Giving Tuesday-Comparing two catalogs

This time of year I get a ton of catalogs.  Well, not really a ton because to be honest I rarely buy anything from them so I usually get taken off lists rather quickly, but I do get some catalogs.  I picked up a few of them and started flipping through while I was eating breakfast one morning.  

These are the two I picked up. The World Vision gift catalog and the American Girl catalog. I must say, that was an interesting start to the morning that really got me thinking about a few things.

Let me start with the American Girl catalog.  I have a 13 year old daughter who has a few American Girl dolls thanks to garage sales. I have never purchased anything from the actual American Girl store other than lunch one afternoon a few years ago when my mom and I took my daughter on a girls day and enjoyed a little after Christmas shopping.  My daughter realized that the $50 gift card that she had received for Christmas could purchase her barely one outfit for her 18" doll. 

Don't get me wrong. I love American Girl. I remember wanting one when they came out when I was a kid and I picked one up as quickly as I could when I found one for $5 at a garage sale. I tucked that garage sale find away one year and it appeared under the Christmas tree for my daughter. I love that the American Girl dolls encourage girls to be girls and provide an opportunity for them to maintain their childhood in the most wholesome way.

However, I don't love their price tag and like I said, I've been lucky enough to score a fair amount of American Girl dolls and their accessories used and at a fraction of the price over the years. While we could afford to buy American Girl doll at retail prices {the average doll will set you back around $120}, we have chosen not to because we would rather use that money so that we can be more generous in other areas of our life. More on that later. 

While perusing the American Girl catalog, the last page has the American Girl promise which says:

We promise to never stop believing in the unlimited potential in all girls.  We're dedicated to creating products, services and experiences that help boost confidence, ignite creativity, and fuel connections. It's our job to remind the world--and girls--how strong, brilliant, and brave they can be.

I couldn't agree more! Especially with that last line.  Let's take a second to break down that promise and see how it is that American Girl is fulfilling that promise with their products.

You can purchase accessories for your American Girl doll that will help normalize life events that an everyday girl has that will hopefully boost her confidence. If your daughter wears orthodontic head gear, you can buy a healthy smile set for $14. If your child is in a wheelchair, your doll can be too for $38. A hearing aid can be added to any doll for $14 and if your child has food allergies, you can buy an allergy-free lunch with safe {plastic} foods and a faux allergy shot for $28. Boosting confidence? Check.

I used to play pretend school all the time when I was a kid. One summer, my best friend and I charged the neighborhood kids $5 a day to go to our school. We even had a field trip to the fire station on our block.

If your daughter loves school like I did, you can buy Mary Ellen's classroom set for $40. It includes a two sided map, chalkboard, stand, pointer and a set of flashcards.  To be successful in school, having a desk and a chair is helpful.  You can get this one for $100. You can even get a school supply set with a backpack filled with paper, pencils and a book for only $30.

I'm a big fan of encouraging music and the arts. You can purchase a music and play set for $20. Or purchase a painting set that can be used in your doll's very own garden gazebo for $236. Ignite creativity? Check.

Does your daughter have an entrepreneurial spirit? Maybe she loves to bake and dreams of one day owning a cupcake shop.  You can get a complete pastry set and cart for $150. The pastry set has a cart with pretend treats and business supplies. If a French bakery is something she dreams of, you can buy one for $500. Fuel connections? Check.

There are so many fun creative products available in the American Girl catalog and on their website that every girl is sure to find something that she will love. 

But I couldn't help but notice that while I could buy doll sized accessories that will help "boost confidence, ignite creativity and fuel connections," I could also do the same thing for real actual people purchasing real actual items that would create a lasting impact. 

You know that last line in the American Girl promise statement about reminding the world--and girls, how strong, brilliant and brave they are?  Well friends, I want to remind the world that there are real girls facing real issues that are strong and brilliant and brave. Whose lives could be changed if you swapped out buying a dolls bike with faux leather seat for a real bike for a girl in need so that she can attend school. 

