Have you checked out www.couponmom.com? This is an awesome sight for moms looking for a great deal! This site features grocery coupons and it has a great section with free offers! There is a lot to explore on this site, so go check it out!
brought to you by Maryanne of Bagel Creations.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Recipe Wednesday!
This recipe is brought to you from Emmalene of Jungle Monkey Kids.
The following recipe is a family favorite, my youngest has severe egg allergies so we alway look for alternatives. Simple and taste.
Chicken Nuggets for Ainsley
500g Chicken (boneless)2 cups of CRUSHED corn flakes1/3 cup corn flour1 cup milkroast chicken herb seasoning (to your taste)
I start by cutting all the chicken into kid bite size bits.
Put corn flour, roast chicken seasoning and chicken in a bag and shake to cover all chicken.
A couple of bits at a time, dunk in milk then shake in crushed corn flakes. Place in bag/container and freeze.
Bake in oven at 175 degrees C till golden and crispy.
If you do 500g to 1kg at a time then you have some ready for the future, as we all know we have our moments. Simple and healthy.
The following recipe is a family favorite, my youngest has severe egg allergies so we alway look for alternatives. Simple and taste.
Chicken Nuggets for Ainsley
500g Chicken (boneless)2 cups of CRUSHED corn flakes1/3 cup corn flour1 cup milkroast chicken herb seasoning (to your taste)
I start by cutting all the chicken into kid bite size bits.
Put corn flour, roast chicken seasoning and chicken in a bag and shake to cover all chicken.
A couple of bits at a time, dunk in milk then shake in crushed corn flakes. Place in bag/container and freeze.
Bake in oven at 175 degrees C till golden and crispy.
If you do 500g to 1kg at a time then you have some ready for the future, as we all know we have our moments. Simple and healthy.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
New Button
Here is an awesome button for you to grab for your own blog! Help spread the word about the Busy Moms of Etsy! Thanks so much to Lisa of LMG Design for designing this for us!
Tuesday Time Saving Tips!
Winter Gear Round Up-brought to you by Angela Spots.
I don’t know what the weather is like where you live but here in southern Canada we are getting our first tastes of warm weather. Spring is FINALLY here (this winter saw record breaking amount of snow). It’s 
time to bring out the rubber boots and short sleeves and banish the winter parkas and mucklucks to storage.
My Busy Mom’s time saving tip is “organize and label your winter gear”. Yes all that organizing, labelling and storing will take up precious time, but trust me, come the first blustery day of fall when you’re in a dash to get warm gear for the family or you need an ice scraper
you’ll be thankful you know where everything is. Organize in a method that works for you. Just make sure you’ll remember your system come fall.
There is no point in organizing something if you will never use it again. Purge baby purge. Toss, donate, garage sale, upcycle, whatever works. De-clutter your life.
time to bring out the rubber boots and short sleeves and banish the winter parkas and mucklucks to storage.My Busy Mom’s time saving tip is “organize and label your winter gear”. Yes all that organizing, labelling and storing will take up precious time, but trust me, come the first blustery day of fall when you’re in a dash to get warm gear for the family or you need an ice scraper
you’ll be thankful you know where everything is. Organize in a method that works for you. Just make sure you’ll remember your system come fall.There is no point in organizing something if you will never use it again. Purge baby purge. Toss, donate, garage sale, upcycle, whatever works. De-clutter your life.
*To check out the lovely items from Colorado Babies or Angela Spots simply click on the pictures to take you to their shops.
Monday, April 27, 2009
MONDAY’S A COOL DAY!
MONDAY’S A COOL DAY! By pioupioukids.etsy.com
Had a busy week end wrangling kids, going out to the park or working on your shop? Boil some water, add a few chamomile flowers to your teapot, let it brew for 5 minutes then sip it slowly while you read this…
This week, it’s a mother and daughter collaboration, Glenda and April from bijouxdesignsforyou.etsy.com:
- Who are you? My name is April and together with my mom Glenda we are Bijoux Designs For You
- Where do you live? Just outside of Toronto, Canada
- What do you do? We make beaded jewelry and gift items. Aside from that, and being a mommy of course, I also waitress. My own mother is also a fantastic cook and baker. I wish I lived closer and could enjoy her goodies more frequently!
