Friday 31 October 2014

Happy Halloween & Pumpkin Puzzle


HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

So Halloween is here and it is going to be fun. As I was carving my pumpkins last night I realized that they will get all of their use just sitting there looking good. What if you could get some better uses out of your pumpkins? The kids absolutely loved my idea to make a pumpkin puzzle. 


Simply cut out some simple shapes in your pumpkins and let the kids pop them back in. My kids sat at the table for hours playing with their pumpkin puzzle. 

The truth about tampering with Halloween candy!

When kids start wolfing down their Halloween treats, there’s always one grim specter lurking in the back of parents' minds: what if some madman had filled their candy with poison, razor blades, needles, or some other decidedly terrifying foreign substance? But has this ever actually happened? Let’s take a look at how realistic these fears are.

Has anyone ever really handed out poisoned Halloween candy?

To random children? Not that we know of. In 1974, an eight-year-old Houston boy named Timothy O’Bryan died after eating cyanide-laced Pixy Stix while trick-or-treating. Although the poisoning initially looked like it might have been the work of a deranged homeowner, the investigation into O’Bryan’s murder soon centered on his father, Ronald Clark O’Bryan.
A bit of digging revealed that Ronald O’Bryan had recently taken out hefty life insurance policies on both of his children, and police quickly built a case, albeit a circumstantial one, that O’Bryan had given both Timothy and his daughter, Elizabeth, the poison candy to try to collect on the policies. To help cover his tracks, O’Bryan also gave two other children cyanide Pixy Stix. Luckily, his daughter and the other two children had passed up the poisoned powders in favor of other treats.
O’Bryan was eventually convicted and executed for murdering his son. While his crime was certainly a horrific one, it was hardly the sort of random poisoning that parents fear.

So nobody’s ever died from poisoned Halloween candy?

By all indications, no. Snopes has collected an impressive array of stories where randomly poisoned Halloween candy was blamed for deaths, though. In 1970, a five-year-old in Detroit died after ingesting a massive amount of heroin. Tests on his Halloween candy showed that some had been sprinkled with the drug, but the police actually learned the tragic truth behind the boy’s death. He had stumbled across his uncle’s heroin stash and mistakenly eaten it. His family then sprinkled the drug on the boy’s Halloween candy to throw off investigators.

Why so many scares, then?

It’s easy to see how these urban legends have taken hold because they’re so terrifying. After all, parents spend 364 days of every year telling their kids not to take candy from strangers precisely because it might be poisoned, then give the thumbs-up to taking snacks from every house in the neighborhood on Halloween. It’s only natural that parents would get a little nervous. Plus, after the terrifyingly random Tylenol murders of 1982 where seven Chicagoland people died after taking randomly poisoned pain medication, many people have been more than a little nervous about crazed poisoners.
Of course, the scares get a real boost every few years when someone, often a parent, dies while eating Halloween candy or immediately afterwards. Statistically, you’d expect just as many people to randomly drop dead on Halloween as any other day of the year, but any time a parent has a fatal heart attack after eating a miniature Butterfinger, the poison candy scourge gets the blame until the autopsy results come back. Everything from heart failure to fatal bacterial infections have been initially blamed on poisoned candy.

Okay, so there’s probably no poison in my kids’ Halloween candy. What about razor blades and needles?

Now here’s what you should really be worried about. Actually, “really be worried about” is too strong of a wording; let’s say this is what should mildly concern you. Unlike randomly poisoned candy, there are verified reports of sharp objects being placed in random trick-or-treaters’ candy. Fortunately, though, these incidents hardly qualify as an epidemic. In fact, they’re really, really rare.
According to Snopes, since 1959 there have been around 80 reports of sharp objects adulterating food. The great bulk of those reports turned out to be hoaxes, and even when the stories turned out to be true, the needles or blades were usually placed in the food by a relative or friend who had a really boneheaded idea of what constitutes a good prank. Hardly the sort of crazed loners who should be keeping us awake at night.
Moreover, compared to cyanide poisonings, the potential downside of biting into a sharp object is fairly low. The worst of these verified reports resulted in someone needing to get a few stitches to close a cut in the mouth. While that would certainly be enough to ruin your day, and you should obviously still inspect your child's bag of Halloween loot, it’s not quite as terrifying as keeling over with a Jolly Rancher in your mouth.

Has anyone been caught for one of these needle attacks?

