Budget Friendly Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is right around the corner and I am sure some of us could use some budget friendly ideas. To be honest I am so sad about not getting a school made mother's day gift from school this year. I cherish all those gifts made at school! 

George has been asking me what color and kind of flowers I want. He said we are going to need to buy you some flowers soon. I am guessing him and Art have been having some conversations about mother's day. I told him I would like pink tulips. He asked you don't want pink roses? lol

I am not really a flower type person. They are just going to die, so how about getting me something off my Amazon wish list, another pair of the Birkenstock plastic knock off sandals from Target, or a day of no cooking. I told Art not to get me anything this year. I have everything I want or need. 

Here are some ideas that you could share if someone asks what you want. 

Color Street 

I absolutely love Color Street. I can put a set of nail stripes on and they will last me 10-14 days. However I did learn they will not last if you decide to play Lego's and start pulling them apart. I have a couple chips on 2 nails from my Lego building! It was worth it! My favorite color is Swiss & Tell a white color! It's my go to that I wear almost every day. 

Target Plastic Sandals

I bought these sandals to be my "slippers" around the house. I am going to buy a second pair to wear outside of the house. They are soooo comfy! I wanted to buy the Birkenstock plastic sandals, but they are $45 for plastic. I happen to find these at Target for $15. My cousin then told me she bought hers when sandals were 20% plus her 5% Target Card discount, which made them around $9. 

They come in black, silver and white. I have the white ones. I think I will buy another pair of the white. Hey I can bleach them if they get too dirty right. lol

Tie Dyed Tank Top

Tie dye is all the rage right now. I like the colorful subtle tie dye. I do not like the really bold red, blue, yellow, green colors. 

Camo Leggings

I have a pair of the Colorfulkoala black leggings that are AMAZING! I love them! I would like the black and green camo ones. These are the most comfortable leggings! I love that they are high waisted and 7/8 length. I have the hardest time with regular leggings being too long on me. I do not want to be bothered folding them under, so they aren't bunchy. These are perfect and hit right at my ankle. 

Mother's Necklaces

I buy my mother's necklaces from either Mac & Mia or The Silver Wren. Both of these small shops are on Etsy. I have numerous necklaces from each of them and they are amazing quality. I do not take my necklaces off for showers and they have not tarnished. You could not go wrong with either small shop for yourself or a gift. I have sent these necklaces for gifts too! 

Go Ask Your Dad Tshirt

I think every mom needs this tee for mother's day!!!! 

Comfy Pajamas

My mom bought me these pajamas for Christmas. They are so soft, comfy and perfect for hot Texan weather. I have been wearing these a lot of mornings during this pandemic. They are just perfect to lounge in! 

Sleep Eye Mask

If you are going to get some comfy pajamas a sleep eye mask would be perfect to go along with them! This pink silk eye mask is perfect for a mother's day nap! Naps are one of my favorite thing thing on Sunday. 

Do you have a wish list for mother's day? What is one of your favorite gifts you have received in the past? You still have plenty of time to order the perfect gift for that special person who deserves to be celebrated! 

Toys my Boys are Loving Right Now!

I am so thankful for our big back yard and the fact this pandemic hit during the best weather in Southern Texas! I can’t imagine this hitting in July. We would be stuck in the house all day!

I thought I would share some of the toys my boys are playing the most with right now. My oldest is 5 1/2 and the youngest is 20 months. These toys are great for both ages.

Duplos

G got this Duplo Set when he was around a year old for Christmas. This is the exact set we have, but doesn’t seem to be available on Amazon. There are lots of other sets to choose from - 1 / 2 / 3

G still plays with these all the time! Cash loves them too. They like to build towers, stacking them on top of each other, build a sky scraper and they ask me to build the exact items on the box!  One evening I took this entire box and dumped them in the bathtub with the boys. They LOVED it!!! The legos got a good wash and the boys had a blast!

Picasso Tiles

My boys LOVE these! They are a magnetic tile that stick together. I should buy 1 more set because there is a lot of fighting over them. G loves to make buildings for his star war characters and dinosaurs.

Cash loves when someone builds something to smash it down. A lot of times this causes problems because Cash doesn’t understand G just spent 10 min making his creation perfect. I try to make a few little buildings for Cash to crash, so he leaves brother alone.

A friend bought these for the boys for Christmas. They are played with every single day! I have added to their wish lists the wheels to be able to make cars with the tiles. I should probably add another set of these to the wish list too.

Magformers

Apparently building items are the best Christmas gifts because all of our sets were gifts. lol These are so magnetic and work with the Picasso tiles. Often times we have both sets out to build large creations as G likes to call them.

It’s nice these sets interact with each other, so the kids can create large things.

Nugget Comfort

I heard about the Nugget from a friend who ordered one last year. I wanted to get one for the boys for Christmas. Well everyone else had that same idea. I was able to get ours around February. Another great item I am so happy we have during this time! 

