Recipes, Crafts, travel "Mixed" With Family Fun
I call them the “Tea & Sympathy” sessions. Before I even thought about coffee, there was tea. Sitting on the back porch, watching the sunset, and my mom and I chatting about life. My latest heartbreak or dramatic teenage catastrophe to college dreams, marriage and kids. We’ve had quite a few chats, and many of them with warm, comforting cups of tea in our hands. She would steep her tea bag for what seemed like hours, while I indulged in a few hurried/impatient dunks.
It seemed only fitting this year that I turned to Bigelow Tea for the Perfect Mother’s Day Gift Basket. This basket represents so much more than a gift; one to celebrate all of the big changes in her life, the nostalgia of our relationship and the hope of a wonderful future.
So I headed to Walmart to find the perfect cup of tea for my mom. I love that family-owned Bigelow Tea has such a large variety for the exceptional tea lover. While I tend to steer towards herbal fruit teas, my mom adores green tea. Each packet is perfectly wrapped and sealed to lock in the flavor and freshness, so you know you’re getting the best recipe possible brewed in your cup. I picked up the Bigelow Green Tea with Mint for a fresh Spring pick-me-up to add to my mom’s perfect Mother’s Day Basket.
What else went into the basket? I added her favorite candy (black licorice), a beautifully scented candle (Japanese water lily – roots in her Japanese heritage), tea mug (of course!), new gardening tools (for her new retirement venture), and the beginnings of her new herb garden.
But that wasn’t enough. I felt my basket needed a personal touch. So I made my mom a beautiful DIY Tea Stained Picture Frame to go with.
DIY Tea Stained Picture Frame
Here’s what you need:
Directions:
Your design lines will not be perfect, but I think this adds to the DIY charm of this piece. What do you think?
While certainly with less “Sympathy” now, I enjoy my special Tea & Sympathy moments with my mom. Hopefully this basket full of my special selected and handcrafted goodies will represent all of the good things in my mom’s life, past, present and future.
Follow Bigelow Tea on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest brewed masterpiece, free samples, sweepstakes and more! Use hashtags #AmericasTea #CollectiveBias to join the conversation.
What would be included in your Perfect Mother’s Day Basket?
Disclosure ~ Post sponsored by Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. Be sure to follow Raising Whasians via Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube for more craft inspiration, reviews, giveaways and more!
This review and giveaway was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Mr. Clean. I was provided the featured product free along with a gift card to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.
Cleaning. It’s like my arch nemesis.
I go into instant rolling eyes, pout like a school kid mode.
But this week has been tough on the family. Almost the entire family undergoing bouts of sickness. I’ll spare you the details…but let’s say the floors have had to be cleaned A LOT.
I need a hero! A super hero with all the muscle to get my house clean and give me a “Clean Free Weekend!”
To my rescue is the new Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle! This new product from Mr. Clean packs a huge wallop of cleaning power in a little bottle!
These little bottles are ah-mazing! Just one squirt of the Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle can help me clean my whole living room floor for a sparkly shine! The Meadows & Rain scent is my fave! There’s also Febreze freshness in there too. Works great on bathtubs, floors, and more.
DIY Superhero Cleaning Cape
I was so excited about my new Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle, I made my bottle a DIY Superhero Cleaning Cape! This little cape would make a fun piece to your cleaning arsenal!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Directions:
VOILA! Your Superhero Cleaning Cloth is ready to help you tackle the evil villain messes! This also makes a perfect gift for monogrammed hand towels, kids washcloths and more! Just know you’re giving someone something “SUPER” as a personalized gift!
Tell us how Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle helped you enjoy a Clean Free Weekend by Tweeting Mr. Clean @RealMrClean using #CleanFreeWeekend or showing us at Facebook.com/MrClean.
Be sure to follow Mr. Clean on Twitter and Facebook for new product updates, contests and more!
Twitter Party!
Save the date for the #CleanFreeWeekend Twitter Party! on
GIVEAWAY TIME!
Ready for a giveaway? Thanks to Mr. Clean, 1 lucky fan will win a Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle Prize Pack which includes:
Giveaway ends 5/2 and is open to U.S. residents only. Isn’t this a FUN prize pack? Here’s how to enter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure ~ I received a Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle Prize Pack in exchange for this post. All opinions are 100% my own. Mr. Clean/Double Duty Divas to provide prizes to winners. Saving Said Simply not responsible for prize shipment. Be sure to follow Raising Whasians via Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube for more fun giveaways!
Rainy days won’t keep us down! We’re having some April Showers fun indoors with this new Rainy Day Finger Paint Kids Craft! Make a beautiful scene of an umbrella, grass and rain…all using your little one’s hands. The best part is that you only need paper, paints and your imagination! Be sure to “PIN” for later and save for your rainy days 🙂
I love hand print crafts because it’s such a tangible way to keep track of my kids’ growth. Do you save them as much as me? Make sure to put your kid’s name and age on the back 🙂
Need some more craft inspiration? Find all of my Kids Crafts on my Pinterest Page!
This post was originally published at MomItForward.com on 4/14/14
Be sure to follow Raising Whasians via Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube for more fun kids crafts!