Despite decades of parental worry, the first organized attempt to spoil Halloween with sharp objects didn’t happen until 2000. That year James Joseph Smith of Minneapolis allegedly stuck needles in the Snickers bars he handed out to trick-or-treaters. While several of the children bit into Smith’s nefarious bars, he could hardly claim a huge victim toll. The only injury was to a teenager who was pricked by one of the needles, and even he didn’t need to go see a doctor for his relatively small wound. Police charged Smith with one count of adulterating a substance with intent to cause death, harm or illness.

Anything else weird turn up in Halloween candy?

How about pot? In 2000, parents began finding an odd trick mixed into their children’s treats: Snickers wrappers stuffed with marijuana. Police jumped on the case and quickly traced the wacky chocolates back to a homeowner who seemed truly confused about the whole hullabaloo.
Eventually, the police and the homeowner pieced together what had happened. The man worked in the dead letter office at a local postal facility, and when he found a bag of Snickers in a lost package, he brought them home to give out as treats. He hadn’t realized, though, that the candy bars were actually someone’s attempt at smuggling pot through the mail.

 Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/12914/brief-history-sick-people-tampering-halloween-candy

Tuesday 28 October 2014

List of Free Halloween Printables & Lovable Labels Sale!

Free is the best price, here I have compiled a list of free Halloween printables to keep you and your little ghouls and goblins busy all week long!















Well I hope you enjoy this list of fun and have an excellent time playing with your little ones!



I love Lovable Labels, they have the highest quality labels for every need imaginable. It is their 5th birthday this month and to celebrate they are having a sale every day for the next 5 days, 50% off the selected product! All you have to do is visit their website to find out the deal of the day!

 http://www.lovablelabels.ca/product/SALE-Fun-Stickies/ Today's deal is on their Fun Stickies only $9.95! Sale ends on October 30th so don't miss out!

Be sure to check tomorrows deal and see the fantastic savings! Visit Lovable Labels all week long!


Monday 27 October 2014

Homemade Facial Treatments


We all want to look our best, but have you seen the prices of top of the line face cream?!? There is no way I would ever spend 70-100 dollars on a face cream, wash, scrub, etc. I enjoy looking good while not spending a fortune and I think everyone should have the opportunity to do it as well. So here I have a couple simple recipes that cost a few dollars to make for yourself.


Anti-wrinkle Eye Cream


This cream is comparable to the highest quality face creams and can be made for a small fraction of the cost.


2 TBSP Jasmine Oil

1/4 Cup Avocado Oil
2 TBSP Almond Oil
3 TBSP Wheat Germ Oil
2 TBSP Lanolin
2 TBSP Glycerin 
2 Drops Geranium Oil
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Vitamin E Capsule 


1. Begin by warming the jasmine oil in a saucepan on low heat.



2. Using a double boiler, warm the avocado, almond, and wheat germ oils and then stir in the lanolin until melted and combined.



3. Add the jasmine oil to the double boiler as well and stir until well combined. Add the geranium, and olive oil and glycerin and then pierce the vitamin E capsule and squeeze contents into the mixture.  



4. Once the mixture is fully combined pour into a 6 ounce glass jar or an air tight container and store in a cool dark place.



Tired Eye Remedy


When you have tired eyes you look older then you are, sad but true, fix that problem after a hard days work or lack of sleep with this easy remedy that costs a lot less then those roll on eye treatments.

1 Cup Boiling Water
2-3 Rose Petals
1 TBSP Witch Hazel

1. Begin by steeping the rose petals in the boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Once the petals have sat in the water give them a squeeze to drain them of any excess and remove the petals. 

2. Add the witch hazel and stir to combine. Once the mixture is well combined dip a cotton ball or a cotton pad in the liquid and apply all around your eyes and then sit back and rest with your eyes closed and keep the pads on your eyelids for a minimum of 5 mins.

These are my two favorite face treatments that are so easy to make and completely affordable. They work so well that I have made people switch from the high priced brand name products to my favorite recipes! Try them you will love them!

Another great way to pamper yourself is an aromatic and all-natural body scrub. Body scrubs help with skin cell turnover, remove dead cells, and smoothes and softens rough, dry skin. Here is a Strawberry-Lemon scrub recipe card you'll love. And for more check out these 11 DIY Body Scrub Recipes using the Fruits & Veggies in Your Fridge.

Friday 24 October 2014

Terracycle Rocks!


