back to school :: make it fun!

super cute binder pouch!

FuN reusable lunch bag from bend the rules with fabric! tutorial includes instructions to print your own custom fabric!

lunch box love notes :: a free printable!

good morning and bedtime checklists to download from children inspired designs (we LOVE CID!!)
we printed these out and slipped them into plastic page protectors - the kind that slip into a binder. the morning checklist is on one side and the bedtime checklist is on the other and they can mark on them with dry erase markers then wipe them clean for the next day. i would prefer one with pictures for harper since he doesn't read just yet. i have plans to create one for him soon. and when i do i will be sure to come share it with all of you!

button flower headbands! adorable and so easy. go ahead, make one for every day of the week!

and lastly i stumbled across this flickr group with tons of photos and lunch box inspiration :: lunchbox recipes

so friends, what are some of your favorite back to school projects, ideas or websites? please share!

small style :: back to school edition

i can hardley believe that summer vacation is over. didn't it seem to last forever when we were kids. this year we sent two kids to high school (!!), one to third grade and still have two at home. since it is still super hot here we put off buying new clothes for a few more weeks when it will be cool enough to wear jeans.

'cept the big kids are already that cool and they wear jeans even when it is 100 degrees...

here is what they wore for their first day back ::

on esme ::

striped sweatshirt by old navy

polka dot gray tee by target

ruffled rainbow skirt by old navy, a hand-me-down from a special friend

and brand new, pink plaid NSS shoes with ribbon laces.

on riley and niko ::

they both wore old tee shirts and old jeans. they try to deny the fact that they are a bit alike but i think these photos say otherwise...



and here are the little cuties who stayed home with mama.

on harper ::

we are encouraging him to choose his own clothes and i pretty much just go with whatever he picks out as long as it is weather appropriate and fits him. this day it was a brown polo shirt and brown sweat shorts. his summer sandles are, you guessed it, brown. can't go wrong with all brown, i suppose.

on luca ::

short overalls by babyGAP

ooga booga tank top by mama ♥

laguna sandles by soft star shoes

today i am linking up with morgan at mama loves papa. if you love small style like i do be sure to pay her a visit!

the flip side

this is a follow up of sorts to sunday's happy little post. yesterday went a whole lot different. it did start with smiles and dancing and a yummy breakfast with my tots. but then it became one big ol' ball of crazy as the kids bickered and whined while mama tried to get not-so-fun chores done and baby luca went from one destructive activity to another right under my feet.

he ate one of esme's markers. the dark blue one. he also bit harper, hard, right on the cheek leaving a dandy bruise. i was stressed and so were my little people.

thank goodness for rescue remedy, coffee, leftover cake and popscicles. i was able to stop and take a deep breath {or two} and somewhat pick our day back up just before a gnarly crash landing.

today is the very last day of summer vacation. we went out earlier and picked up a couple last minute neccesities {like a new pack of markers for esme who simply cannot live without dark blue}

she told me she can't wait for today to be over so she can hurry up and sleep so it will be time to go to school already. she just really loves school, i guess. i've got mixed emotions - sweet summer, i am so sad but relieved at the same time to see you go so soon. oh hey, who is that next in line? ahhh, autumn ♥



sunday

good morning * hugs, kisses, big happy smiles * green juice and waffles * coffee, oh, glorious coffee * dining room clean up, round one * birthday cake baking * dancing in the kitchen * wildflower bouquets * hula hooping on the back porch, still in our jammies * more coffee... more dancing... more smiles and giggle, giggle, excited giggles...

there is nothing more i need.

happy sunday, friends!

small style :: summer repeat

at one point during my last pregnancy i thought that i wanted another little girl. how much fun would it be to sew sweet dresses and skirts and create tiny, frilly handknits. but as luca grows i realize how wonderful it worked out that we had another little boy.

i made a bunch of cute little tank tops for harper a couple summers ago. when he outgrew them they were carefully tucked away into luca's dresser. luca has been wearing them nearly every day the past couple months. the tanks are a perfect fit. luca is a perfect fit.

 

harper :: summer 2008



luca :: summer 2011



harper :: summer 2008



luca :: summer 2011

yes. this is just right.

i am linking up with morgan at mama loves papa today!

one of those days.

{image from pintrest.}

i woke up sick this morning. like throwing up, head pounding, everybody please just SHHHHH! kind of sick. 'cept i have a house full of kiddos so there is no quietly sleeping it off. i did nap on the couch in between getting up to attend to matters that simply could not be ignored.

