Easter bunny origami tag

Easter bunny origami---free template

This week is spring break. I have been scouring the internet for ideas to help keep them occupied . Anything to avoid the countless hours staring at the TV or playing video games. We might not have the perfect Spring weather yet, but I believe that kids need to be outside, exploring, as much as they can. 

We have had a few rainy days so far and after we turned our living room into a fort, played pirates, baked way to many yummy treats, settled down and watched a family movie...I need more ideas for inside play. 

I came across these beautiful tags and thought that my kids could "help" me with them. Theirs came out, interesting, to say the least but they were adorable and will look beautiful when they are adorned on bags full of Easter goodies for the grandparents.

Babysitter Info Sheets

My boys are my whole world! And when my husband and I get the rare moment to go on a date night, we call our favorite sitter to come and hand out with our rambunctious boys. There are times though were we have to call a different sitter when ours is not available and I always try to ensure she is all set with any piece of information that she could need.

Being 6 and 3, I am sure my boys keep their sitters busy with playing soldiers or taking them outside to jump on the trampoline, so I want to make sure that if there is anything that she might need, it is readily available for  her. 

I found this Babysitter Info printable online and thought it was a great idea. I have a folder up on the wall of my pantry that holds recipes or extra papers I might need and now holds a blank stack of these. You can download a copy of the sheet here.

This is the example from the link above. 

DIY Natural Room Scent

I am one of those people who absolutely love to have my house smelling amazing. Whether it is the lingering scent of something baking, my overused Scentsy warmer or a new obsession of mine DIY Natural Room Scents. 

I don't use them as much as I would like to because it usually requires you to keep your stove on and with two smaller children I just don't seen comfortable with that. But I did find a solution. I bought a small crock-pot. Now I don't have to worry about the stove being on and the crock-pot can be put out of reach from the kids.

One of my favorites scents is anise. I know its so cliche, but there is something about that sweet yet spicy aroma that I just love. 

I stumbled across a new room scent that included anise and as soon as it started to warm in the crock-pot I knew I had found my new favorite scent! These are super easy to make and can be customized to your preferences. Play around with some of your favorite scents to come up with new fragrances. 

What you will need---Oranges, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and anise. One reason it is my favorite scent is for it's staying power. This scent carries into multiple rooms better, and it can be reheated to scent your rooms for several days. 

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How to heat it using a mini slow cooker. Mine only has one low heat setting. The mixture never actually bubbles and visibly steams. I leave it uncovered on my kitchen counter to slowly release scent throughout the day. It's subtle, but creates a pleasant smell in my kitchen and a hint of scent in surrounding rooms. When I'm home, I keep my mini slow cooker going. It's easy and uses very little electricity. When I fill mine in the morning, it won't dry out for an entire day. If you're concerned about accidentally letting it run dry, you can put a lamp timer on it so that it automatically shuts off at the desired time. 

Cheaper and A LOT better DIY laundry detergent

I know a few women who swear by making their own laundry detergent but I could never bring myself to try it. I tend to be a little picky when it comes to my detergent. It has to smell yummy and the smell has to last, it cannot fade the colors of my clothes, it has to make my towels nice and fluffy and it HAS to be able to get the funk out of my family's gym clothes and sports uniforms. I am not asking too much am I? I had fallen in love with Tide with Febreze and the Febreze sport a long time ago and that is all I use.

But at between $12 and $20 a bottle, depending on what size I bought, even with coupons it seemed to cost me and arm and a leg. I usually do about 4 loads a week, sometimes 5. That adds up to be a lot of money. I know there are many other things I could spend that money on....Hobby Lobby and Traders Joe's come to mind!

So after looking around the internet for "recipes" for laundry detergent, I came across one that seemed to have some potential. After I made my first batch, ran my first laundry cycle, I pulled the clothes out, stuck my nose in them and OH MY WORD, they smelled amazing. After the dryer cycle was finished they still smelled good. And for about $28 a year...I am sold!

All you are going to need is 1-2 tablespoons of soap, depending on how dirty your load is, in each load of laundry! 

Here is what you will need:

2 bars of Fels-Naptha

1 container of Oxygen stain remover ( I feel that the Dirty Jobs stain remover is better than Oxi-clean)

1 bottle of Purex Crystals (this is optional but it gives your laundry an amazing smell)

1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 box of Borax

4lb box of baking soda

Grab your cheese grater and start grating the bars of Fels-Naptha. 

It should look like this when you are finished.

Grab a bucket with a lid, mine is a 5lb bucket from Lowes, to mix and keep your detergent in. 

Add all of your ingredients to the bucket. 

Now take those tools, hands, that you were given and mix it all up. It will look like this when you are finished. 

I like to save the scoop that comes with the Dirty Job remover because I use it to scoop the detergent into the Purex Crystal Bottle, so that I can keep a bottle of soap on top of the washer. Put the lid on the bucket and store it away.

Now this is why I save the Purex bottle. I filled this bottle about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I have done about 13 loads of laundry and this is all I have used! Yep, that is right. 13 loads of laundry and I am down about and inch from the top. This is going to last you a good while!

All Natural Orange Vinegar Cleaner

Lately I have been testing a few cooking and cleaning ideas I have seen around pinterest, lately.  Some of them don't work, but some are great.  I found this cleaner with vinegar and orange peels to be a good one and thought I'd share it.

Here is a little info about the cleaner.

First of, this is definitely not a new idea. Vinegar has been used for cleaning for a long time.  My mom taught me to add it regularly to the laundry.  I sometimes run it in a dishwasher load, using it in the jet dry dispenser. 

