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Posts Tagged ‘simple solutions’

  1. Mud, Mud, Mud

    March 11, 2015 by admin

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    As Spring teases about its imminent arrival, we are reminded of some of our favorite “get ready!” posts and some “welcoming this new season” tips:

    • Spring cleaning! The want to open all the windows and clean everything strikes quickly. Don’t forget about that often neglected washing machine.
    • Tune up your bicycles. A season tucked away in your garage or chained up outside always leaves a bike needing some tlc. Check the tires and chains. Adjust the seat and handlebars for your growing kiddos. Make sure those helmets still fit properly!
    •  Mud. It’s everywhere. Embrace it and allow those kiddos to get messy.
    • Speaking of mud – your dog will get dirty.
    • There is so much joy in just being outside. Follow the hyperlink for some of our favorite springtime activities.
    • Unplug. Take the time to embrace the changing of the seasons. Turn off those phones and disconnect from technology for a bit. Breath.

    This is such a tremendous time of year and we hope you fully enjoy the arrival of warmer weather!

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  2. Don’t Miss Out On Michaels!

    February 18, 2015 by admin

    Michaels_Logo.svgWhy is it that Michaels craft store is so easy to overlook? It is not a part of our heavy store rotation – like Target. But every time we visit Michaels, we question why we don’t frequent it more often.

    Bluey loves a crafty or tinkering activity. And if you can catch Plum at the right time, she’ll eagerly join in the fun. Michaels offers a fantastic selection of craft and building model kits, as well as lego knock offs, and a line of construction sets.

    If you join Michaels mailing list, download their store app, or simply google your nearest location – you can enjoy 40% off any regular priced item. This readily available coupon brings a large amount of products well under $10. More often than not, you can also find coupons for about 20% off an entire purchase. And Michaels after holiday clearance sales are fantastic!IMG_2418

    Tip1: Be prepared to wait in line upon checking out. We don’t know why, but all Michaels seem to have a real problem ushering their guests through check out in a timely manner.

    We understand that Michaels also offers a Kids club that allows you to sign up your children (3 years of age or older) for a 30 minute craft for around $2. And they also have a spattering of adult classes throughout the month. We haven’t explored these offerings yet. But they sound fun.

    Tip2: You aren’t just limited to kits! Michaels has plenty of other low price point items for your family fun time. Consider getting a plain wooden box to decorate into a container for treasures. Or pick up a plain t-shirt and some fabric paint for some fashion design time.

    Rather than purchasing yet another generic toy on a trip to Target, why not visit Michaels and get something that will challenge your child, encourage family time, cooperation, and creativity, as well as result in a unique finished product?

    We’re already excitedly talking about our next trip for another car model kit!

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  3. One Week

    February 13, 2015 by admin

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    We’ve had a heck of a week.

    In the past seven days we have: recovered Bluey from a wicked illness, found out we need to find a new place to live, had TRDad go down with a serious knee injury (during a busy holiday week for his work), watched TRMom fighting off her own cold, found the shower drain needed a full replacement, brought Plum home from school sick, and dealt with a crazy email error from the school which set us on edge…

    All this while trying to plan for our family Valentine’s Day celebration and maintaining our usual work and family schedules…

    How do we hold it together?

    • Humor: We crack our jokes, get silly with each other, and remind one another what’s really important.
    • Music: Few things happen in our world that can’t be brought into focus with a good song.
    • Teamwork: We’re all in this together. We help each other out where we can but if necessary, we remember to call on others to lend a hand.

     

    Next week is coming- there’s no saying it won’t be as active and interesting as this one.  Bring it on!

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  4. Our Favorite Lifehacks

    February 11, 2015 by admin

    Some of the TRFamily’s favorite life hacks:

    • You know those horrible sticky admission bracelets given at museums, concerts, etc? Loop them through a pant hoop, shoe laces, or button hole- (when our kiddos were smaller, we’d loop it onto the stroller). So much less annoying then direct skin contact!  A great solution for kids (or adults ) with sensitive skins.

