Monday, May 31, 2010

~NEW~ Infant Interchangeable Beanies

I am so excited about these NEW items I'm offering! Your infant is going to be the envy of all the other newborns in the nursery and the hit of the hospital~ the nursing staff is going to go crazy!


These soft cotton beanie hats are fitted with an interchangeable loop for bows, flowers, and other clips! These hats start at only $12.00 and come with a FREE bow! Larger/custom bows are only $2.00 extra.
A white cotton beanie can be customized with numerous bow options!


A pink hat looks adorable with a matching pink bow.





This multi stripe hat can be customized with solid color boutique bows or you can have a larger custom bow made incorporating all of the colors.




I am in love with these and somewhat hoping we'll eventually have another little girl that I can put these on! My little honey missed out, but your little honey will look stunning in a custom beanie!







A Dozen Bows


I have literally had a dozen bow orders over the last several weeks. Sadly, with school ending, I didn't have a lot of time to work on them. So, I spent my memorial day weekend catching up on orders! Each one of these was custom orders; which I love!
Above: Bows for Brinkleigh! She's not even hear yet, but she'll be well prepared with her solid color basic boutique bows and two interchangeable bow bands.


A custom order for Kim. the yellow ribbon features pink, orange, and lime green flowers.


Another custom for Kim- The hot pink ribbon features white dots and is made with a spray, white surround-a-loop, and a large boutique bow on top.


Kim's 3rd custom- this bow will be perfect for so many reasons- 4th of July, sports, outfits, you name it!


A St. Louis Cardinals themed baseball bow!



Sara ordered this bow and a matching bow holder for her daughter!



My first 4th of July bow of the year!


A custom white bow for Heather.



Another custom for Heather~ I would never have thought of using these colors together, which is why I love custom orders, and I love them together! Light blue, hot pink, lime green, and yellow.


A custom red, black, and white custom for Heather.
See, I told you I had a ton of orders!


Friday, May 28, 2010

Follower Friday!

Smart and Trendy Moms

I'm so excited to be linking up with Follower Friday! Many of us were so disappointed when Follow Me Friday ended.

If you're new to HPA, let me first give you a big ol' hug and say "welcome, hi, and how ya doin' ?" I'm Elaine and this is my blog! I have been married for a few years to my main squeeze, DJ, and we have a 2 year old daughter, Gretchen- our little honey pie!

I'm a speech language pathologist in the public school system and today is my official last day of school! I've so been jumping for joy all day!!!!

I also am the owner of Honey Pie Accessories. An online boutique featuring hair bows, tutus, shirts, pillowcase dresses, burpies, and oh so much more for your little honey!

Take a look around and let me know if you decide to follow~ I'll return the favor and follow you back!

Ferrydust Photography Winner!

Congratulations to comment #9, Krista! I'm going to attempt to comment her, since she didn't leave me an email address. If she doesn't respond then another winner will be chosen!

Congratulations Krista!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Lemonicious!

We took Gretchen out to eat Saturday night, where she decided to devour our lemons. This girl has wierd eating habits!

She even ate the rind of the lemon- gross!
This was her "sour face", which wasn't that "sour", but they finally got to her after eating 2 or 3 of them!
Does this count as a fruit serving???




Football & Bows

I'm back!!!! Finally, after a week of dealing with the stress that only broken technology can create, my computer is fixed!!!! But, let's not say it too loud, or it might decide to break down again!

The good news is that I had time to work on a few orders on Monday evening for some of my co-workers! Football & bows- I know, you're wondering, how those two go together, but I promise they do!


My dear co-worker, Annette, whom I share a classroom with, needed a baby shower gift for a friend. As she was stressing over what to purchase, I loudly said "HELLO! I'll make you something." And she instantly agreed! She told me that the couple was having a boy, and that they were both Purdue graduates and fans. We immediatly got online and found Purdue fabric that could be used to make tons of cool stuff for htis little baby!
I started out with a wipe case.


And, made two burpies.


And, a bib.


I had shown y'all the "P" onesie before, but here it is again with all of the other goodies! Annette is sure that her gift will be the hit of the shower!
But, the bows- how do they fit in?

Well, another co-worker, ordered bows for her granddaughter. She wanted a pink pigtail set, and an orange bow each with white loops. So, here they are!





Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Last Day to Enter~ Ferrydust Photography

Today and tomorrow are the last days to enter the Ferrydust Photography 8x10 giveaway!!!!

