Easy Holiday Yarn Garland

Supplies:

• Skein of yarn - one for each color in your garland
• Cardboard for wrapping, at least 4"
• Scissors

You will want to cut your cardboard according to how long you want your tassels. I found several scraps of cardboard that were already 4-1/2", which works great. 

First, you will need a strand laid against the cardboard horizontally, that you will wrap over. Mine are about 9" so they hang over the edge of the cardboard. Because I have two pieces of cardboard, I find it helpful to put this horizontal yarn between the sheets of cardboard to keep it tucked out of the way.

2. Start wrapping. My garlands are wrapped 32 times. You can play with it to decide how fat you want your tassels.  

Keep in mind that when you're looking at it, you are only seeing 1/2 of the thickness; half is on the backside.

3. It's time for that horizontal piece you wrapped over. Gather both ends and tie the top of all the yarn in a double knot, as tight as you can make it.

4. Slide the yarn off the cardboard and cut the bottom ends. If it is easier to cut the ends while it is still wrapped on the cardboard, go for it! 

5. Cut another short string to tie the "head" of the tassel. This piece doesn't need to be quite as long as the top piece. You will double knot as tight as you can, then the ends will hang down and join the rest of the tassel. 

6. Trim any pieces that hang too long, and you're done with the tassel! 

Keep making tassels in all the colors you want to use for your garland.

Presenting, my finished garland:

For this first garland, I used a ruler and tied the tassels every 8 inches (below picture). As I looked at the garland hanging, I decided to do my second garland with tassels attached every 6 inches. 

Garland with tassels every 8 inches

Garland with tassels every 6 inches

That's it! A pretty simple project that doesn't take long, easy for kids to help with, doesn't need to be perfect to look good - ingredients of a perfect Christmas craft in my book. Please comment and let me know what you think! I'd also love to hear about your tassel garland.

Environmental-Friendly Christmas Shopping

It's never too early to start your holiday shopping. When you're on summer vacation and you see something that reminds you of someone, maybe that's a good present for their next birthday or Christmas? One of the best gifts you can give is experiences or your time. If this is not an option, the following are some great ideas.

1. Metal straws - plastic straws are horrible for our environment. If you have people you need small gifts for (i.e. teachers, babysitters, house cleaners, etc), buy metal straws in bulk and split into smaller packages for everyone. If you get them in pouches or cases, even better - they can be kept in purses whenever needed in restaurants or drive-thrus.
2. Homemade napkins - If you have a little time to make gifts, how about a set of homemade napkins? You could pick out a fabric color that matches their decor if you're really motivated. Or buy Christmas fabric so they will have festive holiday napkins. Or, if you want to emphasize enviro-friendly, use fabric scraps you already have around the house. Hem them for clean edges, or cut and wash for rough edges. Fold them and wrap with ribbon. 
3. Shopping bags - if you are like me and have lots, perhaps include this with another gift (or use with a food gift basket).
4. Sew gift bags - This requires a bit of time, but it's the gift that keeps on giving. Bonus points if you use fabric you have on hand. Make variety packs: big, small, rectangle, square, etc. If you're like me and like to buy after Christmas, buy fabric and start making gift bags to give next year.
5. Food - another great way to not give STUFF is to give food. Make a themed gift basket with things they like (i.e. popcorn, bbq, chocolate, coffee, ice cream sundae's)
6. Reusable sandwich bags or wraps - especially families who pack lunches, can use these. I have found wraps tricky to sew, so prefer to buy them. But if you have a good sewing machine, you just need a heavy-duty needle, outer fabric, liner fabric and velcro. Here's one example of sewing instructions: https://www.sisterswhat.com/2019/07/diy-reusable-sandwich-bag-wraps.html
7. Homemade greeting cards - If you have children who love to draw or paint, turn their art into greeting cards. Grandparents love these! I buy large quantities of blank greeting cards and either draw/paint directly on them or glue photographs to the front. Leaving the inside blank makes them more 
8. Homemade heating pad - You can buy millet in bulk and sew a long, rectangle of fabric and fill with millet. This heating pad just requires a minute in the microwave. 

