Gift Giving Guide- The "Difficult" Person

If you want to DIY:

Olive Oil Infused with Rosemary and Lemon – because who doesn’t love olive oil, you could even throw in a fresh loaf of bread if you have the time

Pineapple Cutting Board – perfect for all the hosting people do this time of year

An Ornament (made out of corks, clay, or fabric)  – perfect gift if you have kids that want to help with the gift giving

If you want to PURCHASE:

Cards – You can buy a nice set of homemade cards from craft fairs and online shops like Etsy. They are all homemade with love and the receiver can use them throughout the entire year

Kitchen Gadgets – You can get them the newest kitchen gadget, a pump for your lemon juice, maybe a spoonula. Wrap it up with a cookbook and the gift is good to go.

Donation to their favorite charity in their name – This is perfect for anyone who says they don’t want/ need anything and they truly mean it 

What do you give to someone who has everything already? 

Gift Giving Guide- The Husband

If you want to DIY:

Bailey’s Hot Cocoa – Easy peasy treat to make and perfect for someone who wants a more low key holiday

Photo Album – What could be more romantic than a cute photo album of the two of you (want bonus points- make it up themed) 

Fortune Cookies – because sometimes you need to write your own fortunes in life 

If you want to PURCHASE:

Watch – Perfect gift to get this time of the year with all the sales

Grill – Summer will be here soon enough (6 months for some of us though) but you can still get him a summer grill.  He might just use it now if you aren’t too buried in snow already

Set of Beer Mugs – Check out your local breweries for custom beer mugs and get him some craft beers while you are at it

What are you getting your DH this year? 

Gift Giving Guide- The Hostess

If you want to DIY:

Homemade Vanilla – Making your own vanilla is so much cheaper than buying it at the store and anyone who bakes will appreciate this gift

Wreath – Anyone would love to put a fresh wreath on their front door

Etched Glass Casserole Pan – Perfect for the hostess who always is cooking and baking for other people

If you want to PURCHASE:

Wine Holder with four glasses and a nice bottle of wine –   We love this one from Etsy

Book – Get any book that you think might suit the person. You could try cookbooks, joke books, autobiographies, or just anything that seems interesting while browsing Amazon

Kitchen Mugs  – Get a nice set of mugs to match their décor and add in some gourmet coffee to make a wonderful hostess/host gift 

20 + Halloween Ideas

Costumes

 

(SOURCE: Probably Actually)

Isn't this tree costume adorable?

(SOURCE: Creating Really Awesome Free Things)

Try this X-Ray costume if you are expecting

• If your dog needs a costume check out these easy dog costumes from Reasons to Skip the Housework
• Try these DIY costumes if you are pregnant 
• If your kid can't even walk yet, try these costumes from Buzzfeed
• If you want to match your child, here are some of our favorite parent/child costumes

(SOURCE: Mom.Me)

These IPod costumes could be made over the weekend

DIY

(SOURCE: Your Cup of Cake)

These are the easiest cupcakes to make and might just be too adorable to eat

(SOURCE: The 36th Avenue)

Perfect way to use up some of the glass bottles laying around the house

(SOURCE: Kid's Krubby)

Make your own ice bucket or drink cooler festive with this pumpkin one

• These tin can luminaries are adorable and are a perfect way to recycle some of the old cans around the house. (I wonder if you could make smaller versions with old soup cans) 

Decorating

(SOURCE: Brooklyn Limestone)

Take some cheap witches hat and hang them from the ceiling using fishing wire.  Easy and cheap way to decorate the entryway (hang them high if you have tall people in your household)  

(SOURCE:  Nifty Thrifty and Thriving)

Turning your house into a giant monster-- awesome   

(SOURCE: Wacky Archives)

Hunt your backyard with these chicken wire ghosts

• If you are feeling artistic- try one of these wreaths to make for the front door 
• HGTV shares some of their favorite Halloween Decorating Ideas
• A few other ways to add the creepiness of Halloween indoors from Martha Stewart
• For the Disney lovers out there try some of these crafts around the house

Around the House

(SOURCE: Sandy Toes and Popsicles)

Try these treat bags with printables if you need to bring in snacks for your child's school

• Pranking your kids on Halloween is another way to go
• And if you want to do a movie night (because Hocus Pocus is still good no matter how many times you have seen it) here are some movie night fun ideas
• Follow us on Pinterest and visit our Fall Board for more Halloween Ideas

What are your favorite Halloween ideas?

