click here to download: fourth of july cupcake toppers

Have a fantastic weekend!

We got a great deal on rooms at the Holiday Inn in Oceanside, CA, which is really close to Legoland. We were especially lucky considering that this was a last-minute plan and a holiday weekend. I was a little skeptical because you can never really tell how a hotel is going to be from the photos on the website; I’ve been to places before that looked great online, but in person were old and run-down. We weren’t going for “fancy and luxurious” here, but we did want “clean and convenient.” I can not say enough good things about this hotel.

It’s a newer hotel, and it was immaculate (HUGE bonus points from me for that!). The rooms were spacious – two queen beds and a little sitting area with a couch, a large flatscreen tv, microwave, and fridge – PERFECT for traveling with children.

The staff was exceptionally nice – very patient with my energetic children bouncing around the lobby because they were so excited. They went above and beyond to answer questions, get us anything we needed, and just in general help us out. It was the best hotel experience I’ve had while traveling with my kids. We’ll definitely stay there again.

The hotel was a short walk from the beach. It was such a quick trip that we only spent one afternoon at the beach, but the weather was gorgeous and the kids had a blast. Later we got changed and walked to the harbor area for dinner – it was so nice not to have to get back in the car!

The next day we headed to Legoland. We all had a fantastic time. The kids loved the rides, and my friends were right – the park is perfect for younger kids. I was a little surprised that Maggie was a little too short for quite a few of the rides, but she had a great time anyway. The park did get pretty packed around lunchtime, so I was glad that we had arrived when it opened and covered some territory before the lines got too long.

All in all, it was a great trip – just a little too short. Next time, I’d love to stay a little longer, but the change of scenery was nice and seeing the kids experience something new was really fun.

For one thing, I’ll be finishing this:

So far I like it; Jennifer Weiner does not disappoint. Maybe it’s because she’s close to my age, but during flashbacks in Best Friends Forever, she captures little pieces of childhood in the 80s that completely resounded with me. I have a few issues with one character, but I’m going to wait until I finish it to make my final judgement.

When I’m finished with that, I’m moving on to this:

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve read a Pat Conroy book, but I’m anxious to check it out. I’m sure it will have me reminiscing about living in the Lowcountry…I love Tucson, but I sure do miss the beaches and fresh seafood from our days in Savannah. But not the bugs. I most definitely do not miss the bugs.

What have you read lately?

Recently, a new customer contacted me. She hosts an annual girls’ night party and wanted help with a custom invitation.

She decided to go with a “movie night” theme, and wanted something with a slightly retro look to it to go along with these popcorn buckets she found. Here’s what we ended up with:

I wish I could go! Sounds like a fun night.

Around that time, a soon-to-be high school graduate and her mom contacted me about the retro circles invitation I have in the shop. They liked the bright, fun colors and wanted to know if I could adapt it into a graduation party invitation, with a second side to include more photos and a bible verse. I was more than happy to put something together!

For Valentine’s Day this year, I was trying to come up with something cute for Maggie to bring to school. Luke, of course, already had his heart set on some Lego valentines, but Maggie’s still young enough that she was open to suggestions. I came across Tiddly Inks, an ADORABLE Etsy shop, and she not only sells her art, but also digital stamps that you can manipulate in Photoshop and use on whatever you want (not commercial use, though). What I was really excited about, though, is that she has several little curly-haired girls — almost impossible to find! So I chose a little curly-haired fairy and got to work, coloring her in Photoshop, shortening her hair a bit to look more like Maggie, and adding a little heart to her dress for V-day:

Then I chose a patterned background and added some wording. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about envelopes, and then I came across this cute petal envelope template. I sized it down so that I could fit two to a page, like this:  And then we (and by “we” I mean “I,” since Maggie had lost interest by this point) printed, cut, and folded them:

Maggie got interested again when I got out the stickers. We topped each with a heart sticker to hold it together, and we were done! So although this was for Valentine’s Day, you could use the same idea for party invites or little Mother’s Day cards, etc. If you try it out, I want to hear about your projects!

I’m adding this to Tip Junkie’s Tip Me Tuesday!

Here goes:

1) Penzey’s Spices

I am not a gourmet cook. I am only a mediocre cook. But as you probably know, spices can be pricey. A good friend of mine (who is from Milwaukee) told me about this family-owned, Wisconsin-based company years ago, and I LOVE THEM. Their (free) catalogs are great, and come with a slew of real-life, yummy, useful recipes, and their products are reasonably priced and great quality. My favorites are their dressing blends. I use their Greek Seasoning to whip up a salad dressing every week – it only takes a minute and is 100 times better than store-bought. My sister-in-law got hooked on their Sandwich Sprinkle at my house a few years ago, and now keeps it in supply at her house as well. Anything from Penzey’s is a GREAT gift idea if you know someone who likes to cook.

