a nautical baby shower with help from oriental trading {and a giveaway!}

 Oriental Trading provided products for my review. All opinions are my own.

I helped my friends throw a baby shower for our sweet friend, Jenny and we wanted to do a nautical theme because Jenny decorated her little guy's room in that theme. With so many talented people around me planning this event, it turned out wonderfully and was such a special evening!

We knew we wanted the night to be very festive and fabulous, but we also didn't want to break the bank. We turned to Oriental Trading for some of our decor. I was so happy with what we were able to find on their site. They honestly have such a great selection of products and always at really affordable prices!

My friend bought these lanterns to hang in her home where the shower was hosted. They were very inexpensive but added such fun to the room.

We also bought some adorable patterned paper from Oriental Trading that fit our nautical theme perfectly! We used the patterned paper for a "message in a bottle" table where we had guests write a message to Jenny that we then put into baby bottles for her to take home.

We 

back-to-school {teacher gift ideas}

It's back to school for us this week, and in two days of the big kids being gone all day, I've already completed three projects that have been sitting on the back-burner while we lived it up this summer! That must be some kind of record. These are my monkeys on the first day of school. . .

game day activities {and a fabulous Tide product}

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Tide through their partnership with Circle of Moms. While I was compensated to write a post about Tide Plus Febreze Freshness Sport, all opinions are my own.

Football season is upon us! Although still in pre-season, I am getting super excited about watching football games. I love this time of year! My family loves to sit around and watch games together but sometimes my kids start to get a little antsy, especially if it isn't a very exciting or action packed game. We try to come up with some extra activities to keep kids busy on game day.

First off, we always make sure we have plenty of game day treats on hand. Check out our past post for

some favorite game day recipes! We also love to have some activities. If you search online you can find some bingo sites where you can make your own bingo cards and my kids love this! You can choose a sports theme so that it fits perfectly in with game day and you can play while you are watching the game. We also have our kids do a football scavenger hut and have them search for particular items to show up on the screen while we are watching. It is a great way to get everyone involved and to allow parents to keep watching the game while keeping the kiddos occupied!

I know it is also the time of year that many of us have our own kids in sports so there will be plenty of time spent at sporting events. I know this time of year always brings plenty of wash for me to do with all the uniforms, jerseys, and practice clothes! 

winnie the pooh character party hats {and some movie treats}

This post is written as part of a sponsored campaign with Disney and The Blueprint Social. All opinions are 100% my own.

Winnie The Pooh. Winnie the Pooh. I can't hear those words without singing the little song in my head! Did you know The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is being released on Blu-ray Combo Pack and HD Digital August 27th? In honor of the release, my kids and I had a Winnie the Pooh viewing party for a fun Summer activity!

I wanted my boys to get into the adventure and imagination of the movie, so we made some Winnie the Pooh character hats to have a fun craft and to wear them while watching the movie.

I found this pack of party hats and the dollar store and brought them home to make into fun characters. All you need is some card stock or construction paper (colors of pink, black, darker pink, a golden color and orange), tape and if you want you can either make your own drawings of the characters or you can find some free templates online.

albion fit swimwear {giveaway & coupon}

It's the last week of summer for my kids. I'll admit I am ready for them to go back so I can get. something. done. But I also get sooo sad when summer is over. No, I am not looking forward to "sweater weather" and the leaves changing color like most of you (although ask me about hot chocolate weather and you'll hear another story). I love having adventures with my kids, sleeping in, the warm summer nights, the impromptu s'mores get togethers. So we've been cramming as many activities into this last week as humanly possible, including tons of water activities. Which means I NEEDed a new swim suit (my one Target cheapy was not cutting it, sorry to say).

the kalli cap crochet pattern {kalliStrong fundraiser}

Today is the first day of the Kalli-Strong fundraiser I told you about last week, and that means it's time to release my newest crochet pattern: The Kalli Cap! I designed this with my friend Kalli, who is fighting breast cancer for a second time, in mind. It makes a great chemo cap, but it's a darling pattern for all babies, girls, teens, and adults.

jellys are back

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Jelly Beans but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #JellysAreBack http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

I have a lot of fashion memories from when I was a kid. Pegged jeans, scrunchies, saddle shoes, and a lot of hairspray...just to name a few. One of my absolute favorite items growing up was the jelly shoe. I had pink ones and clear ones and I remember wearing them and thinking I was pretty hot stuff. Well, guess what. Jellys are back.

girls camp crafts & activities

I promised more LDS girls camp ideas and here they are--even though girls camp is over for many of you. Oh well. Pin it for next year! These would also be great ideas for a family reunion.

back to school lunchbox project {with michaels}

Did anyone else wake up with a feeling of disbelief this morning? Is it really August? This summer has flown by so quickly and I cannot believe that it is time to start thinking about school supplies and preparations! Luckily for us, school does not start until after Labor Day but I know many of you are starting back up in just a couple of weeks!

I always have these grand ideas of back to school crafts and special things that I will do for my kids for school starting. In reality, most of the time just getting all the supplies, shopping, school orientations and snapping a picture are about all I can manage!

This year I thought I could manage one simple yet special item to send them off with. I found these great superhero lunch boxes at Michaels and knew my boys needed them. They have wanted metal lunch boxes for a while and since they were superheroes, I caved.