I thought it would be fun to show you around what we (lightheartedly) call Speckled Duck Studios – the loft in my house transformed into my work/crafty space. 

My typical work day is scheduled around nap times and taking care of my beautiful family, but sometimes they are content to play while I work. My six year old loves to make cards and has his own desk and supplies though he often prefers to squeeze into my space and somehow end up in my lap. Lots of work gets done after bedtime around here. 

I really love how the space has evolved over the last few years into one that really works well for me and accommodates my family. I have an intern/prep desk with a monitor hookup next to a table that houses my industrial cutter. Above that, my inspiration shelves. The top two are where I collect things I love or that inspire me creatively, the bottom shelves are my own creations I am most proud of. 

One extra-long table is home to me and now my really awesome scoring machine. Across the room is my cutting area which is most commonly used for crafting and scrapping. One of my favorite organization tools is my Cropper Hopper Ribbon Carousel that houses my growing collection of washi tape. 

Thankfully my husband hasn't taken it too hard as he's been kicked out to the garage to make room for envelope storage and boxes of cards. I'm thankful he's let me take over one of the largest rooms in our house and make it work for me. 

Back in January, I first read/learned/discovered the fabulousness that is a "Favorite Things Party" and I KNEW I had to host one. Finally, after trying to choose a date for months, I hosted my party last Saturday night in the company of 8 great friends. 

I knew I had to use the lines from the famous "My Favorite Things" song from The Sound of Music. I created my invitation, printed on some lovely brown paper and tied up with some teal and white twine. 

If you don't know much about a favorite things party - the concept is simple. You invite a group of friends to each bring a set number of one of their favorite things. I chose to ask for five of those things costing no more than $5 each. Each person would then go home with five new items. 

I decorated our "Favorite Things" table with empty boxes, you guessed it, wrapped in brown paper and tied with many different types of ribbons and strings. I wrote on the brown paper with chalk "Our Favorite Things." I made cupcakes and served finger foods along with Strawberry Lemonade Spritzers and Ice Tea. 

Each person displayed their items and added their name five times to a glass jar from which each person then drew five names. The five people drawn would get one each of that person's favorite things. 

Everyone went home with a lovely brown paper bag decorated in the party theme, with a glitter name tag to hold their gifts. 

Here are the ladies' favorite things:
$5 Starbucks Giftcards
Coconut Oil (for cooking or as a moisturizer)
Fuzzy gripper slippers
Scotch Wrapping Paper Cutter
Handmade Spearmint Scrub Soap Bars from Fleegal Farms
Bert's Bees Lip Shimmer
Fresh Peonies in Slender Vases
Bert's Bees Mango Butter Lip Balm
Pots of Fresh Flowers

The evening flew by, though the swapping of gifts and explaining our favorite things only took a short time, we had a great time visiting with each other. There were already requests for another Favorite Things party before the evening was over!

I'm happy to report that I successfully sent 30 cards in 30 days! I have to admit, it was a little more challenging that I expected, but I am so glad I did it. 

I know I'll be better about sending cards and letters after this challenge. My old excuse "I don't have time" has been busted, as I managed to get a card out every day and it didn't take all THAT much time away from other things I was working on. The best part is, that taking time out of my busy life to think about someone I care about is way more rewarding than just focusing on what is immediately in front of me. 

For the month of May, I am working on sending at least one card or letter per week to keep the momentum going. I hope you will join me and send more cheer through the mail. If you need some inspiration, check out The World Needs More Love Letters. 

Having kids is so. much. fun. Seriously. I love being a Mommy, and getting to plan things that make childhood fun, memorable, and magical. 

I was suddenly (as if I didn't know it was coming) faced with deciding what our family Tooth Fairy tradition would be. Naturally, I jumped online and started to read ideas from everywhere, but nothing really felt quite right. So in one afternoon I created this lost tooth letter and record kit to record my son's right of passage as he loses his teeth. We love mail, and kids LOVE mail.. so why not combine letters with the Tooth Fairy? 

