13 Ounces or Less

Recently I discovered giver'slog on Pinterest.

I love AmberLee's series, 13 ounces or less!

She finds all kinds of creative ways to send cute gifts in the mail.

Including flip-flops, a ball (who knew you could send a ball with only stamps and an address?!) and a clown disguise!

But here's the catch - everything has to weigh 13 ounces or less!

Okay - I had to try it!

We send things in the mail all the time to Serenity's BFF Pen Pal Brianna (her Mommy is Grow With Me Gifts), but this time giver'slog inspired me to get a little more creative with the packaging. 

Please excuse the quality of the photos - I forgot to grab my big camera when I left the house and these are taken with my cell phone.
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I found a little plastic "paint can" from Target in the dollar aisles a while back and decided to fill that up and mail it.
The key is to take everything out of it's original packaging.

I went to a little local place called Mailbox Express instead of my actual Post Office - I've been going there for years since it's closer to my house, and the ladies over there are so nice!

I'm not totally sure the PO will accept it yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed they do!

I'll update once I find out if the paint can arrives at Brianna's with no problems.

The paint can is filled with a few Dollar Store toys, little trinkets from Target's dollar aisles, and a rolled-up note from Serenity - weighing in at a whopping 4.7 ounces!

~I forgot to get a picture of the toys before I packed the container.~

Serenity got to put the stamps on the paint can after they printed a label for us.

They taped the top of the can for us too.

All ready to be mailed to Brianna!

I love this idea and it's such a fun activity for kids!
I have quite a few things in mind that Serenity can mail in the future.

Don't forget to check out giver'slog and see all the cool things she's mailed that's 13 ounces or less!


Update:
Brianna got it in the mail yesterday!
Kim posted on her blog, Grow With Me Gifts pictures of Brianna enjoying all the little toys in her fun gift.
We are so happy it was such a hit, and that it went through the mail successfully! 
Serenity was glad Brianna got her little "note" the most! 

Have fun!

Thank you Brianna!

I mentioned before that my Facebook and blog friend Kim (Grow With Me Gifts) and I send our kids back and forth fun things in the mail.

The girls are the same age - Brianna is older by only 4 months.

They feel like they "know" each other because of the all mail correspondence for the last couple of years - and they see each other on Facebook a lot too!

And while I love this digital age more than anything, I think it's very important to keep some things - like old fashion pen pals - except with a modern twist.

Who doesn't like to get things in the mail?!

Serenity send little Brianna the pillow she sewed the other day.
Along with a sewing kit, wand and a picture she drew of herself and Brianna holding hands.

Brinna's surprise came in today and Serenity was beyond thrilled!

She got an adorable little pink castle that grows when you put it in water.

The first thing Serenity did was to fill a "glass" (it's actually plastic) of water and plop that castle in!
She'll probably check it a thousand times every day!

The next thing was a little purse filled with Smacker's lip gloss, cheek gel and nail polish!

And everything GLITTERS!

The fastest way to a 5 year old girl's heart is to give her something that glitters.

But to give her makeup that glitters?

She'll love you FOREVER!!

She looks so serious - concentrating hard to get that lip gloss on just right.

Brianna also sent over a little coloring pad and a cool dolphin hologram bookmark.

Serenity was like, "Look Mommy! They are dancing!"
There was a pack of sour candy in the goodie box too - but she's going to save that for her Daddy when he comes home.

BTW, that's glitter and brownie crumbs all over her face!

Thank you very much Brianna and Kim for the wonderful surprise in the mail!!
Oh and please ignore my child's crazy hair!

It's so hard to keep those pretty little ringlets in her hair after she's been playing all day!

Have Fun!!

Unicorn's House

Kim from Grow With Me Gifts sent a darling little unicorn with a wooden house to Serenity last week.

We were in NOLA hanging out for a week with some friends when it arrived so Serenity didn't get a chance to paint it until this week.

She was so excited to get home and see this waiting for her!
She named the little unicorn, Pinky.

She had a lot of fun painting the little house - and paid very close attention to details too!


She used a lot of orange!
I found the paints Serenity is using at Michael's for only $4.99.
It's a 12 pack of washable paints - that's a lot of paint for such a good price.
It came with two trays of light and dark colors - including pink!


Serenity surprised me by never using pink for her unicorn's house - whose name is Pinky!
The closest she got to the pink was painting the back of the house red.
Silly baby girl!


I love following Kim's blog, Grow With Me Gifts.
She's always doing so many fun kid's crafts with her sweet daughter Brianna!

Thanks again Kim for Serenity's pretty new unicorn Pinky and her house and the fun afternoon Serenity and I spent together!

Have fun!

Wheatgrass Critter Head - Sarah the Frog

Kim over at Grow With Me Gifts has put together the little wheatgrass critter kits that your child will love!

Recently Kim had a fun contest on her blog to name the critter heads.
The frog is Sarah and the pig is Penny - how cute!

Serenity is adamant that hers is Prince Naveen though, how funny she thinks the frog is a boy and not a girl!

Also, Kim followed my "How To Make A Tiny Fairy" tutorial to create her own adorable Fairy Catcher necklaces in her Etsy store!

