Anja Acupressure Mat

For Christmas, the hubby and I do everything in our power to buy practical, unique, fresh finds. We love to give gifts. We love to be intentional with others. WlAnyone can give a gift card. 

One of the gifts that I gave out to at least four people this Christmas: my hubby, my mom Ann Pratt, my dad, and my sister Whitney Pratt, was an acupressure mat and pillow. 

When I find a product:gift that I am passionate about, I want to bless everyone I know with it. 

Now, I did buy four different brands because they range from $30.00 to $169.00 and I felt there has to be a happy medium. I wanted to see if it was necessary to buy the Top Dog “Accupressure” mat. 

These mats are to be used consistently, for 15 minutes each day.  These mats offer a holistic approach to so many daily issues that we are with faced with:

Darren's Birthday Gifts

Darren and I are HUGE on finding the BEST gifts for one another.  I won't lie, as we get older, it has become increasingly harder to impress one another.  We are very blessed and we generally do not go without. Finding something to gift to each other that we don't already have is tough.  We always pull through for one another though. Find out what I decided to get him for his special day.  

Father's Day ~ 2018

On Father's Day, I am always honored to celebrate a man that fully deserves to be called dad/father.  Being a father is a selfless act.  It's laying down your selfless desires to put your children first.  Darren is that father. He is such a hard-worker. His integrity is matchless.  He is a wonderful husband, father, and coach! He's our hero! I LOVED the photos above, captured by Carissa Divant, with By His Grace Studios. They were the perfect way to express this man's heart for his children.  

In the morning, I set up a few gifts around the house for Darren to wake up to.  The first gift was an improvised coffee cup that said, "BEST.DAD.EVER", along with some bourbon infused coffee, from Uncommon Goods.  

I fell in LOVE with the below T-Shirt.  It spells out my husband, their father perfectly.  "HUSBAND. DADDY. HERO."  That he is.

Every year, we do this comical, smooshed faces photo.  I love to see how these photos change from year to year.  

Later in the evening we took Darren's dad to dinner to celebrate both dads.  We met up at Carrabas' Italian Grill and blessed Reid/Grandad with an Amazon Echo.  

Darren and Lilah: These two are the funniest duo.  They are both so witty, sweet spirit, and man o'day... mess with anyone in our family and you'll wish you hadn't.  They love HARD! Darren, you know my story.  You know what every little girl deserves, craves, wants, and needs from her father.  You have filled all of my emptiness, hurt, and struggles by allowing me to witness the most precious gift you have given to our only daughter... A God fearing, hard-workng, generous, kind, involved, protective, supportive daddy with the upmost integrity.  She loves you and I love you!

Darren, Ty, and Jax: This man puts his absolute heart and soul into these boys.  He is not only their daddy, but hie is their COACH.  He coaches them through life in our home, on the court, in our backyard, and even on our car rides to and from.  He is raising  two sons to be gentleman, complimentary, selfless, amazing husbands, and excellent fathers.  Darren may only have 3 children, but I know there are so many youth out there who personally light up when Darren walks into a room.  One of Ty's friends even said, after TY's paintball party, "The best part about Ty's party was Mr. Bolling played with us!"  MELT. MY. HEART. There are so many youth who jokingly call him dad, but probably because he's so sincere to every boy he coaches.  Darren, so many young men take your advice to heart and look up to you.  The roll you play in not only our sons' loves, but so many other boys' lives is a beautiful thing to have a front row seat to.  You are their hero.  AND MINE!

Happy Father's Day!

"Fresh Starts Are A Gift!"

School is out for the Summer.  Here's what we gave out to the teachers and bus driver at the end of the year?  I am beyond proud of it.  Let me explain my little creation.  

Here are the items you will need: 1. A mini shopping cart.  2. Miniature erasers.  3. Little brown envelopes.  4. A printer.  5. Tape. 6. 8" lollipop sticks or skewers.

This adorable shopping cart was found at Hobby Lobby.  It grabbed my attention immediately.  I love everything miniature.  It came in multiple colors.  I thought about the grocery stores I would be shopping at, in hopes that I could color coordinate my gift to the shopping cart.  The price... $3.99.

As soon as I saw it, I knew instantl what I would do with it.  

Next up, I needed miniature food.  I found these adorable mini eraser sets in the dollar bin at Target.  

And these... for $1.00. Not photographed was another pack of ice cream cones.

Here is another shopping cart in green.  

These mini craft sacks came from Hobby Lobby too!  These were $2.99.  I wanted them to resemble a brown paper bag from a grocery store.

I printed some small Fresh Market logos and adhered them to the "bags".  

Wala! Mini carts.  Mini food.  And now, mini grocery bags. 

I chose to insert a Fresh Market gift certificate into the brown craft sack.  This store is a little more unique and special to shop at, so I thought it would be more impressive than a gift card to Wal-mart or Food Lion.

Put it all together and look at HOW adorable this gift is. The twins' main teacher received a $50.00 gift card and the other two teachers/bus driver received a $25.00 gift certificate.

I used an 8" inch lollipop stick to adhere a printable that I created.  

The printable reads, "Fresh" Starts are a gift! Enjoy your Summer!"

To top off that cuteness, I wrapped the bus driver's gift in this darling bus driver's gift bag.  I mean, it doesn't get any more detailed and perfect that THAT!!!

Erasers, gift certificates, creativity, and a mini shopping cart.... throw it all together and all that mini stuff sure does make a BIG SMILE!

Orange You Glad It's Summer?!

