Don't Forget Your Daddy . . .

Father's Day is June 17th, it will be here before we know it. My girls and I have started talking about what to get my husband and came up with a great gift idea.

My husband has always wanted one of the poles with a list of his favorite vacation spots so we decided we are going to make one! Note: Ours won't be anywhere as busy at the one shown above. The girls and I talked about our trips and decided we are going to put on Gainesville (Go Gators!), New Orleans (favorite food and drink), Asheville (yearly Fall trip and home of our future vacation cabin), Bimini (where we got engaged), St. Thomas/St. John (love to visit - going again next month), Nevis (where we honeymooned), Paris (can't seem to stop going), Rome (the history) and probably a few more. We will quiz him over the next couple of weeks to see what spots we are missing.

We are going to buy a fence post and some wood. I like the arrows and they are easy to cut. The girls will paint them fun colors and then hand paint  the city and miles from Gulfport. I promise, I will show the finished product once we actually make it! Wish us well.

The lucky man is also going to get a monogrammed toiletry bag.

The one he currently uses actually has the zipper corroded shut with only a few open inches. I watched him on our last vacation struggling to pull stuff out of it and then try to get it all back in. It was funny and sad at the same time. And yet, unlike me, he never once complained about it!

So plan ahead for that man in your life who is always there for you and your kids. Too Chic Gifts has great gifts for guys so start shopping (and don't forget to pick up a little something for yourself!).

Gifts from the Heart . . .

Though we are an on-line retailer, we know (and understand), that not all gifts come from a store. Some gifts come from the heart and from the craft room! As a mom, (aside from a large diamond ring or shiny new sports car - not van!), the homemade gifts are the best.

My two daughters both went above and beyond this year. Not only did I get a great breakfast in bed, but I also got gifts from the heart (and a much needed gift certificate to the spa!). Youngest daughter made a great poem at school and then they mounted it on a large piece of construction paper with a drawing. The theme of the poem is "When I Am Old With You. . ." and it is filled with great memories my daughter and I share, and will continue to share, as we both grow older.

This is one to frame!

The other gift she made, I already knew about. As the leader of her Girl Scout troop, I saw these great pendant necklaces on Pinterest and thought they would be a gift the girls could give to their moms that they might actually wear - and they were a hit. The moms loved them,

You could really use any color paper, photos, monograms, really anything you wanted to make these. We are going to make more to sell in the Fall. My Scouts are raising money to go to Savannah to visit Juliette Low's home.  You can go to our Pinterest account to see how to make these.

My final gift (in addition to food being served all day - yum, except for the dog stealing one of our steaks - BAD DOG!) was from my oldest daughter. She, like her mom, LOVES Pinterest and she made the greatest piece of art for me.  She had seen something similar and adjusted it to work just for me. I love the saying, and yes, I am mom to two very special girls.

And so, while the shiny baubles and expensively wrapped store-bought gifts are great, gifts from a child's hand and heart are one's you will keep forever!

I had a great Mother's Day and I hope you did too (goodness knows, we ALL deserve it)!

Happy Mother's Day to All You Moms!

We just wanted to wish all those peanut butter sandwich making, diaper changing, carpool driving, PTA attending, soccer cheering mothers out there a very special Mother's Day!

Enjoy your day, you deserve it!

Time for Some Pomp and Circumstance!

I know, I also can't believe the school year-end is right around the corner. My kids in carpool this morning  were debating whether is was 21 or 22 more days until school was out (it's actually 21) and I about freaked. 21 more days!! I have so much to do before they invade my house full-time.

That also got me thinking graduation is also right around the corner. I have several graduates to buy for this year so I better get my gift-giving thoughts together.

I have one friend's daughter graduating from high school. She has been accepted into the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and will be living in a dorm her first year. Having had a rash of these in the past couple of years, I have mastered what I think, and what I have heard back from the gift recipients, as a great gift for girls.

It depends on how much you want to spend. This graduate is a close family friend so she is going to get the full treatment! Each of the gifts below are great as a major gift (families can go in on it together) or individually. It all depends on your gift-giving budget.

I start with my absolutely, most-requested, most loved, most versatile gift, the Scout Bungalow Pocket Rocket. Now this in itself makes a great gift (I have sung it's praises on several blog posts). For the future college student, it's perfect for them to carry their supplies in. Pens and pencils in a pocket, water bottle in another, cell phone easily fits in another and there are still 3 more outside pockets to fill.

I pair the bag with a monogrammed bath wrap. Having your name on your belongings is one of the keys to successful dorm living. I roll it up, tie it with a large bow and add to the Scout Pocket Rocket bag.

Since I am all-about matchy-matchy, I add a monogrammed towel too. I like to give a beach towel. They are so much larger, for full coverage, and come in great colors! No surprise here, but I wrap it up and add to the bag!

