Mom Calendar | Orange Circle Studio

Posts Tagged ‘mom calendar’

It’s Back-to-School Time!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Tips & Tricks

The Star-Telegram touts organization as the very best way to take stress off the school calendar. According to Faith P. Tennyson, their decluttering expert, organization should be a family event. Here are some of the best tips and tricks:

1. Label everything. Clothing, school supplies, etc. This way it won’t get mixed up with siblings’ or fellow students’ belongings. Try Mabel’s Labels.

2. Color code. Assign a color to each family member (or let them pick their favorite!) and buy their backpacks, lunch bags and other accessories in the assigned color.

3. Keep a family calendar. Tennyson suggests hanging a large wall calendar where everyone can see it, and getting into the habit of looking at it each evening to plan the next day. Try this Family Life Monthly Weekly calendar.

4. Keep the closet simple. Store your kids out-of-season clothes in bins so whatever they choose from their closet will be appropriate.

5. Play with the paper. When they come home with art work, have your child help choose their favorites to keep and store away. Other works of art can be recycled into cards for Grandma and Grandpa!

You can read more about back-to-school organization here.

Check back later this week for more on back-to-school! Share you own tips or tricks by leaving a comment below.

Tags: back to school, back to school tips, calendar, calendars, family calendar, family life monthly weekly, family organization, mom calendar, organization, organized, organizing, planning, planning calendar
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Meet the Artists: Stacy Peterson

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

For as long as she can remember, Stacy Peterson was always doodling and drawing. Even at the young age of two, her mother saw talent and kept her enrolled in art classes. Stacy followed her passion for drawing and became a full-time illustrator after a career in advertising in New York City.

For the last 15 years, Stacy has illustrated dozens of children’s books, greeting cards and products in her bright, cheerful style. Her happy color palette and charming illustrations of children make for a delightfully, unique style. Her recipe for success has been: a little bit of whimsy for personality, a dash of sweetness and a lot of style.

We are absolutely thrilled with Stacy’s illustrations for the 2011 Family Life Monthly/Weekly calendar!

You can find more of Stacy’s art on her website: www.stacypeterson.net or follow her on facebook.

Currently, Stacy lives in the wild, wild west with her two children and enjoys the vast blue sky and brilliant sunsets.

Tags: 2011, art, artist, calendar, calendars, family calendar, illustration, illustrations, illustrator, Mom, mom calendar, monthly weekly calendar, orange circle studio, organization, organizing, organizing calendar, planning calendar, stacy peterson, wall calendar, Wall Calendars
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What's For Dinner?

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

For those of us with families, “what’s for dinner?” is a question that looms over us almost every day as we frantically look for answers in the supermarket, in the fridge and freezer, or worse, at the nearest fast food joint.

One way to eat healthier, save money, and get home cooked meals on the table more often is to plan ahead each week. Consider using a menu planner! This way, you can streamline your grocery shopping and meal preparations. It only takes a few minutes to create a meal plan once a week and ultimately, you’ll save a load of time (and stress) during the week.

Tips for Creating a Meal Plan

Get Inspired. Comb through your cookbooks, take out the recipes you’ve torn from magazines, and check websites to print out recipes you’d like to try. This Week of Menus blog has some great recipe options that look delicious! After a bit of research, pick your favorites and use them to help create your menu for the week (remember to consider which recipes will have leftovers!)

Use what you have. When doing your planning, think of meals that can be made with ingredients you already have in the house. We all have a staple of food items that are always in the fridge or pantry, usually for meals and recipes we’re most familiar with. Keep this is mind: It’s helpful to use your tried-and-true dinner recipes on busy nights, and save the fancy meal for a day when you’ll have more time to be creative and adventurous with your cooking.

