MereKopal, Author at Making Memories With My Minis

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

June 3, 2022

I feel like Father’s Day gift ideas are hard to come by because what do you get the man who already has everything??? When I ask my dad or husband for ideas the usual reply is, “I don’t need anything.” Obviously, they’re still getting something so I tried to get creative and put together a list of father’s day gift ideas that both dad & grandpa would appreciate.

Pottery

Something handmade by the kids is obviously a great go-to gift for relatives. Last year the girl’s helped decorate this plate for their dad since he loves to grill out. We went to a local paint and pottery place and although momma did most of the work the girls still had fun lending a hand print to make these.

Beer Cake/Tower

You can never go wrong with getting any guy beer, right? My hubby loves his craft brew so I had this made last year for his birthday although I think it would also make a great father’s day gift! He probably wouldn’t even mind getting this gift more than once! HEB put this one together for me. Pricing depends on the type of beer you select and on the quantity, they can do as much or as little as you want.

Golf Tee Holders

Tell dad or grandpa that they are tee-rific with some golf tees holders. My dad is an avid golfer so this is something we will probably get for him. I found a few different kinds of these on Amazon, both at very good price points!

Brief Case/Weekender Bag

I splurged on one of these from Pottery Barn for a Christmas gift one year and I’m so glad I did because it gets used ALL the time! This style is no longer available but they have other really nice options. This style of bag is so versatile it can easily be used as a weekender bag, briefcase, a carry-on bag for the plane, a nice gym bag, etc… I also found a few very reasonably priced bags like this on Amazon.

Docking Station

I love this multi-purpose wooden docking station, this one is only $28! It can easily hold everything in dad’s pockets and will help keep him more organized! This is another style of docking station on Amazon for only $39.

Monogrammed Wallet

Love this wallet by an etsy shop called PEGAI. This type of wallet is sold for $55 and I love the classic look and style. My hubby’s wallet could not be more worn so we will definitely be purchasing one of these in the near future.

Etched Beer Glass with Kid’s Names

I may have saved the best for last… How cute is this etched glass beer mug with the kid’s birthdays??? I ordered this one for my hubby after our third and final little one was born! I found this mug on Etsy from a shop called Everything Etched AZ. This mug is only $13.99 plus shipping and it’s been a long-time favorite of my hubby’s!

Want to add to this list? Please comment below or feel free to reach out via the contact page!

by MereKopal

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Mama Must-Haves

Lemonade Stand Tips For First-Timers

July 1, 2021

My girls had been asking for well over a year if they can sell lemonade and we finally decided to just go for it! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, I figured we would either have zero response or an overwhelming one and luckily we had the latter! The girls were so excited about how much lemonade they were able to sell and loved serving all of the neighborhood kids! There are a few things I wish we had done differently so I figured I would share our list of lemonade stand tips for first-timers to help anyone else who wants to have a successful lemonade stand experience!

This multipurpose lemonade stand was given to the girls for their birthday last year and it worked out perfectly for our sale! They use it in our playroom year-round and even host puppet shows from behind it! The wheels make it easy to transport and the cute design is just precious!

I made this double-sided lemon sign for my youngest to wear since she can’t hold up a sign for very long. I found this yellow foam board from Hobby Lobby which you can also find on Amazon or from most craft stores.

We cut it into the shape of a lemon and hole punched two holes at the top and tied string through so it could easily rest on her shoulders. The older girls decorated neon yellow poster boards with lemons and wrote “lemonade here!”