Another must for dorm living is a pair of flip-flops. I just buy an inexpensive pair at Target. These will be going in the shower so no major expense here. You could add a jewel or a ribbon tie to enhance them a little.

This Personalized Vinyl Shower Caddy is the perfect gift for a grad! It goes great with the above-mentioned bathroom accessories or you can give just the caddy filled with everything your grad will need - shampoo, conditioner, soap, a loofah, and lotion. Wrap it all up in cellophane with a big bow and you have a great gift to give.

My last item added to the mix is a laundry bag. Trust me, they will need it! Add a monogram to it so there is no confusion who belongs to the heap of dirty duds. Throw in a couple of rolls of quarters, some laundry detergent and softener and maybe some laundry will get done at school?? You never know!

So I hope these get your creative juices flowing for your upcoming grads. Let's all be honest, you can only use so many nice pens!

Happy Mother's Day to Me/Us

Us Too Chic Gals think there's nothing wrong about treating ourselves to our own gifts this Mother's Day. Take a peek at what just arrived at our doorstep yesterday.

So darn cute!

Our new coloful and cool Acrylic Monogram Necklaces are beginning to become a best-seller this spring/summer so we needed (wanted) to get in on the trend. Available in 12 fun shades and with an either sterling silver or gold-dipped chain, our two choices couldn't be more different, huh? Mine's the blue one that I think will get worn year-round to Gator games, with ALL of my nautical emsembles, and will even look fab with white.

Too Chic Kristin wanted to go with more of a pop of color so the BRIGHT pink was the right selection for her. With summer whites and pastels all over the runways this year, I don't think she's going to have a problem coordinating her looks. But I also believe that she may be able to pull off the pink during the winter months, too, because (A) any colored accessory looks great with black and (B) let's face it, we live in Florida and hot pink is chic year-round.

Here are a few more of our favorite choices:

If you're a mom or mommy-to-be, go ahead and get yourself one of these ~ prices start at $53.

Mother's Day Gift for My M.I.L.

If you're like me, perhaps you find it hard to come up with Mother's Day gift ideas for your M.I.L (aka Mother-in-Law). We've given her the nice bracelet with "Meemaw" on the charms, she's gotten the Brighton necklace that holds sweet photos of her grandchildren, a set of ceramic mugs with the kids' pictures, and I'm fairly certain that we've overdone the fancy frames that hold yet more photos of the kids. Don't get me wrong, they're fairly cute kids but eventually she's going to run out of space to put them all.

I went through my 1000+ pins on Pinterest (follow Too Chic Gifts!) and found this one that my mom pinned. I decided to use it as my source for inspiration and off I went to pick up supplies.

Inspiration Photo for Mother's Day Gift for My MIL

Somehow I was lucky enough to find a fairly decent quality solid black apron from Ross, of all places, for $9.99 AND they happened to have a multi-color pack of fabric paint for $2.99. Who knew they had that kind of stuff?

My 3 kids immediately jumped at the chance to do their handprints and since they just did the same thing at their preschool (I presume for my Mother's Day gift from them?), they knew exactly how far apart to spread their fingers, etc. Adorable. I did run into a problem when Presley then proceeded to want to paint her feet, too. Apparently I'm getting a footprint of sorts as well.

The next morning I ventured out to find some cool ribbon with the aspiration of copying the ruffles shown in the sample. When my mom didn't answer my call (plea for help, I don't sew), I decided to just pick up some fabric glue and home I went to pull something together on my own. Here's what I came up with:

Final Result

I simply glued (make sure you buy a good quality glue that is washable, stretchable, etc) coordinating striped grosgrain ribbon along the top and just wrapped it around allowing for a few inches on the backside, too. I then topped it off with a fun florally black & white bow that I tied around the bottom of the neck strap.

And since I'm a sucker for a theme, I found a semi-coordinating oven mitt and pot holder set (we don't have a Williams-Sonoma anywhere in the vicinity of my town but this one, from Ross TOO, actually looks like the same idea) along with dish towels that I once again trimmed with the striped grosgrain ribbon.

I'm pleased with the result! And to add a bit more sentimentality, humor, and personal touch to the gift, I had my 2 oldest boys (ages 4 & 7) recite a "recipe" of what makes a grandma so sweet. I stuck the recipe cards in the pockets of the aprons. More than likely, this will be her favorite part of the gift.

Now if I can just convince my husband to take it to the post office today (all 3 kids are home from school - no WAY am I going to attempt it with them in-tow), it just may make it to their uber small town in the middle of Arkansas where even next day delivery takes an average of 3-4 days. At least I can honestly tell her that "the gift's in the mail"...

