Upcycled desk system for kids

My daughter has struggled her entire life with organization. She gets it honestly, as my coworkers who have seen my desk can attest.

We have tried everything to help her. Planners. The Brownie organization badge. You name it.

Our latest project came courtesy of the school pizza fundraiser. No, it wasn't a prize for selling, either.

You see, each year, we're stuck with the question of what to do with the boxes leftover from the pizzas we buy for our house. And then I got inspired by Pinterest. Somewhere, along the way, we'd seen a project about project drying racks out of pizza boxes. Granted, the post has long since left me, but the idea stayed pinned in my brain.

So this year, I took a stack of pizza boxes left over from storing them in my freezer (I don't put the boxes themselves in due to space.)

I folded in one side and stacked them, then went nuts taping row after row of peace sign, heart and flower duct tape I'd bought at the school supply clearance.

Ten minutes of effort and a few dollars' worth of duct tape later, and my daughter was blessed with a surprise on her desk: A new organizer for all of her random papers.

Now she has plenty of space for her looseleaf notebook paper, her construction paper, and her various works of art in progress!

The best part was SHE was inspired to do something as well. She took a McDonalds Happy Meal Halloween bucket that was otherwise destined for the Goodwill bin and redecorated it with Monster High duct tape for a storage bucket for her rolls of duct tape. She even took a toilet paper roll and made her own pencil holder.

What ways have you creatively reused or upcycled items to organize your home?

Book character costumes from the closet

Costumes - whether for Halloween, school plays or book character day - don't come cheap. But a little creativity can help your little girl become a favorite literary character. Here are a few ideas that don't involve a trip to the store, nor a hunt for a fairy or princess costume:

Junie B. Jones: Cardigan, T-shirt, skirt, socks pulled up, dress shoes and hair bow. Combed hair or matched items not necessary!

Fancy Nancy: Take your pick of your frilliest accessories to dress up your fanciest of skirts: baudy necklaces, clip-on earrings, hair bows and barettes, dress shoes. The more details the better!

Thing 1 and Thing 2: Repurpose two long-sleeve red shirts and write "Thing One" and "Thing Two" on the front. Use hair products to create a wild look!

From Winnie the Pooh: Abbie at the Farmers Daughter quickly created a Kanga costume from a sweatsuit.

Little Mermaid: Take that old prom dress or other formal and convert it into a mermaid costume.

Star Wars: OK, in my world, it's a stretch, but given the popularity of the book series, I'll add it too. Here, Suburban Greenmom shows off her Annakin Skywalker costume.

Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Dressed from old PJs and mom's T-shirts.

And of course, there's the simplicity of the eternal vampire.

What are your favorite costumes that came from the closet?

Fast food without the fast-food costs

Here is my confession: In four day’s time, my family ate three dinners of pizza. Blame it on one part laziness of a mom expecting company while getting ready for a business trip that same weekend, one part dealing with a sick husband, and one part $4 Papa Murphy’s pizzas. Toss in some veggies for a side dish, and we rode that pepperoni pizza wave.

On most days though, I’m hesitant at best about putting fast-food in my family’s mouth. It’s costly, often laden in salt and fat, and frankly isn’t nearly as good as what I can make at home.

Not that we don’t suffer from our chaos. The 30-minute window between getting the kids home and when we leave for soccer or scouts seems to fly quickly by. Sometimes, there doesn’t seem to be much time to even whip up spaghetti or quesadillas. But we do it anyway.

Taking the long route to putting food on the table may not be easy, but for almost all Americans it remains a choice, and if you can drive to McDonald’s you can drive to Safeway. It’s cooking that’s the real challenge. (The real challenge is not “I’m too busy to cook.” In 2010 the average American, regardless of weekly earnings, watched no less than an hour and a half of television per day. The time is there.)
- Mark Bittman, New York Times, Sept. 25, 2011

Yesterday’s New York Times asks “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” and answers a resounding no. Bittman cites the costliness of his local McDonald’s, where a meal for a family of four could easily top $28. Here in the Midwest, take the simplest of meals, the kids’ meal, for each of us, and I’m out $12 to $15. That buys me on the busiest of days a rotisserie chicken, a package of microwave rice, and veggies to steam, with room for a gallon of milk. (Cooking time: Five minutes.) And there's likely leftovers for lunch, as well as the makings of chicken broth later.

