Category Archives: Holiday

November 7, 2020 · 12:25 pm

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Filed under Holiday, Home, Home & Garden

Tagged as Home Goods, shopping, SmitCo, toys

March 15, 2019 · 9:43 pm

Fun St. Patrick’s Day Treats and Crafts to Make With Your Kids

If you are looking for a fun St. Patrick’s Day craft or delicious snack to make with your kids, you might like these ideas. To help little leprechauns get in the spirit for classroom parties or family celebrations, Juicy Juice has a selection of green-themed crafts that can be completed in 4 steps or less and recipes, including a better-for-you Green Goodness Smoothie made with Juicy Juice Organic Splashers.

Find these recipes and crafts in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – or on JuicyJuice.com – for St. Patty’s day inspiration:

Green Goodness Smoothie

Little ones love cool drinks, and this beverage fits that bill. Juicy Juice Green Goodness Smoothie tastes so good they’ll be asking for seconds before their last slurp!

Estimated Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries
2 cups pineapple
1 cup spinach
1 cup ice
2 cups almond milk
2 pouches Juicy Juice™ Splashers™ Tropical Twist

Directions

Gather your ingredients. Add blueberries, pineapples, spinach, ice and almond milk together in a blender. Pour in Juicy Juice Splashers Tropical Twist. Blend until smooth (add more juice for your desired consistency). Pour into a chilled glass and toast to all things delicious and nutritious!

Juicy Shamrock Smoothie

As we know all too well, it’s always a challenge to get the little ones to eat their greens. Juicy Juice has a strategy? Get them to drink their greens! Easier said than done, right? With this Juicy Shamrock Smoothie, I bet that you will hear slurping sounds in no time, not to mention requests for seconds!

Try it using Apple Juicy Juice™ 100% juice!

2 Fresh Kiwis
1 Peeled Orange
1 Cup Green Grapes
1 Cup Baby Spinach
1 Cup Apple Juicy Juice 100% Juice

Slice the kiwi in half and scoop out the fruit from the skin
Add kiwi, peeled orange, grapes and baby spinach to blender
Pour in Apple Juicy Juice 100% juice
Blend until smooth (feel free to add more juice if the blend is too thick)
Pour into a chilled glass and enjoy!

Leprechaun Spotting Binoculars

Spotting leprechauns is a demanding job, and it takes the right equipment to get the best results. Juicy Juice developed these precise leprechaun binoculars made of materials you have right at home. We hope this craft helps you find leprechauns, and we wish you the best of luck!

Materials
2 Juicy Juice boxes or toilet paper rolls
Green construction paper
Pipe Cleaners (we chose green)
String (we chose orange)
Tape
Glitter Glue or paint

Step One
Gather your materials.

Take your empty Juicy Juice boxes and unfold the tabs on the bottom and top. Then, shape the Juicy Juice box into a cylinder. You may need to cut any tabs that poke out. After that, measure the length of construction paper you will need to cover the tubes. Next, cut the length of construction paper you will need, making sure to leave some paper to tuck into the ends of the tubes. Tape the ends down inside the tubes and tape down the long edges.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Next, decorate your tube with glitter glue or paint. You’re going on a magical quest, so have a lot of fun with your designs. Next, get some pipe cleaners and cut them to the circumference of the tube’s ends. Shape the pipe cleaners to the ends of the tubes and tape them into place, making sure to cover the ends of the wires.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Once you’ve finished decorating the tubes, tape them together side by side. So your binoculars don’t get too far from you, we suggest creating a neck strap with a piece of string. We measured the length we needed to comfortably fit around our necks, and then we punched holes in the binoculars and tied the string to keep it secure. Once you have completed this step, you are done! Go out there and find some leprechauns.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Lucky Leprechaun Juice Box

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Trying to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? This leprechaun Juicy Juice box craft is pure gold! This craft will be a great treat at any party!

