This tutorial for a super cute Diaper Caddy comes from Noodlehead today.
Go check it out! I am going to make mine tonight.
Go check it out! I am going to make mine tonight.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tips for Tueday- Baby's Schedule & Finger Foods
When I was a new mom, after the "newborn always sleeping" wore off, I had to figure out my baby's nap schedules. I t was really hard! Until I found an amazing article in a parenting magazine (I wish I could remember where) that said 2-6 months naps should be every 2 hours from the time the wake up from their last nap. It was a complete change! My baby was happier, went down for naps easily, and I got a break from having to hold him in order to get him to sleep.
Since I don't have the article to share I found on Baby Center a similar tool. They have parents submit their schedules, you can search them to get an idea of what works for you. Right now we are pretty similar to the "Work-At-Home Formula Feeding Mom" schedule. But find one for you depending on your child's age. Check it out here (Just scroll down to the links after the article).
And since I've decided to make today a Twofer Tuesday here is a tip about finger foods. I love finger foods because they don't require me to be sitting there feeding Thomas, and he improves his fine motor skills. Baby Center also has a great List of finger foods. If you also give your baby a spoon for himself to hold while eating, they will learn to feed themselves sooner. Thomas can bring the spoon to his mouth and eat (without making too much mess) but is still getting the hang of putting the food on the soon.
Since I don't have the article to share I found on Baby Center a similar tool. They have parents submit their schedules, you can search them to get an idea of what works for you. Right now we are pretty similar to the "Work-At-Home Formula Feeding Mom" schedule. But find one for you depending on your child's age. Check it out here (Just scroll down to the links after the article).
And since I've decided to make today a Twofer Tuesday here is a tip about finger foods. I love finger foods because they don't require me to be sitting there feeding Thomas, and he improves his fine motor skills. Baby Center also has a great List of finger foods. If you also give your baby a spoon for himself to hold while eating, they will learn to feed themselves sooner. Thomas can bring the spoon to his mouth and eat (without making too much mess) but is still getting the hang of putting the food on the soon.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Make It Yourself Monday - Lampshade Rosettes
Today I am featuring a tutorial from Simply HandMade By Paige for a very pretty lampshade with flowers sewn on.
I love this tutorial because the flowers are sew easy to make, and you can use them for clothing, accessories, or as shown here, home decor. Very versatile and easy!
Enjoy! view tutorial
I love this tutorial because the flowers are sew easy to make, and you can use them for clothing, accessories, or as shown here, home decor. Very versatile and easy!
Enjoy! view tutorial
Friday, August 13, 2010
Keeping the House Clean With Kids - Day 5: Pencil it In (with weekly planner tutorial!)
If you plan to clean the house the same way you plan all of your other important schedules, it will be more of a priority and get done!
I am a "soft scheduler", so I like to just write down the things I need to do that day in a general order but without a specific time (aside from scheduled meetings, etc.,). But do whatever works for you.
Think about it beforehand though, then you can plan realistically. The other day I made my list of things I wanted to accomplish each day, and then put them in a realistic order. It's helped a lot! I then took that list, and made it into a very cute weekly planner (included in the end of this post).
Here is a sample of my list of daily goals:
Make Beds -this is first for obvious reasons
1 Load of Laundry
Blog & Read
Dinner- this comes next because I prepare dinner when the little one goes down for his nap. usually make it in a slow cooker so it's done by eating time.
Empty Trash
Stretch
Exercise 30 min. - All things I can do during the little ones nap
Bathroom clean-up - Done during and immediately after bath time
Clean 1 room
Home Improvement/Craft project
As you can see, I tried to list them in order of what works for my schedule throughout the day. There is no set time for each (but if you're that kind of person, do it! For example, if your kids are in school, you know there are certain times that will be easiest to clean- write it down!) they are just on paper for me to see everyday and get done!
Now the fun part! Yesterday I talked about incorporating crafts and fun things into the work. Here is something I did to get myself motivated and as a reminder of what my goals are. The best thing is I was able to use things around the house so it didn't cost me a dime.
What You'll Need:
Unused picture frame
Scrapbook paper (or fabric, wrapping paper, wallpaper, whatever you like!)
Some markers
Glue
Dry-Erase marker
How-To:
Pop out the back of the picture frame. Most have a cardboard backing of some kind, this is what you want to use to measure out the paper you will be using to go inside the frame.
