With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, our kids will be making paper heart cards, eating candies, and listening to stories about love pretty everywhere the go. It doesn’t matter where you turn, their little eyes and ears will be exposed to romance and flattery from billboards, commercials, even their older siblings! With all this talk about love, it’s important that we teach our children that there is more to love than physical affection and romance. Love is  bout self-sacrifice and giving.

First it’s important to recognize that there are different types of love, and each type has different ways of expression. You love your mother, but you don’t love her in the same way you love your spouse or a stranger. There are different ways to display our love and different circumstances that are appropriate for those kinds of acts.  How do you show someone you love them?

Family: Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles… there are many people in our family that we can show love to. It’s especially important to show love to these people because they live with us, day in and day out, and know our
struggles and our tempers. These people will be with you through thick and thin. No matter what happens in your life, you know you can always turn to them for comfort and guidance because they are family. Since these people know you the best, they know the things you hate doing. They know your preferences. This is helpful because we can express our love to them by doing the opposite.

If your child loves to watch a special TV show, and fights with their big sister for the remote during that hour, a great way for her to show love to her sister is to let her watch the shows she wants. Teaching your children to do acts of self-sacrifice, laying down their own desires to serve someone else, will help them learn to appreciate the good feeling of doing what is right. They will learn to take enjoyment from making others happy. This will also guard their hearts from being selfish and spoiled.

Friends/Teachers: In hindsight, we all know that even though we may have a great teacher, or a wonderful best friend, these relationships fade over time. Most of us grow up and learn to like different things, some people move away and don’t keep in contact as much as they once did. Showing love to our friends and teachers make the most of the time we will have with them. It shows them that we treasure and value them, and who they are in your life. Little gifts and cards telling a teacher how they’ve impacted you are a great way for a child to express love for them. Bringing a tissue box when their friend is having a hard time, encouraging them, or highlighting their strengths is a great way to show love to friend.

The Forgotten: Showing your children that there are so many other people in the world teaches them that it doesn’t revolve around them. Having them make Valentines and deliver them to elderly in a nursing home shows them you don’t have to be friends to be kind. Buying a stuffed animal and delivering it to a patient at a children’s hospital reminds them to be kind and compassionate. Taking a holiday to do a community service project shows them that love can be expressed in many ways, like cleaning up a park for others to play in!

No matter how you decide to teach it, make sure you are using this holiday as an opportunity to train you children in what real love is. It’s not just romance and physical affection. Kindness, compassion, self-sacrifice, and acts of service are a great place to start.

The bathroom is another problem area in our homes that many people don’t realize are a cause of stress. How many times did you run out of toilet paper last year, only to have your child waiting in the bathroom while you ran to the store? While your situation may not be that dramatic, every household would benefit from a fresh take on an organized bathroom. Follow these simple steps to get started!

What You’ll Need:

Large Trash Can

~Large Box
~Sticky Labels and pen
~Under-the-counter / cutlery drawer organizer
~Large shallow boxes / plastic containers / baskets
~Paper towels / towels / duster
~All purpose cleaner / sanitizing wipes

Let’s Get Started!

Phase 1: Clean Up

1. To start you’re going to want to take everything out of your bathroom. On the way, get rid of the garbage to set yourself up for success later. Label your large box as “Donations” and keep it next to your garbage can. These should both be within arms reach of where you’re working. Now sort through your items top to bottom. Start with whatever is your highest place for keeping things. For most people this is their medicine cabinet. Take everything out one piece at a time, and as you do check the item.  Ask yourself these questions.

“Is this basically empty?” Throw it out. Many of us hold onto almost done or empty containers for no real reason except the sorrow of parting with it. Liberate yourself and free up space by getting rid of these types of items.
“Is this expired?” Throw it away. Products have an expiration date for a reason. Keep your family safe by getting rid of the old.
“Have I used this in the past year?” If not, toss it in the garbage. If it’s a new product, maybe you can donate it to a local thrift shop or homeless shelter.

Anything that’s left should be wiped down and placed outside of your workspace. Continue going through every single item in your bathroom with this same critical eye. You’ll be surprised what you may find in the deep dark corners of those shelves and drawers. This step is the hardest part because you’ll be faced with some major decisions. What should you do with that “bath essentials” set your cousin gave you two years ago? It’s nice, but you don’t care for the smell and have plenty of the stuff you use regularly already. Donate this or regift it. Knowing that it will go to good use somewhere else will help you let go of those hard to decide items.

