April 2, 2008 at 7:47 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: baking soda, Works For Me Wednesday
It’s a themed WFMW this week. We’re supposed to re-post our favorite WFMW tip from the past. My favorite was actually last week’s tip, but as that one was only last week, I didn’t feel I could re-run something so recent. My second favorite would be the Christa-Taylor giveaway, but I don’t have another giveaway to host.
I pondered re-posting my tip about my friend’s photography and video website, but then he went and called Starbucks swill, so here is my re-run, originally posted May 2, 2007.
Works for Me Wednesday: Creative Gift Idea
This week’s Works For Me Wednesday has a theme. It is the birthday edition. I can’t take credit for this idea, but it is one that I filed away in the back of my brain when I heard it, my sister also thought it was a good idea, and now I share it with you.
Everyone’s been through the annual birthday/Christmas present melt-down, when eventually the child(ren) reach critical mass, and all gifts become one big blur of battery required sound and light. Let’s face it, most kids have enough toys.
I have a friend whose parents decided that they wanted their grandchildren to enjoy a gift from them year round. So, each grandchild was given a year’s enrollment in an activity of their choice.
This is a fantastic gift for long distance grandparents, who can enjoy the pictures/video of the activity all year round. And it’s not a gift that will just end up in a big box for Goodwill in a few years when everyone’s grown out of it. Best of all it’s customizable. Musical kids can get music lessons, athletic kids can take karate or swimming, or tennis lessons, there’s ballet for the girly girl and competitive marksmanship for the outdoorsy boy. It is truly a gift that keeps giving, and one that will be remembered for the rest of that child’s life.
For more helpful tips, visit Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday for lots of helpful “Works for Me” things.
Comments
March 26, 2008 at 8:36 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: found money, neat ideas, treasure hunt, Works For Me Wednesday
Last week I received a real treat in the mail. In this digital age, the mailbox has become a repository for junk mail and bills, so a colored, hand addressed envelope is a little but of serendipity to brighten one’s day. Imagine, then, how I felt to realize that this was a card from my mother’s close friend Audrey - whom I consider another aunt - and my 4th grade teacher, Miss Guenther. (She signed the card “Jean”, but I would feel the need to report to the principle’s office if I used her first name.)
While on a vacation together, each of the women found a dime on the ground. They stored the twenty cents in the ashtray of the car and began looking for more found money. The plan was to purchase something when their stash reached a dollar, but after having had the fun of finding the money, anything that could be purchased with a dollar seemed to trivialize their collection. Until Audrey realized that they could buy a card for a dollar at the dollar store. After that vacation found money card, they began saving for another, and I was the proud recipient.
Okay, if you’re still with me, here’s the “works for me” part. Included in the found money card we received, was a single sheet of paper listing every coin found, its date, condition and denomination and the location found. I felt as if I had wandered about my home town with them as I read the notes included. If you click on the thumbnails, you can see that one of the pennies was damaged by a snow plow (I didn’t grow up in Georgia) and several were found in the new home Miss Guenther recently purchased. The card was a treat, but the found money sheet that accompanied it was a treasure!
Imagine doing this on a vacation and using the money to purchase a post card for cousins. The sheet of paper listing what was found and where would be like including someone on your trip. For those of you in snowy climates, recording where you find money as the snow melts would be a record of the progression of spring. If you’ve just moved, a found money sheet would be a record of all the places you visited for the first time in your new home.
There are so many applications for this treasure hunt in which everyone wins! I’ve filed it away in my mac’s baby book, and I hope it can become a family tradition. I know that Audrey and Jean (I’m writing myself a demerit) would be thrilled to know they had started something bigger than themselves.
It completely works for me and I hope it works for you! For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
6 Comments
March 26, 2008 at 7:31 am (Just Life, Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: Christa Taylor, giveaway winner
Random.org has spoken, and the winner of the $50 gift certificate to Christa-Taylor.com is:
comment #28 Cyndy
Thanks to everyone who entered! I hope you stop at Christa-Taylor frequently. Her new spring line is out now.
1 Comments
March 19, 2008 at 12:15 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: giveaway, modest clothing, Works For Me Wednesday
In working with teens for more than 12 years, one of the consistent complaints Jonathan and I have heard from parents is: “There are just so few modest clothes out there to pick from!” One of the most honest mothers told us, “Oh I can find modest clothes, but I don’t want her to hate everything in her closet.”
