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How to Host a Rockin’ Garage or Yard Sale {Plus a FREE Printable Checklist!}

June 4, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Hoping to clear out clutter from your house this summer? Here are some fabulous tips for hosting a ROCKIN’ garage or yard sale. Get rid of unneeded items from your home and make some extra cash too! (Be sure to get your Free Printable Checklist below!)

Kudos to my friend Kim (aka Garage Sale Queen) for providing all the wisdom for this post!

1. Prepare for your Garage or Yard Sale

Purge the House and Garage to Gather Sale Items

Several weeks before your sale, do a room by room purge. Check closets, cupboards, under beds, in storage places/tubs/shelves, etc. As you work your way through each room and see each item, ask yourself:

  • Are we using this?
  • Do we need it?
  • Can we do without it?
  • Would life be simpler if this was gone?
  • Is it more important to have a few dollars or cents in my hand or to still have this thing taking up space in my house?

If you see an item and hear yourself saying, “Why do we still have this?” – put it in the garage sale pile.

Prepare Your Sale Items

  • Wipe down everything that is dusty or dirty so they will look more appealing.
  • Put jewelry and other small items in ziploc bags to keep them from getting lost and so you can put a price tag on them more easily.
  • Group items in flat boxes so people can easily see what is inside.

Price Your Sale Items

If people cannot find a price, they will often choose not to purchase. In addition, most people do not like to “make an offer.” We recommend putting a price tag on everything!

  • Price items in 25 cent increments (eliminating the need for dimes, nickels, and pennies).
  • Use brightly colored stickers and large print to mark prices on each item.
  • Be willing to negotiate your prices if someone offers you a lower price that is still reasonable.

Put an Ad in the Paper or Online

It’s often worth the investment of putting an ad in the newspaper so more people know to come to your sale! What to consider when writing your ad:

  • Highlight major items like furniture, bicycles, appliances, unique items, homeschool curriculum, antiques and name brand clothing.
  • Think about what might make your garage sale stand out. Mention specific collectibles, children’s play equipment, tools, or outdoor furniture.
  • If you are doing a multi-family sale, emphasize that. It makes people more likely to come because there will be more things to see in one location.
  • If you are doing a moving sale and “everything must go”, say that because people know that you are more motivated to get rid of things.
  • If you are selling off baby equipment, make sure you say that. New moms are always looking for great deals on baby equipment- Grandmas and child care providers, too!
  • Include the specific dates and times you will hold your sale. Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday mornings tend to be the best times for most.
  • If your address is one that is hard to find, include directions in the ad.

This guy is incredibly excited to come to your sale after reading your ad.

Free Advertising: Post your ad to your local Facebook Selling Page. Consider posting it on your personal page.

A Note About Posting Online: People may ask about the prices of things and ask you to sell them “before” the sale, sometimes at a reduced price. While this can be nice, it can also make for some difficult situations, especially if you have already put that item in your newspaper ad. If someone came to your house specifically for that item at the beginning of your sale only to find that it is already sold, it can make for some not very nice exchanges.

Prepare a Cash Box

A bag, box, or drawer works nicely for your garage sale money. In advance of the sale, be sure to fill it so as to have change on hand for customers.

  • It is best to begin with about $20 in ones, $20 in fives, $40 in tens, plus at least one roll of quarters for making change. Keep track of what you began with so you have a more accurate total of your sales at the end.
  • Try to keep it organized throughout the sale. Keep ones together in front of fives, in front of tens, etc.
  • If your bag is getting full during the sale, take some inside your house (especially the checks and larger bills) and put it in a safe place.
  • Decide ahead of time: Are you willing to take checks? If so, do you have requirements? For instance, check has to be local and include a usable telephone number.
  • Most people are not set up to take credit or debit cards, but would you accept PayPal? This new way of paying is becoming more popular at garage sales, especially with the commonality of smart phones.

Collect Needed Items:

There are several items that are nice to have on hand before and during a garage or yard sale.

