Tag Archives: Holiday

3 Reasons To Use Layaway And When To Start

Kmart holiday layaway

 

It’s hard to believe but the countdown is on to the holiday season!   Although many of us don’t start shopping, decorating and celebrating until after Thanksgiving, there are a few holiday ‘must-do’s’ that you need to start sooner rather than later.   Planning your holiday menu ahead of time is a must.   Also, why not get a head start on your holiday shopping by starting before the busy Thanksgiving holiday?

First, put the big (or small) items on your kid’s wish lists on Layaway.   Most Layaway contracts are eight weeks long, so this is the ideal time to shop and pay over time.   You don’t want your wallet to go into shock on November 29th, do you? Didn’t think so.

Still need convincing? Here are a few ‘Layaway Lessons’ to keep in mind:

1.) Last year’s Christmas tree was on its last limb and this year you could probably use a new one  
Pick up a pre-lit tree (because that’s the way to go), LED lights, wreaths and village houses now and pay them off in time for decking those halls!

2.) Your gift list has grown
Your kids are getting older and want more gifts or maybe what they just want one or two expensive gifts like a new laptop or game console.  Long gift lists or those including expensive items call for Layaway. Fill your cart to the brim and roll it over to the Layaway counter. Your kids don’t need to know you paid their gifts off over time.

3.) Money is tight this year
It’s not just you; many of us are watching our spending. If you’re having trouble staying afloat while keeping your bills paid, Layaway is a must. Not only will you avoid ‘wallet shock,’ you’ll keep your pre-holiday peace of mind.

Kmart Layaway LogoWhether you have one or 100 items, you can Layaway almost everything on your list without paying a service fee through 11/23. Plus, you can pay in store, online or using a mobile phone. Eight or 12 weeks later (depending on your contract) pick up your items and you’re good to go!

 

Bonus: After you figure out how easy it is, you can Layaway all year round at Kmart.

 

St. Patrick’s Day History for Kids and Printable Coloring Pages & Activities

St. Patrick’s Day is a fun holiday for both children and adults. It is one of my husband’s favorite holidays.

To understand what is special about this holiday kids should learn about the man it was named after. When Patrick was 16 years old he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. During his time in slavery his faith in God became strong. After 6 years he escaped and returned to his family. Patrick became a priest and was later sent to Ireland. Patrick wasn’t always treated well in Ireland and endured many hardships. He still managed to win many converts to Christianity and established several schools, churches, and monasteries.

The color originally associated with St. Patrick’s Day was blue. The knights of the Order of St. Patrick wore blue. Some legends say that the color representing St. Patrick was changed to green because it represented Ireland’s independence.

There are many legends surrounding St. Patrick. He supposedly drove away all the snakes that were in Ireland and he reportedly used a three leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity. He was born in Britain in the fourth century and is usually given credit for bringing the written word to Ireland.
Legend says he died on March 17, in the 5th century. This day celebrates Christianity coming to Ireland. Children traditionally wear green, orange, and white badges to celebrate. Today kids try to pinch each other if they don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Many people eat corned beef and cabbage on this day in the United States. However, pork is a more popular dish among the Irish.

St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in the United States in Boston in 1737. Although St. Patrick’s Day is not a legal holiday in the United States, it is a public holiday in Ireland.

Help your kids get excited about St. Patrick’s Day by decorating the house, wearing green clothes, making St. Patrick’s Day crafts, printable coloring pages, and printable St. Patrick’s Day activities.

St. Patrick's Day coloring pages, cookies, crafts, and activities for kids

Here are a few fun St. Patrick’s Day recipes, coloring pages and activites:

Hippity-Hop To Chasing Fireflies For The Cutest Easter Gifts and Crafts! | @ChasenFireflies

Easter is one of three times of the year that we talk to our kids about the meaning of the holiday and that we really get into decorating for.  Christmas and Thanksgiving are the other two.  Besides celebrating the meaning of Easter, kids love to celebrate Easter with Easter Eggs, Crafts, and chocolate bunnies.and parents love to dress their kids in fancy Easter clothes, right?   Luckily my husband’s mom loves to shop for fancy clothes and has made shopping for the kid’s Easter clothes her special thing, so I get to enjoy the fun stuff like decorating and dyeing Easter Eggs and what not.

