How to Make Cheap Snow Gloves for Southern Kids

We're still in the throes of a freak snow event down here. Schools, and the city itself, are on day four of a shut down. I lived here during the blizzard of 1993 and don't remember the roads being out of commission this long at all. However, unlike in 1993, we had a lot of warning this was coming. But since snow is very uncommon in Atlanta I do not buy real winter gloves for my children. It's just a waste of money. My 10yo son only saw his first snowfall three years ago. The inexpensive $1 knit gloves at Target have served us well. Until this week. On Sunday, the day before the predicted white stuff would fall, I tried to find real snow gloves for my youngest children. I had no luck. These gloves are just not easy to find in Atlanta...especially past Christmas; we have swimsuits out in many stores, long johns, hats and scarves are already on clearance shelves. I was excited about the largest snowfall in years for my kids and wanted to have something to keep their hands dry so they could sled and play for hours. I was not to be deterred.

And then I found the answer...

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Recycle Old Christmas Cards into New Christmas Cards

A great Christmas craft for the kids and a wonderful way to recycle all the cards you receive from previous years. This was a favorite Advent activity last year and again this year.

The night before this activity I cut out all the images and messages from my stack of old cards. I also fold construction paper in different colors into cards.

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Repurposed Organization: Car Book Caddy

I had a problem in my Eurovan o' Fun. Books. We don't have electronic entertainment in our vehicle, choosing instead to give each kid a small bag of little playthings and a stack of books. The issue's been how to keep the books in easy reach and organized. I had a plastic magazine box from the dollar section of Target for the past year. In theory it worked. In reality it tipped over and the books slid across the floor. Plus since it had to stay on the floor my oldest would often complain about having to "bend over" and retrieve a book for his little sister. Drama! Then I was in the thrift store the other day and saw the perfect solution at the perfect price: 99¢!

A dishrack! It fits perfectly between the two boys on the bench.

The slots to separate dishes work like magic to keep the books neat. Big boys are no longer put out to find a book and hand it to their sister.

I ran the buckle across the back and thanks to rubber feet this basket isn't moving an inch. Added bonus is the boys can't argue over the space between them and who's encroaching on it.

It's been in the car three weeks now and all kids are still happy and there have been no books scattered across the floor.

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How to Remove Nail Polish from Clothing

Princess Fierce wanted to paint my toes the other day with her dark blue glitter nail polish. Her first attempt at giving a pedicure resulted in my having blue nails and toes...and nail polish on her pretty new-to-her dress. Oy.

The polish couldn't have been red? Nope blue polish that dried practically black.

Close up on the polish.

I didn't even attempt nail polish remover fearing it would take the color from the dress. I was planning to cover up the spots with some type of new embellishments on the dress. But before I did that I thought I'd just google my problem to see if there were an answer. And I found an improbable one.

But one that lots of people swore worked.

So I gave it a try.

And check it out. No spots!

Look closer. Can you see the polish?

Look as close as you can. I can't even tell where it was. Amazing.

And what exactly created this miracle?

Bug Spray!

Yep, this bug spray right here did the trick. I didn't believe it until it worked. I first tried with pump bug spray and nothing happened. I didn't give up after so many interweb comments said it would work. I bought aerosol bug spray and tried again. A spray. A rub with a white wash cloth. BOOM! Immediate lightening of the TWO WEEK dried nail polish. All in all it took me about five minutes of spraying and rubbing. A toss in the wash to remove the buggy smell and all was new again. Unbelievable. I absolutely had to share. Next time you have nail polish land on your favorite fabrics give it a try.

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Recycle Crafting: Amish Puzzle Ball

This project is one of those things I came upon by accident. I'm attempting to build a plush TIE fighter from felt and I needed to find a pattern to sew a ball. My Google searches unwittingly led me to a link about an Amish Puzzle Ball. I'd never heard of such a thing but thought, "I HAVE to make one of those...but stuff it with plastic grocery store bags."

For weeks after when I would see fabric remnants at thrift stores I would consider their future place in an Amish puzzle ball. Then one fateful day my neighbor gave me her stash of neglected fleece. I spotted a cute fuzzy blue fleece adorned with fire trucks, police cars, and school busses that I knew would be the perfect complement to some vintage polyester I'd snagged for $1 the week before. And the best part, the neighbor had a newborn son...with a fire station adorned bedroom. Can we say kismet?

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