Gingerbread Playdate

December 1, 2010

Run, Run as fast as you can.....You can't catch me I am the Gingerbread Man. That was the theme of our December Play date. We decided that the perfect play date would be one that incorporated the traditional Gingerbread Man and House. As always we needed and wanted to add our Savvyness. Christine of Racz Photography generously offered her studio and talents to us for the day and let us literally run wild creating our holiday Play Date! Thank you Christine for your patience with us and helping us capture the day perfectly.

With our theme in mind Frog Prince Paperie helped design a Printable collection that was PERFECT! From there we were able to find all we needed, of course, in the Dollar Bins at Michaels, Joanne's and Target and from things we had around the house.

The Jars were a purchase we made at Ikea long before this Blog came to be (you can always use a good jar or two...or 10). Any jar can be dressed up with festive ribbon and a printable or embellishment and voila you have one Savvy addition to your styling and decor. The candy trees were a find at our local Big Lots.

We love to use Chalkboards as an addition to any play date, party or daily decor. In this case we used the one that hangs in Bri's kitchen as our recipe card to the traditional gingerbread man.

To complete our wall collage we had a custom designed Candy Cane canvas from Canvas by Kerry made and found a gingerbread cake pan at Joanne's. This look can be duplicated in your home by covering any framed art with wrapping paper and embellished with vinyl, scrapbook paper, or any other fun finds.

Each kiddo received a Custom Chef hat (found in the target dollar bin) that we added ribbon and a sweet gingerbread boy or girl. Their place setting included a Michaels $1 birdhouse, our Savvy "gingerbread house", an Icing bag with their initial and a place mat created from the Frog Prince Paperie Printable Collection placed on a 12x12 sheet of Wrapping Paper and then laminated. Each had a Frog Prince Paperie box filled with all the trimmings for their Gingerbread house.

We styled the table with Pom Poms strung on fishing line, and fancied the chairs with ribbon, a printable and pom poms.

Instead of creating our own Gingerbread house, cuz lets face it when it comes to Savvy baking we leave that to Kolby Kakes, we found this Adorable countdown one. We thought it would be perfect for our teachable moment of filling the empty gingerbread house with coordinating treats and or lessons of giving and gifts.

As always we like to provide a healthy snack. This month we kept it simple because we knew just how much candy was going to be involved in this Play Date, so peanut butter and jelly sandwiches it was wrapped of course with festive Frog Prince Paperie wrappers.

The kiddos enjoyed trimming their Gingerbread bird house. And looked adorable decked out in their Chef hats and Sweet Things Aprons that Nicole whipped right up for us!

And the finished products were Deliciously Cute!!!

Next we moved onto our recipe....This time we did things a little different. Our recipe was done with the help of Kolby Kakes. She made these adorable ginger boys and girls that the kids then dressed with their favorite candy accessories.

Yummy......is all we have to say!!!!

Every play date needs a Sweets Station....

And Bri's $3 garage sale cart is the perfect accessory to this play date.

Kolby Kakes created scrumptious Gingerbread Pops, cake balls and delicious gingham sugar cookies to add to the day.

We ended the play party with the story that whole day was based off of, The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth.

And those poor gingerbread boys and girls could not run away from our 5 curious and hungry kiddos! Don't you just want to eat them up in those adorable Sweet Things Aprons, tutu's and Hats. Pure JOY!!!!


We hope you enjoyed our Sweet Day.


Smiles~
Amy & Bri

Never in our wildest Dreams..........

October 4, 2010

You know that saying, "If you believe it, you can achieve it". Well that could not be more true to life than our experience thus far. About 5 1/2 weeks ago we started The Savvy Moms Guide as a way to create the ultimate Play Date, give amazing parties, and design all things to perfection.....for pennies. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would get such honorable mentions as we did this past week. We have to gloat for just a post, so bear with us! We were beyond thrilled, in fact in disbelief, when we saw that our first Halloween "Spooktacular Play Date/Party was featured on Martha Stewart's Dreamers into Doers. I mean seeing our hard work getting a feature mention that has Martha Stewart's name attached to it truly is every party planners dream, well at least ours!!!!

In the same day we were also featured on a new network, The Children's Party Newtwork. It is a website designed to connect, share and celebrate in the children's party movement (the new wave of stylish and beyond creative children's parties). How could this be, two amazing sites in one day???? All we can say is Thank You!!! Thank you to the amazingly talented Donella of Ella B Photography for capturing each of our Play Dates. Our kids just love posing for her and her "circle"!!!! Thank you Nicole from Sweet Things for adding a bit of sweetness to each of our Play Dates with your one of a kind costumes and designs. Thank You Kolby Kakes for providing your delicious not to mention detailed edible creations that put a smile on our kids faces every time!!!! And Thank You Kerry, of Canvas by Kerry for complimenting each Play Date with your original art work. Each of these Savvy ladies have had a huge hand in our success along this 5 1/2 week journey and look forward to many more to come!!!!

