Matching Child-size Ties + Bowties

When it comes to getting a house-full of little boys dressed up, I tend to fall back on my old favorite combo - a simple button up shirt with khaki shorts. It's easy, cute, perfect for summer, and it looks nice without being overly formal (we're not an overly formal bunch). Plus it's cheap - we already have those things in the closet (Dave Ramsey approved!).

But last summer I was putting together outfits for my sister's wedding and I wanted to add a special touch. Something to dress it up just a bit more than usual and add a little matching to the day (I love when they match). 

For little boys, that naturally led to matching ties and bow ties! I found a few ties on Amazon, but the ones I liked were almost $25 each. And the few I didn't totally hate (that would arrive in time) were still $10-15 each... and I would need four. Not how I want to spend my $$ today, thankyouverymuch. It just felt like a lot of money for a little accessory.

Then my sister was like "Duh. Make your own." And she sent me these two links:

• Boy's Tie Pattern by Little Bit Funky
• Boy's Bow tie Pattern by Make It Love It

And she was totally right. With DIY, I could make ties for all four boys for less than buying one pre-made tie. And I had a whole Hobby Lobby of prints and colors to choose from.

I decided on regular ties for the three bigger boys and a bow tie for little guy (so he wouldn't get tangled up while crawling around). For my 8-year-old, I added a few inches to the tie pattern to make it a little longer. My five- and three-year-olds are wearing it true to the pattern. Hopefully that gives you an idea for any adjustments you need to make for your own sizing! I also copied the velcro strap from the bow tie pattern and used it for the regular ties, too, instead of using the elastic it shows in that pattern.

Yes. I'm the mom that let them wear flip flops and didn't iron their shirts, but I did tuck them in... and you can see how long that lasted. I'm choosing different battles, folks.

My sister's wedding themes were navy + wildflowers and the boys were all going to wear blue shirts (all different shades, just working with what we have) and khaki shorts. So I picked a yellow floral  fabric with a vintage vibe that would work perfectly with all their outfits and fit the wedding theme! It was so perfect, I could hardly believe it.

The fabric was from Hobby Lobby and cost $7/yard regular price, but their fabric is always on sale so it ended up being only $5/yard. One yard was enough to make the set of four. I also bought one pack of  5/8" velcro for $2 and had plenty to split that between all four ties, bringing the grand total to just $7 for all four!

I couldn't believe how cute they turned out! I kept looking at them like "Did I really just make these??" So cute and so professional looking. And under two hours to make the whole set.

Just wanted to share since it's a great little project to tackle while you're cooped up at home (and perfect if you have scrap fabric to use up!). Seriously, I can't recommend these patterns (or little boys with matching ties) enough. What have you been making lately?

Christmas Shopping Guide for Boys - 2017

Check out our gift guide for the ladies here, and for the guys here.

Christmas is less than two months away! I don't know about you, I've been running our Christmas shopping plans through my head for a few weeks, and I'm ready to start checking off those mental lists.We have a few years of experience under our belts when it comes to shopping for boys, so we thought we'd share a rundown of some of our favorite gifts for these little fellas to help give you a jump start on your shopping, too!

These are all things we're thinking about for our boys this year, or items we've actually bought in the past. We follow the "four gift" plan for the most part - something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read - but we typically get two items in the want category (unless it's one more expensive gift) or add a larger family gift, plus we also do a few small gifts in stockings and a Christmas Eve box. But we try to mix in a big dose of giving along with all the getting. Here's how we do it:

Something They Want
We'll show several items in each category, but the goal would be to pick just one item per category (though we typically pick two "wants"). For this category, you can really just pick whatever your child wants the most! Here are a few of our household favorites:

