Announcing the all new MeckMom.com

For over a year now, I've been posting my favorite bright ideas on two separate blogs. Thankfully, it looks like those days of extra effort are over. Thanks to my brilliant husband's help and many late nights of work, the new MeckMom.com is finally ready to launch.

By creating a customized Wordpress site, I've managed to combine the best elements of each of my two blogs. The new MeckMom.com is easier to navigate, fully searchable, and more functional than ever.

Consequently, I've decided to make my life a little easier and stop dual posting. As of today, I will no longer be posting to this site. All new posts and downloads will be posted to www.meckmom.com.

If you subscribe to my blog via feedblitz and recieve my posts in your inbox, I will transfer your subscription to the new site. If you subscribe via RSS, you'll need to update the address in your feed reader. You can find the RSS link in the upper right hand corner of the new site.

Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy the new site.

-MeckMom

Mud Room Mini Makeover

As I mentioned before, moving to a new house always has its challenges. In addition to finding new spots for our ocean of toys, I've also had to come up with a new solution for our mudroom. In our new house, the entryway from the garage is a small mudroom/laundry room. It's only about 5 feet wide and the washer and dryer take up a significant portion of the width. I needed a place to store backpacks, keys, jackets, purses, and other 'out the door' essentials without interrupting the traffic flow.

As I was wandering the aisles of Target searching for a cheap solution, I came across these awesome peg boards. Yet another successful Pottery Barn knockoff from our friends at Target, these square peg boards are a perfect solution for tight spaces. In addition to the cool peg boards, they also offer coordinating dry erase boards and cork boards to allow for tons of configuration options. But of course, the best part is the customization. Much like their garage wall predecessors, these peg boards offer tons of flexiblity. Target sells a wide variety of hooks, boxes, racks and clips to help you create a perfect spot for all your must-haves.

On our board, I've got several small silver key hooks, a few sturdier hooks for my purse, a box for things like sunglasses and sunscreen, and a 4-arm swinging hook for the kid's backpacks and jackets. At first, the hooks seemed a little loose and tended to pop out if I pulled at the wrong angle. I solved that problem by picking up a pack of ticky tack and placing a small dot of it around the peg of each hook. Now everything stays in its place and can the hooks can stand up to my kid's toughest yanks.

In addition to mud rooms like mine, they'd be a great addition to any kid's rooms, garages, craft areas and much more. We've used the system for a few months now, and it's held up beautifully. The total set up cost me around $35. Considering I haven't lost my keys or tripped over a backpack yet, I'd say it's well worth the price. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Finally...an organizing magazine for real people

As you may have noticed, my posts over the past few months have been a little irregular. Belive it or not, I actually have a really good excuse for my procrastination…I’ve been writing.

Earlier this year, I was approached by a new national magazine to write an organizing article for their inaugural issue. The founders of the magazine had read my blog and thought that my overall approach to organization fell in line with the mission of their magazine…to offer doable organization projects for real people with real lives. Naturally, I was thrilled to have the opportunity.

Several months and many edits later, I am still writing (hence my lack of posts lately). I am currently working on my third article for ORGANIZE magazine. It's been a lot of work, but the result is well worth it. The magazine is fabulous and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.

Granted, I’m a bit biased, but I can honestly say that after seeing the preview for the inaugural issue I would subscribe in a heartbeat. Not only are the articles down to earth and doable, but the advertising for various organizing tools and websites function as a great resource as well.

Please don’t misunderstand my intentions here; I’m not trying to sell you anything. I don’t make any money from this plug and the creators of the magazine did not ask me to promote it on my blog. I just love the whole concept of the magazine and wanted to recommend it to my readers. The first issue comes out in June. Although it will be carried across the nation by various distributors, I highly recommend getting your own subscription. The price is only $20 for the entire year.

If you’d like to see a preview of the magazine or if you’d like to subscribe, just visit their website: http://www.organizemag.com/. I hope you enjoy it.

-MeckMom

Really Cool Cardboard Site

Why spend hundreds of dollars to rent an inflatable castle for your kid's birthday when you can make a cardboard version for next to nothing? This great site has tons of how-to's and inexpensive products to help you create some fantastic play places.

