DIY HALLOWEEN goodie bags FOR INFANTS AND TODDLERS

I never thought I would be THAT mom that wants to make cute little goodie bags for their kids class, but I can't help it! It's too easy and too cute not to! I'm all about being practical so I came up with a quick, cheap, kid friendly and easy Halloween treat bag for Luca's classmates at his daycare. This goodie bag is perfect for infants and toddlers (ages 6 months and up). All the materials you see here were bought from Walmart or Target. 

MATERIALS:

• Puffs cereal snack in the long canister (any brand is fine)
• Large orange colored plastic table cover
• Green craft fuzzy sticks
• Sharpie

Total time to make: 10 mins

I followed the creases in the plastic table cover and cut out a rectangle, which came out to 27"x19.5".

Place the snack container in the middle and start pulling the plastic up. 

Continue wrapping upwards to create a bunch at the top. Don't worry if it's not perfect!

Take your fuzzy stick and wrap it around the top. The wire in the stick keeps it secure and tight.

Using the end of your pen, wrap the fuzzy stick around it to create little curls for the pumpkin leaves. 

I didn't have time to make cute pumpkin faces on the bottles, so I ended up writing the kiddo's names and then signing Luca's name on the back.

For his teachers I stuffed mini candies & chapstick in a fun Halloween tumbler and used the extra fuzzy sticks as a topper!

Happy DIY'ing!

MY FIRST MOTHER'S DAY AS A MOM

Free People Crystal Bay Romper via DOLKII // Citrine Macrame Crystal Necklace via DOLKII

Before coming a mom I would worry about physical beauty and materialistic things. Now I worry about keeping my sanity and making sure my clothes are breast-feeding friendly. Becoming a mom has made me feel more comfortable in my skin, more confident about who I am, however my tolerance for B.S. has gone way down LOL!

On my very first Mother's Day, Luca surprised me with a beautiful handmade gift, orchids and a heartfelt card. We spend brunch at the Kahala Hotel's Plumeria Room with my mom and dad and capped the day off at our favorite beach. It's the simple things that I look forward to now: spending time with my family and watching my son grow. I'm so grateful for these incredibly joyous 'things' in my life. Being a mom has been the best thing that's ever happened to me and while mother's should be celebrated everyday, let's just bask in this awesome Hallmark holiday mamas! Happy Mother's Day !!!

MAMA MIA!

Pink Petals dress: Dolkii // Personalized 'ID tag' necklace: Katrina Cordova

Twiiiiirrrrlllzzzzz for days!!!! That's what I want to do all the time wearing this soft and flowy dress. Paired with this beautiful personalized necklace by Katrina Cordova, this has been my go-to weekend outfit for this simple look. B-T-dubbs, Mother's Day is this Sunday, so I hope you've started making plans!!! I know, mama's day is eeerday, but you need to make this Hallmark holiday extra special for her. Jewelry is always an option, and Katrina is the BEST! Oh and did I mention that Katrina is also a power mommy, which is why I love supporting this woman even MORE!!

This Mother's Day, our family will most likely spend the morning having breakfast with my parents, cooked by my excellent home-chef father. Our lazy morning will be followed by a lazy day at the beach! #absolutelyperfect

So I've been M.I.A for quite some time now here on Mommy Crush.... I can explain. After staying at home with my son for 8 months, I decided that it was time to jump back into the work force! At the same time, I've been working hard with my sister on a side dream project that has finally become reality for us. We've launched our online store Dolkii.com and have been working non-stop like mad-women to bring you an awesome online shopping experience for the latest bohemian trends. Which brings me back to this 'Pink Petals' dress! This flirty number be available very soon to shop and we are so excited to share all of our gorgeous finds with you!! There are so many great dresses and intimates for my uber hott mama's out there and we want to extend a secret little promo code, just for you: ALOHA15. Type in this code at checkout for 15% off, and from now until Friday we're offering FREE SHIPPING!! Happy shopping, and from the bottom of our hearts, we love you <3

MOMMY HACK: TRACK YOUR CHILD'S DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

If you're like me and are constantly googling "__ month old baby development" to figure out where your kid's skills should be at each month, then look no further because I have an awesome present for you.

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with one of my best friends who has a 10 month old and he told me about this bi-monthly questionnaire that tracks your kids development. His son goes to day-care on an air force base and gets these assessments every two months....the military is SO on it! He shared with this easy, family-friendly questionnaire, and I love it. Its called "Ages and Stages Questionnaires."

ASQ-3 is a questionnaire that is completed by the parent and it reliably identifies and tracks your child's development. It starts as young as one month old and goes all they way up to 5 1/2 years old.  It screens communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and personal-social skills.  The whole questionnaire for each month takes about 10-15 minutes to do and at the end you can tally up your child score to see how he/she is doing in each area. You can either print it out or save it to your smart device to document each month.  The reason why I love this so much is because it gives me a sense as to where my child's development is at in each of these areas.  I can show my pediatrician his progress and if there are area's that show some concern, I can ask my pediatrician for advice.  

This may sound very Type-A/Tiger mom-ish to do this but honestly its a great way to screen my kid at regular intervals and monitor his progress. In the event that my child will need help in a certain area, I can get help for him early - when it makes the biggest difference. OR if your child is advanced then you can look ahead to the months ahead to see what activities you can do to challenge them!

Click HERE for a link to the full FREE PDF file and save it as a favorite in your browser! Share this link with other friends who have kids too :)

DIY: MY FUNNY VALENTINE LIPSTICK KISSES

It's another FIRST! My baby's first Valentine <3 I've always wanted to do this Pinterest inspired shoot with Luca and I now I can check this one off my bucket list! As you can see, while I was lovin' my little smooch-fest, he was not really in the mood so I had to work fast. 

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Red lipstick (I used Revlon, 'Cherry Blossom')
• Wet wipes 

After each kiss, I re-applied my lipstick to give each print a vibrant shade. It will get a little messy because your baby will smudge the lipstick marks but thats totally fine! Keep those wet wipes close by, in case one gets a little too smudged or if you need to re-do a kiss...which I totally didn't mind ;)  HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I used Revlon's 'Cherry Blossom' Red lipstick. 

Re-apply your lipstick after each kiss. 

.....how he really felt. "stop it already mommy!"

'Fight With Heart' tank by Ideology, available at Macy's.