Friday, June 30, 2017

DIY Kids Crafts & Games (Dinosaur Excavation, Bowling Pins, Ring Toss) by Rachel Talbott

DIY Kids Crafts & Games (Dinosaur Excavation, Bowling Pins, Ring Toss)
Hey guys! Welcome back!! I love making DIY crafts, toys and games for Oliver.. It's always a really fun day of filming, and he looks forward to it.. I hope you try these out with the children in your life and make great memories. Thanks for watching ♥MY WEBSITE: http://www.racheltalbott.com ♥TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/racheltalbott ♥INSTAGRAM: http://followgram.me/racheltalbott ♥MY PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/racheltalbott/ ♥MUSIC CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/SingingProudAndLoud ♥VLOG CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/RachelTalbott ♥HUBBYS COOKING CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/ByronTalbott ♥FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/rachel.talbott ♥MAILING ADDRESS: 18653 Ventura Blvd., #655, Tarzana, CA 91356 * DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed are true &my own. I link affiliate links to make it easier for you to find the exact products I mention.....and... I LOVE YOU!!!! =) Thank you for supporting what I do!! ♥♥♥ THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED VIDEO

View on YouTube

5 minute Lemon Lip Balm (and re-use your Maskcara Beauty tins!)

My two main obsessions are essentials oils (always and forever!) and Maskcara makeup. So any chance to combine my obsessions is a good day in my book. And this diy lemon lip balm using empty Maskcara makeup tins is going to blow your mind! It’s such a great way to reuse those makeup tins once all the makeup is gone and this lip balm recipe is so super easy, only takes 5 minutes of your time, and smells amazing. Best part? This recipe will be enough for a year’s supply of lip balm! Yes, this recipe really is da’ balm! 😉

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own lemon lip balm:

1 tablespoon beeswax (found here)

1 tablespoon coconut oil (found here)

1 tablespoon shea butter (found here)

1 tablespoon cocoa butter

15 drops of lemon essential oil (found here)

lip balm containers or reuse Maskcara tins

Start by cleaning the metal tins with soapy water and towel dry.

Heat around 3″ of water in a pot. Combine beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter in a glass jar.

Once water is boiling, turn off heat and sit glass jar down into the water. Stir continuously while oils melt.

Once oils have all melted into liquid form, remove from water and grab your lemon essential oil.

Add 15 drops of your essential oil into the oil mixture and stir.

Quickly pour into your tins/lip balm containers. This will go back to solid form within minutes so this needs to be done quickly.

Allow lip balms to harden into solid form which will only take a few minutes. Then it’s ready to enjoy!

These Maskcara tins are the perfect size to my purse and in my nightstand. It’s lemony fresh and made from natural ingredients that you can feel good about. It only takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and should be enough lip balm to last a good while.

We LOVE Young Living Essential Oils and highly recommend you look into using them too! After so.much.research. it’s the oil of choice for the HowDoesShe girls. You can learn more on our Young Living site.

The post 5 minute Lemon Lip Balm (and re-use your Maskcara Beauty tins!) appeared first on How Does She.

by Kerri King via Home And Garden

Talking to Your Daughter about Tampons–Tips To Avoid the Awkward

I remember the first time I encountered a tampon in my mom’s purse. It was around my sixth birthday and thought it was a treat. I picked up the colorful package and asked mom what it was and if I could eat it. “Put that back,” she said.

“But mom, what IS it?” I persisted. She sweetly and quietly told me that I’d find out when I was older. Conversation over. Whatever was inside that Tampax wrapper became a huge mystery and my imagination went into overdrive. Awkward conversations or not talking about it at all was the old-school method of talking about tampons—you’ll find out on your own some day. The new-school tampon talk is thankfully much less awkward.

We’re partnering with Tampax to help you start the tampon conversation in your own home and to hopefully make that conversation less awkward than the ones we had growing up.

Talking about Tampons: When To Start

Just like déjà vu, my own curious little daughter was playing hide and seek with her brother one day when she hid in my bathroom cupboard. “What are these mom? she asked, pulling out my Tampax Pocket Pearls. I flashed back in time to that one pivotal moment in my childhood. Let’s do this differently, I thought.

Moms today are trying to be more open and honest about sensitive subjects like periods and tampons. If they don’t hear it from us, our daughters will hear it from other sources—ones that aren’t very reliable.

So when do you start talking to your daughter about tampons? As soon as the questions start, and that happens earlier than you think.

Start the tampon conversation as soon as it comes up naturally. When my four-year-old and eight-year-old daughters asked what the Tampax tampon was in my purse, I started with the basics: “Mommies have to use them once a month to stop bleeding. When you are a teenager, you will use them too.“

That’s it. Start with the basics and then build as their questions do. Use medical terms if that’s more comfortable for you.

Every girl is different, but the average age for getting your first period is around 12 or 13. It’s nice for girls to know about it way ahead of time.

Tampax.com has so many great tips and advice on how to talk to your daughter about her first period, how to use tampons, and what tampons are best for her.

