~kid~ lunch box notecards

Send a cute little foldable notecard to your child. Personalize with your own message on the inside. Just cut and fold these 7 different cute monster lunch box notecards. I think they're cute for boys or girls.  Each one has a cute little guy on the outside and is blank on the inside. Here's your FREE downloadable PDF. Enjoy!   notecards

featured on this linky party!

green your house cleaning products

My friend Zinnia gave me these recipes to green household cleaners. These are all natural so you don't have to worry about the kids helping out with the cleaning or the chemicals you're breathing while cleaning. Thanks Z, these are fantastic!

These simple, easy-to-find ingredients are all you need to make green cleaners:
• Baking soda
• Borax (usually found near powdered laundry soap in supermarkets)
• Castile soap (We use Dr. Bronner’s)
• Distilled white vinegar
• Essential oils (we like to use orange, lemon, lavender, oregano, and bergamot)
• Purified/filtered water

All-Purpose Cleaner Spray

Replaces Formula 409 or the likes: Use for all surfaces, countertops, sinks, floors, etc.

RECIPE

• 2 Tbsp. castile soap
• 2 tsp. borax
• 3–5 drops each:
Lemon essential oil
Orange essential oil
• 5 oz. hot, filtered water
• 8 oz. distilled white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine castile soap, borax, essential oils, and hot water in 32 oz. spray bottle Replace top and shake to mix contents.
2. Add vinegar and fill to 32 oz. line with hot filtered water. Replace top and shake again to mix ingredients.
3. Spray and wipe on counters/surfaces.

Glass & Degreaser Spray

Replaces Windex: Use to degrease all glass surfaces (mirrors, windows, microwave front) or to degrease sinks, countertops, cabinets, floors, and so on. (It’s perfect for removing mineral deposits and soap residue on sinks, too!)

RECIPE

• 8 oz. distilled white vinegar
• 24 oz. filtered water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in 32 oz. spray bottle.
2. Replace top and shake to mix contents. Spray and wipe dry.

Bathroom & Disinfectant Spray

Replaces Lysol: for all surfaces in need of disinfection (toilet surfaces, door handles, bathroom sink, etc.). Kills bacteria, viruses, fungi. Use on toilet/surfaces to disinfect and kill germs. Note: For disinfection, spray needs to sit on surface for 5–10 min.

RECIPE

• 1 tsp. castile soap
• 10–12 drops each:
Oregano essential oil
Lemon essential oil
• 5 oz. hot, filtered water
• 27 oz. distilled white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine soap, both essential oils, and hot water in a 32 oz. spray bottle. Replace top and shake to combine contents.
2. Add vinegar, filling to 32 oz. line. Replace top and shake to mix contents.
3. Spray on surface to disinfect, let sit 5–10 minutes, then wipe dry.

Sink Scrub/Drain Opener/Toilet Bowl Cleanser

Replaces Comet and Drano: Green ingredients like vinegar and baking soda even work in a super-cleansing capacity!

Drain Opener

RECIPE

• 4 Tbsp. baking soda
• 8 oz. hot water
• 4 oz. distilled white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine baking soda and hot water in an 8 oz. cup and pour into drain.
2. Pour white vinegar into drain, and cover. Let sit 30 min. and rinse with hot water.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

RECIPE

• 1 cup baking soda
• 8 oz. distilled white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine ingredients in toilet bowl.
2. Scrub and let sit 30 min. or overnight.
3. Flush toilet to rinse.
4. To finish, spray toilet bowl with Bathroom & Disinfectant Spray and let dry.

Sink Scrub

RECIPE

• Baking soda
• Distilled white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sprinkle both ingredients into the sink and mix into a paste.
2. Scrub and rinse. For tough stains, let sit 30 min. before rinsing.

Air Freshener

Replaces chemical-based air fresheners like Febreeze: Essential oils and filtered water are all you need to keep things smelling fresh. (And at C&T Publishing, where everybody shares just 2 bathrooms, this is important!)

RECIPE

• 3–5 drops each:
Orange essential oil
Lemon essential oil
Bergamot or lavender essential oil
Castile soap
• 12 oz. filtered water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients with half of the water in a 12 oz. spray bottle. Replace top and shake to mix contents.
2. Fill to top with remaining filtered water. Spray as needed.

dessert

I just want to talk about dessert for a second because my kids always want to know "what's for dessert?" Dessert can be healthy so I usually offer delicious fruit that's in season or a sweet with a nice tall glass of cold milk.

Easy and somewhat healthy desserts:

• diced strawberries topped with a drizzle of chocolate


• hot milk sweetened with a teaspoon of honey


• a bowl of pomegranate seeds in the shell is a fun dessert for the kids (just put an apron on them)


• sliced granny smith apples with caramel dipping sauce


• multigrain waffle  topped with fresh berries and a drizzle of real maple syrup


• plain yogurt topped with honey and toasted almonds


• cracker topped with mascarpone cheese, honey and strawberry


• DIY orange juice pops pour half oj put a dollop of frozen vanilla yogurt then finish with more oj (yummy creamsicles)


• banana smoothy - just banana and milk whipped up with a little ice so it's really cold, sometimes I put a little chocolate

Make a wish and save your chicken bones

I saw this table setting idea on Martha Stewart and I love it! Start roasting chickens and saving the wishbones. Our family has always done the wishing bone game but never with such pretty and magical looking bones.

