Dollar Tree Saves The Day- How To Get Gifts For All Those Birthday Parties Without Mortgaging Your Home

A couple of things this cold Monday morning....


- had the first annual "Bitch and Ditch" with bestie Christine yesterday. What is it you ask? Well, we picked a room (but ended up doing several rooms) to purge, re-decorate, organize and clean all without spending any outside moola and workin' with what ya got. I should say that Christine had it in mind to go shopping instead of bitchin' or ditchin' when I first got there but I kept her on track and it turned out marvelous!! This is the thing....I forgot to bring my camera. So there are no before's, no after's and her camera's battery was dead too. Good thing bc there may or may not have been one point where, after 2.5 glasses of wine, I burst out into song when Warrant came on the stereo, with a lighter in my hand swaying to ...Heaven isn't too far away........:) Any hoo, fun.fun.fun! And we are doin' it again next month!!!



- I know there are like a meeelion peeps talking about Whitney Houston today but I just want to add my little two cents. She was a huge part of my formative years. I loved her voice. She was a model for Seventeen mag before she hit it big......betcha didn't know that. And I cried when I heard she died. My favorite song is "Alll the Man that I Need". Here it is, if you have never heard of it:

So I am a little sad and I am even sadder at all the speculation. We all know she had some problems but lets let her rest in peace and she is someone's mom, daughter, cousin and aunt. I feel so sad for her mom and daughter right now. .......


On to the post of the day...............



OK so even if you have just one child, you know how (especially in the younger years) your children are getting invites to all sorts of birthday parties. I say especially in the younger years because as they age, they become a little more discerning as to whose parties they want to attend. For example: when they head off to preschool for the first time, they will be inundated with birthday invites and will indeed want to go to every and all parties because preschoolers love to party.

 They do.

 But by fourth grade, they become a little pickier. This is a good thing because by that point, you will be broke.

 That is, unless you go to my BirthdayPresentGoToHookUp....Dollar Tree. Or Dolla Make Me Wanna Holla Tree as I singsong every time I walk into that establishment.

I should state that I don't go here for family or dear friends birthday presents ( but do go there for gift wrap and cards) as these are more special and require more time and effort. But for those in between, she only talks to this kid in math class, she may never see this person once she starts middle school, I feed this neighborhood kid every single day of the summer kind of birthdays?

 Yep. DT is my hook up.



So here is my latest endeavor:

I came up with this idea with my Annie while in the car driving to soccer a few weeks ago.

One of her friends birthday parties is coming up and she wanted to get her something cool.

Hmm...that is not at all vague.

And as they get older, you become dangerously aware of how an uncool gift can cause repercussions.

Especially with girls.

Why the drama???

WHY?????

So I am not gonna spend serious coin on these gifts for many reasons but for one, friendship isn't about the price tag, it's about the friendship itself.

So here is what we got:

The girl we got this for is like most tween's, loves to play with makeup (we are not wearing it to school yet but its fun to experiment), nails and the like.

A few years ago, I made up another Dollar Tree creation for one of Anna's friends with just hair care products; hair gel, hairspray, clips, ribbons, hair bands, a brush, tangle spray and I put it in a DT makeup bag I found there.

The mom called me and told me it was the best gift she got!

And I only spent nine dollars on it, including the card!

We got her fake nails (these will be the bane of your existence if you have little girls.....just you wait....I step on a fake nail at least once a week or more)...again, these are not to be worn in public, but are fun to play with around the house, or torture your parents/siblings with. We also got makeup brushes, some eye makeup, lip gloss, two nail colors, top coat, shower scrunchies (which came in a pack of four for 1 buck!), nail polish remover, a card and the cute plastic basket too!

Yep. $11 for the whole shebang!! We just put everything into the basket, put on the ribbon, signed the card and she has an awesome gift!!!

Now, I ask you this: where can you find a cool gift for $11 dollars these days?

$11 will get you the following at:

Old Navy- A top or a pair of leggings. But not both together.

Kohls- an $11 gift card but you still have to buy the greeting card.

Ulta- lotion that smells nothing like roses, plumeria or apples.

Justice- $ 11 will get you nothing.

I hope I have saved some of you mommies out there some sanity today.

Save the money you would have used spending big bucks to impress your daughters friends and use it to take her to lunch.

                                                                   Just the two of you.

:)