Spring is coming!! Here in New England it is almost 60 degrees today and I am so ready for nice warm weather to arrive. Break out the shorts, sun dresses, and sandals! It is also a great time to try some new products that will make your Spring more enjoyable. I have curated a list of some of my favorite products that I will be using this Spring, so take a peek and see what might spark some Springtime inspiration.
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This Spring, I have a few different categories for these products to better organize them for you. With the weather getting better, many of these items can be used for outdoor activities to make your time outside even more enjoyable.
Picnics
When it comes to Springtime, I am all for picnics!! They are fun, a great way to hang out with friends and family, and fairly easy with the right food. Pack a couple nut/sun butter and jelly sandwiches and you are good to go!
If you are meeting at the park for lunch a great things to pack to be eco-friendly is a set of reusable utensils. When I meet up with anyone outside at the park, I love bringing my reusable utensils so that I know I am not throwing away a one-time-use product. The utensil set that I have is very similar to this set on Amazon, but mine does not have the straw, so I usually pack my own bamboo or silicone straw. You can also get multiple sets for your whole family, like this pack of four utensil sets for $14.99, which is a great deal! This summer I am planning on getting Lydia her own utensil set, since Aaron and I both already have one, but if you have never bought a set before and want one of each member of your family, definitely snag this set of four!
Another picnic essential is a blanket, but not just any blanket! A waterproof blanket is clutch when going for a picnic. I have had my waterproof picnic blanket since college from Bed Bath & Beyond, but it still looks like new because it is so durable. However, it has been almost ten years since I bought my blanket, so it is no longer being sold (bummer, also gross that college was almost ten years ago!!). I did find this super cute yellow checkered blanket that I obviously put into my wish list because it is so cute!!
Living in New England, it is necessary to make sure your picnic blanket is waterproof so that when you set up your picnic in a spot under a tree that hasn't totally dried from yesterdays rain shower, you bet your butt will still be dry with that waterproof blanket!
When out in nature, you and your littles will be bound to get dirt on your hands and I absolutely love the Honest Company hand sanitizer spray. I got this before I had Lydia to put in my diaper bag and I am so glad I did. She loves using it because she likes the spray on her hands and then I tell her to "rub rub rub!" so that she gets excited about washing her hands. They also all smell great but not overwhelming like other hand sanitizers.
Lastly on the subject of picnics, but this item can really be used for all kinds of things, is the Clevermade LUXE collapsable tote. I bought this tote a few months ago, and it is honestly so great. It collapses with snapping sides and it lies flat for easy storage. I store it in our front door closet and it barely takes up any room.
This tote is a great picnic packer because you can fit so much into this tote. It could easily fit your picnic blanket, a lunchbox or reusable bag of food, and a couple small outdoor toys or a ball for kiddos. It is durable, but looks super cute.
What I love about this tote is that I can use it for so many things. I use it for everyday use if I have a few errands to run and need a a "container" to put my purchases. I will put my diaper caddy and library books in it for our day at the library. If we go out for a day trip, I will use it to pack our essentials and diaper items. For weekend trips, it is especially helpful because I use it as a catch all for miscellaneous items that I am not sure what to do with, but know I will need! Basically it is amazing and what are you doing still reading this post when you could be buying this awesome tote!
Kiddos
For Christmas, Lydia got this beautiful Jan Brett puzzle that I think is actually perfect for Spring. It features animals illustrated by Jan Brett with flowers on either sides of their names with a light blue background that makes me think of Spring. Lydia loves this puzzle and it has been a great way for her to identify different animals. She loves to pick up the pieces and hand them to me so that I can put the puzzle together, then she likes to look at the different animals and say what they are once it is done.
This puzzle is a great gift for kids since it is so beautiful and easy enough for little hands. It only has 24 pieces and they are large, so it is easy for little hands to put together. The puzzle is also a great size since you can see so much detail in the animals with it being on the bigger side.
Now that Lydia is older, I don't need to bring a huge diaper bag with me anymore. This has been one of the greatest parenting changes, holy moly! It is a game changer to no longer lug around my giant diaper bag (even though I do love it, my arms just get tired). Now when I am out and about with Lydia, I use the Skip Hop Portable Changing Mat.
This. Thing. Is. CLUTCH. LITERALLY.
The Skip Hop Portable Changing Mat is essentially a diaper clutch. It has a changing pad that you can detach from the rest if you want (like if you are still using a big diaper bag), but then you can also use the diaper "clutch" part of it to store diapers and wipes. In the mesh pouch I usually store 2-3 diapers and in the zippered pouch that is inside the clutch I put our wipes and travel side baby powder (talc-free, duh).
I love this thing so much. When I first bought it, I thought it maybe felt like overkill, but once I realized I did not need to bring a huge diaper bag with me everywhere I knew my relationship with this purchase would change. I bring it everywhere and it is easy to put into a tote bag, purse, or backpack. It does also have a zippered pouch in the front that you can put your own things in if you want, but I usually don't because I pretty much always have a purse with me.
