A Day in the Life- Favorite Bargains, Blogs, Recipes, Style Tips & Mommy Moments

RECENT DATE NIGHT- Ben and I celebrated our 4 year wedding Anniversary! We left the girls with close friends and went into the city for a night! It was the first time I had left Sienna(1) over night.,.so I was a little nervous. But the first night she didn't even cry for me!! and when she woke up she was a little snuggle bug for them. so on the baby front everything went well!

And we had a a blast! We usually do like chinese food  takeout to celebrate our anniversary haha.. but this time we got a gorgeous hotel room on the top floor in the city..rented a Jeep Grand Cherokee all sparkly and new with noooo sign of baby gear whatsoever! haha. I unloaded my purse of all diapers, wipes, pull ups, changes of clothes, sippy cups, baby snacks, etc... I don't remember when my purse weighed so little! ;) We wanted to just be spontaneous that night since we had no baby/sitter curfew! At first it felt really weird like we needed to rush and get home! We ended up going to South Side and walking around for a bit...had dinner at a fun irish restaurant..then grabbed drinks and dessert at a place right by our hotel. At 10:30 we were both like what??? it's only 10:30?! what do people do out this late?? what are we supposed to do now? haha. We made a promise to each other that we HAD to stay out till midnight........we lasted till 11:00. :) One of the most amazing parts of the overnight getaway was SLEEPING IN. till 10. it was UHHHH-MAZING. Quote of the Trip- Ben:"So thisss is what being rested feels like!!" It was a great time for ben and I to spend together..and the girls were happy to see us but not so eager to leave where they were staying! uh oh..this little new discovery of "them being fine for a night without us"could be dangerous. ;) 
Everyone go date your hubby!

SOPHIA'S NEW FAVORITE THING TO SAY - 
"what's dat smell??.. what's so stinky??"
Not the thing you want to hear about your breath when you are snuggling with her in the morning..or when she walks into the kitchen when you are cooking dinner..or to a friend who is helping you by putting her in her car seat for you..haha.
(PHOTO: She asked for a picture with Mary, Jesus' Mommy. ;)

FAVORITE DIY - Paint Swatch Chandelier
via hey gorgeous 

FAVORITE CAMERA PHONE SHOT- Sophie and Sienna love the horse outside kmart...it's in the same shopping center as the aldi's i sometimes go to. highlight of the trip! ;)

I CAN'T BLOG ABOUT HALLOWEEN

UNTIL OCTOBER!! - I just can't! Butttttt Sophia told me 

yesterday what she wants to dress up as (this will probably change 74 times..) She is going to be Belle, She wants me to be snow white..daddy cinderella..and sienna cinderella too. Are you seeing a trend here?? I think ben should totally be cinderella..he could pull it off.

image via pinterest-no link back

FEATURED FOLLOWER/CLIENT - A college friend of mine has one of the most amusing and relatable blogs that I follow!! Camp Patton And she so sweetly follows me back! You need to hop over and read one of her posts and I promise you'll be hooked. I usually end up reading post after post because I can relate so much to everything she writes about..and she says it in such a funny way! You should go check her out. literally. jk..that would be wierd. just check out her blog!

IN THE KITCHEN -  I LOVEE this fun snack idea put together by Little Page Turners
Sophia would love snack time with these Edible Insects!

MY PHOTOGRAPHY- I just started doing senior portraits! I'm excited.. it's something I'm doing on the side for fun! I'l share more of the photos 
this week but here are some of my favorites of my client (and her bff!)

Featured Followers- Etsy Shop Girls

I love Etsy shops..

Especially when they are owned by followers of my blog! 

So to pass on the blog love..

I'm sharing some of the shops with you! 

Click over and support and encourage these women..

I'm impressed and already "hearted" a bunch of their items.

It's so inspiring seeing all of these shops!

For those of us who are moms..there are so many of us who are wanting to stay at home with the bambinos..but also contribute financially for our family. Etsy.com is a great way to use the skills you have and offer them to the world in an online marketplace!

If you are thinking about starting a shop....Go for it!. 

This is your friendly nudge from a girlfriend saying try it out. ;)

My Little V

shop.

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

shop. blog. facebook.

Dream Like Magic

shop. blog. facebook.

In Honor of Design

shop. blog. facebook.

Eye Candy Event Details

shop.

Peace and Paper

shop.

Green Bubble Gorgeous

shop. facebook.

 Behind the Moon Beadworks

shop. blog.

Just Stuff

shop. blog.

Do you have an etsy shop? 

Are you think about starting one?? 

spill the beans girl!

Featured Client & Follower - Rubber Ducky Party Theme

Splish Splash 
It's Andy's 1st Birthday Bash!
I was so excited when April told me her son's 1st birthday bash was going to be a Rubber Ducky Party Theme and that she wanted met o make up party printables for her!

1. love the theme.

2. love april!

 when i popped over there to get all the party info that she typed up i got stuck reading all her posts haha. her family is adorable..and i can totally relate to her. you should go visit her blog. :)

she recently shared the party on her blog

along with some really sweet words about me and my Pretty Paperie Printables! 

she did such a great job putting everything together..and her pictures are adorable!

She used an invite from Tiny Prints with an adorable photo of her son. 
He's wearing a ducky hat that her talented friend, Melinda, made!

her little one loved bath time..so she went with the rubber ducky theme and 

had the party color scheme be yellows, blues and oranges

She filled up bags of rubber duckies and attached a tag! it was my first time making bubbles but i was happy with how they turned out!! 

She created some great inexpensive diy party details...

