Organizing Winter Gear

The Happy Housewife blogged about a very clever way to store winter gloves, mittens, hats, etc. and I read about her post when I'm an Organizing Junkie blogged about it. You use an inexpensive shoe holder that hangs on the back of a door to hold winter gear. Very clever, indeed!!

Check out the original post on The Happy Housewife HERE.

What clever, alternative uses have you found for organizing things around the house??

Need a Quick Pick-Up?

I have a very clever sister-in-law. I stole this idea from her blog. :)

Give each of your kids their own plastic bag and have them see who can fill their bag the fastest. When they're done, you can sort the toys, trash, clothes, etc. Then have your kiddos put the stuff back where it belongs.

It works every time. :)

Yahoo Web Beacons - Yikes!

I belong to a few Yahoo groups (FreeCycle, Clever Homemaker, Sunbeams Group, etc) and this was posted on the Clever Homemaker Yahoo group... I thought I'd pass it along. It kind of freaks me out that this is legal! Geez, Yahoo!! Makes me wanna "opt out" of being involved with anything Yahoo-related! Do yourself a favor and take the time to "opt out" of this disturbing practice of Yahoo's of following you around the web using "web beacons."

"As part of our continuing efforts to serve our list-members we will pass along any general Yahoo Groups-related announcements that are of relevance to all of you such as the one below:

Yahoo is Tracking Group Members

If you belong to ANY Yahoo Group - be aware that Yahoo is now using "Web Beacons" to track every Yahoo Group USER/MEMBER. It's similar to cookies, but allows Yahoo to record every website and every group you visit, even when you're not connected to Yahoo. Look at their updated privacy statement at http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/details.html

About half-way down the page, in the section on *cookies*, you will see a link that says *WEB BEACONS*.

Click on the phrase "Web Beacons." On the page that opens, on the left find a box entitled "Opt-Out."

In that section find "opt-out of interest-matched advertising" link that will let you "opt-out" of their snooping. Click it and then click the opt-out button on the next page.

Note that Yahoo's invasion of your privacy - and your ability to opt-out of it - is not user-specific. It is MACHINE specific. That means you will have to opt-out on every computer (and browser) you use.

Please forward this to your other groups. You might complain, too, but I'm not sure if anyone is listening. I remember when they signed all users up to get spam and we had to opt out of that a few years ago--- and probably still do.

Carrot Slices for Salads

This is something I've always done for salads, but didn't think to post it here till my daughter was watching me make dinner lastnight and said, "Wow, Mom, that's a clever way to do carrots in the salad! I didn't know you did it that way!" So, here you go...

I hate big chunks of carrot in a green salad because they don't compliment the lettuce very well and they all sink to the bottom of the salad. I just can't seem to slice them thin enough. I've tried shredding them using a grater, but that takes forever and it's a lot of hard work -- plus I'm terrified I'll shred my fingers into the salad (ouch!). So I came up with this way of preparing carrots for a green salad:

1. Peel the carrots and cut off the skinnier end.
2. Using the same vegetable peeler, hold it at a 45-degree angle and "peel" bits off the end of the carrot with a quick motion, turning the carrot as you go. As my daughter pointed out, it's kind of like using the peeler to sharpen the end of the carrot (like sharpening a pencil). You get bigger pieces than a grater, but they're thin and mix into the lettuce better.

Ta-da! :)

No More Lost Hair Ribbons

When you tie a ribbon into your daughter's hair, first slip it into the hair band so that if the bow comes undone, the ribbon does not fall out and won't get lost.

Dear Abby's New Year's Resolutions

(copied from today's Dear Abby column)

DEAR READERS: Rise and shine, everyone! Welcome to a brand-new year. Today is our chance for a new beginning, the day we discard destructive habits for healthy new ones. With that in mind, I'm printing Dear Abby's oft-requested list of New Year's resolutions -- adapted by my mother from the original credo of Al-Anon.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once. I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I'll not speak ill of others. I'll improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking. Just for today, I'll refrain from improving anybody but myself.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will do something positive to improve my health. If I'm a smoker, I'll quit. If I'm overweight, I'll eat healthily -- if only just for today. And not only that, I'll get off the couch and take a brisk walk, even if it's only around the block.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will gather the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my own actions.

Christmas Tags

Sarah over at Thrifty Decor Chick posted her clever idea on how to make Christmas tags for next year out of this year's Christmas cards and boxes. She uses a rectangle-shaped punch (from a scrapbooking store) and punches out images, words, quotes and such from cards and decorative boxes and uses those for next year's gift tags. What a clever idea! See her post in its entirety by going to Cheap Gift Tags (FREE!).

** New Pricing for Chore Charts **

Okay, so after doing a set of Chore Charts and Kid Bucks for a "customer" I realize my pricing was a little skewed... I thought it would take me much longer to do these. So, check out my post on Pricing for Personalized Chore Charts and Kid Bucks to see my new prices.

Just a thought to pass along, but the New Year would be a GREAT time to start a new set of Chore Charts! :)

Save the Play Food!

Inexpensive play food sets (for play kitchens) come with 100+ pieces. Unfortunately, 1/4 of them are cheap cardboard boxes that typically last no more than a few days before the child tears, crushes, or otherwise mutilates them.

Take bits of newspaper and stuff those boxes till they're fairly rigid. Then take clear packing tape and seal them up all the way around. Seal the paper labels on the "cans" too by wrapping packing tape all the way around them.

Your child will get to make-believe to his/her heart's content!

Snow Ice Cream

I love this idea! I got the idea from the blog Feathering Our Nests. (The recipe is originally from about.com.) Sounds yummy! We're going to try it later today when we get some "fresh snow" -- like 8-12 inches of it just today!!

Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
CLEAN Snow

Preparation:
Go outside and get 4 - 5 cups of fresh, clean snow. Don't pack the snow! Mix together the milk, vanilla, and the sugar. Stir this mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Slowly add the snow to your mixture, stirring constantly, until it is as thick as ice cream! Eat up!