Mommy Rantings Bowdabra Christmas Review and Giveaway! Ends Dec. 31

You must check out this wonderful giveaway that is going on right now ! It is hosted by mommy rantings and ends dec.31st so get those entries in . here is the link
http://imnotnagging.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-bowdabra-christmas-review-and.htmlhttp://imnotnagging.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-bowdabra-christmas-review-and.html

Holiday Traditions: Something Old, Something New

Family traditions are what the holidays are all about. Creating these family traditions with your children during the holiday season is definitely a tradition in itself! Each year, thousands of families celebrate the holidays with old traditions – and, quite often, they try out a new tradition or two, as well. I’m challenging everyone this year to focus on mixing the old traditions with a brand new family tradition!

A look at our “old traditions”? How can we make them “new”?

Decorating the tree as a family…bring out the old decorations, but then add in some new ones to make the tree look different this year! Make some bows with the Bowdabra to decorate the tree with, or turn some old ornaments into new ones with mini-bows made with the mini-Bowdabra.

Bake the traditional Christmas breads, pies and cookies, but add in some other favorites, like cupcakes, for the children to decorate. Wouldn’t Santa just love cupcakes, instead of cookies, for Christmas this year?

Listen to Christmas tunes…but, this year, listen to some of the new tunes by new artists that your children are listening to on the radio.

Watch an oldie-but-goodie holiday movie with your children and then watch a new one!

To continue reading, check out the full article Holiday Traditions: Something Old, Something New.

About the Author

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Re-Gifting ... the new chic

Fashion designers are creating a buzz on ramps across the globe with their environmentally friendly collections urging us to think recycle and green!

This holiday season, its trendy to apply this line of thought to gift giving as well!

It is now “chic” to be frugal and “re-gift,!”
 

Unleash your creativity at home by making wonderful crafts or baked goods, turning them into adorable goodies worth gifting. From handcrafted hair bows, to handmade jewelry, soaps, handmade candles, the possibilities are endless.

Chances are you may not even have to purchase these items from the store. About eighty percent of these items may be “hiding in plain site” in your home.

Take a look around. Didn’t you notice that satin ribbon “fraying” from your beautiful summer dress that is so “ten seasons ago!” Rip it off and turn it into a bow! Adorn a piece of handmade soap with it, or attach a pendant and make a necklace out of it.

To continue reading, check out the full Re-Gifting ... the New Chic article right now!

About the Author

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

10 Frugal Tips for Gift Wrapping

For the frugal holiday lovers, I have some gift wrapping tips for you! If you’re tired of spending a ton of money and feeling like the gift wrapping process is tedious, you’ll be happy to know that just a tad bit of imagination and a touch of love can create some attractively wrapped gifts. So, gather up the swaths of cloth, paper bags, and crafting supplies and get ready to have some fun with wrapping this holiday season. Have a wrapping party with your friends or let your kids invite some buddies over to join in the festivities.

1. Leftover pieces of fabric can make softly textured gift wrappers. Use the fabric that is lying around your house to add some creative holiday designs with puffy fabric paint for a three-dimensional, rich quality appeal.
2. Jazz up gifts with some paper bags and craft paper. There are a million ways to decorate presents when wrapped this way! Wrap, decorate…how the gifts come out is completely up to you and whoever is wrapping presents with you. Have your children dip their hands in washable paint and decorate the plain paper with handprints – wouldn’t their grandparents love their personalized paper? *Clever hints: You can recycle your brown paper bags and fasten them shut with double sided sticky tape. Blend the extra seams of the paper bag into the decorative pattern.
3. Instead of a box, use an ice cream container. Decorate the box with odds and ends around the house; you can use some ribbon, flowers, and if it’s for the kids, some colorful, fluffy pom poms are cute.
4. When you run out of wrapping paper in the middle of a present, create a mosaic by adorning the seams with ribbons, beads fabrics or colored duct tape.
5. Use the Bowdabra to make economical and unique bows. To be even more frugal, you can repurpose the scraps of ribbons that you find around your house to design a very distinctive bow.
6. 
7. Use the Christmas cards from last year to create personalized gift tags. Decorate them with scraps of ribbon or fabric, candy, buttons, or glitter.
8. For larger presents, place them into a pillow case and tie them off with a gorgeous bow. For an even larger gift, run to one of the many dollar stores and purchase an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth or fabric remnant.
9. Let your children design some art work. When you wrap presents in children’s artwork, the artwork poses as a wonderful present, too. Artwork is great giftwrap for both grandparents and teachers.
10. Shop at the end of the season. Once Christmas is over, wrapping paper is marked down to prices with amazing savings. Be sure to hit the after Christmas sales and store the paper in a cool, dry spot for the next year.
11. Instead of using scotch tape, try using dots of glue or colorful duct tape.

