babies Archives - For the Love of Food

DIY Baby’s First Christmas Footprint Plate and Mistletoes Craft

Nicole Hood — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 00:08:00 +0000

Y’all already know how much I love Christmas and I am happy to say I am passing on that excitement for the holidays to my girls. I love to bake and craft with Ava, watch Christmas movies, and take my family to festivals and parades. This is baby Stella’s first Christmas and even though she is just 8 months old I want to include her in the holiday fun too, so I decided to decorate a footprint plate with her so we can have a beautiful treasure from her first Christmas. We also made a Mistletoes canvas with both girls and I love how it turned out!

Scroll down for pictures and instructions.

Since we’re talking about my sweet baby girl Stella, I want to share some Mommy insider info with you! After trying many, many brands, I finally found the perfect comfortable diaper for my little wiggling baby during my monthly trip to Sam’s Club.

Huggies Little Snugglers are soft, breathable, comfortable, and leak proof. They have a new GentleAbsorb Liner that has tiny pillows that provide a cushiony layer of protection between your baby’s skin and draws runny mess away. The diapers also feature a wetness indicator line on the front which has always been my favorite feature.

My family always had a Sam’s Club membership growing up and I knew that when I got married, and had kids especially, that I would want to get my own family membership. Even better, they offer a nice perk for military families: a free $15 gift card when you sign up! The savings on diapers and wipes alone makes the yearly membership worth it! Online they even offer

free shipping on diapers and wipes or you can choose club pick up. And I just love their huge value boxes! What a savings {and less trips to the store for me}!

“That’s a big ol’ box of diapers!” says Ava.

More about Huggie Little Snugglers:

• Soft, breathable outer cover

• Leak Lock design for up to 12 hours of protection

• Shaped to fit new babies

• Umbilical cord cut-out protects belly buttons as they heal‡

• Pocketed back waistband helps keep runny messes inside

• Comfy outer cover and quilted, flexible inner pad

• Characters make changing time fun for your little one

• Sizes: Newborn, 1, 2 and 3

I hope you head out to Sam’s Club today and grab a box or two of Huggies Little Snugglers diapers for your little one! You won’t be disappointed.

Another thing about Sam’s Club that’s awesome: free samples!

Ava and I during one of our marathon Sam’s Club shopping trips.

DIY Baby’s First Christmas Footprint Plate and Mistletoes Craft

I love doing my kids’ handprints and footprints on salt dough ornament every year but I decided this year I wanted to try paint. There are so many cute ideas for footprint art. Just search Pinterest and you will see! I practiced on a round ornament but Stella kept scrunching up her toes so I found a flat plate was much easier. This decorated plate is from Dollar Tree and no worries if you mess up- work quickly and you can wipe it right off and try again!Here are some tips and instructions on making this Baby’s First Christmas Footprint Plate.

Be prepared for a mess. But it’ll be worth it!

I undress my kids. Ava wears a plastic art smock and Stella just stays in her Huggies diaper.

Messes are fun, Mom!

Have lots of Huggies wipes on hand.
I always use wipes when we are painting.
They are great for wiping off the girls’ hands, legs, feet, etc and for wiping tables, floors, and other surfaces.

I use washable paint for most crafts with the kids but for this one I used acrylic paint so it would be more permanent on the plate. Rinse as soon as you are done with warm soapy water.

Huggies wipes save the day!

I pour small amounts of paint on paper plates and use kid friendly foam brushes.

Let the kids in on the fun! Stella is a little too small but Ava loves to paint too.
So just for fun I let her paint my feet and I stamped them on paper for her to make art too.

I have found the easiest way to decorate the footprint art like this Christmas tree is to use paint pens.
I like Sharpie brand oil based paint pens. Mess up? No biggie.
You can wipe it right off before it dries and try again.

The finished product was pretty adorable and will be a beautiful display every year!
My sweet Stella’s feet will never be that small again!

We decided to stamp canvas boards too and made these cute

Mistletoes prints for the grandparents.

Every year we make salt dough handprint and footprint ornaments
with cookie cutters and paint. I can’t wait to make this years with both my girls.

Ava was so proud of her baby sister’s footprint art!
Comment below and let me know what kid friendly craft projects you do for Christmas.

Find out more about Huggies Little Snugglers Diapers here.
Learn about Sam’s Club Memberships here.

The post DIY Baby’s First Christmas Footprint Plate and Mistletoes Craft appeared first on For the Love of Food.

Rainbow of Gratitude Basket and Cookies and Pampers Thank You to Nurses Campaign

Nicole Hood — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:30:00 +0000

I created this Rainbow of Gratitude Basket to give as a thank you gift to the Labor and Delivery and OB Nurses that were there for me when I had my daughters.

It is inspired by all my friends who have had Rainbow Babies, which are babies born after a stillbirth or miscarriage.

Find the free Printable Thank You Cards here.

Scroll down below to learn more about my favorite nurse, my Rainbow Swirl Cookie recipe, and how you can nominate your favorite nurse to win a Thank You Nurses Award from Pampers.

Be sure to enter our $100 gift card and diaper giveaway below too!

Before having both my daughters at our base hospital, BJACH, I made a goodie filled gift basket and thank you card for the nurses and doctors who would be taking care of my family and I. It’s a simple gesture that means so much.

Stella and I presenting our nurses with a Rainbow of Gratitude Basket.

Nurses leave a deep, long-lasting impression on moms and form an important bond that transcends the hospital experience. Because of the nurses they trust, new moms can rest assured that everything is going to be okay.

My nurses held my hands, made me laugh and relax during the most difficult time of my labor, and were there when both my babies entered this world! I will always be grateful for their knowledge, patience, kindness, and understanding during both my hospital stays.