  • You might need masking tape to write on, to tape up signs, to mark prices, to hold boxes together, and group items together.
  • You might need scratch paper to make signs about prices, to write down additional information, etc.
  • Sharpies, both small and large point, come in handy.
  • Consider locating a tarps or two to cover sale items overnight.
  • Measuring tape is nice to have to lend to customers interested in specific items.
  • A calculator can come in handy unless you’re great at doing math in your head.

2. Setting Up Your Garage Sale or Yard Sale

  • Borrow and set up many tables to place sale items on. Tables are better than the grass or driveway in most cases because people don’t want to bend over. Make things easier for people to see and reach and you are more likely for them to sell.
  • Group things in categories:  kitchen, bath, kids toys, clothing, bedding, tools, books, curriculum, crafts, baby equipment, etc. Arrange furniture in nice groupings, if you can. Put the same size clothing and shoes together. Put bedding sizes together and mark them clearly.
  • Have a free box. If you don’t know how to price it and you’d price it super cheap, put it in the free box and watch it leave!
  • Make LARGE LOT deals: For example, “These books are 50 cents each or 12 for $5.” “This box of toys is $5 for the box.” “Clothing is “$1 each or 12 for $10.” It is amazing what people will take to make a great deal. The more they take, the less you have to deal with at the end.
  • Set furniture close to the street so it will attract buyers to your sale.

3. Running Your Garage or Yard Sale

  • Stick with your planned start and end times.
  • Ask for help. There are often times when you need two or more people to move a table, set up something quickly, get a drink, change the baby, or cover for you while you use the restroom.
  • Be less willing to negotiate at the beginning of the sale and much more willing to negotiate toward the end of the sale. If someone wants an amazing deal (like less than half the requested price), tell them you will think about it and call them back later. Get their number and give them yours. If it doesn’t sell later, call them and work on the amazing deal.
  • If someone wants to come back later to pay for something, consider that they might not come back and you might miss out on another sale. Get a phone number and give them a timeline. “If you are not back and/or have not paid for the item before XXX time, then I will make it available to someone else.”

Obviously the people helping you move furniture will be dressed in matching red overalls.

4. Other Considerations:

  • Larger sales are more likely to draw greater numbers of people. If you can plan a neighborhood sale or a multi-family sale, more people are likely to come.
  • If your sale is a multi-family sale, in advance make a sheet that includes the names of all the people who contributed to the sale across the top. Then, add their sold item prices to the list so you can keep a running total of their sales. Or have each family’s price stickers of a different color or mark price stickers with initials.
  • If you are not going to keep the money for yourself, but are raising money for a charity or event, let people know. People can be more generous when they know that their money is going to a good cause.

5. What to Do with Garage and Yard Sale Leftovers

Not sure what to do with items that don’t sell? Here are some ideas:

  • Put it on the side of the road and offer it for free. It will likely disappear.
  • Take it to a local thrift or charity store and get your tax receipt. That is not immediate money in your hand, but it might help with your taxes later on.
  • Donate appropriate items to a local rescue mission or women’s shelter.
  • List it online using a local buy, sell, trade page or your personal page. Use Craigslist or ebay, if you are savvy.
  • Put an ad in your local newspaper. Some newspapers offer one free ad after your garage sale if you advertised with them.
  • Put a notice in your church email or communication. You never know when the right person will be listening or know someone who “was looking for that.”

Get a FREE Garage Sale Checklist Printable.

Use this handy checklist to help you have a super effective garage or yard sale!

Get this free printable when you join our Heavenly Homemaker’s Savings Club. We love sharing great freebies, deals, and money saving tips with you!

 

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The Day I Proved That Healthy Food DOES NOT Cost More

May 8, 2018 by Laura 12 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Today I thought it would be fun to explore whether or not healthy food actually costs more than…how should I say it? Unhealthy food? Would you believe me if I told you that I discovered that most healthy food does not cost more? Some healthy foods actually cost significantly less! Who knew?

I don’t even like to call it healthy and unhealthy food, simply because not every person’s dietary needs are the same. Sometimes what’s healthy for me might not be healthy for you.