I read about this site on another blog and had to pass it on. Mr. McGroovy's very affordable box rivets offer a quick any easy alternative to more traditional means of connecting cardboard. As a side benefit, his site is loaded with simple plans and creative ideas to make your next birthday party memorable. The site even offers tips on how to get appliance boxes for free from your local shops and dealers. Be sure to check out their customer testimonials area. It's amazing to see what kind of creations their customers have come up with. My personal favorite is the huge pirate ship.

I haven't tried the rivets yet, but from what I've read from the previous customers, they look like a great solution. I can't wait to try them. Here's the site link in case you're interested: http://www.mrmcgroovys.com/castle.htm

Get more storage space from your closets

Moving into our new house last month has required a lot of adjusting. Our new place has different quantities of cabinets, closets, and even living spaces. One of the biggest changes has been the loss of our basement toy room. Consequently, I've had to use a little ingenuity to find new ways to store tons of toys in small spaces.

In our old house, these inexpensive stackable shelves used to stack vertically and house my son's books in his closet. In our new house, I gave them a new purpose by laying them horizontally across the top shelf in my daughters' closet. The cubbies provide convenient toy storage for the rarely used items and allow me to take advantage of the loads of available space above the hanging bar. This same technique would be great for a hall closet, mudroom, or laundry room. Just thought I'd pass it on.

I purchased my shelves at WalMart for just under $10 each. I couldn't find them on their website, but I found a similar product at Target.com. Here's the link so you can check out what you're looking for before you head to the store. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-6/qid=1176559378/ref=sr_1_6/602-2013175-7747016?ie=UTF8&asin=B0002I248G

Easy Easter Ideas

Easter is just around the corner so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite family fun ideas.

Puzzling Easter Egg Hunt
Purchase and hide a small, shareable prize (like a package of Peeps or a new game) somewhere in your house. Write down the prize location on a sheet of heavy cardstock and cut it into a 15-30 piece puzzle. You could also purchase an inexpensive Easter puzzle and write your secret message on the back. Add one piece of the puzzle to each plastic egg before your annual family Easter Egg Hunt. The puzzle adds a little excitement to the hunt and saves your family from the annual candy overload.

Easter Basket Search
Make your kids search for their baskets this year by creating a yarn trail. First, buy a different color of yarn for each child in your family. Next, hide their Easter basket in a remote location of the house. After they've gone to bed, tie their color of yarn to their doorknob and wind it all through the house (under couches, around corners, over tables, etc.). Tie the other end of the yarn to the handle of their hidden basket. In the morning, they'll have to follow their yarn to find their prize.

Easter Bunny Trail
I haven't tried this one yet, but I thought it sounded like a fun way to add a little magic to Easter morning. When your kids are in bed, use baby powder and your finger to create small, white Easter bunny footprints near your front door or next to your child's Easter basket.

If you have any fun & easy family traditions that you'd like to share, please feel free to add them. I'd love to try something new this year. Thanks.

Quick and easy Pancakes

A special thanks to Mary and Amy for reminding me of this one. They were helping me pack my kitchen last week when we came across my one of my favorite breakfast tools. I must admit, a dollar store ketchup bottle doesn't look like much, but when it comes to making pretty pancakes in a hurry, it gets the job done.

When I found this idea, I had 3 kids under 4. The kids had a hard time cutting their own pancakes and I found cutting them too time consuming. I tried making smaller pancakes the traditional way, but the end result was a bunch of lumpy blobs. Then I found this simple solution.

I bought a plastic ketchup bottle from my local dollar store and cut the tip down to create a bigger opening. I filled the bottle with pancake batter and then used it to create small, quarter-size pancakes (we call them silver dollars at our house). They cook quickly and were just the right size for my kids.

It wasn't long before I realized I could also use it to create fun shapes with the pancakes bottle too. On Saturdays, birthdays, or just when I'm feeling like being a fun Mom, I take requests and create all kinds of crazy pancakes for my kids. Flowers, dinosaurs, letters…anything their creative little brains can come up with.

When you're finished, just put the cap on your bottle and toss it in your fridge. You'll be set to make next batch whenever you need it. Just pull it out of the fridge and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to bring it back to room temperature. Easy and inexpensive…just thought I'd pass it on.

Want to try it? Here's a few tips…
1. Make sure your batter is free of lumps (I add extra milk to mine to thin it out a little)
2. Cook your pancakes on medium-low heat to give you more time to create
3. To add a little dimension to your designs (if you're feeling especially artistic), pour the darker portions first. For example, if you want to make a flower, pour the petals first and wait a few seconds before adding the center. The petals will have a little more time to cook so they'll turn out a little darker than the center.
4. Raid your kid's toys. I found that my daughter's mini metal spatula from her kitchen set is the perfect size for flipping the silver dollars.

