2009 October | Simply Modern Mom

Archive for October 2009

Show and Tell

In Random on October 30, 2009 at 3:16 pm

I am showing and telling (well, there’s not much to tell) all about my apron from earlier this week. It’s over at Amy Lou Who. Thought you might wanna know.

And yours truly was featured on V and Co. this week for my bandana skirts that I made eons ago. You know, the one that Kaye wouldn’t take off because she said it looked like Belle’s dress from Beauty and the Beast. I had to hide that thing now that it’s too cold and much too short for her to wear.

It’s a fabulous Friday all right. I also scored 11 pairs of shoes for myself and my girls today over at Payless. I know, I went overboard. But you’re talking to a shoe girl here. I warned Nathan that he shouldn’t let me go into ANY shoe store alone, even if it is Payless. He didn’t listen. So I bought one of everything. Only because I had a 50 percent off everything in the store coupon. I tried to remember the last time I bought shoes from Payless… it was middle school.

Happy Halloween!

Tags

fashion, favorites, friends, shopping, websites

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Friday’s 5 at 5: Non-Halloweener

In Friday's 5 at 5 on October 30, 2009 at 5:00 am

I have found there are two types of people when it comes to Oct. 31. Those who are whole-heartedly in love with Halloween – creative homemade costumes, transform their home into a haunted house, party all night long. Then there are those who are like me – Halloween is just… eh.

Freudian style, digging deep to find out why I’m not into this holiday…

Costume me not. Maybe it’s because I never had a great costume. But I always had that insecurity about being in a costume.
Genetics. My parents weren’t into Halloween. In fact, my dad said he has been telling his students (he’s a school teacher) that he will be throwing eggs at the kids coming to trick-or-treat at his door step. He’s being sarcastic, a little bit. You have to know my dad.
Spooked. I get scared by the thought of getting scared. I am not a fan of it. I can’t even watch the previews or see posters for horror movies.
Sweet nothings. When I was little, I went trick-or-treating. As with all kids, it was a contest to see who could get the most candies in one night. But when I got home, before I could even count the candies, my parents made us dump out all the candies onto the living room floor. Pick out five candies we wanted to keep. The rest went in the trash.
Hate chocolate. You read that right. I hate chocolate. There are very few things in life I actually hate, and chocolate would be one of them. I’m just making up numbers here, but probably 80 percent of candy bars out there are chocolate. Leaving me few candies to choose from. Then comes the fact that I’m not a big candy person. I’m more of a dessert person. So if trick-or-treating involved ice cream cones or apple pies I would be knocking doors all night.

But happy Halloween to those who do enjoy the holiday. I enjoy seeing other people in costumes and dressing my girlies up in their costumes. Kaye wants to be a fairy princess. Elle has no choice but to be a chicken… because she’s too cute in a chicken suit.

Tags

halloween, lists

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Sick Day & The Great Debate

In Random on October 29, 2009 at 9:00 am

I was sick all day yesterday. It actually began Tuesday night. After feeling all the stress and pressure of my numerous projects and things going on in my life, it finally caught up to me. A little break down. A few tears. A slight fever. And aching of the body. Luckily, I married one of the most wonderful man in the world. He listened to all my concerns, complaints, and whining. He pampered me while laid in bed sick. He forced me to do nothing but rest. He even brought breakfast in bed. And took time off work to take care of the kids. Amazing.

The Tylenol kicked in long enough for us to take a few Christmas family photos (me and my girls above). Then it was back to the chills and fever and aching body for me.

I did have time to read this article from the New York Times, “Guardians of Their Smiles.” It’s an article about the great debate of whether parents should post pictures of their children on the web and on social networking sites such as Facebook. In the article, some moms shared their experience of discovering other people reusing their children’s photos as their own or creating fake accounts.

Some parents are opposed to posting any pictures of their children on the web. Others don’t mind at all. From the article, “Some parents want to protect their children from what is unlikely but still tragically possible. Others say children will do best when learning to live with the realities of the Web.” Other parents come up with their own rules for posting. Making their blogs private. No bath photos of the kiddos. Changing the names of their children. So on and so forth.

