Love and Lion

VALENTINES DAY CRAFT: CONVERSATION HEARTS

We ran out of play-doh at our house and apparently to a three-year-old, that’s a tragedy. We needed a quick fix. The answer? Salt dough! Three ingredients: salt, flour, and water. After Ari made his own masterpieces, Mama needed a turn! I’ve been dying to use my new Martha Stewart glitter set, so I decided to make gift tags for Valentine’s Day. Martha Stewart, you crafty minx, you have so many different types of glorious glitter! Have you guys seen the tinsel glitter? And the heart glitter?? Want it. Need it.
The colors are so vibrant! Eek!
Salt dough is super simple to make:
1 cup salt
1 cup water
2 cups flour
Mix until consistency is like play-doh
Roll dough out on a floured surface, cut into shapes, use a toothpick for the holes, and stamp letters.
Bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours and cool completely on a wire rack. I left mine out overnight to make sure the dough was completely dry. You could probably bake them longer!
Here are my pretties! Paint glue on the heart and sprinkle away! Tap off extra glitter and let dry. If you want to use these tags over and over again, cover completely with decoupage or a clear sealant. 

These worked best as gift tags. Originally I thought these would be cute as garland but they were super heavy! What are you making for Valentine’s Day?

-L

WINTER WHITE BABY SHOWER FOR LAUREN

As part our #TBT Party Series, we’re sharing Lauren’s baby shower today! Lauren is our bestie and the owner of Rock Paper Scissors, where Jenni and I met and worked pre-babies. It’s quite possibly the cutest and most creative paper boutique… we’re planning a comprehensive post on this later, but for now, here is her baby shower for little Piper (who is turning 2 next week!). She and husband, Tim, wanted a party that wasn’t too girly since it was a couple’s shower, so we decided on a winter white theme. The party was in January and the weather certainly fit the theme. Lauren’s good friends Pauline (who’s gorgeous home you see here), Randi, and  sister-in-law Gretchen were the gracious co-hostesses.

We hung parasols from the ceiling using fishing line and clear 3M Command hooks.
All white dessert table with vanilla cupcakes, macarons, meringues, sparkling sugar cookies, and white candy covered oreo truffle pops to match the winter white theme. The middle… is a diaper cake! 
Most of the guys were truly disappointed to find out this was a diaper cake and not a real cake. I’ll share the tutorial with you soon! It’s pretty easy and is a great gift for the parents-to-be.

My favorite project to make was this “family tree”. I asked Lauren and Tim’s parents to secretly send me three generations of family photos. I scanned in the photos and made them the same size, mounted them on sparkly white paper to match the theme and hung on a branch spray-painted white. On the bottom level, I hung a blank card that said “Baby Rauter”. Oh, and Maggie, their sweet dog, is on there too! She’s the big sis after all.  
Little babies Lauren and Tim! 
Instead of a traditional guest book I tied 12 envelopes together, one for each month of Piper’s first year. Then we asked the guests to write advice or encouragement on the cards and place it in the corresponding envelope. Lauren and Tim opened an envelope each month and got to read what their family and friends wrote throughout the year!
Gorgeous letterpress invitation designed by Lauren’s BFF, Dabney of Dabney Lee. The back was covered in a silver snowflake pattern. Perfection.
Lauren and Tim sipped hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows and opened gifts in style in the all white indoor tent. 
Party favors were tiny milk jars and mini pumpkin donuts from Ellie’s Donuts– everyone’s fav in Franklin, Tennessee. Drooling right now.
Pauline’s insanely beautiful home with projected snowflakes and faux snow lining the walk way. That’s how you enter a party, am I right?
*Photographs by Twinkle Twinkle Images
-L