2. Now that your entire bathroom is clear, clean everything. From the mirrors, to the drawers, to the sink, to the little shelves and shelf liners, clean, clean, clean! Starting off fresh is good for your health and will make things easier to organize later.

Phase 2: Set Up

1. The next important step is setting up your new space to serve you. Go through all of your remaining items, and organize into categories. Make-up, facial cleansers, hand soaps, hair products, medicine, hair accessories, shaving products, shower products, travel sized items, beauty tools, cleaning supplies… your categories will be unique to your family needs.

2. Now that everything is separated into piles, take a look at what you have. What takes up the most space? Is their any category that could be split in two? What are the items that you use everyday and what items do you see once a week (or month)? Being aware of these things will help you best decide where those items will take home in your new bathroom. Examining your space and your needs will help you prepare for the next step.

3. Use your creativity to store and organize your items. For most women, Make-up is an item they use everyday. This type of item should be within easy reach every morning. Putting these in a shallow drawer is probably a good idea, but keeping them organized is still key. Using products like a in-drawer office organizer can be very helpful in keeping those small cosmetics in the same place all the time. You may keep sample or travel sized items in a shoe box or plastic container under the sink because you don’t use them terribly often. Placing all of you cleaning supplies in a handled caddy can help keep them together and easy to tote from bathroom to bathroom when necessary. Maybe keeping all of your hair pins, scrunchies, and headbands in a small plastic drawer set on the counter will help.

The important part here is to find a home for every item. If the item has a home, you can quickly put it back in it’s home if it gets misplaced or left out because you’re in a hurry. Using things random things around your house to help organize you bathroom products are a great use of stuff and can save you money, but if you’d rather purchase some of these organization items, check out your local dollar store first. Chances are, they’ll have what you need, or a cheap substitute that won’t compromise your plan. If you do decide to purchase these types of items, make sure you measure your space where to plan to put them before you go out and shop.

4. Label everything and be as specific as possible!

5. Now that everything has a home, put it there! You’ll be surprised at how quickly you can put away all of your stuff!

Phase 3: Keep Up

Keeping up your new space isn’t hard if you remember and follow these important rules.

1. When something goes in, something must come out. Make sure you’re not buying new stuff to overfill your new clean space. Just because you got rid of a lot, doesn’t mean you need to fill all that empty space. Save yourself space and money by only buying what you are running out of. When you’re almost out of lotion, then buy a new lotion, but keep it on the counter until you’ve used up your old one. Then you can place it in it’s designated spot. Forcing yourself to keep new items on the counter will keep you from buying too much and cluttering up your counter. If you like to bargain shop and purchase many of the same item when it’s on sale, find a place for those extra back-ups somewhere else in the house.

2. Keep a “lost items” basket. Keep this basket on the counter and overnight clear your counter of all of those items you forgot to put away. Keeping them in this basket will keep your counter clean and help you remain stress free throughout the week. Once a week, take this basket around your house and fill it with the items that belong in your bathroom. After you’ve located all the stragglers, put them away! Since everything has a home, this shouldn’t take but a few minutes.

3. Six month rule. Every six months you should go through all of your products and check for expired or unused items. Make a date with yourself on the calendar now, so you won’t forget.

4. Progress is progress. As with anything else in our lives, our priorities will be changing and growing. Where you put things in your bathroom will have to change with it. Once a year, sit down and evaluate your current set up. Need to make a few changes? Then do it! You should expect to change and least one thing every year, so don’t feel bad about breaking the cycle. Switch it up to meet your needs.

With little bit of elbow grease, you can easily organize your home to keep you family running smoothly and efficiently. Having these personal places under control will keep you in a more peaceful atmosphere and make it easier to take care of the rest of the house!

It is very important to keep our important documents neat and organized, so it is easy to find what we need, when we need it. If the stacks of paper and magazines are taking over you space, kiss that stress goodbye by following this simple step-by-step guide to getting your files organized (and a plan to keep it that way!)

