Let Your Shopping Pay You Back

                The Holiday Season is upon us again.  It just seemed to have crept up like it always does.  We got our pumpkins last weekend and after weeks of mulling over Halloween costumes, finally got them ordered.  My son is going to be his usual Football Player.  He's been wearing a different team's uniform for the last 3 years now.  I'm starting to think it is sneaky way of just trying to collect helmets.  (Of course there are teams that he is forbidden from being due to my husbands deep dislike of them. )  My oldest, the dancer, is going to be a Disco Dancer, my fluttery 5 year old is going to be a fairy, and my tot tot will be an angel (I think she is one of course already).
                Right after Halloween the stores start putting up the Christmas and Hannukah displays.  Thanksgiving is acknowledged, but it seems to be less now.  It's a shame because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
                 With 4 kids I have learned how to shop well.  I am great at taking advantage of sales and combining store coupons.  "What? Gymboree has a sale?  I'll just wait until my Gymbucks can be used and save another 50% on the clothes".  (That's how I think).
       

"Wasp Repellent"

           Do you have a lot of wasps swarming around your deck or patio?  Last year we had loads of wasps.  I wanted to find a way to repel wasps so that I wouldn't have to run around with poisonous wasp spray.  Not a good thing with 4 kids and a dog.
           Here is an easy, cheap trick that totally worked for us.  All you need is string and a small paper lunch bag.
            Take your lunch bag, open it, and then tie the string around the opening.  That's it!  Just tie it to your deck, or where ever you see them hanging out.  They actually sell these "repellents" here.  But you can make it with this paper bag for pennies. 
            The look of it apparently mimics a hornet's nest, which is an enemy of the wasp.  The wasps see this "hornet nest", and keep away.
             Here is a picture of ours. I have replaced it twice.  It holds up surprisingly well.

Styrofoam "Recycling"

       
        Have you ever received "sheets" of styrofoam packing material in your delivery boxes?  I ordered some new furniture for our school room that was protected with these styrofoam "sheets".

         I came up with a fun way to "recycle" these materials.
         I love the way that pictures on canvas look, so I came up with the idea of letting the kids paint on them.  They used finger paint, because it spreads well, shows texture, and it cleans up easy.

        Here are some of my kids "masterpieces".

 They hang easily.  Just put a small nail in the wall, and push the foam onto it.

       
       

Baking Soda Help for Wood Floors

                I have recently found a friend in baking soda.  I have been trying to use cleaning products lately that are more "Earth friendly".  I guess I became tired of having bleach cough.  I also am in the belief now that everything the earth produces naturally can be used for some dilemna. 
                In my house we have wood floors downstairs and they do get beat on by my kids.  They have even used the floors as a racetrack for tricycles. 
               After tiring of smudge stains from these trikes not coming off easily with a regular floor cleaner, I searched the internet and came upon a solution so easy that at first I didn't believe it could work.  The solution is a solution of baking soda and water.  Instead of using my Bob's Red Mill baking soda that I treasure for baking, I took the "nice smelling fridge" baking soda box out.  I mixed one part water with one part baking soda and made a paste.  I slightly scrubbed the trike mark and within seconds it was gone!  I was so elated (yeah, I get weird about cleaning) that I took my washcloth and baking soda solution and scrubbed the whole floor.  Mind you since you are using baking soda you will have to go over it with plain water to get the residue off. 
              Here are some before and after photo's of the most recent trike smudge.