Posts Tagged ‘kid fashion’

One Big Happy Hello

Monday, September 12th, 2016

A big happy thank you to Gymboree for sponsoring this post! They’ve been delightful to work with and we’re all thrilled with the new fall clothes. Be sure to check out their giveaway for an amazing baby bundle here

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After we came home from the hospital the first time, we didn’t really have a chance to adjust to our new 4-kid family before poor Baby Finnegan had to go back to the hospital for his light therapy. When we finally did make it home, school had started and the big kids were gone all the time. It’s made our first two weeks home feel sort of disjointed and hectic, not the calm, cuddly, peaceful time I had imagined in my head. It hasn’t helped that along with school, it was the first week of soccer, E had to go back to work and the toddler has been trying to give up napping, so even WITHOUT a brand new baby things would have been a little crazy. Still, we are so excited about our one big happy hello moment – completing our family with baby #4.

One thing that HAS been just as good (or better!) than I could have hoped is how Evan, Caroline, and Lincoln have all fallen in love with their new baby brother. They adore him completely. It’s such a joy to see and makes my heart want to burst every time I find one of them patting his head or singing Twinkle Twinkle to calm him down or saying “I just LOVE Baby Finn!” Obviously, this isn’t my first new-sibling rodeo and I’ve learned a few things over the past 3 kids. I think applying them all has really made this transition easier. Here are some of the things that have worked for us:

  1. Don’t change anything you don’t have to in the days before the baby comes. Linc is 2 now and probably getting close to potty learning, but we didn’t even consider trying right now. That’s a big change for a small person and adjusting to sharing Mommy with a baby is hard enough. I couldn’t avoid sending the big kids to school the same week the baby came home, but we kept our routine as normal and typical as possible. No new expectations or demands, no new charts or schedules, and I cut back on this year’s fall enrichment activities so they have more time at home in the evening to relax.
  2. Bring the kids to the hospital to meet the new baby. The kids visited us twice before we got to come home, which gave them a chance to interact with Finnegan without having him immediately in “their” space. It also helped them build up excitement for the moment when he (and I) would be released  and back under the same roof with the rest of the family. We let them all hold and cuddle the baby as much as they wanted in the hospital and made a Big Deal about how proud we were when they were loving and gentle.
  3. Put them to work! “Helping” with the baby is a favorite chore around here, especially for Lincoln. He loves bringing diapers and burp cloths for Finn or snacks and drinks for Mommy. Caroline and Evan are expected to do the same stuff, as well as contribute to general household well-being by feeding the dog, picking up after themselves, and helping Linc with things that are slightly above his abilities. Everyone likes to feel useful and important, and they all love their Big Kid Helper status.
  4. Do your best to give everyone some one-on-one attention. I know that’s easier said than done, especially if you’re adding a 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc etc child to the family. Just do your best. I’ve taken Caroline alone with me to do errands or pick up food, E took Linc with him to Home Depot and watched a movie with Evan, my mother reads endless books patiently to anyone who asks. Even if I am holding or feeding Finnegan, I try to make room next to me for whoever needs a snuggle.  It’s easy to get touched out, exhausted and want nothing more than 10 minutes of quiet, but try to remind yourself it’s not forever and some day you’ll kids who don’t even want to be seen with you, let alone sit in your lap. This too shall pass, and probably way faster than you want it to when you look back.
  5. Accept help. The more time you can spend with the kids – or the more people around who can also spend time with the kids – the less likely they’ll see the baby as an attention-stealing monster. It can be tempting to try to prove you can do everything on your own (and you probably can, Supermom) but you don’t HAVE to turn down help. Try saying yes. A freezer meal means you could spend that time snuggling instead of cooking. Someone whisking away older kids for a playdate means you can take a nap while the baby does. Someone who wants to come over and just hold your baby for an hour means you can take a shower. I am one of those people who says “No, really, I’m fine! We’re good! I don’t need anything!” but when people ignore me – and I’m so lucky to have people in my life who ignore me – and help anyway it’s amazing. The less stressed you are, the easier it is to make a smooth transition to +1 more kids without major meltdowns.

