Toddler Flashcards

You know those 18 month old kids that talk like they are 3? These children are terrible for first time moms who assume that if another child is forming sentences as 18 months mine should be too! Well I served in Nursery for my church and heard a lot of young talkers. This made me kind of nervous that when my child was 2 she was still only saying 25 words. Luckily a few months she was talking well, but I wanted to help her to learn the best that I could.

 A few months ago I bought a laminator for a project and then I wondered what to do with it.  I found some great ways to use my laminator and it has been very helpful protection for paper that my 2 year old is too tempted to rip up! One of best things I did was create these little laminated flash cards for Lyla.

 I cut the letters, shapes, and numbers out on my Cricut machine and then laminated each one. So far they have been indestructible which is amazing which my child. (Yes that "E" is in her teeth)

I put them in my purse and use them all the time when we are waiting at restaurants or doctors, or when I am shopping at a store she will go through them. It has been a great tool for learning and has really helped her know her letters, numbers, and shapes very well. What do you use to teach your child? I would love to hear some of your ideas!

Happy Weekend!

-Bre

Veggie Cream Cheese

If there's one thing you should know about me its that I LOVE DIPS! They are my comfort food. I'm pretty sure I've never eaten a raw vegetable by itself. In fact, when there was no veggie dip around the house I would dip carrots in A1 sauce.... yeah, I may have a problem. 

It seems my daughter has inherited the same love of dips so we often feast on Hummus and guacamole for lunch. This week I bought some Asiago cheese bagels and I dreamed of an incredible veggie spread to put on it. Then I thought that I could make this spread happen.

 I chopped up some carrots, peppers, green onions, radishes, parsley, and basil from my garden.

 I stuck it in my food processor on high for a minute.

 Then I put it on the bagel! It was incredible and life changing. Maybe I will dedicate my life to creating amazing dips to put on food. Enjoy this recipe!

Veggie Cream Cheese

Ingredients
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/2 c. red pepper
1/4 c. green onions
1/4 c. carrots
1/4 c. radishes ( or celery if you like that more)
1 tsp. fresh basil
1 tsp. fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Directions
Chop up vegetables. Put room temperature cream cheese, vegetables, and garlic salt in food processor. Blend on high for 1 min. Serve.

Design Tips For Children's Beds

I was lucky enough to have a Mom and a sister that are both amazing Interior Designers. The one thing my Mom always taught me is to never just buy a bedding set. They are usually expensive and not very creative.

For example, this bedding below is really kind of boring. The point is why buy what someone else put together when you can make something totally original!

Tip 1: Start with a statement piece to build off of
Find something you are in love with, a pillow, a quilt, a duvet and start from there. When we first moved to Virginia my Mother came to visit and surprised me with this gorgeous colorful quilt made by my neighbor. I love having quilts that are made by friends and relatives. Someday I am going to get up the nerve to sew a quilt, but I know they never look as beautiful! I have been holding onto to this one to be the statement piece for Lyla's big girl bed.


 I wanted the bed to be fun and colorful, but I didn't want it to be too bright. I decided that a white duvet would help it be fun, but clean and calm. 

My inspiration came from some of these Pottery Barn Kids bed designs. I liked the way they used the sheets to add a splash of color and quilts at the bottom of the bed.

Tip 2: Look for bedding at multiple stores
Chances are you won't find all of the best stuff or the best prices at one store. (Also you will fall into the trap of buying the set they put together and I know you can make it look better!)  I actually took the quilt around with me to many different stores to find a matching Euro pillow cover. I was so excited when I found this one with the colorful stripes that matched perfectly at Bed, Bath, & Beyond (when you sign up for emails from them they have some great discounts and coupons). The other small pillows I got at TJMaxx for a great price. Other great places to find good bargains on bedding are at Tuesday Morning, Costco, jossandmain.com, and even Target.

Tip 3: Beware of clashing patterns
Too many patterns in a bed will look bad, trust me! If you have a big pattern as the main duvet or blanket choose small patterns as accents or vice versa. Mixing in a solid is also very helpful to the overall look. Now some people might prefer a busy look like this pictured below... but it has too many big bright patterns for my taste.

However, this bed works well because it has a big circle pattern and smaller complimentary patterns as accents.

Tip 4: Don't shy away from Bed skirts
Why? They can really add the finishing touch to the look of a bed. However, I think the best part is you can store stuff under the bed! We all know that you can never have enough storage for kids.

Tip 5: You can never have too many pillows... well maybe
Pillows are fun! Yes it makes it harder to make the bed (my husband complains all the time) but it looks so much better! With pillows you can have fun with different colors, textures, and patterns that really make the bed have a completed look. Here are some examples of a good use of pillows.

Beds should not be ignored but should be the centerpiece of a room. Involve your child in designing the bed with you so it reflects their own style and personality.

I loved how Lyla's bed turned out and hope you found these little tips useful. Please share any more great bedding tips you have below!

-Bre

A New Way To Hide N' Seek

One of my favorite games growing up was Hide N' Seek. My parents had a unique design to their house so there were a lot of different nooks and crannies a kid could discover. I tried to teach it to Lyla, but she didn't quite grasp the concept. It became more of a game of Peek A Boo between us. I improvised by hiding all of her Disney Princess Dolls around the house and having her go find them. 

Queen Elsa hiding so cleverly

Fairies like babies

Can you guess which princess is under here?

Gotta get them all! 

It may sound crazy, but since playing this game I feel she is a lot better at finding things than the was before. Lyla also practices counting while I hide the dolls and has improved greatly. She now counts to 13 and then skips through a lot of different numbers. My favorite thing is when she goes to hide the dolls she throws them in the middle of the room and screams, "READY!" 

 This has become a great game that we play quite often. Find the stuffed animals in your house today and give it a try!

Make Your Own Blanket

I will begin this post by admitting that I am NOT a great seamstress. A couple years ago I decided I needed to develop some homemaking skills. Sewing was on the list of things I desired to work on and I have begun to enjoy it.

In preparation for our big Disneyland trip I took Lyla to the store to pick her own fabric for her blanket. She of course chose a fabric with all of her very favorite Disney princesses. It was actually pretty hard to convince her to let me sew a blanket she loved the fabric so much.

Here is a short tutorial.

For this blanket I had 1 1/2 yards of each fabric. Begin by pinning the 2 fabrics together with their correct sides facing each other. Make sure to use a lot of pins! Sew around almost the entire blanket, but leave a 4 inch gap to flip the blanket.

 After the blanket is flipped, sew the opening shut.

 Next for the trim, measure the length of your blanket and cut four strips of fabric. For this blanket I chose an 8 inch width for each strip. Then iron each strip as shown in the picture above. Then sew the four strips together along the edges.

 Carefully pin each strip around the edge of the blanket. It always nice to have a cute helper handing you pins.

 There are a lot of different ways to do corners. I do a cheater way that I fold it over and pin it. (See picture below)

For this blanket I thought it would be fun to do a whimsical design along the trim. It ended up being a fun activity for us to do together and Lyla loves her princess blanket made by her mommy.