Teaching the Lost Art of a Thank You Note

Do you still write Thank You notes? There are a few occasions when I believe a handwritten Thank You is a must. Graduations, weddings, baby gifts, and funerals. Believe me, I am not the only one who thinks this way. If someone takes the time to to think of you and goes out to buy/make you a gift for one of those occasions, an appreciation is a must. Write it, stamp it, seal it and send it. It is etiquette people.

ETIQUETTE.

As I have gotten older, birthday gifts have kind of fallen to the side, so I personally don't send many thanks out for those myself, but....my children do still have parties. They do still need to be taught to not only say thank you but to send a thank you. And since they won't be graduating, marrying, or having babies anytime soon I must begin by teaching them by writing Thank You's for their birthday gifts. (my 13 year old son, may be a lost cause)

If you have read my blog for any length of time or know me personally, you know that my daughter just celebrated her 7th birthday. We had an American Girl Party. So much fun. One of the activities we did was a life size American Girl box. Each of the girls got in it and I took their picture. So cute. I then took these, developed them, and put notebook paper on the back of each to make them into a photo postcard. Miss K then wrote each one of them a note.

Not only did she get a lesson in etiquette, but also handwriting practice. And I cannot think of any little girl friend of hers that doesn't like to receive an old fashioned piece of snail mail, especially one with them as the doll. 

An American Girl Birthday Party for my Littlest Star & A Giveaway- Closed

My Littlest Star is Seven!!!

I blinked. It happened. And I think she grew another inch over night. 

She wanted an American Girl Birthday Party for her big day. 

Even more she wanted the new American Girl Doll of the Year, Isabelle. 

The dolls are so expensive, parties are even more expensive. I mentioned in an earlier post my strategies for making this happen on a budget.  I am happy to say, I pulled the party off with about $40, a lot of hard work, and finally the help of great friends and family! 

THANK YOU!!!

Life size doll box for the girls to pose in. So much fun!

Paper plate name banner. 

Party hats, drinks and  tea light cakes for the dolls!

Goody bags. There were lots of things to take home. 

Doll & Girl Craft Station. Red & White doll tutu's and...

felt top hats for the dolls and girls from Punch Place Plus. 

A doll hair station. Because every doll must have great hair.

The Bistro & Goodies table. 

Yum! Cake balls, PB&J, Bologna, wavy potato chips, gum balls, candy cane heart suckers, bottled water, and homemade cherry limeade!

I love these little sandwiches. But seriously, the waste. Needless to say, we saved the outer edges and fed them to my husband and son!

The water bottles. Love these. I made them in Word. They even had a bar code on them with her birthday. You can download my printable here. 

10 giggly girls. Actually we had 11, my niece is in the high chair. 

Miss K showing her friends how to make the tutu's. 

11 beautiful STARS with their dolls. Donned in their hats and tutus. Adorable.

It appears that all of Miss K's birthday wishes were blessed upon her. She had a wonderful birthday and I pray that I can continue to instill upon her that birthdays are about sharing your joy with others. I also pray for my daughter that her light and inner star shines for Jesus wherever she goes. 

Would you like more of my tips on saving money on parties? On February 4, 2014, I will be chatting it up on Twitter at 1pm with Offers.com during their #STSMchat (save time save money). We will be discussing party planning on a budget further. I cannot wait to hear more ideas to help me save time and money. Be sure to go read more about it on their blog!

Now, who is ready for a GIVEAWAY??? Did you see the cute top hats the girls made? My friends at Punch Place Plus sent them to me for the girls to create.

And one of my readers is getting a....

The mandatory entry is to visit their site and tell me in a disqus comment what craft supplies you would want with your $25!!! Entries will be collected on the easy Rafflecopter form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthdays on a Budget

For some reason I decided to have Winter babies. December 12 and January 31! Ouch. Those dates are hard on the pocket books. No matter how much I plan to save up for my children's birthday and parties, the savings ends up going to the essentials in life- food, shelter, utilities, clothing and doctors.

I am telling you right now. Pinterest can be your friend and your frustrating enemy. I like the ideas, but I am an extreme DIY mom and I do not like paying for things I can do myself. For instance my daughter is turning seven in a few short weeks. She is totally into all things American Girl Doll. Now that is a pricey subject that just blows any household budget. Thankfully we have a few family members who are willing to go together and have now for a few years to make Miss K's dreams come true in the doll category.

But, how do I possibly pull off an American Girl Party for her and her friends? For me....

1. After holiday sales. Think red, white, silver, stars. Seriously, you can do this for almost any party, boy/girl any holiday!

2. Peruse Pinterest and pin ideas to your child's personally named party board. If you do not individualize your party boards, you should think about it..

3. Make your own invitations. Use PicMonkey, Word, or other software programs that you are familiar with. Or Evite. I love Evite.

4. The cake. Can you open a box? Do you have an oven? A cake ball maker? My $19.99 cake ball maker has entertained now at 6 parties. I love this appliance. So much that my mother in law asked for one for her birthday one year. Score!! Seriously, cakes are just going to be ate. Make one and forget it. I have bought a few in my life. We eat the homemade ones a lot better and faster. 