This has always been a concern of mine. I am protective of my children and images of my children. I would like people to respect the privacy of my family. I like to feel like I am in control of what I post about my family and my photos. My biggest thing is people reusing my photos from my sites without my knowledge. But I am not totally against posting pictures of my family. It is similar to if a picture of my family came up in the newspaper or magazines. Or if I put my kids in modeling and they were in ads or something.

What do you think? What’s your opinion and view on this great debate?

Tags

children, families, photos, thoughts

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Project Spasms and an Announcement

In Random on October 28, 2009 at 9:00 am

I am experiencing project spasms. I am being attacked by too many projects. Doing a little bit here and a little bit there is not helping because I’m not actually accomplishing any particular project. Leading to an even worst feeling of incompletion at the end of the day. Maybe it is also because I am working on Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, and baby shower gifts for people left and right.

On top of that I am trying to open an online shop. Yup, you heard it right. I’m making the leap to sell some of my items online. That’s the big announcement for the day. It seems that there are people out there who actually like some of the things I make. I have never sold any of it before. So I’m not sure if anyone is interested enough to want to purchase anything from me. But hey, you gotta try, right?

Don’t worry, I will let you know when the shop opens. There are a lot to be done before that happens. However, I did set a deadline for myself to get the shop up and running in November, you know before the holidays. So I would love it if you had some advice for me about selling handmade crafts online. I’m a newbie and could use all the advice.

Thanks for supporting Simply Modern Mom and telling your friends about me. Now back to work.

Tags

announcement, ideas, shopping

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Reversible Aprons

In Crafts on October 27, 2009 at 9:00 am

I recently took a sewing class my friend Emily taught. I kind of roped her into teaching it, only because she’s an amazing seamstress. We have really bonded with our crazy sewing ideas. And I love learning from her since she’s really good at what she does.

Emily showed us how to make these super adorable reversible aprons. But of course, I couldn’t just follow instructions exactly. I had to revamp mine and change it up a bit to complicate things with my silly ideas. The apron Emily made had a neckband and a neck casing with ties in the top strap. I went without the casing and made my neck band two pieces so it ties at the neck. I also adjusted my measurements then readjusted it again. Hence the different widths between the pink and the brown.

I made the brown/blue one for my mom’s birthday. So happy early birthday, mom! She’s in Taiwan right now and won’t be back until after her birthday. Sad. We’ll celebrate when she’s back home again.

Tags

fashion, friends, sewing

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BTB Tip #8: I.C.E.

In Back to Basics on October 26, 2009 at 9:00 am

In case of emergency (I.C.E.) are ways for professional help (police, firemen) to find information about you in situations where you unable to communicate with them. The first place emergency response members look for information about you is the wallet. Second, your cell phone. So write or print on a little index card your I.C.E. information for your own safety. I did this when Kaye was first born. I made I.C.E. cards, even for the kids, with the following information and slipped it in our wallets.

Full name.
Address and phone number.
Birthday, including year so they can determine your age.
Who to contact in case of emergency, preferably 2 people, a spouse or parent and someone not in the same household.
Blood type, in case you are in need of blood in an accident or something.
Insurance information. I would be nice to have your insurance card in the wallet too.
Any medications or vitamins you are taking.
Allergies.
Family doctor’s name and phone number.
Any health conditions (diabetic, anemic, and so forth).
A profile picture of the person would be helpful too, especially for the children so they can identify who they are treating.

You can also go to www.childsafekit.com to get as many free tri-fold Child ID kits as you need. It saves your child’s emergency information, including fingerprints.

Tags

tips

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Friday’s 5 at 5: Non-Traditional Halloween Treats

In Friday's 5 at 5, Holidays on October 23, 2009 at 5:00 am

halloweek

I am probably the neighborhood mom that all the kids complain about. I don’t hand out candy. I figured they get enough candies from all the other homes. At least I’m not as bad as my neighbor who makes children do push ups for candy. He’s a personal fitness trainer. He would probably hand out protein bars if it were safe for babies.

Moving on. Other than candy…

Glow sticks. It has yet to fail me year after year. The kids love them. I get the bracelet ones with the connectors so it can also be a necklace if they had two.
Play-dough. You can find them with the candy stuff in big super stores such as Target or Wal-Mart.
Bouncy balls. Or other party gift bag toys found at party stores.
Bubbles. The small bottles found in party stores.
Pretzels or crackers. Individually pre-packaged of course. Nothing homemade.

