Last Minute Halloween Costumes for Little Girls!

Halloween is just around the corner and if you are anything like me, costumes usually get thrown together last minute if at all!  So I thought I would share three last minute costume ideas for girls! Whether you are taking your kiddos out this weekend or on Tuesday, they can be put together in an hour or two with things that you may already have laying around! 

*BTW I am not even thinking of dressing up my ten month old this year because this is real life and I just can't be bothered haha! 

1. Jane Goodall  

I have had this old hat laying around for awhile and so when I was coming up with some costume ideas I instantly thought of Jane Goodall!  The hat is way too big for her but I think it adds to the whimsy of the costume and it's pretty adorable too!  For the rest of the outfit I layered a denim button up over a turtle neck and pushed up the sleeves a bit.  Not pictured are jeans and boots.  I also didn't get a good picture of her "binoculars" but all I did was cut a paper towel role in half, painted it gold, added some glitter, and then glued the two halves together.  

I LOVE how this one turned out I just think that Ezrah looks too cute and it was so easy to put together!  After we finished taking these pictures she insisted on going bird watching with her binoculars.  I think that dressing up as Jane Goodall completely captures her adventurous spirit! 

2. Tiny Dancer 

If you have girls then this one will probably be the most simple to throw together because chances are you have a tutu (or tu) laying around.  For Ezrah I just paired her skirt with a black leotard and a black ribbon and I was done.  This costume may be better if you are doing something in doors or if you live in a warmer climate that way you don't have to cover any of it with a jacket!

3. Hermione Granger 

I just felt that I couldn't complete this without including Hermione!  This was super simple to put together.  I just put a black sweater over a grey turtle neck paired it with some shorts (my husband has always called these shorts Harry Potter pants so they seemed fitting!) and some black tights. To bring in the Gryffindor spirit I added a scarf and matching yellow shoes.  I did braid her hair the night before we took these pictures to get the full effect but if you don't have time this step is totally optional! And last but not least, who is Hermione without a book?!  I wouldn't expect them to trick-or-treat all night with a book (Ezrah "got tired" like three seconds in) but it's a great prop for pictures before your leave!

Ok, now that it's all said and done I can't even pick a favorite so I am excited to see which one Ezrah will choose to be this year!  Personally, I think that making you're own costumes is far better than going out an buying them.  I had so much fun putting this together and I hope it was helpful to some of you girl moms out there!  

If you already have plans for your kids, what are they dressing up as, what are you dressing up as? I would love to know!  

Wishing you all a fun and safe night of trick-or-treating! 

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Five Ways to Bring the Fall Mood into Your Home

We are finally into the thick of fall, which means the decorating you started doing a month ago is totally valid now!  Ok, so if your not super fall crazed like me maybe you haven't started decorating yet and if that's the case I totally have your back because it's never too late (or early) to start!  Here are my favorite ways to strike the fall mood in our house... 

1. Lighting // This is something that I actually prefer all year round but I especially enjoy it during the fall and winter seasons.  Instead of using standard light bulbs in my lamps I like to use LED vintage style bulbs.  They give off this warm ambient glow that I just love.  It's so simple but it makes a huge difference and can be especially atmospheric when your staying up late with a good book.  

2. Dress up your couches // Throw pillows can really help change up the mood in your home.  And don't worry, if you aren't ready to put up your millennial pink faux fur pillows that I know you had out all of spring and summer you don't have to because millennial pink pairs beautifully with traditional fall colors like burnt orange and yellow.  In addition to color palette play around with textures.  Velvet isn't just fall's favorite fashion trend, it can also instantly make your space feel more cozy and glam! 

Here's what's our couches now         one//two//three

3. Switch up your coffee table // I usually keep books and flowers on mine so I just switched my books out for covers that looked more autumnal and I like to add dyed eucalyptus to all of my floral arrangements to further play around with color.  I also picked up this giant gold acorn from Target that my husband despises but I think it's a nice touch.  So just playing around with little accessories and nicknacks until you come up with something you love is a great way to get into the spirit.  

4. Hang a fall banner // I love a good banner, especially if it includes glitter!  It's a great way to add a little bit of whimsy to your space!  The fire place is of course, the most traditional place to hang a banner but if you don't have one try hanging one on a bookshelf or even on your headboard! I found some great garland DIY inspo here!

5. Bring in the fall scents // So candles are great and trust me I have plenty of fall candles dotted around my house but my very favorite thing is when they start bringing out the cinnamon scented pinecones.  There is just something about the smell cinnamon that just makes my home feel so cozy and festive.  The thing about these pinecones is that you kind of get them as decoration and then the scent is so strong that you can always smell them when you walk into a room.  You can get a big bag of them from most stores like Target or Walmart for less than five dollars and they last for weeks.  I just love them so much and can't recommend them enough! 

So there you have it, some of my favorite ways to bring in the fall spirit.  I hope you all are having a wonderful fall season full of pumpkin patches and spiced lattes!

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Building a Life Giving Home and Family Traditions: Movie Nights and Adult Forts!

Hi everyone!  Today I wanted to share a fun family tradition that we started a little while ago.  So this past year Ezrah has reallyyy gotten into the love of building forts.  At this point I can barely keep the pillows on our beds and couches because she is always gathering them all up and building forts with them.  So a little while ago we had this idea that we would bring our bed into the living room, build a giant fort, make a lot of junk food, watch movies all night, and have a big family sleep over! 