NEWBORN / SECOND CHILD ESSENTIALS

If you’re a preggie, a new mom, or a mom of two like me, you’re going to need some of these essentials! I could not function without the following… and I neglected to add an extra large cup of coffee, but that’s an obvious one, right? 
(click on the numbers below for the links)
HANDS-FREE
1. This is the perfect place to plop your baby down wherever you are. It has a little handle on top so it’s easy to carry in one hand while you carry your baby in the other. The best part- you can throw the whole thing in the washing machine! Jenni actually lent me hers that she used with Amara. Life saver! That’s what friends are for!
2. I LOVE the Ergo baby. How else do you get stuff done when your baby needs to be held? You have to get the infant insert as well so the baby is comfy. When they’re a little bigger, you can just use the seat pad so the baby is the right height. This carrier is so comfy that I wore this with Ari from birth (acid reflux baby… omg) up until he was 2.5 years old. 
3. We have a play mat at our house, but Max isn’t a huge fan. My parents keep this play mat at their house, and he is just mesmerized by the black and white shapes! He would stay on the mat kicking and smiling for an hour. You can even reverse the mat for different stimulation during tummy time. 
BABY COMFORTS
1. This is the easiest swaddle. Ever. Mom, dad, grandparents, and babysitters can all keep the baby swaddled the exact same way. This just zips up from the bottom (so easy for diaper changes) and has velcro to put baby’s arms in. Once Max gets in the swaddle, he’s asleep in seconds. Really. 
2. These pacifiers are the same ones you get at the hospital. They’re super soft and most like a nipple. Another thing I love about these is the hole in the middle. Ari loves to “help” and hold the pacifier in Max’s mouth with his finger. So sweet. 
3. Aden and Anais make the best burp cloths! They’re super absorbent, shaped perfectly to fit over your shoulder, they can snap around baby’s neck like a bib, and of course I love the stylish patterns. 
FOR MAMA
1. What in the world did I do before I had a backpack diaper bag?? When I’m getting the kids into the car, closing the stroller, schleping the grocery bags, etc., the last thing I need is my diaper bag falling off my shoulder or swinging around to hit me in the face. This backpack has pockets upon pockets and comes with a changing pad, wet sack, clutch for all of my stuff, a bottle cooler, stroller straps, and a strap to convert this to a shoulder bag. It really makes me feel stylish and organized. Also a bit like Felicity which obviously is amazing.  
2. Jenni gave me this lip gloss when I was in the hospital after having Max. It is the perfect shade of pink-nude and makes me feel a little glam even when I haven’t showered for three days. Isn’t she the best??
3. I adore this teething jewelry from Mama & Little. Made by a mom who wanted to look cute and give her baby the best- what a smarty! All totally safe, super stylish, and incredibly affordable!! They have necklaces you can layer in different lengths and colors all with a satin cord on your neck so it doesn’t pull out your hair! Max just started teething, so I know these will come in handy but also make me feel a little bit more put together. 
BIG BRO / SIS
1. I like to have special projects for Ari to do while I’ve got baby stuff going on. Love this mosaic kit for your older child. We did this over Thanksgiving, and it kept all 5 cousins busy, ages 3-10! 
2. A stool will make your older child feel part of the action at the changing table or crib. Ari feels very important standing on it, squishing Max’s cheeks while I do a diaper change. Anyone else’s kid enthralled with baby poop as much as mine? 
3. When I’m exhausted all the time sometimes I just need to sit, so a big floor puzzle is perfect for tired mamas and active toddlers. Much better than the Sleeping Beauty game I made up where I sleep until my prince kisses me to wake me up. So great when the prince gets distracted and let’s me sleep a little longer 🙂
I have to say the best thing we did for Ari to make him feel extra special was to have a “Big Brother Party”. It was as simple as hanging a few streamers and balloons and getting cupcakes from Kroger- you would have thought it was his birthday with how excited he was. We gave him a big brother gift and a present from Max. I highly recommend this for you mamas out there!!
Mr. Max at 3 months old
What are your favorite baby necessities I’m missing? I’d love to hear from you!
-L

HARRY POTTER VALENTINES CARD (FREE PRINTABLE)

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll enjoy this. If you’ve never read the books or seen the movies… um why not? Better get on that. I wanted to share the Valentine’s Day card I made for my husband this year (and hope he’s not reading this post!). You could totally use this for your kid’s class valentines too!
1. Click HERE to buy the glasses
2. Click HERE for the printable.
3. Print on card stock- you can find single sheets of red and gold at most craft stores, or purchase white card stock HERE
4. Cut using our fav easy cutting board HERE

5. Cut out holes as shown in the photo below with an x-acto knife or simply tape with washi tape.

And if you’re really feeling nerdy, grab our Harry Potter tattoos HERE and Harry Potter nail tattoos HERE!
 Cut 2 rectangles to poke the glasses through. I printed on a scrap piece of paper first to fiddle with where to cut. Below is what the back will look like.
If you don’t have glasses for the card, use THIS printable.
 I did mine in Gryffindor colors naturally, but just red works well for Valentine’s Day too!

