Free Doll Clothes Sewing Patterns

If you have a little time and a little bit of sewing skill, here are some fabulous and free sewing patterns for American Girl Dolls and other dolls. Some are simple, and some more involved.

YouCanMakeThis.com lists a few simple patterns, including some which are suggested for giving to Toys for Tots. What a fabulous idea! They even provide a free downloadable certificate to accompany your creation when dropping off the doll clothes that you make.

Click HERE for "Twirls for Girls" skirt and top patterns.

Click HERE for a "pettiskirt" for doll and child

AG Playthings offers free downloadable original American Girl patterns for six of American Girl's historical dolls. Click HERE to see the doll patterns.

The Prudent Homemaker also lists many great sewing for less ideas. Click HERE for inspiration.

I'm not sure if I have enough time this December to make the Toys for Tots doll clothes, but I'm thinking that it will be a great activity to make up some of these next summer with my daughters, when I will have more free time. Maybe I can squeeze a few in this month!

Do you have any sewing for less ideas?

Nutrition Policewoman

My son is learning how to prepare his own school lunches. It's so easy to see how he operates. Think quick, minimal effort, and maximum tastiness. Well! It'd be nice if that's all that was needed to motivate our food choices.

After choosing two starchy foods, I emphasized that his lunch should include (1) a protein, (2) a dairy for calcium, and (3) a fruit or a vegetable. (I'd settle for two of those three, actually!) Pursuant to this, there is a brief discussion about the body's needs for nutrition.

Son says: "IS THAT ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT: NUTRITION?!?!?!?"

Yep. I'm a mom. That's my job.

Whew! It's the Start of a New School Year

I've been quite frazzled with the start of the new school year. In my house that means two kids off to private school and one child homeschooled: two different release times, carpools, five meetings in the past few days, and no school lunches!

Packing lunches five days per week can be a daunting task. How do yo make it healthy for a growing body, packable, and interesting enough for a kid to eat? Add to that each person's eating likes and dislikes. How do you avoid the endless string of sandwiches.

Here are some ideas that I throw into the mix (along with the ever-present sandwiches.)

* Crackers with PB, cheese, or hummus. See this wonderful post on "snacky lunch"

* Something microwavable, like Easy Mac cups or Yakisoba noodles

* Pizza bagels

* Tortilla wraps (w/ homemade tortillas)

(Spicy mustard, honey ham, cheese, lettuce)

(All rolled up, and ready to go.)

My husband will also pack a simple tossed salad with a tiny container of dressing. This way, he can add it to the salad just before eating so that it doesn't get soggy. My kids will eat salad at home, but we haven't been adventuresome enough to try it at school.

I'd love to hear your creative school lunch ideas, too!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!

Here's a budget birthday cake for a swimming pool party!

Yellow cake mix: 13c w/coupon

3 eggs: 30c

Oil & water: 5 c

Buttercream frosting

1 stick of butter: Free w/ coupon

1 lb. powdered sugar: 79c

vanilla & food coloring: 10c

Fudge grahams: $2

Lifesaver "swim rings" and gummy bear "swimmers": $2

Candles: 8c (pack of 100 from dollar store)

Total cost of cake: $5.45

Cost of cake from grocery store bakery $40

Total saved by making your own: 86%

(And the party goers ate every last crumb!)

Staples: Penny Notebook Paper

I am very thankful for Staples and their back-to-school deals. I have been holding out on buying notebook paper, praying for a good sale. Hope did not disappoint. My three kids and I each picked up 5 packs of notebook paper during the wonderful sale this week. It was kind of fun handing each kid a nickel and 5 packs of paper, having them go through the line, and pay for their purchase.

Twenty packs for 20c. That is hard to beat. Some of this paper will go to our church's school supply drive for the Children's Restoration Network.

Healthy Eating: Adding More Veggies to Your Family's Diete

I am always looking for ways to get more veggies into our family's diet. You almost can't have too much. I decided to take their favorite foods, and figure out ways to add veggies. Here is a favorite at our house. My kids love tacos. We eat them frequently.

Finely chopped sweet bell peppers blend easily into the taco filling. Just cook them along with the ground meat. At first, I used yellow or orange peppers. They are nearly invisible when all the seasoning has been added. As they got used to this, I switched to green peppers. In this photo, I used sweet banana peppers and green bell peppers from the garden.

