A Healthy College Care Package

I send KICK-BUTT care packages. 

Seriously, just ask my sister.

My little sister, Annie, is in her  Junior year of college. She is a bit of a health freak and the deep-fried southern cooking of her school's cafeteria doesn't always cut it for her. She lives on campus and doesn't have a car so she has very little opportunity to get to the grocery store. For the most part she just deals with it, but I thought that since she was in the middle of mid-terms I would send her some love and some healthy snacks.



Here is what I came up with:
Homemade Granola Bars
Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets - recipe below
Green Tea - World Market
Almond Butter Packets - Whole Foods
Instant Coffee Packets - Starbucks
Dark Chocolate Bar - World Market
Free Music Card - Starbucks
Super-food Butter Packets - Whole Foods
Necklace - World Market
Cute Pen - World Market
Mustache Lollipop - ???
Candy Corn - The Dollar Store (just a little Halloween Happy)
Empty Creamer Bottle - My Kitchen (so she can get cream/milk/juice from the caff and stick it in her mini fridge)
Measuring Spoons and Cups - The Dollar Store

Some Other Things I Have Sent Annie In Care Packages:

Instant Soup Cups (Cup-Noodles would work, but I send her the healthy and yummy stuff, check out Whole Foods)

Dried Fruit

Nuts

Homemade Crayons 

Coffee Cozy

Travel Coffee Mug

Stickers

Cookies

Pictures of Family

Art Supplies

Free Music and App Cards from Starbucks

Drawings from my Son

Beauty Supplies (nail polish, make-up, soaps, lotion, etc...)

Funky Socks

Granola

Fruit Cups

School Supplies 

Tuna Packets

Holiday Decorations for the Dorm

Recipe for Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

Adapted from One Good Thing By Jillee

10 cups quick oats (not rolled oats, needs to be quick oats)

2 teaspoons salt

1-2 cups granulated honey (or brown sugar. More or less depending on your taste preference)

Fixin's (raisins, dried cranberries, chopped pecans or other nuts, dried apple or other fruit chunks, chocolate chips, etc...)
About 24 snack-sized plastic baggies

Blend 3 cups of oats in a blender until powdery then transfer to a big bowl. Blending the oats is what makes the oatmeal creamy. Add the rest (7 cups) of the oatmeal to the bowl along with the salt and granulated honey. Mix all of these ingredients together. Measure out 1/2 of the oats mix into the plastic baggies, add your fixin's and seal.

To make the oatmeal:
Empty 1 baggie of oatmeal into a microwave safe bowl or mug and add 3/4 cup of water. Nook on high for 1-2 minute. (Microwaves vary, so use more or less time depending.) If you don't have a microwave then just add 3/4 cup of boiling water and cover. Let that sit for a few minutes and then stir. Add cream or milk if you like and enjoy your healthy breakfast!

 Here's my little helper!

This is him smiling for the camera.

The Savannah Bag

My wonderful niece, Savannah, just started preschool and her mom asked me to make her a bag to put her folders and papers into. I had such a good time picking out the fun fabrics and ribbons. 

The only problem I had while making this bag is that my niece has such a long name that it was had to make it fit. The original plan was to write her name with fabric applique letters diagonally across the bag... Yeah, there was no way that was going to happen. So, I ended up adding a strip of fabric around the bottom of the bag and just painting the letters on. I like the way it turned out.

I used the tutorial  for The Twenty Minute Tote from Molly's Sketchbook over at the Purl Bee. (P.S. I love the Purl Bee Blog, check them out for some great inspiration!) I modified the pattern a little, added some ribbons to the top of the bag, added the fabric stripe to the bottom, and made the straps out of fabric instead of using webbing. Its a super easy and quick pattern, and the tutorial is really clear and simple to follow.

I also made a little pompom flower that can be pinned to the bag or be a hair clip! Just cut out a bunch of little circles of fabric. Fold them into quarters, stick a threaded needle through the corner of each folder circle and bunch them all up at the end of the thread. Loop the needle through the whole bunch a few times to secure and then knot. Add a small circle of felt to the back of  the pompom, stitch a safety pin to the felt and hot glue on a small hair clip. That's it! Easy!

(Jude didn't like having a flower in his hair)