This Blogger Makes Fun of Stuff is ending today.

There’s no drama to it. I just don’t have time to run two separate websites, this and my main blog, Late Enough, and live my offline life. I warn my clients of the perils of maintaining multiple sites, but two years ago, I was afraid of having too many reviews and giveaways on Late Enough. I wanted my main blog to be “pure” whatever the heck that means, but I’m not afraid to say no to companies and I don’t think a review or giveaway on my main blog on the weekends is so terrible.

I also started this site because I was tired of every review I read being positive and unhelpful and more about the company who was sponsoring it than the reader who had allowed the blogger to have the opportunity. I think we accomplished that with our Makes Fun Denied category and even more so, with our reviews that weren’t sponsored — the majority of the posts on this website. I’m proud of what we accomplished here. We actually had our best financial quarter in the fall and winter but with that took time and energy that I didn’t have.

What I will miss most is working weekly with Carrie and Leigh Ann and paying writers. I was never able to pay them what they deserved, but being a completely transparent site financially meant that they knew why they were paid what they were paid and we were alway in it together.

Some housekeeping:

• I will be keeping This Blogger Makes Fun of Stuff live for at least a few months as I think it’s a good resource. Plus, I’m paid through May. (Why yes, I AM a very practical person.) I’m not sure what I’ll do after the URL is up.
• If you wrote for the site, feel free to take your work as it’s yours. If you need help with that, let me know.
• MF’s Facebook page and Twitter may shift to funny crap I find on the Internet. I haven’t decided.

Thank you to those of you who supported the site for the last two years. You are amazing and forced companies to take a chance with people who demanded the opportunity to tell the truth. You rock.

I don’t make resolutions.  I am hard enough on myself as it is- the last thing I need is some unattainable goal looming over me each day.  Exercising has always been part of my daily routine, which is awesome because I love routine in a borderline-weird sort of way, but frequent wearing of yoga pants leads to frequent washing of yoga pants, which leads to pants that used to be black but are now brittle and gray.

So this month I replaced some of my worn out stuff with some yoga tights from my favorite brand, Hard Tail.  With their fold-over legging and pants I don’t have to worry about my deflated balloon stomach hanging out.  I can pull those babies all the way up to my rib cage if I want.

Unlike a lot of yoga clothing brands, Hard Tail leggings are thick.  They look like yoga leggings, not something meant to be worn underneath a dress.  They do not show my lady parts or my jiggles through the pants.  They do tend to lose their snugness in the waist a bit by the end of class, especially if I get extra sweaty, but not enough to be a deal breaker.

My favorite style for summer is the button-back knicker legging.  For winter, I like the roll down ankle legging.

Even if I don’t exhibit mad skillz on the mat this year, at least I will look cute.  This week?  I’ll be working on inversions.

Disclaimer:  I wasn’t compensated in any way for this review but I’d love another pair of those long leggings.  Thirty-four tonight!

If you have kids and aren’t familiar with the books of Mo Willems, you are seriously depriving yourself your children. Mo’s books (I can call you Mo, right?) are fun, and endearing, with simple, eye catching characters that tell the story without a lot of excessive eye noise. My girls know each one we have by heart — and that’s a lot.

We love Mo SO MUCH, that we even spent $5.99 on Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App, based off of Mo’s popular book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. At first I was all, “Wha?? You spent $6 on an app?”

And then my husband was all, “Don’t worry, I didn’t use your iTunes credits,” so I was all, “Oh, good. Carry on.”

So now I’m gonna call it Pigeon for short, because the full name is a mouthful.

Pigeon has only a few activities, compared to some of the apps out there. Like you know how your kids make their way through an app or change all the settings on your phone, and you’re all, “Wait, how’d you do that???” That won’t happen here. But the cool thing is that kids can create a new experience each time.

In Create Your Own Story, kids can alter the story any way they choose, Mad Libs style. The app offers three levels. Eggs can read along with the narrated story, in which certain nouns and verbs are changed up each time. Chicks can choose from a variety of objects and actions that will then be inserted into their custom story. And Big Pigeons can take it a step further by physically recording their voices in response to questions like “What’s your favorite snack?” The answers and voices are then plugged into a new story.

So kids can do the story thing over and over again without it getting a tad bit old, and I know this because mine do. And they laugh and laugh and laugh at that darned pigeon! He’s just so funny. You can also save up to 6 of your favorite stories for later reading if you loved them that much.

