DIY Headband Holder

Lily has an obsession with headbands. She wears them everyday, coordinates them with her outfits and even sleeps with them on. 

This was how she stored them. The organizing freak inside me gagged every time I looked at them.

She found it hard to look for certain headbands, they constantly fell on the floor and could easily break when digging through them all. So I made her a headband holder!

This project took less than 15 minutes and was so easy!

I used a paper towel holder and roll and covered the roll with fabric using a hot glue gun.

I tucked in the ends and placed the roll back on the holder.

Ta Da !

DIY Kid's Art Display

Noah still has a blank space on his wall that was driving me nuts. He also has a large pile of crafts he brings home from preschool and coloring pages we do at home. I allow myself to recycle some things, I have to. Our fridge is becoming a display board for his work, and we're running out of room (not to mention how chaotic it's looking) So I came up with a solution for his room to display his art proudly.

I found a perfect sized board in the basement

I painted on some chalkboard paint. Please note I've had this jar of paint for 3 years now. I've used it several times and it's still in great condition.

I used a hot glue gun to glue on some clothespins.

Ta da !!

Activity bag on the go

With 4 kids, we have a lot of extra curricular activities going on this fall. Basketball, swimming lessons, girl guides, dance class and the list goes on. Most of these activities happen in the evenings, when my husband is working, so I have to drag all the kids with me to each activity. I learned the hard way that entertaining all the kids, trying to watch my kid's activity and feeding them supper on time before we leave is impossible. So is trying to pack a bag of distractions and snacks every day as we are running out the door.

Solution = activity/snack bag left in the van.

I filled a bag with non-perishable snacks (goldfish, granola bars), drinks(juice packs, bottles of water) and activities(coloring books,stickers,cards) and left it in the trunk of the van. I know it will be there to whip out when we're at the pool, gym or dance hall and I need something to keep the other kids busy once they're sick of watching their sibling in action. I'll check it every few days to see what needs replenishing. It saves me a lot of extra planning and packing and even a little sanity :)

The office

Happy Monday!
Remember my old post on Monday Mornings? It could very well brighten up your day!

Now that Madison is in grade 4, taking french immersion she thought she should take things seriously and asked to have a desk in her bedroom. When Mike's sister moved away for school, she left a small desk I had given her and an old chair in our barn so we thought we'd move it in.
This desk used to be an old telephone table in my childhood home. It stood in our hallway and housed a rotary dial phone and wrought iron chair with a red cushion. My father removed the drawers and refinished it years ago. It bounced around to several family homes and now it's found it's way back to me. I'm a ridiculously nostalgic person, so I'm thrilled to have a piece of furniture that I fondly remember while growing up.
It's a small desk space so there was enough room to store just the necessities.

Above the desk I hung a cork and memo board combo. It's great to write reminders for herself, and she has her school calendar posted so she can plan her week.
I absolutely love Alphabet Photography. I had purchased this frame at Dollarama months ago not knowing what I would do with it, and finally I filled it with letters spelling out her nickname "mads".

I used a cute basket I had purchased at Dollarama to hold her pens and markers. She had a princess tin that she liked that she uses to house extra notepads and tacks. A desk lamp was our choice for this space because it's small and has a moveable neck so she can adjust the lighting. Of course, what's a desk without a family photo!

She now has lots of room for her books and schoolwork. She has an organized area for pens and markers and she can stay up to date on her school happenings. It's also a great spot for her to be creative and write stories, which she loves to do!

I'm no Martha Stewart, I basically just threw together what I had to create a quiet space of her own. Here are some inspirational Kid's desks that put mine to shame.

Lunch Box Hero Follow-up

I had so many readers view and write to me about yesterday's post on lunches that I decided to write a follow-up. I don't blame parents for craving new ideas for kid's lunches. You need to come up with something every day! Kids get bored with the same food, and thrive on anything new and exciting. Anytime I pack something that it is out of the ordinary, the kids come home raving about how awesome their lunch was. I like to be awesome.
Here are some ideas I use to spice up my kids' lunch-bags:

Instead of regular yogurts, pack a yogurt drink.

Try substituting rainbow goldfish instead of regular goldfish for a change.

Add some cream cheese or chocolate fruit dip to go with their fruit.

Instead of a plain apple, cut it up and tie it with an elastic (to keep it from browning) and pack some brown sugar or caramel sauce to dip the apples in.

When I make sandwiches I use cookie cutters to cut them into fun shapes.

Invest in a good thermos with a straw and pack a yummy smoothie. I also do this for a quick breakfast-on-the-go if the kids are running late.

Ever think of packing a waffle with a side dish of syrup to dip it in? (Tip: cut the waffle into rectangle strips for easy dipping)

Here's a glimpse of today's lunch..mmmm.
Apple juice boxes
Cheese
Grapes
Rainbow Goldfish
Yogurt
Apple sliced with brown sugar
Chicken and cheese sandwich roll
Licorice sticks for a sweet treat

And I send a note in their lunch a few times a week just to let them know I'm thinking of them while we're apart.

