Be Our Guest Treats

One of my favorite things about our new house is the room for lots of guests! I love having people come and visit and this new home is perfect for that. One of my favorite things to do is to leave little treats for those visiting to let them know how excited I am that they are there.

I have a tray in one guest room and a basket in another (things I already had in a closet) and fill them with a bunch of standard items each time and then add in a few special treats specific to the guest.

I always include:

• a bottle of water
• snacks of some sort
• mints
• a basket that includes travel size shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash & lotion
• a phone charger (because isn't that the worst to forget yours?)
• a card with our wi-fi network and password on it (because it always feels weird to ask for it)
• a book or two (or magazine)
• a devotional book (if that's not a habit they are used to maybe this would spur them to start?)

Special items I sometimes include depending on the guest: 

• candy or snacks I know they love
• a face mask
• a special book
• a t-shirt
• a fun surprise gift

It doesn't cost much to make someone feel super welcome in your home and you probably have most of the things already in a drawer or cabinet. If you'd like to make your own wi-fi card you can find a fill-able PDF of the wi-fi card I created (I print mine 4 per page) to make your own HERE. 

And I would love to hear suggestions for anything else you think might be fun to include 

or what you do to make your guest feel welcome!

Cards for Your Child Going Away to College

Sending your child away to college is hard y'all. 

It doesn't matter if they are 10 minutes away or 12 hours away. 

It's like sending your heart away and it's hard not to worry that 

you won't be there when they need you. 

So when my sweet girl left for college her freshman year, I bought a bunch of cards, 

wrote in them, labeled them 

(For when you are sad, For when you are sick, for when you are homesick, 

For when you need a reminder you are loved, etc) 

and put them in a box tied with a bow.

My mama did this for me when I went away to Baylor too and

 I remembered how much I loved those handwritten cards. 

Because as much as I loved college, there were times when I so missed my mama 

and those cards were such a sweet reminder of her.

When we moved her into her dorm I placed the box in Madison's drawers to find after we left.

 I wasn't sure if she read them but when we were unpacking her things in her

 new apartment her sophomore year I saw the box.

When she saw me holding the almost empty box- she asked. 

"You are going to write me some more cards, right?" 

So of course I did. 

And as I wrote in them I thought of how much my mama 

would have loved me carrying on that tradition. 

If you have a child headed off to college and want to do this for them- here are the cards from the second year in case you need some ideas other than the ones above.

 (Note: Hobby Lobby has a great selection of cards 

that are perfect for this and are super inexpensive!)

Delivery Driver Treats

Our Amazon delivery drivers are crazy hardworking & so appreciated-

especially this time of year. 

We had 4 deliveries (one before 8am!) Saturday alone! 

So after the third I decided I needed to leave them some little thank you treats! 

I made a little sign and grabbed some Gatorade and snacks and set them on the porch. 

I was super excited to see some missing after the 4th delivery driver left!
My snacks weren't super fabulous since I just used what I had on hand
but when I went to the store today I got some good stuff and lots
more Gatorade- since it seems like everyone has taken that. 

If you'd like to print out your own copy of the note you can find one HERE. 

I printed it out and taped it to a paper sack and my basket came from the Target $ Spot. 

Let's bless those hard working delivery drivers! 

Ring and Run Christmas Fun

Several years ago we did something super fun at Christmas- Ring and Run!

Ring and Run is based very loosely on the song The 12 Days of Christmas

and is kind of a Christmas random acts of Kindness!

I'm not sure who had more fun- us or the family we did it for! 

Here's how it works:

You choose a family to surprise and every day for the 12 days leading up to Christmas 

you leave a little treat on their doorstep along with part of a poem, 

ring their doorbell, and run away!

The year we did it we chose a sweet family with 3 little girls 
and I cannot tell you how much fun we had buying and delivering little treats for them! 

Although this tradition is supposed to be totally anonymous, 

we altered that rule just a bit and let the parents know what we were up to. 

{Sneaking around in someone's front yard might tend to cause the police to get called and 
so we wanted them to know that we were not prowlers or burglars 
and filled them in on what we were doing.}

It was so much fun sneaking up to their front door, leaving a treat, and speeding away!

If you just want a copy of the poem, you can find it HERE.

{Only the first page is listed below but the link is all of the poem!}

I made some fun tags that you can use to print out

to leave with y our gifts- and even included the gift for the night

at the top of each tag.  

You can print out your own tags HERE. 

{Don't try to just save the little images above, they'll be too little and blurry!}

Who can you bless with Christmas Ring and Run?  

Did you know? He loves you so!

Another little treat I added to the gift baskets for the retreat this weekend 

were these super cute little frames. 