Another way to get ready for baby is to shop for newborn essentials like onesies, socks, bibs, blankets and hats. Gymboree has all that and more covered with 100% combed cotton baby items, which are crazy soft and incredibly cute too. The newborn styles are easy to mix-and-match (who has time to hunt for the ONE pair of matching leggings on 3 hours of sleep?) and reversible bibs and blankets mean you can get twice the use out of them.

One of my favorite things about Gymboree is their kid clothes LOOK like kid clothes, whether you’re just looking for comfy play outfits or dressier looks for family photos. I also love matchy-sibling stuff and they are super great at carrying a theme/styles through their baby, toddler and kid’s collections each season. I had so much fun putting together looks for each of the kids and then surprising them with these fun orange boxes.

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After everyone tried on their new clothes, they helped Baby Finnegan open his box and see what his new outfit looked like.

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They are DELIGHTED with the outdoors/wolf theme, and I think it’s so cute that I have a whole “pack” of kids.

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You can expect to see these clothes in our weekly photos a LOT this fall – soft, comfy, and stylish (plus easy care) check all the boxes for the things that become instant favorites. Linc’s outfit comes from the Mountain Trail collection for toddlers, and Evan’s is from the matching boy’s stuff. Caroline’s owl dress and leggings are part of the mix & match collection.

And now for a GIVEAWAY!

Did you know September is one of the most popular birth months? To celebrate, Gymboree teamed up with 6 popular brands to bring parents the ultimate bundle for baby. They’re giving away over $2,000 in prizes from Gymboree, Land of Nod, Seventh Generation, 4moms, Baby Bjorn, and munchkin. You can enter to win this AMAZING prize pack by clicking here. It’s an AMAZING bundle, don’t miss out!

www.gymboree.com/babybundle

I will also surprise and delight one person who comments on this post with a $50 Gymboree gift card. (I apologize for taking down the Rafflecopter, I misunderstood some directions in my new-baby exhaustion fog and it’s totally my fault. I’ll still choose someone at random who comments on this post between yesterday and Monday Sept 19th with a $50 gift card.)

It’s Time…To Talk About Back To School #FirstDayEveryday {Sponsored}

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Kohl’s and Carter’s were kind enough to partner with me on this post, so I could shop for back to school. I was compensated as part of the #firstdayeveryday campaign but all opinions and pictures are my own. 

The current temperature around here is about equivalent to that of the surface of the sun, but that doesn’t mean the end of summer isn’t on the way. Also, our district doesn’t seem to believe in the idea that school should start after Labor Day, so the big kids go back the last week of August. I’d be lying a little if I didn’t admit I was mostly ready for it – as fun as summer is, entertaining 3 kids 24 hours a day is a lot of hours of constant needs.

I’m NEVER ready for how much the kids grow between seasons though. Caroline was down to two pairs of leggings and zero pairs of actual pants for fall, Evan had only one pair of jeans, and poor Linc survived last fall in footie pajamas, which isn’t going to cut it this year when he’s an actual person. Thanks to Kohl’s, Carter’s and Caroline’s excellent shopping assistance, we’re no longer in desperate need of ALL THE THINGS and instead can stock up on freshly sharpened pencils, markers for important coloring homework, and thinking about the fact that I’m due to have a baby the same day school starts. Actually, no, let’s not think about that last thing. Let’s look at clothes instead!

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Right away Caroline was in love with the trends for fall – lots of florals in different patterns and scales, leggings for under everything (including her uniforms on school days and dresses on weekends), and fun details like belts, lace, and embroidery. She decided she loved navy and pink together, so everything she tried on ended up coordinating.

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We bought two pairs of these jeggings. They have real pockets and a real zipper, but they are so soft and stretchy. She declared them the best pants ever and has worn them almost every day since. She loves the shirt too, with the flower corsage detail.