Sure, my children clamor for the thrill of Happy Meal toys, but they know that eating out is a treat, not a right. It’s reserved for special occasions, and we leave it there. As Bittman writes:

Children, after all, are born without bad habits. And yet it’s adults who must begin to tear down the food carnival.

Organizing kids' clothes: A way to Excel at it

Garage sales, hand-me-downs, resale and other sources for kids' clothes have gotten us through the last few years. The challenge is keeping tabs on my finds.

Whether it's my daughter tearing apart diaper-size boxes of clothing in her closet out of boredom or my accidentally stockpiling 20 (yes, 20) short-sleeve T-shirts in a size for my son, remembering what you've acquired can be a challenge.

My solution? It's a simple one: Creating a spreadsheet to track numbers.

I track each kids' clothing pieces by size and type, and I have it uploaded so that family members who are Christmas shopping or hitting sales to splurge know what we have. My hope is it keeps us from wasting money and space, and freeing us from having more than we really need.

Want to start this simply? Create an Excel or Google Docs spreadsheet with a column for size and a row for each clothing type. For example:

uniform shirts
uniform skorts or pants
sweater
sweatshirt
fall/winter weight PJ's
spring/summer weight PJ's
jeans
yoga/dance pants
t-shirts (long-sleeve and short-sleeve)
sweat pants/athletic pants
winter coat
swimsuit

I could expand this to include shoes I've picked up (such as at clearance or soccer cleats from garage sales), but those for now are much easier remembered.

I update the spreadsheets after purchases, and reprint the well-folded sheets as needed. It's an easy reference at a garage sale and has kept me from at least one unneeded purchase.

Sew what? Stuffy and the Sandwich Bags

Last weekend I was excited to have scored both a "grown-up" and a kids book on sewing at our local library's Friends sale. To which my very own mother retorted, "Will your daughter learn to sew first or will you?"

First off, I can sew. And my sewing machine? It's been lovingly packed in its box since I got it...11 Christmases ago. (Of course, I was in graduate school and working full-time, then in the middle of a move, then became a parent...blah blah blah.)

Last year, I decided my first dive into actually using it as a sewing machine instead of a potential first step for my son in his closet would be making reusable sandwich bags for school lunches. I had the chance to review a few last fall, and realized that they are fairly simple contraptions...if you have the time to make them!

So with the best of intentions, I picked up nylon scraps and velcro at a fabric store...last fall. Summer passed, and I realized that I really could use a few more sandwich or snack bags, but was hesitant to pay for more cloth wraps (or for their plastic counterparts).

So this weekend, armed with $4 worth of materials, the fabric from my beloved pink wrinkle-free Coldwater Creek shirt that ripped after four years, and a hovering six year old, I went to work. Without a pattern. Or reading the instructions for the sewing machine!

My daughter, to her credit, made felt finger puppets patterned (loosely) after those in her kids sewing projects book. And that's when I learned a few things:

1. My daughter doesn't like directions any more than I do.
2. Imperfect is OK too.

For a few hours' of work, four dollars and minimal swearing, we wound up with two sandwich bags, two snack-size bags (great for crackers or the dried mango she loves), and Stuffy and Floofy (her names) finger puppets.

For two girls who don't listen, I don't think we did bad work! And, thankfully, I have up to another year to convert my other ripped wrinkle-free shirt into blue baggies for full-day pre-K. (Oh, and mom, I guess you could say it's a tie. And I could use a few more Coldwater Creek wrinkle-free shirts for my birthday.)

Cloth pull-up connundrum

Cloth diapers were officially retired in my home a year ago. We were down to naptime/nighttime accidents, and I thought, surely it won't be long now.

As the cloth diapers were outgrown, they weren't replaced with larger sizes. But the reality is no two children are alike, and my first child's potty training successes weren't perfectly replicated in her brother.

A few weeks ago, I conceded defeat. Not that I think my child won't get through bedwetting, but that he will do it on his own time. And after loads of loads of morning washing of bedding and PJs, I figured something had to be done. I could continue to invest in overnight pullups, with modest success, or I could try a new tactic.

Cloth diapers worked well with my wetter, wasn't there a "big boy" option?

The reality is, while the web world may be abuzz about cloth diapers, there isn't much of a peep when it comes to its older pull-up cousin. It's like we don't discuss the challenges of bedwetting, even among preschoolers who may still be in daytime pull-up land. While you can find a few "potty-training" cloth pull-up options, cloth pull-ups are typically larger versions of cloth diapers in look and functionality (side snaps, etc.) And as we're keen to prove we can keep up with the 10 year olds on the block, that just wasn't going to cut it. Nevermind that the closest thing to a nighttime cloth pull-up option was just layering in more bulky inserts into a cloth diaper, creating extra bulk, an issue as we approach summer.

