Crayola Monster Art Tub at Costco

Costco is what can only be described as Christmas Heaven. Lots of toys, oodles of decorations, aisles upon aisles of gift possibilities for girls and boys of all ages. I love going there this time of year for all the browsing and shopping for the big day, December 25. Now of course there are birthdays between now and then to shop for but I'm keeping Christmas in mind.

Here's the first of my recommendations for the holidays.  It's the Crayola Monster Art Tub. This thing is jam packed full of goodies, perfect for all the little artists out there in your life. Also, this is a good gift to buy for nobody. I mean a gift to have on hand when you are invited last minute to a child's birthday party or when you weren't counting on exchanging gifts with a cousin but then surprise! she got a gift for your kid. You know...

My fave part of this item is that it comes in its own tub so you can keep all of its contents nice and organized. For $19.79 this kit includes 64 ct crayons, 10 ct mini twistables, 10 ct super tip markers, 5 ct glitter glue, 12 ct colored pencils, 8 ct extreme markers, silly putty and sketch book.

Too good to pass up!

Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

I made these tasty little sandwich cookies for a birthday party earlier in the summer. I haven't been baking all that much lately because it's been so darn hot and I'm trying to cut down on my taste testing, if you know what I mean. So here's a look back at a delicious cookie that I will be making again once the temperature in San Diego drops. 

This recipe is from Joy The Baker. I've given you the list of ingredients but you'll have to click through to Joy's blog to grab the directions. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy these cookies!

This recipe yields about 20 cookies. 

Ingredients for the cookies

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup oats (the original recipe calls for old fashioned oats but I use instant all the time. Use what you have on hand.)

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (the original recipe calls for pecans but I didn't have those in my pantry)

Ingredients for the filling

3 tbsp softened butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp milk

Back To School Clearance at Target

Skip Hop! I'm obsessed with this brand. I love them so much that last year, before my son was even school age, I bought the penguin backpack and lunch bag. Over the year he has used it for overnights with Grandma or when we would pack a snack to take with us to Disneyland or the Zoo.  Now, he takes his lunch bag to school.  :)

Today I went to the Mission Valley Target to buy milk, bread, and chicken. Of course I left with more than the groceries. The Skip Hop lunch bags were calling me. (And so were these uber cute leopard print smoking flats.) I couldn't resist and the price was right. Those bags were marked down to $9.78.

I also noticed that the snack containers that include ice packs were marked down to $2.78. I paid full price a couple of weeks ago. Go get one! Or two.

These were two of my favorites. I was good and only took one home, the puppy.

These containers hold up to two cups of treats. What makes these special is the ice pack in the lid. Neat-O! Only $2.78, not a bad deal.