I have also seen people who attached their business cards to whatever it is they are handing out the kids. I guess that is one way to advertise.

Tags

children, gifts, ideas, toys

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Creative Pumpkins

In Holidays on October 22, 2009 at 9:00 am

halloweek

Pumpkins is in style again, at least for the next few months. Don’t just carve, try some of these. Some link round up of creative things to do with your pumpkin this year. Click on photos for more info and tutorials.

Pumpkin posies vase.
Pumpkin candles.
Bat-o-lanterns.
Mod pumpkin.
Gilded pumpkins.
Mr. Pumpkin Head.

{image by BHG}

{image by Parents Magazine}

{image by Family Fun}

{image by Parents Magazine}

{image by Country Living}

{image by HGTV}

Tags

decorating, design, halloween, ideas

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Halloween Costume Ideas

In Holidays on October 21, 2009 at 9:00 am

halloweek

This year, Kaye wanted to be a fairy princess. I made her a pink and white tutu. She’ll have wings and I’m debating a magic wand. Elle, well, she’s going to be a chicken. A friend of mine handed down a chicken costume that I just couldn’t resist. Even though it’s a 0-3 month costume, I’m squeezing her into it. She’s normally wears 9-12 months. It is also fitting since my dad raises chickens. He’ll love the costume. I’ll post pictures next week.

If you are in need of costume ideas, here are a few simple ones you can make at home. Click on photos for details. Although it’s children in the pictures, you can tailor the costume for adults too.

{image by Country Living}

(image by Country Living}

{image by Family Fun}

{image by BHG}

{image by Parents Magazine}

Tags

fashion, halloween, ideas

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Halloween Kids’ Crafts

In Crafts, Holidays on October 20, 2009 at 9:00 am

halloweek

Link round up of kid-friendly crafts to get the little ones into Halloween. As if they need more motivation. Click on photos for more details and how-to’s.

Mummy candy holder from water bottles.
Hanging sock bats.
Tissue paper bat garland.
Broom stick place cards.
Haunted house.
Halloween character hangers.

{image by Parents Magazine}

{image by marthastewart.com}

{image by Country Living}

{image by Family Fun}

{image by Hershey}

Tags

children, halloween

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The Procrastinator’s Halloweek: Decorations

In Holidays on October 19, 2009 at 9:00 am

halloweek

Yes, we are a bit over a week before Halloween and you know what? I don’t have a thing prepared. Nothing made. No decorations. Na-da. So this procrastinator’s week is actually for me. However, if you need ideas or encouragement… you came to the right place. Each day, we’ll focus on different parts of Halloween to get you ready for the big day 12 days away. Today is decorations. Tomorrow, kids’ crafts. Wednesday, costumes. Thursday, things to do with pumpkins. Friday’s 5 at 5, goodies to hand out other than candy.

A link round up of simple decorations. Just click on photos for more information and tutorials.

Candied candles.
Spooky photos.
Window silhouettes.
Mummy heads.
Witch ornaments.
Skull wreath.

{image by Country Living}

{image by Good Housekeeping}

{image by Parents Magazine}

{image by BHG}

{image by marthastewart.com}

{image by HGTV}

Tags

decorating, halloween

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Friday’s 5 at 5: Magazines

In Friday's 5 at 5 on October 16, 2009 at 5:00 am

I’m a magazine reader. And one day when all media transform into pure digital, I think I’ll still prefer the paper version. Nothing like checking your mail box and seeing 150+ pages of ideas, amazing photos, and great articles. I love the smell of it, the fact that I read every magazine twice (flip through from front to back, then read it from back to front), and ripping out all the annoying inserts before reading.

My top five…

Tags

favorites, lists

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Intriguing Sites: Poloppo

In Intriguing Sites on October 15, 2009 at 9:00 am

My Kaye creates the cutest stick people, especially for a 3-year-old. Then I found Poloppo. Intriguing. You purchase a T-me kit where your child draws a picture on the paper provided with special markers, also provided. Then pick out a style of shirt from their catalog. And return the artwork in the pre-paid envelope, also in the kit. In a few days, your child receives his or her personally designed shirt in the mail. How fun is that? And now that it is getting into the cooler weather months, they will be offering long sleeve shirts available sometime next week.

Can’t wait for it in the mail? You can upload the picture from your computer use their direct order service.