Our favorite part of the app is drawing the pigeon. Mo breaks down his popular character into simple shapes and lines, giving kids a step by step process for drawing their own pigeon. From there my kids decide to either stick to the guidelines, or stray the path a little. Also I may be putting a little too much psychology into their pigeon drawing. Then you can snap a photo of your masterpiece, saving it to your device’s camera roll for future bragging. Or blackmail purposes.

The only real downside to this app is that it really works best on the iPad. It’s also available on iPod Touch and iPhone, but that makes for some really diligent finger work when drawing the pigeon, especially for little kids. It just works best on the iPad’s larger screen.

I also think the app is a tad overpriced. If you have iTunes credits to burn (which I usually do because I’m an iTunes credit hoarder of sorts), then don’t sweat it. But there are so many free or $.99 cent apps out there for kids, $6 is kinda high for an app that only has a few functions, even though they are very changeable.

All in all, we do love this app, because we love Mo Willems. So if you too love Mo, love fun stories, love drawing, and don’t mind burning $6? Well get it! Just don’t use any of my iTunes credits.

I was not compensated for this review, but Mo, if you’re out there, my girls would love to see you read this book in person some day. You don’t have to come to our house or anything. A local bookstore will do. Oh, and Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning a small percentage of each purchase goes to the maintenance of this site.

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My daughter wears a lot of tutus. Yellow ones and pinks ones and blue ones and green ones. She wears tutus skiing and running errands and going school and just lounging around the house.

This is my daughter’s television watching tutu.

Because of her obsession with tulle, I am always looking for a good deal. I need ones that will wash and wear, and when they tear, I will not tear. (Oh yes, I went for that rhyme because I started out as a poet.)

My favorite places to find the cutest and cheapest are (in no particular order):

Halo Heaven:

A woman pulled me over in Nordstrom when I was admiring a $50 tutu and whispered this website in my ear. Wow, that sounds way more creepy than it was. I went home and typed eight versions until I got it right and I have enjoyed adorable $5 tutus with plastic flowers and dragonflies. Look over the entire site. It’s a little strangely set up, but the deals are unbelievable on everything girly you can imagine.

Old Navy Sales Rack:

I have never been to Old Navy and not come home with a $2.99 or less tutu. Every time you walk by one, run in and peek at the sales rack hidden in the back. It’s always worth ir, but you can’t do it online though. Oh and I even buy them a size up and wait until my daughter grows because she’s tutu for life.

Sales Rack of Any Kid Store: Target, Gymboree, ANYWHERE

You have to always be looking for them. They never sell out. There is one left just behind the weird polka dot shirt with lace frills no one in their right mind bought.

While I believe in the cheap tutu, I make exceptions in certain cases such as the ever important built-in-shorts tutus for the summer, which I’ve only found at the local CWD Outlet (psst… this flapdoodle skirt we own and is on sale for $7.99 — still cheap!), and for some reason, I have a hard time saying no to dresses with big poof anything attached to them like this one on amazon:

However, I have fought buying this dress for my daughter although I should point out that the person I’m fighting is myself.

Between Santa, her grandparents and my thrifty tutu-ness, my daughter has at least a tutu for every day of the week and that’s not counting her tutu dresses, but her outfits make strangers smile so I think it’s all worth it.

This was a sale’s rack at Target while we were looking for Halloween costumes because I really am always on the hunt.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I just believe that tutu lovers should never be deprived. The puffy dress is an amazon affiliate link but that’s not why I picked it. Obviously, it’s adorable.

My son’s preschool is awesome except for that they allow parents to bring in treats for the kids whenever they want.  Which used to be only about once a month when some kid had a birthday (didn’t they also serve cake at the party last weekend?) but has gradually become more and more frequent, as in two or three times a week.  Birthday cupcakes with blue frosting, holiday cookies, donuts-for-no-reason…  and I am not okay with it.

After going round and round with the school’s director I am now sending Hayden to school with an alternative treat, which the teachers are to offer him in replacement of the aforementioned junk.  Hayden doesn’t seem to mind at all, but he went through four Kids Clif Bars within the last week and a half before the holidays, so I need to send a new supply with him this week.

Last night I decided to make a batch of healthy rice crispy treats using our home made peanut butter.  YUM!  This recipe is so easy because there are only four ingredients and, although you do have to put a little muscle into the mixing, there is no real cooking involved.  I make mine with the Nature’s Path Crispy Rice cereal, which is made from organic brown rice (no Franken-food for us) and organic brown rice syrup, but if you can’t find the rice syrup regular corn syrup will work fine.

