New Trend Alert: OWLS!

They're just so darn cute!

FurniKids.com

While shopping around on the internet for Christmas presents this year, I have noticed a good amount of owl paraphernalia, and I can't help but LOVE these precious little guys! Obviously, they seem to be a trend going around right now, and I have totally fallen for them.  From computer gadgets to shelves, coffee mugs to nursery decor, and even fabulous jewelry... these owls are just too cute to pass up! So with that said, I figured I would share a few of my favorites with you all:

For that coffee or tea lover... is this not the most adorable coffee mug you've ever seen?

Pier 1 Imports Owl Mug'

Hang these little guys on your wall to keep track of your miscellaneous little gadgets.

Pottery Barn Teen Wall Hooks

 Add a little owl bling to make that outfit really POP!

Amazon Pendant Necklace

Amazon Crystal Rhinestone Pendant Necklace

 This USB plug can either sit perched on his little log, or you can attach him to the top of your computer or lap top, where he moves his head around, opens and shuts his eyes and will keep you company while you browse the web.

USB Interactive Computer Owl on Amazon

Check out how he works here:

I found these adorable crochet owl hats on Sweet Loves Creates Photography Props. I'm no photographer, but I sure would love one of these for my little guy. I just can't get enough of these cute little owls!

Sweet Loves Creates

 How adorable is this little doorstopper? I would totally sit him by the entrance to my house to welcome guests and hold my door open... or just sit him up on a shelf somewhere... just precious!!

Pier 1 Imports Door Stopper

Black Friday Deals LEAKED!

So if you're like me and love to shop, and love getting great deals, then you are obviously getting pumped for BLACK FRIDAY 2011!  Get your shopping shoes ready and be sure to check out the leaked ads before anyone else, right here!  Map out your game plan and get ready to save lots of money!  This website has them all before anyone!  


BLACK FRIDAY 2011 ADS!

SHOP TIL YA DROP!

Make Your Own Doll House for CHEAP!

So my niece's 4th birthday was coming up and I knew I wanted to do something super special for her.  She's going through a serious doll phase, so when I saw this dollhouse shelf at Michael's on sale for like $20, I just couldn't help myself!  Now while the original purpose of this "house" is to hold books and other gadgets and gismos for display, I saw serious potential for an awesome little dollhouse that my niece could play out her own soap operas in.  I always dreamt of having a dollhouse, with the little furniture and miniature appliances, but never got one, so I used a dash of imagination with a sprinkle of creativity and came up with some of the cutest ideas to furnish the house.  And catch this, most of it was made using items I already had lying around the house or taking up space in that junk drawer (you know you have one of those drawers), so the cost was minimal.  So if you love crafts, have a good imagination and have always wanted to make a dollhouse for that special little girl in your life, then here's a project for you:

STEP 1:  BUY THIS AWESOMELY CHEAP DOLL SHELF AT MICHAEL'S 

STEP 2: PAINT YOUR HOUSE 

(and I bought a flower calendar from Michael's for $1 and used a couple of the pictures as wallpaper)  Just used wood glue to paste it to the "walls".  Trim as needed to fit perfectly.

STEP 3: PAINT AND DECORATE THE FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!  

I found packs of wooden squares for about $1.50 at Michael's, the trees are actually place card holders for a $1 in the wedding section and the fence pieces were like $1.

STEP 4: MAKE YOUR FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIZE THE HOUSE!  

Here is the canopy bed that I made from scratch.  It's probably my favorite part of the entire project.  I bought a piece of rectangular styrofoam for a $1 or so and used an old white pillow case to wrap the foam in and hot glued it in place.  I then used 4 chop sticks (yes, the ones you get when you order out chinese food), painted them white and poked them down into the styrofoam.  Then all you need is a little bit of ribbon for the top of the canopy and the bed skirt, some lacy material for the drapes and some material for the comforter set and pillow.  So much fun to make! It took me a little while, just because I wanted it to be perfect, but I could probably make the next one in half the time now that I know how I want everything done.  And you can't really see it, but I glued a piece of cardboard that I cut and shape like a headboard and glued little rhinestone squares (look like mini mirrors) to it to make a glamourous headboard.  

