Pams Party & Practical Tips

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Dare to Share #451

It's Saturday, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Sorry I am a little late to get this party started this week. I know I say this a lot, but it was another crazy week.

On Monday I subbed like normal, but that was the only normal part of the day. As you may have heard my Buckeyes were playing in the National Championship, and it did not go our way. About 45 minutes before the game, I got a message from my boyfriend that said. "My car just blew up" Of course my first response was WHAT!! I tried to call him back, but he did not answer. I finally heard back from him about 30 minutes later. Thankfully his car did not blow up, but it did make a loud noise and die in the middle of a busy road near where he lived. He was able to push it safely to the side of the road, and get is towed to his house. This was also the first anniversary of my dad's death.

On Tuesday when I got to school I thought I was going to be subbing for the teacher I had been subbing since we had been back from holiday break who was under quarantine. I was surprised when I was told that I needed to go shadow one of our special ed teachers, because I was now going to be her long term sub while she was on maternity leave. She is due this weekend, and could have the baby at any time! My boyfriend took of from work, so could look at his car to see if it was worth fixing. The night before he thought his car was probably a goner. It turns out that one of his axles rusted out and broke in half while he was out driving. Had it happened over the weekend when he was driving on the highway to come see me, we may have had a different outcome. Instead of having to get a new car, he was able to fix it for under $200.

On Wednesday, I got an unexpected bill in the mail.

It is more that I have right now after not working for the two weeks over break.

Thursday was a calm, normal day.

Friday morning we got some heavy snow during the school day. It looked bad, but started clearing up in the afternoon. At the end of the school day I found out that I was going to sub virtually as well as in person. Since the roads were now clear, I decided to go visit my boyfriend. I usually meet him a partway, so I don't have to drive all the way to his house. We have two different places where we meet. Last night we had some miscommunication, and were waiting at two different places. It took over an hour before we figured it out, and met at the same place. By the time we made it to his house, I was tired. Tired enough that I didn't feel like unpacking the computer. I just wanted to rest, and destress.

I had planned on posting first thing this morning. We were getting ready to go visit his mom when around noon I realized.. I forgot to post. I jumped on the computer and now here we are.

So now at 1 pm, it is time to get this part started.

Hope you had a less crazy week than I did!

Link up and HAVE FUN!!

Easy Unicorn Valentine Box

This is one of my favorite Valentine's Day crafts. I actually first posted it a couple of years ago, but I love so much I thought it would be a good time to re-share it. I am not sure what Valentine's Day will look like this year, or if schools will be able to have valentine exchanges with Covid, but this unicorn craft can be used for a class party or as a cute storage box.

For the body of the unicorn you need some sort of box. I don't know if they will be available this year, but I found this one with a pre made slot on sale at Meijer for about $2, when I first made the unicorn. It was already white, so I decided to make a white unicorn. It is easy to change the color of the unicorn to whatever color you would like to make it using different colors of paper and paint.

I painted four cardboard tubes for the legs.

One thing that I love about the party section at the Dollar Tree is they have a great selection of various bows and tassels that would all be perfect for the mane and tail. For this unicorn, I chose the multi colored swirled ribbon bows on the right.

For the head you and can as creative as you want to be. There are several different things you can use depending on what shape head you would like to have. I chose the pink cup because I liked the shape of it more than the rectangle floral foam.

I had thought of painting the cup white, but chose to use white wrapping paper instead.

I glued the legs to the bottom of the box with hot glue.

This particular bow had more than one bow on the package. I wanted to have an extra full mane and tail so I bought two packages.

I used four of the smaller bows on the mane, and two on the tail. I think the curly bows look super cute.

I know this year the Dollar Tree has glitter heart stickers in pink and red, that can be used as the snout. When I had made my unicorn box I used some pink craft foam and cute it into small hearts.

I rolled some pink craft paper into the shape of a cone for the unicorn horn. I hot glued into place. I glued one some google eyes for it's eyes. Eyelashes can be added as well.

Your unicorn is now ready to go to the party, and be filled with Valetines and goodies.

