Money Management for Kids

It’s never a bad idea to introduce your child to the concept of money, as the younger that you instill basic concepts like saving and the value of work and managing their finances the more you can ensure lifelong financial success and stability.

There are a few important things to remember when it comes to teaching your children. It’s a good idea to start with the basics, like recognizing each coin and their value. Focus on teaching your young child how to recognize coin and bill denominations, and the basics of purchasing.

To help your child understand the concept of earning money, give them an allowance for the chores they complete and keep track of what they earn on a sheet of paper. But don’t forget to teach them about how to save and decide on what to purchase with this money. The most important financial lesson they can learn will be to prioritize their purchases and practice patience.

Check out these printables created by Self Lender to help you teach your child the skills they need for financial success. The printable money games like the “coin game” will make it simple to teach your children about coin denominations and making purchases.

DIY Your Own Doormat With These 11 Free Printables

When you invite somebody over to your house the first thing they usually see is your doormat. It’s the welcoming sign to anyone dropping off packages or the neighbor who stops by to borrow some sugar. That’s why I’ll never understand why so many doormats are, well, boring! 

Stores sell the same old doormats so it’s hard to find one that truly reflects your personality. Lucky for you, it’s not difficult to make one yourself! It’s a great opportunity to show off your personality and reflect your personal style. 

Wondering where to begin? This tutorial from Simply Self Storage is a step-by-step guide to making your own doormat. It includes detailed instructions with visuals, as well as my favorite part: 11 printables to use as stencils. There are so many options to choose from, from the basic “Live Laugh Love,” to the more playful “The Password is Guacamole.” 

Once you choose your stencil and gather all of your materials you will need to cut out the stencil. Now, this can be tricky. Those not experienced with an exacto knife might want to pick the larger, blockier designs first. 

When cutting, you’ll want to cut through the stencil AND the tape, but avoid cutting through your mat. This isn’t too difficult but does take some finesse. The straight lines will be easier to cut out than cursive designs, so plan accordingly. 

Below, I’ve included a list of materials and basic instructions for making your own DIY doormat. Follow these steps and soon you’ll your very own custom piece of outdoor art. Happy creating! 

Materials You Will Need: 

Blank coir mat (standard outdoor mat) 

Outdoor acrylic paint 

Foam paint brushes 

Exacto knife 

Cardstock 

Painter’s Tape 

Pins 

Printer 

And a downloaded stencil! 

1. Choose Your Design and Print it Out

2. Tape Your Mat Securely

3. Arrange the Stencil on Your Mat

4. CAREFULLY Cut Out Your Design

5. Paint Several Coats

6. Let Dry and Reveal Your Design

7. Enjoy Your Doormat!

Back to School: Printables for the Morning Commute

Now that summer has come to a close, we feel a little sad to say goodbye to the season of travel — that is until the Holidays, which are much closer than we might realize. If you and your family had a chance to take a road trip this summer, you might know how important preparation is for a successful drive. Even those with the most enthusiastic little travelers know that an extensive time spent on the open road can wear on one’s patience. Which is why we love printables for those times when there’s no service or your kids simply need to take a break from the screens.

In fact, printable activities aren’t just for the family road trip when there’s hundreds of miles ahead of you. They’re especially great for the morning commute to school or an evening traffic jam. It’s true that you can never have too many tricks up your sleeve when it comes to keeping your kids entertained on the road.

Add this list of free road trip printables to your kids in the car activities, so whether you’re making the morning commute to school or planning for your next family road trip, all you’ll need to do is print them out!

How-To Fix Cooking Mistakes

Food is really the center of the home! We spend so much time in the kitchen to create the perfect meals for our families and share special moments, laughs and stories around the dinner table. Picking the right recipes and getting everything just right can be tough, but it’s always worth it in the end to have a full family and another special meal together. 

However, kitchen time doesn’t always turn out exactly as planned! Sometimes we forget to set timers, add a little too much salt or completely overcook a dish because we misread the recipe. Although these setbacks are inevitable every once in a while in a busy household, these little cooking mistakes are never enough to set back a delicious dinner! Instead of starting from scratch or aimlessly searching for mistakes, you can check out this handy visual from Shari’s Berries to learn about all of the tips and tricks for fixing common cooking and baking mistakes. For example, did you know that you can add a sweetener to a dish that’s too spicy to tame the flavor? Take a look at all of their tips to see what you can do to fix any dish! 

30 Printable Road Trip Games for Your Kids

Road trips in the summer are one of the great American pastimes. The kids are out of school and there’s no more snow on the road. Millions of American families take advantage of this and pack up and head to a national park, local campsite, or a fun city for some sightseeing.



But the drive to your destination is not always the most entertaining part. In fact, sometimes it can be downright boring. Hundreds of miles of straight, flat roads will test anyone’s attention span, especially a kid’s. With no internet they will surely start to get antsy and you’ll wish you had thought ahead about how to keep them entertained. Luckily, I have just the thing! Thanks to The Zebra, I’m able to share with you a set of 30 road trip printable games that are sure to keep the whole family entertained.

