Dec 31, 2017

A Blog Year in Review

With a new year on the horizon, I love taking the time to look back and see what the most popular posts were for the year!

Here are the top 5 posts of 2017...

| one| 

Such a special memory of my daughter's 4th birthday party! I remember planning this party like it was yesterday! Callee was such a fan of Finding Nemo and I remember having such a difficult time finding themed decorations. I had to make my own decorations and so glad I did :) Its comical to think how hard it was to find cuter decorations and than a couple months later Finding Dory came out and decorations were popping up left and right!


| two |

This rididcously easy project was such a fun gift to make for my daughter! And the best part is that she still uses it daily! The gift that keeps giving! Bonus when she's done using it whenever that day comes I can repurpose it as a coffee table!


| three |

This post goes hand in hand with my number one post! When I discovered how hard it was to find the decorations I was looking for I decided to make my own and share it with others in the same predicament!


| four |

One of my favorite paper goods I created! When The Little Mermaid was re-released on DVD/BluRay I was so excited to have a movie night with the hubby and little one! I had a million things going on that day but did that stop me from hanging streamers over our dining table...nope! These printables are still such a popular post on Pinterest too!



| five |

Charlotte's second birthday party was so fun to plan and who doesn't love Minnie & Mickey! This party was filled with lots of DIY and great Etsy finds! It was a great celebration for the youngest member of our family!


I hope you enjoyed this blog year in review!


xoxo
Jocelyn 

Dec 20, 2017

Diy Cookie Decorating Kit

As Cailee's class Room Parent I get the honor of attending and planning their class parties!
I knew their Christmas party would be a little hectic because they would be exchanging gifts so I opted to make their special treats a "to-go" item! 

So I put together these cookie decorating kits.


They loved them and were so eager to get home and decorate their cookies and of course gobble them all up at lighting speed!

These kits were ridiculously easy to put together and I made my life even easier by ordering the majority of the items online! I already had so many Christmas excursions to make so hunting down these items was not in the cards!


I grabbed the decorative Christmas baggies at the Dollar Tree.
The cookies,frosting and sprinkles were purchased at my local Albertsons.

Everything else I ordered on Amazon!

The cute little tags were a free printable I was able to get off of Pinterest!







I love how they turned out and can't wait to attempt this next year with mini gingerbread houses!

Amazon Finds:
*affiliate links*
- Wood coffee stir sticks used for icing the cookies

xoxo
Jocelyn

Nov 30, 2017

fall family photos

A few weeks ago I shared our family photo outfits and now I am happy to share 
that our family photos are here and they came just in time to order our Christmas cards!!

I was so nervous about how they would turn out because both girls weren't having it that day. Not to mention it was a bit windy and my eyes kept watering.

Our photographers are an amazing married couple and they have never disappointed us. So I should have known not to worry because they always manage to capture beautiful photos.

This years photos came out so well and I love them so much!!




Now I get to anxiously wait for our Christmas cards to arrive!!

xoxo
Jocelyn

Nov 25, 2017

Black Friday made me do it

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I hope everyone survived Black Friday...I know I didn't!

I had no intention of shopping yesterday and yet here I am sitting in my living with items I had no business buying yesterday!

I started the morning scrolling on Barnes and Nobles website where I bought another Elf on the Shelf and an Elf Pet. We already had an elf but with 20% off site wide I figured Hey why not add to the elf family! As if I don't already have enough on my plate lets add another elf to move every morning! PS Charlotte will be thrilled I just know it!

Second we made our way to Target in the afternoon because we ran out of diapers!
I came back home with...

A new Fuzzy Blanket that was on sale for $18 normally $39.99 (You can never have too many blankets..right?!!)
Christmas Flannel Sheets that were also on sale for $18 normally $26.99 (We needed new sheets anyways I guess we can celebrate Christmas year round)
Boss Baby DVD for $9 (the kids love this movie so we would eventually buy it anyways)
Pink ornaments for $10 normally $15 (we have so many ornaments in the garage but they aren't pink, so theres that )
Pink glitter star tree topper (not on sale but matched the new ornaments so that was a necessity)

We ended our shopping trip at Carter's where I bought the girls something they actually needed...pjs!!! I scored them 2 pjs sets each for $5 each!! Major win!!


Who else scummed to the crazy that is Black Friday???

Next year I swear I won't check my phone or emails and just watch Holiday movies all day long!

xoxo
Jocelyn

Nov 18, 2017

fall family photo outfits

Life has been pretty hectic around these parts! So hectic in fact, that I completely forgot about our fall family photo shoot tomorrow! 
Thankfully our photography emailed a reminder. 