What You’ll Need:

Filing Cabinet
Trash Can / Shredder
Labels
Files
Manila Folders
Hanging Files
Highlighters (optional)

Let’s Get Started:
Phase 1: Clean up

1. The first thing you need to do is clear a space for your brand new filing system to reside. If you already have a filing cabinet, then take everything out of it and start fresh. If you don’t have a way to store hanging files, then go ahead and invest in some. The standard black filing cabinet is probably your least expensive bet and you can find them in a variety of places like Wal Mart, thrift stores, online, or office supply places. You don’t need anything fancy, but there are certainly prettier options available if you want them.

2. Sit down with a pen and write down the categories of things you will be filing. These can be broad because you’ll be dividing them up later. Try titles like “Insurances” “Donations” “Taxes” “Certificates” “Retirement” “Financial Institutions”

3. Go through everything in your stack of papers and ask yourself some simple questions. You will use the answer to these questions to separate your files into the categories.  For each document ask: 1. Can this be scanned and saved on the computer? (Try to put as much on the computer as possible so you don’t have to physically file so much) If it isn’t then: 2. Is this irreplaceable? (You’ll feel much better about throwing it out if you know that if you need it again, could you get a copy from somewhere else.) Throw it out if you can, if not then put it in a stack under one of your broad categories.

4. Now that you’ve narrowed down your work load, take any items you can scan and put those right into the computer. These documents will be very easy to find now that they’re at your fingertips on your desktop.

5. With all your remaining document in bite-sized pieces, pick one category and start diving it up into subcategories. For example, while going through your “Insurance” papers, you will divide them up. “Car”, “Life”, “Flood”, or “Medical” are all examples of different types of insurance. Take one subcategory, and file the papers by date. The earliest date should be forward, and newest date toward the back. When you’re done with that subcategory, put it in a manila folder and label it. Move on to your next subcategory and so on.

6. When you have finished going through all your documents and filling their subcategories by date, arrange them in alphabetical order. Under the category of “Insurance”, for example, you would put them in order like this: “Car”, “Flood”, “Life”, “Medical”.  Then you will take a hanging file, label it the broad category, and insert the subcategories.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have organized all of your subcategories.

8. Put your categories in alphabetical order. For example, you would arrange them like this: “Certificates”, “Donations”, “Financial Institutions”, “Insurances”, “Retirement”, “Taxes”. Insert all of your files into your cabinet and smile, you’re almost done!

9. Some people find it helpful to have a color-coded system to help differentiate the categories. For example you would highlight a category title and it’s subtitles one color. Everything filed under “Insurance” would be highlighted green. Everything filed under “Taxes” would be blue. After a few weeks of using your new filing system, your brain will recognize the type of paper you are filing (an insurance form), and automatically connect that document to it’s color (green). When you open your filing cabinet, you will automatically search for the green highlighted files and quickly find what you are looking for.

10. Always remember to keep a trash can, or shredder right next to your filing cabinet for quick disposal of unneeded documents so they don’t pile up.

11. When you clean your space of all the papers, you may find a plethora of scattered office supplies. You can organize these as well, to make your life easier! If you’d like to invest in a pen holder, or desk drawer organizer, by all means do. If not simply use what you have around the house to save you money. For example, some old tupperware containers that are missing their lids can keep paperclips, staples, or pushpins separated. You could use a large glass cup from the back of the kitchen cabinet as a pen holder. Maybe you could use a crate stacked on top of your filing cabinet as a place to keep reams of paper.

Phase 2: Keeping Up

Now that you’ve set yourself up for success, plan the specifics for how you are going to keep up your new great looking office space. Here are some tips:

1. Set up a plan of delegated responsibilities. Can the kids be in charge of putting the magazines in the proper place? Can your husband take care of filing the bills after they are paid?

2. Set up a plan for office supplies. Anytime you replenish something you’re running out of put a sticky note 3/4 the way through the supply. This will be a reminder to you that you are running low and need to buy more so you don’t run out. Depending on how much you use your office space, set a time every week to check your supplies. If you’re 3/4 the way through anything, write it on a sticky not and pick it up that day!