I will keep adding to this list, so check back again later! 

What else can you think of to share with others? Please comment so we can all have even more ideas :)

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Places to Recycle all Kinds of Things

Sneakers - If your sneakers are well and truly busted, you don't want to pawn them off on a new owner. In that case, transport them to a new life as part of a floor surface for other soles to stomp all over. As part of their Reuse-A-Shoe program, Nike has collected more than 28 million pairs of athletic shoes since the 1990s. The footwear giant partners with other companies to turn your destroyed footwear into track surfaces, basketball courts, and playgrounds. To take advantage of this program, you can drop off your old sneakers at a Nike or Converse store with a collection bin. Details: https://www.nike.com/help/a/recycle-shoes

REI usually has a bin in the entry to the store. Call to confirm with your location.


Oral Care Items - Don’t worry, no one is going to put your old toothbrush in their mouth. But a recycling program called TerraCycle, working with the Colgate brand, can transform your old oral-care items—squeezed-out toothpaste tubes, empty floss containers, battered toothbrushes, and all their packaging—into new plastic products.

Once you register online, Terracycle will email you a shipping label. Slap it on a package of your tooth-cleaning leftovers to dispose of them, free of charge. Even though Colgate sponsors the program, you can send in any brand of oral hygiene products. 

What you can recycle in this program
Program accepted waste: Toothpaste tubes and caps, toothbrushes, toothpaste cartons, toothbrush outer packaging, and floss containers.


Please note: Electric toothbrushes, battery toothbrushes, and/or their parts are not recyclable through the program.

*Thanks to Popular Science for these details. You can also recycle eyeglasses, crayons and tennis balls according to their article. 

Spent markers - 15 pounds of dead markers that will NOT end up in landfills or our oceans. Did you know that Crayola has a program called ColorCycle? Crayola ColorCycle will accept all brands of plastic markers, not just Crayola markers. That includes dry erase markers & highlighters. If you collect the dead markers, they’ll send you a free shipping label & you can ship them back to Crayola to be recycled! Link to get started with this program: http://www.crayola.com/colorcycle.aspx. This program is currently in the US & parts of Canada, check website & www.crayola.com/colorcycle/frequently-asked-questions.aspx - FAQ's. Kids get so excited to set up boxes at their schools...know any teachers? These markers were collected in just 3 months at a preschool! Imagine what we could divert from landfills during the whole school year at every school!


Inhalers - More than 46 million people throw away their inhalers every year. This is a huge amount of waste that can be recycled. Call your local pharmacy to see if they recycle them. They will be broken down into plastics and aluminum.

Corks - Wine corks can be recycled and used in a variety of materials including flooring tiles, insulation, automotive parts, and sports equipment. Many Whole Foods markets have placed drop boxes inside their stores for you to dump your collection, so look for one the next time you’re grocery shopping. The organizations ReCORK and SOLE have also teamed up to repurpose your wine tops into soles for shoes and list of all the drop off locations on their site.

Cosmetics - Cosmetic packaging probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when considering recycling, but compacts, tubs, tubes, and other containers can be easily recycled. Various companies have their own programs, including: Lush, M·A·C Cosmetics, Origins and Kiehl’s, to name a few.

Holiday Lights - Send those energy-sucking strands of holiday lights off to HolidayLEDs.com to be recycled and you’ll get a 15-percent-off coupon for anything on their site, so you can get the twinkly LED lights of your dreams. The Christmas Light Recycling Program is open year round.

Juice pouches - Because most are a combination of a plastic polymer and aluminum, these are not recyclable. TerraCycle will donate 2 cents for each Honest Kids, Capri Sun, and Kool-Aid Drink pouch and 1 cent for any other brand you collect. The organization provides free shipping, too. TerraCycle turns them into colorful purses, totes, and pencil cases that are sold at Target and Walgreens stores.