Happy Mother's Day to all of you, too!

Getting Ready for Summer!

Before we know it, our little ones will be out of school and running around - wanting us to feed them, play with them, drive them, entertain them!! Kids! Truth being said, as a stay-at-home mom with an on-line business, I love having them home but it's a lot more work for me when they are out of school. Granted, it's great being able to swim in the pool at night and not worry about getting homework done or staying up late to watch a movie. Sleeping-in in the mornings is nothing but fantastic! We have some fun family traditions, and not-so fun rules, that we use to make summer a little easier on everyone -

1. Buy "special" individual cups for each member of the family. This is something I try to do year-round but it's really not that bad during school since the kids aren't home. During summer, my girls will go through 4-6 glasses a day. I finally said enough. On the first day of summer break, they each get a monogrammed cup to use. It's their cup for the day, and everyday. I am not to see anymore cups used, laying around, or they have to hand wash them!!

2. Something else we do is lazy week. The first week the girls are home, they get to watch as much TV as they want (but we still monitor what they watch - no MTV in our house!!), sleep as much as they want, play on the computer or Wii/Playstation as much as they want. I know it sounds nuts, we call it our Week of Debauchery. We have done this for several years and it works well in our house. By the end of the week, they are not interested in TV or the computer, they want to see friends, swim, ride bikes and they get it out of their system. They have worked super hard in school and deserve some down time so we give it to them. The one rule is that they still need to do their regular chores for the day or they don't get debauchery the next day (not sure I used the word right but that's what we say!!). "Don't make me take your debauchery away!"

Not my real kids but they look like this, except still in jammies!

 3. Plan fun outings. We live in the Tampa Bay area so we have so many great things to choose. This summer, we are so excited because we are taking a trip to the MOSI museum. They are having this awesome mummy exhibit and so it's a must see. We usually plan a fun lunch out and maybe even take some friends. This can be expensive so we also plan less expensive outings. One year, a group of us rode the city trolley to a handmade chocolate shop. We called ahead and they allowed our group of kids to take a tour of their kitchens. The kids loved seeing how the chocolate is made and everyone got to pick out a couple of pieces.  We also plan a special kind of "happy hour". We gather on the beach around 4-5ish, you could pick a park if you are not close to a beach, and let the kids play. Then it's not so hot, the parents visit and relax, the kids get to be with their friends, and we all watch a beautiful sunset. We usually plan for Friday nights and this is a great way for the kids to get exercise and then get tired out! If your lucky, your kids will be asked to spend the night at a friend's afterwards and mommy and daddy get a night out!

4. Something else my girls are into these days are cooking. Just like when I was a kid, over summer they are going to cook a meal a week (hopefully they expand their menus a little more than I did because I was obsessed with the Bisquick Impossible Pies - I still love them!!). The girls can find the own recipes, plan the meal, write the grocery shopping list, and actually shop for their items with their own cart. This is a great way to learn to plan a well-balanced meal, see how much things really cost, and just familiarize themselves with a kitchen. The rule in our house is, whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes so my husband and I will clean up that night. The girls love to sit on the couch and watch us work!

My kids would never cook with that many veggies though!

5.  Another great summertime activity we do is watch "old" movies. Now let me just let you know, my youngest daughter, came to me over Christmas break a couple of years ago and said she wanted to watch an old-school movie. I get excited thinking maybe "It's a Wonderful Life" or the original "Miracle on 34th Street". I ask what movie so I can get it for her and she replies, "the original High School Musical!" Egads! My husband and I are now trying to correct that. Every summer, we rent movies that every person should see but beware, we were caught off guard by some of the language because we are used to seeing them on TBS. We have watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Gremlins, 3 Stooges (my husband's choice), Mr. Mom, Benny and Joon, Edward Scissorhands, The Princess Bride, ET, Karate Kid (both girls like the original better), and so on. While most of these aren't considered classics (LOL!), they are just fun movies! We are currently watching the Rocky series. We are waiting for Rocky IV to arrive. After watching the first Rocky, my youngest replies, "all that and he still loses?" My oldest is now 14 so I have some movies lined up for her - Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Pretty in Pink and Say Anything. We will also watch Grease and the old and new Footloose. Now if I can just get them to read some of the classics!

6. Another family summer tradition is Christmas in July. We try to shoot for July 25 but it doesn't always work. We turn the A/C down cold, light a fire, put on a Christmas movie and bake Christmas cookies. This is not about gift giving, just creating some family fun time. The girls love it and it's a great way to spend a day.

There are so many great opportunities over the summer. This is when kids get to be kids and so do parents! Now I am off to grab my calendar so I can figure out when my sister is taking my kids for a week (another great week!) and then I get her girls (an even better week!).