The Tooth Fairy Came to Visit + A Tutorial!

Yesterday was a big day in our house. 

Kate lost her first tooth!

(It's the one on the bottom....she just has a big gap between her 2 front teeth)

The tooth has been hanging by a thread all week {*shudder* totally gives me the heebie jeebies} 

The tooth finally fell out at school which was exciting because she got a fun sticker from her teacher.

 

So proud of her first lost tooth.  

And, props to Kevin for putting a ziplock baggie in her bag just in case she lost it at school.

I was super excited about my new role as Tooth Fairy, so of course I went to Pinterest for Tooth Fairy ideas. 

This was our FIRST child losing her FIRST tooth, so I needed to decide what I was going to do. I hadn't really thought about it yet! It was crunch time. 

I didn't have anything for Kate to put her tooth in, so I called my mother in law (who is an excellent seamstress) We googled & looked on Pinterest. 

We found THIS tutorial.

Look what my mother in law whipped up yesterday afternoon:

 

Pin for the Win!

 Is that not the cutest tooth fairy pillow EVER? And, I love that you can hang it, you don't have to put it under the pillow. If you don't have bed posts, just hang it on their bedroom door. 

It makes it easier to leave money & not wake up your child!

My next decision was How much does the Tooth Fairy leave?

I went to Facebook and Instagram for suggestions.

I got a wide variety of amounts, ranging from $.50 to $20!

We decided to keep it simple. 

For the first tooth, they will get a Silver Dollar and $1 bill.

Every tooth after that, they will just get $1 (not sure if I will do a silver dollar or dollar bill for that)

 You may notice that my dollar bill is sparkly! While searching on Pinterest, I saw the idea to put glitter on the dollars that the Tooth Fairy leaves. SO EASY! 

There are a few ways you can do this. 

You can use glitter hair spray (which I didn't have & which is only carried in stores around Halloween) 

OR you can hair spray the dollar and then sprinkle glitter on it, 

OR you can use glitter glue,

OR you can spray the dollar with glitter spray paint.

 The next idea I saw on Pinterest was THIS idea. 

Making a receipt from the Tooth Fairy!!!! 

The link didn't have instructions, but here is what I did to make Kate's receipt:

 (I like the receipt idea because I am afraid Kate would recognize my handwriting)

First, I downloaded THIS font (It's free)

Then, I just typed up my receipt in a Word Document. 

To add a bar code, I went to THIS website which is a bar code generator. 

For the bar code, I put Kate's initials, then a 1 (first tooth) and then the date. 

After it generated my bar code, I did a screen shot of just the bar code and saved it as a .jpeg

On my Word document, I inserted it as an image to the bottom of my receipt.

I printed it out & then cut the paper to make it smaller. 

SO EASY! It took less than 10 minutes to make.

 Not sure if I will leave a receipt every time, but for sure for each kid's first tooth!

(And, it's a good way to document the dates when they loose their teeth)

So thankful for all these fun ideas I found on Pinterest!

How do you do the "Tooth Fairy" for your family? 

How much $ do you leave?

I would love to hear your ideas!

Thankful For You {Free Printable}

Last week Julie & Jeannett launched the Happy Day Project.
7 days of spreading sunshine to others doing Random Acts of Kindness.
It was such a fun project. Did you participate?
(The girls & I have done 4.5 out of 7 items so far. I got a friend a book, I just need to go to the post office to mail it. We haven't done days 6 or 7 yet.....hoping to catch up & finish next week during Thanksgiving Break!)

Doing the Happy Day Project last week made me realize that there are simple things I can do to brighten someone's day. Once you do it, it is contagious & makes you want to do more!

I decided to piggy back off their idea and do something nice for Kate's Preschool Teachers.
Today is the last day of school before a week long Thanksgiving Break! (YEAH!!!)
Last year, I gave her teachers a little gift/treat at Christmas and the last day of school.
But after the Happy Day Project last week, I decided I am going to let them know more often how much I appreciate them. I mean, hello...I am a teacher...I know how good it makes me feel when I get nice notes or treats from students/parents. I am now determined to make sure my girls teachers know how much we appreciate them.

We made a Thanksgiving treat letting them know we are thankful for them.

Kate has 5 teachers, so I made each of them a mini-loaf of Pumpkin Bread decorated with a printable that I made & some ribbon.

