Cute 'Hand'made Halloween Banner

This was such an easy project to do with the kids, and it is one that parents will keep forever because you are using the child's hand print and footprint to make the banner!! To make it, just take orange and black pieces of scrapbook paper and cut them to the size you want. Then, paint your child's hands and/or feet! We made ghosts, bats, spiders and a jack-o-lantern!

For the ghost, paint your child's foot (underside of the foot) white. Have them place their foot on the paper upside down. When that dries, add googly eyes. For the bat, paint your child's foot black and have them place their foot on the paper upside down (just like the ghost). Now, paint their hands and place them on the sides of the footprint for the wings. When that dries, add googly eyes and draw black triangles on top of the head for ears.

For the spider, paint your child's 4 fingers (not the thumb) and place them sideways on the paper. When that dries, add a black (foam or construction paper) circle to the middle and add google eyes. For the jack-o-lantern (see first picture above), I just gave the kids yellow triangles to make a face.

When all the paint was dry, I alternated the colors of paper, folded the top 2 inches of the paper over a black piece of string and taped it so it stayed. I left a little extra string on each side for easy hanging!

Tips on Having a Successful Yard Sale

We have a yard sale every spring and my friends always ask me how we do it and have it turn out successful each time.



Here are some of the tips I give them:

1. Make sure that you have enough stuff. If you don't have a lot of "stuff" for people to look through, people are less likely to stop at your sale. If your inventory looks a little slim, collaborate with a neighbor, friend or family member and do a sale together. Try and organize a neighborhood sale. The more you have, the better sale you will have.

2. Make sure everything is clearly priced.

3. ADVERTISE! You need to get the word out that you are having a sale! Advertise in your local paper and on Craigslist.


4. Make your signs nice, neat and colorful. Put them at every major intersection near your house. You need to post a sign at every turning point with arrows that will lead people to your sale.

5. Have a sign in your front yard so people can see it clearly from the street.

6. Be prepared to negotiate your prices. People are coming to find a deal. Be willing to come down in prices - you want to get rid of the stuff, right?

7. Keep prices reasonable! It is a yard sale, not a department store.

8. Make sure that everything you are selling works and there are no missing or broken pieces.


9. Have enough change. Your early customers will bring bigger bills so make sure you have enough change to accommodate them.

1o. Organize your merchandise to have like things with like. All clothes should be separated by gender and sizes. You want your sale to look neat and organized. Make it easy for your customers to browse and see everything you have to sell.


11. Choose a day/weekend when there aren't any major local events going on.

12. Try and hold the sale at the beginning of the "yard sale season". We have ours each year in the middle of April. People are eager to get out to find some bargains after a long winter.

13. Have boxes and bags for people to carry their treasures home in.

14. You need a "checkout table". Make sure you have an empty table for you to sit at and check people out at.

15. Donate the unsold goods to a charity or Goodwill. Do this immediately after closing your sale so it doesn't end up taking up space in your house or garage.

16. Don't be fooled. A yard sale is a lot of work. It takes a couple weeks of preparation and you need to be organized. But, in the end, when you have sold all your unwanted "stuff" and made some extra cash in the process, it is well worth it!

Fun Squirrel/Fall Craft For Kids

Kids love to watch squirrels go up the trees, bury their nuts, jump from branch to branch, climb in their nests, etc. so I thought we could emulate that in a craft. The kids painted a paper towel roll brown. We then stood the roll up and punched holes all around the top of the roll with a paper hole punch. We cut brown pipe cleaners in half and then tied them in the holes to make them look like branches. The kids went out and picked up leaves and we punched holes in them too. They strung the leaves on the "branches". We then put glue around the top of the roll and set tissue paper on that to make a "nest" for the squirrel to sit in.

We made the squirrel out of a cork, cotton ball, googly eyes and brown paper. We cut tiny triangles out of brown paper for the ears. We glued the ears and the googly eyes onto one side of the cork and then put the cotton ball up the back side of the cork (for the tail). The kids took a brown marker to mark a little nose under the eyes.

The kids loved to see this craft come to life! They had their own little tree and a squirrel to put up in the tree! I am hoping we can keep these in tact so the kids can see the leaves turn brown and dry just like they do as the season changes. This will give them something really tangible to show them the changes that happen.

Happy Fall Crafting!

"Frugalness" is Fabulous!

Some may call it "cheap", but I think that saving money and trying to stretch a dollar is smart and instead of cheap, I like to call it being "frugal", and in my world, being frugal is being fabulous!!!

Here are some of the ways I try and save money and/or stretch a dollar:

• Use coupons on everything you can! I use the coupons from the weekend paper, but I also email our favorite products/brands that we use at home and most of the time, they will send me great coupons - sometimes for free products!!



• Stop at yard sales. What someone else is getting rid of just might be that something you need. You never know what you might find at a yard sale!
  


• Rent Movies. Going to the movies for a family a four can cost close to $50! We wait to see the movies when they come out to rent. We get in our PJ's and make our own snacks and watch it in the comfort of our home. Movie nights are a great way to spend with your family.



• Eat in!!! It is nice to go out for dinner, but you can make the same meals at home for a fraction of the price! Make it fun for the entire family. Play restaurant! Have your kids make menus. They can be the "servers" at your table. They can help you plan, prepare and cook the meal. And, when you eat at home, you can afford to have a cocktail and dessert and still come out ahead of what you would have paid at a restaurant!

