My kiddos headed back to school last week, and I know it won't be long before they start coming home with all sorts of papers, projects and pictures. Last year, I struggled quite a bit with deciding what to keep and where to keep it. This year, I'm starting with a plan. My plan is intentionally simple. I don't follow through with overly structured systems for managing household tasks, and I know it's likely to fall to the bottom of my to-do list if it isn't amazingly easy. Here are the basic … [Read more...]
{Memory Keeping} Chalkboard Photo Frame DIY
Have you guys checked out our new Photography & Memory Keeping category yet? The plan is to fill it to the brim with usable ideas for busy parents on how to take great photos, how to organize them, and what to do with them once you actually print them! It's one of the things I'm most excited about this year - can you tell? Here's Kristin with a quick and easy photo project that will make a big visual impact in a special nook or cranny in your home. We already know the importance of … [Read more...]
DIY Vacation Memory Jars
Did you guys know we've got a whole new category on MPMK this year? It's called Photography & Memory Keeping and we're stuffing it with tips busy parents can use to take great photos AND get those shots off our tech and into our lives. Here's Julee with our latest summer-themed post... We just returned from our first family beach vacation. Our children absolutely loved the beach and haven't stopped asking to go back. For me, photography has become my way of remembering places I visit, … [Read more...]
Best Phone Photo Apps for Moms
I had an epiphany recently about this little site of mine. While I love everything that we cover here, I realized that there are 4 topics that I am TRULY passionate about. Why? Because these are the four things I can use the most with my own family! In no particular order, they are: Family Friendly Recipes & Meal Planning Engaging Play Ideas Parenting Hacks Photography Tips for Busy Parents and Photo Organization & Projects So I'm going to be experimenting with mainly … [Read more...]
How to Organize Photos Like a Professional Organizer: POYEL
Our post on How to Store Your Digital Photos Like a Professional Photographer was so popular that we decided to follow it up with another Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life post on how to organize print photos from our resident professional organizer, Annie. She's got a fool-proof 5 part process you're sure to love! While the majority of us have shifted into the digital realm most households still have a stockpile of family pictures. Printed at the local drugstore some several years ago, … [Read more...]
Valentine Photo Bookmarks
When the folks at eHow's mom channel asked me to come up with a Valentine photography project that kids could make for their parents, I knew I wanted to it to be something parents could actually use. Check out my super simple DIY bookmark tutorial here and have a great weekend watching the olympics with the kiddos this weekend! The hubby and I are both sick with the flu so that's it from for today. P.S. Did you know that facebook has recently drastically changed the way pages like MPMK … [Read more...]
DIY Valentine’s Day Decor: Easy Instagram Art
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and it's one of my favorite holidays for arts and crafts. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's the welcome diversion from everything Christmas. Maybe it's the idea that we're making gifts for the ones we love most. Regardless, I get giddy this time of year and love to come up with new things to make, especially decorations. Lately, I've been trying to make decorations that will last - things that I can keep and look back on, as the years fly by … [Read more...]
My Simple Plan for Saving Our Memories This Year
We're talking memories today as part of our month long mission to find ways to eat better, parent better, organize better and just generally live better this year. Before S arrived, I was actually pretty good about recording memories for our little family. At the end of each month I would use the photos we'd taken to create 2 - 4 new pages in an iphoto book, along with a few paragraphs with family anecdotes, accomplishments, etc. The idea being that at the end of the year I would have a … [Read more...]
Must-Make: Framed Family Recipe with Photo
Today I bring you one of my all-time favorite gift ideas EVER! The genius in this gift is that it has sentiment and thoughtfulness in spades but is shockingly easy to put together. This will be a gift for my mom that I know she will treasure as my "Nana" is no longer with us. You could easily knock several people off your gift list with this same idea in no time, especially with the free recipe card printable that's 100% editable so you don't have to worry about pretty handwriting. Ready … [Read more...]