thiết kế nhà

Yay, me!  I made a New Years' Resolution last year and actually stuck with it!  I didn't start working out, lose weight, or finally get my whole house organized.  I did, however, manage to save nearly $1,400 with a 52-Week Money Savings Plan.  It wasn't that hard at all and the money I put aside was able to completely pay for Christmas this year - all the gifts for kids, our family, and their teachers, a new tree, some decorations, and even dinners out during the busy December season. Since it worked so well for me, I thought I'd share it.  It's the perfect way to save for the holidays, but it would also be great for vacation saving or any other big-ticket item. First, here's the week-by-week plan... (Printable HERE ) Here's how I made it work for me... 1.  Save in reverse! When I first saw this kind of plan last December, it started with $1 the first week, $2 the second week and so on until $52 was deposited on the last week.  A commenter mentioned th...

“I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central  for Lions Gate. I received a book, products, and a promotional item to thank me for participating.” Is anyone else as anxiously awaiting the Mockingjay Part 1 Movie as we are?  My two oldest and I have been counting down ever since we saw Catching Fire last fall!   I first read the Hunger Games trilogy myself a few years ago.  My kids were just in the early elementary grades and I was volunteering at the book fair at their school.  As we were working, another mom mentioned how much she'd loved the series.  At first I was hesitant... young adult fiction?  teens in a dystopian society battling to survive in a televised game?  I wasn't quite sure about the whole premise.  However, the other mom and I had similar tastes in other books we'd read so I picked up the Hunger Games and started reading.  I loved it, quickly read all three books, and started recommending the...

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  We've had an overabundance of snow days this winter and the kids are actually getting tired of all the days off school.  When they don't want to play outside anymore and cabin fever is setting in, I've had to reach deep into my bag of tricks to keep us all sane and entertained. Here was a little trick that brought lots of laughs (along with a few crumbs)... This trick was from way back in my college days.  My friends and I learned about it somehow, then challenged people every chance we got.  In all the times we presented the challenge, we never had anyone who was able to do it (and we won tons of free meals and free drinks in the process!). You most likely have the supplies on hand, a box of saltine crackers (salted, not unsalted), a timer, and some willing participants. The challenge is simple... all you have to do is eat (and swallow) the six saltines before the minute timer goes off without getting a drink of water....

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Giant Eagle for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. I love seeing my kids grow and become more independent in the kitchen.  It's my hope that by the time they move out of my house, they're able to follow a simple recipe and be confident enough to make a decent variety of basic meals.  Over the past few years,  my girls especially have had a lot of fun using the stove and oven with some supervision and are now pretty adept at making their own cupcakes or simple pasta side dish.  (Now I just have to keep working on my son!).   This Creamy Shrimp Alfredo dish was a great way to get them to expand their skills a little bit and make a yummy main dish for our dinner the other night.  The recipe starts with a packaged pasta side dish that they're used to making, but adds shrimp, tomatoes and spinach to make it a full meal. Check it out... Looks really delicious, doesn't it?  The girls kept commen...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PERK for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. If you're anything like me, your car can be like your second home.  With three kids, I feel like I'm always in my van.  I shuttle them back and forth to school, to practices, and to sleepovers.  We go to the library, the movies, the grocery store, the doctor, the dentist - well you get the idea.   However, with all that running around and constantly getting in and out of the car heading one place or another, you can imagine how messy things can get.  Actually, I won't even make you imagine it,  I'll show you... Embarrassing, isn't it?   Water bottles and crumbs all over the place, my son's basketball uniform from when he had to do a quick change in the car, my daughter's robe from her last sleepover, various books and papers - really a little of everything.  And even though I didn't take a picture, my section of the van isn't much bett...

