75 Toddler Easter Basket Ideas

My most popular post thus far has been last year's 50 Toddler Easter Basket Ideas.

So this year, I obviously had to up it!

Here are some ideas:

Classics

* Stuffed Bunny or Chick

* Easter- themed books (see list below)

* Bible (The Jesus Storybook Bible is highly recommended)

* Chocolate Bunny

*Preschool Devotional

* Toddler Snacks (gold fish, fruit snacks, puffs, etc.)

Summer Fun

* Swimsuit

* Sunglasses

* Beach towel

* Water wings

* Pool toy

* Sand bucket and shovel

*Inflatable swimming pool

*Sprinkler

*Bubbles

* Sidewalk chalk

* Kite

* Water/ Sand Table

* Lawn chair

* Tent

*Tunnel

*Gardening Supplies

Educational

*Puzzles

*Links

*Tobbles

*Magnetix

*CD's (Hidden in my Heart lullabies, Songs for Saplings, etc.)

*Games for Tablet (leap pad, innotab, etc.)

* Misc. board books

* Educational DVDs

Artsy 

* Color Wonder marker set

*Coloring book

*Do a Dot Markers

*Art kits

* Crayons

* "My First Paint Set"

* Construction Paper

* Stickers

* Apron

*Play dough

*Play dough stamps 

Necessities

* Sippy Cups

*Plates

*Bowls

*Utensils

*Disposable dining mats

* Bibs

*Socks

* PJs

* Summer clothes

* Shoes

* Easter outfit

* Shampoo/Lotion

* Girl accessories (hair bows, etc.)

Fun

*Mega Bloks

* Bath toys

* Small instruments

* Little People

* Play food

* Mr. Potato Head

* Small cars

* Slinky

* Stuffed animal

* Doll

Experience

* Tickets to the Zoo

* Membership to Gymboree

* Tickets to local children's museum

*Tickets to baseball game

Books

"What is Easter?"

"The Berenstein Bears and the Easter Story"

"Pat the Bunny"

"The Pout Pout Fish"

Movies

*Disney (Frozen, Toys Story, etc.)

* Favorite TV show on DVD (Thomas, Sesame Street, Etc.)

*Veggie Tales

HAPPY EASTER!!!

50 Toddler Easter Basket Ideas

Even though here in Kansas City we have a solid 2 feet of snow on the ground...Easter is still around the corner!

I love Easter!

I am, first and foremost, so thankful for the reason we celebrate Easter. That my Savior died and rose again for me! To take my sins! That he conquered death! So amazing!

I also love the changing of spring. The pastel colors.

And the candy.

Oh the candy.

This is Levi's second Easter and I'm so excited for the Easter egg hunts (now that he can walk!) and making him a fun basket!

At first I was stumped at what to put in a basket for a barely-toddler. Then I walked around Target, WalMart and Michaels and got some great ideas.... 

You can really spend as much or as little as you like.

For me... since Levi has a Winter birthday, Easter is a great excuse to get some fun summer toys and clothes.

So here's some ideas:

Classics

* Stuffed Bunny or Chick

* Easter- themed books (see list below)

* Bible (The Jesus Storybook Bible is highly recommended)

* Chocolate Bunny

* Toddler Snacks (gold fish, fruit snacks, puffs, etc.)

Summer Fun

* New swimsuit

* Sunglasses

* Beach towel

* Water wings

* Pool toy

* Sand bucket and shovel

*Bubbles

* Sidewalk chalk

* Kite

* Water/ Sand Table

* Lawn chair

* Tent

Educational

*Puzzles

* Misc. board books

* Educational DVDs

Artsy 

* Color Wonder marker set

* Crayons

* "My First Paint Set"

* Construction Paper

* Stickers

* Apron

Necessities

* Sippy Cups

* Bibs

*Socks

* PJs

* Summer clothes

* Shoes

* Easter outfit

* Shampoo/Lotion

* Girl accessories (hair bows, etc.)

Fun

*Mega Bloks

* Bath toys

* Small instruments

* Little People

* Play food

* Mr. Potato Head

* Disney DVDs

* Small cars

* Slinky

* Stuffed animal

* Doll

Experience

* Tickets to the Zoo

* Membership to Gymboree

* Tickets to local children's museum

Books

"What is Easter?"

