Savvy Friendship is Sweet

December 29, 2010

We are often asked if they are Triplets.

Maybe it's because they are ALWAYS the 3 Amigos.

Or because they are incredibly silly together.

But sometimes fight.

It could be that they are only 11 days apart.

But No, they are not triplets.

They are the Best of Friends......

And So are We.

Life is always sweeter when shared with a Friend.

Especially at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Cuz You've Got a Friend in Me.

singing the song from Toy Story as we type

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

Savvy Gifts of Homemade Goodness

December 22, 2010

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

So this Holiday Season give your neighbors, friends and family, a Sweet and Savvy gift of homemade goodness.

Warm up a Cold Winters Day with the Gift of Hot Cocoa.

Fill a festive mug with Marshmallows dipped in Chocolate rolled in Crushed Candy Canes, given along side a dressed up Mason Jar of Hot Cocoa.

Finish with Free Festive Hot Cocoa Printables from Party Starters.

For a quick and easy treat, dip Marshmallows in Wiltons Candy Melts and roll in sprinkles. Cover with a cello bag and add a creative tag.

Or buy that special gift that will be loved and cherished.

But personalize it with your kiddos hand prints, footprints or art work.
Add the Date, Seal it (with Varnish or Mod Podge) and Share.

And remember that some of the greatest gifts are free.

A hug is a great gift, one size fits all, and is easy to exchange.

It isn't the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.

~Eileen Elias Freeman

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

{How Savvy Are They} A Holiday Cookie Decorating Party

December 21, 2010

This Adorable and Savvy Holiday Cookie Decorating party comes from Stephanie, a good friend of ours who wanted to get her daughter and her new school friends together for a fun afternoon of Holiday decorating, giggles and many memories to come. Stephanie did a great job at keeping things Savvy and Stylish.

She created a fun Holiday Winter themed table with all the trimmings! We love how she made the centerpiece of the table using a glass cake stand with coordinating colored cookie cutters and Christmas photo props on sticks in a tinsel filled vase.



Each girl had her own place setting which included scrapbook paper place mats and festive snowman plates that were purchased at Michales craft store. There were also wooden ornaments at each setting that Stephanie purchased at Jo-Anns for .39 each and added the initals herself using her Cricut.


Decorating was made easy for the girls with sandwich bags filled with their own icing and tied with a sweet ribbon for detail.

Our favorite part about this day were the super fun and creative photo props she made for the girls to be silly with! Stephanie simply cut out Santa hats, Santa beards, Antlers and Rudolph noses and glued them on sticks and VIOLA! cuteness on a stick!

Stephanie did such an amazing job at creating such great memories for her daughter and her friends. We loved all the Savvy touches and look forward to seeing more!!! Thank You Stephanie!

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

A Savvy Snow Day

December 19, 2010

Pack your skis and Snowboards and get ready to play,
Come and enjoy our Savvy "Snow Day".

Be sure you dress warm in all your snow gear.

As we celebrate the ending of another year.

In Southern Ca it does not snow.

We wish it did (but just for a day or two).

So for our Annual Christmas Party we decided to throw a CA Snow Day.

In Savvy Style we used things we had around the house.

TomKat's Tweet Holiday Collection was the perfect Printable Collection for the Snow Day. Kim is so Fabulous she even customized the labels for us.

Our buddy Jason recently started a Photography business and captured the Savvy Snow Stylings for us. Thanks J~

The treats were all Snow themed. Kolby Kakes baked a ridiculously delicious and ADORABLE Snow Man cake. Scrapbook paper cones filled with popcorn served as Snow Cones, and Chocolate Mini donuts as tubes.

Pretzels Dipped in White Chocolate with snowflake Sprinkles were our Ski Poles, and Nutter Butters with chocolate tips were our Snow Shoes. No Snow Day is complete without snowflakes, our were individually designed cookies by Kolby Kakes.

Do you know how much Snow Costs?

In CA a lot.......

So we created our own Savvy Style Snow.

50+ balloons and Some Shredded Paper made for a fun time.

All of the kiddos had a blast playing in our Savvy Snow (and they were toastie warm). All you could hear was laughter as they would throw the balloons in air pretending it was snowing. Who knew $4 worth of Balloons could be so much fun.

They were all so cute in their Snow Wear.
What a Memory!

Savvy Snow Smiles......

From the Savvy Moms!!!!

Smiles~
Amy & Bri

{Savvy Savings} Merry & Bright Feature and Savings from InkSpot Workshop

December 18, 2010

We were all smiles when we read this fun little Blog Post from Stacy of InkSpot Workshop.

Loved it so much we wanted to share it with you.

