Jenae from I Can Teach My Child shows you how to make a Car Mat Backpack.
Have you blogged about a do-it-yourself Christmas gift idea? Submit it here for possible publication in the next two weeks.
Two do-it-yourself gifts for little boys
Summer Bucket List
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Do-It-Yourself: Homemade Foaming Peppermint Soap
The Humbled Homemaker shows you how to make Homemade Peppermint Foaming Soap.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Homemade Gingerbread Playdough + Playdough Mats
Looking for a creative gift to give to young children or a fun project to make with your children? How about homemade playdough?
SweetSugarbell.com has an easy recipe for homemade Gingerbread Playdough.
Plus, you could laminate some Gingerbread Playdough Mats for extra fun. (There are many other free playdough mats available online. Just do a quick Google search to pull up dozens you can print.)
Do-It-Yourself: Knitted t-shirt yarn trivet
A Happy Homemaker shows you how to make knitted t-shirt yarn trivets.
Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Wreath & Ornaments
Convert empty toilet paper tubes into this Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Wreath.
Or, make some Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Ornaments.
Shared Dec 5, 2011
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21 Days to a More Organized Christmas: Plan Ahead to Make Memories
21 Days to a More Organized Christmas: Plan Ahead to Make Memories
Have you ever gotten to the end of December and looked back and realized it all went by in such a blur that you spent very little time doing the activities and projects you had hoped to do? That’s been me many years. I’ll have great ambitions, but I never make a plan, so nothing happens. And before I know it, Christmas is over.
Christmas Card Popsicle Stick Puzzles (Excuse the peanut butter smeared on the table! :))
Growing up, Christmas was my favorite time of the year. It wasn’t the presents or food as much as it was the special activities–making cookies and taking them to the neighbors, making homemade gifts, opening the advent calendar each night, reading Christmas books together, listening to Christmas music, making Christmas cookies, and so many other things.
I want my children to look back on the Christmas season and have some of the same fond memories. But just wanting that to happen isn’t enough; I have to intentionally plan ahead to make those memories happen.
Button Christmas Tree Activity from the Christmas Busy Bag Box
With this in mind, at the end of November, we took some time as a family to think what activities we really wanted to do this Christmas. Each family member got to choose 3-4 activities and we typed them up into a Master List. Once we had the list made, Jesse and I sat down with our calendar and planned when we were going to do each activity.
Decorate a Snowman Project from the Christmas Busy Bag Box (Download a free printable template here.)
We spread the activities out over the course of December so we could enjoy them more. I’m guessing some things will come up and we might not get to every single activity, but having it all planned out ahead of time is definitely going to guarantee that we do a number of fun, meaningful, and memorable family activities this Christmas.
If you’re looking for some ideas of special activities to plan for Christmas, be sure to check out my post with 6 Fun and Inexpensive Christmas Activities for Kids and my post with Six Free Printables for Advent.
What special activities do you have planned for the Christmas season?
This Week’s Menu
Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
So, my ambitious plans to do a lot of freezer cooking last week pretty well fell flat on their face. I did make the scone mixes, but that was it. A number of unexpected things came up last week and I was just doing good to get dinner on the table each night.
So, I’m going to try again this week and see how much process I make. I guess that’s one advantage to starting early with my Christmas baking!
I’m planning to make one to two items every night while I’m cooking dinner each night. Hopefully, I’ll make it through my list by the end of the week. We’ll see!
Breakfasts
Granola bars
Toasted bagels, scrambled eggs
Steel cut oats with dried cranberries
Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal
Waffles, scrambled eggs
Oatmeal
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls, scrambled eggs, fruit saladLunches
Lunch at Subway
PB&J, carrot sticks, apple slices
Annie’s macaroni & cheese, peas, pears
Black beans and rice, carrot sticks, pear slices
Tossed salad with hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, and dried cranberries
Leftovers x 2Snacks
Fruit/veggies
Cheese/crackers
Homemade Pizza in Less Than 30 Minutes
Dinners
Baked fish, twice-baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
Hamburgers, tater tots, green beans, pear slices
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust, fruit salad, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole, steamed veggies
Homemade Pizza in Less Than 30 Minutes, carrot sticks, pear slices
Dinner with extended familyFreezer Cooking
Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche with Brown Rice Crust
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Slow Cooker Black Beans
Biscuit Dough for Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.