STEP 4:  PUT IT ALL TOGETHER TO MAKE A FABULOUS DOLLHOUSE FOR THAT SPECIAL LITTLE GIRL IN YOUR LIFE.   

Or shoot, I have two boys and they totally loved playing with it before we got it to the Birthday party.  Throw some blue paint on it, make some boy accessories and your little guy has a cool Batman Cave or Spiderman Hideout house!

And please note the lights that put up around the house.  These came in a pack of 6 and are the battery operated miniature lights that have a little on/off switch on the back.  I glued one piece of velcro to the top of the house where I wanted the lights put up and another piece of velcro to the actual light so that you can just pull the lights off the house to turn the switch on or off and then just stick it back up there.  (notice I also put one by the front door)

I must say, this particular dollhouse doesn't fit the adult sized Barbie dolls in the smaller rooms, but if you have a small Skipper dolls or any other little doll, the kids will use them!  Luckily, my niece got a pack of little Disney Princess Figurines which she used and found to work perfectly.  It was definitely a great gift and was not only a hit with the little girls, but with everyone else at the party.  My family and friends joked that I made their gifts look pretty lame and that it was obvious which gift was her favorite!  My response:  "Well it better be after all the time and hard work I put into it."  ;)

STEP 5:  ADD A CURTAIN (IF YOU WISH) 

I'm not sure if I'm totally glad I did this or not.  I saw a similar idea somewhere and it was super cute, but I'm not sure I am quite advanced enough to pull this one off, but as you can see above, I put hooks on the sides so that she can pull it aside and have it held when she's playing and then can close it when she's done.

Do you have a dollhouse project or doll furniture that you've made?  I'd love to see what other people have come up with! Enjoy and please message me pictures if you decide to go make your own now!

McDonald's Happy Meal Change: Good or Bad?

While I realize it's tough to put the words McDonald's and healthy into the same sentence, there was just something about ordering a chicken nugget kids meal with whole milk and apples that made me feel a little less guilty about feeding it to my child.  Recently, McDonald's has made a change to their happy meals: "The New Happy Meal - With fruit in every one.  See how we're changing. Together."  Instead of giving parents the choice to either order fries or apples with each meal, McDonald's has decided to give a kid-sized fry and a smaller bag of apples with their meal.  While this may be better for the kids whose parents have always just ordered fries with their meals, as a parent who has always only allowed my child to have apples and milk with their meal, I find this change to actually be a negative change.  I quickly realized, I can just take out the fries, but now they only give about 4 slices of apple in each bag of apples, which they used to give about twice that amount.  I wonder if they would allow me to order 2 bags of apples and no fry with my child's next kids meal.  To me, it's worth a shot!  

What do you think about this change?  Do you think it will actually get more kids to eat "healthier" when getting a kids meal, or will those apples get tossed aside and thrown out?

Back to Baking!

Last week was my youngest guy's first birthday!  I can't believe how fast the time has flown by.  Since I went all out and made my other son an extravagant spiderman cake for his third birthday, in March, I obviously had to do the same for my little guy.  Instead of spiderman, we went with the Elmo theme since he's a big fan of Sesame Street.  I bought the cake pan from Party City and used the homemade fondant recipe from TheCookDuke.com and let my creativity and imagination go to work from there.  I must say, it took a while to do everything, but in the end, the cake was spectacular and everyone loved it...especially my little birthday boy!

Checking it out...

Doing  a little bit of taste testing...

I think he liked it :) 

Hurricane Party Cocktail

Only days after the unexpected 5.9 earthquake shook us up, we now find ourselves taking cover as Hurricane Irene violently beats and batters us over here on the east coast.  As you stock up on necessities and prepare for the worst, don't forget to make a stop at the liquor store (or if you're like me, make sure your wine rack is stocked).  For those of you planning on having a hurricane party or just want to enjoy a new drink for the occasion, I give you... (drum roll please): 

THE HURRICANE COCKTAIL!