     

    • Save a couple of washed out yogurt containers. They are the perfect size to pass around snacks in the car while on a road trip. Or use them to hold paint or water for your brushes while doing an arts and crafts project.IMG_2815_2

     

    • Stainless steel straws. Trust us. If you have kids, you will have a seemingly never ending need for straws. Chuck the plastic and get some stainless steel ones. They are healthier (no bpa), environmentally friendly, and frugal!  It’s a bigger outlay at the beginning, but they pay for themselves very quickly!

     

    • Snow boots for the whole family – Farm & Fleet.  Cheap and comfortable.  Enough said!

     

    • Figure out your parking options before you leave for a specific destination.  Google “Tips and Tricks to Parking near_______.”  You’ll have to dig through the returns for the valuable hints you seek, but it’ll be worth it!  Save yourself the trouble of driving around looking for a random spot or blowing your entire budget in a garage.

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  5. Two By Two

    January 28, 2015 by admin

    ccall_bi02_38892_md Kids from birth to around 16 years of age do a tremendous amount of growing. Recently our Bluey hopped from a size 5T to 6T within mere weeks. His PJ bottoms inched towards his knees and his jeans were way too tight.

    You can make yourself crazy trying to keep a stock of well fitted clothing and shoes.

    So what to do? Well, a lot is dependent on the age of your child. You can find many unique solutions to the constant need for clothing and shoes when your kids are under 10. But once they start to inch towards puberty, we have found that kids become a lot less flexible about exploring options.

    Our Bluey is six, so we’re enjoying his laissez faire attitude.   We’ve tried a couple of different things to keep ahead of the constant growth.

    Thrifting is a great resource if you have time and patience. Since the stock of clothing is constantly changing, you might not easily find that pair of size 4T pants. You then have to consider if the savings is worth the effort.

    Hand me downs are great- when your kids are the same gender and/or have the same taste in clothing. Our Bluey has inherited many an adored pink kitten shirt from his sister. But the dresses and nightgowns are summarily rejected. So we have an abundance of certain sizes and styles without actually filling the current needs.

    A whole new wardrobe every few months is fantastic. But our budget just can’t handle the turnover demand. We try to stock up, when funds allow, on sale/clearance clothing a few sizes up. But that strategy if very hit or miss. And again, we typically end up with more of one particular item rather than a well-balanced future wardrobe.

    76313_washer_mdOur tried and true problem solver has been to always have at least two pairs of pants and two shirts in the proper size. We have our own washer/dryer and we do a load of wash every day-with four people in the house, the dirty clothing adds up very quickly!  Bluey doesn’t really care what he’s wearing as long as it is comfortable and happens to mostly conform to his broad sense of style.

    Although his clothes wear out pretty fast under this system, they keep up with his knack for outgrowing them, so it all works out.

    We aren’t necessarily saving a boat load of money with this solution to the clothing crises, but we are sane and happy. And Bluey always has something that fits!

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  6. Organizing For Creativity

    January 4, 2015 by admin

    IMG_9610_2We love creating around here.  We are constantly building new things, working on new projects, and talking about what we’ll make next.  And we understand fully that pure creation doesn’t always follow a clearly marked path.   It’s unpredictable and we like that about it.

    Yet we also find that an environment too chaotic can hinder creativity. It’s hard to focus when everything is messy. And it can stop experimentation in its tracks.

    “Where did we put the baking soda and scrap cardboard?”

    So when our (ever-growing) collection of Legos got a bit out of control, we spent some time trying to figure out the best solution. Our play had been hindered by constantly digging through a big vat of bricks to find the one needed piece.

    Our first try was to sort by color.  We divided our Lego table into six or so sections, each one filled with a color, or related group of colors.  This was a step in the right direction.  We saw immediately that it helped a little- to have a smaller amount of pieces to sort through when trying to finish a build.

