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

The Cupcake Camp IE

November 18, 2010

Last week we had the great privilege of being involved in the 1st annual Cupcake Camp IE. This event was one that brought hundreds of people together to fight against breast cancer while enjoying some yummy cupcakes .

What a fun day it was!

Jamie of Kolby Kakes and Nicole of Sweet Things Kids shared in the day too. Christine Racz of Racz Phototgraphy captured the details through her lens.

It was a great way for us to support a wonderful cause, spend some girl time together and share in an event that brought awareness and passion to our community.

We did all of the styling and tablescape for the fabulous day. Since it was an event to support Susan G Koman we had to think Pink. Right away we knew we needed to turn to Kim of the TomKat studios to create the perfect printables for the event. And she did. Believe, Courage, Love and Thank You were more than fitting words and feelings for the day. For the fight that those diagnosed with Breast Cancer endure.

Kolby Kakes debuted her delicious Sweet Geraldine cupcake. It was delicious. And enjoyed by several hundred guests.

Nicole of Sweet Things Kids made adorable cupcake Aprons for us. And added the final touch to our table....an adorable Pink tutu and cupcake pillowcase dress.

We wanted you to enjoy the apron too so Nicole is hosting a GIVEAWAY for an adult Apron and a yummy cupcake mix. Enter to win.

We look forward to next year's event and hope that you will all come out to support The Cupcake Camp IE.

Smiles~
Amy & Bri

Savvy Savings.....Photo on Canvas Complete!

So those of you who Follow our Facebook Page know that we are always sharing Savvy Savings with you.

Remember those Canvas Savings we Shared from Canvas on Demand????

I cashed in!

Goodness I love these 2...They make my heart melt

They were taking the modeling thing very seriously.

Especially Miss Bean....

I am so happy with the way these Photos on Canvas turned out. I can not think of a better way to display these Amazing images Ella B captured at the Sweet Things Photo Shoot.

I think I might be addicted to putting my Photos on Canvas' instead of in frames......

And guess what?

There is a special going on now.

Save 22% through Thursday the 18th with Promo Code THXGIVING.

Smiles~

Bri

{Guest Blogger} Sweet Things and a Sweet Giveaway

November 15, 2010

Congratulations to JC's loft for winning the Sweet Things Giveaway!

Please email us at thesavvymomsguide@yahoo.com with your contact information.

Are you ready for a "Sweet" Post and an even Sweeter Giveaway?

We are certain you will fall in love with Sweet Things Kids just as much as we have. Nicole is talented beyond words. Enjoy spending time getting to know her and getting lost in her creations.

Hello all, my name is Nicole and I run a small business called Sweet Things! Amy and Bri kindly asked me to do a guest blog post on their Savvy site to introduce myself to their followers and leave you with a SWEET tip! So here it goes…

Growing up I am sure that none of my friends or family would have thought to say Nicole and “girly” in the same sentence, but here I am shortly after turning 30 and I have created my own little “girly” business, Sweet Things. When I had my first daughter back in 2007, I was convinced that she would be a tom boy, and I was right. She loves cars and bugs and can’t be bothered with tutus and frill!

Then little N came along and everything changed. She is now 22 months and into everything girly! So the mission was on: make affordable dress up costumes for my girly girl!

When starting the venture one of my biggest inspirations was, the one and only Gwen Stefani. I LOVE her! She is a sexy mommy and business woman, with amazing style. One of my favorite videos of hers is “What You Waiting For”. Her Alice in Wonderland interpretation made me start sketching and creating my first costume!

Well, once Tim Burrton’s “Alice in Wonderland” movie broke it big at the box office, I was off and running on my Alice creation. After several attempts I think the final product turned out perfect!

After that I was creating new costumes daily! Next came costumes inspired by Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse, Dorothy, Fairies, Bumble Bees, Jessie and LOTS more. I am up to 15 creations and working on more all the time!

I don’t only make costumes. I also make everyday and special event tutus, pillowcase dresses, hair accessories, birthday hats and COMING SOON trendy kids clothes! I really try hard to make my designs unique and affordable for EVERY mommy (and daddy for that matter J)! Next year I plan on creating some more edgy kid costumes, clothes and adult costumes!

I am so lucky to be able to do what I LOVE in creating SWEET creations for your SWEET kids. I am also fortunate to have a supportive husband who will give his opinion on tulle color and shirt designs even though he would rather be watching the Dolphins, and I could never forget my two little ladies who put life into perspective and make every day SWEET!

“I'm just a girl in the world...
That's all that you'll let me be!”

So I guess I run with it!!

