These tips will help you get personalized holiday cards made and mailed this holiday season. 

I absolutely love receiving personalized holiday cards even in this age of Facebook and Instagram. It is so wonderful to receive an update from friends and family and pictures from their lives this year. Finding the perfect photo and card and addressing and mailing the cards can sometimes feel like just one more thing on the to-do list during the busy holiday season. There are a few things though that you can do now to make sure you save yourself some time and stress and help you send an amazing holiday card your friends and family will love. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Think About the Photo Now

I know it seems early but go through your pictures now if you like to use a snapshot from the year. If you like to have professional photos taken, make the appointment now. Here is some inspiration for coordinating outfits for the whole family for Holiday Photos.

We were lucky enough to have photos taken by the talented Evan Willingham of  Evan Willingham Photography before we left Germany. I plan on using these photos for our holiday cards this year.

Once you find your favorite photo or photos Minted makes it easy to see what they would look like on each card. They have a “find it fast” feature that will show your photo on all the available cards. It was easy for me to see which cards would not work with our photo. You can filter by the type of card and the number of photos as well.

I love to get a little update from friends about their lives this year. I wanted to share a little something on our card as well. I was able to add another picture and a personal paragraph to the back of our card. I love this feature! They even include a few sample paragraphs to get you started.

Get Your Envelopes Addressed for Free

Minted will even address your envelopes for free and they even have cute fonts that match your card. This is a HUGE time saver. I was able to upload a spreadsheet with all my addresses which made the process super easy.

Premium Quality & Craftmanship

The holiday cards at Minted are printed on high-quality paper. Without an extra fee, they are printed on a thick and luxurious stock in an off-white hue with a creamy cotton texture, usually reserved for fine stationery. There are also options for foil pressed and letter pressed cards. Many of the designs are by independent artists and are picked as part of design challenges. This makes it easy to find a card in a style you love. 

Get A Proof of Your Personalized Holiday Cards

Are you worried you might make a typo when you make your card? Each card is reviewed by a real person for mistakes and a proof is sent to you for review. If you are in a hurry, you can skip the proof, save $5 and receive your cards two days faster.

I hope that this post inspires you to send out holiday cards this year. I promise that Minted will make it easy for you!

Looking for easy stem activities for elementary and middle school kids? Check out these stem projects and stem subscription boxes for kids.

As a parent, you want the best for your kids, and that includes teaching them the skills they will need to survive in the world! Did you know that by the year 2020, nearly 100% of new jobs will be in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics? With these statistics, it is more important than ever before to encourage STEM learning at home.

What is Stem?

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It also includes teaching skills and subjects in a way that resembles real life. Part of the STEM learning approach, is that kids learn science better when they are actively involved. Learning like this can be done in a school setting but also can be done at home.

Here’s your guide to the best easy stem activities that can be done at home.

Complete Science Experiments

Science is all around us; in the food we eat, the plants we see, and the physical world we live in. Here are a few great science experiments you can do at home.

Work on Observations with fruits and veggies.

What happens as a fruit or vegetable starts to decay? What does it look like, smell like? Answering questions about real-world items puts science into a perspective they can understand. These are great stem activities for preschoolers and elementary students

Make Volcanoes

This is one of the most fun for kids. They can create a realistic volcano and watch it erupt. This teaches them chemical reactions as well as gives a real-world example of how volcanoes erupt as the pressure builds up.

Here are directions for a simple volcano for preschoolers.

Here are directions for a more in-depth volcano experiment for elementary and middle school children.

Make your own rock candy

That’s right, there is science behind candy. And, if you thought candy was all hardened sugar, you were right. All you need is water, sugar, a pan, a stove, and a glass jar. My daughter did this with her brownie troop and loved it.

Here are easy directions to make your own rock candy

Utilize Your Technology – Best STEM apps

In this day of digital natives, kids love technology. Though you may not want your kids looking at a screen all day, technology is a key component of the STEM learning, and there are many apps that incorporate science, technology, math, and engineering without your children knowing they are learning. Here are some of the best STEM apps.

SkEye Astronomy: A great app to see what’s in the sky. If you are interested in viewing the heavens above with your telescope, try the SkEye : Astronomy app. SkEye is an advanced sky mapping application that doubles as a PUSHTO guide for telescopes. It works by using your phone’s sensors as a guide for telescopes. All you need to do is briefly strap the phone onto the telescope’s optical tubes; from there, you can navigate the night-sky with your telescope.

Toca Lab: Chemistry has never been so fun with Toca Lab. Explore the colorful and electrifying world of science and meet all 118 of the elements from the periodic table. Discover elements by experimenting with the lab tools!

Crazy Gears – Are you ready to watch your child kick their learning into high-gear? Crazy Gears is a new-aged digital puzzle game, designed with a real mechanical engine and with children’s critical thinking skills in mind! Hours of fun guaranteed for everyone who is up for the challenge, yes, even you Mom & Dad!