She has the sweetest collection of fairies to choose from too.

Here's a picture I took of Serenity with my iPhone wearing her Fairy necklace from GWMG.
Serenity calls her Zoe and loves bringing her places with us!



Below are some pictures of Serenity assembling her froggy grass critter.








All done!

The kit is wonderful for small children since they can put it together all by themselves and that will help boost their confidence too!

Click on over to Grow With Me Gifts on Etsy to order your critter head today!

Don't forget to share your child's progress on GWMG FB Fan page!

Have fun!

Sunday Planting

Serenity and I planted flowers, a tree, and some "Magic Beans" today. Serenity really did most of it, I was just on hand to take pictures and help her pour the the water.

First we started with the Magic Beans from the Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure by GWMG. We planted them in the Jiffy Greenhouse. It was very easy - just add warm water to expand the soil pods, widen the opening on the netting around the the top of the soil pods, and planted two Magic Beans per pod. Then you place the dome cover on it and place in a warm spot out of the sun until the seeds sprout. So simple!

You can share the growth of your Magic Beans with other GWMG fans on Facebook too. Kim is wonderful and I love seeing pictures of all the kids' progress!

The Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure kit is great. The growth chart that comes with the kit is so beautiful. The whimsical artwork was created especially for the Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure theme by Emily Marino. Kim always has the best ideas to interest your child in growing things and it's a fun way to spend quality time with them too!

Next up was a Blue Spruce tree from Earth Friends. I bought Serenity's new rag doll, Malia from them and she came with her very own backpack fill with a soil pod and Blue Spruce seeds.

Have you seen these beautiful earth-friendly handcrafted rag dolls? They are made from eco-friendly recycled and natural materials. Their hair is made from thick cotton, their skin is hemp, their clothes are organic cotton and recycled cotton blends, and their stuffing is recycled plastic containers. And they are very cuddly too! All nine of their dolls has a little and big version - Serenity has the bigger Malia, she's so pretty. Go check out their FB Earth Friends Fan page too!

We put the soil pod in a bowl, filled it with warm water and waited about 15 minutes for it to expand. Then we transferred the pod to a little plate (Serenity used her Green Toys saucer), and she planted three Blue Spruce seeds. Very easy, fun and a great project for a preschooler.

Last was the Indoor Gardening Kit by Green Toys. I love Green Toys! Their stuff is made from recycled milk jugs and it's so durable and tough.

The Gardening kit comes with a trowel, three pots and a tray, three soil pods, and some organic seeds. We didn't plant those today. Serenity wanted to plant flowers instead so I let her pick some out at Wal-Mart yesterday.

Just like the other two projects, we poured warm water over the soil pods and waited for them to expand. It took about 20 minutes. Then Serenity planted flower seeds in each pot.

These are so easy and fun for your preschooler or child of any age. Serenity felt a huge sense of accomplishment planting her seeds almost all by herself. I helped a little with the water and fluffing up the soil, but she basically did it all herself.

I'm not much of a gardener - I tend to ignore whatever I plant, but Serenity really loves it. I'm thinking about setting up a small area so she can plant more flowers and plants. I believe she would really enjoy have her own "garden"!


Have fun!

NEW Grow With Me Gift Kits!

Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure and Growth Chart Kit

Kim from Grow With Me Gifts has just added her new Spring/Summer kits! It's a wonderful Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure themed kit. There is so much in this new kit that your child will love to do!

The centerpiece of the kit is a vinyl Jack and the Beanstalk Growth Chart with different fun animals, and of course Jack is climbing up the bean stalk too. At the top of the chart is the mean ol' Giant and his castle! It's so colorful and pretty and durable enough to last for years.

The watercolor artwork was developed by Emily Marino who specializes in animal art. Go have a look at her Facebook Fan page too.

Included in the kit is the Jack and the Beanstalk story you can read to your child, a coloring page of the chart, and another coloring page designed specifically in honor of Skylar who won the GWMG naming contest.

Kim had a contest on her blog and Facebook Fan page for the kids. If you were a GWMG Facebook fan you could enter. Then all you had to do was ask your child to pick his/her favorite character on the chart and name it. The winner would get a pretty coloring page designed just for them and their pick! Skylar won! How cool!

Oh! And don't forget about the "magic beans"! They are also included along with the instructions to get them to grow.

Here's a couple pictures of Kim's daughter Brianna posing in front of her chart and Serenity posing in front of our chart! They are both wearing outfits from the original courtneycourtney (Bri's dress and Serenity's overunder shorts), and clippies I made.

Serenity also has on her Fairy Catcher necklace we made together. She put the beads on the necklace, and I made the fairy!

So don't forget to head on over to Grow With Me Gifts Etsy store and pick up a Jack and the Beanstalk Adventure and Growth Chart kit for your child. I promise they will love it!

Share your progress and photos with other fans on the GWMG Facebook Fan page!

Have fun!

And the WINNER is...

Kim!


Congratulations!

Kim is having a GIVEAWAY right now for her new Grow With Me Gifts kits!

