Tuesday Tips - checklist for organizing toys

Organizing the Kids' Room Checklist
A well-organized children’s room offers two big benefits: Kids can find what they’re looking for fast, and the room stays neater because everything has a place.

• Make a mess. Start by dumping all the toys on the floor.
• Assess and categorize. Group toys by type and then by size: small, medium, and large. Make another pile for anything that’s broken or that your kids have outgrown.
• Donate or toss. Call up local charities and arrange for a pickup of the items in good condition that your kids no longer use; toss anything that’s beyond repair.

Tuesday Tips - Organize a child's birthday party

Child’s At-Home Birthday Party Checklist

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Whether you’re celebrating indoors or in the backyard, with pin the tail on the donkey or an entire petting zoo, this timeline will make for a very happy birthday with all the bases covered.

One to Three Months Before

• Discuss with your child what kind of party he or she wants. Dinosaur party? A celebration of all things Dora? Let your child help pick; the theme will help narrow down decoration and activity choices.
  

  Related: 3 Creative Party Themes for Kids
• Decide whom to invite. Do you need to ask the entire class, or does your child just want his six best friends? The type of party may dictate how many kids you can host (in other words, a Guitar Hero competition may work best with fewer contestants).
• Line up any entertainment you may want. The earlier the better—it’s no fun telling your child that the magician she has her heart set on is already booked. Ask for references of people who have used the entertainers recently, and check up. Be sure to ask if there are any setup requirements.

Four Weeks Before

• Before setting a date, check with essential guests to make sure they’re available. Your child won’t be happy if his best friend is going to be out of town.
• Send invitations. Make written invitations creative and coordinated with the party theme. Indicate whether parents are invited to stay (parents of toddlers should remain), and include an RSVP date and start and end times.
• Make a schedule of activities for the party. Plan to fill two to three hours with a mix of energetic games and calmer activities (like crafts or storytelling). You also need to factor in time for entertainment, snacks, and general freewheeling ruckus. If the presents will be opened, save that for the end; if you start running out of time, you can skip it. Keep in mind that an outdoor party may become an indoor party in case of rain, so plan alternate, rainy-day activities, just in case.
• Make a master list of supplies you’ll need. Make sure you have the following covered, and note if you need to buy or borrow anything. Check online party ware sources like plumparty.com and discountschoolsupply.com to save time.
  
  Possible Supplies:
  -decorations like streamers, balloons, party hats, or signs
  -game and craft essentials
  -music
  -sports equipment
  -portable tables to hold food or presents
  -coolers and serving dishes
  -tablecloths, plates, cups, and utensils
• Buy or order party favors that fit the theme (and goody bags to put them in) and prizes for the games.
  

  Related: 8 Creative Children’s Party Favors

Three Weeks Before

• Plan the menu. Keep it simple—finger foods, pizza, things kids actually like are super easy and sure to please. If you like, plan a few special treats (like a cocktail) for parents. Make a list of how far in advance each dish can be made.
  

  Related: 50 Recipes Kids Actually Like
• Make a grocery list. 
• Line up any help you may need. Enlist friends, older children, other relatives, or parents of party guests to help supervise activities. Consider hiring a high school student, your baby-sitter, or a professional to help with pre- or post-party cleaning or to help supervise games, replenish food, and generally take some weight off your shoulders.

One Week Before

• Clean the house thoroughly. This way, you’ll need only a quick once-over before the party.
  

  Related: Cleaning 101
• For an outdoor party, do any major yard cleanup or planting. 
• Follow up on RSVP stragglers to get a final count. 
• Develop a detailed cooking schedule. Make any foods that can be frozen.
• Order the cake. If you are making it from scratch, bake the layers and freeze them (you’ll ice it the day before the party).
• Order balloons. 
• Check your list of needed supplies and procure any missing pieces. 

Three Days Before

• Find a place for coats. Make space in a hall closet and fill it with presentable hangers or designate a bed for coats (and make sure the room’s free of breakables).
• Go grocery shopping. 
• Do a safety run-through of the house and yard. Make sure danger areas like stairs and upper-floor windows (and pools) are safeguarded, double check that any chemicals are locked away, and check for sharp-edged corners on furniture that might be dangerous.
• Prepare the cameras. Charge video and digital cameras. Stock up on extra film or memory cards.
  

  Related: The Best Digital Cameras
• Prepare goody bags. 

