You guys have probably figured out by now that I love the holidays…even the little ones.  They give me a chance to break up the everyday routine and inject a little fun into our family life.  This Valentine’s Day I decided to try a new family tradition…we’re calling it our Lotsa-Love Fest.

I found the orginal idea on Family Fun’s website in their Valentine’s Traditions section.  In the post, Teresa J talks about setting up a “Secret Post Office” in their house so her family can send each other anonymous messages throughout the month of February.   I thought it was a cute idea and a great way to encourage my family to spread the love in the two weeks before the big day. 

In our version, I had the kids color and decorate their own Lotsa-Love envelopes.  I made one for Mom & Dad as well and then we posted them on the wall in the kitchen.  I also printed some simple fill-in-the-blank valentine messages to make creating a lotsa-love message a little easier.  You can find the free file download below.  I keep the notes and a stash of crayons in a heart-shaped basket on the kitchen table for easy envelope access.  Over the course of the next two weeks, we’ll spreading the love by leaving messages, pictures and treats in each other’s envelopes.  Each morning at breakfast we’ll check our envelopes and show off our new mail.  To kick off our festivities tonight, I wrote a special message for each of my kids and added a small stuffed animal (from the dollar spot at Target) to their envelopes.

It’s not much…just a simple and inexpensive way to jazz up these chilly winter days and help my family show a little extra love this Valentine season.  If you’d like to check out lots of other great Valentines traditions I recommend you check out Family Fun’s website.  I found several clever ideas that I plan to try this year.  Just thought I’d pass it on. 

If you’ve got a Valentine tradition that your family loves I hope you’ll post it for the rest of us in the comments area for the rest of us to enjoy.  Thanks.

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It’s hard to believe, but as of today, Christmas is only four short weeks away.  There are many professional organizers that will tell you the key to holiday happiness is beginning your preparations months in advance.  Although they may be right, I’m not a believer.  Over the years, I’ve found that about four weeks is all I need to get my Christmas under control.  The key for me is to get it all down on paper.  

Last year, I posted a batch of Christmas planning files that were designed to help you and your family manage your holiday to-dos, expenses, and gifts.  Since I’ve got so many new readers this year, I thought I’d repost them.  I’m adding a new calendar planning file as well.   It’s nothing fancy, just a simple 5-week calendar to help you schedule your many holiday tasks.  I recommend printing out a few of them and sorting your tasks into categories.  For example, you may want an entire calendar dedicated to your cleaning schedule, another devoted to events to attend, and another for your party preparations.  Using these calendars in conjunction with the 4-week Christmas planner file should give you a great organizing foundation. 

Keep all your calendars and your other planning papers in a simple 3-ring binder and force yourself to go through it several times a week.  I like to keep mine in the car with me so I can review it while I’m waiting to pick up kids and so I can double-check my budget and gift plans before I head into a store (impulse buying is one of my many weaknesses).  You may also want to add a simple pencil pouch to your binder to store your receipts and coupons.

Whatever system you come up with, these simple files can be a great way to kick off your Christmas organization.  For more MeckMom stress-reducing holiday tips, check out my latest article in Organize Magazine.  It’s on sale now.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Perhaps it’s my own fault. Maybe decorating for Halloween five weeks early naturally creates holiday over-anticipation/impatience in my kids. Whatever the reason, my kids are constantly dragging their costumes out of their closets to ask me if it’s time to trick or treat. Yesterday, after answering that quetion for the 493rd time, I decided I needed a way for the kids to keep track of the countdown themselves. So, I created this simple little countdown poster to do just that.

Much like the Christmas Advent Poster I posted last year, this simple little chart hangs out on our fridge for easy access to my three kids. Rather than use stickers to mark the days, I opted to go for something a little more Halloweenish…googly eyes. Each morning at breakfast during the last two weeks of October, my kids get to add one googly eye to the poster. They start at the fourteen and work their way down to the one so they can know at a glance how many days are left until the big day.

To make your own handy chart, simply print out the file below on heavy white cardstock. If you’d like to give it a little more strength (like the one pictured), trim the edges and glue it to a sheet of black cardstock. I designed the file to use 12mm wiggle eyes, but you could use whatever size you have on hand. Ideally, you’ll want to look for the wiggle eyes that have adhesive backs. If you can’t find those, just use glue dots or keep a bottle of Elmer’s in your kitchen drawer. You’ll want to start marking your chart tomorrow (Oct 17th). 

If your kids have other Halloween activities to look forward to (class parties, family traditions, etc.) you can track those on your chart as well.  Simply use a marker to add a little color to the party date.  For example, our church Trunk or Treat Party happens on the 26th so I used an orange marker to highlight the number 5 circle (I did this after I took the pictures for the blog).  If my kids want to figure out how many days are left until the party they just count the open circles between today and the orange circle.

Cheap, easy and totally kid-friendly. I think this chart will be a party of our Halloween festivities for years to come.  Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Easter is just around the corner so I thought I’d share a few of my favorite family fun ideas.

Puzzling Easter Egg Hunt
Purchase and hide a small, shareable prize (like a package of Peeps or a new game) somewhere in your house. Write down the prize location on a sheet of heavy cardstock and cut it into a 15-30 piece puzzle. You could also purchase an inexpensive Easter puzzle and write your secret message on the back. Add one piece of the puzzle to each plastic egg before your annual family Easter Egg Hunt. The puzzle adds a little excitement to the hunt and saves your family from the annual candy overload.

Easter Basket Search
Make your kids search for their baskets this year by creating a yarn trail. First, buy a different color of yarn for each child in your family. Next, hide their Easter basket in a remote location of the house. After they’ve gone to bed, tie their color of yarn to their doorknob and wind it all through the house (under couches, around corners, over tables, etc.). Tie the other end of the yarn to the handle of their hidden basket. In the morning, they’ll have to follow their yarn to find their prize.

Easter Bunny Trail
I haven’t tried this one yet, but I thought it sounded like a fun way to add a little magic to Easter morning. When your kids are in bed, use baby powder and your finger to create small, white Easter bunny footprints near your front door or next to your child’s Easter basket.

If you have any fun & easy family traditions that you’d like to share, please feel free to add them. I’d love to try something new this year. Thanks.

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A few days ago my 4 year-old daughter ran into the kitchen of our new house begging me for a ziploc bag. When I asked her why, she enthusiastically declared that she had discovered a huge patch of clovers under our deck and needed to harvest them for Lucky Leprechaun Day.

My kids have been counting down to St. Patrick’s Day for weeks now. They look forward to leprechaun visits the way other kids look forward to Easter baskets and tooth fairy quarters. Although it started completely by accident, it’s been one of my kid’s favorite family traditions. So, naturally, I thought I’d post it here.

Just so you know, I did post this idea about a year ago. However, my blog was so new then that I doubt I had many readers. I thought I’d post it again for those of you that joined a little later in the year.

St. Patrick’s day was always a little dull at our house. We usually do the green pancakes and such, but I wanted something a little more fun for my kids to look forward to in March.

Several years ago, my oldest daughter fell asleep on an old green Mardi Gras necklace. When she woke up on St. Patrick’s Day, she had a strange green marking on her belly. She was too little to understand that the paint from the necklace had transferred to skin, so I told her that a lucky leprechaun must have snuck into her room late at night and left her his good luck mark. I told her the mark was very special because it promised an entire year of good luck. She believed me whole-heartedly. In fact, whenever she was nervous or scared during the following year I reminded her of the mark and she’d get a sudden burst of courage.

We had so much fun with it that year, that we made it a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. Each year, on St. Patrick’s eve, they put freshly picked clovers in front of their door. After they’ve gone to sleep, I sneak into their rooms and draw a tiny green clover with permanent marker somewhere on their body. When they wake up on St. Patrick’s Day, they search all over to find their mark, and then rush in to our room to tell us just how lucky they’re going to be that year. They love that the ‘lucky leprechaun ink’ lasts for several days which gives them plenty of time to show off their good luck to all their friends.

I know it seems simple and perhaps a bit silly, but the way I figure it is this: I’ve only got a few short years where my kids eyes will sparkle at the thought of fairies, fantasy, and flying reindeer . Why not add one more magical creature to the list? Considering it only costs me the price of a marker and about 5 minutes of my time, I think it’s well worth it. Just thought I’d pass it on.

If any of you have other St. Patrick’s Day traditions you’d like to add, please feel free to add it to the comments section. I’m always looking for new ways to make these smaller holidays a little more momentous.

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First off, I wanted to let you know that the Santa Sacks were a huge hit. I’ve never had such a smooth Christmas Eve. They will definitely stay on my list of Christmas time-savers.

I’m sure most of you have already taken your tree down and tucked all your ornaments away. However, if there are a few slackers out there, like myself, that have delayed the massive Christmas clean-up…this tip’s for you.

After a basement flood several years ago, I learned the hard way that it was worth the investment to keep all my long-term storage is in large, stackable, plastic bins. Most of my Christmas décor could fit easily into these inexpensive containers, but my ornaments presented a problem. They were too delicate to be thrown into a bin with the other Christmas decorations. I didn’t have the time or patience to wrap each one in paper so I came up with this cheap solution.

