Baby Onesie: Present From Older Siblings

Here is a fun project YOU can do for your new little one OR you can have older siblings help and make their own onesie for the new baby! If baby isn't born yet they can bring it to the hospital the first time they meet! (This is what we are going to do)

What child wouldn't want to give something to their new sibling that they can actually use, see on, and be PROUD of! =) 

All you need is a pack of Steam-A-Seam 2, scraps of cute fabric(in my case I had my kids pic out what they liked at the store), fabric markers, an iron, and something you are going to put your design on (like a onesie in this case). 

You find a cute idea and draw out the outline on a white piece of paper. You flip it over to get the mirror image. With this tie shape the mirror image is the same.

One side of the Steam-A-Seam is designed to peal away VERY easily. So you are going to draw your mirror image on the opposite side!

Then you peel away the easy side and stick your design to the back side of your fabric. Cut on the line with SHARP scissors!

 When you turn fabric over, you will see what it will look like when it's ironed on to the onesie!

Here is where I had the kids color in their tie designs with fabric markers! This was such a fun process! We talked about our babies and how cute they would look and why they were drawing what they were drawing for their sibling!

NEXT step before ironing onto the onesie..... Don't forget to peel the backing off before you lay it on your fabric! It will be sticky so it will hold to the fabric when you place it down!

 Then you simply iron for a few seconds and it is DONE!!!!

 Here are my kids with their finished onesie! Doing this project got us SO EXCITED to see our new little one wearing them! Brenden couldn't stop talking about how much fun it's going to be to have a new baby in the house!

  

 We were lucky to do this special craft on the day that I watch Gage (I am his nanny). His mommy just had his baby brother Hogan almost three weeks ago. Here is the CUTEST example of Gage's artwork in use! Such a fun present to give to your little sibling!

Brenden wanted to match his baby so he clipped a tie on his tank top.

I also wanted to show you something else I did with this same idea! My Mother In Law made a baby blanket, for my baby on the way, out of fabric I picked out! She did a BEAUTIFUL job and I LOVE the blanket!!!! I can't thank her enough for all of her hard work! I wanted to add a G to the blanket, Might be the new babies first initial! =) So here is the EASY process!

Unlike the tie, the G shows you how I drew it out and just flipped it over to trace the mirror image! 

  

 Here is my Cute fabric G!!!!

 After ironing it onto the blanket.... Here it is! So cute and so simple!!!! My kids are already coming up with other ideas of where we can iron on designs...not for the baby but for THEM! =) 

Get Creative! 

Easter Egg Jello

Here is a cute idea that your child will LOVE!!! We got some plastic eggs from the Dollar Store that open  the length of the egg. Use these for your molds!

 Place a hand towel on a plate and lay the half eggs on top. The towel will help the plastic eggs stay in place while the jello is cooling. Now, either follow the directions on a box jello or make your own with 100% juice!!! It's so simple, Click here for the Recipe! I used Organic Apple Juice this time around. My kids LOVE cherries and asked to add them to the jello so we added Morello Cherries from Trader Joes. These are a great substitute for Maraschino Cherries which are chemically colored with Red 40!!! You could also use frozen or fresh cherries!

 I had my daughter put one cherry in each mold while I was making the jello! To change the color of the jello to a pretty reddish/purple, I simply added a little Beet and purple carrot juice. I don't know about you but I don't think the color of murky apple juice is that pretty! =)

  

 Pour your warm jello mixture in the plastic egg molds!

 After a few hours in the fridge, you will have a nice YUMMY Easter treat to share! You could take them out of the plastic egg but I think it's easier and a lot more fun to keep it in!

Another thing we are going to be doing on Saturday evening is Resurrection Cookies. I found a GREAT blog post about how to do it and the verses you read to your child. Click here to see what to do! It's a great way to share the Easter story with a child!

My Baby Room Project

 I can't wait to show you guys what I did in the baby room!

I have had so much fun with this! 

First of all, I went to a garage sale and found three small frames for 75 cents! I repainted them, first in black and then in white. I sanded away some of the white to reveal some black once the paint was dry!

 They turned out so cute! Then I printed the first letter of each of my children's names in fun fonts on the computer and added them with a pretty cream backing to the frames. After that I hot glued some ribbon to the backs of the frames and here is my finished product! =) 

 Now this is where my idea gets really fun! I found this tree decal on Pinterest! This website has some other cool decals that you can put on the wall of a nursery or other places in your home. It's cool to get ideas or if you don't want to spend the time, just buy one! Check it out HERE!

I Drew and painted this tree in the corner of the room. 

