"cool" summer activity! :)

I have the perfect thing you can do for your kids this summer!
I believe I saw this idea last year on this blog.
And I also think it was in Family Fun magazine.
Anyways, it's awesome.
Your kids will adore this. :)

Find some fun plastic toys that you inevitably have scattered around the house, if you are anything like us. :) Then find a small plastic container that you can fill with the toys, and then fill with water. Pop it in the freezer and when it is completely frozen, grab a squirt bottle filled with hot water and give the iced-up toys to your kiddos! They will have the most amazing time squirting warm water at these goofy little toys. We've already done a few of these this summer and Andrew loves it each and every time!
PS.
If you have a child that wields a hammer well like Andrew does, that also provides some fun entertainment... trying to slam open the ice is always exciting. :) But the spray bottle is definitely a safe alternative, of course!
Happy warm days, friends!
xo!

water = love. :)

A few weeks ago, Andrew received a super fun gift from our good friend, Susie.
He is totally in love with his new "water hopscotch"!
Simply plug in the hose to the hopscotch,
it immediately fills with water,
and begins to squirt around like crazy. :)

He couldn't be happier.
Thank you, Susie! :)


Something tells me that these little swim shorts
will see many more sunny summer days.
Andrew has decided they belong outside,
in case he needs to spontaneously jump in the pool. :)

PS.
Andrew and I are off to visit my grandparents in Washington for the week, so the blog will be a bit sporadic for the next few days. I've got a few things set to post while I'm gone, so you won't miss me too much. :) And one more thing... the Fourth of July craft that I was planning for yesterday sort of turned out to be a disaster. It was super cute, and then it fell apart. Oops. Not everything can be a winning success, right? :)
xo!

happy pink weekend.

Pink is inspiring.











Pink makes me light & happy.
Enjoy your weekend,
relax & smile,
and see you back here on Monday!

My mom, sister, and I are giving a bridal shower tonight
and I will have to share photos next week!
There will be lots of orange and tissue paper flowers.
Total happiness, in my opinion!

Happy Pink Saturday!
xo!

{all photos from weheartit.}

winners, yay! :)

I've chosen the winners
{with a little help from random.org!}
for the Giveaway Day prizes!!

The Mommy Holly gift bundle
{from last Friday!}
Winner: mysteryhistorymom

The Pleated Poppy Checkbook Cover
Winner: miss megan

The ErinJaneShop "Best Day Ever" Print
Winner: wendy miracle

The Heidi Devlin French-Inspired Pillow
Winner: Diana Thompson

The Fabulous K Creative Simple Blog Makeover
Winner: Suzanne

Mommy Holly Summer Anchor Cutouts
Winner: Michaele

Email me if you are a winner and
we'll get your new goodies to you asap!
I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you
to everyone who entered and left a sweet comment.
You all rock.
I wish I could send you all free things. :)

Giveaways make me happy.
I'll be doing more of those around here very soon,
so keep your eyes peeled.

Coming up on Monday:
a super-fab Fourth of July craft
that's so easy for the kiddos to help you with!

xo!

digging out the old magazines.

I dug out all of the old Martha Stewart Kids magazines that my mom has kept for years. And may I ask, why did this magazine ever stop?! It is amazing. Every issue is full of the cutest seasonal ideas and now I am feeling extra inspired! :)

I'll be sharing some of these fun projects next week.

Andrew and I are headed to Washington to visit family next week,

but I will have lots of blog posts set for you all while I'm gone! :)

Do you have any crafts that you and your kids like to do together?

Do share! :)

Happy summer crafting, xo!

PS.

Giveaway winners will be announced a bit later today!!

chocolate coconut bon-bons.

Recently, my dad was diagnosed with a mild case of diabetes. So in the interest of cutting out some of the refined sugar out of our diets, I was on the hunt for recipes that used Splenda as opposed to white sugar. While I am not a huge fan of Splenda in general, these candy-like treats turned out amazing and I would most definitely make them again.

And by the way,

Andrew couldn't stop eating them.