Some other Valentine's Day ideas you might be interested in..

Flower Cupcakes

Homemade Valentine Crackers

Valentine Heart Pops

Cherry Chocolate Fudge

Dare to Share #450

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Well, we are one week into the new year, and wow what a week it has been! I want to keep my blog a happy place so we don't really need to talk about what is all over the news this week. If you are like me I am on news overload, so you don't need more of it here on my blog.

On a personal note though, I went back to school on Monday of this week, which is another reason why the week a bit eventful. I was a bit surprised when I got to school on Monday, and found out that I was the only sub who was there that day. There were various different reasons why the others were not able to work that day, but thankfully we only needed to call one other person from one of the other schools to come in. Two of the teachers are quarantined this week, but should be okay to come back sometime next week. I have filled in for both of them this week. Every single night I have stayed up too late, because I am a bit of a night owl and slept in all break. Every single morning, I told myself I should have gone to sleep earlier. Every single day after school I have accidentally taken a nap. Has anyone else had to adjust to going back to work after the holidays?

I have Valentine Days supplies and in the process of making a few new crafts. I will also be sharing a few older crafts that are favorites of mine. I had hoped to post one or two of them this week, but didn't because of that nap thing. ;)

It is now time to get tonight's party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!

Dare to Share #449

It's Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Happy New Year!! It is still technically Friday. I am just a little bit late getting the party started, but I have a good excuse. As most of you know, I am a BUCKEYE, and we had a very big game tonight. I am in Ohio with my boyfriend for New Years and the big game. We found out today that the game was going to be shown on ESPN. Guess who does not have ESPN. Yep, the boyfriend. We were able to watch the game though. I have cable and I am able to stream my cable channels on my computer. So we able to watch the game but I was not able to post on my blog until the game was over. It was a little over 4 hours long, and Ohio State won big.. WOOHOO. Now on to the Championship game and Alabama in a week and a half.

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season this year. While mine was smaller and more laid back than in seasons passed, I did have a nice Christmas and New Years Eve. It will be back to reality in just a few days though, it is back to school time on Monday.

Since I am already pretty late to post, I better get this party started.

Link up and HAVE FUN!

How to make an inexpensive hot chocolate bar

Merry Christmas!

I know Christmas was a couple of days ago, but I celebrated it over a couple of days. As you may have noticed I did not post a Dare to Share party this past Friday because I was spending time with my daughter. On Saturday I celebrated Christmas with my boyfriend, and as you can see in the picture, he bought me an actual Dollar Tree. We saw it a few days ago while out shopping for Christmas presents. He saw how much I loved it, so he decided to surprise me with it. While he does not understand my Dollar Tree addiction, he does help enable it. LOL!!

Yesterday we did a little after Christmas clearance shopping at Dollar Tree and Walmart. I have been wanting to put together a hot chocolate bar for a few weeks, and with some of my awesome clearance finds I put together one for just a few dollars.

I don't really have a space where I can sit my hot chocolate bar long term, so I am using a tray and carry box with handles that can easily be moved. I already had the buffalo plaid tray, which you can see more about on my buffalo plaid Christmas post from a couple of years ago.

A couple of weeks ago, we went through the McDonalds drive through and was given this awesome cardboard cup holder. I like this version so much better than the kind they used to use, and immediately knew I could reuse it in some kind of manner. The cocoa packets fit perfectly in it. To make it look festive, I added a cup of cocoa vinyl cling from a cute set I bought at the Dollar Tree.

The pails, mugs and mini paper cups were all on clearance. Found the Santa pails for .49 each, and a packet of 12 mini cups for .84 at Walmart. I got 4 hot cocoa themed mugs from the Dollar Tree for .50 each. I only have 3 in the picture but the 4th one already had cocoa in it. :) The candy canes and sticks were .50 a box, the sugar cookie and hot chocolate kisses were on sale for $1.49 a bag, the peppermint and chocolate spoons I got at the Dollar Tree.

