Digital Scrapbooking Link List

As it turns out, I don't have to compile an ultimate digi-scrap link list because...
Becky already did it!!! I knew when I started this blog that if we could all put our heads together we would know everything. I'm starting to think I'm right! Thanks so much Becky!

Digital Scrapbooking Sites

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ http://www.jessicasprague.com http://enchantedstudioscraps.com/

http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/

http://www.cgessentials.com/

http://www.designerdigitals.com/

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/

http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/

http://www.scrapartist.com/

http://www.simplycleandigiscraps.com/

http://www.digitalfreebies.com/

http://peppermintcreative.com/

http://www.scrappindigikreations.com/

http://www.digiscrapdepot.com/

http://digifree.blogspot.com/

http://ikeagoddess.blogspot.com/

http://jilljackscraps.blogspot.com/

http://www.mydigitaladdiction.com/

http://jencaputo.typepad.com/

http://www.digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com

http://valarieostromdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://twopeasinabucket.com

http://shutterfly.typepad.com/digiscrap/

http://www.scrappysketches.blogspot.com/

http://www.thedigichick.com/

http://www.atomiccupcake.com/

http://cottagearts.net/tutorials.html

http://scrapwithnatali.blogspot.com/

http://www.scrapgirls.com/

http://www.the-lilypad.com/

http://www.scrapoutsidethebox.com

http://www.digishoptalk.com/

http://www.oscraps.com/

http://scrapmatters.com

http://sunshinestudioscraps.com

http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com

http://www.pickleberrypop.com/

http://www.digitalscrapgarden.com

http://www.pixelgypsydesigns.com

http://www.scraporchard.com

http://www.nitwitcollections.com

http://www.digitalscrapbookpreviews.com

http://www.somethingbluestudios.com/

http://www.tkwhimsy.com/

http://www.lara-payton.blogspot.com/

http://www.blushbutter.com/topsites/

http://www.scrapbook.com/index.htm

http://www.digiscrapsource.com/

http://www.scrapbookingtop50.com.au/digitaltopsites/

http://pifphoto.com/

Fonts:

http://www.1001fonts.com/index.html

http://www.dafont.com/

http://www.abstractfonts.com/

http://www.1001freefonts.com/

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/scrapbook/fonts/freescrapbookfonts/

http://scrapvillage.com/fonts.htm

http://www.acidfonts.com/index.html

http://www.fontdiner.com/main.html

http://www.fontgarden.com/

http://www.fontologie.com/free.html

Quotes

http://www.annabelle.net/

http://www.brainyquotes.com/

http://www.inspirationpeak.com/

http://www.terimartin.com/

Ultimate Digi-Scrap Link List

I would like to make a comprehensive link list for great Digital Scrapbooking websites and blogs. If you know of some that you love can you post them in a comment? It will make the hunt for cute kits and fantastic freebies so much easier. Thanks!

Bye-Bye Boredom

My sister is full of so many great ideas. She just emailed this to me because it was too long for a comment in my previous post about activities for children. She typed it up when her son was a toddler. Thanks Abbie!

Things Ethan Likes to Do

Go to the Library

Playgroup/Playdate

Go to the Park

Rice, Bowls, Spoons

Tool Set

Build a Fort

Play in Car

Read

Give Him a Ride

Listen to Music or Sing Songs

Blow Bubbles

Find Something New in Cupboards

Jump on Couch Cushions

Make a Rattle

Ring Around the Rosie

Color

Side Walk Chalk

Make collage

Paint

Play dough

Toys For Toddlers

Toys that help build small-motor skills: nesting and stacking toys, simple wooden jigsaw puzzles, shape-sorters, blocks, boxes and containers for filling and emptying, activity boards and pop-up toys with dials, knobs and buttons to manipulate.

Toys that help build large motor skills: balls of all sizes, pull toys, push toys, riding toys, climbing toys, swings, slides, balance beams.

Toys that stimulate imagination: stuffed animals, dolls and doll furniture, cars, trucks, and airplanes, board books, kitchen equipment and gadgets, play household items, dress-up clothes and accessories, building blocks and building systems.

Toys that stimulate creativity: crayons and paper, clay, paints with brushes and sponges, finger painting, string painting, vegetable printing, rubber stamping, rubbings, chalk, markers, collages (fabric, macaroni, beans, seeds, beads and buttons, magazine pictures, nature items glued to cardboard), melted crayons for candles, stickers, bottled, paper mache, play dough, bubbles, string beads, make bird feeder/bird baths, sand art, lava bottle (equal parts oil and colored water), make puppets.

Toys that encourage musical play: drums, tambourines, horns, keyboards, etc.

Toys that encourage learning about the grown-up world: dolls (along with carriages, cradles, strollers, etc), cooking paraphernalia, pint-size household and garden tools, vehicles, tools, costumes, cash registers, doctors bag, dancers tutu, hats from firefighters or police officer, etc.

Toys that encourage discovery and interest in the physical world—that teach about how things work, about cause and effect, about numbers, shapes, patterns: dump trucks, blocks and building systems, nesting toys and shape sorters, sandbox and sandbox toys, non-breakable mirrors, water play toys (floating, squirting, and filling and pouring).

