Recipe | Homemade Fingerpaints!

I've recently become involved (addicted) to Pinterest. I held off for as long as I could, and then one morning I woke up and decided to take the plunge. This was the first cool thing (among many) that I HAD to try!

Pinterest has taken me by storm!! I know all of those cool things are floating around the web in the first place, but to have them all in one place is sooo great! So, here is my first attempt at making homemade fingerpaints, and it worked pretty well. :)

What: Homemade Fingerpaints

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Water
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1/2 Cup of Cornstrach

What You Will Need:
Small Saucepan
Wisk
6 Baby Food Jars with Lids
Your Choice of Liquid Food Coloring

Directions:
In a small saucepan, wisk the ingredients together over a low/medium heat , JUST UNTIL the "sauce" begins to thicken. As soon as it does, remove from heat and continue to stir for a few more minutes.
*The thicker the "sauce" becomes, the harder it is to paint with when cooled.

Let the sauce cool off a little bit and then poor into jars. Then add a few drops of food coloring to each jar, stir until the desired color is reached.
*I found that adding the food coloring before the "sauce" has fully cooled, works better.

Continue to let them cool a couple of hours before using.

Happy Finger Painting!!

Everything CHRISTMAS! | Lights, Cookies, Santa and MORE! | Part One

Ah, Christmas! A wonderful time of the year. It seems we build up to Christmas all year long, only to have it over in minutes. haha! How about a quick recap?

Our tree, it went up after our company left in early December. It has survived Alexander, which is an accomplishment in itself. After having two girls who couldn't care less about the lights and shiny balls, Alexander's fascination with it all was overwhelming at times. haha! I can see why others put a baby gate up around it.


I tried, this year and last, to get to Santa with all three of The Littles. It just didn't work out that way this year. Alexander and Emily made it to see him, and Izzy went with her class. Izzy's photo was super cute and with a great Santa, but I haven't had the chance to scan it in. No one was afraid of Santa or cried, which I am always happy about. :)


I have always wanted to string my kids up, in lights. So this year I found some time to plug them in and let them have a go. It was fun and even Lucy took two seconds to pose for me.








The Littles decorated cookies.


Izabel had a Holiday Party at school, too. They decorated cookies, made some crafts and played some games. Daddy was able to be Room Dad this year while I stayed at home not feeling so well. They had a great time!


To Be Continued....

Wholesale Costume Club | White Snow Queen | Review

Friday, I announced the Winner of the Crayola giveaway, #7, Stephanie. She was very excited to win and has already been in contact with me to receive her gift pack. Thanks to everyone who played!

Now, I have another great product to tell you about! I've used this company several times for purchasing the coolest, most trendy and adorable costumes!

Wholesale Costumes Club!

Wholesale Costume Club offers an amazing variety of costumes for every event that you can imagine. Right now, it's all about Christmas Costumes! They have some very affordable Santa suits, Elves, Angels, Nativity, Reindeer and some tempting Mrs. Claus outfits too. Something for everyone!

In addition to the holiday themed costumes they offer, Wholesale Costume Club also offers a wide range of your favorite Princesses, Fairies, Superheros and MORE!

My selection to review came in the form of the White Snow Queen. This lovely costume is one of my favorite pieces that we have ordered from the Wholesale Costume Club. It's elegant and playful! It has the softest material used for the sleeve gloves and the most detailed silver and beaded details on the bodice and sash on the dress.

The quality is quite nice, especially when the girls get it on and traipse through the house and outdoors. haha! I do want to add that adding a couple of pieces of extra velrco in the back might be beneficial in the future to keep it looking fabulous!

The White Snow Queen costume from Wholesale Costumes Cbub is sure to make any little girl feel like the prettiest princess in all of the North Pole! I know my Littles really enjoyed the swishing and movement of the gown and how they could twirl around in excitement!

Halloween is not just the season for costumes anymore. More often than not, we've been having themed birthday parties. When adding a costume to your event, it's always a notch in the right direction.

Now, you may be wondering about the cost of such amazing costume pieces. They are AFFORDABLE! And there is always an abundance of clearance and closeout costumes. The above mentioned White Snow Queen costume retails for $39.99. Through Wholesale Costume Club, it's a fantabulous $21.96!

The website is super simple to use, with navigation being a breeze! There are categories regarding every holiday, sorting by age and sex, and even a slew of accessories to enhance EVERY costume!



