Disneyland - Care Package

I am so excited to finally have another care package post. I have been totally slacking in the care package department. When Joe first deployed, I was sending a care package once every two weeks. But, after the move and starting a new job, I think it has been almost a month. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to at least once every three weeks. I made sure to make this care package a good one. I have a bunch of really awesome things in my mind of what a great care package should be, but most of my ideas really take some time and planning. I knew from the moment that I got my Joe Doll, that I needed to take him to Disneyland! It is my favorite place in California and it gave me an excuse to take a picture with all of the characters (not that I needed one).

The finished box!

My main idea for this box as to go to the park and get as many signatures in an autograph book and get a picture with me, Joe Doll, and the character. It was so much fun and everyone was so thankful for what Joe is doing. My sister and I were able to get the book filled up by noon! Later this week I will share with you another secret of Disneyland and how I got to meet all of the characters. But for now, here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Back to the box,  I went to Michaels and found some really cute paper and stickers. I decided that I would put Disney quotes on the main flaps of the box and I even put some on the outside of the box (there were way to many good ones that I couldn't leave out). 

Inside of this box I put the following items:

• An autograph book with signatures and pictures
• Chocolate and caramel popcorn from the park
• Mickey Mouse rice crispy treat
• Chip and Dale Pretzels
• Mickey Mouse head shaped "gold fishes" (Joe loves Gold Fish)
• Candy from the Candy Shop at Disneyland (Joe's favorite, Candy Corn) 
• Cookies, Crackers, and all kinds of snacks
• More water enhancers, Mio
• More wipes 

The autograph book couldn't have came out any better. I loved that the characters where all very excited about the Joe Doll and some even left personalized "thank you" notes to him. 

This is one of my favorite boxes that I have done. Disneyland is my favorite place to go and I am so happy I was able to share that with Joe. We will be going to Disney World early January and I am planning on getting an autograph book there and getting pictures with all of the characters with me and the real Joe! 

Check out my other Boxes:

• Favorite Sports Team
• Oh the places we will go
• Honey, I Shrunk the Care Package
• Zombies are Coming
• 4th of July
• Hello Summer

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Hello Summer - Care Package

Another Care Package sent and received, means that I am two more weeks closer to seeing my soldier! I must admit, I try to think out side of the box when it comes to care packages, rather then just going with the normal holidays, for very selfish reasons. I am the worse person when it comes to shipping things. I can't seem to get anything in the mail at a reasonable time. So rather then meeting a deadline for a holiday, I just do random care packages. 

This time around I was very all over the place when it came to the theme. I really wanted to do a Hawaii themed box with all of the goodies that I brought home from my awesome trip to Hawaii in May (see I told you I am horrible at shipping things in a timely manor). But for some strange reason, I couldn't find any Hawaii themed scrapbook paper. You would have thought that all of the time off I had for my surgery that this package would have been amazing! But I must say, it was just mediocre.

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For this package I sent all of my Hawaii stuff along with photos from my photo shoot! I think that was the saving grace, because Joe seemed to LOVE it!

I included the following:

• Photo book made with all of my photos from Hawaii - I made it with MixBook
• Photos in magnetic frames - his walls in his room are metal so they are perfect to hang up the photos
• Stephanie Doll - He was very excited to get this. You can get one of yourself or your soldier at www.daddydolls.com
• A Nike Running Watch - We are running our first full marathon in Jan 2014! So he needs to start paying more attention to how long his runs are. I was a bit nervous to send the watch (it is the highest price item that I have sent) but everything arrived safely!
• Mauna Loa Chocolate - This is from Hawaii and so yummy. I am sure that my days of sending chocolate are over. This batch got to him melted, but he ate it anyways. 
• Gourmet Pineapple Bits- Also from Hawaii
• Loofah Soap - From Hawaii, it has some stuff in it that repeals bugs.
• A hula girl for his desk- From Hawaii
• Ghirardelli Squares - Melted...
• Jif To Go- Chocolate dip, this looked so good. He loves chocolate, if you haven't been able to tell. I may be able to send this to him because it is suppose to be melted.
• Other snacks - Gold Fish, Graham Crackers, Gum, Chocolate!
• Baby Wipes- Sometimes I will send him things he needs. I am not completely sure what he uses the wipes for, but I have sent them a few times. 
• Air Fresheners - for his room and office.

Although this box had no real theme, I am happy with the result. It's always nice to send things he needs with the things I want to send to him.