{baby on the dining room table, he's a climber. harper swinging a golf club on the back porch right next to the sliding glass door. finally talking the kids into watching a movie only to realize 10 minutes later that they had the jersey shore on. you know, that kind of stuff.}

i was also jumped on, smacked in the head with the remote and completely soaked when the lid came off luca's sippy cup while he was jumping on me. my cozy couch bed was also very wet.

esme made breakfast {toaster waffles} and lunch {pb&j sandwiches} for herself and her brothers. when dinner time rolled around i actually thanked the universe for the two cans of spaghettio's hanging out in our pantry. two minutes in the microwave and dinner was on the table and mama was back on the towel covered couch.

after dinner luca had a horrible messy diaper. the kind of messy diaper that requires an immediate bath and an improptu laundry session. so i bathed the boys and got them into jammies. and i was starting to feel much, much better so after bath i loaded everyone into the car and drove them to the dairy queen drive-thru for sundaes. it was kind of a "yay! we all survived the day!" celebration.

now the kids are all in bed and i am eating a pear and blogging while trying to dismiss the current state of my house. like the spaghettio's stuck all over the dinner table and high chair, for example. 

being a mommy is such hard work. being a sick mama is even harder. but being nurtured back to health by the little people in your life is a magnificent thing. and i am going to tell them all just that first thing in the morning.

goodnight friends! 

happy world breastfeeding week

baby luca - august 2010



and little luca today - 15 months old and still loving mama's milk!



for more festivities visit the world alliance for breastfeeding action (WABA) here :: world breatfeeding week

lunch.

and we have a brand new favorite combination that we want to share. it goes like this ::

green smoothie

fresh spinach or kale (i pack my blender half full of green leaves. we are using spinach mostly but kale is yummy too)

1 heaping cup of fresh pineapple chunks

1 avocado

1 mango

1 frozen banana (i cut bananas into chunks and freeze them in zip lock bags)

1 tsp. spirulina

a dash of vanilla and cinnamon

2 tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup grapefruit juice

if i need more liquid to blend (i usually do) i add cold water.

blend, blend, blend and enjoy! we make 2 batches each morning and the kids drink 8 ounces each and i drink 2 mason jars full thoughout the day. 

do you have a favorite green juice recipe? please share!

vintage :: kitchen :: love

i spent the afternoon decluttering and organizing in my kitchen. except it turned out to be one of those projects where the room actually looks worse now than it did when i started. that means progress was made, yes?

i got rid of lots of stuff that i never use to free up space for all of the things that i love to use. i cleared a special shelf to hold my vintage pyrex collection. i parted with several cookbooks though i still feel that we own a few too many so that shelf will likely go through a second clean up round.

i got this set of treasure craft woodland canisters all cleaned up with the intention of finding them a new home. but in the process of spiffing them up i fell in love with them all over again. *sigh* so now i need to fill them up with goodies and find them a proper home on the counter top, not up in the dark cupboard from which they were rescued.

and do you remember this adorable birdie crock from a couple summers ago? it was also stashed on a shelf in the very, very back. not anymore, it has been dusted off and moved up front where it will surely get some loving.

this yellow tea pot is also a favorite vintage piece of mine. it belonged to tony's great grandmother. we use it occasionally in the winter months but i am terrified that it will get bumped off the table and broken. things like that happen in a house full of small people. a lot.

the little cozy that covers it is lined with gray wool felt. i love that part!

it is funny how happy these things made me today. had i only known i would have retrived them from their dark hiding places long ago.

what treasures have you discovered or rediscovered recently?

still weekending...

in my last post {nearly a month ago!!} i wrote about my love for summer break. even though it is only july i am starting to sense back to school lurking around, sneaking right up on us. i am just trying to soak up every single second of the carefree, never ending weekend that is summer vacation.

here is a sweet little video of my adorable little guy toddling around last night while we waited for the fireworks. he is in that clumsy and dangerous but super, super quick stage so i spend a whole lot of time chasing him around and trying to keep him from seriously injuring himself or destroying everything in his path. i am careful to not wish it away because i know one morning i will wake up and he will be big. just between breakfast and dinner each day he changes and grows. babies don't keep and never has time passed so quickly.

so dear friends, please excuse my absence from this space as i spend my days loving, protecting and nourishing my little people. i will return very soon, perhaps even tomorrow.  



love and blessings, erika

i live for weekends.

except now our summer vacation has officially started so the weekends seem to never end. i really am a no schedule, let's just see where the day takes us, laid back kind of gal. yes, this summer lifestyle suits me fine.

hope your weekend is treating you right, friends!

small style :: made from scratch

yet another mama made collaboration on little luca.

hand dyed hemp/cotton tee with owl applique.

reversible linen trousers - they are brown with mushrooms on one side and blue with owls on the other.

pediped sandles previously worn and loved by harper.

i always tell my husband that we made him from scratch. from his ginger curls to his tippy toes. and mama is busy covering everything in between!

i'm linking up with morgan at mama loves papa today!

take action!

you have all checked out the action packs from whip up, yes? if not what are you waiting for?!

