Slacking

Both my laptops died this week. Mobile blogging is not the easiest for me anyway. Hoping to get them fixed soon. I will try to check in more, some big changing are going down around here busy is an understatement lol

Day 18 of 31 days of Pinterest

OK, I admit it I am a fun mom. As many moms I know who are organic, no sugar, no dye, special diet yada yada moms that is just not me (well not all the time anyway). I do follow healthy eating plans most of the time but I allow for special food treats more than I should I am sure. While this particular treat sounds awful to me I just knew it was something my girls would love when I was taken via pinterest to this blog (when I say awful don't take that wrong I just dislike artificial fruit flavors other than banana) but these colorful treats are to cute not to make.

They are just cute, fun and colorful. You even could use something other than trix like the organic version of these that are pretty yummy or even fruity cheerios which I happen to like more than most artificial fruit. things. This blogger gave a great photo tutorial on how she made these and its basically the same as making rice crispy treats.

Day 17 of 31 days of pinterest

I feel like I hit the mother load when a pin sent me to this blog Great collection of items to make and save funds. I will tell you first hand after buying some dollar tree brand playdoh a few weeks back and how sticky and completely awful it was that I will stick to homemade from now on.

Not only did it stick like crazy it smelled like a dying sea creature that had been rotting in the sun for several days!

We made some at the start of the school year that I got off the back of Annie's Organic cereal and it was fantastic! SO glad I took a pic of the back of the box because we turned the box into something else and I didn't save the recipe.

and if you can't read that it's
1c flour
1/2c salt
1c water
1tbs vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp cream of tarter

mix in a saucepan over low heat (it does not have to heat for long) the dough is ready when it rolls into a ball at this point you can add food coloring. I made a triple batch. It lasted a good long while but I tossed it after about 3 months thinking it would get funky soon lol.

Day 16 of 31 days of Pinterest

I am always looking for creative ways for my 3 year old to help around the house. Her version of "helping" differs greatly from mine. She is still at that magic age where she asks to help and enjoys chores. My older 3 have shown me that it does not last forever so I am taking every bit of joy from my last little helper. I came across this pin and while its self explanatory their is no blog to attach credit to so I pixilized the child's face just in case it wasn't meant to be public though its been widely repinned.

I have not yet tried this with my little one but plan too as soon as I buy some yellow tape. She is all about yellow so I know that will make it 100 times better for her.

My first thoughts upon seeing this pic was "sneaky sneaky" the child is cleaning but thinks its all a game! WIN!

day 15 of 31 days of pinterest

Funny how all of our summer plans changed in the blink of an eye. I was not planning on a summer of a little one who couldn't get wet and would be in a wheelchair 8-10 weeks. I had to cut the summer bucket list nearly in half if not more. So a mom on a mission I have become looking for activities that don't involve getting wet or standing up. Thank goodness for pinterest is all I can say. I have found a few things and pinned them but this idea here really stood out. Most of these ideas can be suited to her current needs and provide entertainment (AND educational shhhh don't tell the kids). I just love how this blogger went into great detail about how she set this all up and includes a printable list and such. While we might not be able to do all these I am quite certain with pinterest on my side I will find even more to add to it.

Day 14 of 31 days of Pinterest

When I first saw this pin. I was drooling, the organization, the frugality, the simplisity. While im no where near as organized as this blogger. I just love her set up. Totally drool worthy. As a Christain woman I bow to know one on earth but I got a flash of Waynes World Alcie Cooper scene where they bow and say "we're not worthy" This blog is jam packed with all kind of goodness.

Just look at these awesome jars.

Now firstly, I really never heard of people making their own mixes before. Sure I have made brownies, biscuts, cakes and such from scratch but the idea of jaring them and making them convienat as a box of mix is awesome. You get the goodness of homemade, healthy & cheap and the ease of  "cooking from a box" Yes, Please, and Thank you. Check out her blog here for recipes and more info.

<center><a href="http://thefantasticfrugal.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="The Fantastic Frugal" src="http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w461/CrawMichStudios/tff31pin.jpg"/></a></center>

Giveaway winners

Congratulations to our winners of the giveaway

#1 & #3 winner Chantelle J Shick Please email me your bio and 100x100 image button along with a link to your blog

#2 winner Danw78704 Please email me you 200x200 image button.

If you don't have image buttons in this specific size I can resize them for you.

