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You are here: Home / Archives for Home and Lifestyle / Family

Mother’s Day Cookies

March 28, 2013 by Trish

Image by Gourmet Cookie BouquetsMother’s Day, a wonderful day to celebrate the important moms in your life – and a great excuse to get into the kitchen and whip up some magic.  If you look forward to holidays just so you can experiment with new recipes, techniques, and supplies, you’re not alone!  We all love cookies, and special occasions are tailor-made for those who love to make them.  This Mother’s Day, give the special mom in your life a sweet treat that shows her how much you care.

Basic Cookie, Spectacular Results

If Mom enjoys gardening and the great outdoors, create a garden cookie bouquet.  You can purchase sets of garden cookie cutters, or you can make do with what you already have.  Make your favorite sugar cookie recipe (chilling the dough before and after shaping will help the cookies keep their shape) and roll your dough about ½ again as thick as normal.

Cut your garden shapes; butterflies, flowers, ladybugs, watering cans, and seed packages are all cute ideas (and you can make ladybugs with regular circle cutters and seed packages with a square cutter or butter knife).  Insert wooden skewers or craft sticks into the bottom of the cookies and bake.  The thicker cookies will take a little longer to bake so keep your eyes on them to prevent burning.

When the cookies are cooled, use icing, decorating tips, colored sugars, edible markers, and candy bits to decorate in bright, summery colors. If the cookies are not going to be eaten right away, you can wrap each one with plastic wrap and tie with a ribbon.  Place a piece of Styrofoam or florists’ foam in an unused plant pot or galvanized pail and insert the skewers. Cover the foam with tissue paper, and voila, a gorgeous, delicious cookie bouquet.

A New Arrangement

If your recipient really loves chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, or another variety that doesn’t lend itself to being skewered, think about different ways you can present your cookie gift to her.

  • A gift basket starring cookies.  You can fill in your container with teas, coffees, fruit, and other goodies.
  • Get treat bags and wrap each cookie individually. You can then write a sweet message on each.  This is great if you have children who want to make a special mom a treat.
  • Use a fun container. Try a galvanized pail, a giant coffee mug, an elegant glass canister, a recipe box she can reuse, or give her cookie mix in a jar.

But you can also use cookies as the container.  Why not make cookie bowls and fill them with a little baggie full of ice cream sundae accoutrements like sprinkles or sanding sugar or serve mom dessert in one of these fun bowls?  You simply make your dough, flip over a muffin pan and form the dough over the cups. Bake and you have an edible bowl!

It’s the thought that counts, so be sure to put a little extra thought and care into your Mother’s Day cookies!

Attached Images:
  •  License: Image author owned




Filed Under: Family, Featured, Gifts, Home and Lifestyle Tagged With: cookie, gift basket, Mother's Day Cookies, Recipes, shapes, sugar cookie, supplies, techniques

5 Great Family Bonding Activities For Busy Parents

March 12, 2013 by Trish

More and more families can’t find the time to just be together. A lot of parents are too involved in their work that they fail to check on their children, and some children do not feel motivated to reach out to their parents. When this happens, family problems start to manifest and a rift in the relationship will slowly develop.

To avoid such heartbreaking consequences, it is essential for both parents and children to find time to reach out and be a part of each other’s lives. The best way to spend time together is through fun family bonding activities. Such activities will help build and re-establish the closeness and connection among family members. There are bonding ideas that are quick and simple which is perfect for busy parents.

Bonding Ideas For The Whole Family

  1. Family Camping

    This is a great idea to help you and the whole family get away from your busy schedules. This is also an excellent idea to get your children off their cell phones or other gadgets. Camping with the family is far from being a boring activity since there are a lot of things you can do, such as hiking, fishing, kayaking, and building campfires. You can even roast marshmallows at night while the campfire is burning bright. Not only will you enjoy spending quality time with your children, but your children will also take with them a lot of fun memories.

  2. Sun, Sand, and Water

    Spending the weekend at the beach is also a fun activity which your children will surely enjoy. You, your spouse, and your children will be able to enjoy the sun, sand, and water without the need for extensive preparations and expensive costs. While on the beach, you and your children can build sand castles or collect sea shells. A lot of water parks also offer other amenities that can keep the entire family entertained throughout the duration of your stay.