Christa Taylor, a young woman from Washington State, had the same complaint, so she decided to do something about it. Christa-taylor.com features a full line of hip, contemporary, modest clothing. Designed by a young woman for young women, Christa’s clothes are something on which dads and daughters can agree.
Christa-Taylor is a family run company, with Christa’s dad and brothers actively involved in the business, and it is operated with a Christian world view. Taking seriously the command in scripture to support widows and orphans in their distress, Christa sends 5% from every purchase to Warm Blankets Orphan Care International. Christa calls it “Mission beyond Business,” and it’s yet another reason I am so excited to offer the following giveaway.
Oh yes. There is a giveaway! Christa-Taylor.com is offering a $50 gift certificate to one of my readers.
How to enter: Go to Christa-Taylor.com and look around at what she has to offer. Come back here and leave a comment telling me how you would spend your $50, if you are the winner.
Bloggers: You have a chance at a second entry. If you give us some “linky love” on your blog, you’ll be entered a second time. Just leave a comment here with the link to your link (except wordpress blogs. WordPress does the work for you.) and you’ll have 2 chances to win this terrific prize!
Comments will be open until 5 pm on Tuesday, March 25. Random.org will draw a winner, and I’ll announce the winner right here next Wednesday, March 26
For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
47 Comments
March 5, 2008 at 6:58 am (Baby Stuff, Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: baby haircut, help, Works For Me Wednesday
Today is a reverse WFMW. Instead of posting a tip, we’re supposed to ask for help. Well, here’s something I’ve been wondering about and I thought maybe someone out there in internet land may have encountered a solution.
My mac needs a haircut. I mean look at this mop! But she’s only 6 months (almost 7 months) old. Every time I try to brush her hair she turns her head around to see what I’m doing behind her. I’m a little scared to get scissors near her head for fear of poking an eye out, or maiming her permanently.
So does anyone have an idea of how I can tidy up her locks without drawing blood?
Thanks so much.
Think you might have an answer for someone else? Check out the Mr. Linky list at Rocks in my Dryer today.
9 Comments
February 27, 2008 at 11:06 am (Baby Stuff, Family and Friends, Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: baby cuteness, Works For Me Wednesday
Okay, this tip comes from Donna Long, and it’s so good it deserves its own post. I had posted about my mac’s overalls being too short on her. They fit everywhere else, but the little legs look like she’s expecting a flood. It’s very frustrating!
On the post, Donna suggested that . . . well, let’s get it in Donna’s own words:
Instead of giving up on the cute yellow overalls so fast (if they fit everywhere else) sew a piece of yellow eyelet around the bottom.
When I e-mailed her to thank her for the suggestion, she added the following tip for boys.
It is a wonderful trick for girls. I have used bandanas on the end of Jas’s denim overall’s. Boys are harder to lengthen than girls, but all things are doable. It is better than trying to figure out sizing.
So guess what I’m going to do with the yellow overalls? And all the other overalls and pant suits! It’s a great tip that works for me.
For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
1 Comments
February 20, 2008 at 9:26 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
My mac HATES to be reclined. She puts out her elbows to stop herself from leaning back in her car seat, she tries to sit up while nursing, she just wants to be upright all the time. The problem is that she’s still a little tippy to just sit up. She reaches for things - most often her toes - and finds herself kissing the floor like one of those Febreeze commercials.
Enter our Bumbo chair. Contained upright sitting. Content Baby.
Please ignore the open dryer in the background.
Maybe my mac is unique in her aversion to being reclined in a chair, but I somehow don’t think so. The Bumbo seat is a great tool for parents of active infants. While some parents tried to sue the company to install restraint harnesses, if you use the seat as it was intended (see photo above) it is safe and fun. It’s also easy to clean, and easy to carry.
Plus, I got mine on e-bay for half the price. So it works for us.
For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
And if you don’t mind dropping by Haiku Buckaroo part two to vote for my haiku “. . . I sat on piglet” in the funniest category, I would appreciate it.
