Christmas Care Packages

HO, HO, HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thought it was a good time to finally update this blog & what better to start with than some Christmas Care Package ideas? So to start, here is two pictures of my 2 Christmas themed packages (and I had to send two because I couldn't fit it all into one)...

So, first I will start out with a list of ideas for Christmas:

*Candy Canes (i always pick up the fun flavors like sweet tarts, jolly ranchers, etc)

*Mini Stockings

*A mini Christmas Tree with mini ornaments & lights

*Holiday flavored coffees, teas, etc.

*Christmas Candy

*And of course, homemade Christmas themed Cookies

*Santa Hats

*Christmas Fleece Blankets
*Christmas themed Movies and Music

These are always a Holiday Favorite in Our household.

SO, on an Important Note: 

Christmas Time at the Post Office is BUSY, SUPER BUSY.

It is best for you if you send this packages out at the End of November, DO NOT wait until December rolls around, and if your Marine gets the package too early, it's ok, Then they have time to enjoy their tree, put up decorations in their living space, and not have a candy cane overload.

Good thing for You, some Christmas goodies start showing up on the shelves as early as AUGUST. No joke.

Michael's will already have their Mini Christmas Trees, Ornaments, & Bulbs out by this time.

While I didn't snap any pictures, Here is one from my Husband in his tent with the Christmas Tree I sent him:

(And the Halloween Pumpkin still from my Halloween Package, lol)

As for the Candy & Treats, you can hold off buying those until November & Walmart has every kind of Christmas treat you can imagine at that time. So go crazy! =) 

So, now the million dollar question, How did i manage to ship fresh cookies in a box for 3 weeks and still keep them fresh? Well this is how:

These bags were a complete success. A little more expensive than your regular Ziploc, but worth it to give your Marine Fresh cookies.

Now the cookies I bought were just Nestle Break & Bake Christmas colored cookies & brownies:

And this is how i packaged them:

That pump comes with the bigger box of Ziplocs when you first purchase them, and there is instructions for how to properly use it.

Now the next step is up to you, but I did two different things. I used Mason Jars to hold some of the cookies (in the bags), but I also found some pretty neat boxes at the Dollar Store and used those for some cookie holding, and always for a small gift for my husband. I then topped it off with some cute ribbon I bought at Michael's and ta-da Christmas gifts for him/her to open! 

I know that my Marine & his fellow Marines really enjoyed the cookies, candy canes, stockings, and having a (small, but cute) tree to celebrate with, and I hope this helps some with your Christmas packages! 

November Care Packages

Hello! 

Here is my post that is ALL about The Marine Corps Birthday & Thanksgiving (With a little bit of Football Season thrown in there)! If your family member is deployed during November, these are def. themes you can do ALOT with! 

So, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of my Awesome USMC Birthday Celebration boxes (I forgot to snap them before I taped the boxes up... ) But I can give you a list of what I included:

*Cake (homemade and baked in mason jars to keep them airtight, I will explain below)

*Cigars (because what Marine wouldn't want to smoke a cigar to celebrate)

*Magazines (about Guns & Cars)

*A few DVD's (Favorite Military Inspired Ones keep with the theme best)

*And any other types of food you think they would love to have...

I also decorated the boxes with Red, White, and Blue Paper, USMC stickers, Pictures from our balls over the years, etc.

Ok, So Now Onto "Cake-in-a-Jar" (Or Pumpkin Bread in a Jar, shown above).... It's actually pretty simple...

You just need to buy the cake mix, the ingredients listed on the box, 2-3 Mason Jars (depending on size, and I also Highly recommend Wide-Mouth Jars, easier for the guys to scoop out the goods), and Frosting (you will be shipping this separate and unopened for your loved one to put on the cake themselves. (Or the recipe for Pumpkin Bread that I am going to list below)...

You mix all the ingredients like normal and then pour the cake mix or bread mix into clean mason jars.

I usually soak mine in warm water after cleaning them, up until about 3 minutes before I need to use them, that way they are pre-warmed for the oven and will have less of a chance of cracking.

With the Cake and Bread you want to fill the jars about half-way up.

And cooking time is usually going to depend on the oven, I will usually start off the bat with the cooking times listed on the box. And they always take longer, so use your best judgement from there. 

After you have finished baking the cake/bread, immediately pull it out of the over and grab the top to the jars. You want to put the lid on as soon as possible and screw it on there tightly (Be careful, it gets Very Hot Very Fast, I usually wear Oven Mitts when putting the lids on.)

You then just leave them to cool off, and after a few minutes you should hear a "POP" noise from each jar, that is the jars vacuum-sealing themselves. And that means they are air-tight and ready to be shipped. I ALWAYS wrap these jars individual in bubble wrap so the glass does not break when the boxes are being thrown around. 

These cakes/bread have lasted for 3 or 4 weeks in my shipping experience and still arrived fresh and moist. It is best to tell your Marine to let the bread air out for 30 min-hour before eating it as well. 

Here is my Thanksgiving Box:

And I managed to find almost everything from a basic Thanksgiving feast that was either canned or microwaveable and thus shippable. =) 

Here is my List:

*Hormel Complete Turkey and Dressing

*Idaho Microwave Mashed Potatoes

*Jar of Gravy

*canned Corn, Green Beans, Olives

*Canned Cranberry

*Homemade Pumpkin Bread in a Jar

*A Football (deflated) with a Pump

*My husband's favorite football teams Flag

You can pretty much throw in anything that has to do with football as well (including pictures and scores from games they might be missing)... I wrote different reasons i was Thankful for my husband and different things I was Thankful for as well on the box.

