Care Package #16: Wild About You

My inspiration for this box- Zebra Cakes!  Those processed, sugary, delicious cakes! YUMMMM

 I decorated with scrapbook paper, jungle animal stickers, and a totally random picture of Daniel and I eating Taco Bell.  That's pretty wild...right?

 

 Zebra Cakes

WILD rice soup

Annie's taco mac and cheese

Wild animal fruit snacks

Pop-tarts

Cheddar crackers

Zone bars

Animal Cookies

E-Card tissues and mug

(not wild but very funny)

Care Package #15: Like a Fat Kid Loves Cake

Although my man has become quite the chef for himself, he still hasn't ventured to make any baked goods.  I figured I'd cure his sweet tooth with a box filled with homemade goodies. What's not to love!

I came up with decorating the box with the quote:

"I love you like a fat kid loves cake"

While my mom thought it was offensive, I thought it was hilarious and completely appropriate!

His homemade goodies included:

Chocolate cake

Chocolate frosting (not homemade)

Monkey bread

and

Candy cookies

 For the most part, everything traveled pretty well.  He said the monkey bread was a bit hard but still delicious.  And he was in love with the candy cookies (the secret: a package of instant vanilla pudding in the batter). 

Care Package #14: Back from the Field

Things have become pretty crazy around here!  I'm now student teaching, working, planning a wedding, and continuing to send my man care packages (even though I haven't been posting them).  So today is the day that I finally post his packages!

Daniel was out in the field for around a month and during that month, he couldn't receive any packages.  When he was a week away from returning to base I send him a "Welcome Back" package that hopefully would help him get back into the swing of things on base. 

I added some things that may help him relax and stay healthy after a LOONNGGG month away 

Deodorant

Cough drops

Wet wipes

Chap stick

Coconut water

A couple movies

Popcorn

M&M's

Skillet sauce

Rice sides

Jerky chew

Tomato soup

Monsters

Homemade brownies

We are both very happy he is back on base and back to his "normal" life.

Care Package #13: Beach Time

When Daniel and I want to get away we go to the same beach every time.  Sounds ridiculous but it's like our hideaway.  So I wanted to give him a taste of Morro Bay while he is deployed.  

 I packed this box with...

Sunflower Seeds

Gummy Worms

Sun Screen

Goldfish

Snapple Ice Pops

Life Savers

Swedish Fish

Fish (tuna) and Chips (Lays)

Mio

Snapple Tea

Water Toys

Salt Water Taffy

and

a post card from Morro Bay I picked up on a trip with a girlfriend.  

My dog was pretty sure the pool toys were for her..

Care Package #12: Crazy Good

Each time I send Daniel a care package I ask if there is anything he might want and he always tells me the same thing, no.  So finally after asking for the billionth time he actually mentioned something he wanted... POP TARTS!!  So I went a little overboard...

Overboard as in six different flavors of Pop Tarts!  Hopefully they will last him a while.

Care Package #11: Fourth of July

Happy Fourth!! 

I filled this one with basically anything I could get my hands on that was red, white or blue...

Candy

Pop Rocks (like fireworks)

Hamburger Helper (trying to think of things he would cook)

Patriotic Goldfish

Flag Napkins

Chips Ahoy

Jerky Chew

Doritos

Cereal

Beef Jerkey

 And I even made him some patriotic cookies :]

Care Package #10: Stud Muffin

Daniel has always been a little gym crazy and I've recently jumped on the fitness bandwagon myself, so I figured I would give him a little "fitspiration" in his care package.

"I'm just a cupcake waiting for my studmuffin"

I found the stud muffin box idea on Pinterest and tweaked it by adding the quote.

I filled the box with healthy snacks and work out items like..

Advil

Banana Bread in a Jar

Granola Bars

Fruit Rope

Gatorade Prime Chews & Drink

Body Wash

Deodorant

Coconut Water

Mio Energy Water Flavor

Hand Towel

Hazelnut Butter

Cliff Bars

DVD

I baked him banana bread but called it "Banana stud muffins" to keep with the theme.  I found a recipe on Pinterest here for banana bread in a jar and after I baked the bread I boiled the lids to seal the jars shut.  It took a week for his package to arrive, and as far as I know the bread was still tasty when he ate it. 

This just might be my favorite box so far...

Care Package #9: Goodnight, Good Morning

Although Daniel is tough, macho military man, the boy still likes his 600 thread count sheets.  So this package was created around sending him his fancy bed sheets.  I used an extra big box so I could send him some treats along with the sheets and went with a Goodnight/Good Morning theme since we are currently living in different days with our time difference.  

I filled half of the box with morning items and the other half with things that he may use in the evening 

Morning

Poptarts

Nutrigrain bars

Instant iced coffee

Kashi cereal

Granola cereal

Energy drink

Gum

Shower gel

Despicable Me hand wash (one of our fav movies)

Local newspaper

Evening

Microwavable dinners

Oreos

Mouthwash

Floss

Toothpaste

Underwear

Icebreakers

Pill box care package

I found the idea to use a Sunday-Saturday pill box as a mini-care package on Pinterest. I put candies and a note to him in each slot and sealed it with a note instructing him to only open ONE each day.  We will see how that goes...

Care Package #8: Hometown

All of the care packages I have sent to Daniel in Virginia were just practice for the real care packages he would be receiving in Korea.  After three weeks in Korea he finally got an address and I was able to send him his first overseas package.  Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure it made his day.  

For his first package I wanted to try to bring home to him by making a hometown package.  If Exeter could be known for anything, it would be the water tower, so I made sure it was included in the decorations.