Materials
Construction paper (black, green and yellow)
Scissors
Juicy Juice box

Step 1

Gather your materials.

Step 2

With your green construction paper, measure how much paper you need to cover the face of your juice box. Then, cut the construction paper along those measurements. Tape the construction paper on.

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Step 3

Next, take your black paper and cut it into a belt shape.

Step 4

After cutting your belt, cut your buckle out of your yellow construction paper. Then, cut another square from the inside of your square.

Juicy Juice Cr

Step 5

Once you’ve cut both the belt and buckle, glue the buckle on top of the belt. Finally, glue your belt onto the front of the juice box. Enjoy your leprechaun Juicy Juice and have a happy St Patrick’s Day! Please share your crafts with Juicy Juice on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Juicy Juice

Lucky Leprechaun Craft

St Patrick’s Day can be a fun holiday for you and your little ones. Juicy Juice has put together an interactive craft that will have kids jumping for joy, clicking their heels and smiling for the camera. Take photos of your little ones dressed up as festive Lucky Leprechauns and share them with Juicy Juice on Facebook!

Step 1: Gather your materials. You will need colored construction paper, a washable glue stick, a pen or washable marker, tape and wooden craft sticks. You can also replace the wooden craft sticks with popsicle sticks or wooden drink stirrers.

Step 2: Begin by sketching the basic shapes of your Lucky Leprechaun kit. Your shapes do not need to be perfect and feel free to use whichever colors you wish. Who ever said that Leprechauns only have orange beards? Cut out your shapes after sketching and place the shapes that go together nearby each other. Glue the gold coins to the back of the black pot, the rainbow arches to the clouds and the buckle and band to the green top hat.

Juicy Juice Crafts

Step 3: Once you have glued all the right pieces together. It’s now time to attach the stick so that the little ones can hold their new creations. Lay a wooden stick on the back of each creation and tape it well at the top and at the bottom. You can add a third piece of tape for extra sturdiness.

Now the fun really begins! Grab different combinations of the props you just made and have a Lucky Leprechaun photo shoot! Encourage silliness and share your little Lucky Leprechauns with Juicy Juice on Facebook. They can’t wait to see!

I received product samples to facilitate my post.

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Filed under Art, Crafts, Holiday

Tagged as Crafts, Juicy Juice, kids, Parties, Recipes, Smoothies, Snacks, St. Patrick's Day

September 30, 2018 · 12:17 am

Planning Your Thanksgiving Day Dinner

For many families, Thanksgiving is a time when everyone comes together to enjoy delicious food, drinks and each other’s company. If you are the one hosting this year’s holiday dinner, it is imperative that you plan ahead when creating your Thanksgiving Day menu. Deciding what foods and drinks to serve for the holiday can be a challenge. However, with some good planning you can make it as stress-free as possible.

From Thanksgiving cocktails to delicious food all served in a great atmosphere, there is much to decide for your event. This is why doing some advanced planning is so crucial. Whether your guest list is for an intimate few, or includes numerous family members and friends, ironing out the details ahead of time, will ensure your dinner runs smoothly.

Key Things You Need To Decide

Once you know that you will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner, it is time to start planning. The first thing you need to do, is plan the menu. If your gathering is small, you can serve everything at the table family style. However, if you have a large guest list, a buffet style dinner is a better choice. Buffet style meals make it easy for you as the host, because everyone can help themselves, and you can keep all the food in one place.

Find out ahead of time if any of your guests have special dietary needs or restrictions. If you have guests that are vegan or vegetarians, you will want to make sure you have dishes prepared that they can eat.

When it comes to the drinks, you should make sure you have a good selection for everyone. In terms of cocktails for your dinner, spend some time online researching a variety of cocktail recipes. This will let you know what type of alcohol and drink mixes you need to purchase.

Also, remember not everyone drinks alcohol, so purchase a selection of fruit juice, seltzer and soda, This will allow you to whip up some virgin cocktails for those guests who are underage or don’t drink alcohol. In addition, make sure you have a good supply of wine and beer on hand, so you can cater to all tastes.