Wishbone Napkin Ring

To make "silver" napkin rings, save wishbones from roast chickens, wash and dry them thoroughly, and spray them with chrome paint. On each one, string silver cord from tip to tip; wrap it six times around the bone, and tie it off.

lunch box thank you notes

This month I am making a special effort to write a little note to my kids each day letting them know what I am thankful for and how special they are.

Here is a FREE downloadable PDF of  blank fall note cards to be used for whatever you like.

fallcards

Pancake chicken nuggets

Going to the grocery store with the 3 kids is not happening. So if I can't get to the grocery store, I just have to make due with whatever is in the house. This day it was frozen chicken strips and pancake batter.

• pancake batter


• frozen chicken strips

I cut the strips into nuggets size pieces dipped them in pancake batter and fried them.

maple syrup mustard dipping sauce

• real maple syrup


• mustard


• mayo


• cream cheese

mix and serve with the pancake chicken nuggets.

accordion book craft

Sitting on my desk is a READY-TO-GO accordion book.

Last year I purchased 25 Accordion Blank Board Books, as a donation to my daughter’s preschool classroom. I gave them to the teacher and asked “Do you think you could use these for something?”

I didn’t give her any suggestions on what she could possibly do, just to see what she might come up with. I was surprised, along with the rest of the parents, at the end of the year “graduation” with a gift from the teachers, an accordion photo album, highlighting big events throughout the school year. There are photos of Livi with Santa, at the pumpkin patch, a class photo of all the children in their Halloween costumes, the fire station field trip (a photo of Livi and a firefighter spraying the fire hose, priceless), the St. Jude’s Trike-a-Thon, and they even had the kids do handprint turkeys. It is such a nice remembrance of my daughter Livi’s preschool year.

The best part of it was something that was completely unplanned by the teachers. When you fold the accordion in, you can see at the same time a photo of your child from the first day of school along side of a photo of your child at the end of the year, both photos include your child’s height. Almost every child grew 2 inches and they all transformed from toddlers at the beginning of the year, into young children ready for kindergarten at the end of the year. It is so amazing to see this change in a single school year!

sock puppet fun!

This is a really fun rainy day activity and you probably already have all the supplies you need. Get out your scraps of fabric, felt, yarn leftovers, sequence, buttons and any other fun accessories.

We used socks, felt, yarn, googly eyes, fabric, beads, chenille sticks and adhered with fabritac.

The cape for Super Hudson is just a piece of felt turned over a piece of yarn and glued down. The mask is a rectangle piece of felt with a piece of chenille stick wrapped around a googly eye.

The hair for both puppets was made in the same way. Tie a piece of yarn into a hoop. Then take pieces of yarn and tie them around that piece at whatever length you want them to be. You can always trim after you glue it down.

We thought of all kinds of ideas for the puppets we could make like: bugs, flowers, clowns, dogs, cats, dinosaurs. We even thought about making puppets to re-enact a story like Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the end, my children (being a typical boy-boy and little princess) chose to make a super hero and a princess, not surprisingly.

Chewy Andes Peppermint Crunch Cookies

I'm in the mood for baking. We went to a friend's house for dinner and her husband made the best cookies ever!  See the recipe below.

I just love this artist. Her paintings are so colorful and happy. They really make you feel good. This one in particular makes me think of my family. We just need to add a baby and a little boy.

Check out her website for more amazing representations of Latina woman and settings. http://www.carterholman.com/

Chewy Andes Peppermint Crunch Cookies

1 cup unsalted Butter, softened

1 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated Sugar

1 large Egg

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 3/4 cups Flour

1 cup old fashioned Oats

1 cup sweetened Flaked Coconut

1 1/2 cups Andes® Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips(mix to taste) and chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Beat in egg and vanilla extract. On low speed, add baking soda and salt, and then flour. Mix completely. Stir in oats, coconut, pecans, and Andes baking chips. Measure out 2 teaspoons for large or 1 tablespoons for small cookies. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Press lightly. Bake for 20 minutes for large cookies or 12-15 minutes for small.

Personal Library Bookplates

{Etsy find} I think this is a great idea and they are so pretty!

Personal Library Bookplates

Sharing books is a great way to save money and start a book sharing club! Now you can keep track of who has what book with your own personal library bookplate. Affix the bookplate inside your book and keep the card in the book sharing bag to keep track of who has what books. 

Each personal library bookplate is a complete set of 1 hand printed linen bag, 3 hand printed bookplates and 6 library cards.

