Breakfast in a Box

Anyone like me with a mom or mother-in-law who has everything? And you could really use a gift idea where it's the thought that counts? I found this idea a few weeks ago while browsing the latest Martha Stewart magazine at the library. It sounded fabulous and I knew it was something that my mother-in-law would find sweet and clever (at least I hope she does :)

I didn't go all out and make granola. In fact, Tony doesn't even think his mom eats much cereal, so I hoped that a variety pack of flavored oatmeal would suffice and I am pretty sure that she loves Earl Gray tea.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I started bubble wrapping everything. So a written description will have to do until I can get my father-in-law to snap a photo for me. I found a pretty stoneware bowl and matching cup at Wal-mart, both with a painted fruit border along the rim. I wrapped five packets of oatmeal with sheer sage green ribbon (so pretty!) and placed it inside the bowl. I wrapped all twenty bags of the tea in packs of five with the same ribbon (going up instead of around) and placed one pack inside the cup. I found the most adorable bamboo serving tray probably 9x12 at Dollar Tree. The bowl and cup fit on it perfectly with little room to spare.

So there you go, if you live a ways from your mother or mother-in-law and aren't able to be with them on their special day, you can still treat her to breakfast...in a box!

Bows Bigger than Their Buns

Okay, that title is a little inside joke but the other day while shopping at Target, Kerrigan saw these bows that were HUGE and she immediately decided that she needed one to top her gift to Uncle Lauren. I looked at the five dollar price tag and decided it probably wasn't an absolute necessity.

A few days later, I stopped in at the Dollar Tree to pick up tissue paper and saw that they had the same size bows for $1...a little - okay, a lot - easier to swallow. I grabbed three of them figuring that Britnee and Janae would most definitely feel left out if they didn't have one for Liz's and Shamu's gifts. Kerrigan was estatic as were the other two girls. These are just so much fun!

After I took the photo I realized that you would not get the full effect of the size even if I told you the box it tops was a boot box. So I decided to give you a more visual comparison. The red bow below is sitting on a dinner plate. Now go get one out of your cupboard and be amazed :)

Love-Hate Relationship

Those things I used to hate, I now love...is that from the Bible? Whether or not it is, I don't think this is a spiritual application. It's simply the facts. Go back with me to November 1993. Newlyweds receive a package in the mail from California. The box was shipped from the store itself (can't remember the name but it sounded fancy). I open the box and lying on the top of the contents is a card signed by some distant cousin of my husband that even he does not know. I eagerly begin to pull out what I assume to be a very "in style" set of dishes...out west that is. Because the style certainly hadn't hit Michigan yet!

Now you have to understand that I am the type of person that is not good with change. I have to be exposed to something new a long time before I begin to like it. I like car styles when they are going OUT. So for me to accept these trendy dishes as cool was beyond me. I have a friend on the other hand who though they were pretty cool. Too bad I showed them to her. I could have re gifted them when she got married 9 months after me.

Well, here we are almost 14 years later and though they do not go with my decor (if I even have a decor anymore...I used to love to decorate...used to being the operative phrase...sigh!) and though I am missing a couple bread plates and though I really have no room for them in my buffet, I am having the hardest time getting rid of these dishes. See? Those things I used to hate, I have come to love.

So I think instead of giving them away or throwing them out or selling them in a garage sale, I shall retire them for a while. (Anyone have a box the perfect size for packing a set of dishes?) Who knows, maybe when I get back to decorating they will match my decor perfectly :)