Valentines day for the deployed

The holidays were hard enough with out our loved one... now coming up is the most romantic holiday of the year. Lets try and make them feel like they are home and with us on this day. So, what travels well? What's unique? What wont he hate? I have scoured through the inter webs and came up with a pretty decent list to start your valentines day package.

What travels well:

• Not chocolate. That's the one thing you think of when it's valentines day. I know, that puts a damper in all the gifts I was thinking of too!
• Hard candy
• Home made cookies- They will travel pretty well. they might be stale a few days after he gets them but if you seal them in a Pringles container or well sealed Tupperware, they should make it. On the upside, if they happen to not stay fresh, stale home made cookies are better than anything that they are eating out there, I promise.
• Cake- Mason Jar cake to be exact. Just make sure that you use bubble wrap and news paper and anything you can think of to protect that glass.... shard glass in cake doesn't sound fun.

What's unique:

• Anything home made. Cards, scrap books, picture frames, any pictures of your hometown, kids, and other familiar places and faces. If your not that creative Shutterfly makes this easy. Just upload all the pics you want, pick out the colors, theme, choose the picture you want on the page and it does everything else for you. Pages and pictures are of great quality too. 
• Calander- good idea if he just deployed. you can put every ones birthday, and special holidays or events to celebrate. They loose track of time out there so this will really help them out. Also, you can get on Shutterfly and add pictures to each of the months to make it extra unique.
• Pillow case. Find the highest thread count, and softest fabric, spray his fave perfume of yours on it (load it up). Place it in a plastic bag and tie it really tight so the smell stays on the pillow case. When he opens it he will get a wall of your perfume and should send him tons of memories of you!
• Teddy bear. Sounds lame but go to Build A Bear and you can add your voice to the bear and say cute sayings to him. If he's staying anywhere like where my husband is, its hard for him to call or Skype so all he will have to do is push the bear's paw to hear your voice :)
• Video- cant go wrong with a video of you telling him you love him and his family saying hi, kids playing in the yard, or your dog licking the lens. Edit them together and add his favorite song; it will defiantly bring a smile to his face. I did this for Christmas for my husband one year of the snow falling, friends that were home for the holidays that he hadn't seen since high school and us decorating the tree. He said that was the best present he ever got. :)
• Photo blanket of you and loved ones- I got one for my friend from Walmart online with a collage of her family. They are decently priced, really soft and warm.

What he wont hate:

• Anything he needs. i.e a new watch, sun screen, new sheets for his bed or a new camera
• Snacks- granola, chips, hard candy, gum, mints, microwave mac and cheese, Jerky, and his favorite cereal
• Recreating his favorite dinner. For Thanksgiving this year I did a recreation a turkey dinner which included turkey jerky, sweet potato chips, dried cranberries, Dole cinnamon apple crisp (its a play off of the Stoffer's cinnamon apple sides) and load baked potato Pringles

Mason Jar Cake Recipe:

• 6 mason jars
• Cake mix, and the ingredients on the back
•  Cooking spray (Pam) 
• Bamboo skewers
• A rimmed cookie sheet

- Preheat the oven as directed on the box

- Make the cake batter as shown on box

- Grease the inside of the jar with cooking spray

- Fill the jars to just below the one-cup mark. make sure you wipe down the jar real good so there isn't any excess batter

- Place the jars evenly spaced on the cookie sheet.

- Bake the cakes until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. They say 15 mins less than the box directions but I've read that it actually ends up being longer, just keep an eye on them. Mine took a lot longer than what the internet said.

- While the jars are still hot, place the seals and rings on the jars; the seals and rings should be at room temperature or warmer. Make sure not to tighten the rings too much. Within 15 minutes the lids should seal themselves so the center button can no longer be depressed. Add a cute scrapbook tag or decorate it and your done

 

 

 

 

As always; For every package:
Their favorite:

• Shampoo/body wash
• Colone
• Tooth brush/paste
• Snacks
• Baby wipes
• Pictures
• Playing cards
• Video games
• Movies
• PC computer games
• Powered juice (for water bottles i.e. crystal light, gatorade, mio)
• Vitamins
• Air activated heating pads
• Paper and pens (incourage writing letters instead of emails)
• Local news papers
• Magizines
• And anything else that will help them feel like home

Also, get creative, decorate the box.. with stickers, markers, construction paper... :)

-enjoy

My bargain style

I was on Pinterest the other night and I was looking up clothing ideas when I realized that alot of the clothing on there I had in my closet. Not to say that I have the most amazing style but I think I have pretty good taste in clothes. I also notices the brand names... I hardly ever paid full price for any of my clothes. I like to shop at the sale racks at Rue 21, JC Pennys, Target, TJ Maxx, Ross...etc. So for those of you thrifty people, I have some examples of my style. They are pretty close to the expensive clothes so I thought just because you, like me, shop at thrifty places, doesn't mean you cant look good or that you don't have style. I am in the middle of packing so all my accessories are in boxes everywhere so I just chose to focus on the clothes

