Gift ideas

Footwear
Youngest has these boots and loves them. I got them for her birthday last year. I was lucky. She has other pairs of Rockports, so I knew the size. And I was confident of the style. I had to order because she is an odd size. I ordered, she loved them, it was a surprise, I think. (She wears an insert for added support. We all wear inserts or have cookies added to almost all our shoes for more support.)

Middle is considering these same boots for her birthday. They are great.

If you have a teen or young adult where shopping for them is now really hard, consider taking them shoe shopping. It works very well for my kids. But you have to be okay spending $$$ because it is going to cost. I did this for oldest for the last two years. His birthday and xmas are close. It is extremely hard to guess what he might like. Shoe shopping worked great. And he needed the shoes. I think he got new running shoes both years. Plus two pairs of work shoes the first year. Plus a pair of casual shoes the second. So, yes, major $$$ but he needed them and it worked.

FitBit
Last year middle wanted boots for her birthday all year. There was a lot of boot talk. I got a lot of boot pictures. I got a lot of boot links.  I just kept saying - that is fine, we will buy when it gets closer. Then when we were a week or two out from her actual birthday, she switched to fitbit and that is what she got. I bought the insurance. It has already been replaced once. The insurance started over the moment it was replaced. No extra fee. Best Buy. She really uses her FitBit - sleep and steps mostly. Her

On Black Friday, I bought a FitBit for youngest for this Christmas. Target. I bought the insurance. I did it online and they held it at customer service. I knew the size (small) because middle had one. I picked it up on Saturday when we were back in town. No crowd, no wait. I gave it to youngest early (now) because she will be gone for xmas. And with finals coming, she can use it. We buy the ones that track sleep and monitor heart rate (plus all the other stuff).



OTTLite
If you have someone who does a lot of handwork of any kind, an OTTLite is wonderful.
http://www.joann.com/ottlite/
JoAnns carries a variety of styles. They go on sale often. JoAnns has coupons available all the time. Our local JoAnns also accepts the 40% coupon from Hobby Lobby.
I bought one for my mother for Mother's Day. I bought one for myself for xmas. Both of ours are floor lamps. We both also have short ones too.





HAIR
Bed Bath and Beyond for these first two. If you register online, they will send you coupons regularly.
(The Hair Turban does not work for people with really, really, really thick manes of hair. It works well for both of my girls.) Youngest has three Hair Turbans, two at college, one at home. She has two Turbie Bands (one at home, one at school). Middle has a Turbie Band for herself and buys for the gift bags she assembles for high school graduation gifts. (She has two graduating this spring and she has her bags filled and ready. Painted letters, Turbie Bands and manicure sets.)

A close friend swears by the Wahl Peanut. She cuts hair regularly, the boys go thru beard phases. Sometimes they arrive for family functions, she takes one look and gets out the peanut. Groom two days before wedding, for example. I do not cut hair. But middle cuts her boy's. And we have beards here too. So I have one of these on hand. As you can see, it has not been used yet. But it will save the day on some future occasion. So this is a good gift option too, in my opinion. I bought mine on sale at beauty supply place.

Doll Clothes

The dolls are ours, they were not included in Christmas boxes, just modeling for pictures. Laney and Chrissa, I think.

These are all clothes my mom and I made for cousin's girls for xmas. I have not seen the cousin in many years. I have never met his wife or girls, but they are going through a really hard time, right before xmas, and my mom and I wanted to do something.

Note under each picture (below) with who made what.

Also included were three pairs of underwear, one pair of shoes and a pair of socks (per box).

My mother made both dresses. They are exquisite. They take her about 12 hours per dress (handwork takes a long time). The bodices are self lined. Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

I made the dresses which are long sleeved, lined bodices and very simple. My mom made the jackets which are fully lined. Boots are ours, did not go in boxes. Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

My mom made the black dress and apron when she was first starting on the clothes. Then she switched to more sophisticated choices. So the black dress and apron were made by my mom more than a year ago and gave us a head start for this project. My mom made the dress and apron on the right last week. I had to convince her that the check dress was okay with the pattern apron. And it is really cute.  Fabric and lace was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Fleece. Super simple. I made both coats. I made two more for our dolls too. Looking for ultra suede tan coat at Good Will to make same pattern for Josefina.. Fleece was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Fabric was embroidered (it came that way) so all I did was fussy cut. Vests are fully lined. Tops are knit. I made three more. Used different pants pattern for our three, slimmer cut. One set for our dolls. Two to save as future gifts. Denim and knit was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. I bought vest fabric.