Poloppo Even if you don’t have a child at home, this would be a great gift idea for any child who is old enough to draw. The ideas are endless. The best part: A portion of Poloppo’s revenues is donated to an art education support program for children around the world. And they have a blog.

Exclusively for SMM readers… Poloppo is offering you a 15% discount. Use promotional code SMM. The offer is good until Nov. 14, 2009. So go now… right now.

SMM was not paid by Poloppo to feature their products or services on this site.

Tags

offers, websites

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I Love, Love Trees

In Photography on October 14, 2009 at 9:00 am

I have a soft place in my heart for trees. I don’t know what it is about them that I love so much, especially since I’m not the kind of person that can grow anything green. But I love landscape and I love trees. Digital Photography School had a post last week, “21 impressive tree images.” All so lovely.

{image by Carl Jones}

{image by Luc Bollen}

${image by Rik_C}$

{image by Rik_C}

{image by Garry Schlatter}

Tags

favorites, photos

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Glass Pendant Necklaces Tutorial

In Crafts, Tutorials on October 13, 2009 at 9:00 am

Easy. Cheap. Adorable. How can you pass up something like this? I found places online where they sold the tutorials on how to make these glass pendant necklaces. Here’s mine for free.

Supplies:

paper
exacto knife
ruler
cutting board
glass tiles* (rectangular, circular, or square shapes available)
bails* (I used aanraku small size)
clear glue (I used Diamond Glaze. Mod Podge will work too, just not as well.)
super glue or E6000
toothpick
wax paper
ball chains, ribbons, necklaces
paper towels

*glass pendants and bails can be found pretty much anywhere online… Amazon, Etsy supplies, etc. I have also found bails at craft stores.

1. Using the exacto knife, cutting board, and ruler, cut your papers to the size of your glass tiles. I prefer to cut my papers slightly smaller than the tiles (about 1mm shorter all the way around). I had squared tiles, so I rounded the corners of my paper a bit to fit the tiles better. You can use just about any kind of paper, although tissue paper may be to thin and transparent. Suggestions: magazine pages, scrapbook paper, origami paper, cardstock.

2. Clean the glass tiles with a slightly damped paper towel or cloth. Allow to dry completely.

3. Lay a sheet of wax paper over your work space, the glue doesn’t stick to it. If your glass tile has a frosted side, you will want the paper to glue to the frosted side. Apply a layer of Diamond Glaze or Mod Podge to the frosted side of the glass tile. Gently place the paper onto the glue with the designs facing down. (The polka dots in the picture below is the back side of my pendant. The design is on the other side of paper.)

4. Quickly wipe off excess glue with toothpick and dry paper towels. Turn the tile over and press down on the glass tile hard to allow the layer of glaze to even out. Allow to dry completely, approximately 30 minutes to an hour.

5. Working on the back side of the pendant again, put another layer of glaze over the back of the paper to seal it. If you are using the Diamond Glaze, you will only have to do this once. If you are using Mod Podge, you will need to use a brush and do a few coats allowing drying time between coats. I also applied glaze on the sides of the paper to protect the edges. Use a toothpick and paper towel to wipe off excess glaze or glue. Also use the toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the glaze. Let it completely dry, approximately 5-6 hours or longer.

6. Once it dried, clean off any excess glue anywhere on the glass tile with a lightly damped paper towel or carefully scratch it off with finger nails.

7. Glue bails to the back of the pendants at the top. Make sure you check your designs and note which side you would like to have as the top of the pendant. If you use super glue, apply a small amount of the glue to the back of the tile and the bail. Work quickly as it dries fast. You will also need to get it right the upon first contact because super glue doesn’t allow much time for adjustments. If you use E6000, squeeze a pea size onto wax paper. Then use a toothpick to apply a small amount of it to the back of the tile and on the bail.

8. Let it dry for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then put on ball chains, ribbons, or necklaces.

Featuring Thea, my model…

Tags

fashion, gifts, ideas

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Swamped

In Random on October 12, 2009 at 9:00 am

Aren’t we all with the holidays coming up? This week, I’m…

Co-hosting a party at church for a bunch of teenage girls Thursday.
Teaching a crocheting class Friday.
Attending a sewing aprons class Saturday.
Finishing up some glass pendants (tutorial coming soon).
Getting ready for Halloween (procrastinator’s Halloweek coming next week).
Got my HomeGoods gift card in the mail and ready to shop.
Contemplating opening an Etsy shop.