3. Set up a daily routine. Most of us acquire our documents to-be- lied from the mail. When you come in from checking your mail, go right to the filing cabinet. Discard anything you don’t need in the trash. Of your remaining items ask this question: “Can this be taken care of in a minute or less?” If it can, do it right then. Got the newsletter from your son’s soccer team? Go ahead and right those dates on the calendar. Most of us can write a check, or go online to pay that bill in a matter of a minute, so take care of it. When you’ve finished that task, file the paper. Keeping this routine will keep from documents piling up on your workspace and causing stress.

4. Set up a to-do list. Add to this list daily and complete it at least weekly. Did you receive a Birthday card with a gift in it? Remind yourself to send a thank you note. Put it on the list. Did you get your W-2? Set a date to go and get your taxes done. Put it on the list. Got a note reminding you about the food drive next week? Decide what you need to pick up at the grocery store. Put it on the list. To-Do lists can be extremely helpful as long as you use them. If there is anything on the list from a previous day, try to knock it off. Make sure you clear your list at least once a week though.

5. Set yourself up to be flexible. After you’ve been using your organized office space for a month evaluate it. Are there any bugs? Can you make it better? Sometimes a file fills up too quickly and is overstuffed. Maybe you need to split it up into two subcategories. Getting things you didn’t originally make a file for? Make a new one to accommodate your needs. As we live life, our priorities and what were involved with changes, and your filing system will need to change too. Don’t be afraid to mix it up if you need to. Just make sure you keep manila folders and files on your supply list so when these moments happen, you are prepared.

Wouldn’t it be nice to reach into your closet and quickly find what you’re looking for? Most people tend to spend all of their time “keeping-up” the parts of their house that will be seen by visitors and forget to make their personal space a priority.  While it is helpful to have a clean home, it is important to keep one’s personal space clear of stress inducing problems like an unorganized closet.

Here are some great guidelines to follow to help you get started.

What You’ll Need:

~2 Large Cardboard boxes

~4 Small plastic shoe-box sized bins

~Plenty of the same kind of hangers

~Peel and stick labels (P-Touch or CD stickers will work fine)

~Black Marker

Let’s Get Started!

1. Using your black marker, label 1 cardboard box as “Donations” and the other as “Hangers”.

2. Next pull everything out of your closet one piece at a time, and discard the hanger in the cardboard box for “Hangers”. For each item, ask these questions, “Have I worn this in the last 12 months?” and “Do I like how I look when I wear this?” If the answer to either of these questions are “No.”  then put that item in the cardboard box labeled “Donations”.

Many times people have a cluttered closet simply because they keep unwanted and unused clothing. Letting go of these items may seem hard at first, but as your stack of clothes for donation grows, you’ll feel better about yourself for two reasons: You know you are doing a good thing by giving and you’re letting go of the stress those discouraging items leave you with.

2.  If an item gets a “Yes.” then throw it on your bed into like categories. All shirts together, pants together, accessories, dresses… you get the picture.

3. After you have taken absolutely everything out of your closet, clean it. Vacuum the floor, sweep down the cobwebs, spray and wipe down the walls and so on.

4. If you have the space somewhere else, pack your seasonal things into a large plastic container to keep somewhere else while you’re waiting for the right time of year to come around. If not proceed to step 5.

5. Depending on the size of your closet, pick the items of clothing you use the least and hang them up (on uniform hangers) by length, shortest to longest. Shirts should be hung by sleeve length, again shortest to longest. Making your most used items easily accessible will help you keep up with your closet’s new organization after the initial cleaning is done.

6. Store socks, belts, scarves or other smaller accessories in the plastic bins and label those bins appropriately.

7. Take your “Donations” and “Hangers” boxes to the nearest non-profit thrift store. Make sure you get a receipt in case you want to claim your donation for tax purposes. If you have any nicer items, you may want to try to sell them at a consignment shop. This could help clear out your closet of the old, and help pay for something new!

8. Reward yourself. This is very important for motivation for a job well done.

9. Reevaluate your organization. Are you running into some problems a few weeks down the road? Keeping the closet clean and finding a system that fits your needs is an ongoing process, but not something to be discouraged about! Maybe you need more shelving instead of hanging space. Maybe you need to go through those shoes again and weed out the ones that hurt your feet. Whatever you find isn’t working, brainstorm or research some ideas to help make it better! Remember that you’re life is always changing, so what you’ll need out of your closet will be too!

