April Showers Care Package

April "Showers" Care Package

One thing that many soldiers want when they are deployed are the toiletries that they are used to using at home. My husband told me that they have very generic brands of deoderant, body wash, etc. so I sent him a box of all of his favorites!

Here is what I included in this box:

• Braun Electric Shaver Cleaning Kit: My husband bought an electric shaver before he left, but forgot the cleaning machine so I had to send it to him. I also send him replacement cleaning cartriges.
• Body Wash: My husband likes the Dove Men + Care brand and they had a sale at Costco, thus the three large sizes.
• Deoderant: My husband likes the Old Spice ones so I bought a couple different scents for him so he can switch it up
• Mouthwash
• Eye Wash
• Blistex
• A loofah
• Face Wash
• Wet Ones Wipes
• Q-tips
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Hand Sanitizer
• A rubber duckie to round out the theme!

Impotant things to rememeber when sending any sort of liquid - Put everything that can leak or melt in a ziploc bag. This is so that if one thing leaks it won't ruin the rest of the things that are in the box.



The box all decorated! I just used scrapbook paper to line the sides
and bottom of the box. Then just add stickers and some sayings!




All of the things that I included in the box.




The box all packed. Yes, I pack all of the boxes I send to the brim!



I hope this gave you some inspiration! Have fun and stay safe!

How to Make Diaper Cakes!

Making Diaper Cakes!

Over the past few months, I have attended several baby showers. I started with my sister's baby shower in which I made my very first diaper cake! Then I made another one for my friend's baby shower. I was very intimidated when I started, but it turns out to be super easy, and quite a fun time!

Supplies you will need:

• Diapers - my friend said that the best diapers are Pampers, and you can really choose any size because they will get used! The smaller the diaper, the more you will have to use. For my first cake I used size 1 for the bottom two tiers, and size newborn for the top two. Total I used 150 diapers. For the second cake I used only size 2 and I only used about
• Clear rubber bands - I bought the clear rubber band hair ties from Walmart
• Ribbon - Choose a ribbon that will go along with the theme, I chose pink for my sister's and a baby one for my friend's
• A base - I used a 14" cardboard cake platter that I got from Walmart
• A topper - I like to use stuffed animals
• Baby Stuff! - I like to add travel sized toletries, ribbons, hair accessories, pacifier, socks, etc. But choose whatever works with what you want it to be!

Steps to take:

1. Buy all of your supplies!
2. Roll each individual diaper and wrap a clear rubber band around it. I like to wrap them up so that the markings on the diaper are on the inside so all you see is white.
3.  Create your tiers of diapers. This can be difficult so I'm going to break it down:
• For the first cake I used size newborn and size one diapers which made it difficult because they were so tiny. I had to use the inside corner of a carboard box to help me to stand the diapers up so that I could get a ribbon around all of them. For the second cake I used size 2 diapers which were easier to stand up, I didn't have to use a cardboard box.
• Then, I used the thin like cheap curly ribbon to start becuase I didn't want to mess up the pretty ribbon and it was easy to tie and untie. This part took time because I wanted to make each tier a little bit smaller and still use all of the diapers. This just takes a little bit of time and patience to get it to look the way that you want it to look
• Once you have your tiers the perfect size, tie the pretty ribbon around it. I like to tie the ribbon in a bow because I think that it looks pretty, but I have seen it where they use pins to just secure the ribbon in place. One thing that I have learned is to NOT use super glue because the glue goes through the ribbon and ruins the diaper underneath.
4. Now is the fun part - Add all of the extra decorations and toiletries! I space them out, and even put some on the back if you run out of room!
5. Transporting the diaper cake: What I have learned is to take the tiers apart when you transport them because otherwise they will fall all over your car and can come apart. Then you have to worry about putting the tiers back together once you reach the party instead of just stacking them.  

St. Patrick's Day Care Package

St. Patrick's Day Care Package


My husband left for Afghanistan at the beginning of March, and so the first boxes that I sent him were for St. Patrick's Day! I had a lot of fun doing these boxes!!! At first, I didn't know what exactly to send him, but I wanted to stick with the theme. I ended up walking through the store and grabbed anything that was green. Below is a list of everything that I included in this box.

All of the things that I put in the two boxes.

 

Box #1 All Packed



Box #2 All Packed

Here is what was in these boxes:

• Treat Bags "Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow" : Twizzlers Rainbow with Rolos.
• Guiness Chocolate Chip Cookies (because one of my husband's favorite beers is Guiness, and he always drinks Guiness on St. Patrick's Day; and since I couldn't send him the beer, I sent him the next best thing!) I found the recipe on this website: Guiness Chocolate Chip Cookies
• St. Patrick's Day paraphernalia (mostly found at the dollar store or in the dollar section at Target):
• Socks
• Shamrock Glasses
• Neck Tie
• Glow Bracelets
• Beaded Necklaces
• Lights
• Straws
• Light up cup
• Shamrock rug
• "Green" food
• Pringles Sour Cream and Onion
• Nature Valley Granola Bars
• Green Licorice
• Men's Health Mixed Nuts
• Mint M&M's
• Sour Skittles
• Warheads
• Sleepytime tea
• Turkey Jerkey
• Lucky Charms
• Chocolate Gold Coins

Decorating the boxes: Since this was my first time, I had not discovered the trick of using scrapbook paper, so I used wrapping paper. It was very difficult and didn't turn out very pretty. I also decorated it with shamrock stickers, and on the second box I wrote "I'm so lucky to have you because...." and I wrote all of the reasons why I am so lucky to have my husband in my life.

