Making Laundry FUN!

September 23-29 is National Keep Kids Creative Week. Gain recognizes the importance of National Keep Kids Creative Week and believes that there are ways to make laundry more fun. I am so thrilled to be teaming up with Gain to show you a very simple way to make a sometimes boring chore for a kid, a fun adventure! If you ask my son William what his favorite things are he will quickly tell you, DINOSAURS! He carries around everything from dinosaur flash cards, books, toys and loves his dino apps on the Kindle Fire. It has gotten to the point where he can tell you the names of at least a dozen dinosaurs and fill you in on how big they are and what they like to eat.

I figured that dinosaurs would be a great subject to incorporate into helping out around the house and allowing his creativity to shine. We decided to make a "Dino Adventure" laundry basket. You should have seen the excitement on William's face when we were gathering our craft items for the basket project. I came up with the basic idea but had William do all of the coloring, gluing and helping to hold things to assemble.

We started with some dinosaur template cut-outs that we found online. William chose all of the colors he wanted his dinosaurs to be and enjoyed making dino sounds as he colored. He really got into it! His big sister helped him to cut the dinosaur and dino egg shapes out and glue down them down on construction paper to make them sturdier. We attached simple assorted plastic greenery to our laundry basket to give that jungle feel. Once all the dinosaurs and eggs were completed, we punched holes in them and attached them with bag ties onto the basket in between the greenery. To personalize the laundry basket even more, we made a nameplate so William can be proud to have his very own hamper in his room.

 

 

He just loves the fact that this is his very own basket that he helped create. I think it turned out really cute and it was such fun crafting this masterpiece together. He is already asking about what our next project will be!

He is so proud of his special basket.

I have never seen William so eager to help with laundry before. He very happily loaded all of the dirty clothes in the washing machine.

Of course you must have some good old-fashioned shenanigans to make the chore of laundry even more fun! I am sure William is going to show a lot more effort in keeping up with his dirty clothes. Hopefully I will find more of it in the hamper instead of on the floor!

Won't you join Gain in this great initiative? Have your kids decorate a basket and tag Gain on Facebook. It is such fun! Check out the Gain Facebook page for more details on National Keep Kids Creative Week. You can also follow Gain on Twitter. What creative things will you do with your kids or what suggestions can you share that can bring out your child's creativity

I am being compensated by Gain to share the importance of National Keep Kids Creative Week and Gain believes that there are ways to make laundry more fun. All thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Things that are making me so happy right now.

Today I laughed HYSTERICALLY in the car on the way home from picking the girls up from school. I am talking full abdominal pain, tears from my eyes and coughing from laughing so hard. My sunglasses even fogged up. Man, that was some good laughter! 

Today William was complaining about "those meddling kids". He loves old school Scooby Doo. As a matter of fact, he loves all the old cartoons like Tom & Jerry, Yogi Bear, The Snorks, The Smurfs and more. Sure beats Sponge Bob any day! 

This salad is made from baby organic greens (kale, spinach, arugula and others) dried cranberries, sliced almonds, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It is outstanding. It is my new favorite salad. 

If you haven't tried Mr. Clean with Gain scent, you are missing out on the happiest scent ever. It is as if you accidentally spilled Gain freshness into the air. It really makes me excited to clean. Yeah, I have issues :)

Dwayne and I tried Red Moscato for the first time and really enjoyed it. I think we need to explore some other brands. I am going to make a date night reservation to try out a wine bar in our area in the very near future. 

I love Coca-Cola from the 1.25 liter bottle. There is something so special about the taste from that specific size bottle. It's not the same out of the can or the 2 liter bottle. 

Dwayne and I have been thoroughly enjoying watching the NBA play-offs and even the pre-game, half-time and post-game footage. This has been the most enjoyable basketball season ever! We will be so sad when it's over. 

The thing that has been making me over-the-top happy lately has been the new windows we had installed over the course of the last year. We have noticed a huge difference in the consistency of  the overall temperature as well as the air conditioning unit does not run 24/7. I know our light bill should be looking a lot better too. That will be the icing on the cake! 

So what has been making you happy recently? Please share, I wanna know! :)

Bringing Sexy back to laundry | Review & Giveaway

Okay, okay well maybe laundry is not all that sexy. I tell you what though, it can be with some help! I received the latest Gain products to test out. Of course I am a cleaning supply freak so I was quite excited to say the least. I got the Gain Dreamy Desire fabric softener, Gain Fireworks In-wash scent booster in Sweet Sizzle and Gain Forget Me Not dryer bar in Flirty Fresh. Do you see where I am going with the whole sexy thing?

These scents are insanely wonderful! I won't lie... although I had already done laundry the day before, I created loads of towels, sheets and miscellaneous things around the house to get to test out these new items. I know, I need to seek counseling or something for my strange addiction :-)

My thoughts are as I expected them to be...LOVED them ALL! The Dreamy Desire liquid fabric softener has such a smooth and seductive scent. It left my sheets static-free and quite soft and fresh. I might or might not have also added a shake or two of the Fireworks In-wash booster... I won't tell! It might or might not have me still sniffing my sheets and pillowcases. Last but not least, the Forget me not dryer bar. What can I say? Gain products are addictive. I can't get enough of it! I wonder if the family would notice if I used them around the house for other things rather than laundry? Actually, the teenagers might not mind because they are just as obsessed as I am! hehehe

Guess what? My friends at Gain want one lucky Momfiles reader to experience the freshness, softness and lusciousness for themselves. You can win the same products I received (pictured above). Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below. Be sure to complete the mandatory entry method so that your extra entries will count.

