Happy Halloween!!

I can't wait for Trick or Treating, can you?! Hope your Halloween is awesome. Here's a scene from one of my favorite Halloween movies, enjoy!

Such a great movie!

Pamper Yourself for the Cure

Its the last week of Breast Cancer Awareness month, but its not too late to make a small difference. Why not use these items as an excuse to indulge yourself a little bit. Forget about the costumes you need to make, the pumpkins you still need to carve, the parties and the candy and slip into some comfy pjs and slippers, make yourself some cookies, maybe take a bath, or just enjoy some fresh flowers. A little pick-me-up for you can make a small difference!

Pink Pajamas here.

Pink slippers here.

Pink Kitchenaid mixer here (one of my favorite things I own, though sadly mine is not pink!)

Pink Spa Basket here.

And Pink Gerbera Daisy Bouquet here.

From the Desk of A.J. - Breast Friends

As we are coming to the end of our month of being aware of our breast (don’t we need to think pink every month my friends?), I thought I’d share a funny little tid bit from one of my fav sites…Funny or Die.

Lauren Weedman a.k.a. Lauren Butterfield, has posted her series called “Our bodies, Myself”. Many hilarious episodes to choose from but one in particular goes hand in hand with this month. It’s a year old…but still makes me laugh…she’s awesome…love, love, love, the funny ladies!



So…enjoy “Breast Friends”…although funny…it still brings home the message we’ve been chanting…be aware…give when you can…get your mamos…and… check your ta-tas:)

Our Bodies Myself: Breast Friends - watch more funny videos

Book Crush - Goodnight Goon

I've mentioned before how much my little guy loves monsters and all things scary, so you can imagine how beyond excited he is that its Halloween time. We came across this book last year and the kids love it. Michael Rex takes the nighttime classic, Goodnight Moon and puts a spooky twist on it. Instead of a little rabbit, its a small monster and the bowl full of mush is now a bowl full of goo. Even my smallest one recognizes the silliness of the parody (and its mellow enough to not spook her) and I appreciate that Rex chose phrases that fit with the original cadence of Goodnight Moon and the rhymes aren't forced. A great Halloween read!

Find it here (or they have it at Target too!).

Throw A Pink Party!

I saved my favorite find for Pink Week for last! Paper and Cake if offering a PDF package of invitations, decorations, menus, pennants, and I can't even list them all here, but trust me, its a ton of stuff! For $8 you can download the package and print it out at your home (or your nearest Kinkos) to throw your own Pink Party. Half the proceeds from every sale of the package goes to Susan G. Komen Foundation. Invite a group of your favorite gals over for drinks and desert (or brunch). Everyone brings a donation to the foundation of your choice. We think its such a fun idea to raise money and awareness and hey, any excuse to drink a pink cocktail is fine by us!

Find the Paper and Cake package here.

And here's some fun pink cocktail recipes here!

Have a great weekend!

Etsy Finds for Pink Week

Whew! Let me tell you, I worked hard to find you some awesome stuff for Pink Week on Etsy. Because there's a ton on there! But I did all the digging for you to find a few gems for you and your babes.

I love this little pink bunny!! What a sweet little gift for any girl. AND 80% of all sales from this bunny go to the Susan G. Komen Institute. That is an amazing percentage! Find it here.

I don't know a single little girl who wouldn't gasp when they saw this tutu. Its pink on pink on pink for corn's sake! And, with ten dollars from every sale going to Susan G. Komen your favorite ballerina can twirl for a great cause. Find it here.

And finally, this bag is functional and adorable. Soft on the outside and waterproof on the inside, its a great bag for all those creams and lotions that accompany most babes, or even to use for wet diapers or clothes. 10% of every sale to go to Susan G. Komen. Find it here.

Pink Week - Tory Burch Supports BCRF

What better way to kick off our fav finds for pink week then this loverly vest by one of our favorite drool-worthy designers Tory Burch! We love this hot pink number! And 15% of each sale goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. So you can be warm and fuzzy inside and out. ;)

Find it here.

From the Desk of A.J. - Pink Week!

I love that now when you think of October you not only think of orange and black…you think PINK!!!! Yep…you know we here at Pink Swear Designs couldn’t let the month go by without making you think about your ta-tas:)

October is breast cancer awareness month. I’m sure everybody reading this has been touched by breast cancer in some shape or form. Whether it’s a family member, friend, friend of a friend, colleague…the list can go on and on…but somehow this disease has touched you. For me…it’s my mama. She’s a “pink soldier” all right. My mom has always been this big (all 5 foot nothin’ of her) ball of energy. She amazes me at how much she can endure and how her energy is unmatched. After all is said and done…after her treatment years ago…she is even more of a spitfire today than ever before (I love you mama!).

