DeClutter In 10 Days This Fall with Simple Mom
Simple Mom has done it… she just released her new ebook all about getting your home decluttered in 10 days! Why not spring clean this fall? I’m going to… and am reading her book as I type this. For a measly 7 bucks you can get your hands on Simple Mom’s plan too…
A Treasure Chest for your child
I don’t remember how it started… but, when our oldest (now 
was about 2, we got him a wooden box that has a cool metal lock on the front… we told him it was his special “treasure box”. We have never told him what to put in it… only that it was for his special treasures… and at 8, it is jam packed! In fact, our youngest (3) came across it the other day on the floor (it is suppose to be on his tall dresser.. Hmmm…)… and was SO fascinated with what was inside – some coins, rocks, cool little action figure dudes, a few things my hubby has given him…
Once my oldest started putting things inside his treasure box, we realized what a cool idea this was – and that it was something extra special we could give each of our kids. So, about three years ago, we bought one for our daughter. We shopped all over the place for the perfect wooden box – and finally found it at TJMaxx. It was dark wood shaped a bit like a heart… with the perfect locking clasp too! Now, my daughter has her own treasure chest… only hers is a bit different inside. Hers is filled with jewelry, gems, rocks, coins, and lots of pink things!
Last year, we gave our youngest (who I mentioned enjoys his older brother’s box) a special treasure chest… and it sits in the family room… empty.
A Must Craft For Little Girls
Oh… I just can’t wait to do thiswith my daughter!!
I was poking around the blogosphere yesterday and came across a fun blog – Living Life Creatively – and was so inspired by this woman…
She had plenty of wonderful posts about her great hot finds at Hobby Lobby (SO WISH WE HAD THIS STORE ON THE WEST COAST!)… and the fun things that she is doing with her beautiful home.
The particular post that caught my eye was a craft she did with her two girls… they made beautiful Flower/plant fairies our of pictures of the girls.
You HAVE to visit her post to see how amazing these are… They are SO easy to make… and perfect for all sorts of ages!
Let me know what you think after taking a peek…
now, get going’! 
Save your Kid’s Handwriting… FOREVER!
This is the coolest!
I just stumbled on this little site that lets you create a font from your handwriting… it’s fun for us grown ups – think Christmas letters, Thank you cards… and no more tired hands from writing… But, what a cool idea to use this to capture your kids handwriting!! I wish I could take credit for this idea – but, read about it on Zoom In Design.
To create the font, check out Fontifier at www.fontifier.com
Simple Mom… Spreading the Love of Fall
I know it isn’t Fall just yet – but, Simple Mom is celebrating a little early with a wonderful giveaway. I’ve had it on my ‘to-do’ list to mention Simple Mom here – just discovered her a little over a week ago and love her blog!
To celebrate, Simple Mom is giving away SEVEN prizes – each representing topics that her blog discusses… You’ll have to check out her blog to see the prizes – but, here is a hint…
1. Something for green and frugal living
2. Something for making Your home a haven (my favorite!)
3. Something for Cooking
4. Something for Productivity and Organization (another favorite of mine)
5. Something for Taking Care of Yourselves
6. Something Kids and Parenting
7. And Something for money management
ENJOY!
Food Art… Encouraging Healthy Eating For Kids
When I was a kid – we always looked forward to pizza night… not because almost every kid loves pizza… but, because pizza night at our house meant we got to make our own. My mom would put different toppings in small bowls on the table and provide us each with an English Muffin open face on our plate. We would start with the sauce then go to town with the toppings. What was funny was that it didn’t matter what the toppings WERE… it only mattered what they LOOKED like.
Why?
Because this was ART!
I was poking around and came across an article about creating art with your food – or, rather, letting your kids create art with their food Hoping that the artwork would entice the children to eat healthier. Turns out you can make all sorts of cool art pieces with some great fruits and veggies… and what a great way to not only encourage artwork and creativity — but, encourage healthy eating too!
The article I read had a list of suggestions for these art pieces that included:Eyes and Noses: peas, corn niblets, carrot rounds, black olives, black beans, cereal, nuts, seeds, or raisins.
Hair: Broccoli or cauliflower florets, grapes, fresh dill or parsley, or cooked fusilli or other curly pasta.
Legs: Thin celery or carrot strips or pretzel sticks.
