Bridal Shower

 

My baby sister got married last year. My two sisters and I threw her an amazing Bridal Shower. It was set outside on a beautiful sunny day in the country. We are a very simple and budget minded family. We put together a salad lunch buffett. This included a myriad of dressings, grilled chicken, fresh cooked bacon bit, lettuce, hard boiled eggs, veggies, croutons, cheese etc. We also had rolls and fruit salad to accompany.

 

We should to decorate in yellow and white. As we grew up as children we all had "colors" that would signify what object or belonging was ours. Angela's had always been yellow. 

 

 

We used a combination of white flowers, lemon and dollar store finds to decorate. We also created tissue paper pom- poms to hang from the tent we had. We all coordinated our gift wrapping in yellow and white so that even the gift station looked like it was part of the decorations. 

 

My mother put together these delicious cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting. We served lemonade out of an old fashioned decanter into fancy classes with a lemon twist. It was a very simple but elegant occasion.

 



We played a variety of games including bride & groom trivia, bridal gift bingo and Guess Who. Guess Who was my favorite. We had printed several names of strong females in politics, movies, literature etc. Each woman who attended the party had a name attached to their back. The object of the game was to guesss who you were. This could be done using only yes or no questions. All winners to the games go to pick a hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works. Each prize was only $1.00. They were practical and pretty!

 

It was a lovely afternoon.

 

Stacey

Menu Planning Monday

Monday: Chicken Tacos, Spanish Rice, Corn
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pork Chops, Mashed Potato, Corn
Wednesday: Quesadillas, Red Beans & Rice
Thursday: Shepard's Pie, Crescent Rolls and Fruit
Friday: Meatball Subs
Saturday: Dinner Out
Sunday: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad and Cottage Cheese

Chicken Taco recipe to follow soon!

Dora - 3rd Birthday

My daughter Madalynn loves Dora! So I hosted for her a Dora Birthday Party! Being a lady on a budget I did majority of myself -- plus I just loving DIY-ing it!

 

The Invitation:

 

I freehand drew backpack on a purple piece of paper. Once I get form that I like I trace it on to pieces of paper and cut them out. I was going to color the facial features in myself but I wasn't sure that I could do it justice. I went to www.nickjr.com. They have a lot of great party printables for the characters on their programs. I mass printed the facial features of backpack and glued them on.

 



 

The Wording:

 

Come On, Vamonos!

Everybody let's go!

 

It's Madalynn's 3rd birthday

and we are celebrating

in an aDORAble way!

 

When:

April 11, 2011

3:00-5:00

 

Where:

Madalynn's House

1234 Main Street

My Town, My State

 

Decorations:

I used Pink, Purple and Yellow for the main colors to decorate with. I made the famous Martha Stewart Pom-Poms with tissue paper I purchased at the Dollar Store. I find that the stiff tissue paper that's sold in the long package works better than the soft tissue paper that is sold folded up. It was really basic. Just yellow and purple tables cloths, plates and cups. I bought a few Dora Napkins and plates to accent the colors.

 

 

Our Menu:

Mini Sandwich Platters

(peanut butter & jelly, Ham & Cheese on Dollar Rolls and Turkey Roll Ups)

Bagel Pizzas (they were frozen)

Assorted Chips

Fruit Platter

Veggie Platter

Water

Juice

Soda for Adults

 

Dessert Time:

 

I ordered 12 cucpakes with Dora Rings and a Dora Character cake from Walmart. This cost about $12.00. It's about $6.00 for a character cake. They make all Disney princesses, Dora, some princes/heros and I think they may have expanded since we had this party.

 

The Favor

 

I bought canvas bags from Dollar Tree. They were 3 for $1.00. I glued on googly eyes and a red felt mouth with a hot glue gun. I filled them with candy, a party blower, plastic maracas and Dora stickers. It looked like Backpack :-) The kids loved it and it was a perfect end to a perfect party! Fantástico!

 

 

Stacey

Indoor Luau

I definitely think outside the box when it comes to parenting! I strive daily to make the day to day tasks extraordinary. I also like to stretch the imaginations of my children and help them to experience things like no one else!

We had an Indoor Luau at our home! I decorated our home (including filling an inflatable pool) and cranked the heat to 75 degrees. Put out a spread of delicious snacks and drinks. We listened to a Luau inspired playlist I created on www.playlist.com. I asked my children to come out into the kitchen in their bathing suits! They were absolutely puzzled -- once they came out to the kitchen they were streaking with excitement and had a really fun time!

 

What We Ate :

Veggie Platter

Fruit Salad

Cheetos

Swedish Fish

Tropical Colored Cupcakes

 

**Not my healthiest spread, I'll admit! But it was colorful and all of the girls favorites **

 

We also had a tasty punch that looked cool too!

 

What We Drank:

Using clear or a patterned see through cup or glass

Pour 2/3 full with Sierra Mist, Sprite, Seven Up or a bubbly clear soda

Put 2 scoops of any flavored Sherbet ( we used Lime,Orange Lemon).

Finish with a brightly colored straw and drink umbrella.

 

It's bubbles up and tastes great.

Our Decorations:

Everything was purchased from The Dollar Tree Store

-Purple Table Cloth

-2 Tropical Luau Mural

-Palm Tree Decoration

-Palm Tree Inflatable for Pool

-Beach Ball

 

 

We had a wonderful time. This was a great activity because it allowed the girls to try something they had never tried before. They still talk about it! I encourage you to try to try something like this! I understand filling a pool in your kitchen might be a little out of your comfort zone but a bathtub works wonders :-)

 

 

 

Stacey 

 

Saturday's Super Savings

Today I bought groceries for the week, a few stock pile items, completed restocked my laundry room and bought my daughter a brand new winter coat for only $106.00!!! For some of you that may be a lot of money and for some of you that might be not enough!

