freshly picked

MAX’S 1ST BIRTHDAY – ROUND PARTY!

When people asked what theme Max’s first birthday was going to be, and I said “round”… they were like… ummm cool. Okay so Max is round, he loves balloons and balls- those are round, and honestly I couldn’t think of anything that hadn’t been done a million times before! Plus it’s so simple- just my style. 
The party was supposed to be in our backyard with lanterns strung from the trees, circular picnic blankets, ring toss, bubbles, etc. Guess what? It poured every. single. day. that week including the day of the party. Super dark outside too for pictures. Fantastic. We’re still in our rental (egg yolk and old lady sage walls), so basically my plan was to camouflage the grossness with tons and tons of balloons. I think it turned out really well, and most importantly, everyone had a great time! And let’s be honest, when you’re dealing with one to four-year-olds really all they need are toys and cake. Cake is clutch. 
FOOD:
See what I mean? Cake is clutch.
I baked two batches of white cake in sheet pans so the layers would be thin, froze the layers, cut with a 2.5″ biscuit cutter, then just piped colorful frosting in between. 
 All round food!
 Complete with Aunt Ellie’s Campfire Crispies! They are SO. GOOD. Do yourself a favor and order these babies.

DECOR:

Had to cover the nasty chandelier 🙂
Monthly photos of Maxie cut out into circles, naturally.
I made this little picnic blanket out of a drop cloth. Draw two concentric circles in pencil and paint in the lines. Make sure to paint the circle before you cut. That way it’ll look nice and neat! 
FAVORS:
Party crowns, tattoos, hula hoops, bouncy balls
Custom temporary tattoos with each kid’s name from our Etsy shop!
ACTIVITIES:
RING TOSS
I ordered the rings on Amazon and got bottles from the dollar section at Target. Since the party was supposed to be outside, I had painted wooden dowels to hammer into the grass. Sigh. Still a fun activity for the kids though! 
DIY GIANT SURPRISE BALL
Getting a surprise ball was a tradition at my sister and my birthday parties growing up. I decided to supersize it by using a container from Party City as the center to make this huge!
Each kid got to unwrap a color, once that streamer color ended, they got the prize and gave the ball to the next kid. It ACTUALLY worked! Couldn’t believe how patient the kids were waiting for their turn! So fun!
INVITATIONS:
I got the beach balls from Oriental Trading Company and wrote on them with neon Sharpies. Here’s the thing… they can’t fold totally flat, so they were considered a parcel… which means they were $3 each to mail! I took them to the post office and got 5 different stamps, which actually looked pretty cool. Thankfully I only invited a handful of people, and I hand-delivered most!
 On the back of the ball it said:
ROLL on over to Max’s
(address)
It was a sweet day for my sweet, round little Maxie!
-L
And the winner of the Freshly Picked Giveaway is….
Kelly Vance!
Woohoo!! Please email us at loveandlion@gmail.com!
Thank you all for entering! Many more giveaways to come!

TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH + FRESHLY PICKED GIVEAWAY!

Fall is my favorite time of year! Love the colors, love the weather, and adore fun fall activities. Jeffrey and I took the kiddos to Gentry’s Farm this past weekend to pick pumpkins and take a billion pictures. My twin sis, Ellie, was in town (always a ridiculous amount of laughs), so we made a day of it and afterwards went to one of our fav standbys for dinner, Burger Up. Ari ordered salmon and salad. What. A. Little. Weirdo. But he’s MY little weirdo. Meanwhile Ellie and I ordered Hatcher Farm milkshakes. So… anyway…
You know you all dress your littles up when you go to the pumpkin patch. You’ve gotta, right?! Luckily, Max can fit into all of Ari’s old clothes, but shoes are a different story. Jenni and I are OBSESSED with Freshly Picked Moccs. We might have one or three or five pairs for our littles and can’t stop won’t stop. The are THE softest shoes in the most beautiful colors. They’re absolutely perfect for almost walkers like Max too. He is a turbo crawler and these babies have elastic that slip right on and don’t fall off. Seriously. The only shoes that Max can’t pull off. Also one of the only shoes that fit his chubby feet! The soft, buttery leather and the elastic work their magic.
Jenni and I are so obsessed with Freshly Picked Moccs that we wanted to share the love with you! Scroll down for deets on how to enter the Freshly Picked Moccasins giveaway.
Max is wearing the Butterscotch mocc. Such a yummy color and perfect for fall!
Can’t cut those curls. Baby mullet.
**GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
And now for the
FRESHLY PICKED MOCCASINS GIVEAWAY!
The lucky duck will win one pair of Freshly Picked Moccs in their choice of color and size.
TO ENTER:
1. Comment on THIS blog post with what color mocc is your fav. See all the beauties right here.
On your cell? Comments only work on the full web version, NOT mobile- blerg
2. Follow @loveandlion and @freshlypicked on Instagram
3. Tag 3 friends on our giveaway Instagram post (@loveandlion)
That’s it! 
Contest closes Thursday, October 23 at 12:00am CST.
We will announce the randomly selected winner* on Friday, October 24th right here on the blog.
*Winner must ship to US only and must not have won a giveaway including Freshly Picked Moccs in the last 60 days.
**GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
We so appreciate you coming by our little ol’ blog, and hope you stick around. Rad parties, crafts, recipes, style, and snippets of our lives!
xo
-L

A VERY SPECIAL GIVEAWAY: FRESHLY PICKED MOCCASINS – CLOSED!!

