Organize!

AHHH, the fruit of my labor. I spent all morning organizing our toy closet. I had to make room for the new toys we got for Christmas and I definitely needed to purge some old toys. In addition to toys and games, I had two bins of my crafts that I went through and emptyed the bins. Into these bins went legos and the kids' craft supplies. I should still go through all of the puzzles and discard any that are missing pieces. I also want to go through the two bins of stuffed animals and weed out the ones no one wants. But those are jobs for another day. Today I will enjoy actually opening the closet without worrying that something is going to fall out on me!

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year again! I think this year I will set some resolutions that has to do with these various aspects of my life; health, family, finances, personal growth. The financial aspect is easy to think of - I want to pay off my students loans and our car loan. I also want us to be able to purchase a car for my husband. Three is good for the area. On the family front - definitely want to practice more patience with my children and be better at holding the children accountable for chores. I also want to spend more quality time with each of them. As for my health area - as usual exercise and eating healthy but I want to add running a 5K! The personal growth area will be fun - I want to make at least 3 quilts this year, read 40 books, and continue to create!

Sledding Birthday Party

My youngest son's birthday is two days after Christmas. Every year, I feel I forget about planning his party with all of the craziness of Christmas. This year, I started planning early! He is four this year and ready for a "Friend" party. Instead of knocking myself out trying to plan a complicated shin-dig, I thought I would utilize mother nature. We had a sledding party! We have a nice hill in our front yard and we also have snow so it makes for a great sledding hill. After the sledding was done, we moved indoors for hot cocoa, snacks and cake. All of the decorations and paper products I picked up yesterday half off. My birthday boy and I made muffin crayons from our old broken crayons last week. Check out how to make these easy crayons here. We bought everyone coloring books and gave them out with the crayons as party favors. Very low-key, frugal but tons of FUN!

Christmas gifts for Teachers

I had a hard time thinking of gifts for my sons' teachers this year. I have given gift cards in the past but that can really start to add up especially now that all 3 are in school. The boys and I made up homemade hot cocoa mix for each of their primary teachers (go here for the recipe)and adorned it with an applesauce and cinnamon ornament. (for the recipe go here) For the 2 teaching assistants in my youngest's preschool classroom and the special area teachers in my oldest two sons' schools, I am making homemade treats for them. My youngest son's babysitter is getting a week's pay (I couldn't have made it the last 8 years without her, she deserves it!) and a prayer plaque for her newly remodeled kitchen. I may also give her a change purse, if I can part with one. :)

Christmas Crafts Part I

I have been crafting up a storm this season. My newest craft that is very addicting are bows made from old magazines or really any paper. I used fliers from the paper. I almost don't want to use them because I don't want them to be just thrown away! For a tutorial on how to make them yourself, go here.

Hot Coccoa Mix

I decided to try my hand at making my own hot cocoa mix. After trying many different recipes and having a great night of hot cocoa tasting with the kids, we have finally settled on our favorite! Here it is:

4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup non-dairy powdered coffee creamer
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 4 oz package instant chocolate fudge pudding

Mix all ingredients in a large ziploc bag. (great for your little helpers!) Add 1/4 -1/2 cup of mix to 8 oz boiling water. Enjoy with a candy cane stick or mini marshmallows! Store mix in an airtight container.

Applesauce and Cinnamon Ornaments

I love making applesauce and cinnamon ornaments! Not only do they smell good, they are very inexpensive to make. I am using them to adorn Christmas gifts for my sons' teachers this year. They are super easy to make and my kids loved helping me make them this year. Here's my recipe:

Mix together equal parts applesauce and cinnamon. The mixture should come together as you mix with a spoon but you can get your hands right in there to mix it up! The mixture should be similar in texture to sugar cookie dough. If it seems "wet" add more cinnamon, a little at a time. I then use cinnamon to dust the table and rolling pin. Roll out the dough about 1/2 thick - the thicker you roll it out - the less chance your ornament has of breaking. I use Christmas cookie cutters or you could cut out a shape free hand. Carefully place the cut out ornament on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Poke a roll through the ornament - I used a straw. Let ornament dry - turning over a least once a day. Drying time could vary, based on how thick you rolled out the dough, from 2-5 days. When ornament is dry, use left over fabric, yarn ribbon or string to tie the ornament to a gift!

Enjoy! Visit Life As Mom to find more Frugal gift giving ideas.