* Credit to https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/surprising-things-you-can-recycle/ 

Plastic pots from purchased bushes, plants - Call Home Depot or Lowe's near you. Locally, take them to Lafayette Florist.

Sweater Pillows

As I was wandering the aisles of Hobby Lobby during the holiday season, I noticed the adorable throw pillows, some made of sweater material. So cute! When I saw they were $20 or more, I had that old familiar thought, "I should just make my own!"

Yup, the thought that plagues me and sets me up for a basement full of unfinished projects. But not this time! I came up with an even better idea. Why not create holiday pillow covers? Not only are they festive at Christmastime, but they pack away compactly and you have your old familiar pillows again after the holidays. BOOM! I was excited to get this idea into action.

I had my heart set on the cute, red sweater material pillows I'd seen in the store. Next stop, my favorite thrift store - sweater section! I found the biggest sweaters (the more fabric the better) in the most vibrant reds, that wouldn't look thin when stretched. Here is what I came home with, along with the pillows they would soon cover:

Sweaters and my stash of various pillows to be covered

After washing the sweaters (because - thrift store!) I matched up the sweaters and pillows. Time to trim off the sleeves. The sleeves are sitting in my sewing area for future projects - I just can't throw anything away, you never know when you'll need gorgeous, red sweater fabric again!

Sweaters after arms trimmed off.

There are lots of ways to put together pillow covers: velcro, zipper, but I thought the easiest option would be button closure. And white buttons as closures are most definitely the most attractive. If only I could get my sewing machine to cooperate, this step wouldn't have been so complicated. Alas, I got it done by hand and if you don't look too carefully, the sweater pillows look cute. I didn't take into account how stretchy sweaters are, and the buttons come undone easily. If they're just decorative and you don't have kids messing with them, you're golden.

each sweater with my notes and cute white buttons

I am especially proud that I got this project finished before Christmas, to enjoy them for at least a few days. They are now boxed up until next November, when I will get to enjoy a full season with them decorating my couches.

Final Collection of Sweater-Covered Pillows

Final Sweater-covered pillow with accent buttons

A New Life For Your Dingy Whites

Do you have white shirts that have gotten dingy over time? And with kids, this happens a lot more often, with panties also. No matter what you try, you just can't get them white anymore? I know I have - google and google and try and try with no luck.

Well, there's nothing wrong with the shirts other than the color. So, why not change that? Dye them a darker color and they'll never be dingy again!

I decided that with a variety of dingy white shirts and panties, we needed more color selection. I bought red dye and blue dye.

I put about 2/3 of my items in the red dye. Once it was going well, I started my blue dye and put the rest of the items in there.  After both pots steeped about a half hour, I pulled out some red and blue items and set aside to keep pure red and pure blue (they would get rinsed as per the final instructions of the dye package). Then, I combined the red dye, blue dye and the remaining items. After they steeped sufficiently I removed them and rinsed.

I didn't trust my freshly dyed items in our washer, so I hand washed everything. They did fine in my dryer, however.

The only down side is the thread often won't dye because it is made of different materials. But I actually like the accent colors of the string and even waist bands of panties. I don't know how well the colors will hold after multiple washes, but since these are my kids shirts, they'll grow out of them fast enough that it won't matter for us.

Here is the final result - No More Dingy!

as you can see, I have a thing for burgundy - note the curtains hanging beside the shirts :)

Great Family Movies

Now that all the kids are in elementary school, we can phase out of watching 100% cartoon movies (except the good ones of course). With the youngest in kindergarten, there is still some challenge with scary movies, extra long, or those requiring play-by-play explanation. Thus, the "not ready" list. Feel free to comment your recommended additions!

