Home & Garden

Better Homes & Gardens has a great Jack O Lantern Pumpkin Stencil Maker. It lets you pick the eyes, nose and mouth of your Halloween pumpkin from many options and then print a stencil to create your Jack O

I bought these at my first trip to Ikea - almost two years ago - and they are awesome. For $5, you get a ton of little "tupperware" containers - many just perfect for a lunch box. I pack my kids lunches

I have several light switches and electrical outlets directly above my countertop in the kitchen. We just got new Corian countertops, and I found these Corian light switchplates and outlet faceplates, as well

If you are looking to adopt a retriever, whether it be a Labrador, Golden or a retriever mix, please check out North East All Retreiver Rescue or otherwise known as NEARR.  The non-profit is run by volunte

OK, the crew just left and I have a magnificent "new" kitchen. I can't recommend Sears highly enough for cabinet refacing and new countertops. The entire process was simple and pleasant from the first

Did you know that Wilson has a database of its cake pattern templates on their website? Many of their pattern books are online for free and you can search by keyword! I searched for bus and came up with a pattern

I just read about these in Family Fun's October issue (page 138).  Instead of trying to keep track of sticky notes- try looping one of these paper bracelets around your child's wrist (or yours!) or

The plumish-purple and green hydrangea stems can be dried.  The white, blue and pink will wilt and turn brown.  In order to dry the stems...cut any brown part of stem off at an angle.  Place in water

We all know that we use a lot of energy.  Sometimes it's hard to grasp how much it affects our environment.  This is an incredible video designed by the Alliance For Climate Change. This short really

My husband just put together our Ready To Assemble pieces from Crate & Barrel (coffee table, side table, media stand, console table- Kingston collection) and you'd never know that they were cheaper than

The Baby Briefcase is truly a Moms' Lifesaver! This is one of those things that I could have gotten a ton of use out of and will gift this to my new mommy friends.  The Baby Briefcase is great to store

We recently had to give up a beloved pet, and although I am taking it much harder than the kids are, I found this beautiful article about helping kids and adults cope with the loss of a pet.

Lowes and Home Depot are great, but they don't have a huge variety of styles when renovating or decorating a home. I love Lamps Plus for all my indoor, outdoor, wall and ceiling lights and ceiling fans. I have

We are doing a mini-remodel of our kitchen, and we found a great vinyl floor company that makes the only floor especially designed for kitchens. The floor has invisible, embedded silver which is anti-microbial

My mother-in-law told me recently, “You can’t always control what goes on outside of your household but you can control what comes into your home.” I took her words to heart and began using household

When my son was in Cub Scouts, he won best costume with this simple costume: A Pile of Leaves! Take an oversized Autumn-colored sweatshirt (if you can use an old one of yours or dad's that would be best) that

I love my new vacuum. I waited a few weeks before I stuck my neck out on this site, but yup, I still love it. It's the Dyson Animal DC 17. It is specifically for households with pets, and it doesn't clog

Whether you've just moved to a new house or blinds just aren't in your current budget...try Redi Shades!  They are an extremely affordable way to get privacy and/or darken your bedroom.  The room

Want to throw a great party and send printed invitations instead of using evite.com? Don't spend a dime and check out this site for some really clever inivitations you can print on your own! Invitations available

Need a contractor, handyman, landscaper, mechanic, dog walker, or another service company but are not sure who to call? Are you new to an area and need a plumber? Did you buy your first house and now you need a

I like stocking up on cards and gift wrapping stuff from Current catalog, so I’m not running out later and paying more at the card store.  They also have cute small gifts and decorative items.

I order a lot of our address labels from Colorful Images.  They have all kinds of designs, and fun holiday ones.