Hopscotch – Coding For Kids – Learn to code and make your own games with Hopscotch. Easy-to-use visual tool makes programming fun and social.

Get a STEM Subscription Box

Subscription boxes are very popular these days, and why wouldn’t they be? Everyone loves getting something with their name on it in the mail (except when its a bill). Now, you can bring the fun of science, technology, math, and engineering right to your doorstep on a monthly basis. Here are some of the best STEM subscription boxes that include fun stem activities and stem projects for kids.

Green Kids Crafts

With a new theme every month, you get 4-8 science, technology art and math kits per month for kids ages 2-10. Looking for educational toys, science kits, STEM subscription, monthly subscriptions for kids, monthly crafts for kids, a monthly science box, monthly craft box or kids craft subscription? Green Kid Crafts, maker of award-winning science and arts and craft subscription boxes, has you covered!

You can now take 50% off the first month of a Junior Discovery Box Subscription (ages 2-4) or a Discovery Box Subscription (ages 5-10+). Green Kid Crafts’ award-winning Discovery Boxes pack a lot of fun and learning into convenient packages. Each monthly box contains up to 8 STEAM Science and Art Kits including a free 12-page kids magazine and bonus extension activities. Sibling and literary add-on options are available, too. Offer expires midnight October 31, 2018. Use code STEAM50

Learn more about Green Kids Crafts Here

Genius Box

Genius Box provides a creative hands-on approach to learning science, math, technology, and engineering. Genius Box provides a creative, hands- on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and math concepts that engages curious kids in the world around them. Genius Box is recommended for kids ages 8-12.

Click here to learn more about Genius Box

Tinker Crate

For ages 9-16, the Tinker crate gives your child the tools to create and explore engineering in a whole new way. Get 30% of Your First Month’s Order with code SHARE30.

Each month you get:

• Materials to create a creative, innovative STEM project
• Detailed step-by-step instruction
• Tinker Zine,
• Additional science experiments and activities
• Online tutorials with tips and tricks

Learn More about Tinker Crate Here

What other ways have you found to incorporate STEM learning in your home? Share your STEM projects in the comments below!

These meal planning tools will help you be successful at meal planning for your family.

When you begin meal planning for your family, it’s important to have great tools on hand that keep this task easy and effective. Meal planning should be a way to save time, and most of all help you stick within your grocery budget easily. Adding in a few easy tools to your kitchen will help you to make sure you are staying on task with little frustration.

10 Must-Have Meal Planning Tools

1. A Functional Calendar and a Weekly Meal Planner

This is going to vary for every individual family. You need to check your calendar before you create your meal plan and have some way of posting the weekly family meal plan. You want to make sure that you plan meals that meet your schedule. You may want to make meals in the slow cooker or instant pot on nights you have little time. Some like to use a written or printed calendar with their menu each week. Others prefer to utilize something like a Google Calendar app, or even use a dry erase board to organize their weekly calendar. Whatever you choose, it needs to be functional for you and your family to stay on track. If you create meal plans but never use them, it is a waste of your time and money.

Wondering what I use? Sign up for my meal planning tips and you will even receive a special offer for meal planning printables to make your own meal planning and recipe binder.

2. Detailed Lists for Meal Preparation.

If you are doing a large amount of freezer meals for your meal planning, you know you need detailed lists of ingredients. You will also need a detailed list of preparation needs. For each recipe, you’ll be preparing meats and vegetables in different ways. Making a detailed list that tells you how much meat should be chopped, braised, broiled, or grilled can help you to easily and effectively manage your meal plan and save time doing things over and over again. Doing all of a particular type of prep at one time will save you time and frustration in the long term.

You can learn more about turning your favorite recipes into freezer meals here. 

3. Quality Knives and Utensils.

Have you ever tried to cut multiple pieces of meat or vegetables with a dull knife? If so, you know how frustrating it can be to manage. Quality utensils are really important for meal planning as they will save you time and frustration. Grabbing a good set of knifes along with a sharpener is a must. You will also want sturdy wooden spoons, spatulas, and a ladle for assembling items, as well as cooking. I am a huge fan of this starter Henckels knife set made in Germany. The knives with the twins logo are higher quality and made in Germany not China.

4. Cutting Boards

I say boards because you really need to have at least one cutting board that is used ideally just for raw meat preparation. Having multiple cutting boards when meal planning will keep things safe, orderly, and sanitary. You want to have one that is used just for vegetables, one for meats, and possibly one clean cutting board to use for cutting things like breads, tortillas, or other items needed in recipes. These cutting boards look neat and even remind you what you are supposed to cut on them.

