A Real Cu-Tea of a Gift!

I made this wreath in the wee hours of the morning and I think it's just adorable!

Supplies:

12" cardboard cake round (or a piece of cardboard that you cut into a circle)
Scrapbook paper
24 clothes pins
24 tea bags of assorted flavors (I bought a 4 box gift set from Sams Club and I have enough left to make at least one more wreath)
Ribbon
1 soda can tab
Scissors, white glue and a glue gun with glue sticks

INSTRUCTIONS:
The hardest part of this whole project is cutting the cardboard into the wreath shape. I'm guessing an exacto knife with a sharp blade would have made this a LOT easier but of course I only thought of that after the fact. Once you have a card board donut, then you're going to cover it in scrap book paper. Cut the circle to size and then with the center, cut a circle smaller than the hole in your wreath shape and cut a bunch of little tabs that you can fold over and glue to the back of your wreath shape. Now you're going to cut long thin strips from coordinating scrapbook paper to glue on to one side of the clothes pins. Use white glue to attach paper strips to clothes pins. Use the hot glue gun to stick the clothes pins to the wreath making sure that the "mouth" of the pin is pointing to the outside of the wreath. (Leave a gap in the pins for your bow.) Use hot glue to attach the can tab to the edge of your wreath. This will be the hanger so that your wreath can be hung on the kitchen wall. Use ribbon to tie a bow around your wreath. Put a tea bag in each clothes pin (there will be some over lapping, not to worry!) Voila!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

This morning it was (finally!) chilly here in North Texas and I needed something warm in my cup. I don't know why it is that when I need coffee the worst, I have such a hard time making myself make it! So I went to the pantry and made a very quick drink mix for mornings just like this.

Auntie Hoot's Mocha Mix

2 cups of sweetener (sugar or sugar substitute)
4 cups instant milk
1 cup dry coffee creamer
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 package of instant pudding (chocolate or vanilla)
1 jar of espresso powder
3/4 cup of cocoa powder

Mix together and store in a ziplock bag. Heat water in microwave & add 1/3 cup of mix and a couple of stale marshmallows. You can dress this up for gift giving by adding crushed peppermint (those soft ones should dissolve nicely in the warm liquid), homemade marshmallows or perhaps a small bottle of adult beverage for spiking. (If you're into that kind of thing.) Enjoy!

How to Heart a Husband???

This morning I nuked the leftovers from yesterday's coffee and sat on the couch to google Valentines Day ideas for Big Daddy. This is our first married Valentines Day and I really want to do something special without blowing the bank because there's really no bank to blow. While I'm a pretty creative person, I rarely come up with an original idea. Nine times out of ten I borrow inspiration and tweak it to fit my taste and my style but this morning I found myself getting frustrated with the same old ideas I've seen hundreds of times: chocolate covered strawberries, rose petals on the bed, candle lit dinners and the ever popular do-it-yourself massage. I'm not saying those things don't have merit, I'm just saying that none of that seems like something Big Daddy is going to do backflips over. I just don't know many men who wish their gals were sending them flowers more often. Romance is something women crave. Guys like fun. Right? So what's something Big Daddy would really enjoy doing that wouldn't involve plane tickets or a second mortgage on a house we don't even own?

So here my guidelines for planning a special day for Big Daddy:

1. As simple as it sounds, I want to do something that is all about HIM. At Christmas I noticed that almost all of his gifts were things he needed and would use but there just wasn't a whole lot of fun in those packages. I am probably the worst about deciding what he ought to want (like nicer clothes and better shoes) instead of really considering what he would truly enjoy.

2. I want to plan something we haven't done. When Big Daddy and I were dating we went on lots of fieldtrips we enjoyed. I know he likes going to museums and great restaurants. (No REALLY, he does!) I think it's cheating to revisit those same places for Valentines Day.

3. We need to stay out of the way of the hot spots that will be over-crowded and over-priced because it's a holiday. If I were Oprah Winfrey I'd be buying All Star Game tickets and booking my table at 560. The limo would be a given and Big Daddy would be grinning from ear to ear without any worries about how much I spent but I don't live on that planet.

4. I know it's cliche, but it IS the thought that counts. I don't have a lot of money but I do have time to plan something that will let him know how much I care about him. Sometimes big "I love yous" come in a lot of little packages.

5. Consider the "WOW value." When I was younger and broke, I subscribed to a newsletter called "The Tightwad Gazette." I learned a lot about how to save money on the small things so that I had the money for big things. One of the most important ideas the newsletter taught me was about "wow value," and how that value is different for different people. If carrots taste the same whether I buy them at Whole Foods, Kroger, or Sprouts, why would I buy my carrots at Whole foods when they are on sale at Kroger? If I save twelve dollars shopping at Kroger for most of our food, I don't get in a twist when Big Daddy wants to spend twelve dollars on pate at Market Street. Along those same lines, if the pate from Market Street makes him happy why go to a restaurant and pay twice as much for half as much pate unless the ambiance and service is worth the pricetag? If I save money on one or two ideas that are still thoughtful and fun, I can indulge a little more on a gift that he'll really appreciate. The other thing I learned about frugality is that being careful with how money is spent doesn't make one endlessly cheap, it provides opportunities to be more generous!

6. Get personal. The most important thing I need to do really think about MY man and really think about what would make him feel spoiled rotten. As I've been writing this I've been thinking about ideas he's run up the flagpole that I've never saluted. I need to remember that romance is showing him that I hear him, I know him and I love HIM. I need to take some time to think about the things he loves and incorporate those things into my master plan. Perhaps it's time I explore sushi and anime or consider bowling and baby backs because romance isn't just leather or lace, flowers and candles, or chocolate and wine--it's learning a new language and finding a new way to both show him and tell him that HE is the man I love.

I don't have a master plan yet, but I think I'm on the right track. The first thing I need to do is make sure that my plans don't interfere with any plans he will be making. The good news is that this year Valentines Day falls on a Sunday so if we need to, we can do a his and hers days without a problem. If you have any great ideas to share PLEASE leave a comment!