Rice Crispy Treats

2 1/4 cups Crispy Rice cereal

2/3 cup brown rice syrup

2/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine syrup through vanilla.  Stir in crispy rice.  Press into a square baking pan.  Use a sheet of waxed paper to press smooth, leaving paper stuck to top.  Refrigerate 2 or more hours.  Gently peel back waxed paper and cut into squares.

Disclaimer:   I wasn’t compensated in any way for this review but will gladly take credit for sharing this nutritious-but-delicious snack idea. Oh, and Nature’s Path?  I could use some more cereal. 

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Our winter break is long and while I am excited to time to craft and play and celebrate Christmas and ring in the New Year, I also work part-time from home and I don’t particularly like who I am when I try to work with the kids underfoot.

The key for me is the divide my time into work and play. If I try to do both, like craft and answer an email, I snap at my kids, glue my hands to my phone and tell my client to delete her blog.

Here are my top two strategies for finding that balance between working and playing.

1. The Great Television Babysitter: I am getting as much as I can done before the kids go on break, but I have some weekly assignments, and online jobs don’t stop. We don’t have cable so when I need that hour of work that can’t wait until my husband is home, I rely on Instant Netflix and Apple TV and, recently, we tried Hulu Plus since they just added their Kids Hub. What I like about all three is that I can start and stop when I need to do it so an unexpected work crisis can be dealt with in a timely manner and then we can go back to playing. I also can be as picky as I already am about what my children watch.

However, I’m not going to be switching to Hulu Plus anytime soon. While it has shows before Netflix, they get them in pieces while Netflix gets them in seasons. For example, when we joined one of the shows we’ve been looking forward to watching, The Legend of Korra, was there (yay!) but didn’t have episode 1 anymore (wha?) and we can’t purchase the episode either. They get about 5 or 6 episodes at a time, and when a new one is released, they drop the oldest. That’s great if you join at the right time ,or if the show doesn’t build on itself like Penguins of Madagascar, another show that’s hilarious and only on Hulu Plus. But if you don’t check daily and if you join at the wrong time, the entire show is wasted. I’d rather purchase the season through Apple TV or wait for the entire season to show up on Netflix. A side note: Hulu Plus did address my concerns promptly and said they wished their contracts were written differently.

2. Just Get Away: I find that even when I’m supposed to be off from work, I am checking my email, replying to comments and fixing up my website. I can’t shut down because the phone I use to talk to friends is also my portal to work. One of the best decisions I’ve made is whenever my children are off, we go on mini-vacations. We don’t need to plan a ski trip to Europe (although that’d be nice). A 2-3 day road trip can help us leave all our troubles, and my work, behind especially if I’m brave enough to leave my computer at home. Many state parks have cabins to rent or in the winter small ski areas for kids to enjoy snow (even for me living in the South).

Of course, trekking to a skiing area or anywhere in the winter can be stressful. I remember a few times driving from Rhode Island to Vermont in snow and being grateful for my SUV (especially when I did flip over). We now live in Virginia so we don’t own one, but I got to test drive a 2013 Kia Sorento SX FWD last month. It was the first time I’ve wanted an SUV again since I was living in New England. The car can expand to comfortably seat six fitting my kids and their friends, gets 22 mpg and made me feel like I was queen of the world sitting up so high. My family was safe, and the car was as environmentally friendly as our Madza 5. The only drawback is the Kia Sorento is much more expensive, which is probably why I felt like a queen in it rather than just a mom. I definitely wish we had it for our upcoming I’m-not-working ski trip though.

The Kia Sorento was very popular with my kids, too. I think it was the sunroof and moonroof.

And when I catch myself snapping at the kids in between TV time and our vacation? I just stop working. If I help them for five minutes or play with them for thirty, work won’t fall apart. I’m not that important to the Internet.

Happy Holidays

and

Have Fantastic New Year.

We’ll see you back here on Monday, January 7th, 2013.

Disclaimer: I was given the 3-month-subscription to Hulu Plus, and I was given the Kia Sorento to test drive for about a week. I was not compensated in any other way and clearly my opinions are my own.

I confess that I’m not nearly as apprehensive about our holiday break as I thought I was going to be. Three weeks can seem like a long time, but since we’re having a ridiculously mild winter here in Austin (it was in the mid-80s today!), we still have the option of playing outside or going to the park, and we’re not totally shut in by the freezing cold. Or as those of you in other parts of the country may call it, “57 degrees.”