- How many kids? And husbands/partners? My own mother has 3 children, of which I am the eldest and has been married to my father for almost 30 years! I have a nine month old little boy named Colson and have been with my other half for a little over four years. We also have a 2-year-old black lab named Lily who is our "first" child.
- And so you have a shop…
o What’s its name? Bijoux Designs For You
o What do you sell? Beaded jewelry and gift items.
o But how on earth do you find time!?! No sleep and lots of coffee!
- Anything else you’d like to add… Our beading addiction also led us to open a supplies shop so that we could share all of our great finds! You can find it at http://www.rougeriverbeads.etsy.com/
A few favorites by April…
- Favorite book- Tough one. How about favorite authors? Ted Dekker, Arthur C. Clarke, John Saul, Dean Koontz
- Favorite movie- Ghost...I'm such a sap!
- Favorite song/ band/ singer- Either Bon Jovi or Madonna
- Favorite dish- hate to say it but I LOVE french fries!
- Favorite hobby- My hobby turned into my job...addicted to beading!
- Favorite time of the day- late afternoon...I'm not a morning person
- Favorite time of the night- after 10pm when everyone else is asleep and I get some time to myself!
Had a busy week end wrangling kids, going out to the park or working on your shop? Boil some water, add a few chamomile flowers to your teapot, let it brew for 5 minutes then sip it slowly while you read this…
This week, it’s a mother and daughter collaboration, Glenda and April from bijouxdesignsforyou.etsy.com:
- Who are you? My name is April and together with my mom Glenda we are Bijoux Designs For You
- Where do you live? Just outside of Toronto, Canada
- What do you do? We make beaded jewelry and gift items. Aside from that, and being a mommy of course, I also waitress. My own mother is also a fantastic cook and baker. I wish I lived closer and could enjoy her goodies more frequently!
- How many kids? And husbands/partners? My own mother has 3 children, of which I am the eldest and has been married to my father for almost 30 years! I have a nine month old little boy named Colson and have been with my other half for a little over four years. We also have a 2-year-old black lab named Lily who is our "first" child.
- And so you have a shop…
o What’s its name? Bijoux Designs For You
o What do you sell? Beaded jewelry and gift items.
o But how on earth do you find time!?! No sleep and lots of coffee!
- Anything else you’d like to add… Our beading addiction also led us to open a supplies shop so that we could share all of our great finds! You can find it at http://www.rougeriverbeads.etsy.com/
Check out those special treats this amazingly productive and creative team has come with for mother’s day:
A few favorites by April…
- Favorite book- Tough one. How about favorite authors? Ted Dekker, Arthur C. Clarke, John Saul, Dean Koontz
- Favorite movie- Ghost...I'm such a sap!
- Favorite song/ band/ singer- Either Bon Jovi or Madonna
- Favorite dish- hate to say it but I LOVE french fries!
- Favorite hobby- My hobby turned into my job...addicted to beading!
- Favorite time of the day- late afternoon...I'm not a morning person
- Favorite time of the night- after 10pm when everyone else is asleep and I get some time to myself!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Funny Fridays!
Funny Fridays are brought to you by New Hope Beading.
We narrowly avoided trip to the ER thanks to the kindly Ear, Nose, Throat doctor who stayed 15 minutes past closing time to remove the eraser, which took 10 seconds and only cost $600.
And know you know why I needed to actually utter those words. All this talk of ears has inspired me to share with you some of our team’s earrings, which you can wear on your ears, BUT not in them!
Comment below and share with us the “Things you never thought you’d hear yourself say before you had kids.”
My best friend from college and I have an on going contest we like to call, “Things you never thought you’d hear yourself say before you had kids.” Recently, I had a real good one that was definitely a contender for top seat. Here it is:
“We don’t put anything in any openings of our body unless it is our mouths and then only if it is food!”
Why, might you ask, would I have to actually specify such a thing? And remember, my kids are 6 and 9 years old, not 1 and 3. It happened one afternoon when I picked my 6year old up from school and he informed me, rather matter-of-factly, “Mommy I have an eraser in my ear.”