As we take inventory of what we’ve accomplished in the past year, many of us are left with a mess to clean up. It may be a physical pile of clutter in your living room from holiday parties, a mountain of unfolded laundry, or a stack of bills from over-spending on Christmas presents. Messes induce a level of stress for everyone in the house and if not dealt with, can be the source of many arguments among members in your household.

January is a good month to prioritize a specific ‘mess’ in your life to get rid of since it isn’t a month where the typical American has big celebrations. In most places it’s very cold and people tend to spend a lot of their time indoors anyway. So let’s get started!

1: Pick your poison.

That is, the mess that bothers you the most. It’s not usually hard to identify this because it’s probably that one thing you notice and get frustrated about every day (maybe several times a day). If you can’t decide answer these questions to narrow down you choices.

• Is there something that affects your health? (ex. mold growing in your home may take some work, but living with an unorganized shoe closet is a lot less harmful then toxic particles in your lungs.)
• What do you see most often? (ex. You’re trying to make dinner but there is mail all over your counter and you always have to push it out of the way.)
• What affects other people? (ex. You want to watch a movie with your family, but everyone has to sit on the floor because the couch is covered with the Christmas decorations that haven’t been packed yet.)
• What would embarrass you the most if your mother-in-law (or other family member) saw it? (ex. An unorganized DSD shelf is not usually noticed when there are dramatic stains all over your carpet.)

2: Assess the situation.

Spend at least 5 minutes writing down a strategy to attack you mess. This way you have a plan and know the steps you are going to take and can even resume it you’re interuppted.

• Approximately how long is this gonna take?
• Should you arrange for something/someone to take care of your children (if you have any), or can the child be enlisted to help?
• Are they’re many different kinds of things that you could subcategory? (ex. You have a box full of random stuff you want to sort through. You could start pulling items out one-by-one and putting them in appropriate piles. Kitchen, office supplies, donation, garbage…)
• Will you need any supplies to accomplish this task? (ex. Garbage can, filing cabinet, labels…)
• When will you do this task? (ex. Thursday night, before dinner, while the husband is on his way home from work.)

3: Arrange a reward?

Besides the feeling of a job well done, it motivates us when we know there is a prize waiting a the end of the finish line. Choose something reasonable as a reward that is appropriate to the task.

• If you organize your closet and give away a third of your wardrobe, (since you don’t wear it anyway) maybe shopping for a new shirt is your prize.
• Cleaned out your fridge? An ice cream Sunday may be in order.

When attacked from the right angle, any task can be resolved. The rest of the month we’ll be specifically going over different areas of your house that can use some decluttering.

New Year’s Eve Parties are a fun and exciting time with food, laughter, activities, music and fireworks, but these events can quickly turn dangerous if reasonable safety precautions aren’t taken care of before the big night. Whether you’re hosting or attending a party this year, take a moment to check out these important tips to keep you and those you are with safe.

If you’re hosting a party:

• Make sure that the smoke detectors in your house are on and working.
• Create and practice an emergency escape plan that you can easily instruct to others if needed.
• Don’t wear loose clothing that could potentially get caught on something that you’re cooking.
• Never leave food that is cooking unattended. Something could happen in that 2 minutes it takes you to open the door and greet your guests.
• Be careful to put pot handles toward your stove to prevent someone from accidentally hitting them and flinging the contents on your pan all over your house and guests.
• Make sure any young ones or pets are occupied somewhere away from hot or sharp items in the kitchen to prevent unforeseeable injuries.
• If you allow your guests to smoke, it is best to make a rule that they must take this activity outside.
• Also, make sure they have plenty of large ashtrays for them to discard the left over butts in.
• Make sure the remains of cigarettes soaked in water before tossing them out.
• After the party, check around the smoking area to make sure their aren’t any smoldering butts lying around.
• Never allow anyone who is smoking to handle fireworks.

If you’re attending a party:

• If you’re wearing a costume, make sure it is flame-retardant or made from non-combustible materials.
• Be careful with your cash or cards. Being flashy with money makes you an easy target for pickpockets.
• See if you can set up a tab with the establishment you’re intending to be at. This will help eliminate the need to pull out any kind of payment throughout the night.
• Get with buddies and stay with them the whole night. Never let yourself be alone or with a stranger.
• Make sure you have a designated driver that you already know personally.
• Never leave your drink unattended. Alcoholic or not, it can still be dangerous if someone does something to it.
• Always carry a cell phone, or be with someone who does.