2) C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine

I love a good lipgloss that’s easy to throw on when I’m doing one hundred other things, but I often found that the ones I bought had a weird taste or weird smell or strange consistency or were the wrong color. This one is perfect. Reasonable price, great smell, nice consistency, a bit of tint. I buy several at a time and have them stashed in the bathroom, my purse, and the car.

3) Starbuck’s Espresso

If you’re like 80% of the moms I know in real life, you make the Starbucks stop a couple of times a week. I love a good, tall skinny latte like the next girl, but we all know it’s not always convenient to make the stop. Plus, if you’ve ever read a book about finances, you know the key to financial freedom is giving up your Starbucks.

A friend of mine once mentioned that she liked Starbuck’s espresso drinks better than their regular coffee, and until then I never understood why I didn’t like a straight-up brewed cup of whatever as much as I did a fancy drink from them. Since then, I started buying their ground espresso and brewing it right in my coffeemaker for our weekend or special-occasion coffee, and it is GREAT! People always ask me what kind of coffee it is when they’re here. It’s pricier than run-of-the-mill coffee, but at around $7/bag, it’s way cheaper to brew it at home than to order up the lattes.

4) Etsy

Really, you must know about Etsy, or you must have been living under a rock or something for the past year. Etsy is the portal to things made by real humans, small companies, and nice regular folks who have amazing talents. I’ve bought some ADORABLE clothing items for Maggie there. A few sellers I like (though there are dozens more!!):

Chirpy Designs
BowBakery
Illia Kids
Lily Sky
Sweet Papery

5) BLOGS

Check out my blogroll for blogs I love, that inspire me, make me laugh, or make me relate. There are so many more out there, but those are a few.

If you try one of my favorite things, I want to hear about it! Be sure to let me know. Now it’s your turn – what works for you, what do you like, what’s a great find? I can’t wait to hear what other people have come up with. I’m sure there will be lots of great posts over at 320 Sycamore!

These are far from perfect, but we’re going to call that “charming” and “handmade.” The grandparents loved them, and I even made some for myself and have them hanging on my bookshelves.

First, I took the kids’ pictures against a solid background.

I loaded the pictures in Photoshop and isolated their heads and filled them with black. I did this because I am a terrible cutter and I was worried I’d make a mess of cutting out their actual faces like some of the tutorials I’ve seen.

I printed them out on light-colored scrapbook paper. Then I traced the wooden plaque (purchased from Michael’s….very inexpensive!) and cut out the ovals.

I painted the plaques with copper craft paint, used ModPodge to glue the paper on, and used more ModPodge to coat and seal the whole thing.

I used hot glue to glue copper ribbon onto the backs. Mine were very unfinished, but if you’re fancy, I’m sure you can come up with a more finished-looking back.

And that’s it….the finished project:

I’m adding this to Chris’s “I Can Make That!” party at Just a Girl and Kimba’s DIY Day. Lots of great projects to check out!

Every year, I promise myself that I’m going to start preparing for Christmas early so that when the holiday season gets here, the “chores” are done and I can have time to bake cookies, drink hot chocolate, and watch Christmas movies with the kids without feeling frazzled. Unfortunately, that great plan tends to unravel quickly. I am hoping, though, that this year I can do a few small things to prepare a little at a time. Simple Mom has a great series, 12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas, that gives small tasks to tackle each week in an effort to make your holiday season calmer and more enjoyable. Definitely worth checking out!

I’ve been working on putting some new holiday cards in the Etsy shop, but I’m always looking for new ideas. Have you seen any cute card designs lately? Any suggestions? I am hoping to get my own card done very soon, so that they’ll be sitting and ready to send early in December.

How do you tackle the holiday season? Do you have an organized plan, or do you take the last-minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-your pants approach?

Here they are, swimming in their icing (I added extra cinnamon to the glaze….you can never have too much cinnamon, right?):

In an effort to keep myself from eating them all, I packaged some up in little cellophane bags, tied them with a ribbon, and added a cute sticker I made for each of the kids’ teachers. I’m sending them to school tomorrow as a random treat. I know in my teaching days, I wouldn’t have minded a little mid-week surprise, especially if it involved baked goods.

Luke said, “Mom, I think it’s nice we’re bringing these for my teachers. They’ve been working really hard.”

Here’s the link to the recipe: Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day and Works for Me Wednesday!