Today let’s chat kiddos! It’s safe to say the amount of blog posts, Easter basket guides and information floating around for children’s baskets can be overwhelming. Without giving you a massive list of all of the things you could buy I am simply going to share what I did buy.

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My formula for an Easter basket is simple. Are you ready?
LITERATURE:
A book, or two is perfect. I place more Spring and Easter books on his bookshelf in his room

BASKET FILLERS:
Easter themed gadgets are always fun. Think bunny ears, bunny glasses, a bunny silly straw cup, window clings and confetti eggs. These can be crazy and entertaining!

ACTIVITIES:
What kid doesn’t love to be active? I love this plastic bat and ball set with foam base set from the Target dollar spot. Plus, I added this giant slinky for the stairs and this super fun cone + ring set!

SWIMSUIT:
It’s that time of the year! If you kiddos swim it’s likely the swimsuit from last year doesn’t fit anymore. This is the perfect time to gift a necessity in a fun way!

JAMMIES:
Generally I gift bunny PJ’s the week before (and I have another pair I will do that with), but my little guy is obsessed with Peter Rabbit. The hope was Patter Rabbit 2 would land in theaters in time for Easter, but it turns out it doesn’t release in the US until July. These jammies were to pair with his dry first movie theater movie… but instead he will get them now and a movie later. He might as well wear them before he grows out of them!

SWEETS:
Right now I have some M&M’s in his basket, but next week I will pick up his custom Easter cookies from The Sugar Cookie Studio that he loves! We all love them so much this bunny may have ordered some for everyones Easter basket!

BASKET:
Don’t forget the basket! If you have been following along this week you know that any vessel goes as a way to hold goodies from the bunny. but for our Easter morning treats I love nothing more than a coordinated family basket scene. I ordered our basket from this small business and love them each year!

You can shop the linkable items in your favorite place. LiketoKnow.it or Amazon shop one, or both!

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I’d love to know, do you have a formula for baskets? I love that I am able to gift fun, educational, themed items but also tuck in necessities that I am going to have to purchase anyway and gift in a fun way!

To see our other themed baskets visit these blog posts below:
NEWLY ENGAGED EASTER BASKET
WINE + WHISKEY EASTER BASKETS
BEAUTY THEMED EASTER BASKETS

I can not believe I am finally typing this post! You read that right, our family is growing by 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! It is safe to say that Barrett is elated to be a big brother and Blair and I are so excited to welcome baby #2 this summer! I also think it is safe to say the doodles are riding along on this journey called life!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17

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Yes, I said this summer – I am half way thru my pregnancy! I credit the pandemic and not seeing anyone with the ability to conceal this growing bump. It also turns out that being 35 and in the “high-risk” category comes with its own set of tests, challenges and appointments. We are so thankful to have a precious baby on its way, and are continuing to cover this sweet little one in prayers!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:13

Praise of a perfect little one is exactly where our hearts are! Now that the secret is out I can’t wait to share more with you soon. There is no doubt I will be back to posting on social media now that my morning sickness is more under control. 🙂

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Can I just say how excited I am to watch Barrett become a big brother! He has the most amazing, independent (if you can’t tell from these amazing photos) personality and I have no doubt he will be the biggest help, best example and make welcoming baby #2 even more exciting!

Last, I can not hit “post” without giving two women a huge shout out! Brittany with Butter Artistry deserves a huge, virtual hug for making this mama feel her best! Even my sweet husband asked how we could get my eyelashes to look this good every day!
Courtney with Courtney Leigh Photography is the soul reason we have these amazing memories frozen in time! Chances are if you have been poking around the site you have noticed Courtneys name in quite a few places. She truly is so gifted and the number one person I trust to capture my crazy family. Y’all should have seen what was going on behind the scenes… bless her for even capturing any images at all! I told you my toddler is very independent!

I hope you are ready to go on this ride with me. I am honored you are here and that I get to share not only my work, but my heart and the reason behind what I do – my family. Thank you for being here!

xo Christina

I can’t believe the day is here! A day that feels like it has been 12,775 days in the making. I was always raised to believe I could be anything I wanted to be, and I get told often that I sure am a lot of things. 🙂 Now that I own multiple businesses (and know my entrepreneur days are far from over) it became evident that I needed a place on the web to keep my businesses more streamlined.

A place that was more than the site I put together a few years ago. A place that pulled together all of my brands, collaborations, links and thoughts into one place. That place is here! Welcome to the brand new christinafrederick.com!

There are so many things to see like links that take you directly to Christina Leigh Events and The Helpful Host! There are places to shop my favorites and get the best deals from my tried and true brand affiliates.

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My favorite feature might be the “big kahuna” and the massive blog! It filters between weddings, celebrations, workshops, holidays, beauty, motherhood and lifestyle posts! It’s a place for me to share business, my heart and my family. It’s a place I hope you find full of education, tips and tricks and lots of love. You can shop my Beautycounter favorites straight from my new Beauty page, what?! A place that is real, honest and kind. A corner of the internet that will always be like a tiny celebration, complete with confetti, with open arms.

