9 Manly Valentines That Will Make Him Like Valentine's Day, Too

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A few days ago I wrote a list of what I would like to get for Valentine's Day and I thought, "Self, what would you get the father of your kids, the main man in your world, the love of your life..."

9 Manly Valentines That Will Make Him Like Valentine's Day, Too.

7 Surprising (and Pinable) Valentines Day Gift Ideas for this Mom

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Love is in the air! As I look for ideas for Valentine's Day in my son's class room I keep getting distracted with what I want. All of the pretty, sparkly, and frilly stuff they have for the day of lovers.

Sure it is selfish but what can I say - I like pretty, sparkly, and frilly stuff and sometimes I just like what I like.

7 Surprising (and Pinable) Valentines Day Gift Ideas for this Mom

25 (pinnable) Ideas You Can Steal for Your Office Secret Santa (under $25)

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In the spirit of forced comradery and holiday cheer, the office secret Santa is always lots o' fun. As an office manager, I feel like I may have some wisdom to share on what to buy those hard to shop for colleagues while trying to stay under $25.

And, thanks to the wonder of Amazon Prime and other various methods of express shipping you still have time to find, ship and sometimes even have wrapped that perfect gift for that special person you drew in the office secret Santa - even if you never met them.

25 (pinnable) Ideas You Can Steal for Your Office Secret Santa

 under $25 (for the most part)!

1. For the nosey cube mate

2. For the one who is always stressed

3. For that guy (or gal) who uses your trash can for practice

4. For the indecisive co-worker

5. For the playful colleague

Doing St Nicholas Day the Right Way

Advent is here and for many Christians it also means that St. Nicholas Day is fast approaching and we better get our gold coins ready.

Now, I am not a big fan of the whole Elf on the Shelf tradition and was so bad at it my son killed Chippy but I do, however honor St. Nicholas and do that one pretty well. Except that one year that we remembered at 8:00 PM the night of and I was at Malley’s with many other good Clevelanders hoping they had one more bag of chocolate gold coins.

We don’t tell the kids that St. Nicholas will be putting treats in their shoes but instead let them find the goodies in their shoes while they are getting ready that morning. When they find their shoes filled with goodies is when I remind them of St. Nicholas and all of the wonderful things that he did when he was alive. My eight year old forgets every year unless they go over it in his PSR class but remembers when he finds the treats. I can’t wait for my three year old’s reaction this year.

Since Santa also comes to our house, I really don’t go into the whole Santa is St. Nicholas and focus more on his good deeds before he was a priest as well as the miracles he performed as a Bishop.  Stressing that he was a Bishop and had helped so many with his actions is what I hope will remain with the kids.



Traditionally we put gold coins and oranges in their shoes but this year I’ve added a few new ones thanks to a website I found and of course pinterest.

Ideas for St. Nicholas Day

Oranges vs Chocolate 

Chocolate gold coins are a given to symbolize how St. Nicholas gave his riches to the poor. The best gold coins in our area are from Malley’s but if you don’t want to give chocolate or can't find them then oranges are perfect for symbolizing gold without the extra sugar. I say - do both!

Candy Canes to remind us of the staff that Bishops carry.

Since St. Nicholas was a Bishop and wore those wonderful red robes that are now associated with Father Christmas this is a wonderful and easy way to honor him.

We give the kids ornaments every year on Christmas but I think I may start giving them their ornaments in their shoes.

Let them enjoy them just a little longer.

Make Santa into St. Nicholas.

It’s like preparing the kids subliminally for the time when they find out that Santa is St. Nicholas.

Nuts (and apples) is a Czech tradition.

My father's parents are from Czechoslovakia so this is just a nice way to bring the past into the present. Besides, the kids love apples as much as oranges.

A Note

Gifts for St. Nicholas Day must be able to fit in a shoe, one shoe, so a note expressing something from the heart is really is a perfect gift.

On the flip side if your kids are bad then a switch or coal would be appropriate.

Naughty or nice - what will be in your kid's shoes?

Party Planning with Pinterest - Summer Time Fun

What did we do before Pinterest when we planned a party?  

Who cares!  

Take a look at what I found for my kid's 7th birthday party this weekend.  I know I won't be making things exactly as pictured but at least I have a better idea of what I will be doing then I did yesterday.  


Follow Mary Johnson's board Summer Beach Theme Party on Pinterest.

New Post!#Party Planning with #Pinterest - #Summer Time Fun goo.gl/fb/1CaKv #ideas #birthday
— MryJhnsn (@mryjhnsn) August 8, 2012

What I Did in a Weekend? Or, How I Hand Sewed a Baby's Fiddle Blanket in a Weekend.

This past Sunday was my great niece's baby shower. 

Yes, great niece, which will make this my great, great nephew.  I don't feel that old, but alas, it seems that I am that old.  And, since I am saying that I am old - I will just blame old age on the reason that I put off making a blanket for baby until the weekend of the baby shower.  Its not like I procrastinated.

I am not sure how I can account for why the cord to my sewing machine is missing other then to say it was probably because baby girl likes to pretend she can jump rope with it but seeing as I waited to the weekend of the baby shower to make the blanket I will blame it (again) on old age and forgetfulness.

Anyway, I decided that despite not having a working sewing machine, I was still going to make a fiddle blanket for my soon to be great, great nephew.  What's a fiddle blanket?  Why it is a blanket that baby can fiddle with of course!  I suppose you may call it an activity blanket, regardless, this is the third one that I have made.

I have never sewn anything this big before. At least not by hand and I already had all the fabric cut out so there was no turning back.  I am not sure why I keep torturing myself with sewing other then to say I like the final outcome and I really love the way that this one turned out.

Fiddle Blanket made with cotton, flannel, t-shirt and denim materials.

In addition to all the different fabrics that make up the blanket, there is a swatch from an old pair of my jeans and my son's t-shirt. I used a pocket from a pair the Husband's old cargo pants as the center so baby boy can practice snapping the buttons, putting things in the pocket and pulling things out of it.  I'm thinking I will make a pillow out of the other leg of the husband's cargo pants for my son's bed, but, that is another post.

I debated about adding the ribbons and even the square that makes a crinkle noise when touched but I got pretty confident by day three of my weekend of sewing and threw caution to the wind.  How would it be a true fiddle blanket with out something to fiddle with and make noise?  It turned out great if I don't say so myself.


So... What did you do with your weekend?

Sweet and Easy 3D Customized Photo Valentines

I just love Valentine's Day now that I have a kid old enough to trade them at school.  I envied the kids whose mom made the ones that they handed out.  Not that there is anything wrong with the store bought ones because they were cool, too, but there seemed to be something extra special about the ones made out of dollies and covered in glitter. 

For as crafty as I think I am, I can not see myself cutting out (or helping to cut out) twenty red hearts, gluing them to dollies that easily tear and then coming up with cute sayings to write on them.  Besides, the box cards come with candy!  Then that damn pinterest came along and I found that there are some really cute ideas that don't involve glue or cutting!  Hooray for pinterest!  What did we do last year?

Some ideas I considered...

But seeing as I use to be a photographer and happen to marry one, this idea stood out...

And this is what we came up with...

I made a slit  just above and just below his hand with an exact-o knife and then the photo was glued to card stock. I did the same for Superman photo but off to the side.

Now to tackle a treat for the class...

Check this out idea... plus a free printable!