Moshi Monster Perler Bead Fun (Iron Beads)

Originally published July 30, 2012 but I felt like this post needed some love! Be careful when you gripe about how many of these you have to iron because the day will come when you have no more Perler Bead creations to iron at all, my friend, and you might be sad about that.

The kids got the bright idea to make Moshi Monster moshlings out of Perler Beads, those beads you arrange on a plastic plate with spikes and then iron using a piece of parchment paper on top. Believe me, it's the only time you will catch me ironing. So I ran Joel to Michael's Arts and Crafts store to buy a ton of Perler Beads. The vacuum says CRUNCH CRUNCH when it picks them up, but it's better than ME on my hands and knees picking up those suckers! Enjoy the non-musical stylings of Perler Bead Moshlings ...

Become The Hostess With The Mostess By Creating An Amazing Guest Room

For some, having guests to stay at our homes is a labor of love. Whether it's family, friends or complete strangers (for example, if you run a Bed & Breakfast business), it can be incredibly satisfying to see other people enjoying your home. Or, you could be completely at the other end of the spectrum, and find that hosting guests is very stressful! But however you feel about it, most of us have to do it at least a couple of times in our lives - and there are some very important things to get right. If you are expecting guests any time in the near future, you need to be prepared. Even if it's just family staying with you, it can be useful to have everything in place for your guests so that they feel welcome, and so that you're not spending all your time running after them. Here are some guest room essentials that you will need to make sure you don't overlook in order to be the perfect host.

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Access to their own bathroom

Having a long line of people all queuing for the bathroom in a morning is every guest's worst nightmare. Plus, chances are, it won't be entirely practical for you either! If you have a spare bathroom, offer this to your guests for their use only. They won't feel as much like a spare part that way, and it shows that you trust them with your home too. In order to make the bathroom truly guest-proof, however, you'll need to check a few things off your list. Even if the bathroom is really small, it's worth getting a guest bathroom vanity. This way your guests can put all of their toiletries in one place and it can mean less cleaning up for you too. Also don't forget to have a selection of towels they can use, and pop a brand new body wash in the shower for them as well.

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A tray (with tea and coffee)

Having a tray in the guest room shows that you haven't just shoved your guest into a room you're not currently using. It shows that the room is intended to house them and that you've thought carefully about what might make them feel more at home. You can buy instant coffee sachets to put in a pot on said try and always present a couple of clean mugs with various flavors of tea. If you really want to push the boat out, add on some candy for them to help themselves to.

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Tech-ready

Everyone relies on technology these days, so having a room that doesn't cater for that means your guests might come into difficulties during their stay. Make sure that the furniture in the room is arranged so that all plug sockets are easy to access. If this isn't possible, invest in a long extension cord - they are a little unsightly but they will make everyone's lives a whole lot easier. Also, have a little sign made up that tells them the WiFi password. It's simple touches like this that will make you guests remember their stay with you.

Earn A Living Sharing Your Natural Talent For Music

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If you’re bored of the regular day-to-day grind and want something more interesting, going self-employed is always a good bet. It’s risky, of course. But, that risk comes with so much reward. You don’t have to deal with a boss, a uniform, or set structure. You can choose how your day moves and what you do. The biggest problem, though, is finding something to build a business from.

Most people have some musical talent. Whether you’re a pianist, or you just like to write lyrics. These are talents that you can use to build a solid career. You just need a bit of education, and some pointers along the way.

• Choose What To Teach

The first step that you’ll need to make is choosing what you would like to teach. If you play an instrument and you think you’d be able to teach it, that is your best bet. If you don’t know how to play an instrument to teaching standards, then you’ll have to look at other ideas. For the optimistic, you can try to learn an instrument. Although, mastering an instrument to a professional standard will usually take months or even years. Otherwise, you can look at other areas of music. If you’re a good writer, you can teach budding lyricists. Or, if you prefer book learning, teaching music theory and history is a good option. Just make sure that it’s something you love, or at least enjoy enough not to get bored of it.

• Choose How To Teach It

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to teach, you can decide how you want to teach it. For instrumental teachers, you have several options. You can go it alone and teach people privately, or you can work for schools and other organizations on a freelance basis. Teaching privately is riskier, but you’ll have more flexibility. If you choose to work for a school, you’ll have to work to their schedule, but you’ll have more security. Ultimately, where you do the job probably won’t change the rate of pay; as you’ll be the one who sets it. You have similar options if you’re teaching for other areas of music. But, you’ll be slightly more restricted when it comes to finding people to teach privately.

Within schools, you may also have the option to teach either one on one or in larger groups. You’ll probably find it easier to start off small; at least until you find your feet. But, teaching an entire class can be a very rewarding experience.

