Mamas of toddlers know snacks are necessary…my little man is always hungry! Having snacks for Paxton to munch on makes our outings so much more pleasant for everyone. The thing is glass {or plastic} containers are big, heavy and take up a ton of space and I refuse to buy disposable snack bags {we’re not fans of disposable things around here!}
What’s the solution? Snack Bags!!
Planet Wise has a Bag Your Snack Stuff line which includes snack bags, sandwich bags and even a sandwich wrap! These bags are perfect for on the go.
Sandwich Wrap, Window Bag & Snack Bag
We have a sandwich wrap, window bag and snack bag.
The sandwich bag is great for sending sandwiches and bread to work with my husband. It folds out and makes a nice little ‘plate’ too! One or two of these would be perfect for sending lunches to school with kids!
Around here the snack bag and the window bag get the most use! Just about every time we leave the house, one of these bags is in my purse or Paxton’s backpack {and many times I’ve got them both packed!} We pack cereal, crackers, small cookies, dried fruit, just about any snack in these. They keep the food fresh and we’ve never had any leaks.
One of the best parts is the fact that Paxton can easily hold these bags and eat his snacks out of them on his own.
Each bag is $7.99 each which may seem a little pricey but when you consider that you won’t be purchasing {and throwing away} snack bags or bringing heavy snack containers {we use glass containers, not plastic} with you on the go, they’re a fabulous investment! After several months of use, mine are showing no signs of wear and I know they have years of life left in them!
These bags would make wonderful first birthday gifts or Christmas gifts for toddlers, kids or even your eco-friendly friends and family!!
They’re useful, they’re easy to carry with you and they also come in adorable prints!
Giveaway:
Win a set {sandwich wrap, window bag and snack bag} in your choice of prints!
Mandatory Entry: {leave a comment telling me you did}
Additional Entries: {leave a separate comment for each entry}
Giveaway ends Monday, November 21 at 12 pm EST.
*Giveaway restricted to Continental US and Canada.
Disclaimer: I was provided the Planet Wise Bag Your Snack Stuff bags to review. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed in this post are my own!
*This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to commenter #67, Kate!
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Posted by Rachel on Nov 10, 2011 in home, projects | 16 comments
Back in August while my husband was out of town, I began making over our bathroom! I painted the bathroom vanity, replaced the curtain and added in some decor.
Here’s the result:
The black cabinets turned out wonderful and the small touches really make the bathroom look wonderful!
I made the curtain using fabric I had on hand and simply tacked them up over the window using the ‘window mistreatment’ philosophy!
Since the color scheme is black, white and tan, I thought this Rolled Paper Africa Art was perfect! John David traveled to Ethiopia this past June and we have a Compassion child there so it’s a reminder of that trip, the wonderful people there and our sponsored child. I purchased it from Mercy House Kenya, a maternity home in Kenya.
And here’s another angle of the bathroom. I put a scripture verse on the wall and we bought a new soap dish that’s easier to clean!
Cost ::
Paint & Supplies: Free (used what I had on hand!)
Africa Art: $50 (with shipping)
Scripture Art: Free (I’ve had it for years!)
Soap Dish: $4 at Ikea
Curtains: Free (used fabric I already had!)
Total: $54
I think that was $54 well spent making the bathroom look wonderful!
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Posted by Rachel on Nov 4, 2011 in finances | 3 comments
It is my hope that you enjoyed reading our financial story. We shared our story to hopefully inspire and encourage you in your finances. We haven’t done everything perfect and we’re far from being financial experts but we feel sharing our story is helpful to others.
If you have any questions regarding our financial story, our budgeting or need some encouragement in your finances, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail {rachel @ frugalandsimple . com}
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During the Month of November, Econobum Single Packs are Buy 1, Get 1! The Single Packs are only $9.95!!
This is an awesome deal on an inexpensive cloth diapering system. Each pack comes with a cover and a pre-fold, so you’re getting 2 covers and 2 pre-folds for less than $10!!!
We have 2 Econobum covers and 5 pre-folds {you can purchase an additional 3-pack of pre-folds for $6!} and we use them all the time!
The 2 covers we have were purchased during the last Buy 1, Get 1 deal back in February and they’re holding up great, showing little to no wear after 9 months! {I gave the first Econobum I bought before Paxton was born to my sister and it’s still in great condition!}
As for the pre-folds, I really love the Econobum pre-folds. They’re thick, absorbant and get softer with each use.
If you’re looking into cloth diapering but don’t want to make a huge investment, the Econobum system would be a great, inexpensive start!
And, if you order from Sweetbottoms Baby, all orders ship free!
{Note: I am a Sweetbottoms Baby Affiliate}
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Last weekend, we did some room swapping! We moved Paxton to the room we were using, we moved into the master and the guest room/office into the old nursery.
To make the master closet work for us and hold everything, John David had to build some shelving. There were already two shelves in the closet so he had to make 2 more {which you can see in this before shot since they’re unpainted!} He knocked this little project out in about 30 minutes and then I spent an hour painting the shelves the next day.
It’s amazing what simple shelves do to a tiny closet! They not only give you more room, they give the closet a ‘custom’ look, all on a budget!
Here’s the after:
Painted shelves and an organized closet!