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Is it weird that I am jealous of my 5-year-old’s jean jacket? It’s like the perfect level of broken in already and is going to look SO GOOD this fall to extend the life of her summer dresses. You can expect to see it at least 100 times in my weekly photos.

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She is pretending to be a bird, because there are birds on her dress. Obviously.

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Lucky for Caroline, our Kohl’s also sells Carter’s accessories. Sparkle bracelets for the win! We also bought this two-pack of leggings to use as alternates to the jeans with the polka-dot top or to wear under the bird dress. I think we ended up with at least 5 different outfits when you mix and match.

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Our uniform code says “solid cardigans” are appropriate for over uniforms with no rules about color. What could be better than pink?

In the boy’s department, I found matching brother shirts and pants for Evan and Linc. Carter’s goes up to size 8 and runs true to size, in my experience, so Evan will still fit in the brand for at least another year. I got him a couple more t-shirts and a pair of jeans too, because you cannot have enough jeans when you are 7 and rip through the knees of your pants almost on a weekly basis.

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In the baby department, I bought a bunch of stuff from the outdoors/bear/camping collection and from the sheep/cloud collection. They also have great nautical stuff (MY FAVORITE).

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Look at those outer space jams!!

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Whales! To wear to the seaport!

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Baby boat shoes, just what every baby needs to wear with their red pants and button down woven shirts for the fall. Because of course I bought Linc and Baby #4 matching red pants and woven shirts for fall.

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While we were looking at pajamas, Caroline asked if they were for boys or girls. I told her they were for both, because anyone can like dinosaurs and trucks, so she was excited to pick out matching pajamas for her and Lincoln. We went with sharks and blue stripes.

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Linc also got a set of dinosaur pajamas, which are great for the transition from summer sleeping to cooler fall nights. (I’m really excited about cooler fall nights.)

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That blue flower shirt dress is another of Caroline’s new amazing fall choices. As you can see, she was really excited about our shopping trip.

Our last stop was to check out the Carter’s shoes.

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These were the winners. Easy to put on, closed-toe for school, goes with everything, and that adorable bow. I loved that the Carter’s brand finds that balance between trendy-fun and age appropriate (especially for Caroline), so I could let her shop without worrying that I’d have to say no to half her choices.

Once I have a new baby – fingers crossed for NOT the same day as the first day of school – I’ll have so many adorable new baby outfits for him to model. Until then, I hope all the photos of Caroline will do. She’s very good at style, you know. But here’s a sneak peek of what we found:

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Two onesie sets (dinosaurs and foxes), the outfit that matches Linc’s red pants, sheepy onesies, and of course, MORE FOXES.

Thank you so much to Kohl’s and Carter’s for including me in this super fun campaign. The kids and I LOVE new clothes and it’s such a great way to start the countdown to back to school!

Starting August 1st, Kohl’s is having $10 off a $40 purchase of back-to-school clothes and shoes! It runs 8/1 through 8/17 and you can shop online with the code BTS10.

 

HAPPY SHOPPING!

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Where I Buy My Kid Clothes (Especially for Caroline)

Friday, June 17th, 2016

This is one of those posts that is ONLY interesting to other people who are currently living fairly similar lives to mine (smallish children who both have and do not have opinions on their clothes but have to wear something because constant nudity is not an option). Or possibly it’s good for aunts/uncles/grandparents/relatives/close-but-childless-friends-who-are-often-stumped-looking-for-gifts, since cute, good quality kid clothes are almost always welcome.

But I feel like I get a lot of compliments on what my children wear, both in real life and online, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to share my shopping habits. This was supposed to be a pretty short, easy post to write and instead, I’ve spent almost 3 weeks on it. And I don’t actually get THAT many compliments, besides from my friends who probably already know where I got stuff. I’m sort of regretting how much effort I’ve put into this, actually. Think of all the naps I could have taken instead. But since I’m done now, and I love how adorable my children are, I present to you an extensive list of our favorite places to shop.

