Package Full of Goodies
My cousin knows us well….the perfect tasty, practical, and fun gifts!
We recently received an AMAZING package from my sweet cousin Renelle! It was packed full awesome items for all of us! The girls were super excited to open it. They were very impressed with how much she was able to fit into the box. Lots of “Ohhs…Ahhhs…” throughout the unpacking process, followed by “Wow, Aunt Renelle is so creative!”
Renelle was the closet “sister” I had growing up in a family with 3 brothers. We had a lot of fun hanging out over the summers and various Holidays during our childhood years. Unfortunately, now that we are older and many more miles apart we don’t get to see each other as often as we like. We try to get together as often as possible and thankfully we are able to stay in touch regularly throughout the year.
The package arrived packed full! So exciting!
Going through Aunt Ren’s goody package and reading all the instructions!
Jellyfish air plant! So cool!
Putting the dirt in the pots for their plants!
Enjoying all the fun goodies from the box!
Awesome name tags for the furry critters – Snowball, Skipper, and Oreo!
Beautiful key chain rings for the girls! They were super excited to put these on their book bags for school!
Always love a delicious chocolate bar!
Super fun Face Paint craft for the girls! Love it – even if that means I have to be the canvas at times!
Bread N’ Boards – the person who made this cutting board, Sears Trostel (a locally owned custom wood shop) donates their proceeds from the sale of this item to a local Food Bank in Larimer County, Colorado! Such a cool way to help those in need in the local community. I love the cutting board!
Amazing White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Coffee – freshly roasted in Fort Collins, Colorado by Jackie’s Java! Delicious!
Ren’s famous homemade Peach Raspberry Jam (it’s AWESOME) and a new flavor of hers I haven’t tried before, but is yummy too – Grape Apple Jam!
Gorgeous plant clippings from Ren’s plants! So far I have been able to keep them alive! So cool!
Some of the amazing items in our package! Thanks Ren! Including a cutting board, cutting more oil, body scrub, local coffee, homemade jam, and more!
Now we are ready for our next pedicure with scented polish and pebble picture crafts for girls night!
Hanging jellyfish air plant! The girls call it the “Wild Hair Day” plant!
Recipe: Ashley’s Strawberry Jam
Freshly picked strawberries, ready to make into jelly! After our family went on a Strawberry picking adventure this past weekend I got together with a good friend, Ashley from Reflecting On The Simple Things in Life on Monday morning and made some of her amazing Strawberry Jelly. The gallon of strawberries we used for the jelly was from Sandy Flats Farm in Taylors, SC. We had a lot of fun catching up while making strawberry jelly. Thankful for friendships and time together making delicious goodies for our families and to share with others. The recipe for the Strawberry Jam is one Ashley generously shared with me. We made 23 jars of Strawberry Jelly in a couple hours. Our cost for the strawberries was $8.00 for a gallon. I went ahead and bought a set of jars since I didn’t have enough, Ashley had the sugar and pectin on hand. If you go to Yard Sales you should be able to pick up more jam jars for a better price.
Ashley’s Strawberry Jam:- Two pounds of fresh strawberries
- 4 1/2 cups of white sugar
- 1 box of Sure Jell premium fruit pectin
- 6 canning jars
Wash and drain strawberries. Remove stems from strawberries and slice. Blend sliced strawberries in blender or food processor. Measure 3 3/4 cups of crushed strawberries and 4 1/2 cups of white sugar. Make sure to measure out the sugar ahead of time because you don’t want to stop in the middle of making the jelly and have to measure it out. The jelly can easily burn.Stir 1 box of fruit pectin and 3 3/4 cups of crushed strawberries into a large sauce pot on high heat. You can add 1/2 teaspoon of butter to help reduce the foaming if you’d like. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that doesn’t stop when stirred. Stir in sugar quickly. Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly one minute. Remove from heat. Pour quickly into clean jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Cover with lids and screw bands on tightly. My Mom would always finish with putting them into a pressure cooker to seal the lids. I was always scared of pressure cookers because I thought they would blow up on me so she told me that most of the time the jelly is so hot that it will seal the lid on its own within 30 minutes. But to be safe, in case it doesn’t seal, always store the jelly in the freezer. Majority of the time all my jars have sealed but I still store the jelly in the freezer, just in case. This recipe makes about 6 cups of strawberry jelly.
Jars of fresh Strawberry Jam I made this week, there are a couple not in the picture because I already gave one away to our neighbor and opened another one to eat!
