Halloween Countdown Chain

Handy Boy has been hounding me lately, asking “When’s Halloween?!?!” He is 9 and has a better sense of time than younger kids, but a month still seems like ages to him.

I decided to make him a Halloween Countdown chain.  I have made Christmas countdown chains for him in the past, so why not Halloween?  This was very easy to do.  You could also make a countdown chain for a birthday, or a big trip, using different paper.

I used 12×12″ scrapbook paper.  I chose Halloween colors, and cut them into 1 inch wide strips, using my  Making Memories trimmer.  You can buy this trimmer at craft stores.  I LOVE THIS TRIMMER!  I highly recommend it for any kind of scrapbooking or paper crafting.

Here are all of the Halloween colors I used.  Different shades of orange, gray, brown, black, etc.

I stapled all of the rings together.  After, I noticed that some of my scrapbook paper was white on one side, but Handy Boy won’t care.  He’ll take one ring off every night before he goes to bed.

Here it is!  I decided to make enough rings for the rest of September.  Why not?  Handy Boy loved it.  I was going to work on this when he came home from school today, but I couldn’t wait.  😉

Linking to: The Gypsy’s Corner/All Thingz Related/A Silly Little Sparrow/It’s a Blog Party/My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Lucky Star Lane/My Backyard Eden/We are That Family/Blue Cricket Design/Someday Crafts/The Thrifty Home/Seven Thirty Three/Tales from Bloggeritaville/somewhat simple/Fireflies and Jellybeans/House of Hepworths/The Shabby Nest/My Romantic Home/Fingerprints on the Fridge/Remodelaholic/Funky Junk Interiors/I Heart Naptime/It’s So Very Cheri/Keeping it Simple/The Girl Creative/Skip to My Lou

The Great Lego Project, Continued…

Handy Boy and I recently decided that we were going to keep working on sorting his Legos.  This is a project that we started in the winter…but we all got SICK for ages and it fell by the wayside.  See this prior post about our start.

We’re sorting by “type” of Lego into different bins.  It’s really, really time consuming because he has about ten billion pieces.  There are also a ton of really tiny “specialty” pieces that I’m not sure what to do with yet.  More photos as the progress continues.  We are just trying to work on it 15 minutes at a time.  We’ll get through it, eventually!

Handy Boy said that it’s much easier to build his creations now that his Legos are at least somewhat sorted.

Handy Man has finished siding the shed!  Photos to come soon.  One project left to do is to run wiring from the garage into the shed: Rob needs a light in there, and the ability to run the generator in the shed. This is going to involve digging a trench through the backyard.

Anyone want to come over for some ditch digging? Ha!  🙂

I’ll have some simple fall crafty projects to show you soon as well.  Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Thrifty Clothing Finds

This week, I went shopping for some clothes that Handy Boy needs for fall.  I went to a few stores and hit the clearance racks.  I never shop for “back to school clothes” before school starts.  Handy Boy can still wear his shorts and t-shirts for a while, and he seems to have a growth spurt every fall.

I would love to be able to get clothes for Handy Boy at thrift and consignment stores, but unfortunately, that’s not possible any more.  Second hand stores have more clothing for babies, toddlers, and younger children.  Handy Boy is a size 10 now, and I just can’t find clothes in that size in second hand stores.

I found some shirts on sale at Kohl’s and Sears.  I bought two short sleeved shirts and three long sleeved shirts.

I also took out these three shirts.  I had stored these shirts in Handy Boy’s dresser.  We bought them back in the spring from a clearance rack for $2.49 each!!  Can you believe it?

Here’s the proof:

I don’t like the idea of paying $24 for ONE SHIRT for a child, but $2.49?! Awesome!

Here are the two short sleeved shirts that I bought:

I recently found a site called thredup.  It’s an online site where you can trade gently used children’s clothing.  Unfortunately, there isn’t much for boy’s size 10 clothing there, either; but I thought I would pass along the info.

I absolutely hate paying full price for clothing for myself, Handy Man or Handy Boy.  We always check clearance racks, second hand stores and sales.  Last year, I bought Handy Boy a nice winter coat for $1 in a thrift store! ONE dollar!  Check out this post about some thrifty winter items I bought for Handy Boy last winter.  Click here to see the nice rain coat I bought for the Boy for $1.99.