3 Comments
February 13, 2008 at 7:01 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: filing cabinet makeover, Works For Me Wednesday
When we bought our house we inherited a few things: a cockroach problem, filthy carpet, an equally filthy mattress, even more filthy pictures UNDER the filthy mattress, a rusty filing cabinet. We kept the filing cabinet for some unknown reason. Here is what it looked like:
Yikes, right? But I needed some additional storage for my craft supplies, and I wasn’t going to pay money for something when I had one already. So I made it over.
All it took was a few yards of canvas (when you’re married to a painter, this is something readily at hand), a roll of shelf liner and a can of spray adhesive.
I sprayed the adhesive to the exterior of the cabinet and slowly smoothed the canvas over the surface. Then I sprayed the edges and exterior of the door, and wrapped the canvas around the door, like a present. I had to cut a hole for the magnetic latch, because the magnet wasn’t strong enough to hold through canvas.
After that, I sprayed the shelves and covered them with shelf liner.
The result is this:
I tidied up the bottom hem after I took the picture. But the whole project took less than an hour, and now it looks like those canvas cubes that are so popular now, so I can have it in my T.V. room and it doesn’t look like an ugly castoff piece of junk. Hey, it works for me!
For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
1 Comments
February 6, 2008 at 6:44 am (Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: online shopping, Works For Me Wednesday
This week is a themed WFMW, and it is right up my alley! Themes like bread making tips, or quick and easy sewing tips are so outside of my experience, but on-line shopping? Prepare to be overwhelmed with enthusiastic information!
I have compiled my top ten list of on-line shopping sites, and put my BIG 3 on-line shopping rules at the bottom of the list. #1 - 4 are my category favorites, and 5 - 10 are just other on-line stores I like for various reasons.
- Favorite for everything except books and clothes: Overstock.com
- Favorite for books: Alibris
- Favorite for small 2nd hand anything: Ebay
- Favorite for large 2nd hand anything: Craig’s list
- Barnes and Noble has a great shipping policy, and better prices than Amazon
- The Sportsman’s Guide is great for outdoor and recreational supplies
- 123 ink jets has inexpensive printer ink, with good customer service and quick shipping.
- Peets has great tea - both bagged and loose.
- Smart Bargains is my 2nd choice after Overstock.
- Freetard offers free nature photography and videography - he even takes requests!
Here are my big 3 on-line shopping rules:
1. ALWAYS check the cost of shipping! Overstock is my #1 because they always have cheap shipping - often $1.99. This is important on sites like e-bay and alibris. If you save $3 on something and then pay $6 to have it shipped you haven’t saved any money. If someone offers free shipping over a certain amount, you often save money by spending just at the free shipping level.
2. Visit regularly. Overstock, Smart Bargains and Sportsman’s guide are liquidation centers. Their stock is changing all the time. If I’m in the market for something I generally check those websites three times a week to see what’s come available. E-bay, Craig’s list and Alibris are at the whim of private sellers who are constantly adding things. It doesn’t cost anything to be a regular visitor to these websites, and it could save you a lot of money.
3. Keep to your budget. I know, basic rule, but it’s easy to over spend when you see that big “85% savings” label on something. You’re not really saving if you can’t afford it.
For other bloggers’ favorite sites, click here.
10 Comments
January 23, 2008 at 8:51 am (Baby Stuff, Works For Me Wednesday)
Tags: baby clothing, baby cuteness, robeez, Works For Me Wednesday
Well, I had a fantastic post on teething tablets, but that turned into “what didn’t work for us late Tuesday and early Wednesday”, so here’s my back up post.
I love my mac’s Robeez. We received a pair as a gift, and I’ve bought another pair on clearance at Barnes and Noble. We love them! They are essentially baby moccasins with an elastic ankle cuff. They are comfortable, and they NEVER FALL OFF! That’s right, NEVER. No more loosing socks in Target. No more chasing down little slippers in the base of the exersaucer.
They are also machine washable (I know! How cool is that!) and oh so cute! They’re slogan is: “Can you choose just one?” and I’ve got to tell ya’, now that I’ve tried them, I really want several more to match every outfit. Like these, which are oh so cute, and these just say “stylin’ ” don’t they? Then there is the little boots, which we wouldn’t use that much, but are so cute to look at!
Anyway, you get the idea. They are working for us!
For more WFMW tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday.
And if you want to hear the teething tablets fiasco, read it here.
6 Comments