1. Legos - A big starter set, or a smaller model set in their favorite theme (superheroes for us!). Plus Duplo legos for the smaller fellas (we love the construction sets, zoo, and house!)
2. Play Food - always a big hit at our house, and they've had their eyes on this pasta set.
3. Wooden Blocks - this set includes a storage box!
4. Animals - we like the the larger animals by Safari Ltd (like the mama and baby bear), but the Toob sets would also be great for a stocking!
5. Peg Doll Playsets - you can find these on etsy or make your own! We made a little camping set that our boys love, but you could do whatever interests them - superheroes, knights with a felt castle, even animals (I'm working on a raccoon family with a felt log for boy #3's birthday)!
6. Small Slide - this slide has been going strong for several years with our boys. We even bring it inside for the winter so they can slide off some energy. They use it daily!
7. Indoor Swings -  this is another of those "burn off energy in the winter" items. Boys gotta move. I would love to get this doorway swing and climbing set, and my boys would get a kick out of a pod swing. 
8. Climbing Things - our boys love the climbing dome in our backyard. And the mama would love to add some indoor climbing options for winter (it's my theme this year). My wishlist includes putting in monkey bars over the bed, some rockwall holds up the wall in their room (I like the ones that look like real rocks), or a ninja slackline. 
9. Camera - not pictured, but this is one of the best gifts we've ever given Boy #1! You can read all about which one we got and why we love it here. (see the camera here)

Something They Need
This is a really broad category, because what your kids need may be very different than what mine need! We've also put things they want that will be really useful into this category. Sometimes we end up a more boring item like shoes, and sometimes it's something fun like a sleeping bag or backpack. But remember, only one! That's the hard part.

$5 Obi Wan Kenobi Costume

This boy loves all things Star Wars. His only question for halloween was "Which Star Wars guy should I be??" We thought he would go Kylo Ren, but in the end good old Obi Wan Kenobi was the winner!

He loves his costume, and I love that we only spent about $5 to make it!

Using The Force.

One big bonus of a DIY costume is that I was able to make it big enough to fit over his coat (so his costume won't be hidden if it's chilly that night). Plus you can easily alter the size to fit any age of child.

You only need a handful of things to make your own Obi Wan Kenobi costume (in any size!):

• an off-white sheet ($5 at Walmart)
• matching thread
• a piece of brown felt (less than $0.50 most places)

*We also added khaki pants he already owned, a belt he already owned, and his blue light saber to finish off the costume.

DIY Raccoon Costume {free pattern}

Is there anything as indecisive as a small boy deciding what to be for Halloween? I finally had to tell him "We are making costumes today. Whatever you choose right now is what you will be." After weeks of flopping from raccoon, to pumkin, to apple, to hotdog, to police officer, to minion (often all in the same day), he circled back around to good old raccoon. Thank goodness because it ended up being a really easy (and super cute) costume!

And he totally loves it. He's barely taken if off all week, and even wears it out on errands. I keep hearing things like "Look out mommy! There's a raccoon behind you!" "Watch how far raccoons can jump!" "Do raccoons eat cereal?"

This is one of those easy costumes that's made with a hoodie or jacket. Which is my favorite kind of costume. For the same $15 you can get a cheap pre-made costume, or a nice jacket he can wear for the rest of the year!

Here's all you need to make one:

• gray hoodie or jacket
• gray felt (we bought 1/4 yard off a bolt to have a long enough piece for the tail)
• black felt - 1 sheet
• white felt  - 1 sheet
• 12" elastic (I used 1/4" braided elastic) you won't need the whole thing, but this way you're sure to have enough
• mask pattern
• black thread 
• white thread
• small amount of stuffing (optional, you can also leave the tail flat)

Raccoon Pose

Give the Kid a Camera {the best Christmas gift ever}

Christmas will be here before we know it, so today we wanted to give you a little gift-giving tip with the single. best. gift. we've ever given our son. Ever.

Baby ducks by the pier at Lake Michigan.

Two years ago, when m1 was just four years old, we gave him a digital camera (more details on the one we chose in a minute). That's it. It sounds so simple. But I'm here to tell you, we were completely unprepared for both how much he would treasure that gift, and the sweet peek into his little heart it would give us. And an added bonus for us has been all the sweet little moments he's captured that have completely escaped the rest of us. Like his dozens of attempted selfies with his baby brother.

He loved this camera so much, he took it everywhere we went for weeks. Going to the store? Hey, I'll take pictures of everything we pass in case you forget!

He even took it when we went house hunting and captured this first shot of our future pantry.

