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Going Green Packages And Toppers Part 2

I just keep stumbling upon great ideas, so I had to make a part 2!

Twist Tie Package Toppers
These are from a site called Nice Package.  I love their simple approach to making things beautiful.   They have an etsy shop where you can buy product to make your packages look wonderful. I like that I won’t have to buy anything to make these little Twist Tie Pom Poms.  I have a bunch of twist ties in the bottom of the bin we use to keep baggies, foil and trash bags.  I never use them, so they have piled up.  Now I know what to do with them!  There is a video tutorial, so check out their site!
Plastic Grocery Bag Pom Pom Gift Topper
This is just lovely.  I have a bunch of clear produce bags that I think would make a pretty cool pom pom.  I love the one above, made from Target bags.   Creature Comforts has a tutorial with really great pictures.
Gift Bags Made From Envelopes
These bags are another brilliant idea from “How About Orange…”  I think this may be my favorite.  I often find myself needing a bag for “just a lil’ somethin'” type gift.  I love giving small little gifts away throughout the year to let people know I am thinking of them.  These cute bags would make a small gift just a bit more special. There are so many things you could do to decorate them!  My girls love to make gifts for each other and are always getting into my wrapping bin, so I am excited to show them how to make these and see what how creative they get in the process!




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Frugal/ FUN/DIY/ HOME/ Seasonal

“Going Green” Packages and Toppers

I just wrote a post about using recyclable products to wrap Christmas gifts.  I am using grocery bags for most of my wrapping this year, and the little gift card holders above will fit right in with my theme! They are so simple and cute.  I have random ribbon in my craft bin and alphabet stamps, so I am set!  I drew my sisters name for Christmas, and we both agreed that I will buy her an itunes gift card.  DON’T YOU JUST LOVE THAT?  I love sisters. I ask, she tells, done deal. She tried to talk me into just doing it online and skipping the gift card to make it easier on me (isn’t she great?  aw.) but I think she deserves one of these cute little homemade packages with her itunes card tucked safely inside.
Another thing to make with my grocery bags!
I don’t know if these were made out of recyclable materials, but they are inexpensive.  I have a tradition with family to stamp these tags every year.  The ink and stamp change yearly, its fun to anticipate what its going to be each year.
Ohhhh! I like, I like!  I am a sucker for anything polka dot or round.  My kids would have a blast punching all these little dots.  I may even spray my brown paper bag wrapped packages with adhesive and sprinkle them on!  It’s a party on a package!!
How very cool is this?  It is wrapped with newspaper (or phonebook page?) and the bow is made with strips of a magazine page.  Now that is what I’m talkin’ about!  Click here for detailed instructions from “How About Orange…”

The next 3 ideas are from this book, “Simply Green Giving” by Danny Seo.  I have already talked about this awesome book in my last post.  Looky at what else is in it..

Fun, right?  I have a ton some of these ancient VHS tapes laying around.  They are gonna get re-used this Christmas!  My kids will love pulling that stuff out, at least they did when they were toddlers!

This is so very brilliant.  How cute is that bow?  Guess what?  It smells good, too!
I love a good smell, so a smelly bow really got me excited!!
This bow is made from strips of perfume samples in magazines. Cut, staple, curl.
 Hmm.
Now that I think about it, I wonder how that will smell, mixing all of those perfumes?
It could be good, but it could also be very, very bad!  Oh well, still a very fun idea!

Cut off sleeve, wrap present.  Tie with ribbon.  Lovely.
Ok. This one is in honor of my Sushi-loving sisters.
 They have tried and tried to get me to like sushi, but…
 IT’S JUST NOT HAPPENING!
I gave it a good shot, and still get nauseous every time I think about it.
Seaweed is so very good for you, I really do wish I liked it!  Grrr.
These little sushi guys are pretty darn cute.
How fun would this be with a gift card to a sushi restaurant inside?  Wanna make em’? Click here.



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Frugal/ FUN/DIY/ HOME/ Seasonal

Brown Paper Grocery Bag Gift Wrap

Whenever I forget to take my reusable grocery bags to the grocery store with me, (which for some reason has been often lately, I think I need to keep them in my car!)  I use paper grocery bags.  I’ve been at peace with my forgetfulness lately, because I am going to use the bags as wrapping paper this Christmas!  I am determined to be as wise with our money as possible this Christmas season, so this will help us save.  If you have not been collecting grocery bags, you can also by brown kraft paper or shipping paper by the roll, it is very inexpensive made from recycled materials!

I have all kinds of ideas to make our packages pretty.  My tree will be covered with silver, black, and lots of shiny metallic/mirrored ornaments that we made last year.   I worried about how the organic looking brown paper would look with a more glitzy tree, but I think if I add black, white and silver elements to our packages, it will mesh just fine.