What I learned after my husband received this package: I went a little over board with all of the paraphernalia. I forgot that he really has no place to wear any of this and that it really just takes up space in his tiny room. So, lesson learned... Only a couple silly things to go with the theme! And keep it cheap (dollar store) because they will probably end up throwing it away anyhow.

That's all for now, so until next time.... Have fun and stay safe!

5 Tips to Make the Best Care Packages!

5 Tips for Making the Best Care Packages

My husband has been deployed to Afghanistan for almost four months now, and I have sent many care packages to him. I am totally obsessed with decorating them, finding things to send him, and most importantly sending my love to my husband half way around the world. I am not claiming by any means to be a pro at doing these boxes, but I just figured I would share some of the things that I have learned while doing them.

1. Use the flat rate boxes, especially when shipping overseas. I always use the large flat rate boxes. You can pick up the boxes at your local post office or you can order them online. I ordered the APO/FPO boxes that are designed for the military. Here is a link to order them: Ordering USPS APO/FPO Flat Rate Boxes
2. Choose a theme. I always have a specific theme for each box that I send. I have done many themes involving holidays, but I also have done some that are specific to what my husband likes, or current events that are happening in my life. My goal is to post all of the different boxes that I have put together and what I included in each of them, so keep on the lookout!
3. Decorate your box! This is probably one of my favorite parts of doing the boxes. It can also be the most time consuming, but I have figured out a couple of things that help. First, I realized that scrapbook paper fits almost perfectly on each side of the large flat rate boxes. You will just need to cut off a little off of the top and side to make it fit perfectly. The best thing about using scrapbook paper is that there are so many different designs and colors that you can make each box unique.
4. Choose things to send that are specific to the person you are sending the box to. There are many ideas online of things to send, but my biggest suggestion is to figure out what the person you are sending the box to wants. One of my husband's favorite presents included undershirts and socks. I guess it's the little things that they miss the most. Other things that are big hits over there are beef jerkey, the individual coffee packets, and homemade cookies or treats.
5. Pack the box as full as you can. This may sound wierd, but the more empty space there is in the box, the more things will shift and risk breaking. I will pack the boxes so full that I have to close them by pushing them against a wall! Many people say not to ship breakable things, but I have sent multiple things that are breakable and not one has broken yet. The key is to wrap it in bubble wrap (the more the better), then put it in the middle of other things that can provide a little cushion for it. I would suggest making sure that the breakable things are away from the sides of the boxes because those boxes get thrown around all the time.

So, those are my 5 tips to making the best care packages. I will be posting each box that I have sent to my husband and things that I have learned along the way.


Until next time.... Have fun and stay safe out there!!!!

Valentine's Care Package

So it has been awhile since my first post, and I have a lot of things that I want to post, so I just need to get this ball rolling!

My husband was in Texas for his training before his deployment for two months. I only sent him one package while he was over there, which was a Valentines themed package. I got a little carried away with this one because I didn't have to send it all in a flat rate box.

I had a lot of fun putting this box together. Here are the contents of the box (a detailed list of things are below):

Here is everything packed in the one huge box:

Here is everything that this box had:

• Oatmeal cookies (his request - I made a double batch since my husband was in a huge room with about 15 other guys)
• Maxim and ESPN magazines
• Dollar Store decorations: Gel Clings
• "Smack-a-pack" / "Whack-a-pack" - I found these things at the dollar store and the dollar section at Target. The boys had a bunch of fun hitting them and watching them "explode" :)
• A hand warmer in the shape of a heart
• A pack of Valentine Kisses for my husband to hand out to the guys for Valentines Day
• Hot and Spicy Cheeze-It's and Tomato Basil Wheat Thins for a couple of my husband's friends (I over heard them talking about them one day while Skyping with my husband - and I thought that it would be a great surprise for them)
• A bunch of snacks with lovey-dovey sayings written on heart shaped post-its and attached to the snacks:
• Popcorn: "I love you so much, it feels like my heart is about to pop!"
• Pop Rocks: "You rock my world"
• Trail Mix: "I'd be so mixed up without you."
• Monster Energy Drink: "You are a moster in bed."
• Diet Coke: " I soda think that you are amazing."
• Orange Crush Soda: " I have a crush on you."
• Mixed Nuts: "I'm nuts about you!"
• Life Saver Mints: " I mint to tell you sooner, but you are my life saver."
• Reeses Pieces: "You will always have a piece of my heart."
• Gum: "I'm stuck on you."
• Honey Nut Chex Mix: "You got the kiss that tastes like honey..." (a lyric from a song)
• Sweedish Fish: "You o'fish'ally have my heart."
• Sugar Babies: "Give me some sugar, baby."
• Blow Pops: "Baby you blow my mind!"
• Hot Tamales: "Baby you are one hot tamale!"
• Combos Snacks: "You and I make a great combo."

Well, that was my first care package! I think that the best part was getting to Skype with him while he opened the box and see his reaction to all of the gifts. It makes it totally worth it!!!! He loved it, and I loved that he loved it! :)


Until next time....... Be safe out there!!!

Trying this out...

I wanted to start this blog to give me something to do while my husband is deployed. I created it like over a month ago, but I have just been so busy that I haven't had the time to actually put anything on here! I guess that is a good thing because that means that I also haven't had the time to be truly bored and get too lonely. We gotta look at the bright side of everything!

My goal for this blog is to help me channel some of my thoughts and worries and crazy random ideas into one place. I want to share some of my deployment experiences as a new army wife, but also I want to start sharing some of my teaching experiences as well! I am very excited to share everything that I can think of. 

Hopefully this will reach that one person who truly needs it, and I will feel successful. Even if it doesn't I know that I am really just doing this for myself to get everything out of my head so I stop thinking about it all!

Enjoy... or don't... :) but please just be nice!