Happy Donut Mail

Since Christmas is practically right around the corner, it seemed fitting that my littles and I should take a moment this month and create a laundry list of things and people we are thankful for in our lives. 

And I thought an even more fun idea would be to not only create a list of things and people to be thankful for but to give those people a small gift as a token of how much we are thankful for them!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I like to share pictures of Happy Mail with you. Happy mail is either stuff I have received in the mail that makes me happy and brightened my day or things I have packaged up to give to someone else to make them happy. Isn't it so fun to get something...a card, a little note, even a small package...in the mail!

The kids thought, "Hey, everyone loves donuts!" and I thought, "Heck ya, they do!" so we took that happy mail idea and ran with it and came up with Happy Donut Mail! 

We spent one weekend making sweet chocolate-dipped donuts with happy orange sprinkles for some sweet people in our lives. Although you could also just buy them at the store or your local donut shop too!

We packaged them up in pretty little kraft boxes I found at Target. And wrapped them in lace and gold tinsel.

And strung a little card on the side of each box with a handwritten note telling each recipient how much we appreciate them, and how we are thankful they are a part of our lives. (Handmade with Love printables found in this post here!)

Then we dropped them off at each recipient's home to brighten up their day like they have brightened up ours!

It was such a fun activity, and something I am sure my littles will remember for years to come! In fact we have plans to do more Happy Donut Mail deliveries in our upcoming weekend plans, how's that for a fun Sunday afternoon project?

The Best Part is an online community that's dedicated to brightening your day--every day. How? By Spreading optimism, one share at a time. The Best Part posts inspirational stories, encouraging quotes, good news and other upbeat items to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram--and encourages fans and followers to share that optimism with their friends. Because when optimism is shared, it grows, making an even more positive impact on our world. Check out what others are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This post is brought to you by Folgers and BlogHer.

XOXO,

Thank You! and a Super Simple Boston Creme Pie Recipe!

Thank you.

Two simple words that really carry a lot of meaning.

Have you thanked someone recently?

Recently, we visited a local fire station for an open house and the kids were super interested in the amount of things the firemen do for the community. It got all of us thinking, and the kids decided that we should do something nice for them as a thank you. I thought that was so sweet of them and such a great idea, so we got to it and made a list of ideas of how we could thank them.

It was finally decided that we should make them dessert since everyone loves dessert. I mean what says Thank You better than a homemade cake or a plate of cookies! The kids also decided to make a card and draw something fun on the front to go along with our thank you gift because every gift needs a handmade card, right! ;-) Did I tell you how nice it is now that Noah can read and spell words on his own? LOVE it! He wrote out the card all by himself with Penny and Ellie dictating to him how it should go.

We decided to make a delicious Boston Creme Pie and a couple dozen yummy gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies in case any of our firefighters had issues with gluten. Two great desserts for a station full of wonderful firefighters.

We chose to give food since, in our family, that is the way to our hearts, but you can say Thank You in so many different ways; the possibilities really are endless and don't have to be these big crazy ideas. It is all about doing something kind for someone else. Here are a few things that were on our list, seriously, my kids came up with these!!!

1.   Make them medals for being good helpers a la the Olympics.
2.   Send a letter thanking them...everyone loves getting snail mail!
3.   Give a gift card to Starbucks (they know their mommy well!).
4.   Give a plant or flowers.
5.   Make a thank you video (anything to use the iPhone!).
6.   Give them a hug.
7.   Bring them bagels and jam for breakfast.
8.   Make them cookies.
9.   Bring them balloons.
10. Bring them donuts (we usually do this during Christmas!).

Once the cake was iced and the cookies cooled, we packaged them up carefully in little pink boxes tied up with twine. Then we headed out to our local fire station to make our special delivery. The kids carefully carrying their packages to the fire station door.

The guys loved them and as a bonus the kids got a special tour of the big rigs as a thank you back to them! No good deed goes undone! :-) 

Here is the Boston Creme Pie recipe in case you wanted to make one as a Thank You to someone you know. 

Boston Creme Pie (serves 10)

1 box yellow cake mix made into two 8 or 9 inch rounds, made via package directions

1 package white chocolate flavored instant pudding

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp milk, divided

1 1/2 cups thawed whipped topping

1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

1 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Once cakes have cooled, carefully slice off each rounded top so that you have two flat layers which are easier for frosting. In a medium bowl, mix pudding mix with 1 cup milk and whisk for 2 minutes. Stir in whipped topping. Spread all the pudding mixture on top of one of the cake layers and then place the second cake layer over top. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and butter until melted. Stir in powdered sugar and the 2 Tbsp of milk, mix well. Pour over top of cake, letting chocolate icing run down sides. Refrigerate for at least one hour before eating. Enjoy!

The Best Part is an online community that's dedicated to brightening your day--every day. How? By Spreading optimism, one share at a time. The Best Part posts inspirational stories, encouraging quotes, good news and other upbeat items to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram--and encourages fans and followers to share that optimism with their friends. Because when optimism is shared, it grows, making an even more positive impact on our world. Check out what others are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This post is brought to you by Folgers and BlogHer. 

XOXO,

Care Package for a Quick Recovery

Last week a friend of mine had surgery. She was feeling kinda down about it because she is a pretty active lady, and the thought of having to sit on her bum all day for days on end while things healed was not sounding like a lot of fun to her. So I decided she needed a bit of a pick me up. 

I thought it would be fun to make her a care package for a "Quick Recovery". Since she is on bed rest and not supposed to move, I figured the best way to pass the time besides reading books and magazines was by watching movies with a whole bunch of yummy movie treats. Cause who doesn't love pigging out on junk food when you watch a hilarious rom-com or a drama that brings you to tears and takes you away from your day-to-day?

I bought a variety of those fun movie theater-sized boxes of Skittles, Hot Tamales, Sno-Caps, Buncha Crunch, and Charleston Chews...a bit of chocolate, a bit of crunch, something chewy and something hot! And I added in some popcorn of course, as well as a few favorite cookie options too.

I also found these fun mini games at the party store that were just calling for me to add the to her care package. A mini memory game? Yes, please. And a mini Uno game? Gah! You had me at hello! Gotta keep the mind sharp, right! ;-)

I packaged them up in little craft envelopes with some washi tape for a fun surprise!

I added everything to a cute pink bakery box with some tissue paper. It all fit just perfectly!

Then I wrapped the whole box up in twine and added a little tag. I dropped it off one night with a whole bunch of movies. Some tried-and-true favorites like When Harry Met Sally and Titanic - man, I love both of those so much - as well as some new releases that sounded like they might be fun to see. 

She really loved the gift.  It was so fun to brighten her day a bit as she really has been feeling down about her lack of independence. While I stopped over I also vacuumed her home, did her dishes, cleaned up her kitchen and bathroom for her, and brought over a warm meal, too. Even though I did some work which might not be my favorite thing to do in my own house, knowing I did something helpful to her was worth it because it made her smile.  The best part of my day that day was seeing how much she really appreciated what I did :-)

The Best Part is an online community that's dedicated to brightening your day--every day. How? By Spreading optimism, one share at a time. The Best Part posts inspirational stories, encouraging quotes, good news and other upbeat items to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram--and encourages fans and followers to share that optimism with their friends. Because when optimism is shared, it grows, making an even more positive impact on our world. Check out what others are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This post is brought to you by Folgers and BlogHer.

XOXO,