10 Weekly Goals
Last week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading The Boxcar Children.
2. Do some fun Christmas crafts/activities with the children (I’ll be posting about some of these!)
3. Check out Christmas books from the library, wrap them up, and let the children unwrap them and read them together.Personal Goals
4. Finish reading
EntreLeadership, Kisses from Katie, and Getting Things Done.
5. Go to bed early and get up early, as part of my 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life Challenge.
6. Run 6.5 miles.Home Management Goals
7. Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish every week day.8. Make Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Business Goals
9. Finish three articles for publications/sites (they are all due at the end of this week, but maybe I’ll actually get them finished early?)
10. Finish the 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life series. Start 21 Days to a More Organized Christmas series.
And this week’s goals:
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Finish reading These Happy Golden Years.
2. Do some fun Christmas crafts/activities with the children.
3. Continue unwrapping and reading 2-3 Christmas books each day.
Personal Goals
4. Finish reading Kisses from Katie and Getting Things Done.
5. Finish and order Christmas photo cards.
6. Run 6.5 miles.
Home Management Goals
7. Do at least one load of laundry from start to finish every week day.
8. Make Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.
Business Goals
9. Film some video segments for my publisher.
10. Write five posts for the 21 Days to a More Organized Christmas series.
How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!
You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
A Handmade Christmas: Homemade Body Scrubs
Tutorial by Carrie.
Do you have people that you want to give a little something to, or you’re looking for a gift to supplement a gift basket for Christmas? These homemade body scrubs will serve perfectly as that “little something”. I want to give to my aunts, cousins, the babysitter, and my ladies Bible Study.
Best of all, making homemade body scrub involves ingredients you already have on hand or that you can easily find in the store. In fact, just last week, I saw Peppermint Extract for around $2 a bottle at Aldi. You can find orange, lemon, and peppermint extracts in your baking aisle at the grocery. And you probably already have vanilla, sugar, salt, and oil on hand.
Ready to get scrubbing? Here are four of my favorite recipes:
Lavender Vanilla Salt Scrub
- 1/4 c mineral oil (I prefer to use Sweet Almond Oil, mainly because its odor blends well with everything, and it’s in body scrubs you can find at Bath & Body Works or the Body Shop. However, you can also use Mineral Oil because it’s less expensive than Sweet Almond Oil.)
- 1/2 cup sea salt (I add about 1/8 cup more because I like my scrub a little more grainy.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 15 drops Lavender essential oil (I bought this at The Body Shop.)
1. Mix the sea salt and mineral oil together until all the salt is incorporated.
2. Add the vanilla extract and essential oils. Stir them into the salt/oil mixture until they are thoroughly incorporated.
3. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to pretty it up. So far, I haven’t had any trouble with the food coloring staining my skin or my shower.
4. Store in an airtight container. Use 2-3 times a week in the shower.
Brown Sugar and Honey Body Scrub
- 2 Tablespoon honey
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup mineral oil (see note in the recipe above)
Mix all the ingredients together very thoroughly. This scrub will be much thicker than the salt scrub above. I can tell you, my skin is literally glowing and beautiful after using this scrub. Use it 2-3 times a week, and make sure you rinse off really well. Note: This will make your shower floor a bit sticky so make sure you rinse it well.
Peppermint Foot Scrub
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup mineral oil
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 10-12 drops of lavender essential oil (optional)
- A drop of green food coloring
1. Mix the sugar and mineral oil together.
2. Add the peppermint extract, essential oil (optional), and the food coloring. Mix until the food coloring is completely incorporated.
Orange Vanilla Sugar Scrub
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/3 cup sweet almond oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Mix the sugar and almond oil together.
2. Add the orange and vanilla extracts and stir until they are incorporated.
Carrie is married to her best friend, and high school sweetheart. Together they have three children. Her life is fabulous because everything she has is a gift from God.
6 fun and inexpensive Christmas activities for kids
1. Birdseed Ornaments
We made birdseed ornaments last week and my children had so much fun. We also spilled some bird seed on our front lawn in the process of making them and this resulted in quite a few extra feathered friends camping outside our house the next day! Find a full tutorial on how to make birdseed ornaments here.