Firework Safety:

• Make sure you buy fireworks from a reputable retailer.
• Never make your own fireworks. The professionals have tested them. You can never know how something will react if you make it yourself.
• Keep fireworks in safe place until use.
• Light them in a safe clear open space. Never light them near houses.
• Don’t alter fireworks or combine them.
• Make sure to be extra careful with fireworks that don’t seem to work. Don’t try to relight them.
• Always leave the immediate area after lighting a one. Never go back to ‘check’ if it’s working.
• Never allow anyone who is smoking or drinking to handle fireworks.
• Don’t let children handle fireworks and supervise them closely throughout the night.
• Always, always, always have a hose or bucket of water ready in case of emergencies.

Stay alert and protective of those around you. Keep your eye open for suspicious activity or dangerous situations so you are prepared if you need to act.

With all this being said, have fun. Don’t let the potential for danger ruin your evening. Just keep these things in mind while you enjoy ringing in the new year with those you love!

Believe it or not there are still people out there who haven’t finished their Christmas shopping. Is that you? Instead of forgetting someone on that long list, check out some of these quick and easy ideas for getting some great last minute gifts great for anyone!

~Get online and find a favorite picture of you and the friend you’re giving this present to. You can find one on Facebook, a phone, a camera, or even in your documents on your computer. Now, send this picture to your closest photo development store online (Usually Walmart or a Drug Store). Go to the store and pick out a picture frame, gift bag, and tissue paper while you’re waiting for the photo to be developed. Put your picture in the frame and you’re all done!

~Another gift you can find a your local drug store is stationary. Many of these places have really unique or even monogrammed stationary. Tie it up with a ribbon and you have a wonderful gift!

~A great gift for the person that has everything is a magazine subscription. Most grocery stores have an extensive selection of magazines on a variety of topics. Browse the options and pick one that fits the receiver. Place a bow on it and leave a note saying they have more coming in the mail! Make sure you send off the subscription card in that copy. You might even be able to find a better price online at their website!

~A fun gift for a family could be a board game! Make sure you pick one that is age appropriate, or try to find one that has a special meaning behind it! Demand to play it with them often!

~Have a coffee lover in your life? Try stopping by their favorite cafe and picking up a package of the companies product, or a mug, or a gift card tied to mug! They’ll remember you every time they use it!

~You can make a quick baking set for a dessert connoisseur. Pick from a variety of baking utensils such as measuring spoons, whisks, towels, oven mitts, or spatulas. Place them in a cookie jar or measuring cup along with some chocolate chips or a package of cookie mix!

~A bottle of wine and a set of wine glasses set in a wicker basket is a classic gift for anyone over the age of 21. If you don’t know what to get, ask an employee at the store you’re buying it from. Explain the person and the situation and they’ll show you your options that fit in your price range.

~Know someone with a newborn? Fill a gift bag with some little baby stuff, like bottles, liners, bibs, binkies, blankes, baby shampoo, wipes, or even diapers. Getting a bag with all of these much needed supplies is like putting cash in their wallets!

~We all have a friend who is in love with their car! Give your car fanatic a gift certificate for a free car wash in a bucket with a tire pressure gage, car wash soap, sponge, air freshener, Armor All wipes or any of those other nifty car gadgets you can find at your local gas station!

This isn’t an extensive list, but a springboard of ideas you can work with. Really there is a last minute present for anyone you may have forgotten, so don’t give up! Just browse around and whatever retailer is open and you’re sure to find that special something you didn’t know you were looking for!

Some of the most memorable times from you childhood are probably around the holidays, Christmas to be more exact. Children always remember Christmas, so having fun traditions is super important to your family bonds. One of the fastest ways to remember Christmas in the past is to have a physical reminder look back at and Christmas ornaments are no exception!

Start a new tradition this year by sitting down with you child and making an ornament to hang on the tree! Inspiration can come from anywhere, and you can use practically any crafty supplies you have lying around. Here are a couple of great ideas to get you started.