I bought the koala gray color. We keep it in the boys room against the wall when it's not being used. The boys are able to drag it out on their own. They practice their ninja and gym moves on it. We build houses, use it to climb, jump, flips, relax and sleep on. It's actually REALLY comfortable to sleep on. 

If you want a Nugget it's going to be very difficult to get one. They are closed during the pandemic, but you can get on their back order list. I was able to get one by ordering one in December on their back order and we received it about 6 weeks later. They did say it would take up to 14 weeks for delivery, but we got it much faster. They run about $250. I can see us using this for years! This is one of my favorite purchases we have made for the boys in the past year. 

Outdoor Toys

Bubble flash light

The boys love bubbles!!! I found this adorable bubble flash light at Target for Easter. This is a perfect toy for Cash. He can easily use it and loves it. 

Big Wheel

When the grandkids on Art’s side of the family turn 2 Art’s parents buy them all a big wheel  car. G picked out a fire truck. We moved this car across the country and man am I glad we did. We had nooooo yard for this thing in California. He could go in a circle in our back yard or down the sidewalk. It wasn’t used that much.

Well now we have a huge yard! G drives it and Cash rides in it. G has been trying to give Cash driving lessons. It’s rather entertaining to watch.

I feel I’ve been able to teach them a lot of vehicle safety with the fire truck. Why we need to look all around before we back up. Why it’s important to sit down when someone else is driving. How doors are always kept shut when driving. All of these things sound like something a mom is yelling at teenagers. Lord help me!!!

Solo Cups

Veronika from Veronika’s Blushing posted on Instagram her kids playing with solo cups and building towers. I ordered a big bag from Amazon for around $7. The kids love to stack them up and crash them down with super hero’s or drive their cars into them.

One night I built a tower around the coffee table for them to wake up too. They love finding things I’ve built them the next morning. 

What have you been doing to keep your kids entertained during this pandemic? Are there certain toys your kids have played with for years? 

Paleo Whipped Coffee

Paleo Non Dairy Whipped Coffee!!! Testing out new coffee recipes seems to be my quarantine past time. I keep hearing about whipped coffee all over social media. The regular whipped coffee has a lot of refined sugar. I try to avoid refined sugar, so I decided to try to make a paleo non dairy version. 

Recipe:

1 TBSP instant coffee

4 TBSP hot water

1 TBSP coconut sugar

Blend this all together - I put it in my ninja blender for 1-2 minutes

I warmed 1/2 cup almond milk & 1/2 cup coconut milk. I poured the milk into my mug and put the whipped coffee on top. Then I slowly stirred it all together. Sooooo yummy!

You could also make this iced by not warming up your milk and pouring it all over ice. I like it both hot and cold. Whipped coffee is amazing! It changes up the daily cup of black coffee into a fancier latte! Have you tried whipped coffee?  Let me know if you try this paleo non dairy version! 

Sensory Bins

Last summer I created a sensory bin for G with some items I found at the Dollar Tree. Summer in Texas is soooo hot, so we spend a lot of our days indoors. Nap time can get tricky. I don't like G to watch tv while Cash is napping. I am fine with him watching a short show, but I do not want him to spend 2-3 hours in front of the tv. I also like to be able to rest some during this time, so I needed something that would keep him busy. A sensory bin was a perfect thing for G. He can use his imagination and it's also a quiet toy. 

You could also find a lot of these items at Walmart or Target pick up to avoid going to the store during this pandemic we are going through right now. 

I spent around $10 to create this sensory bin. There are sensory bins on Amazon, Etsy and other various sites going for $30+. By creating your own you can do it budget friendly and create it based on what your child loves. 

We used a bag of beans and glass beads as our base in a clear plastic bin. Get a bin with a lid! You will want a lid to store this box up high if you have little ones. 

G loved helping create this box. I also bought a bag of letter beads to mix in. This way you can also make it educational, by asking them to spell their name, find certain letters etc. 

A bug catching set has been a lot of fun! He uses the scoop and the net to scoop up beans or to put some of the animals inside as he catches them. 

We made this sensory bin over 9 months ago. G still loves to play with it! Cash has now started to play with it with supervision. This is not my favorite toy for toddlers because they like to dump beans all over the house. It becomes a huge mess and it's not a relaxing toy for a mom. lol It is a great sensory toy for toddlers, but you just need some patience when you pull this out!

Items for a sensory bin

1 plastic bin - we used a 28 qt bin with a lid 

1 bag of beans

Glass Rocks

Alphabet Beads

Insect Collector Kit

Plastic Animals

Squishy Toys 

Option 1 

Option 2

Play Doh

Trees

Construction Vehicles

You can be so creative with sensory bin themes you would like to create for your kids! 

If you make a sensory bin let me know what kind of ideas of you come up with!