"Things To Buy" Fridge Helper

If your house is anything like mine you either are always running out of items or finding that when restocking that the one item you just picked up so did your spouse, gets rather annoying when our fridge is now full of condiments an has less room for actual food. This is where the GENIUS STRUCK, of course I could go the normal route and buy a little paper pad with a pen and a magnet but why do that? LOL! Ok, really I just hate wasting paper so I really don't like it, plus I wanted to try something a little better looking, so here's my idea if you just want something a little different.

This project wasn't as easy as I first perceived. It became a little game of trial and error, but I'll give you what I've learned and you can make the best decision. Let me begin by giving you a list of some awesome sites with some print out organizing sheets that may/may not work for you and your lifestyle needs or at least this project.  The one in my main image came from: Artsy Fartsy Mama (btw, she's AWESOME). There's a huge list of sites complied on: Creative Organizing. I also have a tear off sheet shopping list version idea from pinned from here: Infarrantly Creative. If you chose to go with that sites, you are going to want to tweak the list so you can make it a list but not in the tear off form or go ahead and go with that blog idea, but it won't work this blog. In the end I went with a simple white sheet with a cute script saying "Things To Buy" & a sharpie drawn heart in the bottom corner cause our hand writing was to big for this cute weekly layout. (I'll show you later.)

Whatever style sheet you chose to print you'll put in the frame behind the glass and  use like a dry erase board. Dry Erase Marker whatever you need or to make note of and use your cell phone to take a picture before each store trip so no extra trees killed and just erase off the list whatever you got. Really when do we ever go shopping without our cellphones anyhow? This really makes it easier then finding a little scrap of paper in our purse to.

What you need: 1 Document Size Frame, unless you wanna cut your paper to whatever size this just saves a step. Whatever sheet from the printer. Dry Erase Markers & Erasers. Found ours in the cheap bins at Target. Magnet strips from Micheal's. You will need in addition to picture, craft glue. If you are lucky you will find at the Dollar Store already made magnetic pencil holder. I think intended for "Back to School" locker organization, so check those sections of your stores.

Assembly time. Remove wrapping, blow off dust, the typical fun stuff.

*TIP* If your frame has metal hooks for wall you may want to remove, as to not scratch your fridge.
Now put your sheet in. push Down your tabs and check the width of your magnet strip.

Ours was perfect to go on the cardboard an touch the fridge, if yours won't be so great you may want to cut and glue the magnet into strips to be placed the edge of the frame.

Here's where we had a lesson. We didn't run into any weight issues or our magnets giving out, but originally we didn't add any craft glue. I didn't think of a issue needing to worry about this. I had my husband test slamming the refrigerator door open and shut with out it moving so much as a milometer. We just trusted in the sticker part, well it got so humid that it just let go, we got lucky and it wasn't a issue so I reinforced it with craft glue and now that baby hasn't budged...and it's been even more humid.

It's been awhile now & it's still up an being used, eventually I'll change it out to a cuter piece of paper maybe add a defined Farmer's Market section, but this has really helped us. Hope it helps you just as much.

Thanks to the Troops

*Photo Courtesy of Maximo Photography*

I was originally planning to do a "Happy 4th of July" idea for the little ones, but after a chat with one of our good friends, Riley's Godfather, I changed my thoughts. He has just left the service after many years of commitment and multiple deployments. We happened to be watching a commercial about the new Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bar, brought up memories of care packages. He started to to tell me how nice it was and how fast they went. Clearly this conversation got my brain turning.

I started thinking of the ways in the past that we've donated, sent items or made a Thank You cards here and there, started searching around for something that we should do, then I came to a shocking end. I think after years of battle after battle and economic downfalls all around the charity to our troops was slowing and in some cases even meeting a end. One of the biggest organizations I remember was Give 2 The Troops. I found their site and was instantly saddened. A recent update stated they had to put a halt to their collection of items for the troops, because they no longer had the funds to send them. It's just knotted my stomach to think that the troops' one little bit of home and comfort, reassurance of strangers was no longer able to reach them. They are seriously in need of funds.

Though, if you know someone personally and were just hoping for ideas on what to send, I was once told that anything that can be added to water, like Crystal Light were appreciated. Wet wipes and other toiletries, because "living in sand isn't easy." Also lots of food, snack like items, think items that don't go bad and are very portable, like energy bars and jerky. Don't forget or under estimate the power of cookies. We take for granted the taste of cookies, sometimes, but as my conversation with a friend reminded me, a box of Girl Scout Cookies is appreciated. I'm sure on non-cookie season Oreos or somethings should work.

After seeing what happened with Give 2 The Troops I went on a quest to see if any organization was still up and running. I did find another organization, it is working kind of similar called Operation Gratitude. If you can't give money to get items from Give 2 The Troops you may wanna poke around there and see if you can meet any of their needs.

One last organization that I actually have worked with is Operation Homefront. It is a great way to give back to those at home and their families. Check out their Current Needs tab, even seeing that was a strong reminder of how below meeting needs these organizations are. If you live in San Diego, or a military town try calling to contact because they use to have plenty of year round drop off sites. Baby items were always a need and lots of food. They also list that they are way short on their goals of collection.

I'm not trying to bring us down, but put a little extra thought out there while we enjoy our barbecue and fireworks. Just think on this upcoming patriotic holiday about those who serve year round with lots of sacrifice and how to give back. At the same time this is a great way to teach your child the hows and whys of giving to others.

For those of you that happen to be a military family, I found this site with a list of Military Discounts. Check them out, not sure which are up to date or are at whatever location, but hopefully this helps. An, Thank You for all you give!

Please Be Safe & Enjoy the Holiday!

Please leave a comment if you know any other good organizations or Military Discounts that you think people should know. Thank you.