Organizing the paper monster!

With school back in session you are bound to start getting more and more paperwork.  With each child in school comes flyers, permission slips, reminders, worksheets, pictures from school, art projects, and many drawings and writing assignments.  It is very easy to get overwhelmed especially when you need to start remembering extracurricular activities, test dates, spelling words, and field trips. 

We have scoured the internet (mostly Pinterest) to find the best ways to organize all of this paperwork. 

The Binder System:  From our favorite organizing blog, I Heart Organizing, Jen put together these adorable binders for her boys for elementary school.  Read all about it on her blog here

The File System: The binders above can easily get full and if you don’t want to end up getting a 4 or 5 inch binder for each child (That can get heavy!) try the file system.  This is what Jen from I Heart Organizing upgraded to after she found her binders not being able to support all of the artwork her sons had.   This method is simple, give each child a crate or box and put file folders in there for each year.  This method leaves plenty of room to expand in case your child ends up being the future Picasso or you can’t bear to throw anything away.

For Large Art Work (to be stored away): This art portfolio has a nice professional look to it and even has handles.  You could get one for each child and put all their artwork in it and put it in the attic or basement.  It’s slim so it could easily slide in between two shelving units to keep it from bending.  Downside: It is made out of paper so this is best for storing but not for traveling with. 

For Artwork (for display purposes): This large photo album from Amazon is 18” by 24” and is large enough to keep large art projects safe.  Perfect to have on the coffee table or a shelf to show grandparents and friends at a moment’s notice.

Framing System: How cute is this idea?  You shrink your child’s artwork and then mount in in a large frame.  Think about the possibilities? You could have all of your child’s elementary school artwork in one place!  This would look great in a great room or even a play room. 

Are you going to implement any of these ideas? Do you have any methods already in place? 

Spring Cleaning Tips

It might still be close to freezing out there but very soon springtime will come.  With spring comes less snow, more sunshine, and the ability to walk 

your dog without having to dress like a marshmallow.

 Since spring will be here before you know it, we have put together 

our favorite spring cleaning tips. 

Tip #1- Biting off more than you can chew

It can be easy to get overwhelmed cleaning your house come springtime. You haven't done anything all winter and now that you don't have cabin fever anymore, you want to start cleaning and doing your DIY projects you found on Pinterest.  Don't rush with this though.  If you start too many projects at once, you won't be able to give any of them your 100% attention. Instead make a plan for what you want to do and give an estimated timeline for that project.  This way if you know painting the fence will take 2 weekends, you can plan to do certain tasks at certain times. If all else fails, remember you have until October before it starts getting chilly again-- that is almost 7 to 8 months you have for cleaning! 

Tip #2- Be mindful of small changes

Renovating a room down to the studs can not only take a lot of time but it also takes a lot of money. To save time and money, here are some quick and easy decor ideas that pack a bigger punch than you would think. 

Throw Pillows like on the bed below add a fun twist to a plain guest bedroom or in a plain living room.  

(Photo from Apartment Therapy) 

(Photo from Apartment Therapy) 

Painting a wall with an accent design or color- give a kitchen or living room wall can create a visually appealing   

                                                         (Photo from East Coast Creative) 

Tip #3- Make It Fun

Kids can be taught to like cleaning especially if you do it in a way that makes them eager to clean. For example, most adults organize their closet by style (camisoles, tee-shirts, bottom- ups, and work blouses) if you let kids organize by color for a fun rainbow effect they might be more tempted to put their clothes away where they belong and not a pile on the floor. 

  
Connie from Smockity Frocks also writes about in her blog post below that in her house every Saturday is cleaning day. Everyone pitches in and gets the house clean.  All the kids get a score card, everyone gets a treat and the size of the treat depends on their score. The highest score gets the biggest treat.  This is a simple reward system and since everyone wins there isn't a downside. 

 (Photo from Connie at Smockity Frocks ) 

Tip #4- Make a plan 

On a random Saturday before you start diving into DIY projects get out a legal pad and make three columns. In the first column write and down every project you would want to get done before the end of summer. In the second column write down an estimated cost of that project.  In the third column give each project a ranking.  If you have 15 projects, there will be 15 rankings.  This ranking sorts your projects into priorities and only if you have time activities.  You might think everything you have on your list is a priority but if painting the dog house is it is number 13, it might not be as important as you think.
When you are planning out your weekend projects start with 1 through 5 first.  Once you finish those, then you can move onto the less important ones.