Tooth Fairy Letter and Record Kit contains the following:
20 Tooth Fairy Letters with Envelopes (Printed on shimmery paper, of course!)
20 Lost Tooth Records
20 "Office of the Tooth Fairy" envelope stickers
2 White Organza Bags 
1 Tooth Fairy Keepsake Box
(Ribbon and coin not included.)

How it works:
Simply mail your child one of the wiggly tooth letters along with a lost tooth record when you find out they have a loose tooth. If they're like my son, they'll hang the letter and record on the refrigerator until the big day. 

When the tooth falls out, have your child fill out the Lost Tooth Record with details on which tooth it was and how it came out. Please note: Due to the coated nature of the magic shimmer paper you will need a ball point or Sharpie pen to write on the certificates. No gel pens, it will smear! 

You can share one organza bag with your child to leave their tooth in, then leave their payment/prize in the second. This makes it really easy to grab and replace in the middle of the night! 

You collect their tooth and the certificate and keep them safe in the Keepsake Box. You'll have collected a great treasury of stories by the time your child has lost all 20 baby teeth. 

Get your Magical Tooth Fairy Letter and Record kit in my Etsy shop!

Remember, if you see me out and about to use a code word if you want to inquire about a kit. "Hey Paula, I need one of 'the kits!'" And I'll know just what you mean! I want to keep this a fun and magical memory for your kids as well as my own! 

There must be something about turning six that amplifies the love for LEGO bricks. My son has been interested in these little building blocks since just before he turned four, but building and creating has always been his thing. This year he decided that LEGO would be the theme of his six year old birthday party. Typically, I steer away from licensed type of themes (mainly so I can create something of my own!), but this year I let my "rule" slide. I still did most of the decorations myself, and had a blast doing it. 

This year's snack spread was made mostly of finger foods. Some sandwiches and chips, a vegetable tray, and a return of the chocolate fountain by request of the birthday boy. My bestie Jen cut out tons of little Lego heads on her Silhouette that Nathan decorated with faces, I used them where the crape paper attached to the countertop. We were able to find Lego Happy Birthday streamers, which made someone VERY happy. We also bought a Lego man mold to make chocolates and crayons for the treat bags. 

I made the lego head cake out of 3 stacked cakes, though I wish I had done four to make the face area more accurate, but Nathan loved it anyway! Together we built a holder out of blocks for the utensils. 

We also had a few game stations to keep the kids entertained. I used a graphic LEGO person from a font I found online to make a sign at each station as well as a welcome poster for the front door. 

We had a build station (of course), and two jars of "Guess How Many LEGO Bricks," as well as "Pin the Head on the LEGO Man" game.  I made a head mask out of felt and glued on giant eyeballs. The kids first decorated their own LEGO head using stickers and crayons, then used it for this game. They got a kick out of watching each other spin in circles!

Prizes for the games were mini builder sets I was able to find on clearance at Target for just over $1. (Yeah!) 

Everyone went home with a handmade brick treat bag with name plate. Inside were home-made t-shirts for everyone, LEGO City stickers and notepads, the crayons we made, a silly straw and a ring. Each family got a card for a free LEGO Builders Magazine subscription as well.

As he says every year, "This was the best birthday party EVER!" And this Momma couldn't agree more. We all had a great time!

LEGO®is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site. 

The Speckled Duck does not sell nor share files of this Lego themed party (or any other licensed character), but is to be used strictly for inspiration to create a party for your own little builder. 

Okay, so you'd REALLY like to send 30 cards or letters in April, but you don't have 30 stamps. I see. Well, no problem! Now you can enter to win 30 First Class Stamps so that you can mail to your hearts content! 


It's easy to enter! Just leave a comment here on this blog post telling me who will be the first person you will send a card or letter to on April 1st! 

Would you like some extra entries? No problem! Follow The Speckled Duck on Pinterest, on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for my monthly newsletter, then leave a comment letting me know what you subscribe to. Please leave one comment per entry, so I can be fair in choosing a winner. Each comment will be numbered starting with the first, and a random winner will be chosen on Monday, March 25th, 2013. 

