Winning! Dollar Store… Gymnastics Coach “Meet Survival Kit” Christmas Gift

bags ready to be put in gallon  ziplock bag wrapping (more on that in the card)

I feel like a winner in coach gifting.

I put together the CUTEST, BESTEST, most useful gift ever for my daughters Level 5 gymnastics coaches. I am proud of me.

Last year I felt like a heel when I assumed because we all put $10.00 in towards the coaching gifts I was done minus a small token and a card. Nope! All the parents seemed to gave gifts on top of that. One coach got a designer purse. I can't compete with that but my sense pf practical style will hopefully impress them this year.

JoAnn cosmetic bag in one of the 2 color options I picked

However, nothing brilliant came to me until yesterday and the stress of the date and no ideas was weighing heavy.  Three (3) total gift bags, items purchased at the dollar store and Joann fabric for a total of $40.00 that is $13.30 each. I may still add a roll of tape from the gym. The kind the girls use on their hands and feet. I have no clue where I could buy those other than the gym.

contents

JoAnn cosmetic bag with little flip front mirror

I used the printables at: 

http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Printable-Christmas-Gift-Tags-Square-2.pdf

The Content Breakdown:
Almost everything is from the dollar store. I am betting they had bags I could have used but I just didn't see them. Luckily JoAnn is right next door. I had planned a simple tool zippered bag, got lucky with a random rack of gift/notions including the cosmetics bag with a mirror built in. 

• Tylenol
• Advil
• Moist Wipes (purchased a box and split between the bags)
• Hair Brush (came with sturdy hairbands)
• uniball pen set
• Extra Gum (came in a 3 pack split between bags)
• 2 Bandaids and 2 alcolol wipes (These were purchased for our first aid kit I put 2 of each in a tiny bag)
• Clear hair rubber bands (purchased 500 pack and split between bags in small baggies for each)
• Angry Bird Hand sanitizer (I love treasures like this from the dollar store, cute and has a little carabiner to hang off the side)
• Mentos fruit flavor
• Sally Hansen emery board package
• Gift bag is a cosmetics bag from JoAnn fabric. I used a coupon for 40% off but they are only $2.50 each regular price. 
• Notebook (small 4x5)

Items I planned to buy, forgot or could not find with a brief 15 minutes before the store closed:)

• life savers
• sticky notes
• travel nail polish wipes (because girls are NOT allowed to have polish) 
• mirror (no prob the bag ended up with one)
• bobby pins
• Ace bandage (I know they have them at the dollar store but I couldn't find them... ugh)
• instant ice pack (little one I imagine exists but have never seen so who knows)

So really the options are pretty endless. These items were specifically selected because I have seen each used periodically during meets. I hope my genius is not isolated to only me. If however the value is lost on others I didn't waste much money.

Christmas Rope Light Original

VROOM! Our ORIGINAL and very appropriate (for us) Christmas lights!

We have a blow-up Christmas decorations out front. It is not a snow globe, penguin, or package. It is a chopper riding Santa. He rocks and should have accessories to fit his fab style. So this year I purchased 24 feet of red rope light from Target and set to creating a phase to fit.

I could not find a rope light tutorial that fit my needs of any fonts useful to trace for my phrase. With zero guidance this is what I came up with.

Supplies:

• 24 feet of red rope light
• 3x7 sheet of peg board (mine is two sheets zip tied in a row as one)
• wreath
• general Christmas lights

This is a simple effort. with lots of zip ties and the long pegboard base raised off the floor create your word and zip tie the rope light down at various places along the run.   Boom... you have vroom!

I added the wreath for extra pizzazz  The peg board was great for fastening the rope light and can be temporary or permanent. We are lucky and the natural color matches our house and I don't care if it get weathered. We tweaked the letters a lot in the process and just snipped the zip ties for that letter section and reworked it. Next year I am making a second Vroom.