Why does vinegar work? It is because vinegar is a mild acid and can dissolve mineral deposits.  This is why many people with hard water clean their shower heads with it.
Vinegar is also found to be 99% effective against germs and bacteria.

Orange oil, which is produced from the peel, is also an effective and all natural cleaner.
It works because it is a natural solvent.  Solvents get rid of gunk really well.

Now where you put the two together they make home-healthy, efficient cleaner. 

And the orange makes the smell of the vinegar more tolerable.

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All you are going to need for this is:

• A mason or canning jar with lid
• White vinegar
• Orange peels

Place you orange peels into your jar.

Pour in the white vinegar.

Leave some space at the top if you plan on adding more peels to the jar.

Close it up and leave it for a week to 2 weeks.

When it’s finished, take out the peels and put your orange infused vinegar into a spray bottle. 

Top it off with water.

Now you have 2 options, you can keep your cleaner strong or you can water it down.

If you follow the directions as-is, it will turn out to be a strong cleaner.

OR, you can use 50/50 water and orange-vinegar for a less strong cleaner. It is all up to you!

Road trippin' activity basket

In just a week or so, I will be venturing out on my very first road trip with both kids alone. Scratch that, I have done it before but my youngest was an infant and slept the whole way and my oldest was glued to the DVD player. 

Now I have a 6 year old and a 3 year old, who is just on the verge of being fully potty trained and has to be doing something to constantly stay busy or he will turn into a terror. Thank goodness for the 3rd row seat in the van....I have a feeling it will come in handy around hour 3 or 4.

After scouring the internet for ideas to add to my road trip activity basket, I came across the coolest printables. My absolute favorite has to be the licenses plate game printable. I sat their reminiscing over the many road trips we took when I was younger and the countless hours we spent playing the licenses plate game. I had so much fun with the game I even developed a fondness for licenses plates. I have my plates from every state I have ever lived in...too many to count thanks to being raised as an Air Force brat and then marrying a Navy man. 

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Having an activity basket in my car has been a savior at times. Even when we are just driving around town the boys seem to be digging through it looking for something to pass the time. If you don't have one, make one! I am sure it will get used almost everyday!

If you want to print out the whole packet, just click HERE and print away!

Weekly Menu Planning

One of my goals this year is to become more organized, yea we will see! With my children growing up now and becoming more involved in clubs and sports and my husband’s job keeps him traveling for months, mommy is getting run a little ragged. 

I look at my friends with more than one child and wonder, how do they do it? Most of them are like me and just kind of go with the flow, but I have one amazing friend who is the most organized and put together person and is pregnant with her 4th child. Just looking at her makes me tired sometimes.

The first thing I am going to tackle is our weekly food planning. Oh, dinner. Sometimes I am lucky to have time to make a full dinner. When my husband’s gone and the kids ask for cereal for dinner...well I oblige. 

She suggested that I start a meal planning folder. Somewhere I can put my entire shopping list, recipes and food calendar all in one place. Sounds quite simple. 

I found a great little print out where you are able to write down what you are planning for dinner on one side and the other side is your shopping list. Pretty simple. I plan on putting a start next to the meals that someone says the like or they would like to have again. You can keep all the printouts in your binder and once you accumulate a few weeks you will have a wonderful list of meals your family enjoy or if there is a hectic week coming up, reuse another weeks page. You can print out the download HERE.

I just finished mine for the week and let me tell you...I feel just a tad bit more ready to hit up the grocery store this weekend. I am going to add these to the front of my coupon binder. I take that binder with me everywhere and I figured as I was checking items off my list I could see if I have a coupon for it. And yes, I did print it out in black and white. I am a little too cheap to buy colored ink!

Perfect Hostess Gift

With the holidays in full swing, there will be plenty of parties that I will be attending. As a hostess, I believe one of my favorite gifts to receive from my guest would be a nice bottle of wine. It is thoughtful, affordable and practical. With all of the extensive flavors of wines available, you are able to discover new wines that you might have never tried before. 

So when I attend parties, I like to bring the same thing. I fancy the sweeter wines and I am somewhat addicted to Cupcake wine. But I just don’t bring a bottle; I like to make it a little more dressed up, chic.

I found these beautiful tags from TomKat studios, that you are able to print out to add to any bottle of wine along with a pretty ribbon. It takes the ordinary and turns it into an elegant hostess gift.

CLICK HERE to download the tags.

Christmas Gift Organizing

For me it always starts about mid October. When I sit down and write out a list of what gift I want to get each member of my family. Not only is this my Christmas List but our anniversary, my husbands birthday and my youngest sons birthday all fall within a month before Christmas. So this list is my life line at the end of the year for gift giving. Ever year, I try to make a list and keep it somewhere handy so it can go to the store with me or stay posted close to my computer in case I find a deal. But every year, it never fails, that I lose that list and re-make it about 8 times. I have no idea how that little paper eludes me in my time of need.

As I was reading some of my favorite blogs, I came across this amazing chart to help with your yearly gift giving. Now I know that there are only a few days before Christmas, but keep this handy for next year, or for those people who hastily try to begin and finish Christmas shopping the weekend before Christmas, this might help you stay a bit organized. I know that there are some of you out there that do this. I am not going to lie, it seems like I am always running around trying to get that last present from someone the day before Christmas.

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I am definitely going to print out one of these next year to help me keep up with who I am buying for, make sure I am staying on budget and to be able to check each individual gift off the list as I buy it, so I will always know who I have left to buy for. To download your free copy just click this LINK.