“What’s next, what’s next? What do we decorate for next?” Hayden begged to know when Christmas decor came down. Once he figured out Valentine’s day could include a few decorations- he’s been all about it. My mom sends packages for him full of Valentine’s day activities, so he hasn’t exactly been discouraged.

As the title describes, this is more of a post for the kids. Some fun things I had to share in case you wanted to amazon or order a few things online. Also, my mom managed to find some things that work for ALL holidays. She’s trying to keep my storage unit to a minimum. LOL. Last year, mom sent Huck and Hayden these singing and dancing stuffed animals… SEE POST HERE…..still a hit today. We’ve had them all year. More ideas coming, but wanted to get this up in case you wanted to get your click on today for a mid-week delivery;) Also, these are BASIC ideas. Nothing too hard. I’m not up for anything too elaborate…I’m more in a decluttering mode!

Starting with this lamp for you. I’ve talked about it before but never on the blog. This collector’s acrylic lamp (on sale right now!) that has proved brilliant for decorating for any season. So, if you get it in time or St. Patty’s day or Easter, you will use it year round for your child’s “collector’s items” of the month. It’s held cars, mini dinosaurs, “treasures” and now… we have heart stick-ons. If I had a girl, it’d be all sparkly things. lol. You’ll quickly realize this lamp is worth every penny after you use it for a few months. It was pretty genius during Elf on the Shelf. That Elf got sneaky leaving little prizes in there;)

The heart stick ons are just a given for your kids to have festive fun. Easy to apply, easy to peel right off. We have them on mirrors (bathroom mirror shown above) and windows and back of doors right now. I do NOT like things that are hard to remove. I’m crazy about that… these particular ones are tested. And there are so many, you’ll be sharing with neighbors. There’s also THIS SET that is a bit cheaper.

My family lives in Texas and BELIEVES in snail mail. So, Hayden receives many a note from his Aunt and Nana. We have this adorable note holder on his chair. This will stay here for a while cause Hayden just loves seeing if he gets mail!! I have the heart one, but the actual mailbox is adorable.

We have banners and Valentine’s day Pez (duh, if you follow me) and he just loves it. My mom and I try to find prizes that are either 1) inexpensive, 2) durable, or 3) educational.

She got him a Valentine’s day card tree, but it is sold out. However, a cute idea is to use a tree holder and let your child put their V-day cards or “love notes” on it. I also like the idea of a little lighted clothes pin string for hanging notes.

STAY TUNED:

Found this shaving cream activity off of pinterest. We’re trying it this week!

ANY IDEAS TO ADD? Please let me know… or send pinterest links;)

HAPPY MONDAY, HAPPY FEBRUARY. as my instagram post said today… “find the wonderful” this week.

XOXO

AAJ

I’m getting all the feels! Valentine’s Day!! If you’re thinking about showering someone big or tiny with some love, read on! I’m excited to share these fun little things with y’all. With the beauty of AmazonPrime and 2 days shipping from most of these outlets, it can be here in a jiffy.

My mom sent Huck and Hayden the cutest gifts! These musical, singing soft animals: a lion that sings “Come and Get Your Love” and lights up, and a puppy that sings “SugarPie, Honeybunch.” They are up on my instastory right now. Oh my goodness, the cutness when Hayden sings along. I know they are not the cheapest gifts, but do make a big impact.

Hayden loves these things so much and wants to play and listen and learn the words to the songs from them. So does Huck. It’s easier for Huck, at 6, to pick up everything they are saying and remember. Hayden takes a bit more time, but it’s so cute watching the process. The lion lights up around his face, it’s very cute.

I have to share the Mother Goose my mom also got Hayden. We left it in Texas, but he loves it so much, I may order it for him here, too. She reads (moving her mouth, animated) 7 nursery rhyme stories. It’s the sweetest thing (athought the nursery rhymes we all learned as a child are a bit morbid! Jack and Jill broke their crowns!) to hear Hayden learn them and want to play with this. Take a look at the reviews…. this is such a gem for the price!

Then, I added a few I wouldn’t mind being on the list if I were to treat myself to a little self care….and thinking about the shoes below for Joel. He needs new converse. These are the “designer” version, but pretty cute!!

In my stories recently, I commented about my sister’s lipgloss. You all asked what it was, so I added it below with a few other things. It’s a version of Nars that is not easy to find. She gave me hers!! And then I also found it to link it for y’all.

The gold bar necklace I have on in these photos says HENRICKS. Totally affordable personalized gold necklace. I love it. I got it when Joel and I were engaged and have been wearing it a lot again recently. Such a sweet and budget friendly gift for any occasion: baby, engaged, newly married, initials, besties, etc.

AND NOW FOR YOU

For my parents and in-laws, I’m sending out books today I made on mixbook. I took quite a bit of time making them for each set of parents. They turned out so beautifully, I was thrilled. I think it stands out more because it’s not around a big birthday or Christmas or holiday. It’s VALENTINE’S DAY. I’m hoping when they receive this book, they realize how often and much we think about them and love them. The one photographed below is ours. I made one for Huck when he was 3, and now I finally have one for Hayden. I literally cried when I opened it. Besides the fact that the book is stunning (we got the flat-lay pages, 12x12), the memories are all in one place where I can see them (and NOT ON MY COMPUTER). I am a longtime fan of Mixbook and they know it. So, just to be lovely, they are giving you all a little Valentine’s day gift of your own:

If you caught my stories, you know you can get $25 FREE/ no minimum. CLICK that link or USE CODE ASHLEY25 - Get cute cards (my sister got the prettiest palm tree personalized note cards), thank you cards, or Valentine’s day! And I wanna see what you choose, so show me when you get them!

If you wanna make a book, GET 50% OFF!!! That link will automatically give you 50% off until March 15th. Or use code: ASHBOOK50.

Thank you mixbook for being so cool to our readers!… KEEP SCROLLING DOWN.

While I’m here, don’t forget Coso Beauty is also gifting readers a FREE CBD SHEET MASK. (I posted in stories recently about this, but you can also check my post about it here). The catch? There’s really not one except for shipping. It’s under $6, but you need to take care of that. ALSO— I’d love your feedback. I’ve been toying with different things I want to create and I’m in talks about a mask. For many reasons! SO I WOULD LOVE YOUR HONEST FEEDBACK. It will help me make the best product. I’m already getting DMs about it, but will create a post soon that everyone can chime in on their ideas. I have my own and will voice my opinion, too.

Also, lemme know if you guys like these kind of promotions. I will keep them up…;)

XOXO

AJH