if these showed up at my door...

 

I decided to look around at Anthropolgie.com today. I found a few things that if they showed up at my door I would scream myself hoarse, and I have strong vocal chords! Luckily, the likelihood of that happening is about 1 in 100000000 so the chords are safe. Thanks for your concern.

 

 

All images and items can be found here.

Is there anything you have stumbled upon lately that would make you scream your voice raw? Do share!

the snowman

When the snow started falling the snowman started calling. We just HAD to make one. Let me just encourage you-whether you are single, married, married with children...whatever...get outside and make a snowman if you have snow. I am so serious right now. There is truly something liberating and invigorating about building a snowman. I can almost bet that you will come into your house happier than you left it. You let me know.

 

I also had a personal epiphany as I was building this snowman. I do not build them like the average person. I make them kinda weird. Or maybe the world does? My approach to snowman building is to smush and gather the snow into a pile. I carve it out of the snow pile rather than making a ball and rolling it all over. It seems more effective and stable doing it my chosen way, but every child's story book takes the rolling approach so that says something I suppose. Am I a weirdo or are some of you similar in this smushing snowman thing?

 

And in case you are curious what we used for the face (and blush...so glad you noticed;) ) it is two found rocks for the eyeballs, a baby carrot for the nose, a green bean for the mouth and cherry tomato juice for the blush....oh green bean buttons too. It was such a delight making this guy and let me tell you I have not laughed that hard for a while, the laughter did have to do with the snowball fight that came after the snowman...but you get the idea.

Love you guys and hope you are doing something that makes you come ALIVE today!

bathrobes

Bathrobes.

   Lately my little beans have been obsessing over bathrobes. Why, you may ask? Why bathrobes? Well, I was reading them the story One Morning in Maine and in that story the girl is wearing a bathrobe for all of two pages. Two pages was all it took for my household's obsession to begin.

  I like to help a brother or sister out so let me just save you the time and let you know that TJ Maxx, Gymboree, Lombard's Salvation Army and Old Navy do NOT have bathrobes for children. GapKids however does carry them. You are welcome for that little tip. Bathrobes are all the rage so you just might want to go get one (or three).

  I keep trying to get on the bandwagon with the trend but the fact that I look like a short rectangle when I wear one tempers the desire just a touch.

(Judah did have a black eye in these photos...in case you were trying to decide how to breach the subject of me putting makeup on my son, you don't have to)

I had to add this one because Judah's face made me laugh so hard.

Any trends in your world that I should know about?

Money Saving Monday

I enjoy saving money, I also enjoy spending money. I figure most people can relate to both desires. I often share ways to spend money on here....but today I will share ways to save money.

1. Think outside of your normal stores.

You can purchase fun hair clips, baking pans (high quality), cupcake holders, cookbooks, birthday cards, cleaning products all at Joann Fabrics....and the icing on the cake is there is always a 40-50% coupon you can use to drop the price even lower! This is a great place for birthday party presents because there is a huge variety of items and I can almost bet you will find something that will work. If you have a hard time finding Joann coupons (inside your Sunday paper or sign up to have them mailed to you)  competitor's coupons work as well so really you have no excuse to not go and give it a try. Bed, Bath and Beyond is a great store for basics or even makeup as well.

2. Don't pay for packaging on items for yourself.

I know we all are suckers for beautiful packaging (hello I live for aesthetics) but really when you use an item day to day the packaging is long forgotten so don't let it be a deciding factor in purchasing. I would say gift giving can be different because packaging should be part of the gift itself... I do try when giving gifts to think creatively on how I can make a basic into a special item simply by upping the appearance of the packaging. (more on this in another post perhaps)

3. Don't buy your wrapping paper, tissue paper, or ribbon from Hallmark.

The place to go for these items is Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or something in that family. I am flabbergasted when I see the prices on wrapping paper and tissue paper at Hallmark and grocery stores. Please don't waste your money, there are really cute, nice quality wrapping supplies at the Dollar Store!

4. Find your local Salvation Army, Goodwill and resale shops.

I  know not everyone feels comfortable wearing clothes other people have worn before them. I respect that though I personally have no issue with it. However, there are countless items at these stores besides clothing. I shutter to think of how much money people are paying for children's books, coffee mugs, purses and more! If you have never gone and browsed a store like this (or have in the distant past) give it a go....hopefully you will have as much luck as I do:)

5. Find dupes.

If this is the first time you have heard the term "dupe" have no fear....it simply means a product that is close enough in comparison to a higher end item that it could pass for it. I love finding dupes especially for makeup products. I really enjoy makeup, but dropping $20-50 for certain items is mind-numbing for me...enter a dupe. There are countless websites out there that can help you locate a dupe for something, simply google/bing the high end product and then write the word dupe after, hopefully you will discover at least something that will work for you. Here is a blog that has a whole entire list of makeup dupes in case you are a nut over that stuff like I am:)

http://www.temptalia.com/makeup-dupe-list

 

 

Those are some of my tips for today. I would love to hear YOURS below!!