April is a big birthday month around here. Today is Luc’s big day, and Alex has his birthday at the end of the month. As such, we’re squeezing in a few gift-related posts, and we thought it would be fun to start it off with potatoes!
Happy Monday! I had originally planned on sharing my gear essentials for rainy days, but I realized it’s REI dividend season, which means 20% off one full-priced item and 20% off one REI garage sale item until April 9th! We aren’t sponsored or affiliated with REI in any way, but we do love supporting the store and using the great gear we buy there. With that in mind, I thought it was a good time to run through all my essential pieces of REI gear incase you were looking for something to spend that dividend on.
If you’re not one of REI’s 17 million members, you should seriously consider it. It’s a one time fee of $20 that will repay itself time and time again. Below are links to my favorite items and what I use them for. Of course, I own so many more items than this, but below are my ultimates, pieces I use pretty much every week and never leave home for an international trip without. Let’s start from the feet up..
We are big fans of curating Easter baskets that are fun and educational. For example, last year the boys went bonkers for their bug-themed baskets.
This year we are deep into all things letters and numbers. Admittedly, these theme doesn’t sound that exciting, but as you’ll see below, there are a few basket-worthy items that would serve the dual purpose of being fun/enjoyable while being educational.
Do you have any good number or letter ideas for a basket? If so, we’d love to see your ideas in the comments!
Today we’re sharing some of our favorite games for preschoolers. I’m on a mission to start family or family+friends game nights in our house. It hasn’t happened yet, mainly because I’m (almost) all talk and no game (hah!). I haven’t invited anyone over, and I haven’t opened an adult game box in years. But behind the scenes, I’m cultivating a few young game-lovers and am slowly building my game-night momentum.
With a 4yo and 2yo in the house, we’re still slightly new to the kids’ game section. Fortunately, I think we’ve already found some great ones. Sometimes we play in the evenings as a family, and I love the together time. But the mom in me also loves that playing games can be used to reinforce other skills that they’re learning. Read on to see what I’m talking about.
This guide contains a few games that we’ve played and liked. If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for a 3-5 yo, I really don’t think you can go wrong with anything on our list. A few are card games, making them perfect stocking stuffers.
**Quick note – all of the items below include an additional 15% off coupon on Amazon, but we’re not sure how long it will last.**
Last Christmas the boys received a play kitchen, and it’s become one of the most-used toys in the house.
Kitchens are such a great toy for creative and make-believe play. Sometimes our boys are making us coffee and toast for breakfast. Other times they are serving me ice cream cones for an afternoon treat or acting as waiters and chefs in their own restaurant.
I love big ticket toys like this kitchen because it’s a themed toy that you can slowly can add to over time. For us, this meant buying a few items to play with Christmas morning, and then letting our family give them additional kitchen elements on Christmas and again at their birthday.
The slow giving method is also a great plan if you’re not sure about how much your kiddos will love the big toy. For us, the kitchen’s a winner, and we’ve been happy to buy them quality items for it.
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Below is a list of the exact items in our play kitchen with info about why we like them. *Notice that our list contains more items than are pictured above. It’s all so good!
I know, who gives ice? We don’t.
BUT we do like a clever ice cube in our drinks, and so, we have a few ice cube tray + drink pairings that are perfect for that last minute gift or that dad mom that really doesn’t need anything other than a good drink.
ice shot glass : perfect for your nephew going off to college. You are the cool uncle after all. Maybe don’t include the alcohol with this gift. Just get some gatorade for the morning after.
buddha : looks wise sitting in a good whisky
gin and titonic : Why don’t I own these yet? Pair it with a good gin, obvs.
polar bear and penguins : pair them with Kahlua because these would look awesome floating on a White Russian.
diamonds : champagne with the suggestion to make OJ ice cubes for a classy mimosa
The awesome thing about many of these molds is that they could easily do double-duty for someone that likes to experiment in the kitchen. Imagine juice-colored jewels for a summer day, chocolate shot glasses filled with a dessert, chocolate buddhas with gold leaf… talking myself into a few trays right now.
Do you know someone who likes cats? We do. (like ’em and know ’em)
You know how when you know that someone likes a “thing” then sometimes whenever you see something with that “thing”, then you have the urge to get it for them? Hold back.
But just a little, because if that “thing” is cats, then we have a few gifts that are totally worth giving this year.
cat umbrella : because sometimes it’s raining cats and dogs!
candle : this thing burns down to unveil a metal cat skeleton… not sure if you’re supposed to buy it for the cat lovers or haters?
cat ring : subtle bling
mug : perfect for so many reasons.
paperclips : a stocking stuffer that will make them smile when they return to that boring cubicle
I’m proud of this list because we tried to go for some of the more tasteful cat gifts out there. We spared you guys the cat sweaters (for your cat, not you, silly), but can’t make any promises about what’ll happen next year.
Happy Monday! Yesterday we started singing Christmas carols, talking about Santa, and counting down the weeks (six!) until Christmas. With that in mind, we’re rounding up some of our favorite gift ideas – today we’re welcoming dinosaurs into the kitchen. I never realized I needed a taco holder, but now that there are triceratops shaped ones, I need it. Here’s our much-anticipated dino gift guide:
CLOCKWISE: pasta serving spoon / paper towel holder /
taco holder / kids place setting /sandwich cutter
We also love this dino tea strainer, these cookie cutters, and this dino candy mold.
We often get asked about the cameras we use to take pictures for the blog and our instagram account, so today we thought it would be fun to do a series of posts where we each talk about our equipment and how we use it. This won’t be a lesson in photography, rather just a discussion about what we use and why it’s worked for us.
I use a Nikon D300s with 24-70mm f2.8 & a 35mm f2.
If I’m being honest, (which of course I’m always striving to be) I’m due for an upgrade. I’ve had this camera for over five years, but I truly love it so the years fly by and I keep clicking with this babe. The tricky thing about shooting with DSLR cameras is that the lenses are just as important (some would argue more important) than the camera body and the good lenses tend to cost more than the camera body itself, so it’s always a struggle, for a frugal freelancer like me.
We often get asked about the cameras we use to take pictures for the blog and our instagram account, so today we thought it would be fun to do a series of posts where we each talk about our equipment and how we use it. This won’t be a lesson in photography, rather just a discussion about what we use and why it’s worked for us.
I use the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7. And sometimes my iPhone 6s.
In the best of ways, I sort of fell into my camera. Calder gave it to me for a gift about five years ago (maybe longer!), and once I started using the LX7, I’ve never wanted anything else. Below I’m listing some of the selling points for me, together these may not seem worth the ticket price for this camera, but what I’ve left out is that this camera is just f’ing amazing for its size. It’s packed with features, and I’m only highlighting a handful.