Our Michael's always has little frames like this in a
 variety of colors in their $1 bin.

I always have some on hand and have spray painted a ton of them

{after popping off the backs} in a variety of colors

for a variety of different uses. 

{little chalkboards, little pin cushions, little memo boards}

I was lucky enough to find these at Michael's the other day in black and white

 so I didn't even have to paint them- woo hoo!

I just created this little poster, printed it out wallet size at Walgreens, 

trimmed it to fit these super cute frames and they were ready to go! 

There's just something cute about something in a tiny frame- so cute!

Jesus Loves You

Scripture Cards

I've been working on some projects for a retreat this weekend 

for mothers who have lost a child. 

I'm in charge of the gift baskets that will be in the ladies room 

when they arrive on Friday night

 and I've enjoyed working on things for these sweet, grieving ladies.

Last year I made these scripture rings for the ladies.  

This year I wanted to do something with scripture again, 

but wanted it to be different.

So I created these 13 scripture cards, printed them out on cardstock, 

and placed them in these fabulous $0.99 IKEA frames. 

{I love these frames- they are so cute and double sided!}

I put two of the verses in the frame and then packaged the other 11 cards.

I thought the ladies could put them on their bathroom counter, their desk,

 their kitchen counter, their computer- 

anywhere they need a reminder of God's promises.

If you'd like to make your own set you can find the JPG's HERE

{these you can download and print in any size}

and the  81/2 x 11 PDF's HERE or HERE. 

{You'll notice the JPG's have more white space around them than the 

PDF copies so that they would work in the IKEA frame}

Scripture Cards

Bible Blessings

My precious friend Betty is one of the most amazing ladies I've ever known- 

she is godly, so wise, and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. 

She is an incredible teacher, friend, mother {and Gigi}and

 is such a fabulous example and role model to everyone in her life.

She is truly beautiful- inside and out! 

We became friends shortly after my mother died and

 although she's a little young to be my mother she definitely has helped

 to fill that mama role for me and I thank God daily for her. 

Betty recently retired from teaching and moved several hours away 

to her new lake house {I see lots of lake trips in my future!}. 

I'm so happy for her but will miss her SO!

As we prepared for her retirement party 

I began trying to think of a gift idea for her. 

What do you give someone who has made a huge difference

 in your life and in the lives of so many others? 

As I sat down at church one Sunday morning and 

opened my Bible, I had an idea. 

Here's a picture of a page in my Bible.

As you can see I write the date of a verse when I read it. 

I've been doing this for years and absolutely love looking back 

and seeing when I read a verse- 

and thinking about what was going on in my life during that time. 

It's like a history of my scripture reading and I love that! 

As I looked at my Bible I thought of how neat it would be to give

sweet Betty a new Bible to take with her- 

full of all of her friends favorite Bible verses. 

So I purchased a new Bible for her along with some pens and highlighters. 

At her retirement party I set out the Bible with a sign for everyone to find

and highlight their favorite verses and then write their name next to it. 

It was so neat to see what verses people highlighted as their favorites! 

I plan to do this at Madison's graduation party {just 2 years away- eek}

and let all those people who have impacted her life highlight 

their favorite verses and then send it to college with her. 

How great will it be to have godly wisdom and advice from those she loves? 

My Sweet Sister

For my 41st birthday most of you know I did

41 Random Acts of Kindness  {and 40 last year} 

and asked my friends and family to each do 

one random act of kindness in honor of my birthday.  

It truly is the best gift EVER- knowing others are blessed! 

Well today I received the BEST 

belated Random Act of Kindness email from my sister.  

It was so very sweet it brought me to tears.  

She is precious and I love her! 

Here is what she did in her own words: 

A very delayed RAoK. :-) 

So, this post showed up on my local Freecycle list. 

"[HoustonFreecycle] WANTED: Extra Food and Juices/Drinks ( near her house) 

No money left for groceries til first week in August. Need any unwanted or extra items that you will not need. Good peanut butter (creamy), jams, snack foods, cookies, ground beef, pork, chicken, etc. Haven't eaten meat in about 1 month. Milk (whole). Local pantries nearly empty and cannot make meals out of offerings. I'm HIV+ due to transfusion in 1980 and good nutrition is imperative to those living with this. I never dreamed that I would be asking for help in this area and I am greatly humbled /embarrassed in doing so. Thank you."

I thought about it for a day. I mean, you never know about people on Freecycle. They could be lying or whatever. I finally decided that it couldn't hurt to email the person and find out more, especially since they don't live far away. 

We traded a few emails and he gave me a small grocery list. He said that food pantries give out things (like meal mixes) that need other things (like meat or milk) to become a meal, which meant that he needed odd stuff. So, I took his list and went to the Walmart Neighborhood Market. I bought just about everything on his list. Granted, most of it was store brand, but it was food. 

