Remember Jess from the Dora bed makeover project? Well she’s done it again. She made tiny custom bedding (and a pillow and MATTRESS) to match her daughter’s bed. Get ready for the cuteness…

And with the quilt flipped down…

See more (including a close-up of this eensy beensy pillow) on Jessica’s blog, Craftiness is not Optional.

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1. Deciding on a big boy bed…
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These very cool childhood-memory-inducing kitchen goodies, and more, are for sale at a new Etsy shop I just discovered via Twitter, called Seesaw Vintage Finds. The same three creative ladies who run this shop also have a graphic design and letterpress studio in Scottsdale. So you can see they have a good eye for picking out good stuff. Me likey a lot. I actually had this orange pitcher in my shopping cart before deciding it was more of a “want” than a “need”. Hope one of you snaps it up and serves some fresh squeezed orange juice in it soon!

(p.s. I don’t think I ever told you I’m on Twitter. If you are too, and want to follow my tweets, I’m at twitter.com/funfindsformom)

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1. Tiny kitchen items from King Arthur Flour
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Personally, every time I do something randomly nice to or for someone, it feels great. The other day I was walking out of a store, and noticed the beautiful color of a woman’s blue tunic, so I told her I loved the color – something I probably wouldn’t normally do. She gave me a big smile and thanked me, and then I noticed her eyes were the exact same bright blue as her shirt, so I told her so. She lit up, and started telling me about her grandchildren, since she noticed my little girl with me. Today I was in rush hour traffic, and stopped to let two cars in front of me, and got some very enthusiastic waves. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it feels really good to do something unexpectedly nice for someone else – especially a stranger. Not that there’s anything wrong with doing nice things for friends and family, but I guess it’s the surprise element involved in doing something for a stranger that gives you a little extra pep in your step.

So go ahead and drop a few coins in an expired meter, hand someone a portable thank you card, or strike up a conversation in an elevator. Heck, leave a note telling a stranger you like their bike!  I’m a big believer in the power of attraction, putting positive energy out there and getting it right back and then some.

Did you know there’s even a Random Acts of Kindness Foundation? Now that’s the kind of place I wouldn’t mind working. I bet they all show up with trays of Starbucks coffees for each other.  I just signed up for their monthly email newsletter.

Happy Weekend!

(print shown above for sale here.)

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I am oh so proud and happy to announce a new website my husband and I have been working on called Kidlee. It’s a simple way to save and share memories about your kids. So far, I’m using it to quickly jot down my kids’ funny quotes and anecdotes. It can just as easily be used to capture milestones like the day your baby first sat up, said mama, or had an explosive poop in the library when you had no change of clothes.

Until now, I’ve done a sorry job of tracking my own kids’ lives, but the more I use Kidlee, the more I remember to use it. Finally I’m building a nice record with a whole collection of funny moments that my kids are going to love reading when they’re older. Actually, my older son is already having fun reading things when he walks by my computer and sees a list of things he’s said earlier in the day.

In addition to saving all these great moments, you can also choose to share them with friends and family if you like. Once they’ve accepted their invitation, recipients will get a weekly email update with your most recent Kidlee entries. My mom got her update today and called to tell me how much she enjoyed reading it. (And we see my mom just about every day – so I know my mother-in-law who lives halfway across the country must really be loving it.)

We’re in beta testing mode now, so I would love to invite you all to be among the first to try it out and tell me what you think. Just go to http://www.kidlee.com/signup and use FFFMOM as your Invite Code. I hope this will help many many parents by providing a quick, simple way to capture the wonderful and amazing things our kids say and do. Spoken like a true mom, huh?

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With the help of randomizer.org, the winner of the Envirosax La Boheme bag is Jen Rosales who said “oh pretty please???!!!” Congratulations and thanks to all of you who entered. I really do love reading your comments!

(This is my Valentiney mantle. I clipped these Hearts for Haiti onto our tiny stocking hooks. It looks very cheery, I must say.)

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The super talented Amy Atlas put together this adorable airplane party for her little boy’s birthday. See more photos and inspiration here.  I love the “wrapped” juice boxes! And the blue and orange color palette – one of my favorite combos.

via Party Perfect

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I’ve wanted to write a post for a while about talking to our kids about the tragedy in Haiti, and involving them in the process of helping the survivors. If you’re a parent, you’ve probably been struggling with the same issue, and unfortunately there’s no clear way to do it.

