As we gear up for the holidays, I took a trip to Christmas Tree Shops to gather some festive decorations and entertaining supplies. I brought my daughter and after we walked around the store and tested out every single nutcracker, I filled my cart up with the cutest holiday entertaining supplies! And while I was there, I was struck with inspiration for a fun gingerbread house decorating activity after seeing their contest flyers, which was a special way for us to kick off the Christmas holiday season while we were off from school and work for a few days after Thanksgiving. read more

I love a tasty gift – from homemade simple syrups, to boxes of cookies, even samplings of semi-homemade seasonal candies. These are my favorite kinds of presents to share with neighbors, teachers, and as little thank-you treats at the holiday season. I am sharing a few ideas for making and packaging these special treats with my friends at Christmas Tree Shops today – one of my favorite spots for finding seasonal wrapping and packaging supplies! read more

I love using Pastene products because, well, they’re delicious, and I’m always finding ways to repurpose their recyclable and reusable glass jars, like in this recent DIY project! We eat dinner out in our garden most nights in the summer, and with some small gatherings coming back on our social calendar, it’s nice to have a grab-and-go set of entertaining items that I can tote outside for easy access. I made this DIY outdoor entertaining tray with recycled glass Pastene jars in various sizes, decorate them with festive blue and white patterned tissue paper and napkins, and then filled the jars up with essentials like utensils, toothpicks, and other festive serveware. Get the step by step details below: read more

I am quickly realizing during social distancing just how much we take for granted on a daily basis. But as I mourn the convenience of popping out the store for just one thing, I’m also energized by being creative with what we already have at home. That means digging into our pantry and making use of leftovers in the fridge (I’m pretending I’m on a cooking challenge show, what can I make with these ingredients!?). I’ve also been more resourceful with the projects I’ve been thinking up to keep Jane occupied and learning while we’re at home. The recycling bin has been fueling our imagination (see what we created last week out of paper towel rolls and egg cartons in this toddler craft round up). read more

Every time I host a party I swear to myself that I’m going to keep things simple, and then usually about 48 hours before the party starts I’ve got half a dozen active craft projects in-progress. It’s always worth it in the end though, because those custom details are the things that stand out! I made a bunch of fun DIY elements for my sister’s recent bridal shower, and thought I’d share a few of the super-easy ideas I crafted up to make the day feel personalized to our guest of honor! The best part is, each one of incredibly easy to do!  read more

I was really excited to get to dye Easter eggs with Jane and had one of the kits in my hand at the grocery store last week. I paused for a second though and had a vision in my head of the dye splashing everywhere and hard boiled eggs getting broken and smashed by her not-so-gentle toddler hands. I quickly returned the kit to the shelves and my excitement dissipated.  But flash forward to earlier this week and I found some white craft eggs at Target and my crafting enthusiasm resurfaced! These are the exact eggs I found in-stores, and there are similar sets on Amazon with white eggs or natural eggs (there’s even a cute egg painting craft kit!). I ducked into the craft aisle at Target and grabbed some sponge brushes and the prettiest brightly colored acrylic paints and we were ready to go. read more

Of all of the times to entertain throughout the year, I think that summer entertaining is my favorite. It’s typically casual and laid-back, means we get to fire up the grill and eat outside, and often uses my favorite color palette: red white and blue! The easy DIY chambray napkins I have to share today are perfect for all of those elements that make summer entertaining so special. This set that I made for upcoming Fourth of July celebrations has a patriotic twist, but they could be customized with monograms for bridal showers, dates for anniversaries or birthdays, or even some simple shapes for a graphic design.  read more

I spent this past weekend up in Portland, Maine celebrating one of my best friend’s bachelorette weekend. We had a blast — eating lobster rolls, taking in a baseball game, soaking up the most gorgeous summer weather, and of course, enjoying some cocktails and bar hopping. I’m still recovering — apparently it takes 3-4 days to recover from bachelorette parties once you hit your thirties — here’s hoping I’m back to normal by Thursday of this week. The good thing about bachelorette parties in your thirties though is that we have quite a few of these girl’s weekend celebrations under our belt. All of that experience adds up, and makes it much easier to put together perfect activities, itineraries and party swag!  read more