He met me in the parking lot of the store to get the groceries. I was handing him bags to put in the back of his car and he seemed surprised when I kept handing them to him. I finally had to explain that everything in the cart was for him, that I did my own shopping last week. He almost started crying because he couldn't believe it. He talked about paying me back on the 3rd, when he gets his next disability check, but I told him not to worry about it, to just pay it forward. Then I told him about my sister and her RAoK. :-) 

He asked if he could give me a hug (I said yes), we chatted for a few minutes and then we both went our separate ways. I'll probably never see him again, but I was able to help him out with food for the next 11 days and that's what is important. 

So there's my RAoK for your birthday. It's the best $50 I ever spent. :-)

Isn't that awesome? I love her so!

Scripture Rings

My sweet friend Susan asked me to make some scripture rings 

for a retreat she and two other ladies are hosting this weekend. 

 The retreat is a very special retreat- 

only for those mothers who have lost children

 and I was honored to do something to help.

 Although a tad time consuming, 

these are super easy to make and a great way to

share scriptures with someone.  

Here's how to make them:

1. Print out the scriptures

 {see printables below or make your own using a business card template}

and cut them out. 

2. Cut out scrapbook paper into rectangles a

 tiny bit larger than your scripture cards.

I used a different kind of paper for each verse.

{I used a paper cutter and it was much faster!}

3. Glue the scripture cards on top of the scrapbook rectangles. 

4. Take the string off of the tags

{I used these tags}

and glue the scrapbook rectangle in the center of the tag. 

5. Take a book ring and put thru the hole in a set of tags. 

6. Grab a few pieces of ribbon and tie to the ring

and you are done. 

These are awesome to put on your desk,

in your purse or to give as a gift!

You can download the verses HERE. 

I {heart} you because................

I saw this idea on the internet somewhere 

{I don't remember where I saw it, if it was you
 please comment and I'll be happy to give you credit}

and I immediately loved it and knew I had to do it! 

So easy and so inexpensive and such a fun idea! 

You just buy a frame,

 {Walmart or the Dollar Store or even spray paint a frame you already have}

print out the card below in whatever size your frame is,
{there are four different styles in the download- 
the polka dot one shown above is number 3}

place it in the frame. 

Add a thin dry erase with a cute ribbon

and it's ready to go! 

You just write on the glass the reason you love someone
along with their name, and simply erase when you want to change it!
How fun is that?

You could make a big one and hang it on the wall 

or small ones and place them on the dining room table

or even make one for each member of your family 

and hang them on their bedroom doors. 

i heart you

Happy Signs

I'm working on some of my Random Acts of Kindness for tomorrow

 and made 8 Happy Signs to use.

I'm going to stick them on mirrors in bathrooms,
 insides books in a store, 

inside the diaper changing stations at restaurants,

 and a few other random places. 

Just thought I'd share in case someone else wanted
 to print and use some!

There are 8 total designs so be sure to look at all 8!


{if you saw these late last night when I posted them there was a mistake. 
 I've fixed it and below are the new ones!}

happy signs

Random Acts of Kindness by My Sweet Friends

I know I am blessed with precious friends and family. 

I don't for a second take that for granted.

 But I think this birthday truly showed me

 how amazingly kind and loving and creative and good  

and big hearted my friends are. 

So many fulfilled my birthday wish
 by performing random acts of kindness

 in my honor on my birthday that it was overwhelming to me.

I truly can't tell you how fun it was to get texts, emails,

 and Facebook messages all day long telling me of their good deeds. 

Some even took pics- which I loved and so many were SO very creative! 

It truly was like getting present after present 
and it absolutely made my day!!

So here, in no particular order, they are:

Amanda: Made cookies for her daughters bus driver

Donna: 
1. Cleaned her friend Martha's kitchen
2. Made coffee
3. Fed the cat for her

Darby: Made her parents bed for them

Jen G: Took Route 44 Sonic drinks to the EMS station in her town.  The other paramedics were out on ambulance runs, but this man, Joe, accepted the drinks on everyone's behalf and will pass them out when everyone returns to the station!

Kelly: 1. Her husband has five guys that work for him at Sherwin Williams and she brought them cookies to work during her lunch.  

2. She took some flowers to a lady that works at her baby's daycare, Cindy.  Her mother's health is not well and she lives very far away from here.  Cindy is struggling with what to do about that situation.  So she  gave her some flowers and a card telling her that she was praying for her.  

Jeana: Paid for the person behind her in line at Starbucks. 


Jared: Bought lunch for the girl in front of him in line at Quizzno's.


