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DIY “Help! We’re Out Of…” Purse Shopping List!

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GiveExtraGetExtra #Target #CollectiveBias

From gum to nail clippers, moms are always looking for the things they don't have enough of. Whether it's socks getting eaten in the laundry, hair ties snapping, or the last sandwich bag being used the night before a field trip, it's time to get re-stocked. This free printable shopping list will help you remember what you need a little more of, using a container from the 35-pack of Extra® Gum... with 35 sticks, you'll never run out of gum, no matter how much you share with your kids and your book club! #GiveExtraGetExtra #Target [ad]

As a mom, I’m always running out of things at the most inconvenient times…. My hair tie snaps on the hottest day of the year. I can never find the single sock that’s clean when we’re running late for school. No matter how many nail clippers I buy, within 6 months, they’ve all gone missing again. And it never fails, whenever I need gum, I’m always out, or worse, there’s that one crumpled piece in the bottom of my bag, covered in cracker crumbs and loose hair. Ew. Why is it so hard to remember to re-stock on these things before they’re gone?

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Minions BananaBerry Dump Cake (With BananaBerry “Ice Cream”)

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MinionsAtTarget #CollectiveBias

Do you love Minions? Those adorable little creatures now have their own movie, and these bananaberry dump cakes are perfect for banana lovers AND minions alike! Plus, with free printable minion goggles for decorating the cake jars, these are party-ready in no time! (Also, check out this great 2-ingredient banana berry

Bee-do-bee-do-bee-do… In case you didn’t know it yet, your favorite yellow little creatures are coming out on DVD tomorrow, and I know we’ve already pre-ordered the Minions movie. That meant making the perfect dessert for our Minions watch party, and trust me, you’re going to love this one. Take a break from holiday stress and make these delightful minion mini cakes for your family to enjoy during the movie!

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Pumpkin Spice Dipped Biscotti

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I partnered with the Roasterie Kansas City Air Roasted Coffee for this post. All opinions are my own.

Ah, biscotti... coffee's perfect friend. This delicious dipping cookie is easy to make at home, and ships well to friends and family across the country. Pumpkin Spice Biscotti is a great gift for your Thanksgiving hostess, a great cookie exchange item, and the perfect treat on a cold fall morning when paired with your favorite Roasterie Kansas City coffee blend. Plus, it's SO easy to make this simple biscotti recipe.

Fall is upon us, and it’s seriously starting to get chilly… temperatures are dipping lower and lower and I’m pretty much ready to turn my heat on. The only thing saving my heating bill right now is a nice steaming hot cup of coffee. And what’s better with coffee than a really delicious piece of biscotti? Nothing. Except maybe a delicious piece of pumpkin spice biscotti, especially if you’re dipping it into incredible Roasterie Kansas City Air Roasted Coffee. Plus, it’s so easy to make, which means it’s the perfect gift for your Thanksgiving hostess, your friends, and, well, yourself. And since biscotti is a treat that ships really well, it’s also great for those friends who live halfway across the country. Here’s how to make this sweet pumpkin spice treat.

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Why Target’s New Gender-Neutral Aisles Will Make Shopping Easier

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Usually I stay away from posting pieces that are heavily political on my blog because it seems to be a major way for drama to seek people out. But this is one of those arguments that has left me scratching my head, and because of it, I need to address it. So… here goes. Please remember that you may encounter opinions different than those you hold near and dear, both in this post and in the comments. Let’s keep it civil, okay? Thanks!

Target made a huge announcement. They’re moving towards a gender neutral aisle scheme in three major sections of the store, thanks to a mom’s tweet last year asking why there were different sections for “building toys” and “girls’ building toys.” That’s right– no section for “boys’ building toys,” but the assumption that girls need their own section of building toys. The ensuing backlash on social media led to this big decision by Target: no more gender roles pushed in the Toy, Kids’ Bedding, or Kids’ Books sections of the store. 

That means that soon, there will be no sign splashed across bedding for “boys’ bedding” or “girls’ bedding,” no sign saying “boys’ books” or “girls’ books.” It will be “children’s books” featuring Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the same section, for any boy or girl to pick up either– or possibly both– books.

Now, as a mom who shops both sides of the aisle with my son, tossing both LEGO City and LEGO Friends sets into our cart, and as a mom who bought her son an Our Generation doll today because he insisted he’d make a great Doll Dad (while simultaneously reminding him that his limit was spent on the doll and no, he could not have the cool new blue Nerf gun he saw), I’m happy to see Target ridding itself of the blue and pink color schemes and the signage saying “this is for boys.”