This closet is actually a few inches smaller than our previous closet which posed a bit of a challenge but it was nothing that couldn’t be remedied with a little bit of de-cluttering! We both got rid of a few clothing items that were ill fitting or worn out.
I can’t help but love the fact that we have a teeny, tiny closet {compared to most folks standards} yet it has ample room for our minimal wardrobes!
For comparison, here’s the bigger closet in our previous room. They’re very similar but if you look closely you can tell the size difference in the two.
How big is your closet? Do you have a walk-in that’s full of unworn items, a teeny closet that busting at the seams or a neat or a closet that is just the right size for you?
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Posted by Rachel on Oct 28, 2011 in finances | 9 comments
On May 4, after a few weeks of tiredness, I took a pregnancy test which was positive! We were in shock! We were excited about adding to our family but surprised because we weren’t planning on having another baby quite so soon. In June, we discovered we were 4 weeks further along than we thought and baby #2 was due on December 31! This was the biggest shock of all for us!
Of course having a baby is an added expense but once again we weren’t worried about the financial implications, we knew we could afford paying the medical bills and babies really don’t cost that much. {You can feed and dress a baby on a small budget!}
At this point we were still talking about adding on to our home but we decided that it would probably be best to wait until the new baby arrived and we were settled into a new routine before living in a construction zone!
The Boreings, August 2011
After making the decision in early July to delay our addition, we’re beginning to question if we even want to add on at all. If we do, it will probably be a few years down the road. Our 3 bedroom home has plenty of room for our family, since our children will share a room. We’re comfortable in our master bedroom with a half bathroom, doing laundry in the carport isn’t so bad and we don’t really need a room set aside solely for guests, which we rarely have.
We’ve decided to take the money we had saved for the addition and purchase some much needed furniture and spend a little money making our house into a home that reflects our family. We purchased much needed chairs for our living room (to make the space functional for small group in our home!) Our guest room/office is getting a makeover with a functional desk and we’re talking about replacing the bed with a sleeper sofa which would free up some space in the room to make it a functional office and future school room that functions as a guest room for those times we do have company.
Most of all, we’re content in our 1,300 square feet! {An added bonus, there isn’t much room for clutter in a home this small!}
And, the additional money left after our budgeted $1,500 in furniture/home improvements, will go towards the principal of our home so we’ll have even less debt!
Baby Weston, due December 31, 2011
In August, we were thrilled to find out we’re expecting our second son, Weston! We’re excited Paxton is going to have a brother and another boy means we’ll spend even less because we don’t really need anything except a crib and a few more cloth diapers to prepare for this sweet boy!
We haven’t done everything perfectly over the years but we have been blessed. We were blessed with parents who modeled debt free living, blessed with discipline to say no to things we wanted since we had bigger goals in mind and most of all blessed by God who has always been faithful and provided for every need we’ve had.
Other posts in this series:
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I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s been somewhat quite around here these past few weeks. Other than Our Financial Story and Cloth Diaper videos, there haven’t been any posts!
Honestly, this is a busy season in my life and unfortunately this blog has been neglected. Of course, my family always comes first so I think neglecting the blog for the sake of my family is just fine!
Somehow I’m already 30 weeks pregnant! This pregnancy is absolutely flying by and I suppose I’m in a bit of denial that in 10 weeks or so we’ll have another baby.
Hitting the 3rd trimester caused my energy level to decrease and I’ve been struggling a few weeks with this. I want to get things done, I feel like there is so much to do to prepare for this baby but I really just want to nap or sit and relax. Thankfully, I noticed a slight boost in my energy level over the past week! I’m hoping it stays a few weeks so I can get our home in order and feel somewhat organized before Weston arrives.
Another thing that has kept me busy, after realizing that two cribs, a dresser and a changing table were not going to fit in the nursery, I had the brilliant {or crazy} idea that we’d do some room swapping. So, after talking it over for a few weeks with John David, we decided that we’d move into the master bedroom that was formerly the office/guest room. We moved the nursery to our old room and the office/guest room to the former nursery. Basically we moved, just within our house. We did the major rearranging just last night and still lack some settling in, organizing and decorating but I’m looking forward to some of these little projects!
Of course Paxton has kept me incredibly busy too! He was 18 months last week and is so much fun. He’s learning so much and turning into such a little boy and he has quite the personality {and style…he loves shoes, especially his boots!} I’m savoring our days together, just the two of us since I know they’re numbered. I’m taking time to snuggle and play and give him my undivided attention since I know things will never be the same. This is definitely a bittersweet thought. Just last week he fell asleep while we were reading and I just held him {and then fell asleep myself!} He also has wanted to be rocked the past two nights before bed and I just savored every moment of it.
I’m hoping to share some of my organizing and baby preparations during the course of the next few weeks! Right now we’re planning on building some shelving in our closet, I’m going to be organizing the boys closet and dresser and hopefully figure out a good baby clothing storage system {right now all the newborn-18 month clothes are in one large tub that won’t fit in the closet!} I’m also trying to decide the right number of cloth diapers we need for two and the best diaper pail for us! And of course, some simplifying around our home since I’ve found that the less stuff we have, the easier our home is to maintain and keep clean.
Thank you for continuing to read even through the times when I’m not posting much! I’m so blessed to have such amazing readers!!
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