To give is to receive!!!

I have been reading "The Secret" lately and was really interested when they talked about the fact that the more you give the more you receive. I have been giving a lot lately, even though you are pinching pennies doesn't mean you shouldn't give a little, you might just get a little. This was the case for me. I recently received some of those "free" address labels in the mail. Normally I would put them with my stamps and use them up, but not even think about giving to the people that sent them to me. This year I got these great address labels from ASPCA & Susan G Komen. I decided that I would donate to both of these organizations, they really stand for something very important. ASPCA was very important to me because I LOVE ANIMALS! I am a sucker for sad puppies in crates out in the cold with a free sign on them, but I know that I can not save everyone and I have to tell myself that I take really good care of my animals and that's a big step. So when I got this from the ASPCA I thought this would be a great time to donate. About 2 weeks after I donated to these to great organizations I received a $500 check from my Mom. She just received some money from my Great Aunts estate, and she wanted to share the wealth! It was so nice to get this, and on the way home from receiving this wonderful gift we had to stop for gas. We needed some water so I went in to get the cheapest bottles that there were. When I got to the check stand I saw a glass donation jar for a girl that had suffered some severe burns in a recent fire, I don't know what came over me, but I felt the need to share the wealth, and put $1 in the jar, thinking that I wished it could be more! When we got home I went to get the mail, and inside there was a check from our mortgage company for $146 overage in our escrow account! This was totally unexpected!! I truly believe that with giving I received tenfold, and it made me feel so wonderful to give, the receiving was just a BONUS!

DIY Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is just around the corner, have you thought about what you are going to give that special Mother and or Mother in law in your life this year? My craft room is overflowing with things to make for my Mommy & Mommy in law! I have been cleaning jars out every time we have spaghetti so that I will have an abundance of them for jar mixes for Christmas presents, I'm sure there is a good jar recipe for a Mother's day present! I also have tons of card stock, pattern paper, and paper bags to make a cute Mother/Grandmother paper bag album! Search how to make a paper bag album on google to find how what to do. Have the kids decorate a tee shirt or Apron with your kids handprints and then sign their names underneath it! This is just a very small sample of what you can do with what you have at home, just keep your mind and eyes open! You can also google Do it yourself gifts and find tons of present ideas.
Happy crafting for that special Mom!

Happy Backyard Campers

Hey Campers!

We have started thinking about Memorial Day weekend and what we are going to do, We usually go off somewhere for the weekend, and with a lot of people we know it's tradition to go camping. We decided that instead of driving to our favorite campground, paying all that money in gas and such, we will just camp in the backyard Memorial weekend! We already have all the camping gear that we need, along with the table & fire pit, so pitching it in the backyard sounded like fun! We also have the comforts of home if we need it, and also if we forget anything, it's right in at our personal store to retrieve instead of stopping and buying it! If you don't have a fire pit search the web for ideas on how to make your own!

We love to have fires in our fire pit during the summer. We also love to roast hot dogs and make s'mores! We found some metal rods to roast our dogs and marshmallows on at wal-mart for $2 for a package of 8, but you can also just find sticks around the house. Make sure you put on your menu for the week all of things that you need for your hot dogs and s'mores, and also any extras like pasta or potato salad fixings, maybe some chips if they are on a super duper sale. Remember, make sure you check out your pantry and freezer FIRST! If you don't have hot dogs, but do have hamburgers or anything else to throw on the BBQ do that instead.

Stories and songs are also fun for around the fire, if you don't have any of your own go to www.utimatecampersource.com for tons of fun camp songs, stories and games!

You can even make this a fun event to invite your friends and family to! If you have a big back yard have everyone bring over their tent and camping gear, along with their food and drinks. If you want to, have a potluck! We do this every weekend with our neighbors, but in a little bit different way. We all bring a side dish or dessert to share, and our own meat for the bbq and drinks, it works out great!

So, have your own fun backyard camp out this memorial weekend, and let me know how it went!!!