Valentine's Day Toddler Gift Bag

Hi all!

Today I'm super excited to share with ya'll that I'm being featured over on The Twinery Blog! A sneak peek is shown above :) If you'd like, head on over there to check out the super cute Valentine's Day gift bag that I created for our toddler using The Twinery's fabulous twine! 

>> Check out The Twinery Blog here <<

While you're there, be sure to check out all of the fabulous other guest bloggers that have been featured there lately with other Valentine's Day inspiration! And definitely head over to The Twinery's Shop to grab some fantastic twine, and made in the USA!!

Need some ideas as to what to gift your little sweetie this Valentine's Day? Here's what I included in my bag for our toddler- a mix of fun Frozen gear and sweet heart items :)
(NOTE: please exercise caution/supervision when giving small children small items) 

notebook

stickers

playing cards

coloring book

puzzle

mini tin lunchbox

DIY hairband (instructions below!)

socks

more stickers

chocolates

"magic" expanding bath foam animal capsules

DIY magic wand 

(instructions how to make the wand over on The Twinery blog above!)

 DIY Hairband 

I made my girlie a quick hairband using items I picked up at Target. The hairband and clips can be found in the, well, hair product section, and I picked up the felt flower from the Dollar Spot you can find in most Targets, usually near the entrance. 

The felt flower had a clothespin attached to the back, so I carefully peeled that off. I whipped out my hot glue gun, chose a clip, and glued the flower to the two tips of the clip. I then clipped it on the hairband. Easy peasy! I love that by using the clip, the hairband decoration is interchangeable :)

(Last Minute!) Toddler Gift Ideas

Wow! How is it already the last weekend before Christmas? Is anyone else fixing to pick up some last minute gifts this weekend? Thankfully I've had mine done for a while (had to plan ahead since baby #2 will be here any day!) but I thought I'd share some ideas that might be perfect for the toddler in your life! My favorite places to score good deals are Target (especially the dollar bin section!), Marshalls, Homegoods, TJMaxx, eBay, Walmart, Etsy, local antique/thrift stores, and Zulily. Also, remember that if you have Amazon Prime, you still have time to order most of your gifts in time to get them under the tree! So here we go...
*please note that many of the below links are affiliate links- by purchasing through these links, I do receive a small payment to help support our family!*

31 Days: Christmas Gift Trackers

Good afternoon, friends! 

Welcome to today's FREE printable I'm sharing for you to add to your Holiday Planner, if you'd like! We're spending the month preparing a Holiday Planner to help organize everything for the fall & winter holidays. We're officially halfway through the series, but if you're dropping in for the first time, check out my beginning post...

Creating A Holiday Planner in 31 Days!

Below is 2 FREE blank printables where you can keep track of all your gifting needs during the Christmas season! These printables could go in one of two places- the Christmas divider tab or the Christmas-related Gifting divider tab- depending on how you set up your own planner!

As I mentioned above, there are two great printables here for you today...

• Christmas Gifting- as you start buying gifts or just starting coming up with ideas, jot them down on this planner! Includes a place to write down the person who you're gifting to, an overall budget for that person, what the gift idea is, the source (store, website, etc.), the cost of the gift or cost estimate, and then a place to check off once you've wrapped the gift and once you've gifted the gift! 
• Christmas Gift Ledger- on Christmas morning, or once you get home from gift exchanges, simply jot down all the gifts your family has received- both who the gift was to and from, what the gift was, and then there's a spot to check off once you've written a "thank you" (TY) note!

I know I've found both of these printables to be SUPER useful during our holiday season. Do you think you too will be using these this year? I sure hope you find them as helpful as I have :)

( Download your FREE Gift Tracker bundle here )
includes BOTH of the above lists in one handy file!

Irish Inspiration: Toddler St. Patty's Day Gifts

Hey all!

So since St. Patrick's Day is such a big deal in our home what with my Irish heritage and all, we do St. Patty's Day baskets, much the same as the whole Easter basket tradition. I thought I'd share our toddler-appropriate gift items, which would really work well for Easter baskets, birthday gifts, or Christmas stockings too! And don't forget to check out the other fun Irish Inspired posts from this week...

