Harry Potter Wand Tutorial

For Halloween this year my oldest decided he wants to dress-up as Harry Potter.

We talked about the details of his costume and he for sure needed a wand :)

I've been trying to step back more and let his creative juices flow, and I must say I'm pretty proud of his thought process and how this turned out!

It all started the other day when he found this stick.

I told him I thought it would make a good wand, so he held on to it.

DIY Reversible 2x4 Craft

I feel like when it comes to seasonal decor, I'm kind of a minimalist.

I honestly think I don't like a lot of knick-knacks and stuff because my boys already leave so much crap everywhere they go that it just looks like it's adding to the clutter...

Does anyone else have this problem??

Anyways, I've mentioned before that my new calling (volunteer type position) in my church is the person in charge of planning monthly activities for the Relief Society (women's group).

Once a year there is something called Super Saturday.

It's pretty much a chance to get together and make some common crafts, nibble on treats, and chat with the other women.

Our Super Saturday is next month, but I made the crafts in advance so the other women could see what's in store for them if they're able to make it.

As I mentioned before, I don't like having a lot of seasonal stuff, but I kind of wanted something.

I decided to make these reversible 2x4 blocks as a way to have them be a little more functional and last a little longer through the seasons.

I really wanted this craft to be customizable for the women attending.

Meaning; they don't have to do Fall and Winter. They could do any season they want, or even a saying like 'Love at Home' or whatever.

I will actually post more about different options after we have our Super Saturday and I have more options to show.

For now though, I will show you how I made these ones.

DIY Pokeball Costume

A few weeks ago I was talking to my 3 year old about Halloween.

He is so excited to go trick-or-treating, and much to my surprise he already knew what he wanted his costume to be.

When I asked him what he was planning on dressing up as he squealed with delight "A Pokeball!"

Ha ha ha

Um, it was the cutest thing ever to hear him talk about being a Pokeball and I was excited because I knew this would be something I could easily whip up for him.

I love how this turned out, and I love that he'll be able to wear a coat, or sweater, or whatever underneath it and you'll still be able to see the full costume.

I've got step-by-step pictures and instructions to show you how this came together.

Relief Society Enrichment Night: An Evening of Stress Relief

In our church we have a women's group called Relief Society.

Once a month we get together for about an hour or so in the evening for something called Enrichment Night or and Enrichment Activity.
These Enrichment nights (or activities) are to help us come together as women, enjoy each other's company, and hopefully learn something new. 

As of a few months ago, I am the one in charge of coming up with these activities.

I was tossing around a few ideas for our activity for the month of September, but I couldn't really decide what I wanted to do.
After some debating I came up with a theme "Stress Relief".
Maybe it's because I was getting so stressed. Hah!
Anyways...
It took a little bit of prep work, but I feel like it actually came together really well.
I'll break it down for you to show you the different 'stations' we had and what planning was needed.

Partnering with HALO for SIDS Awareness Month {and a GIVEAWAY}

Hello all and welcome to October!
I'm here to help spread some awareness and hold a little giveaway!

Did you know that October is SIDS Awareness Month?

Maybe I should start out by making sure you know what SIDS even is!

SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (Or SUIDS Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome).

This problem still claims more than 3,500 infants each year in North America. More than half of these are preventable when proper safe sleep practices are followed. To keep all babies sleeping safely and avoid these unnecessary tragedies, HALO is dedicated to putting the health, safety, and well-being of babies first. In fact, over 1,400 hospitals use HALO SleepSack wearable blankets through the HALO Safer Way to Sleep Hospital Initiative. 

Through this program HALO has helped Hospitals and Birth Centers throughout North America create their own safe sleep programs, which utilize the HALO SleepSack Swaddle to demonstrate to parents and caregivers how to keep their babies sleeping safely. To date, HALO has donated more than $4.3 million in its efforts to promote safe sleep education. 

Laying your little one down to rest doesn't need to be stressful though, there are quite a few tips to help keep your little on safe and keep your mind at ease.
For the month of October HALO will be running a campaign entitled "Decorate the nursery, not the crib."
HALO is asking parents to show their unique styles of nurseries to show the  different ways of keeping the baby's sleep environment a safe one.
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I wondered how I was going to share my tips and ideas on a safe nursery when my baby actually isn't even in his nursery yet, let alone his crib.
He actually sleeps in a bassinet right next to our bed. He has since day 1.
We've actually done it that way with all 3 of our boys.
I realized that's my way of keeping him sleeping safely.
Right next to me.
It puts my mind at ease knowing I am right there if anything goes wrong. I can hear them breathing and I like to think they can feel my presence there as well and be comforted knowing I will be there if they wake up or if something happens. It also helps that they are close enough for me to grab for that late-night feeding.
Along with sleeping next to me my little guy rocks his HALO SleepSack wearable blanket.
I really like the SleepSack because he can't kick it off while he's sleeping, and he can't pull it up over his face.
And that elephant print is pretty adorable too ;)

So what are the main components of a safe sleep environment you might ask?
If your baby is in a crib, you will want to make sure the mattress you are using fits nice and snug into the crib without any gaps.
No soft bedding surrounding the baby (pillows, stuffed animals, loose things they can grab, etc).
You'll also want to make sure there aren't any cords from the baby monitor or anything like that around.
When you lay them down to sleep make sure you place them on their back.

For even more ideas HALO has a list of Safe Sleep Tips you can find here 

To help get your little one's sleep environment Sleep-Safe ready, I have teamed up with HALO to give away a 'Safe Sleep Starter Kit' to one lucky winner

The kit will include:

To enter the giveaway just fill out the Rafflecopter below, good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
HALO is also holding a separate giveaway on their social media outlets for a HALO Bassinet, so make sure to head over and enter that as well!