Pinned it. Nailed it? Hair.

Oatmeal Apple Pie Cookies

Who says healthy clean eatting needs do be boring? Check out thus snaking recipie from Amy's Healthy Baking blog. Oatmeal Apple Pie Cookies. 

http://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/01/03/apple-pie-oatmeal-cookies/

Essential Oils: For a Wonderful Smelling and Healthy Home

Who doesn’t love walking home at the end of the day, opening the door, and smelling your favorite scent?

 Problem is paraffin candles, chemical filled plug-ins, and chemically manufactured air freshener sprays are some of the ways that we have become accustomed to making our homes smell appealing – but these products are adding to the toxic environment in our homes.

Well, I found a solution! I recently learned that my local grocery store carries essential oils. Better yet, they are natural and very reasonably priced! (You can also purchase them on the web for very reasonable prices).

I knew there were natural “air fresheners”. A search on Pinterest will give you thousands of links! I did a quick search and collected the basics here for you.

Common essential oils and their benefits:

◦   Basil: helps relieve headaches

◦   Rosemary: stimulates the mind and improves memory

◦   Clary sage: calms the nervous system

◦   Clove oil: helps relieve congestion and has aphrodisiac qualities

◦   Eucalyptus: expectorant, this eucalyptus species is indicated for children with respiratory congestion, useful for colds and flu, antiviral

◦   Ginger: relieves nausea, warming emotionally and physically.

◦   Geranium: PMS, indicated for hormonal imbalance, antimicrobial, nerve pain

◦   Lavender: improves sleep quality and calms the nerves

◦   Lemon: acts as a natural antidepressant and calms anxiety

◦   Mint: invigorating

◦   Orange: refreshes and relaxes

◦   Peppermint: relieves nausea, relieves/reduces migraines, energizing, antispasmodic, Studies say do not use around children under 30 months of age.

◦   Ylang ylang: aphrodisiac, antidepressant, nourishing

There are many more oils. Search our your favorite scents or find scents that will assist with natural remedies for things you are dealing with.

Ways to use essential oils around your home.

Make a Room Freshener:

◦   Fill a small decorative jar or dish with plain white rice and add in a few drops of oil. Place the jar in whatever room you wish to fill with the fragrance. (Peppermint or lemon work great the bathroom and lavender is soothing in the bedroom.) Click here for a tutorial on this

Clothes freshener:

◦   Dab cotton balls with essential oils and place in the corners of your drawers and closets. It also helps ward off moths!

Freshen while you vacuum:

◦   Place a few drops of oil on a cotton balls and put in your vacuum bag. Each time you vacuum it will smell wonderful!

Freshen your car 

◦   Place a few drops of oil on a cotton balls and put a plastic bag, leave it unsealed. Place it in your car under your seat. 

See full tutorial on the Live Life Whole website here.

To deodorize and clean furniture:

◦   Place a few Combine baking soda and several drops of peppermint, eucalyptus or wintergreen essential oil and sprinkle on furniture, floor, or mattress. The baking soda will absorb moisture, deodorizes and sanitizes. The essential oils will drive away dust mites and leave a clean refreshing smell.

For more research on the dust mite issue read this article: http://doterrablog.com/diy-use-these-two-ingredients-to-say-goodbye-to-dust-mites-and-hello-to-a-cleaner-mattress/#sthash.pkTJ9SDY.dpuf

If all that good smelling stuff isn't good enough reason, there is research out there at proves essential oils are beifital to our health and well being! 

Schools Closed! Snow Day Activities for Kids and Moms.

Schools closed in many of the midwest schools today due to the extreme cold.

Many working moms were scrambling last night to make day care plans for the day, I am very fortunate that I am home today. However, now the question is what do I do? We have plenty of Christmas toys but we might need to break up the day with a new activity or two.

With the weather so unpredictable here are a few ideas to keep in your arsenal for upcoming school closure days due to snow or cold.  I have tried to select easy things that won't require a trip to the store and that use everyday objects that you should have on hand.

Snow Day Activities for Kids (and Moms).

1. Indoor snowball toss game. Only requires cups, cotton balls, and a marker.

2. Snowman name Art Project. On a cold day an indoor snowman sounds much better than an outdoor snowman. This gives the added benefit of letter/writing practice for little ones as well.

3. If your child has several friends who live in the neighborhood from school who are also home (or if you hare that awesome mom helping out others by watching a few kids that day). Have some friends over and have a make your own hot coco party.

4. With a little shaving cream, glitter, and some glue you can make sparkly snow paint and paint your own snowman!

5. Want to stay away from the snow themed activities? How about a COLOR HUNT. Starting in the the living room and time your child (amount of time can vary depending on age and your child's skill level.) Give your child 5 minutes to find as many Red things as they can. Next start the timer again and do Orange. Repeat with Yellow, Green Blue, and Purple. Then at the end count up the number of things in each category. If you have multiple kids assign a different color to each child.