In my hospital bag: I made onesies with the girls’ names on them and brought fabric markers for my nurses, doctors, and visiting family to sign. It makes a wonderful memento to hang in their room!

To celebrate National Nurse Practitioner Week this November, Pampers is launching the first annual Thank You Nurses Awards, in partnership with AWHONN (Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses), honoring nurses across three award categories: Labor & Delivery, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Postpartum.

Pampers knows the essential role nurses play during the first few minutes, hours and days between newborns and their parents and they want to thank them!

Pampers invites parents to share their stories of nurses who helped make life #betterforbaby by submitting a nurse nomination to the Pampers Swaddlers Thank You Nurses Awards at www.tongal.com/pampersnurses.

Nurse nominations can be submitted between November 9th and December 14th.

Three finalists, one in each category (Labor & Delivery, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Postpartum), will be announced in March and the grand prize honoree will be announced in May.

The three finalists will be honored with short documentary videos showcasing their unique and inspirational nursing stories.

Each of the three finalists will receive a one-year membership to the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), attendance at the 2016 AWHONN Convention, Procter & Gamble care packages, and more.

In honor of these nurse winners, three Pampers Swaddlers scholarships will be made available to help nurses from underrepresented groups complete their studies toward a Master of Science in Nursing degree.

See details and official rules at spr.ly/6181BPvMF.

Winner must be a resident of the US or Puerto Rico, 18 years or older.

Nomination period ends 12/14/15 at 3PM EST.

For Pampers Thank You Nurses Awards I nominated Mrs. Marilyn,

my favorite nurse at our local hospital, BJACH, on Ft Polk.

She is the lactation consultant and has supported and encouraged throughout both my pregnancies and with both my girls. Without her, I would have been clueless about breastfeeding and most likely given up during the difficult first weeks. I owe her so much! she is not just my favorite nurse but also a wonderful friend. Thank You Mrs. Marilyn!

Nominate your favorite nurse here: www.tongal.com/pampersnurses.

Stella, me, Ava, and my favorite nurse Mrs Marilyn.

The Pampers #ThankYouNurses Twitter Party

November 19 from 8-9pmCST

https://twitter.com/iConnectIM/

Prizes will include:

Prize 1: $50 AMEX plus diapers and wipes

Prize 2: $75 AMEX plus diapers and wipes

Prize 3: $125 AMEX plus diapers and wipes

Grand Prize: $350 AMEX plus diapers and wipes

RSVP: diapers and wipes

Makes approx 3 dozen

Ingredients

Boxed sugar cookie mix {or use my homemade cookie recipe here}
1/2 cup butter softened
1 egg
3 tbsp flour
5 bright colors of food coloring {I recommend icing coloring}

Instructions

In a large bowl combine cookie mix, butter, egg, and flour.
Stir until a dough forms. It may appear dry at first but after 30 seconds it should come together.
Divide dough into five equal pieces and place into individual bowls.
Use a spoon or your finger to make a small indentation on top of each piece.
Add food coloring, about 10 drops each, into the indentation of each dough. Use a different color for each bowl.
Thoroughly stir coloring into the dough until it becomes a solid color.
Wrap bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Remove from fridge and roll small 1/2 tsp size balls of dough from each bowl.
Position all 5 colored balls together {see pictures below} and squeeze together.
Roll the dough into a rope about 8-10 inches long.
Coil the rope into a spiral shape, slightly twisting as you wind it around the center.
Repeat steps for the remaining dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cookies 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet.
While the first batch bakes, place the remaining cookie dough in the fridge so it does not become too soft.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Cool slightly then remove from cooking sheet to cool completely.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Charm City Cakes Sugar Cookie Mix.

I found this cookie mix at Kroger in the Halloween clearance. I used the directions from the box to make the swirl cookies but I used my own rainbow icing colors.

You can also use homemade sugar cookie dough. Here is my recipe.

In a large bowl combine cookie mix, butter, egg, and flour.

Stir until a dough forms.

It may appear dry at first but after 30 seconds it should come together.

Divide dough into five equal pieces and place into individual bowls.

Use a spoon or your finger to make a small indentation on top of each piece.

Add food coloring, about 10 drops each, into the indentation of each dough.

Use a different color for each bowl.

I decided to use icing food coloring,

which is thicker and brighter than traditional food coloring.

These can be found in the baking/craft aisle.

Thoroughly stir coloring into the dough until it becomes a solid color.

Wrap bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Remove from fridge and roll small 1/2 tsp size balls of dough from each bowl.

Position all 5 colored balls together and squeeze together.

Roll the dough into a rope about 8-10 inches long.

Coil the rope into a spiral shape, slightly twisting as you wind it around the center.

Repeat steps for the remaining dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet.

While the first batch bakes, place the remaining cookie dough in the fridge

so it does not become too soft.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Cool slightly then remove from cooking sheet to cool completely.

Store in a covered container.

These cookies make great gifts.
I added them to a pink basket lined with colorful tissue paper.

My little love and her pretty flowers!

I added neon colored cut flowers from the store along with a rainbow thank you card {you can print it free here}.

The end result was a fun, bright, and colorful gift for the nurses who I appreciate the most!

Inspired by all the amazing Rainbow Babies I know!

Comment below and tell me what ideas you have for a Nurses Thank You Basket!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This review was made possible by iConnect and Pampers. I was provided compensation to facilitate this post, but all opinions are 100% mine.

The post Rainbow of Gratitude Basket and Cookies and Pampers Thank You to Nurses Campaign appeared first on For the Love of Food.