Easy Valentine's Day Gift Wrapping

As we all know Valentine's Day is right around the corner. And we also know that I am obsessed with wrapping gifts. So here is my take on Valentine's Day gift wrapping!

After Christmas I loaded up on wrapping paper but instead of buying all of the Christmasy stuff, I bought the solid colors and prints that could be used all year. So to make it festive for Valentine's Day I taped Hershey's kisses to the gifts!

I placed the kisses on the gift in the shape that I liked... a heart, of course. And then I just rolled the tape and  cut the pieces in half so that I could tape two kisses and the tape wouldn't show on the sides of the kisses.

I think this is a cute and easy way to wrap a Valentine's Day gift. Especially if you don't want to load your loved-one up with candy and chocolate. This way they just have a few little pieces of candy to munch on... not a huge bag full of sugar. Plus, it adds some dimension to the gift which I really like.

So grab some paper and kisses and get to wrapping!

Happy Tuesday!

True Blue Party Punch

I made it through another holiday weekend! Hooray! This year I had to do a promo on Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz dealership so that threw off my usual Friday-Monday party. Oops. Oh well. Saturday afternoon Tyson and I headed straight to Grand Lake. We were out on the water all day Sunday then back to Joplin on Monday for a BBQ. I was in charge of the punch and I want to share my recipe with you! It was really big hit!

This is so easy to make!

Ingredients:

1 gallon jug Hawaiian Punch Berry Blue Typhoon

1 64oz bottle of Welch's Light White Grape Juice

2 liter of Sprite

(I used light grape juice to lower the sugar content. You could also use Sprite Zero for less sugar.)

Pour equal parts of each into a punch bowl. Don't pour the Sprite until you serve the punch so that it doesn't go flat before guests drink it. Pour over ice and enjoy!

This punch is kid friendly... but we might have adultified it with some Malibu Pineapple Rum. It would also be tasty with vodka. Pour a splash of your chosen alcoholic beverage and then top with the party punch. Stir and enjoy!

Saw It, Pinned It, Did It!

I don't even know where to start with this one... so let's go straight in to it.

Yellow armpit stains.

Yup.

We all have been there...

(if you haven't, then I don't like you)

(kidding)

Wear a white t-shirt, wash it, then BAM... yellow stains.

WTF!?

This happens to ALL of my white shirts. Pizzes me off. So basically, I had this section of my closet that was white shirts that I could not wear because of these nasty stains. After it happened to one of my beloved Cigarette Racing tank tops, I had enough! One day on Pinterest, I found this:

and this...

Hmmm.... I have all that stuff and it looks pretty easy. I pinned this almost one year ago and I finally took the time to sit down and treat my shirts yesterday.

I mixed my Dawn (Ajax works, too) and hydrogen peroxide in to a spray bottle for easier application. I sprayed it on the stains, sprinkled a little baking soda, sprayed a little more to make a paste, lightly scrubbed the spot to get the mixture deep in to the fabric, and then let it sit for a few hours. I washed the shirts in hot/cold soak cycle with detergent and Oxy Clean and when they came out they were CLEAN! I mean good as new!

I could not believe it!! I seriously did not think it would work, so my dumbass didn't take any before pictures. Horrible blogger, I know.

But trust me, It works. Some of these shirts have been sitting in my close since December of 2010. I kid you not. This stuff removed a stain that was two and a half years old. I still can't believe it!

Try it, I swear it works!

Happy Thursday!

"Last Wash" Tutorial

I have a slight obsession with doing laundry. Like... big time. I will wash everything in sight if I'm in the right mood. That mood is just about every other day. Nobody needs to wash their curtains three times a week, yo! So I created a little dry-erase board to keep track of the last time I washed certain items.

It's so easy. You only need a few items.

Duck tape... preferably the new, hip, printed kind

Scissors

Two "Medium" 3M hanging strips

Dry Erase Marker

Two report covers like this:

(clear, thick plastic... also used for projectors... like back in high school note taking days)

Let's get started!

I chose the five things that I find myself always wondering

"When was the last time I washed this?"

Bed Sheets

Pillow Cases

Bathroom Rugs

Cat Food Mats

Throw Blankets

and then I typed up a pretty little Word Document with some dot leaders...

I put that aside, then taped together two pieces of plastic. Leave one side open so you can slide your paper in and out.

Take your time on this!

Then I slid my print-out between the two pieces.

Next we are going to put the 3M strips on the back...

And then slap that baby on the wall!

Now is the fun part... write the date that you washed each item.

I put mine right beside the washing machine.

Works great! I am already using it!!

I considered using a picture frame, but I didn't want to risk it falling off the wall or the washing machine lid hitting it when it's open. If you have more room, a picture frame would look cute!

This is just another way for you to clear your mind of something you can write down really quick. We travel so much and are always on the run so I can never remember when I wash that stuff. Now I will always know!

Have a great weekend!

Recipe: Spicy Pretzels

This recipe is perfect if you need an easy, flavorful snack. I keep them at my desk to munch on when I get hungry. I found the recipe on Pinterest via Pouty Pink Princess.

Photo via Pouty Pink Princess

Spicy Pretzels

3/4 cup Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Lemon Pepper (not Lemon Pepper Salt)

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt or Powder

1 package dry Ranch Dip

1 bag of Pretzels

2 gallon baggies

1. Mix together oil, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, and ranch mix.

2. Pour bag of pretzels into gallon bag.

3. Pour mixture over pretzels.

4. Seal bag and flip every hour or so.

5. In the morning, pour into a clean baggie.

6. Nom on your delicious creation.

I made a batch to munch on while we are getting ready for Mallory's wedding.

Drunk Gummies Recipe

The bachelorette party has come and gone and now I can show all you lovelies my recipe for Drunken Gummy Bears. Do you like to get drunk? Do you like gummy bears? Perfect. You must make these ASAP.

What You Will Need

Gummy Bears (I buy mine at Sam's Club... $5.98 for 6lbs)

Shoe Box Tub (Wal-Mart carries these for about $1.00)

A lot of Vodka... I'm talking like at least two fifths (I used Skyy)

Watermelon Pucker (Two Liters)

A Stirring Utensil

Disposable Shot Glasses with Lids (Optional)

Step 1: Dump your bag of gummy bears into the plastic tub.

Step 2: Dump in one of the bottles of vodka and one bottle of Watermelon Pucker.

Step 3: Stir it up.

Step 4: Dance around the house because you are so excited to be making drunken gummies.

Step 5: Stop dancing and put the lid on the tub and put it in your refrigerator.

Step 6: Stir every day at least twice for three days. Your gummies should be a little tipsy by now and be soaking up all that delicious goodness.

Step 7: On about day four, pour in the rest of the vodka and Pucker.

(Don't lie... you have already tasted a few of your gummy friends and they were a little hard in the middle. This means they are not done.)

Step 8: Wrestle down a few gummies and taste them. They should begin to taste delicious.

Step 9: After about seven days, they should be soft, slippery, yummy, and drunk. Now they are done.

Step 10: Put about eight gummies in each shot glass. You are probably going to need some sort of a gummy-bear-catching-device because they are very slippery and run away from your fingers.

Step 11: Nom on your drunken gummies.

Step 12: Don't forget to share them with your friends!

I used about 5lbs of the 6lb bag because I might have eaten a few before I got them drunk. 5lbs of drunk gummy bears makes about 100 shots.

A word of advice... keep the gummies in a cool environment. They are kinda big sissies when it comes to extremely hot temperatures and they will melt and turn in to gummy-bear-booze-nastiness. I kept mine in a cooler on ice for the party. It worked brilliantly.