That is a giant stack of diapers! I won all 460 of those Huggies Pure and Natural diapers through Terracycle. For those of you that don' know about Terracycle they are an absolutely amazing company that recycles all kinds of different packaging and materials and they make it so easy for you to get involved. They give you printable shipping labels for whichever item you signed up to recycle and give you points and chances to win stuff in return.

TerraCycle is a proud triple-bottom line company.

Founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, then a 20-year-old Princeton University freshman, TerraCycle, Inc. began producing organic fertilizer by packaging liquified “worm poop” in used soda bottles. Since the inauspicious start, TerraCycle has become one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world.
Today, TerraCycle is a highly-awarded, international upcycling and recycling company that collects difficult-to-recycle packaging and products and repurposes the material into affordable, innovative products. TerraCycle is widely considered the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable, post-consumer waste.
TerraCycle works with more than 100 major brands in the U.S. and 22 countries overseas to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. It repurposes that waste into new, innovative materials and products that are available online and through major retailers.

TerraCycle's Environmental Benefit

TerraCycle benefits our planet in a number of ways. We divert billions of pieces of garbage from our landfills and incinerators (both of these options produce added carbon and other greenhouse gases) and either upcycle or recycle the waste into new products, which reduces the need for new materials to be extracted from our planet.

How It Works Image
TerraCycle is on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste. We do this by creating waste collection programs (each one is called a “Brigade”) for previously non-recyclable, or difficult-to-recycle, waste. The collected waste is then converted into new products, ranging from recycled park benches to upcycled backpacks.

Please sign up and join us to create a better world. Terracycle asks for nothing more then your trash and provides so many benefits. Sign up and get started today no matter where you are in the world we can all get involved!  SIGN UP NOW!

Thursday 23 October 2014

Cold and Flu Season Must Have Items!




Cold and flu season is here early and that means you need to be prepared to fight it off, treat, and prevent which means you need to make sure you have what you need to survive comfortably. Nobody likes waking up feeling sick and being completely unprepared to handle the symptoms, I don't think any of us like shopping while we are sick. So stock up before it's too late and here are my favorite items:

  • Ester-C® is a unique and patented form of Calcium Ascorbate, which is created when ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is buffered with calcium.
  • Ester-C® takes Calcium ascorbate and, using a proprietary, water-based manufacturing process, produces a pH neutral product that contains active Vitamin C metabolites (that do not exist in any other form of Vitamin C, including Calcium ascorbate).
  • These natural metabolites provide quick absorption.
  • Ester-C® also functions biologically like other forms of Vitamin C, providing benefits for skin, joint and vision health, cardiovascular support, antioxidant protection and immune system wellness.

 For effective relief of: nasal congestion; sinus pain; headache; fever; body aches and pain; pain of sore throat. Ibuprofen 200 mg / Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride 30 mg; Analgesic / Decongestant


You must stock up on tissues, even if you don't have a cold the cold air makes for runny noses. Especially if you have kids! 

  • Potent, natural formula helps boost the immune system
  • Clinically proven to fight the onset and symptoms of flu, colds and upper-respiratory infections
  • Fast-acting and free of immune-suppressing isobutylamides, FluShield may be taken the duration of the cold and flu season 
    Derived from Echinacea angustifolia root
    and equivalent to 1,000 mg of dried herb.

    • Supplement drop with Vitamin C
    • Acts as a daily defense to help maintain good health
    • Also available in No Sugar Added
    • Available in 9-piece sticks or resealable 25 and 30 count bags 


     I was very pleased when my son got sick a few years ago to see that Gravol Kids can be given to children at the age of 2. When you have a puking child it is amazing to know there is something you can do about it. And of course regular adult gravolworksgreat but it makes you super drowsy, they have a few other kinds that I haven't tried yet that are supposed to be non-drowsy.

    NyQuil 
    FOR NIGHTTIME RELIEF OF COLD/FLU SYMPTOMS:
    • Relieves sniffles and sneezing
    • Calms and quiets coughing
    • Eases head and body aches
    • Reduces fever
    • Relieves minor sore throat pain
    • Helps you get the restful sleep you need by relieving major cold/flu symptoms


    • On chest and throat, temporarily relieves cough due to common cold
    • On muscles and joints, temporarily relieves minor aches and pains 

     Fight Fever, Aches & Pains, Earache And More With Children's TYLENOL®.

    Those are all the products I like to keep on hand during cold and flu season, another item is a humidifier and there are millions to choose from depending on your budget. I bought my Sunbeam humidifier for $20 and it does the job in a small room.

