Themed Birthday Gift ... Movie Madness (Teen Birthday Gift)

Next on my list of themed gifts is one I made my for my bosses daughter she is turning 17 this week and I wanted to make her something fun but didn't want it to be generic or something she may not like.  So I went on Google and found a fun gift idea for a Movie Madness on Cottage in the Oaks.  What teen doesn't love going to movies?  Most of these items can be found in the dollar bin except for the movie card I found the cheapest one $25 at the grocery store.

What You Need:

Clear Bag

Popcorn Bin (Or Bags)

Microwave Popcorn

Candy

Snacks

Gum

Drink

Gift Card

Ribbon

What you do:

I found a large clear gift bag that I arrange all the itmes in.  I tied it with fun ribbon I found at Michael's a while back.  It was red and white like the popcorn bags and the design reminded me of popcorn.  I used paper popcorn bags instead of the plastic popcorn bin I was going to to do, since I was mailing these items.

Any Parties coming up?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Themed Birthday Gift ... Lego Traveling Case

I saw a cool idea for a Lego Tray on Somewhat Simple.  I took this idea and ran with it, yes my normal over achiever took over.  It was my bosses son's birthday a few weeks back and I wanted to do something fun for him.  He took a bunch of friends to the Lego Movie so I knew this would be a GREAT gift for him.  I ordered President Business and the Executron off Amazon.  Well it of course took forever for these little guys to get to me, then it got crazy busy around her so I'm a little behind on the shipping of this gift.

What you Need:

Lego Building Plate (Found on Amazon)

Wood Box (Michael's)hen

3M Spray Adhesive

Lego Men

Lego's (to build and to spell Name)

Hot Glue Gun

The wood Box wasn't an exact fit for the plate so Rick cut it down for me and added the strip that we cut also into the box to make it almost a complete fit.  He used the 3M spray to attach the plate.  We then put some heavy items on it to make it stick.  Once that was dry I added the 2 men I bought.  Cole built a race car and a track.  Then I went to spelling out his name on the top of the box.  We have a TON of Lego's so instead of buying more I just used some of the boys that they had that they hadn't played with.  I arranged the Lego's using different sizes and kinds to spell his name and then hot glued them down to the wood lid. Tada done! It was a pretty simple gift to make but I think really cool and any boy would really like it.

Any Parties coming up?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Meal Planning

I've been being really good at planning our week with activities and meals.  I have a weekly schedule I put up on the fridge for every Sunday.  With work I usually am off a little early on Friday's since I work every Saturday.  So while the kids are at school on Friday I run to store and do all my grocery shopping.  From my meal plan I can make a detailed list of groceries needed for the week.  Since Sunday's are really busy and I don't have a large deep freezer I can't premake the meals.  I can prepare the meal the night before so I can either start the crockpot the next morning or put the dish in the oven with the delay start before I leave for the gym.

So I thought I would start to share my meal plan each week:

Sunday - Cube Steak and Potatoes (This is not a healthy meal night, it's Rick's fav and I do it once a week for him .. lol.

Monday - Slow Cooker Mexican Pot Roast Tacos - Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Tuesday -Skinny Crock Pot Pizza Casserole - Six Sisters' Stuff

Wednesday - Healthified Sausage-Stuffed Shells - Live Better America

Thursday - Chicken Divan - My Recipes

Friday - Boy's Pick (probably Papa Murphy's)

Saturday -Bacon Cheeseburger Pockets - The Seasoned Mom (I believe we will be bringing dinner to friends, so a kid friendly meal

Meal Plan Monday

Have a GREAT weekend!!

Diet Funny

I saw this on Facebook the other day and love it.  Some days I swear my clothing is against me then another day I put them on and tada they are loose .. lol.  Oh the joy's of being a woman and fluctuating weight. 

Hope this made your Friday!

Have a great day!

Themed Birthday Gift ... Manly Man Gift Basket

Onto another theme, this time for those men in your life.  It was my dad's birthday last month, he's on of those guys that has everything and doesn't really need anything.  So he's super hard to buy for.  I love making gifts from the kids, but there is only some many handmade kids things that can be given also.  So onto a Manly Man Gift!

I picked up some of his favorite things:

Beef Jerky

Pepperoni Sticks

Pretzels

Potato Chips

Gummy Coca Cola Bottles (I'm sure he doesn't eat these anymore but when I was little he always did).

Utterly Smooth Lotion (His hands are always rough)

His Favorite Beer

Basket

Easy pease, find the things they love the most add it to a basket you can find at the Dollar Tree and ta da you're done!