Stacey S: 1. Taped change to 3 vending machines at work
 2. Paid for the person behind her in line at Sonic.


Dia: 1. Took baby clothes to a local home for pregnant teens 
2. Took Girl Scout cookies to the construction workers near her house. 
(The GS cookies were as a tribute to our GS days- troop 2211!)


Sharen G: 1. Kidnapped a friend and brought her out to their property
 to see the wildflowers in bloom
2. Paid for the car behind her at Chicken Express.


Shannon W: 
1. Washed and folded towels for a sweet friend whose dryer was broken

2. Took Gatorade to the construction workers by her house.

3. Took sweet treats to the firehouse. 

 

4. Gave away cookies at Jimmy John's. 

 

Lori: Took a much needed neb mask to sweet baby Mykah. 

Kim: 1. Gave a friend a gift of a cute little chubby bird

2. Bought dinner for a friend

Luke: Picked up trash at the gas station. 

Charly: 

1. While taking pics of a pregnant mother,

 she ended up helping to deliver the baby! 

That is a serious HUGE RAOK!

2. Decorated a bucket and clipboard for

 the math specialist at her school. 

Sally:

1. Found a $ on the group, knew it wasn't a young mom's 

but pretended it was and returned it. 

2. Wrote an email bragging on a co-worker and sent it to their supervisor. 

DeAnn: Took goody bags to her son's daycare workers.

Suzan: 

1. Gave a tip the same size as the cost of her lunch to the drive thru girl

2. Spent an extra hour at a patient's house

3. Took some chocolate to a friend's house

4. Left a bowl of chocolate at the home health office

5. Left a gift card and a note of encouragement on the door of an older

 travel trailer parked in the Wal-mart parking lot. 

(Her sweet kids Jess and Luke also contributed money to this too!)

6. Left a gift card of their mailman. 

Karen O: Offered to keep her babysitters daughter for the night and take her to school the next morning because the babysitter is having surgery. 

Debbie M: Picked up all the neighbors trash cans because it was a windy day and they had all blown down the street. 

Jessica: 

1. Bought a gift certificate at the teacher supply store with instructions for the owner to give it to a teacher in need. 

2. Let her two year old hit her in the head with a blue balloon while shopping. 

3. Left coupons all over the store for anything she had coupons for. 

Sharon: Had an extra long visit with her Nanny. 

Robin: Watched a lady's things in the waiting room while her husband was in surgery. 

Sherri B: Picked up my daughter and fed her dinner since I went out of town with Dory. 


Stacy G: Paid for a drink and chip combo for the next person at Circle K. 

Wendy and family: 
1. Picked flowers in school yard and passed them out to old people at Wal-mart
2. Gave a $20 gift card to the person behind them at Wal-mart
3. Delivered 2 pizzas to 2 families as their surprise dinner
(love this idea- so fun!)
4. Took donuts to the firemen by their house

Karen P: 

1. Paid for an elderly couple's meal at Wendy's

2. Took a complete stranger home from AMCMS after 

dropping her daughter off at volleyball practice. 

(The next time she saw him he thanked her again and gave her a rose. How sweet is that?)

Amy: She did something but wants to tell me in person so I'm not sure what it was! 

Betty and Jenny: Anonymously gave a cash gift to a single mom in need. 

Peggy:

1. Bought lunch for the office staff

2. Didn't honk at the drivers who cut her off in traffic

Diana D: Made a birthday cake for a friend who did not get to celebrate her birthday

Mary Beth: Made a donation to a family with three small children whose father was killed in a motorcycle accident. 

Martie: Made gluten free brownies for Jessica

Bonnie: Wrote a letter to her husband's cousin who is getting a divorce.

Erin: 

1. Sent chocolate and notes to the bank tellers

2. Left a sweet treat for the mailmain

3. Paid for the Sonic drink of the person behind her in line

Lana: Gave flowers to the secretary at her school

Tony: Bought drinks for the 6 workers working for him

Jamee:

1. Took fudge pops to the ER

2. Took magazines to the ER

3. Left new sidewalk chalk at the park. 

4. Bought coffee for 2 people at McDonald's

5. Left a note on a friend's car

6. Made coffee for her husband (which is usually something he does)

Hannah: 

Left a quarter by the candy machine at the mall

Dory: Rode all over creation with me, put up with my insane idea, 

and took pictures of all of my 40 RAOK. 

That is a grand total of 80 Random Acts of Kindness! 

Add in my 40 and that is a total of 

120 Random Acts of Kindness

 done on March 29th. 

How cool is that? 

It truly is amazing and brings tears to my eyes. 

I am blessed beyond measure.

Note: If I didn't include your RAoK and you did one-
 please either email me or leave me a comment and I'll be sure to add it to the list!