So, what do I say?

The key to having the tampon talk is to make it as natural as possible. Here are some tips to avoid the awkward:

Be open, act natural. When your daughter first approaches you with a tampon or period question, fight the urge to clam up or bumble your words. Act natural and weave it into your conversation organically. She may not be ready for all the in-depth answers now, so start with the basics.
Let her ask questions. If you’re not sure what your daughter knows already, ask her. “Have girls been talking about periods at school? What do you know about that?” Let her ask questions without the fear of your judgement or negative reactions.
Provide honest answers. Honest questions deserve honest answers. If you’re not sure how to respond to your daughter’s period questions, check out Tampax.com for great tips and advice!
We’re both the same. Reassure your daughter that you are both the same. Share your first period experience with her and let her know she doesn’t have to be afraid. Let her know she can always come to you with questions or concerns.

The Best Tampons for Her

Tampax Pocket Pearl is a new pocket-sized option for girls-on-the-go. It’s the only compact tampon that gives girls an extra layer of protection. They have a new, compact size that fits in her hand, her purse, or her pocket for complete discretion.

Discretion is good when you’re a teenager.
I remember in middle school worrying about how I was going to hide my tampons. Tampax Pocket Pearl comes in a tiny package so girls-on-the-go can stay confident and dive into life without the worry. She can go to soccer practice, ballet class, or out with friends and her period won’t hold her back.

Teen girls helped design the look of the packaging which is really cool! They have bold, edgy wrappers, playful designs and personality, just like her!

For tips on how to use tampons (that’s kind of a tricky one to explain), head to Tampax.com. They’ve got you covered. Tampax Pocket Pearls: real stylish, for real girls, who want real protection.

Sensitive subjects are only as awkward as we make them. If the Internet had been around decades ago, those first tampon talks with our moms would have come up cupcakes and sprinkles.

Photography by Shelley Coates

This post is sponsored by Tampax. All opinions and personal stories, as awkward as they may be, are our own.

The post Talking to Your Daughter about Tampons–Tips To Avoid the Awkward appeared first on How Does She.

by Nicolette via Home And Garden

Thursday, June 29, 2017

What a Highly Efficient Organized House Looks Like

Organized house 8

Unfortunately, this organized house is not my house. This is my dream house—the one I strive to have. Right now, with all of the kids home for the summer, my house looks like a yard sale inside the house and a small army of soccer players have held kicking practice.

Having a highly efficient, organized house is what most of us aspire to. And while we may be far from it, here are a few great ideas to get you on the right path to utter organization.

The Secrets to Having an Organized House

1. A regular routine is in place.

Organized tasks 1

Whether you employ the simple yet effective notebook system, use a day planner, or live your life by Google calendar…the key to daily organization lies in having a daily routine, a weekly plan, and organizing all of your to-dos in one place.

I love Kathryn’s system of using one inexpensive notebook to organize her entire life. Check out how she does it here.

2. Kids do chores, every day.

Plain and simple, if you’ve got kids who can help, put them to work. Not only will this help keep your house clean and organized, but it teaches them the importance of the concept. I love this chore chart system for multiple children. Just the look of it gives off an air of a highly efficient, organized house.

If it’s no bueno getting your kids to do their chores, then there are some clever ideas here (like the spinning wheel of fortune and chore punch cards). And if a little innocent trickery is your jam, try these 9 creative ways to put your kids to work.

Although I haven’t tried this yet, this post has nearly 200,000 shares and over a million views. I imagine a highly efficient organized house would use How To Teach Your Child To Clean Any Bedroom in Ten Minutes without Using a Blowtorch.

3. There’s a system for all those papers.

Ugh, the papers. In my house, they have a mind of their own and like to hang out in the most unflattering places: the kitchen counter, the entire surface of my desk, under the kids’ beds. There are bills, certificates of achievement, old art projects that I can’t bear to toss, notes I’ve scribbled to myself, and coupons I swear I’ll use before they expire. An efficient, organized house has a system for all those papers.

I love this paper storage and labeling system. Although intended for school work I think it can be used for nearly every type of paper. Simple and clean. Oh, and you can print out those free labels right now! Oh, and if you want to see some smart ways other people organize their paper clutter, take a quick look at the top 15 tips for organizing paper clutter.

4. Get Rid of Clutter and Keep What Matters

A highly efficient organized house doesn’t hang onto extraneous clutter. Go through everything with a critical eye and only keep what matters and serves a purpose.

organized house 4

5. The workspace is actually workable.

My husband and I both do a lot of work at home and our office is almost always a small train wreck. When your workspace is in disarray, it is difficult to get things done. Your workspace is a good place to start organizing. Some of these desk organization tips have really worked for me.

desk organization tips (9)

6. You can get in and out of the pantry without tripping.

Another trouble spot in most homes is the pantry. That’s because it’s a hot spot for snacking and most families need food to survive. Consequently, you might find crushed chips on the floor, several fallen cans of beans and corn, and cereal boxes on every shelf.

organized house 5

Organize it for good with a few of these efficient strategies:

I’m sure there’s a lot more involved in getting that completely organized house, but I get easily overwhelmed so I think this is a nice starting point. After all, baby steps right?

nicolette-signature

Still need more inspiration? Here are a few more posts you might like as you endeavor to get organized:

Declutter Your Life

7 DIY Ideas to Transform Your Closet and Get Organized!

Motivation to Clean and Organize Your Life – What Can You Bear to Do Today?