Scientific Activities for Toddlers

Show static electricity with a balloon on a wall, grow something, let toddler roam with a magnet to see what it will and won’t attract, talk about the weather (leave a glass outside to collect water and measure it), measuring (height of your child, etc.), use a magnifying glass to study objects, collect leaves, flowers and take them apart studying them, order objects from largest to smallest, press flowers, paint rocks, tour the house or outside concentrating on touch, smell, or sound.

Energy Outlets for Toddlers

Indoors

• Punching a pillow
• Drumming on pots
• Pounding or hammering toys
• Pounding clay
• Dancing to lively music
• Kiddie aerobics (toe touches, jumping jacks, and head-shoulder-knee-and-toe-touches)
• Pillow fights
• Bean-bag tossing
• Tumbling
• Jumping

Outdoors

• Free play: running, jumping, climbing
• Playground play: swings, slide, jungle gym
• Ball kicking and throwing
• Rolling on an oversized ball
• Riding a bike
• Pulling a wagon
• Swimming
• Splashing in puddles
• Pulling weeds in the garden

Relaxation Techniques for Toddlers

• Hugging, cuddling or massage
• Soft music
• Low-key videos
• Warm bath
• Puzzles
• Drawing with crayons or chalk
• Clay play
• Baking or cooking
• Simple parent-child meditation

Friday's Faves-Kids Rainy Day Activities

OK-Some of you have really nice weather by now but a lot of us are still getting rain now and then. By this point in the year it seems like we've exhausted all of our indoors kids activities. So I thought maybe if everyone posted their favorite indoors activity, there would be a list of things to try and we can make it through the drizzly days.
My favorite thing away from home has to be going to the library. I take my kids to the library pretty much every week. Its free and most libraries have story times that are fun to attend. Plus by getting new books every week it really encourages them to enjoy reading. For those of you that live around me here is the link to the libraries website if you want story time info.
Beaverton Library
What are you favorite things to do with kids indoors? Home or away? Help us last until summer!

Baggy Eyes

From Julie:
"I have problems with lines/wrinkles around and dark circles under my eyes. Anyone have a product they've found effective to help with this that won't break the bank?"

I have this problem too. I have even been asked before how I managed to get black eyes on both my eyes. Yikes! I am also interested to see if anyone knows of anything that helps.

Worms in the Basement?

My sister just started composting at her house and it sounds really interesting to me. She got two types of compost bins to try them out. Here are some photos.
The first is placed outside and the sun speeds the composting process. The second is inside and red worms help turn the old food into compost. Sadly, I don't have a yard but when I get one (someday!) I will for sure try this out. For more info you can check out this website that my brother-in-law made about composting.
http://www.red-worm-composting.com/


Does anyone else out there compost already? What type of bins do you have? Any extra tips for us? Anyone have composting questions?

Friday's Faves-Kitchen Gadgets

For today's favorites I think we should do kitchen gadgets. Who doesn't love kitchen gadgets?
Here's my current favorite. My sister sent this to me and I use nearly every day. Its an apple peeler/slicer/corer. It about 5 seconds you go from whole apple to this peeled apple spring. Then I just slice once for apple slices. I can imagine this is also super handy for making apple pie, making dehydrated apples, or for canning apples. I have even used it with potatoes to make mashed potatoes in no time. Just throw the potato spring and core in the water and you can crank out tons of potatoes in minutes.
If you are wondering...
...You can get it at Target for $20.
So that's my favorite kitchen gadget right now, what's yours?

Pick 'em Yourself

Its berry picking season! This is a big deal here in the northwest, as a ton of berries are grown here and U-Pick farms are very popular. If you love berries you should find a U-Pick near you and gather the freshest produce there is! The prices are usually great compared to purchasing berries at the grocery store. You can eat them fresh, make jams and jellies, pies, or just freeze them for later. I think most children really love to go pick berries too. It also helps them understand where the food they are eating comes from. If you don't know if there are any U-Picks by you I found this great website that has listings by state. (It also has pumpkin patch listings for Halloween time and U-Cut Christmas trees farms.) Its
www.pickyourown.org
Just click on Start Here to Find a Farm Near You, pick your state and your region, and then scroll down to see the listings. You will find some information about each farm and the contact info. In many cases, the farm has a website you can check out.
Its always a good idea to call and make sure certain berries are in season and they are open to the public before you pack up and drive there. (Especially if you have to drive a while to get there.)
Hope you have the chance to get out and get berries if you like that kind of thing! Happy Picking!

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

On my cousins blog I noticed her little girl was having a hard time sleeping because she was afraid to be alone in her room at night. I thought I would post the problem on here and see if the "collective genius" had any genius solutions! Anyone have a good method of helping children not be scared at night?

Friday's Faves-Cleaning Supplies

I thought it would be great if every Friday we share our favorite things from a certain category. If everyone can share the things they love, the rest of us can know what we are missing out on! Today's fascinating topic-cleaning supplies. I've been doing a whole bunch of cleaning recently in preperation for moving and I LOVE Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. It really does get most things off of the walls, doors, and baseboards. Look at the following pictures for an example. My sweet boy thought he would draw on the wall the other day. Sigh. Just when you think someone knows better. (In case you are wondering it is basically a sign meaning "No Girls Allowed".) Well, as soon as it was discovered I handed HIM the magic eraser and he cleaned it off himself. It works on crayons and even gets most scuffs off of baseboards and the bottom of doors. Its fabulous!
OK now I want to know what you can't live without!