“We don’t put anything in any openings of our body unless it is our mouths and then only if it is food!”
Why, might you ask, would I have to actually specify such a thing? And remember, my kids are 6 and 9 years old, not 1 and 3. It happened one afternoon when I picked my 6year old up from school and he informed me, rather matter-of-factly, “Mommy I have an eraser in my ear.”
I stopped in my tracks. Surely I had heard him wrong! But a quick inspection of said ear revealed that there was, in fact, a bright pink pencil eraser in his ear, sticking out ever so slightly.
Torn between going back in to find the school nurse and driving the 2 miles home to my tweezers, I choose the later. After instructing my son not to even think about touching the ear, we made it home and to my master bathroom with amazing speed. The eraser was still protruding slightly which was the only reason I even thought about removing it myself. In a flash I had it out. As I took a deep breath and sat my little guy down on the toilet I asked him, “Why did you put an eraser in your ear?”
Torn between going back in to find the school nurse and driving the 2 miles home to my tweezers, I choose the later. After instructing my son not to even think about touching the ear, we made it home and to my master bathroom with amazing speed. The eraser was still protruding slightly which was the only reason I even thought about removing it myself. In a flash I had it out. As I took a deep breath and sat my little guy down on the toilet I asked him, “Why did you put an eraser in your ear?”
Pride showed on his little face as he explained that some of the boys at his table were being loud and he didn’t want to be distracted from his work and so he had made himself earplugs.
I knew without even asking that where there is one earplug there is a second, but still, you have to ask, “ Buddy, is there an eraser in your other ear?” His lip stuck out ever so slightly as he nodded yes. This one was, unfortunately, only visible with a flashlight and was not something a Mom could fix. Even the pediatrician refused to try to extract the earplug.
I knew without even asking that where there is one earplug there is a second, but still, you have to ask, “ Buddy, is there an eraser in your other ear?” His lip stuck out ever so slightly as he nodded yes. This one was, unfortunately, only visible with a flashlight and was not something a Mom could fix. Even the pediatrician refused to try to extract the earplug.
We narrowly avoided trip to the ER thanks to the kindly Ear, Nose, Throat doctor who stayed 15 minutes past closing time to remove the eraser, which took 10 seconds and only cost $600.
And know you know why I needed to actually utter those words. All this talk of ears has inspired me to share with you some of our team’s earrings, which you can wear on your ears, BUT not in them!
Comment below and share with us the “Things you never thought you’d hear yourself say before you had kids.”
What's The Deal?
And who doesn’t love a great deal? My name is Maryanne and my shop is Bagel Creations. I live in northern California with my husband and our two boys. I love finding a great deal! Thursday’s blog feature is a Deal Finder. As busy moms we can always use a great deal. Today’s deal is an awesome website that I just love. It’s called RetailMeNot.com. This site is incredible! It’s super simple to use. You just go to the website and enter a store name, website, or even keywords. You are then given coupon codes for that store which have been added by other people. Sometimes it is a deal they have found online, sometimes it is a deal they received in the mail that they are passing along. The part that I really like is that each coupon code is then rated by others. As others use the codes, they can go in and rate whether or not the code worked for them. So you can quickly scan the codes and start with the ones that have a high success rate. This can be a real timesaver!
When I am shopping online, I always skip over to RetailMeNot.com to check for coupon codes before I check out. I’ve found great coupon codes for places like Eddie Bauer, Land’s End, and lots of other sites.
Go check it out and find a great deal!
When I am shopping online, I always skip over to RetailMeNot.com to check for coupon codes before I check out. I’ve found great coupon codes for places like Eddie Bauer, Land’s End, and lots of other sites.
Go check it out and find a great deal!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday Time Saving Tips
Before I start I want to introduce myself. My name is AngelaSpots, Angela is my first name, Spots because I have a lifelong obsession with Dalmatians. I live in Canada with my DH, Dalmatian and my two little boys. I work full time in a medical genetics lab and have my little etsy shop. http://angelaspots.etsy.com I'm a busy Mom!
Tuesdays blog feature is called "Tuesday Time Saving Tips". I'm always looking for time saving tips, if you have one (or more) to share post them in the comments or send them directly to me.