 

Want to see what huge HP nerds my husband and I are? Here’s the costume I made for our then one-year-old, Ari! I cannot wait to start reading the books together (in about 6 years!).
Details about this costume and more DIY baby Halloween costumes HERE.
Anyone else LOVE Harry Potter as much as I do? I’m trying to get Jenni on the Hogwarts Express Harry Potter train! Won’t she love the books??
-L

WHAT I WORE

I woke up today, and checked the temp on my phone, which read 11 degrees. 11 degrees people!!! I know our Canadian friends are giving me a big “whatev” right now, but that is super cold for us here in Tennessee. I don’t know how the Northerners do it!?!
Today, we got out and ran a few errands to prep for this little beach trip of ours. My daughter wanted to go on a the slide at the park (even in the painful wind chill), and since I am about to leave her…. she gets whatever she wants until I leave. I am telling you…. I am not ready!! 🙁 It is truly the most bittersweet emotion I have felt to date. 
Here is what I wore……

^^ Amara likes to sit at the top of the slide and just “take it in” It takes so much time for her to crawl up there, I suppose she has to take a breather. This is me rushing her to slide down …. and we’re slidiiiiing…. ^^
Baseball hat / Old sweater, but similar HERE / Denim vest, similar HERE / Leather leggings, similar HERE) / Converse / Backpack, similar HERE / bangle / watch / Coat
Enjoy your weekend Friends!!! Much love to you all!
-J

WHAT I AM PACKING….

My husband and I are going to Jamaica next week for 5 day relaxation fest! I have such a mix of emotions as one half of me is so excited to get away to warm weather and no responsibility, but then my other half has quite a bit of anxiety over leaving my baby girl for the longest we have ever left her. I get a pit in my stomach thinking about how much I will miss her! It will be good, though…..right!? 
I have been packing a little here and there, and these are the things that are definitely coming with me!
It is kind of surreal that we are getting the opportunity to go. I always seem to be the one reading OTHER bloggers’ packing guides. So grateful!!

1 Panama Hat – I never splurged on one last summer, and wished I had. Gotta keep cool!
2 NARS Multiple – Great color for eyes and cheeks to give you that “beachy glow”
3 Marc Jacobs Peplum suit – I got this at the end of summer, and absolutely love this suit! Sold out, but similar HERE
4 Sunglasses – My favorite pair from Target!
5 Kaftan – This is going to be my best friend at the beach!
6 Saltwater sandals – love my saltwaters, and how if they get wet, they only get more comfortable!
7 Book & Picture bookmark – remember I said, I planned on reading a book this year? ha! I will start with humor. There is no better way to mark my pages than with a pic of my little.
8 – I am not planning on taking jewelry because we really will just be lounging. However, my Maya Brenner necklace is delicate enough to wear every day, and make me feel girly.
9 Nivea – I love a good ole drugstore lip balm. The Nivea sticks are my favorite!!
10 Nutrogena Sunscreen – my skin breaks out easily, and I have had great luck with this break-out free lotion. Very lightweight!
 Are you planning a vacation any time soon? What are your must haves?
-J

VALENTINE’S DAY PROJECT FOR THE LITTLES

Ari and Amara looooved this Valentine’s Day candy necklace project! They both got into it and surprisingly only ate the treats after their necklaces were finished. We loved how hard the kids concentrated stringing on the cereal and candy. This is a great play date activity – fine motor skills trump sugar, right? Candy necklaces taste best served with pink strawberry milk. Have fun! 

We found it was easiest to tape one end of the string to the table. 
Take a much deserved strawberry milk break.
Eat your beautiful creations before this happens…
Cheers!

VALENTINE’S DAY LUNCH

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to go nuts with pink and red. Those are probably not favorite colors of the special man in your life, so we thought a girls lunch (break) would be a fun way to kick off the month of February. We found these amazing vintage stamps which sparked the idea for the theme “signed, sealed, delivered”. Also, due to Leah’s hoarder tendencies, we still had a few of these gable boxes on hand to pack the lunches. This would be a perfect, easy get together to host during the week as a “lunch break” party during the work hours!