This year, my daughter and I made the most adorable Easter decoration which came from Chasing Fireflies.  This is not just any Easter decoration, it’s a Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree!  Combine a favorite holiday with a favorite craft.. imagine the amazing time we had!  Chasing Fireflies is our favorite store for Halloween costumes and other superbly adorable stuff. Whenever the Chasing Fireflies catalog comes in the mail, my daughter gets comfy and spends a while looking through it and circling everything she wants.

First Madelyn colored the Shrinky Dinks®.  This was her favorite part of the craft.  She loves to color and did a great job.  I was very impressed at how careful she was to stay in the lines and she stepped out and used green, yellow, and orange for this project!

Easter shrinky dinks craft

 

Next, I cut the Shrinky Dinks® out because I know we are going to have this tree for years and although I usually let her do every (safe) aspect of a craft project I cut the shrinky dinks out this time.

Then, we put the cut shrinky dinks® in the toaster on 350 degrees for about a minute and a half.   Madelyn watched in amazement as the Srinky Dinks® shrunk, curled up, then straightened out.  The shrinky dinks® at the top of the image below have not been baked/shrunk yet and the ones at the bottom have.

shrink dinks easter tree

 

After we baked the Shrinky Dinks®, I put the rings on each piece then she put the rubber bands in the rings.  Then we hung the Shrinky Dinks® on the Easter tree.

Last, we tied and placed the green ribbons, included in the box, onto the tree.

Chasing Fireflies Shrinky Dinks Easter Tree craft project

 

We really had such a great time creating this beautiful Easter Tree together.   All pieces shown in the images are included in the Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree box.   This Easter project is just $18 on the Chasing Fireflies website.  For a decoration (and craft making memories) that we will have for many years, that’s a great deal!

peter rabbit spinning centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies

We also got a Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece from Chasing Fireflies.  The centerpiece was easy to put together and I love the classic images that make up the entertaining decoration.

The Shrinky Dinks® Easter Tree and Peter Rabbit™ Spinning Centerpiece both break down to be flat making them very easy to store until next Easter.

Check out Chasing Fireflies‘ selection of adorable children’s clothing, costumes, and gifts and see their entire line of Easter crafts and gifts here.

I hope you and your kids have a Happy Easter!

This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. I received Chasing Fireflies items for the purpose of this review.

3 Cheery Holiday Pinecone Crafts Even Kids Can Make!

Get The Season Started With This Perfect Pinecone Crafts!

Now that the holidays are here, it’s the perfect time to get down to some decorating for the season! While most festivities will leave your pocket book looking and feeling empty, here are some that use pinecones, which are just as cheap as they are fun. And one of the best things about these crafty decorations is that they are easy and simple enough for the kids involved in some christmas festivities.

Pinecone Tree by Martha Stewart
Pinecone Tree by Country Living - Photo source: Steven Randazzo

Pinecone Christmas Tree from Country Living

This is easy to make and packs a serious seasonal punch. To create this tree, anchor a cone-shaped foam base into a container such as a flower pot or planter. Then use wire to attach the pine cones onto 2 inch wooden floral picks. Next, insert the picks into the foam. Be sure to arrange the cones biggest on bottom to smallest on the top. Lastly, conceal any foam that is left showing by tucking in sheet moss between the pinecones. And there is it in all its festive glory!

Pinecone Christmas Tree craft instructions on Country Living

Pinecone penguin craft by Martha Stewart
Pinecone penguin craft by Martha Stewart - Photo source: MarthaStewart.com

 

Pinecone Penguin from Martha Stewart

These fun little fellas are sure to be a hit with little ones and grownups alike. First gather up supplies because these guys have a little bit more too them.