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The shop page is a close second because it’s the best way that I can help you! It’s a place for you to see what’s in my closet, shop my favorite beauty finds and see what I use my Prime account for!

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This tiny (actually monster of a site) would NOT have been possible without Nellie Sparkman. This women is a website mastermind! She built out my three new sites, linked them all together and somehow has me in awe of her ability to not tell me no. She turned my bow sketch into my new watermark, created coding for pages and pages of these sites and tied all of the fonts together and more. I could keep going, but none of my new sites would exist without her.

So here she is in all of her glory! I would love to know, what is your favorite feature?

Yes, I said that correct. I can’t un-know what I now know.

By no means does that mean that I know everything, but what I am slowly starting to open my ears and eyes to is decades of our nation growing, but not following along with laws and regulations.

I never thought I would be a “crunchy” mom.

It’s a huge responsibility to raise a little one and when I learned that our bodies absorb 60% of what we put on it – did you know your skin is your largest organ – directly into your blood stream it gets you thinking.

So why should I put harmful things on him, or myself when I cuddle him as much as I can, if I can avoid it.

Here are just a few things that I can’t un-know:

1. Did you know the word “fragrance” or “perfume” is an umbrella for over 4,000 ingredients?* This means that any company can put ANYTHING in to a product and label it as “Fragrance” – the kicker is they can keep said ingredients secret because that umbrella allows for “proprietary information” to be housed under it.
   One of the MANY ingredients that can be used includes methylene chloride – a known carcinogen, and banned by our own FDA in the late 1980s, but no regulation exists due to the fragrance umbrella term. What do you think about added “fragrance” now?
2. Did you know that the FDA hasn’t passed a law governing the health and beauty industry since 1938. That bill is also only 2.5 pages long… I know for a fact there’s not enough in those 2.5 pages to keep up with the industry today.
3. Did you know there are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today. Many of them do not have any safety data – most specifically those used in the health and beauty industry.
4. The kicker, and maybe worse of all. Did you know that the FDA does not have the authority to remove harmful ingredients from the products that we put on our bodies and the bodies of our babies. Even if they found out what ingredients were hidden in products they couldn’t do anything about it!
5. How about the fact that the European Union bans close to 1,400 chemicals in the product formulas of personal care products, plus regulates the levels of another 250 products. Canada has banned close to 600 and the United States has banned thirty – three zero – from the products we absorb in to our blood stream day after day.

There is more, much more, but to me these are the biggies. The lack of regulation is the root of the problem and something that I am committed to helping change.

This is the biggest reason I believe in Beautycounter. We are a company founded on a mission, we don’t have a mission just because it’s cool. We believe in education first before producing products. However, I am 100% confident in the products we produce because not only are they well performing, but they are safe.

Beautycounter has prohibited the use of more than 1,800
questionable and harmful chemicals in our products.

The Never List is our list of ingredients that you will never find in our products. I have the coolest story about our process to confirm this, but will have to save that for another post. 🙂

In addition to creating standards for ourselves Beautycounter is being recognized industry wide. We are proud to have been recently re-certified as a B Corporation with a score of 95—our highest rating ever and a 14-point jump from two years ago.

The B stands for Benefit, and it means that, unlike the traditional corporate structure, we consider people, the planet, and profits equally. We use the power of business to help solve social and environmental problems by voluntarily meeting rigorous standards of transparency, accountability, and performance. Becoming a Certified B Corporation is a difficult accomplishment, and we did it right from the very beginning.

To be certified as a B Corporation, a brand must meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. We are pleased to participate in this growing community of more than 2,000 Certified B Corps from 50 countries and over 130 industries working together toward one unifying goal:

to redefine success in business.

I could talk all day about the amazing things that Beautycounter is doing for the industry, but for now what can I help with? Are you ready to switch over your beauty products in your home? Are you curious about how to get involved with our movement and mission? What questions can I answer for you? I am here to help, educate and cheer as we join together to change one law at a time.

Sources:
Fragrance
Beauty Industry
B Corporation
Beautycounter

My little boy is ONE! How in the world did a single year go so fast, yet so slow all at the same time? To be honest I am not sure I remember the first few months, but have plenty of pictures and videos to help!

One thing I knew I wanted was a professional to capture for little guy on his first birthday, and I could not have been more trilled when I received the images from Courtney Leigh Photography. Courtney not only captured our sweet little family, but Barrett’s little personality and all of his little furry friends.  

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You are a spunky, fearless, contagiously happy little boy sweet Barrett and if I know any one thing it is that I am right where I am suppose to be. You not only made me a “mama” but made me a better person. I have learned a new level of multitasking, new ways to get ready in under 5 minutes, how to minimize wardrobe changes (for the both of us) and how to keep my eyes open for the God winks.

Thank you for everything you are and all that you are making me! Let’s do this year two!