Plan for the entire week. Sit down one day on the weekend, and plan the entire week’s worth of meals. Our Eat Well! Monthly/Weekly Meal Planning Calendar is a great option for this, because it comes with a standard monthly grid, as well as a weekly pad for meal planning. The pad has space for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, as well as a perforated shopping list! Fill in the meals for the week ahead and post it on the fridge for the whole family to see.

Recycle! Consider saving a successful weekly menu plan for future use. File them away (these accordion folders would do the trick!) and revisit them in the future.

Remember, menu plans are not written in stone. Write it out in pencil and give your permission to erase or alter the plan as circumstances change.

Comment below and let us know what’s on your menu for the week!

(Photos Courtesy of Weekofmenus.blogspot.com)

Tags: 2011, calendar, calendars, eating, healthy, kitchen, meal planning, Mom, mom calendar, monthly weekly, monthly weekly calendar, mother, orange circle studio, organization, organizing, planning, planning calendar
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Meet the Artists: Pink Light Design

Monday, June 14th, 2010

We’re elated that our Your First Year baby calendar is receiving such positive feedback (it’s one the week’s best sellers on Calendars.com today)! Because of the warm reception, we thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to the design studio behind this project: Pink Light Design.

Mary Beth Freet is the artist and creative director of the fresh and fun new print studio Pink Light Design, which is currently based in Seattle. Mary Beth’s passion lies in creating her artwork in collections that are whimsical, modern, and bursting with bright, happy colors.

Pink Light Design has flourished in its first year: Mary Beth currently has 15 artists from around the world creating lovely collections for all markets. Mary Beth has also developed Pink Chandelier which is Pink Light’s “Oh-So sophisticated” twist on their whimsical graphic style.

Mary Beth is always focused on creating beautiful designs while coming up with new solutions to meet her client’s needs. She wants to help bring their ideas to life and help their businesses flourish.

We thoroughly enjoyed working with Mary Beth for the Your First Year calendar, and as we mentioned in an earlier blog, when we first saw the artwork, everyone in the office had a smile on their face. Mary Beth says, “If our art makes you happy, then please, smile, and pass it on!” We’re so happy to pass it on to all of you!

Tags: 2011, baby, baby calendar, baby's first year, calendar, calendars, mary beth freet, Mom, mom calendar, mother, orange circle studio, pink light design, Studio Wall Calendar, Wall Calendars, your first year
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Make Plans For a Great Family Summer!

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

A lot of moms have mixed feelings about summer break for the kids. One one hand, there is relief from the daily grind of rushing to make lunches, rushing even more to feed the kids breakfast, and maximum rushing to drop them off at school on time! But with the relief, comes the stress of trying to fill 2 1/2 months of lazy summer days. Somehow, there’s more scheduling and juggling to do when the kids are not in school.

Reduce your stress by scheduling your summer in advance–and get the whole family involved!

- Gather brochures, schedules and information on anything that peaks your interest for summer activities. Look at community resources, day camps, sporting events, vacation brochures, library activity schedules, and children’s summer class schedules offered through the city.

- Consider your budget, already scheduled appointments, work schedules, and each child’s needs. Set apart mandatory activities and also give your children some choices. Let them choose an enrichment activity and a fun activity.

- Plan activities to do together as a family. (Check out our list below)

- Lay out your calendar and fill in the activities for the weeks ahead as a family. Our Monthly/Weekly organizing calendar can help you plan for the month and detail plan for each week. Let your kids fill in special events to give them special days to look forward to!

Need some fun ideas? Try one of these family activities:

Have a picnic in your backyard or at the park.
Go Fishing
Have a backyard camp out.
Plan a local vacation. Be a tourist in your own town!
Teach a cooking class to the the rest of the family.
Invite another family over for a movie night. (This would be a great “family movie night” classic to watch!)

Have you started making plans for the summer?

Tags: 2011, calendar, calendars, family calendar, Mom, mom calendar, mother, orange circle studio, organized, organizing, planning, planning calendar, summer, summer vacation, travel tips, vacation, wall calendar
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