Do you Theme Gift?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Themed Birthday Gift ... Batman Gift Basket

The 2nd party we went to this weekend was for a boy in Cole's class, I asked what theme. They said no theme (I know imagine my shock .. lol), but he did like Batman or Mindcraft. So I thought Batman would be a easy one to do.  Jeez was I wrong, who knew finding batman items would be so hard!  I ended up going to five stores to find the few items I did find.  

What you Need:

Notebook / Coloring Book - Batman (usually Dollar Store has tons)

Candy (Batman)

TShirt Batman (Old Navy had one)

Flip Flops Batman (found at Marshall's)

Basket

Homemade Cookies (if you want)

Add any batman items you can find!  Usually the dollar tree is great and you find puzzles, books etc.  This time I had no luck there, only could find Spiderman, Captain America or Thor.

I had a black basket left over from a giveaway I won a long time ago, you could find a basket at the Dollar Store if needed.  Add the items in.  I also added some homemade cookies, put them plastic bag and added a fun tag.  I found a Batman Cookie Tag on Parties and Patterns. She made a cute little cookie holder I cut out the circle only an hot glued on to the front of the bag and then stapled the Cookie label on top.  I printed mine on white card stock so it would hold up better.

It came out super cute, I think :).

Do you Theme Gift?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Themed Birthday Gift ... Spring has Sprung

This weekend Cole had been invited to TWO parties of course at the same time and day!  So I had to split our time between the two parties.  Personally I would have loved to stay all day at the second party (of course for a Girl so Cole gave me the face that he had to go). The mom and her best friend were so much fun, I wish I could have stayed longer to maybe make friends .. LOL I'm so needing a Girl Friend.

I texted to RSVP for the event (because you know that is my crazy pet peeve that people don't do that) and asked what theme.  She let me know Spring / Hello Kitty.  So this girl went on a theme hunt!  You know me by now and my love for a theme!  This actually I must say is one of my favorite gifts I've made in a long time.

What you need:

Bucket (I found a pink one with flowers and Butterflies)

Spring Sign

Bubbles

Chalk

Flip Flops

Note Cards

Pinwheel

Flower Toy

Candy

Homemade Cookies

Stickers / Coloring Book

Large Clear Gift Bag

Ribbon

Card Stock (if you want to add tag)

Arrange all items in the bucket.  I put it in clear bag and tied it with a nice ribbon that reminded me of spring.  I found this cute FREE Printable for a Spring Bucket List on Love Bakes Good Cakes that I added to the ribbon before I tied it up.   You can really do anything you want with the bucket.  I just found all things that reminded me of spring, then a few Hello Kitty items I found.  Most items can be found at Dollar Store or Michael's Dollar Bin.

NOW of course I couldn't just leave it as is!  I had to bake some cookies (recipe and pictures to come soon) but if you're looking for a yummy recipe I made Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Do you Theme Gift?

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Diaper Cakes Featured

I love when something I have worked on gets a nod and a feature on one of the blog hops.  I makes me super giddy!  I've been so busy with kids stuff I haven't been able to post my newest feature.  I was so excited to get a feature for my Palm Tree Diaper Diaper Cake on Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends #18.  A big thank you to them for taking the time to do this weekly and featuring me.

Have a GREAT weekend.

Weekday Funny

Facebook is great in all it has kept me in touch with people I haven't seen in a long time.  And some that I want to avoid ... lol.  I saw this funny and had to share.  NOW if we were talking about my wedding photos this is so right.  Thankfully my 3 years ago photo was a much heavier version.  But I so know this feeling.  

Happy Thursday

Themed Cookies ... Circus Animal Sugar Cookies

I saw this yummy Circus Animal Sugar Cookies recipe on I Dig Pinterest on a blog hop a while back and had to give it a try.  Oh man are these cookies good, so good that I had to actually send them out of my house and to my friend so I would not sit and eat everyone.  They are really sweet so most people could stop at one but not this girl .. lol.  Knowing my weakness I did what any good friend would do and give to her friend .. lol, she has kids at the house so I knew she wouldn't be tempted like me and if she was she could have the kids eat them .. lol.

