little box of sunshine gift idea

we sent this happy little box to my mother in law for mothers day

and i thought i'd share here with you all in case you're looking for a fun gift idea that's easy to put together and is such a surprise to the recipient!

i saw the idea on pinterest and decided to put a box together to send off to North Carolina

and after a trip to target i had a bunch fun stuff ... 

that happiness book is really cute - there's some funny things in it

i know this because i was chuckling in the isle at target while i flipped through it :)

i put all the little odds and ends in the clear catch all bag 

i lined the inside of the box with some bright yellow paper & double sided tape

the brighter the paper the better! you want that box to shine when all the flaps are opened :)

the flat rate box from the post office is free! and you can pack it full no matter what the weight 

and send it off for a flat rate fee priority mail (2-3 days) for around $15 i think, i can't remember the exact rate but it's around there :)

the paper i had was 8.5 x 11 and fit perfectly in this small flat rate box leaving only a little gap at the bottom on one side but you won't be able to see it once you fill it up

a little trimming might be necessary near the top flaps

and i just placed a full sheet on the bottom with no tape

the best part is this clipart that i got here

from my best girl's etsy shop - simply purchase, download, print and cut!

a little more of the double sided tape to place it where your heart desires and that's it!

i also printed out the text from microsoft publisher on my PC - cut & taped that to the long flaps

fill you box and send it off!

i know whoever receives it won't be able to help but be so happy :)

the only thing i was missing was yellow basket straw - you know that crinkled paperish stuff that comes in all different colors? filling the space at the top with that would've kept the yellow theme going, but i only had white tissue paper on hand, but yellow tissue paper would work too right?

some pictures of us girls on Mother's Day ♥

that's my mom - doesn't she look good?!

hoping i get her slow aging genes :)

whatever Mother's Day means for you i hope it was filled with joy and happines ... even if it's sort of a sad day for you whatever the reason, know that God works all things together for your good! even in the sadness (especially in the sadness) He's molding & shaping you into who He wants you to be ♥ remember that every heartache and trial you face was first sifted through His hands before it got to you so take comfort in that girls.

much love to you

a play restaurant kit in a box ♥

my youngest had 2 birthday parties to go to this past saturday 

and we recently printed & laminated this cutest ever play restaurant kit (so cute i die) from my dear friend AmyJ's etsy shop. she recently opened a separate store just for kids printables, and really there's so much in there that you'll just want to make & play with and you'll be sad you're a grown up. i'm serious.

so i had the idea to print out sets for birthday presents and to put everything in a sort of kit so the recipients would have everything they needed to play. aren't the menus cute?! 

here's some info about everything i bought and used :)

- the yummy food restaurant kit 

(can be purchased here)

i'll explain a little about how i laminated the printables. you can use them just as printed on paper but if laminated they can be used over and over with dry erase markers. this little scotch laminator is available at so many stores. i bought this at joanns for $25 after using my coupon and i think i saw it at target in the back to school section last week for a reasonable price as well. the laminating pouches came in a pack of 50 at target for $13 or so. reasonable i think, since we use the laminator for a lot of other things ...

so you'll see below i laminated some as whole sheets and some i cut before laminating. it turns out that just laminating everything and then cutting later with a paper trimmer was easiest and worked the best. for the coins in the kit i punched them out with a one inch circle punch and then laminated them in a pouch, then cut around each coin. time consuming yes, but i coerced my girls to do it for me while they watched a movie :)

-storage bin 

(i bought this one type but with half the depth from target and everything fit perfectly)

-play food (in toy section at target) & kiddie plastic plates, cups & silverware 

(in kitchen section at target and only .79 cents each!)

 -a small three drawer organizer (target)

-pack of dry erasers (not pictured)

for this little organizer box i printed an extra menu from Amy's kit and cut the name to fit into the top of the box like you see here.

these drawer labels were not part of the kit, i just whipped em up in publisher and printed them out and laminated. then used hot glue to attach

-you'll need large rubber bands or long cord for the name tags

 -play apron (we got one at joanns and decorated it a little bit)

and i think that's everything! we put everything in the storage bin as shown and wrapped a ribbon around the whole thing. they were a huge hit! if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments, and i'll do my best to answer them :)

much love ♥

peppermint in a jar ... a quick last minute gift

Friday was the last day of school for my girls

we have 2 full weeks off and i'm so so happy

i'm not a morning person

but i'm trying to be better about that.

i love to give gifts ... and i love to make gifts

even though i never have enough time for all the big ideas i have

i say every year that i'm gonna start my Christmas gifts in august

yeah that never happens.

so for the past few years i've given a few of these jar gifts

 to teachers, bus drivers, school secretaries ... and just about anyone else i can think of

i orginally saw this idea here ... but tweaked it a little bit 

to include any things that looked striped or like peppermint candy

(everything came from the dollar bin, travel, or Christmas section at target)

made some labels then used a big scalloped punch & some glue dots

to attach them to the top of the jars

(the white lids are freezer jam lids that are with the jars and other canning supplies)

i actually went back to pick up a some more supplies to make a few more jars 

and they were all out of the peppermint bark & the face wipes :( 

so i improvised with some Christmas kleenex travel packs 

and hershey's candy cane white chocolate bars ... i like how they both turned out.

