Wordless Wednesday - Flowers at the Bellagio

Busy, busy

With the opening of my Etsy shop, several orders and custom requests, Cayden's sleep regression, and an impromptu 24 hour trip to Vegas, I haven't had a chance to just stop and breath for a while. Now everything is catching up to me and baby and I caught a nasty cold. Today I'm trying to just take it easy and take a break. Hopefully once I feel better and my custom orders are caught up I can find some time to sit and design some new things to add to Mama Matryoshka! I really want to get some new cupcake and cake toppers up and hopefully design some fun banners! I also have Vegas pictures, 2 fun blog posts, and a giveaway coming up which I am super excited for! Now if only this pesty cold would go away I could get to work!

Friday Favorites: I heart Easter

I absolutely love the changing of the seasons and the different things that come with each one, and Spring is no exception. I don't know what it is this year, but I am just loving Easter! It's not really a religious holiday for me, it's more a fun holiday for the kids. This is Cayden's first Easter so of course I'm going all out. I can't wait to dress him up like a bunny and let him find eggs with his cousin in my mama's front yard. I've had his Easter basket done for a few weeks now, because I literally couldn't wait to get started. (More on that to come in a future post!) I have been trying to incorporate a lot of handmade items versus store bought, and I've been scouring the interwebs for ideas. I have found a lot of really unique and creative stuff, so I am dedicating Friday Favorites to lovely Easter!

 I am loving these sweet crocheted baby chicks. They would make such a great addition to your baby's first basket, don't you think? (The nest made out of twine is such a great touch, too!)

If you love Peeps, you NEED to see this post for a ton of sweet Peeps treats (try saying that 3 times fast)! I'm not even a fan and I think those chocolate covered pretzels look amazing!

 Coming from one of my favorite Etsy shops are these Easter wooly hatching eggs. The amount of detail on these toys are truly spectacular. You might think they are a little pricey, but when you read about the labor intensive process you'll understand why. (I also want their Matryoshka doll!)

This DIY paint chip Easter garland is one of the most creative projects I've seen. The cost? Practically free! You can find out how to make one here.

 You guys had to know I was going to plug my OWN Etsy shop, right? I still have these pretty and intricate Easter egg cupcake wrappers available (in pastel or the color of your choosing) as well as this sweet Easter card. I am also taking custom orders for cupcake toppers, banners, or any thing else you need to celebrate so make sure to visit! Also, today is the last day to take advantage of this 10% disount code!

 Last but not least, a quick and easy tutorial on how to make your own Easter grass. If you're like me and hate the plastic stuff make sure to take a look! 

I hope you enjoyed this post, and were inspired to celebrate Easter in a bigger and better way (not to mention handmade)! Tell me, what fun Easter traditions does YOUR family have? I'd love to hear!

Mama Matryoshka - the grand opening!

The day has finally arrived... I am officially introducing my Etsy shop, Mama Matryoshka! I could not be more excited to share all of my hard work with all of you and I truly hope you all like it!

A little about the shop: I focus mainly on handmade cards, party invitations, cupcake toppers, photo props, chipboard albums, and banners, but I'm hoping to also get a ton of requests for custom projects. Putting together party packages are my favorite which basically means that you tell me about your event and I will create custom invitations, banners, cupcake toppers, and anything else you need to fit your theme! I named the shop Mama Matryoshka obviously because of my love for Russian nesting dolls, aka matryoshkas. They are a huge inspiration to me and this card was one of the first things I made!

Right now I have a good sized selection of items up, but I plan to constantly add more. I'm always making stuff and I'm inspired by everything I see so be sure to check back often to see what's new (and I'll also be blogging about new items here)! And of course, if you don't see what you need then convo me and I'd be more than happy to create the perfect custom item for you!

I'm also extremely happy to announce that I've already gotten 2 sales! I opened my shop a few weeks ago so I could get a head start on listing items, and twice this week I woke up to see that someone had purchased some of my photo prop party packages! I may or may not have jumped up and down with excitement. 2 sales before announcing my shop to the public? Off to a great start! My products have also already been listed in 2 gorgeous treasuries, a nautical themed one and one inspired by the book 'Water for Elephants'. I am so honored! 

So much time and hard work has gone into the opening of this shop from creating inventory, taking pictures, listing, and of course blogging about it! I have already gotten so much positive feedback and I couldn't be more thrilled. To everyone who commented on my announcement and sneak peak posts, thank you. Your words mean everything to me! I also want to give a HUGE thank you to my sister who not only created my banner and icon, but who also acted as my model for my photo props after a long day with her tantruming, no-napping toddler. Isn't she just gorgeous? Love you, sis!

Lastly, as a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has offered support both on the blog and on Twitter I want to offer my readers a special discount code! Just enter 'DOMESTICATEDDELIGHT' when you check-out and a 10% discount will automatically be applied to your order! I'm also working on getting a button up for those who have been asking, and hopefully that will be done soon! (I'm actually in the market for a new blog design, too. If anyone can recommend someone please let me know!)

Thank you once again, and happy shopping!

Etsy shop sneak peak #3 - Photo props!

Etsy shop sneak peak #2 - Easter

Etsy shop sneak peak #1 - Red & Aqua