1 c. sugar

1 c. shortening

1 egg

3/4 tsp. almond flavoring

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. (or a little more if you'd like) Circus Animal Cookies, coarsely chopped

1 c. white chocolate chips for drizzling (or Wilton White Melts)

Cream together sugar and shortening.  Add egg and almond flavoring and mix once again.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.  Add to wet mixture and mix until combined.  Stir in Circus Animal Cookies.  No need to chill the dough! Form into round balls, put on cookie sheet, then flatten with a fork while using your other hand to keep the dough together.  Sprinkle sugar over the tops of them and bake at 350 for exactly 8 minutes.  Don't overbake!  Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.  When cool, drizzle with melted white chocolate chips.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used 1/2 a bag of Wilton White Melts instead of chocolate chips, they melt nicer and I like the taste better (I buy mine at Walmart cheap).  I used my ninja to chop up the cookies, made them a little smaller then I would have liked.  Next time I'll do the zip-lock bag full with a rolling pin.  Also make sure you cut a small hole for pipping the white chocolate.  Mine was a little too large which didn't make my cookies as pretty as her's.  Or I could always use a piping bag with a small tip, but I was being lazy and didn't want clean my pipping bag and tip.

I found the animal cookies when I was buying treats for the kids and thought of this recipe and knew it would just be perfect to try it out!  I got rave reviews on these cookies from my friend and her family, along with my grabby little hand that kept going back for more!!

Wouldn't these be fun for a Baby Shower or heck just because!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Themed Cookies ... Basketball Cookies

Next on my list of cookies to make was for Cole's last basketball game!  I made these super easy Basketball Cookies I found on Lisa Storms Website.  These were easy since I didn't have to bake any cookies just used Nilla Wafers.

What You Need:

Nilla Wafter

Buttercream Frosting (click for my favorite go to recipe)

Wilton Edible Marker (Black)

Wilton Icing Color (Team Colors)

Take a Nilla wafer, with your edible marker make a line down the middle.  Make another straight line (see picture below). A half circle on each side of the cookie will complete your basket ball.  It takes a few minutes but very cool when you are done.  I made my own buttercream frosting, I separated it into 2 bowls and tinted it with Red and Blue Wilton Icing Color.  The kids team was red and blue.  Be careful and don't put too much color in it will give it a funky taste if too much.

Any Basketball Games in your future?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Themed Cookies ... Happy St. Patrick's Day - Shamrock Cookies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  One last treat made for the Boys Classmates.  This was simple just a little time consuming.  I've made a version of these cookies as Pumpkins and Hearts.  NOW to find a shamrock cookie cutter took me going to EIGHT stores, who knew they would be so hard to find.  THEN of course I couldn't find one big and one small.  So on to Amazon I went to find a set of 3 Shamrock cutters. A little spendy but I was desperate, don't tell my husband .. lol.  He thinks I over do it and shouldn't do all these things for the kids school, I tell him I only have a few more years before they won't take to baked goodies.

I started out with a Sugar cookie found on All Recipes, dubbed The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

After I let the dough chill for an hour I took 1/3 and left it white.  2/3 I took Kelly Green Wilton Icing Color to color the dough the right shade of green.  I rolled out the dough and cut my large shamrock cookies.  I then took a smaller shamrock to cut out the centers, make sure you be careful to make sure the dough is on the sides of each side.  I then rolled out the 2nd color and cut out smaller shamrock shapes.  I inserted a smaller shamrock of the 2nd color into the large shamrock.  I baked them for 7 minutes and then let them cool on a rack.  See below for a step by step picture.  

I had extra green left over so I made some large green shamrocks that I baked also.

I love doing these two tone cookies, they always make me smile.  They look so special and really not too much work but I think look like a million bucks!  I mixed it up with green on the outside and then white on the outside.  

Any St. Patrick Day Plans?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

I think I'm Insane ... I love my Insanity Workout!

I'm on my journey to loosing the weight I put on going back to a normal healthy diet (instead of the awesome diet that helped me loose fast but wasn't giving me all the good things my body needed).  In that I have been going to the gym 6 days a week, I love the gym gives me time to read on the elliptical.  Which is a great way to burn like 600 calories in 60 minutes but it wasn't doing a lot for me to help tone and really loose weight.

So I added in the water aerobics more thinking that would help, but sadly it wasn't doing the trick.  Then I had the brilliant idea to try bootcamp.  That class kicked my butt, It sadly was too much running for me.  I have a torn ACL and running for 30 minutes really made me limp out and not being able to walk for a few days.  

I waited a week then thought ok I'll give this a try again, my friends love this class.  So I hit up the YMCA and ask what room the class is in.  I go sit and wait for the class to start and to my surprise it was not bootcamp it was Insanity!  Oh lord what did I get myself into, but then I looked around and saw people of all ages and sizes.  Ok I'm not feeling so bad!  I did it, thought I may die a few times but it wasn't too hard and they showed modified moves that helped me with the jumping that can aggravate my knee or make my knee give out which is always fun in public.  It sucked at times but overall a good work out and was excited to go back on Wednesday.  So I think I found my new class to help me get back to where I wanted to know.  It's only Monday, Wednesday and Friday but I'll take it!