So as we talk through this subject, let’s switch the word “healthy” with the word “nourishing.” I always encourage people to focus on eating food that offers nourishment. Don’t just eat edible stuff that fills a hole. Work to eat real food that offers nutrients and provides the body with goodness to thrive.

Want to read more on this subject? Read this —>

What is the Perfect Diet for Everyone?

Now back to our initial discussion about the cost of nourishing food vs. the cost of empty calories.

I’ve been crunching some numbers this week because after all my years of working to make a nourishing diet affordable for my family, I still hear so many people talk about how they can’t afford to eat good food. I always cringe at this declaration because I no longer believe it to be true.

Does Healthy Food ACTUALLY Cost More?

In an effort to get to the bottom of this debate, today I decided to compare the prices of basic, real foods to the price of a big box of Goldfish Crackers from Walmart.

Obviously this comparison doesn’t factor in coupon use or off brand options. But spoiler alert: Would you believe me if I told you that an ounce of Goldfish Crackers costs only a little bit less than an ounce of Grass-Fed Organic Hamburger Meat?? This blew me away! Is it possible that we’ve been wrong all these years about the high cost of real food?

Check this out! You’ll be amazed at my findings!

Goldfish Crackers = 30 ounce box for $6.46 = $0.22/ounce

Keep this price point in mind as we look at the costs of other basic, real, nourishing foods most of us love. We’ll start by comparing average costs of favorite fresh fruits and veggies.

Cost of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Here’s the breakdown of produce price points I usually shoot for. NOTE: These are the prices I pay. Prices will vary from city to city.

  • Grapes = $2.50/pound or less = $0.16/ounce
  • Apples = $1.50/pound or less = $0.09/ounce
  • Strawberries = $2.30/pound or less = $0.14/ounce
  • Bananas = $0.59/pound or less = $0.04/ounce
  • Carrots = $0.99/pound = $0.06/ounce
  • Cuties = $1.50/pound or less = $0.09/ounce
  • Peaches/Nectarines/Plums = $1.50/pound or less = $0.09/ounce

These are all much lower in cost compared to Goldfish Crackers. How fun is this?!

Cost of Fresh Meat, Milk, Eggs, and Cheese

This was a little bit more difficult to measure as we don’t calculate eggs or milk in pounds. Still, it was interesting to note some price breakdowns of these nourishing foods. Notice how many of these prices are significantly less per ounce compared to Goldfish Crackers! NOTE: These are the prices I pay. Prices will vary from city to city.

  • Free Range Eggs = $2.50/dozen or less = $0.21/egg
  • Cheese = $4.00/pound = $0.25/ounce
  • Raw, Grass Fed Milk = $5.00/gallon = $0.04/ounce
  • Grass Fed Beef = $5.50/pound = $0.34/ounce
  • Naturally Grown Boneless Chicken Thighs = $3.00/pound or less when I see mark-downs = $0.19/ounce
  • Naturally Grown Chicken Legs or Whole Chicken = $2.50/pound or less when I see mark-downs = $0.16/ounce

Wow! Bring on the nourishing, real foods!

Cost of Whole Grains

I typically purchase my grains in bulk through Azure Standard. (Curious how many cups of flour in a pound of wheat? I did the math for you here.)

  • Freshly Ground Organic Wheat Flour = $1.00 per pound = $0.33/cup = $0.06/ounce
  • Organic Brown Rice = $1.10/pound = $0.07/ounce
  • Organic Rolled Oats = $0.87/pound = $0.05/ounce
  • Organic Whole Wheat Pasta = $2.55/pound = $0.16/ounce

Healthy Food Does Not Cost More

With the exception of fresh cheese and grass fed meat, which is only a few cents more per ounce than Goldfish Crackers, we see a lower price on all real, whole foods compared to this empty calorie snack. I am so encouraged by this!

This isn’t to say that we should never eat a goldfish cracker. Some moments in our life call for fun convenience foods! But we should never feel discouraged or defeated about the cost of purchasing wonderful, nourishing food for our family!

I can do it! You can do it!

Are you surprised about these price comparisons? What are some of your favorite inexpensive real foods?