2. Christmas Card Popsicle Stick Puzzles
Use last year’s Christmas cards to make Popsicle Stick Puzzles. Just glue the cards onto popsicle sticks, cut them apart, and let your children have fun putting the puzzles together.
To make it a little more challenging for older children, do three or four different puzzles and put all the popsicle sticks in a pile and let them have to sort and put the puzzles together. Impress Your Kids has a full tutorial on how to make Popsicle Stick Puzzles.
3. Button Wreaths
Turn leftover buttons and ribbon into these adorable button wreath ornaments from MarthaStewart. These would make fun gifts to give!
4. Build-Your-Own Snowflakes
My daughters have loved building felt snowflakes. They enjoy following the patterns or coming up with their own patterns. If you don’t have felt, you could also make these out of paper. Find the Build-Your-Own-Snowflake template here. If your children enjoy this activity, they would probably also enjoy building their own felt snowmen.
5. Christmas Pattern Blocks
When I saw these Christmas Pattern Blocks, I just about squealed! My children love pattern blocks, so I can wait to print these out and let them have fun match the shapes to make different Christmas pictures.
6. Snowflake Tortillas
This isn’t necessarily a Christmas activity, but we made Snowflake Tortillas last year in December and the children loved doing this! We are definitely planning to do this again this month. Find the Snowflake Tortillas recipe here.
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Shared Dec 4, 2011
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21 Days to a More Organized Christmas: Creating & Sticking With a Christmas Budget
21 Days to a More Organized Christmas: Creating & Sticking With a Christmas Budget
One of the key elements to enjoying a stress-free and organized Christmas is to plan a Christmas budget and stick with it. Here are four tips to help you:
1. Create a Budget
Yes, it’s kind of a no-brainer, but you can’t stick with your Christmas budget if you don’t have a budget in the first place. Take some time to look over your bank account and the money you have available, and the money you’ll have coming in over the next week or two (if any), and decide what is a realistic budget amount to set aside for Christmas.
If possible, only budget money you already have on hand, not money you are expecting to get in a paycheck soon. That way, you’re not banking on being able to spend money you don’t already have.
We typically start planning for Christmas spending halfway through the year. Since we use a cash envelope system, we just start socking away most of our gift cash for Christmas. In addition, we also save up our Swagbucks Amazon gift cards to use for Christmas presents. And I keep my eyes open for other ways to earn free gift cards or products that would be good for gifting.
By the time December rolls around, I usually have a nice stash of gift cash plus gift cards to use for gifts and this becomes our Christmas budget. By doing it this way, we don’t have to dip into any of our savings or other money to pay for Christmas–we just have to plan ahead and then look for deals to stretch that money as far as possible.
2. Make a Plan
After you get your Christmas budget created, sit down and make a list of everyone you need to buy Christmas gifts for. There’s a free printable Master Christmas Gift list here you can use to keep track of everyone you plan to buy for and what you’re planning to buy. If you prefer to keep a running total on a spreadsheet, you can download the Excel Christmas Budgeting Worksheet here to help you stay organized and stick with your budget.
3. Use Cash
If you’re at all tempted to go over your written Christmas budget, I highly recommend that you have a cash-only Christmas. Take the money you’ve allotted for your Christmas budget out of the bank in cash and then only use that money to pay for your Christmas gifts. This will force you to carefully evaluate each purchase to make sure it is the best use of your money and it will guarantee you don’t go over-budget.
Since many of the best deals are online, I suggest that you either use Paypal and refund the money to your bank account immediately from your cash envelope or take money from your cash envelopes and purchase gift cards for your online purchases. This is a bit more of a hassle, but it means you don’t have to worry about any staggering credit card bills come January!
4. Keep It Simple
Christmas should not be about impressing people with expensive gifts. If you’re going to give someone a gift, do it to bless them. Meaningful gifts don’t have to be extravagant and costly. Consider giving experience gifts or handmade gifts as opposed to high-dollar items. Sometimes, the most remembered gifts are those that took time and thought, not money.
What are your tips and tricks for sticking with your Christmas budget? I’d love to hear!