 

Luck of the Irish ... You're the Pot of Gold

Well I of course needed to make something for the teacher's I made the Green Teach Gift Early this week.  I was just going to make 2 of them but then I came across This Gold version on Yesterday on Tuesday.  I hit up Michael's for a Shamrock cookie cutter (Let' me say it was my 2nd Michael's and 8th you read that right EIGHT store I went to, to find said cookie cutter).  While I was there I came across a bunch of Gold things and thought I can make a 2nd version of a teacher gift so I did!  NOW Michael's bins are $1.50 to $2 and the pot was on Sale for $4 so it was cost a bit more then the dollar tree version (link above).

What you Need:

Well anything Gold, this is what I found but do what you find!

Gold (yellowish) Emory Boards

Gold Glitter Pencils

Gold Notecards

Gold Small Picture Frame

Gold Glitter Clothes Pins

Gold Candy (Ferrero Rocher)

Not Gold Letter Stamp (Caden wanted to add in a K for Mrs. K)

Gold Ceramic Pot

Place all items into the pot, put large tall items in back and smaller in front.  I then found a FREE Pot o' Gold Printable on Hostess with the Mostess. I printed on cardstock and cut out. I took my handy hot glue gun and attached to the notepad, you could attach to the pot but since this was a nice ceramic pot (instead of a dollar tree one) I didn't.  You could always do a hole punch and add some ribbon and tie on to one of the items.  Easy and thoughtful gift!!

Any St. Patrick Day Plans?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Luck Of the Irish ... Shamrock Flower Gifts

Now on to the gifts for the class rooms.  I wanted to make something fun for the kids to take to their classmates, but again not spend a fortune doing so!  I found two really cool ideas, yes I'm a nut and have to do a different kind for each kid's classroom.  Yes I admitted I'm a nut! First was a Lollipop Shamrock found on With Glittering Eyes.   The Second one I did was inspired by a Pot of Gold on Craft Journal. 

Lollipop Shamrocks

What you Need:

Lollipops (Blow Pop Bag - Dollar Tree)

Green Card Stock

Hot Glue Gun

Hole Punch

Basket (if you want for transportation)

Foam used for fake flowers (holds lollipop in place)

She used a cut out for her shamrocks.  I did a Google search and found a template on Enchanted Learning that I then printed on to green card stock paper.  I got to cutting out the shamrocks (this is the time consuming part, NEXT time I will use the foam Shamrocks found in a pack of 12 at Dollar Tree - Used for the Second Project).  I used a hole punch to put the lollipop stick through the shamrock.  This made the hole a little larger than I wanted so I added a dab of hot glue to hold the paper to the lollipop.  I found a green basket and cut down some foam to hold up the lollipop shamrocks.

Shamrock Bouquet Flowers

What you Need

Foam Shamrocks (pack of 12 Dollar Tree)

Gold Candy (Rolo's work but I'm cheap and found gold candy)

Green Straw

Hot Glue Gun

Basket (if you want for transportation)

Foam used for fake flowers (holds lollipop in place)

I must admit the Rolo's would look cuter but I had to buy what was there at the Dollar Tree so I didn't have to run to another store to buy Rolo's.  I put a dab of hot glue to hold the Gold Candy in the middle of the Foam Shamrock.  I added a little hot glue to a straw to add to the back of the foam shamrock to look like a flower.  I did the same as above with the green basket and foam to hold up the Shamrock flowers.

2 pretty easy items to make for the kids.

Any St. Patrick Day Plans?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

St. Patrick's Day Teacher Gift

St. Patrick's Day is next Monday and I'm being good about making my treats for the boys class early instead of the weekend before and running around like my heads cut off.  So yeah a win for me!!!

I found a really fun an inexpensive way to make a teacher gift on Fun Home Things.  I always like to give a little treat to the teachers since they do so much for the kids.  But as always money is tight so it's nice to bring a smile to their face with out going broke.  The only thing that was missing was a tag to add to the gift, I found the perfect one on A Little Crafting.  I picked up everything at the Dollar Tree, can also find things in the dollar bin at Micheal's or Target.