Yes, we're in a cloth pull-up connundrum. I searched off and on for a few weeks for any cloth overnight pull-up on the internet. Most options were on small mom vendors and most cloth pull-ups were designed for day (or non-heavy bedwetter) use, but I was able to finally find few overnight cloth pull-up choices to check out. (Happy Heinys and Super Undies were on the short list.)

After researching options on a few mom sites, I settled on a purchase of some overnight Super Undies. (Truthfully the deciding factor was after contacting the business and finding out they had some returned items, which saved us on our purchase.) And the other day, a box was waiting at our front door. Addressed to the little guy, who's always wanting the brown truck to deliver a box to him. We opened it up, and looked at the picture of the cool "big kid" who was in pull ups and a "super" cape and talked about his new cloth pull-ups. While he didn't get why the kid wanted to wear his cape, he proudly put the overnight pull-ups on that night, talking about his "Batman" pull-ups. (Whatever works.) And he slept soundly, really soundly that night, a far improvement from the accident-prone evening the night before from a disposable product sample that failed.

Was the cost of cloth pull-ups worth it? Time will tell. While overnight cloth pull-ups did cost more than my cloth diapers, they weren't considerably higher than the price of the all-in-ones I bought before. Given that you can easily spend $30 a month on overnight pull-ups/diaper solutions for preschoolers if you're not catching sales or couponing, I figure I'll make up the difference quickly. And if it saves me from a few loads of laundry or extra bags of trash. all the better!

Persistence, patience and a princess

Patience is a virtue. And tonight, my princess learned that things can be worth the wait.

This tale starts with a night like many other nights. A casual drive home from daycare. A discussion of all highlights of the day: from what was eaten at snack to who fell down or got into trouble.

Then, as we turned a corner in our subdivision, I saw it. A pink dressing table, complete with mirror and stool, stood at the side of the road, beckoning to be saved. No princess would be complete without one. At least that's what my daughter has mentioned from time to time.

Nevermind that her birthday was next month; cost and reality of a child's fickleness meant that a gift of this nature was not in the making. But a freebie was worth the consideration. I pulled to the side of the road.

It was technically free, but it would come at a cost. The thing was covered in grime, smudges I suspect (hope) were simply mommy's makeup, and in a few cases, things I'm just not sure I'd want to know what they were. (To give you a sense, the pictures were after a good hosing off!)

I walk to the car and sigh. And I propose a solution. "It's gross, really gross," I tell my daughter. "If you want it, you're going to have to help clean it up and clean up your room so it can go there."

She eagerly agrees. And I pick up the encrusted dressing table and toss it in the back, hoping nothing too disgusting makes its way inside.

Yes, my daughter has learned another lesson tonight: How to scrounge at the tender age of four. I guess she's ready for college.

After dinner, I cart the thing to the backyard and hit it with a power wash. Or two. At least half the dirt and the crusty stuff is gone. Then I summon the troops.

Both troopers come outdoors with rags and a small bowl of baking soda, ready to help.

The toddler lasts a few minutes before he turns to the hose, soaking me in the process, cackling enthusiastically. My daughter, to her credit, keeps scrubbing until I announce that with the heat, it's time to quit for the evening.

While it's not quite perfect yet, we're down to small smudges that I can take care of quickly on my own. And as soon as that's accomplished and the bedroom is successfully tackled, this might actually make it indoors.

What you don't see here is the face of a pretty princess, dressed to the nines in her frilly pink swimsuit, perched on a freshly washed stool by her freshly washed dressing table. With the smile of satisfaction and pride on her face.

Because something she waited for and worked for finally came to be.

I hope it's a lesson she'll remember for years to come.

Don't have a trashy Christmas, part 2: Reducing wrapping and shipping waste

Ninety nine percent of the trappings of Christmas end up in the landfill within six months, I read in the paper today. That's a lot of waste for one magic moment.

Lisa over at Retro Housewife Goes Green started the discussion on how we can reduce the trash in our holiday celebrations, and I'd like to offer a few more ideas that have worked for our family.

