Shop Hop Saturday--New Year's Edition

It's that time of year to really re-think goals...at least for most of it is.
After pretty much concentrating on Christmas the past couple of weeks, I'm more than ready to get myself back in to some sort of a normal routine.

There are my goals---not all having to do with "business"
1.  Clean and re-organize my house--and keep it that way.  This means putting things back where they belong, getting rid of excess that just isn't needed, and more.

2.  Quit smoking---easier said than done, but something I really need to be able to accomplish.

3.  Make my goal of reaching a minimum made online of $600 per month--this total includes the value of items that I get free for review and such.

4.  To reach #3 I need to be active in squidoo each and every day.  I need to keep up with working on my crafts and sewing daily.  I need to learn about different affiliates and how those programs work.  It also means better ways of getting the word out about the things I am doing online.

5.  Learn to say no when asked to do things outside of the home.  When I say yes, and doing so takes me away from home for hours at a time, my whole day ends up feeling like a waste.  Of course there are exceptions but it's been crazy.  Take me here, take me there.....

6.  Each Sunday I am going to make a list of school assignments for Jasmine.  These will be expected to be done by the end of the week.  These will be things for her to do on her own, in her own time, but preferably the times when I can't be sitting one on one with her for schoolwork.

I'm sure there are more things that I can list that I'm not thinking about right now.  No, I'm not going to go over this list in my blog over and over.  I may occasionally talk about the goals in with my regular posting however.

So...let's see.  I finally made it back into my sewing room 2 days ago after almost 2 weeks of no sewing.  I still hope to make it in there tonight, at least for some ironing and cutting to get ready for sewing.

I did post one item in my etsy shop--another set of the billowing blues washcloths.

I want to tell you about the Sweetheart Celebration coming up.  Time is getting close on being able to get your spot for just $5!!!  Please click the button on the side for more information.  I need to get myself better prepared for it.

I will be taking part in DNBuster and Friends Valentines Giveaway her blog.  You may also click the button on the side to find out more information about that.

I have one current giveaway up for Natural House cleaners.  If you haven't already, please enter to win.

I made a new page here on my blog.  It's Hand Made in 2012 (linky).  If you post with instructions on hand made items (including food), or you have made an item that you gave as a gift, please post to the linky.  I want to see LOTS of link ups and lots of inspiration.  Posts can be old or new, and do not need to be blog posts.  They can be posts at hubpages, redgage, squidoo, gather, etc etc.  You can also list you etsy or other stores where you sell hand made items.

I still have book reviews to catch up on here on my blog....music reviews and giveaways to get done, and more.
But, I am going to quit rambling for this week and spend the evening with my hubby for new year's eve.



Myspace Happy New Year Comments

TGIFF--What Can You Make With a $2 Sheet

Whew! I must apologize! I've had these things made for a month and I keep letting Friday slip by me without getting a Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday post in.

I wanted to share the things that I made with a $2 Dora sheet that I bought at a yard sale. It was a nice, like new, thicker sheet and I couldn't pass up buying it! My intention was to make just Dora fabric bags with it, but then I seen child's quilt.

This quilt was the first time I've ever tried hand quilting. I hand quilted around the pictures on the fabric as well as I hand sewed the edges as well. It took quite awhile to get it done.

Here is the finished quilt, with a matching pillow:

 Here is a close-up of some of the stitch work:

I also was able to make 2 fabric bags:

All leftover material I cut into strips.  These strips will be used in a bright colored toothbrush rug.  I have the strips ready to start on the rug, just not sure when I will get to that.  There was also a pillowcase with the sheet but I'm choosing to let the granddaughters share it on their pillows.

I also want to note---the pillow insert used for the Dora pillow was given to me by a lady at church.  My mom's friend gave me the quilted backing piece used on the quilt.  I did buy pink thread to sew with for $2.07 at Wal Mart.  I already had the pink cotton thread that I stitched with.  It was in with several used rolls my daughter had given me.
In total for less than $5, I was able to make these things.  I love it!!

I also want to note that the fabric bags, as well as the quilt were sold in my etsy store about as soon as I listed them.

I am working on squares for a quilt.  I do hope to have it completed by this time next Friday to post again!

Frugal Friday Link Up--5 Uses for Mayonnaise

It's Friday, and time to link up your frugal posts for the week. It's also almost the new year! Is one of your goals for the new year to live a more frugal life? To save more money? To get more organized?

For me, I've always tried to live a frugal life, both out of necessity as well as it's a lifestyle that I enjoy. I've been thinking about it more and more lately as there are some goals that I have for things I would like to buy. My goal shopping list includes laptops for both my daughter and myself, cubby organizers for my craft room, a van, and a camper. The last 2 will really require saving money in other places to be able to afford them.

Being online is wonderful. There are so many freebies out there to help with the money saving venture. Then there are the products that I get to review as a blogger. Items we can use, as well as items I can use as gifts. I'm set on laundry detergent for quite awhile, thanks to getting in laundry detergent from both Purex and Tide for review.

I hope the tips I share throughout the year from the 99 Cent Solutions book help in our efforts to save money and e more frugal. It's amazing what every day products that we usually already have in our house can do. Using this everyday stuff instead of going out and buying specific products is a real money saver.