SWEET Tip:

How to make your little girl into a ROCK STAR on a budget! It’s easy to make a cute dress up costume from home!

What you will need:

An old pair of tube socks

An old mens collared shirt

Markers

Glitter

Kid friendly paint

Blue eye liner

Ribbon

Empty paper towel roll

Glue

Scissors

Pieces of 8 ½ x 11 paper

Flashlight

You favorite No Doubt or Gwen Stefani Music!

Set up your men’s dress shirt, tube socks, and empty paper towel roll on a table outside with the glue, glitter, markers and kid friendly paint and let them be creative. Make stars with the markers and circles with the glitter and let them make it colorful and unique! Inspire them to be their own designer by joining in! When the socks are dry cut small holes in the top for your little ones fingers.

During nap time let the items dry and start on the top of the microphone. Take the 81/2 x11inch sheet of paper and ball it up. Then dip it into glue and cover it with different colors of glitter! Make sure to leave one small piece of your paper with no glue or glitter so when it is drying you can leave it on that side and it won’t stick! Once it is dry glue it to the decorated paper towel roll with the undecorated side down.

Time for dress up:

Put your child in their shirts and put the tube socks on their arms. Wrap a ribbon around their waist. You can add some leggings or tights if your little one wants. Put there hair up in a teased pony tail and add some glitter. Take your Blue Eye liner and draw some stars on their cheeks! Give your little ones their microphones and set up the music and let them go to town! Shine flashlights on them to make them feel like they are on stage! (Mosh pitting not recommended for children under 8 hehe)

Anyone can be a designer! Just let the ROCK STAR in you come out!!

We told you you would love her..... And guess what she is giving away an adorable Cupcake Apron and Yummy Chocolate Chip cupcakes in a jar!!!!

3 ways to Enter to Win.

1) Head over to Sweet Things Kids and tell us your favorite Design! Here

2) Become fans of The Savvy Moms Guide and Sweet Things on Facebook. Leave your Savvy Smiles on their pages!

3) Suggest The Savvy Moms Guide and Sweet Things Kids to your Friends and Family and share that you did here!

Smiles~

Amy & Bri

Cupcakes for a Cure with a touch of Savvy

October 7, 2010

We are so excited to be part of the 1st Annual CupcakeCamp Inland Empire event that is being held here locally in Southern CA on November 7 at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. Our girls Kolby Kakes- Edible Creations , and Sweet Things will be there showing their Sweet Saviness for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

If you live in Southern CA we would love it if you stopped by to say Hi!!!!

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

Another Reason we love Ella B & Sweet Things

Monday September 13, 2010

Last Friday we had a chance to have our kiddos and many other cuties play dress up on a photoshoot shot by the fabulous Ella B, where they modeled the newest Sweet Things fashions and Holiday costumes. The kids had a great time dressing up and posing for the camera. Ella B captured some great moments while Nicole from Sweet Things hosted an overall fun day for the kids as well as sweet designs. If you are looking for unique and one of a kind Halloween costumes, make sure you check out the Sweet Things shop!!!!

Smiles,

Amy & Bri

Baked Apple Chip Recipe and Our 1st Giveaway!!!!

In each of our play dates we will have a yummy recipe to share with our followers. While for our “Apple of our Eye” play date we would have liked it to be Apple Fritters, Apple Pie, Apple Cookies or even Apple Pie Ice Cream (Have you tasted Dryers Apple Pie Ice Cream???? To die for) we again chose the healthy route thinking of our kids, and our thighs. So here is the Recipe for the

Baked Apple Chips….

You will need

Recipe calls for 2 apples….we recommend you double it and do 4 apples
Water
Sugar
Lemon

Apple Chips are a healthy snack that our kids love. These are so easy to make and a great alternative to running to the store and buying a bag of potato chips.
Not only do we try to be Savvy about cost and nutrition, we also think being “Savvy and Going Green go hand in hand”. So we started using snack bags…..do you use them???? If so great, you will love our giveaway. If not, we hope you enjoy these adorable snack bags from Sweet Things. There are so many benefits to snack bags, they are pennies compared to plastic bags. They are reusable, washable, they are stylish (since they can be made in several fun prints and colors) and earth friendly!!!

To enter our giveaway and receive 2 apple themed snack bags you need to do the following.

• Become a Fan on our Facebook Page. Comment on your “Savvy” Green Skills
• Become a Follower on our Blog. Comment on your favorite “Savvy” find from the Apple of my Eye Play Date.

Be sure to enter by Sunday. Who knows you may be the only one who enters!!!!

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.