But one can only spend so much time in the backyard or at the local park. We’ve done quite enough Christmas crafting and baking for one year. Here are a few ideas that might give you something to work with. None of them are new or completely my invention, but sometimes we forget to make the most of our local resources, you know?

Visit a brand new park or play place

Not really the most unique idea, but visiting a new place will often entertain your kids for a longer amount of time than one with which they are familiar. If you’re lucky enough to live in a warmer climate, check out a park a little further than your normal radius, or visit that indoor playground you’ve never been to. I usually tend to stick to parks because DUH they’re free, but an indoor place is often worth the cost.

Fact: My kids will spend HOURS in a sandbox, no matter what the weather. And yes, this was just taken like last week.

Check out the discount theater

Kids LOVE going to the movies. Well, maybe your kids do. My 4.5 year old twins tend to huddle around or on me when we’re in a theater. Super fun. But if you aren’t paying full price, you won’t feel as bad if you have to pick up and leave like I have. More than once. Also, if your’e lucky enough to have an Alamo Drafthouse near you, they offer a Kids Club that shows FREE movies usually once a month or so. Many other theater chains have kids clubs as well, but those usually only operate in the summer.

Register for a winter camp

It’s kinda like summer camp, only in the winter. Google “winter camp,” and you’re sure to get a list of options, as most of them are specific to your area. Check with your local YMCA, recreation centers, or theater/dance/arts organizations to see if they offer anything. Some sports organizations may also have programs going on.

Get some culture

You’d never know from actually speaking to me in person, but I do love a good cultural outing. Winter break is a great time to check out a local museum. Art museums usually have kid friendly sections where kids can create art. Science and nature museums are great learning experiences. Does your town have a children’s museum? I also recommend your local university, if applicable. Campuses are often rife with hidden areas that kids would love. For example, I recently took my kids to visit the Turtle Pond at the University of Texas. Not recommended: a tour of all the fraternity houses you may or may not have done keg stands in back in the day. College is over.

Please excuse my husband’s overzealous use of filters. But I still beam with pride every time I see that tower.

Winter break can seem long, but it gives us a chance to hang with our loved ones and take part in some much needed togetherness before heading back to the hustle and bustle of life. I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, and let me know how you ended up keeping those kids entertained!

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We try to limit screen time of any kind in our family, but on Saturday mornings at times of desperation we use the iPad.  My five year-old’s most favorite thing to play is Sonic racing game.  Pulling him away from that one often ends in a meltdown.  He also likes Angry Birds (what kid doesn’t) and a simple game we found called Cut the Rope, but he gets tired of the same things over and over again, and frankly, I get tired of hearing the theme songs.

So when I was offered the chance to review Pressman‘s new iPieces games, I said YES.  I was at a blogging conference when I saw the iPieces Air Hockey game on display and got all nostalgic for my days of scarfing down soft-serve ice cream and two mini-burgers with cheese after and trying to beat the boys at air hockey in the game room at the neighborhood pool.

I was able to review iPieces for Air Hockey and Pressman’s Fishing Game.  Here is how it works:  Once you purchase the iPieces you download the game app for free.  Since some games can cost up to five bucks, free is good.  Until you realize that you can play the game just as easily using your finger rather than the iPieces.

When the pieces arrived in the mail, my five year-old was squealing with delight (because duh, he was going to get to use the iPad ON A SCHOOL DAY).  After downloading the app and trying it out, he and I both quickly became frustrated with the air hockey game so we moved onto fishing.  The Fishing Game was definitely the household favorite, and while my son really wanted the cute little fishing “poles” to work, he can actually fish better by simply using his finger.  Or maybe we just have poor iCoordination.

If you are adept at using small things, iPieces might make a good stocking stuffer or help pass the time on the way to grandma’s house.

Disclaimer: I was given iPieces Air Hockey and iPieces Fishing for the purpose of this review.

I don’t know about you, but my son’s school is on break for three weeks.  Three weeks too long.  So I am continuing my jarring theme to incorporate something you can do with your kids.  Fortunately, this one doesn’t involve a pressure cooker (whew!). 

I got tired of spending five dollars a jar at Whole Foods so I have started making my own peanut butter.  Here is what you will need:

1 bag roasted salted peanuts

1 food processor

1 stiff spatula

1 clean empty jar (or tupperware container with lid)

Pour the peanuts into your food processor.  This is something your child can easily do.