I found this super cut ornament for only $1.48. I had to get it, because I know a really rambunctious puppy who would totally eat all of Santa's cookies. She eats everything!

While at Walmart, I found a box of Lucky Charms hot chocolate. Since I love Lucky Charms the cereal I decided to try it. While it is basically just regular hot chocolate with Lucky Charms marshmallows, I really liked it.

If you are out shopping the after Christmas sales, hopefully you will find some great deals too.

Three Christmas Gift Basket Ideas

I posted in some of my recent posts that I am giving themed gift baskets to my boyfriend's kids. Two of the are teenagers and one is in his 20s. I found so many great things while shopping at the Dollar Tree, I thought I would share my finds to maybe give you inspiration on what you can give as a gift as well.

First up are the things I bought for his daughter. She loves art, shrimp and quirky, silly things. Seen in this photo is a pizza eraser, a flamingo tape expenses, 2 scratch art kits, a donut coin purse, a LED glow art maker, a 300 piece Bob Ross puzzle, and a donut and bacon notebook.

The T-shirt is not from Dollar Tree but from Kohls (the only non DT present). I got a great deal on it about a month ago, and bought it because she is obsessed with shrimp She also likes shiny, glittery things so I got her the reindeer tie and glasses. I think 90% of my socks are from DT. I found some really cute one the last few months. I know she will love the sloth holding the donut, a llama flying a plane, and a pair with sushi and shrimp. Not pictured because I bought it after I took the picture is a stuffed piece of shrimp sushi.

The scared narwhal pen has that look on his face, because I forgot to put him in the pictures.

The next themed basket is for his teenage son who likes to play games. There are so many great games that I found to put in his basket. A mini pool table, a tabletop basketball set, a tabletop dart set, a tabletop cornhole set, a mini wooden tower game, left center, right dice game, and a brain teaser wooden puzzle.

I look forward to playing some of these card games with their family. I picked up Family Fued, Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, and an Escape Room Challenge. I also picked up a Jeopardy game, but I kept that one for my myself.

Since he just turned 16 and really wants to get a jeep, I am putting two jeep hot wheels in the basket. While it is kind of silly, but also kind of fun, I am also giving him a fart machine. I am sure he will also be challenging people with his fighting finger robots. I think he will like the Christmas tree tie, and the Christmas tree glasses.

The last gift basket is for his oldest son. He is learning how to cook, and is on the spectrum. To encourage his love of cooking I am giving him a kitchen/cooking basket. In the top picture I am giving him a mixing bow with a handle, a small strainer, several Betty Crocker utensils, a spoon rest, a red oven mitt, and a red silicone trivet that can also be used as a pot holder. Not picture was a measuring cup and a package of Reynold Wrap pre cut squares.

Some more items I found are a Duncan Hines brownie mix, a Betty Crocker cookie mix, a cutting board, a dicer utensil, two dish towels, two different size cooking bags, five made simple cook books, and for fun a Santa themed apron. Tonight while out looking for a basket big enough to hold everything, I found two more simple recipe cookbooks.

Each of the kids will also be getting some candy. Fast food gummies, a candy bar with a million dollars on the wrapper, a chocolate Rudolph, and some Rudolph snacks.

It has been a lot of fun putting these baskets together. There were so many great gifts to put in them this year.

Updated 12/23

I gave the kids their baskets on Sunday night, since I was not going to be there on Christmas. The kids took turns and opened them one at a time. I told each of them that I chose their gifts based on what I knew about them. His daughter went first. When I asked her what she thought I knew about her, she said that she loved art and shrimp. She loved all the fun quirky items I found, and immediately put on the shrimp socks. Next up was his youngest son. He told me that I knew he liked games and wanted a jeep. He also was happy with all of fun games he received. His oldest son was the last to open his basket. I originally bought him a green basket too, but there was just too much stuff to fit it in, so I went back and bought the bigger white one. He also loved all of the kitchen items he received. He looked through every cookbook, and found several recipes he wanted to try and make for the family. Since the gift baskets were such a great gift, I am going to start looking now for great gifts to give on their birthdays and next Christmas.