But a lot of people disagree. Many are boycotting Target because they feel this leads down the path of little boys growing up to become Caitlyn Jenner. While I disagree at the notion of that slippery slope– playing with dolls is more likely to make my son a good father than a woman in the future– I don’t understand the outrage.

To illustrate the frustration, I’ll quote someone, who I’ll leave anonymous, that left a comment on Buzzfeed’s report on the “controversy.”

Stupidest thing I ever saw! Boys are boys and girls are girls, I’m not saying boys can’t wear pink but girls are born to be future mamas so They play with dolls and boys are meant to be the provider so they play with action/building toys. [sic]

Here’s the deal. If girls are future moms, and many of them will be, what does that make boys? Future dads. Dads who need to learn to nurture now, and perhaps that’s by brushing a doll’s hair or changing a pretend diaper.

What about the girl who doesn’t get married straight out of school? Who rents an apartment with gal pals while waiting to meet “the One” if that’s what’s going to happen to her? If she’s never been allowed to use dramatic play to explore construction, will she feel confident enough to assemble her new furniture by herself? And if she’s never been allowed in a “provider” role, how will she explore the future career she wants to have– even if she does later choose to leave that career to be a mom, what’s to help her as a high school job? A post-college path? Not every woman will get married right out of school, and even if she does, what’s wrong with her having options?

Women can be providers. Men can be nurturing parents. The roles are not gender exclusive. I think many of us can agree there.

But what still floors me are the number of people boycotting Target, not because Barbies may soon be sold right next to GI Joe, but because it might make shopping more confusing and disorganized.

I’m here to calm those fears. It’s actually likely going to make shopping easier.

Gone are the days of walking to the girl aisle to find the super-awesome Nerf Rebelle toys (a line of Nerf guns and bows that come in stunning pink and purple color schemes) and then hunting down blue and orange Nerf products in the “boy aisles.” Instead, you’ll go to the Nerf aisle and take your pick between blue and pink, or, if you’re anything like my family, a little bit of both.

You’ll no longer walk down an aisle of LEGO City, LEGO Minecraft, LEGO Ninjago, and all of the other LEGO products “for boys” and then search a few aisles over for the “girl-acceptable” LEGO Friends sets. Now, it will be LEGOs. LEGO shopping malls and veterinary hospitals and jungle rescue sets, side-by-side with police helicopters and Creepers and double-decker couches.

When searching for bedding, your Jurassic World loving daughter won’t be wondering why she has to go to the “boy aisle” to find bedding decked with dinosaurs and your Frozen-obsessed son won’t have to wonder why an Elsa blanket is in a “girl aisle.” There will be bedding. Children’s bedding in plenty of bright colors and brands and ideas, likely sorted just like adult bedding is– by type and brand.

We don’t designate “Men’s Bedding” and “Women’s Bedding.” It’s just… bedding. And I’ve never walked into Target’s book section to find Dean Koontz and Chuck Palahniuk restricted to “Books for Men” while Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain are on a shelf of “Books for Women.” Nope. They’re “Bestsellers.” And soon, there will be “Children’s Bestsellers.”

Shopping is about to become a lot easier, because now shopping for interest instead of gender will mean that you can easily pick out a toy and not ask a Target team member, “Hey, where can I find Nerf stuff?” and them ask “For boys or for girls?” Now, they’ll direct you to the Nerf aisle, and you can have your pick.

And that is a very, very good thing.

DIY String Art

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Don't pay $24.99 at Target for String Art! Make it yourself with a few nails, some embroidery floss, and a corkboard! #diy #easy

I was walking through Target the other day, and, as much as I love the fact that there’s a million things inside I just have to have, there’s definitely a limit. You see, not long ago, I was looking for some new wall art. I came across some adorable animal string art at Target, and I was totally smitten! Then I saw the price tag. $24.99. Really? To me, I was looking at $25 for some nails, a bit of string, and some wood. I had to try it myself at home!

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The Target $5 Challenge

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For Advent, we’re always looking for creative ways to bond as a family, as I’ve previously shared. I love trying to do this in new and different ways. I had been considering ways that we could really either get to know each other better, or prove that we knew each other very well as a family.

When I saw these awesome Gift Card coins from Target, my idea came to me pretty suddenly.

