New Year Wish

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Auction

This past weekend the kids and I went a couple hours north of our home for a family camping weekend.  My husband's side started this last year and we had such a great time.  This year they decided to include an auction to help pay for future weekends and the lodging where we stayed.  It was the family group camp at School Section Lake Park.  We had 6 cabins, bath house, main lodge with kitchen, volleyball court, fire pit, and beach.  The area was all private and for the use of our family.  There were lots of items for the auction that everyone brought including several handmade items.  I was outbid for one of grandma's afghans but she promised to make me one in exchange for some ribbon magnets:)  This is what I made for the auction..

Monday, May 30, 2011

Teacher thank you

My son just finished 4 year old preschool and in the fall will begin Kindergarten.  I am in just a bit of denial about that one.  To say thank you to his amazing preschool teachers I had him pick out a different color ribbon for each teacher, assistant, and aide.  I then made some of my ribbon blossom magnets and we added them to their thank you cards.


Thought it was a cute addition to their card and a sweet way to thank them for all the work they do.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Baby, baby, baby...

Bieber Fever has hit! This custom Justin Bieber blossom is for a very lucky birthday girl.  Can't you just hear the screaming now...

Guest Post...

Guest posting on this site today.  It is about taking care of your parent and what I do to cope.  This is my favorite "mom" blog because it is lots of random topics written by moms!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

How I wear my bobbies


This has been my go-to look since I made my blossom bobbies.  I pull my hair to the side in a low bun( is that what you call this?) and just stick a couple blossoms at the top.  This is the coral-y orange set.  Love these!

Naked Lady Party

The concept:
Bring all your clothes, shoes, accessories that you no longer use or wear.  Sort into different categories depending on season.  Ring a bell and grab what you like! 

I attended this fun party with my sister at our friend's house.  We all brought a dish to pass and a bottle of wine to share.  This was such a fun idea and we were all able to share our things and come home with new items!  I scored a jean jacket (which I have already worn twice!), a few sweaters, a faux croc wallet, and several scarves.  Now all of our closets are a little less cluttered so we have room for our fun new items.  All the clothes/accessories that were leftover were donated to a local Goodwill.

So if you are looking for a fun Girls Night Out and want to "shop" for free, have yummy food, and wine; this party idea is a fun alternative.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Elmo Blossom

My 15 month old loves all things Elmo.  She has many Elmo books, stuffed Elmo's, Elmo jammies, Elmo cups (you get the picture) and she has a funny little dance when she watches Elmo on tv.  So when she was feeling under the weather a couple days ago because of teething, I decided it was time to make her Elmo blossom for her.  She was so excited when I asked her if she wanted an Elmo bow.  She nodded her little head and said "Yah" in her deep voice.




Friday, May 13, 2011

Tangled

I recently had a request for a special 6 year old for a Tangled-inspired blossom.  My niece let me borrow her dvd because I had not even seen the movie (I have a 5 year old son...we watch sports and play Wii) and I loved it!  It was even my son's new favorite movie for those two weeks we borrowed it.  I asked him last night what his favorite part of the movie was and he said when Rapunzel's fake mommy says, "Fine.  Now I have to be the bad guy."

I knew after watching the movie I had to incorporate light pink and light purple for her dress and then I was stumped.  A quick etsy searched opened my eyes to the world of bottle cap embellishments!!!  Thanks to my husband I am now the proud owner of lots and lots of digital images (he made a ton for me!!!  You could quickly spend lots of $$$ on these images off of etsy!)  So when he showed me this image (above) of Rapunzel I knew she would love it! 

I'm excited to make lots of these bottle cap blossoms.  So far I've made our Team Superbaby blossoms and I just made my daughter an Elmo blossom.  Pics to come soon!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Organ donation ribbon

My mom was asking me to make her a ribbon magnet for organ donation awareness and I finally got around to it yesterday morning.  I love these little magnets!

Monday, May 9, 2011

March for Babies Monday: The giveaway bag

We decided to do a giveaway to all those who donated to our Team Superbaby page on the March for Babies site (sorry to all those who purchased through Button Blossoms fundraiser!  I had people selling for me and do not have everyone's name who bought.  Next year I will have a separate giveaway for that one.  Promise!).

The loot includes: a reusable March of Dimes bag (from walk), a Team Superbaby t-shirt, purple for preemies magnet, Team Superbaby bottlecap magnet, some yummy snacks, and a few surprises!

I will list all the names in the order that they were donated and use random.org to pick the winner.

1.Mindy
2. Lisa
3. Meegan
4. Kathy
5. Katie M.
6. Angelique
7. Marti
8. Katie H.
9. Kelly
10. Diane
11.  Julie
12. Jim and Pat
13. Sherri
14. Brian
15. Monica
16. Mary Ann
17. Heather
18. Katie S.
19. Joe
20. Marilyn
21. Eric and Jill
22. Jaymie



And the winner is....






