Parenting

This weekend, it’s time to slow down a bit and re-discover a lost art, the handwritten note.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m horrible at writing notes. I’d love to be better at it, so I thought I’d help myself along.

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For inspiration, I found the book The Art of the Handwritten Note: A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication by Margaret Shepherd. The book talks about the many reasons why it’s important to write a note and talks about the different types of notes you may find yourself writing. It touches on the thank you note, condolence note, congratulations note, the love note, and many others.

To help get inspired to write, I made some pretty note cards.

I don’t have step-by-step photos to show you the process, but it was very easy. I trimmed the front edge with my fancy-edged scissors, then cut some thin grosgrain ribbon to run across the bottom. I applied it with regular white glue. So easy and so cute!

I feel a little bit more equipped to write a handwritten note now. But, I wanted to make this as easy on myself as possible.

Happy weekend! Are you ready to do something for yourself?

Let’s do a bit of decluttering and create a donation bin to help keep that clutter from taking over your life.

Now, I know this doesn’t sound super-creative or even all that exciting, but hear me out.

This is worth all the time and work. You will feel better, refreshed, and much more organized when you’re done. Believe me, I felt pretty good about myself when I finished.

I spent the weekend weeding through my closet and even recruited my husband to do the same.

We ended up with about three boxes full of clothes to donate and another box of clothes that needed recycling.

And yes, we did enjoy ourselves and had some good conversation while we were at it.

Recruit your children to do the same! Freshen up your house or your closets and help others out at the same time.

How do you decide what can be donated and what should be recycled?

Donate anything that is: clean, in good repair, and free of any stains.

If it has holes, stains, or just looks worn out, it needs to be recycled.

Fold it all neatly and pack it in either boxes or bags. Do you really want to donate a bad full of wadded up clothes? No, I didn’t think so!

Now let’s make that donation bin.

What is the purpose of the donation bin? It’s a place where you can put things that need to be donated as you find them.

Instead of putting those clothes that your kids have outgrown into a drawer, add it to the donation bin.

Once it fills up, it’s time to take a trip to the donation center.

I used the donation bin as an excuse to go shopping, that part’s not necessary… but it is fun.

After wandering the aisles of my favorite home improvement store pondering all the cute baskets and bins I could buy, I came to the realization that I was going to have to find something with a lid.

You see, I have a pretty black cat who really likes to sleep in baskets. Her favorites baskets are ones that are big with something soft in them.

So, big plastic bin with a lid… welcome to my house.

Find something cute, but most of all practical, and set it aside for a donation bin.

I labeled mine with a simple sign taped on the top. Make sure the family knows where you are keeping it and what the purpose is for.

I decided to put mine in the laundry room. It’s out of the way, yet easily accessible.

Now that you’ve decluttered and made your donation bin, you’ve got two things left to do.

1. Take a trip to the donation center and drop everything off.

2. Relex, celebrate, go out for ice cream, enjoy your family!

Working together to take care of your home and to help each other is always rewarding. And, your kids are never to young to participate!

How are you planning on spending your weekend?

If you notice, the name of my blog is My Creative Family and almost everything I blog about is for the kids, activities for kids, crafts for kids, games for kids. We do a lot for our kids, don’t we? It’s easy to get lost in that. I know I find myself doing that all the time, thinking only of the kids and forgetting about myself in the process. It’s easy to do. But, hopefully, I’ve found a remedy for that. I’m claiming weekends and you should too!

I’m not proposing you ship the kids off for the weekend or ignore them completely. I’d like to show you ways to do something for yourself, something a bit more “grown-up,” but still involve the kids. Because, after all, we’re part of the same family.

I’ll be steering away from the child-centered posts on Saturdays and give you ideas for you… the grown-ups in the family. Whether you’re a parent, a grandparent or a child-care worker, I hope you’ll find ways to enrich your life and the whole family’s life. I want My Creative Family to include the entire family.

Each weekend idea will have a theme, with ideas surrounding that theme. We’ll declutter and make a donation station. We’ll explore a new hobby. We’ll spend a weekend exercising outdoors. We’ll rejuvenate, renew, and reinvent.

I invite you to join along!