In March I introduced you to a girl named Nerott.  Nerott is a 13 year old girl that lives in a rural town in Zambia.  She wakes up early to help with the chores. Fetching water miles away and carrying that water heavy 50 pound jug on her head home before she starts her 15 kilometer walk {more than 9 miles each way!} to school. It takes her nearly three hours to walk to school and three hours to walk home, in an area that is at high risk for child sacrifice and kidnappings.

She tries to walk with a friend, but because of the lack of clean water in her area, children are often sick and she finds herself walking alone, sometimes at dusk or after dark.

Girls like Nerott could benefit from the gift of a bike.

I know I don't have to convince any of you how important an education can be for a child. Study after study has shown that education is the key to overcoming poverty. I have been able to see inside several schools in rural Africa. This is a very typical school house room. Many children are unable to attend school though because of high school fees.

There is also a teacher shortage. I visited a school in Uganda where the child to teacher ratio was 93 to 1. There are so few schools in most rural areas that children come from long distances.

While having a French bakery with plastic French treats and paper money would be fun, consider how beneficial it would be to fund a micro loan for a hardworking entrepreneur to start, grow or sustain their business.  You will even get an e-mail with the specific details of the entrepreneur you are supporting and updates to track their businesses progress.

You could fund 20 micro loans for an entrepreneur or purchase a plastic bakery for $500. Which one seems more life changing? 

What if instead of purchasing plastic doll items and accessories, we instead bought real items for real girls that would provide the help that a child may need to find their way out of extreme poverty. This time of year we are constantly giving to kids in want but what if we changed that thinking and gave to kids in real actual need?

Why don't we take a second to compare the items available in the two catalogs. 

American girl doll bike made of metal. Fits an 18" tall doll. Comes with woven basket. $115

World Vision will provide a bicycle for a girl that will provide safe, speedy transportation when a girl might otherwise be restricted from attending school because they live too far away or because of the dangers of getting to school. $100

American Girl doll sized wheelchair with wheels that turn. $38

World Vision will help you provide a custom wheelchair to a child affected with a birth defect, disease or injuries after contact with a land mine. $50

American Girl provides a removable plastic hearing aid for your doll. $14

World Vision can provide help for a child with disabilities including prosthetics and rehabilitation. $25

American Girl allergy free lunch includes a berry smoothie, a container of vegetables, and two sandwich skewers {all pretend}, as well as a fabric lunch bag and a {faux} allergy shot and allergy bracelet. $28

Fruit trees provide the vitamins and minerals that a child needs to grow. A fruit tree orchard can produce enough fruit to provide an income in just 2-3 years time for a family living in poverty. Provide 5 fruit trees for $30.

American Girl classroom set includes a two sided 1950's era map, a reversible chalkboard, pointer, easel and flash cards $40

World Vision will help train teachers and get a child the tools to succeed in school. These tools may include school fees, textbooks, uniforms, backpacks and pencils. $35

American Girl solid wood desk and chair $100

World Vision $100 gift towards education will offer things like teaching supplies, textbooks, toys, sports equipment and more. Because of corporate product donations, your gift will multiply 12 times in impact and will provide $1200 worth of school supplies.

American Girl school supply kit comes with book bag, writing tablet, geography reader, a pencil box {with crayons, a ruler, 2 pencils, and eraser and pen} and a report card $30

World Vision promise pack gives you the opportunity to list up a suffering child with a backpack full of basic school supplies, hygiene items and an insect repellent blanket. $22

American Girl flocked hard body goat $20

A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Her milk provides protein to help children grow and the family can sell extra milk to earn money for essentials like medicine. $75

I could go on and on comparing items, but I think you get my point.

To see more items that you can purchase for real actual children and their families, you can find the  World Vision gift catalog here. 