Free Simple Ingredients Printable List

We’ve created a wonderful, practical, basic real food ingredients list for you to download and use as a guide. Now that you know that real food is so affordable, this list will be even more helpful than ever! This resource is free and it’s for everyone. Get yours here!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Simple Ingredients for Simple Meals Printable! Gift for You!

April 5, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

After many a request, we’ve finally created a Simple Ingredients for Simple Meals printable list for you to work with. Just when you thought it wasn’t possible, simple cooking just got even easier!

Over the past several months, many of you have requested that I create a list of all the ingredients I like to keep on hand to make real food cooking easier. It’s taken a while, but I called in for back up and had one of my assistants help create what I declare to be beautiful, practical, and of course, simple!

Simple Ingredients List to the Rescue

The timing is perfect for this fun Simple Ingredients list to become available for you. Why? Because we just kicked out our High Five Recipes eBook, which shares 111 recipes that all include 5 or fewer simple ingredients. Wondering which ingredients can be mixed and matched to make all 111 of these recipes? This list pretty much covers it! And then some.

Don’t you love how easy this printable breaks down that basics of ingredient needs? All the ingredients listed are real food, nourishing, and un-complicated. Simple, simple, simple! Yes, real food cooking is SIMPLE!!! And it tastes great. This, of course, is a must.

Obviously we’re all going to have favorite items not listed here. But this is our go-to list for all Simple Ingredient needs for Simple Meal preparation. Add to it as needed for your family!

It’s our pleasure to give you this Simple Ingredients for Simple Meals printable list as a gift.

We hope it is a huge help in simplifying your real food cooking lifestyle. Use it as a guide so that grocery shopping will be simpler, so you can save money, and so you’ll be able to have basic ingredients on hand for creating Simple Meals.

Sign up here so we can send you this wonderful freebie. (As an added bonus, we’re including several surprise freebies too. Wait till you see!)

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

The Easiest Way to Organize Your Recipes

March 8, 2018 by Laura 14 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Today I want to hear the ways each of you has found to organize your recipes!

Favorite Recipes12

As you all know, I am a recipe nut. A full fledged recipe guru. Recipes are my thing. I love them. I collect them. I invent them. I dream about them. And often these recipes include butter. This cannot be helped.

But recently I was asked, “Laura, what’s the easiest way you’ve found to organize your recipes?” My response, “Oh, I don’t organize them. I just create them.”

You guys do not want to see my recipe cabinet. 

Yes, it’s true. I have an entire, very unorganized cabinet full of recipes. (And also a cabinet full of Pyrex. These are needed so I can bake the recipes piled up in my cabinet. And also so that I can enjoy the butter.)

butter

#iheartbutter
#andpyrex

So my recipe cabinet. It is about as messy as can be. When I need to use one of the recipes in this cabinet, I have to dig and scrounge and muddle. But never fear. While looking through my mess to find the one recipe I need, I end up finding three more I forgot were there. And you guessed it. Many of them require the use of chocolate. (Bet you thought I was going to say “Pyrex” or “butter.” Ha. Just keeping you on your toes.)

So today, my friends, we’re going to talk about the easiest way to organize recipes. It’s high time I found a system. My messy cabinet pile is no longer working. It never worked. So let’s talk about how to organize your recipes!

I’m sure you’re eager to learn about this subject from someone who clearly has no clue. Come closer, my friends. I’ll teach you everything I don’t know.

Tips for the easiest way to organize your recipes

As I’ve searched for a system, these are the new tricks that are working best for me at this point.

  • Keep all your recipes in one place. (At least having all my recipes in one cabinet was better than tucking them randomly inside school books, the silverware drawer, and behind the toaster oven.)
  • If the recipes are cut from magazines, torn from a book, or printed off the computer, slide them all safely inside a large manila folder or envelope.
  • Invest in a binder. This is my best idea so far.

I came across this DIY Recipe Binder idea online and I don’t know why I never thought of it before! It’s way too simple, and turns my messy cabinet into a nicely organized recipe haven.

binder

DIY Recipe Binder – FREE Printables!!

