Prairie Scraps

Who doesn't love an awesome sale?  Here's the link: OUTLET SALE.   Be sure to go on right away, as sale items are while supplies last!  Thank you so much for supporting my Direct Sales business!

This idea actually came to me several years ago, when my relatives started giving our Christmas gifts away to charity in our name (although they get the tax write-off).  Don't get me wrong, that sounds super warm and fuzzy and honorable to do, if we had everything in the world, and have not needs or wants.  But that's not the case for our family.  Each year when we got the card from the charity organization, I would comment that it would be nice if they gave to the Charity of Us.  (Painfully, we have 5 kids on one income, and one of those Christmases, my husband had been out of work for 6 months.  We were starving and had no gifts for our kids, but some 3rd world family got our Christmas gift of food that year!  Sorry for my lack of excitement!) It occurred to me then that I actually can do the same, but give my own family back that gift.  I started to purchase their gifts from my own direct sales business through out the year.  Each month, when there are extra specials a

With five very active kids, I find myself doing about 20 loads of laundry a week, just in clothes.  That doesn't include towels, sheets, and other extras that come along.  As I verge on my 20th year of being a stay-at-home-mom, I thought I'd share some of my tips for getting laundry done quicker.  How to Get Laundry Done Quicker Pick one day a week to devote to laundry!  I shoot for Mondays for my laundry day, and I'll be honest, I can't usually get it all done that day, but I'm usually close at the end of the day.  If you work during the week, you might have to choose Saturdays. Everyone must submit their laundry to get it done and then pick it up after it's finished.  If you don't put your laundry in the laundry room, you don't get laundry services for the week.  (Sounds tough, but it works for the youngest to the oldest member of our family.) All stains should be removed by the person who makes the stain prior to going to the laundry roo

 My very sweet 17 year old daughter saw a ruffled tree skirt at a friend's house and decided that she had to make me one for a Christmas gift this week.  A little background on this first.  My daughter was a reluctant participant in sewing in 4-H for 6 long years!  She is not very detail oriented, so it was a struggle for both of us to get projects done right for the fair each year.  She was more than happy to be finished with that project, and hasn't had an interest in sewing since. Well, this project was quite the project.  She found all the material herself, and even tried to find ruffles she could sew onto this skirt all over town.  When she came up with a dead end on ruffles (she knew she couldn't make her own ruffles), she found bias tape instead!  I personally think that she's a genius!  I've seen these ruffled skirts and love them, but this actually makes my skirt special! Mr. Right even got involved and tried to print the lettering out on the comput