Linking to: The Thrifty Home/It’s a Blog Party

How do you save money on clothing?

Back to School

Labor Day always means “Back to School” time to me.  When Handy Man and I were children, we always started school after Labor Day.  Handy Boy started last week.  Many children in different areas of the country have already been in school for several weeks.

I was (secretly) glad that Handy Boy started school last week so I can have some quiet time.  I have so many projects I want to work on!  I will start working part time in a couple of weeks, but until then, there’s lots to do…blogging, scrapbooking, laundry, dishes, more laundry, more dishes…

I had some fun buying new school supplies for the Boy.  He didn’t need much, thankfully.  I’ve heard of some school lists that are huge!

Good ole’ Crayola.  Remember how Crayola crayons smelled when you opened the box?  Sniffffff…ahhhhh!! They still smell the same.

Pink Pearl erasers, however, do not smell the same as when we were kids.  Handy Man agreed with me, they smell different.

Yeah, we spent some time sniffing school supplies.  You wanna make something of it?!

Here is the rainbow of papers that I had to fill out for Handy Boy this year…emergency contact forms and this and that.  Homework for mom…oh YAY.  It took me a couple of days to slog through all of it.

Even if you don’t have children (or don’t have children in school anymore), do you have projects planned for fall?  Some people do fall cleaning…fall organizing…get back into scrapbooking, sewing or other crafts.  Soon, it will be time to do fall chores around the yard as well.  Handy Man is trying to squeeze in as many projects as he can while the weather is still nice.

How about you?

So, Who is Ready for Halloween?

Yesterday, Handy Boy and I were in Rite Aid, and I saw a worker putting out some HALLOWEEN CANDY.  Yes, candy corn and snack  sized Halloween items.  Already.

I still have to buy Handy Boy some school supplies.  I know, nothing like waiting until the last minute.  Thankfully, the list is short, and I already have some of the supplies needed at home.  I think it’s a bit weird, though, to be looking for school supplies near Halloween Candy!

I’m not a fan of really hot weather, but I’m just not ready for fall yet.  We are having too much fun doing “summery” things.  Last summer in New England, it POURED most of the summer, and it really limited a lot of the things we wanted to do.  I think we are trying to make up for it this summer.  School starts soon, and there are still a few more things I wanted to squeeze in first, but I think we are going to run out of time.

Are there any home or yard projects you want to finish before back to school time (if you have kids?).  Many states have started school already.  Please write in the comments section about which projects you want to complete before fall really starts.  I refuse to believe that fall starts when they put out the Halloween candy!

There are several projects that I want to complete before school starts.  I need to order some photos for scrapbooking, do some actual SCRAPBOOKING, organize a few areas of the house, and put some photos of our old houses up on this blog.

Yikes.  I’d better get crackin’.

School’s Out!

Handy Boy brought home a big pile of school papers, notebooks, workbooks and art projects this week.

I just realized, this isn’t even the whole pile! I’ve gone through some of it already. Several papers are repetitive and can be recycled. Some papers will be saved for his school year scrapbook. During the school year, I put the papers I want to save in an accordion-type file; and go through it again at the end of the year. This is the final sort that I do to determine what I’ll save or toss.

Since I scrapbook, I put some papers (and his report cards) into the album. There are other items that I save in a large manilla envelope and label “3rd Grade.” I then put the large envelope into a canvas box I bought at Target:

This way, I don’t feel like I’m overrun with school papers, even though there are several that I want to keep.

One more tip: if your child has a large art project that is difficult to store, take a photo of it and keep the photo.  I don’t toss all of Handy Boy’s bulky art projects, but I just can’t keep them all, either.

Do you have any children’s school papers to deal with?  How do you handle it?

The Boy’s Room is Clean (for the moment)!

So!  It took some time on and off over 3 days, but Handy Boy and I finished cleaning up his room!

This bookcase is from my childhood.  My dad made it for us, and behind the dolls on the top shelf it says “1 2 3” and “P Q R.”

I guess when I was learning the alphabet, my favorite letters were “P Q R” and I used to repeat that a lot.

The antique desk is something that Handy Man and I bought before we even had Handy Boy.  He loves to sit at the desk and color, draw and play Legos.  Sometimes he does homework on it.  He usually does his homework in the kitchen.