  3. Visit National Wildlife Parks

    Children love to watch animals; however, the zoo is not particularly a good place to take them with all the animals placed in too small cages. If your children really want to see exotic animals, you can take them to a national wildlife park near your area. This kind of wildlife park allows you and the whole family to interact with wildlife in their natural habitat. Your children will get to see how these animals behave in their natural homes. Some parks even allow the visitors to feed the animals, such as bottle-feeding the cubs. This is an excellent experience because it will help educate the entire family regarding the importance of wildlife conservation and protection.

  4. Go On An Adrenaline Pumping Adventure

    Doing activities that gets your blood rushing is definitely a must for instant family bonding. Activities, such as zip lining, rock climbing, wind surfing, or riding on a hot air balloon, are fun and cool activities which will keep your children entertained. These activities will help create fun memories for the whole family which will stay with them for years.

  5. Road Trip

    Going on a road trip is an excellent family bonding idea. You can go on a cross-country trip taking only some essential things, such as a change of clothes, sleeping bags, and other necessities. You can also get food from a drive-thru and eat your meals inside the car while it is parked at the safe side of the road. While eating, you can watch cars pass by or watch an ongoing construction. A road trip with the family is a great opportunity to talk to your children since the closeness of the vehicle encourages conversation and family bonding.

These five family bonding ideas are not very elaborate; thus, it is perfect for busy parents. If you are finding it hard to spend quality time with your family, you can simply take the weekend off and consider the ideas listed above.

Citations:
  • Image courtesy of photostock/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Attached Images:
  •  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/Family_g212-Family_Playing_Football_p41679.html

 

Filed Under: Family, Featured, Home and Lifestyle, Recreation Tagged With: beach, busy parents, camping, children, family bonding, ideas, kids, parents, park, road trip, water

Holiday Cheer: Fun Ways to Spread that Holiday Cheer Around Your Neighborhood

December 22, 2012 by Trish

The holidays are supposed to be filled with fun and cheer, and a great way to ensure that everyone in your neighborhood is enjoying the holiday spirit, you need to make sure that you are spreading holiday cheer, and the following are fun ways to do so.

Pass out homemade cookies.

Spend a day whipping up some of your favorite holiday cookies, then put them on a nice holiday plate (but one you don’t want to get back) and start leaving them on the doorsteps of your neighbors (with a nice note of course). You’ll also want to be sure that you drop some off at local businesses, especially your police and fire stations, as this will surely get more people in the holiday mood.

Have a holiday party.

Get all of your neighbors together and invite them over for a fun holiday soiree. They’ll be super excited to enjoy each other’s company, and it can help put any Scrooges into a festive mood. Plus, this gives you a chance to see everyone now that it’s colder out and not much time is being spent outside.

Go caroling.

Grab a group of friends who are willing to sing in public and go door to door belting out your favorite holiday tunes. You may get a door or two slammed in your face, but you will also come across people who think that your caroling is truly amazing, and they will feel a sense of holiday cheer just because of you.

Donate.

The holidays are about giving, and it’s very important to use this time to teach others about the importance of giving. Make sure that you always have change on you so that you can donate it to the red buckets and any other charity that is out there. You should also use this time to go through your home and your closets to find old clothes, shoes, appliances and toys that you no longer need and donate them to a charity to help those in need. If you do this with your family, it’s a great way to teach children about the importance of giving.

Decorate your house.

You may not be Clark Griswold, but you can still put up some pretty decorations and bring cheer to those in your neighborhood. Spend a day putting lights up all over your house, both inside and out. Your decorations may just inspire one of your neighbors to do the same, and you may end up with a block of neighbors with decorated houses.

Volunteer.

There are plenty of charities and non profit organizations that are in need of volunteers, such as homeless shelters, and this is a great way to spread cheer. Not only will they be thankful at your generosity, but you will also feel better about yourself. Plus, you may inspire others to volunteer too, and this can spread more cheer around the neighborhood.

Caroline Jones is a freelance writer.  She enjoys writing about exciting family activities and recently wrote about fun gifts and activities for the holiday season.

Filed Under: Entertainment, Family, Home and Lifestyle, Socializing Tagged With: caroling, cooking, decorate, donate, holiday cheer, homemade cookies, Party, volunteer

How To Stress Less This Holiday Season

November 23, 2012 by Trish

The holidays are intended to be a joyous time spent with friends and family. But for many Americans, the holiday season can actually be a very stressful time of year. For instance, holiday shopping and trying to fight those awful crowds. The constant pressure of meeting expectations of friends and family. Putting up with those not-so-nice in-laws…you can understand why the holidays may not be the most wonderful time of year for many people.