My first tip is for the Busy Moms who do shipping. Try Paypal shipping. It's SO easy and saves me so much time and frustration. When an item is paid for through paypal I log into my paypal account and print off a shipping label, the cost comes out of my paypal account. I place the label on my package and drop it in a postal box. Easy peasy and no need to drag two small children to the post office.
It is also possible to use paypal shipping for items not paid for through paypal. It's not easy to find on the paypal site but there is a back door link. A good security tip is always be logged into paypal when you click the link. You just never know where a link may take you. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now
There are some cases when paypal shipping isn't ideal. Items which need to be track must start the tracking process at a post office (you can still pay through paypal). For fellow Canadians you cannot use paypal shipping for letterpost and "slot" (oversized letter) post.
For more information see the Etsy forums. Paypal shipping is a popular method.
Tuesdays blog feature is called "Tuesday Time Saving Tips". I'm always looking for time saving tips, if you have one (or more) to share post them in the comments or send them directly to me.
My first tip is for the Busy Moms who do shipping. Try Paypal shipping. It's SO easy and saves me so much time and frustration. When an item is paid for through paypal I log into my paypal account and print off a shipping label, the cost comes out of my paypal account. I place the label on my package and drop it in a postal box. Easy peasy and no need to drag two small children to the post office.
It is also possible to use paypal shipping for items not paid for through paypal. It's not easy to find on the paypal site but there is a back door link. A good security tip is always be logged into paypal when you click the link. You just never know where a link may take you. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now
There are some cases when paypal shipping isn't ideal. Items which need to be track must start the tracking process at a post office (you can still pay through paypal). For fellow Canadians you cannot use paypal shipping for letterpost and "slot" (oversized letter) post.
For more information see the Etsy forums. Paypal shipping is a popular method.
Monday, April 20, 2009
MONDAY’S A COOL DAY!
Had a busy weekend wrangling kids, going out to the park or working on your shop? Boil some water, add a few chamomile flowers to your teapot, let it brew for 5 minutes then sip it slowly while you read this…
This week, Lindsay May tells us a bit about herself and her shop: Twisted Designs.
- Who are you? Lindsay May
- Where do you live? Rainy Portland, Oregon
- What do you do? I am lucky to be able to follow my passions- teaching and being creative. Most importantly, I am a mom. I also have been creating jewelry for about 8 years. Lastly, I work a few hours a week doing marketing for two great earth-friendly organic companies, Happy Baby Organic Baby Food and YoBaby Yogurt (happyfamilybrands.com and stonyfield.com).
- How many kids? And husbands/partners? I am happily married and I have a busy 2-year-old daughter, Chloe and a baby boy due in 5 weeks!
- And so you have a shop…
o What’s its name? Twisted Designs.etsy.com
o What do you sell? Jewelry; I specialize in unique and comfortable pieces of jewelry that you will
want to wear every day. I know how busy life can get, so I have a lot of cute hoops you can just throw in and forget about. You can even sleep in them!
o But how on earth do you find time!?! I am luck to have a husband that is very supportive and that has a very flexible work schedule.
- Anything else you’d like to add… I started making jewelry 8 years ago because my family has a yearly Christmas exchange where we are expected to
create a handmade item. I chose to make my sister a silver wire necklace so I went out and bought tons of jewelry supplies and spent hours trying to learn. Well, that one necklace has turned into a passion and has since made hundreds of pieces. It’s hard to not cringe when I see some of my first pieces.
If....
If your were a man....I likely wouldn't be making women's jewelry.
If you had a million dollars....I would buy a house on the beach in Kaui.
If you were an animal....I would be my goofy, carefree St. Bernard puppy.
If you were a plant....I would be an orchid growing in the tropics
If your house was on fire and you only had time to save one object it would be....my laptop with all of my jewelry and family photos.
If you could choose to have one amazing skill....I would heal people with just my touch.
Check out a few photos of the very refined and simple jewelry for sale on Twisted Design. For more check out Lindsay’s shop!
Today's blog post is brought to you by Natacha of Piou piou. Stop by her shop for a great selection of cute clothing for your kids!