Can you believe that we are only 11 weeks away from Christmas? I am thinking of making Christmas gifts this year… with supplies I already have. Hum… that will be a challenge. Ideas anyone?

Tags

lists, thoughts

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Gardens Take 2

In Events, Photography on October 9, 2009 at 10:52 am

The last time we went to the botanical gardens we only saw half of it. Not wanting to miss the Henry Moore sculptures, we had to go back a second time. This time we tried to get some family pictures… didn’t work out too well other than our individual shots. I didn’t bring a tripod and had to ask random passerby to snap photos of us. But I did bring some of the fake mustaches just in case.

Tags

photos, visits

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Friday’s 5 at 5: Priceless

In Friday's 5 at 5 on October 9, 2009 at 5:00 am

LWM copy Things I would not want to lose…

Photos. We have way too many of it, most of them digital. But photos mean the world to me as we capture precious moments in our memories.
Legal documents. Yes, it’s only paper. But if something was to happen to our house and we lost all of our important papers. I would have a horrible time trying to get copies of them all (mortgage papers, birth certificates, insurance information, etc.).
Journals. I have volumes and volumes of them. I have been writing journals since I was 8 years old.
Cell phone. It has become a security blanket for me. Even though I don’t call or text often, it make me feel secure knowing if something was to happen, I can call for help. We don’t do landlines, so cell phones are the only way to call from our house.
External hard drive. If we lose our computer, I wouldn’t want to lose the external drive that’s attached to it right now.

Tags

lists, thoughts

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A Girl Can Wish

In Giveaway on October 8, 2009 at 3:37 pm

Did you know that Amazon is doing their 10th anniversary Wish List Sweepstake? Hop over to Amazon, shop around and add things to your wish list and enter to win something different each week. Many prizes given each week. You don’t have to purchase anything to enter. I’m waiting for the Disney week because a trip to Disney would be so fun for our princess loving Kaye.

Tags

shopping

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BTB Tip #7: Safe

In Back to Basics, Education Week on October 8, 2009 at 9:00 am

LWM copy

Invest in a personal fireproof and waterproof safe or file box. You can find them at Target, Wal-Mart, or office supply stores. Put the originals of important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, marriage certificates, bank and credit card information, emergency contacts (someone outside of your household). Have copies of your important files in your regular filing systems for easy access.

Tags

organizing, tips

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Intriguing Sites: Bloggled

In Education Week, Intriguing Sites on October 7, 2009 at 9:00 am

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A friend of mine referred me to Bloggled last year and I have been a customer ever since. Although I have yet to have a problem with losing information on my site or have my site deleted, I don’t want to risk the chance. As of right now, Bloggled can backup unlimited Blogger (Google) and Twitter accounts you own. And they backup up to 10 versions of it, so if something gets erased, you can always retrieve it from their site. The backup is done automatically on a weekly basis. You don’t even have to think about it.

Tags

websites

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Organizing Files

In Education Week on October 6, 2009 at 9:00 am

LWM copy

Bills… file folders… important documents… taxes… bank statements… insurance… rent or mortgage…

Each month we get a whole new stack of them cluttering our home, desks, and filing cabinets. I complied a list of ways to help you simplify and condense the amount of time and effort put towards your paper filing system.

eBills or online statements. Many businesses and banks offer your monthly bills and statements online. They send you an email notification when your bill is available. Some offer automatic monthly payments so you don’t ever have to worry about a late payment. Some offer alerts when a payment is due. Most of the time, all you have to do is sign onto the businesses’ website, register for an account, and select the paperless or eBill option. This way also saves the company money from printing, paper, and postage. And it is more eco-friendly.
Online bank or credit card payments. Most national and some local banks and credit cards offer an online service through their sites for you to pay your bills. You can have it scheduled and/or automated. Even though my bank doesn’t have all my local utility service on file, they still offer to mail out a check for me if I schedule it online. Save me the cost of checks and postages.
Keep file folders near where you pay bills. Whether you pay bills online or by checks, keep your filing cabinet close to where you do your bills. That way as soon as you pay, you can file it away. And retail stores such as Target, The Container Store, and Ikea offer visually appealing filing cabinets to motivate you to use them.
Create a mail habit. Get the mail, walk in the house, and then what? Do you toss it in a pile of mail to sort through later? Do you eagerly check out every envelope and ad? Find some kind of system that works for you and your mail then make it a habit. Whether you’re the type who needs a mail center where you categorize mail or you toss it all except the bare essentials, make sure you keep a recycling bin nearby to recycle the junk stuff.
Organize important documents by person. Have a folder for each person in your household. Then put copies of important documents for that person in their folder. These types of documents would be Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports, medical records, school records, marriage certificates, and so forth. You will want to keep originals of these documents in a safer place. More info on that coming Thursday.

