Super Cool Birthday Party Ideas for Your 5 Year Old, Part 2

Dress-Up or Makeover Party: Would a pink festival of femininity capture your little fashionista’s heart? Girls can put on their best dress up clothes and head over to hair and make up for a complete transformation. Your hair and make up area can include painting nails, applying lip gloss and simple hair styles. Makeovers do not have to be extravagant. I find keeping it simple is best. You can suggest the girls arrive in their dress up clothes or provide an array of clothing for them. Roll out red bulletin board paper or a red bed sheet if you want … Continue reading

How To Start A Mommy Blog

An easy way to share your pregnancy with friends and family is to start a blog. You don’t have to be a professional writer or web design expert. If you can write an email, you can definitely write a blog. Follow these steps to have your blog up and running in no time. 1. Open a free account on a blog hosting site like Blogger or WordPress. Some blog sites offer premium plans, but don’t feel like you have to buy anything. Free plans still allow you to customize the look of your blog and include pictures in your posts. … Continue reading

Frugal Wedding Ideas: Hiring People

Weddings can be outlandishly expensive, and it is not unusual to spend $20,000 or more for the big day. But, there are some easy ways to save. You can try one idea or all, depending on what your expenses are and where you want to save. The nice thing about these ideas is that they are pretty flexible, so you can incorporate what works for you. Keep reading for the first tip on my list. “Hire” your friends and relatives. This is a time-honored tradition when budgeting for weddings. It is sort of the “it takes a village” mindset. Ask … Continue reading

Thumbprint Art – Easy Crafts for Children

Making pictures with thumb and finger prints is easy, even for the reluctant artist. And other than needing to wash hands afterwards, it’s not all that messy! All you need is a washable stamp pad or two and some markers to add detail. A single thumb print can be turned into a bunny, a bear, a dog, a shy mouse, or even a spider. If you start building a design with multiple finger prints you can make flowers, ants, even trains. A row of prints could be a caterpillar, a stack of fingerprints could be a snowman. Your childs imagination … Continue reading

Fun Graduation Party Themes

It’s a milestone that screams, “PARTY!” Graduating from high school, college, or even kindergarten is a huge deal for students and their families. So how do you commemorate such an auspicious occasion? Typically, commencement celebrations take place at the graduate’s favorite restaurant or at home with an informal gathering. However, if you are looking to spice up your once-in-a-lifetime shindig, consider the following themes: Reunions: Reunited and it feels so good. This theme works especially well for a college graduation party. Reunite your grad with a bunch of his old high school friends who may have moved to various parts … Continue reading

A Review of “Just Dance”

Well I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and bought “Just Dance” for my Wii. I had two reasons for doing it. One was to relive some of the 80’s and 90’s, and the other was to incorporate dance into my fitness routine. Now before you get the idea that I am any good at dancing, let me assure you that my rhythm remains to be seen…however, it doesn’t really matter what you do in the privacy of your own home, does it? Now mind you my kids did snicker when I excitedly showed them my new dance … Continue reading

Super Fab Super Bowl Party Eats

You don’t have to travel to Dallas to celebrate Super Bowl XLV. In fact, I would venture to guess that there is more collective partying going on right now in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania than in ice-covered Dallas where airports have been shut down and highways are littered with stranded vehicles. I live less than an hour from famed Lambeau Field, home to the Green Bay Packers, and I can attest to the party-like atmosphere that has engulfed the entire state of Wisconsin. People here have been celebrating since the Green and Gold beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship … Continue reading

Snap Your Way to Photo Savings

We have two graduations at my house this month so I am completely immersed in graduation planning. As a result, I’ve been ordering lots of pictures and I’ve been using online photo processing sites to do it. The pictures I’ve ordered have included the standard fare of senior portraits and cap and gown shots. But I’ve also been using pictures in things like party invitations and collage poster prints (those are really cool, by the way). Fortunately, online photo processing makes all of this so much easier. Photos are so easy to upload and the selection of products you can … Continue reading

A Scrapbook of Your Child’s First Year

A nice addition to your child’s Baby Book is a scrapbook of their first year. This enables you to add more than what their Baby Book asks for. You can add your own creativity and save some of the keepsakes that you wouldn’t otherwise keep. A good way to create this type of scrapbook is to do it month-by-month. You can pre-design all of your pages and just add photos, notes and keepsakes as the year progresses. Perhaps design two scrapbook pages per month. The first introduces the month and has a list of new accomplishments for your baby. The … Continue reading

Fun Baby Shower Activities

I’ve given you recipes for tasty baby shower treats and shared easy and affordable party favor ideas, now it’s time for some real fun—-the games. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, no baby shower is complete without a few games. Some of the ideas we are considering for my pal’s upcoming shower include: MEMORY GAME To play this game simply place 15 to 20 small baby-related items on a large tray. (Some ideas include: Baby bottle, pacifier, rattle, baby sock, safety pin, baby oil, Wet-Ones, stuffed toy, etc.) Next, give each guest a piece of paper and a pencil to write … Continue reading