 -her sweet little bunting/pennants that she knitted and strung with ribbon on his highchair

-her banner that she used dollar store construction paper and Mod Podged with a picture of the birthday boy from each month.

-the ONE sign she made out of japanese masking tape (must...get...)

She served up some yummy party snacks including a "Create your own trail mix" lineup!

goldfish, raisins, cheerios, marshmallows (all personal favorites of the birthday boy) and honey roasted peanuts for those over a year old!

i love the little sticks she used for the toppers!

April's Party Printables included:

Water bottle labels

Cupcake Toppers

Treat bag tags 

(used to hold cookies and rubber duckies)

Snack cup wrappers

Great working with you April! You did a fab job on the party.

Happy Birthday Andy! :)

Featured Client & Friend-Toy Story Party Theme

Kristi (of Tt's Boutique-Tutu's and Designs)came to me for advice on planning her son's 3rd birthday...and right away i was loving working up ideas for her theme! 

Here's the Toy Story Party Theme Inspiration Board that i created for her for a small fee.

 Lots of ideas, images and links to make the party planning 

process quick, easy and most of all..fun!

Open publication - Free publishing - More toy story

Through my Etsy Shop Pretty Paperie Printables, I created a banner, favor tags & a cake topper for her party. I also pointed her in the direction of other great etsy shops to contribute to her party details!

Kristi sent me a bunch of DIY details and info on how she pulled off this fabulous party 
to share with all of you!! i know..so sweet. :) enjoy getting the inside scoop.
 Thanks Kristi!! and you go mama! great job. 
excited to now be working with her in planning her daughter's party!!
 i'm sure i'll share that one as well. :)
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Idea board for Toy Story party - Natalie from Busy Budgeting Mama also Pretty Paperie !!!! :)  Cow print Toy story cake idea - Beth Kruse custom creations http://bethkruse.blogspot.com/ I then used Tanner's Buzz and Wood figurines he already had at home!  I used fondant for the rope and cow prints on the cake.  Red 3 applique embroidered shirt - I made this with Toy Story fabric for Tanner on my embroidery machine!  Pin the tail on Bullseye- http://family.go.com/disney/pkg-disney-crafts/craft-889597-pin-the-tail-on-bullseye-t/ Happy Birthday Tanner in Toy Story colors- Pretty Paperie- I then used gross grain blue ribbon from Joanns to put the banner pieces on.  Other Toy Story banner with Tanner's name- www.etsy.com/shop/hunnyblessing I then used twine and punched holes in each of the banner flags to hang on the fireplace.  Round stickers used on blue cups and water bottle labels and invites - http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignSerendipity Alien cupcakes - done by me with a stand I purchased at Walmart Toy Story 3 logo done in Happy Birthday Tanner for party cake- Pretty Paperie I made the cake myself! I wanted it to go with the Toy Story 3 theme.....so I just did blue with white clouds and used Toy Story figurines I purchase at the Disney store.  Mrs Potatoe head and Mr Potatoe head favor bags- I saw this idea somewhere and I have no idea where!  I did this all myself!  This took me the longest since I made each indiviudal piece and cut it out.  I don't have any fancy machines that do cutting or printing!  So it was all hand done!  Inside the favor bags- I purchased Toy Story fruit snacks (grocery story Hyvee), Toy Story tops ($1 store), Toy Story color page (family.go.com/disney), Toy story mini frisbees ($1 store) Thank you for buzzing by Tanner's Party tags- these were attached to the Toy Story 3 chalkboards I gave out as the guests left the party (the chalkboards were purchased from $1 store)  and the tags were done by Pretty Paperie and I used twine to attach them to the chalkboards. Other details: I purchased the back drop from the $1 store.  It was 3 blue plastic table cloths that I cut to fit behind the table.  I then drew and cut out white clouds and taped them on the back drop.   I bought glow straws (to go with Buzz from Toy Story).  These were put in a blue cup on the table.  I purchased blue utensils and blue cups that I put the Toy Story stickers on from $1 store.   I also bought Toy story plates and napkins and blow things from Walmart to help go with the theme.   I then took an empty box and wrote "Sunnyside" and put Tanner's Toy Story collection on top ...to go with the Toy Story 3 movie!  Tanner wore his Woody costume from halloween for his party!

Featured Follower+Baby Boy Nursery

I was so happy when i received an e-mail from a reader of mine who said

 she used some of my tutorials and posted 

them on her blogs: Growing up Gardner & Baby Gardner!

 I hopped on over to check them out and was sooo excited to see what she did! 

She used my New Baby-Gift for Hospital Visitors Tutorial. Cute little chocolate bar labels. 

When i was expecting my 2nd baby I made these up to gift to the Hospital Staff & Visitors! 

I love the way she made hers up..so cute!

making gifts for hospital visitors was a fun nesting thing to do while waiting for baby.

and i got majorly spoiled by the nurses because of them!! ;)

She also used the idea of  the Big Sister Kit that I made up for my Sophia.. 

It was fun seeing what she included in her kit! Check the one she made up here.

Here's Sophia's!

After looking over both her blogs i knew i liked this girl..

but when i saw she threw a ultrasound reveal party too!!....

well lets just say i thought she was awesome. haha.

We threw an ultrasound reveal party for our Sienna and it was sooooooo fun.

check out the party she put together!

While i was over at her blog..i came across her post featuring her son's nautical nursery and fell in love with all her DIY details!

I think this is such a cute theme for a baby boy nursery.. 

and it fits perfecty for her because her father is retired Navy!

thanks mrs. g for passing your blog along and for using my tutorials!!

 i loved reading your posts..great job mama!