As I was going thru the rest of my emails I stumbled across an email from Old Navy with the deals they had going on this weekend! So I packed up both girls and jetted off to Old Navy right when they opened!! 

I found outfits for everyone in less than 20 minutes...and for under $100!!!!

Thank you Old Navy for your amazing sale!!!

Here is what we are going for this year...
The hubby will be wearing navy pants and I think I will throw on a scarf that ties in all the colors!! Not gonna lie but I was a little hesitant of how all the colors would look together but when they were put side by side I knew it was just right!


Here is a photo from last years Fall Family photos!

I can't wait to see how much our family has changed in a year :) 

xoxo
Jocelyn

Oct 4, 2017

hocus pocus dani costume {easy diy}



As promised, today I am sharing how I made Cailee's Hocus Pocus "Dani" costume. 
I use the term DIY loosely because I essentially took pre-made items and turned them into what I needed. 

This costume was easy to put together but was rather time consuming. So if you are thinking of recreating this start now :)

Let's get right to it from top to bottom!

Hat
- I bought a witch hat from Target.
- I used orange felt to make a border on the brim! I used a glue gun for this! 
- I also added a mesh fabric(you only need like a scrap of it) around the base of the hat to resemble what I saw in the movie! I sewed on little pieces of plastic bead onto the mesh!



Scarf
- My grandma had knit a plain black scarf for me a few years back and I used it for the costume!
- I took this colorful yarn ($3.59) and cut it in to pieces and tied them around the border of the scarf! I stuck with yellow, orange, and reds for this!




Shirt
- I took this plain red shirt and cut off the neckline and made a small slit in the center. The idea was to make it look somewhat like a cape with it being sort of off the shoulder!
- I took some of the dark color yarn from above and cut little slits to make it look like you could tie the slit shut!
- I took gold felt and cut out moon and sun shapes! Than I sewed them onto the shirt! *You could glue gun them on too*
- I cut the bottom of the shirt as well in like a triangular pattern!
- She wore a black long sleeve shirt underneath.


         
                                      
Skirt

- We had purchased a black tiered skirt a few months before because Cailee had wanted to be Vanellope von Schweetz but than changed her mind to Dani! So we got lucky because I was still able to use it!
*This is what took me the longest because I hand sewed on the accents! 
- I used these three different trims on the skirt!
- Cailee wore red tights under her skirt!

                      




Now her costume isn't an exact replica of what Dani really wore in the movie but she loved it so much and Hocus Pocus fans knew exactly who she was ;)



I hope you find this helpful and inspires you! 
To see our family group costume all together click here!



xoxo
Jocelyn











Oct 3, 2017

Trader Joe's must have Fall Edition

On our latest Trader Joe's trip I decided before hand that I wasn't going to go Pumpkin flavor crazy! So out of all the delicious goodies to be seen we came home with these treats!


First up is the Fall Zucchette Pasta! The pasta is made up from butternut squash and is delicious! I got it merely because it looked like tiny little pumpkins and I knew the girls would love it! And now I am going to go and stock up while I can because they were that good! The hubby and I ate it with regular marinara sauce and the girls ate it with olive oil and Parmesan cheese! 

Second up and my absolute favorite from the trip! Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread! Delicious on bread, bagel and pretty much anything else! I especially love dipping apple slices into this amazing spread.

Third up is the Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli! Now this might sound strange but I loved this with a little pesto sauce! Definitely not something I could eat over and over again but once in awhile!

I have a few items I want to get on our next trip:
- the Autumnal Harvest Pasta Sauce
- Harvest Spice Trek Mix 
- Pumpkin Spice cookies

Any recommendations are welcome!! Leave must have treats I need to try in the comments below!

xoxo
Jocelyn


Oct 2, 2017

prayers for Las Vegas


Now more than ever we need to band together and be kind to one another.

My prayers are with all that have been affected by this tragedy.

xoxo
Jocelyn

Oct 1, 2017

hocus pocus family costume

It is officially my favorite time of year!

Halloween is just around the corner and we are trying to finalize costumes over here!

While I am avoiding making the hubbies costume, I will relish in memories of past Halloween costumes.

Two years ago we dressed up as Max, Thackery Binx, Dani, and Allison from Hocus Pocus.

It was by far my favorite costumes ever!