Here's what the filling looks like finished. The green peppers are still a little visible, but now my kids are used to it, and they complain that it doesn't taste right if I don't add them! Ha!

What do you do to get more veggies into your family's diet?

Thrifty Tip: Getting More Milage out of Kids' Pants

It seems I am frequently looking at the clean load of laundry and finding holes in the knees or legs of my children's pants. (This especially seems to happen to my son more often!!)

(1) I could throw them away.

(2) I could patch them. I have done it, but it doesn't usually look very good.

(3) I could donate them to charity, but who wants hole-y pants anyway?

(4) I could turn them into something else just as useful!

About 20 minutes of cutting, pressing, and hemming, and ...

Viola! A "new" pair of shorts! My son will get a lot of mileage out of this, especially since they have an adjustable waist!

Monday Menu Plan

We had a nice family camping trip this past weekend.  I'm trying to catch up and get back into the groove!

Here is our menu plan for the week.  Just a side note:  I do not always follow my menu plan strictly.  I frequently substitute a side item if something else seems more appealing when cooking time comes around, or we might change things completely.  I must say that since I started making menu plans about two years ago, that I never have that panicky feeling when it's 4:00 or 5:00, and I'm not sure what we are going to eat for dinner.  I also am able to make better use of store sales, and less food goes to waste.  If you are not making weekly dinner menus before you do your weekly  shopping, it is the fastest and easiest way to save on your grocery budget, no coupon required!

Monday

Chicken picata, corn, salad, pineapple

Tuesday

Omelets, homemade bread, sausage, fruit

Wednesday

Taco Salads, Fruit

Thursday

Pork Chops, broccoli, rice

Friday

Homemade Pizza

Saturday

Grilled Chicken, Rice, Broccoli

Sunday

Grilled Steaks, Potatoes,

 (& some kind of vegetable)

Kids and Chores

Do you wish your house were cleaner?  Do you wish you could teach your kids to be more responsible?  Do you wish you could spend less time on house cleaning?  I know I do, and I think one of the most under-used resources in home keeping is our children.  Since we all live here and all are blessed by a clean, organized home, we all share in the responsibilities of home keeping, each according to their ability.

It's that time of the year again, right after school is out, when I work up new chore schedules for my kids.  Summer is a great time to teach kids new skills, and house cleaning is no exception.  Then, when school starts again, a good routine is already in place.  It's good to change around chores, so they don't have to keep doing the same chores year after year.  I also think that chores teach a great habit of responsibility that will (hopefully) last them a lifetime.

Here are the chore lists we worked up this year.

Daily Chores - everyone

(Mostly this is just cleaning up after yourself!)

Make Bed

Put away dirty clothes

Put away shoes when they come off

Fold and put away your own clean laundry (oldest 2 kids)

Put your own dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and clear your place

Put away all your toys and things (that have migrated throughout the house) at the end of the day

Chores for 10 year-old son

Monday - Collect trash from wastebaskets and put into the garage bin (not kitchen garbage)

Tuesday - Wipe out the microwave & clean front

Wednesday - Clean bathroom downstairs toilet

Thursday - Clean master bathroom toilet

Friday - Clean kids bathroom mirror (He's the only one tall enough!)

Saturday &  Sunday - none

Chores for 7 year-old-daughter

Monday - Vacuum the stairs with hand vac

Tuesday - Sweep the garage

Wednesday - Wipe down the sinks and counter in the kids' bathroom

Thursday - Clean the kids' bathroom toilet

Friday - Dust the downstairs rooms

Saturday &  Sunday - none

Chores for 4 year-old-daughter (She loves to feel big & important by having chores!)

Monday - change the drinking cups in the bathrooms

Tuesday - Windex the TV screen

Wednesday - Wipe the fingerprints off kitchen windows

Thursday - Wipe fronts of stove and dishwasher

Friday - Wipe down the outside of the kitchen trash can

Saturday &  Sunday - none

What chores do your kids have?

Free Books for Georgia Children

Do you live in Georgia, and do you have a child under age 5?

If so, you may be able to receive hardback books for your child, every month, for absolutely no cost, mailed to your home!

Check out The Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy.   There is a listing of eligible counties, and easy instructions on how to sign up.  Below are some of the wonderful books my daughter has received since enrolling in the program.