Friday Finds – December 12, 2008

Cara’s Finds

Give the gift of mental health. Are the holidays taking a toll on family members, friends, or co-workers? Give them a gift card for therapy. Katkin and Associates, a private practice located in Cincinnati, is now offering gift cards. It may sound like a joke, but the gift card program does benefit a good cause. Not only does it promote awareness for mental health, but ten percent of the proceeds benefit the Milford Success Academy Scholarship Fund. Gift cards start at $5.00, and can be purchased online at KatkinTherapy.com.

Whatever, Martha! Gee, I wonder if Alexis Stewart has any pent up anger when it comes to her famous mother, Martha? Watch the promo of Whatever, Martha! and see for yourself. The show, which premiered in September, is also hosted by Jennifer Koppelman Hutt. Together, Alexis and Jennifer add sarcastic narration and commentary as they watch old Martha Stewart Living episodes. Whatever, Martha! seems entertaining, yet as uncomfortable as a big dysfunctional family gathering. It’s on the Fine Living Network, Tuesdays at 9:00 pm e/p.

Looks great, but stinks. Speaking of frustrations and crafting… every year I usually have my kids help in making their teachers’ gifts. Here are some low-budget gifts we’ve crafted in the past. This year, I was inspired by this homemade lavender scrub I saw on GMA. However, the ingredients seemed too expensive. We have five(!) teachers this year, and my goal was to stay under $5 per gift. So, instead, I came across this homemade bath salt idea. Everything was coming together swimmingly… I found the cute snowflake containers and loofahs at the dollar store, and bought the Epsom salt for cheap at the grocery store. The lavender essential oil was my biggest expense, but I still stayed under $25 for all the supplies. The kids were mixing the ingredients together with my help last night, and… Pee-YEW! They stink! Hopefully I can exchange the stinky lavender oil for another scent and redo. The extra salt will cost another $3.00 or so, but if I pull it off I want to attach directions that say, “1. Fill bath with warm water. 2. Add 4 tablespoons of bath salt. 3. Relax and enjoy your holiday break!” Cute, huh? I know, I should be taking Susan’s shortcut approach for the holidays, but I just can’t help it.

Susan’s Finds
Leave it work-at-home parents to come up with this site. The recently relaunched KneeBouncers.com is full of simple games to entertain babies and toddlers. According to dad of 5 and site owner Jim (who came up with the idea while–you guessed it–working from home!), KneeBouncers “provides an environment where even the youngest child can play on the computer while learning basic cause and effect principles.” Pretty cute! With the relaunch, they added free downloadable coloring pages, parent forums, character sections, merchandise and new games.

1 thought on “Friday Finds – December 12, 2008

  1. shannanb aka mommy bits says:

    I caught Whatever martha the other day. I will say that you def. should not watch it with your kids in the room.

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