It turns out that it was a huge hit so we decided to do it again last night!  We had pizza for dinner and then I made a big batch of our favorite heath cookies.  Then later we had ice cream and popcorn.  Guys, I ate so much that I am still full a solid twelve hours later haha! 

*Just a quick side note:  I love really soft fudgy cookies and I thought I would share with you my tricks on how I do it.  So the first tip I have is one my mom shared with me.  Instead of using butter I use butter flavored crisco.  It's a thicker consistency and it keeps the cookies from spreading into a super thin layer.  It might sound weird but I swear by it!  The second tip I have is to bake your cookies one minute less than the lowest recommended baking time.  So for this kind of cookie it's recommend that they bake from 9 to 11 minutes so I bake them for 8.  When you take them out they are going to look very underdone but that's ok because they are going to continue to bake a little while they cool off.  In the end they turn out to be super soft and gooey, which is my personal favorite way to eat a cookie! 

So while we ate to our hearts content we decided to have a Shrek marathon, and by marathon I mean we made it through the first two before my husband and I fell asleep!  It's a special night so Ezrah is allowed to stay up as late as she wants watching movies so we let her surf around on Netflix for more movies to watch.  She ended up watching a Barbie super hero movie and after that, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast.  I woke up around 11:30 and she was finally fast asleep. 

This is one of my favorite family traditions because everyone gets so excited (Especially Ezrah, she had the biggest smile on her face ALL night) and we just love getting to snuggle up with each other and have a special night together as a family that looks vastly different from our everyday nightly routine.  Oh! and if you're wondering, we set up Hadessah's pack n' play right up next to our bed and she was also pretty interested in the movie before falling asleep.  I can't wait until she is old enough to pile in our bed as well!

About a month ago I was listening to a podcast with the Bethke's and Sally Clarkson (so plan on reading her book very very soon!) and they were talking about building a life giving home.  It really resonated with me because it's something that is really important to Bryan and I as a couple and as parents.  We want to build a home where our children feel loved and a home that encourages a bond.  We want to strive towards a home where our children are friends and not rivals, a place where they can trust us with anything as their parents.

I don't say this with the expectation that there won't be trials or disfunction at times (I mean, we are already going through it now) but building a solid foundation of a life giving home, I believe, is so important to our marriage and the growth of our children.

So we build our daily routines but we also build traditions that we can always look forward to, where we can eat all the junk food and stay up late into the night by each others sides.  Smiling, laughing, and dancing together during the movie credits.  So much love, so many memories.

I also wanted to share one of my favorite traditions from my childhood.

Every Christmas Eve in the Schaffner family (my maiden name) we ate clam chowder, which for some people (my husband included) is soooo weird but that's what we did, and I love that it's ours.  To this day if we are together that's what we eat.  It's the little things that can impact a lifetime.

My parents always did their best to encourage a bond in our family and although things were almost never perfect with us kids growing up I can say that today my two brother are some of the greatest friends that I have and I owe it to the foundation that our parents built for us.

Ok, so this post has honestly became way longer then what I planned haha!  But I hope it encourages you today!

What are some of your favorite family traditions?  I would love to hear them! 

Have a blessed weekend, everyone!

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Fashion Little: Sister, Sister

Hi everyone, welcome back to another Fashion Little!  Honestly, I think this is my favorite thing to blog about.  I am such a nerd about having girls and I love getting to get them all dressed up!  But I also just love taking pictures of them.  They are so beautiful and such a blessing to their dad and I so I just want to soak up all the moments! And of course, I love sharing them with all of you too! BTW you may find that all the pictures of Hadessah look a little blurry and that is because they totally are!  It is so hard to get this little one to sit still for a picture.  The perfectionist in my wants to scream but I am also finding the beauty in it.  I will always get to look back on these and remember my energetic, joy-filled nine month old.  I love that she is too darn curious about the world to sit still! 

I don't do that matchy matchy thing all of the time but it sure is fun to do it every once in a while and when I saw this dress in both their sizes I decided in two seconds that I was going to buy them!  One thing that I have also always loved in girl's clothing is cats.  Don't ask me why but I just love them and these black kitty faces paired with these polka dots is perfection!  I found both of these dresses at Old Navy.  Another thing that I have been totally obsessed with is doing Ezrah's hair in these pig tail buns, it makes my heart melt into a puddle.  And speaking of heart puddles, Ezrah found this necklace in my jewelry tray (found at an old vintage shop) and now refuses to take it off.  She wakes up in the morning and puts on this necklace.  I love it because she is 100% her own person through and through and I am so loving watching it happen!

My husband and I always find it amusing because I got my twin in Ezrah and Bryan got his twin in Hadessah.  For a little back story, my husband is Mexican, so never in a million years would I have ever thought that we would end up with a little blue eyed strawberry blonde first but we did and I just love how different both our girls are.  It's like having the best of both worlds!  Though they are complete opposite in looks they love each other so much!  Hadessah ALWAYS wants to be where her big sister is and Ezrah always wants to be Hadessah's helper.  I hope this foreshadows a close friendship that will last forever!

Well I hope I didn't get too deep there but being a mamma, to me, is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given and I just want to share the love (cue all the crying emojis).

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

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