Ingredients:

2 oz light rum

2 oz dark rum

2 oz passion fruit juice

1 oz orange juice

juice of half a lime

1 Tbsp simple syrup

1 Tbsp grenadine

orange slice and cherry for garnish

Preparation:

1. Squeeze juice from half a lime into shaker over ice

2. Pour the remaining ingredients into the shaker

3. SHAKE (like the earthquake baby)

4. Strain into glass (preferably a hurricane glass such as this)

5. Garnish with a slice of orange and a cherry

Now drink up and most of all BE SAFE!

20 Fun Things for Kids to do this Summer:

This summer, we decided to make a bulletin board of things we wanted to do at some point.  I've been watching my husband's little cousins who are 11 and 13, as well as my two little guys who are much younger.  I had each of them write down about 5 things that they wanted to do while they're with me this summer.  Although they have expensive taste, we came up with some great ideas, so here they go:

1. Make a fun list of things to do this summer (such as ours above or I love this idea!)

2. Make a music video

3. Paint ball

4. Make tie-dye shirts

5. Go to the water park

6. Laser Tag

7. Make ice-cream sundaes

8. Go to a theme park (they listed plenty)

9. Water balloon fight

10. Drop mentos into a soda can and watch it fizz and overflow (this was a new one for me)

11. Go see a movie

12. Go to the Pool

13. Have a Lemonade/Cupcake Sale

14. Slip-n-slide (don't forget the baby oil)

15. Have a picnic at the park

16. Create a ziplock bag explosion

17. Conduct the Fizzy Colors Experiment

18. i-Spy (scavenger hunt)

19. Make pizza from scratch

20. Make a photo album of our summer fun!

Fizzy Colors Experiment

As much as I love to play outside all day, some days it's just way too hot!  So this week we decided to put our bath fizzies to use in a fun colors experiment.  We filled up 6 glasses of water and dropped a different colored fizzy into each one (blue,  yellow and red).  We then picked two of the three colors to mix into the glasses of clear water.  My little guy quickly discovered that he could magically make new colors just by mixing a couple of the primary colors that he began with.  Not only was this a lot of fun, but it helped my 3-year-old learn a little bit about colors and how they are made by mixing with other colors.  You can also use food coloring for this experiment, but I must say, the bath fizzies are way more fun because they act like alka-seltzers when you drop them in, bubbling and fizzing in the cup for a minute.  And not to mention, they are a blast when it comes to bath time!


And while I'm sure all you moms and dads are already well aware of this, it just wouldn't be an experiment without our objectives and equations.  Shoot if you want to get even more scientific, have the kids make hypotheses (guesses) as to what color will result each time before you combine them.

The Fizzy Colors Experiment

OBJECTIVE:  Learn about the 3 primary colors and how you can mix them together to make brand new colors.  And have lots of fun!


PRIMARY COLORS: Blue, Red & Yellow


MATERIALS NEEDED:  
*6 clear glassses filled about halfway with water.
*either red, blue and yellow food coloring or bath fizzies (which you can find in the bath section at the grocery store)
*something to stir the water with


RESULTS:


BLUE + RED = PURPLE
BLUE + YELLOW = GREEN

YELLOW +

RED + YELLOW = ORANGE

BLUE = GREEN!

So excited to see his new colors MAGICALLY appear!

Help me win a HONEYMOON!

So, those of you who follow my blog, know that I have two little boys with my new husband.  We have been together for quite some time, but sort of did everything a little backwards.  And since we have kids, we weren't able to spend money on a honeymoon (which we desperately need).  So when we heard about a contest on a nearby radio station, giving away a free honeymoon to the hottest bride, I joined in.  What do we have to lose?  So if you guys could help us out and go VOTE FOR CRYSTAL, we would greatly appreciate it.  With two little ones, we barely get a night to go out to dinner, much less a free trip to a Sandals Resort in Jamaica!  I love you guys and thank you ahead of time for your time to do this!

