Guest Post - Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit

I love showcasing other people on my blog. I recently "met" Miranda through the blog grapevine and she asked if she could guest post today. Who am I say no when she is sharing this brilliant Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit? I think this could be great as a fun deployment care package {look away husband!} Take it away Miranda!

I'm Miranda, a proud military spouse who blogs over at Hurry Up and Wait USMC about the randomness of my life! I've recently made the move from MN to CA to be with my husband and since my arrival I've been experimenting more and more with crafting, sewing, and cooking! 

Today I would like to share a craft that I cannot personally take credit for. It was a birthday present to me this year from my in-laws and I thought it was brilliant! A lot of us have some sort of Emergency Kit. Whether it's in your car, home, cabin, boat, etc. it's a great thing to have just in case an emergency happens. My in-laws thought it would be a good idea for me to have an Emergency Kit of my own! Not a kit for just any emergency, a kit for when the Zombie Apocalypse comes. I am a huge zombie fanatic, nerd, freak, however you want to classify my obsession. 

I now have my very own Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit. 

The Contents

1. Mini First Aid Kit: for minor cuts or scratches sustained while fighting off the zombies or from running away from them in the woods. 

2. Emergency Blanket: for those cold nights when you may not have shelter.

3. Altoids Container: to store spare cash...before the apocalypse gets too bad and money no longer matters. Could also be burned to start a fire.

4. Pain Reliever: self explanatory.  Lack of sleep, cuts, bruises, muscle soreness from constantly being on the run. This would come in handy. 

5. Duct Tape: fixes everything.

6. Sanitary Wipes: get rid of those germs to prevent sickness.

7. Skittles: sugar to keep your energy up.

8. Gloves: keep those germs away! In case you have to move a dead body or something.

9. Mask: in case anything goes airborne or to prevent a zombie from spitting it's blood in your mouth. 

10. ChemLight: you will always need some light at night. This wouldn't attract too much attention either. You can also throw one down a well or hole and see how deep something is! 

11. Chapstick: no one likes cracked lips!

12. Compass/Whistle/Thermometer: 3 in one! To help you navigate to your destination, to call for help, to distract, and to keep track of the weather. 

13. Drinking Water: always going to need clean water.

14. Paracord Bracelet: in case you need to make some kind of weapon.

15. Pocket Knife: to cut sticks into arrows, open food, etc. 

16. Flashlight/Glow Stick Combo: find you way in the dark!

17. Filtered Water Bottle: collect and clean up that rainwater!

18. Granola Bars: protein!

19. Towel: staying dry, cleaning up a mess, pulling a hot pan or can off of a fire. 

Since obtaining this as a gift my husband and I have also added a tourniquet. 

What would you put in your Mini Zombie Survival Kit?

Jellyfish {Craft}

If you haven't noticed, lil man & I have been busy crafting away. Seems like we have found more time in the day lately & we have been pushing them out like crazy. You can expect to see a TON of kid friendly craft posts in the next few days. And what better timing then with school being out & summer in full swing, right?

One of my favorites that we have done recently is this Jellyfish craft. I guess there is a special reason WHY it's my favorite recent one. We actually completed it this past Sunday on Father's Day. While we were crafting away, Joe happened to call in on Skype. I shared this picture on my Facebook fan page but I just have to share it again. It just melts my heart that Joe got to "watch" as we made our Jellyfish craft. Although we couldn't spend Father's Day together in person, it sure was special to share this moment. Technology sure has changed in the last few years & I'm oh so grateful for it. Joe still gets to be part of lil man's life during this deployment and not miss these little moments.

Ok enough with the sappy stuff. Time to get to the craft, right?

Here is what you need:

* Paper plates-in whatever size you desire. We did one big & two small for ours
* White school glue
* Various colors of tissue paper {remember to save tissue paper from gifts you receive!}
* Stapler
* Paint brush
* Gift streamer ribbon-in various colors
* Construction paper or wiggle eyes

Now there are several different ways you could actually do this craft. As we completed this, I thought to myself "Why didn't I do it this way?" But let's be honest - there is no right or wrong way to do any kid craft. With that being said, this is how WE did it but I also have suggestions on HOW you could do it.

First we folded our paper plates in half. You could then cut them in half to make decorating them easier.

Then using my scissors {or your hands} tear your tissue paper into small pieces.

Slather some white glue all over the paper plates. Then have your child add the pieces of tissue paper in a mosaic design.

 Make sure to cover the plates completely in tissue paper. Let dry completely.

Once the tissue paper is dry, staple all around the plate so it doesn't open anymore. Also staple the streamers on the bottom to give the jellyfish it's tentacles. {When I suggested cutting the plate in half, this allows you to hide the streamers better too. Since we didn't cut our plates in half, our streamers were shown on one side}

Then, if you like, give your new jellyfish friend some eyes so he can see. I just cut some circles out and put a dot in the center. You could also glue on wiggle eyes.

To finish it off, hang them up for display. You can either hole punch a hole & string some string through the hole or staple a party steamer to the top. Then hang.

What to do you think? Without the eyes our "jellyfish" looked like rainbows. If you have some imagination, you could alter your colors to make this craft look like other things. Take for example a rainbow with rain coming from it. Or make the plate completely white with cotton balls and add blue streamers to the bottom, to make it look like rain. The possibilities are endless & I hope we inspired you!

Don't forget to enter this great giveaway that ends tonight! You can enter HERE.

International Picnic Day

Did you know that today is International Picnic Day? Yup. It's celebrated every year on the 18th of June. You don't exactly get the day off or get to celebrate with a parade, but I do think it's a good reminder to just relax & enjoy the outside weather. You don't even need a fancy picnic basket to complete it. In fact, did you know that the phrase "it's a picnic" means "it's easy?" Yup. Picnics way back in the day were pretty elaborate, but now the modern day picnic is pretty simple. You can set up wherever you want, eat whatever you want and bring whoever too. It's YOUR picnic, so make the rules.

Although the pictures I'm sharing today are from a few weeks back, I hope it's a little inspiration that you don't need to even leave your house to do a picnic. Lil man & I like to camp out in our very own backyard, in a shaded area. We usually bring out lots of blankets, some food and just sit and enjoy each others company. I enjoy it because sometimes my choice of attire is pj's & slippers and I don't have to worry about the judgement eyes ;) Plus we save time & gas since we never actually go anywhere.

I even made our picnic meal that day pretty simple. We had leftover spaghetti from the night before, so I just added some of that to a whole wheat pita. Then added some cheese & spinach leaves in the pita and baked it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. It was quick & tasty. I threw in some sliced bananas and Annie's crackers mixed with cranberries. I also have to rave about our Hefty containers. They come in handy for picnics - no matter where our setting is.

Like I said, I hope this post inspires you today to grab some food and head outside to eat. Just pick a spot, sit back and enjoy an Al-fresco meal in the company of your loved ones. Enjoy today!

Happy International Picnic Day!