Great Family Movies for Elementary-Aged Kids

• The Sandlot
• Back to the Future series
• The Night at the Museum series
• Adventures in Babysitting
• Home Alone series
• American Girl movies (for girls)
• * Harry Potter series
• Ghostbusters
• Annie
• Pete's Dragon
• The Neverending Story
• * Holes
• Wizard of Oz
• Muppet movies
• Swiss Family Robinson
• A Dolphin Tale
• * Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
• Blank Check
• The Parent Trap
• The Love Bug
• RV
• Flubber
• Because of Winn-Dixie
• Escape to Witch Mountain
• The Apple Dumpling Gang series
• * How to Eat Fried Worms
• Jumanji
• Maleficient
• Mr Popper's Penguins
• Nanny McPhee
• Spy Kids series
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
• 
  

Not Ready Yet:

• Goonies
• Raiders of the Lost Ark series
• Gremlins
• Pirates of the Caribbean series
• * Narnia
• Karate Kid
• ET
• Beetle Juice
• National Treasure
• School of Rock

RED - The movies we have already seen and enjoyed

* movies that come from great books.

Updated 1/22/2016

S'more Treats

What do you do with a box of chocolate cheerios that no one wants to eat? Mix them up with marshmallows and small chunks of graham crackers. Rice Krispie treats meet S'mores! Mmm...

Because cheerios are bigger and heavier pieces than Rice Krispies, the treats end up much harder. Use a smaller amount of cheerios than Rice Krispie treat recipes suggest.

Great treat for a summer picnic where they can warm up and soften in the sun.

Doll Ring

Here's a craft you can quickly make for your American Girl doll.

All you need are brass fasteners, jewel pieces and a hot glue gun.

Glue a gem to the top of the brass fastener:

Open fastener and wrap around doll finger. Here's how it looked on my pinkie (sorry I didn't get the pic clearer)

Quick and done!

I Love You to the Moon and Back

This year's DIY Father's Day present was quite a success!

Supplies:

• Canvas, poster board or heavy paper
• Blue and black washable paint
• plastic plate or paint palate
• scrap paper
• double-sided tape or masking tape
• wooden skewers
• wooden popsicle sticks
• printer photo paper
• hot glue gun, regular glue
• silver glitter (optional)

1. Cut out a circle of  scrap paper and tape it to your canvas, using double-sided tape or a loop of masking tape underneath. You could trace something round to get a good circle (measuring cup, glass, masking tape roll, etc)
2. Mix blue and black paint on your palate until you have a night-blue color you like. Let this dry.
3. Pose children in a climbing position against a white background. We had them step up on our white stool so as to not see the floor in the picture. Take a picture of each child you will be including.
4. Print pictures and cut out.
5. Create the ladder. First we trimmed the skewers to fit the size of our canvas. Next, we hot glued them vertically on the canvas. 
6. Hot glue popsicle sticks across skewers as the rungs of your ladder. We also laid our people in place to figure out where to position the rungs. 
7. Glue people to the ladder.
8. If you like the idea of stars in the sky, brush some glue across the top and sprinkle glitter.

Don't forget to sign and date your artwork!

Upcycling old crayons

I've always wanted to try making our own molded crayon chunks. Well, it was one of the most successful projects of the summer in several ways.

First, we got out our big tub of crayons and sorted out all the tiny stubs. Great job for the kids to do on their own.

Secondly, the kids got to peel the wrappers off all the crayon stubs.

I broke crayons into smaller pieces wherever possible.

Finally, the kids got to fill the (greased - don't know if it's important or not) muffin tin with whatever combination of colors they wanted to create.

The next step is thanks to the hot summer sun.

We set the muffin tin out in the sun on a 90+ degree day and voila!

Popped right out of muffin tin after they were cooled. Melted crayon chunks.

Nice and big, easy for small hands to use.

Yes, kids are expensive. But also Priceless!

I have three daughters. Yup, just think about all those expenses that come with one girl, let alone three! Clothes, makeup, fancy dresses, shoes.... Yes, there is a middle ground and we try to spend our time there.

