Christmas Shadow Box Decoration

I LOVE Christmas!! It is by far my most favorite holiday, which is why I am sharing this super fun crafting idea with you. As a mom of a 6 month old I don’t always have a ton of time to do crafts without the baby trying to touch or eat everything in sight lol. So this is the perfect, simple, inexpensive craft for anyone that doesn’t have a ton of time or money. I know it seems a little early to start decorating for Christmas, but I am trying to get everything done before Thanksgiving so I can decorate the day after. I know I know I am one of those annoying people that want Christmas to last longer than just a month, so I decorate right after Thanksgiving (since that’s when Miguel finally lets me). You guys this is seriously the easiest decoration ever! I was strolling around in Porters Crafts and found a similar shadow box and decided to make my own. So here are the things you need…

1.       Shadow box- I got mine at Porters but they have the same ones here

2.       Small and Medium sized bells (I got 3 really small bags but you can get a big bag here or here
3.    "Silver Bells" or any Christmas decal

4.       Scrapbook Paper- you can buy a package of Christmas scrapbook paper here

From there you clean off the glass (you don’t want any dust or anything to be stuck under the decal) and then follow the instructions for the decal and place it where you want it to go on the glass. 

Then you take the bells and pour them out on the inside of the glass with the glass facing down on a hard surface.

Then take the back of the shadow box and trace your scrapbook paper to make sure that it is the right size. Now stick the back of the shadow box over the scrapbook paper and tighten the back so that it stays. And now you are done! Seriously, how easy was that? And now you have a super cute easy Christmas decoration!

10 Stocking Stuffer Ideas Under $20 for Men and Women

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Doing Christmas on a budget this year? We are!

If you are like me, you cannot afford to spend a ton of money on Christmas. So how do I do that when my husband and I both have expensive taste? Well, I bargain hunt, and over the years I have become quite good at it since we always have a small budget for each other at Christmas and this year we have Zeke to shop for also.  So the more we save the better! Anyways here are some ideas I have come up with that will hopefully help you shop!

For Men

       1.    Gift cards- Miguel loves music so ITunes gift cards are always great for him. If your significant other has a place that they love to go during their lunch break get them a gift card, it is small, simple and they will love that you know them so well. 

       2.   Beanies- since Christmas falls in the winter these are great because everyone needs to stay warm. I can usually find nice ones at places like TJ Maxx like these, Ross, and Marshall's, but I also found Miguel’s favorite brand (Neff) on Amazon for $15 find them here.

 

        3.  Phone cases- these you can find anywhere but I always get mine on Amazon because they have so many options and they are usually really affordable.

        4.  Ear buds. The Skull Candy brand is my favorite and you can find them here.

        5.  Magazines or Comic Books- Miguel likes to read Men’s Health magazine which is usually what I get him but he also mentioned this year that he used to like to read comics when he was younger so you can always get Comics too. They have them at Barnes and Noble so you don’t have to go hunting for them. 

         6.  Candy- So easy and inexpensive. Get your significant other their favorite candy and they will love that you know what they like. 

         7.  Gloves- As much as most men hate to say it they get cold too and gloves are a perfect small gift that fit great into a stocking.

          8.  Ties- if your husband or significant other wears dress clothes to work or church then ties are always a good gift! I usually can find nice name brand ties at TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshall's, or even Burlington coat factory.

         9.    Dress socks- Most men don’t love socks but they are essentials and if you get your man a tie you can match the socks!

        10.    Body spray or cologne- If your guy is anything like mine then they like to smell good. While cologne might not be under $20 depending on what kind he likes, body spray is a great alternative.

For Women                                                 

         1.  Gloves- these ones from target are my fav.,they come in multiple colors and they are under $10! 

         2.   Jewelry- it depends on the woman but if they have a female relative or best friend that you can ask for help I suggest doing that. ;)

         3.    Nail polish- My personal favorite nail polish is OPI; you can never go wrong with a good nail polish!

         4.    Bath supplies- women love to be pampered and one of the best ways to do that is with a bath, so you can buy a women some bath salts like these or a face mask to help make their skin glow. You can go pretty much anywhere and find these items for under $20. And don't be afraid to ask for help if you don't know what to get. Places like Ulta always have people that can help you find the right thing.

   5.   Magazines- this one is on both men and women’s list because you can roll it up and stick it in the stocking and it is fun to get to read them while being lazy on Christmas day after presents are opened. You can get anything from Cosmo to Women’s Health, I mean really don’t all women love magazines? I know I do!

        6.    Lip stick or lip balm- I love this brand of lip balm. But once again ask a female relative or friend for help on lipstick colors if you choose to get them that instead.

        7.   Leggings or tights- So simple, just find out what color they like and you’re pretty much done. They are small and fit great into a stocking and you can usually find them just about anywhere for under $20

        8.   Candy- another on both lists but this is so simple and cheap. My husband’s favorite candy is so hard to find so I always look extra hard at Christmas and surprise him with it in his stocking. Easy, thoughtful, inexpensive.

