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If you think it takes a special talent to force a flower to bloom on time for the holidays, try an amaryllis bulb this year and you'll see that there's nothing to it. This version by Smith & Hawken at Target rates a BirminghamMom Find because it contains everything you need (bulb, pot, and disk of soil) and costs less than purchasing the contents seperately. A bulb of this size would go for $5 by itself in a nursery and certainly at Smith & Hawken.
Plant the bulb in the pot according to the directions - you can do this at your kitchen sink - and place it near a moderately sunny window. You and the kids will enjoy watching your bulb bloom much more than you ever enjoyed the preschool paper cups with the marigold seeds, and you'll have longer lasting and more impressive results.
Once the bulb has bloomed, use the pot for ivy or another small houseplant. Let the bulb go dormant in a cool, dry place (a paper bag in the basement works fine) and bury it in a sunny spot in your yard this spring. It will bloom again in the summer and you'll enjoy a dividend from your $9.99 purchase, probably year after year.
Plant by Thanksgiving to ensure a bloom during the week of Christmas, and if the flower becomes too heavy and starts to bend, it will still make a beautiful statement as a single cut flower in a vase.
This kit is packaged for gift giving and would also be a simple, no-fail hostess gift. If you spot Amaryllis bulbs after the holidays with blossoms trying to peek out from their boxes, snap them up at deep discounts. Maybe their timing is off for this Christmas, but you'll still enjoy the blooms in the winter days of January and will love having them back around as a bolt of color for your yard in the summer.
Have you ever found yourself panicked as you stood in the check-out line, pawing through your purse looking for the store credit you distinctly remember saving? Your wallet is stuffed with debit, frequent shopper, credit and library cards, and the shoppers behind you are silently hoping you won't start shuffling through them. That credit receipt is in here somewhere...
A photo envelope is a practical solution for so many of the little papers a BirminghamMom has to manage, including those that are generated day after typical day. Designed to hold 4x6 prints, photo envelopes are more serviceable as a repository for:
- Receipts and store credits
- Gift Cards
- Scripts for prescriptions to be filled
- Stamps
- Department store coupons and special offers
- Invitations - especially those needed for directions or signed releases (Pump-It-Up invitations, for example)
Most moms try to tuck all these into their wallets or a purse side pocket, but the effort becomes ridiculous after awhile. If you change your bag, your entire filing system may be disrupted by a new hierarchy of internal/external pockets. With a photo envelope for all the little papers, you can change bags easily and your wallet has a chance of staying organized.
Find a photo envelope in Birmingham at Target, Hallmark, or Michael's (don't forget to use the 40% coupon that is usually in the Sunday paper) for less than $7 in the stationery section. Look for a bright color so you can spot it easily inside your purse, and remember that a magnetic closure will let you open and close it easily with one hand. Thin versions are preferable to expanding versions, since you want to avoid anything bulky.
The envelope pictured above came from Target, but it isn't hard to find a broad selection of colors and materials, including leather versions, which cost around $30.
Using a photo envelope, you'll find it much easier to clear out your receipts, submit expenses, or locate and use your gift cards before they expire. You may also find a photo envelope helpful for carrying other things, too, like...photos.
If you haven't already begun a tradition of buying coordinating holiday pajamas for your kids, consider trying this ritual and see if you don't thank yourself for years to come.
For one thing, the cameras will be rolling on Christmas morning and the kids will be subject to more shapshots than any other day of the year. It only makes sense that they should be attired as thoughtfully as they are for any professional portrait, even if they do have bed-head.
You can hardly expect them to hold still for grooming when Santa 's treats are just down the stairs. They'll be photographed from every angle, and sharp-looking PJs at least help offset the bright but puffy eyes and a head full of cow licks. Since they'll be living these Christmas pics down among siblings for years to come, at least level the future heckling opportunities by outfitting all of them.
When the kids are still young, it's a special indulgence for them to be able to stay in pajamas all day if they wish, and you'll instantly recognize the photos that belong with a certain year. If you're hosting family or visiting family overnight, all the more reason to have nightclothes that are as presentable as their playclothes.
Now's the time to scoop up PJs before your sizes are gone:
- Children's Place - 2 pair for $25, striped long john style
- Old Navy - baby candy cane versions would work for boys or girls; only sleep pants in kid sizes
- Gymboree - $29.50 - classic red plaid button-front for boys, plaid pants and pullover top for girls
- Hanna Andersson - $39.50 - online; red and white w/ green neck band, long john style. This company makes clothing that will last for years and is hand-me-down worthy; they also offer these pajamas in adult sizes but do consider that most average-shaped adults can't wear vertically striped long johns with dignity...
Finally, if the kids are older or matching PJs are just a little too cutesy for your taste, opt for the college sleepwear uniform: flannel pajama bottoms and long-sleeve T-shirts. You can find flannel pants at Old Navy, Target, and most department stores for $15 or less.