Another frugal and environmentally friendly way to wrap gifts is newspaper!  I think some black and white, newspaper-wrapped gifts under my tree to break up the brown would be beautious!  I plan to make them special with some shimmery, thick, black wire ribbon. Speaking of beautious, check out the bottles below wrapped in newspaper.  They cut the excess paper at the top into strips and curled it!  This idea came from a really great book called “Simply Green Giving” by Danny Seo.  I found his book at the library, it is full of awesomeness.

For smaller gifts, I will be using either brown paper lunch sacks or pages from a magazine.  Those photos in magazines are taking by some of the most talented photographers out there, so why not use them as beautiful gift wrap?

I plan on putting my 3 little artists to work, I can’t wait to see what they come up with! My oldest and I have already discussed some art ideas she wants to do.  She wants to use black paint and make a stick tree with lots of twigs, then add silver little circles as leaves!  Isn’t that brilliant?  She is so great.  The other two I’m sure will get busy with their silver glitter glue, stamps, markers, and stickers.
It’s gonna be fun!
*Update: To see the finished products, click here!

A post on package toppers is next so stay tuned!!

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FUN/DIY/ HOME/ Organizing/ Seasonal/ Simplifying

Christmas Journal

This is officially my first post about Christmas, although Christmas has been on my brain for awhile.  I just love Christmas, I already have over half my shopping done!  My mom-in-law (Kathy) is done every year by Thanksgiving, so I try to keep up with her and do the same!:)  It really does make December much more enjoyable.  The only drawback is missing the fun shopping atmosphere in December, and those amazing sales the few weeks before Christmas.   I feel like I miss out a bit,  but really, with Amazon.com, I can usually get the best deal anyway, and the more I can stay out of the stores the better!

I wanted to share with you one of my MOST favorite gifts.  My birthday is around Thanksgiving, so the timing of this gift was perfect.  It is a homemade Holiday Journal.  My amazing sis-in- law (Wendy) put it together for me in 2004, and I have been using it ever since.  It is so much fun to grab it each year and look through all the memories and plans.  Newsletters of Christmas past, pics of my girls with Santa, cherished memories, lists of what I bought each family member–pretty much everything is in one place and it is so handy!

She took a 3 ring binder, put some pretty Christmas paper in the front and back of it, and filled it with tab dividers.  Here are the tabs she included:

–Calendar -its very handy to have the month of December and January in one place, to refer to when out and about, or to check what gift you need by what date, etc.

–Dates–shipping deadlines, greeting cards mailed, departure/arrival dates if you are traveling, party dates, etc

–Gift List— recipient, gift ideas, final Gifts

–Christmas Card List–who you sent one to, who sent one to you

–Kids Wish Lists–a very important list indeed!

–Gifts Received–makes thank yous easier, and I need all the help I can get!

–Holiday Memories–my favorite! Old traditions, new traditions, new ornaments or decorations, where we went, who we saw, what we did, favorite memory, funniest thing that happened, etc.

–Crafts And Decorations–how the tree was decorated, color themes.

–Recipes–what you made, what you wanted to make, favorite cookie recipes, tradition recipes (like my grandma’s pfeffernusse cookies!)

She also included a zipper pouch for store flyers, catalog pages and coupons.  She filled it with plastic sleeves that are great to keep the paper protected and to slide in different memorabilia.

If you want to make your own, the Flylady website has great holiday journal pages, already written and free! You just have to print and fill in the blank, they are awesome and very detailed, she walks you through the holidays step- by- step.  If interested, click here, then click on Holiday Control Journal.
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HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

De-cluttering Our Study

My study was a MESS! I knew when I could no longer shut the doors of the study closet, that it was time to get busy and do something about it!  It tends to be the dumping ground of our home, (what Flylady would call a great big “hot spot“) its located right in the middle of the house, but you can’t see it from the main living areas, so it seems to be the place that collects clutter.  I’ve managed (with the help of the Flylady system) to get the rest of my house sorted and de-cluttered, except for a storage closet and some drawers, which I will be doing a before and after blog post of, once I get motivated. Being the last closet, it will be a doozy!
It’s humbling letting you see my mess, but I love before and after pictures, so I’ll swallow my pride and let you see. 🙂
I always start by making sure I have a trash bag for garbage, 2 baskets (one for stuff I want to give away, one for stuff that belongs somewhere else in the house), a duster, and a broom.  Oh, and music, of course, music makes everything just a little more fun!  Today I de-cluttered to Jordan Sparks, Colbie Calliat,  a little Shakira cuz’ she makes me move!!  For more details on how to de-clutter, check out this link.