Lay out your design on the board and cut it to fit the frame.
Write or print out your list of "Daily Goals" and "Weekly Goals". On my frame, I had a long list of daily ones (picture on the top right) and a shorter list of weekly goals which I placed beneath them. When you print your list out, you may choose to glue it on to a piece of colored paper that co-ordinates with your frame background.
Write or print out a small rectangle for each day of the week you want to include on your planner. You may also choose to glue these on to a cute paper.
*If you want to make a full month planner* Arrange the goals and days of the week on to the background paper accordingly and glue them in place.
You may choose to use a simple ribbon, small paper rectangles, or vinyl over the outside of the frame to section off squares for each day of the month. Adhere them to your project.
*If you want to do a weekly planner with a section for reminders* Find a cute divider which can be ribbon, a scrapbooking border, or simply a different colored paper rectangle cut-out and placed on to the background paper and arrange it near the bottom half of the frame or wherever you have chosen to place the reminders section.
Cut out an additional word rectangle that says, "Notes", "Reminders", "To-Do" you get the idea. Arrange all of the strips on to your paper background. When it looks good glue them all in to place.
You may choose to add additional embellishments or decorating on to your project at this point. For me, I added some little birds to represent me and the members of our family, a nice little reminder that accomplishing my goals for the week bless me, my home, and my family members.
Put everything together in the frame and hang on the wall. Mine is in the kitchen, where I can see and update it throughout the day.
Use your dry erase maker to write your appointments over the frame, erase when needed! Now remember the daily goals we put up? They're not just there to remind you, they're there to help you keep track! When you accomplish your daily goal, draw a line through that item for the day. At the end of the night, erase all your strike-thrus to begin again the next day and not have to re-write your list!
I am a "soft scheduler", so I like to just write down the things I need to do that day in a general order but without a specific time (aside from scheduled meetings, etc.,). But do whatever works for you.
Think about it beforehand though, then you can plan realistically. The other day I made my list of things I wanted to accomplish each day, and then put them in a realistic order. It's helped a lot! I then took that list, and made it into a very cute weekly planner (included in the end of this post).
Here is a sample of my list of daily goals:
Make Beds -this is first for obvious reasons
1 Load of Laundry
Blog & Read
Dinner- this comes next because I prepare dinner when the little one goes down for his nap. usually make it in a slow cooker so it's done by eating time.
Empty Trash
Stretch
Exercise 30 min. - All things I can do during the little ones nap
Bathroom clean-up - Done during and immediately after bath time
Clean 1 room
Home Improvement/Craft project
As you can see, I tried to list them in order of what works for my schedule throughout the day. There is no set time for each (but if you're that kind of person, do it! For example, if your kids are in school, you know there are certain times that will be easiest to clean- write it down!) they are just on paper for me to see everyday and get done!
Now the fun part! Yesterday I talked about incorporating crafts and fun things into the work. Here is something I did to get myself motivated and as a reminder of what my goals are. The best thing is I was able to use things around the house so it didn't cost me a dime.
What You'll Need:
Unused picture frame
Scrapbook paper (or fabric, wrapping paper, wallpaper, whatever you like!)
Some markers
Glue
Dry-Erase marker
How-To:
Pop out the back of the picture frame. Most have a cardboard backing of some kind, this is what you want to use to measure out the paper you will be using to go inside the frame.
Lay out your design on the board and cut it to fit the frame.
Write or print out your list of "Daily Goals" and "Weekly Goals". On my frame, I had a long list of daily ones (picture on the top right) and a shorter list of weekly goals which I placed beneath them. When you print your list out, you may choose to glue it on to a piece of colored paper that co-ordinates with your frame background.
Write or print out a small rectangle for each day of the week you want to include on your planner. You may also choose to glue these on to a cute paper.
*If you want to make a full month planner* Arrange the goals and days of the week on to the background paper accordingly and glue them in place.
You may choose to use a simple ribbon, small paper rectangles, or vinyl over the outside of the frame to section off squares for each day of the month. Adhere them to your project.
*If you want to do a weekly planner with a section for reminders* Find a cute divider which can be ribbon, a scrapbooking border, or simply a different colored paper rectangle cut-out and placed on to the background paper and arrange it near the bottom half of the frame or wherever you have chosen to place the reminders section.
