Keep Kids Busy With Free Holiday and Christmas Printables

Christmas break is really nice. Fa-la-la-la and all that. But to the busy work at home parent, it means more work in an already busy season. So you need printable crafts to keep kids occupied. Go to Spoonful.com They have Christmas crafts, printables, games, Disney stuff. More than I could ever list. To find the free printable crafts on Spoonful, go to the middle "Create-Art, Crafts & Inspiration" tab and look for "printables." Activities are cross-referenced by kind: paper crafts (greeting cards, cut and paste, 3D, templates and patterns, origami, paper dolls), games and puzzles, coloring pages, planners and calendars, Disney crafts, holiday, kids bedroom and party decorations, keepsakes and scrapbooking plus more.  Free Disney Printables from Family Fun New Site Spoonful

Install Bathroom Fixture Wall Mounts for Towel Bar Correctly

 Our downstairs bathroom remodel is finally done! Wootie-woot! There were parts we opted to do ourselves to
save money. Like installing new towel bar and toilet paper holder. No need to pay someone for what is essentially a three minute job. Or so we thought.

Poor husband called me in for assistance with the toilet paper holder. He'd done everything correctly, measured, lined up holes, sunk dry wall anchors, attached wall mounts. He even read the directions.  Install Bathroom Toilet Paper Holder, Towel Bar Correctly

Hand-Made Advent Calendar

I converted to Catholicism in 1996. A favorite parts of my new faith was the season of Advent. This season, like Lent, is penitential, involving fasting, prayer and almsgiving, in preparation for Christmas. We tend not to think of advent as a penitential season as we are surrounded with Christmas. In actuality, Christmas historically and around the world is celebrated for 12 days following Christmas day, up to Epiphany. When I home-schooled our four children we incorporated both traditions. We began our time of preparation on the first Sunday of Advent and worked on activities which brought our focus to Christ. We spent the weeks before Christmas practicing fasting, prayer and alms-giving in many ways. I made a large pocket Advent calendar to organize our activities, to track our work and to help the children count down to Christmas. I made it reusable from year to year. Here's how I made it.  Hand-Made Advent Calendar

Recipes to Use Up Leftovers for Clean Your Fridge Day

If you observe National Clean Your Fridge Day today, you'll be faced with a dilemma--what to do with leftovers. Make leftover food, if not sit up and bark, at least multitask with these recipes. Leftover food still has life left in. Often, as with fine wine, food gets better with age and in new incarnations. Chef Jacques Pepin showed how to make an awesome bouillabaisse with leftovers from his daughter's fridge. Here's my use-up recipe.   Leftover Use Up Recipes for Clean Your Fridge Day

Organize Medical Bill Pay Records, Insurance EOB to Avoid Hassles

I spent the entire morning on the phone and various websites trying to sort out a medical bill. Insurance paid its portion and I paid mine months ago, but the hospital sent it to collections. They had applied my payment to the wrong account, then didn't rebill me. They say they sent a bill but I wouldn't not have recognized it because it was for a different amount. And their website bill pay system is way over complicated, yet doesn't keep track of paid bills.

This is not the first time I've caught them in billing mistakes. So my advice is to keep careful records. Cross-reference insurance EOB with all orginal bills. For more ways to navigate medical billing, read on I Think My Head is Going to Explode

Teen Writers Earning Income on Bubblews, Youth Freelance Opportunites

Several months ago, my teen daughter began writing for Bubblews. I alerted staff so they would know that the two accounts from one household were in fact, two separate users. Bubblews allows teen users. But neither of us ever let on that we were related. Well, now, seeing the all awesome family duets proudly acknowledging and sharing their outside-Bubblews connection, I felt a little sad and left out. I want the world to know who my little Bubbler is. Reading her writing fills my Bubbles with such joy and pride I feel they might burst!

Here's how Bubblews works for my teen and how it can work for yours. Freelancing and blogging are great writing prompts for students. Homeschoolers and teachers, use for lesson plans.
Introducing my Daughter, the Writer

Multitasking Meals, 2 For 1 Cooking for Dieters

I just weighed myself and was surprised to find I'd lost another pound. That brings the grand total to 89, with 11 left to go. Let's talk about cooking for dieters. I do most of it and don't have time to fuss over special meals for myself. And I'm too cheap to spend a couple of bucks for a 9-ounce diet frozen dinner So I make similar meals, cooked in the same pan, tweaked with low calorie options for me. I call these 2-4-1-meals --double the work accomplished for half the labor. Saves on dishes, clean-up, utilities and money, too!  .2 For 1 Cooking for Dieters, Steak and Portobello Mushroom Burgers

Cross-Linking Posts to Blogs and Blogs to Post Drives Traffic to Articles

 I've been writing for Bubblews since June. I have been writing online for eight years. I'm also a manic blogger (56 at last count). I've been writing articles and linking to snippets with backlinks to my blogs. I also list and link relevant blogs on my articles. People have questioned that this is a referral or affiliate link. It's not, as I've explained here.  Confirmed--Linking Posts to Blogs and Blogs to Post Drives Traffic to Bubblews

Earn Money with Bubble Pulse, SEO

Do you write for Bubblews? You can earn some respectable residual income there. Teens can write and earn too! So if you do, you might be wondering what Bubble Pulse is. It's those words and phrases you see with plus signs in front of them. They are the topics or keywords covered in the post. When a plus is added, words become links connecting other uses of that word. Sometimes they're called tags.

Using Bubble Pulse is part of SEO (search engine optimization). It's how writers drive readers (page views, likes) to their content. Search engines index (organize) content according to keywords searchers type in. The higher on the search result list, the better chance a piece has of being read.
Earn Money with Bubble Pulse, SEO

Think Series Not Just Articles When Writing Freelance

Tip 'o the mornin, to ye, fellow +Bubblers --what's that? I misspelled "top"? Nope! I meant to. That's the name of my newest series +Freelance-tip-o-the-mornin and it's also my first tip. Think series when you write. Don't squash all your good idea eggs in one teeny-weeny basket. Give them room to breathe and grow.

You may have read my comments on your article "this would make a good series." I'm not suggesting you're doing anything wrong. I'm complimenting you on writing so much good information that each idea needs its own URL!   Logo comes from Bubblews, new highly addictive paid writing site I found. Freeelance Tip O the Mornin--Think Series