• Buy ahead! After every season, plan ahead and buy your child's clothes/shoes for the following year. This can be hard for some kids, but usually, the rule of thumb is to buy one size bigger than what they are in now.
  


• Clearance aisles!!!!!!! In every store I go into, I know where they put their clearance merchandise and I check them out every time I am there. Get to know when your favorite stores put things on clearance. After every holiday, I am at the stores buying for the following year. This has saved me tons of money on gifts for family, friends, teachers and birthday parties. After school starts and supplies go on clearance, I go and get the supplies that are the list for the grade my kids will be in the following year.



• Stretch your pizza! We often get pizza from a local pizza chain. They cut their slices so big that as soon as I get the pizza home, I cut the slices thinner which doubles the number of slices in the box!



• Maintain your car! My husband has a 1997 Honda that he always maintains and it is still getting him to and from work (2 hours of driving a day).....knock on wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



• Save, Save, Save!!! I think it is important to make it a habit to save. Have your bank take money out every two weeks and put it into an account for you. If you don't see it and don't know it is there, you won't miss it and can't spend it.
  


• Don't try and keep up with the Jones'. You will always have people in your life that have the newest cars, the bigger home, the latest fashion. Who cares? Who wants those monthly bills anyway? You need to stay focused with where you want to be financially and be content with what you have.
  


• Financial Goals. I think it is important for couples to have a serious talk about finances. I think couples need to have the same attitude when it comes to financial goals, spending and saving. Figure out where you want to be in five years, ten years, etc. Do you want to build up your savings, pay off your mortgage, pay off the car, travel more? Finding out these answers sets the tone for what you need to do financially.



• Think, think, think! If you want to buy something, think about it for 24 hours. After that, ask yourself if you still want it. Do you really need it? This is a great thing to do with your kids as well. When they are in a store and say they want something, tell them to wait 24 hours and gaurenteed, they will forget about it before night's end.



• Swapping is the new shopping! Host a "Swapping Party" with your friends! Swap anything from children's clothes to your own clothes, from magazines to jewelry, home decor to holiday decor. Who wouldn't love a night out "shopping" with the girls and getting some great stuff without spending a dime!!!



• Have a yard sale! Get rid of things that you aren't using and in the process, make some extra cash! We do this every year and the extra cash has come in handy for our summer vacations!

These are just some of the things that I do. I hope you find some of these tips helpful!

Happy Saving!

Your "Baby" Enters Kindergarten

My "baby" has started kindergarten and as heart wrenching as it is for me, she is handling it pretty well. The teachers really want the kindergartners to be independent and self sufficient when walking into school at the beginning of the day. Getting their bags and coats on their hooks, washing their hands, etc., but Gabrielle still wants me to take her in every day. I help her hang up her coat and bag and then the lovin' begins. This is the only time of the day that I get 27 kisses and 36 hugs (I know she is trying to hold me there as long as possible and of course, her plan works every time). I understand why the teachers want her to be independent, but I still want her to be a little dependent and it is nice to know that I am still needed a little bit. It took Landen a few months to be "independent" and since then, he can't wait to get out of the car to see his friends. Gabrielle is not there yet, and frankly, neither am I. I am happy to take her in as long as she will have me! I know this will soon fade and that I am not going to be "needed" much longer. So, right now, let me be "needed" and let her be "dependent" just a little bit longer.

Priceless Birthday Gift That Keeps on Giving

I started a tradition each year on Landen and Gabrielle's birthdays. I sit down and write a letter to each child. I write things that happened that year, things they are doing at that age (crawling, playing soccer, first sleep over, etc.), friends they play with, favorite toys, funny things they say, etc. Anything that would tell them a little bit about what they were like at that age. I started this because when I would ask my mom questions about what I was like (especially after I had my own kids) or what I did at a certain age, she would have a hard time remembering (who wouldn't after all these years). So, I thought this was a great solution and thank goodness because my kids are already asking me things like: When I was a baby, did I cry a lot? What did I play with when I was two? Who were my friends? How big was I?
These letters are an extra special gift (that costs nothing, but is worth so much) that I think they will cherish when they get older and especially when they start having their own kids.

Family Fall Fun

It is finally fall! My favorite time of year! I love the cool air, the colors, the football games, smores, campfires, hayrack rides, pumpkins.... I love it all! This year, I want the family to really get out and enjoy the season and all its glory! I have thought of some fun and creative ideas that will do just that. This weekend, we are heading out for a scavenger hunt in the park!

This is what I did to plan for the day:

I took white bags with handles and wrote the "scavenger list" on both sides of the bags. I tried to come up with things that we would have to "hunt" for and use our imagination for; things that would take us some time to find and make us see the entire park. Some things that made the list were: triangle shaped rock, spotted leaf, apple colored leaf, 12" stick, acorn, and tracks.

Inside the bags, I put a ruler, magnifying glass, paper, pencil and crayons (for nature rubbings and drawings). When the kids found something on the list, they put it in their bag. If they found something on the list that was too big for the bag, we took a picture of it. We also took pictures of other "cool stuff" we found along the way (the kids found a dead mouse and they thought that was the coolest thing ever......... gross!).

To make this an extra special fall day, I packed a picnic lunch. After our hunt, we ate in the park! This outing was a huge success. My family loved it! We got to enjoy the weather and we found some pretty cool things along the way! My kids can't wait to get the pictures developed and they keep asking me when the next "hunt" is!

......Mission complete!