Last summer I had the opportunity to meet one of our sponsored children and his father in Uganda. Moses was just five years old when we started sponsoring him. He was in poor health and his parents struggled to provide for him and his two sisters. Sponsorship has provided Moses with clean water that is close to his home, an education and proper medical treatment so that he's no longer in poor health.  Moses' parents have received seeds and education on proper farming and business techniques as well as information on animal husbandry. What was once a struggling family, is now a thriving family with a bright future. Several years ago, we gifted the family with an extra $100 at Christmas.  Moses was able to buy the suit that you see him wearing in the picture, metal sheeting for their hut's roof, a mattress and mosquito net as well as several farm animals, like this chicken {well, maybe not that particular chicken, but that chicken's grandma...or something like that} that he gave to me as a thank you gift when I visited.To make the life changing gift of finding a child that your family can connect with personally, consider child sponsorship. If you want to talk about fueling connections, then child sponsorship is the way to do it.  You can find a child in any of the nearly 100 countries that World Vision works in here. We selected children that our family already had some type of connection to. Both of the kids that we sponsor are the same age as our two younger children. Perhaps sponsoring a girl in Cambodia that is at risk for being sold into the sex trade tugs at your heart.  The children of Africa have mine.  When you sponsor a child, your family is able to write letters, send packages and get updates on the child that you sponsor. There was nothing more special than being invited into the sparse hut that Moses lived in with very few possessions, but when he pulled out a stack of handwritten letters that our family has sent to him over the years tied with twine, I melted. He had kept every single one. 

I knew then that while I couldn't change the world, I could change the world for one child.

Tomorrow is giving Tuesday. I am challenging you today to consider making a shift in your thinking. What if instead of giving your child a gift on their want list, you used the money for that gift instead for a child in need.  Take a peek at the World Vision catalog with your family. Better yet, consider child sponsorship.   

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Gift ideas for those that are hard to shop for plus a giveaway!

We all fall into the trap of having someone near and dear to us on our Christmas gift list that we just aren't sure what to buy for them. Instead of getting sucked into the trap of just buying something to buy for them, I've rounded up a few gift ideas for those hard to shop for friends and family.

For the kids

My kids love Lego's. One of my son's favorite gifts last year was a 6 month Pley subscription.  It was not only a gift for him, but a gift for me too!  He would get his pley package in the mail with a new fun Lego creation and would be busy for hours working away. When he was done, we bagged the set up and dropped it off in the mail and a few days later another Lego set would show up at our doorstep. It was the best ever! The best part was that we didn't end up having a ton of new toys taking up space.  You can select a monthly subscription, 3 month subscription, or 6 month subscription.  

My 10 year old loves his Tinker Crate subscription! Talk about kids learning and not even knowing it! He made so many awesome creations and everything was already in the box, which I love because he can open the box and get right to work using the instructions to create whatever fun creation Tinker Crate has in store for him that month!

My creative daughter loves getting the Doodle Crate! She made her own rubber stamps, created a sculpture and had all kinds of cool supplies to use that we wouldn't have picked up at a craft store otherwise.




From now until the 30th, if you have never used Tinker Crate or Doodle Crate or any of it's affiliates before, you can try them for 60% off!

Today only {BLACK FRIDAY!} you can get 50% off even if you have ordered from any of the Kiwi Crate's before. Such a great deal! Don't think that I'm not ordering a few for gifts myself!

I also compiled this list of creative gift ideas for kids. Not a single thing cost over $20!  Every single item will inspire creativity and keep your kids creating for hours!

For her

In case you missed the list of gift ideas for creative people, you can find it here. You may not be crafty or creative, but someone you are buying for is. This list will be a no fail buying guide for you. Not a single item is over $20!

Buying and giving handmade gifts is one of my favorite things, but I don't always have to be the one hand making all of them.

I recently went to a sale with various crafters in the area and even though all of the items were all mixed together, I still gravitated towards everything that Jillian from JillianMade makes.  If you follow me on Instagram, you will remember how excited I was to order this super awesome cowl scarf. I've also got my eye on a plaid clutch too.  

Personalized gifts are always a hit. I love everything Lisa Leonard does. There are other great shops on Etsy filled with personalized items. 

For him

Games are tons of fun and a good way to get to know your friends and family better.  Bezzerwizer is a fun one for those trivia lovers. Snow lover? A new pair of gloves. Golf fan? A box of balls. Coffee lover? Pick up their favorite roasted beans.