Tags

learning, organizing

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Learn from a Pro: Data Backup Basics

In Education Week, Learn from a Pro on October 5, 2009 at 9:00 am

LWM copy
BY NATHAN BIRD

Nathan Bird is a technical consultant at Lucidius, LLC.

Like you, I have a lot of valuable data such as pictures, home movies, and documents all in one place… on my computer. And like you, I have experienced technical difficulties with computers and files. Having that much important data in a single location is asking for trouble. Recently, a couple friends and a family member all experienced computer crashes in the same week. All called me for help recovering precious memories and files.

I have concluded there are three sure things in life… death, taxes, and computer hard drives crashing. However, you can avoid the negative consequences of a hard drive crash. You just have to be prepared. There are three main ways of storing your priceless data: 1) computer hard drive, 2) external hard drive, and 3) an off-site backup.

Risks and Dangers of Backup solutions

Risks and dangers of a computer hard drive
Your computer hard drive has an average lifespan of approximately 5 years. With hard drive wear and tear over the years, I don’t trust it with anything critical if it is over 3 years old. Hard drives are affordable and easily replaced – especially if you have a backup system in place. The wise saying of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies here. Not having an automatic backup is placing fate at your door and I can guarantee you will lose some if not all of your data at some point in the future.

Benefits of an external backup
Having an external backup is the technological way of putting all your eggs in two baskets. An external hard drive coupled with some automatic backup software and you can reduce the risk of losing all your data by about 90 percent. The major risks left with an external backup are losing both your computer hard drive and the external drive in instances such as a house fire or natural disasters. That said, this is the easiest and quickest way to backup your data – and give you some peace of mind.

Benefits of an off-site backup
An off-site backup can be a couple of things. It could be your external drive which is backed up regularly and stored in a safe deposit box or at a place other than your home or office. More commonly however is an internet backup – a backup of your data sitting on a remote server on the internet. Having a remote backup offsets the risk of both your computer hard drive failing and your external drive being destroyed in a house fire or flood. And your files are encrypted for privacy and security purposes. The downside of a remote back is the slow backup and restore speed and a small monthly fee for using an internet backup service.

How to get started
First, you’ll need an external hard drive. Simply Modern Mom has good deals in the SMM Store (Amazon) for hard drives that I recommended. The typical computer user can pick up a 500 GB or 1 TB (1,000 GB) drive for around $100.

Second, you need software to perform the backup from your computer to the external drive. If you are on a Mac then you are good to go. Time Machine is what I recommend to Mac users and is as easy as connecting your drive and flipping the ON switch in the system preferences. Apple provides a video that shows you all you need to know.

If you are on a PC then your best option is to upgrade to Windows 7 (available October 22) and use the built-in backup tool. A guide can be found here. If you are using Windows XP or Vista then the cost of buying 3rd party backup software is about the same price as upgrading to Windows 7 so it makes sense to buy the new system and get reliable backup software with it.

Finally, for off-site backup solutions I recommend Mozy ($5/month) or Carbonite ($55/year). Both work well for Macs and PCs, are simple to setup, provide unlimited storage, and are roughly the same price.

My recommended backup system
I recommend using at least an external backup with software to automatically keep things backed up. I also recommend an off-site backup of everything you would consider essential. For me that includes pictures, home movies, and some documents. This system allows you the speed of an immediate restore from the external drive if your computer hard drive crashes and peace of mind.

Tags

gadgets, guests, learning, organizing

▶ 1 Comment

Introducing Education Week

In Education Week on October 4, 2009 at 11:06 am

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I am starting a new program on SMM called Education Week. We are spending a week learning something new. It’s actually me taking a week to learn something I have always wanted to know. And if you know all about the topic we are learning, you can contribute and comment to share with us your knowledge. If not, hopefully you’ll be interested and learn with me.

