Celebrating July 4th with Red White & Blue Food

This week since we are coming up on July 4th I thought I would share some really easy but festive July 4th treats.

• One really easy thing to do is make a tray of red and blue jello jigglers cut in the shape of stars you can also combine the platter with rice krispie treats in the shape of stars. They are festive treats that transport easy and are kid friendly finger food.
• make a cake and frost with white frosting, then use blueberries and strawberries cut in half to make it look like an American flag.
• take a clear bowl ( glass or plastic) and layer your favorite treats in red, white and blue. I like to layer a fruit in red then angel food cake torn into little cubes, then whip cream, them a blue fruit then cake, then whip cream. Keep layering until the bowl is full and you have a yummy, festive bowl of red white and blue.
• Kraft has a great recipe for adorable Firecracker Bites, basically Nilla Wafers with pudding in between to make a sandwich, topped with a dollop of whip cream and red white and blue sprinkles.
• Taste of Home has this adorable recipe for a rice krispie cake shaped like Uncle Sam’s hat, I may attempt this for our July 4th party.

I know these are very simple but they all travel well and are easy to take to a party or on a picnic.

Easter Crafts with Kids

This year I have been trying to explain Easter to my girls and while the concept of Jesus dying on a cross and opening the gates of Heaven is difficult for a 2 and 4 year old to understand I am laying the groundwork. I have been trying to reinforce the meaning of Easter with fun art projects here are some we have done and are planning on doing. I just love all these creative moms who post their ideas it makes it so much easier for non-creative  moms like me!

Recreate the Last Supper with this easy and creative Last Supper Craft!

Make salt dough crosses. We made crosses and eggs, I didn’t have beads but sequins worked just as well.

Tomorrow we are making eggshell mosaic crosses. My girls are excited to paint the eggshells this afternoon!

This St Veronica Veil Craft is amazing but I am not sure I am talented enough to make it.

Hopefully we will find time to make these adorable jellybean bracelets, my girls would be thrilled!

And of course we have been enjoying lots of Easter coloring pages, you can print a bunch HERE for free.

Valentine’s Day Kids Craft

Need any easy Valentine’s Day craft to do with little kids? Try this… Simply paint your child’s hand with non-toxic paint and place it on a paper. After it is dry draw a heart in the middle, add a sweet Valentine’s Day message and voila a homemade Valentine’s Day card form the heart. My 4 and 2 year old had a blast making these!

Christmas Break

I will be taking a blogging break to enjoy the holiday with my family. As I am sure you noticed I have not been posting as much today as the holidays take over. I will have giveaways posting but that is all until Sunday when I will be back with the weekly deals. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope you are surrounded by those you love. Thank you for making this past year a huge success for Thrifty & Chic Mom and I look forward to all the great things the new year has in store. I hope to have LIVE GIVEAWAYS every Monday  night. SO far they have been a success and lots of fun for everyone.

Amazon Gift Cards

Need a last minute gift idea? Did you know you can purchase gift cards to Amazon? Not only that but you can have them emailed directly to the recipient so you don’t even have to buy a stamp and card, that is gift giving made easy. I know some people don’t like giving gift cards but in a tough economy I think they are prefect so people can get what they really need. Go HERE to order your Amazon gift card.

Inexpensive Co-Worker Gifts

When it comes to gifts for co-workers it can be very tricky and expensive. At our house we have adopted a tradition that is met with rave reviews every Christmas. I make a tray filled with a variety of homemade goodies. My husband takes the tray to work and sets it out for everyone to enjoy. I usually include a card with a message letting everyone know this is our Christmas gift to them. Typically I fill a separate tin of goodies for my husband’s boss. People really appreciate homemade goodies and with coupons you can do it really inexpensively. Here is a look at this years tray, it was only for 5 people so I individually wrapped the items so they could take some home with them. Other years it has just been a large tray for people to nibble on. Some favorites I include every year that are very easy are:

Peppermint Bark

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods

Holly Wreaths

Nut Clusters: in a bowl mix 1 bag chocolate chips melted, 1 1/2 cups peanuts, 1/4 cup peanut butter. Mix it all together and drop into muffin cups. Let cool in the fridge.

All of these treats take no cooking skills yet people love them!