If you have any easy or creative food tricks that your family loves, please post them in the comments area. I'm always looking for new ways to keep my family guessing. Thanks.

Lazy Susans: Keys to a functional fridge

I hate to clean my fridge. Next to scrubbing my kid's bathroom, it's my least favorite job. It's not that it's particularly difficult, it's just time consuming. Pulling out and replacing all the contents takes almost as long as the actual cleaning itself. I used to use small plastic baskets to hold bottles and jars, but they looked bulky and forced me to pull out the whole basket to find what I needed. Then my mother-in-law passed along this helpful tip.

Pick up a few inexpensive 'lazy susans' from your local super store. I found mine on the clearance shelf at WalMart for $2 each. Place them on your fridge shelves to hold misc. small items. The rotating base makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for…no more knocking everything over to get to that big jar of applesauce in the back. It also speeds up the cleaning process significantly. Now when a spill hits, I just pick up the lazy susan, wipe the shelf with a Clorox wipe and set it back down again. Simple, cheap and functional. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Lucky Leprechaun Day - Fun Family Tradition

A few days ago my 4 year-old daughter ran into the kitchen of our new house begging me for a ziploc bag. When I asked her why, she enthusiastically declared that she had discovered a huge patch of clovers under our deck and needed to harvest them for Lucky Leprechaun Day.

My kids have been counting down to St. Patrick's Day for weeks now. They look forward to leprechaun visits the way other kids look forward to Easter baskets and tooth fairy quarters. Although it started completely by accident, it's been one of my kid's favorite family traditions. So, naturally, I thought I'd post it here.

Just so you know, I did post this idea about a year ago. However, my blog was so new then that I doubt I had many readers. I thought I'd post it again for those of you that joined a little later in the year.

St. Patrick's day was always a little dull at our house. We usually do the green pancakes and such, but I wanted something a little more fun for my kids to look forward to in March.

Several years ago, my oldest daughter fell asleep on an old green Mardi Gras necklace. When she woke up on St. Patrick's Day, she had a strange green marking on her belly. She was too little to understand that the paint from the necklace had transferred to skin, so I told her that a lucky leprechaun must have snuck into her room late at night and left her his good luck mark. I told her the mark was very special because it promised an entire year of good luck. She believed me whole-heartedly. In fact, whenever she was nervous or scared during the following year I reminded her of the mark and she'd get a sudden burst of courage.

We had so much fun with it that year, that we made it a St. Patrick's Day tradition. Each year, on St. Patrick's eve, they put freshly picked clovers in front of their door. After they've gone to sleep, I sneak into their rooms and draw a tiny green clover with permanent marker somewhere on their body. When they wake up on St. Patrick's Day, they search all over to find their mark, and then rush in to our room to tell us just how lucky they're going to be that year. They love that the 'lucky leprechaun ink' lasts for several days which gives them plenty of time to show off their good luck to all their friends.

I know it seems simple and perhaps a bit silly, but the way I figure it is this: I've only got a few short years where my kids eyes will sparkle at the thought of fairies, fantasy, and flying reindeer . Why not add one more magical creature to the list? Considering it only costs me the price of a marker and about 5 minutes of my time, I think it's well worth it. Just thought I'd pass it on.

If any of you have other St. Patrick's Day traditions you'd like to add, please feel free to add it to the comments section. I'm always looking for new ways to make these smaller holidays a little more momentous.

Easy Pottery Barn cork board pictures

As I've mentioned before, I tend to use the Pottery Barn Kids magazine as an idea base rather than a catalog. This week's post is another example of how I borrowed their idea and made my own version for far less cash.

To make this simple arrangement for above my son's desk, I started with three very inexpensive black frames from Wal-Mart. I found them in the craft section for around $4 each. I removed the glass and then primed the frames with white primer. I used the left-over semi-gloss accent paint from my son's room to add color to the frames, but glossy acrylic paint would work as well.

Next, I purchased a roll of cork at the craft store for $5 and cut it to fit into the smaller frames. The cork was a little thin and had a tendency to puff up in the frame; so I used hot glue to layer two pieces of cork together and then glued it all to the frame backing. For the larger frame, I created my own double mat with heavy cardstock and then added one of my son's preschool paintings.

