Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

Holidays!

Rainbow Themed Gift Basket

Rainbows are all the rage these days, and because I’m not that cool anymore (okay I never was), I had to jump right on the bandwagon. Maybe it’ll give me a few ‘cool’ points with my daughter. I’ve gotta add them all up now before she won’t be seen with me any longer. Those days are really far off right?

Because it’s St. Patrick’s Day soon, I thought a St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow themed basket would be fun. I added in a few shamrocks here and there to give it the overall St. Paddy’s Day vibe, but really wanted to run on the rainbow theme.

As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, I also decided to do a balloon garland with balloons and gold fans from The Party Darling. It actually didn’t take too long and it was worth it for this cheese face. But next time I’m enlisting the help of my friends. So if you’re one of the lucky, prepare yourself.

Overall, I pretty much think I’m winning at the mom game (for St. Patrick’s Day at least). I mean, this little girl is one lucky duck. But don’t try to tell her that, all she wants is treats. This is the face of someone waiting on her fruit snacks. I’m not the only one who bribes my kid to take a photo am I?

In case you wanna win at the mom game like I do, or hey maybe just for the fun of it, here’s a list of everything that I included in my rainbow themed basket. I can’t wait to see her open everything, and I’m sure she’ll still be asking me for fruit snacks.

  1. Yoobi – 4pk Good Vibes Puffy Stickers, Rainbow Coinpurse Keychain, Good Vibes Mini Spiral Notepad, 5pk Fine Tip Neon Markers, 12pk Double Sided Washable Stamp Markers, 60pk Multi-Color Sidewalk Chalk
  2. Twenty-Eight Twelve – Rainbow Felt Ball Garland
  3. I Love Plum – Watercolor Girl’s Tutu
  4. Frost Your Cookie – Rainbow & Shamrock St. Paddy’s Cookie Pops
  5. Trendy Andy Designs – Rainbow Macrame Wall Decor
  6. Mimi & Lei – Rainbow Yarn Tassel
  7. Tele Ties – Small Rainbow Hair Ties
  8. Native Shoes – Kid’s Jefferson Bling
  9. Sun Jellies – Mint Atomic Tote
  10. The Wishing Elephant – Mint Happy Go Lucky T-shirt
  11. Moon & Stone – Quartz Rainbow Bracelet
  12. The Party Darling – Ivory and Gold Paper Party Fans, Ice Cream Mini Balloons
  13. Oak & Co. – Wood Cutouts – Mint Small Shamrock & Small Rainbow
  14. Cuddle + Kind – Zoe the Unicorn
  15. Jersie Louise Handmade – Felt Rainbow Necklace
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Valentine’s Countdown

There’s something fun about the holiday of love, even if it is a Hallmark holiday. In my humble opinion, there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of the day to tell those close to us how much we love them. And since I’m frugal (that’s the new, nice way of saying I’m a cheapskate, and I love it), I don’t go all out with expensive gifts and such. Basically if I can make someone’s day for $9.99 or less, it is my kind of gift.

Since I met my husband, I’ve been doing little acts of love for him. I wish I could go back to my pre-married self to tell her to calm down a bit (because once you set a standard you’ve gotta keep up with it). But that’s when a project like this comes in handy. You can use it year after year.

First, I found an envelope template online and used scrapbook paper to make 14 envelopes. I used my Cricut to make the numbers, but you could use stickers or even just hand write them on each envelope.

Next, I print out 14 photos (or let’s face it, more like 20 because I can’t decide on only 14) from my top 14 memories of the year. Sometimes it was the event that was my favorite, sometimes it was just the photo. I write on the back of each one why it was special for me/him, and then I arrange them from 1-14 best. I put them in their corresponding envelopes (So basically 14 is in 1, 13 is in 2, etc), and each day from the 1st of February through the 14th, he gets to open one. He actually really loves this tradition, it’s been going on now for seven years.

Side Note: This is actually how Brendan found out we were having a baby. In envelope number 9 that year, I put in a photo of the positive pregnancy test. He definitely wasn’t expecting that! Needless to say, they’ve never been that eventful before or since.

Sawyer has also been showing an interest in this, so I think when she’s a tad older I might do one for her too. She would love to open an envelope every day!

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Elf on the Shelf (Again)

With the arrival of our daughter two years ago, rumor spread that our elf Reuben would come to a screeching halt. However, that could not be further from the truth. Reuben has been here each year since and is thriving in his new child-filled environment. But with that being said, we have talked to Reuben about his usual antics, and we think we’re going to have to put a leash on him next year. With the babe growing up quickly, she’ll soon understand Reuben and what he’s here for. Which unfortunately is not taking shots (see photos) or breaking people’s knees (see other photos).