An Elephant Crashed My Wedding... Seriously!

My wedding day was absolutely perfect.  I was always the little girl who dreamt of the day that I'd walk down the aisle and marry my prince charming and I can honestly say that it turned out exactly how I'd always pictured it... minus the elephant.  But hey, it was a hit and all of our guests were quite impressed to find a real-life elephant at the door of the luxurious hotel when they pulled up to the front door.


Apparently there was an Indian wedding going on at the same venue that evening and it's some sort of royal tradition to ride in on an elephant.  I won't lie...I was a bit hesitant when the hotel coordinator told us that we would be greeted with a giant elephant out front, but all-in-all, I feel like it just added a bit of excitement to the day for us and all of our guests.  


But back to MY wedding... the ceremony went flawlessly (although the kiss was a bit awkward considering the photographer told my husband to make sure to kiss for at least 30 seconds, which is a very long time up at the alter with everyone staring at you).  Wish I could re-do that, but at least our photographer got a good shot of it (he had plenty of time to do so).  And the dress, although gorgeous, required a lot of tugging to keep it up throughout the reception.  Thank goodness I brought a shorter dress to change into halfway through the reception.  The wardrobe change was quite a hit, I must admit!  I got a lot of compliments on it!  


But bottom line, it was absolutely amazing and I will never forget our big day.  It was everything I had ever dreamt of and more!  And best of all, I can officially call my husband, my husband!  Any bride-to-be's who need advice on anything, please don't hesitate to ask me, because I feel like I became a professional wedding planner throughout the whole process as well.  Once I get all of my photos from our photographer, I will be sure to post more pictures for you all to enjoy from our big day!

Bachelorette Weekend Festivities

Okay, so with everything going on the past few weeks, I have been slacking on keeping you all up to date on all the fun festivities that went on for bachelorette weekend!  Bachelorette weekend is the weekend where the bride-to-be and all her girlfriends get together, wear obscene penis necklaces, and enjoy their last weekend as a single gal.  Fortunately for me, I have two children with my hubby-to-be and enjoyed the last weekend as a single woman years ago.  But that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun the weekend before the big wedding, right?


So it was off to my hometown for a weekend with the girls to play dress-up, drink too much, lounge by the rooftop pool and do some bonding.  To add a little excitement to the night and to be sure to stand out, we bought 'sexy' masks, glow bracelets, giant light-up engagement rings, and mardi gras beads.  I wore pink and the bridesmaids all wore black dresses.  We were apparently a hit, because after dinner, when we went downstairs to the bar, the manager gave us the secret VIP entrance through the back door and all of our drinks were taken care of.  Not to mention we also got a complimentary bottle of champagne by a curious bystander.  It's nice being a young, hot pack of girls in a bar, covered in glow sticks! 

The second night, we decided to do a theme: "A night at the Grammy's".  I dressed as the infamous Britney Spears, while my girls Ke$ha, Avril Lavigne, Miranda Lambert, Katy Perry and Chelsea Handler joined me for some fun.  I must say, the Ke$ha look was probably the coolest.  The make-up was perfect.  Not to mention the un-showered, messy pool-hair and aroma of alcohol that followed her all night... I'm telling you, it was Ke$ha at her finest.  

From left to right: Chelsea Handler, Avril, Katy Perry, Britney, Miranda & Ke$ha

So as you can see, it was a perfectly done-up girls weekend, with no drama, plenty of fun and large amounts of alcohol consumed.  What says bachelorette weekend better than that?  I must say, I did miss my baby boys a ton, but this momma never gets a night off, so it was well deserved.

Stay-at-home Moms need a break too!