Just click on "8x10 photography" on the sidebar, to take you to the original post and leave a comment telling me why you want to win!

Since, my computer is still sick, it'll probably be tomorrow night before I have a chance to post the winner- so you'll have plenty of time!


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Teaching Tots: Our Lesson 1

I officially have 4 more days of work left before sumer! I have been counting down these days for the last month and a half; just ask my students and fellow teachers!

Next Wednesday, Gretchen and I will start our summer curriculum.

Here's what I have planned for day 1.

Letters A-D- I printed off coloring pages of the alphabet from a few different websites. One of my favorites is dltk-kids. We will also do a few art activities with these coloring pages. My goal is not for Gretchen to identify each of these letters, but to identify the ones she doesn't already know, and to learn that each letter can represent an object.

Letter A- A is for Apple- I found an apple coloring page, that also has the letter "A" for her to color. For our art activity, I'm going to cut apples in half, dip them in paint, and let her press the apples onto paper.

Letter B- B is for Button- Rather than coloring this letter, Gretchen will glue buttons onto it.

Letter C- C is for Carrot- In order to incorporate our lessons throughout the day, she'll have carrot sticks for lunch.

Letter D- D is for dip- Well, Ranch dip- but she'll have the ranch dip with carrots.

On lesson 1, we will also start our number caterpillar that I found on dltk-kids. She'll color #'s 1-3, and we'll tape each circle to the caterpillar head. We'll also work on counting objects 1-3.

Our color for the day will be red. She'll use red paint for painting with the apples and a red crayon for coloring.

*I really want to share links, but my computer is still sick with a bug! I'm hoping that it will be fixed tomorrow.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Chicago: The Magnificent Mile & American Girl Store

I'm finally getting around to sharing our last pictures from Chicago last weekend!

After we left the pier, we rode the trolley to Michigan Avenue. The Magnificent Mile is a must stop for anyone going to Chicago! I was in awe the first time I went, and I'm still in awe each and every time I go. I don't think Gretchen quite understands the fuss of her being here, but we had to document this occassion!
This is probably my favorite picture. The tulips were beautiful! We were on Michigan Avenue, and every girls dream of Tiffany's was behind us!
And, here we are befreo heading into American Girl at the Watertower.
We took some time and browsed through the store. It brought back many childhood memories for me, as these were some of my most favorite books. I'm excited that it's still around and popular enough that I can share these with Gretchen as she gets older.
And, we of course, had to buy Gretchen her very first AG doll~ her bitty baby! Daddy even let us buy an outfit for the doll. Thankfully, grandparents will always have gift ideas for the next few years! (wink, wink!)




Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Haute Look

Have you heard of Haute Look?

Haute Look is a website featuring designer clothing, apparel, accessories, home goods, menswear, and children's items for a reduced price.

Haute Look features daily events to give you items at sale prices, that you might not be able to otherwise afford or find your area.

A few of their upcoming events include: Urban Behavior, Jardin, Splendid Kids, Harlow, and many others!

I tried to copy some of the pictures of their items to share with you, but they've blocked that feature.

I'm offering each of you a personal invitation to join Haute Look and have weekly emails featuring all of their events!

You have to check out this site, if you love designer clothes and reduced prices! Just click (http://www.hautelook.com/invite/EWelte084) if you're interested!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Teaching Tots: Our Summer Curriculum



I'm a week behind on my "Teaching Tots" series, and I apologize for that! I wanted to catch up with one year olds last week, but since I'm behind, I'm going to go ahead and share the summer curriculum that I've planned for Gretchen.

I divided our curriculum into 2 days per week for the month of June, with some catch up days at the end. I decided that I wanted to teach Gretchen the alphabet, numbers 1-10, and review all of her colors. I might even try to throw in her shapes.

If you have a two year old, do not expect them to know their alphabet or to even count correctly. As long as they are saying numbers (they don't have to be in order) they're on track! A 2 year old should however be learning basic shapes and colors, but probably won't master them until they are 3 years old.

Gretchen however, can identify many letters, and knows all of her shapes and colors- so that is why I choose this curriculum.

Our teaching days will be on Monday and Wednesday mornings. We have story time at the library on Tuesdays, and i'll probably send her to daycare 1 day per week to keep her use to the routine. We'll also pick up swim lessons this summer.