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4th of July - Care Packages

I created the below post for my guest post on Mal Smiles! I just wanted to re-post it on my blog for anyone who needs a little bit of care package inspiration. :) I am sure most of you have already seen this!

xoxo,
Steph

Hi! I am Stephanie and I am a brand new blogger over at Living in the Moment! I am so excited to be a guest blogger for Mal. She was one of the first blogs that I really started to follow and I always enjoy reading about her day to day life. Mal and I have a few things in common. We both have men in the Army, we are both are fitness enthusiast, and we will both be moving to Colorado in the fall. I have really enjoyed getting to know her better and I can't wait to meet her in person!

On my blog you will find a variety of lifestyle topics, everything from health, fitness, family, and deployment. But one of my favorite things that I like to blog about are care packages. My soldier is currently deployed and I have really enjoyed making him themed care packages. I normally like to think outside of the box when it comes to the theme and not go with the traditional themes.

But, this time around I wanted to send 3 boxes, 1 for Joe and 2 for the soldiers that work in his office. I don't really  know much about his soldiers and I have only met them once.  So, I decided that it was safe/best to just stick with good old 4th of July themed boxes.

For these boxes I used the medium flat rate boxes, I normally use the large ones because they are less than $15 to ship and "if it fits, it ships". I prefer to used these flat rate boxes because they are free, they ship quickly (this batch took about a week), and they are easy to get. To decorate the boxes I always go to Michael or any other craft store and get scrapbook paper and stickers. As a rule of thumb I like to get 5 pages of paper per box, this will cover the entire inside of the box.


For these boxes, I filled them with a lot of snacks and fun little things to keep them entertained. I have found that the following snacks ship really well:

• Sun Flower Seeds, Beef Jerky, Pop Corn, Individual packed snacks (I send individual packed snacks because they are easy to pack and great for him to take on a mission or to work), Gum, Hard Candy (It is getting too hot to send Chocolate, but I have sent it in the cooler months and it has arrived fine), Drink Mix (Mio or Propel Single serve) 

The guys received their packages a day before the 4th and were thrilled to get them. Below you will find links to some of my other care packages that I have blogged about. Each one is filled with different ideas and tips. 

Zombie Theme / Honey I Shrunk the Care Package / Travel Theme / Syracuse Theme

Thanks Mal for letting me guest post and for being such a great Smile Sister. I have learned many things about blogging from you and am excited for what's ahead. I hope you will all stop by my blog and say hello! 

BlogLovin / Twitter / Instagram

My Joe Doll!

About a month ago, I decided that I wanted to find a way to take Joe with me where ever go. I came up with a few ideas and finally decided on how I would do this. I stumbled upon a website that creates dolls (pillows) for kids for when their dad is deployed, www.daddydolls.com. At first I thought that it was a bit strange to have a doll with Joe's picture on it. But then I just did it. Who says that only kids can have a daddy doll? This was one of the best things that I have bought.

Now, I can take Joe with me where ever I go. I just got my Joe Doll a few weeks ago and he has already been in the cockpit, been on a fire truck, been to Texas, been with me to get my surgery, and many more places. Here is a tiny sample of the places he has been!

I am also very excited that Joe's Steph Doll just arrived yesterday in the mail! I will be shipping her out to Afghanistan today! I can't wait to see what photo idea's Joe can come up with. 

I have a few more ideas about where my Joe Doll will go. Keep checking back to see where he pops up. I really wish I thought of this before he left! 

Do you have any cleaver ideas for deployments?

Am I crazy for having a doll that looks like my boyfriend?

Zombies are Coming!! - Care Package

I am so excited for Joe to get this care package! I have been wanting to make it for a while now, but every time I go to make it I get another genius idea. I have a few more ideas brewing, however I decided to make this care package. I got the idea of sending a zombie themed package because Joe was reading World War Z. To be honest, I am not even sure if he liked the book. I was a bit nervous that this wasn't going to come out as planned. I have seen many zombie boxes on instagram and they don't look clean (which I guess could be the look that you can go for). I am very happy with the outcome of the box.

Inside of the box I included the following:

• Walking Dead Season 1
• 10 Zombie Movies
• The Zombie Survival Guide 
• Nerf Gun - To shoot Zombies
• Nerf Ammo 
• Zombie Targets - these were given to me from a shooting range 
• Zombie Repellent - Sunscreen
• Smelly Shoe Balls - To keep his shoes smelling good, Zombies can smell feet from miles away
• Gushers, Fruit Roll Ups, Fruit by the foot - I like to send him these sugary snacks because I don't eat them and they will not be in our house. Hopefully he enjoys them while it lasts.
• Popcorn- to eat while he watches the movies

I also included a little note addressed to him letting him know that Zombies are coming!! Hopefully he enjoys this care package as much as I enjoyed making it!