This week, Lindsay May tells us a bit about herself and her shop: Twisted Designs.
- Who are you? Lindsay May- Where do you live? Rainy Portland, Oregon
- What do you do? I am lucky to be able to follow my passions- teaching and being creative. Most importantly, I am a mom. I also have been creating jewelry for about 8 years. Lastly, I work a few hours a week doing marketing for two great earth-friendly organic companies, Happy Baby Organic Baby Food and YoBaby Yogurt (happyfamilybrands.com and stonyfield.com).
- How many kids? And husbands/partners? I am happily married and I have a busy 2-year-old daughter, Chloe and a baby boy due in 5 weeks!
- And so you have a shop…
o What’s its name? Twisted Designs.etsy.com
o What do you sell? Jewelry; I specialize in unique and comfortable pieces of jewelry that you will
want to wear every day. I know how busy life can get, so I have a lot of cute hoops you can just throw in and forget about. You can even sleep in them!o But how on earth do you find time!?! I am luck to have a husband that is very supportive and that has a very flexible work schedule.
- Anything else you’d like to add… I started making jewelry 8 years ago because my family has a yearly Christmas exchange where we are expected to
create a handmade item. I chose to make my sister a silver wire necklace so I went out and bought tons of jewelry supplies and spent hours trying to learn. Well, that one necklace has turned into a passion and has since made hundreds of pieces. It’s hard to not cringe when I see some of my first pieces.If....
If your were a man....I likely wouldn't be making women's jewelry.
If you had a million dollars....I would buy a house on the beach in Kaui.
If you were an animal....I would be my goofy, carefree St. Bernard puppy.
If you were a plant....I would be an orchid growing in the tropics
If your house was on fire and you only had time to save one object it would be....my laptop with all of my jewelry and family photos.
If you could choose to have one amazing skill....I would heal people with just my touch.
Check out a few photos of the very refined and simple jewelry for sale on Twisted Design. For more check out Lindsay’s shop!
Today's blog post is brought to you by Natacha of Piou piou. Stop by her shop for a great selection of cute clothing for your kids!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Funny Fridays!
Today's blog post is brought to you by Caroline of New Hope Beading and is sure to give you a giggle!
Like many Moms, I try to monitor which TV programs my children watch. We are, for the most part, a PBS kind of family with a bit of The History Channel thrown in for good measure. Since starting newhopebeading in late February, however, those TV rules have softened just a tad. This was the case one recent Saturday morning when I found myself staring at a stack of jewelry that needed to be photographed, edited and listed, not to mention the custom order that needed to be finished. When my children, ages 6
and 9, asked if they could watch a marathon of this show called The Brady Bunch which, “must be new Mom ‘cause we’ve never heard of it,” I acquiesced. Hey after all, my 4 brothers and sister and I were no worse for wear for watching Greg and Marcia and the gang playing in their Astroturfed backyard.
The kids tucked away in the living room with Jan
and Peter, I retreated to my studio (a.k.a. the dinning room) to get some work done. I had not even gotten through the first set of photos when peals of laughter drew me to the living room. Before long I found myself on the couch between the kids answering questions. “Why on Earth had they written In Color under the title of the show and what did that mean Mommy?” My worldly 9 year old had heard that TV had been in black and white “long ago” but surely her mother had not been alive back then. I explained that yes, it was not that long ago that TV was in black and white and that in 1969 color programming
would have been a big selling point.
Before I could even think of returning to the photographs my 6 year old had some questions of his own. “What happened to the monitor on Greg’s laptop Mommy and why is the paper coming out the
top of his printer?” I spend the next 5 minutes explaining how a typewriter worked. They had heard tell of them. I still don’t think my little guy quite grasped it though because he had the follow-up question of, “Why did Greg put a whole new piece of paper in the printer when he made a mistake? Why didn’t he just backspace over it?”
That mystery solved, I found my job as tour guide through 1970 was not complete for Jan was about to use the telephone, which oddly enough made this strange circular motion when you dialed it.
The mysteries continued. “Why were Mr. and Mrs. Brady not able to get a phone call through to Jan just because she was on the phone? Was she simply ignoring her call waiting or was it broken? And why didn’t she simply check the caller ID and see it was her parents calling and take the call? And if the Brady’s call waiting was broken why didn’t Mr. Brady just try Marcia or Greg on their cell lines?”