Free ebook: The Story of the Other Wise Man
Download a free copy of The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke.
Please note that the price is currently $0.00, but that could change at any time. Be sure to check the price before checking out to verify that it is still free.
This ebook is specifically for Kindles, but you can go here
Find more free ebooks here.
Thanks, Farewell Office!
Shared Dec 3, 2011
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Books Read This Week: EntreLeadership & Little Town on the Prairie
Books Read This Week: EntreLeadership & Little Town on the Prairie
EntreLeadership — You all know how much I love Dave Ramsey, so it’s no surprise that I would love his new book, EntreLeadership. However, I wasn’t expecting to love it just as much as I have.
It’s packed–and I do mean packed–with tried-and-tried information, practical application, and fantastic inspiration. As a small business owner with a few employees and sub-contractors, I’ve gleaned so much from this book. In fact, I’ve only been able to read a chapter or less each day as there’s so much to think about and consider in each page. And I’m already ready to go back and re-read it!
If you are a small business owner, I’d highly, highly recommend this book. Dave can be a bit blunt and brash sometimes, but he’s got amazing wisdom and business experience to share.
Read-Aloud
Little Town on the Prairie — We’re nearing the end of the Little House series and I think the stories aren’t quite as exciting for young children, but so far, my kiddos are still loving this series and never want me to stop reading when I finish a chapter! I’m hoping we can finish the last two books in this series before the end of the year. We’ll see!
Currently reading: Kisses from Katie and Getting Things Done . You can see all of the books I’ve read in 2011 so far here. Read all of my book reviews here.
Have you read any good books recently?
(Note: The Amazon.com links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
When you feel like giving up…
If you’re a tired and overwhelmed mama today, go read my post on MomLife titled, When You Feel Like Giving Up.
One of my children is currently testing my patience to the max. The other day, it had been an especially trying day, and I was feeling ready to pull my hair out. I walked into my closet and cried out to the Lord in desperation:
“I can’t do this anymore. I’m so tired of dealing with the same issues and attitudes again and again. It seems all of my efforts aren’t going anywhere. I’m ready to give up, God.”
Read the full post on MomLife.
A Handmade Christmas: Fingerprint Ornament
Guest post by Becca from The Gardner’s Dirt
Those ten little fingers that you counted so carefully as soon as they were born grow so fast! Create a one-of-a-kind handmade necklace or Christmas ornament that preserves the impression of those tiny fingerprints.
Materials you’ll need
- air-dry clay
- rolling pin
- clay cutting tool or other sharp object
- acrylic paint
- clear acrylic spray (gloss or matte)
- ribbon or jewelry wire
Instructions
- Roll out your clay to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Make imprints in the clay with those cute little fingers Be careful not to push all the way through the clay.
- We stamped the initial of the child inside their fingerprint. Now I’ll be able to remember which fingerprint one belonged to who. Other stamps can be used to decorate as well. I loved my friend’s idea of stamping their name or message around the outside of the pendant
- Using a clay cutting tool or other sharp object, like a pin or the end of a paper clip, cut out around the fingerprint in the shape of your choice. For this example, we chose a circle. When I made one with my four children, we did the impressions in a straight line and cut a skinny rectangle around it. If you are making it into a Christmas ornament, cookie cutters are an easy way to cut out your shape.
- Make a small hole through your pendant using your sharp tool or coffee straw.
- Let the clay dry completely.
- Paint your pendant however you like! I filled in the stamped areas with one color, wiped off the excess, and let dry. Then taking a second color, I dipped my finger into the paint, dabbed off the excess, and softly wiped over the stamped area.
- Allow paint to dry.
- Spray entire pendant with a coat or two of clear acrylic spray and let dry. This gives it a nice, shiny finish.
- Finally, add ribbon for hanging your Christmas ornament or string your pendant onto jewelry wire to make a necklace. This is where you could really add some flair if you wanted: beads, decorative wire, colorful stones! And, voila! A beautiful present full of meaning.
Becca G. is the mother of four very imaginative and energetic kiddos. Check out their creative adventures at The Gardner’s Dirt. Their favorite projects involve giving new life to old or reclaimed materials, especially t-shirts.