BALLOON VALENTINES FOR KIDS (FREE PRINTABLE)

My three-year-old, Ari, loves balloons. We play catch with them (really good practice for spazzy toddler coordination), we draw funny faces on them, whenever there’s a holiday we have tons and tons of balloons, so I thought it would be fun for him to hand them out to his little friends at preschool this year. After I designed this I thought… does this make sense? You make my heart pop? Whatever, the kids will just be excited about the balloon, right? I printed my cards on kraft paper, but you could certainly print it on white or red paper.
1. Download free printable HERE
2. Cut using our fav cutting board HERE
3. Attach balloon with washi tape HERE
Do you know how hard it is to photograph a toddler and a balloon? Exercise for the week day- check.
-L

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

A “TRIP AROUND THE WORLD” THEMED BABY SHOWER

We are going on a little “trip around the world” on this lovely Friday! We wanted to share a sweet shower that is just too cute to keep to ourselves. We love big over the top celebrations just as much as the next party enthusiast, but honestly swoon over small, charming celebrations such as this one. All of the little details are so perfect and sentimental. 
Sara is awaiting the arrival of her baby boy, and her sister, Beth, was the creative mind behind all of this perfection. Even her home is stunning and full of charming details.
Beth’s blurb:
It took me a while to come up with a theme for the shower.  I didn’t want to use cheesy baby blue bottles and the generic “it’s a boy” banner.  Sara was obsessed with maps growing up and I think still is, and I knew she was using a globe in her nursery, so I thought it would be a fitting theme.  It all fit – Welcoming baby into the world, had Sara’s personality, prepping baby for all the travels and experiences he’ll have in life, and it wasn’t a cheesy landscape.  So, with the globe idea, I scoured pinterest for ideas.  I found a cardstock book of travel theme scrapbooking paper and went to work! I made bunting with leftover twine and my hot glue gun.  I had extra old wooden boxes left over from my wedding, so I used those for different levels of display.  The wreath and framed welcome sign were made from paper of an atlas and I just freehanded the words in silver sharpie, and outlined them with black sharpie. My husband made most of the food, with the exception of the cake pops.  Those were a trial and error process as they were the first ones I had made.  I used blue candy melts from Joanns and gold sprinkles to give them a “globe” look and stuck them in styrofoam for stability and covered it with white rocks to continue the travel/world theme. Everything else just kinda fell together.  All of the little touches were completed last minute by things I had laying around my house.  The birds, books, extra globes, etc. were just extra items I use in my everyday decor. 

Sara’s blurb:
I loved that beth tied items I love into the decor – maps, vintage plates, globes for the decor. In one of the wood crates on the mantle, she had vintage Nebraska and Pennsylvania state plates – the states my husband, Brad, and I were born in.  I also loved that she had the Dr. Suess “oh, the places you will go” book and used it as a guest book. it fit the theme perfectly and I’ll treasure that with the written notes inside from my girls!
Thank you SO much Sara and Beth for sharing your photos with us!! Enjoy your weekend friends! When we are not posting here, we are Instagramming….. keep up with us here!

ARI’S THIRD BIRTHDAY PARTY

We LOVE to throw parties here at Love & Lion and wanted to share some past parties with you as sort of a #TBT kinda thing 🙂 So this Throw Back Thursday, it’s Ari’s third birthday party. 
At this point in time I had just had Max, so a major party with lots of details (like Jenni and I normally do) was out of the question. I held the party at an indoor play place and brought in minimal decorations and food – just enough to make the party look personal and cute. When you’re not in your own space it can be a challenge to make it look the way you want (like trying to cover up a cheesy mural on the wall!). My advice is stick to a simple theme like colors or patterns and weave them into each aspect- decor, food table, invites, and favors. I went with black and white with a yellow accent and the slogan “Yippee Ari is 3!” 
I think the biggest transformation of the room was covering the tables with this chevron wrapping paper found at Hobby Lobby.
The theme all began with invites designed by none other than Lauren of Rock Paper Scissors.
 I just did very simple food – pizza, pretzel chips, hummus, veggies, fruit squeezies, and cupcakes.
 For favor bags I printed on paper lunch sacks and sealed with yellow washi tape.

Here you can see 36 months of (well worth) torture. When I told Ari it was time to take his chair picture last month he replied, “Oooh boy. That’s gonna be hard. I move around a lot.”

 I covered store bought party hats with patterned paper to match the theme.

Ari’s number 3 shirt from our favorite kids store, Tweed.
And here’s my favorite picture from the day. That would be my husband dropping a LIT cupcake on Amara while everyone sang “Happy Birthday”. Classic. Amara was unfazed and Ari asked if he could another cupcake. My reaction was so scarily slow you can literally see my brain trying to process what just happened. Sorry, Amara! 
That’s it! Super simple but considering I had just had a child, I was very happy with how it turned out. Can you say, control freak? Ha! Hope this gives you a few ideas for when you throw a party not in your own space
-L

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