While He Was Napping

momma gets stuff done

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Simplify Your Life With the Spring Cleaning Declutter Checklist

Has clutter come into your home since the holidays?  I know my house has seen an influx of “stuff”, and in completely honesty, my house wasn’t super clean before the holidays.  This year I am trying to focus more and be more productive.  But we are clutter keepers and it’s something I struggle with.  While it doesn’t create mental chaos, I hate having clutter all over and I hate being disorganized.  It makes it harder to focus!  If I was actually a quarter as organized as most people think I am, I would be so much better off.  Now, we don’t belong on an episode of Hoarders (unless you go in my bedroom, it’s the catch-all) and our home isn’t disgusting, but it absolutely is cluttered.  We have more stuff than we have room for.  And it is driving me CRAZY!  No one likes it when Momma goes cray-cray!

 

So I will be doing a 30 Day Declutter here on While He Was Napping starting the middle of the month or so.  However, if you’re antsy to do your own decluttering, you should hop on over to this post and print off your own Declutter Checklist.  It’s got a lot of the commonly overlooked areas, so you don’t forget anywhere and keep thinking “where the heck is all this stuff coming from?!”

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Obviously, decluttering isn’t a do it once and be done deal.  At least not at my house.  Stuff is always rotating – you just have to make sure your coming in ratio is equal to or smaller than the going out.  A big part of my problem is that I get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.  The checklist has it all broken down by room.  Do you have 10 minutes?  Find an area that will take about that long and start there.  Some times it’s the little stuff that counts.  You may have a mountain of laundry on your bed, but the dishes are put away.  Give credit when it’s due and know that Ms. Scarlett O’Hare was so very right when she said “After all, tomorrow is another day.”

 

GET YOUR DECLUTTER CHECKLIST HERE

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Springtime Activities Boredom Buster Jar Printable

What’s your weather been like lately? Is it finally warming up or are you still covered in snow? We’ve had pretty mild weather recently and have been doing some fun springtime activities. Now, we have a storm forecast for this weekend, yuck. Ah, but that’s what the winter boredom buster jar was for, right? If you’re expecting sunshine instead, I’ve got a spring boredom buster jar for you! It’s full of fun springtime activities that – shhh, don’t tell the kids – will help them learn a little too!

Printable Springtime Activities Boredom Buster Jar

 

SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES BOREDOM BUSTER JAR

Printable Springtime Activities Boredom Buster Jar

There are 10 springtime activities in this printable set. I tried to make the activities ones that older kiddos could enjoy too.  They are also a little more educational-based than the last boredom buster jar. Don’t worry though, it’s all pretty basic stuff and it’s still fun. Promise.

MAKING YOUR OWN SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES BOREDOM BUSTER JAR

Links below may be affiliate links. This means I will receive a small percentage of any purchase made though the link. Your cost is not changed in any way and your support helps me keep this site running. Thank you!

Materials:
– Plastic bottle
– Dirt/soil (here’s a whole terrarium kit on amazon if you don’t want to piece it together)
– Pebbles
– Seeds
– White flowers
– Food coloring
– Dishwashing Soap
– Glycerin (get glycerin on amazon)
– Unflavored gelatin (get unflavored gelatin on amazon)
– Silicone molds (find lots of fun silicone molds on amazon)
– Jars
– Skittles
– Empty egg carton

You can gather these items and have them ready when you are so you can get in and do the project right away, or you can make gathering the items part of your activity. There’s a few more items required, but they are common and you probably have them on hand right now.

Make sure you click over and download the file at the link below so you get both pages. Don’t just right click and save as on this one. You’ll be missing part of it!  Have fun!

GET YOUR SPRINGTIME ACTIVITIES
PRINTABLE BOREDOM BUSTER JAR!

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How to Make a Year of Dates – “Open When…” Date Night Kit

The content and idea presented in this post was originally published in 2015 on askannamoseley.com as a contributor post. The text and printables contained in that post have been updated to maintain accuracy and timeliness and have been posted here, as I no longer contribute to that site. You can visit the original “Open When” Date Night Kit via the link above.

