Registering... ANY EVENT

Amazon wish lists were something I saw a lot of this holiday season and I think it's great.  Especially for the kids.  It's so hard to keep up with what they want/need vs. already have.  Let's be honest too parents don't want everyone getting them the biggest bulkiest item out there either.  So it's nice for people to use a wish list, just as with a wedding or baby registry. 

My girlfriend lives in NYC and is getting married in September.  She doesn't want to register because they already live together so they have everything they need and they don't have anywhere to store china or a cupcake tier.  BUT proper etiquette tells us it's inappropriate to ask for money.  So what's the solution?  I've sent this website to a few brides now and think not only for brides but birthday parties, showers, etc.  It works for any event. 

http://www.ourwishingwell.com/

So you can allocate money towards certain things.  For example, you can say POTS and PAN set and put that you want $500 towards that.  It's great because someone only looking to spend $100 can put $100 towards it and feel like they are contributing to a bigger ticket item.  Also, in the end- it's all money for the bride and groom to use with it what they want.  A lot of couples even put "Money for our Honeymoon" and people like contributing to that.  The registrant isn't limited to the specific items in a store and the purchasers can choose whatever they want to contribute to and in the end get people a gift they really want/need.

I think it's a great website and wanted to share:)

Congratulations to our December drawing winner...

Happy Holidays- December Drawing

This time of year seems to fly by.  Thanksgiving has come and gone and now it's time for Christmas!  Movie tickets are always good to have and I had a lot of interest last month in that drawing so I'm going to do the same thing (Also because I'm too busy to try to think of something else).  So same thing- leave a comment and you MUST BE A FOLLOWER of the blog and I'll enter you to win 2 movie tickets.

Entry Deadline is Saturday, December 18th.  Drawing will be on Sunday, December 19th.  Then I get these in the mail so the winner can have them in time for Christmas.

Happy Holidays to everyone:)

A Crafty Playdate

With the cold weather in full swing, Dylan has been a tornado of energy and it's too cold to let him run wild outside and get rid of some of it.  So I decided this weekend I was going to arrange a play date for him.  He hasn't seen a few buddies in a few weeks and he's been asking about them and I told him I'd talk to their mommies and set something up.  We've been reading lots of holiday themed books and talking about baking gingerbread men cookies and he's been really into the Christmas decorations and all the little festive things.  So I asked him if he wanted to do some holiday crafts like make an ornament for the tree- he acted really excited.  So I decided I was going to do a holiday craft play date. 

Since the age group is 3-4 year olds I figured let's steer clear of the glitters and paints- just for my own sanity.  Also, I didn't want to have endless crafts because I figured the kids would be over and done with the crafts within 30 minutes- I think the boys lasted 17 minutes- but it was fun while it lasted.  So here are the crafts we did:

Christmas Mouse Ornament- Supplies (for this age group I pre-cut the felt, candy canes, eyes and small puff ball for the nose)

Color your own ornament (Mickey Mouse, Cars and Princess themed)

Color your own mug- Each mug has 3 different coloring pages in them to choose from

Kiddos in Action

I always have to get a little more creative with ways to entertain him in the winter so this was definitely a fun day for him.

Happy Thanksgiving Movie Ticket Winner:)

Dylan loves his job and my sister Carey is home from Iraq and got to be a part of it this time.  Congratulations to our November drawing winner!  Hopefully you can use these so you can go see a movie over the holidays. 

Travel Themed Wedding

Lots of couples take time to travel together before they get married.  The places they have been together become important parts of their relationship.  We're seeing travel themed weddings are big for these types of couples as well as couples opting for a destination wedding.  Here are some great ways brides and grooms are tying their love for travel into their weddings.

Passport Invitations are cute and unique

You can keep with the passport idea for the ceremony programs

When guests arrive to the reception they can find their name and table with these cute little luggage tags- that can also double as the "gift"



Table Numbers/Names can be places the couple has visited



A Suitcase Cake to express the couples love for traveling



Bridesmaid gifts- tote bags





Groomsmen gifts- TRAVEL cooler:)



Thankful for the kiddies:)

This week has been strange- it's that in between weather where you're not quite ready for gloves but your hands start to feel a little windburn and dry.  You step outside at 5pm and it's dark.  You get in your car and hear Christmas music?  I had to stop for a second this morning when I heard Jingle Bells on the radio.  I was like omg what month is it?  Then I realized, thanksgiving is 2 weeks from tomorrow!!!  This is the time of year where time seems to FLY by. 

I've been trying to plan little fun activities for Dylan.  This summer we did a lot of cupcake decorating- which he loves to do!  I love it too because it's an inexpensive activity that is great to do on a Saturday/Sunday afternoon on the deck.  So I was thinking about what Thanksgiving activity I can do with him.  This morning I popped open face book and saw on my news feed my friend Kelly had posted pictures of Thanksgiving cupcakes she made, these are so cute I had to share:
(Vanilla Cupcake, chocolate frosting, nutter butters, oreos and candy corn- some gel icing to decorate the face). 

Turkey Cupcakes- great to bring to Thanksgiving parties

I love these and think for older kids it would be a great indoor activity.  For my son cupcake decorating is on the list of outdoor activities so I started looking at some other ideas that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg and I think he would enjoy but would be manageable to do indoors.  Here are some I'm thinking of:

Happy Thanksgiving day cards- great to give to grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.

Hand and foot print turkey

Turkey puppet

Luckily it looks like the only supplies I need for all 3 of these I already have:  Scissors, glue, construction paper, lunch bags and markers.  Could be a great play date theme or even holiday gathering activity to keep the kids entertained.