When I was younger, being a stay-at-home mom is what I always dreamt of becoming when I grew up.  How fabulous would it be to get to stay at home everyday with your kids and just play with them... all day long?  I figured I'd never actually be that lucky and I'd end up having to work a 9-to-5 job in order to support our family and have the nice things that we wanted for ourselves, just like most of the moms out there today, but to my surprise I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to stay at home with my two little guys.  


Now while I love being with them all day, everyday, I have also found that being a stay-at-home mom is way more challenging than I had always assumed it would be.  From the moment they wake up at 7:30am (8 if I'm lucky) to the moment they fall asleep at 10pm 8 o' clock on the dot, I am usually with them.  This is great because I don't miss a beat with either of them.  I know I will not miss my lil' guy's first steps, and I'll be there to witness my 3-year-old's first potty word come out of his mouth (I keep telling myself that he yelled SIT when he dropped his cup from the back deck last weekend).  But after a long, tiring day of chasing after my preschooler and telling him repeatedly that it is NOT okay to push baby down when he has finally pulled himself up, and then trying to calm the baby down when his big brother comes and snatches all his puffs in one swipe... I need a break!


Take time out for yourself!  This is advice that I have gotten from each and every fellow mommy out there. "Join a mommy's day out, or meet up at the local playground or Panera with other moms", they say.  But for me, it's not that easy.  I am only 25, with two kids and have moved two hours from my hometown to live with my husband.  The other moms that I meet are usually a little older and look at me as if I should be on that MTV show, Teen Mom.  I guess I do look much younger, but I feel that it puts me at a disadvantage.  Or maybe I just need to get over my insecurities and put myself out there to make other mommy friends.  I do have a few friends who also have kids, but they work during the day and barely have enough time to spend at home with their families, much less make time to hang with me.  


I guess I'm getting a little off track here, but I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that being a stay-at-home mom is not as easy as everyone makes it out to be.  When I wish I could just sit and relax and play batman with my son, I am usually doing laundry, folding it, doing dishes, making lunches, feeding the baby... you name it and I do it.  I think being a stay-at-home mom also means full-time-maid to the husband who gets to go to work and interact with other adult human beings all day.  Since he's at work all day and I'm just at home playing with the kids all day, it's expected that I have the place well kept at all times.  If only they could switch spots with us for a week, I think men would have a whole new found respect for the stay-at-home mom/housewife!  We need a break too...


How do some of you fellow stay-at-home mama's take a time out for yourself?  Do you feel overwhelmed being at home everyday with your kids or is it the absolute dream you always imagined it would be?  Maybe I need to start scheduling my days out with activities and plan the chores around the times they are either in bed or napping (but this is usually my only "me time").  I'd love to get some comments and feedback on some of the secrets to juggling it all and keeping your sanity in the process.

50 Questions that will free your mind

This month I have knocked out a few things from my list of 101 in 1001.  I have run a 5K, taken a road trip with the family (a 12 hour trip from VA to FL), danced in the rain with my husband and kiddos (so much fun), influenced someone to make a list of their own and now I am crossing off #61, which is to answer the 50 questions that will free your mind.  I thought I would share this with you guys. I've decided I won't bore you with my own answers, but go through and answer them for yourself to free your mind and feel free to share some of your thoughts along the way.  

These questions have no right or wrong answers.

Because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? 
2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?
3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?
6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire.  They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend.  The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do?
12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
13. Would you break the law to save a loved one?
14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?
15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?  What’s holding you back?
18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?
20. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?
21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?
22. Why are you, you?
23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
25. What are you most grateful for?
26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
28. Has your greatest fear ever come true?
29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset?  Does it really matter now?
30. What is your happiest childhood memory?  What makes it so special?
31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
32. If not now, then when?
33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
36. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?
38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
40. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
46. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
47. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
48. What do you love?  Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
49. In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday?  What about the day before that?  Or the day before that?
50. Decisions are being made right now.  The question is:  Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

I'd love to hear some of your responses or thoughts on these!  Feel free to share in the comments section below!