Just as quickly as Christmas comes and goes, we find ourselves looking at a mass of new toys and clothes that need to be put away in drawers and closets which are already overflowing.

Here is a list of places that you can donate your unwanted items to help you clear out the clutter while helping someone in need.

Key organizations that accept donations:

Salvation Army: Accepts most any sort of household, clothing, toys or electronics donation. They have one of the highest ratios of received funds that go directly to help those in need, rather than organization administration costs.

AMVETS : Accepts toys/games, clothing, electronics, bedding, kitchen, bath and most other household goods to sell in their stores and suppor their mission to assist American Veterans (They will also pick up from your house).

Goodwill:
There are multiple drop-off locations nationwide. They take almost any sort of household or clothing donation. Electronics should be in working order.

Local Women’s Shelters: Women’s shelter’s can used almost any kind of donation since many times women who go to the shelters do not have the opportunity to leave with many personal posessions. Call your local churches, YWCA, and police stations for their help in finding out how and where to donate items to a women’s shelter near you. More info on how to donate to a women’s shelter


Homeless Shelters: Items accepted vary by shelter but common items are childrens toys, clothing (not only everyday clothes, but business apparell they could use for job interviews.) Click here for more links on how to donate to Homeless Shelters.

Animal Shelters: They can always use new sheets, towels, pet toys/beds, etc to help keep the homeless animals comfy and happy during their stay. More info on donating to animal shelters…

What to do with Old…

Electronics:
Many cities have their own recycling programs held once a year. Items with enough value may be worth listing on eBay or craigslist.org. Items that work but may not be worth the time investment to sell online can be donated to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Furniture:
Most of the organizations listed can provide pickup for large objects. Also consider listing it on craiglist.org for free or to make some extra cash. Unless its extremely valuable antique selling furniture online may not be worth the time

Clothing
Most all organizations list take clothing (except for the animal shelters 😉 The Special Olympics has several bins in different parking lots that you can drop clothes off to anytime. Consignment shops are also a way to get cash out of nicer or brandname items. Some stores such as Once Upon a Child and Plato’s Closet buy used children’s and teens clothing outright.

Toys
The holidays always yield lots of toy drives, but if you don’t want to hold onto them for another 10 months then consider consignment stores or second hand childrens shops that buy toys. You can always sell them on craiglist and most all organization take toys as part of their donations

Books
Almost all organizations listed take books. You can also list book on half.com or eBay. Also try http://www.paperbackswap.com/

Help give your oven some relief this Turkey day by using your crockpot!

Ingredients:

Makes 8 Servings

• 2 (29 ounce) cans sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted

Directions:

Total Time: 4 hrs

1 Lightly grease a slow cooker. 2 In a large bowl, blend sweet potatoes, 1/3 cup butter, white sugar and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Beat in orange juice, eggs and milk. Transfer this mixture to the prepared casserole dish. 3 In a small bowl, combine pecans, 1/3 cup brown sugar, flour and 2 tablespoons butter. Spread the mixture over the sweet potatoes. Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Step2 Real Projects Workshop $51 + FREE Shipping!

• “Wood” pieces are made of durable floating foam
• Interlocking notches and holes allow assembly of real projects
• Electric drill, hammer, and saw increase realism
• Spring-action vise, storage bins, and pull-out drawer

You Will Need:

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1 1/4 cups water

5 1/2 pounds pot roast

Directions


1.In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.


2.Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

Simplifying Dinner and helping busy Moms make it through the week!

Mushroom Beef and Noodles

You will need:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 4 oz can sliced mushrooms
• 1 large envelope instant onion soup mix
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 lbs stew meat

Combine above ingredients and cook in slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Serve over rice, egg noodles or elbow macaroni. Serves 4.

Ever wonder what to do with those extra pieces of costume jewelry that have a missing half for need a repair that you never get around to?

Here are some of the best ideas that I have found for new uses unusable jewelry!