It's not fancy or particularly creative, but for less than $20 it was a great way to add a little color and functionality to my son's room. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Quick information on the go with text messaging

Contrary to popular belief, text messaging isn't just for teenagers. Believe it or not, it's a great way to get quick information. I often use it throughout the day to stay in touch with my husband while he's at work. He's frequently in meetings or otherwise unavailable for a conversation. Rather than leave multiple messages for him, I simply send him a text such as "should I get a babysitter for Friday?". Regardless of whether he's on the phone or in a meeting, he's able to send me a quick reply. It saves both of us time and helps us stay connected throughout the day.

Google is another great source for text information. Most of us use Google online to get quick information like business phone numbers, movie showtimes, directions, weather and misc. information. What you may not know is that you can get all that information on your phone as well. Why pay $2 for every 411 call when you can get it from Google for free? Simply send a text message of your question to 466453 ('GOOGLE' on most devices). Generally within about 5 seconds Google will text you back with the info you requested. For example, if I want to know what time the movie 'Catch and Release' is playing at my local movie theatre I text 'catch and release 66062' to Google. After a few seconds, I get three text messages back listing the showtimes of that particular movie in each of my three local theatres (as well as their addresses and phone numbers). For samples of what types of questions you can ask and how to format them, click this link http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/. I think you'll be amazed how much information is right at your fingertips.

Most cell phone plans include at least a certain number of free text messages. If you've never used it, you should check your plan and try it out. I've found it texting incredibly helpful and efficient. Anything that saves me time, keeps me connected, and doesn't cost me a dime is a keeper in my book. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Keep your car cleaner with this under-the-seat solution

To survive as a parent, you have to be able to multi-task. Unfortunately, your car does as well. All too often my kids end up finishing their breakfast on the way to school, eating lunch on the way to soccer or munching a snack on the way to church.

To help my car survive the many mini-meals, I came up with this easy solution. I removed the label from an empty Crystal Light tube and stuffed it full of plastic grocery sacks. Whenever I start to see the mess accumulating or when I'm getting gas and have a trash can handy, I just reach under the driver's seat and grab a sack from the tube. I pass it back to the kids and they dig around the car for any potential trash. The tube can hold around 10 sacks, so I rarely have to worry about refilling it. As a bonus, they also come in handy for stops at the mailbox and trips home from the pool in the summer.

To help prevent the tube from rolling around, I made another tube for napkins/paper towels and used two large rubber bands to hold them together. The rubber bands grip the carpet a little and help keep the tubes right under my seat. I'm sure there are tons of other ways you could use them as well, loose change, coloring pages & crayons, wet wipes, etc. It's a simple, free, solution that has tons of potential. Just thought I'd pass it on.

Keep your ornaments safe with this simple foam solution

First off, I wanted to let you know that the Santa Sacks were a huge hit. I've never had such a smooth Christmas Eve. They will definitely stay on my list of Christmas time-savers.

I'm sure most of you have already taken your tree down and tucked all your ornaments away. However, if there are a few slackers out there, like myself, that have delayed the massive Christmas clean-up…this tip's for you.

After a basement flood several years ago, I learned the hard way that it was worth the investment to keep all my long-term storage is in large, stackable, plastic bins. Most of my Christmas décor could fit easily into these inexpensive containers, but my ornaments presented a problem. They were too delicate to be thrown into a bin with the other Christmas decorations. I didn't have the time or patience to wrap each one in paper so I came up with this cheap solution.

First, I purchased a twin size egg crate foam mattress pad at Wal-Mart for around $15. Next, I used the lid of my container as a guide and cut the pad with a large pair of scissors. The end result was 6 squares of foam, custom cut to fit my ornament container. I placed one piece of foam (egg side up) on the bottom of the container and placed my least fragile ornaments randomly on the pad. I placed another sheet of padding on top of those ornaments and then added my next layer of ornaments, continuing to layer until I reached the top. My most fragile ornaments go on the final layer. They are sandwiched between two pieces of padding (egg sides in) and then covered with our tree skirt for added cushioning. Lastly, I snap the lid on and add the box to my stack.

I have a label on each container to help me know which box is which. That way, when I haul everything to the basement, I can remember put the ornament box on the top of the stack.

I've used these pads for over 5 years now. The ornaments have survived 3 moves and 5 trips in and out of the basement. That makes them a keeper in my book. Just thought I'd pass it on.