I choose morning time because Gretchen will have eaten breakfast, and because I can incorporate our curriculum into lunch, and we'll have the afternoons free for outdoor play, swimming, and working out.

I decided that we would work on 5 letters per day. The first day we'll focus on A-E, the 2nd F-J, and so on. Since Gretchen already knows many of her letters, I didn't think the task would be too daunting.

We'll also focus on 3 numbers at a time. However, we will be doing 3 letters per week, rather than day. Right now, Gretchen is counting 2, 5, 2, 5, etc. She rarely starts with 1, and has difficulty remembering 3 and 4, even though i've heard her say the numbers.

Lastly, we will focus on 1 color per day- straight through each color of the rainbow, followed by white and black.

The last week and a half of June is reserved for review, and for catching up if we get behind schedule.

Chicago: Navy Pier

After we enjoyed the aquarium, we decided to walk, yes, I said walk, to Navy Pier. If anyone has ever done this, they'd know it's almost a 2 mile walk, but Gretchen was sleeping in the stroller, so it was easier to walk than to take a cab and risk waking her up. The weather was still windy and frigid, but we made do. Gretchen woke up right before we had to cross over the river, so we stopped to take a picture of her and daddy. The ferris wheel and the pier are in the background.
And after what seemed like forever of walking, we made it to the pier!
I wanted to eat at Bubba Gump shrimp (although I wouldn't have ordered shrimp after the yuckiness at Rainforest Cafe) but it was a 45 minute wait to eat inside, and it was way too cold to eat outside. So, we went to Harry Carey's. If you're not a Cubs fan, then you probably don't know that he was the announcer for the Cubs and sang the 7th inning stretch, Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Which is why, they now have celebrities or guests sing the song.
There are tons of celebs with their pictures around Harry Carey's bust, so we had to take DJ's picture too.
Then, we walked the length of the pier, which was thankfully, all in doors. We did go outdoors just to get a picture at the end.
It was so cold, that I wrapped my scarf around Gretchen, even though she had on a long sleeve, tank, and her coat.
Thankfully, they have trolley's at the end of the pier that take you back up the pier and onto the train station. So, we rode the trolley to Michigan Avenue!






Bib Clip Winner

Congratulations "Mom" Comment #4! You've won the bib clip giveaway! I've sent you an email.

Bow Orders

After coming back from our Chicago trip, I had several bow orders that I worked on last night, and I still have a few more to make tonight.

This pink hair bow features lime green surround a loops and was a custom order. I found this giraffe ribbon two weeks ago and decided to pick it up! It goes perfect with the new gymboree line of giraffe's. And, it's only $5.00!
This hair bow was another custom order for a little honey's birthday party. It features a pink spray, orange surround a loops, a pink boutique bow, and an orange loop in the center. I love this color combination!
I had another request to make these rosettes and attach them to ponytail holders. I think I'm going to make a few for Gretchen to wear! I also sell these as rings for older girls, for only $2.00, and I'm going to price them at $3.00 for ponytails.



Monday, May 17, 2010

Chicago: Shedd's Aquarium

Saturday was a busy day for us in Chicago. We started out the day riding the train into downtown and going to Shedd's Aquarium. If you haven't ever been, and you're planning a trip to Chicago, I would go, but I would buy my tickets in advance! Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long in line, but it was a really long line!
When we finally did get inside, I took Gretchen over to the gift shop to "play" while DJ stood in line to purchase our tickets. I don't know what I'm going to do when she turns 3 and we actually have to buy her tickets for events!
The museum is broken into pieces (the rainforest, ocean, lakes, and Africa). We found this wierd snake type fish in the Rainforest. This just reaffirms that I do not ever want to go there!
I don't know why this picture is sideways, when it was taken the right way, but just turn your head to the side :). We purchased tickets to see the 4-D shortened version of Happy Feet.
Gretchen really liked the glasses (and the movie!)
After seeing the movie, we made our way downstairs to the penguin play area. I promise she had more fun that what it looks like!
We then, headed over to the water table play area.
And, Gretchen got to touch a real starfish! She really wanted to pick it up though!
We headed downstairs to the ocean area, and Gretchen got to watch waves simulated in this tank.
There were even aquariums above our head.

We also got to see sharks and then we made our way back upstairs to visit the fish in the lakes and Africa area.
My one complaint about the museum is that it was really crowded! Again, buy your tickets in advance, and go during the week!