A Pink Party by LivE Wisely!!

 It was my youngest daughter's first birthday recently and I wanted to make it special. I love children's parties. It is fun to be creative, (at least for me) and I enjoy making fun treats. As usual, I was watching my budget so I made all of the food and most of the decorations. Trust me, it was pretty simple and took under a few hours.

For the cupcakes, I wanted to make them easy. I love frosting, especially whipped cream frosting. Yes, the "piped" frosting on top of cupcakes looks professional and beautiful but I actually prefer the "dolloped" look. And it is of course much easier!! To me, the frosting seemed whimsical.

I also did rice crispy treats which I dipped into some frosting and added sprinkles for a fun touch. 

I found some cotton candy on sale and put it in a bowl. Who doesn't love some cotton candy!!

 

 I made paper flowers, super easy to do...check out this site http://www.ehow.com/how_4522222_make-paper-flowers.html. We then put them all over the house!

For food, (I forgot to take a picture), I bought deli meat and cheeses and made a cold cut platter. Placed some bagels, rolls, and bread in a large bowl, some condiments, lettuce and tomato, and voila!

For snacks, (chips etc) I used some small boxes that I had bought a few months back from Target. Any fun container would have worked.

For the goodie bags, I used paper "lunch" bags and my oldest daughter and I decorated them with stickers. 

The party was a success and I enjoyed it even more knowing that I didn't break the bank!!

LivE Wisely!!

Coupon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi. Just wanted to pass along a great coupon!

If you haven't tried Thredup.com  than I suggest you do! This is a great offer for those who are interested in trying. 

Get $10 off your first order of practically new kids' clothes from thredUP.com. 

Dinner on the Fly...Cheap and YUMMY!!

You need a quick easy and of course yummy dinner that you know the kids will enjoy. 

 I just had one of those nights...did I forget to take out chicken to defrost?? Quick, look in the fridge and pantry...What do I find, some bread that we NEED to use or else it will go stale. We just had some mozzarella cheese. I am not in the mood for that again. 

I do have some Ricotta cheese...seems a bit weird to use on a pizza instead of sauce right?! But Cheese is cheese right. Let's go for it.

 

As you may remember I always always keep a couple of frozen veggies in the freezer. Luckily I have some tri colored peppers which are super tasty! I find some sausage, (the kind that you get at the meat counter) that can be easily and quickly defrosted. Just put them in some warm water for a few minutes to defrost. I take them out of the "skin" and saute them up with the peppers.

 At first I wasn't sure if I was just going to serve the bread and saute'd mixture separately or together...but then I thought...why not?! I can just sprinkle with some parmesan and put in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

 The final product was so delicious!! 

Remember to be creative! Shop in your fridge and your pantry. Always keep certain items in the house for emergencies and do your best to make what sounds good to you. Drop the rules of this goes with this and that goes with that. 

Dinner will be more fun this way!

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Wow, Look at This!!
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Luckily, buying USED clothes is "cooler" now. People are more aware of the damage that overproduction can do to the environment and of course, kids clothes is super expensive so if you can save a buck or three...why not?

One of the sites that I am most obsessed with is Thredup. This site has gotten better over the years and it is very very easy to find shirts, pants, assesories, whatever quite easily. The pictures are wonderful...I wonder how they do it...and shopping for your kids...AT QUITE A DISCOUNT...becomes fun.

Try Thredup and let me know what you think!!

Shop and Earn Money?!?!

A good friend of mine reminded me about a unique webpage that offers you money for buying through their site. So for example, if you are in the market for a blender, go to Ebates and start your shopping.

There are thousands of participating stores. Right now Kohls is giving 6% cash back if you buy through them. Amazing!!

I took the below right from their website...why not have them explain how it works!!

Why should I use Ebates?

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LivE Wisely!!