If you decide to have a sit down dinner for Thanksgiving, make sure your table is decked out for the occasion.. Having any kind of dinner party requires an eye for detail when it comes to the table décor. Use a good, high-quality table-cloth to protect your table and add a colorful backdrop.

Coordinating napkins and little touches of the season help to make the table look inviting and warm. Set the table ahead of time with your best dishes, crystal and cutlery. Crown your table with a fall themed centerpiece and candles.

If you follow this advice, you will see that planning ahead will let you host a Thanksgiving dinner that will be enjoyed by all, including the stress-free host.

This is a collaborative guest post, the views and ideals expressed do not necessarily represent those of Mommy Ramblings.

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Filed under Entertaining, Holiday, Home & Garden

Tagged as Cocktails, Entertaining, Family, Friends, Menu, Thanksgiving Day

December 15, 2017 · 3:27 pm

5 New Year’s Resolutions to Set for Your Family

Throughout the year, you do little things to help ensure your kids grow up to become good people.No doubt, they are well on their way, but here’s the thing: Kids don’t always listen. When you try to drive a message home among a million other messages, it can be difficult. That’s what’s so great about New Year’s Resolutions. This time of year offers us a podium.

If you make resolutions fun, the entire family can get involved. Make the process interactive by keeping track on a chalkboard or a website. Hold everyone, (yourself included) accountable, and it may start feeling like a game.

Here are five ideas for resolutions you can set for your family.

Less screen time. Isn’t this always the goal? Maybe this year, your family can achieve it by adding a board game night or a group game of volleyball. Whatever you do, try to keep it simple and consistent, so everyone knows when it’s not okay to turn on the television or pick up the tablet.

More exercise. You can make this a family event where you all exercise together or have everyone keep track of their own goals with something like a Fitbit. Getting your kids in the habit of exercising now will help them understand the importance of staying fit throughout their lives.

Family dinners together. If you aren’t already sitting down at the dinner table together, this is a great idea for a resolution. In fact, regular family dinners are associated with reduced rates of depression and suicidal thoughts in teenagers. Try to sit for dinner together every night, if you can.

Have regular mental health days. Teenage depression is on the rise, and mental health is an issue that has become extremely important. Take one day a week to talk to your kids about their thoughts and feelings. Let them know why this is important. Untreated depression can have dangerous consequences, such as alcoholism, substance abuse, or suicide.

Keep gratitude journals. While we’re teaching our kids to be good to others, we sometimes forget to teach them how to be good to themselves. Show your kids how to create a gratitude journal to express all the things they appreciate in their lives. Especially in the teenage years, kids can get so wrapped up in what’s happening around them that they forget the important things. Gratitude journaling serves as a great reminder. This is something you can even do together as a family.

As the new year approaches, it’s time to set new goals. We may not need to reinvent our families, but we can refine some of the skills we’ve taught and learned throughout the years.

New Year’s resolutions can be a fun way for the children to try something that they wouldn’t otherwise try. If you make it fun, it’s likely to last well into the year. If you’re lucky, these habits will continue until those little ones go off to college!

This is a sponsored guest post that does not necessarily express the ideals or views of Mommy Ramblings.

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Filed under Health, Holiday, sponsored guest post

Tagged as children, Family Changes, Health, Life Changes, New Start, New Year's Resolutions

December 5, 2017 · 12:34 pm

Create Some Christmas Magic For Your Child With Package From Santa

As a parent, I love seeing the excitement in my little one’s eyes at Christmas. Recently, I found PackageFromSanta.com and learned that I could have a package sent to my child from the North Pole! The package would be addressed to my child and be full of authentic, Santa Claus goodies that are sure to delight.

What makes PackageFromSanta.com so special and set apart from any other company is THEY DO IT ALL (packages, letters, calls and videos from Santa and so much more…) With EVERY Package From Santa sold comes one free call and one free video.

