easter baskets

i try to be creatively proactive with the holidays because if i don’t make a conscious effort, it seriously slaps me in the face unexpectedly. hahaha! then, honestly, i get disappointed i didn’t fair better. innately, i have always loved holidays.

growing up catholic vietnamese, my parents were very religious. so, holidays were all about church, jesus, mary, and celebrating the life of. absolutely nothing wrong with that because i am all about being catholic, respecting my religion, my faith, and the idea of just doing/being a better person and preaching the word of the Lord. easter is all about jesus being resurrected and that is it in a nutshell.

buuuuuuuttttt, i have always looooooved the frilly aspect of it. the commercial, american way of celebrating religious holidays. i love it for the fun, whimsical notions. i like easter baskets, the easter bunny {i adored the easter bunny as a kid!}, and the cute, fun decorations that come with it!

so, with that being said…i had the best time creating easter baskets for the girls. it’s definitely hard to shop for them when they are with me! i had to hide stuff or tell them that they don’t get what they did see until easter. olive was like, “okaaayyyyy”. i am so blessed olive is so compliant and sooo freakin’ well behaved. she just plain listens to me!

i created their baskets the other day and was so pleased with how they turned out! i wanted to limit the candy {although they still get a few treats!}…because i tend to go overboard every year with that and focused more on fun things they would use or like.

voila! useful, fun, pretty, reusable easter baskets! i’m in love. i can’t wait to give these baskets to the girls!

happy creating my friends!

via tandeminlove.com

counter clockwise: garland: hooray everyday // book: little owl’s colors // bunny: target // unicorn horn chalk {not online but in stores}: nordstroms // mini melissa’s unicorn shoes {they’re not available online but similar ones here}: nordstrom // macaron bath bombs: nordstrom

via tandeminlove.com

via tandeminlove.com

https://www.target.com

xoxo

imagination

i love encouraging olive’s creativity. it means so much to me that she explores art, colors, pictures, draws, and builds her imagination. i believe this is something that we should nurture and encourage as early on as we can. she loves to read, she loves to paint, she loves to build, and she loves to draw. i find she can spend hours on any of those things.

a few new items i have discovered recently, that will encourage her creativity and imagination, are the jaq jaq bird chalk book, hape toys sand art, and the kid o magna tab. three great toys that olive will love. what i love most is that they are available on a site i have just found! the cubby baby…literally the best of everything baby! this shop has everything you need for mommy and babes! from strollers, wraps, baby needs, toys, and trend alerts, this site offers something for us mommy’s on the go!

via tandeminlove.com

via tandeminlove.com

i love the chalk book because it’s reusable, portable, and promotes her creativity! the chalk is dust free and it’s so easy to clean. it’s a perfect item to bring along with us to restaurants or when we are out and about and olive can keep herself preoccupied. olive is so well behaved {regardless} when we go out and she’s very good when we are sitting down at a restaurant but bringing along toys as a back up is a smart thing to do for any parent!

via tandeminlove.com

the hape toys sand art is soooooo cool! i love that it’s colorful and olive can create works of art using the pretty sand and patterns that they offer. she is so good at recognizing animal shapes and telling me what colors are what! it’s so cute when she asks me, “can i count the colors?”…i always have to correct her! what she really means is, can she identify the colors but that will come in time! haha!

via tandeminlove.com

the kid o magna tab is pretty awesome. it’s magnetic and it pops the little white ball into the hole and supports olive’s learning with letters, shapes, and pictures. to ‘erase’ the pic, all you have to do is swipe your finger or the back of the stylus over the dots and presto! the pictures is erased! how easy and fun is that?!

i’m excited to discover more fun items for both ellie and olive on the cubby baby! their growth, development, and learning path is so important to me and finding new interactive items to engage them with is always something i’m seeking. make sure you check out their website and see all the wonderful things they offer for you and your babe!

xoxo