2 easy crafts in 1 day!!

I was recently introduced to this thing called Freezer Paper Stenciling, actually... I found it because I started to read my friend, Emily's, blog: La Force Be With You, and she posted about it and I was immediately intrigued by the idea. I am always looking for fun new crafty things to do. You never know when all this crafty stuff may come in handy (especially with little ones).

Turns out all you need is a shirt (check), freezer paper (check), and fabric paint (check), woo hoo!! Well, it also helps to have a Silhouette machine (no check on that), but I really only wanted to do a a mickey head on a onesie so I had my handy dandy exacto knife. All I did was print out a mickey head, trace over the design on the freezer paper and voila, I have a pattern. Then I put the shiny side down (psst, this is important!! otherwise the freezer paper may stick to your iron), and proceed to iron your pattern onto your shirt. After a coat or two of the fabric paint I was done!

Here is the final product:

I mean how easy is that?!

My Second craft of the day, well... it's not really a craft, it's more of a thing I've been meaning to do for, oh... 4 months now :) But it's done now!!! In Charlotte's room my dad built her a shelf to put all her toys on, and we bought some of those cheap collapsible boxes that you can find at target and walmart, etc. The only problem is trying to put everything away. She's got so many playmobil, little people, roll around balls, blocks, flash cards that you have to pull out every box to figure out where this stuff goes. Again, it's not THAT big a deal, but I've wanted to do this for a while... so I did it!

I used some old scrapbooking paper, printed out the labels, laminated them, and attached them to the boxes. In total, about a 10 minute (ok... maybe 15 with Charlotte helping me glue) job and voila... project #2 of the day is complete!

Fast flats saved me in Vegas...

Ok, so not really... but these things are awesome!

My husband and took our first trip to Vegas this past week and while I was packing my dress shoes I thought to myself, it's Vegas... go big or go home, right? So , did I pack my low reasonable black heals? No... I packed my super high heels that aren't super comfortable.

Jump ahead to our second night there: This is our dress up night, so I put my little dress on and my shoes. They feel pretty comfortable, for about an hour. Before going to vegas I didn't realize how much you WALKED! It's a strip, I thought, so it shouldn't be too bad. Ugh! That night I got home to blisters across the straps and sore sore feet (which thankfully my husband rubbed for me). See I was GOING to bring my flip-flops in my purse, but I had to chose between my camera and the flip-flops... and we know which one I chose.

So the next day, we are passing a Walgreens and instantly the fast flats commercial popped into my head so I run in and find these things for $15. They're pretty cheap, but hey... the point of them is only to have some semblance of cover for your feet so you aren't walking around barefoot (which, by the way, we saw some girl doing the night before. Down the sidewalk in vegas. Gross)

That night we go out in Jeans, so no more strappy sandals, but I AM wearing my high healed boots, so I slip these fast flats into my purse (yes they do fit with my camera) and off we go. 6 hours later we are 3 casinos away and about to begin out walk home when I stop my husband, take my boots off, and slip these fast flats on.

The walk home was amazing!

I highly highly recomend these.

Evening walk with 2 kids + 1 really large dog

I am going to start by saying I have a newfound love of my Ergo Baby Sport.

I just got back from a walk with my 2 daughters, 3.5 months and almost 2 years, and our very large laboradoodle. I'm not sure if you know what one of those looks is, but he's a mix between a standard poodle (yes, the big ones) and a laborador; so picture a lab with long legs and a perm. So anyway, up until this point, I was using a double side by side combi stroller that I had gotten on craigslist for our nightly walks. Don't get me wrong... I love this stroller (and the price was perfect), but it's not ideal for our nightly walks because the sidewalk is littered with uneven cracks and lifted edges and trying to get those tiny wheels over the curb with my 2 year old leaning forward is just about impossible without giving her whiplash.

Earlier today I brought out my Ergo baby sport to see if my youngest had the head control for it (they say not to use it without the infant insert until 4 months), but it seemed to work well. Heck, she even fell asleep in it. So for this evenings walk I decided to put her in my carrier, but Charlotte, my oldest, in her brand new Radio Flyer wagon that grandma and grandpa gave her for Christmas, and leave the dog on his gentle leader leash. I have to say that it was one of the best walks we've had in a while. Jillie was happy, Charlotte had a ball going back and forth between the seats on the wagon; the only one who wasn't thrilled was the dog who was kept on his short leash, but with 2 kids he's lucky he's getting a walk as it is.

I bought my Ergo carrier when Charlotte was a few months old after a college friend recomended and thought it was pretty neat. Although with 2 kids, this thing is fantastic! Now that my youngest is old enough for it, no more squeezing the double stroller through small doorways, no more ring sling (which worked ok for me), and no more HotSling (which I was NOT a fan of).