So I came up with this natural and FUN kids craft based on those Sand Bottle Art creations your kids love to make. This one involves natural ingredients that are safe for our environment and are in your home, right now! When done admiring your creation, you can fertilize your plants, trees or the earth with it.
Supplies you will need:
Directions:
***You can easily incorporate a teachable moment with your kids on how your reduced the amount of trash (by using the coffee grounds), reused the coffee grounds and glass, and recycled by fertilizing your plants and recycling your container.
Need another Earth Day idea? Check out this easy “Earth” Popsicle Recipe!
Earth Day is April 22nd! How is your family celebrating?
Need some more craft inspiration? Find all of my Kids Crafts on my Pinterest Page!
Be sure to follow Raising Whasians via Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube for more fun kid crafting inspiration, family recipes and more!
When Disney asked me to throw a #DisneySide @ Home Celebrations party, of course I had to go all out! I knew exactly what kinds of party I wanted to have, based off one of my absolute Disney faves, Finding Nemo. But being on a budget meant I had to get creative at home. So I’ve gathered my BEST DIY Finding Nemo Party Tips so you can throw a FUN Disney Party on a budget too! The biggest money saver for a great party is actually looking for items around your home. I was pretty excited that I had TONS of great Finding Nemo themed items I could already incorporate into my party, making decorating a breeze!
Already I have spent $0 for this party 🙂
I made my cheap No Sew Finding Nemo Party Banner for only $2.
The star of the party needed to be Nemo! I made these EASY Find Nemo Cupcakes to highlight our favorite fish. They were such a hit!
Keep to a food theme! Everything had to be ocean/Finding Nemo themed, like this EASY Seafoam Punch Recipe!
We had fun making this Finding Nemo “Jellyfish Forest” Jell-O Dessert Recipe!
How about some Peach Starfish Cookies? Just a bag of sugar cookie mix, topped with Pink Crystal Sugar and faces out of black icing! 🙂
Goldfish served in a fish bowl definitely makes things exciting! I grabbed the rainbow fish for a variety!
I cut some starfruit and placed on a plate. I cut up strawberries and made my own “sea anemone.” Final touches are everything! I grabbed these FREE Finding Nemo Printables and individually cut out the characters. I taped to toothpicks and inserted randomly into the food I served. I labeled all food with fun names like “Jellyfish Forest Jello” so the kids could get really excited about what they were eating. Colorful straws, green streamers cut into seaweed, and even “seaweed celery” in a beautiful ocean wine glass made a FUN statement!
What’s a party without entertainment? Blankets and Pillows on the floor while the kids watched their favorite Finding Nemo movie were a MUST!
Disney went all out, proving great goodies for the guests to take home, including these FUN Hanes T-Shirts the kids got to create! It was a great way to keep those kids entertained during the movie!
Throwing an DIY Finding Nemo Party can be FUN! Using items around the home, getting creative with your food, and easy entertainment makes a Disney party fun any time of the year! Think about using some of these great idea for your next Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid, or Under the Sea Party too! All in all, I think I spent less than $40 on everything, between things I had in my pantry and decor at home 🙂 We had a great time, both little and big kids! 🙂
How do you show your #DisneySide?
Disclosure ~ I received a FREE Disney @ Home Celebrations Kit to throw my own Disney Party. All ideas and inspiration are my own but are shared with you to inspire your next party! Be sure to follow Raising Whasians via Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube for more fun DIY projects!
Looking for more?
No Sew Finding Nemo Party Banner DIY #DisneySide
TOTAL Cost for me was only $2 for the crepe paper….SUPER exciting!
Believe it or not, this banner was all inspired by…my old laundry bag. It sat around and collected dust. As soon as I saw it, I immediately saw ocean blue and fish net. So glad those creative juices weren’t completely dead! So here’s how to make this FUN banner
Directions:
1. Remove laundry bag drawstring. Place aside (or possibly save for stringing up your banner)
2. Cut Laundry Bag down seam and open up into a flat rectangle. Measure and cut (from the top of the drawstring area) 5 equal sized pieces. I measured 9 inches across (from drawstring seam) to 12 inches down.
3. Cut your Nemo Mobile Printable Chracters into single circles and shapes. Using Glue Dots, arrange onto banner pieces (with the drawstring area as the TOP of your banner). If you have fun lightweight bath toys, now’s a great time to use those too! Really make your banner your own 🙂
4. Cut long pieces of crepe paper and scrunch together to create textured seaweed. Using Glue Dots, twist, weave and place your seaweed throughout your banner pieces around your already placed Nemo characters.
5. Thread your string through the top of the drawstring seams. Secure with Safety Pins from the back of the banner.
DONE! You are ready to party with Finding Nemo! And with Finding Dory coming out soon, this is a great banner to hold onto for the next party! Also makes a great Under the Sea or Ocean Party Banner too!
What do you think? Be on the lookout for more great Finding Nemo Party ideas as my Finding Nemo #DisneySide At Home Celebration unravels!
Need more Finding Nemo inspiration? Check out my How To Host a DIY Finding Nemo Party Post!
Thanks to Spoonful for the Nemo Printables!
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