Binkies and Briefcases

You might have heard of dog shaming or the recently controversial baby shaming (and in case you haven’t, it’s when you take a picture of someone holding a sign that says something potentially embarrassing), but the 35 Most Pinteresting Moms are starting a new trend: Mom (self) Shaming.

Check out our Pinterest board and the Blogging While Mom Facebook page for some serious true confessions.  You will be laughing out loud, for real, and probably able to relate. 

P.S.
 Because I know you are thinking about it now, I did shave my legs last night.

I’m so excited for the opportunity to share an awesome new book with you today!

Anna from My Life and Kids has released a brand new ebook filled with easy and inexpensive ways to have more fun with your kids at home.

I had the opportunity to preview an early release of the book last week and I can honestly tell you that it is awesome! It’s a very quick read and the best part is that you don’t have to be a Pinterest-perfect mommy to try any of them. They are very easy and most of them are free. Some might require everyday household objects, like a drinking straw. (Just wait until you see what Anna can teach you how to do with a straw! My 5-year-old’s life will never be the same.)

I loved that these ideas were great for both girls and boys and that it didn’t require any special planning on my part to inclue most of them in my day.

I think my favorite was the pajama bike parade. I can totally see us all riding down the street in PJ’s.

I also love the idea of celebrating our minivan’s birthday. I’ll be breaking out some streamers and balloons next June. 

The best part is that the book is less than 5 bucks. Actually, it’s less than 4 bucks AND you don’t even have to own a Kindle or any other eReader.

Of course, you can buy the Kindle version if you want through Amazon here. 

OR

You can download the pdf and print a hard copy for instant hands-on gratification here 

Check out the reviews on Amazon before you buy. They speak for themselves.

It really is a great resource to have on hand, especially now that the winter months are closing in on us and we will be stuck inside floundering for ways to keep those little hands busy.

Mary Poppins Costumes for the Whole Family 

We are a family that does celebrate Halloween, but I’m not into encouraging my kids dress up like spawns of Satan just for some free candy.

We go for the more gentle, family-friendly costumes around here. In the past we have done a bumble bee, a lady bug, a monkey, a mermaid, a dinosaur, Nemo (the fish), and Dopey (of the Sven Dwarfs).

This year I wanted to do a common theme for all my kiddos and I came across a lot of really cute ideas on Pinterest.  By far my favorite for a group of three was this adorable idea for Mary Poppins costumes from Make It and Love It. (Those are home-sewn and she has tutorials for all of them!)
I had plans to use her tutorials to sew the kids’ costumes myself, but since we are in the middle of moving right now, all of my sewing stuff is packed away in storage.

I decided to go the traditional Mary Poppins route with the coat, hat, and umbrella instead. I love that this will keep my daughter nice and warm. Last year it was snowing here in PA on Halloween and she had to wear a turtleneck, hat, and gloves with her mermaid costume, which was not quite the look we were going for.

Mary Poppins {no sew}

  
Abby’s was the most complicated to piece together, but was still super easy once I found a hat that could work. The coat is a hand-me-down from an older cousin, but I bet you could find a nice dress coat at a thrift store or kid’s consignment store this time of year too.

The hat was originally a foam cowboy hat from the dollar store. I cut off the brim, turned the hat sideways, and added ribbon and a flower. (I used a glue stick to add the ribbon and just poked the flower through since the hat is made of foam)  Everything that I used for the hat came from the Dollar Tree. I bought the kid-sized umbrella there as well.

The bow/scarf is a fabric gift wrap bow that was on clearance at Target and the wig came from their Halloween section.

If I had my craft stuff available, I might also crochet her a scarf, but we’re calling this good enough for now.

Bert {no sew}

 

Nicholas will be trick or treating as Bert, the chimney sweep. He still needs a suit jacket (or I might just tuck in the hood of a dark sweatshirt jacket he already has). His shirt is from the dollar store and he already had those pants. The hat and broom are from Target. I also bought $1 black Halloween makeup at Target to dirty him up for the occasion. 

Penguin{no sew}

I know it’s from an entirely different part of the movie and might not make as much sense as a group now, but I still liked the idea of having the baby be a penguin. Plus this might be the easiest DIY costume of all time. 

It’s just a hat from the kids section at Target, a white onesie, and 2 pairs of tights.

I didn’t even have to cut the tights or anything. The pair on her legs is her regular size and the pair on her arms is 2 sizes too big. I stretched them out and put them on her like a shrug. The way she is sitting in the picture makes it look like her arms are pulled back, but I promise she still has free range of motion and she seemed perfectly comfortable. I might cut off the elastic top of that pair before Halloween just to be sure, though.

My favorite part of this costume is that every single piece can go right into her regular wardrobe. I hate shelling out a ton of money for Halloween costumes every year. When you have several kids it’s really easy for the costume budget to go sky high really quickly.

If your family celebrates Halloween, what are your costumes ideas this year?

Thanks for visiting the blog! I really appreciate all of your comments, pins, and shares. 

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