While re-thinking our gift-giving can make it more meaningful - and hopefully cut down on your holiday spend and wasted gifts - there are steps you can take to reduce the trash generated in your holiday celebrations. A lot of the trash we generate isn't even from the gifts themselves - it's from getting the gifts to the recipient.

Wrapping it up

We rely heavily on gift bags in our house. It came less from a desire to be green than the reality that I hated to trash the pretty bags after the holidays. I'll admit I love pulling out my Crown Center bags each year - it helps with a bit of the homesickness, in a strange way. But they're easy, and frankly, if the little ones break into the gifts, there's a lot less re-wrapping and re-taping needed.

Because I use bags, I also don't have to rely on bows or ribbons on my gifts, which just go in the trash anyway. If you're dead-set on using ribbons and are feeling crafty, you can find out how to make your own bows here.

Find more ideas for greener ways to wrap your gifts here.

Gifts to be shipped

As we can't be in every city for the holidays, we have to ship gifts to at least one home each season. You can be smarter in how you ship things by following these tips:

Pick flatter or modular sized gifts. Odd-shaped gifts are challenging to find packaging for and often require a larger box - meaning more freight costs and fuel to send - and extra "stuff" to pad the package.

If you must buy an odd-shaped gift (such as the guitar my sister-in-law bought my child last year), consider either padding the package with newsprint, plastic bags or leftover packaging from something received at home at work instead of buying new packing materials. In our office, we're notorious for hoarding boxes and packing materials for such occasions.

Or, buy the uniquely shaped or fragile present online and have it shipped directly from the store. It saves you the gas and hassle of trying to find appropriate shipping materials, and they typically have resources on hand to ship them effectively.

If you have several families in one city, designate a "point person" to receive and distribute the holiday gifts. Chances are they're share a celebration at some point in the Christmas season, and the gifts can be distributed at that time.

Hopefully, as Black Friday approaches, this gives you a few options to consider to make things easier on your family.

Happy holidays!

Real ways moms save money

Saving money is the mantra these days. Where can we cut corners without impacting ouf lives? And everyone seems to have an answer. But it's not the one that fits you!

The other day, a friend - and not one I'd expect to hear this from - complained about how the many articles on how you can save money are just not helping. Nine times out of 10, the tips are common-sense items that we should be doing anyway. Eat out less? Check. Drive smarter? Check. Shop sales? Check. Cook everything from scratch? Great idea, but sometimes the execution is a bit questionable, and frankly, I have about an hour a day at home when I'm not in full "mom" mode. Time is sometimes of an essence. Negotiate a new rate? Sure, but if you're underemployed, that might not help. Shut off your cable? In my house, no matter how bad things get, I can't win that battle until after the Jayhawks take the Final Four.

I looked at her and gave her my best advice of the day: I let my kids pick dinner. The eyebrow raised.

Really. Think about it: Once a week, usually on the night my husband has school, my kids decide what's for dinner. Typically what they decide on is mac 'n cheese or a grilled cheese sandwich. Paired with sliced peppers, cucumbers or apples, and you have dinner for less than $3. It may not be gourmet, but it's healthy - and eaten. And food that's refused to be eaten doesn't help anybody.

Sometimes we go a little more creative. Pasta dishes seem to be a common theme. Sunday, we tossed pasta with some chicken-apple sausages, some sauteed garlic and about a cup of riccotta - to rave reviews. And tonight my daughter selected chicken and noodles, which are surprisingly easy and a crockpot staple.

Other times, we'll think of ways to get my oldest more involved with the cooking. She's a pro at helping me make a fall seasonal salad of lettuce, apples, raisins and walnuts. And with an interest in being "big," she is learning to cut softer items like bread or some fruits as well.

Here are some real ways moms can save money. You may not see huge savings, and you've likely seen it before somewhere, but at least they're attainable!

• Make dinner be double-duty. It's not much more difficult to pack your lunch for the next day as you're serving dinner. Usually you have enough anyway!
• Wipe it up. Cloth wipes are great! While paper towels are easy to use and easy to toss, it's not much more difficult to go cloth. I have a rag bag that the kids know they can tap into to wipe up a spill or a dirty mouth, and then they toss it into the washer. (And yes, you can train a toddler to do that!)
• Drop the single-serve treats. Not only do they generate an insane amount of trash, but also they're far more expensive. I keep a container or crackers or other non-perishable treats in my car for those emergency situations.

What works for you? Are there ways you're able to save money and live greener without a lot of extra effort?