#1: The Bead Ball

~An old plain, spherical glass Christmas ornament

~A Bunch of tiny beads in all different colors

~White glue that dries clear

~A large container

~Craft brush

This ornament is super easy to make. Take your glue and spread it all over your glass ball with your craft brush. Then simply roll your glue covered glass ball in a container full of your tiny beads. When most of the glass ball is covered, use your fingers to fill in any holes you may have missed. Hanging these ornaments by lights will make the colors of your beads shine! Advanced artists can try making a design out of the beads. It’s pretty easy to make patterns of specific colors after a few tries.

#2: Wired Angel

~Craft wire (thin enough so you can move and mold it with your fingers easily, but firm enough to hold it’s shape)

~A pretty, white, spherical bead

For this Christmas Angel, take a piece of wire and pull it through the bead. Leave about 2 inches of wire protruding from the top of the bead. Now pull the other end of the wire through the bead until you have a loop coming out of the bottom. This loop will be one of the Angel’s legs. Wrap the wire around and through the bead one more time to secure the first leg. Pull wire make another loop coming out of the top of the bead to be a wing. Continue with loops till you have two long legs coming out of the bottom and two wings coming out from the side. Use excess wire to create a final (and smaller) loop to be the hanger for the ornament.

#3: Pipe cleaner Snowman

~White foam craft balls, in 3 different sizes

~Black, Red, Orange and Brown Pipe cleaners

~Piece of old fabric

~Toothpicks

Use the toothpicks to keep the layers of your snowman together. Cut off 10 little pieces of the black pipe cleaner. Use two to make eyes on the head of your snowman by just pushing them in the top ball. Use one small piece of orange pipe cleaner to make a “carrot” nose. Use 5 pieces of the black pipe cleaners to make a smile. Cut and bend your brown pipe cleaners to make arms for your snowman and stick the arms in the middle ball. Finally add your last 3 black pieces of pipe cleaners for “buttons” running down the snowman’s belly. Tie a small piece of fabric around his neck for a scarf!

These ornaments are fun to make and are great gifts for your child’s teacher, grandparent, or best friend! Display them on the tree, fridge, or above doorways to show your child how proud you are of their creativity! Make sure you get plenty of supplies, you’ll probably be making more then one.

Every family as their own way of acquiring and decorating their Christmas tree. Artificial or real, traditional colors or exotic colors, lights or popcorn. Regardless of your specific family traditions, it’s important to follow these basic rules of thumb for picking and decorating your family tree.

1. Picking Your Tree

For Real Christmas Trees

~Always make sure your tree is fresh. You can check this in many different ways. Scratch the bark, is it green underneath? Green is a sign of life and life means strong branches. Another tip is to bend an inconspicuous area. If the tree bends and puts up a fight, it’s a good one. A tree with branches easily broken won’t hold up those ornaments.

~Be picky about your type of tree. While an evergreen tree may look beautiful, it looses it’s needles quite rapidly. This can cause for a bigger mess and bare branches. Good species to choose from are “Firs” and “Spruces”. Fraser Firs are notorious for being beautiful the longest, but a tree from either of these varieties are winners in the longevity department.

For Artificial Trees

~It’s been suggested that if you have young children or curious pets that it’s better to use a pre-lit, artificial tree. Having a pre-lit tree eliminates the danger or little one’s pulling out bulbs and sometimes reduces pet interest in cords to chew on. Any opportunity to reduce electrocution is important, but it’s also more convenient when decorating.

2. Decorating Your Tree

~Before you set up your tree, it’s important to decide on your tree skirt. Are you going to keep this, or do you want something disposable to make easy clean up later on? Is this skirt something you will wrap around the bottom, or do does it have a hold in the middle?

~What is your theme? Will it have lights? Do you want tinsel? Is every ornament going to be neon orange? The more detailed your planning is, the easier it is to make decisions later when applying all your trinkets.

~If you decide to use popcorn, remember to pop it and start stringing it early. It can take quite a while with a needle and thread to string the lengths that you want for your tree. Also remember that it’s not a good idea to put both popcorn and lights on a tree because it increases your chance for a fire.