Then I hung the little frames up like they are hanging off of the branches!

It's getting more and more exciting as I finish up these fun projects! Let's see what else I can accomplish in the next 11 weeks before his arrival! =)

   

Here are a few pictures of the room with the crib all finished! My mother in law made the sheets and crib skirt in fabric I chose, "White Tiger".  Also, you might notice that there is an added branch on the right side of the tree. I made his baby plaque and wanted it to hang on that side of the tree so I simply added another branch! =) That's the beauty of painting it yourself.... You can make the changes you want to fit your space!

   

DIY: Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs! (Options for dairy free and PB free)

I normally don't buy lots of candy but at  Easter and a few other holidays, like Christmas and Valentines Day, it's hard not to! One of my families FAVORITES is Reese's Peanut Butter cups... and how can you not LOVE all of the shapes they put them in for each Holiday!  However, Per piece of candy, these can be pretty pricy especially if you are buying them for your whole family! Here is an example from Target...Each egg is on SALE for 75 cents!!!! 

As you pick up an egg to decide if you are going to spend your money on it, you turn it over and check out the ingredients...It doesn't look too bad! OF COURSE it has sugar in it, it's CANDY! And everything else looks pretty normal...Companies have gotten smart by shortening or nicknaming their additives so you can easily over look them...Do you notice the third from the bottom, TBHQ....? This is short for Tertiary Butylhydroquinone...WOW that's a mouthful!!!! I don't know if any of us are adding this to our homemade baked goods! TBHQ is a controversial additive, used to keep oils from going rancid. It's a petroleum Derivative. The food industry pushed the FDA for years to get it approved as a preservative despite the fact that ingestion of large doses (a thirteenth of an ounce) can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, ringing in the ears, and vomiting. There are also other suggested problems that TBHQ may cause but I won't go into all of them. The FDA has rules on TBHQ that it cannot exceed 0.02 % of the oil and fat content in a food, which is their side of the argument...The trace amounts "can't hurt you"is what they would argue, but why even mess with it!? If something has to be LIMITED in or foods why would we even want a trace amount!? AND then on top of this, FEED IT TO OUR CHILDREN!!!!

 This leads me to something else! My husband got me into this FREE app that is SOOOO COOL! It is called Fooducate. Check it out! You can scan most bar codes and it will tell you a little about what you are eating and give it a grade! Here is the grade for one Reese's PB Egg. I knew it would get something LOW because it is candy but it will also tell you about the additives and preservatives inside what you are about to eat so you can really THINK before you buy it!!! 

 I don't want this post to be all a downer!!!!! Lets get to the POSITIVE stuff!!! How can you not love the combination of Peanut Butter and Chocolate!?! I couldn't help myself when I saw a recipe for DIY- Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs on Pinterest! YUMMY is all I could say! Thank you The Whimsical Princess for your post! I tried the recipe and changed it a little and ALSO will give you recipe suggestions for those of you who have peanut or dairy allergies! You should be able to enjoy these too! =) Let me say that I normally DON'T use sugar in my baked goods but when it comes to homemade Reese's with no preservatives VS. store bought....I'M IN!! This recipe will make you about 28 (2 inch) eggs! You can also make them smaller for portion control. Here's what you need.

Ingredients:

"Peanut Butter" filling

• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups Creamy Peanut butter (Almond or any nut butter will work also)
• 1/4 cup butter melted (I would use Earth Balance for a dairy free choice, which also makes this Vegan)
• 2-3 tablespoons milk (almond, coconut, or other will work)

Chocolate coating

• 2 1/2-3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (carob chips if recipe is Vegan or dairy free chips will work just the same)
• 1 tablespoon butter (Earth Balance or other butter substitute)

Directions:

Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and MELTED butter. 

Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. 

Then form the dough into egg shapes, and place in the freezer for about an hour.

If you are making these for another Holiday form them into Trees, or Hearts...Etc.

Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring in between until completely melted. This step only took me 1 1/2 minutes.

 I used five wood skewers for this next step, Stick in into the bottom of five eggs at a time.

Then dip into your chocolate and let as much excess run off as you can. I used a spoon to help me cover the whole area of the egg! Then place on Wax paper to dry. It's very simple to remove the skewer to use again.... just twist!

If you have any...cut off excess chocolate around each egg.

These are SO much better than store bought!!!!! Also they are pretty rich so you can ACTUALLY stop after just one! 

Totally kid approved....We even shared with our neighbors and the kids wanted more! =)

Here's to a CHEAPER and NO ADDITIVE candy!!!! Happy Easter!