Monday, August 29, 2011

Walgreens 8/29/11 haul...

So this wasn't life changing or anything- but it was nice to have a small break from the many big weeks I've been having! Plus, my out-of-pocket expenses are getting lower and I'm really utilizing my Register Rewards! It also gave me a chance to bring along my friend Kate and teach her the ropes of Walgreens couponing! I'd like to say it was successful for both of us! 


So here's what I hauled in today:

3 - Sobe Lifewater 20 oz. $.89 --> $.39 each
8 - M&M's 12.6 oz bags $2.99 --> $.75 each
2 - Welch's Grape Jelly 32 oz $2.99 --> $1.15 each
8- Wexford 2-pocket folders $.69 --> $.17 each (these were my filler items in order to use previous Register Rewards from past weeks!)

Spent: $10.83
Retail Cost: $38.09
Saved: $27.26

SAVED 72%

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The BIG 3!!

 Celebrating 3 years of birthdays...


"I'M THREE"... "TANGLED PARTY"... "a Wyatt, Kate, Eli, Cori, Indi, Isaiah, Jaime, Jason, Jax, Parker, Dai Dai, Chelsea, Reggie, Grammie, Grandpa"....(and the list goes on- all people invited to the party), "CUPCAKES"..."EUGENE"..."BABY 'PUNZEL"... "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU---whoooooo" (blowing out the candles)...all things that came from Jovie's mouth this weekend! We've been talking about her "Tangled Party" for weeks and she has been about to jump out of her skin with excitement!

I was lucky enough to be in Colorado in May to celebrate my niece Callia's 5th birthday that my sister Katy had thrown her (and her other daughter as well). Of course it was a Tangled Birthday party!! At this point in time it was Jovie's most watched and LOVED movie. After talking it over, Katy decided to share the love and give me all of her decorations from the party that she had leftover. I TOTALLY scored! One less thing for me to do when it was party time!

Decor:

My sister had found a blog (supermommomments.com) that had tons of ideas that had printables and other GREAT resources! They were a huge help when I went to get ideas for the party! I used their ideas for: sun banners, tangled hair decor, jello boats, and silk flower cupcakes)

Sun Banners: One of my favorite parts in the movie is when Rapunzel goes to the town during the festival. Here were some printables for the banners! I just roped them onto yellow yarn, and voila- beautiful hanging decor!

Rapunzel's Hair: What's a Tangled party WITHOUT her hair? I saw the idea here, but decided to improvise and have the hair form a "3" for her age.   

Tangled Tower: I found many beautiful cake towers, but this year I just didn't want to make a complicated cake (since last year was plenty difficult). I DID find a fun craft to make a Tangled Tower that was one that could be used as a decoration later (if I wanted to go that route). It was actually really fun to make! (Plus all the hair that draped through the house started from inside the tower- of course!



Jovie's Party Crown: Found this cute template here, although I really should have made it bigger to be able to fit all the way around her head in order to stay in place better! Isn't it the cutest when kids sing Happy Birthday to themselves? :)


Lanterns: You can't have a Tangled party WITHOUT lanterns! I found some on clearance at Target and decided to hand paint them. They turned out great, but it really was quite an undertaking! Many hours of work but the effect was awesome! Plus, they looked snazzy all lit up or even without the lights on!




Food:

Grape Koolaid and Pink Lemonade: They looked pretty and tasted fantastic. Not sure why I've been on strike from grape flavored things in the past...I may just have a new favorite!


Cupcakes: I just did confetti cake and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting tinted green (to look like grass) with a silk flower put on top for a simple decoration! They looked and tasted divine!


Jello Boats: I found the idea here! They turned out really cute and ALL were eaten!


Obviously, we had other food as well (Mexican Caviar & chips, Berry Salad, Broccoli Salad, Egg Salad Sandwiches and heart-shaped PB & J's for the kids) and I even tucked in a few "magic golden flowers" throughout the decor (I just found a silk yellow lily and put it in a clear bowl and put some electric tea lights underneath so they glowed!)


Activities:

Foam Crafts: For Jovie's last birthday we did some of the foam crafts and found some princess ones at Michaels so that occupied many of the kids! Such a fun activity!


Tangled Printable Activity Packets: Found these little gems here and Jovie LOVES coloring!



Pin the pan on Flynn: My sister already printed out the Flynn Rider poster (but here it is)...

and had printed out these frying pans to pin on Flynn's nose. 
Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't get to do this!


'Punzel's Piñata: Found one in purple/pink colors at Walmart, and once broken each 
spiky end acted as a princess hat! (As seen in picture above!)



Flynn's Arrow Toss: (In Tangled Flynn used arrows to climb the tower!) Found the idea here and found the tutorial to sew some arrows from fabric of my choice. I just laid out a few buckets and had the kids toss their arrows into the buckets. Then I let each of the kids choose an arrow to take home as a party favor!


I liked Wyatt's interpretation of the game! Why not throw the arrows at Flynn? The guards started it!


Party Favors:

I used a white paper sack and glued on a sun pennant that had each child's name on it! It was helpful to put their name on it so that I could put their candy from the piñata and the arrows they chose in the right bag!


Tower Bookmark: Found this cute bookmark here!


Arrow: As mentioned above (Flynn's Arrow Toss). After making 15 of these my fingers were arthritic and crippled. I really need an understudy to do the EXTRA crafty stuff that I force myself to complete, but wish I never would have seen the idea in the first place. This is just one example of how I bite off more than I can chew.


Rapunzel's Paints: Bought some watercolors and attached this image.

Stickers: Found some Tangled themed stickers at Walmart.

Candy: The kids were each able to put the candy from the piñata in their party bags to munch on later!


We just had a great time- despite the chaos that comes with a birthday party including 20 adults and 15 children indoors! At one point you couldn't even see the floor in the toy room!! Ahhhh.

                              
But I was happy to get together with friends and family to celebrate the love we share for our sweet little Jovie girl!



And here were some of the great gifts Jovie received...Thank you to everyone- your gifts more than Jovie could've ever wished for! We are surrounded by great people!

I've never seen a child undress more quickly than when Jovie laid eyes on that dress! Thanks Chelsea and Rajiv for the Princess Tiana dress & shoes! I will know who to blame when she kicks and screams when I ask her to put on jeans and a tshirt ;) haha. And thanks to the Grant family for the adorable necklaces and Rapunzel Barbie outfits!

                           
The cutest finger puppets I'd ever seen- thanks Debbie and all of your Gabba craftiness!
She was ECSTATIC to get the "Eugene" doll. She doesn't like calling him Flynn. :)  
Thank you Tutu and Papa!                                           
                           
                                                Makin' it rain money roll- courtesy of the Reeds.

(my sister and I got a Barbie motorhome when we were kids and I STILL love all things Barbie- thanks Grammie and Grandpa Kimball for this lovely gift!)


Always helping to educate- 
Blueberries for Sal, Peter Rabbit and Brain Quest from Great Grandma Evenson.



Rapunzel Barbie to complete her collection! Thanks Katy and family!


"Frying pans...who knew, right?"