Welcome! Are you looking for an easy way to bring more date nights into your life? Do you need a romantic gift idea for your special someone? Or are you looking for a date that will knock your sweetie’s socks off? Then this Open When Date Night Kit is exactly what you need.

This idea will help you have more date nights with your sweetie and it makes a great gift for those special occasions: anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, or birthdays. Or it will help you plan one of the most epic dates you’ve ever been on. Forget dinner and a movie!!

You’ve seen the “Open When” letter idea in your travels around the internet, right? I first saw the idea as something to include in a care package of a deployed soldier and thought that was such a great idea! It has since become a gift idea, even for couples that aren’t apart, that keeps showing up in my Pinterest feed (let’s be friends! Follow me for more great inspiration).

 

“OPEN WHEN” DATE NIGHT KIT

A Printable Year of Dates Kit

 

Mix up Date Night with this fun and simple "Open When" Date Night Kit - comes with free printables you can use to create your own kit! Get a whole year of dates planned and never fall into the "whatcha wanna do?" rut again!

 

MIX UP DATE NIGHT WITH THE OPEN WHEN… DATE NIGHT KIT

I had the thought to change it up a bit and make it into a date night kit, with printables, of course! Check out all the details on how you can make your own “Open When” dates with this printable kit (hello, Valentine’s Day gift!) and get everything you need to put your own kit together below.

It’s easy to put together and easy to customize – it doesn’t have to be just like mine. So, you’ll know there’ll be no lame dates you actually really don’t want to do.

 

MAKING YOUR OWN “OPEN WHEN” DATE NIGHT KIT

OPEN WHEN DATE NIGHT KIT MATERIALS:

  • “Open When Dates” Printables (The DOWNLOAD THE PDF File makes printing a cinch or DOWNLOAD THE ZIP File if you want single image files that are easier to edit). Or make it super easy and check out the Open When Date Night Kit in my Etsy Shop that makes editing and printing a snap.
  • Scissors or Paper Cutter
  • Markers or Alphabet stickers (or photo editing software, if you’re going to edit them before you print)
  • Envelopes
  • Tape or Glue
  • Anything else you want to decorate your envelopes with (stickers, washi tape, and the like)

FREE date night printables

OPEN WHEN DATE NIGHT DIRECTIONS:

*Disclaimer: Because everyone has different ideas about what is a fun and enjoyable date, I have provided these printable templates in such a way as they can be modified to fit lots of different dating styles.

The photos shown are not the actual files, but how I have chosen to use them for my “Open When…” Date Night Kit. 

The awesome part is that you can make your kit fit you. For example: if you don’t like “cuddle dates”, you can choose any kind of date you do enjoy instead and still be able to use these templates.

Because of the customizability (that’s a word right?), you will have to do a little bit of work for this project. It’s not a print-and-paste project but it’s worth the little bit of work for some fun dates with your sweetie!

You can simplify the work with the Open When Date Night Kit in my Etsy Shop. It has 4 sets of files that will help you create exactly the date night kit you want with as little work for you as possible.

Open When Date Night Kit on Etsy

Images of the actual download files are at the bottom of this post.

 

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR OPEN WHEN DATE NIGHT KIT

  •  Download the “Open When Dates” printables and save them to your computer.  If you want to type all your info into the templates before you print them, open the files in a photo-editing software.  Anything with a text editor will work: photoshop, microsoft paint, canva are all great choices.
  • Save the edited files to your computer.  If you want to match fonts, I used Honey Script and Frente H1 (the links will take you to their download pages).  You can also type out your info in a word processing program (like Word) and then just manually glue it on to the template pages (with actual glue, not computer “paste”) after everything is printed.
  • Print out the templates or the edits you have made.  Cut them apart.
  • Put the envelop labels on the front of the envelops with glue or tape.  Decorate the envelopes how ever your little heart fancies.
  • Now you have a decision to make.  Do you want to do more work now and plan out specific dates? Or do you want to just include some date suggestions and then figure it out when you open the envelopes? Or do you want an epic one-night date adventure you’ll both remember for years?