Books are always a great choice.  Why not select one of your favorites.  My husband has really enjoyed Unbroken, The Martian, The Wright Brothers, and The Big Short.

We have several local brewery's and specialty distilleries. Think about treating them to a night out of tasting and then the chance to pick out their favorite growler.

For anyone

Perhaps you have a favorite photo of a friend or family member you could put on a canvas and give them for Christmas. I used Canvas Factory to create this canvas from a recent trip to Africa and lucky for you, they are offering a free 16x20 canvas with free delivery for one of my readers.  Simply comment below on the favorite gift you ever received. I will select one of the comments below randomly on December 5 and will announce the winner on my Facebook page. Make sure you are following or you will miss the announcement.

Sometimes, hard to shop for people are hard to shop for because they really just don't want or need anything. Don't feel obligated to buy them anything! 

Instead of getting your dad another tie he probably doesn't want {or need} maybe you could write him a note about how much you appreciate him or about a special memory that you have had with him and set a date to take him out to coffee.  Maybe your mom isn't very computer savvy but would like to put all of her recent pictures from her trip to Hawaii into a photo book.  You can offer to create a photo book for her. Or print off those pictures from her recent visit with the kids and put them into an album for her.  Here's 50 free prints that can get you started!

I don't know too many people who wouldn't love a Netflix subscription.  This is the perfect gift even if they already have a subscription because it will just add on to the one that they already have and allow them to enjoy streaming their shows and movies without any interruption. 

Consider gifting experiences rather than things. A young family might appreciate a zoo or children's museum membership, a family with older kids might enjoy movie passes and a treat out for ice cream. Last year my brother in law gifted my 16 year old son a trip to go go kart racing and out to lunch. They had a great time together and will remember those experiences far more than whatever widget you struggled to find at the last minute because you couldn't' think of anything!

If you have a friend or family member who is passionate about animals, consider making a donation to a local animal shelter.  Give the gift of time and offer to volunteer for a few hours where they volunteer.  For only $50 you can give the gift of clean water for life for someone in sub Saharan Africa who doesn't have access to clean water. Or consider giving a goat or a chicken to a family in need. Making a donation in a friends name is a great way to support something that is near and dear to their hearts.

Sometimes just giving your time and offering to help with something that is on their to do list, is the best gift of all!  So I want to hear it, what's the best gift you have ever received? Leave a comment below and be entered to win a free 16x20 canvas from The Canvas Factory.

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How to survive when you hand your keys over to your teen driver

We did it. We survived teaching and driving with a 15 year old.  Our oldest son Aidan was dying to drive for years and as a parent who has navigated the waters, we get asked often what some of our best tips are.I won't say that we have all of the answers, but we do have some experience. These are a few of the ways that we survived teaching our son to drive.

Every state is different, but in our lovely state of Washington, kids who are 15 AND enrolled in a drivers education class can get their learner's permit. For Aidan's 15th birthday, we gave him drivers education lessons, so he was eligible to get his permit on his birthday and don't think that we didn't rush right on over to the DMV and get that shiny new piece of paper allowing him to operate a motor vehicle. 

