for your love

have you started to think about valentine's day yet? here's two really sweet and simple ideas for your love

seven days of love
a simple 7-day pill box filled with candy and love notesyou can find the printables here

{by dating divas via the sweetest occasion}

if you prefer an intimate evening at home, then this darling invitation is just perfection
all the printables can be found here courtesy of eat, drink, chic



{images eat, drink, chic}

enjoy!!!

max's dangerous party for boys

***warning - picture heavy***

our son, max turned ten years old in november. we threw him a "dangerous party for boys" based on the dangerous book for boys. here's the invitation by rachel of pencil shavings. she did such a great job!

all the food was based on different chapters in the book. there was a chess cake made by my dear friend andrea, fossil cookies and crickette and larvet cupcakes. the kids loved challenging each other to eat the crickettes and larvettes!

the chess pieces were made from white and dark chocolate






all the activities were also taken from the book


paper water bomb (it actually holds water!)

sticks for bows




learning how to juggle

learning the rules of poker

my favorite part was my husband's presentation on "advice on girls"taken directly from the book (not based on his own experiences!)

they all high-fived when my husband suggested that they stay away from girls until they were 30!

we made them eat "dangerous" food based on some of the seven modern wonders of the world










all the boys received a box of "essential gear for dangerous boys"
(compass, flashlight, pencil, paper, marble, fish hook, fishing line,needle and thread, bandaid, magnifying glass, bandana)






happy birthday max!!!

elf on the shelf

elf on the shelf is really stressing me out these days. how about you? the kids come running down the stairs in the morning to find out where mr. wink (that's the name of our elf) has moved and are often disappointed. mr. wink is a lazy elf. sometimes he doesn't move for days.

so while the kids were at school i had a little chat with mr. wink. i showed him how creative and mischievous his little elf friends are on pinterest. and that he better step up his game or he may not come out of his box next christmas. was i too harsh?

here are some favorite elf sightings...all via pinterest

i'd love to hear about your elf!

four gifts

have you heard of this christmas gift giving tradition? a friend introduced me to it a few years ago. It is such a simple, beautiful idea for the holidays.

something you want
something you need
something to wear
something to read

i found these beautiful tags to go along with each gift and they can be reused year after year.

image {dandee}

image {dandee}

what is your gift giving tradition?

advent elves

i received my first advent calendar when i was a little girl. it was handmade by my grandmother "fritz" who lived in wisconsin. i only saw her every few years as we lived in pennsylvania. she was a wonderfully creative woman. her advent calendar was a simple red felt banner with 24 hershey kisses tied to it with a bell at the bottom. she included a poem to go along with it (i don't know who the original author is):

december 1st to christmas
is the longest time of year

seems as though ol' santa
never will appear

how many days till christmas
it's so mighty hard to count

so this candy ribbon
will tell the exact amount

untie a candy every night
when the sandman casts his spell

christmas day will be here
by the time you reach the bell

Sadly that advent calendar is now long gone. I wanted to continue the tradition with my children. Instead of candy ribbons though, each child has an elf with the little pockets for trinkets and treats.

love their little feet

you don't have to spend a lot of money
these little treats were bought at party city, most for under 10 cents

the kids are so excited for december 1st and their first little treat. what kind of advent calendar do you have?

frosting for the cause

i'm guest posting over at frosting for the cause today. you can read my post here. thank you, paula, for letting me be a part of your wonderful project.

a charlie brown thanksgiving

every year i co-host a charlie brown thanksgiving at our cute little library. the kids make a cute thanksgiving craft, watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving", and then gobble up a feast just like ol' chuck and the gang.

the library all decked out in its thanksgiving best


some vince guaraldi really sets the mood


happy thanksgiving!