DIY Sorting Toy {Fine Motor Activity}

One of the things I love about being a mom is that somehow, my kids think I am magical when I come up with a fun way to play out of the blue. No matter how simple the activity, they are always interested and amazed. I know I complain sometimes about how hard parenting is, but you know, the tough moments are so worth it. Little kids are so fun and so sweetly simple in what it takes to get them interested in learning new skills and practicing their existing ones.

One of our favorite upcycled activities was completely simple to create and both of my kids played with it for hours! If you have toddlers or preschoolers in your home, this DIY Sorting Toy is a must make. It offers kids a simple fine motor activity as well as a chance to practice sorting, counting, differentiating between sizes and identifying  colors.

You will need:

a clean an empty egg carton

assorted pom poms {use different colors and sizes for additional sorting challenges}

Tongs or Tweezers for Children 

As you can see all I did was dump a handful of pom poms into a clean and dry egg carton. I laid a pair of rubber tongs for kids down and let Roo explore this option on his own. 

He sorted and sorted! He worked on his fine motor skills, his colors and sorting by size. 

This was an upcycle project that was super easy to put together and that my kids had a lot of fun learning and playing with!

How We Afford the Holidays Without Credit Card Debit

When I talk to my friends and family about the holidays, the subject of budgeting and credit card debit comes up. No one can ever believe me when I tell them we accumulate $0 credit card debit for holidays and I never spend more than $50 on gifts.

I have had people say things like "That is a flat out lie Sara. The gift you gave us last year cost at least $30!"
They always want to know how I can decorate, gift and give without spending more than $50 out of my own pocket. Today I am going to share the low down with you too.

First, being a family that lives on a budget, events such as back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays are always on my mind! Creative ways to accumulate funds or gifts is a year round project.

I do a variety of things online to add to my kitty.

If I see a great item on clearance I will buy it, but only if I have the extra cash on hand. I don't buy on my debit card or credit card.

At the end of each season I buy the goods I need next year on clearance. I use my stash of gift cards to do this. I buy wrapping paper when it is down to 50 cents a roll or less. Instead of going out and buying decorations, I usually make my own using items that I already have at home. For example, I use Christmas ribbon to decorate not only the tree, but to also add finishing touches to garlands, wreaths, and wrapped gifts. Same with bows, gift tags, bags  etc. Seasonal trinkets are also great to get when they get marked down to 80-90% off. I get stocking stuffers for 20 cents and stash them for the next year. Or I might buy Easter coloring books for 10 cents and stash them too.

Inbox Dollars I spend about 25 minutes a week reading emails, playing games, watching videos and more. I have cashed out several times. It is pretty easy money and you get a $5 sign up just for joining!

I shop Zuilly. I shop here because it is easy to earn credits and they have such super deals. I get really low priced deals here through out the year and add to my "Gift Box".

I use the WalMart Savings Catcher App. I scan each receipt I get from WalMart and accumulate savings on products. I wait to 'cash out' until there is something I need to buy for a holiday.

I have the Shutterfly app, so I watch out for special offers, free prints and more. Photo gifts are always a hit. If you are not using Shutterfly sign up here for FREE Prints!!

I of course watch amazon for deals. I save money on everything! I do tasks on m turk to earn money too. I don't have much time for this, but I would estimate I spend about 30 minutes a week turking and making some spare change on easy tasks.

As a blogger, if I participate in a campaign that pays via a gift card, I save it.

That is how I can afford to celebrate all of the major holidays without dipping into our budget for any extra expenses. I limit us to about $50 for last minute things like batteries.

 How does your family afford the holidays?

Gourmet Homemade Oreo Marshmallows

It was one of those days, the cupboards were growing bleak, the need to grocery shop was strong, but the interest wasn't there. I knew I could put it off another day. {Face it, shopping with two young children is not fun!}

After whipping up an easy peasy dinner, I knew that dessert was in order too. I had 3 ingredients on hand and this little bit of yum is what I came up with!

To make Oreo Marshmallows you will need:

White Chocolate

Oreos

Marshmallows

First melt your white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 25 seconds or so until it is smooth.