Happy Happy Monday friends!! We are beyond thrilled to be teaming up with one of our favorites, Freshly Picked, to bring you an awesome giveaway this week! We truly can’t rave enough about Susan, her amazing team and the quality product they produce to keep our littles styled comfortably. We discovered these handmade gems when our babies were born, and now consider ourselves “forever fans”. We finally found something that STAYS on their feet, with an ingenious elastic band around the ankle, while helping them get their little bearings in the world. The color choices are so stunning you will have a hard time choosing…. trust us! Be sure to check out the new Spring color releases if you haven’t already! We are crushing on the new coral and camo just to name a couple. I have personally saved each pair that Amara has grown out of to pass on to my other children in the future. They hold up so well, and make great gifts too!
(GIVEAWAY- details at the end of this post)
^^ Amara is wearing Radiant Orchid ^^
To enter to win a pair of Freshly Picked moccs in your choice of color and size, please comment below telling us what color you would love to add to your child’s shoe collection!
** For an additional entry, follow us on Instagram and comment by tagging TWO friends! **
The giveaway runs through Saturday, March 15, and the fabulous winner will be announced on Monday, the 17th! Thank you all for being a part of our first giveaway, and good luck!!!
UPDATE: And the winner is Rachel Arnold!! Contact us via email mama!!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE SERIES (BABY BOY)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
(1) Make your own board book to teach little ones names and faces of their favorite people (you!). Easily upload photos and simply type in names. Perfect gift for an aunt to give their favorite nephew (HINT).
(2) The cutest taxidermy we ever did see! So sweet over a crib or changing table.
(3) Sometimes babies just like to kick around on the floor. Instead of throwing a burp cloth or towel down to prevent spit-ups… or other stuff… let baby be nice and stylish on this play mat from Dwell Studio.
(4) We at Love & Lion have taught our babies simple signs which is why we love these wooden sign language blocks. Perfect for learning, stacking, and of course knocking down.
(5) We’re not alone when we say we are crazy for Freshly Picked Mocs! They come in every color and are seriously soft and comfy for those chunky baby tootsies! 
(6) For the hipster baby who refuses regular old bibs for spit up and drool, get him a bandana bib! Absorbent and oh so stylish.
(7) Wooden teethers safe for baby in every state shape. Naturally anti-bacterial, non-allergenic, and non-toxic, which of course we love!
(8) Babies loooove keys, but please don’t let them chew on them! These key-animal teethers are simply gorgeous and have the benefit of being non-toxic. You can engrave the babies name and birthday on the back too! A keepsake your baby will actually use.
(9) Every baby boy needs a bow tie. They just do.
(10) If you’ve never felt a JellyCat toy… omg. Do it. Please. This sweet little baby Reindeer will be baby’s BFF. Look at his teeny little Reindeer horns! Perfect for the holiday season.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE SERIES (FOR BABY GIRLS)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 
(1) A cute little farmer’s market stuffed set. The milk actually has a little mirror inside. Peek – a – boo!
(2) Mini Boden is always a home run in our book. The little reindeers make it the perfect seasonal dress.
(3) We both own these blankets for our kiddos! They are AMAZING and so warm!! 
(4) Every little baby needs a hippo ballerina play mat, right?! We agree!
(5) A bright wooden walker to help those wobbly legs get stronger. Love Hape products. Amara is the happy owner of this walker. It will last for years!
(6) If you love the crafty look of felt hair bows, but don’t have the time or the talents to make them, buy them! 
(7) Keep those chubby baby legs warm all winter long with these polka dot leg warmers. The only downside is that you don’t get to see all of those fat wrinkles, which…hello!?! They are the best.
(8) We love trendy outfits just as much as the next fashion forward mom, but we also want our kids to be comfortable especially when they sleep. These Carters fleece sleep sacks are so warm and come in the most adorable patterns. They also have footed ones for your toddlers! We live in these during the winter months.
(9) The softest little stuffed animals ever. So many different ones to choose from, but we are loving the white owl. “Whoo! Whoo!”
(10) I feel like these moccs need NO introduction, but if you haven’t hear of them or tried them….please do! Not only are they quality shoes that stay on your littles’ feet, but they come in the most beautiful colors. Available in leather and suede. We love Susan and her team too!!
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