Day-to-Day Loving / January 20, 2014 by Kate Brightbill

Valentine's day is coming. I have always loved Valentine's day... and I didn't have a Valentine until college. It was never about what we don't have, it's just a day reserved to show people you love that you adore them and are thinking of them.

My husband and I don't go big for Valentine's day, but we like to let each other know the little things we appreciate about one another.

One simple idea is to keep tiny notes with kisses. I write things he does that make me smile, and keep them handy to drop in his bag for him to find at work, or place them by his coffee mug for him to find when I head out of the house for a run in the morning {REALLY trying to get better at taking those morning runs!! ha!}...

It's just a thoughtful way to remind him I care on a regular basis!

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Photos by my dear friends from Pictilio.

xoxo,

Kate

Fancy Little Tea Party / June 5, 2013 by Kate Brightbill

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We have a lot of tea parties around here... it's inevitable when you have two little girls and plenty of tea sets. Most of them are set by Sophie and have a lot of pretend food and pretend friends.

SOMETIMES though, it's fun to create a little surprise for her and set a real tea party for the girls and their little friends. Yogurt parfaits, fruit, and little biscuits set on a kid's table with a pretty kid's-size tablecloth (this one is Rufflewood- just convo her if you want to order one similar) and tiny tea cups. It's a special treat for the kids to be dressed up for tea, and you can even teach them extra little manners while they're feeling like little ladies.

It's extra fun if you let the kids accessorize themselves in their fanciest headbands and princess dresses too. ;) -- you can tell, Sophie takes accessorizing very seriously...

And let the kids enjoy!!

photos by Pictilio for StyleSmaller.

Make it: Cardboard Train / April 15, 2013 by Kate Brightbill

During Maggie's nap time the other day, Sophie and I made a train.

Trains are a reeeeally big deal in our house. Everything that can be pulled is a train, and the girls can play for hours with them. We had a stack of boxes to be recycled, including the prettiest ones from Honest, and some days I don't make Sophie take an afternoon nap so that we can use that time to play board games, or do more involved crafting. This falls under the "involved crafting" category... took about 45 minutes, but if I did it by myself, it would probably take only about 20. ;) Here's how:

Clockwise from top left:

Cut four circles for each train car. Ours had about a 6 inch diameter. Poke holes in their centers.
Find boxes that are the size you'd like your train cars to be. Take the dull side of four pencils or colored pencils and poke a hole on each of the four spots you'd like your wheels to go. Insert a wheel on each pencil.
Inside the box, tape the pencils for each side to one another, so when the wheels turn, they turn together from one side to the other.
Tie a string from the wheels on the sides to the other. Be sure it's tight. It makes the side wheels turn together as well. Then poke holes in the front and back of the car to tie a knotted string for connecting and pulling!