That's the mark of a perfect treat! :)

Chocolate Coconut Bon Bons

Ingredients:

½ cup fat-free cream cheese, softened
1½ cups Splenda
1 cup fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
2½ cups Rice Crispy cereal

9 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

{This is what was recommended by the recipe, but I needed much more. Maybe I am way too heavy handed with the chocolate?!}

In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, Splenda, and sweetened condensed milk. Mix in the coconut and rice cereal to form a workable dough. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. {I left them in overnight and they were fine.}

Melt chocolate over a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat when melted. Use a toothpick or something similar to hold the bon bons with while you are dipping them. {I used a smores fork since I don't have any toothpicks at the moment. Worked perfectly haha!} Set on wax paper to dry completely and then enjoy!!
PS.

I am thinking these would be delicious if they were frozen or chilled as well!

If any of you have yummy recipes for diabetics,

please email them my way!

I would love to expand on this, and try some new things. :)

Enjoy your Thursday, xo!

super simple packaging.

If you find yourself without the right wrapping paper for a certain occasion,
I have a super simple and adorable answer!
Tissue paper!
I love wrapping gifts with tissue paper.
I think it looks old-fashioned, yet chic.
Simply roll up your gift in a few sheets of tissue paper and secure the ends together.
{sort of like a piece of candy would be wrapped at both ends!}
Then doll it up with any funky ribbon you'd like.

I like using ribbon that matches the item inside the gift.

A sneak peak of what's to come for the recipient! :)
This is an inexpensive and quick way to wrap a cute present.
Happy packaging, xo!

PS.
Amazing recipe tomorrow.
Chocolate + coconut = love. :)

total summer fun.

We got a few new things for

our summer backyard.

A goofy {but awesome!} inflatable pool...

An Ikea easel, complete with

chalk

paint & paper

whiteboard markers

and a kitchen sponge for erasing. :)







Let's just say that this one was a HUGE hit. :)

He hasn't stopped playing with it.

Best cheap summer investment ever!

Summer dinosaur camp started yesterday for Andrew.

He is absolutely thrilled!!

When we get home after camp,

we make some fabulous art pieces,

then take a dip in the pool.

Andrew's summer is complete so far. :)

xo!

Mommy Holly Giveaway Day!!

Today's the day!!!
Fabulous giveaways,
all for YOU!

I want to say an enormous
THANK YOU
to whoever reads my blog daily
or has ever stopped by to say hello.
Even if you haven't said hello,
I so appreciate you being here.

500 blog posts.
That's a lot of time, words, photos,
and a lot of sharing.
I love to look back upon this blog
as a sort of online journal for myself.
I may be bad at scrapbooking, but I do keep up on my blog.
That's something, right? :)

So to further my thank you's, I have lots of exciting giveaways lined up for today!!
I'm going to make it easy on you.
Leave me a comment
and say hello. :)
Let me know you were here today
and I will enter you in the drawing for
ALL of these amazing giveaways!!




A checkbook cover from
The Pleated Poppy!
Lindsey was one of the many talented vendors at the Queen Bee Market this past May and her booth was to-die-for-cute!!! Her shop is full of adorable hand-sewn items, and she blogs over here. Pop over and tell her hello, as well! :)


A "Best Day Ever" Print
from ErinJaneShop!
This is the most adorable print ever. I am a sucker of tree motifs, and this is one of the cutest ones I've seen! Erin has been featured in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, along with countless other sources, and I adore her shop! She's on Twitter here, as well. Whoever wins this better be super happy! :)


A French Hair Salon Pillow
from Heidi Devlin Design.
If you haven't yet seen my mom's Etsy shop, you are in for a treat! She makes the cutest hand-stamped pillows, and I am lucky enough to have a monogram "H" pillow sitting on my bed. I love it and I want a pile of them for myself. :) This giveaway pillow is my new favorite- it is a French "hair salon" stencil, isn't that the cutest?! :) She has a darling blog as well, along with a fantastic {and free!} monthly design newsletter that you really must receive!


A Simple Design Package Blog Makeover
from Fabulous K Creative!
This is one amazing giveaway, I must say. I have been following Kelly's blog for a long time now- it is young, gorgeous, and has such beautiful photos on it everyday. It is always a place you can go to feel so inspired. Kelly is giving away a blog makeover to one of you, as well, from her design shop! I'm totally jealous of whoever wins. :)


Happy Summer Anchor Cutouts
from {who else?!} Mommy Holly!
I am in love with these new colors for summer. The anchors are such fun, and can be used for tons of various crafts, scrapbooking, and gifts. :)

Simply leave a nice comment. :)
You will be entered to win all of these yummy items.
Good luck to all of you,
and thank you again,
from the bottom of my heart!
It means a lot to know that even a few people
read this blog. :)
xo!
{ALL winners will be announced on Friday! stay tuned!}

please excuse the mess.

