gift giving and wrapping

I can hardly believe that Christmas is next month!?!? Usually by this time I already have most of my shopping done. Not this year. We're trying something different with our boys this year. Have you heard of this:

via

We'll see how it goes?? I'm going to really try and stick to it this year. Between Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, they end up receiving way too many gifts and it's just too much. That's not what Christmas is about anyway, right!? So, the four gift rule is really making me put a lot of thought into our gifts for our boys. Do you follow any gift giving rules for Christmas?

Speaking of gifts...last year kraft paper and washi tape were on trend for Christmas gift wrapping and I have to admit it's a trend that I fell for and LOVE! 

Instead of using gift tags, I must have had some extra time on my hands made personalized ornaments for the gift recipient using a photo I took of them from the year. 

These were a hit, especially for the parents. They were very happy to have a picture ornament of their child.

I also made them for the Grandparents using a picture of them with the grandkids.

I made some for our tree, too.

Photo Gift Tag/Ornament

Here's what you'll need to make them:

Wood cutout pieces (Michaels)

old book

Mod podge

Sponge brush

twine

drill

photos

scissors

I bought the wood cutout pieces at Michaels, but these are similar. I had the pictures printed in black and white. 

I then traced the shape of the wood piece onto a book page, cut it out and then mod podged the book page to the wood piece.

 Then mod podged the photo (cut a little smaller than the book page) to the book page. I brushed on the mod podge to the front, back and sides of the wood piece. You'll want to do several coats of mod podge (drying in between)

 Once it was completely dry, my husband drilled a hole through the top. 

How about making one using your families Christmas card photo and making one every year? Or using a picture of your tree on Christmas morning??

 I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break to catch up on some Christmas shopping and crafting!

xoxo,

 

A {Breakfast} Birthday Party

My littlest man turned 7 during Summer.  Crazy!?! How is my baby 7?!?  I have a hard time with every birthday, but 7 is just a hard one for me! It just seems old??

When we asked him what kind of party he wanted..well, actually let me correct that by saying we asked him what kind of food he wanted to have at his party (he is a foodie) he quickly replied "BACON!" I wasn't completely shocked because a few weeks prior we hosted brunch for family that was in town for my brother in laws wedding and the kiddos thought having everyone over for breakfast was the coolest thing ever!

So, bacon it is. Although I'm sure most kids would have been fine with just being served bacon, we also decided on waffles, fruit toppings, powdered sugar, whip cream and a cereal bar. Just to make sure everyone's kids had enough sugar to last them the whole weekend, we had a DONUT cake too! We even topped off breakfast with a piñata. It was a complete sugar fest and I'm pretty sure every kid needed to detox after they left...but hey, you only turn 7 once, right? Thank God it wasn't a sleep over!

I used craft paper as the table cloth and used colored duct tape to hold the two pieces together.

Since there ended up being a lot of blank space on the table, I decided to write the names of the food being served with a chalkboard pen.

We put the cereal in glass jars because it just looks cuter that way.  Actually, since the party we've left the glass jars out on our counter filled with cereal. The boy's like having their own cereal station and I love that they can get their breakfast themselves. No more cereal boxes left open to get stale and I can always see when we're getting low on cereal. Oh, the little things that make me happy!

And here's one happy, sugar loaded 7 year old!

On my littlest man's actual birthday he also learned how to change a tire.  Yup, that's how we roll.

He is a man in training, after all. He was very proud, but not as proud as his daddy! I love watching my little men get down and dirty and learn new "manly things" Cracks me up that he wanted to wear gloves!

Disclaimer:  I am fully aware that my child's hair is the definition of bed head!

xoxo,