What's in your Basket?

Easter is a week away! Are you ready?! I'm usually not 100% ready by now but this year I did  good! If you're a last minute kinda parent {like I usually am} here are some ideas to put in your child's Easter basket...eh hem...or pass it along to the Easter Bunny for suggestion.

Baby's First Bible stories {found in BJ's Wholesale Club}

Princess Garden Gloves & Shovel {found in Walmart}

Temporary Tattoo Eggs {found in Walmart}

 Dora Toothbrush {found in Walmart}

Garden Watering Can, Magnifying Lens & Lantern {found in Michael's Craft Stores}

 Jesus Loves Me Bottle Cap Necklace from CrazedMommaCreations on Etsy

We also have lots of eggs that we are putting little toys from the dollar store in. Trying not to do candy this year!

What do you predict will be in your kiddo's Easter basket?

A Pinteresting Party - Week 33

Thank you all for linking up last week! There were lots of great posts to pin!

Hosted by Tutus & Tea Parties & Here's to Handy Andy.

Hop on over to see what Here's to Handy Andy's faves are too! 

Most Viewed Link: 

The Lovely Dept. shared this beautiful Garden Party Invitation Printable.
{pinned}

My faves from last week that I pinned:

Into The Deep End showed us this DIY Microdermabrasion that I can't wait to try!
{pinned}

 Making it Feel Like Home had this genius idea on how to make old, faded jeans look new again!

{pinned}

I just can't wait to sink my teeth into these No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars from Talking Dollars and Cents!

 Go ahead and grab the "I was featured" button for being so Pinspirational. 

You deserve it!

<a border="0" href="http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/search/label/Link%20Party /" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6595270767_597436cb04_m.jpg" width="125" height="125" alt="Button" /></a> 

Projects from your hosts this week:

{we'd love a pin too}

Tutus & Tea Parties has a round up of some ways to up-cycle old tees!
 

 Here's to Handy Andy shows us an easy way to do a French Mani/Pedi.

Here are the rules:

1. Link up to 2 of your "pin worthy" projects, crafts or recipes {please, no shops or giveaways}
2. Visit at least 2 other links that you love and pin their post {Please don't just link and run! Lets all help each other out. That's what this party is here for.}
   
3. I'd love for you to grab the party button and post it somewhere on your blog. The more participants, the more pinning we can all do {and the more people will possibly pin you}!
4. {Optional:} Pin, Share, Tweet, Blog, Google+ about this Pinteresting Party! The more the merrier, right?!

If you want to learn more about Pinterest & how it can benefit your blog please read this post.

Follow us on Pinterest:
Tutus & Tea Parties
Here's to Handy Andy
{follow our boards to see what projects we pin each week}

Feel free to leave your Pinterest page link in the comments so we can all make some new Pinteresting friends. :)

Grab the party button!

<a border="0" href="http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/search/label/Link%20Party /" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6617115159_cbd068d4b0_m.jpg" width="125" height="125" alt="Button" /></a>

Thank you to this month's sponsors for bringing us another month of link parties!

Please check them out!

{Review & Giveaway} Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes and I Can Brush Toothbrush Solution

With a family history of bad teeth on both mine & hubby's sides of the family we are really concerned with keeping Bug's teeth healthy. Did you know that 40% of American children have cavities by age 6? That's a lot, don't you think?


There are tons of foods & drinks that are a threat to teeth. My mom was always told by our dentist when my sister & I were young to be cautious of gummy snacks {such as fruit snacks and even dried fruit such as raisins} because if you don't brush carefully those gummy pieces can stick around and cause decay! Then you have juice, milk, formula and foods with sugar that can stimulate cavity-causing bacterial growth in the mouth, resulting in plaque & tooth decay. Yikes!


I wish I knew about Spiffies when Bug was younger. Spiffies makes toothbrush formula as well as Teething & Cleaning Wipes. Both come in flavors kids love and makes caring for little teeth less stressful. These products contain a natural sugar known as Xylitol which reduces the ability for harmful bacteria to grow. Clinical research shows that using Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes regularly can decrease childhood tooth decay by up to 70% {please see www.spiffies.com for more details}.


Bug is pretty much past her days of teething pain, but we are constantly on the go! I love to keep Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes in the diaper bag for those times when we are out and Bug can use a cleaning. We visit Bug's grandparents on the weekends and she almost always falls asleep on the way home and misses her before bed tooth brushing. Now I just whip out a package of Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes and clean her teeth before we leave. Easy peasy!


Our experience with Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes & I Can Brush Toothbrush Solution:


The Spiffies Teething & Cleaning Wipes were so easy to use and Bug said they tasted great!

They come in single wrapped packages and are great to keep in the diaper bag!

 Just wrap the wipe around your finger and get to work inside your little one's mouth.

The first time trying the wipes Bug was a little questionable as to why my finger was swirling around inside her mouth.

Then once she realized how good it tasted it's all she kept asking me for! 

Another thing I love about these wipes is that I can clean her gums without possibly hurting her like a toothbrush would. 


The I Can Brush Toothbrush Solution was great too! Bug loved the flavor!