There are different schools of thought on this. For us, we had an excited driver. He wanted to learn to drive as soon as he was legal. I was the same way.  I am quite independent and love the freedom that driving allows me.  So I could totally understand his desire.  There are kids though that are just not interested. I think that if that's the case, there is no need to push them into driving if they just aren't feeling it. As parents, we thought that there was great benefit in the fact that he would have a full year of driving with an adult in all different kinds of weather conditions with plenty of opportunities to drive at different times of the day and at different times of the year.As soon as Aidan got that permit, I had an automatic chauffeur. He wanted to drive everywhere. I know not all kids are like this {and perhaps not all parents are ready to relinquish all control}, but for our son, he was excited to be behind the wheel and I allowed him the opportunity to drive nearly every where that we went.I say that I allowed him, because the reality is, he was almost always with me. My husband wasn't always excited at the prospect of being replaced behind the wheel, so it wasn't always a given for Aidan to drive when my husband was with us, but nearly every time I was in the car, he was driving me.I think that allowing Aidan to drive for a full year before turning him over as an independent driver on his 16th birthday, put us more at ease when he got behind the wheel without one of us in the car. When it snowed one winter, instead of staying bundled up inside, we hit the streets. Carefully teaching him how to start on an icy patch and spin out in a parking lot. When it rained buckets, we let him get behind the wheel and drive us home.We did often take into careful consideration how many of our ducks were all in one place. When there was inclement weather, I rarely would let him drive for the first few months with all of us in the car. I didn't want to risk all of our lives!There were no written rules as to how we eased into driving, but we started slow, driving on our community streets first and mastering that, before hitting the busier roads in our town. It wasn't long before we were letting him hit the highway, but usually only during the afternoon or the weekend and never during rush hour. Driving at night brings with it it's own challenges. All things to take into consideration. After a few months, we felt more comfortable letting Aidan take the wheel while our whole family was in the car. The person sitting in the front seat with him, was always the one giving directions and advice because there is nothing worse than hearing different things shouted at you from the front and the back seat.  Unless there is something life threatening, sit back and enjoy the ride while the pilot and co pilot up front do the driving.One thing that we did notice during our long permit period was that after about a half a year, our son got really comfortable.  This was a good thing for us to see so that we could nip bad behavior before it became a habit. Driving with a long permit period doesn't mean that once your child gets their license that they will be a perfect driver {not even a month after our son got his license he took a corner too quickly on a rainy night and ended up in a ditch}, but you will have plenty of opportunities with your child behind to wheel to impart all of your driving wisdom on them.  So what do you think? What helped you survive being behind the wheel with your kids?

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Green Beans with Bacon, the perfect Thanksgiving dinner side dish

Kate is back with another fantastic recipe! In case you are looking for a last minute side dish or another way to add vegetables into your family dinner, these green beans with bacon are sure to be a hit!  Take it away Kate!

A Thanksgiving side dish ready in under 30 minutes, count me in! 

Add this to your Thanksgiving dinner to make your day less stressful, more enjoyable and you'll get to the table faster. Or be like me and add it to your weekly rotation! It's casual, yet impressive and quick!!

Green Beans with Bacon

green beans (enough to feed your group) (fresh or frozen)

1/2 onion diced

3 garlic cloves chopped

juice of one lemon

4-5 pieces of bacon chopped (reserve 1 tbsp of grease)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

zest of half lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Boil green beans until just under cooked. Drain and set aside. While beans boil cook bacon until done but not crispy. I did mine my cast iron skillet. Reserve 1 tbsp of grease in a large pan. Add olive oil and salute onions over medium heat until translucent. 

Add beans, garlic and bacon to pan and cook until beans are coated and garlic is tender. Add balsamic vinegar and stir for one minute and then remove from heat. 

Add lemon juice, zest and season with salt and pepper.

You can serve it warm but it's also delicious at room temp or cold!

Enjoy!

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Free printable for your Keurig K cups

I don't know about you, but I am slightly obsessed with my Keurig.  I'm not a "give me a whole pot of coffee" kind of gal, so one cup here or there serves me just right most of the time, which is why I love popping in a K cup here and there.

But those K cups need some personality, don't you think? I like pretty things and I like witty sayings. Combine the two and you have a winner in my books. 

I decided to create a little printable that I could put over the top of my K cups. They make me happy when I use them in the morning. And lucky for you, I'm giving you a free printable, so that you can make some yourself too!

You can find the link here. Simply download it, print it and send it to your Silhouette to cut out.  Or you can use a two inch hole punch to cut around the saying.

I used sticker paper for some, card stock for others {and then double stick tape to adhere it}. Both work just fine and still function in your Keurig.

Plus, they make my K cup drawer look a whole lot fancier don't you think?

Are you a Keurig lover like myself? What's your favorite blend?