Blog re-design is in process today,
so excuse the ugly-ness that is Mommy Holly right now. :)

Also, if you are one of my
kids summer swappers,
the partners should go out tonight or tomorrow!
Watch your inbox. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying
a very happy Father's Day!xo!

summer to-do-list printable!

Summer is a time to do extra special little things,
especially when you are a child.
I have seen lots of "to-do" lists circulating around the blogs,
and thought I would design one for Andrew to print out and use!

He came up with a whole list of things...
watch fireworks
run in the sprinklers
plant a garden
finally learn to ride his bike
etc etc etc.
His summer wishes right down on paper. :)

And I thought it would be fun
to share the list for you, as well!


Click on the image above and it will take you to flickr.
From there, you can save the image to your computer
and print it out!
Use it as many times as you'd like!
I hope your children
{and maybe even you, yourself!}
will come up with lots of summer "to-do's"!
Let me know what you come up with!
xo!

PS.
The kid's swap closes tonite-
sign up if you haven't already!
AND
the giveaway from yesterday is still open.
Enter to win
and come back Monday for Giveaway Day!! :)

you'll love this.

I've got some exciting news!!
I am celebrating 500 POSTS here on my blog!
I can hardly believe it.
And I so want to celebrate with all of you!
This Monday is
"giveaway day"
here on Mommy Holly.

I have some very exciting things lined up,
some amazing giveaways from some of my favorite shops and blogs,
and you won't want to miss it!

To start things off with a bang,
I am offering a Mommy Holly giveaway first!
Enter to win these yummy items:



-Vintage Dictionary Birds

-Happy & Bright Thank You Card

-Bright Butterfly Gift Tags

You have lots of chances to win:
1. Leave a comment, say hello! I'd love to get to know every one of you!
2. Follow the Mommy Holly blog.
3. Become a Facebook fan.
4. Follow me on Twitter.
5. Shout it out on Facebook, Twitter, etc!
6. Post the giveaway button on your blog's sidebar and link to my blog!

As always, leave a separate comment for each entry,
and I will post the winner next Friday!
Good luck!!

And PS.
If you have a shop and would like to be part of the giveaway day this Monday,
make sure to drop me an email or an Etsy convo, letting me know what you'd like to give away.
I'd love to have you join us!
xo!

chocolate pudding pie!

Let me first warn you:
this is such an addicting pie for two reasons.
Number One: It's slammin'!!!!
Number Two: It is eerily easy to make, which makes whipping up a pie such a no-brainer. :)

Oh yes,
and I hired a photographer
to document me making this pie a few days back.
He is funny,
bright,
very short,
and best of all,
he was completely FREE!
{I just had to pay him with licks of the spoon
and a big piece of pie afterward!}
Enjoy Andrew's photographs for this one and please ignore any fuzziness in the pictures.
He is already quite excited about his prospects as a photographer in his later life. :)

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Ingredients:
1 package Jello chocolate instant pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 graham cracker pie crust
{I read somewhere that you can use an oreo pie crust, which is certainly what I'll be doing next time!}
One tub of Cool Whip topping, completely thawed in refrigerator
{Comes out to around 2 cups, I suppose. The more the better though, in my opinion!}

Beat pudding mix and milk with a whisk for two minutes. Stir in half of the Cool Whip with the pudding, then spoon mixture into the pie crust. Top with the remaining Cool Whip topping and refrigerate until you are ready to dive in! :)


{and now we are back to my photos again haha! he lost interest after a while. :) }

So addicting.
You have been warned, my friends. :)
xo!

PS.
For more yummy recipes,
pop over to The Goat and the Kid today.
Delish! :)

giveaways and treats. :)

Goodies galore!
Want to win these fantastic items from my shop?
Head over to visit Heather at Blessed Little Nest
and enter for your chance to win!

And I'm guest blogging over there today as well...
want to know how to make these yum-o treats?

The Blogger's Guide to Summer
is where it's at today, my friends!
So many fun posts and giveaways, you'd be crazy not to enter. :)
xo!

a day of thrifting.