Dare to Share #448

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Well I made thru holiday week, and I am now on break until next year. Of course, next year is only a few weeks away, but it does sound funny to say. As of right now the plan is our district plans to go back in early January, but I have head there is a chance we might postpone a week or two as well. Now that I have time off of school, I hope to finish up on a few things I still need to do to get ready for Christmas. Do you have all your shopping done? I have just a couple of small things I would like to get. I also do not have anything for Christmas dinner for me and the kids. Hopefully I will get that early in the week.

I did share a post this week showing some of the great last minute stocking stuffers you can find at the Dollar Tree. I was hoping to post some gift basket ideas last night, but I had too much on my to do list that I had to get done before I can get on the computer. It will be up this weekend though. I have to get one more thing for my cooking basket and take some of the final pics for the post.

Well it is getting to be time for the party to start, and I am ready to get some rest after a long week at school.

Link up and HAVE FUN!!

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Last minute Stocking Stuffers

Christmas is coming, and it is coming very quickly. Christmas Eve is just over a week away. Are you ready? I am for the most part. The last gift that I was waiting for finally arrived today. I ordered it at the end of November. I probably will pick up a couple more gifts for my son who has refused to give me ideas this weekend. I plan on sending my oldest a care package of Christmas/birthday gifts after Christmas. (her birthday is in January, and hopefully shipping will be easier and quicker then.

As you know from my posts, I love the Dollar Tree and this year the Christmas stock has been amazing. It has been so good that I got all of my stocking stuffers, and even things for themed gift baskets there this year.

Since the people I bought these stocking stuffers for do not read my blog, I can share with you pictures of some of the great finds, in case you still need ideas.

These items I plan on putting in my daughter's stocking who loves make up and beauty items. In the first picture is a foot sugar file, a diamond nail file, a silicone make up blender, cucumber eye compresses, Botanico eye compresses, and two lip balms. In the bottom picture are lip glosses I found for 90% off after Halloween at Meijer. (the only non Dollar Tree product)

My boyfriend's 16 yr old son loves playing games. While I plan on making him a themed gift with these some of these games, they are perfect stocking stuffers for a teen, older child, or someone who loves games. In the top photo are table top darts, cornhole, and a generic Jenga game. Also included is a block puzzle, Sloth Rummy, an Escape Room Challenge, Left Center Right dice game, and finger Robots. In the bottom picture is card versions of the game shows Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Deal or No Deal, and Jeopardy.

His daughter who is the same age as my daughter, loves fun quirky things. These are some of the items I bought for her. Notebooks with pictures of bacon and donuts, a donut zipper purse, scratch art kits in two colors, and a flamingo tape dispenser.

I love the themed socks DT has available. Some of my fun finds have been a llama flying an airplane, gnomes, a sloth hugging a donut, and pretzels.

These items are for my boyfriend. He loves German food, and served in Germany for a few years so I know he will will the pretzel socks and beer mask. Other things in this pic are a small tool set, camper sock and a Hot Wheels ID muscle car. What is really cool about the ID cars if you can find them, is you can play/race them on an app on your phone.

If you like squishy toys they have this Christmas set. All are adorable, but I think I like the snowman the best.

These are going in MY stocking. Flavored lip balms in the flavors are some of my favorite cereals and pop.

There are a lot of unicorn themed items available. Unicorn sticker books, a rainbow calendar, an unicorn marque light, an unicorn glitter banner, several different types of stuff unicorn, and a cute unicorn light up desk light.

You can find many kinds of Disney items like these cute Tsum Tsums. Not pictured but also available are Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.

You can find fun and silly items like a fart machine and glow art maker.

I found a lot of great candy stocking stuffers are well. In the top pic are Rudolph themed items. A chocolate Rudolph and lip pops in Rudolph Bumble. There are lot of different types of boxed candy as well, gummy blocks, peppermint bark, and peppermint crunch Junior Mints. (I can tell you that they are good, I may or may not have already eaten a box of them.)

Check back tomorrow. I will be posting some gift basket ideas for teens and young adults.