Weekly Wishes #4

It turns out I am kind of failing miserably at sprucing up my etsy shop because I didn't do anything with it again last week. This is good news though! I know what you're thinking. . . failure = good news? Yes. Through another week of failure, I have realized that I am seriously lacking inspiration right now. I didn't really realize how much this short season of baby-induced sleepless nights has zapped my creative brain until I tried to sit down and put together a few prints for my sister. My brain couldn't put together fonts or colors. I was even struggling with word arrangement. 
So, this week's wish will be to get creative!
I am determined to do something each day this week to get creative and hopefully get inspired by some of this creativity. Last week's wish (and the week before that) has now become my month of August wish. I'll accomplish it - little by little. 
Now, I just have to rest my brain enough to figure out what creative things I can get my hands dirty with this week. Linking up with the lovely Melyssa from The Nectar Collective again for Weekly Wishes. 

Weekly Wishes #2

On last week's weekly wishes post, I was blown away by all of the support I received in the comments + twitter from this community on the internet. Seriously, I needed the village to help out raising my two little ones last week. I was just off my game all week and, as a momma, you normally don't get a break to recompose yourself. 

Thankfully, I had you guys and my momma made a trip up here to save the day on Thursday. It was an amazing, family filled weekend with no time to rest, but it was just what I needed to recharge the batteries and keep myself from overreacting to the little stresses of mommyhood. Not overreacting is something I need to keep in mind on the daily since I'm currently the stay-at-home to two very independent little ladies. 

Last week started out rough, but it was definitely a success!

This week, my weekly wish is to get my behind in gear and spruce up my etsy shop. It's pretty much bare bones right now. Unfortunately, I've been neglecting my poor little shop for the past couple months. This week though, that will change! I am determined to add many more prints and start taking things a bit more seriously. 

Now I'm off to go make this happen! Happy Monday!

Linking up with The Nectar Collective today for Weekly Wishes. 

Father's Day Ideas

Didn't we just celebrate Mother's Day? Sometimes I feel like we are celebrating a holiday every week! However, this is one of the holidays that really deserves to be celebrated. Father's Day is just around the corner (June 16th). Whether you're thanking your dad for not disowning you during those rough teenage years or giving your hubby a pat on the back for being a such a great dad to your little ones, here are two great ideas for Father's Day gifts from some very cute etsy shops:

I wrote about this incredibly adorable Etsy shop when I was hinting to my husband what to get me for Mother's Day. Rain from Cheeky Kumquat makes the most hilarious cards that I have seen in a while. Go check out her shop, you will not be disappointed!

I have seen a lot of these road shirts on Pinterest and you could certainly DIY your own, but look at what a great job they did on this one! The Blue Basket Shop did a fantastic job on this shirt. In fact, this is the ONLY item listed in the shop. I would say 'go check them out,' but this is pretty much it. If you want to get a t-shirt for the dad on your list that doubles as an activity for the kids and a back massage for dad, go buy this one now. I'm thinking I should get one for myself now. :)

Yeah, so I could only come up with two good ideas. It's hard to find a guy a good gift. 

Hope you find the perfect gift for your father / grandfather / husband / brother / uncle or whoever you are celebrating on Father's Day! :)

Ekubo Ministries Prints

After reading yesterday's post, I hope you ran over to Christie's blog and got started reading through her posts. What a fantastic love story she has!  

Well, the creative bug bit me after I read through her blog and I got busy making these two print for my Etsy shop. If you are interested in purchasing either one, please know that all profits will be going straight to Ekubo Ministries to help these great people. :)  Happy Thursday y'all!

The Makings of a Great Day

A few weeks ago, I was having a really great day. I woke up before the girls + was able to shower with no interruptions + got dressed + restocked my bag with diapers and snacks for the day + I was on time for a playdate!  Even the girls were great. No tantrums. Potty training was going smoothly. Everyone napped. I couldn't ask for a better day. Then, I started thinking… isn't this the way my day is supposed to go anyway?  I mean, I'm supposed to be able to get ready and be on time. And when did this become my idea of a great day?

#greatday

I was curious to see what it meant for other people to have a great day, so I obviously turned to the very scientific method of searching twitter hashtags (#greatday). The reasons why the majority of people were having a #greatday fell into the following categories:

No School or Work

Big Achievement (graduation / new job / sports achievement)

Celebrations (mother's day / birthdays)

Spending time with Family or Friends

There was nobody (at least on Twitter) talking about how great their day was because they actually got dressed that day. Most days, Winsley is up at 6 and Ellington seems to wake up right as I get Winsley to go back to sleep. This means that I normally don't have a chance to change out of my PJs until 10am. If I miraculously am able to get dressed before the girls wake up, I feel really great about how the day is started. I am even a little proud, like I had accomplished a major achievement that day. 

Motherhood has definitely changed my perspective. I know I'm not the only momma who wished Mother's Day would consist of no tantrums + no fighting + momma not having to clean up after the kids + being able to shower in peace + using the bathroom alone. Is that too much to ask? Until the kids are all grown up, I guess my reasons for having a #greatday will fall into these categories:

Took a Shower + Got Dressed (bonus points for drying hair)

Made it to ALL activities on time

No Tantrums

If you see a momma out there who is wearing 'real' clothes instead of her mom uniform of yoga pants and a t-shirt covered in baby spit up, go tell her that she looks fabulous. It will make her #greatday even better! In fact, go tell that momma wearing baby spit up that she is doing an incredible job as a mom!  It takes a lot of selflessness to put your kids needs and demands before your own cleanliness after all. 

