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Easy, Cheap, and Beautiful DIY Holiday Gifts

Posted in Blog, Millennial Housewife, Money
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small percentage, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping keep Millennial Housewife up and running!

DIY gifts are all the rage. More and more Millennials are choosing to make gifts from the heart instead of shopping at crowded and expensive department stores. Making your own gifts is personal, heartfelt, and the receiver feels the love that was put into it. Also, it can save you a lot of money. That is why I chose to make all of my gifts this year. But DIY isn’t always easy, I should know! I am not good at DIY!

Are you like me? Does the thought of DIY make you think you have to spend hours and hours surrounded by crafts that never will get completed?

Making presents this year is more of a necessity for me and my family. We don’t have a lot of extra cash to spend on expensive gifts. While I wish I could give people the world, we just can’t. And, I have a feeling a lot of Millennial Housewives are in the same boat. And, since we are also busy watching the kids, cleaning the house, cooking the food, and side-hustling, we don’t have much extra time to spare.

If I’m going to make my presents this year, I have to find something that is easy, cheap, and beautiful. I absolutely can NOT spend a ton of money on supplies, I have a toddler so I can NOT spend a lot of time, and I will NOT give somebody a cheap, thrown together macaroni necklace. Nope. So I’ve scoured Pinterest for the best easy, cheap, and beautiful DIY holiday gifts that even a craft-phobic person like myself can do.

1. Monogrammed Mug

 

This adorable mug gift comes from tinselbox.com. I absolutely love this website for amazing DIY holiday ideas! They even have a great holiday subscription box they will send to your door each month. I’ll post more about them later but check out this mug! It’s definitely easy, cheap, and beautiful!

All you need is a white mug, a letter sticker (for the person’s first or last name), and an oil-based sharpie!

First, clean the mug and make sure it’s dry. Put the sticker on the mug, and put dots around it or decorate how you like. Then peel the sticker off and bake it at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Voila! For a twist, try it with a black mug and a white sharpie! Ooooh!

And, if you want to go the extra mile, put something in it like a plant, coffee, or a Starbucks gift certificate.

Check out the directions and more great ideas here.

2. Tea Cup Bird Feeder

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Ok, I love anything to do with tea, and I have a feeling you know a few tea lovers yourself. Or perhaps bird lovers? Maybe both! So give them the gift of this adorable teacup bird feeder from asyouwishpottery.com. This is the easiest and cutest gift you can make.

All you need is E6000 glue, a tea cup (I’d look at a local antique store), scissors, and twine.

Glue the teacup on its side to the plate. Let it dry overnight. Then cut some twine and tie the twine around the handle. Add some bird feed and that’s it!

Check out the video here.

3. Melted Snowmen Hot Chocolate

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Something else I love, hot chocolate! This adorable gift is perfect for the chocolate lover you know and it’s so simple to make!

You need powdered hot chocolate, large marshmallows, sharpies, and a 1/2 pint mason jar.

Wash and dry the mason jar thoroughly. Fill the mason jar half way with the powdered hot chocolate, then add 3-4 marshmallows on top. Close up the mason jar and draw a cute snowman face on the outside of the mason jar with the sharpies. You can put a gift tag on top too!

Thanks growingupgabel.com for the inspiration!

4. Chalk Board Serving Tray

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This beautiful chalkboard serving tray comes curtesy of shanty-2-chic.com. It’s so easy to do and costs so little. You may have to make a trip to your local Home Depot, though, but I know you can do it!

You need a 2×12 framing board (have your local hardware store cut it to be 24″ long), wood stain (color of your choice), chalkboard spray paint, painters tape, power screwdriver, and 2 handles (they should come with screws but double check).

First, go to the hardware store and have them cut your board to be around 24″. Then apply the stain using gloves and a rag. After the stain dries, apply the painters tape to the edges. Then spray the chalkboard paint onto the uncovered area. After that dries, remove the tape and place the handles on either side. Screw them in with a power screwdriver. That’s it!

Here’s an easy to follow video tutorial.

5. Christmas Tea Tree

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Once again I have found an amazing gift for a tea lover. Thirstyfortea.com has come up with this cute gift that is so easy, even I can do it!

You’ll need a styrofoam cone, individually wrapped tea bags, glue gun with glue sticks, small paper mache boxes or some kind of short, round cylinder to use as the “stump”, wooden star, rice (for weighing down the tree).