So my daughters love to dress up and dance around the house, as many young girls like to do. I avoided dance class as long as possible, but this year I bit the bullet. When the school year started, I shuttled them all to dance class every week until Christmas break. We learned what jazz shoes were and started searching for them, plus tap and ballet. We stocked up on leotards and tights also (lucky to borrow a few, too). That I could pay for their classes in a payment plan was a unexpected blessing, considering all the other costs!

I was relieved that the Christmas program was done simply. No costumes to buy, no tickets to sell, no dress rehearsal. Just show up as a family to the Rec center with the girls wearing whatever they wanted to wear. They were given a santa hat and red scarf to wear on stage with their dance classes. It was relaxed. Done. Merry Christmas.

After the holidays passed it was time to check in with the girls to see who still had the dancing bug and who had checked it off their list as done. To my surprise, only my youngest one was still interested. Spring dance is also pricier, so that was a bit of a relief - 1/3 the expense! The older girls tried gymnastics out, but didn't have it in them to stick with it.

So on we went, dancing one class per week. Along the way, kids were measured for costumes. Down payments were paid for recital fees and costumes. Costumes arrived and the girls' faces lit up, the excitement could not be contained!

Erin with her dance trophy

The night of the recital the kids were so full of energy, so happy and so incredibly adorable. I didn't sign up for the DVD, since I recorded their dress rehearsals. One expense I could trim off, right? But I was not prepared for their big performance. The backdrops were so cute! They did the best tap performance I'd seen all Spring. And then there was the ballet. My daughter got confused exiting  around the curtain, with the others following. It had me laughing so hard I was in tears! By the finale, I realized how much this night meant to not just my daughter, but me too.

Erin posing during dress rehearsal

So much time I procrastinated putting the girls in dance because of the expense. They were happy enough dancing around the house, right? But that night changed my perspective. All she felt was joy and excitement. She felt beautiful and happy. She loved her costume and tutu. And she had ballet friends that she loved to be with. Maybe it was a little tight getting everything paid for, but knowing how much it meant to her, I would do it all again. Heck, I'm pretty sure we Will be doing it all again for her. And for me, I ordered that DVD.

Erin, with Hannah and Kelcie after the show

Teacher Appreciation

So the school year comes to a close and I am scrambling to put together appreciate gifts for teachers. I scour Pinterest primarily, and came up with gift basics of goodies. Here is my collection:

A snack-size ziplock filled with M&Ms and a card attached:

I happened to have a bunch of cool-colored paper clips, so I bagged these up with a card reading: "Thank you for holding everything together!"

Doesn't everbody need a little fun, too? We added some silly string (Goofy String from the Dollar Store) just cuz...

Got some highlighters? Add a card reading: "You were the highlight of the year!"

I made flower heads from cereal box cardboard (although I'd recommend something heavier next time). My daughter decorated it, then we duct taped it to a skewer.

  
We glued Dove chocolates to each flower petal. Because what teacher can't use a little more chocolate??

Whatever various school supply surplus I had, I added in:

 

We gathered everything into a cute Dollar Store bucket:

A To Do list for my future self

Do you ever tell yourself that you'll take break when all the laundry is over... or you'll sit and read the newspaper when the dishes are done.. but somehow it never seems to happen? Something else always comes up! Well, I thought I'd make a list for my future self. Perhaps I will hold myself accountable to it, perhaps I'll laugh at how naïve I was "back then."

I've got two of my kids in full day elementary school and the last one will not be for 2 more years. It feels now, like when that happens, I should surely have all kinds of free time! Time for a well-deserved break! Here are some of the things to do for myself:

• Sit at a coffee shop, bringing nothing to do. Just sit.
• Sit at a coffee shop with a book to read and all day to read it!
• Meet a friend at the coffee shop.
• Go to the library and read by the fireplace. Don't check out a single children's book.
• Take a long bike ride.
• Go to the park and swing.
• Go to the park and read.
• One week, go to the gym every day, Mon-Fri, and be a workout feign.
• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week regularly.
• Sit in the hot tub at the gym after a good workout.
• Have lunch with a friend at least every few weeks.
• Sit outside in the sun and read.
• Sit outside in the sun and nap.
• Nap.
• Watch The Today Show without needing to pause, turn up the volume, or attend to anyone else's needs.
• Go to Boulder for an errand and stay until I have to pick the kids up.
• Go to Boulder to hike for the day.
• Perhaps I will have a part time day job by then, perhaps not.