I have limited Internet access at the moment but will respond to your emails as so as I am able and get your info up. Thanks for participating in the giveaway!!

Day 13 of 31 Days of Pinterest

Lucky Number 13 today. I was delighted to come across this pin from this blog post I have told myself for years I really need to start once a month cooking, or even once a week cooking would be nice. I even bought myself a nice deep freeze. Let me tell you what occupies my deep freeze, Popsicles, bags of ice and frozen veggies. Such a waste. The idea of OAMC is daunting to me. I promised myself I would read a bunch on how to do it and I will start it in the beginning of June so I can enjoy the summer with my girlies. This blogger made it sound so doable she did a fantastic job showing how she prepared for this. I was surprised at the savings she had even with "shopping" in her own pantry first. Their are tons of recipes out their for this type of cooking she listed the ones she used and she had a cooking partner which is a fantastic idea. Id love to get a local friend in on this with me when I take the first steps into doing this.  I can't wait to give this a whirl using my own recipes.

So tell me, what is in your freezer! and do share your favorite freezer cooking tips, this mama needs all the help she can get... thank goodness I married a chef!

oops missed day 12 lol

Well look at that I missed a day. I set up scheduled posts because my internet at home isn't working anymore and waiting for replacement device. Hopefully I can keep better check on my scheduled posts. My apologies for not responded to emails and comments sooner as it is right now I am only able to get on once a week if that. hopefully I will get a replacement device soon or I will be switching services asap!

Day 11 of 31 days of Pinterest

I often see these really elaborate cupcakes and cakes that Moms make for birthday parties and holidays. I drool over their fondant skills and precision. It's just not a skill I have. I would likely spend a small fortune on the proper supplies and tools then do it once and watch the supplies collect dust. I began seeking out easy cupcakes and cakes a few years ago.

This was the cake I made for my then 7 year olds birthday

It was pretty simple I made a two layer square cake, and stacked them together, frosted with pink dyed frosting. I took 4 sugar cones and spread chocolate frosting on them and rolled them in colored sugar. The "blocks" around the cake are sugar cubes and the windows and doors are wafer cookies. I found the fancy candles at a local no name dollar store. It was far from "professional" but she loved it and every time her birthday rolls around she talks about it.

Now the pin that inspired me to start planing for my soon to be 4 year olds party is this



The pin unfortunately only linked to the photo and not directions but from the photo it looks like both regular and mini Neilla wafers and some gel for the mouth and eyes on chocolate frosting. Looks simple enough for me to try. She is all about monkeys and "Georgie" aka curious George. These should be a big hit with her and is in my skill set. win!

*if you are the owner of this idea & photo please contact me so I may give you proper credit

Day 10 of 31 days of Pinterest

Road Trip!!!! If your kids are like mine your anxiety level is up at the mere thought of being in the car with your kids for an extended period of time. I really wish I had seen this pin prior to our trip last year to Buttermilk falls NY. The trip itself was a lot of fun but the 8+ hour drive not so much. They where whiny, sleepy, grumpy, fighting, complaining etc. We don't do a lot of road trips but I expected them to just be excited and content with their travel items. I don't know what I was thinking. One thing that was really taxing was every time we stopped they expected a treat.. I was like "um... yeah right your acting like the Manson family on a road trip..I'm not rewarding that type of behavior"

 I saw this pinned blog post and I was like WHY WHY WHY did I not see this before our trip.

*photo from http://lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com/2011/07/kid-clips-for-road-trips.html

This mom gets the Genius award for sure. Not only does she give great detail  on how this works. Its a very frugal and adorable mini craft. I would even let the kiddos decorate their own. Clothes pins are usually $1 at the dollar tree, and if your like me the other supplies you already have on hand. If you don't want to be fancy you could even just write names on the pins. I actually think I could use these almost every time we get into the car.

Day 9 of 31 days of Pinterest

When I came across this pin "What to do when nap time ceases" I suddenly wish I had a time machine so I could go back a few years when I had napping children. My youngest is 3.5 and gave up naps around a year ago when we stopped nursing. While chances of me getting a 13, 10, 6 and 3.5 year old to start napping now are slim to none I may be able to pull off quiet time. It does sound lovely, and may get myself to bed at a normal hour for a change. I usually stay up late because I spend all day being the mom once I finally get them all off to bed I want some "me time" Now its a safe bet that I can't put anything in a box that will satisfy my 10 & 13 year olds unless its something I can change weekly. I could just assign a book and give them some head phones, my 6 & 3 year old however should be pretty easy to entertain with the contents of a box. I think I will add some bottled water and a snack to mine too because I know they will start with the "I'm Starrrrrrrving" during their first protest.

