Gender Reveal Party

*Photography 4Ever After Photography 

* Invitation & Gender Reveal Party from Then Comes Paper     

Gender Reveal Party

Gender Reveal Party’s seem to be a hip thing nowadays. Not everyone is having
them vs. the traditional baby shower but they are happening more frequently. I
have seen this trend several ways.

Blue/Pink
Where blue is for boy and pink is for girl. The decorations of the party are pink &
blue all around. Guest choose if they think the Mother to be is having a boy or a girl
at the beginning of the party and there are several ways this can be revealed.

There can be a box and the parents to be open it and out comes pink or blue
balloons.

Another way is to have a cake or cupcakes and the middle being pink or blue tells
what the sex of the baby is.

Or you can have balloons and inside there is a message that says boy or girl and
when the balloons are popped everyone finds out what it is!

A cute party favor that I have seen on Pintrest is Hershey Bars that are colored Pink
in the she or blue in the he.

There are several different ways you can do this gender reveal party such as pick
your favorite color for a girl and favorite color for a boy, or even have a what “What
will it bee ? “ theme with yellow and bee’s being the main decoration.

There are several different ways this can be done. My personal favorite would be go
with your favorite colors.

Invite & Party- Then Comes Paper http://www.thencomespaper.com/

Photography- 4Ever After Photography http://www.4everafterphotography.com/

-Bianca

DYI Cake Stand

DYI Cake Stand

*Image Via Pintrest

Materials Needed

• ·         Clay Pot (any size depending on how big/tall you want)
• ·         Clay Saucer (make sure it is big enough to cover the pot)
• ·         E6000 Glue
• ·         Paint depending on what color you want for the cake stand

*These materials can be purchased at Wal-Mart, Home Depot/Lowes, Valley Garden Center (Pots) and   Hobby   Lobby

Step 1-You take off all the price tags on the pots (if any) and paint and cover the pots completely. (I left mine to dry for the next day) Allow yourself enough time for the paint to dry completely.

Step 2-Apply the E6000 Glue to the bottom of the Clay Pot (remember there might be a hole at the bottom of the pot, so try not get it all over your hands)

Step 3-put the bottom of the clay pot that has glue to the top of the saucer (in other words the pot should have a flat surface (let this dry completely to make sure it is glued on securely)

*I saw this on Pintrest but there were no instructions so I had to improvise. I had the glue from another clay pot project and it worked.  In the picture it shows the saucer faced up, I did mine face down and I think it looks much better but it’s your choice.

-Bianca

Back to School Party

Back to School Party 

It’s almost time for your kids to start school, to ease your kids back into the school groove, why not throw a back to school get together. It doesn’t have to be a huge get together to be fun either. Here are a few steps to keep it simple.

1. Food- Why not buy a couple of in-expensive lunch bags and label them with each child’s name. Make a “lunch” for each child and maybe adults if you are having parents over. Sandwich, water bottle, chips, treat (such as granola or cookie) juice box. *If you want you can add a cute lunch note*

 

1. Decorations/Party Favors-Banner (you can give this to your child’s teacher if you want) Box of Crayola crayons, Notebook, pencils (tied with a cute ribbon), hand sanatizer. You don't have to give all of these, you can pick & choose cute supplies. 

 

1. Games-use board or card games you have around the house, or the kids can watch a movie and serve popcorn. The possibilities are endless. 

It doesn’t take much for kids to be happy but it’s a great way to get your friends together before they officially go back to school on Monday. 

I downloaded all the printables from www.laurenmckinsey.com (not only are her printables super cute but they are in-expensive too). 

-Bianca

Safety first

As I was leaving the HEB parking lot I saw a jeep with a "keep austin weird" sticker that caught my eye and a mother with her kid (who looked around 6-8 years old) touching the side of the car where a sticker magnet was. Just found out it was a magnet by the way. Any who I was waiting for another car to get his parking space so I had no other option than to stare at the kid. Okay, while starring is not polite .. how often do you see a semi-hyper tween patiently waiting for the mom to load up the younger sibling? Yeah well almost never. Well on the bottom of this magnet I saw that it said "Parking Pal".

Came home, googled it.. and well ran into the website. GENIUS! such a brilliant idea!! Seriously, how many times are we not wondering who is the parent of a kid running around the parking lot, or wondering why the kid is parading around the car while the mom or dad load sup groceries in the trunk. Well here is the parking pal :

 This is a picture from their website http://www.parkingpalmagnet.com/

The concept is as simple as it sounds, you put a car magnet per kid. Your kiddo places his/her hand on it while you load up your younger child, groceries, or simply wait for your car's A.C. to cool your car down.

I'm sure that if you wanted to make your own, you could. Plenty of palces offer car magnets that you can design on your own, such as Copy Plus. But with plenty of designs to choose from on their website i'm sure your kiddo will love one on there.While the concept is quite genius, I think it is also vitally important to explain to your child why they are doing such act. Letting them know that this is for their safety is so important.

A tip I got in my baby shower book that I absolutely LOVE is "NEVER tell your child you NEVER do something without EVER explaining why."

Do you have a mom-tip you'd like to give us? a product you or your kid can't live without?

e-mail us!! info@ilovemcallen.com

much love,

Lizbeth Muriel

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www.twitter.com/lizbethmuriel

After school snacks for kids

We get it, you are a parent on-the-go. Sometimes when your kids get home a full-blown meal is not made, even though your kids EXPECT it to be. So what to feed your starving growing child? You don't want to spoil their appetite since making dinner is on the works. So here are some healthy snacks that won't spoil their appetite. Teach your KIDS that VEGGIES and Fruits can be FUN. Here are some fun recipes that we found on : www.spoonfull.com You can even have your kids help!

 

Let your kids play with their food by making this creative crudité. Once their flower is in bloom, they can dip the petals in our easy-to-mix ranch dressing.

What you'll need

• ASSORTED VEGETABLES:
• radish slices
• fresh spinach leaves
• cucumber rounds
• cherry tomatoes
• celery sticks
• baby carrots
• RANCH DIP:
• 1 16-ounce container sour cream
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced, fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced, fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, crushed)
• 2 tablespoons grated onion (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

How to make it

1. Set out vegetables and let your kids design their own flowers (there is no right or wrong way of doing this). We used radish slices and cucumber rounds for petals, cherry tomatoes for flower centers, celery sticks for stems, spinach for leaves, and baby carrots for grass.

2. Ranch Dip: In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and vinegar until smooth. Add the parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion, if desired, and salt and pepper and stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 

These cute sandwiches made with peanut butter and jelly (or cream cheese and jelly, or any other fillings) are perfect for parties, lunch boxes, or snacks.

What you'll need

• Bread
• Peanut butter or cream cheese
• Jelly or jam
• Water bottle cap

How to make it

1. For each sandwich, cut two slices of bread into flower shapes with a cookie cutter.

2. Cut a hole in one of the slices by pressing a water bottle cap into the center.

3. Spread the peanut butter and jelly on the whole piece and place the slice with the hole on top.

What you'll need

• Whole-grain hot dog bun
• Peanut butter
• Wheat germ or sunflower seeds
• Banana
• Jam

How to make it

1. Simply spread a whole-grain hot dog bun with peanut butter, sprinkle with wheat germ or sunflower seeds, and top with a whole, peeled banana and a squiggle of jam. Add a side of milk to round out the meal. Variation: For a Banana Burrito, substitute a tortilla for the bun.

Do you have a recipe you would like to share? Would you like to be our NEXT guest blooger? Send us an e-mail! info@ilovemcallen.com

Lizbeth Muriel

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www.twitter.com/lizbethmuriel