5. The venue. This is a toughy. I do not like paying for places to host parties, so we typically go for the "at home" parties. To be honest with you, my home is small and although I love to entertain, I used to shy away from hosting in my own home. Guess what? Kids do not care. They have fun no matter where. I will say this particular party is not going to be in my home, but rather my mother in laws. She has a looooong table that will sit the girls and their dolls perfectly! We are blessed. 

6. For a girl party to be a success, I think you only have to have a few things. Food/drink, play and/or craft and an open mind. Remember, the party is about celebrating her and letting her enjoy some one on one time with her friends. The preparation you put into it makes it fun and enjoyable for all. The smiles are priceless. 

These are just a few of my tips for birthdays on a budget. On February 1, you will have to look out for my actually party post to see what fun the girls have.

P.S. Just a  plug, but on February 4, 2014, I will be chatting it up on Twitter at 1pm with Offers.com during their #STSMchat (save time save money). We will be discussing party planning on a budget further. I cannot wait to hear more ideas to help me save time and money. Be sure to go read more about it on their blog!

Halloween 2013

Another Halloween has come and gone. I fear this may be the last for my little, big man. I think I say that every year. This year we had a Pre-teen Candy Hobo and Little Miss Dorothy from Oklahoma. Once again costumes were as frugal as could be and Pinterest inspired. Miss K's American Girl even got a matching costume made, down to her ruby red slippers. 

Miss K helped me make her tutu and B's cap was made by a friend at church. Of course my sewing machine didn't work so I resorted to my favorite alternative Liquid Stitch for the aprons. It worked. 

Miss K, knotting the tulle

Making the aprons

Glitter, Mod Podge, Foam Brush and shoes

The finished costume on the American Girl Doll- adorable! (sorry for the terrible iphone pic)

Thankfully we only hit three houses for candy and only received 3 Snickers bars. I had them for breakfast with my Diet Coke. How was your Halloween?

A True American Girl Experience

Kaybrie loves all things American Girl. Especially now.

We had planned a family trip to Dallas back in April with the intentions of taking her THE STORE, but that fell through. Opportunity presented itself again the weekend of June 22. We were at my family reunion in Durant and decided to just take her on down for the night and visit the store the next day. I cannot believe how short the drive has become from Durant to Dallas. Seriously.  She has been an extremely blessed little girl. WE have never had to completely purchase an American Girl doll... Two sets of grandparents = One fantabulous birthday gift. Two years in a row!

This is a BIG store!

Window shopping in anticipation for the store to open.

Our Shining Star.

Posing with Saige.

Both dolls got a makeover. This is Sierra.

Lunch with the McKenna, Sierra, Mommy & Daddy.

My little American Girls.

A Mommy & Me Moment.

The girls getting a much needed drink.

Oops, we forgot to toast!

Pizza. Yum!

Daddy duty. Holding the dolls.

Making Julie's bracelet. Fun craft to finish out our visit at the store. 

Oh but wait, it looks like there might be a new addition. YES, Saige the 2013 American Girl of the year now belongs to Miss Kaybrie. We have now made that complete purchase. Saige Copeland- she may just be a relative of ours. My Great Grandmother's family name is Copeland. We have lots of cousins and even attended the Copeland family reunion last year. 

We stopped in Allen, TX on our way home to take a few pics of the beautiful sunflowers. 

We might have said RUN to the car fast to avoid a big Texas ticket. 

That's what happens when over 20 cars are parked in a fire lane. Thankfully they started ticketing at the end of the line. What kind of parents are we, teaching our six year old to run from the cops? I just told her that it better be the first and last time something like that happens with her, and at least she was with her parents. 

Definitely a true American Girl experience for the memory book.

Zit Cream is an American Girl Marker Miracle

Mother's Day morning. Getting ready for church. Of course McKenna and Kaybrie have to to wear matching dresses and have matching hairstyles. Before church. Why was this not planned the night before? That's when I discovered it. This.

Nooooo. How did that happen? Of course Kaybrie didn't know. And I could tell it wasn't done on purpose, but probably something had instead been laid upon her or beside her or grabbed her. Ugh! I tried makeup remover, fingernail polish remover, baby wipes, even a Clorox wipe. Nothing would remove it. A $105 doll, that we can't even afford to purchase by ourselves, we split the cost with grandparents or have the grandparents go in together for birthday presents. These dolls are special and are treated with magic fingers around our home. Obviously not magic enough this time or maybe a little too close to the MAGIC marker drawings or covered fingers this time. 
I just knew I couldn't wait and take the doll to the AG store and have them fix it, I don't want that to be our experience when we finally make it to Dallas or Kansas City to step foot into my daughter's dream store destination. So, I pulled my Real Housewife of the Internet and googled and came up with this site, which had this video. Their secret. zit cream. Yep the stuff with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide. Name brand is Oxy. I buy the generic. We just so happen to have the Target brand in the house right now.
I shot this Vine of the process. Have you downloaded and used Vine yet? Everyone else's videos are the coolest. I'm still learning. 

Anyway, put the zit cream on the marker, then wrap in saran wrap so it doesn't dry out. Take the doll and place her outside in the sun for about 4 hours. Be sure to cover her hair. You don't want your doll to get dry hair do you?

  Seriously. The marker is GONE!!  Zit cream is an American Girl Marker Miracle.