I didn't realize how easy it would be to make such a long list! Perhaps I'll keep adding to it over the next two years....

What's on your list?

My Valentines Day

The day started great... David got up and I heard him downstairs with the girls. What made it better was that I could hear that he was feeding the cats, a chore I almost always do. I also knew the girls both signed up for school "hot lunches" today, so I was able to stay in bed a bit longer, not having to pack lunches.

I decided to start our holiday with some festive breakfast. I pulled out the kids' heart-shaped plates and gave them cinnamon toast in shape of hearts. I also pulled out chocolate cheerios and strawberry frosted mini-wheats. As we got started, Hannah came downstairs very sadly. She expected Cupid to have been here already and to start the day with surprises from him. Nothing Daddy and I said made a difference.

This winter we've gotten later and later getting the girls to school. Even when I get everyone headed to the car at 8:30, we still can't seem to make it before the "late car traffic." So once again, I'm approaching the school and see tons of cars. My preference is to make a U-turn to park right by the school. But there is a steady stream of cars exiting the parking lot headed my way, making it difficult. Stupid me, I thought I could do it anyway. Have you ever pulled ahead of a parallel parking spot in preparation of backing into it only to find the car behind you kept driving right up behind you so you can't back in? Well, this happens to me every few times I attempt this maneuver at Red Hawk. I even put on my turn signal as I pulled forward, but apparently this is only helpful from my perspective. Others don't seem to notice it. As I pulled ahead to try for a second spot, I managed success. Sort of. I was honked at by a car who went around me in frustration. I think it was even my neighbor! oops. So we all got out and walked the farther distance to school.

Because of parking a bit farther up the road, we all had to walk through a bit of mud. This is a challenge, since a 3 year old doesn't see mud as a problem. As she and I walked back to the car I started prepping her with instructions to keep her feet down in the car, to not get mud on my carseat. With her size, the back of the seat in front of her is usually her foot rest and I needed to be sure she understood that wasn't okay today. We arrived to the gym/library parking lot and as I went to help Erin out, I saw mud all over the seatback. Yup. You starting to get a feeling for what kind of day this is going to be?

We had a pretty uneventful Friday morning doing our usual routine - dropped Erin in the Rec Center's Kid Station so I could work out. Picked her up and had a snack in the Rec Center's lobby, then walked across the courtyard to the library for "Music & Movement" class, then library time. When I was getting hungry for lunch I had trouble getting Erin out of there. Small hiccup, but a pain nonetheless. This resistance lost her the chance to watch tv while I made lunch later. We finally got home and I parked in the driveway, planning to wash my car a bit later, since there's no sign of snow for the week ahead.

As I was about to help Erin out of the car, I discovered Hannah's wallet on the car floor with money she had intended to take to school for a contest/fundraiser that ended today. Change of plans - hooked Erin back in and off to Red Hawk we drove.

In the office I was starting to explain the situation when I saw Kelcie walking towards the office looking very sad. Lunch time had just started and she couldn't eat due to feeling nauseous. We took her into the nurse's office to sit for awhile and see how she felt. I took Erin to the cafeteria to tell Hannah we'd dropped off her money (which I don't think she even realized she'd forgotten). Back to the office, where it was decided we'd take Kelcie home. Signed her out, got her backpack and on our way. I found out later that Kelcie did indeed buy her school lunch and sat down with it before realizing she was sick. Bummer about the wasted lunch money spent.

