No More Smelly Dishcloths!!!

There is nothing I dislike more than a smelly dishcloth. Ugh.

To keep your cloths smelling fresh- once a month, put them in boiling water for 15-20 minutes with a few tablespoons of baking soda, then wash them in the washing machine with a little bleach added and they will be as good as new! Because that's what my mama says and she knows.

The Letter Factory

I have meant to blog about this awesome product for a long time! Usually I'm the "no TV mama," but I think I love this DVD even more than my kids! A friend of mine introduced us to this when Emma was 2 years old, and it took her about a week to learn all her letters by name and the sound they made. It has been the same story for Madeline, and the children of family and friends. It is just a simple, but very creative video about letters and their phonetic sounds. And it works! Now, my kids are constantly singing about letters and the sounds they make.

To see other reviews about this video on Amazon, click here.

Once your child has mastered his or her letters, there are also "Talking Words Factory," and "Talking Words Factory 2," which teach them how to add the sounds together to form words (READ)! Try it, you'll be amazed how great it is!

Panoramic Sugar Eggs

As a child, my mom made these and she would set them out each Easter. I remember peering into them, so excited to see a familiar scene of bunnies and easter eggs or chicks at play. I wanted my kids to enjoy them too, so I made these a few years ago and they have held up surprisingly well, even amidst all of our moving. So far, I have only lost two! My kids love them a little too much, so I've had to put them up high on the mantle so they need a little assistance to "look" at them.

I can't say they are the easiest things to make, but they do keep well if you pack them away right. And they are completely edible... made from sugar and water and lots of frosting (minus the cute little mini figures- those are specialty of Michael's).

If you would like a comprehensive tutorial on making these neat eggs, click here. If you would rather just buy them, click here.

Last Minute Ideas for Valentines Day Fun

Here are some fun things you can do to make the day special for your family... and they don't require much preparation!

1- Make heart shaped pancakes (just pour it on the griddle in a rough heart shape) or muffins. (If you don't have a special muffin tin, simply put a marble between each paper liner and the muffin tin and it will create a heart shape- I tried it and it worked great!)

2- Put pink food coloring in the milk jug.

3- Find one of those shades of lipstick that you were sure about in the store, but once you got home, you realized it was all wrong, and write a lipstick mirror message for your sweetie.

4- Leave a love note in your child's lunch box, fill the lunch box with heart confetti, or draw hearts on the bag.

5- Give someone a "heart attack" by sticking hearts all over his/her car, office, or door.

6- Call a loved one at work and sing them a love song on the telephone.

7- Wake your kids up in the morning with a kiss and a Hershey's kiss (they might get out of bed faster!?)

8- Blow up red balloons or cut out red hearts to hang over the dinner table.

Please let me hear your ideas by leaving a comment!

Kids Valentine Ideas

We've been having fun at our house... we hope you have too!

Since we always seem to have leftover candy canes from Christmas, it has become a tradition for us to make these candy cane heart Valentines for our teachers.


These are the Valentines we made for the kids to give to classmates. I figure the less candy, the better, since they are sure to come home with a LOT of that.


And this last one was just for fun... I remember having these candy airplanes as a child and I wanted to see what my kids thought. Of course, they were a hit. You need smarties, single sticks of gum, two lifesavers, and a rubber band (preferably not the hair kind, like me).



If you are interested in cleaning out your crayon box, this craft is for you! Get all the little broken crayons together and unwrap them. Fill up a small heart shaped bake pan with random pieces. Bake at 250 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until they are melted. Let it cool and then pop out. My kids loved this.

Paint Chip Valentines

I had some extra paint chips around the house this month, and I decided to put them to good use! Simply trim off the words and numbers, and use the ready-made frames for cute stickers or a message!

For the card, I just trimmed the edges off the paint chip, and mounted it on a white card; added two strings of ribbon and the x's and o's. Quick and cute!


Then, I decided to make little bookmarks for my kids.

Joy To Everyone

To receive some joy, click here.