Remember, if you’d like instant access to the links I love and a few other tips and tricks, you can sign up to be a follower on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the top of the page or by following this link and then clicking the ‘like’ button. Here are the links from the last two week…

Cooks Illustrated

I love Cooks Illustrated. It’s like the consumer reports for all things kitchen. I’ve been a subscriber to their video podcast for a long time but after perusing my Mom’s magazines I think I may subscribe to the print version as well. The fresh, corn-from-the-cob chowder I made last night was phenomenal.

eHow

Want to add a little sweet science to your kid’s last few weeks of summer? Try creating a few of these simple rock candy suckers from a sugar/water solution.

Sweet as a Candy

Don’t you just love looking at great photographs? This photo array of a dream Italian wedding was simply lovely. I especially love the one of the gown and the oh-so-charming gold shoes.

Young House Love

I love multi-functional rooms…particularly when they ooze a clean, relaxed, modern vibe. This guestroom/office/playroom is a great example.

One Charming Party

I’m not really into elaborate kid birthday parties myself, but this Wizard of Oz Party from One Charming Party was so lovely; I just had to share it with you.

Now before you give me too much credit you should know that I read about this idea on Cookie Magazine’s website a year or two ago.  They recommended hosting a big neighborhood party the night before school begins and inviting all the local kids to celebrate (the picture above was submitted by one of their readers).  As great as that idea was, the thought of creating banners, invitations, games and cute snacks sounded like way to much work for me.  So, I opted to downsize the idea to include just our family.

Honestly, we really didn’t do anything extraordinary.  We began with the usual night-before-school-starts stuff.  We loaded up all their backpacks, packed their lunches, and set out their first-day-of-school clothes.  Next, we feasted on a big breakfast dinner because my kids love pancakes and bacon more than just about anything.  After that, I filled my big jetted tub with bubbles and let them each take a soak (usually my tub is off limits so this was a big treat).

Once they were scrubbed up, we popped a bag of popcorn and curled up on the couch for one last summer movie.  During the movie I gave the girls manicures and drew a cool tattoo on my son’s arm – just for fun.  Once the movie wrapped up, we shouted out a big “happy school year’s eve” and headed off to bed.  I think this year I may take a few videos of the kids describing what they hope to accomplish in the coming year.  Wouldn’t that be fun to look back on in years to come?

Like I said, it wasn’t fancy.  It took absolutely no prep work and cost me nothing.  It was just one more way to make some happy family memories before the school year (and all the schedules and stresses that come with it) begins.  If your kids are heading off to school soon, you may want to give this easy family fun idea a try.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

So it’s Monday again. Time for a recap of a few fabulous ideas from around the web. All of these sites were featured on my Facebook fan page in the last several weeks so, if you haven’t had a chance, you should check them out. If you liked them as much as I did, take a minute and let the content authors know. Bloggers love comments; so share the love when you stop by their sites.

Remember, if you’d like instant access to the links I love and a few other tips and tricks, you can sign up to be a follower on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the top of the page or by following this link and then clicking the Like button. Here are the links from last week…

The Purl Bee

With five kids in our house, we’ve seen a lot of loose teeth over the years. These simple tooth fairy bags would be a handy tool to have around.

Homemade By Jill

In our world, play dough is a disposable toy. That’s why I love finding a good home-made recipe. My kids and I used this one last week and it worked beautifully.

FilthWizardry

Do you have a little Star Wars fan at your house too? Check out this simple light saber tutorial.

The Crafting Chicks

Sugardoodle directed me to this clever idea for keeping track of your kids summer reading stash. I love the name cards that double as library card holders – so very smart.

Up Up Creative

Know any stylishly-simple brides-to-be? If so, you should send them over to this site for some gorgeous wedding invitation options. I absolutely adore her wedding stationery collection.

Here’s how the week started…see how happy we look?  Notice how my husband is holding up my office armoire with just one hand.  Isn’t he awesome?

Here’s how the week ended.  You’ll notice we’re not in this one…we weren’t as happy by this point.  We were exhausted and grumpy.

Now do you see why I haven’t been around lately?  My life has been a series of garage sales, craigs list visits, and trips to WalMart for more pretzel M&Ms (hey, a girl needs fuel).  I’m taking the weekend to recouperate and then I’ll be back blog work.  Until then, I hope you enjoy a fabulous 4th of July!  Thanks for your patience.