Custom Book Ornament DIY

We love coming up with fun Christmas traditions for our little family, and one of my favorites has been making an ornament for our kids each year to commemorate some of their favorite things. Our biggest boy is only five, but we already love pulling his ornaments out every year and remembering some of the funny little phases he's gone through.

It started when he was a baby and he loved - LOVED - a little green block. So for his first Christmas we found a duplicate block, made an ornament, and named it his Christmas Pickle. It was super easy (you can see how we made it here) and we decided it needed to be a yearly tradition! Since then we've added things like wooden train tracks and a stuffed monkey. Last Christmas he was really into Magic Treehouse books and we were reading through them as fast as we could get our hands on them, so a book ornament seemed like the perfect thing!

I added the first Growly book in 2018. We loved this series!

Polar Bear Felt Birthday Crown {free pattern}

We like to keep birthdays pretty simple around here. So simple, in fact, that often the only thing I make for birthdays (apart from some favorite foods, of course) is our traditional birthday crown. And with another birthday just written in the books, we've added a two-year-old polar bear crown to our repertoire!

So far the crowns have all been animal themed, featuring whatever they are interested in at the time... which can change daily with little guys. So it actually works out perfectly that I usually put this activity off until the night before. Fortunately they come together pretty quickly so even starting after the boys are asleep, I know I'll be done in time to hang a few streamers before bed. And that is usually the extent of our birthday preparations - make a crown, hang a few streamers, blow up a few balloons, wrap gifts, and make the birthday boy's requested dessert. We usually pull the whole thing together between their bedtime and ours. It's super low-stress, and we love that we are able to put our time and energy into making the birthday boy feel like the star of the day with a few special birthday traditions and gifts, instead of pouring time into a perfectly pinterest-y day.

What you need:

• 1/4 yard light blue felt (buying by the yard ensures a long enough piece to wrap around his head. You could also use felt sheets sewn together into a long enough piece.)
• 1 sheet dark blue felt
• 1 sheet gray felt
• 1 sheet yellow felt
• 1 sheet white felt
• thread (or tacky glue, if you don't feel like sewing)
• basic crown pattern

Funny Boy Books & Custom Moleskine Journals with Steel Letter Stamps

My kids do and say the funniest things I have ever seen. Also, I have a terrible memory. I will without fail forget every single one of these funnies if I rely on my tired brain alone. So Husband came up with a super easy way to record these funny moments through the years. Thank you, Husband!!! I call them the Funny Boy Books. You know, because it's where I write all the things the funny boys do.

We wanted to make them a little nicer than just a plain notebook since we're hoping to keep them around a long time, so we ordered some Moleskine notebooks to use. Then we used our steel letter stamps to customize the cover of each book. It's a fast and easy way to make their books a little more special! Plus it's great for making customized gifts for new parents.

We used our letter stamps to imprint "funny boy book" on the cover of each book (and added their names so we know who they belong to). I keep them on my nightstand so every night before bed I can jot down any favorite funny moments or milestones from the day. I also have a note app on my phone where I write down anything I want to remember to put in the book later.

You need just a few simple supplies to make custom journals for your own funny boys (or whatever else you need a journal for!):

• Moleskine journals
• steel letter stamps
• fine tip sharpie or permanent maker
• hammer
• masking tape

2014 Year in Review

I was just looking back at some of my posts from the year and came across list of goals I wrote way back in January. My initial reaction? "Oh. I made goals? Oops." So... let's see how it went and if I'll be trying again for these goals in 2015!

Bake Bread - Success! I remember a slow start, making just a couple loaves in the first half of the year. But this fall I really jumped in and now make my own sourdough bread using a sourdough starter I made myself! We haven't bought bread in a couple months! The key for me was finding a really easy, doable recipe. I'll share it later this week!

Eat Whole Foods - Semi-success? I think we're definitely doing better than the beginning of the year, definitely more produce and more homemade food, but I hope to improve more still. I think an important step for next year will be meal planning or having easy, ready-to-cook meals in the freezer. Being unprepared is my bane, and many times we resort to fast food just because I don't know what we're going to eat for dinner.One of my favorite new recipes this year are runza pocket sandwiches, and one of the great things about them is that they are great for the freezer!