Good luck!

One winner will be chosen via a random number generator app and contacted on March 25, 2013 via the email address you provide when leaving your entry. The prize up for grabs is 30 First Class stamps which will be mailed to you on Tuesday, March 26, 2013.

Thirty days has September, April, June and November. Which is why this April will be the first Speckled Duck 'Send 30 Cards in 30 Days' Challenge! We all know that sending handwritten notes is just something we need to be doing. We should do it because it makes people feel good to receive mail. We should do it because it makes us feel good to connect with people we care about. So what stops you from jotting a quick note and tossing it in the mailbox? It's probably the same for us all.

So, let's join together and stop making excuses. Let's send, in the mail, 30 cards in 30 days. Let's see how it makes us feel. Let's see how it makes the recipients of our cards feel, then let's do it again in June! 

Are ya with me? Great! Now go find yourself 30 cards and 30 stamps and get ready, because April 1st will be here before you know it and you want to be ready to face this challenge head on! 

I've created a 30 card box set special for this challenge. You can pre-order your box here (in my Etsy shop) now until March 11th (pre-orders help me get the cards out on time, so please do so if you can!). The kits will ship via Priority Mail the week of March 25th so you'll have them before the start of the challenge! You'll get 15 designs, two of each card plus white envelopes. There will be a mix of cards so that you have plenty of options to choose from during the month. 

I am really looking forward to this, I hope you will join me!
Paula

So my five year old has been struggling with writing. "It's hard." "I don't like it." "I don't want to." are a lot of the things I hear when it's time to practice those ABCs. I figured out that he needed a project that would give purpose to his writing besides just practice – I tasked him to write the names on the envelopes for all of his birthday party invitations. 

At first he was a little frustrated, and not quite sure why he had to follow such rules, like where to write on the envelope and where not to stamp our return address. I made him start a few again when he got way off key, but let a few little print errors (and a few "mountains" the letters were climbing) slide. After he got the names written, I added in the address... I figured the post office would appreciate that. He then stuffed the invitations inside and (liberally) licked the flaps. He applied the stamps himself, and tried to put one on his freshly drawn firetruck masterpiece, then I took him to the post office to put them into the mail slot all by himself. 

We talked about how writing the names on the cards and addressing them correctly, then applying stamps would get each invitation to the right house so that all of his friends would know about his party. 

I am pretty excited about how this little lesson in writing turned into a multi-step task with a really cool purpose. He's always been a lover of making and giving cards (Hmm, imagine that!), but this is a whole new level for him, that I know he'll be doing more and more often. 

So, how do you find the time to address and mail your Christmas cards? If you're a mom like me, you already have about a million and one things on your to-do list, so adding this (sometimes HUGE) job can seem a bit daunting. 

One thing I love about this time of year is the fellowship of good friends. The Children's Ministry group at my church has always hosted a Christmas Card Party. There's not a whole lot involved to make this a great event. We pick a date and show up with all of our cards, envelopes, stickers, stamps and such for a night of sipping on hot chocolate and listening to Christmas carols while we visit and work on our cards. The time passes so quickly and before you know it, you've conquered a stack of cards. I always love a good reason to get together, and this is one of those times! So, if you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours visiting with friends, yet being incredibly productive at the same time, consider hosting a card party to get all your addressing done right on time! (or at least get a good jump on it!)

Around our house, we love parties that are "off the beaten path." You may recall our Pumpkin Carving Party, the Cookie Exchange and First Dinner. But today I want to tell you about a cool idea from our friends David and April. 

Their really cool idea is to invite friends over on Thanksgiving Day, well after you've enjoyed your turkey (and second helpings of turkey), to share some fabulous pies, desserts, and friendship. They even invite you to bring leftover dessert! How awesome is that? 

This is a come-and-go party in the late evening, so no need to stay the whole time. Just come for a bit and catch up with friends you may not have seen in a while and top off your turkey belly with another slice of pie!

Do you have any special Thanksgiving traditions?