My first deal of the day came from JCPenney. Children's Outwear was 60% off. Which took a $99.99 jacket down to $39.99. I also had a take $10 of $10 purchase coupon which brought the price to $29.99. I had broughten my youngest daughter's fleece back because it was too big and had a $26.00 credit. When the total rang up it was just over $6.00 out of pocket. It was so exciting! It's a really great heavy duty winter jacket too. It's a 4 - in -1 jacket system and she absolutely loves it!

When it comes to grocery shopping. If I have the time I always go to Aldi first and then whatever I can't find at Aldi I buy at the Walmart SuperCenter. These are two of the more affordable places to grocery shop in my area. Sometimes making two stops just isn't in the cards and depending on my list I shop at one or the other. This week I was able to shop at both places and I'm glad I did.

My total at Aldi was $31.90. Some of the great buys I had there were: 24 pack Spring Water $2.99 ( I always buy this everytime I go. You can't beat it! And if I have cold bottle water in the fridge at all time my family is more likely to grab for it then a sugary juice or soda). Premade Frozen Meatballs for $2.19. (Enough for two meals and they were made of lean turkey). Cresent Rolls $1.49. (These can be really expensive depending on where you shop. They are so versatile I try to pick up a roll every time I go just to keep them on hand. Large White Eggs $1.39. (Don't know about your area but in Northern New York Eggs are easily well over $2.00 a dozen now. So this was definately a great buy!

My total at Walmart was $70.65 and I saved $16.30 from coupons. Some of my great buys from Walmart were children's Sauve shampoo. I had a buy one get one free coupon. Sauve styling products which were also buy one get one. I bought Purex Scent Softeners for $3.97 which was really good. I'm not sure if you have heard of Downy Unstoppables but they are a must have in our home. My boyfriend loves it when we add extra scent to each load of laundry. I had a coupon for Downy Unstoppables but the Purex was so much cheaper-- so I went with it. I'll let you know how it goes!
The rest of my purchases at Walmart were based on my coupons and I bought a lot of Great Value Brand products. Coupons are great but if they make you spend more money to save--- then what good does it do you? I always weight out cost and value before each purchase and I feel all consumers should. We work really hard for our money!

Come back Monday for Menu Planning Monday to see how I created a menu with the items I bought today.

Menu Planning Monday

Happy Menu Planning Monday! Super busy week ahead!! We've got Missionettes/Bible Study, Family Reading Night, work Halloween Party and the girls go to their fathers for the weekend. On top of all of this I haven't been feeling very good and so the easier the better!

Sunday: Rotisserie Chicken, Mashed Potatoes (or as my 3 year old calls them matatoes), Corn and Fresh French Bread.

Monday: Pizza Leftovers from our Halloween Party Friday.

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Soup (using the rotisserie chicken leftovers and other chicken breasts from the freezer), Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches using leftover French Bread. * To make this soup I boil down the chicken bones with celery, carrots and onion. After several hours I remove the bones and skim off any fat. Add my rice/pasta, veggies and 2 cups of chopped cooked chicken. Let simmer for a 1/2 hour and voila!)

Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potatoes with Homemade Applesauce. Potato toppings include bacon, cheese, sour cream, sausage, broccoli and chives.

Thursday: Children's Halloween Party at work so we'll be eating there.

Friday: Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese and Carrots Sticks. ( We eat something quick and junkie every other Friday; I have to bring my girls to their fathers which is over 2 hours away)

Saturday: Kids are gone, Justin is working. Just me...so cereal?

The neat thing about this week is that I didn't have to go grocery shopping. On Sunday I went to the store and bought a rotisserie chicken, 5lbs of potatoes, and deli item for lunches. I decided that the family would have to make due this week, so we are living out of our pantry. It's so important to have a well stocked pantry, I'll write about that some time soon! I will definately have to go grocery shopping next Sunday.

Have a great week!

Spirit Week

It was Red Ribbon week at my daughter's school this week. For those of you who don't know, Red Ribbon week is the largest drug prevention campaign in the country. ( http://www.imdrugfree.com/). During this week children and adults across the country pledge or promise to stay drug-free. At the Primary School in my area children participated in this campaign through Spirit Week.

• Monday all children wore the color red .
• Tuesday was Team Shirt Day to "Team Up Against Drugs".
• Wednesday was Crazy Sock Day to "Sock-It to Drugs"
• Thursday was Hat Day to "Put a Cap On Drugs".
• Friday there was no school because it was Superintendents Day.

Helping your child participate in school events is easy. It helps children connect better to their peers, teachers and have a better sense of community within their school . Don't be discouraged if you don't have the specified items or resources that the school requests. Improvise!

 

For instance if you are child doesn't have a red shirt for wear red day, find another way to tie the color into their attire, i.e. hair ties, shoe laces, socks etc. If you don't have a team shirt. Create your own with fabric paint/ markers and an old t shirt. For crazy socks take a pair of socks, a glue gun and any craft supplies you may have on hand such a ribbon, pom poms, googly eyes etc. My daughter and I were going to create our own socks but we found a perfect pair at the dollar store! Never forget the dollar store-- they have everything and it's only a dollar!

 

Your child will probably have Hat Day every single solitary year. This year my daughter and I started a tradition. We went to the dollar store and bought a pink baseball cap. We brought the cap home and ironed on butterfly appliques. Next year we'll take that same cap and glue on something new and continue this pattern every Hat Day. By the time she graduates she'll have a one of a kind cap that she created over the years. A simple, fun and memorable keepsake.

 

Always encourage your children to be involved. It takes very little and it means so much.