Cut out an additional word rectangle that says, "Notes", "Reminders", "To-Do" you get the idea. Arrange all of the strips on to your paper background. When it looks good glue them all in to place.
You may choose to add additional embellishments or decorating on to your project at this point. For me, I added some little birds to represent me and the members of our family, a nice little reminder that accomplishing my goals for the week bless me, my home, and my family members.
Put everything together in the frame and hang on the wall. Mine is in the kitchen, where I can see and update it throughout the day.
Use your dry erase maker to write your appointments over the frame, erase when needed! Now remember the daily goals we put up? They're not just there to remind you, they're there to help you keep track! When you accomplish your daily goal, draw a line through that item for the day. At the end of the night, erase all your strike-thrus to begin again the next day and not have to re-write your list!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Keeping the House Clean With Kids - Day 4: Get Crafty
There's no reason why you can't combine some of your favorite things with your least favorite things. For me, I love working on crafts so when I'm trying to clean, I try to incorporate fun crafts.
For example, the other day I got a great idea from my sister to make a hair organizer out of a shadow box frame. I took the frame, glued some cute scrapbook paper onto it, and the added some more strips of paper to make layers to put clips on, headbands, etc., The ledge inside the frame is perfect for small combs:
There are tons of great organizational ideas that involve crafts, you just have to get creative!
For example, the other day I got a great idea from my sister to make a hair organizer out of a shadow box frame. I took the frame, glued some cute scrapbook paper onto it, and the added some more strips of paper to make layers to put clips on, headbands, etc., The ledge inside the frame is perfect for small combs:
There are tons of great organizational ideas that involve crafts, you just have to get creative!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Keeping the House Clean With Kids - Day 3: Start Small
A small house is a curse and a blessing. I long for a bigger house, with a room for all of my things, and all of the husband's things, but at least our current house works well with my cleaning game plan: "One room a day keeps the dust bunnies away'".
Even if you have a big house, you can adapt this by cleaning just two rooms, or a room and a hallway a day. This doesn't mean to disregard every other room, still continue to do your most important things- cleaning up after yourself, etc., but if you focus on just one section at a time a week, your house will stay much more orderly and clean.
Here is a sample of my week, to help you figure out what works for you:
Monday Living Room- pick up things, vacuum, and dust picture frames and light fixtures.
Tuesday Kitchen/Dinig Room- make sure counters are wiped off, sweep and mop, quick cabinet wipe down and everything in between.
Wednesday Basement- since Wednesdays are my day off of work, I have the most time to focus on the biggest "problem room", which is my basement. The basement has my craft room and our office, as well as our food storage, so I clean up my crafts from the week, try to reorganize things rotate food if needed, etc.,
Thursday Baby's room & hallway- baby's laundry put away, things vacuumed, picked up, etc.,
Friday Bedroom - Our bedroom gets out of control (and I admit cleaning the other rooms through the week sometimes results in a lot of miscellaneous items being placed into the bedroom) so I spend this day organizing those items, clean the sheets, sweep, and all that other good stuff.
Saturday Bathroom & outdoors- Since the bathroom is the hardest room to clean with our little boy, I wait until dad is home to do this room. He can entertain our son and I can clean up a bit.
The outdoors is also saved for this day because some projects we do together as a couple, and the other things like the vegetable garden, and mowing the lawn, are my husband's projects so he gets those done on his day off.
As you can see, we have a small house but no matter what the size of your living area, it can be overwhelming to try and take it all on at once. Make it your priority for the day, whether you do it while the baby is sleeping, or while they are with friends, once you have that one room clean, you are free to do anything else and any other errands for that day. Focusing on one room a day does two important things:
1- It gives you a clear end AKA the escape route You know that if you can just get that ONE room clean that day, you have accomplished your cleaning goals. And it feels really good, and motivates you to do more, and often over achieve!
2-It allows you to be more focused and get done what really needs getting done You know how you really should get down and scrub the kitchen floor but it just seems overwhelming? Well, if you have an entire day, and just one room to clean, scrubbing the floor isn't that hard and doesn't take that long. Scrub the other floors in other rooms another day, today, it's just that room.
Of course, I don't always get everything done as much as I'd like. Although, I wish I could say I did. But most of the time, this plan works for me. Hopefully it works for you too!