First you want to place a small line of glue on the top of the tea bag, then place it on the bottom of the styrofoam cone until it sticks. Repeat this all around the bottom, then work your way up the top. Then glue the top of the paper mache box to the very bottom of the styrofoam cone. Fill the box with rice for more stability, then glue it to the top, creating the “stump” of the tree. Use the hot glue to place the star on top and you have yourself a Christmas tree!

For step-by-step instructions go here.

(Psst….maybe you can give this with the teacup bird feeder!)

So, when you have a few extra minutes to make your gifts, make sure you take the time to think about the person you are making it for, and really put love into it. I promise it will show. I want you to find a quiet spot, light a candle, put on some relaxing music, brew a cup of tea, and use the time to get into your work. Then you will truly be able to create your best work and enjoy doing it too.

Or, if you’d like to include your kids, I’ve found it best to get all the materials together first and make sure you do it in small increments. Kids sometimes don’t want to sit and make 10 handprints, they have better things to do like writing upon the wall! Give them a little to do each day and they will find as much joy in it as the person you are gifting it to.

So, enjoy making these beautiful DIY holiday gifts!

What are some of your favorite DIY gifts? Have you tried any of these? Let me know if the comments below or join our private Facebook Group here and let us know!

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How to Plan a Stress-Free Holiday Season

Posted in Blog, Millennial Housewife, Parenting

Traffic. Parking lots. Long lines. Packed malls. Money worries. Does this sound like your holiday season? It pexels-photo-54200sure sounds like mine. When those first Christmas commercials start showing up right after Halloween, my mind starts racing with all of the things I HAVE to do before the holidays arrive. Stress bubbles up inside me and I feel like there’s never enough time. Whatever happened to the days when the holidays were magical and joyful?

I’m going to offer you a simple way to plan a stress-free holiday season full of magic.

Close your eyes and think back on a time when you were young. The weather began to turn cold and the fireplace was cleaned out to make a nice cozy fire. Can you smell the warm embers and hear the crackling wood? Picture the lights on the houses, the warm sweaters you wear as you take a brisk walk. Maybe you had a Christmas tree that smelled of pine. You would carefully hang the ornaments and put your stockings on the fireplace. Or maybe you would help your mom or dad light the menorah and sing songs while the candles glowed bright. There was an anticipation of Santa or presents. Your family would gather together and there would be a feeling of magic everywhere.

Magic.

But somehow as we get older, the magic gets lost. By time. By money. By stress. It hides away buried beneath all that you have to do, the places you need to be, and the money you need to spend.

I recently attended a wonderful webinar by an old friend, Becca, from thedabblist.com. She talked about the slowing down of nature during this time of year, and how everything goes into rest. The trees, the plants, and the animals. It’s nature’s way of rejuvenating itself for the upcoming springtime. However, as nature is resting, we are entering the holiday season, where it seems as though we are ramping up and getting busier and more stressed. It is counterintuitive to what we should be doing. So how do we stop this? How do we get in touch with our more natural inner selves?

As Millennial Housewives a lot of the pressure of the holiday season rests on our shoulders. We decorate, shuttle the kids to all of their holiday activities, buy the gifts, and make the food. No wonder we feel ramped up. And the kids pick up on your energy. If you are stressed, they feel it too. And I know you as much as I want to make this holidays season magical for them just like it was for you.

Let’s do an exercise. 

First, get some snacks for the kiddos. Get yourself a nice cup of tea or wine (either works!). Find a spot where you can all gather together like the dining room table. Then set your kids up with some crayons and a piece of paper. You get one too. Ok, I want you all to write or draw everything you love about the holidays.

Ok, I want you all to write or draw everything you love about the holidays. When I say this holidays, I mean now through January 2, 2017.

For me, it’s being with family, watching my toddler open gifts and get excited about Santa, giving back, and shopping for a Christmas tree. I also love the smell of a warm fire, the twinkling of lights on houses, putting out milk and cookies, and lighting the menorah. (Little backstory, my family celebrated both holidays!)

Your turn. Write everything you love about the holidays. Have you kids draw their favorite things. Then sit down as a family and show each other what you came up with. Talk about it. Share. Maybe that will lead you into talking about fun things that happened in holidays before.

Can you start to feel the joy? The magic is already working.

