15 tips for a egg-tacular easter

Here’s some tips and ideas to make your Easter celebration memorable, beautiful and fun.

1. How Does She has some great non-candy Easter egg fillers the kids are sure to love, without missing the candy too much.

2. Kick up your hard-boiled egg up a cute notch with these adorable chick eggs on HGTV.

3. Give the most adorable favors we’ve ever seen with these ‘grown up’ easter baskets featured at Elizabeth Anne Designs.

4. At the end of the Easter egg hunt, have an egg popsicle treat ready for the kids to devour after all their hard hunting. Full tutorial found at Kailo Chic.

5. These would make adorable and healthy place cards for the kids, or a cute snack to bring to the kid’s school this week. Pottery Barn Kids has a full recipe and tutorial here.

6. Wants and Wishes created a fresh carrot centerpiece, and we couldn’t think of a better holiday for this look 

7. Don’t forget to decorate the outside of your house when your PEEPS arrive for the Easter celebration. Fill an up cycled window box with your favorite flowers. For a tutorial on how to create a beautiful window box, visit Hostess with the Mostess here.

8. Go one step further with your outdoor decor with a GORGEOUS wreath like this made at Laughing with Angels.

9. Find spring floral and brightly colored fabric and cut into triangles to make a spring bunting banner to add inside the house, or outside in the yard.

10. Everyone is talking about the color mint for this spring. So light, airy and refreshing. Add Essie’s Mint Candy Apple {available at Nordstrom} to the tips of your fingers for this Sunday’s celebration. If you really want to be trendy, make it a diagonal stripe with the other half of your nail being a nude color.

11. Make a refreshing spring cocktail your guests will love like this Ginger Goddess, made with SKYY Infusions Ginger Vodka, Kiwi Juice, Pear and Champagne

12. Set your table pretty in pink with a large vase of pink tulips in the center on top of a white table linen and crisp white, modern plates.

13. Think outside the egg when decorating this year’s batch and create Subway Art eggs like Lil Luna did. So creative! Full tutorial here.

14. Add a vintage touch to your table setting – we love all things vintage, so whether is an old birdcage, burlap bags, old wood boxes, antique vases, etc. –  make it happen. Our Vintage Home set a beautiful, simple table with a vintage vibe. Burlap bags found here.

15. I’m a DIY addict, so at least one thing on Sunday has to be DIY. I made Easter eggs with flower petals – and it was SO easy and I think they turned out pretty cute.

You Need:
Hydrangea {or flower with many petals}
Styrofoam easter egg {I found some at Hobby Lobby}
Push pins with a color ball at the end {in my case, I like yellow}

How To:
Pull petals off the flower and the hard small piece of plastic binding it together
Grab a pin, find a spot on the egg and push the pin in.
Continue until the egg is fully covered.


{images via HGTV, Elizabeth Anne Designs, Kailo Chic, Pottery Barn Kids, Wants and WishesBar None DrinksEpicurious, NordstromHostess with the Mostess, Laughing with Angels, spring banner: One Wed, Lil Luna, Our Vintage Home, Tutto Bella}

St. Patrick’s Day Lucky Charm Printable

Happy Friday. In honor of our Irish heritage {it’s small, but it’s there…and now its even greater since we married Irish men}, we have a Free Lucky Charms Printable for you today.

We used the printable, created by Fleur de Lis, a paperie, to create Fruity Cheerios necklaces for our kids and their friends.

BTW, this is a great activity to do with the kids. All you need is scissors, string {I used twine}, the labels and a box of Fruity Cheerios. Your kids can practice their fine motor skills and even color/pattern skills while creating sweet necklaces for their friends. Win, win if you ask me. 

These labels would work on a small box of Lucky Charms too!

We hope you follow our inspiration for St. Patty’s Day and more on Pinterest.

Click here to download the free Lucky Charms printable.

Side Note: Since we’re on the topic of breakfast…if you haven’t tried Agave Nectar in your coffee in the morning in place of sugar and the flavored, bad-for-you creams, you are MISSING OUT. I love the Hazelnut flavor – it’s my fave – however since I am celebrating all things Irish this month and I can’t have actual Bailey’s Irish Cream in my coffee every morning, this has been the perfect fix. Really, this line of Agave Nectar has transformed my mornings and cup of joe. Try it…and if you don’t like flavor in your coffee, but you like a little sweetness, try Organic Blue Agave. It’s sweet like sugar…but healthier than sugar. Cheers!

{images via Tutto Bella}

DIY Crayon Valentine for Kids

Last year we created cute labels {see here}, and this year we’re channeling our inner Picasso. Crayon art was all over Pinterest in 2012, so for our kids Valentine’s this year, we took our inspiration from the popular, child-friendly melted Crayon art.