Isn't she such a good little tooth brusher?!

Now for some exciting news! You get a chance to win your very own I Can Brush Toothbrush Solution AND Teething & Cleaning Wipes from Spiffies! Hooray! Just use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Please be sure to read all the rules & regulations before entering. Good luck!

{Ends 4/13/12 @ midnight} Open to US & Canada

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Toddler Hopscotch

The weather is getting nicer so we have been staying outside for much longer than 15 minutes! We also just got a BBQ & since it is still light out at dinner time we have been playing outside while hubby grills us some food! The other night while dinner was grilling we played hopscotch...toddler version!


It's pretty much the same as regular hopscotch only I made 4 circles right on top of each other. I should have made them smaller so she could get from one to the other in just one hop, but it worked fine with the giant circles I made. {oops}


I made a line for her to stand on while she tossed a flat rock {which by the way took a whole 10 minutes for her to find the perfect one}. 

 {Toss the rock onto a circle.}

 {Hop along until you reach the last one. Turn around and hop back.}

{On your way back, stop at the circle the rock is on and pick it up to use for your next turn.}

We played this for quite some time and Bug had a blast! I hope you go outside and play! 


If you have any outside activities please link up and share on our Outside Play party. You can also take a look at all the other links there to get some other outside play ideas!

What's Hookin' Good Lookin'? {Prayer Shawl Ministry}

Since I moved into our apartment a little over a year ago I have visited a couple local churches and finally found one where I felt we fit in. Bug loves our church and looks forward to it each week! Our church has a Prayer Shawl Ministry where knitters & crocheters get together once a month to make things for donation. I missed the first one I was able to go to due to unexpected plans but I am so psyched to sit around with a bunch of old{er} women and crochet my little fingers off! Since I missed it last month I figured I'd get a head start and make some hats until the next meeting. Here is one I made most recently:

I just love the pattern I have from The Dainty Daisy Blog for this Shell Stitch Beanie. It's super easy and works up quickly!

What's that? You can't crochet/knit but you want to help?! Wow, that's super great of you! You can donate so that I can buy yarn to use for donations or to give to the church for our meetings! Just $2-3 can get a whole skein {roll} of yarn that can make a few small hats!

7 Sites to Promote Your Blog Posts

I have been blogging for over a year now and am just now getting things together! I wanted to share with you some places I like to get exposure from.

1. Pinterest!: {it is my #1 referring link} If you have not joined Pinterest I would recommend it, but you don't need to join for it to help your blog. See here for how Pinterest helps your blog and other Pinterest tips. Be sure to stop by our weekly Pinteresting Party and link up your posts!

2. UCreate: UCreate features tons of DIY Tutorials linking back to your site. You can even guest post on UCreate if you are approved! Click here to submit your idea.

3. Craftgawker: This site features a photo and link of your tutorial or project. Click here to register {free} and submit your idea.

4. IShareCrafts: This site also features a photo and link of your tutorial or project. Click here to register {free} and submit your idea.

5. One Pretty Thing: This site has round ups of themed {general DIYs, Holiday, Sewing...} tutorials and crafts. Click here to submit your idea.

6. Tip Junkie: This site is more like a community where you post your tutorials for people to search and see. I am not on it as much as I should be but I like it! Click here to sign up for free.

7. Link Parties: If you don't participate in link parties you are really missing out! I get so many viewers and comments when I link up. Again, I don't do this as often as I'd like {being that it is time consuming to link to each one I want to} but it gets great results in visitors and comments on your blog! Here is where I like to party & link up! I also host a link party called A Pinteresting Party. I'd love for you to link up there.

How do you get exposure? If you know of any sites or blogs to add I'd love for you to share!

7 Ways to Upcycle and Old T-Shirt {Pinterest Roundup}

It's finally that time of year to put away the long sleeves and take out the tees! Before you toss/donate some of your old tops, take a look at these t-shirt upcycles and see if you can give them a new life!

 

Make a Jersey Knit Bracelet with V and Co.

Make T-Shirt Pom Poms with Craftaholics Anonymous

Make a Braided Scarf with Put Up Your Dukes

Turn it into a cardigan with Easily Dunn

Make it into a No Sew Scarf with ette studios

Turn a large tee into a fitted tee with Connect the Dotsons

Turn a long sleeve top into a short sleeve decorated top with Make It and Love It

There you have it. Now when you go through your spring/summer clothes and are just about ready to toss an old shirt, maybe you can give it new life instead!

Check out some more shirt refashions here on my Pinterest board.

Easter Party Finds {Buy Handmade}

If you are having company over for Easter check out these great finds from this season's Buy Handmade Easter Shopping Guide:

  Such a cute Easter Basket that will last! 

I'm thinking this would be cute for those egg hunts too!

Having a party? This Easter Party Printable Package is a super cute way to help you celebrate!

This Spring Banner can be left up well past Easter for all of Spring! What fun colors!

Don't forget a cute little dress for the occasion!

And no outfit would be complete without some cute spring colored hair clips!

Stop on over and check out my fave finds for the kiddos from last week while you're here too!

Red Sports Car Angle

Red Sports Car Angle