Quick tips for a sucessful lemonade stand:

Set your price and make it visible. We went with .25 cents per glass and wrote it on the chalkboard of the stand.
Make sure the kids know that not everyone will stop for lemonade. When we first set up at the front of our neighborhood it took a good 15 minutes before we got our first customer. The kids got a little discouraged at first but then we luckily started getting lots of traffic. I wish I had taken the time to explain that this might happen before we got out there!
Pick a highly visible area. We set up at the entrance of our neighborhood not far from a busy road.
Decorations help! Lots of people stopped just to say how much they adored the cute setup, and balloon garland then I could tell they felt obligated to buy some lemonade 🙂 It doesn’t have to be elaborate but I think people appreciate seeing the effort that was put into the stand. Our lemonade garland and balloons both came from Amazon.
Assign everyone a job. Assign each kiddo with a task that way when several customers show up at once you can dish out the drinks quickly. This is the pitcher and lemonade jar we used. One of my daughters took the money while the other poured the drinks.
Have lots of change! We needed a ton of change and I’m so glad I had brought some. Lots of people were SO generous to give the girls lots of extra $$.
Spread the word in advance. I messaged a few neighbors and some friends and family the day before and told them when we would be out so we could for sure get some guaranteed customers.
Have fun!!! It’s a great first lesson in entrepreneurship, I hope your kiddos enjoy it!

Please feel free to leave any other good tips or questions in the comments section below! Also, please feel free to reach out anytime via the contact page!

by MereKopal

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Fun & Affordable Party Ideas

101 Dalmatians Halloween Costume

August 31, 2020

As long as my kids want me to be a part of their Halloween costume theme I am here for it! My hubby on the other hand is a little harder to convince to get in on the fun! 😉 Last fall, the girls had recently watched 101 Dalmatians for the first time so we decided to dress up as Cruella De Vil and the Dalmatians from the movie. I was so excited about this theme because it was very easy to put together and I already owned most of the pieces for my costume (minus the cigarette holder). I loved getting the girl’s input on how they wanted to dress up for their 101 Dalmatians Halloween costume.

The older girl’s costumes can be found on Amazon. I love that these have fur-trimmed skirts making them more girly Dalmatians.

I splurged a little on my youngest’s outfit from Pottery Barn Kids because it was just too adorable to pass up. This was also her first real Halloween since she was only a month old at this time last year.

My entire Cruella attire was all found in the back of my closet except for the red gloves and pretend cigarette holder which can both be found on Amazon.

I also ordered some temporary white hair dye but it didn’t work out so I opted for baby powder instead. The baby powder instantly turned my hair white but the effect didn’t last too long so I had to re-do it a few times that night. If I had a do-over I would just get a Cruella wig like this one instead.

It’s fun seeing how others dress up for the same theme. I love how these sisters coordinated their adorable Dalmatian outfits! Check out reallyareyouserious.com to see how they created these darling costumes.

I’m still on the hunt for a cute family Halloween costume theme for this year. If you have good ideas please drop them in the comments below or feel free to reach out to www.makingmemorieswithmyminis.com/contact.

by MereKopal

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Savings & Deals

Boo Basket Ideas

October 9, 2019

Booing our neighbors is an activity my girls look forward to every year! They also love the surprise of getting “boo’ed” and trying to figure out which one of the neighbors left a fun present on our doorstep. Some years I get in a little rut on what to put in our basket besides the candy that everyone gets plenty of on Halloween. Luckily, we found lots of great options this year that I want to share in case anyone is in need of some new boo basket ideas!

The first place we hit up was the Target dollar spot (naturally). We ended up going to two different stores because as soon as the Halloween decor gets set out it gets snatched up – fast!!! We did end up finding a lot of great options all for $3 or less.

My girls love the mess-free markers and mama does too for obvious reasons! These were on sale for $3 in the Target Dollar Spot. Bullseyes Playground has so many cute toy options that are all extremely affordable!

Target also has an entire booing supplies section on its website. One of the neighbors we planned to boo has a boy in first grade, so I figured these gory bouncy eye balls would be a fun choice for him. We also added these fake witch fingernails for their older daughter to play with.

Halloween stickers are an easy no-brainer to add to the basket. Target also had some cute Halloween pencils and magnetic notepads I thought were really cute!

How darling is this little pumpkin cookie cuter my sister-in-law found? I love the way she tied it to a bag of cookie dough! This one is only .99 cents from Target.

I love putting together a little something for the mom’s too. This year I added an inexpensive, but very tasty bottle of wine in this Halloween bag and added some cute “boozin” napkins. These are from Pier 1 Imports.