Glues: peanut butter, mayo, cream cheese, jelly, yogurt, catsup, mustard, pizza sauce or honey
List of free or VERY inexpensive toys for your little ones
A friend of mine recently told me about a site that I have fell in love with… Simple Mom. I’m using some of her techniques to get things in order before school starts and can’t wait to report how they work for me. (In fact, if you have used some of her stuff – let me know how it is working for you!)…
Anyhow, the other day Simple Mom posted a great list of toys for kids that hardly cost a thing – and many are free!
Check it out here… you’ll be surprised of some of the great ideas an egg carton can be used for!
Forget the Pet Rock… How About An Entire Neighborhood!
Whenever we go camping we always bring paints with us so we can spend a couple of hours painting rocks… the kids love it…
So, I was thrilled when I saw GlitterGoods talking about creating a Rock Neighborhood! What Fun!
Paint a few houses, trees, bugs, cars, flowers, clouds and a sun and you have a very nice little neighborhood for the kiddos to play with.
Love it!
Where Do Kids Eat Free?
With three children… and kids meals at $5-6 each at restaurants – it adds up… and quickly. That’s why a few weeks ago when I was browsing a local kids magazine and it featured restaurants where kids eat free – I had to stop and read!
And, now of course I can’t seem to find that list of restaurants… so I just googled (love google 
Searching for “‘kids eat free’ Oregon” on google brought up great results and I was able to browse all sorts of restaurant lists that other bloggers and sites have… try it out for your own site — and if you know of a great resource or list of restaurants where kids eat free… let me know!
Don’t Click Here Unless You Have Hours To Kill…
This site is so much fun…
I sent a picture of my daughter to my dad the other night… it’s super cool of a guy painting her with chalk on the sidewalk. Next to him is a photograph of her that he is copying. I could have made up some exotic story explaining this really cool place we visited and had this done… but, I told him the truth.
If you don’t pay a visit – you have to bookmark it… super cool! Just pick a picture/effect then choose an image off your computer of someone. There has to be a face in the picture for it to work…
Enjoy!
Freezer Paper T-Shirts… Aprons… or Anything!
You have to check these out… even if you aren’t crafty! I’m so excited to try making these with my kids this Fall.
This is Freezer Paper Stenciling – and what is so cool about it is that the freezer paper gets a bit sticky so it makes a perfect stencil for creating amazing prints on fabric. You could make T-shirts (like what is shown below) or cool prints on aprons, blankets, pillow cases/sheets… get creative!
If you do try these out, I’d love to hear about it – post a comment with a link to a picture of your creation so we can all oooh and ahhh over them
Check these out…
Panjo Kids has put together a very easy to follow tutorial to make these…
Enjoy!
Spring Cleaning in July…
Yep.
My house is a mess. a dump… and I can’t stand it! I was so inspired by the Nester this past weekend, but I have realized that to do what I really want to do in this house, I have to do some major cleaning and de-cluttering – man, it seems to be never ending!
If you are in the same (or similar) boat as me – check out this little report I came across…
Here are a few topics covered in the book…
- Specific Tips For Cleaning Each Room
- Specific cleaning tips for each room of your home
- Cleaning tips for “often” forgotten areas – such as your medicine cabinet, cosmetics bag, and more
- It’s time to get organized! Learn the secrets to get clutter out of your home!
- Strategies for establishing a daily routine to keep everything clean and organized
- A “cleaning checklist” to make sure you have everything you’ll need to get started
- and much more!
Check it out for yourself…
I just spent 6 of the best hours browsing this site…
I think I am waaayyy over due for some link love. I’m always browsing around looking for new things to try and share… and sometimes I just see the same things over and over again – recycled all over the internet.
This week, however, was different… VERY different! My hubby would probably say that I wasted at least 1/2 of a day this weekend browsing and perusing through some amazing blogs… but, I say that every second was well worth it.
It started when I was looking for ideas to create a homeschool room for the Fall school year. We decided to home-school our two oldest this year (3rd grade and kindergarten) and as thrilled as I am – it took me a while to realize that we needed a room dedicated to our efforts… so, to the internet I turned and I was very surprised that I didn’t find the resources/inspiration/ideas I was looking for…
But… then…
I just happened to come across the Nester…
Oh. My.
I am not exaggerating when I say I easily spent 6 hours that night looking through her amazing blog! wow.
She has a gift… a gift to turn something everyday into something beautifully amazing. But – what is really cool… she is a thrifter (is that a word?)… She hardly ever pays full price for anything and specializes in turning second hand finds into masterpieces.