We are back from Palm Springs!
And I so wish I had taken more photos.
I barely took my camera out of my bag for a few reasons:
1. Water damage.
{I don't want my camera to die if someone splashes it!}
2. Total and utter relaxation.
This was the main reason, I suppose.
I was so happily lazy the past few days, reading books, getting bronzed & swimming with Andrew.
{Two books finished: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner & The Day I Shot Cupid. Both highly recommended. And one is half done: Chasing Harry Winston. :) }


Onto other things....
Last time I went thrifting, I found this adorable little piece.
I want to spray-paint it, but I am debating on the color.
Ideas, anyone?
I am thinking a coat of
aqua or lime green
paint would be so happy,
but I'd welcome all suggestions!

Off to do some more thrifting today!
I need to pick up some things for a swap I am in,
and Andrew always finds little goodies that he can come home with.
He is quite excited for our day of thrifting, as well! :)

Hope you all are having a sunny day,
wherever you are!
xo!

blogger's guide to summer.

Amazing guest posts.
Giveaways galore.
Head over to Blessed Little Nest today.
{and every day this week!}
You won't be sorry. :)
xo!

a weekend in the sun.

We will be lounging by the pool,
sipping pink cocktails
and splashing in the water
until Tuesday.
But don't think I've forgotten about the blog.
Tune in Monday for a blogger's treat!
Happy Pink Saturday! :)
xo!

{image 1 source}
{image 2 source}

happiness this week...

Our first week of summer was such a happy one. :)
Here are some things that made me smile...


Lots of sunshine!
Andrew and I love being outside in the warm weather. We tossed on our bathing suits and I was able to lay in a lounge and sun myself while Andrew happily played with the hose. :)


Hummus and crackers.
I'm fairly certain I could exist solely upon Trader Joe's hummus and crackers. Love. Lovelovelove. :)


Fresh squeezed orange juice.
I was so thankful I snapped a few quick photos of this... my dad helping Andrew make fresh orange juice. They were quite pleased with themselves. :)


A thriving plant!
And if you know me well, you know I am not a plant person. Andrew was very worried one day in his kindergarten class when I was the parent in charge of planting grass seeds with all the kids. He told his teacher, "My mommy hates gardening, and hates getting her hands dirty!" {What can I say, the child knows me well.} But since his lovely teacher gave me this gorgeous flower as a "thank-you-for-volunteering" gift, I decided to try my hand at actually keeping a plant alive. So far so good. Andrew is quite proud of me. :)


Palm Springs!
Tomorrow we are off for a relaxing trip to Palm Springs... I can't wait to lay by the pool and soak up that hot sun!! Yay for summer vacations! :)

What made you happy this week?
Enjoy your weekend!
xo!

happy summer kids swap! :)

Summer is here.

Beach & pool season is upon us.

The flip-flops are on our feet.

The kids are home from school.

And...

My child adores getting mail.

{And I'm sure your kids do, as well.}

Let's have a swap! :)

Let's treat our kids to a little summer fun-in-a-box! The price point for each box should be around $15, and pack each box with fabulous summer goodies: beach buckets, shovels, books, squirt guns, bubbles, coloring books, summer crafts, stickers, stuffed animals, flip-flops, you name it! As long as it has a summer theme and is appropriare for your partner's child, go for it! Each child will be assigned one partner, so if you have more than one child, be prepared to do more than one box! It is so special for kids to have their own something to open, something that is all for them, so let's really try to make this as fantastic as possible. Wrap the goodies creatively, add in little notes, whatever you can to make sure the recipient of your swap box is over-the-moon. :)

{Or should I say over-the-sun since it's summer!?! :) }

If you have a child {or grandchild!} and would like to participate, comment on this post and drop me an email with the following info at hollyndevlin{at}gmail{dot}com. Sign ups will be open until June 19th, and I will email partners out on the 20th. Then you will have until June 30th to mail your swap box. :)

Your Name:

Email:

Blog Address:

Mailing Address:

Willing to ship internationally?:

Child's Name:

Child's Age:

Child's Likes/Dislikes {Tell us what you kiddo likes- and add in any specific things you don't want to see in the swap box, if need be!}:

Shirt Size:

Shoe Size:

Anything else you'd like to share with your partner:

Thanks so much to all of you who will be participating- I look forward to sending out partners and getting started! :)

Happy swapping, xo!