We all have many parties to plan coming up. On top of all the Holiday craze, I also have a birthday party to plan… well actually TWO! This year, I decided the twins were old enough to each pick their own birthday theme since they’ll be the big 4. Jordan, of course, picked Barbie and Jonathan decided on Bob the Builder. (aren’t they such individualists? *grin*) Being the frugal mind gal I strive to be, I went in search of ways to create an awesome two-in-one party on a shoestring budget. Let me share my finds with you today…
The Party Works is the site I’ve shopped every year for their birthday. One thing I love about it is it’s ran by a mother and daughter combo. I just love giving my business to a “real person”. Their selection certainly isn’t lacking. My funny son is determined that he wants a picture of him and his dad WATCHING Bob the Builder on the cake. Well guess what, I can order that very sugar decoration to make his little “dream” come true. On top of that, their prices are really competitive!
Let’s take a look at what else they offer. There are tips and ideas and information available whether you are purchasing there or not. I LOVE to read their creative ideas for holiday or anytime parties. Ever wondered what to do with all those happy meal toys? Visit their Christmas section for an idea. OR… if you have a huge pile of plastic grocery bags just begging to become a craft, look through their Articles for a list of ways you can use those. I’m planning a baby shower in January for which I found lots of unique ideas. You can find party plans for many child birthday themes and other occasions.
There are many other great areas of this site such as the whole sub-site for cake decorating tips, ideas and recipes. Whether you have a big party to plan soon or just want some unique ideas to use, go take a peek…
There are so many things in the news now that scare us moms to death about the safety of our kids. I don’t know about you, but I’m a safety NUT when it comes to them. As soon as they were mobile, I childproofed everything possible. Twins go in opposite directions, you know, so I just wanted to relax knowing there was NOTHING they could get into. Visiting adults often needed help getting out of our house past the knob covers, but that’s OK. I’m not really a paranoid person, I just think if there’s something I can do to prevent a mishap, then I should do just that. Which brings me to this week’s site that I hope will help you with safety issues for your children.
SafeKids.org is a great site packed full of tips and information covering safety topics for children of all ages. The site links on the left make it very easy to select which safety topic you are interested in. It does take a couple more clicks to get right to the tips list (hint: click on “Protect our Family” within a topic page).
One of my favorite sections within each topic page is the “Why our kids are at Risk” page. This gives great statistics on injuries and information behind WHY you should/shouldn’t do certain things. This helps you have enough information as a mom to make the best choices for your child’s safety.
Be sure to check out the section on Summer safety since 42% of all injury-related deaths occur during these months. The greatest increase is in older kids since they have so much free time to experiment with all their goofy stunts. I know you can never keep a child totally safe, but at least if we are informed and we pass that along to our children, then we have a bit of a safety net in place.
You will find lots of helpful information at this site. So, go take a peek
A few other sites I suggest on this topic:
Child Shield – They offer free safety information and a free CD. Take a look at their Child ID Kit which they keep on file for you in case of emergency.
McGruff For Grownups – Lots of great information on talking to your kids about being safe.
Ever feel tired out, stressed out, burned out? Feel like you’ve got no more energy and you might just loose your mind? What do you do? Maybe you could run away for a quick break to Sanity Central.
This is one of the most fun sites I have visited in a while. It takes an off-the-wall approach to the reality of moms’ everyday lives. You will laugh hysterically at the humor here. And we all know laughter is great medicine. This site is a self-proclaimed “TIME OUT from parenting on the Web”. Linda, the site’s “Head Nut” advocates that “In order to not take leave of her senses, a mother must occasionally take leave of her family.” This site will definitely let you do that without abandoning your household.
In addition to the laughter and the light-hearted look at life, you will find a few serious items discussed. Their sections on parenting and safety issues as well as cooking and beauty tips offer a fresh look at these topics.
I really can’t say which part of the site is my favorite, because they are all good. This site is definitely unique worth a visit. So, go take a peek
“Thrifty Mom” Do those words make your head spin with visions of “supermom” who can whip up a meal and a new set of clothes out of nothing? Sometimes we do place way too many expectations on ourselves. BUT our role as moms is often to find ways to trim back the family budget. Today’s site has practical ideas to help you to just that.
Mommy Savers offers a site full of ideas on how to apply the thrifty wand to most of your life’s circumstances. You can find ideas to help you shop frugally. Learn how other moms have trimmed their family budget. Check out lots of bargain listings and even exchange ideas with other “thrifty moms”.
Seriously… if you are looking for ways to cut back (and who ISN’T), this is a great place to start. Since I’ve got holidays on the brain, I especially loved their holiday section. You will find ideas for homemade gifts, things the kids can do, how to decorate without spending a fortune and how to set and live by a holiday budget.
We are doing the homemade gift thing for most everyone on the list this year. We did it last year, and guess what… the recipients LOVED their gifts even more than if we had spent money on some gadget. Have your kids make something cute, add in some baked goodies or a family portrait. Do something personal that doesn’t cost a lot. It can be worth the time and hey, it’s even a fun family project.
You will get lots of great ideas you can use at Mommy Savers. So go take a peek…
“A day late and a dollar short.” We’ve all heard it, now you are going to see it in action. I’m the one who is a day late here. This week’s feature would have come in soooo handy over Christmas vacation as we all had a slight case of cabin fever one day. Theideabox would have been good medicine. There are possibly HUNDREDS of activities listed. Here is more about the site…
First of all, it is very bright and cheery. The only problem I saw was that the advertising links often appeared to be pages of the website. This is a problem because it takes you out of the site which you don’t want to do at all. There is just too much cool stuff here.
The left side of the page has all of the options listed there in clearly defined terms. Idea of the Day, Activites, Seasonal, Craft Recipes etc. Have you ever wondered how to make Dryer Lint Modeling Material? I had never heard of it before but I sure could have used that idea last week… What is truly phenomenal is the massive list of craft recipes contained in one place. I haven’t even mentioned how many games, songs and more are found here.
For the sake of time and because I know you’ll want to check out the site, there are message boards and other items of interest as well at theideabox. One final comment: bookmark it. Until next time.
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