First, I purchased a twin size egg crate foam mattress pad at Wal-Mart for around $15. Next, I used the lid of my container as a guide and cut the pad with a large pair of scissors. The end result was 6 squares of foam, custom cut to fit my ornament container. I placed one piece of foam (egg side up) on the bottom of the container and placed my least fragile ornaments randomly on the pad. I placed another sheet of padding on top of those ornaments and then added my next layer of ornaments, continuing to layer until I reached the top. My most fragile ornaments go on the final layer. They are sandwiched between two pieces of padding (egg sides in) and then covered with our tree skirt for added cushioning. Lastly, I snap the lid on and add the box to my stack.

I have a label on each container to help me know which box is which. That way, when I haul everything to the basement, I can remember put the ornament box on the top of the stack.

I’ve used these pads for over 5 years now. The ornaments have survived 3 moves and 5 trips in and out of the basement. That makes them a keeper in my book. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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Every year, I run into the same problem. I wrap as much as I can before Christmas, but I can’t pull out the bigger Santa gifts until after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve. My husband and I are usually up for hours trying to get everything assembled and ready for Christmas morning. In addition to the assembly process, I’m usually scrambling to find a big enough piece of wrapping paper to cover these generally large and awkwardly shaped gifts.

This year, I read about a solution in Family Fun magazine that I thought we’d try. We’re calling them our Santa Sacks. Essentially, they function like a giant stocking. On Christmas Eve the kids put these big fabric bags under the tree and in the morning all their gifts from Santa are hidden inside (their family gifts are wrapped and tucked under the tree). I told my kids that we were making them to help make the elves’ job a little easier. I didn’t mention that it would help Mom and Dad get to bed a little earlier and have a lot less mess to clean up in the morning.

Each bag took me around an hour to make and cost around $13. I purchased 3 yards of Christmas fabric, 3 yards of muslin, and 2 yards of red rope for each bag. I made mine with a white muslin lining, but if you’re in a hurry you could skip it and just stitch the sides of the patterned fabric together. I’m not much of a seamstress, so I kept it pretty simple and sewed it like a giant pillowcase. I added the braided rope to the top of the bag to make it cinch-able and a little more Santa like. I’m also adding a small laminated tag to the rope with their name, the year and this year’s school picture so Santa can know which is which. Each year we’ll add another tag to the sack.
I made them with Christmas morning in mind, but I didn’t realize how often we’d use them before Christmas. My kids have loved playing with them. They’ve pulled them out for everything from sack races to steam rolling. Tonight we held a family movie night. Everyone got in their comfy pjs, hopped inside their sack, and curled up on the couch to watch a favorite Christmas movie. I haven’t seen them work on Christmas yet, but so far…I think they’ve been worth it. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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This is a crazy time of year. It seems like there is an endless to-do list full of impossible tasks. This year I decided to hit my three biggest trouble spots head on and get organized before the craziness gets into full swing. I created these printable planners to help me keep track of all the little Christmas details.

First off, I made a weekly breakdown of my tasks. Similar to my “Mom Game Plan” mentioned in a previous post, this weekly list of to-do’s really helps me focus. I break down the 4 weeks before Christmas (I just finished week 1) into 4 work weeks:

Week 1: Decorate and Plan
In this week I focus on making a plan. I plan out my gift list, my budget, and my calendar. I also get the house ready for Christmas…inside and out.

Week 2: Shopping Phase 1
During this week, I focus on buying, wrapping and shipping all extended family and non-family presents. This includes things like neighborhood gifts, gifts for Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, teacher gifts, etc. I also create and send my digital Christmas cards this week.

Week 3: Shopping Phase 2
During this week I focus on buying and wrapping all immediate family gifts. This includes Santa presents, stocking stuffers, etc. I also use this week to make any freezable food ahead of time and make or buy the Christmas PJs.

Week 4: Deliver and Celebrate
This is crunch week. In this week our family delivers all the gifts to neighbors and teachers. I also finish up any wrapping and get the Christmas Eve supplies together.

I’ve also got a Christmas gift planner on my website for you. It’s amazing how many gifts there are to keep track of. Rather than impulse buy and scramble for ideas, I use this gift planner to help me keep everything straight. It also helps me keep track of which presents are wrapped and which have been shipped. You can find this handy file on my website as well.

As much as I hate to do it, I have to set up a budget for my Christmas spending. Tallying up all the gifts, decorations, party supplies, and food expenses can be really daunting; but I’ve found that if my husband and I work together to set a limit and then breakdown that limit into the various categories listed on my sheet, we save ourselves from the horrible post-Christmas financial drought. I posted both a blank version and a sample version on my site.

I can’t promise these files will make your Christmas preparations stress-free. However, getting you game plan down on paper, planning out your gifts, and making a budget should help you reach New Year’s with your sanity still intact. You can find the free file downloads below. Just thought I’d pass it on.

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