You can see an example of a video we customized on their site below:

You can learn more about how it works by viewing this video. Right now you can take 25% off your order when you use the promo code RED1816 at check out on PackageFromSanta.com. Hurry offer ends December 15th!

After Luke opened his package, we made the Coca and he looked everything over again. For the rest of the day he showed the stuff to everyone and he is especially proud that he has a piece of Santa’s Magic Suit. He has asked everyone to feel how soft and warm it is. He is really treasuring everything and cannot wait to spread the Reindeer food out on the lawn Christmas Eve!

You can follow Package From Santa on Facebook and Twitter. Let me know what you think of this, just leave me a comment.

This is a sponsored post and I received a product and or was compensated to facilitate my article. As always, I only promote products or services that I have tried and truly like or use.

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Filed under Christmas, Holiday, kids, Review

Tagged as Christmas, discount, Package From Santa, Promo Code, Santa Calls, Santa Video

November 4, 2017 · 10:31 pm

Living on a Tight Budget? 6 Creative Ways to Be More Charitable

The holidays often inspire people to give back to those less fortunate. However, if you’re on a tight budget, you may not think that you have the means to do some good. Giving can be done any time of the year. You also don’t need to be a professional athlete or Hollywood actor to make your own mark in this world. Here are 6 creative ways you can be more charitable without breaking your budget.

Offer Your Time

If you’re looking to be more charitable, your time can be a precious gift. If you’re handy and do a good job maintaining your home, you can volunteer to build houses for those in need. For those who love and adore animals, you may want to foster dogs and cats until they’ve found their forever homes. After work, tutor kids in language, math or reading at an under-privileged group home. During the holidays, offer to serve meals or hand out food at a food bank or soup kitchen.

Save Spare Change

Between work and family, your life may be filled with challenges. Money struggles, going through a divorce or being falsely accused of domestic violence can prove devastating. The struggles can even ruin your reputation and hinder you from getting ahead with your career. However, by becoming more charitable, you’ll be bringing good into your household. With the wide number of groups and organizations that are looking for assistance, you may not have the funds to assist everyone.

If you’re limited on cash and have spare change lying around, put it in a bucket. Every time you pay for groceries, clothes or other necessities, you can put your change into this container. As the money adds up, you’ll have enough coins to put toward charities such as the Salvation Army kettle. There are other small monetary donations that won’t make too much of a dent in your checking account. Popular methods include when the cashier at a retail establishment asks you to donate $1 to help a homeless pet shelter or child with cancer.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Your local supermarket or retail clothing store may offer two-for-one sales or discounts on items. If you get an extra set of freebies, think about donating goods to a homeless shelter. The holiday season is a great time to declutter your home. If your used merchandise is in good condition, your local Goodwill center or thrift store may benefit from the clothes, shoes, coats and housewares. Your old electronics may also be valuable as they can be refurbished and sold to families in need. Eyewear can also be costly. Instead of tossing out your old glasses to make room for new, the Lions Club has a sight program that collects used eyeglasses.

Be Kind to Planet Earth

The Earth has taken a beating in recent years as pollution and other contaminants continue to harm the planet. If you’re looking to protect Mother Nature, adopt eco-friendly habits with the family. If you get the paper or magazines delivered, recycle the material. You can also use cloth bags routinely when grocery shopping or tote a reusable mug when bringing your coffee to work. You may also volunteer for your cities trash cleanup program designed to keep roadways and highways litter free.

Get Moving for a Cause

If you’re looking to become more charitable and stay fit, you can walk or run for a cause. There are a number of organizations such as finding a cure for breast cancer and helping the hungry who use walks and races to raise money. Encourage your friends and family members to get more involved and make a day out of the event. The Internet has a host of offerings, and the money to race is typically minimal.

