Message In a Bottle

I love getting mail.  Let me rephrase that.  I love getting letters in the mail.  I hate getting bills in the mail.  Too often, we text, email, or post messages on our loved ones Facebook walls  We rarely take the time to sit down and hand write someone a note.  Isn’t it a nice feeling to open your mailbox and find a letter addressed to you?

The Monkey made some friends while we are on our recent cruise, and they agreed to become pen pals.  The idea is a great one – it not only allows the Monkey to practice her writing, but it allows her the opportunity to continue the friendships she created on our vacation.  She and the other girls became fast friends – they spent time at the pool and in the kids club together, and whined when it was time to leave.  In fact, they broke out into tears when they had to say goodbye.  It was heart breaking.

We decided to start the letter writing first, and the Monkey couldn’t just do a simple letter.  No, that would be easy.  She wanted to send them a letter in a bottle.  I guess it reminded her of our time on the beach in the Bahamas. 

I have sent various items in the mail in the past, such as boxes of movie candy, flip flops, and school supplies (search for ideas on Pinterest!), so I was used to sending out unusual mail. 

• Slice a two litter bottle in half (make sure it’s empty!).  I used a pair of scissors, and cut along the middle.  I’m sure you could use a sharp knife and get the same results.  Be sure to cut evenly to avoid sharp edges.

• Use soap and hot water to clean the bottle, and allow it to dry completely.
• Fill up the bottle with whatever you want to send.  The Monkey included Disney themed stickers (to remind them of the cruise), a letter, a drawing, and two Disney hair clips that I made.

• Place the upper half on the bottle on the lower half, and tape it back together using packing tape (it’s clear!).
• Place your address label over the seam to cover it up.  We taped the label with more packing tape.
• Be sure to put your cap back on the bottle (we taped that as well).

That’s it!  The only thing left to do is to go to the post office and expect a bunch of crazy looks from the staff there.  I think that's worth it, because I imagine that the girls will love getting this in the mail.

The next time you need to say thank you to someone, don't send them a text.  Take five minutes, and grab a piece of paper, and write them your thanks.  It will be much appreciated.

Until next time.....

I Scream, You Scream

There are a ton of gift basket companies out there, and I have to be honest with you.  If you spend a dime with them, you are NUTS!  Putting a basket together is not a difficult task, and with the popularity of Pinterest, the choice of themes is endless.

A co-worker mentioned the other day that she wanted to send a special thank you to someone that helped her out.  I jumped at the chance to lend a hand, because I enjoy putting these type of packages together.

I love ice cream any time of the year, but there is nothing like enjoying a ice cream cone in the summer.  I love when the ice cream truck comes down our street.  I think I run out the door faster than the Monkey does.  With that in mind, I put together this Ice Cream Party Basket – it includes sundae dishes, milk shake glasses, various ice cream toppings, festive napkins, an ice cream scooper, and straws.

Not including the time I spent buying the material (which I did during my weekly grocery shopping), and the time I spent putting it together (max of 10 minutes), I spent $42 on this basket.  Something homemade add a little bit more to the gift, don't you think?  Don't be afraid to something like this on your own.  The types of baskets you can do is endless: B-B-Q, crafts, baking, you name it!

You can find all these toppings at your local grocery store

The cups were $1.99 and the glasses were $2.49.  Way cheap, right?!

Fits like a glove

The finished product

Until next time....

Beach (towel) Bunny

The Monkey went to a birthday party over the weekend to the Philadelphia Zoo.  How cool is that party?  We talked about what kind of gift she wanted to give her friend, and her first thought was a toy.  I don’t know about you, but our basement is full of toys – I don’t want to add any more clutter to someone else’s house. 

We already did the candy bouquet, so we went with the Bunny basket .  I found this picture on Pinterest , but it didn’t provide any instructions, so I just figured out what to do by looking at the picture.  I got all of the supplies at Target – one large beach towel, a pair of flip flops, a beach ball, a bubble wand, and a swimming goggles.

Here’s how I constructed the bunny:

Lay the beach towel out, and fold down the top half.  I placed the beach ball in the center of the towel.  Roll the towel as if you were rolling a piece of sushi (‘cause you do that often, right?).

Secure the bunny body with goggles (the goggles act like a rubber band).

Angle the flip flops at the top of the bunny’s heads so they resemble ears, and place them in the folds of the towel.

You can’t see from the picture, put I placed the large bubble wand between the ears.  I hoped to put a bow on it to make it a girl bunny, but I didn’t have enough ribbon on hand.  We put the card behind the ears to hid the wand.

I topped it off with a hair clippie I made.

There you have it.  A non-toy birthday gift!

Until next time.....

More Teacher Appreciation Ideas

It’s still Teacher Appreciation Week!  Have you made sure to thank a teacher this week?  The Monkey has brought in something little for her teacher each day this week, and here’s the recap.

Tuesday

Super easy!  All you need is some ribbon, a pack of Extra gum, and tag.  We wrote Thanks for Being “Extra” Special to Me.  So easy even a caveman can do it.

Wednesday

I found these awesome (and free) tags over at Make Bake Celebrate.  I bought extra cookies during the last Girl Scout cookie sale with this gift in mind.  Did you know that Girl Scout cookies freeze well?  Remember that next year when you see scouts selling outside in the cold!  Using some ribbon I had on hand, I wrapped up three boxes of cookies, and attached this cute tag.  She gave one package to her teacher, and dropped off the other one to the staff in the front office. 

Thursday

This is another easy gift to put together.  It’s fairly inexpensive, and in fact, you might already have the supplies on hand.  Wrap up a bottle of nail polish, emery boards, and nail polish remover, and attach a tag to the package.  I wrote this oh-so witty saying on the tag: I Would File You Under “A” for Awesome!.  File…get it?  The gift had nail files in it….get it?

Now to start thinking about tomorrow's gift.

Until next time.....