Long-sleeve t-shirts are easy to find and you can have the shirts monogrammed with the family initial for $6 to $8. Consider benefitting Birmingham-area children by purchasing holiday T-shirts designed for Kid One Tranport at J Rag. You'll be able to wear the T-shirts throughout the holiday season, and flannel PJ pants will last all winter long (just stick to seasonal themes like snowflakes rather than holiday themes).
Whatever you choose, give everyone their festive PJs Thanksgiving evening and notice how such a simple thing can jump-start the holiday excitement in your home even before it's time to smile for the camera.
Let's list the equipment a BirminghamMom usually needs to get a mirror or artwork hung in the house: A hammer, heavy-duty picture hook, stud finder, husband, several sticky note reminders to said husband, and a moment when no one is napping or watching football to coordinate the installation.
Emily, a BirminghamMom expecting her second child, decided she couldn't wait on all these factors to get her pictures properly hung. With a husband working long hours during his residency and a toddler dictating much of her time at home, it was time to take matters into her own hands with the Herculean Hook.
Emily shared that she loves this product because she can hang whatever she needs with no special tools and without disturbing her napping child. Herculean Hooks (yes, you may have seen them on TV) are $9.99 for a package of 20 and are sold at Birmingham area CVS, Walgreens, and other stores with "As Seen on TV" sections. One end of the slender hook is inserted directly into the sheetrock and is cantilevered to balance the weight of the hanging object from the inside the wall cavity. The package explains this much better, of course.
When I decided to try Herculean Hooks for myself, I knew Emily was on to something because the gentleman at the Walgreens counter quickly told me, "These things are great! I hung a mirror I could hardly lift using two of them, and it hasn't budged." He instructed me to insert the hook into the sheetrock slightly above where I
wanted the final placement of the frame, as the hook will hang just below the insertion point on the wall.The results were as good as promised. The hook creates a hole in the sheetrock but it is no bigger than a regular nail, and because the hole is much cleaner it will be easier to patch over later. As for patching the sheetrock, that's a job the husband can get to after football season, especially now that he's relieved of picture-hanging duty.
Thanks, Emily, for sharing this Find with other BirminghamMoms!
If evenings already find you with permission slips to sign, agendas to check, and dinner to put on the table, then you can appreciate the help Spelling City offers both your child (spelling practice) and you (time).
A Birmingham grandmother recommended this fabulous, free resource for those of us who spend a portion of many evenings helping kids prepare for their weekly spelling tests. Just enter the spelling words into an easy interface and you can let your child take the mouse from there. Choices start with "Test Me", "Teach Me", or "Play a Game." Take practice spelling tests, hear and see the words spelled, or explore the words through an assortment of games like crosswords, word finds, missing letters, sorting...on and on.
You could invest hours of your time and never think of all the spelling tricks this site can generate in just one click. If you homeschool or teach, Spelling City can be a key resource for you, especially if you have auditory learners.
For busy BirminghamMoms, the best feature is that the voice on Spelling City retains its ever patient, steady tone, never escalating even when the dog barks, the phone rings, or/and the water boils over. Delegate the practice tests to Spelling City and save your own efforts to focus on your child by reviewing quiz scores and discussing the school day.
Turn a feather boa into a cute wreath for next to nothing.
I had a bright fuschia boa I had gotten as a party favor and couldn't bear to throw it away (although what was I going to do with it?). I thought of all the feather wreaths I had seen and decided to give the boa a shot.
This was so easy! I took a wire coat hanger and stretched it into some semblance of a circle, leaving the hook intact. Then I found the loop at one end of the boa (buried within the feathers, but one is there, trust me) and placed it over the hook of the hanger. I wrapped the boa around the circumference of the hanger again and again until it reached the other side of the hook. Then I slipped the remaining end loop over the hook, and bent the hook down and out of sight on the back of the wreath. After attaching a ribbon onto the wreath with a bread twist tie, I hung it on my daughter's door with - what else? - a removable hook.
You'll need a feather boa around 6 feet long, a standard length, which can be purchased in almost any color for $4 to $9 if you don't already have one at the bottom of a dress-up box somewhere. What is great about this wreath is that it requires next to nothing to create and the boa can always be removed for a later play date with no damage.
This version admittedly isn't as sturdy as those that are professionally created, but it will hold up fine for display. The fluffy feathers are very forgiving and don't require exact placement to look great.
There is a special place in the back of my jewelry box, in the far corner of a velvet-lined drawer, that is the boneyard for broken, smashed, and kinked jewelry that is too good to throw away and yet is worthless to me otherwise.
I've been holding on to this stuff for no reason other than the vague notion that it would come in handy sometime. After reading about yet another home gold selling party, where friends gather to sell their gold Tupperware-style to a jeweler and go home with cash, I decided it was time to unload this stuff. After all, it was really just a nuisance, and gold is at its highest level in years.
I carefully looked over each piece and decided a few still had sentimental value, but I would never miss the dented gold hoop, a second gold hoop of indeterminate origin (did I find this in a parking lot or something?), a broken chain bracelet and a herringbone necklace, which, please believe me, was all the rage at one time (now impossibly kinked).