I got some Dyzolv Spot Cleaner when I purchased my Dyson vaccuum, and it is absolutely magic. Stains literally disappear before your very eyes. This works on set in stains as well as fresh. I had some cat urine

I had been getting my photo albums from Exposures, which is a very nice website for albums and frames and other photo items, but is on the pricey side.  Then I found these photo albums at Target that are very

Check out CatChannel.com and DogChannel.com for information, articles, advertisements for great products, virtual cat and dog shows, contests, discussion boards, medical advice, and just about anything a cat or

If you are looking for a part-shade plant that's easy to take care of, try these.  Not only do they require little work, they bloom all summer long.  Cut a few off to give as a gift and they'll

Purdy makes the absolute best paint brushes for inside painting.  They are more than the other brushes you’ll see at the store, but are worth it.  We paint without tape, and I can cut in without

Did you know that if you like a particular paint color by a company, that you don’t have to buy their paint to get the color?  I thought this might be helpful as a tip because I talk to a lot of people

Paint samples by Benjamin Moore are a great way to test new colors in your home. They will cover a fairly large amount of wall space, about 2’ by 2’. We used it to test a color in our dining and family

Collections, Etc. has long been my favorite home decorating catalog. There is nothing over $20, and sometimes I see things that I have seen in other catalogs for much more. But, I love it because they have unusual

If you want to attempt that house repair yourself instead of calling the handyman, check out the This Old House website for tons of info on all sorts of home repair.  We have saved loads of money by doing those

Did you know that Lowe's has a section of their website with great How-To Guides with step by step instructions for many popular Do It Yourself projects? Projects covered include: Simple toilet repair Install

The other day while attending a huge indoor play area with my girls we had a little shoe "mix-up" - My daughter mistakenly took the wrong pair of shoes...thankfully we didn't get too far out of the

When a friend told me about these molds, I needed to find them online and I finally can share it with familyzip - The UK store Urchin has personalized jello molds.  It will be the hit of my daughter's

Use Real Simple's printable budgets, contact lists, gift checklists, household inventory worksheets, and other forms to help you get organized.  Worksheets available include: Birthday Organizer Worksheet

Find everything you need to know about making your home fun, safe, and educational for little ones at this website from This Old House. Categories include: Indoors [includes: Outfitting a Bath for Kids] Outdoors

When my daughter was learning to bake, and was afraid to pull out the oven rack to retreive her cookie sheet, I could relate. I have always been scared of it too! So I found this oven rack push pull, and we love

Here's an article accompanying the Good Morning America story I saw this morning about new uses for old things. It has a few interesting things, like using baby powder to prevent perspiration stains on white

It’s really hard to store batteries, especially when you get the huge Costco pack.We found this container at The Container Store and it makes it so much easier!By the way, conventional wisdom says to store

Print out this great stain removal chart and hang it by your washing machine.  I never knew half of these stain removal tips.  Vinegar seems to be a popular remedy for many stains - who knew?  Martha

In the summertime, we are always going outside and with two young kids who just want to get out the door ASAP, I was tired of always rummaging through the beach bags trying to find the sunscreen, their hats

Here's a way to solve two "problems" at once. (How wonderful life would be if these were our only problems!) At yard sales, I often see beautiful dishes or serving platters that I can't possibly

I was in the market for more natural cleaners and I came across lists of the many ways you can use plain old vinegar to naturally clean your house.  Even Martha Stewart extols the ecofriendly benefits of vinegar. 

When I buy items such as curtains, they always come in those plastic packages with the snaps so I save the packaging.  I re-use it for organizing small toys or even the small board game pieces. 

I found this cleaner a few years ago, and I recommend it to everyone, since it seems like a lot of people have never heard of it.  You can use it to clean your nice stainless steel pans, and it makes them

Stuck on You labels are really neat.  My favorite ones are the Vinyl Shoe Labels that go insude the heels of your kids' shoes.  The teachers at my child's preschool recommended them because all

I just got my Westinghouse Sweepeze, and I love it!! It's a smallish (between a toaster-oven size and a breadmaker size) electric appliance that you plug in and leave plugged in, in your kitchen or other room

Here’s what I do to clean my rings and earrings – I fill a glass with warm water and put some mild dishwashing liquid in it, put the jewelry in the glass and let it soak for a few minutes, and then

Here are a few helpful window cleaning tricks so you tackle your windows like the professionals do.... 1 - Use up and down strokes on one side of the window (inside) and side to side strokes on

I have always found drain cleaners to be scary and toxic - I hate to have them around the house with the kids.  So when I happened across this natural drain cleaner recipe, I was thrilled.  This is one