Focus on Your Family

Some say that charity begins at home, and it actually does. Although you may have plans to save the world, offer your family some love and undivided attention first. Instead of burying your nose in your laptop or cell phone, ditch the electronics and focus on your children, pets and partner. Break out the games or get outside and go for a walk or bike ride.

If you’ve stretched your finances to the brink, it can be challenging monetarily to offer your assistance. But giving back to those who are in need doesn’t always mean reaching for your check book. Using the above strategies, you can become more charitable and still stay on target with your budget.

This is a sponsored guest post that does not necessarily reflect the views or ideals of Mommy Ramblings.

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Filed under Christmas, Holiday, Mommy Ramblings, sponsored guest post

Tagged as Charity, Donate, Giving Back, holidays, Tips, Volunteer

April 20, 2017 · 1:24 pm

6 Fun Ways To Celebrate Earth Day With Your Family

Earth Day is Saturday! Do you have any special plans to celebrate our planet with your family? If you don’t, I have some great ideas to share. Earth Day is a special day to stress the importance of giving back to the planet we live on. Teach your children to respect and nurture the Earth and you will be making a difference not only in the next generation but our planet as well.

Go on a Litter Walk

Grab some trash bags and gloves and set off around your neighborhood cleaning up the trash that is around. Explain to your kids how littering like this is dangerous to wildlife. As you pass your neighbors encourage them to join in. Before you know it, you will have a parade of trash pickers and as they say; many hands makes the load lighter.

Plant a Garden

Nothing shows your kids where their food comes from better than planting a garden. From seeds or seedlings, they will see the entire process. Let them help with tending and caring for the garden all season. By the time of your last harvest, you will have some very experienced gardeners.

If if is too cold yet to plant by you, plan out your garden with your kids. You can start getting your garden ready by cleaning up last years plant remains, leaves, sticks and other debris. Then break up the soil. You should pick a soil test kit up and test your soil to see what nutrients it is lacking. The better your soil, the better your garden.

If you don’t have land to plant a garden, plant some container gardens or vertical gardens. There are some great ideas for maximizing your space on sites like Pinterest, so check it out.

Plant a Tree

This is a lot of fun, take a ride down to your local nursery and pick out a tree or shrub. Then go home and plant it together. Again, enlist your children to take part in the planting and care of the tree. Explain how the plants and trees give us something we need to live…oxygen.

Start a Habitat Garden

Did you know that our population of pollinators is dwindling? It is, and our food supply depends on bees and butterflies to thrive. Do your part by researching the types of plants you need to create a habitat garden.

The Monarchs main food source in the Milkweed plant but along with that you can plant native grasses, butterfly bushes, bee balm and so much more. There are also butterfly houses and feeders as well as bee houses you can add to help our pollinators. We visited a butterfly house last year with our kids and learned so much.

Start Composting

Do you compost? If not you should. It will not only cut down on your organic household garbage, it will enrich the soil in your garden. It is not hard and you have a lot of options.

There are countertop compost bins you can use to collect your daily vegetable peels, banana skins, egg shells, coffee grounds etc. Then you can take them out to a compost bin or drum. They have nice units you can buy that make it super easy or your can put up some wire fencing and make a bin of your own. You can read more about the process HERE.

Go For a Family Hike:

See the beauty of our planet by taking a family hike. It is good exercise for the body, mind and soul. Pack along a picnic lunch and make a day of it. There are resources for your state where you can find recommendations for great trails. Go somewhere new, you might be surprised at the beauty you find and did not know existed in your state.

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?

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Filed under Family, Family Fun, Gardening, Holiday, Home & Garden, Outdoor Fun

Tagged as Bees, Butterfly, Celebrate, Earth Day, Family Fun, garden, Hike, Tree

December 8, 2016 · 1:15 pm

Send Joy With These Free Printable Holiday Cards!

When you’ve been around for more than 40 years, Cricket Media has some best-loved annual traditions. And a long-time favorite of Cricket fans has been FREE printable cards for the holidays!