I carried these in my purse for days waiting for a spare moment to present itself, and finally I was at Patton Creek and thought of John John's jewelers, conveniently across from Zoe's. The ladies at John John's were happy to weigh my jewelry, and as I sat there wondering if my total would buy an ice cream next door at Ben & Jerry's, I got the happy news: $52 for this little collection of broken pieces.
I eagerly accepted the cash, a rare commodity in my debit-card world. This would buy more than an ice cream splurge.
If you have gold jewelry that has no hope of repair or a useful life, almost any jewelry store in town will be happy to take it off your hands and give you cash in exchange. If you have a piece that exhibits workmanship, such as a brooch or locket, consider selling it as an estate piece rather than merely for its gold content; it may be worth more. Otherwise, it's time to recycle that old gold. Here's hoping your pieces are reincarnated as something more original than a gold nugget pendant.
This batch of curly willow was $8.99 at Whole Foods, and although it is displayed in the store in shallow water and has several green shoots, it will dry nicely and last well through the holidays. After Thanksgiving is over, stick pieces of it among a giant tub of poinsettias during Christmas, and if they still look good after the holidays, they can be placed in a container of dried hydrangea blooms and have yet another life. (Note the white pumpkin from Oak Street Local, mentioned previously as a great source for pumpkin varieties.)
The sheaf of wheat shown here was $2.99 at Publix. I stuck it into a deep vase and stuffed moss around it (available by the bag at any craft store or Wal Mart), and now two of them dress up the mantle. These will look as good at Thanksgiving as they do today, and they cost much less than fresh flowers that need frequent replacing.
Finally, my mother-in-law has taught me to get some 
extra fun out of seasonal bedding plants. Although these pansies are not as fool proof as the dried decorations, you can at least enjoy them indoors for a week or so before planting them in the ground (and it takes about a week to finally get to around to it at my house). The small basket at right has two 6" pots of mixed pansies which were an amazing $2 per pot at WalMart. A colorful ribbon and a handful of spanish moss (again,find it in any craft section) and your table has a colorful and cheap centerpiece until you have the time to get the pansies planted outdside.
If you are addicted to shelter magazines and have folders full of inspirational tear sheets, check out My Deco File, a feature by Domino Magazine that allows you to create your own idea file online.
This great application allows you to upload images from any site and add them to your file via a "Tear Image" bookmark. When you drag the bookmark tool to an image you like, it automatically records the source of the image and prompts you to add your own title, category, and any notes to associate with the image.
My Deco File gets better, though. You can upload images of your own home (or the home you aspire to own) as well as pics you may upload directly from your smart phone. Imagine how helpful this will be when you're out shopping for accessories or the perfect sofa. You can send photos directly to your image library, then take time later to consider your selection in the context of your overall decorating plan.
Make your file public, private, or share it only with the contacts you add. You can browse other public files created by professional decorators as well as amateurs. Think of the fun you could have dreaming and scheming with this resource at your fingertips and available to you via web anytime! You and your fellow decorating enthusiasts, former college roomate now hours away, or like-minded sister can view one another's files and swap suggestions.
Now you can properly recycle your old magazines knowing your inspiration tear sheets and are only a few clicks away.
Here's a wonderful way to add a grace note of tiny abundance (oxymoron intended) to your environment and be environmentally-friendly with the same gesture.
It's this little vase, which is actually not a vase at all. You may feel a hint of recognition: It's a syrup bottle from Cracker Barrel. Those little bottles left on the table after a Momma's Breakfast can have a second shot at usefulness.
The most meager bloom your landscape can offer is showcase-worthy in one of these petite bottles. A single caladium leaf from your patio container is elevated to a perfect specimen; a bloom pinched from a knockout rose bush in your side yard looks expertly cultivated. Other ideas:
Pick one or two odd flowers from your grocery store mixed bouquet (a couple of them always look misplaced) and put them in this tiny vase on your nightstand.
Take one to the office for a private little smile at your desk. Better still, surprise a buddy on her birthday or before a big deadline. No vase to return, just toss when the bloom fades.
This diminutive bottle was made for pansies! Just one on your bathroom vanity adds a sweet touch.
Root cuttings of coleus or ivy on your kitchen windowsill.
Add a sliver of ribbon (wired looks best) or raffia.
BirminghamMoms who entertain: Use each "vase" as a place card for guests by punching hole into a card with the guest's name and tying it around each bottle with a wired satin ribbon. Initials look wonderful painted directly on the bottle with a paint pen.
One bunch of roses or gerbera daisies goes a long way here, and guests can take them home as a favor. Most would never guess it's a repurposed syrup bottle, but let them know it's nothing precious. I had a friend offer to return one to me after I brought a flower to her at work; with a ribbon around the top, she couldn't believe it was just an old bottle. That's when I knew this little thing was worth saving from the busboy's bin.
Just wash the empty bottle in the dishwasher and the label will peel off easily after the rinse cycle. Your family's next pancake breakfast at Cracker Barrel can set you up for plenty of giveaway vases.
