The Many Uses of Conditioner

I’m pretty sure we’ve all used conditioner at one point or another. 

Did you know it can be used for more than just hair?

In my post “Things That Make My Life Easier,” I showed you how you can use cheapola conditioner to make your own fabric softener.  It’s awesome.  You can make more than you can buy in a bottle; for just pocket change.  I love it!

In that same post, I also showed you how you can make your own foaming hand soap for pennies.  Did you know that if you put a few squirts of conditioner in with the mix, that soap will leave your hands nice and moisturized?  It’s true!  Try it…I dare you!  :)

Conditioner can also be used instead of shaving cream for your legs.  It makes your legs baby soft, too! 

My tip for the day??-- Conditioner; it’s awesomer than you think!  :)

P.S.  I wouldn’t use expensive conditioners for these tips.  The cheap stuff works just great!

Chore Charts

They’re a necessary evil.  But, in my house, they make our days go a bit smoother.  Everyone knows what they need do before bedtime.

When my kids complain about their chores and call me mean, I just tell them, “I’m not mean!  I am teaching you life skills!  When you grow up and leave home you’ll thank me, because you will have had lots of practice doing {insert whatever they’re complaining about here}!”

For a long time, I used a chore chart like this:

When my boys finished their chores, they’d just wipe them off.  It works great!

Only….sometimes I forget to write their jobs down.  We also started an allowance system, where they get a nickel for every job they do without being asked.  That was getting hard to keep track of, especially since we were ERASING the chores as they were completed.

What to do?

Thanks to KidPointz I’ve got that one all figured out!  They have about a million different behavior/chore/exercise/homework/etc… charts to choose from. 

I chose four different designs from their behavior charts and filled them in with our chores.  (I only made four since Monkey is only two and doesn’t have chores.  Yet…) 

I laminated them so that they can mark their chores off with a dry erase marker.  Each chore is worth 5 points.  Five points=one nickel.  At the end of the week, they get the money they earned throughout the week.

You’ll also notice that these chore charts don’t have names on them.  I’ve numbered them 1-4, and each week we rotate charts.  This way, my kids get a variety of household chores!  Score!

This system has been working out really well for us.  My boys are loving the allowance.  I am loving the motivation they have to do their chores.  There’s also less fighting, because they know what they’re supposed to be doing.

You may be thinking “A nickel per job?  That’s it?!”  Don’t worry, it adds up, and their chores aren’t the only way they earn nickels.  They also earn them when I catch them doing good.  They can also lose them…

Whenever they want to cash in their nickels, I trade them for cash.  That way I’m not always running to the bank for nickels, and my boys aren’t carrying around 50 lbs. of change. 

If these chore charts don’t suit you, check these out:

Here’s a fun one Ash made a few months ago.

This Family Home Evening chart could easily be converted into a chore chart:

Anyway, there’s a few ideas.  What works for you and your family?

P.S.  KidPointz didn’t sponsor this post.  I’m just sharing the info and their site because it works for us.  Their charts are free, too!  Bonus!!

Trendy Tops-Cheapskate Style

Have you heard of Trendy Tops?  Have you seen the infomercials?  Are you tempted to buy them?

Don’t waste your money.  They’re so easy to make yourself!

Check out this tutorial for Belly Bands and make a few Trendy Tops of your own.

Just be sure you use a tight tee shirt or take the sides in on a bigger shirt.  If you make your Trendy Top shorter than the Belly Band, you should be able to get two tops from a tee shirt.  Just stitch the side seams together and hem the bottom.

Now your muffin top and backside are covered, AND it didn’t cost a thing!  Way to go!

Mustard Pants!!!

Okay, I’ve been talking about how I want some mustard pants for awhile now. Well, my cute SIL and sister decided to get me an early birthday present and bought me some awesome pants!! Woohoo! So, I might have worn them already 3 times (in 5 days) but really who’s keeping track? First day I kept it easy.

This is just my black awesome sweater from Miya Designs. I’ve waxed poetic about them. I’ll continue to. I think I need to go shopping again there…Plus, some black slippers. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon

Nice boob shot. I kinda forgot till bedtime to take a picture. This scarf was from my cute friend Rhonda. I just wore a white long sleeve burnout tee from Pick Your Plum. That’s someplace that gets too much of my money

The pants look orange here, but I promise, they are the same mustard ones. I wore them today with a white lace shirt I made, a DownEast tee under that, a Pick Your Plum cardigan (see I told you!), and zebra print ballet flats from Target ($4!) Plus, you can’t see them, but I wore these earrings, also from Pick Your Plum. *sigh* I wonder if my hubby realizes how much they stock my fashion/crafting addiction? Anyway, there’s my new lovely pants! Thanks girls! I love them!!

