This is Paris.

We were invited to a birthday party for our niece this past weekend. Trying to figure out a thoughtful gift to give, I took into account her parents had their honeymoon in Paris. In a way, it almost seemed like Paris was the start of her own story. With that being said...

We bought the birthday girl, This is Paris, by Miroslav Sasek, a children's travel book.

Each page has a vintage appeal making it seem timeless and classic. You can't help but adore every illustration.

Paris is brought to life right before your eyes with each turn of the page. The quiet and beautiful details depicted in this book are memorizing.

Each page will delight you with something not only charming but interesting.

It's the type of book, that will promote a love of travel in your child and enchant their dreams with the beauty of Paris.

When I stumbled upon this free printable for a paper city of Paris, complete with street lights, Parisians, a patisserie, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Arc D'Triomphe, from Made By Joel, I had to include it along with the book.

Hopefully after the birthday girl reads all about Paris, she can act out a story of her own using Made by Joel's paper version of Paris.

We also exchanged some money for euros and included it in her birthday card with a note that reads: Hoping one day you will see Paris with your own eyes. When you make it there, use these euros to buy yourself something that will remind you of what Paris means to you.

Paint Your Own Pottery

I've always been intrigued by paint your own pottery places. They seem like such fun, whimsical places where creative possibilities are endless. After finding a local studio, I decided it was time to finally try it out.

The only problem, when I am confronted with a completely blank slate, I almost start to panic. I get lost in the possibilities and can't seem to pinpoint a direction I want to follow. I realize, this is ridiculous. This should be a fun experience.

I finally decided I would do Grace's hand print on a decorative plate. Easy enough. Then came deciding on colors (ugh, another decision). My 'go to' colors tend to be white and red so that's what I selected. With paintbrush in hand, Grace begin to paint the plate.

I helped her add her chubby little hand print to the center of the plate and passed it along to be fired. We waited a week and anxiously went to retrieve our treasure. Though, I should have been excited about our creation, I couldn't get the image of Wilson from Cast Away out of my head. Do you see what I mean.

Lesson learned, probably not a good decision to do either a hand print or fingerprints in red paint. So, I decided to give it to a grandma. Grandmas have to love this sort of personalized gift, right? I was right, she loved it!

Disappointed my masterpiece didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, I decided to give it another try. I selected a square tile, with the intention of adding some felt to the back and using it as a trivet when finished. I still wanted to incorporate Grace in some way so, I painted a tree trunk and had Grace dip her fingertip in varying colors of green to make the leaves. Quick and simple.

This one, I'm keeping!