Next step. 

You and the kiddos can now brainstorm on all of the things you WANT to do this holiday season. Not need. Want. For example, I WANT to go to the Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree, I want to take a night to decorate it, I want to make my own gifts this year, I want to take a walk in our neighborhood to see the Christmas lights, I want to have dinner with our family.  

Your want list should include things that are going to be whole family activities. It should be things that will bring you together. Activities that would bring you joy. Things that would bring out the magic in the season.

Your turn. Have the kids share their ideas as well and write them down.

Remember, there are things you feel like you HAVE to do versus WANT. But, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It’s ok to say no when you are feeling overwhelmed. Give yourself and your family a few free passes. I know I love to participate in everything and go to every party and event, but sometimes that gets to be too much, especially for my toddler, so I have to say no. You don’t have to spend a ton of money shopping. You don’t have to go to your husband’s boss’ wife’s baking party, you don’t have to stand in long lines at the mall.

Have you guys written them down? Great!

Take a break and have some snacks and drink some tea.

Ok, back to work!

Have to

Now that you have your want list, you can look at your HAVE to list. But be very careful with this. I want your HAVE to list to be smaller than your WANT list. If you can , keep it under 10 items and make sure they are a must. But after each one, write why it is a have to with a want to. Sound confusing? Let me show you.

Here are my have to’s:

  1.   Host Thanksgiving dinner at my house, because I want to have my family over.
  2.   Save money so I can buy my toddler 2 specific toys because I want to make sure I see the smile on her face when she gets them.
  3.   Decorate my house, because I want to come home and see it look beautiful every day.
  4.   Go to my in-laws Christmas pizza party, because I want to celebrate with my family.
  5.   Work on my blog and Etsy shop, because I want to be successful and my readers are counting on me.

Ok, your turn! Make sure to include your kids. Maybe they have a Christmas concert they are in that you have to go to. Or maybe they have to do a special school project. But always make sure to include a want to. By doing this it makes it more meaningful and less stressful.

Wish list

Take a look at both lists. Compare all your lists with your family members. Now perhaps some things on your wants need to be moved to your wish list. These are things that would be great to have but perhaps won’t work for everyone. Each person gets their own wish list. It could be whatever they want to put on there. 

Here’s my wish list:

  • Put up more family photos
  • Hire a house cleaner the day before Thanksgiving
  • Watch the movie “Elf” while drinking hot chocolate
  • Go to the tree lighting festival downtown

Have you and your kids write or draw their wish list.

Plan it!

Now it’s time to write it down on the calendar! Get out your Google calendar (because I know you have one, Millennial), and put down that dates of all of the things you have to do from nor through January 2, 2017. Make sure those days are blocked off. Ok, next fill in the calendar with the wants. 

Be careful, because this is where it gets tricky. Sometimes people want to do a lot of things, and it’s great to try to get to them all. But, if you start to notice that there is no room on your calendar to do everything and you don’t have any days off, it’s too much. Stop, take a step back, and make a plan.

Take a moment to find out what’s really important to you and your kids. Figure out which of the wants is going to be the most meaningful and create the best memories for your family. If the want is to go to the mall to get that matching outfit for your American Girl doll, maybe that can go on the wish list. Find a way to make it work for everyone.

And, most importantly, give yourselves time and days where you are doing nothing. Nothing. These are the days where you can take a breath and relax. Where you can wind down, like nature. Reserve those days for walks and cozy fires.

Your wish list can be filled in where you see gaps. Maybe each person in the family gets 1-2 days where they can fill in their wish list item. Then if you have time, you can try to get to more.

Get ready to party (and relax)

Ok, so now you have everything on the calendar. Yay!! I’m so proud. Now you can see how much time you have for everything. You can see how much time you have to make your gifts (and not run around trying to get them last minute). You can plan ahead to book that cabin in the mountains (because I always wait till the last minute). You can see those days that you and your family will come together, relax, and enjoy the holidays.

Phew. Do you feel better? Now your planning is all done and you can sit back and enjoy the ride. It’ll still get busy, but you’ve prioritized the things that will be special for your family, build happy memories, and create some magic.

So let’s take a deep cleansing breath. Give your kids a hug and tell them they did a great job. And, admire this calendar you built together with love. Most importantly, look ahead to all of the wonderful things the holidays bring.