This sparkly, iridescent color wand would make a great accessory to the White Snow Queen costume. :)

So, the next time you are in the market for a costume, of any kind, for anyone, check out Wholesale Costume Club. You won't be disappointed!

Happy 4th Birthday, Emily Rose!

My little Emmy turned four at the end of November, and last weekend we finally had her birthday celebration. We had family in and it was a perfect time to have a party.

We celebrated Seuss style, with Cat in the Hat!

Complete with Cat in the Hat marshmallow hats, Thing 1 and 2 cupcakes and One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish Jello cups!


Nanny made Emily a special Seuss Style birthday outfit, and it was amazing and oh so cute! Emily wore it for two days AFTER the party. lol!

I say it every time, in every birthday post for my Littles, but where has the time gone!? How in the heck did Emily get to be four years old? It really does seem like yesterday that she came into this world, screaming. haha!

And then the years came and went in a flash, and we loved every minute of it.

You are my little troublemaker, Emily! You push past limits I never thought I'd have to set. LOL! But you are a snuggle bug, a good sleeper and eater, and so very imaginative. You create the best stories, take good care of your babies and have the most hilarious laugh.

You are still a dinosaur maniac and can spit out dino names and facts in nanoseconds. It's your longest lasting obsession and I see no end in sight.

We love you Emily, and wish you the best in the coming year. Happy Birthday, Peanut! xxoo

Crayola Studio and Color Studio HD iMarker | Review and GIVEAWAY

This holiday season, let Crayola bring the smiles to your children's faces! I know my Little's will light up with anything Crayola under the tree.

Remember getting the super special box of 64 crayons with the pencil sharpener in the box? Or the special edition box with a "new" color? Now, let Crayola add a new layer of excitement this year, with their Crayola Story Studio AND exciting new iPad apps with an imarker!

Crayola introduces the Story Studio this year, featuring Spider Man, Disney Princesses and Cars 2.
The perfect sets to allow your Littles to create an amazing story. Spider man was my favorite, using a comic book style to imagine yourself and Spiderman, working together for justice. :) The kit also contains binding strips to bind your creation into a book you can read over and over.

Each Story Studio includes enough materials and supplies to make THREE story's. Special markers, pens or twist crayons are included as well. These sets retail for about $9.99 each.

My favorite Crayola product this year has been the iMarker, which works in conjunction with the ColorStudio HD ipad App. My Little's love our (my! :) iPad and there are more games than adult apps on it. ColorStudio HD takes coloring to the next level though, and it's awesome! Not only is it a virtual coloring book, but it's convenient and there is NO MESS! No water, no magically appearing ink! The coloring pages come to life with animated scenes, sound effects and hidden surprises. It really is as cool as it sounds!

• Kids can select from 64 colors in the digital Crayola 64 Box and then use the iMarker to create the look of Crayola crayons, markers, paints and colored pencils as the stylus interacts with an iPad. The digital coloring pages respond with movement and sound as the pages come alive as kids color.


• Animated images stop moving on the screen so kids can easily color them in without going outside of the lines, so objects look picture perfect when they start moving again. Tidy up your page with an eraser function or an "undo" arrow that removes larger areas of color.


• In addition, kids can save their work in a gallery to be emailed, printed or uploaded to Facebook (mom´s account, and with her permission and help of course!), and also free draw, play interactive games and create their own customized coloring pages they can print and color off-line.

These Crayola items are some of my favorite products that Crayola has created in the last year. The ease and fun of both the Studio Story's and the ColorStudio HD have brought lots of smiles and hours of fun to our kiddos.

So, do you want to win some for your very own Little? Here's your chance!

MyBlogSpark and Crayola gave me the opportunity to try out these amazing products AND they are offering one of my lovely readers the same package!
One of my blog readers will receive the following:

(1) Crayola Story Studio Comic Maker: Spiderman (1) Crayola Story Studio Fairy Tale Maker: Disney Princesses (1) Crayola Story Studio Adventure Maker: Disney/Pixar Cars (1) Crayola iMarker to use with the ColorStudio HD app for iPad (1) Free download of the ColorStudio HD app

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! This would make a fantastic gift under the tree!

*HERE'S HOW TO WIN*

Leave me a comment, telling me your favorite Crayola product! :)

Happy Commenting! Giveaway begins tonight and will end THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15th at Midnight! One winner will be chosen using random dot org and announced Friday morning. Winner will have 12 hours to respond or another will be chosen.