Here's to making Every Day Savvy!!!!

Smiles,

Amy & Bri

"Apple of my Eye" Back to School Play Date

Webster defines a play date as~an arranged appointment for children to get together for a few hours to play. While this is true, we wanted more…. Since every play date is a party!!!!

The Savvy Moms play date is one that is creative, interactive, educational, fun, healthy and delicious, all at the same time. With Back to School (or rather our kids 1st day of school) on our minds Apples were the perfect theme. We narrowed down the craft, the recipe, and a great story and were ready to add the Sass. With dessert tables all the rage these days (at least in our own little blogging world) we thought it would be perfect to have a table centered around our play date. A table that would mimic the Desserts of Amy Atlas, and the classy stylings of Martha Stewart; but all with our own Savvy Selections. These Savvy selections included a perfect canvas from Lucky Girl, Edible Creations from Kolby Kakes and adorable attire from Sweet Things. And of course capturing the details of our day; Ella B Photography.

Class....please be seated for your lesson on our First Savvy Moms Play Date!!!!

Class is in session!!!! Let’s begin with art…a subject every child (and adult) loves. Especially when allowed to paint on one’s body without getting in trouble.


Apple Hand Prints are an easy and fun way to capture the memory of your little ones hand print while allowing them to get a little messy.

To complete the craft you will need the following:

Apple Template printed on cardstock . We cut off the stem.
Red tissue paper cut into squares (or your child can tear the tissue in strips if they aren't yet using scissors)
Glue Sticks
Paint Brush
Green Washable Tempra Paint, so you don’t need to bust out the Shout
Black Construction paper
Chalk (Optional) for child to write their name

Step 1. Glue the cutout Apple Template to the Black Construction paper
Step 2. Encourage your child to glue the red squares onto their apple
Step 3. Paint the hand green (which leads to the desire to paint other things…so watch out)
Step 4. Press firmly onto the top of the Apple creating the stem

We will admit that we are the moms that like to feed our kids healthy foods. Unless we are bribing them to behave, entertain, or “smile for the camera” at which point M&M’s, suckers, candy cookie and any other treat are acceptable. But in the spirit of nutrition and even more important aesthetic appeal we found this great Apple boat recipe….. Adorable right! And the best part is that they are a healthy and interactive snack for your child to enjoy

You will need:

2 apples
Provolone Cheese
Lemon
Toothpicks
A paring knife or Peeler
Basting Brush
1 lemon

Step 1. Slice your apples. Then notch out the center of each slice using a paring knife or peeler.
Step 2. Puncture a medium size lemon with a hole and place in the microwave for 45 seconds to juice it. Then baste the juice onto the apple slices. This will keep the apples from turning brown.
Step 3. Slice your cheese into triangular pieces.
Step 4. Allow your child to assemble the boat, sticking the toothpick through the cheese and into the apple. Be prepared you might have some samplers of the cheese or apple before the project is complete.

Now enjoy your delicious and nutritious apple boat (that does in fact float)

This activity/recipe was a great way to let our kids be hands on, to take an EveryDay edible object and create a fun and flavorful treat.

While the kids enjoyed their apple boats we thought it best to read a Book. And what better selection than The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. A classic story on the importance and reward of giving. Both of which are qualities we are instilling in our children.

While we hoped that the days activities would be remembered....and that our monkeys would take away the educational and moral aspects of the play date, we were not at all surprised to find that in the end, the most memorable part of the day was the delicious Apple Pops created by Kolby Kakes. These ultimate cake pops were really the Apple of our Kids Eyes.

Class is dismissed!!!

Smiles,

Amy & Bri

It Takes a Village....

to raise a child....Or in our case start a Blog! We have come across some very talented mompreneurs who have agreed to take this adventure with us. With the commonality of being moms we we have decided to partner up with their "Savvy" talents. We are thrilled to introduce to you......

Donella of Ella B Photography "Specializing in the Unforgettable".

Jamie of Kolby Kakes, who perfected the ultimate cake ball and bakes amazing edible creations

Kerry of Canvas by Kerry & Lucky Girl Canvas, who creates custom canvases for any occasion.


And Nicole of Sweet Things kids clothing and accessories the perfect shop for specialty designs

Thank You girls for inspiring us and helping our vision come to life. You have been a crucial part in making our ideas EveryDay Savvy.

We look forward to sharing their Savvy Skills with you and hope you appreciate their creations in with what is to come.