Camping Buckets with LED Lights

I am a bit obsessed with lights, especially any type of LED
lighting.  It is a running joke in my
family that you could sell me anything if you throw some lights on it.  When I seen these camping buckets with LED
light, my heart exploded.  Camps and
lighting all in one!

These are probably one of the easiest camping decorations
you can get.  To start, you need a plain
white 5-gallon bucket with a lid. Around me, the best place to purchase these
are at Wal-Mart but you do have to buy the bucket and lid separately.

Again, I use my Cricut for the vinyl on it but you could
paint these as well.  Many people
personalize these buckets with their last name and place them in front of their
campers.  Because camping is such a hit
right now, there is no shortage of ideas for your buckets.  You can buy designs on Etsy or similar
sights, or simply create your own design. 

These are the lights that I chose to use.  They are sturdy and each light comes with its
own remote.  The colors are bright and
vibrant in the buckets and shine bright at night.  They are also submersible which means if you are
stuck with your bucket outside during a sudden downpour, that it will still
work!  Some people I have seen choose to
use double-sided sticky tape to stick their lights right in the middle of the
bucket.  I personally do not do this just
because I like the ease of just grabbing the light to be able to change the
battery and I just sit mine out on the lawn, so the light will not move around
anyway.

These buckets are a growing trend amongst people who enjoy
camping.  If that is you, I believe you
need one of these!

Kalahari on a Budget-Take 2

If you read my first Kalahari post, you will see that I
mentioned how much Kinley adores Kalahari. 
Naturally, when given a choice between a birthday party or a trip to
Kalahari, we all know what she chose……Kalahari.

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• 

This time around, there were not any Groupon deals available
so I knew I had to get a little more tactful in money saving search.  I had been following a group on Facebook that
books groups of rooms and then you can reserve a room in their block at a discounted
price.  There are only select dates
available but that is ok because Kinley was willing to go at any time. The room
was not quite as cheap as I managed to get it last time but not horrible.  The Nomad room with all the taxes and fees
included came to $202.  This one however
did not come with any freebies like we received last trip.

The amazing view from our balcony

At check in, our room was not ready, which we were prepared
for as we were early but we were able to access the water park.  We were supposed to receive our room number
by text by 4pm and our bracelets would unlock the door.  Easy enough.

This was Kinley's first trip during summer, which meant her
first experience with the outdoor water activities, and boy was she excited!  We also brought our go-pro this time, which
allows me to share some great waterslide videos with you. 

We opted out of the locker rental this time to save some
money and just brought the necessities with us. 
This saved us $25.  We also
remembered to bring our souvenir cup from our last trip, which allowed drinks
at a much-discounted rate.

We did receive a bonus, if you will this trip.  We never received the text with our room
number by 4pm like we had been told. 
Around 5pm, my husband finally went up to ask and it seemed they had
forgotten about us by mistake.  To make
up for it, they gifted him $50 in arcade tokens.  In no way should you ever expect that, but it
was a nice bonus for us on this trip and allowed Kinley to win more toys from
the crane machines she loves so well.

Here is a breakdown of our spending this trip.

• Room for 1 night $202
• Snacks from candy shop $6
• Late night pizza hubby had to have $17
• Dinner in waterpark $31
• Breakfast $14
• Lunch in waterpark $22

Grand total of $292, which actually brings us in $44 cheaper
than our last visit.

Until next time Kalahari!

Scarecrow Decorative Bottles

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Fall is one of my absolute favorite times.  I love the weather, the colors, the smells, and the clothing required (in Michigan anyway).  I came across this cute little scarecrow craft that you could use to decorate your home or workplace.

The bottles you can get from anywhere that sells
bottles.  As long as they are in this
shape, this will work.  I am thinking of
experimenting with a mason jar and if I do, I will make sure to share.

I bought my scarecrow faces off Etsy and cut them from vinyl
with my Cricut machine.  You could paint
them if you do not have a die cut machine. 
I do not have the steadiest of hands so that does not always turn out
well for me.

I have done some sets with lights and some without.  I put the lights in first when using them.  I bought them from Amazon and they were a great deal.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HJ54Y3Q/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tiffanysthrif-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07HJ54Y3Q&linkId=a20952e4ea92f170caae6befd9fd8ff0

You will then fill them as much or little as desired with the straw material. 

Then decorate them however you would like.  I chose to do burlap around the top of both with different types of ribbon wrapped around.  Some I made "hair" hang down and others I gave bow ties.  This is where you can completely personalize them.  The ones with the lights I just tucked them in the burlap with the on and off switch easily available.

I made them in sets of a boy and a girl but you could even create little families with different size bottles.  I plan to bring mine to work to bring the fall spirit to my desk.