We’ve taken that simple idea, and made it a fun, doable and unique Valentine’s Day card for our kids and their friends this year.

The poem, available for purchase can be found here at Fleur de Lis, a paperie on Etsy.

you make my heart melt, valentine
this crayon art is a gift from me to you,
on this valentine’s day, 
it’s the perfect project to do.

find your mom and dad before you start,
this beautiful, wonderful piece of art.

grab a blow dryer and hold close to crayons to apply hot heat
turn on low, and within minutes the melted art will be so neat.

put in your room or on display,
and think of me at the beginning or end of each day.

Here’s How You Can Do It Too…

Directions:
Use a pencil and ruler to measure the size of each valentine ‘favor’ {we decided to use 7 crayons for each child, which was about 4×8}.
Use the blade to cut along your lines {I also tried to use scissors, but the cut was not as clean due to the thickness of the board, so for a clean, more precise cut, use a razor blade}.
Get the kids help in picking 7 colors per friend.
Use a hot glue gun to glue 7 crayons {or as many crayons as you need to cover the width of your foam board} next to each other on the board.
Place in a cellophane bag, wrap with twine.
Cut the You Melt My Heart, Valentine labels, punch two holes in the top about an inch apart from one another, then loop the twine through and tie a bow.

This year, your kids’ friends will have a fun art project to do when they get home, and a Crayola masterpiece to cherish.

{images via Tutto Bella}

meet…saddle shoe signs

You were first introduced to Saddle Shoe Signs with our latest Peppermint Wonderland photo shoot, and today we are going to introduce the company to you, and the fabulously talented Meredith Moran – the woman behind Saddle Shoe Signs. Yes, this is the same Meredith of Meredith Moran Photography. Not only is she a fantastic photographer, but she also makes the signs with her own two hands. We’ve  seen her work up close and personal…and they are beautifully handmade. In fact, we want some of our own!
Saddle Shoe Signs are vintage-inspired marquee lights.  Our signs are rented by the letter so customers can spell whatever they’d like, creating a custom sign perfect for their event,” Meredith said. “There are so many people out there buying “Eat, Drink & Be Married”, or ” I Do”  signs for their weddings, only to be stuck with the sign after the wedding (& we all hope there isn’t going to be another wedding!), or stuck with the hassle of giving it away, selling it, or just throwing it away.  How about the grand opening for your store or restaurant?  No need to be stuck with a “Grand Opening” sign after the “grand opening”.”
Rental prices are $35/letter for the first 2 letters, $25/letter after that. Outside of Denver, there is a minimum 3 letter rental, in addition to a mileage fee for traveling outside Denver. They deliver and install signs. All rental letters are red, but Meredith can make a letter in a different color for an additional fee.
For all you blissful brides out there, Meredith sweetened the deal. If you book her for your wedding, you can get a sign for free. Click here to see her portfolio.
Letters are also available for sale on Etsy {how cute would these letters be in a home…I can just see JOY on my mantle next Christmas}, and are made with heavier/high quality material. You have the option to choose from 20+ colors. Visit Saddle Shoe Designs on Etsy here.

valentine’s day printables

We have cutesy kid-and-adult-friendly DIY Valentine’s for…all the hot mama’s, the stud{s} in your life, all the cutie’s and for those who make you giggle! Some are healthy and others are not, but they are all adorable, and for Valentine’s Day, that’s all that really matters, right?

The original and new files {revamped with stripes} are available for a $3 purchase here.

DIY Adult Valentine’s

you are one hot mama
{fill the bag with hot tamales, fold over the custom tag and staple closed}

happy valentine’s day stud muffin
{fill the bag with a homemade poppy-seed muffin, fold over the custom tag and staple closed}

Poppy-seed Muffin Recipe
Makes 12 muffins
recipe adapted from our wonderful mom

Add the following ingredients to a large bowl and mix:
2 cups flour
1/8 cup poppy seeds {a used a little more, but less than 1/4 cup}
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Add 2 eggs{1 at a time} to the above ingredients and mix well

Add 1 cup plain yogurt and 2 tsp. almond extract and mix into the rest of the mixture.

Put the muffin mixture in baking cups and bake in the oven on 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes {It took me about 18 minutes}.

DIY Kid Valentine’s

i think you are quite a cutie
{fill a bag with clementines, fold the custom tag over the top of the bag and staple closed}

friend, you make me laffy
{fill the bag with laffy taffy for your silly friends, fold the custom tag over the bag and staple closed}

The original cutie file {the orange bubble}, can be bought here.
The original laffy taffy file {the blue bubble} is available too.

{images via j. sorelle}