy Notions, and this invitation I found from Paper+Pip, both on Etsy.

Mother's Day Crafts

It is almost Mother's Day, and I've been scouring Pinterest for some ideas on what to do, craft wise. Usually I'm all about ideas, but with all that's been going on, I'm fresh out. Also, don't judge me, I forgot it was coming up. When I realized, I figured it'd be good to at least remind my husband that his craft services are required for Lillian to make me something super cute, and that I am required by law to sleep in. As for me, I usually do something nice for my own mom, but I like to include people that are a part of my extended mom-type family, like our aunt & my sisters-in-law, who are amazing with Lilly and have always been awesome. Not forgetting the little people that make it all possible... Lilly, Aubrey & Michael.

Lillian, showing off her artwork. After we washed all the stamp ink off.

Brown Sugar body scrub, with super cute tags.

Floral Dress & Easter Recap

You may remember the green ruffle one-shoulder dress I made for Lilly using Prudent Baby's One-Shoulder Dressy Dress tutorial, no? Using that tute, I made Lilly's Easter dress with this amazing floral print linen I found on sale. Yay for sales on 13$/yd fabric! It turned out incredibly adorable, and I swear everyone should try making this. It only took about an hour and change, and it's great because it can grow with your tot into a tunic and top when it's too short for a dress, not to mention you can make dressy ones, and casual ones, and even BATHING SUIT COVER UP ONES! Which will be happening, don't worry. This pattern/concept is incredibly easy to do, and I'm totally totally making a million more for this summer. Go check out Prudent Baby, they've got oodles of other tutorials and great things to try! Highly recommend! Here's another shot of the dress, while hunting for eggies.

Speaking of Easter... ours was awesome!  Lilly and I made cookies for Andrew, which actually turned out really deliciously - chocolate chip and about 59 cups of marshmallows, courtesy of Lilly's heavy hand. I wanted to use about a half cup, but there ended up being almost a half bag in there. Tis what I get for letting her dump them in, right?  The marshmallow ended up melting into a carmel-like crunch/goo and was fantastic. She loves baking and making glitter decorations.

She also loves dyeing eggs, which actually was a ton of fun, and she didn't like making a big mess.  Win for me!

We also baked sugar cookies with Aunt Shar & all 3 kids, using a bunny and carrot cookie cutter set I found at target.  They turned out delicious as always!

Since Andrew had to work on Easter, we opted to have the Easter Bunny come to our house ahead of schedule. Such nice baskets he left Lilly!

For breakfast, we had Bunny Pancakes, which I made using the same bunny cookie cutter on a pancake, with some strawberries in the ears and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. So cute! And tasty!

Then we hunted for eggs the Easter Bunny hid.

Sunday we had Easter mass at church, followed by the annual Easter Egg hunt in the church yard. So. Much. Fun. The kids all had a great time scooping eggs filled with candies and sugar and things I should not eat, and then enjoyed a little cake and juice afterwards. 

After all the hunting and eating, my mom, Lil & I had an awesome ham dinner complete with a boatload of roasted veggies, bunny biscuits, sweet potatoes, and well, ham. Too bad I got ZERO photos of the meal! I failed yesterday, but here is one of Lilly hanging out in the tulips! 

Check out the original inspiration for this one-shoulder dress!

Owl Mobile & Matching Pillow

My sister-in-law Sharon had a girlfriends' baby shower this weekend, and she was going with a modern owl themed nursery. What better to go with an owl themed nursery, than an owl mobile! See more after the jumpy-jump...

How cute am I, really. 

The Headboard Project

I've never really had a headboard to speak of, unless it came attached to an Ikea platform bed, and I've always wanted one (especially since we got rid of the Ikea platform bed). Torn between the upholstered headboard and a salvaged one, I opted to go for the salvage type. Ignore my basement.

Oak doors, minus original hardware, pre final sanding.

My mom told me she had 4 old solid oak doors that she found in an antique shop in Ocean City, NJ, and they had been collecting dust. Naturally, I took them and they sat in our basement, collecting dust. There were 2 doors (pictured) that I think came off a servant entrance or something like that, and 2 more doors half the size of these that I'm saving for another project. Undecided, obv. But they also all came with original hinges, screws and these kooky locks.

I'd been pinning ideas onto my pinterest for quite a while trying to decide what to do with them... then I stumbled over to Infarrantly Creative, and this tutorial for her Roadkill Rescue - Door Headboard. Total fate. I swear.

DIY Ruffle Tree Skirt & Christmas Decor

This Christmas, we (really, I) decided to go with a rustic gold & beige themed tree and decor, and of course make mostly everything. I used Pinterest, which I'm currently obsessed with, to log all my idears on my Holiday Decor board. I had made a tree skirt & matching stockings last year, and of course I didn't like them again this year. Nor did I want to use my glitter disco ornaments from Target again, so I started pinning things that I liked, and figured I'd make new stuff!

This No Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt tutorial came courtesy of HGTV & it turned out SO cute. I didn't make mine as large because our tree is one of those tall skinny ones, but it looks adorable, and it was incredibly easy, just a little time consuming. Here's the finished product!

Baby Crafts

Here are some things from Lilly's nursery that I really enjoyed making...

Seagull Mobile


I couldn't find any mobile I liked (except for the Phillie Phanatic one we are currently using until the season is over) that fit the vibe I was going for, so Andrew helped me make this one. I downloaded a pattern for the birds from Spool - a wonderful local fabric shop here in Philly. 

Candle Makin'

So, I got married, I went on our honeymoon, student taught, got bogged down with school, renovated our house, and got pregnant.

So, enough excuses, I'm back!

Christmas was nice, I made candles for everyone!!  I used soy wax and some scents I got at candlescience.com. Christmas Cedar, White Tea & Berries, Vanilla Hazelnut, Amaretto Nog, Black Currant and Nectarine... and boy were they delish. I never made candles from scratch, so I was really surpised that it was so easy. Here are some photos:

I re-posted all the merch back in the shop, and I'm pretty excited to get things rollin' again! And I promise, I'll blog.