  

Action Pack: A mini-mag for kids who want to do stuff!

Get your kids off the couch with this printable mini-mag for kids (aged 7+) priced at only $5.

Inspire them with 25+ pages of craft projects, outdoor activities, cooking, art and more, everything a kid needs for a weekend (or two) of activities.

Educate them through the six senses without them realising they are even learning.

and there is also an action pack flickr group where you can show and tell. i will be sure to share all of our action pack adventures with you here. looking forward...

HaPpY SUMMER!!

paper bag owl pinata :: a tutorial

i cannot believe that today is the last day of may! i feel like i blinked and the entire month was gone. i am still planning to post some of our fun birthday celebration photos... soon, very, very soon!!

but first how about i share some of our party crafts with you? this one is my favorite - a quick and easy make-it-the-night-before-the-party pinata tutorial. esme and i actually did make this one the evening before the party!

here is what you will need ::

brown paper bags - 2 or 3

construction paper for the eyes and beek (white, black and yellow)

masking tape, and/or glue (we used both)

rope, string, or yarn to hang your pinata

and of course some sweet treats!

start by filling one of your bags with your pinata goodies.

cut off a long piece of your rope/yarn/string to hang your pinata. mine was approximately 5 feet in length. (always better to cut it too long rather than too short!) and i doubled mine up to make sure it was nice and strong. next i folded the top of the bag over 3 times sandwiching our rope-yarn in between. we used a little glue in between the folds and then lots of masking tape on top of the last fold to secure everything.

now it is time to decorate your owl! this is the super fun part and you can get pretty creative and make your owl's face anyway you like. here is how we did ours ::

to make the eyes we simple traced the inside of the masking tape roll on the black paper for pupils and the outside of the roll for the whites of his eyes. the beek is just a small triangle cut from the yellow paper. to make wings we cut ruffle-y feathers from one of our extra paper bags and glued them to the pinata in layers. glue your eyes and beek in place and you are done! look at that, you just made your very own pinata in probably less time than it took to write this tutorial. now sit back and enjoy your beautiful work. and don't forget to take a few photos of your feathered friend!

we hung our pinata from the playset and the littles used a piece of pvc pipe to break it open. (that is our little friend freya having her turn) it held up just fine and everyone had a couple turns before the candy fell out. we had lots of toddlers and preschoolers and a few grade school aged kids at our party. i think if you are making a paper bag pinata for older kids you could easily use two bags and it would work great. and you could make any little creature you wanted! just imagine the possibilities... also, you could paint the eyes and wings onto your bag or even use colorful markers before you filled it with goodies. or maybe add craft feathers and google eyes to your creation! 

if you make your own paper bag pinata please leave me a message so i can come check it out!

happy crafting, friends!

 Pin It

thank you so much {and a giveaway winner!}

thank you for all the sweet and thoughtful happy birthday wishes that were left for esme. i read every single one of them to her and they made her day even more special.

today we choose a winner for our little knit kit giveaway {esme wanted you all to win, by the way}.

we will be making a kit for felicia of 3 little birds stitch. YaY!

{big sigh} we survived birthday month. and we had a whole lot of fun! i have a couple birthday craft tutorials to share with you as well as some party pics! i will work on getting them posted this weekend.

thanks again {and again} for celebrating with us, friends.

with love, erika and the may birthday bunch.

sweet birthday girl EIGHT {and a giveaway!}

 our sweet and sassy little esme is eight years old today. i stayed up way past bedtime making rice cereal treats with chocolate on top for her entire class. that is what she requested and i have to admit i was a wee bit relieved to get out of baking. it is birthday month after all - i have done my fair share of baking recently.

and now, onto esme's special birthday giveaway!

do you all remember the little knit kits i introduced last christmas? if not let me tell you all about them. they include a 2 ounce ball of hand painted wool yarn and small (6 inch) handmade, wooden needles that are the perfect size for small hands learning to knit. everything is contained in an adorable project tote.

 

and the wool yarn included with each little knit kit is a very special magic yarn ball. a magic yarn ball contains little treasures carefully wound into the yarn. these small surprises are discovered as your child knits the yarn! 

esme received her very own little knit kit for christmas and she started knitting that same day. she has made a few mistakes and has even ripped all of her work out and started over a couple times but even so she loves it!

 for this giveaway we are offering one little knit kit in the color/print of the winner's choosing! you tell us what your child would love and we will put a custom little knit kit together with handmade needles, a hand painted magic yarn ball, all neatly tucked into a cute project tote and send it your way! girly, boyish, or neutral, we can make a kit for anyone.

to enter simply leave a happy birthday wish for esme in the comments on this post.

we will choose a winner at random on the evening of may 25th.

