Frugal Body Exfoliators

I could never use body exfoliaters because they were too rough on my skin. Now that I'm older, my skin is thicker, and it does not renew itself as readily.  I was having problems with dry skin where I'd have some flaky areas on my arms. Moisturizers did not help; then I tried exfoliating again and my skin became really soft! My hands look better too.

Here's what I discovered:

As Asian exfoliating washcloth. I got the extra rough one, and it's more like a towel because it is long and can be used to scrub across your back with two hands. I add a strong soap on the towel, Palmolive clear dish soap, if you can believe it. I have oily skin and this works wonders. It washes out easily and can be hung to dry on a shower caddy.
Cure Series Japanese Exfoliating Bath Towel from OHE - Super Hard Weave - Blue, 120cm

The second exfoliating tool I found useful for keeping my skin extra clear was a facial brush. It was stiff on the first use, but now it is soft. I use a gentle castile soap on my face(Dr. Bronners or an organic African black soap). My facial skin looks years younger and the blemishes have cleared.

Bass Brushes Facial Cleansing Brush


 Both items should last a good long time. Check the reviews out on these items.

Free DIY Picasa Flashcards and Worksheets

With some tweaking, Google's free Picasa makes some really nice flashcards and worksheets. I made some flashcards by using images, faded by using "pencil sketch" and the "fill light" applications, then added it to "collage". Each finished picture was copied (clicked on file), and then the original amended with the new word. If you repeat this six times, you can get an entire collage sheet of printable flashcards. Worksheets are made using the full page. Use shift dash for answer lines. I did the regular short dash for the worksheet below, and the answer lines were a little too high. Font size can be adjusted easily and so can written sections which can be moved and centered manually. The Picasa text on picture application is very user friendly.

 I love being able to add any picture that I like and customizing worksheets, copywork pages, and story starters. I used free coloring pages for these. Not my first choice, but SpongeBob really makes her eager to learn, so I go with it. She loves snails, and I guess Gary the Snail speaks to her. Anyway, this is a super inexpensive way to customize your own educational items.

I incorporated many of the sight words and sound out words that she is currently learning with the CLE Learning to Read Program. The ease of learning and smiles I got with these homemade worksheets and flashcards was wonderful. She did them eagerly in lightening time. I plan to make more to supplement her Pathway Readers and Bob Books.

ClipArtEtc has hundreds of vintage free clipart which you can used for backgrounds.
























Freebie: sight word list

Source: createdbyteachers.com via Jessica on Pinterest

The Night Before Christmas Vintage Children's Paper Cut-out

Source: google.fr via Alexandra on Pinterest

Gingerbread Houses Free Children's Printables

Source: blog.thecelebrationshoppe.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

More free gingerbread themed educational items here.

Free Printable: " I Have, Who Has" Count by 2s Penguin Game to 50.

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Free Early Reading Educational Games

Some of these games were a little weird, but my daughter thought they were very funny.

See here for games at GameGoo.

See here for educational standards covered, grades K-2.

Free Printable Fill-in Hundreds Chart

We've used this sheet before - free download here. From Super Teacher Worksheets.

Free Printable Addition Flash Cards

See here for download from Super Teacher Worksheets.

Free Printable 2013 Paris Calendar

Source: 7428.net via Alexandra on Pinterest

Extremely Inexpensive Garage Organization

It took half the day, but we cleared out our garage recently, decluttering 15 years of accumulation, and freeing up a lot of space in the process. We took everything out, swept the floors, and then did some extreme purging. We filled up our vehicle and donated all the stuff to a local thrift store which takes hardware type items.

 For an efficient bare budget garden tool organization, we used this method:

 

 We used leftover wood from other projects, and we already had nails and screws, so it cost us no additional money. Sometimes you can find long pieces of wood for free(with permission) in the trash bins at the end of the lumber aisles. These long thin pallet type scrap wood is easy to come by at big box stores.

We were able to hang bulkier items like the electric clippers and the weed wacker from hooks screwed in under a high shelf. I put all the hand tools and tinier items in a giant rubbermaid container with smaller containers from the dollar store inside to organize the "smalls". It's all contained in one, and simple to clean and move around.

There are no more hiding places for overwintering palmettos bugs and spiders! The floor is clear to sweep and occasionally spray down with soapy water.

Christmas Nature Craft: Stick Stars

Source: allendesigns.typepad.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Coffee Filter Cut-out Snowflakes

A bag of coffee filters from the dollar store go a long way! These make the easiest snowflakes - no rounding off the ends. More here.

Source: heartofwisdom.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Children's Viking Ship Cut-out

We are using this as an ornament on our Christmas tree this year because everyone needs a viking ship on their tree. ;)

Source: crayola.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Christmas Birds Coloring Page

Source: activity-sheets.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

DIY Disposable Stick Branch Christmas Tree

My seven year old daughter created a stick (branches)Christmas tree this year, and everyone in the house seems to like it, so it's our tree this year. We've been adding ornaments as we make them. It's been fun and after Christmas we can chuck the entire tree, ornaments and all - easy clean up! Next year we'll start the creative process all over again with a new stick tree and new ornaments. The lights were from the dollar store...we'll keep these for other projects.

The branches can be held in place with large rocks in a bucket. We took our rocks from the garden.


Here's a pretty one that has been painted white:

Source: ehow.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Rustic Christmas Tree for Small Spaces

Source: imgfave.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

I love this idea! I may do this next year with driftwood.

Make an Easy Sparkly Cat Ornament - Free Cat Outline

Source: rovingfiddlehead.com via Alexandra on Pinterest

Use this outline as a template for a glittery cat ornament. I plan to cut it out on black paper, glue to recycled cardboard, and cover with glitter. I'll add a pretty pink bow and hang it on the tree with my pet's name on it.