Even if you have a big house, you can adapt this by cleaning just two rooms, or a room and a hallway a day. This doesn't mean to disregard every other room, still continue to do your most important things- cleaning up after yourself, etc., but if you focus on just one section at a time a week, your house will stay much more orderly and clean.
Here is a sample of my week, to help you figure out what works for you:
Monday Living Room- pick up things, vacuum, and dust picture frames and light fixtures.
Tuesday Kitchen/Dinig Room- make sure counters are wiped off, sweep and mop, quick cabinet wipe down and everything in between.
Wednesday Basement- since Wednesdays are my day off of work, I have the most time to focus on the biggest "problem room", which is my basement. The basement has my craft room and our office, as well as our food storage, so I clean up my crafts from the week, try to reorganize things rotate food if needed, etc.,
Thursday Baby's room & hallway- baby's laundry put away, things vacuumed, picked up, etc.,
Friday Bedroom - Our bedroom gets out of control (and I admit cleaning the other rooms through the week sometimes results in a lot of miscellaneous items being placed into the bedroom) so I spend this day organizing those items, clean the sheets, sweep, and all that other good stuff.
Saturday Bathroom & outdoors- Since the bathroom is the hardest room to clean with our little boy, I wait until dad is home to do this room. He can entertain our son and I can clean up a bit.
The outdoors is also saved for this day because some projects we do together as a couple, and the other things like the vegetable garden, and mowing the lawn, are my husband's projects so he gets those done on his day off.
As you can see, we have a small house but no matter what the size of your living area, it can be overwhelming to try and take it all on at once. Make it your priority for the day, whether you do it while the baby is sleeping, or while they are with friends, once you have that one room clean, you are free to do anything else and any other errands for that day. Focusing on one room a day does two important things:
1- It gives you a clear end AKA the escape route You know that if you can just get that ONE room clean that day, you have accomplished your cleaning goals. And it feels really good, and motivates you to do more, and often over achieve!
2-It allows you to be more focused and get done what really needs getting done You know how you really should get down and scrub the kitchen floor but it just seems overwhelming? Well, if you have an entire day, and just one room to clean, scrubbing the floor isn't that hard and doesn't take that long. Scrub the other floors in other rooms another day, today, it's just that room.
Of course, I don't always get everything done as much as I'd like. Although, I wish I could say I did. But most of the time, this plan works for me. Hopefully it works for you too!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Keeping the House Clean With Kids - Day 2: Chore Chart
A great, and fun way to keep your house in order when you have kids (and even if you don't) is to give yourself a daily reminder! As if the mess isn't enough ;)
Today U-Create Crafts had a GREAT tutorial on a very, VERY easy magnetic chore board for your family. And you can make it for under $10.
This is the finished product! I can't wait to make one of my own! I am planning to also paint over it with chalk paint, so I can write notes and reminders to myself.
I've included the supplies needed in this post but to see the entire tutorial view the original post here.
Here is what you'll need...
SUPPLIES:
-Wood (10x15 inches)
-Wood Block (Approx. 1.75x6 inches)
-Chipboard piece (11x17 inches)
-2 pieces of scrapbook paper PER chart
-Mod Podge
-Foam Brush
-Vinyl (optional)
-Sheet Metal (Found mine at Home Depot for .99 - in Roofing section)
-Accent/Plant Gems ($1 at Dollar Tree)
-Magnets
-Chore pics (clipart included)
-Hot Glue Gun
-Tacks (optional - at Lowe's - 24 pk. for $1)
Today U-Create Crafts had a GREAT tutorial on a very, VERY easy magnetic chore board for your family. And you can make it for under $10.
This is the finished product! I can't wait to make one of my own! I am planning to also paint over it with chalk paint, so I can write notes and reminders to myself.
I've included the supplies needed in this post but to see the entire tutorial view the original post here.
Here is what you'll need...
SUPPLIES:
-Wood (10x15 inches)
-Wood Block (Approx. 1.75x6 inches)
-Chipboard piece (11x17 inches)
-2 pieces of scrapbook paper PER chart
-Mod Podge
-Foam Brush
-Vinyl (optional)
-Sheet Metal (Found mine at Home Depot for .99 - in Roofing section)
-Accent/Plant Gems ($1 at Dollar Tree)
-Magnets
-Chore pics (clipart included)
-Hot Glue Gun
-Tacks (optional - at Lowe's - 24 pk. for $1)
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