I fell in love with Hocus Pocus back in 1993 when I was just 5 years old and every year after that it has still remained my favorite movie of all time. 
A few fun facts:
1. For a very long time I watched Hocus Pocus every single morning as I got ready for school.
2. My first copy of the movie was an old vhs tape I used to record it off the tv. So when I watched the movie it also included commercials haha!
3. I am pretty sure that vhs I used may have been my older sisters 8th grade graduation video tape. Sorry sissy!
4. I am quite proud to say that both my girls are very fond of this beloved movie of mine and my oldest is the one who picked our costumes that year.

The best part of our costumes was  how easy they were to pull off (with the exception of Dani of course)!

For Max:
Navy or Grey cap with an upside down backwards "G" (I used this iron on)
Blue t-shirt 
Jeans
If its not boiling hot a Quilted Bomber jacket like this or this

For Thackery Binx:
Black Cat ears
Black tail (optional)
Black shirt or onesie
Black leggings or tights 

For Allison:
White or Cream Shirt
Khaki or Brown Cardigan like this or this
Jeans
Booties like this or this

I couldn't be more excited to share my super easy diy Dani costume with you all this week!

xoxo
Jocelyn

Sep 27, 2017

Cate & Levi

Being a Mom has taught me that I am a jack of all trades but lately finding ways to entertain my little one when big sister is away at school has been difficult.

Sure a two year old is easily entertained but I was the one getting bored of the same play routine! 

Enter Cate & Levi to the rescue!


This amazing company is based in Canada and they create the cutest hand puppets and stuffed animals! 

All their handcrafted items are made with reclaimed materials!

Charlotte got the cutest little cow puppet and hasn't put it down since we took it out of the package! Its so funny how something so simple can be the best toy and help nurture her little imagination! 

The stories she tells me using her hand puppet are the cutest!
BTW her hand puppet is called "Baby coo" and he eats "beggtiables" and likes to talk to trees!


He goes with us to drop off sister and tells us everything he sees while we drive!
It has definitely made for interesting car rides ;)


And because we can't just have one we already have our eyes on this little cutie...because every cow needs his Moose bestie!

I am not trying to rush the holidays but I already know what our kids stocking stuffers will be come Christmas! Not only do they have the cutest items for littles they have these diy stuffed animal kits that older kids are sure to love!!

If you have a little one in your life that loves pretend play (and what little kid doesn't!?!) you need to snag these cuties! My readers get 15% off their order with code "ihelpmoms15" when you spend $30 or more!!


xoxo
Jocelyn


*This post is in partnership with Cate & Levi and IHelpMoms.com*

         
       


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Aug 14, 2017

Monday favorite: Fit and Fresh

We are back home from a much needed family vacation! And now that we are officially back to reality we are also in full school preparation mode. 

With one school supply list quickly getting checked off everyday. I noticed a certain little someone was feeling a little left out. You see the baby, my two and half year old stays home with me. So what does that mean?! Package after package that arrived for Cailee with new school supplies meant no package for the little one! 

So when I got the opportunity to review an insulated lunch bag set from Fit & Fresh, I jumped at the chance! 

I'll tell ya this much...when that package arrived for little Miss Charlotte her eyes lit up with such joy! Her words to be exact "I big girl momma and I get big girl wunch". 

Yep my heart pretty much melted!


After having a kiddo in school for two years now I have pretty much nailed the lunch packing task! What I love the most about the Fit & Fresh lunch bag is that its insulated and comes in so many fun patterns! 




The lunch bag set we received came with: 

1 insulated zipper lunch bag with inside mesh pocket (mesh pocket perfect for napkins and utensils)
1 sandwich container (generous size fits more than just one sandwich)
1 one cup side container (loved that I knew exactly how much servings I was giving the kiddo)
1 reusable ice pack that fits into lid of the sandwich container (love love love this) 

In the past I have purchased all these items separately and paid a fortune! All these items come together for such a reasonable price and right now its less than $20!!


I need to make a point here and it might sound silly but is such a big deal to me! I can open these containers one handed!! And my little one can open them completely by herself! 

That my friends is a big deal to me lol #momlife!



When the containers are stacked together in the lunch bag you still have room on the sides to store more snacks!!

I can already tell we are going to get some good use out of this lunch bag this year!


 Gosh I can't help but love how she holds her lunch bag!! 

Guess what ladies my readers get 20% off their order with code "IHELPMOMS"! So if your still in need of some back to school lunch bags head over now!!!

xoxo 
Jocelyn

*This post is in partnership with Fit & Fresh and I Help Moms.com*



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