For the 2016 holiday season, Cricket Media has selected 10 of their favorite holiday illustrations and created beautiful cards for you to share and send to loved ones.

To print them out, visit FREE HOLIDAY CARDS and

follow the instructions.

And, by all means, please share them with your friends and family!

It’s not too late to give the gift of reading this holiday season with a subscription to one of Cricket Media’s award-winning parenting magazines. To truly embody the spirit of the season, you may want to explore Cricket’s “Double the Giving” Campaign.

Any gift-giver purchasing an annual print subscription to one of four different Cricket publications will also deliver the gift of reading to a child in an underserved community through two award-winning, charitable partners: Libraries Without Borders and Parent-Child Home Program, both 2016 Library of Congress Literacy Award Winners. Each subscription bundle to BABYBUG (ages 6 mos.-3), LADYBUG (ages 3-6), SPIDER (ages 6-9) or CRICKET (ages 9-14) is priced at $29.95 (regularly $33.95), and is guaranteed to spark a life-long love of reading!

Best wishes for a warm, wonderful holiday season!

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Filed under Crafts, Creative Activities, Holiday

Tagged as Cards, Christmas, Free Cards, Free Printables, holidays, Printables

November 29, 2016 · 2:02 pm

Keep The Magic of Santa Alive For Your Child With A Package From Santa!

As a parent I love seeing the excitement in my little one’s eyes at Christmas. Recently I found PackageFromSanta.com and learned that I could have a package sent to my child from the North Pole! The package would be addressed to my child and be full of authentic, Santa Claus goodies that are sure to delight.

You even get a personalized phone call and personalized high quality video staring your child free with every package. There are 3 different packages to choose from! Check out my video of Luke opening his Package From Santa below:

Limited Time Free Bonus!
Keep your child behaving during the hectic (and sugar laden) days leading up to Christmas with a personalized, high-quality, printable 100% FREE Nice-List Guide from Santa Claus. Includes your child’s photo, name, and top 10 behaviors needed to stay on Santa’s Nice List! Personalize your child’s Nice-List Guide here www.freenicelistguide.com It only takes 60 seconds… nothing to buy, now or ever. 🙂 I am making these for my kids so they know how to stay on the Nice List!

You can follow PackageFromSanta.com on Facebook and Twitter. Let me know what you think of this, just leave me a comment.

This is a sponsored post and I received a product to facilitate my article.

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Filed under Christmas, Holiday, Holiday Gift Guide, Mommy Ramblings, Review

Tagged as Christmas, Free Stuff, Holiday Gift Guide, Mommy Ramblings, Package From Santa, Promo Code

November 24, 2016 · 4:20 pm

Read Christmas Love Letters From God with Your Children #Giveaway #FlyBy

Tis’ the season for books about the true meaning of the season. I have been sharing several books with you that do this and I have another I want to share today. Christmas Love Letters from God by Glenys Nellist combines both prose and poetry perfectly as it tells the story of Jesus’ birth. It is written for children ages 4-8 years old but I think children of any age will appreciate this book.

There is a pop up letter that goes along with each story. There is a space on the letter that you can write the name of a child on. The book has seven stories starting with Isaiah’s prophecy and ending with the visit of the wise men.

It is a lovely book that we like reading together in the weeks leading to Christmas. My kids like to unfold the letter from the page at the end of each story. This would make a nice gift to give to a special child or grandchild to remind them of the real reason for this splendid season.

The letters are written as if they were written by God especially for your child. God’s Perfect Promise Bible verse accompanies each story. This book will help children remember the love, promises and hope God offers to all of us. You can find this book on Amazon.

Enter our giveaway below for a chance to win your own hardcover copy of this special book!

Giveaway:

Christmas Love Letters From God Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Open to US residents.

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck!!!

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Filed under Books, Christmas, Gifts, Giveaway, Holiday

Tagged as Books, Christmas, Christmas Book, Christmas Love Letters From God, giveaway, mommyramblings