Lunch Box Hero

I'm finally back in the routine of packing lunches. I always found this a challenge, not knowing how much to pack, or what to pack. Making sure I pack everything the right way so nothing gets squished or broken. A few other mothers introduced me to these new Planet Lunch Boxes. Not only are these eco-friendly and dishwasher safe, they have a compartment for everything that allows you to easily pack a well-balanced lunch. No saran wrap, no plastic bags. Woohoo!

However, they're expensive, and I'm cheap. And my children lose things, constantly. So I didn't purchase these lunchboxes. I figured I could find some sort of Walmart  knock-off that could serve the same purpose. Wrong. I searched everywhere and no such knock-off. Luckily I did find a suitable plastic lunch container with 3 compartments at Sobeys that I was satisfied with. There are 2 small compartments and 1 large compartment with a top. The whole box folds so that nothing can fall out. It lets me control the amount of snack I'm packing, and looks so neat and organized! You know I love that!

I actually look forward to packing lunches now. So much so, that I've joined a facebook group created by the "planet lunchbox mothers" to share our lunch ideas and photos. They give me great inspiration to pack healthy and creative lunches.

Don't these look delicious? Beats the ham and cheese sandwich in a brown paper bag I used to get.

These lunchboxes can of course be used for adults too!

Snack drawers

Now that all my kids are home on summer vacation, there is alot of snacking going on. Seriously, they eat every hour, it's exhausting for a mom of 4. They want a snack while they're watching a movie, a snack to take outside, and a snack to have on the way to the beach. Making up snacks is alot of work, and depending on what the snack is, the cleanup can be just as tiresome.

Two words. Snack drawers.

Why didn't I think of this before? Having ready made snacks available for the kids is a fast and easy way for them to feed their hunger, without having to lift any of my fingers. I usually do have the pantry stocked with things like granola bars, and single serving packages of goldfish. But I wanted to have some healthier options and more of a variety. I wanted snacks that were easy to eat, and didn't cause much mess. Taking an hour on grocery day to make up a week's worth of snacks is time well spent. Then I don't have to worry about making snacks until next grocery day.

For the fridge, I put together ziploc bags of all their favourite fruits and veggies. Grapes, blueberries, strawberries and carrots. Yogurt tubes are a great idea, because you don't need utensils and they can eat them with just one hand while on the run. We keep ours in the freezer to keep them cold for hot days. I always stock up on juice packs when they are on sale, they're an easy drink for kids to grab on the go.

For the pantry, I still bought the single serving goldfish packages, apple sauce and granola bars. I also put together some baggies of dry cereal and popped popcorn.

More ideas for your drawers:
Raisin boxes
Trail mix
Pretzel sticks
Fruit cups
Clementines
Cheese sticks

I'm all about making life easier !

Project Organize

Like I've mentioned before.. I don't mind clutter if I can't see it. I have a alot of drawers and cupboards in my kitchen which makes for a great burrow for junk. If I'm quickly cleaning I might throw a few items in a drawer and worry about putting them away later, or maybe I'll stash some objects in there that I think I'll use at a later time. I never do.
Having a drawer full of junk especially makes it hard for me, and my kids to find things. Batteries (we're always looking for batteries!!) flashlights, extension cords. I'll send someone to the "junk drawer" to find something and it's emptied on the kitchen floor in an even bigger mess and they never find what they're looking for.

One thing I'm not short on is empty wipes containers. I like to save them thinking they'll come in handy someday, they're durable, have a pop up top and if I'm paying almost $4 a tub I might as well get some real use out of it. Hence, my idea to use them in my project. Perfect. I'm a genius.

Some other great organizers I've found around the house are ice cub trays, small empty chocolate boxes, egg cartons,utensil trays and shoe boxes.

While cleaning out this drawer I realized it's been a really, really, really long time since I've actually looked in here. I found a VHS tape of the movie White Fang that Jessee bought for Mike for Christmas last year at a church sale. Unfortunately it's not his kind of movie, and we don't own a VHS player. Although I just read that the wolfdog in the film is the same wolfdog in the movie The Journey of Natty Gann which was a favourite movie of mine as a kid. Maybe it's not such a bad movie after all?
I tried to talk Jessee out of it and pick something else, but she was so determined that he would "just love it" that I couldn't argue anymore. The look of pride on her face when he opened it Christmas morning was worth the waste of a toonie. I guess I didn't have the heart to toss it. Also among the chaos was an old Birthday card the kids and I gave to Mike. You'll notice it's signed "baby x" which is what we lovingly called Noah before we found out the gender (note: he's 2 years old now) do I have a hoarding issue?

I love that I can find everything now!

Here are some inspirations for more drawer organizing:

Please tell me I'm not the only mom out there who somehow feels a little more put together knowing that one of my drawers is.