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• Getting Qualified

Getting qualified in the area of music can involve many routes. The easiest way to go is by using a professional teaching course to get you going. Companies have been set up so that you can take a course that tests your ability to play, and also teach you how to teach. They also offer other courses, with different ways to make money out of music. Resources similar to the music therapy degree page here will help you to find a course that’s right for you.

Once you’re ready to teach; get out there! All you need to do is put your heart and soul into your tuition, once you’re qualified. At this point, you’ll be a natural teacher, who can inspire their pupils.

Make Your Paycheck Stretch Further With These Top Tips

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For some of us, heading out to the day job is a means for living. We head to work, we earn our money, and we pay our bills. Hopefully having enough leftover to enjoy what life has to offer with our closest ones and family. But, for many of us, we are not making the most of each paycheck. There are many ways we can ensure that we are stretching that income as far as it can, while still enjoying life and not sacrificing on what we have right now. Interested? Here are a few top tips to help you get started.

Meal planning

If you don’t know, already your food bill can be one of the biggest outgoings you have after mortgage or rent payments. But the best thing about it is you have control over how much you spend. So a great way to reduce the food bill is to start writing a list and planning your meals. It takes a little time at first but once you get into the swing of things you will instantly see the savings you make. It enables you to only buy what you need, rather than what you think you need. It can also help reduce food wastage which is enough plus point.

Using coupons for everyday things

There are luxuries in life we just have to buy, things like clothes and shoes, for example. But there are a few different ways you can make the most out of the overall cost. Things like searching out Jabong coupons or using cashback sites to earn a little extra money from then. Coupons are the easiest way to get a reduction on price. If you're sensible, saving the money separately could help you build up a nice little investment pot. For other luxuries like vacations.

Ensuring you get the best deal on your bills

Many people don’t think about their current bills, they just let them leave their account each month. Loyalty doesn’t pay when it comes to your energy provider or the internet. So why not get the best deals by switching companies? More brands will offer new customers a great deal and this an provide you savings on those bills without the loss of anything. Extra money in your bank account instead of theirs.

Checking your bank statement regularly

So many of us sign up to different things over time, but this is where we can end up spending more without even realizing. Things like gym memberships and magazine subscriptions can leave your account without you knowing. This is why it is important for you to ensure you check your bank statement regularly for rogue payments. So you can put a stop to them.

Only use cash to make purchases

Finally, it can be all too easy to pull out a debit or credit card and make those unnecessary purchase. So try and use cash for things like food and clothing. This means you have to physically part with the money and can lead you to make better financial choices. When it’s on a card, you are less likely to think that you are spending. It’s all psychological.

I hope these tips help you stretch your paycheck further.

Life Lessons: The Benefits of Teaching About Things Outside of Academics

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There are many reasons that most of us come to the decision to teach our children ourselves.

Perhaps your concern was one of safety. In a world where events such as Sandy Hook are possible, isn't it only natural to want to keep your children close at hand? To be able to watch out for them and be confident in your own security concerns?

Or it may be concern over the education system, underfunded and with huge class sizes.

It may have been a desire for a more faith-based education.

Or perhaps, the pure feeling that you can provide a richer, more developed education than a standard curriculum.

For all the critiques of homeschooling, the final point blows them out of the water. A school curriculum is decided on the basis of what works for the majority. It pays no attention to kids of different abilities, different learning speeds or different interests. Does it make sense for the child who is determined to be an engineer to spend hours dedicated to an art class? Or vice versa? You can give a general grounding and then help shape their future in the way that they want, not what a board of education wants.

Of course, you have to consider the needs for socialization and meeting the requirements they will need for further education. But you also have a world of opportunity to teach them about things that no normal school would teach.

When you have been homeschooling for awhile, you've probably got the hang of it. No one is going to tell you how to change things; that's the entire point, isn't it? Being able to figure your own way of doing things? Your fundamentals are spot on, and you probably know how to find advice should you feel some areas are lacking. You're winning this one.

Nevertheless, homeschooling can be somewhat inward-facing. You are the parent; the teacher; the disciplinarian; the course-setter; the examiner. So many different roles to juggle and none of them easy. So once in awhile, it's worth stepping back and seeing if there are a few other areas you might be able to expand upon.

Learning Doesn't Have To Be Academic

This is a major failing of standard schooling, and it has been since the beginning of time. We are more aware than ever that children are taught to pass a test and gain qualifications, rather than enrich their lives with knowledge. This rigorous testing procedure, knowledge for the sake of an exam, does a number on many kids as they grow. We all probably had that one subject we hated at school. Maybe the teacher was strict, or we just didn't pick it up that quickly; so a lifelong loathing for the entire idea of it sticks around.