From classics like “I Spy” and the license plate game to road trip fill-in-the-blanks and a word search, your kids will have plenty to do! The printables also come with a safety checklist, emergency contact list, packing checklist, and car preparation checklist. After filling these checklists out, you’ll be more than prepped for a great road trip! You can download all the printables here.

Organized Sewing

If you know me, I LOVE organizing...bits, bobbles, clothes, shoes, pantry items, toys, washi tape, etc. There are certain areas that get pushed aside until I just can't take it anymore. Sewing is a newer hobby of mine but I should really preface that with, I sew PAPER, not clothing. This bag of stuff slowly accumulated and I needed a better solution, so off to the store I went.

You can find this ArtBin Sew-lutions box pretty much anywhere sewing supplies are sold, I think I picked mine up from Michael's, isn't the name catchy? Sew-lutions. Genius!

I color coordinated my bobbins and added all the little bits to the clear lidded box and now my sewing stuff is much easier to untangle. My large spools of thread are still in their zip lock baggie, until I find a new solution but at least my bobbins are enjoying their color coordinated home.

Link your sewing organizational tips and posts in the comments below, I'd love to check them out!

DIY Marbled Paper

Marbled paper has been everywhere lately. From wedding decor to home accents, this trendy and stylish look is one that’s not going away anytime soon. If you’re looking for a fun project you can occupy the kids with that will double as decor or gifts, look no farther. Marbling paper is a fun way to recreate this trendy look at home.

To help you get started, FTD walks you through how to marble paper in 7 super simple steps. An added bonus? You probably already have most of the materials at home. This is a fun craft to get creative with. You can transform simple white piece of cardstock into a work of art by exploring different color schemes and trying new patterns.

So what are you waiting for? Let the marbling begin!

Materials: Baking sheet Shaving cream (must be foam not gel) Watercolors and acrylic paint Cardstock Paintbrush Dropper Scraper (paint scraper, ruler or any flat edge) Step 1: Fill the baking sheet with shaving cream.

 

 Step 2: Smooth out the surface of the shaving cream.

 

 Step 3: Add in two to three colors with a dropper.

 

 Step 4: Swirl the colors in a figure 8 pattern.

 

 Step 5: Lightly press the cardstock into the shaving cream.

 

 Step 6: Remove and scrape off the extra shaving cream.

 

Step 7: Let dry and put on display!

 

Date in a box PRINTABLES

When you’ve been with your partner for a few years, it’s important to find new ways to enjoy your time together. It’s completely normal to seek excitement, and date nights are a great way to keep things fresh and new in your relationship. Regardless of how old your relationship is, going on dates or even just spending time with each other should be a constant part of it. A different and interesting way of planning dates is by making a date night box.

The way to begin making one of these is to first think of a theme. If you’ve been with your partner for awhile, you can use your memories and cherished experiences to find a theme that is unique to your relationship. It’s a fun way to show your partner how much you appreciate your partner and the time you’ve spent together. To help get you started, Gifts.com has come up with some ideas for your date night box, along with printables! You can use these as they are or customize them, so get ready to truly make the most out of your dates! And remember to have fun while creating new memories with your loved one.

Summer Tips from a 10 Year Old

I asked my 10 year old son to write a blog post after his school year ended and with a roll of his eyes, massive sigh and threat to not get to play xbox for the remainder of the summer, this is what he came up with...

Other than playing video games all day during the summer, I would rather...

Go camping, have fun, stay up late, watch movies, spend time with my family, explore new cultures, play with my friends, "don't get hurt", make new friends and go swimming.

The advice I'd like to give others is...don't care what people think about you, be yourself, be kind, care about others, treat each other equally and do what's best for you! Get a tan, grow up, be happy, listen to your parents, follow instructions, help with chores, don't talk back and remain calm.

Dair

Age 10

__________________________

Pretty good advice from a 10 year old but I know he'd rather be playing video games, haha!

Fun and Free Kitchen Printables

These 28 free kitchen printables from Kitchen Cabinet Kings are great if you need to add a quick

decorative pop to your kitchen and/or dining area. There are many different design types to fit all
styles of kitchen, whether it’s modern, family-friendly, or rustic farmhouse.

I personally love the “Family Makes This House a Home” printable, it’s perfect for my family dining area.
Check out the other printables, download the ones you like and print them out at home or at your local
print shop. Frame them and hang them anywhere you have empty wall space.

Family Makes This House a Home

Easter Egg Hunt Clue Printables

Spring has sprung!

I love Easter time, as it usually brings warmer weather and gorgeous flowers. Although this year, winter decided it just wasn't done sharing it's chilly white blanket with the rest of the world. No matter where you are rain or shine, may you enjoy Easter Sunday with your family.

After attending a celebration of CHrist's resurrection, you can go home and reiterate Jesus' promise - "I've come to give you new life and give it abundantly" - with an Easter egg hunt. Eggs represent new life and so do baby bunnies! 

