100th day of school self-portraits

today is the 100th day of school at my children's school. i came across this adorable self-portrait idea on pinterest and thought it would be a great classroom activity for my daughter's 1st grade class. her teacher agreed! we did some practice portraits at home first; one for each of my children.
what will i look like when i am 100 years old?






aren't they cute? and they are so easy.
here's what you need:
black card stockpatterned cardstockmanila folders (for faces)white painters penpaper doiliesbuttonsbeads cotton ballsgoogly eyes




i cut each piece of clothing and let the kids draw their own faces and arrange their hair




i love how each portrait had its own personality






wouldn't they look darling in a shadowbox frame and hung in a mudroom or kitchen?

anti-valentine's day??

not everyone LOVES valentine's day...and if you are one of them, here are some great etsy finds to thumb your nose at this holiday!
{image: inkprintletterpress}

{image: iswan}


{image: lippinscottsoapco}

{image: gnomesweeetgnome}

{image: hawthorneave}

this is a set of cookies i have been making for the last few years and they always sell out!!


so, what are your feelings on valentine's day?

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?