Crush Oreos, place in a bowl.

Dip your marshmallow into the melted chocolate, immediately dip it into crushed Oreos. 

Set aside for about 25 minutes until the chocolate has set.

Enjoy!

My family loved these! They were soft, sweet and had bits of crunch thanks to the chunks or Oreo cookies. This was an incredibly easy treat to make with a gourmet flavor perfect for kids of all ages!

Do you love gourmet marshmallows? Have you ever made something like this at home?

Millstone Creek Park : Topping the List of Best Ohio Playgrounds

We really love to go to the park and play! My family has a once a week standing date for the park. When my son gets out of school we go to the park and play! Mr. Sweet Silly Sara meets us there when he is off of work. It is probably my kids favorite day of the week. Not only do we love to enjoy the parks in our town, but we also love to get out and look for the best parks and playgrounds that Ohio has to offer.

In August we had to make a trip to Lancaster, Ohio. That is a long drive with young kids. On our way back we made a detour to Westerville, Ohio to Millstone Creek Park. Our kids were so glad to get out, stretch their legs and play with other kids!

This is the most awesome park we have experienced with the kids. As we arrived, we enjoyed a short walk over a boardwalk. My kids were delighted to hear a bullfrog and see it hop into the water. As we arrived at the playground my kids were ready to run!

Harp loves Millstone Creek Park!

 My son really loved the park. He was a blur then entire time we were there. Constant motion! I promise he was there, but no great photos of Roo were taken.

Harp was ready to climb!

 One of the things I loved about this park was there were so many things for kids of all ages and all abilities to do. This is one of the playgrounds that are accessible and fun for kids with special needs such as wheelchairs. Knowing that this area was designed with all kids in mind really sets it apart from others!

The park had a nice sculpture to view and a great slide; that kind of went down a hill into an area of tall grass. This was fun for my adventure seeker son!

My sweet little Harper adored this park. There were so many things for her to do, explore and discover. To see her having so much fun was contagious. My mood immediately lifted upon the first sound of her giggles.

This park was spacious, super clean and really quite lovely. The sound of happy children playing was thick in the air and there was no way to avoid the contagious feeling of a great summer day.

The entire family loved the option of taking the boardwalk or hopping over some stones in a creek to reach the playground. My husband and I had a blast playing this electronic game together. It was a fun way to get moving ourselves while showing our kids you are never to old to play!

Millstone Creek Park was fantastic. It very well may be the best park in Ohio. It is certainly on the top of our list of Best Ohio Playgrounds!

DIY Blanket Box

I had this really great box. I had been holding on to it for several months because I have a cardboard hoarding problem. Ha! It is true, I will say "Ohhh! I am going to make a cardboard bed with that box..." and my husband will nod his head and say "Great idea!" or maybe "Interesting." He is patient and will give me a few days. If the box remains untouched, he sweetly breaks it down and recycles it to keep my hoarding to a minimum.

This box however I had managed to keep stashed out of the way in a closet used for coats. We haven't needed jackets in months now, so no one has been in that closet. Until one day. I saw him open the door. His eyes locked on the box.

He asked "What are you doing with this box?"
I knew my time was limited. It was a great box... I couldn't lose it! My mind went to work and I came up with a great way to use it and make it look pretty too!

From a swifter box to a blanket box in under 5 minutes. This project cost me about 50 cents to complete which makes this not only an upcycle, but also a frugal organization project in one.

I purchased my contact paper for $1 at Dollar General. I have enough to do another box about the same size.

First I unrolled enough paper to cover the top.

I peeled a small section of the paper off of the contact paper to carefully begin applying it to the lid of the box.

Then I did the same for the sides and the bottom.

I took a hard plastic case and smoothed out the bubbles and wrinkles in the contact paper the best I could.

My edges were a touch uneven, but that is okay. I highly doubt anyone is going to inspect my blanket box for perfection.

This box is great for storing baby blankets and it fits perfectly under Harp's crib.

This project only took a few minutes (5) and it created a really useful organizational tool for my daughters room!