It’s That Time of the Month Again…

...the time I dread above all others...HAIRCUT TIME!!

Remember my tutorial on how to cut boy’s hair?

That post has been pretty popular on Pinterest.  So, if you’re visiting from Pinterest and that pin, Welcome!  Pull up a chair and stick around!!

I cut hair again this weekend.  I cut all six of my guys’ hair.  So fun.  (please, sense the sarcasm…I don’t love cutting hair.  I just do it to save money.)

Don't get me wrong, I love a well groomed little boy, but the haircut process drives me CRAZY!! It makes a huge mess, and it is so hard to get their hair even with all that wiggling.

Then they get mad because I have to fix the part I messed up on when they wiggled. As they are crying, bits of hair land on their tongue and gets all over their mouth. That feels disgusting, so naturally they have to cry harder and spit the hair out. The tears and the spit mix with the hair clippings to make "hair mud" that is impossible to remove until they take a bath.

So, they endure the rest of their haircut sobbing, cursing their hairdresser and spitting, but holding still so they can take a bath.

The haircut process is kind of like an assembly line. I start with the youngest. As soon as he is finished with his haircut, the Hubsters carts him off to the bathtub while I start on the next youngest.

And so it goes until all of my little boys are groomed and cleaned. When they are finished, the Hubsters gets his haircut. What a blessed woman I am to be able to cut a head of hair without all the crying, wiggling, cursing and "hair mud!" Not once do I have to remind him that it is "statue time!" As soon as he is finished with his haircut, he heads up to take a shower while I clean up the mess of six haircuts.

After what seems like an eternity, that dreaded time of the month is over.

Almost.

I realize I am itchy and covered in hair. It takes all of my will power to not cry and spit and make another "hair mud" mess. I carefully walk to the bathroom for a shower so that I don't "shed" the hair clippings all over the carpet and have to vacuum when I am finished.

Finally, I make it into the shower only to realize that the hot water is gone.

Nice.

Nothing says, "Thanks for the haircut Mom! I love you!" like a nice cold shower after spending the last few hours wrestling little boys and being emotionally abused. ;)  Oh well. That time of the month is over and the end result is nice:

What a good lookin' kid!

I kid. Haircut day isn’t that bad, and it is nice to have some one on one time with my boys.

Have you tried my haircut tutorial?  What did you think?  Do you love saving all that money?  I’ll bet I’m saving close to a thousand dollars a year by enduring the haircuts and doing it my self.

St. Patty’s Day Decor

Okay, I’ve had this all decorated since the weekend after Valentine’s day, but I’m just finally getting around to showing you. Without further ado, here’s our St. Patrick’s day décor.

My lovely vignette. Sarcasm heavy. It’s just random green things I had…

I pulled out my cauldron from Halloween supplies and stuff most of it full of plastic bags, then gold fabric, then just a few gold coins. The girls and I made the clay necklace and shamrocks from TP rolls last year on one of our crafty days. The green candles are from my closet, and the ombre green “I” was a mess up elsewhere, but we can pretend it’s for Irish, right?

I made this gumdrop wreath last year when I got a TON of gumdrops, which I don’t like, and decided to make them into a wreath. It was supposed to be for Christmas, but I didn’t like it, so it became a rainbow St. Patty’s wreath.

The green beads, tulle, flowers, wire shamrocks, ribbon, and stain glass shamrock are just things I’ve collected or made through the years.

I had made the LUCKY rosette last year with this rainbow:

Last year, the girls and I made a rainbow for the mantle, so I hung it up here. Half heartedly. It’s falling down. It leads to gold at the end…

My gold mirror… We cut out all the circles with this fun toy my husband got me for Christmas:

So fun….Then, the girls helped me sew them all together on the sewing machine. They thought that was fun.

I just kinda draped it on the mirror. By the mirror, I wrapped my lamp with some shamrock wire…

By the tree is a chair we don’t use and a leprechaun my mom found on clearance.

The girls like to play with him, but he kinda weirds me out watching me….

I still want to print off a cute printable, but haven’t gotten to it yet, so we’ll see….So there’s our décor. I know, you could hardly wait to see it, huh? Anyway, happy St. Pats day!

Okay all, I'll try to be back soon with a "real" post, but I just had to let you know about Pick Your Plum today! They're having an awesome sale on 6 things instead of 1!!! Just in time for Easter, stuff those baskets with something other than candy:) Just take a peek at what they've got:

I know lots of you don't have the hoard of zippers, so zippers are a great price! Plus those ties..How adorable! I don't think babies come as boys, so I have no need, but Nat sure does! Anyway, I'll be back, maybe later today with my St. Patty's decor. Peace!