Here are the crafting supplies needed:
scissors, sandpaper, small paintbrushes, glue, white and brown acrylic paint, and some white glass glitter.

Additionally, different pinecone parts will be needed:
2 large scales cut to a point for the wings, 1 small piece cut from the top of a pine-cone for the neck, one long pine-cone for the body, and an acorn cap for the face.

Next construct them by attaching the long scale wings to the body pine-cone with glue. Then sand the neck piece so it can easily be attached to the body with glue as well. Then attach the acorn cap face to the neck. Next, paint the belly and half of the acorn cap white, and then let them dry. Once the paint is dry, use glue to add glitter to the belly and paint on the eyes.

Pinecone Penguin craft instructions from Martha Stewart

 

Colorful holiday pinecone craft by HGTV
Colorful holiday pinecone craft by HGTV - Photo source: HGTV.com

 

Colorful Pinecone Centerpiece

The last pine-cone activity is so simple it’s a shame HGTV didn’t think of it years ago.

By spray painting pinecones bright colors and arranging them in a clear decorative jar a sassy seasonal centerpiece is born. This colorful crafty centerpiece is truly easy while speaking volumes.

> Colorful pinecone centerpiece instructions

 

Whether it’s a traditional earthy Christmas tree, a winter wonderland made of penguins or a modern DIY spray paint decorative piece, this season will be full of fun when any of these ideas are involved.

Do you have a favorite pinecone holiday craft? Share it with us in the comments below!

Make Your Thanksgiving Day More Enjoyable With These 2 Laundry Tips

I know you love doing laundry. In fact I saw the results of a survey recently in which it was determined that Moms prefer doing laundry over vacuming. While I can’t find the survey now and I wouldn’t go so far as to agree with that, I do get a great deal of satisfaction out of taking clean, delicious smelling clothes out of the dryer.

Even if you don’t enjoy doing laundry, I highly recommend that you stay on top of laundry before and during Thanksgiving week.

One way I motivate myself to stay on top of laundry is by using a liquid laundry detergent that smells really good.



Holiday napkins are not used for cleaning!
Holiday napkins are not used for cleaning!

Scenario #1: Holiday Napkin Disaster

The kids don’t understand that holiday napkins are for use on special occassions like Thanksgiving & Christmas only. The kids use your holiday napkins to clean the bathroom or wipe the juice spill off the dining room floor, resulting in sticky, dirty napkins.

Tip:

Be ready to restock the holiday napkins with a spare set (yes, buy two sets of holiday napkins, at least) and while you’re using those, was the others with a detergent that is sure to make your house guests think that you just baked a delicious pie, Gain’s Apple Mango Tango liquid laundry detergent.



Scenario #2: Blanket Disaster At Aunt Betty’s

You visit Aunt Betty’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids drag their favorite snuggle blankies all over Aunt Betty’s floor knowing that Aunt Betty has 19 dogs and 3 cats. Eeewww! Naturally, you find lint balls, dog hair, cat hair and who knows what else stuck to the kids blankets. But shoot! You didn’t bring laundry detergent to Aunt Betty’s house.

Sad blanket girl
This is how your child may feel when she can't snuggle with her dirty blanket on the way home from Aunt Betty's house!

Tip:

You never know what kind of laundry detergent a friend or family member uses, so I am a firm believer in BYOLD (bring your own laundry detergent)!

Just as importantly, you don’t want the kids to be snuggling with dirty blankies during the long drive home from Aunt Betty’s house, do you? All the more reason to take detergent with you and wash their blankets before driving home.

Aunt Betty would probably even appreciate it if you threw in a few napkins and hand towels with the kids blankies! 🙂


Gain Apple Mango Tango Liquid Laundry Detergent

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