Mother's Day Family Tree Plate!

A great customized gift for Mother's Day!
**Or any special occasion / holiday**
Approx 10'' Plate - Order now

{ CURRENTLY TAKING ORDERS }

$10  is a pretty awesome deal !

Purchase now with paypal or your credit/debit card

Please in paypal's notes field include:

- Your Name, Phone number, shipping address

-  The Family's Last Name

- The Grandmother/father's name(s)

- The Mother/father's name(s)

- The Grand children's name(s)

- An "established" date, quote, or message

- A specific color scheme (if not this is default)

Please recognize that depending on how many people are in your family and will be put on the plate, actual tree & leaves may differ in size and shape. If you have any questions, please contact me on facebook.

If you are OUT OF TOWN (not in Haverhill, MA) click the button ABOVE
for PURCHASE which includes a $5 S&H fee.

If you purposely click the one without a s&h fee -
I will not ship your order until its paid.
I'm sorry but this is the only way to get your order to you safe!

If you are A LOCAL ( Haverhill, MA or close by) click the button BELOW
for PURCHASE because I will just drop it off or you can pick it up (no S&H fee)

Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn!

I decided to make these Easter Pails for my family, my in-laws, and my co-workers.

These make for great personalized gifts for any holiday or get together, and they are cheap enough to make that you can do a bundle of them!

I found everything I needed at The Dollar Tree and Micheal's craft store.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS :

1 - Set up your pails / baskets / etc
2 - For this project you will need: pails, ribbon, chocolate, popcorn, candy confetti, and paint.
3 - Get your chocolate and your popcorn ready in separate bowls.

4 - Melt your chocolate in microwave friendly dishes. I started at 2 minutes each, then stirred.
5 - I mixed butter popcorn & white cheddar together then drizzled the 2 different colored choc. over!
6 - I painted the names onto each pail to give it a customized, personal, look :)

7 - Stick your popcorn into the freezer or fridge to chill for a half hour.
8 - Bag up your popcorn, tie it with a bow and stick it in a pail.
9 - Use a few ribbons to tie on the handle of the pail or bucket to give it a finished look.

Baby Shower Essentials!

Of course I called myself the "creative director" when my mom and I decided to throw a baby shower for one of my besties. It's her 5th baby but 1st boy - so we just had to do it big. Along with my creative ideas, my mom's help, and the baby daddy's money I knew this shower would be a hit. Right away I decided to go with a light blue and brown color to incorporate it being a baby boy and to have a touch of elegance. My friend is a beautiful, classy, Italian mama and she deserved the best.

And because I wanted this baby shower to stand out from others, I wanted to do everything myself. I wanted hand made centerpieces, decorations, and favors. Here is how it went down...

{CENTER PIECES}

We found these cute little latch jars at The Dollar Tree so I got 8 of them for the guest tabled. Then I found two different sized ribbons at Micheal's. I hot glued the thicker ribbon around the jar, then tied the little ribbon in a bow before gluing it, then stuck on a little sticker decal.

We got these tall glass vases at The Dollar Tree. "Oh It's a Boy" ribbon at Micheal's. Again, hot glued both ribbons around the glass and filled each center piece with chocolate covered pretzels. 

{ DIAPER CAKE }

I used a small package of infant diapers, used ribbon to wrap around each tier. What you don't see is that in the diaper cake on the bottom is a package of wipes! Around the top tier of the cake are onesies, and then I used glass binkies and plastic rattles to decorate empty spots. We used a Monkey as theme for the baby shower so of course I had to stick a stuffed animal on top, along with a white wooden "G" that I got at Micheal's because the baby's name is Gianni. 

 

{ THE CAKE }

My mom ordered the cake. The funny story with this, is that morning when she went to pick it up. They had the little monkey in a pink dress and it said "Gianna" so my mom had to sit there and wait while they made a whole nother cake!!!! This one came out perfect though. 

 

{ FOR THE KIDS }

 We got a monkey pinata and stuffed it with lollipops and other candy. And we had a lucky find at K-Mart. We found all their Valentine's Day candy was only ten cents a piece, so we bought ten dollars worth and set up a candy table as well.What you cant see is that we also had glass jars filled with m&ms, skittles, and more!