What are your favorite things about the holidays? What did your family come up with? Let me know in the comments below!

Oh, and coming soon will be a post of the best (and easiest, oh and cheapest) handmade gifts you can make with your kids!

 

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Do you Struggle with Meals? Try these Simple Meal Helpers!

Posted in Blog, Cooking, Parenting

Millennial Housewives have to do it all. Raising the wild mini-yous, side-hustling, cleaning the milk off the counter,meal-helpers-1
and eventually trying to cook a meal while your toddler spills flour all over the floor. Don’t you wish there were some sort of fairies that turned into meal helpers?

Well, they aren’t fairies, but there are some apps that can help!

I know how you feel. After a long day watching the kids, trying to get some work done, and constantly bending over picking up toys, the last thing you want to do is stand in the kitchen and make a big meal for your family. I usually throw some pasta in a pot, heat up some sauce, and throw some lettuce in a bowl. It’s not fancy, but it feeds my family.

But, I’m trying really hard to eat healthy and make my family better food, and I know you are too.

So, here are a few apps or services you can use to make your family some meals they actually want to eat.

Blue Apron

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This company sends you a box with all the ingredients you need to make an entire meal. You get to select the number of meals you want and if you have any special dietary needs. Once a week this giant box arrives at your doorstep with everything portioned out and the recipes to make the meals. It’s that simple.

Pros: The meals are actually pretty good, they are healthy, and I love that they come to your door already portioned out. I was able to make some tasty food for my family that they actually want to eat and the recipes were easy to follow.

Cons: Dishes! So many dishes! In the directions they have you place everything in small bowls. You don’t have to, but even if you don’t, you still end up with a lot of dishes. So, it doesn’t make clean up any easier. And, they give you just enough food for that meal, and we rarely had leftovers, so it’s a lot of effort for one meal.

Produce Delivery Box

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There are many companies out there now-a-days that will deliver fresh, local, and even organic produce right to your door. Farm Fresh to You, The Produce Box, and Mother Earth Produce to name a few. You can pick and choose how much produce to get delivered and you may even get to try some interesting veggies you’ve never seen before! A nice, healthy addition to your meal.

Pros: You get local, organic, fresh fruits and veggies delivered straight to your door. Your family can conveniently eat healthy and it will expose your kids to all sorts of new veggies they can try. It’s a easy and fresh way to prepare meals.

Cons: Sometimes the fruits and veggies you get aren’t recognizable. Therefore, it takes a little extra effort to look up online how to prepare them. Also, if you don’t like something you might have a lot of extra leftovers. Also, produce doesn’t last long so you have to prepare it within the week, or freeze it (which isn’t great for some veggies).

 Munchery

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This food delivery service actually delivers pre-made dinners to your door, so no more cooking! You just have to heat them up and put them on the plate. You can go to the website to see what they are serving for the week and pick out what you want. Seriously, for a busy mom it doesn’t get any easier.

Pros: The meal comes already prepared so you just have to heat it and serve. They use local fresh ingredients and every time you buy a meal they donate to the local food bank! You can eat gourmet meals for about the same cost as take-out without the hassle of going to pick it up. You can order all online which makes it super convenient.

Cons: Each meal is pretty much enough for one night, so you won’t have left-overs. And, they are a little more gourmet, so it might not always be something you kids will like. (Unless you have kids with fancy taste!). If you have people with big appetites, it might not be enough food, or you might need to order more meals. But, for an average person, the portion sizes are pretty good.

There are plenty of delivery services like these out there and you need to check to see which ones deliver to your area. Companies like Plated, Imperfect Produce (which just came to my area and I want to try!), and Freshly all do about the same thing. It’s pretty amazing how much help there is out there for Millennial Housewives when it comes to preparing healthy meals for her family. You just need to know where to look! Happy cooking!

 

Have you tried any of these services? What were your thoughts?

 

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8 Silly Ways to Clean with Your Kids

Posted in Blog, Cleaning, Parenting
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I get a small portion of the sale at no cost to you. It helps me to keep this site going so I can provide you with more Millennial goodies!

Cleaning is not fun. There’s no way around it. Scrubbing tile until your hands are sore, washing dishes until your fingers are wrinkled, dusting until your allergies act up. That’s how it has to be for a Housewife.

Or is it?