        9.   Gift Cards- Let’s be honest, most women love to shop so if you give them a gift card to their favorite place there is no better excuse for us to spend it. 

       10.   Beanies- These ones are super cute from Amazon, but find out what color beanies they like and you can find them all over. Sometimes you can even find matching beanies and gloves. 

So there you have it, your ultimate list of stocking stuffer ideas. I hope this helps lighten the burden of Christmas shopping. Happy hunting!

Making Myself Accountable

 Today I ran on the treadmill. For those of you that know me I HATE to run, in fact I am not one of those people that likes to work out at all. I would much rather get my exercise in by doing things like Zumba, yoga, or kickboxing; something that is fun and I get to listen to music, and there is always someone that is worse than me in the class. But since we are poor college students and now we have a baby we don’t have a gym membership right now and I am the heaviest I have ever been I am doing what I can with what I have. My grandparents gave us a treadmill and while it sits in my living room haunting me most days today I decided to use it. I decided to start out slow, and by slow I mean really really slow. I only ran for 5 minutes and trust me they were some of the longest in my life. I wanted to quit so many times but I kept telling myself; mind over matter, it is not that bad, keep going, do this for yourself and you know what I did it. I made it through those long 5 minutes. I gained about 35 pounds when I was pregnant and I have had such a hard time getting it off. I breastfed since you burn lots of extra calories I thought that would help, no such luck I only lost 5 pounds since I had him and I’m pretty sure that was just from when I got him out of my belly.

I have dieted and exercised my whole life. I have never enjoyed it but I have done it. This time it is different, I am tired all the time from staying up with Zeke when he doesn’t sleep, I struggle to have enough energy to even make dinner let alone get up and work out. But my husband and I have made a decision to lose weight and get healthy and we plan on making it a lifestyle change. I have done plenty of crash diets and lose weight quick type things but I have made a promise to myself to stop doing those and make a change that will help my son grow up in a healthy home. So we are not starving ourselves or working out for hours a day, but we are holding ourselves accountable and choosing to make good decisions. We work out most mornings while our son naps, we eat healthy foods, we don’t keep sweets in the house so if we want them we have to make them and then I can substitute healthier ingredients, and (the most important thing) we WANT to be healthy and take care of our bodies. 

Mainly I am a real life mom with a cute but sometimes very difficult son, I gained weight as so many women do when they are pregnant and I want to get it off, I have stretch marks that will be there forever, I am a real person struggling every day to stay healthy. I could so easily make mac and cheese for dinner because it is easy and cheap but I am not going to take the easy route anymore. I am not saying I am never going to eat junk food, because I will but I am going to do my best to eat much more healthy whole food then junk food. 

So those 5 minutes I ran today on the treadmill, yea I am proud of that. I know it is not much but I had to start somewhere. I am going to keep working out and getting stronger every day. I am a real person with real goals and I really can’t wait until I meet them.

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Since it is fall I am all about all things pumpkin. I also love to bake and Miguel loves to eat pretty much anything, so luckily my sweet husband always tries anything that I want to bake. Lately we have been eating so unhealthy because of Halloween so we have decided to try to eat healthier. This morning I made these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. But guess what? These muffins are actually healthy and filling! They have no flour and the only sugar I used was Truvia which is a zero calorie all natural sweetener. These are the perfect muffins for a healthy make ahead breakfast.

In my home we have a rating system from 1-5, 1 being not so good and 5 being really yummy and make again soon. Miguel gave these a 5 and trust me 5’s are rare.

 First Place all ingredients into a high powered blender. I have a vitamix and it works great.

 Blend everything together until you can no longer see the oats. Side note if you have a tool that you can put on the top of the blender to help mix things at the bottom, use it, it will be super helpful getting everything blended together well.

 Now you add the chocolate chips and hand mix them in.

 Place the prepared batter into the muffin tins and stick them in the oven for 10-15 mins. 13 mins was the perfect time for mine but every oven cooks differently so adjust the time as needed.

 When the muffins are done take them out of the oven and let them cool for 5-10 mins

 Then take them out of the pan and enjoy!!

  So here is the full recipe, I hope you love these as much as we do! 

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Ingredients

½ cup stevia or truvia (I used the truvia baking blend)

2 cups oats

¼ cup flaxseed

1 egg

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup canned pumpkin

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1 1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and use cooking spray or foil muffin liners to line your muffin pan. I say foil liners because these don’t have any butter in them and they may stick if you use paper liners.

a 2. Place ingredients excluding the chocolate chips in a high powered blender (I have a Vitamix) and blend until smooth. Place the chocolate chips in the mixture and hand mix them in.

3 3. Once the mixture is ready place them in the prepared muffin pan. Fill to the top (these muffins really don’t rise so don’t worry too much about overfilling them)

4 4.  Bake for 10-15 mins, place a toothpick in the middle of the muffin, if it comes out clean the muffins are done. Let them cool for 5-10 mins and enjoy!