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Put the screen down: How to unplug your plugged in family

This post has been rattling around in my mind for the better part of a year. I have felt convicted and then felt judgey.  I have felt all the feels and so I always went back to just not writing it, but here I am again, revisiting this because a Facebook friend inspired me with this post she wrote on her personal page this morning.

"We showed up early for an appointment yesterday. Another family was in the same room. The boy, about 8, on his DS. Each parent on their phones. To kill time, I taught the Ewok how to make a "cootie catcher" and we spent 20 minutes counting, spelling, reading "you get to vacuum your room!", "You are smart!", "You are a good friend" etc. Mainly we laughed. He kept looking over at the other family, trying to catch their eyes and engage them. None of them looked up, at him or each other.

I wanted to tell them to come out here with us. Be curious. Engage. Have fun. But I also know that if we had a kid that could have screens, we could've been them, at that moment."

This. It was this. I will say that I tend to fall in the camp of the more conservative when it comes to screen time. I have a background in child development and I truly believe that children learn what they live.

It's why when the kids were younger we were always on the go. Not every day, but most days we would head out to explore our world. Our world that day could have been the aisles of the grocery store or Target or the park down the street. I saw great value in my children learning from their surroundings. Find the yellow box on the grocery store shelf, count how many bananas are in the bunch, lets watch the bird build it's nest or the ant on the sidewalk.

It's why now at ages 17, 13 and 10, I think that they slow down to look. My oldest son loves to capture the beauty of the world in pictures. He's snapping sunsets and sunrises and everything in between. My daughter creates beauty with her hands {she's 100 times more crafty than I ever could hope to be!} and my youngest son and I will stop on our walk to school and look at the spiderweb covered in dew or take note of the changing leaves.

I won't tell you that every errand that we made when they were younger was like a trip with Mary Poppins, but we made up games in those aisles, we spent time together, we giggled and we held hands and now that my kids are older I don't regret taking the time to do those things with them because now I see the value in that time.

My husband and I decided early on to be intentional parents. To not just say we were doing the best that we could do with what we had, but to intentionally do the best that we could do.  To not just parent by the seat of our pants, but to plan and be prepared. 

As I mentioned, I walk to school with my son and as I meander back through the parent drop off line, I see car after car with parent in the front seat mindlessly scrolling through their phone while their kids look out the window behind them. No engagement, no conversation. This makes my heart hurt. These parents are dropping off their kids for six hours of separation from them and while I don't want to pretend to know what those parents are dealing with {perhaps they are making pick up arrangement for the afternoon, or supporting a friend in need}, but I tend to think that those five minutes of time while they wait for drop off is such an important time to connect with their kids and they are missing it.  

While I can't assume I know what's happening with the parent, I also can't assume that I know what's happening with the kid, Perhaps they are anxious for the day ahead. Maybe there is a kid who isn't being kind to them at recess or they have been having a hard time understanding math and they aren't feeling smart and they are mentally beating themselves up.

What about a having a picture book in the front seat to read together, or playing a game of I spy?

Like I said, I've thought about this post a lot. So I have vacillated in what my opinions are on this. As a parent, there is enough judgement out there without adding to it, but like I said, I've felt convicted of this. I spent some time thinking. If our kids are looking to us to be their example what example are we setting when we pick up a tablet or our phone and start scrolling anytime we get bored?  Are they learning that when they get bored they grab a screen to occupy them?

Boredom in the 21st century looks like being unengaged.

I love this little experiment that this mom did.  She sat down across from her kids when they were playing and instead of checking her phone, she kept a tally of how many times her kids looked up to her for approval or to show her their tricks {28}. Times she would have otherwise missed because she was busy and looking down herself. 

Friends, our kids are looking up to us for how to behave. They are learning how to adult from us. They are learning how to navigate the scary waters of life from us. Are we teaching them well? 

Are we teaching them to fold into themselves and sit behind a screen or are we teaching them to engage? Are we making our kids compete with our iphones for attention? Are we being the parents that we want to be or are we falling into default parenting mode because we are too distracted with our own screens?