As you all know…we are shopping mama fools…big time. So, for the remainder of the month we’re going to make you aware of all of the wonderful goodies that are out there right now for you to buy that will give moolah to the cause. Yep…we’re going to twist your arm and make it really hard for you not buy our choices for “pink” goodies. We have been searching these past few weeks for the best of the best (and most fun). We chose things that not only did we think were fab…but we also made sure that the items were legit and we looked into how much of each item was going to go to the cause. We really wanted to find the most loveliest of lovelies that we could share with you. Every little bit counts…and even if you don’t buy anything from our list…maybe you’ll stumble upon something of your own and purchase just because it has that pink ribbon. Being aware is the point at the end of the day:)

I never thought about breast cancer awareness until it hit me and my family like a ton of bricks. Now…I notice every pink ribboned item and try whatever I can to give to the cause…and I never forget to do my self exams along with the mamos. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you (or your husband/boy/girl friend) call them…check your ta-tas, check your hooters, check your melons, and in the wise words of Theresa our favorite New Jersey housewife… check your ”bubbies”.

Happy Weekend! - Halloween Edition!

The pumpkins above were made by my kids using this tutorial for yarn apples.

I haven't posted a Happy Weekend in a while, but we've been having too much fun over here crafting Halloween decorations and the like. My little guy is obsessed with Halloween (the scarier the better!) and demands that we go ALL OUT in our decorations. Our storage space is at a premium so I try to decorate with things we can later recycle (or use recycled stuff to decorate!) And I like to be able to let the kids create most of the decorations, they love to be involved. So here are a few of our easy (and cheap!) Halloween decorations that we all did together!

Spider Webs - I'm all about the power of a $1.99 bag of spider webs! We have them on our pictures, our staircase, the bushes outside. And hey, its the perfect excuse not to dust, because the dust only adds to the ambience! ;)

Napkin Ghosts - Remember making these ghosts as a kid? We used to always make these to hang from our trees outside. We made mini ones to decorate our tree inside, and we also hung a bunch from the kitchen ceiling. Just unfold a napkin, wad another napkin into a ball for the head, tie a string around, draw a face. Couldn't be easier!

Halloween Paintings - Halloween themed paintings are something even the most artistically challenged person could handle. Bats, skulls, tombstones are all basic shapes (and the sketchier the spookier!). I drew the outlines and the kids painted them in.

Yarn Wreath - And finally, my work in progress, a Halloween wreath. I bought a straw wreath and wrapped it completely in black yarn. I'm still trying to decide what to decorate it with, but I may just stick our yarn pumpkins in the bottom and put a bow on top. We'll see!!

We're also saving up our milk cartons to make Haunted Houses like these! For some more seriously fun Halloween ideas, check out Ohdeedoh, they've got tons of cute stuff posted! :)

Have any Halloween crafts or projects you're working on?? I'd love to hear all about it! Leave me a note!

Have a great weekend!

Miller Goldman Toys

After seeing these awesome Miller Goldman PlayShapes on Ohdeedoh the other day, I had to check them out and was pleased to see they have a few awesome products. The toys are simple, colorful and full of endless possibilities. They are the kind of toys not only will your kids play with forever, but your grandkids and so on.

Find Miller Goldman here.

From the Desk of A.J. - MobMov Drive-In Movies

Photo by Friendly Made, buy here.

One of my fav childhood memories involves one of my loves of today. I’m sure that’s where it all began….

I am a movie lover through and through. I love all kinds. Bad and good, scary and funny, dark and light, comedy, drama, dramedy, bromance, buddy, quirky, documentaries, sci-fi, large corporate conglomerates to small little indies:) Did I leave anyone out??? I know…horror (I still cover my eyes if I choose to see one…I’m a big ol scaredy cat) and a ton more…but I need to get to my point.

When I was young…I distinctly remember taking an early bath…getting into my cozy Pj’s, grabbing my pillow and heading out to our car. The sun was beginning to set and I knew…it was date night. Date night you ask? Yep…me, little sis, and my parents were off to a night at the drive in.

Now, being a mama…I can’t wait to have date night with the boy wonder and the Hubster. We have our “couples” date night…but when junior gets old enough to stay out a little later than sunset…that’s when the fun will begin and the drive in will be perfect. Oh wait. There's something missing. Uhmm...oh yeah...NO DRIVE INS!!!!