Today I am sharing 5 ways to use mayonnaise:

1. Take crayon off of polished wood. If the children got a little crayon crazy on your varnished maple table, just rub on a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise with a paper towel and let it sit. Rub again and wa lah! the markes are gone.

2. Take the sap off our your auto paint. Sap is usually very hard to get off of your car with just soap and water, and you don't want to use anything abrasive and mess up the paint job. Rub a generous amount of mayonnaise directly on the sap deposits and let it sit for 10 minutes. Use a soft, absorbent rag to remove both the mayonnaise and the sap, then wash the car as usual. The same treatment will remove road tar that accumulates on the fenders.

3. Photo worthy houseplants. Dip a paper towel in mayonnaise and rub each leaf. Polish it off with another paper towel and the leaves will have a gleaming, deep-green shine for months.

4. Soften ragged cuticles. If your nails looks rough and ragged, don't soak them in dish detergent, instead put them in a dish of mayo for 5 minutes and then wipe them with a paper towel. Trim your nails while they are a bit softer from the soak, and use an orange stick to push back the raggedy cuticles. Wash your hands with warm water, put on some lotion, and your hands will look like you just had a fancy manicure.

5. Two-for-one hair and skin treatment. Condition both your hair and smooth your face at the same time with a mayonnaise treatment. Massage the mayo into your dry hair and scalp, then wrap it in a towel or put on a shower cap. While your hair rests in it's treatment, spread a thin layer of mayo over your freshly washed face. Avoid the eye area when doing this. Lie down with a couple of damp tea bags or cucumber slices over your eyes for 15 minutes and then step right into the shower to wash it all off. You will feel like you just came back from the salon. (in my experience, it takes several washings to remove the greasy effect of the mayonnaise)(when I worked for the Headstart program and we had the headlice outbreak, it was suggested to parents to put mayo in the child's hair and put on a shower cap overnight to suffocate the lice. It seemed to really work and a lot less expensive than the over the counter lice treatments, not to mention much safer for the child)

Until next week, I want to wish you all a:


Happy New Year Glitter Pictures

Squidoo Hopping--Copyright Question

Good Thursday morning.
Let's start with my question.

While looking through some old papers I found one of the old postcards I had bought while visiting Graceland. I intended to scan it and put the picture in my Elvis lens. My husband is telling me that since the postcard is copyrighted that I can't put it in my lens. He says I need to contact Graceland and get permission.
Well, since that whole copyright thing is pretty much above my head---can I, or can't I scan it and put the picture of it on my lens? Thanks. (So many of the pictures I put in with my lenses I get from the internet, mostly from wikipedia---I don't even have a clue if this is ok, but if I don't get photos from the internet just where am I to get them to go along with my lenses??)

Now, I have been working to update lenses. Some of them I opened to see about the donations module (which last I checked is still MIA)
Here is the list of lenses that I updated:
Legos
Grandma's Christmas Wishlist
Crash! Book Review
WWJD for Kidz
Kansas Our First Lapbook
Elvis Presley

I am stopping here this week. I hope several will have input on my copyright question, as well as link up below (remember I am now allowing you to link directly to one or two of your lenses if you don't blog about squidoo.)

Black History Month is Coming in February

I'm always on the look out for fun ways to get history in to our homeschool day. We all learn better when it's fun and interesting. This graphic is full of great information and learning. My daughter and I enjoyed looking at it and reading it over together.

Just click to open it in a new window, then click in that window to make the graphic larger as well.
We will re-visit this again in February when it is Black History month!

View Larger Graphic Here

I just won 50 points on the SuperLucky Button!

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I love Superpoints, so fun, and so easy. I also must mention that they are very quick to pay too!

WIP Wednesday---Getting Back in the Swing of Things

Good Wednesday to all.  I barely know it's Wednesday, still coming down from the holiday rush.  Not to mention that hubby is usually off on Wednesday, but not this week because of the holiday schedule.

Basically I've done nothing towards crafts!  Not really true.  I worked on the My Little Pony until almost the end of Dec. 23, to get it finished and wrapped for the 24th.   It's no longer a work in progress but wanted to show it off.  It didn't turn out half bad.  I even have a picture of Brandon showing it off. (We did use the flat iron and straighten the yarn hair before wrapping)

Right now I'm pretty much just reeling---trying to figure out how to get back to some sort of a regular routine.  This is always so hard for me.
I've not been in my craft room except to put materials away from all over the house----I still have the same projects sitting in there: 2 fabric bags to finish, 2 simple table runners to put together, the flower quilt I am working on, 2 more sets of folded hot pads to complete, an idea for my next quilt rolling around in my head---I did work some on washcloths the last couple of days and will continue that today.  I am working on using up the yarn on this cone.  After that, my living room projects will be the double thick crocheted hot pads and matching coasters.

NEW!  I have vowed that next Christmas is going to be majority handmade, either by me, or bought homemade from someone.  I have a new page here on my blog for you to link up handmade posts.  Please check out the page and add links.  I'm hoping to see literally a thousand or more links before the end of the year.  I have linked up several of my own and others have linked in.  Check those out while you are on the page as well.  Link ups do not need to be blog posts for this one!!  Thanks!

