by Heidi | Jun 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
Family vacations are such a great way to experience new and exciting things together, create life long memories, and hopefully allow everyone to relax from the normal day-to-day routines as well. Travelling by car offers a wonderful way to see our country up close and personal, and also allows you travel at your own pace and schedule.
However, long car rides can prove to be quite an arduous journey with little ones. I’ve collected a few tips and tricks guaranteed to ensure your journey starts on the right track.
1) Plan ahead for success: A few days before you are set to depart, start a list of everything you’ll need to pack for your trip. You’re less likely to forget something if you’ve made a list ahead of time and check it off as it gets packed. Bring the list along in your baggage in order to check off items (perhaps in a different color) to make sure you bring everything back home.
2) Remember to bring medication like Tylenol, Motrin, saline drops or cough/cold medicines as well as plenty of any prescribed medicines. If jr. even seems a little sick – get to the Doctor for a check up before you leave. Chances are, your doc will write you a script ‘just in case’ the condition worsens (esp. if you’re travelling out of state).
3)Put time on your side and plan your travel around your children’s eating/sleeping schedule: If you are traveling with a wee little one still solely on milk, plan to leave just after a feeding. If traveling with an active toddler, plan to leave either an hour before a scheduled nap OR just after a meal so you can get several miles behind you before you need to stop again. We always bring some recorded instrumental lullaby type music to encourage a restful nap/quiet time atmosphere for the car.
4) Bring along some healthy snacks (limit the sugar) to keep away the cranky/hungry related crabbies. Some of our favorites are gold fish crackers, peanut butter Ritz bits, trail mix, raisins, and cereal bars. Bottled water is also a good idea not only for thirst but also for cleaning up unexpected messes along the way.
5) Plan for stops along the way – Unfortunately, it takes you longer to get there, but it can make the trip much more bearable for children. Getting out to stretch and get their wiggles out and look at the scenery is sometimes all they need to get them through to the next stop. We try to bring along an outdoor toy or two like balls or a Frisbee if the weather is nice for these stops.
6) Speaking of entertainment, make sure to bring along plenty of small toys, books, and game ideas to keep passengers occupied and engaged. I prepare a small back pack for each child containing a few favorite toys. I also wrap up some (previously purchased) dollar store surprises in newspaper or wrapping paper to dole out along the way. I usually purchase one suprise to unwrap for every hour we’ll be on the road. Consider packing a few art materials like crayons, drawing paper and coloring books, and stickers in a cake pan with a lid. Not only will it provide storage to hold items, it will also provide the child with a hard, flat surface to create on.
Make a visit to your local library a few days before you leave to pick out a few new books to read. Books on tape are also a great way to pass the time in the car. A portable DVD player can be a super sanity saving tool for occasional diversions on extra long trips.
Click on the links below for some printable travel game ideas!
by Heidi | Jun 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
Don’t miss an ounce of summer fun by always having a bag ready to go wherever your outdoor adventures may lead. Keeping all your summer gear together in one large bag will save you the time of hunting everything down.
Here’s a list of summer essentials to always keep stocked in your bag:
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Band aids
- Sunglasses
- Wide Brimmed hat/s
- Hair bands
- Wide tooth comb/brush (for wet tangled hair)
- (Full)Water Bottles
- Healthy snacks (like trail mix or granola that won’t melt in the hot sun)
- Handy wipes for quick clean-ups.
- Small coin purse (in case you cross paths with the ice cream truck or for swimming pool concessions)
- Designate a pocket to slip in personal identification, cell phone, plus any membership cards.
*Make sure there’s room to pop in some towels and stow flip flops as well. This Mesh Beach Bag by Taylor Nicole Designs is perfect to take-along for a day at the beach! The mesh pockets not only help organize your essentials, but also allows water and sand to drain:
* Consider installing a few drying hooks either in the garage or near a mud room entrance so they’ll be dry and ready to pop in the bag. Store your summer bag nearby!
*Be sure to make a new routine of checking the stock of your bag each night so you’ll always be ready for the next adventure!
by Heidi | Jun 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
The month of June marks the start of Yard Sale Season
Once you’ve decidedly de-cluttered your home of everything that you do not consider beautiful or useful, enjoy the fruits of your labor by making a little money from your efforts!
Here’s a few tips that are guaranteed to make your next yard sale a raging $uccess!
Get the Word Out!
When hosting a sale, you’ve got to advertise! The local classified ads is a traditional choice, but now-a-days you can also share details about your upcoming sale for FREE via craigslist.org, garagesalehunter.com, and yardsalesearch.com in addition to asking friends to spread the word via Facebook! Be sure to list any ‘hot ticket’ items like baby equipment, sporting goods, furniture, electronics, toys, and art within your ad. If offering kids clothing, make mention of sizes and and type (for example, 6-12 mo girls clothes). Be sure to make special mention if your sale is a neighborhood or multi-family sale, as those are usually considered gold mines to yard sale enthusiasts.
On the day of the sale, be strategic about placing several large, brightly colored, durable and neatly printed poster boards noting the location and hours of your sale around your neighborhood as well as near high traffic intersections near your neighborhood.
Timing
Hard core Yard Sale shoppers are early birds. When you choose a time for your sale (8-3 is a pretty universal choice) expect people to start showing up at least 30 minutes beforehand. Usually, a one day sale on a Saturday is sufficient for a single family sale. If you’ll be hosting a multi-family, neighborhood or church-wide sale, two days (Fri. & Sat.) would certainly be appropriate.
Price It Right
Usually, a good rule of thumb is to price items at least 75% off of retail value. If in doubt, price lower.
Determine before your sale begins if you’ll engage in haggling. Usually I hold firm on ‘hot ticket’ items like furniture and electronics at least until after the lunch hour. But, ultimately, it’s up to you.
Offer ‘blanket prices’ with signage as much as possible to limit the amount of questions and misunderstandings from patrons. This approach will make it a whole lot easier for you on the preparations end as well!
Create signs like:
All kids clothes – $1
All books – .50 cents
All movies – $2
All denim – $3
You could choose to have a ‘designer’ rack for individually labeled clothing, but I guarantee that the more general the pricing, the more bulk you’ll sell.
Presentation is Key
Taking the time to arrange things in an eye catching and appealing way is sure to draw the attention of potential buyers and keep them browsing than if random items are just all piled together with no distinction.
Group like items with like items when displaying your wares. Consider how real stores display goods and follow suit! Create ‘zones’ for toys, books, clothing, games, house hold items, kitchen gadgets and so on. This way, shoppers can easily identify items they may be specifically searching for… and it just looks nicer.
Put top selling items like electronics and furniture in a highly visible place to attract potential drive-by customers.
Enlist Some Helpers
It’s a good idea to have an extra set of hands (or two) to help out in the setting up and running of your sale. Not only will this eliminate possible theft, but it will help check-outs run faster and grant you a general peace of mind if there are a lot of shoppers visiting at once. If you’ve got young children, a baby-sitter or finding child care off site is most recommended. A yard sale can be a great learning experience for older children, (age 9+) however. They can be taught to count back change, bag items, or even sell cold drinks, coffee, or baked goods at their own stand.
What You’ll Need
- Money to make change: $30-$50 in ones, $30 in fives, $50 in tens, $60 in twenties and a roll of quarters ($10).
- Money pouch or cash box
- Calculator
- Notebook and pen (to track sales, especially important if hosting a multi-family sale)
- Tables to display goods to be sold
- Measuring tape for patrons to measure furniture
- Extension cords for patrons to test electronics
- Clothing rack or clothes line and hangers to display clothes
- Bags/boxes/paper for packaging purchased goods
- Pricing materials, tape, stickers, paper signs tacks, etc.
by Heidi | Jun 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Once you’ve successfully pared down your wardrobe to items that you truly love {and actually wear}, it’s time to get it in order!
Here’s a few tips to help in arranging items in such a way that not only pleases the eye, but also saves time when locating what you want easily and efficiently.
Group and hang similar items together.
Category divisions in drawers and on hanging rods could be as simple as:
- Shirts
- Skirts
- Pants
- Coats
- Dresses
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| {via the container store} |
If you like, organize even a little further within these basic categories:
- Long sleeve/Short sleeves
- Casual/Dressy
- by Color/Style
* Designate specific shelves or space for shoes and accessories.
* Hang clothes facing all the same direction.