MobMov- started in 2005 by drive in lovers who wanted to bring back the long lost date night venue of the past. All you have to do is visit their website and sign up for a chapter in whatever city you live in or want to be a part of (my city has 472 members…who knew???)…and what’s great…if your city is not listed…you can start a chapter. Yep…you would be the “lead driver” meaning you would "produce" the thing, pick the movie, find the old abandoned warehouse wall to show it on and have the equipment to do so. But what’s sooooo great…the website has a whole tutorial link in how to do all of that…even make some moolah while your doing it (“let’s go down to the lobby, to get ourselves a snack”). All super cool…and sooooo super fun. Depending on what your chapter is into (they’ll email you about 2 weeks ahead of time the where’s and what’s its)…how fun does this sound?

Bringing date night to a whole new…well…re-visited level. I love, love, love, the idea of having a family film festival…or seeing some scary thrillers right now to rev me up for Halloween and I’m always in the mood for a black and white…old school style.

I just remembered sitting in the back seat of my parent’s car (or maybe it was my aunt’s truck?), anyway…seeing Jaws (or maybe it was Herbie the Love bug?)…but I kept trying to sneak a peek at The Blue Lagoon playing behind us…I knew those kids were up to something on that screen:)

Find more information and sign up here.

Zebra Finch Print by Bee Prints

I love finches. Their tiny, their lively, their adorable. A group of them is called a charm, for pete's sake! I harbor a dream of a giant cage out on my sunporch filled with finches. But until The Husband relents (and I get a sun porch for that matter), it will remain just that, a dream. Till then I will have to tide myself over by visiting my local pet shop and perhaps buy myself this happy little print from Bee Things. So sunny, cheerful and graphic! I think it would be an amazing focal point for a small nursery, but it would brighten up any little spot you put it.

Find it here.

Pure Lust - the Connie Necklace

Can we just take a moment and acknowledge how fan-flippin-tastic this necklace would look with a plain black shift dress. Or a kimono tee and skinny jeans. Or a silk tank and shrunken blazer. Or with nothing and everything? Thanks. You may continue on with your day.

Find it here.

Storage! - designs maya*made

Toys. It seems just about every six months or so (maybe less) it will just hit me. We have way too many toys. Which is almost always baffling to me. We rarely, and I mean really rarely buy ours kids toys. Really my only "buying" weakness is books at the thrift store. Who can say no to 25 cent books?? And yet the toys multiply and multiply. And so I find myself knee deep in plastic and plush and get a little crazy. Then I go on a two day purge, mercilessly tossing toys into two piles (donate and sell) and re-organize everything. And when it comes to organizing, I'm in the divide and conquer camp, finding the more I can divide things up (animals, legos, trains, dolls) the chances of every single toy ending up on the floor go down. So I'm always looking for storage. I love these burlap buckets from maya*made. Practical, earth friendly (recycled fabric) and nice to look at? I'm sold. I would love to get two of these and leave one at the top of the stairs for toys that need to go downstairs and one at the bottom of the stairs for toys that need to go back up (ahh the joys of two-story homes!). I also love that she sells her pattern for these buckets, so you could make your own in whatever fabric works for your home! Or how cute for a new mom, instead of a basket of goodies, to make her a fabric bucket of goodies?

Find these buckets (and patterns and pillows and more!) here.

Where The Wild Things Are

Are you as excited as I am about this movie?! Its always been a favorite of mine (and just about everyone I know) and was one of the very first things we bought for my son when we were first pregnant. Its just one of those magical books, that children will love forever. And I'm so happy that the movie is by one of my favorite directors! I'm also totally stoked on all the great merch thats coming out too! These are some of my favorites that I've found:

1. Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak - Find it here at Urban Outfitters
2. Wild Thing Shadow Puppet - Find it here at Urban Outfitters (love this one!!)
3. Wild Scales Throw Pillow - Find it here at Urban Outfitters
4. Max and Wild Thing Silver Pendants - By Elaine Ho, find them here.
5. Max Wolf Tail - attaches to your belt loop! Find it here.
6. Wild Thing Dolls - again at Urban Outfitters, find it and a Max doll and one other W.T. here.

Gallery - Send Us Your Pics!!

The thing we love about our jewelry (besides that its totally rad) is that every single piece we create is so different from the last piece. Because every piece is handmade, and personalized just for you, dear customer, not a single piece looks like another. We're excited to announce that our gallery page is up so you can see for yourself the variety of pieces we churn out. We try to take pictures before we send our creations out to you, but most times we get too excited to get them to you and send them on their merry way before snapping a pic! In that spirit, we'd love love love it if you'd send us your personal pictures of your jewelry to add to our gallery!

Send us your pictures through our contact page and be sure to check out the new gallery pics here!