Handy Boy’s closet is a masterpiece inside!  I will show how Handy Man built special shelves in the closet some time, to store all of Handy Boy’s “stuff.”  I just wanted a picture of the floor that will stay clean for about 5 minutes.

No picture of his bed at the moment, because I was washing sheets and blankets.

Oh, and the Wicked Big Lego Project?  That was sort of put on hold for a while, since we’ve all been taking turns being sick and such.  But we do hope to get back to it, eventually.  Handy Boy still loves his Legos, and he’s been good about keeping the sorted ones organized.

Declutter Challenge for a Monday

Here’s a project I’ve been working on lately.  I thought it would make a good Monday Decluttering Challenge.  I’ve been going through clothes and cleaning out and organizing some closets.  This is a picture of The Boy’s closet.  He has grown like a WEED lately, and I had to get him all new jeans and pull out some shirts that don’t fit.  There’s not much left!  I left a few long-sleeved shirts, but I will have to buy more of those in the fall.

Don’t worry about Handy Boy, we have stocked up on plenty of shorts and Spongebob t-shirts for the summer.  He is finally able to wear shorts, now that the weather has warmed up.

Over short amounts of time on different days, I went through the Boy’s closet and his dresser.  Each time, I had him try on a few things.  Of course he moaned and groaned, but it was the only way I could be sure of what fits or not, since he’s grown so much lately.  I put several items into bags for donation, and organized what was left.

This was a pretty easy project, since The Boy doesn’t have a lot of clothes.  Do you have a closet you could go through?  I think kids’ closets can either be a nightmare or pretty easy, depending on how many clothes they have!  If you have a large closet cleaning project to do, don’t do it all at once! Just do one section per day, over a week or two.  It will still get done, and you won’t have to devote a whole Saturday to it.  Place two bags near the closet: put donations into one, and put clothes you want to give to a friend’s child in the other bag. Ready, set, GO!

Ye Olde Changing Table

Handy Man and I bought this changing table waaaay back in about 2000, for the impending arrival of Handy Baby.  We found it in a consignment store that sold used and antique furniture and collectibles.  We liked it for several reasons:

– it was cheap

– it was sturdy, not flimsy like the changing tables we had been looking at in department stores

– it had nice, deep drawers for storage of all that baby “stuff”

– it was a project.  Handy Man painted it white, and we bought a nice pad to put on the top of it for baby changing.

– it was cheap.  Seriously, I think we paid less than $70 for it.

The old changing table has now turned into a storage dresser in our guest room upstairs.  I loved the changing table, its so cute and charming…but we’ve decided to put the new/old book case in its place.  We no longer have a baby that needs changing, obviously; and there is another dresser in that room for storage, along with an ample closet.

I’m not sure where the changing table will travel to on its next journey…perhaps we will sell it on Craigslist?  Maybe we’ll find a friend or family member who needs it? Farewell, ye olde changing table…

Wicked Big Lego Project

Handy Boy has decided that he’d like help organizing all of his gazillions of Legos.  Impossible, you say?

Perhaps.

This is just a mere portion of all the Legos that Handy Boy has, spread out on a blanket. To explain the excess a bit: Handy Boy asks for Legos for every Birthday and Christmas…he saves up his allowance money to buy sets…Handy Man gave him some Legos saved from when he was a boy…and one of our good friends gave Handy Boy some Legos when he outgrew playing with them. Handy Boy himself swears he will “NEVER, EVER” outgrow Legos, Ha!

Anyway, since Handy Boy is nearly 9 years old and asked me for help, I thought it was time to start organizing the Legos. Handy Man maintains that we will never get this all organized, so now I have to show him! 😉

We’ve started with some easy pieces first, the “guys”. We put them into these plastic containers.

The rest of the Legos, we are sorting by type into large and small Ziploc bags, for now:

We’ve been sorting for a few 15-30 minute sessions, so far. For those of you who laugh and say this will never work, a few thoughts:

– Handy Boy is a pretty organized, methodical child. He does like to sort things and keep his room fairly organized. He has gotten to the age where he wants to play with Legos almost constantly, but is frustrated with trying to find specific pieces. He is very excited by the few Lego sets he has put together more easily with the Legos that have been sorted.

– We don’t have any pets who will trample on the Legos, and Handy Boy doesn’t have any siblings. He does have a toddler cousin. I figure it will be easier to put the Legos away before she comes over, if they organized into containers, so I won’t have to hear complaints about “how hard it is to pick up Legos!”