DIY Recipe Binder - Free Printables

I spent a little time creating these lovely binder pages to help me become more organized. I like them so much I decided to share them with you! Not only can all of our recipes be in one place, we can put them all into one organized (and fun!) binder.

How to make and use your Recipe Binder

  1. Enter your email address here and the free printables will be sent to your inbox. (This will connect you to our Heavenly Homemakers email list so I can continue to send you freebies, recipes, and deals!)
  2. Print each of the Recipe Binder pages you will use.
  3. Use a 3-hole punch to prepare them for a 3-ring binder.
  4. As you print recipes from the computer, add them to your binder within the fitting category.
  5. If you have small recipe cards, recipes cut from magazines, etc, re-write them on 8.5×11 inch paper so that they fit your binder. Or slide them into a plastic sleeve that fits in a 3-ring binder.

And that, my friends, is how we’re going to get our recipes organized once and for all!

Or at least that’s the hope. The fact that my new Recipe Binder is cute and fun offers me lots of incentive. :)

Get your FREE DIY Recipe Binder pages here.

 

What ways have you found to organize your recipes?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Free Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids

January 30, 2018 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Want some free Valentine’s Day activities to enjoy during these long winter months? We’ve got fun for all ages!

Valentine’s Day Activities for Preschoolers

First, for the little ones in your life, you can download and print this free activity packet:

Free Pre-K Valentine Activity Packet - Sample Pages

Pre-K Valentine Activity Packet - Free Download

Gain free access to this here.

Valentine’s Day Activities for Elementary Students

This packet brags that it makes grammar fun – because it actually does! Who knew?

Valentine's Day Fun with Grammar

There are activities which include Valentine Sentence Builders, Fun with Creating Cheesy Poetry, and much more! There’s even a Valentine Brownie recipe – but before your student can make the brownies, he/she must find the errors in the directions first. So much fun!

Fun With Grammar - Valentine's Day Free Printable Packet

Gain free access to this here.

Valentine’s Day Activities for All Ages!

Print and put together these fun Kiss-Tac-Toe games to give away or to use as a family. We’re talking about chocolate kisses, by the way. But you already knew that. :)

Happy Valentine's Day Kiss Tac Toe Free Download

vday kiss tac toe4

Gain free access to this here.

Valentine’s Day Activities for the Kitchen

How about some Valentine recipes to go with your activities? These are fun to make with your kids, or if your kids are old enough, these are fun to turn over to your kids to make without your help! (Want to easily teach your kids to cook? We LOVE this at our house! #affiliatelink) Here are 29 great real food recipes for you!

chocolate cheesecake parfait

Red and Pink Treats (No Food Dye!)

  • Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies
  • Homemade Poptarts, cut into hearts, of course
  • Strawberry Cream Muffins
  • Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
  • Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries
  • Strawberry-Peach Slushies
  • Strawberry-Kefir Smoothies
  • Strawberry Yogurt
  • Strawberry-Yogurt Fruit Dip
  • Strawberry Christmas Salad (which obviously becomes Strawberry Valentine Salad on Feb. 14)
  • Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  • 7-Minute Strawberry Ice Cream
  • Strawberry Creamsicles
  • Strawberry Shortcake
  • Strawberry Milkshakes
  • Easy Raspberry Syrup (for your heart shaped pancakes)
  • Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups

Don’t forget obvious foods that are red – like tomatoes, sweet peppers, strawberries, grapes, cherries, or raspberries!

Chocolate Valentine’s Day Treats

  • Warm Chocolate Soother
  • Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries (which I realize I mentioned above, but it is both red and chocolate, so it deserves to be in both categories)
  • No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites
  • Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Peanut Butter or Caramel Chocolate Truffles
  • Low Sugar Chocolate Cake
  • Low Sugar Chocolate Cheesecake
  • Dark Chocolate Peppermint Mousse
  • No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
  • Homemade Chocolate Frappe
  • Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
  • Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Remember to gain free access to all the free Valentine’s Day printables by clicking here.

Signing up for this freebie will connect you to our new Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone. It’s free and your info will never be shared or sold, and being on this list means that you’ll be the first to know of the other fun (yes, FUN!) educational tools we’re putting together! 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Spend Time in the Word With Your Family: FREE Packet of Praise Scripture Memory Printables!