    Hand washing is the best thing you can teach your kids to keep germs away and here is a neat way to show your kids how wash for the right amount of time:

    Cover your child's hands in cinnamon to show him/her all the germs that could be on their hands. Now have them wash it off until every "germ" is gone. This is a neat way to show children just how long it takes to wash the germs away!  

    If you need cold and flu products and want them delivered straight to your door you can find everything you need at: Well.ca
    I wish you all the best during this cold and flu season and don't forget to get your flu shots they should be available right away!

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Rebuilding after bankruptcy


I am in the middle of my very first bankruptcy and have learned many things from the mistakes I had made. I never had credit cards or anything but I did have loans and payments that just never got made due to terrible circumstances that changed many things in my life. I am now recovering from my poor decisions and had wonderful words of wisdom brought to me by my counselor. He taught me how to rebuild from my bankruptcy and begin climbing up the ladder to being a responsible credit holder. And now I get to share this information with you.

The Secured Credit Card

Once you are getting close to the end of your bankruptcy you can look into getting a "secured credit card" which is a card where you put down a deposit and the credit card company keeps it as collateral in case you decide to stop making payments. The deposit is usually around 300 and they will give you a credit limit of around the same amount varying by card of course. 

The trick to rebuilding with this method is you must use your card every month, whether it is something small like a pizza or bigger and you must pay it off in full on time every month for the next 12 months. Do not stop using the card every month because it brings your credit score back down when you stop using it. After making your payments on time every month for 12 months the credit card company will give you your deposit back to do as you wish and now you have proved to be an excellent creditor. You may be able to get a larger spending limit but be careful because that's how you get sucked into problems again.

The Borrowed RRSP

Another way I was shown is to wait until you are discharged from your bankruptcy, when you receive your discharge certificate take it in with you to the bank and see if you can borrow $1000 to buy an RRSP. The bank may or may not allow this and if they do that is wonderful. The payments on a loan for an RRSP are very low ranging between 2-5% over a twelve month period making your payments very low. As you make your payments each month be sure to make them on time and you can even pay more then your minimum to pay it off faster if you can. 

By the end of the year when you file your taxes you will get an income tax credit of $330 which you can add into your RRSP account. Now this account will begin to gain interest and if you finished paying off the original loan amount you can borrow another $1000 or even $2000 from the bank to put more towards your RRSP. This will create a snowball affect creating this RRSP amount to grow by leaps and bounds over the years. You can choose to keep the money for retirement, use it for your or your child's education, or even a first time home purchase. The amazing things you can do with compounding interest is endless.

Those are two ways you can begin building your credit after a bankruptcy or even now if you have fair credit but nothing to fantastic. Make your payments on time and show you can be a responsible credit holder and soon you will be back in good terms with the credit world. 

Beware that when you begin gaining a good credit record all kinds of creditors begin coming out of the wood work offering credit cards and even those pesky furniture stores can offer what seems like a great deal at the time (no payments for 18 months) but don't get lured into owing money to more places. You can live life simply by loving who you are, what you have, and what you can do. Be proud of what you have achieved and know that you don't need shiny, fancy new things to be amazing.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

How to Save Money While Meeting Goals!


My latest goals are quite a challenge. They involve a lot of discipline, money, and budgeting. My goals are very realistic and possible but they are going to be very challenging due to the fact that I am on an extremely tight budget with very little wiggle room for temptation or emergencies. When I thought about it that way it scared me into thinking I need to save money while reaching my goals just in case something should come up while I am climbing the stairs to my goal. The last thing I want to do is dip into my goal money in an emergency. Here is how I am saving while reaching my goal:

1. Split extra earnings between goals and savings. Here is what I mean, when I do jobs on Odesk or make money writing posts or additional babysitting above my regular shifts I put half of the money into my goal jar and half the money into my savings jar. 

2. Use my creativity to create gifts, as well as fun surprises for my kids. When I think of all the birthdays and special occasions coming up it makes me think of all the money that can be wasted. Not only that but when you have kids you like to take them places and get them things to make them happy. While on a budget you need to be creative and make things for people for the holidays or offer them services free of charge. When you want to do something special for your kids and your on a budget you need to think of all the free things you can do like hiking, biking, crafts, playing outside, cooking together, creating gifts together, and much more. You do not need to spend money to have fun and make people feel special.