Katie Stavale!!! Congrats on winning and thank you again for all the donations!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Flower bobbies

I got this idea from a new friend and I think I am in LOVE!  This will be my go-to accessory for the spring and summer when I wear my hair up.




All I do is pull my hair in a pony, messy bun, or side pony and stick two of these in!  Love!  They also stay in if you Jazzercise for an hour.  Thanks Jess for the idea!

Happy Mother's Day

 Brendan gave me this for Mother's Day from his preschool.  So sweet.

It says.....
Mothers Survival Kit

Toothpick...so you can pick out good qualities in your children

Hershey Hugs and Kisses...to remind you of the power of lots of hugs and kisses

Button...to remind you to "button" your lips sometimes

Lifesaver...to remind you of the time others need your help and you need others

Rubber Band...to remind you to stretch and grow with your children

Eraser...so everyone can start each day with a clean slate

Band Aid...to help you fix those "hurt feelings"

Tootsie Roll...to remind you to "roll" with the punches and let the "small" stuff roll of your back

Velcro...to help you when you need to "get a grip"

Almond joy...to help you remember all the joy you give to your children

Battery...to remind you to never give up...just keep going and going

Heart...to remind you how close you are to your children's heart




Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!  A special shout-out to my mom.  She is amazing with all she is dealing with right now.  Love you!

Friday, May 6, 2011

A perfect spring day

These past two days in Michigan have been gorgeous!  We were all doubting that spring would arrive and the sun would peek through those rain clouds.  Then just in the last week or so...

The tulips and daffodils are in bloom.



The buds on the trees have popped into small leaves.  When you look at the tree line you can see green.

The air feels warmer and you only need long sleeves or a light jacket.

My two kids LOVE to play outside and I feel we have been cooped up since November.










It is lovely.  We are able to open a window to get fresh air inside and feel the warmth of the sun on our skin.  Brendan was excited to be able to play soccer and hit home runs.  Lila loves to explore and run around.  She finds dandelions and picks them for me.   It truly was a perfect spring day.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Alzheimer's Awareness Ribbon

These are for my sister in law.  She lost her grandmother to this disease in January and is trying to raise awareness.  She will be walking in October to honor her grandma.  Here is more information about Alzheimer's.  If you are interested in supporting this cause $1 of each ribbon magnet will be donated to her team this fall.

Monday, May 2, 2011

March for Babies Monday: May 1, 2011

Thank you once again to everyone who supported our team.  We were able to raise $861 for March of Dimes!  Here is how our day went...


8:45am: Arrive and begin walking to 5/3 Field in Downtown Toledo.  Brendan aka Superbaby wants to push Lila in the stroller.

 8:50am: Brendan is preparing for the 3 mile walk by jogging on the Riverwalk to warm up.
 8:55am: Lila aka Superbaby's brother smiles and looks cute.
 9:00am: My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew arrive and Brendan is super excited to see them and my niece is excited about her new pink Superbaby shirt.
 9:02am: Brendan and Hailey look at cute baby geese before heading to the walk.
 9:10am: Brendan and Hailey smile for a picture with Muddy the Mud Hen.  The walk this year took place at the baseball stadium.  Brendan said the Yankees play here.
 9:15-10:00am: We turn in our donation ($861) and receive our tshirts.  We met up with the rest of Team Superbaby, take pictures by the field, eat a little food for energy, collect some free goodies (loved the purple reusable bags they were handing out!  I think we came home with about six), hoped for the rain to hold off, saw it wasn't holding off, figured it could be worse weather, tried hearing the opening speech was was difficult with so many people, they played the national anthem, and then we were off!



 10:00am-11:00am: March for Babies has begun!  The weather was a little misty and wet but we didn't let it slow us down.  We were walking for all those babies who were born too soon, too little, and too sick. 1 in 8 babies are born too soon.  This cause has affected my family with too many early babies including my sister and a few of my cousins.  We will all gladly walk in a little rain for all those who are unable to walk.


 11:00am-12:00pm: After the walk we met back in the stadium to let the kids play in the bounce house, talk with friends who were walking for their son, and get Lila's face painted.  We just love the atmosphere of the walk and all the kids running around, being around others that understand where you used to be, being able to see all the healthy kids and remembering the ones who became angels too soon.



Each year I am overwhelmed with the support for our team.  We hope that someday more and more babies will be born full-term and healthy.  Hopefully they will find some answers to why so many people deliver babies early for no reason (about 50%!!!).  Brendan is our superbaby.  He was so healthy and the exception of every preemie rule.  Lila was born healthy and full-term because of the research March of Dimes completed about progesterone shots. 

Thank you to March of Dimes for all the hard work and research conducted to help give all babies a healthy 9 months!