I am such a sucker for bottling up as much of Magnolia Kate at this age as I can! I wish I could bottle up her sneaky smile when we tell her “no” – don’t worry, she keeps doing it even worse then- the way she runs at me so excited, her hugs and cuddles, her baby smell and the way she perks up her eyebrows when she’s interested in something.. She’s growing up SO fast and I can’t believe that we no longer have a “baby” and she’s more of a toddler these days!

I am able to take a million pictures and videos which I will look at forever and miss so many of those days.  I’m also able to bottle up her little hand prints and feet prints and love anything with those on them! I can tell you, I have about a million crafts with them on it from daycare that I just can’t part with already! Magnolia LOVES doing crafts at daycare and does one just about everyday 🙂 Most are ones she paints, versus her prints but I still love them nonetheless.

My first Mommy & Me date with Magnolia was to a pottery shop where I had an Easter plate made with her feet on it and it’s such a fun memory (and also the best take home gift!).  Ever since then, I want a plate for every holiday! She made one at daycare for Christmas as a gift to Logan and myself with her hand prints on it! I loved having the Easter plate out with her Easter Bunny picture – and her Christmas one out with her Santa picture. I can’t wait to put out her Easter one in a few months again and just see those tiny feet (she was just shy of 3 months).

Long story short… I want one for every holiday but at $40 a plate at the pottery shop, isn’t quite what I want to spend for so many holidays so I decided to make my own starting with Valentines Day (and it was roughly $6!)!  I posted this on Instagram the other day and so many of you had questions on “how do you do this?!” so I thought i’d share in case a few of you wanted to give it a try!

Supplies:

• a plain plate; I bought mine at the Dollar Store so legit $1
• acrylic paint in red and pink (I bought mine at Walmart for $.50 a piece but you can get it at Michaels too!)
• a Painter’s Pen in red – same aisle as the acrylic paint at Walmart ($2.49)
• a sponge dobber – you don’t necessarily need this but they sell them in a pack at Walmart ($2)

 

Instructions:

• Color your sweet little one’s feet (or hands) in paint – I did one foot at a time and then cleaned it immediately with a wet wipe since Magnolia tends to cross her feet right after (this time, she kept saying “more” with her hands when I was done with painting her toes, sweet girl!) – and pressed her foot onto the plate (truthfully, I did it on 3 different plates since sometimes her prints don’t turn out so good! So I wanted to be sure I got one good one). Repeat with the next foot – you could even put them in the shape of a heart!
• Then, you are going to use your painter’s pen to write on the plate – whatever you would like it to say! You could do “first Valentines Day” or “Happy Valentine’s Day”. I also put her name and year (in case we have another baby in the future!
• Next, I used my sponge dobber and alternated the colors around the trim of the plate – if you don’t have a dobber, you could just use a smaller paint brush and paint circles instead
• Lastly, once your plate has dried – you will put it in a cold oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Once it’s preheated, set your timer for 35 minutes.  Turn off your oven with the plate still in the oven and once it’s cooled down, you’ll take the plate out and you’re all set!

It’s just so sweet to see the plate out on our counter with her tiny toes! Are you crazy like me and have all the things hand/feet print from your kids?!

Kristi

Happy Tuesday!  At least it’s not Monday, am I right?! And there’s a GIVEAWAY at the bottom of this post so there’s another win for the week, right?!

I think the number one question I get (at least, recently) is how I tie my blanket scarves.  They can look a little intimidating when you get them since they’re so HUGE but I promise – you tie it once, you can tie them for life! 🙂

Excuse the pictures.. this was a super quick tutorial #nomakeup #pajamas! Also, this works for square blanket scarves – not the rectangular ones!

1. Fold your scarf into a triangle

2. I like to “roll’ the scarf towards me a few times so it’s not so bulky (you can skip this step though if you don’t mind more bulkiness!).

3. Next, I hold the rolled part up to my neck and basically criss cross the two sides behind my neck

4. Pull the two sides down and adjust under the triangle part

5. Last, adjust the two pieces that you pulled down as  much as you’d like until you like how it looks!

Hopefully this helps and isn’t super confusing!  The hubs thought I should do a video tutorial but I wasn’t sure if that was warranted!  If you prefer that, let me know 🙂 Or if you have any questions/need help 🙂

Now here’s the fun part.. because I just love you all for visiting this little space so often and because blanket scarves might not be everybody’s “thing”.. I am giving away this fun and easy infinity scarf to one lucky reader!  It’s one of my absolute favorites and think it’s perfect for fall and winter!  Winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 9! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Before you enter into the giveaway – there’s one thing to note (because I don’t know if it’s super clear!).  You will be asked to input your email address into the Rafflecopter (so I can contact the winner!) BUT that does not mean that you’ve subscribed to the blog by email (one of the entries!) so make sure you subscribe by email on this little space as well in order to actually be entered! All entries will be verified – and a winner will be chosen based on the verification!

And if you’re looking for a few blanket scarves – I love these ones: This plaid one; I have two of these and love them; Another plaid one; , love this buffalo print!

Kristi

We’re sooo close to the weekend and yet it feels like it’s still forever away! It’s been a busy week and I’m ready for a little slow down.  Last night, we took pictures for our Christmas card and while it was 46 degrees out (no joke) we managed to get some cute ones 🙂 Can’t wait to share a few with y’all soon enough!

I’m back today to share how to make my cute little entry way pumpkin so many of you have asked about!

You’ll need:

20-21 mason jar lids (all the same size)

Orange spray paint

Twine/orange string

Cinnamon Sticks

Instructions:

First, spray paint the mason jar lids.  I sprayed the one side first and let dry for quite a few hours then turned them over and sprayed the other side.

Make sure to spray the sides really well if you don’t want any of the silver peeking through!

I let them dry over night in order to ensure they are completely dry before assembling.

Next, you will put string through all of the mason jar lids – it’s important to make sure all the lids are facing the same way to help with the fanning out process later.

Once they are all facing the same way with the string through them, tie the string as tight as possible so the lids are almost overlapping.

You’re almost done 🙂 You’ll fan out the lids to your liking to create the pumpkin shape.

Lastly, you’ll place some cinnamon sticks in the middle – I added the burlap “leaves” as an extra piece but it’s not necessary.

And that’s it – you’re done and ready to find a cute place for it 🙂

Kristi