We bought the hats. But I have made similar hats in the past. I made the jumpers but my mom did the handwork (snaps, we never use Velcro, too hard on doll hair). I also made the knit tops. I have another set of these cut out to make for our dolls. Putting zippers in the back of the jumpers for our two. Fabric was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

Striped blouse, flowered blouse, and khaki skirt were from my mom's previously made reject pile. My mom made green skirt last week. So this set was pretty easy. My mom is going to remake the striped blouse fabric for our dolls. We loved the fabric, but hated this blouse pattern.  Fabric was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. 

I made 2 sleeping bags, two pillows and 2 sets of pj's. All very easy. I now use 26"zipper in sleeping bag, pattern calls for 30" but it looks better to have zipper only go part way. Waste bands are elastic with built in lace (JoAnns). .Fabric for pj's was in stash my friend passed on to my mom. I bought the navy flowered for sleeping bag, The rest of the sleeping bag fabric and the furry pillow fabric came from friend too. I bought the lace elastic, which really made the pj's bottoms easy and special.

Yes, picture is out of focus. My mom took it. 

The fabric stash from my friend made this all possible and very inexpensive. We just "shopped" in my mom's boxes. Sleeping bags and pillows are not in this picture. Impressive volume in boxes. Really great.

Ant farm, church toddler bag

Here is post one on my church toddler bags.

Here is post two.

Super handy to keep the supplies on hand and be able to pull these bags together easily.

I keep a supply of used church board books on hand from garage sales and resale shops. I can find ones in like new condition easily. I use those like new board books in my gifts, it helps keep cost down.

And these (lunch size) bags are always a hit. They are on topic (religious theme for a baptism). They are clever/unique. They are cute. They are appreciated.

The mom opened the baby gifts at the end of the day. The dad was busy with the older kids in the yard. When he came in later, I noticed my toddler bag was the one gift she showed him, saying how cute, clever and great.

The other gifts the baby got were actually clothes. This is fourth child and they are starting over. Everything was either donated or pitched after baby #3. But I noticed she got too many of the same sized clothes. Everything was in the 0-3 month size range. So while it is great, it is going to all be out grown soon. They should have planned (her mom, two aunts and grandmother) and gotten equal amounts of 0-18 months, in my opinion.

This was baptism and two birthdays party.

I had a picture post (below) of the pj's and sleeping bag set for the girl's bday gift. She is 6. That was a hit too. Makes a great package.

I got an ant farm for the boy. He is four. A mature and smart 4. That was a hit too.

birthday gift for little girl

I was thinking she was turning 5 but she must be turning 6.

Either way, I think this will be a hit.

(My husband said "wow" and he is so used to what I make that it takes a lot to impress him).

She is getting American Girl size doll (the target brand) from her grandmother.

 The first set of pictures I took was on white background and boy did they wash out. I could not decide which picture was in better focus, so you get both.

The sleeping bag fits an 18" doll, so it looks deceptively small in the pictures.

I "shopped" in my mom's extra bedroom, she refers to it as the storeroom. We keep all the doll clothes patterns and fabric in there. It is very full.

My mom is not a fan of the checks. And the rose pattern is too large a scale for doll clothes. So, I was using up odds and ends that were not going to get used in clothes.

And this is a high present party. Two birthdays and a baptism. And then that leaves one kid left out so I am taking books for him.

It is dwindling daily

food combinations, one pot

There are several combinations I buy in the freezer section at the grocery store. I do NOT microwave them (especially not in the bag).

I chop a package of raw skinless/boneless chicken breasts and start it in a sprayed pan on top the stove.

I chop a medium onion and add it.

I stir and cook that for a bit.

Then I add two identical packages from the selection below.

I also add a package or two of frozen (plain) veggies.

I sort of layer it all in the pan. Chicken/onion on the bottom, then 2 pkg of the blend, then veggies (different combinations that seem to "go" with the medley). I put a lid on it and cook for 20 minutes on medium.

Depending on how many veggies I have added, we get 4-6 servings from that one pan. At the end of 20 minutes, I stir it so everything is pretty even and then divide it in sections in the pan. I then put it in individual glass bowls and let them cool. Lids go on each one and they go in the refrigerator.

If I have bought a huge package of chicken, I do this twice in a row. I chop/cook half the chicken and add to it, cook and then divide it. Then I chop/cook the other half the chicken and add to it, cook and then divide it.

My point in posting all this is not to promote these products. But it is to mention the food combinations. Because I am going to start doing my own medleys. Cooking my own quinoa (etc) and adding the ingredients. I am going to use the packages as combination suggestions.

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