This holiday season, it’s important for us to learn to how to relax and enjoy the holidays. We can do this by focusing on ways to reduce our stress rather than encourage it. That being said, here are five ways to better relax this holiday season:

Follow a strict budget

Too often we want to go beyond our means to impress those we love with lavish gifts. Rather than exhausting our bank accounts or racking up our credit cards, try to stick to a strict budget. Purchase gifts that come from the heart rather than the wallet. After all, isn’t it the thought that counts most at Christmas time?

Drink responsibly

The holiday season can bring out the social drinker in all of us. However, with excess drinking can come stress and anxiety. it’s normal to feel anxious or nervous in social settings like holiday parties. However, try to limit the number of drinks you have in an evening. This will allow you to make more responsible decisions throughout the holiday season.

Extra travel time

Traveling during the holidays can be a nightmare—just ask the McCallister family who left poor Kevin at the airport right before Christmas. Airports, train stations and buses are all crowded with eager folks trying to make it home for the holidays. Rather than fighting the herds of people, give yourself plenty of extra time to get to and from places you have to go.

Make time to exercise

Exercise is a proven stress reducer. The holidays may be the busiest time of year, but it’s important to take at least 20 minutes a day to exercise. This will give you the opportunity to recharge your batteries and de-stress from holiday pressures. Don’t have time to hit the gym? Go for an evening stroll. Exercising also helps to combat those extra calories typically indulged during holiday meals.

Be thankful

The holidays can become stressful due to family differences, work obligations and relationship woes. This year, take advantage of the holiday season by reflecting on all the good things in your life. Do this by being thankful for the things you have rather than what you do not have. The best gift of all is the one we get to share with our loved ones.

Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to enjoying the holiday season. After all, the holidays should be the most wonderful time of year. So, before you begin to feel stressed or overextend yourself, take a minute to remember what the holidays are truly all about: spending quality time with those we love most.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Maya Richards is a freelance writer who loves everything about Christmas. Her favorite inspirational gifts are charm bracelets and yoga inspired jewelry.

Filed Under: Family, Health Fitness and Beauty, Home and Lifestyle Tagged With: budget, crowds, exercise, Family, friends, holiday, holiday season, joyous, relax, responsibly, Stress, travel time

How to Choose a Fantastic Christmas Gift for Your Sister

November 21, 2012 by Trish

There are few people in the world who will ever know you as well as your sister. You and she share common family lines, personality traits, and memories of growing up. If you want to give your sister a gift she’ll cherish this coming holiday season, then the time to start planning is now. Need some inspiration? Here are some tips for how to choose a fantastic Christmas gift for your sister:

Give her something she needs. Does your sister make regular sacrifices for others? If so, she most likely has a secret wish list of items that would make her life a lot easier (or otherwise pleasant) – items that she would never buy for herself. For example, if your sister’s son has the latest iPhone and she is still navigating the roadways with a compass (we all know a woman like this, no?), you can do her a big favor by gifting her with any of a number of great gadgets, from mp3 players to GPS units.

Give her a fantasy gift. Everyone has a fantasy land in their minds that they like to visit when real life is stuck in the doldrums, and chances are your sister has allowed you access to her daydreams on more than one occasion. Tickle her fancy this Christmas by giving her a unique and unexpected gift that springs from her secret wishes. For example, a hot air balloon ride might be perfect for a woman who secretly wishes she could fly (even adults have childish fantasies), while a guided excursion on horseback might be ideal for an adventurer who spends all of her time tied to the home front.

Something sentimental. The most meaningful gifts don’t have to cost anything but your time and thought. Rummage through the family chest to put together a sentimental gift that will tug at your sister’s heartstrings. For example, you can create a scrapbook with old photos, or create a video dedication to your sister using clips from old home videos.

Get the entire family involved. If your ideal gift for your sister is going to require a considerable expenditure that you’re simply not capable of meeting on your own, then you can ask your family members to contribute in order to make it possible. The great thing about a family gift (in addition to the sheer magnitude of what you can afford) is that it is a wonderful reminder for your sister of how many people she has in her corner . . .and there is perhaps no greater gift than that.

When it comes to choosing the perfect sister gifts this Christmas, you are really only limited by your imagination. Think of all the qualities that make your sister special, and then draw from this list for inspiration to create a gift that she’ll never forget.

About the Author: Kendrick Henandez loves his twin sister with all his heart and hopes to make her smile with an extra special surprise this holiday season.

Filed Under: Family, General Musings, Gifts Tagged With: choose, Family, fantastic, gift, holiday, need, sentimental, sister, Unique, videos

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