One Day Before

• For an outdoor party, mow the lawn and tidy the yard. 
• Organize the furniture. Set up dining and gift tables and activity stations. If you find you’re missing anything (pencils for games, etc.), you have time to run out and get it.
• Decorate! Do everything that doesn’t involve helium.
• Finish as much of the cooking as you can. This includes defrosting and icing the cake if you froze one. Also, for any foods that require cooking on party day, do as much prep (dicing, marinating, rinsing lettuce) as possible.
• Do a touch-up cleaning sweep through the house. 
• If opening presents is on the agenda, practice polite “thank you’s” with your child. 

Day of the Party

• Finish any last-minute cooking. 
• Pick up cake and balloons, if ordered. 
• Display food. One to two hours before guests arrive, set out foods that won’t spoil. Wrap them tightly to ensure freshness; tear off the wrap when the first doorbell rings.
• Give parents who are staying tasks to oversee. They can help with games or supervise a craft, so you’re free to run the show and keep kids from running amok.
• Serve the cake and ice cream. The birthday child gets the first slice of cake!
  

  Related: 4 Mess-Free Tricks to Serving Ice Cream and Cake
• Make a list of gifts and who gave them. 
• Send everyone off with party favors. Your child can hand them out and say thank you at the same time.

Two to Three Days Later

• Help your child send thank-you notes, and send your own to your helpers. 

www.realsimple.com/birthdayparty

Friday Faves - charity

Heifer.org!

"To End Hunger & Poverty
Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.

By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.

With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

Read some of the inspiring Success Stories from our partners around the globe that have had their lives changed as a result of Heifer's work."

Tuesday Tips - Omega 6

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Omega-6s

Very simply, we must decrease our consumption of omega-6 oils. Snacking on seeds, edamame, and whole foods is still healthy. But cut back on processed foods, which are high in omega-6-laden seed oils. At home,cook with oils and fats with a healthy balance of omega-6s to omega-3s. A few oil seeds--canola and flax, for instance-- have a very favorable ratio of the two families of essential fats, and they can be used by themselves (canola) or in combination with other oils (flax) to change the balance of omega-3s to omega-6s. Mix flax and canola with any of the other seed oils (corn, safflower, etc.) to produce a healthy blend. If you're curious about olive oil, it's still fine to use, as it's not high in omega-3 or omega-6s; it's fairly neutral. Other steps:

1. Replace processed cereal with cereal or oatmeal that contains flaxseed.

2. Make your own salad dressing with a mix of canola and olive oil.

3. Eat less fast food because it's all very high in omega-6 seed oils.

4. Look for potato chips that are fried in canola oil rather than cottonseed, soy, safflower, or sunflower oil.

5. Substitute walnuts for other nuts when you can because they're a seed that's high in omega-3s.

6. Make your own baked goods, replacing half the butter with canola oil.

7. Check food labels to avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils.

8. Avoid omega supplements that contain both omega-3s and omega-6s. You'll see these labeled with terms like Complete Omega.

9. Choose grass-fed pork, chicken, beef, or bison whenever you can.

10. Avoid farmed fish because they are often fed corn and soy.

Read why you should reduce Omega-6s here!

5 Ways to Simplify Laundry

Laundry may be a chore we all face, but it doesn't have to feel like one. With improvements to washing machines, laundry products, and even fabrics, the old rules of laundry don't necessarily apply today.

Make this task go more quickly and easily with these simple tips to help you get you out of the laundry room and back to more important things!

1. Don't sort!

We all grew up watching and helping our parents sort darks, whites, and colors on laundry day. If one stray white sock got mixed up with darks or colors, we saw the result: A dingy blue/gray/pink replaced the white.

These days, sorting isn't always required. Thanks to higher quality fabrics that aren't as likely to run, you can put together a last minute load of whites and darks without much chance for disaster. Start slowly with subtle colors, cold water and clothes that are not new.

And there are new products like Shout Color Catchers. Toss in a Color Catcher and let it "catch" any dyes that run, which you'll see when the load is clean.

2. Keep folded clothes in the basket.

Another annoying part of laundry is folding clothes in the basket and then having to rely on your kids to put their own clothes away. Inevitably the clean clothes stay in the basket and you've got to nag to get the clothes put away, right?

Why not just let your kiddo live out of the basket? If there's room in the closet, have her keep the basket in there or have her keep it in a neat area. Does it really matter if she grabs her shirts from a drawer or a basket? Let go of that anxiety and make putting laundry away that much simpler!

3. Stop ironing.

I used to think it was essential to iron everything, and that included underwear. I spent hours ironing every week much to the bafflement of my husband, who finally said it didn't matter if his t-shirts weren't starched and ironed. Really? Alright!