 

WHICH OPEN WHEN DATE NIGHT KIT STYLE WILL YOU 

CHOOSE?

Plan specific dates: Fill out the templates with specific date information.  For the “When You Want to be Pampered” date, I chose an at-home spa night. After the kids are in bed, or at grandma’s, we can fill the tub with bubbles and then exchange massages.

Choose a specific date for each “Open when…” and fill in the information.  If your sweetheart has a hard time making decisions, or actually planning dates, this is probably the best option.

Open When Date Night Kit Year of Date Preplan Specific Dates

 

OR

 

Just Date Suggestions: I posted some date idea printables with date ideas in the 12 categories I chose to put in our “Open When Dates” Kit. If you just want to include date ideas and then let your sweetie choose the date, you can

 print those and stick those in the envelopes.

This option is less work for you now, but you might end up snowshoeing for your adventure date, so make sure you’re okay with that.

If your sweetheart has a bucket list and can make and keep plans well, by all means, let them help with the date planning!

Open When Date Night Printable Kit Be Pampered

 

OR

 

Adventure Date Night: This option gives you a single, one night adventure date. If you are looking for a special occasion date, this is a fun one.

This idea combines a progressive style date and a scavenger hunt, without the awkward looking for clues.

Your envelopes will say things like “Open When you want to eat dessert” or “Open When you want to walk down memory lane”.

The activities inside the envelop will move your date along. Maybe it’ll be dessert at your favorite frozen yogurt place. Or visiting the spot where you had your first date.

The date can be as long and drawn out as you want, depending on how many activities you plan. If you run short on time, save the remaining envelopes for another date night.

 

 

PRESENTING YOUR OPEN WHEN DATE NIGHT KIT:

Once you have all your dates planned, your envelopes decorated and stuffed, it’s time to get to the fun part: the actual dating!

If you’re giving your date night kit as a gift, you could package it all up nice in a box and wrap with a pretty ribbon.

If you’re planning an epic adventure date night, a simple basket or other container would be helpful in keeping everything together.

But, the most important thing: HAVE FUN!!

 

Open When Year of Dates Kit

Happy dating!!

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100+ Date Night Ideas

 

Ah, February.  It’s right around the corner.  February has a reputation for love, but it’s even more so for me.  Mr Napping and I got married on a cold, wintry day in February because we were crazy, didn’t care we were dirt poor and believed the love in our hearts would warm our little home… or because long-distance relationships suck.  The second one, I think.  If you’ve dated long-distance, you know what I mean.

 

Back in the pre-winter wedding days, we went out on dates as often as we could.  The week we met, we went out four times.  Seriously.  None of that “can’t call on the next day” garbage here.  That weekend, he left for a two-week training with the Army and we got our first little peek at that long-distance thing.  At some point, in the last seven years, we went from four dates a week to a date every four weeks (if we’re lucky!).  With three kids, jobs, church responsibilities, and life in general our dating has become a little mundane.  So, I have tried to come up with some date night ideas to rekindle the flame that involves more than Netflix and a baby seated between us.  Gotta avoid that seven year itch, right?

 

These cards go along with a bigger project, which you can check out next week.  But if you’re looking for some date night ideas, here’s a good start.  With over 100 date night ideas, there’s sure to be something for everyone.  No matter what you enjoy.

100+ DATE IDEAS

100+ Date Ideas

 

Date Ideas 2 Date Ideas 3 Date Ideas 4

 

GET A PRINTABLE VERSION OF 100+ DATE NIGHT IDEAS

so you’ll never have an excuse for not being able to think of a good date!  Now get out there and get those fires a burnin’.  Winter’s still going strong and something’s gotta keep us all warm.  It might as well be love, right?

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