Mon: GF Irish Soda Bread & Potato Leep Soup 

Tues: Kid-Friendly DIY Wreath

Wed: Toddler St. Patty's Day Gifts (that's today!)

Thurs: St. Patty's Day Crafts with (or for) Wee Ones

Fri: St. Patty's Day Mantel DIY Tips

Alrighty... and now onto the gift ideas for the wee cuties in your life ;)

(1) Books
We're a big fan of Tomie dePaola around here. He has fun illustrations and a great way of telling stories. Two of my favorite St. Patty's day books are Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato as well as Fin M'Coul, the Giant of Knockmany Hill (which she got last year, but would be much more appropriate for toddler age).  There are a great many Irish books out there- do you have any favorites?

(2) Food
OK, so I don't usually condone sweets per say, but this little one takes after her father and is a chocolate fiend already! We try to limit it to just a few small pieces. I hid a few chocolate mints in some green camo Easter eggs as well as some green-foil-wrapped Hershey kisses in a small container wrapped with a yellow tulle bow! Some other non-sugar ideas (which she'll actually be getting in her Easter basket!) would be Happy Baby Apple Kale Super Toddler Bars or Happy Baby Green Puffs (also available in green apple flavor).

(3) Stuffed Animals
Our little one loves her stuffed animals- her collection is already rivaling mine when I was little! Some of her current green stuffed animals were actually passed down from me, like Shamrock the Saint Patricks Bear by Ty. The one pictured is Skully, the parrot from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, one of her favorite shows to watch on Netflix!

(4) Shiny Things
If your little one is anything like mine, anything that flashes or blinks and/or has buttons is golden! The one bracelet we picked up at our local zoo, and the other one has LEDs in it, so it flashes when you hit the button on the side. She loves it! I picked up a whole pack of a few colors- we'll be bringing the extras to Disney World in the fall, so she has something to play with during the evening parades :)

(5) Clothing
Let's be honest- the little ones grow like weeds and are always in need of some new threads! Now is a great time to check out the clearance sections at your favorite stores for next year's St. Patty's goodies! Check your local consignment stores too! The leg warmers shown here I made from women's knee socks last year. The Minnie tee is from Old Navy. The flip flops are for her dress up kit- they were actually a gift for me (she loves wearing my shoes! What wee one doesn't, really? hehe) but I don't enjoy the plastic flip flops so off they went into her stash!

(6) Motor Skills
I didn't actually buy anything new to make this piece of her basket. I rounded up some green pom poms, pipe cleaners, and straws and stuck them in an empty sugar canister. She loves dumping everything out and then putting everything back in- bonus points for getting her to work on her motor skills with this "toy."

(7) Arts & Crafts
I ordered some Crayola construction paper, cut up some white, orange, and green pieces, stapled them together- instant Irish flag coloring booklet! She got some fresh Crayola Pip-Squeak Markers (perfect for little hands) and Crayola Triangular Crayons, but only the green, orange, and white shades for today!

(8) Stickers
This little one just adores anything remotely related to a sticker. She got two variations in her basket this year- first, some adhesive foam shamrocks which came in three shades of green as well as some simple removable office color coding labels in green. Be sure to stick with kids stickers or ones that are marked "removable" or you might be scraping stickers off everything for weeks!

(9) AND (10) DIY Crafts
Check back in tomorrow where I'll show you how to make these super simple Irish-inspired crafts either FOR your little ones or WITH your little ones!

Hope to see ya'll tomorrow, friends :)
God bless,
Shauna


**Disclosure NOTE:  This article contains affiliate links. 

Easy DIY Christmas Ornaments

Hey all!!
So I love making Christmas ornaments... this year we won't be making one because we're traveling extensively throughout this holiday season, and I'm instead using the time at home sewing Christmas outfits for the wee one! Anyhoo, here's a roundup of some previous ornaments I've made and links to read my prior posts on how to make each of them. Enjoy :)

(1) Ribbon Roll Ornaments

Super easy and could be a fun craft for even the kids to make! 