October 29, 2017 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

If I could give just one piece of advice to families raising children it would be this: Spend time in the Word together. 

Fall Scripture Memory31

Do not limit spiritual training to Sunday morning at church. Those are a beautiful two or three hours each week, but what about the other 109 awake hours every week?

(Yes, I did the math. 24 hours a day x 7 days in a week = 168. Take away 8 hours of sleep each night = 112. Take away 3 hours of church on Sunday = 109 awake hours outside of the church walls. You are welcome. Never ask me to do math again unless it involves measurements in a recipe. It’s better this way.)

Through 20 years of parenting, we’ve learned that spiritual training as a family takes place all day long, every day of the week. Through scripture, conversation, prayer, humility, and surrender, together with our kids we learn to trust God, seek Him, listen to Him, and love Him.

Fall Scripture Memory81

One aspect of our spiritual journey we’ve been especially focused on recently is Praising Him. This is slightly different from being thankful. Thanking and praising go together, certainly, but try this sometime:

Have family prayer time together in which you only praise God.

Don’t ask for anything. Don’t petition Him. Just praise Him.

“God, we praise you for…” “God you are…”

Fill the room with praise. Do this with your family. It is truly glorious!

As we’ve been practicing more praise in our home, I’ve been looking through scripture to find verses and passages that are exclusively in praise to the Father. There are many!

Praise Scripture Memory Printables - free for you!

Here are 10 of our favorites, put onto beautiful printables for us all to enjoy! Not only have we found that it’s important to fill our home with praise, we love hanging scripture in every room of our house.

Please help yourself to this packet of free printables. Enjoy them with your family. Memorize the scriptures together. Spend time praising together. Talk together about His wonders and goodness!

Connect to our Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone! It’s completely free, and well, full of freebies! Simply enter your email address here, check your inbox for a confirmation link, then these scripture printable freebies will be yours, along with dozens of other free printables!

May we all fill our homes with praise to the Father!

P.S. If you’d like to read more about how we have established a Family Bible Reading time, I wrote about that here.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Master Travel Packing List

July 27, 2017 by Laura 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Every time we drive from Nebraska to California, we stop in Denver the first night to stay with friends and we stop in Vegas the next night to stay with friends. It cuts our travel costs and we get to see people we love!

Travel suitcase

It was in Vegas one year that our youngest left behind his backpack full of clothes and toiletries. We were all the way to Bakersfield before my friend discovered it and texted, “Uh-oh! I just found Malachi’s backpack in the boys’ room.” Guess who had to wear his cousin’s clothes all week? Eh, it could have been worse.

And not to throw my friend Robin under the bus, but I just saw on Facebook that she recently went on a trip and assumed her husband had thrown her bag into the trunk of their car. She made it all the way to their destination before she realized that one should never, ever assume.

Bagless, Robin headed to Walmart to get everything she needed for (wait for it) her mom’s wedding. #nobigdeal

Want a Master Travel Packing List?

Free Master Travel Packing List Printable

I’ll venture to say that this Master Travel Packing List we’ve put together for you won’t be of any help if you don’t follow through with actually putting the bag into the car with you. But at least this can help ensure that you don’t forget to pack your toothbrush.

Every time we go on a trip, I always say to myself, “Well if we’ve forgotten anything, at least there’s a Wal-Mart.” But that doesn’t work very well for items like prescriptions and eyeglasses. And also, who wants to run to Wal-Mart to buy what we already own?

So to remedy that for you today, we’ve created a Master Travel Packing List.

Obviously, some of the items you can scratch right off the list and some of the items you’ll need to fill in that are specific to your family and situation. But seeing as all year ’round many of us hit the road, we thought this would be a helpful resource to hand out.

Kudos to my friend Kim for helping put this together for all of us!

It looks like this, it’s as simple as can be, and it’s free for the taking…

Get your Master Travel Packing List

master travel packing list

Sign up to receive this freebie Master Travel Packing List here!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How To Make Your Own Popcorn Flavor Shakers (7 Varieties!)

