AMANDA'S BASKETS: AUGUST BEGINS AND A CHALLENGE

Saturday, August 2, 2014

AUGUST BEGINS AND A CHALLENGE

August 1st. Already. This summer is swiftly flying by. I don't know about you but I'm going have to run to keep up!!!

AN AUGUST CHALLENGE
For those of us with students who will be starting school later this month or early next month, August is usually the time to take stock of school clothes. What fits. What has been outgrown. Etc.

As you go through your child's clothes, take notice of what they wear often and what is left in the drawer or closet. Unless there is a good reason to keep the least worn clothing (i.e. an outfit for special occasions), donate or sell those items. This will enable you to simplify your child's wardrobe as well as providing an opportunity for others to make use of the clothes.

Next, when you have figured out what clothing your child needs, check with family and friends to see if they have anything that will fit. Then, check out tag sales, thrift shops, next to new shops, etc. (Make sure that the items you purchase really will fit and are in excellent condition.) Finally, check out sales at local stores.

The challenge is to simplify your child's wardrobe, to make sure that the clothes are what your child likes to wear, and to spend the least amount of money you can while still purchasing quality items.

I remember times when my children had way too many clothes. And times when they probably had too little. I found that the best amount for my family was to make sure that there was at least two weeks of clean clothes for everyday wear plus a couple special occasion outfits.

When there was too much clothing, storage was a problem, choosing what to wear was a problem and in the end, a lot wasn't worn. When there was too little, I was washing much more frequently, and clothing wore out faster.

You need to figure out the amount of clothing that works best for your family. But once you do, stick to that amount. Help you child understand that having a wardrobe which only includes outfits they love to wear is better than having lots and lots of clothes that they really don't like.

ZENTANGLE CHALLENGE: DAY FIFTY-FOUR
This is the last day of the challenge...

1. Lose one pound - missed
2. Exercise five days - only one day, too much rain
3. Blog five days - yes
4. Finish the Zentangle Challenge - yes
5. Finish the wall hanging - didn't begin
6. Work on internet class at Artful Gathering - yes
7. Write every day - yes
8. Begin planning next month's blogs - yes
9. Read - yes
10. Organize files - nope

Well, it was an okay week. The rain plus the injury to my head and leg really slowed me down this week. Hopefully next week will be better.

Have a great weekend...
Thanks for stopping by...
See you on Monday...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?