Monday begins our first Education Week. Our topic: safekeeping of our important documents and files. We begin with an article written by Nathan Bird, yes, my husband. He’s a pro when it comes to technology and computers, it is part of what he does for work. His article is about how to safe keep our computer files and photos. Then I have info for the rest of the week about keeping your blog and paper documents backed up and safe. See you tomorrow…

Tags

learning

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I Can’t Believe It

In Giveaway on October 2, 2009 at 8:48 am

{via The Inspired Room}

I can’t even tell you how many giveaways and contests I have entered on other blogs and sites hoping to win something cute, fun, or useful. And when hundreds of other people enter into the same giveaway, it lessened my chance of winning and I have yet to win anything. That is until now. I can’t even describe the shock and excitement that overwhelmed me when I found out I won a contest I entered about a month ago on The Inspired Room. My fingers had been crossed ever since wanting to win one of the three $200 gift cards Melissa was giving away to TJ Maxx or HomeGoods. I am so excited to go shopping! I am lucky enough to have both TJ Maxx and HomeGoods nearby. Thank you so much, Melissa!

My entry was our Despairing Bedroom… which has gotten a bit better and a bit worst since the entry a month ago. It has continued to be the storage room as I decluttered our house from attic to floor and collected piles of stuff for our yard sale a few weekends ago. Then my craft stuff spewed into the main part of the room as I pre-washed and ironed all my fabrics getting ready for some projects. Hey, it had to get worst before it got better right?

Even though the winner of The Inspired Room contest wasn’t announced until now, I have been motivated by it to change the condition of our room. We had a maximum budget of zero dollars, so I came up with some creative ways to upgrade just a tad. First, we painted over Labor Day weekend using gift cards redeemed through our credit cards.

And one night, while in the shower where I get my best ideas, I thought it would be fun to make a photo studio in our room but disguise it through decorations. I know, it doesn’t sound nice. But it will be, I promise. Our room has the best natural light of all the rooms in our house. It also has the largest walls for backdrops. Perfect for a little DIY home studio makeshift. However, I didn’t want a rod and backdrops hanging from the walls of our room when the studio part is not being used. That’s when I dug into my creative juices a little deeper and came up with the idea consisting knobs, bamboo, frames, and ribbons. It’s in the works right now and, don’t worry, it will be posted when I’m done.

Now, with a $200 gift card, our room get the makeover it desperately needed. Once again, thank you The Inspired Room! There will be transformation updates and before/after pictures coming your way.

P.S. Hope you didn’t missed this week’s tutorial on fake mustaches and Back to Basics Tip on yard sales.

Tags

announcement, decorating, winners

▶ 3 Comments

Friday’s 5 at 5: Permanent Decorations

In Friday's 5 at 5 on October 2, 2009 at 5:00 am

Things I will always decorate my home with…

Personal photos. I love seeing pictures of my family throughout my house, a personal touch.
Canvas paintings. I especially like landscape paintings.
Black and white wood furniture. The classic colors.
Leather couch. I like them slick and not clunky. As long as I have children in my home, I will always have leather couch. It’s so easy to clean.
Glass vase. What I fill it with is another thing. You can always rely on fresh flowers.

Tags

decorating, lists

▶ 1 Comment

It Took All Day

In Random on October 1, 2009 at 4:38 pm

It took me all day to iron all of this. Now that I’m done with it, I can get to work on some sewing. But before the sewing, I have a few other projects in the works that I need to get done.

Tags

cleaning, organizing, sewing

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This Week’s Thrift Store Adventure

In Products on October 1, 2009 at 9:00 am

Without the rain this time, I made it to a couple thrift stores. I had a list of specific things I was hoping to find:

11″ x 14″ frames needed four
more bedsheets for fabric
a mat for the trunk of my car

I got it all except the fourth frame and a few other goodies. I have some ideas and projects in mind. I’ve spent the rest of this week running errands, practically everywhere imaginable. Dealing with a sick baby, Elle, poor girl. I spent most of yesterday doing laundry and pre-washing all my fabric and bed sheets. Today… iron, iron, iron. Anyone have a special trick to ironing and organizing fabric?