"Book of the Month Club" Gift

This past January when my niece had her 2nd birthday, I really wanted to do something fun and creative for her.  She's a cute kid and I just love being an aunty.  So I had to put my thinking cap on and see what I could come up with.  And what I did decide on was making a "Book of the Month" Gift.

Now I've seen the "Book of the Month Club" ideas where you subscribe and the company sends the child one book a month.  But I'm on a limited budget with three kids of my own so I decided to take the idea and do it myself.  So if you're interested in doing one as well, here's what you'll need:

*12 Books of your choice
*Wrapping paper
*Scissors and tape
*Pen and paper to label books

Of course, books can get expensive so check out the Dollar Store, your local library sales, and ebay.  You'll be surprised what good deals you can find.

So I put the books in the order that I wanted them.  Some of them where Christmas so I had make sure that was November or December based on when the birthday is.  Her's is later in the month so I wanted her to have the Christmas book in November so she could really enjoy it instead of getting it just two days before Christmas.

As I wrapped the books I labeled each one with the date they were to be opened.  For example, I started with the first one to be opened on her birthday.  Then the next was February 23rd, then March 23rd, and so on and so forth.
 

After I had them all wrapped and labeled, I put them in a cute pink shoe box and labeled the box with a "Kiera's Book of the Month" label.  Now she gets to open one every month.  And we're getting to help her building a fun library.

I hope this idea helps you when you're thinking about your next birthday party.  Why not make a "Book of the Month" Gift?

What creative gifts are you giving lately?

10 Things This Week

Here's how I did on my goals this week:

Marriage and Parenting:

*Start Boxcar Children book with kids

*Memorize one verse in Psalm 100

*Start library reading program with kids

*Do a book craft

Blogging:

*Work on Light Box

*Start book club book

Homemaking Goals:

*Make and hide an extra key for the house

*Plant more grass seed

Personal Goals:

*Exercise 4-5 days/ 5 days of core challenge

*Get 8 hours of sleep each night

These are my 10 Goals for the week:

Marriage and Parenting:
*Finish Boxcar Children Book
*Do a book craft
*Do 5-7 items from our Summer Bucket List

Blogging:
*Finish book club book
*Keep looking into Light Box ideas

Homemaking Goals:
*Go through kids' clothes
*MAKE THAT SPARE KEY!
*PLANT MORE GRASS SEED!

Personal Goals:

*Exercise 4-5 days

*Get 8 hours of sleep each night

What are your goals this week?

Weekend Links

Tea Light Wall Art

Skinny Blueberry Lemon Muffins

3 Dollar Store Tier Tray Ideas

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars

Why I tell my girls they're beautiful.  Often.

This Week:

What I Made: 

What I'm Reading: I'm reading the current book club book "In the Presence of My Enemies."  It's incredible.  If you haven't picked this one up yet, make sure you check it out.

What I'm Doing:

What I'm Watching: The Voice... I gave up on American Idol years ago, but I've been hooked on The Voice for the past couple of seasons.  Excited to see two country artists in the final three.

What I'm Enjoying: 

What are you up to?

Do-It-Yourself: Herb Garden

26 Intentional Acts of Kindness: Week 10

Our challenge last week was to write notes to a loved one telling them why we love them.  Since there's been a lot of sibling rivalry going on in our house lately, I decided to have the kids write notes to each other.  And since it's summer, we turned it into a project.

I encouraged the kids to pick each other's favorite colors and make a card for the other.  On the each petal of the flower, they wrote something they loved bout the other or something they loved to do together.  Some of them really surprised me.  

"I love slip n sliding with you."

"I love playing kitchen with you."

"You're a great swimmer."

"You tell funny jokes."

"I love you more than you know."

All in all, it was a great exercise and I'm really hoping it helps with some of the craziness around here.  I know they really do love each other; it's just hard to communicate that to each other.  But I really loved hearing what was going on in their heads.

Are you ready for this week's challenge:

We have a great mailman who works hard every day.  The temperatures have been topping 100 degrees and here he is walking the streets, delivering mail every day.  What a long day!  So we want to do something to show our appreciation.  I have a few ideas: some fresh fruit or snack to give him a mid-day pick up, a cool drink in the afternoon, something to brighten his day.  I'm putting my head together with the kids and we're going to come up with something great.  :-)

How about you?  

Are you ready for the challenge?