I could see that I was not getting back to my photographs anytime soon!!! And do you know what? That was just fine. The custom order got done the following day and the photos later that week and I spent the morning with my kids on Memory Lane. As surprised as I was by their questions I was more surprised at myself for not realizing how different their world is than the one I grew up in. The Bradys got me thinking of all the ways the technological world has change.
What things in your children’s lives could they not imagine living without and/or what things from your childhood would they be totally perplexed by? I’d love to hear! Post your answers below in comments and take a moment to view the “groovy” Busy Moms Team creations (just click on the picture). I know any Brady would think these items were “out of sight!”
Like many Moms, I try to monitor which TV programs my children watch. We are, for the most part, a PBS kind of family with a bit of The History Channel thrown in for good measure. Since starting newhopebeading in late February, however, those TV rules have softened just a tad. This was the case one recent Saturday morning when I found myself staring at a stack of jewelry that needed to be photographed, edited and listed, not to mention the custom order that needed to be finished. When my children, ages 6 and 9, asked if they could watch a marathon of this show called The Brady Bunch which, “must be new Mom ‘cause we’ve never heard of it,” I acquiesced. Hey after all, my 4 brothers and sister and I were no worse for wear for watching Greg and Marcia and the gang playing in their Astroturfed backyard.The kids tucked away in the living room with Jan
and Peter, I retreated to my studio (a.k.a. the dinning room) to get some work done. I had not even gotten through the first set of photos when peals of laughter drew me to the living room. Before long I found myself on the couch between the kids answering questions. “Why on Earth had they written In Color under the title of the show and what did that mean Mommy?” My worldly 9 year old had heard that TV had been in black and white “long ago” but surely her mother had not been alive back then. I explained that yes, it was not that long ago that TV was in black and white and that in 1969 color programming would have been a big selling point.Before I could even think of returning to the photographs my 6 year old had some questions of his own. “What happened to the monitor on Greg’s laptop Mommy and why is the paper coming out the
top of his printer?” I spend the next 5 minutes explaining how a typewriter worked. They had heard tell of them. I still don’t think my little guy quite grasped it though because he had the follow-up question of, “Why did Greg put a whole new piece of paper in the printer when he made a mistake? Why didn’t he just backspace over it?”That mystery solved, I found my job as tour guide through 1970 was not complete for Jan was about to use the telephone, which oddly enough made this strange circular motion when you dialed it.
The mysteries continued. “Why were Mr. and Mrs. Brady not able to get a phone call through to Jan just because she was on the phone? Was she simply ignoring her call waiting or was it broken? And why didn’t she simply check the caller ID and see it was her parents calling and take the call? And if the Brady’s call waiting was broken why didn’t Mr. Brady just try Marcia or Greg on their cell lines?”I could see that I was not getting back to my photographs anytime soon!!! And do you know what? That was just fine. The custom order got done the following day and the photos later that week and I spent the morning with my kids on Memory Lane. As surprised as I was by their questions I was more surprised at myself for not realizing how different their world is than the one I grew up in. The Bradys got me thinking of all the ways the technological world has change.What things in your children’s lives could they not imagine living without and/or what things from your childhood would they be totally perplexed by? I’d love to hear! Post your answers below in comments and take a moment to view the “groovy” Busy Moms Team creations (just click on the picture). I know any Brady would think these items were “out of sight!”
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to the blog for Etsy's Busy Moms Team! As our name suggests we are a group of moms juggling children, homes, jobs and businesses and this is a way for us to connect and find support and hopefully have a little fun along the way!
We are hoping to write about funny mom stories, time saving tips, add some recipes and of course, our Etsy shops! Stay tuned for lots of great things to come. In the meantime feel free to check out the shops of our team members by clicking on the shop links at the side of the blog.
We are hoping to write about funny mom stories, time saving tips, add some recipes and of course, our Etsy shops! Stay tuned for lots of great things to come. In the meantime feel free to check out the shops of our team members by clicking on the shop links at the side of the blog.
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