(2) Ribbon Ball Ornament

Very easy- great for mass producing if you give out ornaments to family & friends!

(3) Money Gift Ornament

A fun way to gift money!

(4) Cross Stitch Ornament

Tons of easy designs can be found in magazine and online! 

.: linking up here :.
December Point of View @ Organize and Decorate Everything

Handmade Gift- cross stitch ornament

So I'm not one for skipping holidays- Thanksgiving is actually one of my favorite holidays because both sides of our family always get together each year for big turkey dinners :) Love that it's a holiday that has really become about great food and great family!
With that said though, I did want to share this ornament that I'd made for a Silent Auction gift basket I donated! I'm getting started on Christmas gifts already too, since some require a bit of time to make- like a few other cross-stitch gifts I'm working on (I'll share once they're done!). This is a great gift- handmade and pretty cheap to make!

• embroidery floss- $1 each color
• cross stitch fabric- already had, recently bought some more at $6 for a big sheet
• frame- $1 at Michaels
• ribbon (to hang)- already had, ~$2.50 for a whole roll

So you can see how you could make a lot of these out of one set of supplies!! :) You could also dress it up with some beads for the holly berries or a twine/floss bow on the wreath!

This pattern was from Just CrossStitch magazine, but recently I've found a lot of beautiful patterns for free online. Cross stitch is really easy to learn, and make for some great personal handmade gifts :)

linking up here...

Frugal Fridays @ Life As Mom

Handmade gifts :: framed diecuts

So here's a super simple DIY handmade gift! And the best part is, depending on what diecut you use, it could be perfect for any holiday or occasion! Customize the shape for the holiday, season, or maybe what your giftee enjoys- use their favorite colors, if they like dogs you could find a cute doggie cut out, if they like sewing you could use great buttons instead, use umbrellas for a baby shower or wedding shower decor, the sky's the limit!

.: materials :.

• frame
• background paper
• die cut (or other items to frame)
• 3-D pop dots

.: instructions :.

{1} remove glass from frame

{2} cut background paper to the size of your frame

{3} measure your die cut, and approximate how many will comfortably fit in your frame

{4} cut out die cuts, if needed

{5} attach die cuts to background paper using 3-D pop dots **

{6} assemble frame and gift away!

** a few things I found useful during this step...

- I assembled this with the frame around the background paper, not attached in the frame yet, but just resting on the table around the paper. It helped visually space the die cuts.

- I also assembled this with my Olfa sewing cutting mat under my project. I aligned the frame/background paper with the measurements on the mat so I knew I was roughly spacing the die cuts evenly. You could also simply put a ruler along either side to help with spacing too!

linking up here...

handmade gifts: post-it note holder

hey all!! Checkin in here with a super simple, quick and easy handmade gift- perfect for birthdays or Christmas! Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us... but not before one of my favorite holidays- Thanksgiving :)

Anyhoo, here's a little tutorial for this easy gift!

Since you can buy a single set of supplies and make a lot of holders out of them, I'd say rough cost per holder is probably around $5!!! :) You can make it super cute and girly or simple and masculine! Not to mention it's practical! Love practical (but fun!) gifts ;)

.:. one 12"x12" piece of patterned paper can make ~4 holders

.:. one roll of ribbon can make at the least 2-3 holders, many many more if it's a longer roll of ribbon!

.:. buy one bag of pretty pens and you can make a whole bunch of holders

.:. buy a stack of the post-it notes and make a whole bunch of holders!

.: materials :.

- acrylic photo frame {mine was actually leftover from our wedding centerpieces!}

- patterned paper

- ribbon(s)

- post-it notes

- pen

- glue

.: instructions :.

{1} cut patterned paper to the size of the photo frame

{2} insert paper into photo slot in frame

{3} cut and tie ribbon around top edge of frame

{4} cut ribbon loop and adhere to edge of frame

{5} securely glue post-it notes to frame, covering the edge of the ribbon loop

{6} add pen and gift away! :)

sharing here...