Giving Back this Holiday Season

During the holidays it can often be hard to give when your money is going towards presents but it is always important to think of those in need. Every holiday we do some things at our house to help our kids get in the spirit of giving, here are a few of them:

• adopt a child, every year we adopt a child and proved them with Christmas gifts. This is a fun way for our family to give to someone who may otherwise have a bleak Christmas.
• Donate blankets and candles to the homeless. My church runs a soup kitchen and in the cold winter months they always need blankets and candles to pass out to the homeless. Every year I clean out my candles and blankets to donate. This is so easy to do because they actually ask you not bring new items since often the blankets and candles only get used once then left behind.
• Donate canned goods and non-perishables to our soup kitchen
• Donate items to the local nursing home. It is also a great idea to make cards and take your kids caroling if they are old enough, the elderly really appreciate it.
• My parents started a tradition of delivering hot meals (holiday leftovers) to the homeless the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas. They drive around with individual hot meals to known homeless hangouts and hand out food. ( If you do this please be careful and do not go alone to unsafe areas)
• Buy a gift that gives back. Companies like Robeez are donating one item for every purchase made. Robeez is giving a pair of shoes to a child through the program K.I.D.S one pair for every pair purchased. They have lots of cute shoes right now I love the thermal booties in pastel pink for my little girl!
• Sign up your Kroger rewards card to benefit your favorite charity. I just found out you can add a local charity to your Kroger card and they will benefit from your shopping! I am adding out churches soup kitchen, just go to Kroger.com and log into your account to add a charity.

How are you giving this season? Leave your giving ideas in the comments section or join the discussion at Twittermoms and check out the great contest they are having.

Cheap Kids Christmas Crafts

My kids love doing crafts and I of course want to keep them as inexpensive as possible. A fun kids craft that my kids enjoyed is making popsicle stick Christmas trees. They are simple and easy enough that my 22 month old made hers and the supplies needed are very minimal. Here are the directions:

Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees

6 popsicle sticks

sequins

green paint

glue

Paint the popsicle sticks green the day before and let dry. Cut the sticks down each one progressively smaller ( kitchen shears work fine). Glue the sticks on to form a Christmas tree. Let kids decorate with sequins. I squirted a glob of glue on the plate so my kids could dip and place the sequins themselves.

FREE Christmas Music from Amazon

Amazon is offering a FREE Christmas music download everyday during the month of December. Today is “Joy to the World” by Casting Crowns. Get your FREE Christmas download HERE.

Wrapping presents cheaply

This time of year we all do lots of wrapping. There are many ways to cut cost when it comes to wrapping presents. Here are a few tips to help you save money on gift wrapping.

• Reuse bags and tissue paper from past holidays. I have a big Rubbermaid bin in my basement full of bags, tissue paper and ribbons that I got with gifts in the past.This is a very easy way to save money on wrapping supplies.
• Use paper grocery sacks. Cut open you paper grocery bags and decorate them with a cute holiday stamp or let your kids draw a picture. Add a bow if you want and you have personalized inexpensive wrapping paper.
• Use part of the gift. If your gift includes a basket or some sort of container display the items in the container and use that as your “wrapping”. You can also buy reusable shopping bags for cheaper than gift bags. Use these bags to wrap the present. Now there are lots of cute bags available, I even recently saw sports team ones at Dick’s Sporting goods for the men in your life.
• Buy your holiday wrapping supplies in January. If you plan ahead you can pay pennies instead of dollars and be all set for the coming year.
• Check you local dollar stores for great deals if you want holiday themed paper or bags right now and don’t have any already. This will save you money if you must buy some.

I hope these tips will help you save money on your holiday wrapping this year. If you have any other great wrapping tips please share in the comments below.

For more money saving ideas check out Staples Holiday Center, and to join in the money saving discussion go here.

Deals for Busy Moms This Holiday SeasonCheck out This Week’s Deals!

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Black Friday Madness From Your Couch

If like me you are avoiding the stores to day that doesn’t mean you can’t get great deals. Here are just a few of the great deals I saw online:

Amazon has tons of great deals on video games, DVD’s and more go HERE

Old Navy $15 jeans and sweaters, Gap 50% off sweaters, Banana Republic 30% off sweaters and Piperlime, spend $50 at any combination of these store sand get FREE shipping

Kushies, get 25% off with code BLACKFRIDAY

EXPRESS 25% off everything until 12 noon EST

Crocs mammoth shoes buy 1 get 1 50% off

White House Black Market 20% off entire purchase with promo code 8954 plus FREE shipping

Ann Taylor Loft has some fabulous sweater and jean deals $29.50 and under

Kodak get 50-65% off photo gift items plus save and additional 20% on purchase $50 and more with promo code HOLIDAY

New York & Company 50% off everything online plus FREE shipping on purchases of $100 or more use promo code 1609

DSW get $20 off a purchase of $99 or more with promo code THANKU plus FREE shipping on purchase of $35 or more with promo code SNOWMAN

Nimli Silk Scarfs $1 on Black Friday

Need an inexpensive stocking stuffer? How about these fabulous silk chiffon scarves from Nimli! On Black Friday they will be just $1 and they come in some great colors ( you do not get to pick your color but there isn’t a bad choice!)

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