I'm challenging us to be intentional. I've fallen into the trap myself. Let's not use screens as the easy way out. 

Being bored isn't a bad thing. I find that if I allow my kids the chance to be bored they usually come up with something creative to do not too long after. Don't take away the chance for them to be creative. And parents, the same goes for you.

Instead of reaching for your phone to read through your Facebook feed, reach for a book instead. Be the example you want your kids to follow. I would much rather see my kids getting into the habit of grabbing a book and snuggling up on the couch than seeing them grab a tablet and scrolling mindlessly.

Teach your kids games that you played when you were younger. MASH, cootie catchers, and paper folding stars are great places to start. Consider having a day without any electronics. Play board games, bake in the kitchen, make memories. Ask your kids questions, write a story together, read a book out loud.

It's worth investing the time. It's worth changing our behavior. Our kids are worth it. Let's unplug, just for a bit so that we can plug back into the things that really matter.

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Fall grass wreath inspired by the JuJu hat

I just love it when I have a vision and it turns out as awesome as I hoped it would.  This fall grass wreath is one of those awesome visions that turned out even better than I hoped.  If you follow me on Instagram, you got a sneak peek not too long along.   I'm not sure you can get a full grasp of the scale of this thing from this picture though.

There.  Can you see how massive this is? It's probably about four feet in diameter! It's pretty impressively amazing.

I ended up hanging it on my back patio under the covered part in hopes that it will survive the winter.  Plus it looks pretty amazing right there don't you think?

Want to know what inspired this vision that I had?  It may have also required a little sneaky pruning outside of a local neighborhood.

How cool are these grass plants.  I have no idea what they are, but they seem to grow pretty well around our area.  This plant is probably about 12 feet tall.

I was seeing the JuJu hat trend around the interwebs and I was crushing on this knock off.  I love Africa and these JuJu hats were amazing, but since a) I have no plans of returning to Africa in the near future b) the cost to knock them off was unbelievable {like supplies cost around $150!}, my brain started working on a plan c. Plan c stands for cheap.  

Now, I know this isn't a JuJu hat knock off, but seeing the grass driving home from church one Sunday had me thinking that the grass strands and I thought they looked a little bit like the feathers used in the JuJu hats, so I considered it my inspiration.

The wreath was exceptionally easy to create.  I clipped about two dozen grass stems and then hot glued them down to a large round that I cut out of cardboard. Once the base was in place, I didn't even need to glue the stems on anymore, I could simply slide them in.  I'm not going to lie, it was super messy.  There was grass fluff flying every where, which I why this ultimately ended up outside.  But I think it's the perfect place for it!

Do you ever get inspired by a current trend and go with a plan c for cheap like I did on this project? I want to see your projects!  

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$500 Amazon gift card giveaway!!!

Life gets busy. I'm all about finding short cuts. One of my favorite short cuts right now is doing my shopping on Amazon. I do the majority of my shopping for my extended family on Amazon because it's 100 times easier than going to the stores.  They have pretty much everything I need and the price is usually right. My husbands mantra to me is "your time is worth something." He says this to me because I tend to under value my time. You too?  After all these years I'm starting to see his point. I'm starting to factor in how much gas money I would use driving from store to store and how much time I'm spending doing that.  So really, shopping on-line is saving me money. Or something like that.  Anyway, I'm so excited to be partnering with some pretty awesome bloggers to offer you a chance to win a $500 Amazon gift card!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $500 Amazon Gift Card or Cash if that's your thing (via Paypal) - winner’s choice

Co-hosts: A Labour of Life // Blog by Donna // Classy Yet Trendy // Behind Blue Eyes //  Capri's Coupons // Jenn's Blah Blah Blog // Notoriously Dapper // Stripes N Vibes //  SWEET HAUTE // Funky Jungle // Holy Craft // Laura Jane Atelier // LivingWithBeth.com // Simone - Your Style Architect // Something Good // Yogurt Hydro

Giveaway organized by: Oh My Gosh Beck!

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter daily. Giveaway ends 12/14  and is open worldwide. Winner will be notified via email.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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