I also think it would be beneficial for everyone to be in their own rooms we currently have two to a room but after spring cleaning we plan to do some moving around and utilize our spare room so if I put one in my room during this "quiet time" we just may pull it off....

meanwhile....

My Internet

Our Internet isn't working properly I have some scheduled posts already set for the next several days. If you comment or email me please just be aware I can't respond quickly. Hopefully we get a better service and will be back soon!

Day 8 of 31 days of Pinterest

My latest prowl is fun (but educational) Summer activities to do with the kids this summer. I have seen many lists this one here I really like the simplicity of this list and that I can tweak a few things to make it my own. I think one of my greatest mothering challenges is finding activities suitable for the wide age range we have. A 13 year old isn't always on the same page as a 3 year old. I'm blessed that she typically is OK with doing things with the younger crowed and also try to plan some teen/tween things for the old two. This might not be our official list but its in the top 5.
I want to build a list of all indoor activities too because most of our summers it seems it rains almost every time we plan something outdoors :(

and yes, we will play in the rain too!

Do you have a summer bucket list? do share!

*Free Kindle Ebook*

The Organized Kitchen is free for downloading on Amazon via Kindle or Kindle app.

 you can download it for FREE here.

 I do not know how long the offer is good for so make sure it shows $0.00 before check out! I downloaded it just a few moments ago and it was still marked $0.00. I can't wait to give it a look and report back my thoughts!

Day 7 of 31 days of Pinterest

This is an obsession honestly, Schoolrooms.. I go gaga over them. Ours is nothing spectacular compared to what I have seen on Pinterest. I'm going to link you directly to my schoolroom pin board here lots of great school storage ideas, and fun rooms.

Here is our lame  Schoolroom..

I have thought of painting and sprucing it up a little but we don't plan to live here long term so its stayed pretty bare. I usually do a big clean out and reorganization before each school year so we will see what the summer brings. I'd love to see your school room, comment with a link if you want to share!

*excuse the naked toddler we where potting learning in the buff when these photos were taken

Day 6 of 31 days of Pinterest

My husband and I have been together for almost 14 years now. It's funny because while we have great communication and a terrific relationship we have really heard all of each others stories or we were their for all of each others stories. I guess this is what happens when you meat your husband a month after you turn 20. I'm always looking for relationship building type activities, not because we need them but because they tend to lead into even better conversations. I was checking out my friends recent pins and came across this pinned blog post. Called "30 things" now some of this we already know about each other but I thought it would be fun to do a question a day or something. It's funny to me because I like to sleep with the TV on and he likes it off. So every night when he turns it off, I say then tell me a story...he says "baby,you already know all my stories" Maybe this will inspire us both to make some new stories!

and don't worry ladies, I always turn the TV back on after he starts snoring, he doesn't always get to win ;)

Saturday Social Hop #1

Next week I will be featuring things from this hop. Since this is week 1 how about some photos of my darlings from yesterday!

my 6 year old got a Teddy in the mail with a cast like her!

my 10 year old cooling off in the heat

my 3 year old found a new friend

this is an older pic but my fav of when we got our puppy I'm just sad my 13 year old wasn't in this shot

What Awesome Pinterest items did you do this week? Tell us all about it in The "Hop"

To keep it simple here are the "rules"
1. Please follow the host
2. Family Friendly Blogs only!! (non family friendly blogs will be deleted)
3. You my link your or blog main page, social networks OR a specific blog post about Pinterest to go with my 31 days of pinterest theme.
4. Please visit other linked blogs and spread some love.
5. Please Grab my 31 days of Pinterest and place it on your blog (not required but would be nice)

For next weeks hop I will grab a few of my favorite links for this link up and Feature your Blog on my Blog and you will be able to grab your very own "I was featured on...." button to show off on your blog!