 

{ WINNER GIFTS & FAVORS }

At every baby shower there are games. We had a "guess the presents" BINGO game with 4 winners. 

#1 Blue candles and incense

#2 Picture frame and candle set

#3 Bath and body wash set

#4 Candles & Body spray

The favors were made by hand. We dipped pretzel sticks in white and blue chocolate, and then dipped marsh mellows in chocolate and sprinkled blue sugar crystals on top. Delicious!!!

Tucked them in a cute little plastic cover and tied with a blue bow.

 

 

 

{ THE FOOD }

We had miscellaneous sandwiches, chips, and salads.

But to top the sandwiches I got cute little blue "BABY" cupcake toppers from Micheal's and stuck them in as many pieces as I could. It added a creative touch, which was nice.

{ THE VENUE }

We rented the Sons of Italy, located in our home town- down town. There were ten tables set up. My friend who works at Taylor Rental was able to borrow all cloth table cloths and napkins. The kids helped us decorate. We also hung some paper lanterns through out the venue to dress it up :)

{ THE MAMA'S CHAIR & GIFTS }

My friend was also able to get us a deal on renting this white wicker chair. We decorated it with balloons, tooling, and some pretty blue flowers. We also had a DJ for the day and tons of presents!!

 

{ PICTURES FROM THAT DAY }

The mommy and daddy to be, Tricia and Mike

Mama bear to be!

 

  

One big & happy family - Kayla, Libby, Taleah, mommy, Ava, and Daddy.

Best friends forever - Melissa, my mom, me, Lauren, Manda, Tricia, Michelle, Kerry, Shelly, Joannie. This is about 15-20 years of friendship...

Needless to say, the shower was a blast. Everyone had a great time. All the kids ran around like crazy. Tricia and Mike got a ton of presents which included a bassinet from  my mother, along with a humongous hand made basket of wash clothes, blankets, and bibs. I made a big, gorgeous, baby boy basket with a ton of cute clothes, our friends went all out and this baby is not gonna need for nothing! I am really glad that I was able to be a part of this shower. Her kids have been in my life since they were born, one of them even carrying my name as her middle name, Taleah Felicity. So this family means alot to me and I cant wait to welcome baby Gianni <3

Handmade Accessories!

If you know me, you know that last year I made practically everything for my wedding. From 100 candle favors that I tied tiny ribbons around and glued diamonds to, the card box, ring pillow, and guest book..... 100 scrolls, every centerpiece, the invitations and reply cards.... I absolutely did everything myself. It was way cheaper and way funner and made more memories! I wish I could plan it again, over, and over, and over. I've also - always liked to paint and do other little crafty things, and I am an accessory whore, so for awhile now I've been wanting to put my money into opening an online shop which would carry girly and baby accessories; as well as {eventually} wedding & other hand crafted/painted decor. Today I was blog hopping and I saw an awesome tutorial at { i think - pardon me if I forgot & this is the wrong person I am giving credit to ) at Little Miss Momma, how to make a Rosette necklace. And although, I didn't use the tutorial, I credit her for giving me the idea to cut up a bunch of scraps and glue gun it together. 

After sitting on my couch for an hour feeling pity on myself cause I'm too poor to run out and buy new fabric and new jewelry accessories for any crafty things, I thought, "hmm I bet there's some clothes in my closet that I could use." So I ran into my bedroom and found {haha} a t-shirt my husband (just got over the weekend) but would never wear. I cut it into shreds and started scrunching it together on a headband... then I made a ring... and a pair of earrings to match. Then I got over board and cut up an old shirt of mine, and did it all over again. Here's how it all turned out...

I decided to call this style "truffles." I like the way it sounds and it reminds me of chocolate truffles. And so I had an epiphany! I am going to open an online shop, or sell over at Etsy. And because I am kind of poor and can't really afford to do much right now, I am asking all my friends and family members to send me over there unwanted, old, t-shirts, or scraps of fabric. And extra incentive - I will make them one set out of it, then I get to keep the left over scraps. And the name of my shop will be somewhere along the lines of.... Pretty Scraps, Fabulous Scraps, Beautiful Scraps. Something Scraps. Or Second Chances. Because I will be using all second hand materials & fabrics. Wether it be hand me downs, or from consignment shops. I am going to turn something ugly and old into something beautiful :) And I can't wait. So until next time..... toodles!