5. Measuring cups and spoons

If you are doing a large meal planning event, you will definitely need to have measuring cups and spoons on hand. I much prefer glass measuring cups for liquids, but I love my stainless steel cups and spoons for dry ingredients. If you can afford two sets of each, it will be nice to have on hand so you don’t have to worry about washing a lot between uses when preparing multiple meals at once.

6. Food Saver Vacuum Seal Storage System

If freezer meals are a part of your meal planning system, then one tool I highly recommend is a Food Saver. This vacuum sealing system will help keep your meals tasting fresher for longer periods of time. This is important to those who may be taking advantage of meat sales, seasonal produce, or even just want to do a month or longer of meal prep at once. A Food Saver is a great investment that can keep food fresh much longer in your freezer.

7. Freezer Bag Stands

If you prefer to use gallon Ziploc bags for your freezer meal preparation, freezer bag stands are a great investment. These little plastic stands allow you to hold your freezer bags upright while you fill them with ingredients. It keeps them clean and sanitary, and makes it a much faster process of preparation.

8. Crockpot and Instant Pot

Whether you are meal planning for your freezer or just trying to keep up a weekly plan, a Crockpot is an ultimate helper. Being able to toss foods in before you go out for the day and come home to a fully prepared meal is a huge time saver and makes meal planning much more useful to busy families. They are also great for making things like homemade stock, homemade marinara sauce, and even cooking dried beans for use in all of your recipes. This makes your meal planning efforts even healthier and more budget-friendly. I also love my Instant Pot that makes cooking foods very quick and easy. Have an Instant Pot but not sure how to use it? This free Instant Pot Class can help. It even includes a free Instant Potmeal plan!

I recommend at least one large 5-6 quart Crockpot as well as one smaller 3-quart option. They are nice to use for parties and buffets to keep food to temperature, but also great for making side dishes and full meals.

9. Freezer Storage Containers

Another alternative to using freezer bags are quality glass freezer storage containers. I love the Pyrex freezer containers that come in various sizes. They are ideal for stacking in a freezer, and even allow you to build things like casseroles that can be thawed, brought to room temperature, and then put directly into the oven saving you dishes needing to be washed. They can be pricey up front, but in comparison to the other vacuum seal or Ziploc storage bag options, they are cost-effective over the long term.

10. Meal plans that your family will eat

Aside from these tools for meal planning ease, you need to actually have meal plans your family will eat. Meal planning saves a ton of time and money, but not if you are feeding your family foods they won’t enjoy. You can build your own menu plan around family favorites, or invest in some of the many meal plan options online that fit your family needs. It’s not just about having tools in your kitchen, but about having meals that will fit your family and make your meal planning efforts worthwhile. If you are looking for meal plans already made for you, I personally am a huge fan of the Eat at Home Meal Plans.  These include 4 different meal plans each week for one low price and they include freezer meals.

These are what I feel are the must-have tools for meal planning. Creating a functional meal plan for your family isn’t as hard as it sounds. It simply includes a bit of time up front and consistency in your daily routine to build a plan everyone will love and you will find saves you time and money in the long run.

Don’t forget to sign up to get more meal planning tips and a special offer for my meal planning and recipe binder printables.

How to Get Organized at Home

Creating and maintaining organized spaces in your home can be a daunting task. The following tips can help you with how to get organized at home. With a shift in your habits and these few tips for a home organization system, having an organized home goes from a dream to your reality. [Read more…]

Crisp cool air makes me want to toss open the windows, clear out the clutter, and cozy up my home to welcome fall and any guests that may stop in. Spread a little of the fall spirit around and touch on all the main living spaces in your house, cleaning, organizing, and refreshing areas.

Most of these tasks can be done in 15 minutes or less but can have a huge impact on your home.  [Read more…]

Deep Clean Bathroom – Savvy Cleaning and Organizing July Task List

With the exception of a few general housekeeping items, we are going to really dive in and tackle the bathroom(s) this month. If you have wondered how to deep clean a bathroom, these simple tasks will get you a track. Even with regular cleaning bathrooms can get pretty out of hand and can use a bathroom deep clean now and then. If you have 2 bathrooms, or even 3 or 4 (who are you and can I come live in the extra wing in your house?) these tasks can still be done easily in just 15 minutes or so. If a certain task does not apply to you just grab yourself a glass of lemonade and enjoy your time off from the cleaning list! [Read more…]

Love these unique and fun gift wrapping ideas for Christmas.

15 Brilliant Gift Wrapping Ideas – Gift Wrapping Ideas for Christmas

Christmas, and the joy of the season is one thing I think we all look forward too. Of course, part of the fun is all the gift giving we get to do, however maybe not so fun is the wrapping part. Some people may find it a bit tedious, and even wasteful! We were thinking we could help you out this year, and we went looking for Brilliant Gift Wrapping Ideas, and you can rest assured, we found some, and you’re going to want to try them all!

If you still need gifts to wrap, be sure to check out this HUGE list of gift ideas for all ages. [Read more…]