6. If you want to have some fun with food you can always create some snowman pancakes or snowman donuts for breakfast, you can get really creative and make a snowman pizza for lunch! Yum Yum!

Whatever you end up doing just have fun with your kiddos. Enjoy the day. They grow up fast and you'll look back and smile at the fun things you did on days like this.

Free Printable Valenitnes

I love Valentines day and especially love coming up with creative little cards and gifts for friends and coworkers. Now that my daughter is in school her and I can come up with creative cards and treats for her classmates too.

I am thinking about printing her valentines this year because she has such a small class. Also, I can avoid throwing away 1/2 a package of valentines that I purchased.

I have used printable valentines before for my friends but it is extra fun looking for kid themed cards.

Since Valentines day is on the 14th I have collected 14 of my favorite links here for you:

1. Valentine you're a star- attach a starburst.

2. Frozen is still a hit so how about some free Frozen Valentines.

3. Love this one: Give a individual cup of applesauce to each kid with cute little printable labels to go on top that say "You're Awesome Sauce Valentine"

4. This website gives you a choice of 4 adorable animal themes; Dinosaurs, Owls, Ocean Animals, or Fairies. (There is also a Minecraft link on this page too.)

5. Instead of cards what about something they can use, a bookmark!

6. This is for my Starwars loving friends out there:
Yoda card- using a glow bracelet for a light saber.

7. Fish bowl shaped valentine- shown with gold fish but you could use Swedish Fish too.

8. Mustache and Lips cards- attach a sucker.

9.  Everyone loves Minions! There are some cute Despicable Me Valentines day cards on this site.

10. Do you have a surplus of rubber band loom bracelets sitting around the house? This might be the perfect way to use them: "Its a stretch but will you be mine". Bow and arrow card.

11. Who could pass up a cute little fox?

12. Monsters and googly eyes make everyone giggle and smile!

13. These cards would be more suited for friends and coworkers, the puns would probably go over the heads of elementary school kids. Five Pun-tastic cards.

14. What valentines day would be complete without a gift for your husband. These five tags are too cute to pass up. Print them out and tie them to a few things and surprise him leading up to Valentines Day. It might even inspire him to get that extra special present for you!

If you have created your own I would LOVE to see them and if you have more links let me know.
Post a comment below or leave the link on the Tidbits of Everyday Facebook page. 

Thumbprint Christmas Tree Free Download

I was inspired yet again by another cute Pin but couldn't find the things I needed to make it. Although I am all about supporting independent crafters and I do love buying from Etsy, there was not enough time to order this print so I made my own version of a Thumbprint Christmas Tree. It was a simple process in Microsoft Word and I even added a few extras of my own.

I thought having the grandkids use their fingerprints to create the tree, thumbprints to create the ornaments, and then each sign their name in a gift box under the tree.

I have posted a copy of the file as a jpg image below. You can just click on the image and save it to your computer. If you would like, I can email you the original word document then you can personalize it with your family name or change the number of boxes under the tree. Just email me at mommyandmore@gmail.com, leave a comment below, or leave a note on my Facebook page.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Bugs and Kisses

Yes it is after Halloween but I have to share these cute giftbags we handed out for my daughter's school halloween party. 

I printed out this graphic from online and cut them to a 2 inch by 3 inch size and then mounted them on some cute patterned paper. 

Next I folded them in half and stapled them to snack size baggies with a few Hershey kisses and a plastic bug in each. 

Now we have bugs and kisses for all her classmates.

Friendship Bracelet Headphone Wrap

Remember those friendship bracelets we used to make back in the day? Well you can use the same technique to cover "well used" headphones. 

My headphones were no longer a nice white color thanks to daily use and rubbing against the makeup on my face. 

I did the standard thing I do when looking for a creative solution. I went to Pinterest. ...

and the wrap idea came into being.

 

It only took two bunches of embroidery floss and a few hours of twisting and knotting. Now I have a "new" set of headphones in my almaters colors!

Cute Girls Hairstyles

Pinterest really comes in handy when I need inspiration for a new cute hairdo for my kiddo. I'm decent at doing her hair but not the best at creating new styles for her. 

For some do the more complex hairdos I am grateful for the tutorials. Especially some of the YouTube videos. But upon occasion just a picture is enough to guide me. 

Going Batty!

I love Halloween and the myriad of cute craft options for kids this time of year is great!!!

Here are some quick and easy Halloween crafts that I have made (or am planning to make) with my kiddo:

We always save toilet paper tubes. My daughter doesn't throw out anything that could potentailly be used for a craft!  This cute little craft is the most adorable bat I've ever seen.
http://mollymoocrafts.com/toilet-roll-bat-craft/

Love this door full of bats. Click here for more door decorating ideas. So easy to make with some black card stock! If you are not good at freehand cutting look below at the link for the bat templates.


Finally, how finis this bat headband! Wonder what my daughter would think if I wore this while taking her trick or treating? Click here to go to the Martha Stewart website.



Happy crafting. (Take some pictures of the bat crafts you make and share them in the tidbit's facebook page!)