And we wanted to share the Savvy Savings Stacy is offering on the Collection.

Enjoy the read and the "Special" Savings!

You can just imagine how excited I was when the dynamic duo behind The Savvy Mom's Guide (Amy & Bri) asked me to send them some goodies from InkSpot Workshop's Christmas Lights collection. They were gearing up for a very Merry & Bright play date. As a designer, you always want to see your creations brought to life, or to "light" in this case:) Not to mention after reading both of their bios on their blog, I instantly felt connected with them. We all come from a corporate past and now get to do what we L♥VE for a living.

Amy and Bri put together these most uniquely adorable "Play Dates" and really set the bar high for us "other" moms (who are slackers and barely get the kids popcorn while having a play date) Actually these little parties are super inspiring and they bring us so many creative ideas and resources. I don't know about you, but I am super excited to see what The Savvy Mom's Guide has on deck for 2011!

Here are some high lights from Amy and Bri's
Merry and Bright Party
Click here to read the FULL and SAVVY post!

all party photographs from Ella B

What a handsome little guy!
The party activity was making these cute
Christmas Lights Candy Necklaces
all party resources are listed here

Dough A Deer mini dough nuts and mini toes
so sweet together!

Aww! just had to throw these in too!

You asked for it!
You GOT IT!

The entire InkSpot Workshop
Christmas Lights Collection
is NOW available as printable files!

All Items Completely Personalized
at no additional cost!
Click here to get yours

SPECIAL
enter promotional code "LIGHTS"
and you will receive
FREE PERSONALIZED TABLE TENT FILES
personalized with as many titles as you need!

Items Shown: Invitation, Toppers, Hang Tags

ENJOY

Merry and Bright Play Party

December 16, 2010

We often get asked "How Savvy are your Play Dates Really".
To which we reply, Very Savvy. You just have to be creative.

Our Merry and Bright Play Date is a perfect example of a fun and frugal Party.

We knew as soon as we saw the Cheerful and Bright Christmas Light Party Printable Collection from InkSpot Workshop that we had found our theme.

We wanted to create a Bright and Cheery feel for the day.
To keep the styling simple since the colors were so Bright and Vibrant on the Printables.

We were thrilled when we found a Christmas Light Collection in the Dollar Bins at Target. From the collection of ribbon, wrapping supplies and paper goods we decided we only needed to purchase 2 Large gift Bags.

From the gift bags we created 4 Place mats, 3 tray inserts and 2 ribbon trim accent pieces for the wrapped boxes we used as risers.

The details of the table came together quickly and with minimal cost. We purchased 2 Rosemary trees from which we strung the printables and our Dough-a-Deer Doughnuts. This was a perfect focal point for the table and a fun and festive way to spread some cheer.

Our Craft this month was Candy Christmas Light Necklaces from Amazon.

An easy, fun and edible project for the kiddos.

The Printable Collection really was the Inspiration for the entire day. We took our Chair Ribbons from our Gingerbread Play Party and re-purposed them for this Merry and Bright Event. In keeping with the idea of stringing joy we wrapped 4 C7 Bulbs with twine and dressed up the Chalkboard (super cute right!).

For the Food we treated our guests to YUMMY Dough-a-Deer doughnuts. They were so pretty. The perfect touch to our Merry Day. As always we provided a healthy snack of Jello Christmas Trees and Pineapple Stars. In Savvy Spirit we whipped up some Light Bulb Cookies by dipping Nutter Butters in colored Wilton Candy Melts (we definitely are not Kolby Kakes ).

The total cost of the day was $27....Super Savvy for this Seasonal Shindig!!!

Sorry E...those are not lollies they are Printable Toppers.

The day was so Merry and Bight even our Littlest Guests wanted to take part in the fun.

So glad Ella B was there to capture all of the HoHoHo's and Jolly happenings.

We hope you have a Merry Little Christmas filled with Bright Savvy Stylings.

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

{Recipe} White Chocolate Peppermint Madeleines

December 15, 2010

While at Costco the other day I found myself (Amy) in the Bakery section, starving (which by the way is not a good combo!!) and saw a box of madeleines sitting there calling my name. Without hesitating I put them in my cart and then had a great idea! I needed (well, wanted) to make a platter of cookies to take to my daughter's school for her 'Happy Birthday Jesus' party. I wanted to try something new, so I thought they would be pretty dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint (I must have had my white chocolate peppermint mocha from Starbucks on my mind). So here is what I came up with. This was super easy and they did turn out really pretty! Enjoy!

Ingredients~

Vanilla or Chocolate CandiQuick (or any type of meltable chocolate)

Peppermint Candies

Madeleines

If you are local to Southern California, Stater Bros carries this meltable candy in vanilla and chocolate and works well with any type of dipping!