    But it didn’t really work right.  For one thing, Legos come in so many colors, we quickly ran into questions about which section certain colors went.  But more importantly, we found that when building and trying to complete a particular project it was more important to find the right SHAPED piece, rather than the right COLOR.  It was too difficult to find a tiny 2×1 flat piece buried at the bottom of the entire spectrum of red section.  It’s much simpler to find a 2×1 red piece in a bin full of 2×1 flat pieces.

    So we reset our table with a series of smaller bins to hold different shaped pieces: 2×2 bricks here, long flat pieces there, windows and doors in a section all  together.

    It works great!

    We find now that creativity is flowing strong at the Lego table.  When we think about the Legos based on shapes, it is easier to see how they might all fit together.  And easier to build say, a trap door by sorting through the different hinge options in the hinge bin and finding what works, than sorting through a huge mass of pieces, hoping to randomly stumble upon one that works.

    Bring some order to your Lego collection and watch the creative juices flow!

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  7. The MacGyver Solution

    December 21, 2014 by admin

    IMG_9303As new hermit crab owners, we’ve been preoccupied with making sure our little friends are happy and comfortable.

    Maintaining the preferred level of humidity in their sandy crabitat is one piece that has proved difficult for us.

    We tried various ideas from misting the tank regularly, to making sure the sand was well moistened.  Nothing seemed the right solution for keeping the humidity steady.  And to the extent any of our methods helped, they all required a very hands-on, all day approach.  What if we went away on a day trip?  Surely, there just had to be an easier way.

    So we started shopping for alternatives.  When we saw the prices for crab tank humidifiers, we balked.  After all we have already invested in our crustacean friends, there had to be a more affordable option.

    We returned to our YouTube sources and saw various ideas for ways you could make your own humidifier for much less than any store brought option.  So we took on this DIY task.

    Building our own humidifier turned out to be quick, easy and only a few dollars investment.

    Supplies:

    Fish tank air pump

    Length of air pump tubing

    Air Stone

    Plastic Bicycle Water Bottle

    Glue Gun

    Wire Cutters

    Technique:

    We first used a screwdriver to punch two small holes in the top side of the water bottle.  We placed these holes just under the rim of the lid.  This way, refilling the bottle wouldn’t require disassembling the whole system.IMG_9300

    Next we cut a length of tube to go from the pump to the bottom of the bottle.  We attached the air stone to this tube.

    Another tube went from the top of the bottle, up into the tank.  We used wire cutters to cut through the wire mesh removable top of the crabitat, just enough to let the tub fit through.

    We used a glue gun to seal the the tubes at the edge of the bike bottle.

    Then, all we had to do was wait for the glue to dry, and put some water in the bottle.

    How It Works:

    The air stone creates bubbles, which rise to the top of the water, creating super-humid air at the top of the bottle.  The second hose then leads this humid air to the tank.  Presto!  A nice, humidity boost to the air of the crabitat.

    IMG_9298We were so pleased that we could make this on our own, with only a purchase of a few materials!  Our Bluey helped with the whole project (a great home lesson!) and was suitably proud of how well it all worked out.

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  8. It’s In The Bag!

    December 10, 2014 by admin

    IMG_8994Now that we are deep into the holiday season, gift buying and gift making are well underway in this TR home.

    We have a generous supply of wrapping paper. But our kids find wrapping gifts more of a hassle than fun. The tape usually fights back and ends up in an unusable sticky crumple. And the cut paper is either too big or too small and refuses to bend into neat folds.

    So what to do? Make your own gift bags!

    Tip1: Gift bags aren’t just for the holidays. Make them for birthdays, cookie exchanges, etc.

    We picked up a pack of 40 red paper lunch bags at a local box store for under $2.00. We thought red was fitting for Christmas but you can easily find an assortment of colors.