This year Reuben got into quite a bit of fun. He featured a few of our favorite movies and a few ‘oldie but goodie’ songs. He really got detailed in some of his scenes, which definitely made for some late nights on my behalf. But watching my husband bend over in laughter each morning was well worth it.

So tell me, how many of them can you figure out? I’ll list them all below, in order. Leave me a comment with how many you guessed!

In order of appearance (and from left to right when applicable):

  1. My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Yard (“Milkshake,” Kelis)
  2. Who Let the Dogs Out, Baha Men
  3. Spice Girls
  4. Risky Business (Tom Cruise)
  5. Lady and the Tramp
  6. Lion King
  7. Dumb and Dumber
  8. Fatal Attraction
  9. What Happens in Mexico (no relation to a movie/song)
  10. 99 Problems, Jay-Z
  11. Cry Me a River, Justin Timberlake
  12. Single Ladies, Beyonce
  13. 1994 Olympics – Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding
  14. Die Hard (Bruce Willis)

So tell me, how many did you get right?

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Two the Sea Party

Listen. There are only a few years where I get to pick the theme for Sawyer’s birthday parties. And I’m pretty sure this was the last year that I get to (she’s super into Puppy Dog Pals). But can we be honest with each other for a second here? Which theme is cooler: this, or Puppy Dog Pals? That’s what I thought too.

The good thing for me was that after coming up with this theme, she got really into sea turtles. So overall, I think I pleased her very much. (Unintentional mom win)

We just moved into our new place ten days before this party, and basically reno’d the whole first floor. So planning this party was done on the fly, and I’m pretty sure my mom and friend hated me for it. But thankfully for me, they actually do love me and helped me put the whole thing together.

I started planning before our move by ordering balloons on Aliexpress, because they can take weeks to come in. Literally, you never know what you’re going to get. But for the prices, it’s worth trying. I ordered the turquoise garland balloons, the giant 2, and the “two the sea” mini letter balloons all from them. Thankfully, they all turned out exactly how I wanted them to!

Note to self (and you): I read on Pinterest that you can spray paint the letter balloons, so I didn’t order blue ones. I figured I could paint them turquoise no matter what. Thankfully, I ordered two sets of each letter, because guess what. You can’t paint these, I found out the hard way.

For food we served sandwiches along with all of the ‘seafood’ we came up with. The sea glass was even edible (thanks to Pinterest for that recipe – finally something worked the way it was supposed to). We also served Health-Ade Kombucha because let’s be honest with ourselves, it’s amazing.

For desserts, we (and by we, I mean my mom and my friend) made oyster cookies and sand dollar cookies. They were both really easy (says me), but time consuming.

Her cake was my biggest surprise. Did I want to order a fancy expensive cake? Yes. Do I really have the budget for that? No. So let’s get real here, my local grocery store CAME THROUGH. I was so pleasantly surprised by how cool it turned out that I want to order cakes every month. I can think of something to celebrate every month, can’t I?

I wanted a pretty sequin tablecloth so badly, but have you ever looked for one? A) they’re hard to find, and 2) they’re SO expensive. So here’s a mom hack for you: go to the fabric store and buy two yards of the fabric you like most. That’s it. We just draped it over our table and voila!

We then literally covered all the surfaces in seashells and sea glass that we found at the Dollar Tree, and found cute jellyfish lanterns at Party City. I even found whale tail (or mermaid, but I was trying to steer clear of the Mermaid theme) hats at the Dollar Tree!

We also found this pretty pinata at Target, which left me with a whole bowl full of candy to eat after the party. Great. (Next time either more kids or less candy.)

One of the cutest decor pieces was the clear balloons (bubbles) hanging from the mantle. Note to you: don’t blow them up the day before. They turn more white than when you first blow them up.

Balloon garland: easy, but also time consuming. You can buy strips to just pop the balloons into, but we do it the ‘old-fashioned’ way: blow up balloons to different sizes (even if they’re all the same size, just blow them big, medium, and small). Tie three together with a piece of string. Then tie that string to a longer one that will be your main garland string. That’s it!

One of my favorite items was the starfish wands that I made for the party. Literally SO easy. I hot glued a stick to a starfish, spray painted it gold, and tied ribbons to the bottom!

Sawyer loved the whole party (even her DIY shirt I made the day of). I think all of the sugar may have been the reason she enjoyed herself so much, but I take what I can get over here. Whatever makes this girl happy makes my mama heart happy too.