What you Need:

Green Bucket (I used a Green ceramic pot)

Green Note Cards 

Green Pen / Pencils

Green Scissors

Green Gum

Green Life Savers / or M&M's

Card Stock for Tag

Green Foam Shamrock

Hot Glue Gun

Put all items in the bucket.  I attached a foam shamrock with a little hot glue to the front of my pot.  I attached the cute tag with a piece of ribbon to a pack of gum.  Easy and thoughtful!

Last Year I got some rude comments about St. Patty and St. Paddy about what is respectful and disrespectful so this year we'll just go with St. Patrick's day to keep everyone happy!

Any St. Patrick Day Plans?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Daylight Savings .... Insert Head Slap

Sunday AM gave me a slap with the Daylight savings!  Anyone else??  The boys stayed at the YMCA for kids night and I had to pick them up at 8:30am which was 7:30am still in my brain.  Thankfully I got up and even made it to church.  I can't say the rest of the day was the most productive but hey I got my work caught up and did the grocery shopping so I guess I can say it was a win ... LOL.

Thought I'd share a funny!

And a funny pic of me!

Achievements when you can Focus

Most of you know it has been hard for Cole in school focusing and being productive with school work and listening.  We made the switch to ADHD medicine early (which was a hard decision), no nasty comments please.  I'm so happy to see him now when He comes home with stories of how good class was.  He comes home instead of sad he keep getting in trouble that he was a star listener or a one timer for the day.  

To get compliments from the teacher on the great improvement she see's in him and his work is just amazing. Then last week with his science project being a hit, he received the coveted Honorable Mention (they don't do 1st place).

THEN to get a student of the month award.  His teacher came up to tell me that the award was for his improvement in behavior, writing and math!  

I'm so proud of this little man!  It's been a long tough road trying many different things and to see such great improvement and the joy he has about school is all worth it!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

The boys school is celebrating Dr. Seuss this week.  Caden's class has had a few mom's make things, so guess what was asked of this momma.  Yup so I went on the hunt for quick and easy projects to make.  I of course would have to make 2 things one for Caden and then one for Cole's class.

I hit up Pinterest and Google Images and found two things to make.

What you Need:

Pretzel Sticks

White Chocolate Melts (you can buy at Craft store or Winco in Bulk Section)

Green M&M's

Extras:

Red Fish

Gold Fish

Bags (Dollar Tree 40pk)

White Card Stock

Line a pan with parchment paper, put two pretzel sticks and place a white chocolate melt in the middle of the pretzels.  Put in oven at 350 for 2 minutes, don't let it go too long or you'll burn chocolate (I've done it not pretty). Once out of the oven place a green m&m in the middle of white chocolate.  Let sit to hard up before removing from pan.

I wanted to make treat bags so I took two of the green eggs and ham added some red fish and gold fish to a small plastic treat bag.  I printed a label I found on My Paper Lily, she has a blank label that you can use.  I took this blank label uploaded to PicMonkey and Added the words (Green Eggs & Ham One Fish, Two Fish).  I printed on card stock and attached to the bag with a staple.  Yes I know it's one fish, two fish ... but the bags looked so empty so I just added a few more .. lol.

Next on the list is Cat in the Hat

What you Need:

Red Rings (Gummy Life Savers or Peach Rings)

White Frosting

Oreo Cookies

Extras:

Frosted Cupcakes

Clear Cup

Clear Bags (Large - Dollar Tree 25pk)

Ribbon

White Card Stock

Take the top off a oreo cookie (one of the black cookies), put aside.  Take a Gummy add a ring of white frosting (do this to 3 gummies).  NOW you can use the Peach Rings as is, or you can peel off the pink (this takes a lot of time and is sticky).  You can buy Gummy Life Savers but I needed 21 hats which would mean I would need 63 red gummies, I figured the odds of me getting that many Gummy life Savers was not the best so I went with the peach rings.  Once you have the 3 rings frosted, stack them on top of each other, then place the stack in the middle of your oreo (white side up).  This will look like the Cat in the Hat (black on bottom and red and white strips on top).

I wanted to do something fun with my hats so I made my white cake cupcakes and frosted with my sturdy buttercream frosting.  I topped each cupcake with a Cat in the Hat Topper.  Then my favorite pinterest tip ever found was the cupcake in a clear plastic cup, wrapped in a clear plastic bag and tied with a ribbon.  I added a fun Dr. Seuss Cut out I found on Scrap N Teach.  I used my circle cutter to cut them out, added a hole punched and tied on with the ribbon.  

This was a fun project!  I hope you give one a try!

Did you do anything for Dr. Seuss?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.