Recycle old crayons that are too short to draw with to make new crayons in fun shapes.

Heat makes a crayon a little loopy; it may melt into a swirl or pool into a whirl. With this in mind, we chopped up crayons and baked them in shaped mini cake tins, making large blocks that are easy for toddlers to hold and will surely inspire older artists.

Encourage kids to come up with their own combinations—a blue-and-white blend for drawing the sky, or a mix of reds and oranges for sunsets.

Tools and Materials : old crayons, kitchen knife, mini cake tins

Crayon How-To Parents can use the knife to chop crayons into pea-size pieces, taking care to keep colors separate so kids can combine them as they like. Preheat the oven to 150°F while children fill the tin with crayon pieces, arranging them in interesting designs. Bake just until the waxes have melted, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the shapes after they have cooled. If they stick, place the tray in the freezer for an hour, and the crayons will pop right out.

— courtesy of Martha Stewart Kids

This week’s feature: BookJingle.com, the best book buyback site online! (Not that I’m biased or anything… the owner is a personal friend of mine!) But, seriously, Book Jingle will pay you $$ cash $$ for your used books! What a great way to declutter and recycle your personal library! Here’s what you can expect from my friends at BookJingle.com…

Totally free shipping Ultimate convenience Instant (top) price quotes Quick payment within 48 hours High quality customer service

Find out how easy it can be to make money by selling your unwanted books.
Sell some books… feed the pig!

Waiting for an invitation? Consider this it…! Visit BookJingle.com today!

The Lilybugs Children’s Consignment Sale is right around the corner! Woohoo!

Lilybugs is a quality children’s consignment sale held twice yearly—spring/summer and fall/winter—offering the best in high quality gently used children’s clothing and shoes, maternity clothing, baby equipment, children’s furniture, outdoor toys, books, software, videos, and lots and lots of toys!

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… my new favorite website!

If you’re anything like me (i.e., an avid reader who also favors organization and simplicity), you’ll quickly fall in love with this online book trading community!

~ get started ~

Scour your home, collect at least 10 books (i.e., paperback, hardcover, and even audio) that you no longer want or need, and enter their respective ISBN’s at PaperBackSwap.com. Then, browse or search the inventory of over 2 million books to find new-to-you reading materials, and order your first 2 books for free in a matter of minutes!

~ next steps ~

Then, you just send out any books that others request from your virtual bookshelf (via USPS media mail) to earn credits that you can then use to order gently used books for yourself. Not a bad deal! It’s like trading books with your neighbors… in your really big subdivision (i.e., United States)… who collectively read a lot of books (i.e., over 2 million)!

~ end result ~

So far, I’ve sent out 8 books in 8 days and received 5 of the 7 books that I’ve ordered. It’s been a really easy and inexpensive way to acquire like-new books that I’ve been wanting to read (and aren’t available at our local library)! Plus, of course, the bonus : I’m getting rid of my clutter at the same time!

[ Hey… What are you waiting for? An invitation!?! Go check it out! ]

I received my cheque from the GCC MOPS Consignment Sale today! My profit was just over $210.00… enough to cover what I spent on Amanda’s summer wardrobe, with about $50.00 left over to pamper myself!

I tell you… it still amazes me how much more space we have in our garage now that so many of the baby items and outgrown clothes are gone! I am DEFINITELY going to consign again in the fall! It’s such a great way to make some extra cash AND get rid of gently used children’s items! If you’ve never consigned before, you should definitely give it a try.

Join me for our fall sale in September… you won’t regret it!

Update: The MOPS Sale has adopted a new name… Lilybugs Children’s Consignment Sale! Visit www.lilybugskids.com for current sale information.