It used to be that the housewife of the ’50’s put their child in their playpen with a few toys while they spent hours cleaning. The Millennial Housewife has no time for that, or patience. We don’t want our child to be left alone to fend for themselves. The whole reason we chose to stay home and not work was to be with our children, not clean the house!

But, the challenge in including our kids in the cleaning is this….

Look familiar? I know it does to me! You put one thing away and they take out 5 more. It’s a never-ending cycle. Then your hubby comes home and asks, “What did you do all day?” and you just about loose it. Steam comes out of your ears and you turn into a ferocious dragon. Yup, that’s me too.

But, what if there was a better way? I’m not saying it’s going to fix everything, but maybe it’ll allow you to get a few things done, and you might just enjoy it.

Millennials want everything to be easy, streamlined, and simple. And fun is an extra bonus. So can cleaning really be simple? Can it even be….fun? Is there actually a way to include our children?

The answer is a big, fat YES!

I’ve taken a few hints from our good friend, Pippy Longstalking, who I used to watch as a kid. She (along with her monkey and horse) would attach brushes to her feet and skate around the house singing while she cleaned. You can also take a hint from Mary Poppins and “whistle while you work”, or at least put on some upbeat music.

So here are 8 silly ways to clean with your kids!

1. Crawling and Cleaning

Get out dry Swiffer Dry Sweeping Cloths or just a few rags and put them under your hands and knees, then give your kids the same to put under their hands and knees and crawl around on the floor. You can pretend you are tigers or doggies and make sure you are sliding the cloths or rags along with you. Crawl over all the hard floor surfaces and you’ll just see how much dirt you pick up! And you’ll get a few good laughs out of it too!

2. Mirror Glass Cleaning

Remember the baby in the video and how she was licking the window as the mom was trying to clean it? That doesn’t have to be you! Give the baby a rag and spray some all-natural cleaner (just in case she takes lick) and go on the other side of the window. Then have her mirror your images as you clean both sides. Make some silly faces while you’re at it!

3. Laundry Basketball

Instead of having your little one take the laundry out, have them help you put it in the dryer or get a step stool and have them “toss” it into the washing machine like a basketball. Talk about the types of clothes and their colors and textures to make it a little more educational!

4. Vacuum Races

There are lots of fun ways vacuuming can be fun (ok, not really). But get your little one their own pretend vacuum. Or, give them a toy ride-on car or toy truck to race with. Make a starting line on one side of the room and a finish line on the other. It could be anything, like a stuffed animal or a ball. Start your engines, then race! You can go back and forth and soon the whole carpet will be clean!

5. Clean Up Rewards

Right before my hubby gets home I find myself frantically picking up a million gazillion toys in an attempt to make it look clean. But, I find it’s better to let the kids do the cleaning. Offer them a sticker for every 5 toys they pick up. Or up the anti with a jelly bean or their favorite treat. Then watch how fast they clean up! You can also get them started by racing them!

6. Dish Washing Fun

Washing dishes is never fun, but put a bucket in the sink next to you and add a few toys, and your little one will be entertained for a little while. You can even show her the different plates and utensils you are washing and let her dip them in her water bucket to rinse them off. Add some soap to the bucket for bubble fun! It’s simple, easy, and keeps your little one from watching too much screen time.

7. Shaving Cream

Yup, you heard me. Take some of your shaving cream (or Daddy’s!) and spray a big pile on the dining table. Then let your kid have at it. You can add toys (basically anything you can wash easily) and they can pretend it’s snow and spread it all over the table. When they are done, simply wash the kid and wipe the table off and voila! Everything is clean (and smells nice too!). Your kid just cleaned the table, their toys, and their hands. Easy.

8. Dust Buddy

It’s no secret that my toddler loves to dust. And I’ve found that lots of little kids out there, for some reason or another, love wipes! So, use that to your advantage, hand your little one a wipe, clear off the counter tops, and both of you dust away! Sing songs while you’re dusting to keep it fun, and spray some all-natural cleaner on the surface and watch how excited your kid gets to wipe it off. It’s so simple, but they love it!

 

Try all of these or some, and adapt them to your own family! Make up your own silly games or have your kids come up with them. It’s the best of both worlds when you can clean and have fun with your kids at the same time, and it teaches them cleanliness, responsibility, and just how silly mom can be!

 

Do you have different ideas for how you can play and clean? What are some of your cleaning hacks? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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