I got this dress and cover: Rue 21 on clearance

 The cover up: Pac sun on clearance last winter

black tank top and necklace: Target

Dress pants: Bells Outlet

 

 Shirt: JCpennys on clearance

Jeans: Pac sun BOGO free

 

 Shirt and shorts: JCPennys, clearance

 

 

 Whole outfit: Rue 21

Shoes: Converse, Target

 

 Blazer: Rue 21 clearance

Shirt: target

Pants: Pac sun BOGO free

Shoes: traffic clearance

Clutch: Clearance on the Royal caribbean cruise $10 sale

 

 Whole outfit: Rue 21, including watch

 

 Top shoe: Target

 

Sweater: Goodwill

Shirt: Rue 21

Pants: Ross

Boots: some random shoe place in FL on sale

 

 

 

 

I know that they aren't exactly like the brand names, but they are pretty close and the concept is down. Now you can feel confident rockin' the clearance section of your favorite store, and know that just because you cant or wont pay $100 for a pair of jeans, doesn't mean your not gonna find a cute pair that looks just like them :) good luck bargain shopping all :)

 

Until next time,

 

 



As a house wife....

  I am a cleanaholic... sometimes... mostly when I know people are over. I don't like anything out of place. I kind of go a little bit insane when I don't know someone is coming over. Sometimes my husband comes home from work and says "by the way [name] is coming over for a minute, but don't go all crazy, they aren't coming inside" by the time he says "by the way..." I'm rushing around the house like a maniac picking up pillows, folding blankets, quickly Swiffer vacuum the living room (we have a husky and she sheds like nobody's business). Even though he says they aren't coming in, I don't want to take the chance. Even when I'm by myself and I actually notice that the house is getting dirty, I kind of lose my mind. I think everything needs to have a place, and not scattered around. I hated when I worked because the house gets slowly dirty and I'm so tired that I don't clean. The dishes pile up, the mail and random papers pile up all over the kitchen and coffee table, it sucks, I feel dirty. Luckily I found a daily checklist off of Pinterest. It helps me a lot because when I don't know people are coming over, I already have a lot done through out the week, so all I have to do is pick up a bit.

I don't have a kids room so I edited it to say mudroom and added the things I need to do on mine but other then that it really comes in handy. Its ridiculously simple if you keep up with it. I've noticed the pet hair doesn't pile up, the laundry is easier to do, and the dishes take only a few minutes because I do them every night now. I also found that if you are lazy (most days I am) you can do them in between your shows; instead of fast forwarding through the commercials let them play and do one chore at a time... by the time the show is done, I'm pretty much done. There is no excuse... anyone can find time to do at least one thing in between anything that your doing.

Tricks of the trade:

Mirrors: spray pledge on a rag and wipe down the mirrors, it actually clean better then Windex
Windows: use a vinegar and news paper... the newspaper leaves no streaks or fuzz behind.
Hard water stains on faucets: cut a lemon in half and rub it on the faucets, the citric acid cleans it
Dishwasher: take vinegar and put it in a microwave safe container on the top rack, sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the dishwasher and run on the hottest setting
Microwave: fill up a microwave safe bowl (I use my measuring glass) with water, turn on high for a few minutes and the steam will loosen the grim
Baseboards: take a bounce sheet and clean the base boards, it cleans them amazingly and it repels lint and dust from coming back longer
Drain: sprinkle baking soda down the drain and add white vinegar and it will naturally clean the drain and reduce smell. Also, you could throw lemon/lime wedges down the garbage disposal and turn it on and it will reduce the smell.
Cut down on dishes: after you eat rinse off you plate... easy
Heat rings on wooden table: they say coat the ring in mayo and leave for about 12-15 hrs... I haven't tried this one yet but I will shortly and get back to you :)

Love you all,

Craft: head phones

  When I worked for Glass Production, a few of the girls I worked with all went to Bolivia for missions work. I was never allowed to go to another country for missions work, and it was always too expensive for me. One day I saw the girls making these bracelets, I asked why are they making so many and she told me they were making them for all the little boys in the orphanage that they stay in Bolivia. I, of course wanted to help as much as possible, if I cant go to Bolivia I will help with this cute idea. So I bought a bunch of colored string and hemp string at Michael's and everyday during work, at home, and in the car (not driving of course), I would just make bracelets to show that, even though I couldn't help them get to Bolivia with donations, I could help in other ways.

  With that said, I was looking online at craft websites and blog after blog after blog where I stumbled upon a website that had thousands and thousands of crafts... pretty easy crafts (not that I could ever find the website again to keep looking at it). Well I found these head phones that were wrapped with yarn. It looked really cool so I thought, well I have hundreds of different color string up stairs that I'm never going to use again, why not?? So this is what I came up with:

You will need:

• colored string or yarn (I like string because yarn gets fuzzy after a while and I carry my headphone with me every where.. including the gym so I didn't want it to get ruined so easy)
• Head phones
• Tape

 

I used the same knots that I used to make the bracelets. Tie like the picture shows and then do the same to the opposite side, alternate between sides. It'll have the knot on either side of the cord making the effect that its flat.