So Here is my Recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Bread (it turned out perfect):

*3 Cups Sugar   *1 Cup Oil   *4 Eggs (Beaten)   *3 1/2 Cups Flour  

*1 Can Pumpkin   *2 tsp Baking Soda   *2 tsp Salt   *1 tsp Baking Powder

*1 tsp Nutmeg   *1 tsp AllSpice   *1 tsp Cinnamon   *1/2 tsp Cloves

*2/3 cups of water   *Optional: 1/2 Cup of raisins, craisins, or chopped pecans

1. Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

2. Mix Sugar & Oil

3. Add Eggs (Beaten) & Pumpkin

4. Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl

5. Add dry ingredients alternating with the Water to the Pumpkin Mixture

6. Pour into 2-3 Greased (I recommend using PAM Baking Spray) Mason Jars

7. Cook 90 minutes (minimum, most ovens will require a little while longer than this, but remember it will continue cooking even after you pull it out!)

Hope this helped with your USMC birthday and Thanksgiving Boxes!!! I know that my Marine and his unit loved being able to eat something that resembled a Thanksgiving dinner (even though it was all microwave and not close to the real thing... Remember, anything is better than an MRE)

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This is a post about Halloween Care Packages! 

Here is a picture of the one i sent one Halloween: 

(And as I am sure you noticed I like to decorate ALL of my themed/holiday boxes, and my Husband loved it too, He said it made him feel like i poured some of myself into the care package for him)

& In the Package I sent a "pumpkin" (it was a hard foam one from Michael's that i bought for $4 their pre-holiday sale) that i decorated... 

***A good thing to think about is that stores like Michael's & Hobby Lobby will put ALL of their Holiday decor on sale when they put it out about 8-6 weeks Before the holiday. And since it can sometimes take 4-5 weeks to get a package to your loved one, sending Holiday ones a month before the holiday can be a great idea so they receive the package on the actual holiday.***

Since Halloween is a holiday that has become All about Candy, I decided this package would be a perfect one to send the troops some candy. I carved a top off of the foam pumpkin (pictured above) and stuffed it with my husband's favorite candy. I then bought 30 smaller plastic Halloween themed baggies (you can get these at the Dollar Store) and filled them up with other types of candy for him to pass out on his base. (Keep in Mind What the weather is like during this time of year from where you are sending the package, it's route to your loved one, and where they are.... If it is Hot, it is best to NOT use any candy that can melt such as Chocolate!)

Some (non-chocolate) Candy Ideas: Laffy Taffy, Skittles, Mike & Ike's, Starburst, Tootsie Rolls, LifeSavers, Smarties, SweetTarts, Twizzlers, Sour Gummy Worms, Nerds, Gobstoppers

I can tell you that this box was a hit with all of the guys, and they wound up keeping the pumpkin in their space the rest of the deployment as a decoration. 

So other good Halloween Ideas are: Scary Movies, Popcorn, Small Halloween Decor (fake spiders, small skeletons, goofy face masks)

Good Reads

So, my first post will just be two of my favorite books (as well as one exciting upcoming book).

First is Confessions of a Military Wife by Mollie Gross (there is a picture I took of it below). This book is written by a Marine Wife and is great for spouses new to the military way of life, spouses whose Marine is about to deploy, or long time military spouses. She is a comedian and this book will have your laughing so hard you can't breath. It will also have you crying and totally agreeing with her experiences because they are the same that almost ALL of us will or have had. It addresses Military Life in general, and each stage of Deployment (pre, during, and post). Here is a link to her website where you can purchase the book: Mollie Gross

The Second Book is one for You & Your Husband (or Wife), The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman (pictured below, but this is NOT my picture). I recommend this book to every married couple I have ever met (whether you've been married 3 months or 30 years). It goes through each love language and helps you figure out which one you are and details how you can interact with your spouse if their primary love language is different than yours (& it most likely is). Here is a link to his website: 5 Love Languages   

....Rumor is, he is also coming out with ANOTHER The 5 Love Languages Military Edition sometime this year (& I am super excited about it, as is my husband), I found a picture of it on the Web, so it is pictured below as well (once again, it is not my picture). Ladies, even if your Husband is NOT a reader (mine is not!) he will appreciate you asking him to read this once he is finished with it... Not sure if the rumor is true, but this picture showed up on Pinterest, so fingers crossed it is real. 

I Hope you enjoy these books as much as my husband and I did! 

Hello World

Hello Blogger World!

While I am by far NOT a professional Blogger or one of those Amazing Women Bloggers who have endless posts about everything from DIY House Fixer-Uppers to Childcare, I did document different things I went through and made for my Husband while he was Deployed... I am just an every day Marine Wife who is going to school, working part-time, and has a dog, I do not claim to be an expert, but my ideas & thoughts are available for you to use and build off of.

Now I would like to share my ideas with other Military Spouses & Parents out there so you can take care of your Deployed Loved One while they are gone... Some of my ideas were original, and others were modified ideas I have heard of from other friends or discovered on the web. I will credit as much of my posts as I possibly can!

I am going to start off with some GREAT books I HIGHLY recommend to military spouses and We will go from there. It might take me a while to get ALL of the pictures and posts up, but bear with me, I have ideas for almost every month and holiday of the year and then some. Enjoy. =)