The box was filled with some of his favorite foods, America and Exeter themed items, and things he forgot...

Nutella

Pretzels

Red Bull

Cracker jacks

Local newspapers

Beef jerkey

Granola cereal

Mug decorated with pictures

Jolly ranchers

Exeter T-shirt

Exeter postcard

Not pictured:

M&M snack mix

Mac and Cheese

 DVD

and a few things he forgot at home like

sunglasses, headphones, etc.

I already have two more boxes ready to go... I think I have a care package addiction problem...

Care Package #7: Easter

Between school finals, visiting Daniel, gymnastics competitions, and getting him ready to deploy, I haven't had much time to post my boxes.  But here is the Easter box I sent him while he was still in Virginia...

I shoved everything small enough into Easter eggs and added things that would be in a kid's Easter basket...

Annie's cheddar bunnies

Annie's cocoa and vanilla bunnies

Gold bond

beef jerkey

silly puddy

Reece's and Snicker's eggs

Cliff energy shots

Mio iced tea

robin eggs

iced coffee packets

Hot wheels car

M&M's (the boy loves M&M's so I got him some in every

flavor: chocolate, peanut, pretzel, peanut butter)

This was the last package I sent him in Virginia. Unfortunately Daniel's in Korea now :( so the rest of the packages will be going across the world.  He's still in temporary housing so although I have a package ready, I can't send it to him yet.  More posts will be coming as soon as I can send them to him...

Care Package #6: St. Patrick's Day

This St. Patrick's Day box isn't a normal one.  This is because last year's St. Patrick's Day was very unordinary.  After complaining about stomach pains for a month, Daniel ended up having appendicitis and had his appendix removed on St. Patrick's Day last year.  While everyone was drinking green beer, we were eating hospital cafeteria food.  Yum.  So of course I wanted to commemorate his "Appendix Anniversary" as well as St. Patrick's Day in this box.

I covered the box in green paper and cut out "St. Patrick's Day" on one side and "Happy Appendix Anniversary" on the other.  Ridiculous, I know.  But it gets better!  I made a pot of gold and leprechaun that pops out with a pipe cleaner and put an appendix in his hands.  Kinda gross, but I thought it was hilarious!

Everything I put in the box was green, including...

lucky charms

sour cream and onion pringles

green post-its

band-aids

life-saver mints

emerald breakfast nut mix

stride gum

thin mint girl scout cookies

arizona green tea

granola bars

deodorant

monster trail mix

I also baked him some green mint chocolate chip cookies I found on Pinterest.

Happy Green Day!!!

Care Package #5: You're My Hero

Daniel's absolute favorite super hero is Batman.  He dressed up as Batman when he was a kid, we have gone to the Batman midnight movie premiers, and when we met he had Batman sheets on his bed.  So needless to say a Batman box was in order. 

It ended up being more of a superhero box so here's what I threw in there...

Batman pez

Avengers fruit snacks

Batman magic towels

Batman laffy taffy and pop rock candy

Robin Hood movie (he's a super hero, right?)

Spiderman hand sanitizer

Nerf guns and ammo (because every super hero needs his weapon)

Gum

Raspberry iced tea mix

Microwavable soup

Mac and Cheese

Jerky chew (he specifically thanked me for this)

 

Care Package #4: Valentine's Day

This is probably going to be the best Valentine's Day ever. I had planned on visiting Daniel on a three day weekend, and this weekend just happened to be the one I chose. And it just so happened that I was flying in or Valentine's Day. I am beyond excited and I can't wait to see him!! And even though I already bought him a present that I will give to him when I see him (its a good one too!!), I still wanted to send him a package.

I wanted to give him treats with sayings attached to them but I didn't want to give him a bunch of candy because 1. I am the candy eater in the relationship and 2. I was going to bake him some brownies. So I got creative...
"I'm nuts about you" - peanuts
"Let's mix it up" - trail mix
"I chews you" - gum
"Thanks for sticking by my side" - Chapstick
"You're one hot tamale" - hot tamales
"You light up my life" - candle
"I'm hooked on you" - gummy worms
"You're my sweetheart" - sweethearts
"I want your meat" - beef jerkey

Then I made him this super cute mug. I had seen a mug like this on Etsy but found on Pinterest that you can write on a mug from the dollar store with Sharpie and bake it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. So that's what I did!

I added the brownies, some pretzel buttons (I sent him those for Christmas as well), and some mini balloons. I also added a little box with some other Valentine's Day goodies :) He said this was his favorite package so far!

Care Package #3: Super Bowl

I'm not going  to lie, I totally stole the idea for this box from a friend from work who has a man in the Navy.  And although the Broncos didn't make it to the Super Bowl (moment of silence...) I wanted Daniel to be able to have fun on Super Bowl Sunday with his buddies.

I started out decorating the box with scrap booking paper from Hobby Lobby.  I used the yard line paper on the bottom and clouds going up the side.  I cut yellow paper into the shape of goal posts and only attached them to the inside so that they would pop out of the box when he opened it.  Then I taped football paper on the opposite sides and stuck football stickers all over.  In Broncos colors I wrote "Super Bowl Sunday" and "you are my MVP" using construction paper and the Cricut machine.  I love how it turned out!

 Then I threw some football-ish food inside including...

Tootsie pops

BBQ sunflower seeds

Gatorade mix

Propel mix

Kettle corn pop corn

Roasted peanuts

Slim Jims

Gum

Small blow up football

Salsa & Chips (chips not pictured)

Football shaped candies (also not pictured)

Letters I wrote 

This box ended up only costing around $25 including the shipping and he loved it! 

Next box- Valentine's Day