Here is a link to the above “You’ve been boozed” free printable. I’ll also include the link for the free boo printable that we used.

Our basket, stick pumpkins, and vampire’s teeth were all found at the Dollar Tree!

What do you like to add to your boo baskets? I always want new ideas! Comment below or reach out to
http://makingmemorieswithmyminis.com/contact/.

by MereKopal

8 Comments

Mama Must-Haves

Teeth Whitening For Coffee Stains

September 16, 2019

I love the saying “life is what happens between coffee and wine” because those two beverages are pretty much what keeps this mama going! Naturally those dark colored drinks aren’t doing any favors for my teeth. Over time I started noticing less of a white smile in a lot of our family photos so I was very excited to be approached by Smile Br!lliant to review their at-home professional kit to help teeth whitening for coffee stains.

When I learned that the first step I needed to take was to make a mold of my teeth for the whitening trays I had instant flash backs of gagging on clay molding trays at the orthodontist about 20 years ago. (That kind of torture will stay with you forever). However, the molding trays were extremely easy to use! I had no trouble making the impressions, and it was effortless to drop them in their pre-paid package and stick in the mail to send out to the lab. Not even a week later my finished trays arrived!

I received the whitening trays and began whitening my teeth every evening. I love to read a good book at night so I simply popped in my trays before reading and it became a part of my night time routine.

My teeth have always been extra sensitive so I used the desensitizing gel provided in the kit and noticed a huge difference in sensitivity when I consistantly used the gel after whitening sessions.

As mentioned this mama really can’t go a day without coffee and I was afraid that would affect my results but luckily the desensitizing gel
helps close the pores on your teeth faster – which also helps prevent re-staining! I still used a straw when sipping my morning Starbucks to help minimize stains.

After just one week of using the whitening trays I could see a huge difference in the brightness of my smile, which really makes you feel confident all over. I continued using the trays every other day for a total of 12 days and I still have some product left over for touch-ups later on!

Here is a look at the before and after results of my teeth whitening. I love the noticeable difference and how easy this entire process was!

I’m so excited to partner with Smile Br!lliant to giveaway this great product! Click the link below to enter a professional at-home teeth whitening kit by Smile Brill!ant, a $150 value! Good luck!!!

Click here for chance to win:

www.smilebrilliant.com/g/makingmemorieswithmyminis

Also feel free to shop 15% off store wide code using my code: makingmemorieswithmyminis15

Tooth Whitening Gel

by MereKopal

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Savings & Deals

Unique Accessory for the Summer | JORD Watches

June 26, 2019

As a busy mother of 3 young kids time is literally never on my side! I was never too keen on punctuality to begin with and ever since my twins came along our family has been permanently running late! Being on time is something we’re trying to improve on, which is why I was so excited to be approached by JORD Wood Watches to review one of their products and do a fun giveaway!

JORD Wood Watches allowed me to choose from a few different watches and I decided on the Fieldcrest Maple. I love the simplicity of the wood and how lightweight it feels on my wrist. I am constantly using my hands to wrangle kids so big, bulky watches with a lot of detail don’t really cut it for me anymore.

Wooden Wrist Watch

The Fieldcrest Maple Watch is simple, elegant and matches well with every outfit I wear because of it’s beautiful light wood coloring. It’s sleek and simple design makes pairing it with any of my other accessories extremely effortless.

I am really enjoying silver and gold mixed accessories right now and either pair well with this watch. I feel like it’s classic look will always stay trendy and in style.

The clasp on the back of the Fieldcrest Maple Watch is extremely easy to work which makes taking it off and on very simple.

Check out the many other gorgeous options for men and women’s wood watches on their website. Some of my other favorite women’s watches include the new Cora Polaris in rose gold, and the Arcadia in rose gold and white marble.

Be sure to enter the giveaway HERE!!!

The winner will receive a $100 gift code off any of the watches on their site. Be sure to enter by July 25th! All of those who enter the giveaway will receive a 10% discount!

Share your thoughts with me! Always feel free to reach out to www.makingmemorieswithmyminis.com/contact.

by MereKopal

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