A bit of imagination, ingenuity and some “crafting time” thrown together can save money and create some fabulous looking gifts. Be sure to look around you house for materials that you could use to wrap and decorate with. The sky is the limit when you “think outside of the box”.

About the Author

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Homemade Gifts Kids Can Make

What better way to teach children the true spirit of the holidays than by helping them to make homemade gifts for their friends and family?  This year families are searching for ways to make holiday traditions without all of the costly expenditures, and I have some of the cutest and most inexpensive ideas to make that happen.

There is an immeasurable value in doing arts and crafts with your children.  I hope that all of you parents and teachers will use the free holiday gift making instructions on the Crafters 4 Kids website to help children create gifts for their family and friends this year.

Here are just a few:
Holiday Pencil Toppers – Children can create pencil toppers with pipe cleaners.  This is a perfect gift for teachers, classmates, and school age siblings.


Holiday Notepad – Personalize a notepad with foam holiday decorations and give it to adult relatives.  It can be used as a phone message pad, a grocery list, or a place to jot notes.  Children can make an additional notepad for school and use it as an autograph book to remember their friends over Christmas break.


Jewelry – Foam is the perfect crafting material for children.  Children can cut foam into strips, add ribbon, and decorate for fun cuffs and bracelets. This craft requires limited supervision and children can really use their imagination with it.  They can make several different styles depending on the gift recipient.


Decorated Wooden Boxes – Use simple wooden boxes and decorate them with little miniatures tailored to the gift recipient.   Add a little gift or gift certificate inside of the box.


Holiday Coasters – This craft uses recycled lids from glass jars and foam and transforms them into something very useful like coasters.  Children will roll strips of foam and place them into the lid in a mosaic like pattern.  No two coasters will look exactly alike!
 

About the Author

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Who’s Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

What’s on the top of eco-conscious people’s Christmas wish lists? A “greener” Christmas, that’s what! People are searching for eco-friendly, inexpensive holiday decorations and gifts this year. As a matter of fact, Deloitte has announced that one out of five consumers will be purchasing more eco-friendly products during the 2010 holiday season.  Consumers will be seeking out companies that maintain sustainable practices and products – and they’re not shy about the price of these “green” products, as 17% of consumers reported that they are willing to pay a little more to do their part conserve and save the Earth.

The top two things on the list for conserving the environment this year are:

1)      Skipping the plastic bags. A lot of stores offer handy (and eco-friendly) bags with handles for a minimal fee. Many of these bags are made of canvas and you can use them anywhere you shop. Just because you buy the bags at the grocery store doesn’t mean you can’t use them at the Dollar General or any other store that you choose to do your holiday shopping in.

2)      Gift wrapping will be either eliminated or people will use materials including fabrics and vinyl tablecloths that can be reused for the next season or crafting projects. There are also recyclable wrapping papers to choose from, so keep your eyes open and read the labels when you are shopping.

The Christmas Tree Dilemma


People are wondering if cutting down the real Christmas trees is worse for the environment than buying an artificial tree. The answer is: NO! There are organic tree farms that grow their trees without causing any harm to the environment, plus they specifically grow the trees for the Christmas season and plan to plant more each year. Jus the chemicals that are emitted into the atmosphere while making the artificial trees is bad enough, let alone the fact that they are made out of PVC or non-renewable plastics, which will sit in landfills for years to come when they are thrown out.

You can elect to go without the tree this year to show how environmentally friendly you are, but most of us enjoy the sweet smell of fresh pine, so find an organic tree farm in your area and do your part to have a greener Christmas this year.

Green Lighting

What’s Christmas without the lights? LED lights are the environmental choice this year. They use less electricity, which means you will spend less money on your electricity bill also!

Christmas Cards

You can go in several different directions with holiday cards. The e-card is a bit less personal than the traditional holiday cards, but people are definitely trying out this avenue for their holiday greetings this year. If you can’t tear yourself away from the old-fashioned card-and-envelop-in-the-mail routine, try looking for greeting cards made with recyclable paper.

After the holidays, you can pack the cards that you received this year and reuse them next year. Simply cut them up into small square and rectangular shapes and use them as gift tags.

These are just a few ideas to help you green your Christmas this year. If you are interested in more “green” holiday ideas, stay tuned…I’ll be posting up some green holiday decorating ideas for this season in the near future.

Happy Holidays from your Bowdabra Family!

About the Author

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com