The principal and school secretary MUST be ready for a break and must are bound to be SICK OF APPLES.  So, we are saying thank you with this BRIGHT, cheery, gift basket of ORANGE goodies!!!! I spotted the most delicious DRIED oranges from the FRESH MARKET last week and AS SOON AS I SAW THEM, I knew exactly WHAT I would do with them!!! I KNEW I would design the principal and school secretary's gift SOLEY off of those oranges and THIS is what I came up with?!

"Orange you glad it's SUMMER!"

I absolutely LOVE everything about this basket.  AND... I am so glad that tomorrow is the last day of school because I am tired of obsessing over the color/fruit orange.   Everywhere I went, I scoped the stores for ORANGE THINGS or ORANGEY gifts.  

I created a "sweet" printable for all to use.  If you would like to make a basket of your own, to gift to teachers, bus drivers, janitors, or school staff, click here, for the printable.  Please send me a photo of your creations. I love seeing them!!! And don't forget to tell others about our family blog if you do use the printable that I am generously sharing with you.

What was inside?  All kinds of goodies.  See below.

Boom Chicka Cheddar Popcorn

Peach Hand Sanitizer

Reese's Stuffed With Pieces

Trident Tropical Gum

An Orange Candle

Dried Orange Slices

Fanta

Campfire Crunch

A Bath Fizzer

An Actual Orange

Orange Life Savers

I am so pleased with the finished product.  I printed the label, cut it out, and adhered it to a bendy straw, via scotch tape, so that I could manipulate the printable to be seen by the recipient, from any angle I desired.  

Dance Recital Gifts - 2018

When you do NOT LOVE the idea of giving flowers to anyone, much less a 9 year old who could careless about flowers (in the long run) you feel like you are WINNING when... you are walking into the Jefferson Center, on Recital Day, and your daughter exclaims, "Mommy, why do people give out flowers at recitals and opening nights!?" SCORE!  That just means that she doesn't necessarily associate FLOWERS with her special events.  I have driven the message home that I don't really do flowers.  I was able to tell her that flowers are a beautiful gift that are typically used for celebrations such as Mother's Day, the Birth of a Baby, or a Wedding Day, BUT... they are also used to cheer up people during an illness or death in the family.  For me personally, I always consider the person I am giving a gift to with much detail.  If someone is in the hospital even for a good reason, more than likely, they do NOT have time for extra responsibility. YES! It certainly is a special way to tell someone you are thinking of them, but I have also felt like it's the ordinary way of saying, "Here! I didn't have time to think of something else that you would rather have and everyone else is giving flowers!" Ahem... Valentine's Day is a PRIME example.  Seriously?  EVERY LADY gets flowers EVEN IF her significant other didn't want to buy them... he buys them anyway because IT'S. WHAT. EVERYONE. DOES!

Not me.  Haha.  And my daughter knows it.  

During her Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs play, I made her this Candy Bouquet.  She was OVER THE MOON ecstatic.  A few dance rehearsals back, Lilah was obsessed with EOS chapstick, so I made her this Bouquet of EOS.  I keep fearing that I am going to run out of ideas because of the countless recitals she's in, but the coolest thing is... I don't.  This time, I just considered the recipient in full detail. I considered what Lilah's currently interested in and what she loves.  The answer was simple... ELMER'S GLUE SLIME.  

I ran around town collecting ROY. G. BIV bottles of glue and created a floral bouquet of Elmer's Glue instead. Let's just say... this idea trumped flowers x 1,000,000,000.  

I absolutely love the way it turned out. Here's what you need to create your own Elmer's Glue bouquet:

Supplies List:

1.  GLUE

2.  Lollipop Sticks or Skewers

3.  Tape

4.  A Hot Glue Gun

5.  Greenery (Preferably FAKE)

6.  Floral Cellophane

7.  Ribbon

8.  A Willingness To Go The Extra Mile

9. Foresight Into The Recipients RESPONSE.

Watch my hyperlapse video for a quick and easy VISUAL on HOW TO ASSEMBLE.  I promise you, this recital gift will make your little girl or boy super duper pleased.  

In addition to this bouquet of glue, I did purchase her a sweet bracelet that reminder he that with Jesus, all things are possible.  This scripture is totally taken out of context far too often, but I do believe that Jesus is always with you, even at a Dance Recital. You can NEVER go wrong to lean on him during a time when you are filled with so much nervous excitement.

 And then of course a little chocolate never hurts!!! Toblerone... it's one of Lilah's favs.

There you have it!!! Simple, creative, personal, and NOT ORDINARY!!!! 

BEAUTIFUL Cosmetic Bags!

In the post previous to THIS ONE... I shared that sometimes I find things that I LOVE and must give to multiple people. It certainly doesn't mean I just don't feel like picking out something special.  IT JUST MEANS... I LOVE my gift finds and don't like to stray from what I know is AMAZING.

These bags came in 4 different patters and colors.  I only liked 3/4, so I eliminated the fourth patter from my gift selections.

These bags ARE GORGEOUS.  Good quality.  VERY Girly.  And SO FUN.  

I gave four of these out to friends.  2/4 received a gift certificate to LOVELY_LIPS.  It went with the theme.  WHICH as you all know... get me hooked on a gift theme and the recipient is MORE THAN BLESSED.

Each cosmetic gift set came with (3) cosmetic bags ranging in size: small, medium, and large.  The first bag said something on each set.  I love the "Hello Gorgeous" and "Put Your Face On!" so much. The medium and large bags were either glittery or patterned.  I just love the unique and classy colors/patterns chosen.