My Pinterest Try With Cloud Dough

I had to try it. I've been seeing it around Pinterest and thought it might be fun.

Pinterest Success or fail: Success!
Prep: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: Easy
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What is it? 
Flour + Baby Oil = A fun sensory experience that you can mold, and it's fun to play in. My 2.5 year old played for about 45 minutes straight!

How to make it:
1. In a large mixing bowl mix 8 cups flour with 1 cup baby oil
2. Get your hands dirty and mix it with your hands...much easier
    and your hands will be soft afterwards
3. Put it in a cake pan, bin or box
4. Add a few washable toys, cups, etc.

Insider Tips:

* Best to do it outside or in a bathtub, as it can get messy

* Next time I think I'll try vegetable oil and see how that turns out

* You can seal it up in a bag or container when you are done to use another time

Our Adventures at Como Zoo

One of my favorite places to visit in Minnesota is Como Zoo in St. Paul. It's free, it's fun, and it's a perfect outing for my little boys. Since it's free (donations welcome), I don't feel obligated to stay as long to feel like I got my money's worth...which is great when you don't know how long your little one's will last.

My boys had a blast and so did I. It was beautiful out, and there were no melt downs! Yay! Our favorites I think were the Giraffes and the Penguins. We enjoyed some Dippin' Dots while watching the Giraffes. I tried to give Logan some, but I got the banana split one, and apparently he could taste the chocolate. He despises chocolate...what kid despises chocolate!!!

We even caught some of the Sparky show (Sea Lion show). I learned the Sparky show has been running for 58 years now, and the current Sparky is 25 years old. It was fun watching the show with my boys, remembering back to when I was a little girl watching the show and knowing my dad use to watch the show when he was a kid. 3 generations of watching Sparky! Before the show started they were playing music, and both Roman & Logan got their dance on!

Ipsy Subscription Review - July 2014

It's here! It's here!

My July Ipsy subscription has arrived in its usual hot pink bubble envelope. I've been an Ipsy subscriber for 3 months now and LOVE it! 

First, what is Ipsy?
For $10 a month (shipping included), you get a different cosmetic bag (AKA Glam bag) filled with about 4-5 deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products to try. When you sign up, you complete a questionnaire about yourself, so they know your skin tones, make-up preferences, etc. 

5 reasons Ipsy's a fun Subscription service:
1. It comes in a bright pink bubble wrap envelope - so you feel extra girly! 
2. You get a fun surprise in the mail each month for only $10 a month. Who doesn't like fun mail! 
3. The products fit your preferences that you fill out in the questionnaire
4. If you don't think you'll use one of the products or the Glam bag...it's a fun bonus birthday gift for someone or stocking stuffer.
5. On Ipsy's website, you can find out how to use the products, if you are a low maintenance kind of gal and don't know how to use some of these products (like myself).


July's Products & Estimated Value:


* bareMinerals READY Eye-shadow 2.0 (full size) $20.00
* POP Beauty Sun-kissed Bronzer (full size)   $10.00
* derma e BB Creme with SPF 25 (deluxe sample) ~$7.00
* Pixi Beauty Mini Tinted Brilliance Balm (deluxe sample)   ~$8.00
* Pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer spf 30 (deluxe sample)   ~$16.50


Total Estimated Value:
$61.50 in product + cosmetic bag








Here is the link if you are interested in joining!
http://www.ipsy.com/r/7qt7

Mail Organization - My Mail Center

I was getting tired of all the piles on our counter of miscellaneous papers and mail. Here is my solution and so far it's helped. I used a Thirty-One Fold n' File (but you could use any filing bin) and added some hanging file folders and regular file folders within (for subcategories). To help support the weight and make the folders slide around easier, I used a report cover spine on the sides where the folders hang. I also got a bin for incoming mail. Our system is to put daily mail or other miscellaneous papers into the bin, then when I have a chance I go through it and put it in the Fold n' File organizer. 

My folders include: 

* Mail

     - Bills to pay

     - Review (further reading required or call on)

     - File (stuff to keep in our actual file cabinet)

     - Shred

* Coupons & Menu's (I store take out menus and restaurant & coupons for things other than groceries)

* Kid stuff (art I want to save, classes, & medical stuff)

Not So Extreme Couponing Haul - July 2014

My haul this week! :)

Store: Target

Time spent couponing/shopping: ~2.5 hours

Spent: $118.85

Saved with Coupons, Cartwheel, REDcard: $72.17

Overall savings: 62%

I'm missing 1 kiwi, 3 bananas and 1 yogurt from this picture, because my family got to them before I took the picture.
Yes, that's 4 boxes of diapers - normally $24.99 a box.

Check out my Not-So-Extreme Couponing 101 Tab on my blog to see the method to my madness!

Notes & Menu Whiteboard

My latest Pinterest project was to create a whiteboard for our kitchen. I already have a paper calendar that I use, but my new mission was to have a place I can write reminders, and to plan out our meals for the week. I want to start planning our meals out for the week so I could get rid of my current system - frantically running through the house and scrounging through cupboards at 4pm trying to figure out what I could make for dinner! I did some searching on Pinterest and didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but but I got ideas to create my own board.

Materials: Picture frame with glass, decorative paper, letter stickers, index cards, scissors, white board marker

Level of difficulty: VERY easy

NOTES & MENU WHITEBOARD:

I like to call this my "Command Center." My husband likes to call it my "Crazy Center!"