Book Sharing Linen bag - 3.75" w x 5.75"h
Bookplate - 3.25"w x 5.325"h

Happy Book Sharing!

I am happy to combine shipping with other purchases.

Please note that colors may slightly vary depending on your monitor's color and contrast settings.

Thanks for looking!

Mary Kate

© 2010 Mary Kate McDevitt

Eco-friendly tip for a longer lasting carved pumpkin

-greenTIP-

• soak carved pumpkin in a 50/50 solution of borax and water then dry thoroughly


• Everyday spray a little borax solution in pumpkin and around the carved area

-greenTIP-

• Don't throw away the seeds, place them in a bird feeder, or leave them out for the squirrels


• We roast and salt our seeds (yummy)


• Also, Compost your pumpkin after halloween

Reach For The Sky Woody and Jesse

YAY! I completed the kids costumes. Woody and Jesse turned out to be pretty easy to make. A pair of jeans, a couple thrift store finds, and some fabric. I just loosly stitched the faux cow hide to a vest for Woody and a pair of jeans for Jesse. For Jesse’s shirt, I fabri-tacked the cording and the satin ribbon for the sleeves. The kids are so happy with their costumes that mom made.

See my previous post for the holsters.

Halloween Goodie Tubes

These are awesome! I found the tutorial here: the muddy princess

The Town Hall Halloween Ball

They're bob, bob, bobbing for apples

They're sip, sip sippin' on cider

They're pop, pop, poppin' their popcorn

and they're packin' in the  puuunkin pie (say with lots of attitude)

at the town hall Halloween ball

I found some links to unusual pumpkin pie recipes

Recipe: Pumpkin Praline Pie

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Dip

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

recipe: Pumpkin whoopie pie

recipe:pumpkin pie drop cookies

-Tip- Roasting Pumpkins for Pie

Start by washing the pie pumpkin (a great variety for pies is Baby Pam) and then break off the stem and hack it in half.  Then scoop out the seeds.  Fill a 13×9″ pan with 1/4″ water.  Place pumpkins skin side up and roast at 400 degrees until very tender… This usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

Scoop the soft flesh from the skins and puree in a food processor with desired spices.  Use in the same porportions for pie as with a canned recipe.

Taste the difference!

Avocado Dip

Easy-n-Yummy Avocado Dip

I think that these ingredients bring out the essence of the avocado. Of course it's great with fresh tortilla chips.

• fresh ripe avocado


• juicy lemon


• sea salt


• fresh cracked pepper


• canned diced mild green chili peppers

Chop, sprinkle, juice and mix to taste.

Halloween coloring book page

Free downloadable PDF coloring book page. Illustrated by me. Enjoy!

colorpage_halloween

featured at it's so very cheri

Marvin the Misunderstood Spider Ball

I found this baby toy on Etsy. Isn't he cute?

Marvin is made with 100% cotton, super soft flannel and stuffed with high loft poly-fil. A Zady®Ball is about 7 inches in diameter with 8 knotted strings (LEGS), each about 1/2 inch wide and 5 inches long. A bell is included inside!
***100% MACHINE WASHABLE***

homemade baby food purée

I make all my baby's food and he is the best eater of my 3 kids. These are some of my different blends for purées.

• carrot, zucchini, apple

• broccoli, cauliflower, potato

• yam, broccoli

• butternut squash, zucchini

• corn, baby milk, potato

• spinach, sweet potato

• green beans, acorn squash

• apple sauce (Apples, cinnamon stick in with apples when steaming)

Apple Sauce Variation

• apples with raspberries or any berries

Tropical Blend

• papaya, banana, strawberry

• avocado, papaya

-Tip- I mix a little of the water from steaming while pureeing so that I get more of the nutritious juices that are left behind in the baby food.

for a little older baby:

• meat (chicken or sausage ) with apple sauce


• roasted veggies chopped small

Breakfast Wraps

A Graham family favorite. My daughter says anything tastes good in a corn tortilla. My theory behind that is the kids like it because they can't see what they're eating + wraps are just fun to eat. They're not messy because the food is all wrapped up and they're easy to eat.

Breakfast Wrap

• corn tortillas


• eggs mixed with milk, salt, pepper to make scrambled


• turkey breakfast sausage


• diced onions


• shredded cheese


• already cooked potato from the night before


• already steamed veggies -optional- if you have from last nights dinner (Sweet potato, broccoli, carrots, corn)

break up the sausage in pan on high heat then add onions and potatoes

once cooked and golden add veggies then egg mixture

cook well then place in heated corn tortilla with a little cheese and catchup

-Tip-I heat my tortillas over an open flame on my gas stove

wrap and done nobody sees what's in there and it tastes great!

-Tip- everything should be proportionate to each other in really small pieces

Fun day Friday Finger Food

So it's fun day Friday at the Grahams. Translation Mom's tired from a long week at work.

Dinner is served:

• breakfast sauage


• bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon


• lettuce boats with crunchie sailors


• Quesadillas with plain yogurt dip and avocado