Since then I've made it a point to fold clothes while they're still warm to avoid any major wrinkles. And if I miss the dryer going off and the clothes are wrinkled? I either run the dryer again for a short spell or I use Downy Wrinkle Releaser which smooths out wrinkles quickly. Now I can't even remember the last time I had to haul out the ironing board!

4. Be organized!

Laundry becomes much less efficient if your laundry room is cluttered with various detergents, products, and items retrieved from pockets. Take time to go through your laundry room and organize it.

Keep detergents you use on a regular basis within reach of the machine and put others away (or toss them!). Have rods put up so you can hang delicates or clothes that can't go into the dryer. Have a small bin on the machine to place coins, barrettes, or small toys that you find. Place a wastebasket close by so you can toss papers and lint away. You'd be surprised how far a little organization will go!

5. Get more use out of your clothes.

Confess. Do you or your family wear something once and then toss it into the hamper? There's no reason why you can't wear clothes more than once before washing them. Do a sniff check if you like, but you can probably get another wear or two out of your jeans, shirts, and sweaters. Socks and underwear, however, don't get second chances!

Get your family organized and on the same page with Cozi, the free online family organizer.

Michele Johansen is a writer in Bellevue, WA. She is the co-creator of the Ruby Slipper Guide, a website that lists activities and events for families living east of Seattle and blog that delves into the foils of parenting.

Tuesday Tips - websites with entertaining discounts

4 Websites That Help You Live It Up (on the Cheap)

Going out doesn’t have to cost a mint. Online, find lots of eating and entertaining discounts.

• EatDrinkDeals.com: This clearinghouse site features up-to-date coupons for major food chains. For example: one appetizer and two entrées for $20 at Chilis; $5 off a purchase of $15 or more at Ted’s Montana Grill.
  
• LivingSocial.com: Check in with this site daily for deals on local activities, like a $130 private horseback-riding lesson on sale for $49, or $28 off a riverboat cruise. Once you’ve made a purchase, send the link to the promotion to friends. If three or more take the bait, your purchase is free.
  
• RewardsNetwork.com: This dining-out program, which has more than 10,000 participating restaurants in the United States and Canada, gives members 5 percent back on their final tab, including taxes and tip. Customers register their credit cards, then use plastic to pay when they dine out. A rebate is refunded to the credit card the next time they eat at one of the participating restaurants.
  
• SixFlags.com: Buying theme-park tickets online can be up to 40 percent cheaper than shelling out at the gate.

Friday Faves - ink cartridge trick

Soaking Technique

Many of us have experience problems with our cartridges (I've only had a problem with Walgreens when they've refilled my color cartridge - they gave me a refund). But not all of us knew we can solve some of these problems with technical support. Some common cartridge problems are:

• Cartridge won't print
• Some colors are not printing
• Print is coming out streaked or faded
• Cartridge is leaking after Refilling.

The soaking technique can help you with most printing problems

Here is how it works:

1. Fill a disposable bowl or cup (e.g. styrofoam) with 3/4-1 inch of hot water (not boiling) 2. Place the cartridge in the water, nozzle down

3. Soak the cartridge for 12-24 hours, preferably overnight. 4. After soaking, remove the cartridge from the water and dry off the nozzles using a soft tissue or paper towel.

5. Place the cartridge back in the printer and run a printhead clean. 6. Run a test page to determine success. >>> Note * This technique is for remanufactured cartridges ONLY (excluding Epson and Canon). It should not be done with a compatible cartridge. *Thanks Inksell.com (where you can get re-manufactured cartridges.)

Wacky Wednesdays

Wacky Wednesdays-turkey

See more turkey looking cakes here! 

Tuesday Tips - rebate for reusable totes

6 Places That Give a Rebate When You Use a Reusable Tote

Go green (as in: count your savings) when you bring your own bag to these stores.

• CVS: $1 off after four visits when you pack a tote. (You need to buy a tag for 99 cents that is scanned with each visit.)
  
• Giant: 5 cents a bag.
  
• Kroger: 4 cents a bag.
  
• ShopRite: 2 cents a bag.
  
• Target: 5 cents a bag.
  
• Whole Foods: 5 or 10 cents a bag, depending on the store.

Friday Faves - how to creme an egg

Wacky Wednesday - candy bar

Invent a candy bar.  At chocomize.com you can bedeck luscious chocolate with fruits, nuts, spices - even potato chips, Cheerios, and edamame.  Bars start at $4, toppings at 15 cents each.

Have fun!