    Once home, we got out our supply of winter and holiday themed foam stickers. Our kids got right to work decorating bags for all of their friends and family.

    Tip2: A container of foam stickers from the box stores runs about $8 but you can usually find them on deep discount after each holiday. We’ve never paid more than $2 per container.

    IMG_8991You can make the bags as fancy as you wish. Punch out holes along the top and weave ribbon through the circles. Jazz the gift bags up with glitter or coloring. The possibilities are numerous.

    Bluey and Plum had a great time and were very proud of their creations. Adding a personal touch to any gift is always a move in the right direction!

     

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  9. Thanksgiving Buffet

    November 23, 2014 by admin

    54952_cornicopia_mdWe love Thanksgiving!  It’s one of the most popular holidays at the TR household.  We count down to it, decorate for it, and just love it!

    Bluey has been talking for weeks about his plans to watch the Thanksgiving parade and we all love the relaxed pace of the day.  We sometimes watch a bunch of movies, or even a little bit of a football game.  We’ve been excitedly going through the grocery store, taking note of special food items here and there that would be perfect for our feasting.

    One thing that’s not perfect for us?  A big sit-down meal.

    We’re just not into it.  We love food and we love eating.  But we don’t like to force ourselves into a drawn out holiday sit-down meal.

    And here’s why:  we’ve done the big Thanksgiving traditional meal and found that it hampers our day.  A day that could be spent in fun and games, silly TV, and walks in the woods instead becomes a day wrapped around a tight schedule.  In order for all that food to come out at the same time for a formal family meal, it needs to be carefully timed out.  The day is spent prepping food instead of relaxing and connecting with family.  We’d rather be free to look at one another and declare: “Let’s go for a walk!” and not worry about whether that means the potatoes will be done in time.

    And then there’s the matter of satisfying everyones tastes.  Rather than cook up a bunch of food that might not be eaten due to the whims of some family members preferences, we like to present a food plan that leaves everyone happy without any worries about who’s eating what.

    We offer a Thanksgiving buffet.

    Our buffet includes all manners of foods: hot and cold; salty and sweet; filling and light.  We select a wide range of items like homemade bread, cheese and crackers, nuts, various unique dips, chips, salad fixings and a few holiday favorites like mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.  We bring everything out in waves, a few selections at a time, whenever we feel it’s time for something new.

    For our family, this plan leaves everyone well fed without anyone being stuck in the kitchen all day.  Our whole family is free to take up whatever activities we like without worries about getting home at a particular time, nor concerns about ‘spoiling your appetite’ before the big meal.  Everyone eats what they want, when they want, allowing us to enjoy our time as a family and appreciate what we have.

    And isn’t that the idea?

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  10. A Simple Cup Of Tea

    November 21, 2014 by admin

    Our Latest Activity For the ThriftyRambler Kindness Project

    IMG_8632Our Plum has a very hard time waking up and starting her day. If left on her own, she simply snoozes her alarm and snuddles back down under her covers. And when she finally emerges, the morning grumbles are in full force and hard to shake off.

    We’ve tried many things to help our Plum adjust to morning. And nothing worked until we happened to brew a cup of herbal tea to help Plum feel better during a recent cold. Voila!

    Now we have a new tradition to our morning routine. TRMom is usually the first person up and about in our house. She will start coffee for the adults, feed the critters, and put on the tea kettle for our Plum. Once a cup of Sleepytime has had time to steep, TRMom takes it quietly into Plum’s bedroom, leaving it on the floor near the bed.

    We don’t know how long it takes for the sweet scent of tea to rouse our Plum, but we do know that she emerges from her room with no intervention and in a decent mood. She returns the now empty mug to the sink and gets going with her day.

    This small act of kindness in the form of a cup of tea was all our Plum needed to help her embrace a new day.

    Simple gestures like this can make a difference in the days of people around us.  Pay attention in your world.  Who do you know that needs a cuppa?

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