Honey, I Shrunk the Care Package!!

This has been one of my favorite care packages that I have made. Who doesn't love miniature things? I got this idea from a Instagram page that I follow and I knew that it was on the short list of ideas. I pride myself in not sending just a box with stuff. I set the bar really high and I have been told the his soldiers enjoy seeing the decorated packages as well. 

I went to Target to get most of the thinks in the package. The first place I went to was the travel section, I stocked up on travel sized toiletries. I pretty much got one of everything. Next, I went over to the snack/food section at Target. Who knew that there were so many mini-items?! Joe LOVES root beer, so I made sure that I got a six pack of the tiny cans of soda. We normally don't drink any soda, but I figured that 8 oz cans are not going to hurt. Next, I did a quick sweep of the store to find anything mini. I found a mini version of the book "Me Without You". My sister also found a tiny Readers Digest. I even topped the box with a mini frame with a picture of use from our trip to Disneyland and a tiny card. Joe is either going to love it or think I am strange. But either way, I am sure it will bring a smile to his face and that's what is most important. 

Some of the things in the box!

For this box I used the medium flat rate box at the post office. I normally send the large flat rate box, but since the theme was Honey, I Shrunk the Care Package, I used a smaller box. I was able to duplicate the logo to the movie really quickly in Word. The typography is not perfect, but it gets the point across. For the inside of the box I used some scrap book paper that I had in a pack of paper that I got on clearance at Michaels, the pack was Robot Theme. 

I love the nuts and bolts paper.

Items in the box:

• Mini snacks
• Soda, beef jerky, gum, raisins, york peppermint patties, trail mix, nuts, granola bars
• Travel sized toiletries
• Shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, a mini loofa, face wash, deodorant,  hand sanitizer, sun screen, gold bond
• Random things
• Tiny magazine, mini book, tiny post-its, a extra small frame with a picture of us, mini lint rollers

Hopefully he loves it!

Oh The Places We'll Go! - Care Package

This week I sent two care packages. One had baked goods and my boyfriend is expecting this box. The other one is our Anniversary box and he has no idea that it is coming! I sent it a few days after the baked goods box. We will be traveling to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand later this year with friends of ours so I decided to make a travel themed box.

In the Box I've included the following:

• Lonely Planet Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas, & Northern Thailand Book - He loves to planning for our vacation, I figured this will give him more ideas
• Time Magazine - Travel Edition 
• 1,000 Places to See Before you Die - So that he can start picking out our next trip 
• Paper Fortune Cookies - I saw these at Michaels, in the Smash section and thought "How Cute" They didn't come out as cute as I thought they would but I am sure he will get it
• Graham Crackers-He has been asking for these for a few weeks now and I always forget them 
• Individual Bags of Goldfish - He really likes pre-packaged individual sizes of snacks so he doesn't over eat. Goldfish are his favorite
• Pop Corn - another good snack to have on hand
• Granola Bars- just a snack that he likes
• Candy Corn - impossible to find this time of year, but I got lucky and found it while on a mini trip to Las Vegas
• Mio- He really likes stuff like Mio to add to his water 

This box was featured on an Instagram Page! Check it out. @militarycarepackageideas I get a lot of inspiration from this page!

Quick Facts about care packages:

• I use the Large Flat Rate box from the Post Office
• 5 sheets of standard scrapbook paper will cover the inside of the box
• I use scrapbooking supplies to decorate: stickers, cutouts, photo corners (always use photo corners so that he can take the picture off of the box and use it)
• It takes 7 days to 15 days to get there. (from Los Angeles to Kandahar) 

Care Packages

My boyfriend has been deployed for a few months now and I always try to make it a point to send a care package every 2 weeks. I think I may have out did myself on the very first one. I wanted to make it special, so I went to the internet of course. I spent days looking at Pinterest and Instagram for ideas and then it hit me ... March Madness... He is a huge Syracuse fan.This is what I came up with.

I now try to reach this level of creativity when I send my packages. I have brainstormed with everyone from my closest friends to my family to the instagram community. It has been a fun way to keep the time moving, yet still allows me to spend some time with my sisters (they often help me make the packages). I am so proud of my boyfriend and if it makes him happy then I will continue to make packages until he comes home.

If you would like to see more of my care packages you can check out my Instagram!