She had a beautiful vinyl beanstalk growth chart designed as part of her new GWMG kits, and all you need to do to enter to WIN one is ask your child to pick his/her favorite animal and name it!

How fun!

Serenity picked the cute frog and named him Carter!

You can also win a color page designed specifically for your child too! If Serenity wins, I'll have it laminated so she can color it again and again!

So head over to Kim's blog to enter her fun GIVEAWAY today - the contest ends Friday!

I just sent you an email Kim! If you don't see it - check your Spam folder!

Please make sure to contact me with your mailing address so I can send your Mardi Gras throws right away!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated!


Please stay tuned for a NEW giveaway this Friday!

Have fun!

The CC Market

Lately it's been so hard to get one of CC's unique little dresses. They sell out within seconds of being posted in the CC stores! So I turned to the CC Market on Facebook, and bought a sweet little green gem from Kim at Grow With Me Gifts!

Courtney took our pictures and put them together to create this adorable collage - I just had to share it!

Aren't the girls just darling? I sure wished we lived closer to Kim and Brianna - Serenity would have so much fun on a playdate with Bri!

Stay tuned for more pictures of Serenity wearing her latest CC dresses!!

Have fun!

GWMG: Flowers & A New Start!

Okay we are totally addicted to Kim's GWMG kits.
The last kit Serenity and I did together produced some very pretty flowers.
Serenity was so excited too!

It was time to start over and dispose of the old plant - it got really tall!
Serenity got to touch the roots and I explained to her how they helped the plant to grow and make flowers.
Then I cut the pretty white flowers off the plant so she could hold and smell them - she thought it was lots of fun!



We started another kit immediately after this one.
I bought the last paperwhite bulb (a Princess!) kit in Kim's Etsy store, and we are hoping to get more flowers!
Soon Kim will have her Spring/Summer kits available.
Remember to stay tuned to her Etsy store and her Facebook Grow With Me Gifts fan page for more details!

On to the next kit:

I washed the pretty "jewels" from our last kit, and Serenity put them in the new vase and arranged the bulbs.
She's getting to be an old hand at this!


Then she watered her new plant and sat back and admired her handiwork!
She's always so proud of her plants, and taking care of them gives her a huge sense of accomplishment!
I just love that!
Maybe she'll have a green thumb when she grows up?!


I totally recommend the Grow With Me Gift kits - and your child will enjoy putting one together just as much as Serenity does.
But you'll have to wait until Kim lists her new Spring/Summer kits since she's completely sold out of all her Fall/Winter kits.

POST-IT-NOTE:
And oh yeah, you know that's a courtneycourtney Serenity is wearing!!
It's an Abe Lincoln dress - very adorable!
I'll post more pictures of the dress when I get some full-length pictures.
To see more pictures of Serenity wearing CC dresses, check out my posts here.

AND...

Head over to Courtney's blog today and learn how you can win a FREE CC original for your little girl!!


Have fun!

WIN a Grow With Me Gift kit!

Here's how:

1. Become a Fan of GWMG on Facebook.

2. Go HERE and guess how Brianna will answer this question:

Who do you think needs a GWMG kit for a Christmas gift?
a. Santa
b. Frosty the Snowman
c. Cinderella
d. Tinker Bell

3. Refer a Fan to earn extra entries!
(so let me know if you become her Fan so I can get an extra entry!)

Giveaway ends on December 11th at 5pm (EST)

HURRY and enter today for your chance to win!!

Check out Kim's blog for more details!


Happy Holidays!

GWMG: A New Beginning!

We started all over with the Grow With Me Gift! Our paperwhites never flowered - they never popped outta the pods. It was okay - the whole point of the activity is to spend time with your child and share with them the fun of growing plants! And we did!

Kim was kind enough to send us some more bulbs though when she heard - how sweet! So we've started again - and Serenity was thrilled! I can't say it enough - this is a wonderful activity to do with your pre-schooler. It's something they can actually do pretty much by themselves - and that's a big thing. Serenity is so proud of her plant!



We used Serenity's pretty jewels and the vase that held mints at her birthday party. She kept saying, "It beautiful Mommy"!

Don't forget to go check out Grow With Me Gifts' Facebook fan page! And remember to buy your own kit

HERE!

POST-IT-NOTE: BTW, if you're wondering what that thing Serenity is standing in is - it's called the Learning Tower by Little Partners. It's probably one of the best purchases I've ever made! Now it comes in a million different colors that they didn't have when I got it! Awww! With it, Serenity can reach the counter and I don't have to worry about her falling off the bar stools. It's very well-made in the USA with good solid wood - no cheap particle board! It has some of the best reviews on Amazon too! You can get two cool accessories to go with the tower, a play-house kit and an art easel!



Below is a picture Serenity drew of our family that I'd like to share with y'all. It's the very first one that she has drawn all of us together, so of course it's very special to me. Her people are evolving too - they used to look more like potatoes. This is the first time I've seen her draw them this way! It's so cool to watch how she learns and does new stuff!

Can you guess who is who?!

POST-IT-NOTE 2: Well, yeah! That's another dress from courtneycourtney - of course!!

Happy Holidays!