PLEASE make sure you leave me a way to contact you.

i will e-mail the winner and discuss fabric options and yarn colors and their custom little knit kit will be put together and mailed within 10 days.

i can only ship with the US at this time. thank you for understanding.

also, i would love for you to follow my blog and stop by for another visit soon, or check out inspired mama MAKES! on facebook. neither are neccesary to win but they are pretty nice things to do.

and the fun doesn't stop here - it is giveaway day at sew, mama, sew so don't miss out!

HaPpY giveaway day, friends!

have fun, best of luck, i hope you all win something wonderful! 

comments are closed - we will post the lucky winner's name tomorrow! thanks friends!

sunday musings, updates and upcomings.

today we went to the east end market and harper bought this little sock frog. he loves it, so much that he asked me to come outside and take photos of him in the herb garden. he named him "ribbit". esme picked out a small yellow and blue sock kitty with button eyes. then we took our new creaturely friends across the street to the sweet shoppe. one jaw breaker, a small bag of assorted taffy, and a couple peppermint sticks later we were on our way home.

i had intentions of coming to post the birthday month giveaway winners no less than a dozen times this weekend. so sorry if you have been waiting on the edge of your seat! a sweet local friend won luca's birthday giveaway and we delivered her goodies yesterday. aimee from in a cobweb cottage by the sea won harper's birthday giveaway and her coloring wallet is all packed up and will be on it's way to her in the morning.

and, tomorrow is esme's birthday which means one more special giveaway! YaY! so stop by in the morning to see what she has planned for you.

good night, dear friends! see you in the morning!

erika

small style :: bossy pants

while out and about on a recent thrifting trip we discovered this little gem - brand new, bright red suspenders, still in the original packaging. you just simply can't leave something like that at the store, friends. i wasn't sure if harper would even wear them but it turns out he is easily convinced when little clampy buckles are involved. 

 my favorite part is the little leather cross-patch on the back that says "THE BOSS". there have been a lot of "what's up, boss?" and "you're the boss!" tossed around the house since the suspenders arrived, usually delivered in a thick jersey accent for full effect.

and here is what the package has to say about little red suspenders for kids ::

For kids who aspire to be a contractor, fireman, or just want to look cool, Little Red Suspenders are the answer.

okay seriously, who can argue with that?!

i am linking up with morgan at mama loves papa today - pay her a visit for more sweet small style!

just because.

one more sweet photo of my boys. that's all.

don't forget to enter our giveaway!

big birthday boy FOUR {and a giveaway!}

this post was intended for thursday but with blogger being down for maintenece all day it just never happened. so let's just carry on and pretend that the following was posted on harper's day, yesterday may 12th, okay? okay.

yay, yay, yay today is harper's day! my sweet boy is 4 (FOUR!!) today!

i asked him if he felt like four when he woke up this morning and he looked at me and very seriously said "i think i do, mom."

this is what i get when i jubilantly say "show me how old you are!"

and just look at these two. oh, be still my mama heart. those little sandles that luca has on were harper's first sandles. i just happened to discover them when i cleaned the closet in my sewing room. i am so happy i held on to them! luca reminds me so, so much of harper at this age. same amazing eye lashes. same crazy curls. they make a pretty dynamic duo, for sure!

okay, now onto harper's birthday giveaway! my little guy's current favorite activity is creating wonderful works of art. i have given him his own little corner in my sewing room and he spends a whole lot of time in there coloring, cutting, and gluing stuff. i sewed him his own coloring wallet a couple years ago when he was really too small to care about coloring. but now... he carries that thing everywhere with him!

so for harper's giveaway we picked out this cute little owl print coloring wallet. unfamiliar with coloring wallets? well, let me tell you all about it!

it is handmade (by me!) in an adorable cotton owl print. it comes with a sketch pad that fits in the pocket on the far right. on the left there are little slots for crayons to slide into. 8-10 crayons will easily fit and there is a small flap to keep everything in it's place. the center pocket holds all of your child's drawings. if you prefer a small box of 8 crayons will fit right into the center pocket, but my kiddos never, ever return their crayons to the box! it all folds up and is secured with a button and elastic closure.

to enter this giveaway simply leave a comment with a happy birthday wish for harper! we will be sure to read to him each one of your kind sentiments!

also, i would love to have you all follow our little blog and stop back by for another visit! if you choose to do so go ahead and enter again by leaving a seperate comment. if you already follow inspired mama musings please let me know that too, and thank you ♥

we will close the comments on the evening of wednesday may 18th and announce a winner the following morning.

good luck, i hope you win!

comments are closed - winner will be posted soon!