Hiding Easter eggs around the yard or inside your home while keeping peeking eyes away is always a blast. My kids beg me to hide the eggs again after they've already found them all. Seeing their laughing eyes and smiles gets this Mama's heart every year. Whether you prefer to host your Easter egg hunt inside or outdoors, consider incorporating these adorable printables from Personal Creations into your Easter Sunday activities.

 

(please click on each individual Easter Egg clue photo to open printable links)

My favorite printable is the fill-in the blank clues, as you can really get creative with your hiding places! What’s your favorite Easter tradition?

St. Patrick's Day Word Search

Happy March y'all! The third month of the year seems to always roar in like a lion, sometimes bringing bitter cold temps and other years, sweet tiny flower buds. Whatever weather you're having I hope your March is a lucky one!

If you are looking for an activity to do with your kiddos, you've hit the jackpot! Good luck abounds as your kids work to find new words with this St. Patrick's day worksheet. 

For more entertaining spelling activities, go to Education.com!

Valentine's Day Craft Ideas

Happy Valentine's Day 2018!

Here's a look back on some fun Valentine Day Craft Ideas I've posted on my blog for Valentine's past but now they are all wrapped up neatly in one post for you! Looking back on these makes me feel like a total slacker this year BUT I'm happy to say, I'm using all the decor I've made in the past still today! Hope you enjoy and have a LOVEly day spreading LOVE around!

Valentine Printable Tag

Teacher Valentine's

8 Valentine Crafts

Love Note Challenge

Washi Tape LOVE Card

DIY Upcycled Jewelry Holder

Happy Monday!! Can't believe February has already arrived...along with some snow. I took a moment this morning to walk outside our village and soak in the peaceful cool quiet of a new day. The snow so perfectly covered every rooftop and tree in a precise blanket of unblemished white. The perfect start to my day after dropping our youngest off at kinder and before I tackle our mound of ski laundry from the weekend...but not before I've had my coffee!

One of my latest DIY projects was to figure out where to put my jewelry since I sold my jewelry armoire before we moved. If you remember, I made a smaller version of a jewelry holder for a teen that lived next to us in VA, you can see that HERE.

I guess you can say I've gotten quite a bit of use out of the doors we removed from our laundry room, since that's what I used for this project. I needed something I could set up on my dresser and not hang on the walls since most of them are hard to hang anything on here in Germany. I also wanted a splash of color in our closet, since we are renting and can't paint the walls, so I looked through my chalk paint stash and chose this lovely lavender shade.

No prep work for me, just slapped two coats on and roughed up the edges a bit with a sanding block. I dug through my hubby's tool box and found a few white hooks and cup hooks I had left over from another project and attached them around the edges. 

I'm pretty excited with how it turned out and love that it adds color and charm to our closet room. I destashed a bunch of my unworn jewelry before we moved as well, always feels good to declutter!

Here's the jewelry holder in all it's glory sitting on top of my dresser. The lighting isn't the greatest but I wanted to share how I display the rest of my jewels. I have a few trinket boxes, the brown cedar one my Dad recently made for me. The two trees I used to have on our mantle won't fit anywhere in this house, so I have them adding a bit of greenery to my jewelry set up and they double as clip holders too! How do you display your jewelry? I'd love to see, share a link in the comments or let me know your favorite part of this DIY project.

I've linked up to the following Linky bits of fun:

Dagmar's Home: Thrifty and Vintage Finds
Home Stories A to Z: Tutorials & Tips
I Should be Mopping the Floor: Inspiration Monday
Julie's Lifestyle : Cooking & Crafting with J & J
Little Miss Dexterous : Meet Up Monday
Lou Lou Girls: Fabulous Party
Mad in Crafts: Mad Skills

Skip to My Lou: Made by You Monday
SNAP Creativity: Show and Tell

Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist
DIY by Design: Winter Blues Wednesday

The DIY Dreamer: FDTR

Ducks in a Row: Wonderful Wednesdays
Gingersnap Crafts: Wow Me Wednesday
Handy Man, Crafty Woman: Wicked Awesome Wednesday

My Girlish Whims: Your Whims Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays
The Life of Jennifer Dawn: A Little Bird Told Me

Crafts A La Mode: What to Do Weekends

Sincerely Paula: No Rules Blog Party

Valentine's Day Handprint Craft

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s the perfect time to get crafty with the little ones. From a little piggie, to an adorable monkey, Personal Creations made it easy to create Valentine’s Day crafts you can hang on the wall or gift to Grandma and Grandpa!

Print a template of your child's favorite animal, and have them stick their hand in washable paint. Then apply their hand on the template to create the outline of an animal. Once dry, help them complete the craft by cutting out and gluing additional pieces to the animal. With just a few basic materials and a tiny handprint, help your little one create a masterpiece this Valentine's Day! Handprints are such a sweet treasure to share, as we all know just how quickly our little ones grow up. Happy crafting!