The post What a Highly Efficient Organized House Looks Like appeared first on How Does She.

by Nicolette via Home And Garden

How to Plant a yard and grass seed like a pro - Grow a new lawn, overseeding, yard & sod care tips by Stanley "Dirt Monkey" Genadek

How to Plant a yard and grass seed like a pro - Grow a new lawn, overseeding, yard & sod care tips
How to plant a new lawn, grow grass seed, overseed an existing lawn Repair bare spots, sod care tips, lawn & yard care, seeding a new lawn

View on YouTube

Simplify the lunch box routine with these 5 great ideas!

Easy Lunch Box Ideas for Healthy Lunches Kids Will Love

I dread making lunches for my kids’ lunch boxes. I struggle to find easy lunch box ideas. Dinners I can do, but for some reason, lunch is hard for me. If it is not a sandwich – I’m out. And what about all those veggies and fruit I would love for my kids to be eating? A lot of time I get overwhelmed and just give in to school lunch. But this year I want to change. I want to send my kids to school with healthy lunches that they will actually eat. I went on a quest to find ideas and products I would need to help me succeed and I want to share them with you – maybe you will find they will work for you too.

#1 What to pack?

I am in a sandwich rut. PB&J anyone? I needed some serious ideas on what to pack and I wanted them to be healthy. I found this book on Amazon that had awesome reviews so I ordered it – LOVE it!

It has SO many great ideas and recipes for easy lunch box ideas. The thing I really love is it doesn’t just have recipes, she also gives great ideas on how to expand her lunch box ideas for kids to make even more possibilities. My mind is spinning with healthy lunch box ideas after reading the book. Ideas are no longer a problem.

#2 What to pack it in?

I wanted to do my part and not use a ton of plastic bags every day so I bought lots of containers. After a while, I had lids and bottoms but none of my lids ever fit the bottoms. So frustrating. I was so excited to find these Easy Lunch Boxes. Where have they been all my life? One bottom. One lid. YES PLEASE. The thing I like most about these is it helps me visualize what my kids need to pack. A spot for fruit, a spot for veggies, and a spot for the main. You can also get little containers to use for dips if you want.

They fit perfectly in these cooler/lunch packs. Throw your lunch in, an ice pack, some water and run to catch the bus!

I love my Kleen Kanteens for water (they keep ice water all day even in the hot sun, unbelievable.)

Also, these Foo-Go Thermoses are the BEST. Our Facebook fans have been raving about them. I love to put soup or leftovers in ours. My son says they always keep things warm. (HINT: I like to add boiling water in the thermos in the morning, and let it sent for a few minutes. Then, I dump it out and put in warmed up food. This just helps to keep the thermos heated and the food warm.)

This is a new lunch box that was just released. People have been raving about it because it allows your to pack hot and cold things together! It’s called the OmieBox.

Another of our personal favorites is Planet Box. It’s a little more of an investment, but they will last FOREVER. They’re super easy to clean because of the steel material and my kids choose these time and time again. They’re convenient for me because I can throw a little of this and a little of that in there, saving me money at the grocery store on prepackaged foods.

#3 Supplies taking over your kitchen?

Gather everything you need to use in packing every day and put them in one place. I found this turquoise cart and I am loving it. It is on wheels so I can slide it in and out of my pantry. But you could use anything – just corral it all in one spot so it will be easy to grab what you need when you need it.

A closer look…

On the bottom shelf, I put the lunch bags and water containers.

On the middle shelf, I put napkins, forks and spoons, the Easy Lunch Boxes and dip containers.

#4 Forget to use your fun lunch box notes?

On the top shelf, I put a little container with pens and post-its for writing notes or reminders to slide in the kids’ lunch boxes and some washi tape for fun.

Also, find a little spot for your printed out lunch box notes. Cut them all out so they are ready to throw in. You can get our collection of lunch box notes, here! And the magnetic holders, here.

#5 Mom can we have a treat?

Sure! Organize a collection of little treats so kids can easily pick one and throw it in with their lunch. Hopefully my new cookbook will help me eliminate these packaged foods I currently have, to more healthy homemade ones.

One more shot of what I am now calling the lunch box cart, this time with the treats on top. Can you tell I’m a bit excited about this?

Now that you are all organized and prepared with easy lunch box ideas, I have one more recipe book I want to share with you. I just ordered it when I ordered the lunch box one and I am loving it as well! It is teaching me and reminding me about how important home cooked, nutritious meals can and should be. I rely too much on packaged food and am trying to use more fresh ingredients and less packaged products with ingredients I can’t pronounce. If you have the same desire, this book is a must have.