~If you decide to add strings of lights to your tree, it is so important to unwrap and test each line before applying it to the branches. This is a complicated process (that makes it hard to walk on the floor for a while), but is so much easier then having a tangled mess of lines. It’s also harder to find that one bulb that isn’t working if the tree is upright.

~Be careful when resting lights on your tree. It’s better to not rest the lights directly on the needles of your tree to prevent things from heating up and causing a fire.

~Put your larger decorations on the bottom branches. Put smaller decorations on the top. This applies to bulbs, ornaments, and ribbons. Following this pattern gives you tree symmetry and appeal. The heavier the ornament is, the more likely it is to slide off as well, so hang them on those sturdy bottom branches.

~If choosing to use tinsel remember to use sparingly. Besides the big mess it can make, it can be a big eyesore. The point of tinsel is to recapture the look of icicles hanging from the branches. A little bit, here and there is more then enough.

~Less REALLY IS more.

3. Packing Up

~When you ready to put away all your little memories, you may be tempted to just throw it all in a box, but this only makes things harder for yourself later on. Try to keep things organized, it’s a big investment toward a Merry Christmas next year!

With Thanksgiving only 7 days away, many parents are thinking about their child’s attitude toward the holiday. With all the talk of Turkeys, Pilgrims and Indians, do your children really understand what their celebrating? The opportunity is here, why not take advantage of this holiday by spending some time with your child this week and teaching them the true meaning of Giving Thanks?

Friday: As with anything else, it is best to start at the beginning. On the Friday before thanksgiving, kick things off with a crash course in the First Thanksgiving. What are Pilgrims and why are they important? Is there a difference between Indians or natives? How did people go across the ocean on a big flower? Depending on your child’s age, the questions might be different, but sitting down and talking about the main characters in the story of the First Thanksgiving will help them understand why they were so grateful. With some help from the internet, you’re sure to learn a lot! Be sure the emphasize the aspect of Giving Thanks.

Saturday: So what are we thankful for? Today, like the pilgrims, we can be thankful for the world around us. When the colonists pulled up on North American soil, they had a whole new world to discover. Since the kids are out of school, go on a discovery adventure. Explore a park you’ve never been to, or find those hidden things in your own neighborhood. From the beauty of wrangled tree branches, to the curiosity of an interesting bug, have you child find something they’ve never noticed before.

Sunday: Today it’s great to have you child focus on being grateful for their teachers. The pilgrims and Indians taught each other many things about growing different crops and about their cultures. Have your kids spend some time making something they can give to show gratitude to their teachers this week. This could be as simple as a card written on construction paper with your budding artist’s designs on the front. They could also make a handprint turkey saying  “I count my blessings, and you’re one of them!”

Monday: We should always be grateful for our health. It’s also important for us to take good care of our bodies by getting the proper amount of exercise. Take your child through some fun exercises like stretching and jogging by making it a game. How many times can you jump a rope? How fast can you do 10 sit-ups?  Can you kick that soccer ball past me to make a goal?

Tuesday: Wherever you are in life, we can be thankful for the roof over our heads. Today sounds like a great day for a home improvement project. What you do will depend on the age of your child and how much time you can commit. Some suggestions could be fixing a door hinge, dusting, or organizing something messy. This project could also teach your child some skills that they can use later in life. Plus, your house is now ready for all those guests!

Wednesday: Like many families, you’ll probably be getting started on the food aspect of Turkey Day. We should always be grateful for the food in our tummies, but many children take this for granted. Today can be a day to educate your child of the real problem of hunger in the world.  Some children may be aware of the issue, but they may think it only happens in other parts of the world. Have them brainstorm ideas where you could work together to fight hunger, in your community or abroad. Who knows, maybe you could take a meal to that homeless lady everyone sees.

Thanksgiving Day: In reality, you may not have a lot of time to work on a project with your child on this day, but you can still emphasize the importance of giving thanks! Put out a notebook somewhere in your house where it is easily accessible. Encourage your family, especially your child to write down things they are grateful for. Your guests can add to this list too as they arrive and mingle.

This countdown to Thanksgiving is not an all inclusive list. Maybe you can start with it this year, and change the focus of each day next year. The point to remember is that it’s our job to teach our children the importance of being grateful and giving thanks for all that they are blessed with. Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving!