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HOMEMADE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FOR LITTLES

Well it’s not even mid-September… so naturally it’s time to post about Halloween. I was in Hobby Lobby today and was like…crap! Already? I wanted to share Ari’s past Halloween costumes with you if you’re into DIY’ing it. I totally got away with my choices when he was too little to come up with something himself, but this year it’s his choice. Whomp whomp. Wild Kratts it is!
DIY HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
1. HARRY POTTER
This one is my absolute favorite! You know what a Harry Potter nerd I am. We tell Ari Harry Potter stories (the non-scary ones) now, so he loves looking at this picture of himself!
Outfit: khaki or black pants, white button down shirt, black or gray vest or v-neck sweater
Scarf: I knit this using this pattern
Glasses: here. I popped the plastic lenses out
I used an eye liner pencil for the lightening shaped scar 🙂

2. MARTY MCFLY
I still giggle at this one. Ari still doesn’t really get who he was but people loved it! The Back to the Future Trilogy is one of Jeffrey and my favorite movies (next to HP obvs). 
Outfit: jean jacket, white button down with blue/red plaid, maroon t-shirt, red suspenders, red puffy vest, tight light wash jeans, white Nike high tops
“Look at them moccasins!”

3. THE ORKIN MAN
Ari is obsessed with our Orkin man, George. I think he thinks of George as a grandpa?? George retired last year, so it was only fitting to pay homage to him.
Outfit: white button down, pleated khakis, red hat
Details: I made the epaulets out of red felt with a white button sewed on. I just winged it whip stitched them on the shoulders BUT I did it backwards. The button side is supposed to point towards the neck of the shirt.
You can download the Orkin logo I made here.
Stick on eyebrows/mustache found at a costume shop.
I covered Max in little plastic spiders to make it more Halloween-y!
Tutorial for the spray can is below. There was probably a way easier way like using a silver coffee can, but I used what I had!
Punch a hole through the oatmeal can top for the rubber tube (bought at a hardware store)
Tape the tube inside and on the top of the can
Punch holes for the string before you tape the top on
Wrap can and hose with duct tape
4. CARDINAL
I made this for Ari’s preschool costume, but count it anyway as a great Halloween DIY.
Tack/sew red boa around the turtleneck. I used yellow felt for the feet and attached it to Ari’s crocs. For the hat, I glued felt on top of a foam visor from the craft store. You could always just stick feathers on a red hat and call it a day!

5. BABY NERD
This was my laziest costume but effective. Max already had the white onesie, cardi, and bowtie. I just put masking tape on Ari’s Harry Potter glasses (above)!
Even though Ari is almost four and picking out his own costume this year… there’s always hope for Max!
-L

HOUSE WARMING IDEAS – FREE PRINTABLES

Our awesome friends, Drew and Kelly, just moved from New York to Nashville this month (everyone’s doing it, come on!), and I wanted to give them something special to welcome them to the South. If you need something easy and thoughtful, I designed some housewarming notes for recommendations around town to fill out. (Scroll down for download link.)
You could go all out and do a big basket of goodies with it, share homemade cookies, or just give something simple but much appreciated like a bottle of wine. 
I ended up getting Drew and Kelly THIS AHeirloom Tennessee cutting board I’m obsessed with! You can get a star, heart, or home shape on the city where you live. The perfect welcome to the state. They have states, countries, custom items, and I’m drooling over these gorgeous geo cutting boards. 
One of my fav house warming baskets/bucket I did for friends moving from California to Nashville: healthy snacks, homemade granola, yummy smelling soap, and a subscription to Nashville Magazine.
 I also baked them healthy vegan banana bread (recipe here) – SERIOUSLY delicious! I knoooooow it’s healthy and vegan, but for real… it’s insanely m-o-i-s-t and delish! Plus I added bittersweet chocolate chips, so how bad could it be? 
(Normally I like to bake yummy fatty cookies, but if you couldn’t tell… these people are health nuts!)
I wrapped the banana bread in saran wrap first, then wrapped that in a recycled paper grocery bag and tied with twine. 

Download the housewarming notes HERE and HERE.
Welcome to Nashville, y’all! 
I can type that… just not say it. That’s the midwesterner in me!
-L

PARTY HAT TUTORIAL – FREE DOWNLOAD

Here’s a quick and easy party hat tutorial for you. If you want a solidly constructed hat with the string and everything (so you can force your baby to wear it like I do) but have it match your decorations, this is my fav way to go. Scroll down for the tutorial and download.
Ari’s third birthday party HERE
Ari’s second birthday party HERE

 PARTY HAT TUTORIAL:

1. Start with any store-bought hat
2. Unfold the hat, design-side down
3. Trace around the hat
4. Cut out traced shape, a little outside the lines to leave room for error
5. Put double stick tape on the two straight edges of the traced shape
6. Start with the “tab” side and tape on the hat, wrapping around the paper as you go
(If you want to do a little fringe or pom pom add this in before you close up the hat)
7. Decorate! 
Download party hat numbers HERE
 And here are my babies in their birthday hats! Oh how I love to torture them.

Jenni covered her hats with chalkboard paper and wrote with chalk. Amara’s first birthday party HERE

We’d love to see your party hats! Email us!
 -L

DONUT PARTY (FREE PRINTABLES)

My mom was in town this weekend for her birthday, so I threw her a brunch featuring her favorite food ever: donuts! Sweet friends that she’s gotten to know over the years when visiting us, great conversation, yummy donuts, and colorful decorations made the party a hit. 
Free printables for you at the end of the post!
DIY sprinkle confetti: just cut cut cut up your scraps of tissue paper and voila! Sprinkles!
DIY Sprinkle Forks: I used a letter “I” rubber stamp and just stamped it in different colors to look like sprinkles! For extra fun, I put the forks in a delicious glass of real sprinkles.
I didn’t have time to fully complete the donut balloons, nor did I supervise the lady at Kroger inflating these… half way. UGH! Much cuter HERE.

I left out treat boxes for guests to take home extras… I do NOT need donuts sitting around my house! 
The birthday girl, my beautiful mom, Marty! And little Max of course.
To make your life a lot easier… free printables:
Donuts HERE and HERE
Tags HERE and HERE
Menu (blank) HERE
-L
Oh… and the winner of the FRESHLY PICKED MOCCS GIVEAWAY is…
RACHEL ARNOLD!! (e-mail us mama!)
Yippee! Congrats!
We clearly have the best followers EVER!! Thank you ALL for your entries and sweet comments. Get hype for some more giveaways coming up! 

STICKER VALENTINES FOR KIDS (FREE PRINTABLE)

Yippee! A free printable for your littles on Valentine’s Day. Ari gave his friends at preschool these packets of stickers last year- all kids love stickers!
PRINTABLE: download HERE
CUTTING BOARD: THIS is our fav!
BAGS: You can purchase clear bags at any craft stores or buy HERE in size 3″ x 5″.
STRING: HERE
 Found these great foam stickers at Target
Ooooh I love when Ari writes his name! I helped on the “r” but he did the rest himself!
Hope your littles have fun with these goodies!
-L