We’ve done our best to explain to our kids the nightmare the Haitian people are going through, and how we, along with others from around the world, are giving money to help them to rebuild their homes and lives. My son’s school is holding a shoe drive through a group called Soles4Souls, so my daughter and I gathered all of our gently used shoes from around the house, and talked about how they will be given to little girls and boys who lost their shoes in the earthquake. Our neighbors held a garage sale, and their boys set up a stand collecting donations for Haiti. We’ll probably do the same at our garage sale in a few weeks.

One Phoenix mother has been making these hearts with her daughters, while talking with them about the devastation from the earthquake. She’s selling these hearts in her Etsy shop, Blueberry Kisses, for $4 each, with 100% of proceeds being donated to the Haiti Relief fund. Buying some of these hearts for your kids for Valentines Day is another small way to show them the efforts we can all take to help those who have lost so much. You can have these hearts backed with a brooch pin or hair clip, so you or your kids can wear these sweet helping hearts. Or buy a bunch, and string them up for Valentine decorations.

If any of you want to share how you’ve helped to involve your kids in understanding and helping with Haiti relief efforts, I’d love to hear about it. Thank you.

Hearts for Haiti (and lots of other handmade goodies including bags, bows, and birthday t-shirts) available at Blueberry Kisses

(Thanks for this find, Laura!)

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I made strawberry shortcakes from scratch for the first time last week. It was a special request from my daughter that she wanted to make them with my mom, so we girls got together to mix, roll and bake. I found a low-fat version online from the Mayo Clinic. I substituted butter for the margarine because I have not been a margarine eater since I left home many years ago. Plus, the recipe only called for 2 tablespoons, which didn’t sound too terribly fattening.

Here’s the recipe from the Mayo Clinic, which I think would make a very sweet dessert for Valentine’s Day. You could even cut the biscuits into heart shapes. (These biscuits are super delicious, by the way. So flaky, which kind of surprised me since they didn’t have much butter.) Here ya go…

Healthy Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted (I never sift.)
2 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder (My baking power may have only been single-acting.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons trans-free margarine (Or in my case, butter)
3/4 cup fat-free milk

For the topping
6 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
3/4 cup (6 ounces) plain fat-free yogurt (or a squirt from a can of whipped cream.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a fork, cut the margarine into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir just until a moist dough forms.

Turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface and, with floured hands, knead gently 6 to 8 times until the dough is smooth and manageable. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle 1/4-inch thick. (I’d like to see someone roll dough into a rectangle. Is this on You Tube?) Cut into 6 squares. Place the squares onto the prepared baking pan and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer the biscuits onto individual plates. Top each with 1 cup strawberries and 2 tablespoons yogurt. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Analysis
(per serving)
Calories    250     Cholesterol    2 mg
Protein    7 g     Sodium    486 mg
Carbohydrate    45 g     Fiber    4 g
Total fat    5 g     Potassium    368 mg
Saturated fat    1 g     Calcium    220 mg
Monounsaturated fat    2 g

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The PUR water filter goes to Bess, who said “Wow. What an amazing cause. Clean water should be a basic right for every child in our world. As a mother of three young children I can honestly say that this is a cause which truly speaks to me. Thank you for sharing this information with us!”

And the Kate Landers Event winner is Donna, who said “in need of a theme for my son’s 5th b-day coming up and this would be a great start! Thanks for the chance.”

Thanks to everyone who entered, and to PUR and Kate Landers Events for providing the prizes!

a little note: Donna also won the last FFFM giveaway, which is super good fortune for Donna, but I want to make sure the rest of you aren’t annoyed. I was wondering if I should let the same person win every 6 months or something like that, or just leave it as is and let the universe decide who wins with no strings attached. If you have strong feelings on this, just let me know. Thanks!

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Thanks to Stephanie for alerting us to the Olive Juice Kids big sale. This adorable dress is on sale for $19.95, and there’s a big selection of other  kids’ clothes and accessories that are up to 60% off.

Does this dress remind you of a little girl who sleeps with her friends in two straight lines? If you have a Madeline lover in the family, you should check out the Madeline party just posted on Kate Landers’ event blog. Here are a few pics:

Remember to enter the Kate Landers Events giveaway here on FFFM by this Friday!

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