One of the things we like to do during Easter time is making Easter baskets out of paper bags. Then we fill them and give them as gifts. Examine the benefits here - they are cheap, easy to make and the kids can be creative with whatever you have around the house. I’m sharing these baskets with you because if you have children or work with younger ones, this is such a nifty (yes I said nifty) craft they usually have fun with. When I ran a day care I had the kids make this. They loved it. It’s something I do with my own children now.
Also, the baskets can be made for other holidays and decorated appropriately to go with the theme. I happen to scrapbook and make diaper cakes for showers so I have a lot of supplies to be used on such projects. If you don’t have a lot of supplies, grab some crayons, markers, construction paper and glue and you’ll be set. This also makes for a great last minute easy-to-make gift if you happen to forget to pick something up for someone. Most people love gifts that were hand made. They treasure them.
What you’ll need:
lunch size brown paper bags
decorating supplies ~ whatever you want to use
candy or previous craft small enough to fit in the basket
All you have to do is cut the bag open along the seams to where you see the fold toward the bottom. Once you do that fold the large flaps inside over one another to create the illusion of a bucket. Take the two remaining flaps, staple them together and voila you have a basket. Hand it over to the kids and let them go wild with the decorating.
Here are the ones we made today for Easter at my Mom’s house Sunday. The pictures will reflect the steps that I gave you. Remember you can make them for any occasion! Happy Easter!!
Easter is Sunday in case you forgot like my mom. We tend to keep it simple. A few of us gather together and we cook and drink and basically just hang out with each other for the day. Don’t forget I’m Puerto Rican. That means we eat and drink for everything. The drinking part made me think of one of my favorite drinks to have right when it starts to get warm on through to summer time. It’s similar to a “Lime Ricky” drink but a little more simplified which makes it a little cheaper to make and well, saving money makes me smile. :) <– See
Anyhoo. This drink is really refreshing. If you like lime flavored drinks you’ll love it. I am NOT a lime flavor type of girl and even I love this drink. The flavor is subtle and the frozen juice I use has a perfectly balanced flavor to it - not too sour or sweet. If you try it this weekend with your friends and family, let me know what you thought of it.
Ingredients:
1 Cup Gin ~ Use the brand of your choice. I use whatever I find on sale that day.
1 Liter of Club Soda
1 Whole Lime ~ If you want a garnish. They are usually very inexpensive.
1 Small Can of Frozen Minute Maid Limeade
1 Serving Pitcher
Directions:
Take the gin, all of the club soda, and the whole can of limeade and mix it in a serving pitcher. I usually slice up the lime and put all the slices in the pitcher. You can slice them up and just use them as a cute garnish on the glass if you don’t want the actual fruit in your drink. Make this drink early in the day and set it in the fridge to get chilled. If it’s still not cold enough by the time your guests arrive serve with some ice. It taste best when it is served really cold.
This drink usually goes over well during spring and summer because it has such a refreshing taste to it. It’s also easy on the waste because it’s very low in calories. The dieters of the group can have a few of these if they wanted to. It’s cheap to make and low in calories? I’m sold! I hope you will be too. By the way feel free to add more or less gin. One cup is VERY subtle. Most people say they can barely taste it. Sometimes I’ll put more if I want it a little stronger.
My favorite way to drink this is with one lime slice thrown into the glass half full of crushed ice. I love chomping on ice so this has become my preferential way of drinking it. You try it though and make it how you want it. Let me know what you think.
Enjoy!!
In the past I have struggled with what to get for the both of my childrens’ teachers for Christmas. I usually wind up getting nothing, except for one year. That particular year my husband and I got to know both sets of teachers and assistants for the rooms that each of our children were in. In that case, we KNEW what each of those women liked because we got to talk to them so much throughout the year. In that case we bought gift cards for $20.00 to stores or restaurants that we knew they each liked. They were all thrilled with the gift cards they recieved.
Since then, we haven’t had the chance to quite get to know the teachers they’ve had as well as we did those other ladies. So I haven’t been getting anything. I personally feel guilty about this because my mother is a teacher and works with children who are severely emotionally and mentally disabled in high school. She doesn’t get paid NEARLY enough money to take care of those kids the way she does and yet she seldom recieves anything from parents showing any gratitude. She does what she does because she is good at it and loves it.
My point is that teachers are teachers because they WANT to be and because they love their job, not because they are making the big bucks. We should be thanking them in some sort of way just to let them know we were thinking about them and appreciate what they do with our children. Let me just say, on a side note, if your kid is a badass heathon of a child you BETTER get their teacher something!!! 
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I received several messages in my inbox from people who didn’t know you could buy prepaid gas cards. My last post I really was just randomly posting about my own thoughts on how prices have gone down so drastically that I am now paying over $50 less at the pump than I was about 3 months ago. I really should have taken more time to do some research on the subject so that I could have supplied more information about this topic. Let me just say, when my husband and I sat down and did the math about the savings we were surprised, but not at the same time…if that makes ANY sense. I knew there would be a ginormous savings…but when you actually see the numbers for your own eyes it’s kinda crazy and unsettling that we as hard working consumers, get subjected to astronomical prices that make the owners of oil companies filthy rich while we suffer for it.
OK. I’m stepping off my soap box now!!! Sooooooo, I did a little research and I hope this answers the questions some of you had.
The main thing many people said was “If you buy a gas card at today’s prices, later you are only using a gas card and paying those current prices.” That would be true if you were just buying THAT kind of card. Those kinds of cards are similar to gift cards. Those are not the cards I’m talking about. That’s not what THESE prepaid cards are. The ones I am talking about allow you to purchase GALLONS. There are several companies out there that you can sign up with, pay a membership fee and purchase gallons of gas at whatever the current rate in your area is. Then when gas prices go up you can use your card to pay for the gallons. The company that you are signed up with will actually pay the gas station for your purchase and will deduct the GALLONS from your account.
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This image reminds me of just a couple months ago and how it felt to put gas in our truck. (We have a Ford Expedition) When gas prices were about $3.90ish..it cost me around $107 to fill up if I let it go to empty. Prices had been so high for so long that I got a HUGE reality check when I went to fill up today. It was $1.99 for Unleaded!!!! Big difference. Quite frankly I don’t even remember when it was below $2.60 last out here. When I filled up today, it cost me $52.00. That is a difference of $55.00!!!!! NO wonder why our monthly budget was so mangled. We fill up 1 time a week…so $55.00 times 4 is an extra $220.00 a month we were spending in gas alone. Considering we didn’t get a raise we had to take that money from elsewhere. That meant less road trips, less eating out or if we did it was fast food and less extra ativities that you have to pay for like bowling or theme parks. My husband and I are considering buying a bunch of gas cards with these prices and leaving them in a drawer somewhere so that when prices hike back up to $3.60-and you know they will!-we will have prepaid gas at a much easier price to swallow. Go buy some gas cards for yourself!!!!
What did you have to cut back on while prices were so high?