"The Berenstein Bears and the Easter Story"

"Pat the Bunny"

Don't forget to check Etsy as well for great, handmade items for your child!

Do you have a tradition that gets put into your kids' Easter baskets?

Any other suggestions?

Best.Christmas.Ever

It's not even officially Christmas, and it's already the best yet.

Being a Mama at Christmas is the best!!!

We are blessed with a ton of family, so Christmas began this past week and will continue through the new year!

This week started with a beautiful snow

That's our backyard.

It was a perfect mood-setting snow.

This past weekend we went to my Aunt and Uncle's for Christmas.

The spoiled him with some books, puzzle, clothes, stuffed animals and Little People truck!

My Aunt gave Levi a book that was my Dad's as a kid.

Sidenote: My dad passed away when I was six years old. So for Levi to have something of his grandpa's is extra special.

Levi is loving all his new toys!

 Yesterday, on Christmas Eve Eve, we celebrated Christmas with my mom and sister.

He got lots of books, clothes, toys and goodies!

His favorite gift was probably his Lightning McQueen ride-on walker toy.

Levi has been getting very close to walking, and with his walker, he just takes off!

Check it how cute he is!

Then....Santa came this morning!

Mr. Free grew up with Santa coming on Christmas Eve morning. This is because Santa knew how busy they were visiting family on Christmas, so this let them be home and play with their toys all day.

We decided to continue that tradition. So here's what Santa brought him...

Santa went a *wee* bit overboard. 

I was just so excited to have a little boy to spoil!

And he's getting so big! He was ready for some bigger boy toys, books and clothes! 

 I made sure to video his whole unwrapping, but snagged one pic of him opening gifts with his Daddy.

We then sent most of the day down in his playroom playing with all his toys.

And yes, his playroom looks like Toys R Us.

And yes, Mama is glad to have a playroom to contain all the fun into...

 So Christmas hasn't even begun and it's already been fantastic.

My Mama heart is so full celebrating this joyous time with my husband and son.

Next year I am excited to share the true joy of Christmas with Levi and have him understand a bit more.

How he is SO loved that God sent his very own son down to earth to later die for us.

That that is the best gift of all time.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Life and Holiday Randomness

This post is gonna be a whole lot of random.

As is my life lately.

Between finishing up orders for my Etsy store, sewing items for my family, Levi's first Christmas, teaching, family events, etc.....life is nuts!

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

So bear with me....

Yesterday, Levi and I made salt dough ornaments according to our Advent calendar.

I did Levi's hand and foot prints as well as each of our initials.

I followed this recipe.

I think adorned them with some paint pens Mr. Free had.

So then, Monday morning I woke up to this.

 

And by Monday night, I had this.

 The Delta Ashton faucet.

We had long wanted a brushed nickel faucet, but our existing faucet was perfectly fine. (Was a hand-me-down from Mr. Free's parents old kitchen)

So several clams later, we have a pretty new faucet. : )

Merry Christmas to us.

I'm handmaking our Christmas cards this year. 

Still not done.

Hopefully they will be done and sent before next Christmas.

No promises. 

 I've been sewing up a storm.

I've had plenty of orders to keep me busy.

The modern floor poufs have been my biggest seller, so I decided to expirement with a square pouf.

I know, I'm a crazy woman.

 I also made Levi a sweet train onesie for a special occasion

Mr. Free's extended family has a big Christmas party every year.

His great-aunt and uncle complete decorate their home to look like the north pole.

AND they have a train museum on their property.

Including a full size caboose.

It makes you feel like a kid again, and Levi had a blast!

Levi also met Santa for the first time!

He was so good!

He just sat there like a little gentleman!

It's peppermint mocha season.

I'm a happy girl.

And I love the little chocolate curls on top.

Makes life better.

On December 5, a sweet little boy came into this world!

Emmett Lee was born to an amazing set of parents.

His mama and daddy are our best-friends-in-the-whole-wide-world and we were so excited for our little men to meet!

They had the gender of the baby be a surprise so we all were thrilled with the great news!

Levi and Emmett are destined to be best-of-friends.

He is one adorable little boy.

I can't wait to see all the mischief these two get themselves into!

And finally, on December 8th, Levi turned 10 months old.

How did this happen?!

Just last week he was being swaddled and waking every 3 hours to eat, barely able to hold his head up.

Now he's crawling super fast, pulling up and thisclose to walking!