* As a bonus, use one type and color of hanger.
Space Saving Tip:
Purchase hangers designed to hold multiple skirts/slacks:
Time Saving Tip:
Keep open hangers collected on one side of bar.
When you remove an article of clothing, add the hanger it was on to that collection. This will saves time having to search for a hanger when putting clothes away AND it helps your closet to look nice and neat as well.
by Heidi | May 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
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| Tour the rest of Mariah Carey’s closet HERE |
We may not all have the luxury of a celebrity syle closet. But, with a little creativity and elbow grease, you could create something similar to the lovely closet that Kate of Centsational Girl created;
Maximize on vertical space at minimal cost in closets with the use of hanging canvas shelves and dividers:
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| by Kolcraft |
Slide in canvas drawers to help contain smaller items (such as socks, underclothes, or even small toys) within cubbies as well.
Canvas shelves and drawers can be found from dollar stores, to big box retailers like Target and Wal-mart.
If you have the funds to design your own custom closet, hang rods at multiple levels paired with shelves and drawers.
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| {via closet ideas.com} |
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| {via Better Homes and Gardens} |
Maybe you’ve got an extra bedroom with a closet that could be turned into a creative space or office:
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| {via Country Living.com} |
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| {via Lowes Home Ideas} |
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| {via sunset.com} |
Need a hand casting a creative vision for a closet in your home?
Or, perhaps you need aid in sorting through a closet that’s bursting at the seams.
CONTACT me for a closet consultation!
by Heidi | May 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Tired of opening up your closet only to find it FULL of clothes, yet there is nothing in there you really want to wear? It’s time you participated in a Clothing Swap!
Organizing a Clothing Swap is a fantastic way to not only clean out your closet, but freshen up your wardrobe for FREE as well!
Invite a collection of friends neighbors and co-workers to bring their gently used clothing, shoes, accessories and even handbags to one location in order to swap with one another. A variety of guests ensures that you’ll get loads of options and sizes to go around. You could invite by mail or the ever popular evite, encouraging attendees to invite one or two guests each as well, if you like.
It’s a good idea to request that guests drop off items a few days ahead of time to allow for goods to be organized and put on display by size, season or style ahead of time (like you’d find in a boutique store). This will provide for easier browsing on the day of the swap.
At the Swap Event:
Allow everyone to ‘just browse’ the goods on display for about 30 minutes as they arrive. Drinks and desserts or appetizers would be a nice touch, but is not required. You could even ask each guest to bring something to share in the invitation.
There are a few options for how to carry out the actual swap:
1. Casual: Allow everyone to select items at the same time. But, perhaps ‘suggest’ guests limit selections to what match the same amount as what they brought until everyone has filled their own quota. If more items are available, allow for more selections to be made.
2. Semi Formal: Create and distribute “Swap” coupons or tokens for items brought in. The more a guest brings, the more they get to swap, complete with a ‘check out’. If there are more items left after ‘check outs’ have been made, allow for casual selections to follow.
3. Extra Formal: Still using the coupon or token process, the hostess would begin the Swap by having everyone draw a number from some type of random numbered drawing. The person that draws #1 would get to select one to three items first, #2 would go next, and so on. Once all guests had made their first selections, numbers would be returned then drawn again for round two. Selections would continue to be made until all the items have been chosen or nobody has an interest in anything else.
Trades could be made amongst guests after items are distributed and tried on, if desired.
It may even be a good idea to plan ahead for some light-hearted games to play in the event you have two or more people that want the same item. This is a fun way to decide who will get to take favored frocks.
This could be as simple as a fun competition like an egg and spoon race.
You could also hold a type of auction for really popular (perhaps brand name) items:
Give everyone a cup or bowl of M&M’s or skittles. Whomever wants an item would then bid on them with their equally distributed candy…(i.e.: Hostess would supervise, “I have two skittles here, oh, now I have 6, I see 10 over here!” )
After the party is complete, it would be understood that the hostess takes the leftovers to donate them to a local charity organization. A battered-women’s shelter is an excellent choice.
I’ve casually swapped clothes with friends and our church hosts a semi formal women’s Clothing Swap each year. It’s SO much fun! Have you ever attended or hosted a Swap?
Clean out that closet and give it a go!
