Getting Creative with Almost-Expired Food

Using what you have in your pantry is important when food prices have risen so much. Creating meals from your pantry can reduce your weekly food budget or allow you to skip a shopping trip or two. It also prevents food waste. Sometimes you are faced with just a few strange items to use up before they expire or go bad. This is where you have to get creative. I’ll offer you some tips, as well as links to a couple of recipes that will help you create real meals from a collection of end-date food. This post is part … Continue reading

Top 10 Scrapbooking Organizational Articles

Organization is key to a productive scrapbooking hobby. Knowing where your things are, and being able to access them easily is key to time management and giving yourself a bit more time to scrapbook. These are the top 10 articles on scrapbooking organization. I hope they help you as much as getting organized has helped me with my scrapbooking. It’s a whole lot easier to get some pages complete when I know what I have and where it is. 1. Color Sorting For Organization Color sorting has become a favorite, easy to use way, for scrapbookers to organize their dozens … Continue reading

Sunday’s Best of the Best: Budget Scrapbooking

Starting with Budget Scrapbooking for this week’s best of the best on Sunday, was an easy choice. Scrapbooking on a budget is something I strive for, not to mention that it allows for a lot of creative freedom and flexibility and stimulates my mind to think outside the box. Here are 2007’s Best of the Best Budget Scrapbooking Articles to date: Using Embellishments That Go With Your Theme Finding the right embellishments to fit your layout or theme is actually more complicated than one might think. Especially if you tend to do a lot of pages on actual hobbies, interests … Continue reading

Organizing and Storing Homeschooling Materials

In Setting Up a Space for Homeschooling, Valorie discusses having a room specifically for homeschooling. I agree with her that having a room specifically for homeschooling would be a wonderful option, if you have room in the house for it. Sadly I don’t, and neither do a lot of other people including her. As she said, just because you have a room designated for homeschooling doesn’t mean you have to do all of your homeschooling in that room. If I had a room for homeschooling, its main purpose would be to have all of our homeschooling items in one place. … Continue reading

Frugal Living Week in Review for August 12th-19th, 2007

Today’s families are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to save money. With the help of the Frugal Living blog, every family should be able to find ways to save money and articles and ideas for stretching their budget. Here is a great review of the articles in the frugal living blog just in case you missed any. Fun and Frugal Uses for Leftover Balloons My son’s birthday was on Friday, and of course we had balloons. I use balloons a lot around my house in various ways, and until I was reminded this weekend, I almost … Continue reading

Scrapbooking Week in Review for August 13th-19th, 2007

The scrapbooking blog has always been one of the most popular blogs at families.com. That always makes me smile, since scrapbooking is probably one of my most favorite subjects in the world to talk about. I divide my time into sections so that I am equally sharing it with my family, my job (writing) and my scrapbooking. I often include my family in my scrapbooking endeavors for the simple reason that they love it too. Don’t forget to share those moments with your own families, and include your children in the layout making process. They aren’t professionals, but they will … Continue reading

Scrapbooking Week In Review for April 9th to April 15th

The scrapbooking blog has one purpose, and that is to help you preserve your memories in the best way possible. This past week was no different as we took a look at many different aspects of scrapbooking. I tried to focus on a more budget friendly scrapbooking experience. Monday April 9th Monday kicked off with What Are You Forgetting To Photograph In Your Child’s Life, which was a reminder to what is important to document, and what maybe you have forgotten to capture on film. Sometimes we overlook simple moments. Tuesday April 10th In How To Use A Light Box … Continue reading

Don’t Confuse Organizing With Buying More Stuff (3)

There is still much more to discuss with organizing. And when you are trying to do it with a budget it can be challenging, but it’s possible. You have to learn to look beyond the obvious and see things for what they can do for you, and not just for the purpose they were originally intended. Containers for instance, can consolidate items. They are difficult to see into if they are not clear, so it’s important to label them. I, generally recommend using clear plastic containers when possible. Stock up when they are on sale. But don’t purchase too many … Continue reading

Get Organized Before the Holidays Hit

My scrapbooking area looks like an F-5 tornado ripped through it. Sadly, it looks that way after completing just one back-to-school memory book. Imagine what will happen if I leave it this way until the holidays. With Halloween just about a week away, and Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, now is the time to get your scrapbooking materials organized. The holidays are chaotic enough without having to search high and low for specific embellishments, paper and tools. What’s more, if you are planning to design scrapbooks as gifts to give for Christmas or Hanukkah, then you have added … Continue reading

Creating a Kid-Friendly Lunch Shelf

So it’s back to school. This year, I’d really like my seven-year-old to start making her lunches. While she can come home for lunch sometimes, packed lunches are the way of things most days. I’m no fan of making lunches, and I’ve been known to be notoriously un-creative at times. In grade three, when I made my own lunch, I ate peanut butter sandwiches for an entire year. I still can’t eat a plain peanut butter sandwich without gagging. Enough said. Children have their own ideas about what makes a good lunch. If you’re aiming to have them make a nutritious … Continue reading