<center><a <span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">href</span>="http://<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">thefantasticfrugal</span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blogspot</span>.com/" target="_blank"><<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">img</span> alt="The Fantastic Frugal" <span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">src</span>="http://i1077.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span>.com/albums/w461/<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">CrawMichStudios</span>/tff31pin.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">jpg</span>"/></a></center>

Day 5 of 31 days of Pinterest

Now this is one of the projects I have actually done lol. I have tons pinned and don't get to try them all but this one was a lot of fun and super easy and Cheap. Keep in mind we where making 4 of them so we used the following

~ 4 bottles of gel (the dollar tree was the only place I could find clear)
~ Ziploc bags.
~ glitter/metal confetti I got a pack with both glitter and confetti (at dollar tree)
~ Food coloring (we used bright neon)
~ Fun duct tape (optional, the pin that inspired this didn't)

The pin came from here

My tips would be this. Use a little less than a bottle too much gel makes it hard to draw on. Use brand name freezer ziploc bags. I worried the cheaper thinner bags would pop and trust me you don't want dyed glitter gel all over the house. Which brings me to the next point. KEEP AWAY FROM NAUGHTY PUPPIES. He had a very colorful coat of fur for a few days, almost changed his name to spike lol. And edge the bags with duct tape. That idea came from another friend who tried this project as an extra safety measure plus they look cooler.

Day 4 of 31 days of Pinterest

Well Keeping up with Themes its still "fun food friday" I am a sucker for fun foods anymore and I likely search them out more than other topics on Pinterest than other things. I'm currently working a building up a stash of tools to make our foods even more fun. Yesterday I hit up dollar tree and was suprised with the amount of cheap fun food tools. I got two packs of silicone baking cups, silicone totem head ice cube trays thinking I will use them as jello molds or healthy fruit snack molds or even for some fun koolaid ice cubes. I also got a butterfly sandwich cutter. A few other things caught my eye but I didn't want to get to crazy. I am known for going into Dollar Tree and telling myself "it's only a dollar" and before I know it I am at the register handing over $60 lol. For years we have said "lets to a tiki/Hawaain party for Mo's birthday" Mo is our second youngest and the only Summer birthday aside from my husband. All our other girls usually wake up to a foot of snow on their birthdays. Now Dollar tree has tons of fun Hawaain stuff to acomplish this goal. Then, I found this awesome pin.

We're gonna need a bigger boat!

This would round out a Tiki party wonderfully. Now Im not quite sure I have the skills to do this but I sure will try! This blog gives great details on how to do this.

<center><a href="http://thefantasticfrugal.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="The Fantastic Frugal" src="http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w461/CrawMichStudios/tff31pin.jpg"/></a></center>

Frugal Friday {giveaway}

Lets do a giveaway! Just a simple little one to see how this giveaway thing goes here at my new blog. What we are giving away is this....... 3 Sponsor slots (so yes three winners)

winner #1 will receive a Saturday Post sponsor slot for Saturday 5/19/12
winner will need to prepare a brief description of their blog & provide a image no wider than 600px
to be used in the post (this is a hop day so hopefully you will get some decent traffic)

winner# 2 will receive 1 month sponsorship slot of 200x200 size

winner#3 will receive a 1 month sponsorship slot of 100x100 size

before entering please read my sponsorship guidelines here

Here is how to Enter (you may do each of the following once)
1. Leave a comment that says "enter me" = 1 entry
2. Become a follower of this blog = 5 entries
3. Post this give away linking back to this post on your blog = 10 entries
4. Tweet this giveaway linking back to the post = 15 entries
5. Post on your facebook page linking back to this post = 15 entries
6. add me to your google + circle = 15 entries
7. Grab my button and add it to your main blog page = 25 entries

Please leave a comment letting me know what you have done, with links to show it.

The giveaway will start 5/4/12 at 5am (est) and will end 5/10/12 at 11:59 (est)
winners will be selected by random draw. When winners are announced you have 48 hours to email me and claim your "prize" if you do not claim your prize I will draw another winner.  

*if you are a wahm and would like me to host a review/giveaway for your product please email me for details. All wahms who do a review/giveaway with me get a free 100x100 month long sponsor slot!!

Day 3 of 31 days of Pinterest

This I love! My husband is a newbie guitar player. He was always ALWAYS losing his pics. I was pinning along one day and found this guitar pick punch and had to have one, it punches a pick shape right out of a gift card! We have made tons, given them away as gifts and to bands that perform at my husbands work. It's quite addictive. We have even made earrings with them.

Here are a few of our pics we have made.

So if you have any gift cards laying around, you know where to send them!


today I am hopping at