Granted, they weren’t fancy, but they were double-sided, wind-proof, easy to spot from the road and nearly free.  In other words, the perfect garage sale traffic grabbers.  Want to make one?  Here are the basic steps…

Step 1: Grab a pack of fourescent paper (I found mine for a few bucks at WalMart)

Step 2: Print and cut out the elements of the garage sale sign printable.   You can find it at the end of this post.  You may want to add your street address to the arrows with a black sharpie (I smudged our address out of these pictures – that’s why the arrows look weird).

Step 3: Find a tall, narrow box of some kind (I used a priority mail box that my son had colored, a few other Sam’s Club grocery boxes I had in my pantry).  Add a few heavy items to the bottom of the box to weigh it down and prevent it from tipping in the wind.  I used landscaping bricks because we had a few stashed in the garage but soup cans or hand weights would work too.

Step 4: Use duct tape to seal the top of the box and attach the signs to the front and back of the box (be sure the arrows point the same direction).

That’s it.  See?  I told you they were easy.  Now just drop one at each of the intersections leading up to your house and you’ll be all set to make the big bucks.  Doesn’t that beat spending $20 on tiny plastic signs?  I thought so too.  Happy garage sale-ing!  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Download: MM_Garage_Sale_Signs.pdf

How about riding down a huge water slide in this?

Does the idea of popping one of these into their mouth make their nose wrinkle in disgust?

If so, I can relate.  My kids were scared of all of those things and more.  So last summer we began a new tradition – our annual Fear Factor Challenge.  It was inspired by a clever ‘try new foods’ program at my kids’ school.  Each month they provided a new food for the kids to sample at lunch.  Anyone brave enough to try it signed their names on a poster and got to shout out ‘Fear is Not a Factor for Me!’ in the lunchroom.

My kids were pretty picky eaters so I decided to try it at home as well.  It worked beautifully.  Any new food they tried (without complaining) earned them a point.  Once they earned 10 points, they got to choose the next Sunday’s dinner and dessert.  Totally simple and effective – I loved it.

After a month or so, I started realizing that the fear factor concept could help out in other areas too.  Anytime my kids were nervous to try something new I would give it a fear factor point value and offer it to them like a money job.  For example, jumping off the dock at the lake was worth 3 points for my son.  Riding the big roller coaster at our local amusement park was worth 5 for my oldest daughter.  Instead of earning custom meals, they’d save up their fear factor points to earn prizes – like a trip to the gas station for a treat or a Redbox movie.

Honestly, I was amazed at how differently my kids approached new things.  They looked at everything like a challenge to be conquered rather than an insurmountable obstacle.  They jumped in lakes, rode scary rides, ate terrible-looking veggies, you name it and they tried it.  They were still nervous, of course, and they didn’t conquer everything (my son swears that no amount of points will get him down the big water slide) but they liked it because they were in control.  I didn’t have to persuade or plead – I just offered the points and let them work out whether or not it was worth it.

Most of the time, it was.  Consequently, I’ve got quite a few video clips of last summer’s adventures where my kids are triumphantly shouting “Fear is not a factor for ME!”

We generally kept track of the points in our heads or on the big board but I thought it might be fun to make an actual chart this year.  It’s nothing fancy, but if you’ve got kiddo that’s a little hesitant to sleep with the door closed, try out the high dive, or ride a bike down the big hill, this chart may be just the thing you need.  You can find the free printable below.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Download: Fear_Factor_Scorecard.pdf

It’s Monday again. Time for a recap of a few fabulous ideas from around the web. All of these sites were featured on my Facebook fan page in the last two weeks so, if you haven’t had a chance, you should check them out. If you liked them as much as I did, take a minute and let the content authors know. Bloggers love comments; so share the love when you stop by their sites.

Remember, if you’d like instant access to the links I love and a few other tips and tricks, you can sign up to be a follower on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the top of the page or by following this link and then clicking the Like button. Here are the links from last week…

Scribbit

What do you get when you take a spare piece of foam-core poster board and add a few fabric scraps? Hours of dollhouse-decorating fun for your daughter. Check out how this clever Mom whipped up a fold-away dollhouse in a matter of minutes.