Aren’t they adorable? They look like little cookies! You can load any amount on them, but the only catch is that all 5 coins in the package have to be loaded with the same amount. I chose to load $5 on each gift card, meaning that this pack was $25 total. I can think of so many awesome ways to use these other than the way we used them, such as:

-Teacher gifts. Buy the whole package, load the amount on all of them, and have your student pass out a coin to each of their teachers.
-Stocking stuffers. Put a certain amount in each one and slip it into stockings for a great gift that allows the recipient to pick anything out they want.
-Rewards. Potty training? Give your little trainer a gift coin for every certain amount of times they use the potty. Give them for good grades, one coin for each A, give them for doing extra work around the house or as a reward for siblings being extra nice to each other one day.
-Allowance. Instead of giving the kids cash for allowance, try a gift coin. Since you can pre-load the amount on multiple coins at once, you can keep the stash and give them out one at a time (or to multiple kids at once).
-A way to put yourself on a little bit of a budget. If you’re like me, you can’t enter Target without spending ridiculous amounts. By purchasing these with my limit in advance, I can go through the post holiday sale knowing I only have a certain amount of money to spend. Then, come Valentine’s day sales, I can pull out another coin and spend that amount in THAT sale.

I’m sure you can think of a ton of other ideas for these awesome coins, but for our gift challenge, this is what we did:

When we entered the store, we had a small pow-wow. I gave each person a gift coin (since our family has 6 people, I had to purchase one extra gift card separately) and each person drew a slip of paper with another family member’s name on it. Each person had $5 and 30 minutes to find the perfect gift for their recipient. I personally had to shop for my person, and help Zach find his gift for someone, as well.

The best part of the challenge was that, sometimes walking around the store, you’d see someone else in the family. Immediately, one of you would dart behind a sign or head down another aisle. Since none of us knew who had us, we didn’t want to spoil our own surprise, and we didn’t want the person we were buying for to see their gift, either. I kind of felt like a super spy when trying to participate in the activity!

At the end of the activity, we each checked out separately using our Target gift coins, and then we met in the cafe area at the front of our store. Then, it was time to head home and unwrap our gifts. It was at home that we would find out who our Secret Gifter was. We gifted in order of age, youngest to oldest.

It turns out that Nicolas drew Zach’s name. Zach was eager to find out what might be inside of his shopping bag.

CARS!

Jeffrey was next…

Dad clearly did a good job with his! Jeffrey and Nicolas often have Nerf wars around the house, so it’s not uncommon to have a little orange bullet whizzing past your head at any given moment. It was a great choice under $5 for Jeffrey!

Nicolas got a great variety of snacks from Jeffrey, including some favorites like Goldfish and Hershey’s Kisses.

Mom bought me one of my favorite things– Ghiradelli chocolates filled with caramel!

When I drew mom, I found the perfect present for her quite easily… when she had gotten her shoulder surgery a few years ago, she constantly needed help from me. You see, she puts on socks at night, but then by morning, they’ve somehow fallen off of her feet. After surgery, I had to look for them, since she couldn’t search under the covers to find them!

I purchased some warm, cozy, fuzzy socks so that for years to come, we’d get to play the sock game.

Nicolas didn’t think it sounded very fun, so mom said “Don’t you insult the sock game!”

We wrapped up with Zach’s gift to my dad (his Grandpa), a pumpkin pie and a leg lamp stress ball!

It was amazing the creative gifts that we could get for only $5 each! It was really cool to see how creative each of us got and how much thought we put into our gifts. I loved that each person was thoroughly pleased with what they received (and with what they gave!). $5 was plenty to get an interesting and unique gift for each person… and it helps that Target has a lot of sections that have affordable gifts. It also helped me see how many great gifts I could get for Christmas, as well, even though I’m on a strict budget.

The front of the store has a great $3 stocking stuffer section currently, as well as plenty of items priced at $1 and $2.50. The seasonal section includes gobs of seasonal candy and gifts at great prices, as well as more stocking stuffers at a $5 price point. There are also many great books, CDs, and movies in the $5 range, as well as food, gourmet coffee, and gifts. For example, 4 pairs of fuzzy socks for $5? That’s awesome!

My family did consider ways that we could have done things differently. All of us thought that more time would have been helpful. A lot of us spent more time worrying about whether we were on time than if we were getting the right thing, so having an hour instead of 30 minutes would have made the experience more fun. We also were surprised that if we had $7 instead of $5, it would have totally changed what we could have gotten each other, and absolutely made a difference in the number of items or quality of items we could have purchased. It’s amazing what a huge difference $2 could have made!

All in all, it was the perfect evening for our family, filled with fun and giving, and we loved having a great opportunity to try to pick out the perfect gift for other members of our family.