• Use earrings as fancy push pins on cork board
• Craft Time! Little girls especially will love being able to incorporate your sparkly gems into art!
• Embellish a shirt or sweater – not in an Aunt Ester sort of way – but in keeping good taste in mind…get out the glue gun and put some bling on a t-shirt – embellished t’s are all the rage.
• Use broken pieces to fix other broken mismatch pieces. If you have enough, eventually you will be able to fix one with the other-lol!
• Girl Scouts or local Youth Centers…Great for crafts or just for the kids to wear, they may not even be bothered that a piece that is just missing a stone ! One girl’s trash..
• Around the house – broken necklaces can become a variety of things – fancy lightpolls, christmas tree trimmings, belts, you name it!
• Use broken long necklaces as belts!
• Finally,Have alot? Sell it on eBay in a large lot. Many jewelry crafters will buy these lots to have a stash of jewelry to create new pieces from! And you’ll get some dough to by new bling!

Let me know about other great ways you have used old jewelry!

So in the past few years the Black Friday ads have been leaked out pretty early. However, this year, it seems as if they are gettin’ serious about keeping things a secret. As the ads are release I will be sharing my top picks for the best deals for the biggest shopping day of the year.

Here are a couple of sites that you can check the ads out as they are released:

The first ad was released at 7:46pm tonite…it was for Harbor Freight…so don’t get too excited yet…

http://www.bfads.net/
http://www.blackfriday.info/

Picking up a Jumbo pack of diapers on my lunch hour…these days that’s what I call a “power lunch”. Over the past couple of weeks I have finally started to dive into developing my idea for my blog (which umm..yeah…I started back in February…). Luckily, once I get rolling I am usually good to go, but it seems like my back is always up against the wall when it comes to having time.

I also work full-time outside the home, so I am constantly looking for new ways to multitask. The blackberry has become my best friend and worst enemy. I love being able to easily check emails, status updates, etc. Doing so, however, inevitably leads to a panic attack’s worth of “mommy guilt”.

For those of you that work full-time and have multiple children, please note: I do realize I only have one child, how anyone manages more than one is beyond me. My neighbor, who is 81 years old and has raised 3 children of her own said to me, “When you have more than one you just divide up your time. You cannot give anymore than you have.”. I keep these words in my head and somehow, they help quiet that nagging part of my brain calling me a bad mom. …but I digress

Meanwhile, yes, I still look for ways to squeeze every minute for what its worth… doing yoga or reading “What to Expect the Toddler Years” in the bathroom while my son plays in the bathtub, catching up on emails on my blackberry while my son naps in my arms…mommyhood is a constant battle for balance. We do the best we can with what we have and well…isn’t that all anyone can do?

In truth, when it all comes down to it, I think it comes down to priorities. If I need that “me time” every once in a while to help keep my sanity, it’s okay, in the long run I am a better mom for it.

Save time sifting through all the coupons – here are the best offers for the week (based on where I shop) broken down by store – please feel free to post any that you have found!

Giant Eagle

Purex 3in1 detergent $3.00 off (Red Plum Insert) coupon making it just 99 cents!!

$1 off Smart Steps (Smartsource Insert) – They sell the tissues for $1.25 making it just 25 cents for a box of tissues

$.60 off Pepperidge Farm cookies (=$1.20 at GE) (Smartsource Insert) they are on sale for $2.50 making it just $1.30/pkg !

CVS
Colgate toothpaste – Free after extrabucks, plus $1 coupon in Smartsource making it $1 PROFIT (Limit 2 per HH)

Gold Emblem 2-Liter of pop is just $1 with $1 extrabuck back = FREE

Bonus! Scan your card at their coupon center and get a coupon for 99cents off Brach’s candy corn, which is on sale for 99cents making it FREE!

Other
I know Dollar General (and other places may have it for about $1) has the Gain Dish Detergent for around $1.00 and today’s PG saver has a $1 coupon making it FREE!

Bonus – Today Cabela’s has Northface cami’s 1.88 (reg. $26!) + $6 shipping