Teach Big Brother Letters - We didn't work very hard on this, but he does recognize the first letters of names for both of our families, and numbers up to 5! (see how I made his dinosaur birthday crown here)

Play Outside - We definitely hit this in the summer by playing outside and gardening every day. Our DIY sprinkler arch was a big hit! Winter is already a major fail though. We barely leave the house when it's cold. Brrrr. 

Time with My Boys - Work in progress. I think I'm doing better... but still working toward a better balance. The book Hands Free Mama has helped so much.

Read - I guess I am reading more but not int he way I planned. I've been reading to the boys a LOT more. Some of our new favorites are Pete the Cat, Skippyjon Jones, and Big Brother is really into Magic School Bus right now. 

I completely read The Hunger Games and Unglued (we did this one in mom's group and it was great!). I started the Allegiant series but didn't finish the third book, and started Cure Tooth Decay and Hands Free Mama (I'm almost done with these two). And I've flipped through Backyard Homestead and Four Season Harvest. So basically I finished five books. In a year. I'm hoping I just forgot some.

Garden - We tried really hard and had a big beautiful garden... and the squirrels still ate almost everything. I don't know what to do. We even started our own seedlings, made a mini greenhouse, and fenced in the garden. I did manage to freeze and can a little from our garden and from my grandma's garden so I guess it wasn't a complete loss. :)

Take Walks - We did a good amount of walking this summer. And Big Brother did a lot of bike riding. We even took pictures on one of our walks to make this custom storybook. I think family walks are very underrated and we highly recommend them!

Save $$$ - We haven't really saved much, but it's because we've been putting any extra on our student loans so we still feel pretty good about it.

Organize the Basement - miracle of miracles, this is mostly done!!! My mom and sisters came for a weekend and helped me knock most of it out. Only my sewing corner still needs a little clean up. Whew.

Family Devotions - It's been hit - or miss. Big Brother got a new Bible storybook and has reminded us most nights for the last month.

All in all I'd say we were pretty successful this year. In spite of forgetting about our list!

How about you guys?  What were your goals in 2014? Did you stick to them or totally forget?

DIY Custom Photo Storybook

We tried to really stick to our four gift categories for the boys this year (you can read more about that here) and one area we had a lot of fun with was "something to read." We made a custom storybook! We spent a day at the end of summer taking pictures of the boys at a local park and had them printed in an 8x8 Shutterfly book.

We went with the story "going on a bear hunt" because the pictures would be pretty simple and there were plenty of "scenes" in the park like going over a bridge, across a stream, etc. For each area we started with a picture checking out the obstacle.

Then a picture going across.

Then a picture running away after they find the bear! This one at the cave is my favorite. Big Brother really got into it at this point.

We made sure that all the pictures of the hunt had the boys going from left to right, then all the picture of them running from the bear go from right to left. We used Photoshop to make the pages 8x8" and add text to the bottom of each page. We printed a couple sample pages on our home printer to make sure the font size would be readable.

And the bear? My sister drew a few bears for us to photoshop into the running pages. Like this one:

Once all our pages were put together we loaded them into an 8x8 book on the shutterfly website. We used the "modern white" style for our book. The page designs didn't matter for us since we used the full-page photos we made in photoshop, but this style gave us the tan binding. (You could also use a different page layout to do a picture at the top and type the words into a text box, instead of making whole pages in Photoshop.)

We used a cute "behind the scenes" photo for the cover page, complete with a bear. When Big Brother saw this page he was like "THERE'S A BEAR!!!"

The first few pages show us reaching, then crossing each of our five obstacles - tall grass, a bridge, a forest, a river, and a cave.

Then there is a page of the boys running back across each obstacle away from a fuzzy little bear.

And all the back home, up the stairs, and into bed. With the last page very appropriately saying "We are never going on a bear hunt again!" Which is how we all felt by the end. You can tell by all the tears.

We're already coming up with ideas for a book next year! What a fun way to watch how they grow over the years. Here are a few more favorite pics from our day at the park.

King of the rock. "It's the biggest rock I ever saw!"

I kind of regret not using this for the Christmas card this year....

Have you ever made a storybook with pictures of your kids? Some of the ideas we've thrown around for next year are a treasure hunt, something with dinosaurs, or something with pirates. What would you do? We need ideas!