Each day is personality comes out even more and it is such a joy to see!

He is stinkin' funny!!!

His latest tricks:

- Climbing the stairs

- Tilting his head to the side to get your attention

- If you ask him what Santa says, he will say "ho ho ho".

- He dances every time he hears music

- He thinks the sound "BLAH" is hilarious. He will belly laugh so hard to that noise

- He has 4 teeth

I am so thankful and blessed to be his Mama.

So yeah, life is crazy. Good crazy.

I'm looking forward to more Christmas lights, cocoa and Christmas movies.

'Tis the Season.

Baby-Friendly Advent

Though Levi is only 9 months old, we are planning to celebrate advent with him and emphasize Christ's birth.

And yes, we fully understand that this is more for Mommy & Daddy than Levi.

: )

Last year, after Christmas at Target I got this advent calendar on mega clearance.

 I perused the internet for some ideas to and liked the whole "daily advent activity" idea.

However, most weren't very "9 month old baby boy" friendly.

So, I took some ideas I found, some family traditions and made up some of my own.

I also wanted a bible verse each day to show the true and glorifying story of Christmas.

So here is our calendar:

 You can download the calendar here

I'm so excited to celebrate this season with my little family of 3.

And hoping to keep the true meaning of this season.

Happy Advent!

Thanksgiving Recap

Levi's First Thanksgiving!

First of all....with both Mr. Free and I as teachers...our schedule is awesome.

Can't beat it.

We had off Wed- Sunday of Thanksgiving week and enjoying every.single.second. of it.

Wednesday

We slept in.

It was awesome.

Then piddled around the house, slowly decorating for Christmas.

Mr. Free hung the lights and I worked on the inside.

We are keeping it on the simpler side this year due to a mobile child.

Makes a big difference.

No more glass ornaments in a glass bowl on the coffee table!

No no!

Then we wrapped a few presents

And went to my Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner!

After the yummy and oh-so-filling dinner, we went to see Christmas fireworks.

Levi slept through it. Haha

Thanksgiving morning we watched the parade a bit, and I made my kinda-famous garlic bread stuffing (recipe to come soon)

 We went to Mr. Free's Nana's for Thanksgiving lunch and the cousins had fun playing.

 And Levi decided to show off his new standing skills.

That night we went to Christmas in the Park to see Christmas lights.

Levi loved them!

 Friday and Saturday were filled with Christmas shopping and I'm almost done!

We had a very full, fun Thanksgiving.

And I am so.stinkin. excited for Levi's first Christmas!

We are going to be doing the Advent season with Levi, and I'll be posting how we plan to do it within the next couple of days!

Baby and Toddler-Friendly Felt Christmas Tree

Yes, I'm talking Christmas.

Why?

Because I'm so stinkin' excited.

This year I'm doing several of Levi's gifts from scratch, as well as decorations for our home.

My first project is a Felt Christmas Tree for Levi (and all the other precious little ones the come to our home!)

Levi is into everything, and loves rearranging everything...so I thought this would be perfect!

Here's what you need:

Cutting mat

Large sheet of green felt

Christmas-y felt

Scissors

Fabric pencil or pen

Rotary cutter (optional)

I got the felts from Michaels.

The big green felt (36" x 36") is regularly 3.99

The pack of Christmas felt contains 12 sheets and was 4.99

I used a 50% off coupon + my 15% off Teacher discount (love the teacher discount!!!)

So the entire project cost me about $6!

Here we go:

(warning: blurry photos ahead. sorry.)

First.... fold your green felt in half.

Then, trace half a Christmas tree.

(I free-handed it)

 Rotary cut along the lines you lovingly drew

(you can use scissors too...obviously)

Unfold it....voila! A Christmas tree!

 

Attach it to the wall with double-sided tape

For the ornaments, I forgot to take pics...whoops.

Basically, just trace around something round onto the felt and cut out.

The great thing about felt? It sticks to felt!

All you have to do is push the ornaments onto the tree and they stick!

And I let Levi test it out...

 He liked it!

FYI....it's not staying up.... I'm not that crazy...

This year,

I'm doing a semi-homemade Christmas.

I'd love to do everything by hand and with love, but let's be real.... 

No woman who has a small child can do everything handmade.

But...I am vowing to do a semi-homemade Christmas.

Want to join me?

So there it is! Project Numero Uno for my...