As we pulled into the garage (this time given up on my hope for a clean car), a florist delivery was awaiting us. A vase of beautiful pink tulips arrived to cheer up my mediocre day. Thanks, Mom!!

Kelcie went up to her room to rest and I started lunch. Erin was messing with my delicate sheer curtains and of course asking her to leave them alone fell on deaf ears. I found all the curtain ties on the stairs. Erg. Erin spilled her glass of of water at lunch. Par for the course.

Miracle of the day - Erin actually napped. Considering that Kelcie was resting in her room, I had lost any hope of Erin napping! After a bit I checked on Kelcie, to discover poop smeared in various spots of the bathroom and having to change the stinky poopy trash. But at least there was a good-sized stool in the potty! Luckily Kelcie was better with a bit of rest and time. No vomiting. No fever. No need for a doctor appointment.

I was prepared for picking Hannah up from school to be another challenge, knowing that many parents attended the late-afternoon Valentine parties so many extra cars would fill the neighborhood. Miracle of the day #2 - I found a spot on the edge of the parking lot! I left Kelcie and Erin in the car to get Hannah. The perk to having two children at school is that if one is home sick, the other can bring their things home. Hannah came home with both Valentine boxes, goodies and flowers delivered from Daddy. Now to go home and trash the house in order to check out all their cards and loot. Sigh.

The day ended nicely with heart-shaped strawberry pink pancakes for dinner, Daddy coming to the rescue bringing treats from Cupid and time spent reading books together before watching some Olympics.

All in all, drama not unlike most days around here. But in the midst of it all, it sure feels pretty bad.

Keeping Your House Reasonably Clean Without Spending Hours at aTime

Setting up a cleaning schedule with no more than one task per day has made such a difference and helped me to feel much less busy and stressed. Maybe this is old news to most of you - and kudos if it is - but it was enlightening to me and improved my life so much!

Start by brainstorming what tasks need to be done at least once a month in your home. Mark each task by how often each must be done for you to feel your home is reasonably clean. I use the term "reasonably clean" loosely, because if this is going to work, you need to let go of sparkling clean. Be willing to have some cleaning tasks done less frequently, knowing everything important will be done this month at some point. Group your listed tasks by their frequency. Here's a sample list:

 

Daily:

Wipe kitchen counters

Wipe dining table
Sweep floor under dining table

 

Weekly:

Vacuum living room

Wipe down bathroom counters

 

Bi-weekly or Monthly:

Dust house

Vacuum bedrooms

Clean toilets

 

Now, even though you are creating a daily cleaning schedule, everyone needs a few days off. And you need to account for things coming up.

Here's my final list, as a starting place:

 

Valentine Garland

Here is a simple garland you can make with your preschooler.

Cut a set of small colored papers. Decorate them with whatever you have - glitter, stamps, stickers, etc.

Punch a hole in both top corners of each page.

String ribbon through them all and hang up.

Simple!

Wonton Meal Cups

There are so many things you can do with wonton wrappers beyond making wontons. You could fill them with all kinds of things from making raviolis to meatballs, seal the edges and bake. One of my newest favorites is making filled cups. While you can press refrigerated biscuits into muffin tins and do similar recipes, it can be tricky to be sure they don't come out doughy. Besides, sometimes you want a deep dish pizza and sometimes you want thin and crispy.....

Taco Cups

Lightly grease muffin tins.

Arrange your wonton wrappers across each muffin cup. If your filling is greasy or watery, you may want to use two layers of wonton wrappers.

Put about 1 tablespoon of seasoned taco meat in the middle of each wrapper and lightly push them down into the cup.

Cover with shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake @ 350 for about 10 minutes, or until lightly brown.

 

 

Sorry my pic doesn't show full muffin tins....I was in such a hurry to start gobbling these up, I almost forgot to take the picture!

Other ideas of what you could fill them with:

• Sloppy Joe mix
• Layer with lasagna ingredients

Please comment on this post if you have other ideas or have tried other Wonton meal cups - I'd appreciate it!