This is little off subject I think but Joan talking about making things with toilet paper rolls & oatmeal boxes made me think of all the fun I had making forts, school houses, or a fine house- all out of the refrigerator or appliance cartons. The ones we got were around a new appliance & had wood frame & heavy cardboard or maybe even lightweight paneling with reinforced corners. They did well in summer rains(I added some kind of roof) & in winter dad had gotten 1 for me to retreat to in the basement. I put 3-4 of them together on a vacant lot & "taught" school, played house with other neighborhood kids or fought off cowboys or Indians as we often changed which ones we wanted to to be. There was a tree on the lot, so we could escape the fort & go up in the tree & be lookouts, of course the lake was right below so we had to watch"on land & sea" it was quite a job & we were very serious about it. Too bad I didn't have my camera yet! I was shy but always road after the appliance truck & asked if I could have the crate, I think we ended up with 4 on the lot, they were very heavy but delivered right to spot I wanted.So disappointed when torn down & new house went up in there. Dad really started something fun by bringing that 1st 1 home tho. Jan

Mysticmom, here are a few sites, I have alot more if you would like them. If you wanted to spend the money, create a card and hallmark card studio is wonderful software for making cards,stationery ,calendars, etc. I have several of both and really like them. Graphic Gardens Here is a link that might be useful: printables

I remember that phase. We had toys in every room of the house. They need to be where you are so you can watch them though, so that means you may have to have toys in your living room or kitchen or anywhere else. Hang in there. They'll eventually get old enough so that you can say "no toys in the living room" when you need to keep it clean. The good news is, with twins they will soon be content to stay back in their bedroom and play with each other. My twins are 10 now and didn't cling to my pant leg for nearly as long as their older sisters. They're so much more independent. We have a walk-in toy closet now with shelving all the way up. I keep toys with lots of pieces (like legos) up high so they have to ask to play with them, that way I can make sure they have the last thing put away first. I never thought I would be able to get my kids to stick to a one-thing-at-a-time rule but I did somehow. We have toys sorted in tubs and they've learned that they have to put away one tub to get out another. It doesn't work perfectly but I can walk across their bedroom floor MOST of the time. lol When my twins were toddlers, I just had a couple of big laundry baskets to keep toys in that were in the living room. They're light and easy to carry room-to-room and easy to carry back to their bedroom. I need better storage though. Wish we had an ikea store here. I'm always reading about things people have found there.

I much prefer paper to plastic. Bank envelopes are great for bigger seeds or amounts of seed and can easily be cut for smaller ones. For most things I use cut/folded paper. Got a trade packed that way and have been making them ever since. As long as you start with a square, can be any size, any paper. Like to have the outside blank so it's easy to label. Great way to recycle paper that's been used on only one side.