I'm going to close this for now.  These are the blogs that I  link up to each week---they may or may not have linky's this week due to the holidays though.
 

Natural House Cleaning Products Review and Giveaway!

Natural House cleaning products are a true cleaning revolution!

Why is it a "revolution?"  Because Natural House probiotic cleaning products brings you a revolutionary, new method of cleaning the most dirty areas of your home. Utilizing non-toxic, probiotic cleaning agents, Natural House products are strong enough for commercial clean-up, yet safe and gentle for all of the members of your Natural House.

Here's a little more info about why our all-natural cleaning products are superior to those currently on the market!

• Our products use an eco-friendly cleaning method of probiotics that create a beneficial, odor eating ecosystem to naturally drive out and digest odors at their source.
• Natural House's plant-based ingredients are eco-friendly, non-toxic and biodegradable to naturally fight the toughest problems you face in your house.
  
• Our products, Sinky and Flushy even break down and digest fats, oil, grease, and solid waste to ensure your disposal, pipes, drain lines or septic tank run smoothly.
• Our cleaners contain good probiotics which continue to scour, clean, consume odors, grime, grease, and germs, and they continue to do so until your next weekly treatment!
• We earned the coveted Retailers’ Choice Award” at the 2011 National Hardware Show!

So how exactly does probiotic household cleaners work?

• The surfaces in your house are like a garden. If you don’t seed with good plants, weeds will grow. You have the same choice with your household surfaces: sanitize for a moment with harsh chemicals leaving your surface open to recontamination or seed with probiotics to continuously weed out the bad micro-organisms.
• Traditional cleaners “clean” a surface for a moment in time; the second the rag is finished wiping the surface, that surface is almost instantly polluted once again with ambient dust, dirt, and micro-organisms.
• Natural House probiotics creates mini-ecosystem on a microbial level that produces enzymes which break down odors, dirt, fats, oil, grease, food scraps, waste and toilet paper products on a continuous basis between applications. This creates a natural, clean, balanced environment that is safe for even the most sensitive members of your natural house.
• The action is in the foam!  When using your Natural House products be sure and let it foam first to release the cleaning agents before going to the next step on the package directions.
  

The short and skinny of it is this... our natural probiotic cleaners keep on cleaning long after you've stopped! 

Please watch this 2 minute video to learn more about how our probiotic cleaners work.


(My review)  See the photos below that go along with my review of each product.

Trashy--Simply spray into your trash can (or diaper pail).  Let it air dry, or wipe dry before placing a new bag in.  The first time I used this my trash can was pretty dirty inside so I did have to wipe it dry.  It has a very pleasant odor to the spray.  It's a minty scent to me.

 Flushy--Just drop the packet into the bowl.  As you see if my photo, it immediately starts to bubble up for the cleaning action.  

Sinky--Drop the packet in to the drain, run hot water for 10-15 seconds.  You can see in my photo the foaming action.  If you have a garbage disposal, which we do, just run it for 1-3 seconds.  This also has a pleasant odor.  It's on the lemony side to me.


Of the 3 products, the sinky is my favorite.  Sometimes that disposal gets stinky and I didn't like that at all.  Since starting to use the Sinky product I have not noticed a smell at all.
I also like the Trashy product for keeping the trashcan smell to a bay as well.




You may purchase the Natural House cleaning products directly from their website, or purchase them on amazon: 


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Homeschool Journal--Christmas Rush Week

Whew! The Christmas rush week is over and it's time to slow down and get back on track.

Not intentional, but we did no text book work last week at all. We got in our devotions, both at home, and from a book I carry in my tote while we were on the run.
There was of course the Christmas program on the 18th. Jasmine had a reading to do. Below is a photo of her reading during the program. The afternoon of the 18th was 3 hours of Christmas caroling to the shut-in members.

Bible study was held this last week. This week we are taking the week off and it's strange to be sitting at home right now instead of at church for study.
She attended her youth group meeting at the Grace church. Also for that youth group she helped serve a soup supper during the annual Luminary up north of town. The soup supper was a fundraiser towards their trip to England in March.

She did help me some with the Christmas baking. There was also the Christmas Eve service at church as well.
Christmas eve was a full day...first to my brother's house for my family...then to hubby's sister's house for his family...and then to church. Below is a photo of Jasmine at hubby's sisters house waiting to open gifts.

Oh yes, I mustn't forget to share this photo of Jasmine and Santa together too LOL This was after church on the 18th.

One of my gifts to Jasmine I bought through brainemporium.com. It's Visual Brainstorms The Smart Thinking Game. Although she made a wise crack when opening it telling every one "of course mom gets me something education", she got the cards out right away. It's 100 of the world's best brainteaser questions, guaranteed to challenge, entertain, puzzle and amuse you. Ages 10 to adult, multiple players. Everyone got in on trying to solve.

I better move along and take advantage of the extra time at home this morning. I am linking up with:

Enter to Win in the Lemonhead Superfans Sweepstakes

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