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9 Ideas for Celebrating a Pandemic Thanksgiving
Simple DIY Unicorn Party Ideas
Hi, my name is Meagan, and I like to party. {Has anyone else ever seen Hot Rod? Such an underated, super silly-funny film.} I love to entertain – huge, formal holiday gatherings, birthday pool parties, impromptu backyard BBQs, or simple “just because” celebrations, to brighten up boring days. I’m big on embracing the silly, creating your own happy, celebrating small joys. A few favorites we’ve had:
- Smurfs Dinner and a Movie night at home.
- Little Mermaid Mommy and Me Crafting Day.
- Monsters Inc. Playdate Party.
- And, one of my most popular posts: DIY a Simple Disney Princess Party.
I love creative, personalized celebrations. I’m also a busy momma, and on a tight budget. So, I use inexpensive store-bought goodies, jazz them up with a bit of clever DIY, and BAM! – Fun themed parties that are easy peasy to create and keep my wallet happy. Know what the secret is to most of those? Walmart. Yeppers. Almost all of my parties start at my local Walmart.
Host a Barbie and the Secret Door Party
I participated in an In-Home Party Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mattel. I received product samples to facilitate my party and a promotional item to thank me for participating.
When I was a little girl, I had no other girls to play with. I had three brothers. Almost all of my cousins were boys – the ones that weren’t were way older than me. The kids that lived on my street were pretty much all boys. I could get my brothers to play Barbies with me every once in awhile, if I let He-Man or G.I. Joe come hang out and drive her pink Mustang convertible, but that was about it. So, now that I have a little girl of my own, who loves to play with dolls, I’m totally living it up. Which is why I was super excited for this new movie to come out – Barbie and the Secret Door.
Stay-at-Home Date Night Ideas
This post brought to you by Breyers Gelato Indulgences. All opinions are 100% mine.
“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings – these are a few of my favorite things…” – The Sound of Music
Date Night at Home Ideas
Raspberry Mojito Recipe for Girl’s Night Parties!
I was compensated with some cash-money for this post. But as always – I only write posts if I love the brand, product, and message. I love this Trop50 juice, I love girl’s nights, and I love you….. 
Who is ready for a girl’s night?
Um, I’m going to guess that most of you ladies are waving your arms in the air saying, “*I*Â need a girl’s night, Meagan!! Pick me, pick me!!” And I feel ya – I definitely don’t get to spend enough time with my favorite ladies. Between doing projects on the house, chasing an increasingly clever almost 4 year old, watching my nephews, and oh yeah – running a business from home – well, there’s not a lot of time left for fun! But, I’m hoping to put one together soon, and wanted to share some inspiration. {Click here to see where to buy the items in the collage above, on Polyvore.}
- Dressing up. Doesn’t even always have to be fancy. But something more than sweatpants and a ponytail. {Although I do love that society invented “yoga pants” – which are pretty much socially acceptable sweats. And messy buns becoming trendy have made things much easier for moms too. Thank you, world.}
- Fun drinks. When you get girls together, it’s a good time for fun, fruity, pink, sparkly, delish drinks – right? And it’s even better if the drink is low cal – which you can do if you use my new favorite mixer, Trop50. {Keep reading to learn more!}
- Accessories. You need hot shoes – whether they’re amazingly sweet heels that give you some swagger, flats that make you feel comfortably confident, or your most worn-in flip-flops – you need great gear on your heels. Add on things like sparkly bracelets, glittery clutches, and other baubles, to make things more fun. There’s no rule that says you have to stop playing dress up just because you’re an adult :)
- Music. You canNOT have a girl’s night without great tunes! My favorite is the Bose speaker from Best Buy that plays music via Bluetooth from my phone. But anything that gets the night movin rocks. {And if you’re not using Pandora yet, you’re totally missing out!}
- Movies. I love having a great “girl” movie playing when I have friends over. Next up on my must-watch list? Steel Magnolias. Can you believe that it was a Christmas gift from my bloggy buddy Dusty from As Mom Sees It, and I still haven’t gotten a chance to watch it? #NeedToMakeTimeASAP
Photo Editing Tips to Take Your Photos from Drab to Fab
With all of the junk mail, overflow of catalogs and sales flyers, and those dreaded piles of bills – isn’t it nice to get a personalized card in the mail? It’s kind of a refreshing break to open a beautiful card, see your favorite smiling faces, and read their heartfelt messages, any time of year. But, one of the big reasons I hear people say that they don’t send cards is because it’s too much work, or they aren’t creative enough to create great holiday or event cards. So, I’m here to share a few of my favorite tips and tricks with you guys. These work perfectly for Christmas and New Year’s cards, but can work year-round too, for birthday invites, baby announcements, fun thank you cards, or other celebrations. Check ’em out, then leave your own fave tips in the comments too – I love hearing from you guys!
Obviously, the first step is to pick photos. You can go with one great family photo, feature just a new baby {or toddler, like I did this year} – or if you don’t have a good family photo this year, choose a card design that lets you upload several photos, and use individual pics of each family member. And remember that just a little bit of photo editing can make a drastic difference – and you don’t need expensive or complicated software. I use PicMonkey, and love how simple and intuitive it is.
The New Way to Send Thank You Cards
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of SendThanks.com for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Do you remember when you were a kid? I mean – not all of you. Not any readers under the age of 18ish…. I’m talking readers that are old like me. Who grew up before there were smartphones – heck, before any cell phones at all, unless they were 10 pounders. Who grew up with only an Atari, or who maybe rocked some Oregon Trail. Remember how at holidays and birthdays, we hand wrote actual thank you cards? On paper? And put stamps on them… To put in the mail box? Such a lost art, seriously.
Well, times have changed. And us old timers have to accept that. But there’s no reason that the tradition of sending thank you notes should go the way of handwriting notes for the mail. Technology keeps up with everything… And now there’s a digital way to send thanks.
It’s called, simply enough, SendThanks.com. And it’s exactly what you would guess – an awesome way to send thanks to anyone, anywhere, anytime – from your computer. You can add photos, video, personal messages, whatever makes your thank you feel right. It’s super simple, but much more personalized and thoughtful than a simple email or ecard.
Check out this new way to send virtual thank you notes today – and be sure to share it with any kids, teens, or 20-somethings in your life too. You know how hard it is to get them to write actual paper thank you cards, so let this be a new way of encouraging that thankfullness.