I used half of the candy in the package since I was not making alot of cookies. I placed it in the microwave for 1 minute, stirred with a wooden spoon and re-heated for another 10 seconds. Be careful not to heat to long as it can burn. Another option is placing it in a Crock Pot for serious Holiday baking and dipping!

Here are the Madeleines I found at Costco. You can also bake them from scratch if you have the time, here is a great recipe I found at Allrecipes.com

Unwrap your candy peppermints and place in a food processor
(The smell is FANTASTIC!!)

Dip your Madeleines half way or completely and place on a cookie sheet lined with some parchment paper. Sprinkle right away with your crushed Peppermint candy and let them dry.

Set them on a pretty tray and you have got one delicious Holiday treat!

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

{DIY} Holiday Wreaths

December 13, 2010

A wreath can say so much, especially around the holidays. A wreath on your front door can be the first greeting that welcomes your friends and family into your home and really says so much about you. But why stop there? When it comes to decorating around the holidays in my house (Amy) I like to dress up a chandelier and many of the windows in my home with wreaths.

Martha Stewart

You can find a wreath in just about every style these days. And making them can be just as savvy when it comes to being creative with your materials. Here are a few DIY ideas that we found to help inspire even the least savviest person!!! Many of these ideas are made from materials you may have around your home.

Of course Martha Stewart comes to mind when looking for the craftiest, stylish, and savviest inspirational wreaths. Here, Martha has simply glued plain white boxes on top of each other and added some pretty ribbon. The great thing about this one is you can add the ribbon color of your choice to compliment your own decor.


Martha Stewart
How great is this gingerbread man wreath?? So sweet and so simple! Gingerbread cookies, hot glue and some ribbon and viola a creative twist to the traditional favorite.



www.myhomeideas.com
Love this idea too! A wreath that is multi-functional. One that is stylish and fills your home with the sweet smell of cinnamon.


Since we are always looking for ways to keep the kiddos busy, here are couple of great ideas from Sweet Paul to do with your kiddos this season. Grab a bag of popcorn and a bowl or two of candy and create some fun memories that will hang in your home for years to come.

Here is a wreath I created in 10 minutes......

All you need is a paper plate with the center cut out

Some Peppermint candies hot glued to the plate

And some red ribbon to hang the Savvy Seasonal Creation.

Anchored by $2 Walmart wreaths my Easy and Warm Welcome is complete.


Smiles,
Amy & Bri

Free Recipe Card

Did you see the Recipe Card Frog Prince Paperie Created?

It's Free and You can Download it here!!!

It is the Perfect addition to a Gingerbread Party.

You could send each guest home with a box of fresh baked and decorated cookies and this adorable Recipe Card.

Speaking of Parties......

If you Have not seen our Gingerbread Party we hope you will Run, Run As fast as you can over to see it!

And Don't forget to Enter to Win the Giveaway for a $30 Store credit to Frog Prince Paperie and the Adorable Gingerbread Cookie Printable Collection.

3 Ways to Enter to Win Here

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

{How Savvy are you} Savvy Skills

December 11, 2010

How Savvy are You????

Very Savvy!!!

Not to long ago we asked our facebook fans to share their Savvy Skills with us. And the response was great!

We are so excited to share 2 of our Savvy Followers Savvy Skills.

First we would like to welcome Sew Chatty..........

Hi there I am Elizabeth! Thanks so much for letting me stop by to say Hello. Hope you will all come and visit me at Sew Chatty where I "chat" about lots of things from the happenings of my little family, my shop, everyday life stuff,and how I manage to keep sane in the midst of all the chaos! I am blessed to live in sunny southern CA, be married to an awesome guy and have a super fun little boy! I have been sewing for the last 7 years and I'm having an absolute blast! I hope you find something here that you absolutely love!

Check out these Adorable Burp Cloths!

And this Stylish Vintage Inspired Apron.

So glad Elizabeth from Sew Chatty shared her Savvy Style with us.

Now Please Welcome Inviting Style Designs

Hi, I am Danielle. Thank You for allowing me to come say hello and share Inviting Style Designs with you all. I love creating handmade items for life's special occasions-baby books, pregnancy journal, wedding planners, bridal books and more. My Books are completely custom to your needs. I take the utmost care to ensure you are getting a top quality product that you will enjoy.

How Sweet is this Pregnancy journal.

We are thrilled that Danielle shared her Fabulous Inviting Style Journals and Books with us. All her creations are so gorgeous and detailed.

You ladies sure are Savvy and Skilled!

Smiles~

Amy & Bri