PIPE CLEANER GIFT TAGS

I have said it before and I am sure I will say it again and again. Kids love their names! They love to see the letters in their names and they really love to see their name on stuff. Especially gifts! These little gift tags are easy to make and the kids will love seeing their names almost as much as the gift itself! To make your own, you just need some pipe cleaners, preferably in the kiddo's favorite color. Then bend the pipe cleaner to form their name. Told you it was easy. I used some hot glue to attach these, but you could tie yours on with string or tape them on just as easily. Another huge bonus? Pipe cleaners are so, so cheap. You can get a ton for $1 and make one for every little one you know! Or you know, at least a few.

TIGER BOYS AND PRETTY FLOWERS

Remember these animal masks from Valentine's day? Even though they are flimsy plastic, they are still going strong and Elliott still plays with them on a pretty regular basis. I love it when something cheap and simple turns into hours of fun! More often than not I think Elliott has too many toys and I just want to get rid of 90% of his things. Then this happens and I'm SO glad I didn't toss it all. Maybe it pays to be a toy hoarder? This weekend we went to a dance recital Elliott's little girlfriend was in and we brought her some flowers. They were some of the most beautiful peonies ever so of course I had to buy some for myself too. I'm kind of obsessed with them and am secretly wishing to myself that they will never die. Immortal flowers isn't too much to ask, right? So we'll see if that wish comes through for me. Happy Monday!

P.S. Both images are from my Instagram feed. So if you don't follow me already, get over there would ya? 

HAPPY WEEKEND + LINKS

Happy weekend! Guys, I will never tire of exploring with this kid and seeing the world through his eyes. It's the best. This weekend should be a good one. We have a lot of fun planned and very little work. So yeah. It's going to be a very good weekend. Today is my mom's day. For mother's day my sister and I gave my mom a girl's day out and she is cashing it in! So I am in for a day of shopping, the movies and of course, delicious food. I can't complain. Tomorrow we are spending some time, just the three of us and going to Elliott's girlfriend's dance recital. Talk about adorable. Whatever you have on your agenda, make it a good one! 

This week's favorite links:

Nothing like a paper bag puppet!

Because the dolls need to play too.

How fun would these be hung up in your home?

Perfect for a circus or carnival themed party.

Maybe the RADdest party for a one year old. Ever.

Think I could trick Elliott into eating this?

These guys make me happy.

Cute and easy. Just how I like it. 

LIBRARY TOTE

Did you know it's national children's book week? We love books around here. A lot. Our visits to the library usually result in stacks of books that we end up struggling to carry. Enter the book tote! This will be so handy for our trips to the library over the summer. It's a simple freezer paper stencil. I used my Cricut Explore to cut the freezer paper, then just ironed it onto the tote and painted. It was so nice not having to cut out each piece by hand with an x-acto knife! But you could definitely do it that way if you don't have a Cricut handy. You can download the books pattern here and the word books right here. I left them in png form so you can size them however you need to for your own tote. I sized mine to be about 12 inches wide which fit our tote perfectly. I used neon coral fabric paint after the freezer paper stencil was on. I'm obsessed with this color! Elliott loved using his own book tote at the library. And I loved that I wasn't lugging around a ton of books for him. He was in charge of the books so if it got to be too heavy for him to carry, he had to put enough books back so he could carry it on his own. I don't know if that's a mom win or a mom fail, but it worked for me! 

Our library is the coolest. The kids section is an entire floor of nooks and crannies for kids to read and play one of which is this amazing "attic". I love it when the city designs awesome stuff for kids.

Happy toting!

WE LOVE: THE DARK

To celebrate Children's book week, here is one of our favorite books! We're huge fans of Jon Klassen, so when I saw The Dark I knew we had to have it. Honestly, I didn't even know what the book was about until I read it for the first time with Elliott. It's a great and kind of creepy story about a little boy who is afraid of the dark. It's cute, funny and a little spooky. Elliott has never had much of a problem with the dark, but he still loved the book and loves reading it with me before bed. The illustrations are fantastic, which is at least half of a good kids book, right? Again, we can thank Jon Klassen for that! If your little one has trouble with the dark, this is a great book for them. We love it!