I do something similar. I use a strong magnet to stick the recipe to the edge of my range hood. For cookbooks, I have a bar stool that sits up high and I can pull right beside me while I'm cooking. ... View related article.
You can also do something similar if you are having someone do work for you. The contractor can charge supplies to your account, but you have to approve the purchases (so they don't tack on extra stuff like soda). We did this when we had some work done on our rental house 4 hours away. Worked great. Camilla ... View related article.
I have started something similar. I have a dry-erase goal chart for the kids chores, but I still got a lot of complaining, especially about pick-up time. To motivate them to get their chores done, I set up a pair of incentives. If they do all their chores for the week, they can choose a special activity on Saturday. This is something fairly simple like eating out or going to a movie.
Plus, if they do their pick-up time instead of playing (this was the big problem), they can pick something from the "treasure box". These are little things, $1 or less, like small notebooks, a box of crayons (back-to-school special), a sheet of stickers, a temporary tattoo.
So far it's worked pretty well. Instead of hearing complaining about chores, I have heard how much they can't wait until reward night!
One of the crafting email groups I'm on had a "Stuff Project" that had very simple rules--work on your project for 5 minutes every other night. It doesn't seem like much, but I found that once I got going, I could easily do more than 5 minutes. And it kept me from getting burned out on any one project. You could pick a UFO (Unfinished Object), and work on it 5 minutes at a time until you have it done, then move on to another one. Or you could just work on different ones for the 5 minutes until they're done, that way you're making progress on all of them. ... View related article.
You can use stud-type earrings for pushpins - a lot prettier than the plastic pushpins. Some of the fancier earrings may have parts you can cannibalize to make new jewelry. The easiest things are rings or pendants. You can find plain ring blanks at craft stores. Just use wire cutters to cut away any posts, then use a soldering tool or really strong glue (such as E6000) to attach the rest to the ring blank. For pendants, you may have to get some jump rings at a craft store. You could either solder the jump ring to the back or fit it through filigree if the earring has it. Some altered artists like old and broken jewelry for their work, too. ... View related article.
I made snowflake ornaments just like that one Christmas. You want to drain some of the water out--you don't want soup. I had added glitter glue to the pulp mixture to help bind it some, and to add some sparkle. For snowflakes, use white copy-type paper, without a lot of text or pictures. Press the pulp into the mold (I used a candy mold), trying to press out any air bubbles. If you want to be able to hang them, fill the mold most of the way, put a small loop of string near the top, then fill the rest of the way. My candy molds were small enough that I just let them dry all the way in the mold. Any nice, dry place will do. Mine came out great, but you may need to trim a little on the edges. These are great ornaments for miniature trees, as they are super light weight.
You can also make colored ornaments, just by using colored paper. A sheet of colored paper will go a long way in paper pulp. Just about any candy molds make cute ornaments.
We live about 45 minutes from Kansas City and have visited frequently since I was in college. Here are our recommendations:
The Kansas City Zoo is also fun for kids, but not necessarily cheap--it costs $30 for me, my husband and 2 kids (2 & 4) and double stroller. There's also an Imax theater there. If you have membership in another zoo, you may be able to get a discount on admission.
A cheap place for entertainment is Great Mall of the Great Plains, just down I-435 in Olathe. It's an outlet mall in a big oval shape with play areas interspersed throughout. It's free, a great place for the kids to play, it's air-conditioned, and the grown-ups can do some shopping too.
If the kids are older, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is a neat place. I think admission is free on Fridays. It's just a few blocks off Country Club Plaza--again lots of shopping and large movie theater. The buildings are inspired by Seville, Spain, so the architecture is really nice.
Like everyone else has suggested, Cabela's is really neat, even if you're not into sporting goods. The display of taxidermy is impressive, and the kids love the aquarium.
Also around Great Wolf Lodge is the brand-new Legends shopping center and the home of the T-Bones Baseball team. If you're a Nascar fan, it's also a stone's throw from Kansas Speedway.
When I was in college, I used to pack a little butter tub of frozen mixed fruit to eat at lunch time or for a snack. (The mixed fruit I had was honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and red grapes.) The frozen fruit was very refreshing on a hot day when I had to walk across campus. Pack it in an insulated bag and it should stay cool, but still thaw enough to be edible.
We generally only get stuff at our Sam's Club that we would buy anyway, like brand-name laundry detergent, "generic" baby wipes and pull-ups, and bottled water (I get it for work).
What has really saved us money with the membership has been the hotel discounts and gas discounts. Most hotel chains have a Sam's Club discount that makes the room rate a lot cheaper. Some Sam's Clubs have gas stations where members can save 2 to 4 cents per gallon. I would imagine other warehouse clubs have similar perks. ... View related article.