3. Cook seasonal and make double batches to throw in the freezer. When you cook seasonally you can get the best sale prices and be sure to keep the grocery bill low. Our thanksgiving just passed so turkeys, stuffing, and more seasonal items are all on sale right now so stocking up on those things are absolutely essential right now. Creating extra meals and stashing them in the freezer is an excellent way to have healthy food on the fly and keep you fro ordering take out.

4. Remind yourself why your goal is important. My goal is getting my license and buying a van that seats 7 passengers. I need around $3500 to get this done and the reasons I am doing this are infinite. I babysit 3-4 other kids almost everyday and we walk everywhere, driving us would save so much time. I want my son in scouts and I can't take him to meetings if I don't drive because it is quite a distance from my house and I have extra kids etc. I want to be able to take my kids places, like road trips, camping, site seeing, etc. I do what I can now but it is nothing compared to what it could be. Reminding yourself why your goal is important keeps you from throwing in the towel and spending your money on other things.

5. Get rid of things that are not necessary or helping you to reach your goal. I went through my house in the past week and realized how much extra crap I was holding onto. I got rid of bags of stuff and made some extra money in the process. If you have tons of clothes, toys, electronics, etc. that nobody uses or needs sell it and add the money to your goal and savings. 

6. This is one of the most important steps of all, treat yourself when you reach any milestone. It does not need to be a huge treat or a big milestone but you need to remember to keep yourself happy while achieving your goal otherwise it is nothing more then a chore or a pain in the neck that drags on forever.  When I reach another 100 dollars in my goal jar I buy myself a small treat like a chocolate bar, a new nail polish, maybe an ice cream, anything small that I know I can afford to make myself feel good about my goal and how far I have come.

Monday 13 October 2014

Top 5 Halloween Children's Books

There is nothing better then reading some seasonal stories just before bedtime, my kids absolutely love getting into the Halloween spirit with some great books. These are our top 5 picks for Halloween children's books!

1. I Like Pumpkins


2.The Haunted House That Jack Built


3.Clifford's Halloween


4.The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat


5.The Berenstain Bears go on a Ghost Walk


These are our top 5 picks for the month of October, alongside our usual stories of course. What are some of your favorite Halloween stories?

Friday 10 October 2014

My Favorite Halloween Crafts


Halloween is approaching and crafting is always good for the family. Here are some of my favorite crafts and activities I enjoy doing as the wicked fun holiday approaches!







Monday 6 October 2014

Our Top 10 Halloween Movies

Halloween is exciting for me and my kids, we really enjoy embracing most holidays with a gusto so Halloween is no exception. I have already begun decorating and sending out Halloween themed packages and cards. I have all kinds of Halloween candy around my house and have begun bringing out my collection of Halloween movies! Everyone should have a few favorites in the category and I probably have some listed you have not seen. So enjoy this top 10 list as we welcome the month of Halloween!

1. Monster House

Although no adults will believe them, three children realize a neighbor's house is really a monster. They must find a way to stop the house and save the neighborhood.

2. It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown


The Great Pumpkin is a fictional holiday figure in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The Great Pumpkin is a holiday figure that seems to be mentioned by only Linus van Pelt.

3. Sabrina The Teenage Witch


Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a 1996 American television film adaptation based on a character from Archie Comics. It served as a pilot for the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch television series, and premiered on Showtime on April 7, 1996

4. Hocus Pocus
 

After three centuries, three witch sisters are resurrected in Salem Massachusetts on Halloween night, and it is up to two teen-agers, a young girl, and an immortal cat to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all.

5. Mickey's House Of Villains

It is Halloween night at the House of Mouse, and a lot of villains are showing up. Jafar has a trick in store for the usual heroes of the House, but the villains have to wait until midnight for him to unleash it.

6. Halloween

After being committed for 17 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution (where he was committed as a 10 year old) and he immediately returns to Haddonfield, where he wants to find his baby sister, Laurie. Anyone who crosses his path is in mortal danger. The series of classic movies are great but I prefer the remake, the acting is much more professional!

7. Halloween 2


Laurie Strode struggles to come to terms with her brother Michael's deadly return to Haddonfield, Illinois; meanwhile, Michael prepares for another reunion with his sister.

8. The Exorcist


When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

9. Friday The 13th

A group of young adults discover a boarded up Camp Crystal Lake, where they soon encounter Jason Voorhees and his deadly intentions. All of the classics are wonderful as well as this modern remake.

10. The Amityville Horror


A family is terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a home that was the site of a grisly mass-murder. The old one and the remake are awesome!