[Just found out about an amazing deal from one of the Etsy sellers that I featured in my Mother's Day Gift Ideas post. The Cheeky Kumquat is offering a BOGO (buy one get one) deal to all Facebook friends this week!  So, go 'like' the Cheeky Kumquat Facebook Page and then purchase some cards. Maybe even buy one to send to that momma friend who only gets a chance to shower in peace once a week. :) ]

Bless Your Momma this Mother's Day

Mother's day is right around the corner (Sunday the 12th to be exact), so what better way to show mom how much you love her than buying her a sweet gift. Okay, so maybe a better way would be to spend the day with her, but those of you who don't have the luxury of living close by can send an awesome gift to their incredible momma!  These prints were just added to the etsy shop and would make perfect Mother's Day gifts:

If prints or scripture don't do it for your momma, may I suggest a few products that I'm lovin' on etsy right now (take note hubby):

For the chef mom, this incredible custom cutting board from Wood Ink. Since I'm not quite the chef mom, I would probably hang it on the wall. The perfect art piece for a barely used kitchen. :)

Get this funny card from Cheeky Kumquat to make your momma giggle. You should also check out the other cards from this seller - like this one and this one and since I'm currently potty training my 2 year old, this one!  Hilarious!

If your momma prefers jewelry, this nest necklace from Uqfashion is perfect! There are many shops making these cute nest necklaces & rings, but I'm in love with this particular one because you can add the initials of each child (or egg). Love it!

What did you get your sweet momma for Mother's Day?  or did I just remind you that it was next week and you're now on etsy searching for the perfect gift? :)

New Prints in the Etsy Shop :)

While we are still waiting for Baby Yi, I whipped up two new prints for my little etsy shop.  Go check it out!

Valentine's Day & A Free Printable

Holidays like this one have always been a favorite of mine.  No, it's not because girls are usually the receivers of all of the gifts (although that doesn't hurt).  It's because you can get so creative with activities and food.  I love a good DIY project!  Our plans for tomorrow are in the works and I couldn't be more excited to start new Valentine's Day traditions with my little one.

If all goes as planned, our morning will start with heart-shaped pancakes (dyed pink) and strawberries along with pink milk.  Lunch will be a date with Daddy at a local cafe and dinner isn't quite planned out yet.  We also plan on making these awesome fruit snacks (strawberry, of course).  A little tip for the fruit snacks... Target has just-the-right-size trays for this project in their dollar section right now, so go pick up a few and make this yummy snack!  Any other food suggestions?  I promise this day isn't totally planned around food.  I am one very pregnant lady (11 days to go!), so food is often the first thing on my mind.

Later today, we are headed to our local dollar store to pick up a few crafts.  On the craft agenda for tomorrow include a heart garland (like this one), a homemade card for Daddy (here are some super cute ideas), some heart shaped hats (like this one), and lots of pink and red and purple - everywhere!

A Free Printable for You!  Just Copy & Paste or Print :)

In honor of this fun day, I've made up a little printable that you can copy and do with what you like... maybe turn it into a card or a little Valentine's Day decoration.  Happy Valentine's Day!

What are your plans?

UPDATE:  A no-napping two year old meant we didn't get a lot of things on our to-do list checked off, but we did have fun with the food portion of the day and we even attempted a little photoshoot with our new heart garland... with mixed results.  Hope your Valentine's Day was a success!

New Year's Blogolutions

I am not making any New Year's Resolutions this year, instead I am focusing more on this little blog and my etsy shop.  So I've made a few goals or New Year's Blogolutions to help me stay on track and, hopefully, lead to a more organized online life.

#1  Blog More Consistently.  I always have a list of stories or situations that I want to blog about in real time.  Unfortunately, my list making skills are far better than my blogging in real time skills.  This year, I am putting myself up to a new challenge... blogging more consistently.  I am aiming for 2-3 posts per week.  This is one blogolution that I really want to accomplish and stick to when I review my this post next year.

#2  Try Something New.  Since I started this little blog all the way back in 2009, I have had dreams of joining that intangible club of bloggers on the internet who always seem to be doing more than just writing about their everyday life.  You know the ones... they have contests for cool prizes, guest bloggers, link-up parties, and they attend all of the local blogging events.  I definitely want to try at least one of these things this year.

#3  Use Social Media.  So, I have a twitter account and Facebook, but I haven't quite figured out how to use social media on a daily basis to communicate as a blogger.  This might take some time, but I really want to learn to post more than 'Look what I just wrote on the blog'.  I guess my goal here would be less formality and more genuine conversation through social media... is that a contradiction?

#4  Make More Prints.  I created a little etsy shop a while back and I have sold a few pieces, but I haven't really focused on getting more prints in the shop or promoting the prints that are already listed.  Right now, I am setting my goal pretty low.  I am committing to making 2 new prints per month and I'll see where things go from there.

#5  Share More About Side Projects.  Over the past 2 years, I have been dabbling in blog design.  Designing a few backgrounds and headers for blogs of a few friends and designing and redesigning my cousin's cooking blog (she generously has let me try new things whenever I get the itch to get creative).  I am really proud of these little side projects and I would love to share more of all of this hard work on my own blog.

So there it is.  Written down for all to see.  Now, I just have to follow through... not my strongest asset.

Just a Quick Note...

A print from my Etsy shop was mentioned on the blog Two Birds Boutique today!   I am beyond thrilled that they found my little shop interesting enough to feature on their blog.  The two lovely ladies who write the blog also featured a few other amazing Etsy sellers who are offering up a portion of their profits to benefit the families affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy.  Go check them out here.

AND if you love fashion, a look through the Two Birds Boutique is not a bad idea.  These two fashonistas are lovers of nice things and great deals - the best of both worlds!  I took a quick look around their blog and I am already in love with their style.  I find it hard to mix vintage & new or even just wear multiple prints, but these ladies are magicians when it comes to pulling an outfit together.  I could definitely learn a thing or two... or ten from reading this blog!