My study is quite small, but the mess was pretty overwhelming, so I divided it into zones.  I started with the desk zone, then did bulletin boards, then the bookshelf zone, and finally the closet zone.
It only took me an hour and a half! Going through paper work was what consumed most of the time. Why do I procrastinate so long, when it really does not take that much time to finish?  I can’t tell you how great it is to sit here at the desk with everything in its place.  It makes me want to tackle more, maybe even paint the study something other than boring beige!

About those baskets full of things to give away and put away, the DO IT NOW method is really important.  In the past, I have taken a break with the idea that I deserved one, and had every intention of getting back to the baskets.  Well, my “break” lasted months and I still had a bin of stuff sitting in the closet. (if you look closely at my before pics, you will find one in the closet that I sat there after de-cluttering my basement and taking a “break”:))  So this time, I did it right away!  The “put away” basket is the worst, I usually just sit on the floor and make a pile for each room, then start delivering stuff back to their homes.  This is a great time to get the kids involved, let them do the delivering for you!

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HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

Flylady

If you have been around me long enough, you will learn that I am a HUGE Flylady Fan.  I found her website at least 8 years ago, and have been using her techniques to take my home from chaos to peace ever since.  There have been times in the past where I did everything her site told me to do, (and it worked!!) but honestly, most of the time I just use some of her main points to keep my homemaking and attitude in check.  I would like to get back to using the system as a whole, I did that when my girls were babies and toddlers, and it really made a huge difference in my homemaking.

What is Flylady?
Flylady is a group online that offers advice, tips and humor to assist people in keeping their homes tidier, especially for those suffering from “CHAOS” (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome).  It is a group centered around Flylady.net and uses an email delivery system, so the “Flylady” can speak to and encourage you through emails.  You can set it up to receive numerous email reminders all throughout the day, or there is a setting to receive them all in one lump email at the beginning of the day (this is the one I choose, I don’t like inbox clutter!).  Its like having your own little cheerleader as you get your home in order.  I know, cheesy, but IT WORKS!!
Subjects covered by Flylady include clutter, routines, weekly cleaning with focus on the zone of the week (five in total), self-esteem, and letting go of perfectionism.  It is a free site, but she does have a small store at the website where tools are sold for organization, decluttering and cleaning.  I personally love her ostrich feather duster and I use her insulated water bottle every day!
The system encourages “baby steps” to develop routines and habits to organize and maintain your home.  She has you declutter and menu plan, she has “anti-procrastination” days, and she teaches to plan ahead by establishing routines.  She helps organize personal finances, makes sure you take time to pamper yourself, encourages Friday Night Date Night, Saturday Family Fun Day and Sunday Renew Your Spirit Day.
Below is a great explanation of what the Flylady system consists of from Wikipedia:

Babysteps and Routines

New recruits to Flylady are called “Flybabies” and are introduced to “babysteps” – a series of 31 small daily tasks which introduce and then reinforce aspects of cleaning and decluttering which build into a daily routine, with tasks split into morning routines, after-work routines and bedtime routines.
Shine Your Sink
The first task is “Go shine your sink!” By clearing away the clutter in the sink, scrubbing and shining it, the entire kitchen looks better from such a simple step, and the Flybaby gains encouragement from seeing such a clean and shiny sink and is inspired to help make the rest of the kitchen gleam, too. Flylady asserts that each room has its own “shiny sink”– making the bed in the bedroom and cleaning the desk off in the office will all have the same effect.
15 Minutes at a Time
A crucial part to the Flylady system is that you should only spend 15 minutes doing something, as otherwise you will become bored and get sidetracked. Flylady refers to people who need her system as “SHEs”– “Sidetracked Home Executives” who are perfectionistic and fear beginning to tackle housework because there won’t be enough time to do it all or it won’t be done perfectly. SHEs are in contrast to “born organized” people who are naturally very organized– but even “born organized” people can use Flylady’s system with success. Because of this perfectionism, the SHE cannot ever get started cleaning and the clutter gets worse. By focusing on spending only 15 minutes at a time on cleaning, SHEs learn that a lot can be done in 15 minutes, a task is always quicker and easier than you would imagine it to be, and you do not have to spend all your time cleaning in order to get your home company-ready. Flylady also highly encourages the actual use of a timer to measure the 15-minute increments, to measure them accurately.
Clutter Cannot Be Organized
Another important aspect of Flylady’s system is her attitude towards clutter. She tells her group that if you look at something and it doesn’t make you happy, you should get rid of it. Many people fill their houses with clutter and then try to organize it in some way. Flylady says that clutter cannot be organized, because by its very nature it’s an obstacle. Only when Flybabies reduce their clutter can they expect to be able to organize their household. This is done in Flylady’s system, 15 minutes at a time, through the “27-fling Boogie,” in which a Flybaby goes around an area and chooses 27 things to either throw out or give away. FlyBabies are also encouraged to prevent clutter to enter the home – buying less and buying only what they need.
Weekly Routines
Once Flybabies have learned the basic habits and are able to manage their daily routines, Flylady then advises including weekly routines, whereby each weekday is assigned an additional task – Monday is daily cleaning, Wednesday is errand day, Thursday is grocery day and Friday is “desk day” – sorting out paperwork and finances, as well as the day to declutter the car. One additional day can be a “weekly home blessing.” If a Flybaby has been keeping up with her routines, 15 minutes at a time, during the week, she will only have to spend a small amount of time doing a weekly dusting/cleaning, or a “home blessing.”
Get Dressed to Shoes
Flylady encourages Flybabies to “get dressed to shoes”– getting dressed in street clothes down to lace-up shoes, which help them to get moving during the day and have a better effect on the mind than staying in pajamas. For women it is also important to do their hair and wear make up as this is intended to have a positive effect on their self-esteem.
Zones
Once your home is decluttered and your daily and weekly routines established (which may take months or even years, depending on how cluttered your home is!), Cilley advises “zone work” – each month, the home is split into five zones, and a daily ‘mission’ is set in that week’s zone. Each mission covers more detailed cleaning but should take no more than 15 minutes. Some missions are repeated in subsequent months, so that the missions take less time as there is less clutter and cleaning. As this point, Flylady recommends you tackle detailed zone cleaning, which cover the kinds of tasks you would usually expect of a spring clean – cleaning skirting boards, cleaning windows etc. However, as you should only tackle what you can do in 15 minutes, this spreads the detailed cleaning over a period of time, so that rather than ‘spring cleaning’, you simply do a little bit every day and your home stays tidier and cleaner.
Control Journal
Flylady advises the use of a “Control Journal,” a notebook or binder, as a personal manual for noting one’s routines. This may also include a folder in which important papers and bills are kept so they can be worked on while waiting in public places such as doctor’s offices. A Control Journal should also include important information so it can be had at a moment’s notice in case of an emergency. Before taking someone to the emergency room, a Flybaby might grab her Control Journal, where she knows she has stored a list of medicines taken by the patient. Knowing that all that important information is kept in one place saves a lot of time, money and stress, according to Flylady, and is certainly worth the initial time involved in setting up the journal.
Flylady Reminders
Daily reminders of the routines, zones and missions are sent out when you subscribe to the Flylady groups. There is a UK group which sends out reminders according to GMT rather than US timezone, and many alternative ‘non-official’ groups.
Perfectionism leads to Procrastination
According to the FlyLady system, the most frequent reason for procrastination and inefficacy is perfectionism, as people won’t start a task if they think they don’t have the time or the ability to do it perfectly. Some frequently repeated sayings in this respect are “good enough is good enough” or “housework done incorrectly still blesses your family”.

I have loved Flylady, and what I have learned from her influences what I do and how I do it, everyday.  I will be talking about her from time to time on this blog.
Frugal/ FUN/DIY/ HOME/ Seasonal

Halloween Fun!

We have been having a ton of halloween fun here at the Bowman House.  My girls just  LOVE all things spooky, and have been creating all kinds of spooky fun.  I am not one who is creative enough to come up with a project, so I depend heavily on FamilyFun.com!  It doesn’t matter what the season, the Family Fun website always has great, simple ideas.

Here are a few that we tried recently:

Salt Dough Ghosts and Paper Bag Trees
I can’t believe we have never made anything with salt dough before!  It is a cup of flour, cup of salt and a half of a cup of water.  Mold into any shape and microwave until hardened!  So easy!  The plan was to just create ghosts, but my girls wanted to get more creative, which was great, it kept them busy the entire evening.  The paper bag tree is a cute idea, but all that twisting left my wrists tired, so we decided to make just one!  I think making mini trees with brown paper lunch bags would be much better for little fingers and wimpy wrists.

Gotta have a snack in the middle of all this creepy craziness!  Apples and Almonds, can’t get much healthier than that!

These were so much fun!  My girls spent almost 2 hours at the table creating these, and every few minutes there would be a trio of giggles drifting from the dining room.  They just loved finding silly face parts to glue on to their bags.  Aren’t they funny?

What would I do without Family Fun?  What did moms do without computers back in the day?  I am very thankful for ours, its kinda SCARY thinking about doing life without it!

BOO!

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