– It could be hard to maintain order when Handy Boy has other friends over…but his friends are pretty good kids, and respectful, so we will see how it will work out.

Stay tuned to see just how long it takes to sort these, and what sort of containers we use for it. Handy Man and I have already looked at various inexpensive storage container at Lowe’s. I want to sort them into the baggies first, to get an idea of the amount and size of storage containers we will need.

Does anyone else have Legos around? How do you sort them…or not?

Friend Moving? Just Replace Them

Here is another letter that Handy Boy, age 8, wrote in school.  I had to post it here, it just cracked me up. I abbreviated the names for privacy. 

Dear Mom and Dad,

At recess I played tag with my friends and then played football.  I had a lot of fun doing that stuff.  The friends I played with were B, T, M, R and ummmm….K and C. 

T is moving on Tuesday and I will miss him alot!!!  But…I could replace him with someone when he moves away.  Luckily he will come to my birthday party!! Yay!!!

Letter From Handy Boy

At school, Handy Boy has to write letters to us to practice writing and spelling. I thought this one was wicked funny, so I’m posting it here. Remember, he’s 8. I’m typing it like he spells it, although his spelling was very good in this one:

Dear Mom and Dad,

When I got my report card on last Monday I got lots of A’s and B’s. My parents were proud of me and I was also proud of myself. A’s and B’s are good and I like those letters. This is also the first grade where I can get A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s. F is the worst grade you could ever get! If I ever get an F on my report card……….I WOULD BE GROUNDED FOR LIFE!!! so that’s why I try to work hard.

I will post some more letters from Handy Boy once in a while, some of them are hilarious.  He’s a funny little creature…

Coming soon: Recipe for the BEST Christmas cookies evah!

Winter Gear for Handy Boy (on the Cheap)

Since the weather is turning cold, I’ve been looking for some outerwear for Handy Boy for the upcoming winter. Handy Boy is 8 now, but ever since he was a baby, I’ve been shopping at consignment stores for his snowsuits. One year, I found a really nice, almost brand-new LL Bean snowsuit for him at a consignment store for about $18! Brand new snowsuits from LL Bean can cost $50 and UP! I decided that there is no way I’m paying $60ish for a snowsuit that he MIGHT wear for one winter.

Handy Man and I did some Goodwill shopping recently, and we bought the following items:

– snow pants, a hat, and some really warm gloves (the hat and gloves were brand new at Goodwill, but very inexpensive) for $19.99 total!

– and these really nice, barely-used, LL Bean snow boots for $6!

Handy Boy has a nice winter jacket from last year (another Goodwill purchase for about $10!) that he will wear again this winter, but next year I’ll  need to get him a new jacket, since he is growing so much.

Here in New England, it can get pretty expensive to outfit a child (or children!) with winter gear for playing outside.  You can shop sales, especially at the end of winter, but don’t rule out shopping at Goodwill, children’s consignment stores, or even yard sales, to find these things.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Handy Man, Crafty Woman and Handy Boy.

Pumpkin Massacre

Every year, Handy Man and Handy Boy carve a pumpkin to put out on the steps for Trick-or-Treaters to see. This year, my photos came out terrible…(I’m usually pretty good with the camera, but I blew it this time!), so I looked back to October 2007…when we had a pumpkin massacre!

The pumpkin that we picked out that year was very, VERY hard. Rob couldn’t cut into it with a regular knife, no matter how hard he tried. Handy Boy was getting a bit upset about it, thinking that we wouldn’t be able to get into it.

So Rob did the typical Handy Man thing.

He got out his reciprocating saw, and cut into it that way:

Problem solved!  Handy Man 1, bizarrely dense pumpkin, 0.

Actually, I found the only decent photo I took of this year’s pumpkin carving, it happens to be the pumpkin itself!

Mommy Vase

I don’t know where I ever read or heard about this, but somewhere, I got the idea to buy a little vase like this.  Mommy vases can hold little tiny flowers that children tend to pick for their Mommies.  🙂

I have NO idea how Handy Boy found even this little thing in the yard in October, but brought it in for me.   The vase is only 4 ” tall, and its perfect for little things like this.  It makes him happy to see his little flowers (and sometimes weeds!) in my tiny vase.