March 16, 2017 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Hey! You should make your own Popcorn Flavor Shakers. This makes a great gift!

Two Christmases ago, we surprised our older boys with this Vintage Popcorn Machine. It’s been super fun for family movie nights – but especially fun to use when we invite friends over.

popcorn machine

I’ve had it on my to-do list since then to make fun flavor shakers to go with our popcorn. (Not that coconut oil and sea salt aren’t amazing in and of themselves.) These turned out amazing!

This is a great Father’s Day gift!!

Not the Popcorn Machine, unless you want to go all out!

But I’m talking about spending just a few dollars to make some fun Popcorn Flavor Shakers to give to Dad or Grandpa or Uncle this Father’s Day. Package it with a big bag of popcorn. Maybe promise him some game nights or movie nights to go with it. What fun!

popcorn-shaker-collection2

The beauty of these Popcorn Flavor Shakers is that they taste just as good, if not better than, the commercial ones you can buy at the store. But of course, when we make our own we will save money and include only healthy ingredients.

You may find it helpful to blend these ingredients together to make a fine powder for easier sprinkling. Here are the recipes, and click here so we can send you all of the recipes plus shaker labels too!

7 Popcorn Flavor Shaker RecipesYum

Taco

2 Tablespoon dried minced onion
1 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Ranch

2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
3 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

(These ingredients are the same as my Ranch Dressing Mix, so if you have that on hand, simply blend it and pour it into a shaker.)

Barbecue

3 teaspoons smoky paprika
1 teaspoon sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Hot Chocolate

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Salted Caramel

3 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Cinnamon Sugar

3 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Pizza

1½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper

make-your-own-popcorn-flavor-shakers

Want a printable that includes the shaker labels and easy recipe reference? We’ll email it to you! Click here to tell us where to send it. :)

 

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New Free Printable Packet! Color, Count, and Cook – for Early Learners!

January 23, 2017 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

We’ve got a new free packet available for all of you who have young learners at your house!

This one includes bright and fun learning activities to practice counting skills and color identification. Plus it offers some fun, healthy recipes you can make together with your kids!

Color, Count, and Cook – free printable

Color, Count, and Cook cover

 

There are 7 fun printable pages included. While they are geared toward Pre-K students, the recipes can be enjoyed by the entire family! Maybe, just maybe, they will make eating fruits and veggies more enjoyable. :)

Free Printables from Homemakers Learning Zone

It’s fun and it’s free! Simply sign up here and watch for instructions in your inbox. Joining our Learning Zone will provide you will a huge page full of freebies beyond this one, by the way. Wait till you see!

I’m excited to share that signing up for these freebies will connect you to our Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone. It’s free, of course. You can unsubscribe at any time, your info will never be shared or sold, and being on this list means that you’ll be the first to know of the other fun (yes, FUN!) educational tools we’re putting together!

P.S. If you are already subscribed to Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone, you should have received an email yesterday giving you instant access to this freebie. Look in your inbox for the subject: FREE Color, Count, and Cook Learning Packet!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

“My State Study” Free Mini-Unit Printable For All!

September 1, 2016 by Laura 9 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

In an effort to have my 6th grader do a little digging into what makes our state special, I created this mini-unit for him to work through. You can have it too!

This generic packet allows students of any age from any state to learn more about where they live.

My State Study free printable for all

Ways to use the My State Study packet:

  • Print and allow your student to work through a page or two each day for a small one-week unit.
  • Use it as a launch pad as your student digs even deeper into learning about the state where you live.
  • Print one set of these pages for all 50 states and have your student put together a United States study during this entire school year!

Want this and many more free learning printables?

Dozens of FREE School Printables

We’ve been creating and collecting all sorts of printable learning activities for all ages. These are free for everyone and will connect you to our fun Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone.

Enter your email address here, then check your inbox for download instructions. Print one, print them all, use them in whatever ways work best for your family!

If you are already subscribed to Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone, you should have received an email yesterday giving you instant access to this freebie. Look in your inbox for the subject: FREE “My State Study” Mini-Unit

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
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