Cookies and Cups

Feel like wowing a few kids at your local Memorial Day picnic? Check out this quick and easy cupcake flag tutorial.

Fallon Akers

I’m a decorating wimp. When push comes to shove I always end up going with neutrals. If I were braver I’d create a house full of color and whimsy. Maybe something like this…

I just can’t help myself.  We don’t even have a fire pit but somehow I couldn’t stop my hands from adding these scrumptious s’more supplies to my cart last week.  Of course, once I got home I had to think of a way to use them.  I thought to myself, hmm…rice krispies are good with marshmallows, graham crackers are good with marshmallows, and everything’s good with chocolate…maybe I could mix it all together.  Luckily I had a box of generic rice krispies in my pantry so this impromptu rice krispie concoction was easy to create.  The end result looked something like this…

I’ve always been a rice krispie treat fan, but this variation was down-right delicious.  I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of the process but I was just throwing things in as I went so I didn’t have time to measure or grab a camera.  Honestly, it’s so simple you don’t really need a tutorial.  Here’s the basic idea (keep in mind I’m estimating the quantities I used so feel free to adapt the amounts to your liking).

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter

1 regular bag of large marshmallows

5 cups of rice krispie cereal

1 1/4 cup roughly smashed graham crackers

1 Hershey bar coarsely broken into pieces

Directions

• Roughly smash your graham crackers in a large ziploc bag (my kids used a rolling pin).  The goal here is to get small chunks (about the size of a dime or less), not just crumbs.
• Break up your Hershey bar while it’s in the wrapper.  Again, you’re going for small chunks.
• Melt your butter in a large saucepan on low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir until melted.  Remove from heat.
• Add rice krispies and graham cracker chunks and stir until evenly coated.
• Add chocolate pieces and stir (the chocolate will melt into the mixture)
• Press the mixture into a 13″x9″ baking pan coated with cooking spray and allow to cool.

My family devoured these…literally.  We didn’t even wait for them to cool – we just dug right in to the chocolately, gooey goodness.  If you’re looking for a sure-fire way to usher in summer (without actually building a fire) you should definitely give this recipe a try.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Hungry for a few more S’more ideas?  Check out these fabulous sites…

Homemade By Holman: Smores Cupcakes

Smitten Kitchen: S’more Pie

The City Cradle: Roast & Toast Party

Remember, if you’d like instant access to the links I love and a few other tips and tricks, you can sign up to be a follower on Facebook by clicking the Facebook icon at the top of the page or by following this link.  Here are the links from last week…

The Meanest Mom

Need a good laugh today? Take a few minutes to catch up on the day-to-day ramblings of The Meanest Mom Blog. It’s one of my favorites!

Target Coupons

Planning a trip to Target this weekend? Don’t go without checking this page first. It’s loaded with printable coupons for all kinds of great Target products.

Gourmet Mom On-The-Go

Do you have picky eaters in your house? Try this cool Mom’s simple trick for adding a little fun to her kids’ food.

My sister-in-law (an elementary school teacher) bought these for my kids last year and I think they’re fabulous.  The books are designed to jump start creativity by offering an incomplete doodle on each page.

Here, let me show you.  This page of my son’s doodle book simply had a sign printed on it with the word LOST.  Jack came up with this…

If you can’t read the words, it says

LOST
Hampster Ninja in a Ball
$110,000 (hampster ninjas are very rare, as you all know)

If I had handed Jack a blank piece of paper and asked him to draw me something he probably would have given me a picture of a rocket or a robot.  But when I hand him this book, he comes up with all kinds of crazy ideas.  I love to flip through it when he’s finished and laugh at all the bizarre things his creative little brain has come up with.

Here’s a page he hasn’t completed yet…hmm, I wonder what ferocious animal he’ll create next…

My daughter’s have doodle books too and they love them.  In fact, when everyone’s fighting and pestering each other I sometimes tell them to grab their doodle books from their homework boxes and mandate 10 minutes of silent drawing time.  Quiet creativity is a great chaos killer at our house!

You can find these books at Borders or Barnes & Noble for around $12 each.  I also noticed them at Sam’s Club this week for around $10.  If you’ve got a budding artist in your family you should definitely pick one up.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

*If you want to read a few more of my favorite discipline strategies and a bunch of great discipline ideas from my readers click here.