We've had several snow days lately and this was the perfect quick and easy little trick to entertain the kids.  You more than likely have everything you need on hand and the kids can do it multiple times and still be thrilled by  it.de63def56e13867f940ba574b16babf2765d48ee5daa5820fa Check it out...   All you need is a ziploc bag, water, and some sharpened pencils (or wooden skewers, etc) Once your bag is filled with water, simply push the sharpened end of the pencil straight through.  If you do it fairly smoothly, the bag will seal itself around the pencil and no water will leak out.  (However, I do recommend doing it over the sink or have a towel handy just in case.)  We found that if you change direction midway through or start poking through the back and then hesitate, you might spring a leak.  Most of the time, though, the pencil goes in one side and out the other without even a drip of water!! It's lots of fun and we had a good time seeing just ho...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LEGO for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. Sending of lots of Happy Holiday wishes from us here at Come Together Kids!   How cute is our little Christmas postcard?  All of us are smiling and facing forward, our house is clean, there's a roaring fire in the fireplace and all our holiday decorations look great!   Aren't you impressed that this busy mom pulled it all off just days before Christmas? Seriously, though, I had so much fun designing our cute little scene and it only took me a few minutes on the  LEGO Minifigure Family website. First, I simply added each member of our family, even our cat. Then, I was able to customize each person.  I could change our skin tone, facial expressions, hair, and outfits.   Here I am with a nice smile on my face,  my hair nicely brushed,  and wearing a cute Mrs. Claus outfit. The final touch was choo...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Frozen Food Foundation for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. I don't know about you, but taking all three of my kids with me to the grocery store is one of my worst nightmares.  When they were younger and I was staying home with them, the thought of loading everybody up in the car to go hit the aisles of the supermarket was like torture.  Now that they're older, they still don't want to be stuck in the grocery store with me and their school and activity schedule, combined with my work schedule makes it just as tough to have to run to the supermarket all the time. That's why my freezer comes in handy.   I've learned that if I have what I need on hand, I can minimize those dreaded trips for last minute items.  I'll make up a bunch of pancakes and french toast to have on hand for breakfasts.   I'll buy meats and freeze them and even make up double batches of some of our main d...

Lately for birthdays, I've just been making cupcakes and putting them on simple little homemade cupcake stands .  I can match the stand to the party's decor and it's a lot easier to frost a cupcake than it is to try to decorate a cake.  However, for my daughter's Tie-Dye Birthday Party , I decided to try my hand at making an actual Tie-Dye cake, instead of just cupcakes.  I happened to find this Shirt Cake Pan in my basement when I was looking for other party supplies in my basement, and it ended up working out perfectly.  Of course a regular cake shaped pan would be just as cute. Check out our Tie-Dyed Cake... Pretty cute, don't you think?  Here's what you'll need (feel free to make any of this from scratch, I just used store-bought supplies)... * box of white cake mix + ingredients to make it * 2 containers of white frosting * shirt cake pan or any other shape (I happened to get mine years ago at a garage sale and it seems Wilton no longer makes them, but ...

We made these yummy lollipops at my daughter's recent Tie-Dye Birthday party .  They were a fun little treat for the girls, but they were so easy, they'd be a fun little treat to make anytime. Check them out... Now look at how easy they are to make! Here's what you need... * Hard candy (photo shows Jolly Ranchers and Lifesavers, but I found that the Jolly Ranchers "melted" the best) * parchment paper (affiliate link) - found in the baking aisle * a hard object (to smash the candies) * sturdy plastic bags (small freezer bags worked great) * lollipop sticks (affiliate link) - found in                                                     the cake decorating section of most craft stores Here's what to do... 1. Unwrap your candies and separate by colors in your plastic...

When we were brainstorming different ideas for my 8-year old daughter's birthday party, we quickly settled upon having a tie dye theme.  In case you haven't been around 8 year olds lately, they can be all about tie-dye, peace signs, hearts and rainbows, so it seemed like the perfect plan. However, once I thought about it a little more, I was worried it would be tricky to pull off.  Regular tie-dying often involves presoaking the fabric, dying it, wrapping it up and waiting several hours before rinsing it out.  That definitely would be tricky to pull off in a 3-hour time frame for our party.  Plus, it's often recommended to use 100% cotton fabrics, and that would rule out the pillowcases and socks we were hoping to tie dye. Luckily, we decided on an alternative that worked out really well...  using watered-down acrylic paints instead of regular dye. Check it out... That rainbow of bottles was filled with the watered-down paint that was really easy to use and all ...