When the head phone split I chose 2 more colors and used a single knot all the way to the head phone piece. That makes a cool spiral knot look.

 

 

 

This craft was easy, it just took me a few hours. I always get compliments on the head phone when ever I bring them out. There is so many color combinations you can choose. I think kids would really have fun with this craft too. Kids usually want cool looking head  phone, or their favorite color, now you can buy the plain white ones and spice them up with every color of the rainbow :) Have fun!

 

 

Love you all,

Party Pinwheels

For Cindy:

  I made these for my birthday party this year. They were a big hit! After 15 mins of everyone showing up they were gone. TIP: make a bunch!!

What you need:

• 16 oz Cream cheese (8oz if you only make 4)
• 16 oz sour cream
• 1 package of Hidden Valley ranch seasoning mix
• 12 Tortillas
• Deli meat (turkey and ham)
• Lettuce/spinach
• Thinly sliced tomato
• Olives

Mix the ranch seasoning the way it says on the back of the package (in a bowl combine 16oz sour cream with contents of package). Cut veggies if desire (I didn't with my pinwheels because I had a veggie platter and 7 layer dip). Soften cream cheese (I put it in a bowl in the microwave in increments of 30 secs until it was soften enough to spread). I heated my tortillas one at a time in the microwave for 15 secs, it softens the shells up so they are easier to roll up.

I spread cream cheese evenly all over the tortilla shell first because its thicker then the ranch. Next, spread the ranch dip evenly on top of that, make sure you get around at least one sides of the edge so the tortilla can stick to itself. Lay your deli meat evenly over the hole shell, I overlap them so they are meaty. Place the veggies evenly on the meat adding as much as you would like. Finally roll up the tortilla NOT folding in the sides like you would a burrito. Slice the ends off, then cut the tortilla (slice about 1/2 an inch apart). Lay the slices on the side and WA-LA pin rolls. Super easy, fast and tasty :)

Love you all,

Craft: Coasters

  Cheap inexpensive way to make cute coasters to match any home décor. It also makes a really cute gift idea.

What you would need:

• Felt stickers (I got mine at the $1 store; they are for moving furniture)
• Decorative gems-vase fillers that were $3 at a thrift store ( you can see the gems that I used in my lanterns in this blog)
• Tiles (got them for $0.47 at Lowes) I was going for the beach theme so they look like sand
• Hot glue gun

Yes, the gems are oval, but the bottom of them are flat so I super glued them upside down and they still hold really really well. I ruffed up the tiles a little bit with Sand paper to help them stick some more.

I did 4 coasters. The one on the left shows that you don't have to have a design and they still look super cute. On the right I did a simple flower.

I put the felt stickers on the bottom so they don't scratch my pretty newly painted table :)

Oh, I hot glued them on also just in case.

This project probably took me 30 mins to complete. The hot glue dries pretty much instantly so I was ready to use them as soon as I was done gluing the bottoms on. Simple as that. To make it a gift, if you don't know what the persons home decor is, instead of colored gems you can Mog Podge craft paper on the tiles. Do about 5-6 coats, let 10 mins per-coat to dry and there you have it, cheap, cute coaster that only cost maybe $5 Have fun

 

 

 

This is the one I made with scrap book paper. my mother in law loved it so much she made me make her a set too :) They are a good idea for the holidays if you are in a bind with money

 

Love you all,

Crockpot Italian Chicken

This Recipe I got from my sister in law Christine. I am obsessed with chicken, I can eat it all day everyday and I do :) Christine got it off of an email which all and all came from a website The Girl Who Ate Everything. It kinda ends up as becoming like an alfredo/cheese sauce.

You will need:

• 4 Chicken breast (I use 2 because its just the hubby and I)
• 1 Packet of Zesty Italian dressing (I use reg italian. She says sometimes she uses a pkg and a half but I find it taste better if you use one, less of a BAM its italian dressing flavor)
• 8oz Cream cheese (block or tub, I use tub bc its cheaper here for me)
• 1-2 cans of Cream of chicken soup (taste good with cream of mushroom also)
• Noodles or rice, depending on your preference

Put chicken in crock pot and add the package of Italian dressing (dry). In a small pot on low, add the cream of chicken and cream cheese, let the soup and cream cheese melt into a creamy sauce. Make sure you constantly stir because it starts to melt fast and it burns easily. Pour over the chicken, then set crock pot on low for atleast 4 hrs. My crock pot only has one setting... on, so I leave it on for the 4 hrs and check on it. You can leave it on all day and it's still good. When the chicken is done I prefer to shred it... I try to cube it but its so tender that it ends up shredding by itself. After you cut it up, put it back in the crock pot and start your noodles or rice, then serve.

If the sauce is too thick add a little milk to taste (I've never had to, it's perfect everytime)

WA-LA! easy easy easy and very good!
Enjoy,
Love you all,