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With homeschooling, you can prevent this. There are many things in life that we don't need to know about to pass a test, but so we can be good civilians. You can imbue your children with a knowledge of things that most have to learn on the fly or perhaps not at all. It's been posited that millennials are a cosseted generation of super snowflakes.

This isn't actually true; no generation is inherently worse than the one that went before it. It's just that our priorities have changed. No one looks at the areas outside of academics anymore, meaning you end up with people in their 20s asking incredibly stupid things of Google.

By expanding your children's horizons, you can spend their formative years teaching a vast range of subjects. Subjects that, in a regular school, they would never study.

So while no one can tell you what or how to teach your kids, it's nevertheless worth a few suggestions. You can push the boundaries and give your children a rounded, beneficial education by adding one (or more!) of the following into your routine.

1. Citizenship - Tax, Economics, and Accounting, Oh My!

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The fact this is barely touched upon in conventional schools is staggering. We send kids off to college without ever teaching them to manage money and then wonder why they get into debt.

Giving your children the basics of personal finance and how the tax system works is a lesson they will reap the benefits of for a lifetime. It can even be a way of teaching when you have real tax and administration tasks to do, so everybody wins!

2. Basic Housekeeping - Making A Comeback!

It seems every sitcom has an episode where an apparent adult has to call a family member (usually their Dad) to fix a basic home problem. Maybe they have drilled through a pipe or need to put together flat-pack furniture; the whole idea is derisive, comical. Yet it's a reality.

Bringing an element of home maintenance into lessons gives your pupils a chance to expand on several key areas. They can learn about the dangers of neglecting chores; show them how gutters clog without proper cleaning. They can learn rational and decision-making skills, such as when to tap a leak themselves and when to call BenFranklinCLT.com for help.

Again, this can all be done as part of normal life that becomes a teachable moment. Rather than wondering how you juggle time for your real home maintenance tasks and time spent in your classroom, bring them together. There are plenty of how-to videos you can find free online to expand your knowledge and theirs. It gives you a great chance to emphasize safety, knowing when to call in the pros and making decisions under pressure.

3. Proper Animal Care - Care of Non-Magical Creatures!

Even if you don't have pets!

Children, especially young children, have to be taught to respect animals. They also need to learn to care for them. Obviously, if you do have pets then this can be adapted into your routine. If not, then use it in the abstract as thought exercises.

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Many schools have a "class pet", and it's worth considering doing the same. A small furry creature like a hamster - cute but not much work - can teach responsibility better than any lecture can. You can consider proper care, regular routines and the consequences of neglect. It's also important to emphasize how to handle animals, for both your kid's sake and any pets they may have in future.

4. Doing Nothing - The Delights of Pretend Play!

Yes, nothing.

Conventional school time is very structured. There's a strict timetable, and everyone has to be in a particular place at a given time. The lesson is then laid out for them, they complete it, and then they move to the next class for more of the same.

For one hour every few weeks, schedule nothing - and I mean nothing. No TV, no smartphones, no board games. Just them and their imagination. Find something to do to entertain yourself.

Children have wonderful imaginations, but unfortunately, conventional schooling trains it out of them. Even if we as homeschoolers are too rigorous with our schedules, we can end up doing the same. By making time for children to engage with themselves, their thoughts and find their own stimulation, we keep that side of them blooming.

5. Technology and Coding - Digital Natives To The Rescue!

Even if the above sounds a bit daunting to you, there are plenty of online resources to help children learn to code, such as Tynker.com. There's plenty of reason for it as well. Your kids are digital natives, so technology is going to play a huge part in their working lives. To be able to code and program is going to offer them a vast scope when it comes to applying for jobs and through their careers.

There is also the fact that youth is a huge selling point for coding. It is, effectively, another language - and we all know children pick up languages far easier than adults do. It's also a time in front of a screen that is beneficial and can be a creative outlet if you incorporate graphic design into the process too.

6. Emotional Well-Being - The Fundamentals!

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Mental health is a huge factor for all of us but is massively overlooked by modern schooling. You can teach about the various types of mental illness and how to deal with and understand people who suffer from them.

You can also teach about the principles of self-care and why it's so vital. By focusing on emotional needs and encouraging children to be outspoken about them, you give them a head start. If you do this and apply the techniques correctly, they will be light years ahead of their peers when it comes to emotional intelligence.

All in all, the options are endless - the benefits of setting your own lesson plans. Look for activities that are both enjoyable and beneficial, with an extra spin of strengthening another skill at the same time. Crafting can help tune fine motor function; even a game of charades can help with language skills. You don't have the restrictions of a classroom, so don't accept the limitations of academia as the only way of learning.