Turn the processor to ON.  Again, something your child can easily do.  Initially, the peanut chopping will be very loud.

Process the peanuts until they form a crumbly looking ball that seems to get stuck on the blade.  Use your spatula to spread out the mixture a bit and then PULSE until the ball forms again.  Do this a few more times.  Eventually, your pulsing will yield a smooth peanut butter.  Keep processing it until it looks runny in the bowl- it should run off your spatula a bit when you scoop it up.

Pour your peanut butter into a jar.  Then make snacks (or lunch) for yourself and your kids.  Store your peanut butter in the refrigerator.

Congratulate yourself for using thirty minutes of time constructively and for saving a dollar on a jar of peanut butter.

Note: In one of the pictures you will see a jar of almond butter.  That is because I tried to make almond butter and had to process it for an eternity. There is a reason why almond butter costs eight dollars.

Last year we went all DIY on our gift giving to our immediate family members. Making things gives me a real sense of accomplishment, and I figured that these simple homemade gifts would ease some of the stress of the holidays. Turns out when you’re unorganized and a major procrastinator, you can make anything stressful. But I really thought everyone would love their gifts, and I haven’t heard otherwise, so I’m going to call them a win?

So here on Makes Fun today I’m going to give you a rundown of the DIY projects I tried last year, AND a little teaser of the things I hope to make this year. You people who have all of your holiday shopping/making done kill me. Also, most of these are not MY tutorials because I originally got them from someone else, so please click through those links for more detailed tutorials and to see their fabulous photos. I’m super careful about using images that aren’t mine, so I wasn’t comfortable using the original photos from these tutorials.

DIY Christmas Gifts: Tried and Succeeded

Glass Bead Magnets

One of my favorites and SO easy. All you need is scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, a paintbrush, an exacto knife (must be SHARP), and some glass beads, usually found in the floral section of the craft store. Fun fact: scrapbook paper is my weakness. I don’t scrapbook, but I own a ton of it.

The instructions couldn’t be easier. Smear some Mod Podge on the flat side of your bead and stick it on your paper of choice. Once dry, cut the excess paper from around the bead, then coat the back with a thin layer of Mod Podge. Stick on a magnet, and voila!

Now. In the tutorial I’m linking to, she used little round magnets like these that fit perfectly onto the back of the bead, which she affixed with glue dots or a glue gun. Since I’m cheap, I purchased a self adhesive magnet strip like this one. So my magnet backings weren’t as pretty, and I still had to glue them on since the adhesive on the strip didn’t stick well. But I still loved this project. It was fun and easy enough to do while watching a movie. Also, don’t try to take a shortcut like my husband and slap the glue on the paper first and then place the magnets. All of his popped off before I even got to trimming.

Stamped Tile Coasters

Another super easy project that literally takes minutes to complete, thanks to its assembly line type steps. You’ll need some natural stone tiles from the home improvement store (very cheap), a stamp, Staz-On ink (I read that the actual Staz-On brand works best, and I wasn’t temped to try otherwise), clear acrylic spray, and felt or cork for backing.

There are approximately 1 million and 37 tutorials out there on how to do this, but I’m sticking with the simplest one. Wipe your tiles with a damp rag, let them dry completely, lay them out on a table, and stamp away. Once the ink is dry, take them outside and spray them well with the clear acrylic spray to seal them. Then wrap them up in pretty ribbon, and you’re done! (You may notice that these feature the same stamp that I used in my tutorial of how to turn your kid’s painting into a real piece of art — another great gift idea!)

I also made a homemade sugar scrub, but I was kinda “meh” about it. Take that how you will.

DIY Christmas Gifts I Haven’t Tried (but want to!)

Check out these other seriously cute and easy ideas for some of your gift recipients. And if my family is reading this, don’t be surprised if you get one of these from me!

State Map Art — Are Texans the only ones this crazy about their state? This website has all of the states ready to print and frame. Put a heart on your hometown or current town and place it in a nice clear frame.

How cool is this clothesline frame? It’s perfect for all those Instagram photos we’re all taking. This is a great gift idea for grandparents. You can send them new photos in the mail each month to change out!

These DIY monogrammed mugs from Design Mom are so simple and cool. Plus I have a thing for coffee mugs.

Are you making any gifts this holiday season, or have you tried any of these?

Disclosure: No compensation for mentioning or linking to any of these awesome tutorials, but Amazon links are affiliate links. Proceeds go to site maintenance.