the mason jar tags were from my 12 days of Christmas sale last month

they were one of my favorite things!

if you're looking for a quick gift for tomorrow or wednesday,

these jars are super easy & quick to put together

and here are the lables just for you! from me ♥

download labels here

have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

house-warming gift idea ... ♥

happy monday everyone.

hope your weekend was full of summer sunshine ♥

we had some happy, and some sad mixed in together this past week

one of the happy's was my friend's new home

and that we got to go visit for the first time since she and her family moved in.

she's a lot like me when it comes to decorating

and i had fun putting this basket together for her

filled it with a few things i'd love to have for myself as a domestic engineer :)

i'm just so excited about this project i found

it's a garland made up of all those free prints 

you know, the ones we love to hoard on our pinterest boards but never print out...

since the thought of buying and hanging frames for all of them is overwhelming ... 

so this was the best idea ever. 

can't wait to make one for here ... there's so many prints to choose from

i just can't decide... but how cool that you can change them up every so often

for seasons or holidays ... fun.

found this ceramic mason jar at joanns ... and whipped up a few of my cupcake paper flowers

i forget how addicting they are to make ... i could do it for hours.

it's so pretty to see the different patterns come together.

go.

 make some. 

go now.

i added a few random vintage dishes, with some soap & sponges

i wanted to make some of these to put in there too...

but ran out of time.

that's how it always is with me ... 

{source}

i think she liked it :)

heck, i liked it... i wanted it.

but i gave it up. cause i'm nice like that.

happy making stuff.

linking up here:

A Crafty Soiree ♥ Yesterday on Tuesday

Whatever you Want Wednesday ♥ Free Pretty Things for You

live laugh linky ♥ live laugh Rowe

Party Time ♥ the 36th Avenue

Weekend Wrap-Up Party ♥ Tatertots & Jello

Sundae Scoop ♥ i heart naptime

Party Junk ♥ Funky Junk Interiors

Junkin' Joe ♥ the Cottage Market

Funky Junk ♥ Funky Junk's Party Junk

game night! ... in a bucket ♥

a few projects around the house are still in full swing this week!

but i wanted to stop and share this fun gift i put together 

for a wedding shower i was invited to.

see i'm not your typical go to the store print off the registry 

buy six towels & a matching soap dispenser kinda girl :)

i figure the happy couple-to-be will get enough of that old lady boring stuff

and instead they'd rather have something different & fun!

(well at least i'd rather get this gift)

(much more than the soap dispenser)

this is kinda along the same lines as the baby bath caddy that i made up a few months ago

cept this is a great gift idea, not only for newlyweds, but for a bunch of different events.

round up a few things to get this bucket-o-fun started...

air poppers are reasonably priced, 

and the popcorn tastes so much better than the fake microwave stuff right?!

(especially with all that healthy butter & salt)

i also took it right out of the box, so it would fit better

i'm not fond of boxes & bags when it comes to making a gift pretty

i almost always take everything out of it's packaging 

before i pack it into an open gift like this

(i did tuck the manual and a gift receipt right behind everything once i was done)

(so don't freak out)

(all you original box lovers out there)

there's not much to explain when it comes to putting this together

all these supplies were found at Target

and the beverage tub was even clearanced out for the summer.

a few packs of card games would be neat to throw into the bucket too,

drink mixes ... candy ... anything you think you'd want to eat while playing games :)

on a side note, i have a special spot in my heart for the sunday comics. 

as in the funny papers.

when i was a kid i'd get so excited about getting sunday's paper

because that was the paper that had the "color" comics ... i'd read them once 

then come back and read them a couple more times ... weird huh?

and now i like to use them for everything

 for wrapping Christmas presents and boxes that get sent in the mail

... i just know that someday i'm gonna think of an ingenious idea 

for my stash of funny papers

just you wait and see...

ok, back to the bucket.

crumple up some comic paper and add a few pieces to the bottom of the bucket 

this way everything has a little bit of height.

grab some ribbon and tie it around 

(i used a piece of masking tape to secure the ribbon on the underside of the bucket)

aaaand if you like my tag, it's a free printable here for you to use!

:)

just click on the image to download & save, then print on heavy card-stock

how cute to spend a fun evening home together as newlyweds 

popping popcorn and playing twister ;) heehee

linking up here:

A Crafty Soiree ♥ Yesterday on Tuesday

Whatever you Want Wednesday ♥ Free Pretty Things for You

live laugh linky ♥ live laugh Rowe

Party Time ♥ the 36th Avenue

Weekend Wrap-Up Party ♥ Tatertots & Jello

Sundae Scoop ♥ i heart naptime

Party Junk ♥ Funky Junk Interiors

Junkin' Joe ♥ the Cottage Market

Funky Junk ♥ Funky Junk's Party Junk