This changing mat is also great, because when changing her in public places, everything is so easily accessible because I am not digging into a diaper bag to fetch wipes and whatnot. It is right at her head and it is so easy to pack up.
Style
For the past ten years, when it is a rainy day, I am wearing my Hunter boots. I got my first pair in college after I went through about four pairs of rain boots within a year and was sick of constantly buying boots. The amount of money I spent on four pairs of cheap boots that just got holes in them immediately was the same as what I paid for my Hunter boots that lasted me almost ten years.
In 2018 I got my second pair since the first pair I got in college were bright teal and I wanted something a little less bright. So for almost ten years, they still never got a hole in them even though I wore them a lot. The pair I got in 2018 are a matte purple and I absolutely love them. They are the adjustable boot, which is so comfortable especially with wearing jeans or pants.
Wearing my Hunter boots is so nice when it is raining out, but also just on a regular Spring day if it rained the day before or earlier that same day and the ground is still wet. Because our yard is partially wooded, I like to wear my Hunters around the yard when we are out there because they are also so easy to clean. They are a great quality boot that I know will last me another ten years at least and I can't say enough good about them!
Another helpful Christmas gift that I got that I am excited to use during Spring is my Patagonia vest. I have used it quite a bit this winter as an extra layer over a long sleeve, or under a jacket to stay more warm. However, I knew this item would probably come in most handy during the Spring.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sweaty monster. I like Winter, but I hate wearing big bulky jackets because as soon as I get inside anywhere, I am sweating. With Spring, sometimes you don't really know what to wear because the morning might be cold but the afternoon is warm. That is why I love my Patagonia vest, because it is warm, but not smothering. It is not bulky and lightweight, which I love.
As the weather gets warmer, this vest is nice to have so that you can keep your core warm without getting overheated and becoming a sweaty mess. Keep your pits dry and get a vest!
I love bags. Ask my husband and he will tell you all the times he has begged me to get rid of some my bags. I got rid of a lot of them when I KonMari'd them, but I still have more than I really need. But they spark joy and I made sure they all fit on my shelves, so its okay!
One bag that I love so much is my Osgoode Marley "Phoebe Flap" bag that I bought in Camden, ME on our "babymoon." When I bought this bag, I had been looking for a purse that was two tone black and brown to go with anything I was wearing. Finding this bag was so exciting and I believe I got it on sale (again, from babymoon, so I got this bag in 2017 and my memory is foggy).
I love this bag for so many reasons, but mostly because I can fit so much stuff in there. Here is a list of the things I have stuffed into this bag at any given time and still had room:
- cell phone
- keys (like a massive wad of them)
- 2-3 chapsticks (I don't know, my lips are super chapped all the time and I have all these chapsticks that I should be using and never do hence the perpetually chapped lips)
- at least 5 pens (I am a pen hoarder, don't judge me)
- pepper spray (safety first!)
- Honest Company hand sanitizer listed above
- 2 hair elastics (give or take)
- tissues
- my wallet (with too much spare change because I still use cash sometimes)
- Kindle (you never know when you sill be stuck somewhere for three hours)
- diaper (I'm a mom)
- baby wipes
- random small toy that is Lydia's current favorite small toy
- granola bar (for her, not me)
- mints or gum
- reusable bag all crumped up or stuffed into their holding bag
Yeah, this bag is not that big, but it holds a ton. The Phoebe is great for organizing, too, because it has two sections in the bag separated by a zippered section. Then there is a thin pocket in the front of the bag where I usually put my phone and keys. The back of the bag has a zippered slot as well as there being a zippered pocket inside of the back of the bag.
This bag is great because it is low profile but looks great with everything. I use this bag year round and am constantly reaching for it when I go anywhere over other bags. It is a cross body, which is my favorite type of bag because I feel like I'm not constantly tugging at it trying to keep it on my shoulder. All around, I love this bag and love that Osgoode Marley is a New England company based out of New Hampshire! (Check out their website here.)
Crafts
The last item on my list of favorites has to be my Cricut Maker. This cutting tool is nuts and I have barely scratched the surface with it. So far I have made some vinyl stickers, used the pens to "write" little quips, and cut out a couple cards. But all of the things I have done have been super fun and I love using this tool!
Since some of my blog content is crafting, I am excited to use the Cricut to create more content and have some crafts available for you all to find on the Cricut Design Space. I have not experimented much yet because I want to get the basics down, but I am excited to use this tool to create gifts and unique items to sell.
The Cricut Maker has so many capabilities since it can cut over 300 materials, that honestly, I am a bit overwhelmed sometimes with where to start. There are so many projects on Design Space to try out, which means more trips to Michael's and Hobby Lobby for supplies!
If you have a Cricut, what have been some of your favorite projects you've made with it? Comment below and tag me on Instagram in a pic of it!
Woo!! We made it to the end of this list! Thanks for sticking around until the end of this post and I hope there was something here that might interest you for Spring. Let me know if you have any of these products or if you end up getting any of these items and love them. The most important thing of all, is that warm weather is on its way and Spring is almost here!
xoxo,
TBS