Valuable tips from Michelle Madhok

With tight budgets and seemingly never enough time in the day, we often find ourselves trying to squeeze more out of the things we have and what we have to do. Especially as we head into the holiday season, this seems to be top of mind for many of us. But who says we shouldn’t get the most out of what we love, from the perfect holiday outfit to refreshing the feel of our homes without having to spend a dime.

Michelle Madhok, a coveted online shopping expert and founder of SheFinds.com and MomFinds.com, is offering tips and tricks on how you can become a savvy shopper and find joy in the most unexpected of places, like your cleaning routine!

Michelle Tips:
1. Get double the wear out of a pair of chic rain boots by using them as winter boots and adding a simple fleece liner. You can dodge puddles and stay warm and dry all season long.
2. Tights make a world of difference when the seasons change. They can help you get more wear out of your favorite skirts and dresses by transitioning them from warm-weather looks to winter wear.
3. Spend less time shopping for an entire new wardrobe—find a great tailor and get more wear out of your existing clothes by having your ill-fitting pieces hemmed to fit you perfectly. The amount of time you wear them (and compliments you get) will be well worth it.
4. You don’t always need to go out and buy a whole new outfit. Add a skinny belt and wear it over cardigans, dresses, pencil skirts...it can make an outfit look fresher instantly.
5. I love buying designer cosmetics because it makes an everyday necessity feel like I'm indulging in something luxurious – but it's actually something small, within my reach, that curbs the urge to blow a whole paycheck. I also find that the “splurge” pays off because quality makeup lasts longer during the day—I hardly have to reapply!
 6. Any great scented candle. It's amazing how lighting one can add a new vibe to a room or enhance your mood, without having to rearrange the furniture or purchase new accents.
7. If you love when your clothes have an amazing fresh scent, buy a detergent like Gain, which has a variety of scent choices. Instead of using two caps of the leading liquid value detergent, use only one cap of any Gain scent. This helps you use less detergent and get more of the scent you love!
8. Investing in organizational tools for the house lets you get more out of the space you have, making your place look bigger, cleaner and more 'together' without having to purge those “sometimes use” items.

Interview with Melissa Joan Hart & Soliel Moon Frye/ Better Together

Today I had the pleasure of getting to speak with and interview Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and Soliel Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) over the phone and web. They have been working on an awesome campaign sponsored by Gain called “Better Together”. They actually had a Better Together Friendship Party at Melissa’s candy store called SweetHarts in Los Angeles yesterday. The message behind "Better Together" comes from Gain talking about when you use their awesome detergent along with the fabric softener they are better together. Just like how friends can get together in any way whether it is just coffee or an organized party. Making time for your friends will help to strengthen as well lengthen those relationships. I have to say, these ladies were just as sweet and warm as can be and they have really fired me up to get together more with my own friends! Here is a video from the interview. Thank you to all my Facebook buddies for their support, it was very much appreciated!

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Gain Giveaway Winners

We had a really huge response from our readers that love Gain! Unfortunately we can only award three prizes. The winners are:

1. Barterbabe
2. Janetfaye
3. Taylor

Thanks to to all of you who participated and especially those that shared some great laundry tips! I will have to put them all together in one post someday. Who knew there were so many simple things you can do to improve your laundry skills?! Be sure to check back again soon for more giveaways and prizes.

Love at first sniff & a giveaway!

No people, I'm not talking about Dwayne's cologne LOL! It was pure charm that got me...that's another post...

What I am talking about is my favorite laundry detergent, Gain. For those of you that use it, you know exactly what I'm talking about!! If you have not tried Gain yet then you are truly missing out on having the freshest scented laundry. I started using Gain when a friend of mine gave me a bag of clothing for little William. I was totally taken by the way it smelled. Honestly, I found myself sniffing it over and over again! I think it was what I was missing from my previous detergent, long lasting freshness. There is nothing like opening my linen closet and having that sweet smell all over my towels.

My kids and hubby even get compliments on how good their sweater or shirt smells!
We want you to experience the freshness for yourself! Momfiles is giving 3 lucky readers a chance to win a coupon good for one 100 ounce size or smaller bottle of Gain.

*All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us what scent you would like to try. Once you have done that you can earn additional entries by doing any of the following:

• Follow Momfiles by clicking follow in the upper right hand corner of this blog. If you are a current follower then state it in your comment.
• Tweet this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet. If you tweet it daily please be sure to leave your link. You can do this once per day!
• Leave a comment sharing a favorite laundry tip.
• Grab my button and place it on your sidebar. Please leave a link in your comment.

**For each entry to count you must leave an individual comment per entry method. U.S. residents only.

The deadline for giveaway is April 24th at 11:59 pm (EST) and will be contacted within 48 hours. Please be sure to have a visible email address in your comment or through your profile. Also check out the Gain site for a chance to win concert tickets to see Mandy Moore!