My Pumpkin Bread recipe makes 7 mini-loaves.

PUMPKIN BREAD:
(Step by Step Instructions HERE)
1 15 oz can canned pumpkin
3 c sugar
1 c water
1 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 c flour
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon
3/4 t ground cloves
1 t salt
Mix ingredients together with a mixer & then Bake at 350.
If you are making mini-loaves it makes 7 mini-loaves & bake for 35-40 minutes.

While the bread was baking, Kate cut out the printable labels that I made.

After the bread had cooled for an hour, I put the clear lids on & then stuck a label on it.

I had twine on them, but Kate wanted orange ribbons on all the ones for her teachers.

I chose the wording, "We are Thankful for you" because I truly am thankful for her awesome preschool teachers. Do you have someone you are thankful for? If so, let them know & you can use my printable!

To download:
Click on the printable, then right click & save it.
Print it & cut them out!
I printed mine out on sticker paper & stuck it on the mini-loaf lid.
(Each label is sized perfectly for the mini-loaves!)

Next week we are doing this again, but we will be giving each family on our court a loaf & putting it on their doorstep Thanksgiving morning.
We truly are thankful to live here and have such amazing neighbors.

Know what else I am thankful for?
I have ALL next week off for Thanksgiving Break!!!! FTW!

Who are you Thankful for?
Spread some sunshine & let them know this Thanksgiving with a little note & treat!

Happy Heart Day!

Hope you have a day filled with love & laughter!

xoxo

Christmas Card 2009!

{Front of our Christmas Card}

{Back of our Christmas Card}

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:10-11

Merry CHRISTmas from our family to yours!

Grand Opening

Well, after almost 2 years of making birth announcements, shower invitations and holiday photo cards for dozens of my family & friends, I finally decided to take the plunge and start selling them.

My business is called....
Click HERE to see my little shop that I opened up on Etsy.

(I will be adding more designs in the next few weeks, but the majority of my designs are there now!)

So, if you or anyone you know needs birth announcements, baby shower invitations, bridal shower invitations, party invitations or Holiday Photo cards, feel free to give them the link to my etsy store.

Here are 2 of my favorite birth announcements:
I have 30 designs to chose from!


I also have Baby Shower, Bridal Shower, Birthday Party Invitations & Save the Date Cards listed in my etsy shop.

Here are a few of those examples (which can be color customized):



And, some Holiday Photo Cards that will be added this fall:
I have almost 30 holiday designs that can be color customized also!




There is a button on the left side of my blog that you can click to get to my blog that shows some of my designs! OR, click HERE to see ALL my designs!

I hope that you find a design you like. I specialize in classic, fresh & simple birth announcements, shower invitations, children's invitations & holiday cards. The listings you'll see here are 5x7 digital files that are customized with your photos and text. Once approved, it will then emailed to you to have printed at your convenience. This is much quicker and more affordable! All you need to do is upload your file to any photo finisher and receive gorgeous photo prints that day!

Fonts & wording can be customized to meet your style! Most colors can be customized. If you have question about a design, just ask!

Be sure to check back often as I have new designs that I will be adding!

If you want me to handle the printing of your cards or to purchase envelopes from me, I also offer printing services! Check out my ETSY shop for all the details!

Thanks to all my family & friends (especially my awesome husband Kevin & my best friend AK) who encouraged me to do this (more like nagging me for over a year).

Be sure and follow my blog to stay updated on giveaways from my shop!
Every year, I will be doing one for my Blogoversary and another one during the Christmas season!

Mama's Zucchini Bread

Every summer we get an abundance of zucchini from my parents & my in-laws garden! There is only so much zucchini you can eat with dinner each night, so why not make some zucchini bread! This is my 2nd favorite bread (pumpkin is my favorite!) Yesterday, we made some zucchini bread to use up all the zucchini that was given to us before we leave for Tahoe. 

This recipe is from Mama, who was my Grammy's mom. This recipe dates back to the early 1900's!

Here is what you need:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
4 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
(Kevin is allergic to walnuts, so I never add them!)

Step 1: Grate 4 cups of zucchini

Step 2: In a bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy, then mix in oil and sugar.
Step 3: Stir in zucchini and vanilla
Step 4: In a new bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt (and nuts).
Step 5: Stir into the egg/zucchini mixture.
Step 6: Divide batter into two greased & floured 8x4 inch loaf pans. (I use Pam baking spray with flour.)
Step 7: Bake for 55 -60 minutes at 325 degrees.
Step 8: Enjoy!
Tip:
We are lucky because we get home grown zucchini from both of our parents all summer long! Whenever I make zucchini bread, I grate more zucchini than I need & then I freeze it in a ziplock bag in 2 cup quantities. (Right now I have 8 (2 cup) bags of grated zucchini in my freezer) This way, I can make zucchini bread (or muffins) all year long! The grated zucchini will stay good in the freezer for up to a year!

This bread is so yummy & moist with a slightly crunchy top.
I made it yesterday & we have already eaten an entire loaf!

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Every Spring (or early Summer) for the past 6 years, I have made homemade strawberry jam with Kevin's mom. Kevin grew up with homemade jam & after we got married I started making some for us. We each make a year's supply of jam & some additional ones to give away as gifts.
Homemade Strawberry Jam is a perfect gift for a teacher or a hostess gift!

It 's easy to make your own homemade jam.
And, it tastes so much better than store bought jam.

Our favorite kind of jam is strawberry, so that is the only kind I make!
The girls and I headed over to my in-laws house so Jill & I could make the jam. I put Kate down for a nap there, but Claire stayed up to watch us make jam. She was very intrigued, crawled around the kitchen and watched us the entire time!
One batch makes about 80 ounces of jam.
We used 12 oz jars & filled about 6-7 jars per batch.
(Today, we made 5 batches so that we each had a year supply of jam & some extra jars to give as gifts)
Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam

Here is what you need (per batch):
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup light karo syrup
1 box pectin
4 cups of sugar
3 1/4 cups of pureed strawberries
**Note: Make sure you use ripe, freshly picked strawberries. We always get strawberries from Kevin's sister who lives in the Central Valley. Our strawberries came straight from the fields yesterday! The grocery store strawberries aren't as good to use because they don't have as much flavor. If you have a local fruit stand or farmer's market, get strawberries from them. Use grocery store strawberries as a last resort, they are usually not as sweet**
**Another Note: This recipe if for strawberry jam, if you prefer a different flavor of jam, the ratios of sugar & fruit will be different. Usually the package of pectin will tell you what measurements to use for other varieties of jam.**
Step 1:
Gather & Clean your jars.
For each batch, you need about 5 mason jars for canning. (Or, you can use old jam, hot fudge or other 6-8 oz glass jars. Just run them through the dishwasher & save them throughout the year)
Step 2:
Wash & trim the stems off the strawberries.

Step 3:
Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. I puree about 1 cup at a time. There should be some chunks, you don't want your strawberries too liquidy or your jam won't turn out right.
(You need 3 1/4 cups of pureed strawberries per batch)
Step 4:
Put pureed strawberries into a pot with 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
Step 5:
Gradually stir in 1 box of pectin into the strawberries & lemon juice.
Set aside for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to dissolve pectin thoroughly.
Step 6:
After 30 minutes, stir in 1 cup of karo syrup (this prevents crystallization during the freezer storage)
Step 7:
Put pot on stove & turn burner on LOW. Gradually stir in 4 cups of sugar, stirring continuously until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy. (about 2-3 minutes). Don't let the mixture get too hot!
Step 8:
Pour into glass jars. Leave about 1/2 inch at the top for expansion during freezing.
Step 9:
After about 5 minutes, put lids on jars.
Step 10:
Every 3-4 hours, turn over the jars of jam so that all the fruit doesn't settle on the bottom. It will set after 24 hours, so put it in the freezer after it sets.
(Kate woke up just in time to help me organize my jars!)
Step 11:
Store jam in your freezer! It can stay in your freezer for 2 years!
When you are ready to use a jar of jam, defrost it in your fridge overnight & then keep refrigerated between uses. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. (We usually go through a jar a month since we eat a lot of PB&J sandwiches!)
Step 12:
If you want to give a jar of jam as a gift, you make it look "pretty" by adding some fabric, a ribbon & a little note card. Here is one that I have prettied up!
(since I can't sew, this is how I can use all the pretty fabric that I love)
This is a great hostess gift, teacher gift, or a "just because" gift!

Enjoy!