Sort of a disclaimer non-disclaimer: I don’t have secret affiliate relationships with and am not sponsored by these companies so this post is just me talking about stuff I genuinely like. I’ll mention any referral links if/when I use them.

STORES:

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Some of Caroline’s many Hanna dresses

Hanna Andersson: Probably my very most favorite of all the places to get kid clothes. The have Swedish roots and a very clean, classic aesthetic that means I never hate what my kids pick out even if they dress themselves. The pajamas really are the cutest and most comfortable we own and the kids always grab them first if they’re available. Sizes go from tiny baby up through kids size 16-18, which should fit Evan until he’s at least in middle school. Things we especially love: dresses, hats, pajamas, underpants. They run sales fairly often and I don’t allow myself to buy things at full price, but if you consider how well the clothes hold up (for your own multiple children or for selling/consigning later) they are a good deal. If you’ve never ordered from Hanna before and you use this link, you get 20% off your purchase and I get a 20% off coupon for myself which I will probably use to order yet another set of matching pajamas for my numerous children.

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Starting at top left: dress, shirt, sweater, fleece jacket, dress, fleece jacket, dress, snowsuit and sweater are all Hanna. 

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I have an actual addiction to Hanna Jams.

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Mini Boden for Evan and Caroline

Mini Boden: If Boden hadn’t sent me clothes (for the bigs and for tiny baby Linc), I don’t think I ever would have actually ordered from the site. Their stuff is not inexpensive. I often throw the catalog away as soon as I get it because I don’t trust myself not to spend too much. But seriously, this is a brand that understands how to design and make cute, fun, quality kid clothes. They have a current print in their girl’s section called Florasaurus that has awesome dinosaurs on it and Caroline gets compliments everywhere. Their boy t-shirts are fun without having cartoon characters printed on them, and their baby clothes are SO soft. Mini Boden sizes start at newborn, go up to 12 years old and their tween/teen line goes up to 16 years old. Things we especially love: matching brother shirts, baby rompers, anything with stars on it.

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Starting at top left: snowsuit, matching shirts, snowsuit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s whole outfit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s shirt & Evan’s shirt, Linc’s shirt, snowsuit, Caroline’s dress, Linc’s whole outfit, matching brother shirts AND Caroline’s romper are all Mini Boden

Polarn O. Pyret: Another Swedish company who makes classic, stripey children’s clothes. I ordered from them during their $5/$10/$15 sale and could not believe how much I loved the thickness and quality of their regular cotton. I’ve been throwing them in the dryer for more than 6 months now and they still look new. I especially love their socks for Lincoln – they stay on and they don’t get holes, which seems to be too much to ask for most boys’ socks. I really wish I had a baby girl to buy their baby girl outfits for, but I’ll just have to settle for gender neutral newborn stuff. Their sizes go up to 12 years old but I think their styles skew a little young. Things we especially love: SOCKS. Totally worth signing up for email to get socks on sale.

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One of Caroline’s favorite dresses is Polarn.

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Some of our Tea in current sizes – there’s tons more in sizes no one is currently wearing

Tea Collection: Tea is hit or miss for me, or more specifically for Caroline, but when I was looking through her closet I realized we own a LOT of it. I’ve bought SO many cute dresses on sale that she has decided are not her style. They base each season’s new clothes on a location/country and when I love the collections I LOOOOOVE them. When they aren’t my favorite I’m not even tempted. I never have quality complaints though, and their cotton is super soft, especially on boy clothes. Their color schemes are not what you usually expect in kid clothes, which can be really refreshing if you’re tired of primary colors and cartoon characters. Their sizes go from newborn to 12 years old and the dresses fit Caroline for at least 3 seasons because they make great tunics. Things we especially love: dresses, boys t-shirt designs.

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Horse dress, Evan’s shirt, flower dress are Tea

SITES:

Facebook Resale Pages: If you’re currently thinking I must spend thousands of dollars on kid clothes if I’m shopping mostly on those three sites, you’d be right. But I only buy directly from those brands a few times a year. I buy far, far more second-hand from resale groups. My favorite is the Mini Boden & Hanna Andersson BST page, but there are lots of them for lots of brands, like Crewcuts and Tea Collection. That’s the beauty of these brands – they last a super long time, through multiple children, and even if YOU buy something full price you can resell it later. So far I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the moms on those boards and I’ve bought everything from bathing suits to shoes for all 3 kids. On the MB/Hanna site people can list other high end or boutique brands on Fridays, so it’s a good day to browse. Be warned though, it can be super addicting, especially since everyone uses Paypal and Paypal can feel like pretend money instead of actual money. This is in bold because it is where I buy probably 75% of our current wardrobe. All the girl’s Tea, three of the Hanna pieces and about half the Mini Boden in the pictures was bought resale.

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Party dresses all from Zulily

Zulily: I have a love/hate relationship with Zulily. I’ve bought some GREAT stuff from them, including a handful of Jelly The Pug dresses, some of Caroline’s favorite shoes and many nice Christmas presents. On the other hand, their shipping can be so expensive it cancels out the savings and it’s sooooo slooooooow. I’ve installed/deleted the app from my phone dozens of times, because I find myself shopping aimlessly and buying things I don’t LOVE love just because they’re available. Sometimes my world’s collide and Hanna Andersson has stuff on Zulily, which can be a great deal if you log in early enough and grab the good items before they’re gone. If you use my links to Zulily, open a new account and actually buy something, I earn a $15 credit. I think I’ve earned 3 total in 5+ years of using them, so I won’t hold my breath.

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All three of Caroline’s dresses are from Zulily

ThredUp: ThredUp is a resale site for kids and women (including maternity!) so I’ve spent a ton of time browsing around their app while rocking a baby to sleep or waiting for the bus. Everything is used but what I’ve ordered has been in great-to-brand-new condition. The good thing about ThredUp is they don’t seem to value brands like Hanna or Boden as much as people on the Facebook sites do, so you can get them for a few dollars less. The BAD part about that is I wouldn’t send those higher-end brands to them to consign. I sent a huge bag of stuff we didn’t need or want hoping to earn some credit but only got $13. That’s less than half than what I would get if I consigned them locally – but it was less than half as much work, too. Even if selling is disappointing, the app is still a good place to find deals – they often have sales, run coupon codes and if you sign up with a referral link you get a free $10 credit to spend (I also get a credit if you spend your’s). I’ve had good luck with all three sizes – big boy stuff, medium girl stuff, and baby stuff. I got an email this morning that you can get 40% off your first order using the code: SUMMER.

BOUTIQUE/SMALL BRANDS:

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Some of our cutest boutique clothes

Rainbow Waters: Lindsay is the talented mama behind this adorable brand on Etsy. These are fun clothes, in crazy patterns and bright colors rather than mature, muted styles but if kids can’t dress like that sometimes then who can?? Obviously everyone needs a dress with dinosaurs and unicorns in outer space on it. Besides fun stuff like rainbows and stars, she often stocks Star Wars prints for both boys AND girls, which I appreciate as a mom with a daughter who loves Star Wars just as much as her brother does. She also does matching sibling pieces (in case you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of matching).

The Measure: This brand is super popular amongst photographers because it looks beautiful in pictures. It’s also fun, original, eclectic, comfortable and some of Caroline’s favorite stuff. I bought a baby-sized version of that pink stripey dress for my best friend’s daughter to take matching pretend-cousin pictures in Charleston and it was so cute I can barely stand it. She just started making grown-up sized versions of one of her dresses, which would be amazing in a boho/sunset/wildflower family photo session. There’s also a resale B/S/T page on Facebook for The Measure so even if you don’t get more than 2 seasons out of the dresses you can resell (also helpful if you’re looking for a sibling match).

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Lilla Barn: I discovered Lilla on Instagram, although I cannot remember how exactly. They’re a combination of two of my favorite things: a Swedish aesthetic and a small, handmade business. You can order from their website, but I definitely recommend following on social media as well for sales and discount codes. They do a lot of gender neutral stuff for babies, which I love, as well as beautiful girl’s clothes. Caroline is about to outgrow them (sizes go from newborn up to age 6) but luckily Linc and Baby 4 will get plenty of use out of their clothes.

KPea: Cute fabrics, super good quality sewing and there’s very little chance another kid shows up at a party in the same dress (the social horror!!) means Caroline loves KPea. I mostly stalk them on Instagram for new patterns and sales. They do an “outfit of the week” with a nice discount that put prices for a hand-made dress on par with a new dress from Baby Gap or Gymboree. They also do mommy & me matching, so if you’re especially adorable and want something fun for the beach or a holiday or a party you could absolutely find a set.

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From top left: dress Lillabarn, dress Lillabarn, dress The Measure, shirt The Measure, dress KPea, dress Rainbow Waters

Almost all of these pictures came from my 365 (last year) or 366 (this year) projects, because these really are the clothes my children wear and play and live in. Some of them are now terribly stained and faded and we only pass them on as hand-me-downs to friends we know will wear them for playing in the mud. Some of them I’ve treated much better (see also: my obsession with laundry) and I’ll be able to sell or consign so I’ll get quite a bit of my money back – which will probably go towards more kids clothes.

There are lots of other places I shop (Target, duh) and I’m not at all  a snob about brands if the clothes are cute and last longer than one wash. These are just the brands that we consistently love the best. Feel free to leave me links or suggestions to other shops (especially boutiques or resale sites!) I might love!

 

DIY Bunny Ears Flower Crown

Monday, March 7th, 2016

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I got everyone’s Easter outfits last week. I’m not saying it’s super important to Jesus if the kids show up to church in coordinating spring finery, but if it was MY rise from the dead I’d definitely appreciate the effort. It just doesn’t feel like Easter in New England without everyone in pastel clothing and ruffle socks shivering under their winter coats.

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Photo taken indoors, because it was probably snowing outside. I have both of those dresses upstairs in Caroline’s vintage dress collection.

While I did decide to forego forcing a hat on Lincoln, I managed to find one for Evan I expect will be worn daily almost all summer. I feel like the fact that he loves straw fedoras means I’m not completely screwing up this parenting thing. Caroline is still debating her sartorial options right now – the availability of Easter bonnets in the $1 section of Target makes it quite the decision – but I thought I might add an option and combine a couple of her favorites into one thing: A bunny ears flower crown headband.

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I got all my supplies at Michael’s Crafts and spent about $40 total, but that number is really high because I had to replace my missing glue gun. If you keep better track of your’s than I do of mine you should be able to get out of the craft store for under $20 and the supplies to make 8+ headbands. You could definitely get the same supplies at Joann or A.C. Moore.

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-Plastic Headbands (I found them with the party favors)
– Silver spray paint
– Fake flowers
– Glue gun
– Scissors
– Pipe cleaners
– Florist wire (I didn’t end up using it, but it was a pipe cleaner alternative in case they were too short)

I really lucked out with these headbands. I was looking for plain, one band plastic but these were even more perfect. Don’t go too thin or you won’t have enough space to glue down the flowers very well. These had holes that made attaching the pipe cleaner ears a piece of cake.

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To make the ears, I just folded a pipe cleaner in half and creased it to make a point, then laced the ends through the headband. Then I twisted each ear around twice to secure it. I knew I’d be glue a bunch of flowers over them, so I didn’t add any glue just for the pipe cleaners. For the non-flower version, a dab wouldn’t hurt.

Then I chopped up the flowers into more manageable pieces. I kept some as stems to make a base and made some single flowers. I also pulled out a bunch of the leaves to mix and match among the flowers.

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The glue held surprisingly well. I burned my fingers a few times holding the flowers on while it dried but nothing tragic. I put a few bigger flowers up near the ears on each crown, but mostly did the smaller flowers.

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Evan requested a sparkly silver pair for himself, so I spray painted a couple of the headbands silver and used the sparkly silver pipecleaners.

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This was my final bunny ears flower crown (and non flower crown) collection after about 90 minutes:

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All three flower crowns match Caroline’s new Easter dress, so she’s going to have a hard time choosing. I guess we’ll just have to plan a few spring-themed photoshoots so she gets a chance to wear all of them. Today, Linc just really wanted to get in on the action.

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That wasn’t really much of a how-to because bunny ears flower crowns are really easy. The good part is hot glue is cheap and pipe cleaners bend, so even if Linc insists on grabbing them we can repair any missing flowers and reshape the ears. I recommend leaving an inch or so of headband at the bottom bare so the plastic parts of the flowers don’t poke anyone where it really hurts. Other than that it’s all personal decisions. A single color flower would look very chic – like all white or all peach. If you wanted bigger ears you could use the fuzzy floral wire and then you could get away with bigger flowers for a grown up. I should have bought more greenery to do a boy-friendly version (Evan vetoed the flowers, even though I tried) besides just the plain ones. But overall, I love how they came out. It’s so rare I have a crafty vision these days, it was wonderful to get a chance to be creative.

Let me know if you make any, I’d love to see pictures!!

Easter 2015

Wednesday, April 8th, 2015

This year, Evan’s birthday and Easter were the same day. We actually did his celebrating the day/night before and did Easter stuff on Easter, so these pictures are out of order but I’m hoping to put together a real birthday post with a kid interview before I finish it. So I’m starting with Easter.

The Easter Bunny was very generous this year and shockingly well-prepared considering how early the holiday fell. She was smart enough to buy several things on clearance after Easter last year AND THEN put them in a well-marked box in the basement AND THEN remembered to go down and LOOK in the box. Besides the last-year stuff and the standard candy, Easter Bunny also brought each big kid a Lego set because a) everyone loves Legos and b) spending money on Legos seemed like a wiser choice than buying $20 worth of junk they’d forget about instantly. So far it has worked out extremely well.

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Even Lincoln got a basket of baby-appropriate stuff (book, ears, finger puppets, rubber ducky). I was also SUPER excited each kid finally has a permanently designated basket complete with their name and everything. They came from Personal Creations and were perfect for egg hunting at church and filling on Easter morning.

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This chocolate bunny seriously blew his mind. It’s the solid kind, which means he ate approximately a whole pound of chocolate before church. #eastertraditions

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Before we went to church I dragged the children outside for an Obligatory Fancy Clothes Holiday Photo. It didn’t go super well.

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Don’t worry though, I/they made up for it later.

After church we went to Mystic Seaport to run out a little energy before our 2 pm brunch reservations. E insisted it is no longer “brunch” if it is served at 2 pm but I say anything with both a carving station and a custom omelet bar counts as brunch on Easter.

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Lincoln was D O N E by the time we actually sat down to eat, but it still went fairly well. I wish he would have nursed and then slept on me so I could have sent my husband to fill my plate with ALL THE THINGS from the dessert table, but there was way too much going on for a distractable 8 month old to nurse. He did shove most of a dinner roll in his face. Caroline ate all the meat. Evan mostly ate crudités (if I call them crudités I feel less bad about the cost of carrot sticks). I ate more than enough stuff to make it feel worth the effort and expense. Easter brunch at a fancy place has ALWAYS been one of my favorite things and getting to do it once a year with my own family is fun. I imagine in 5 more years when everyone eats more and sits still and is as excited as I am about the crepe bar it will be an even nicer tradition.