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

31 Days :: day 17- Gifting List

Day 17:: Gifting List

Today's list is a Gifting List- a great place to keep track of friends and family's birthdays, anniversaries, clothing sizes, favorite colors, etc. Bring this list with you when you go shopping so you have all the info you need on hand in order to pick out the perfect gift for your loved one! Fill in the person's favorite store so you can get the perfect gift card for a special occasion!

The printable includes a few blank spots- fill in any other important dates to remember about that person or any other favorite things. :)

{printable here}

frugal JOY

Here's a quick and frugal gift, and you could personalize this for any celebration or holiday. Give as a birthday gift and spell out the recipient's name. Make a set for each season: "summer" "autumn" "winter" "spring" to use as home decor. There are so many possibilities!!

So I made this as a gift for my MIL this year. It came together pretty quickly- cut out the letters {I freehanded them, but next time I'll bring out a font and trace}, distressed the edges with some tearing and ink, added the sentiment stamp, the snowflake and button, a few embellies and done!

I splurged on some nice frames, but they were at 50% off so they were still only $5 each. So combine that with the cost of the individual scrapbooking supplies I used, and this ended up totaling maybe $8 at most!

yummy frugal gifts for foodies

Here are three great gifts for the foodies on your list! Not only are they themselves frugal homemade gift ideas, but they also feature some great frugal gift wrapping ideas! Here we go...

.: gift :.

Here's some homemade trailmix that I made for my dad- any local bulk food store makes this a real economical gift as you can make a huge bag of this mix and get quite a few gifts out of it {or keep some for yourself!}. Many grocery stores these days even have a section where you can buy dried fruit and nuts in bulk. In our mix we used- coconut, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts. I frequently also add craisins and peanut M&Ms.

.: wrapping :.

For the wrapping I simply cut a piece of an old paper bag, stamped it, crumpled up then inked the edges, and then wrapped with twine!

.: gift :.

Here's a simple 16 Bean Soup mix... what's included is just the beans {less than $1} and a bay leaf. Not pictured here is the recipe card I made up and tucked on top underneath the wrapping. The plastic container was leftover from some candies we'd bought.

.: wrapping :.

To wrap it I cut a strip from an old paper bag, then cut some tulle and wrapped it around. I used this same fabric for making ornaments {photos coming soon!} and had this frayed edge of the fabric left over. I thought it was perfect for this, so I wrapped that around the tulle layer!

.: gift :.

Here is your standard cookies-in-a-jar gift. Not gonna lie- I always love these!! Here's a link to the recipe I used {Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies}. This gift is going to my MIL and I already know she loves these cookies but doesn't have the recipe {until now!}. I left out all of the wet ingredients {of course!} and I packaged the brown sugar {well I used sucanat} in a little baggie right at the top of the mix, since that needs to be mixed separately. I know the recipe calls for adding the chips and craisins in last, but it's ok if they get mixed in with the rest of the dry ingredients.

.: wrapping :.

Another super simple one- I cut out a rough circle from some felt scraps, tied some twine and raffia around, added a snowflake button, and stamped a few snowflakes on the top of the felt. Done! :)

.: linking up at :.

Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Holly Bloggy Christmas Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Show & Tell Saturdays @ be different act normal

Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello

Handmade Christmas @ Someday Crafts

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

Simple Frugal Sports Gift

My mom is a HUGE Yankees fan- seasons tickets, all the paraphernalia, the whole bit. So when I found these great vintage stamps on eBay, I knew I had to make something with them for her! So this is a great gift that you could easily customize for many sports, teams, or causes- the Post Office seems to have a few special stamps each month, and you can find vintage ones at a variety of places.

This is quick, frugal, and totally DIY! So I started with the stamps which were ~$1 each. I got this frame on sale for $5. Then I just added some scrapbooking paper and ribbon in Yankees colors, and bam! Instant sports memorabilia gift for under $10! After I photographed it I put the glass back in the frame- I just didn't want any glare ;)
.: linking up at :.

Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Holly Bloggy Christmas Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Handmade Christmas @ Someday Crafts

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous