I don’t know about you guys, but if I had a room in my house for every activity I might carry on during day to day living I would have, well, A LOT of rooms.  As much as I would love to have a dedicated “craft” room, I don’t.  We would have needed at least two more bedrooms, not to mention several more zeros added to the cost of our home, in order for me to have a craft room.  And, that’s just not gonna happen anytime soon. So, multi-purposing is a must.  The kids’ art center in the corner of the family room, the crafts at the kitchen table, you know… okay, so I’m still trying to find the right balance.  Here are some ideas on multi-purposing!

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A Double-Duty Den for All Ages

The house of a young family has to work extra hard in order to function efficiently and effectively for both parents and kids. Rooms have to put in overtime to accommodate everyone, and furniture always needs to offer more bang for the buck. That’s why I appreciate spaces and pieces that do double duty.
Take the den, for instance. In most homes, this casual corner houses little more than a couch and a television. But with some creative resourcefulness and simple construction, a well-sized room can be transformed into a triple retreat: a playroom, study hall, and man cave in one. Here are the hard-working pieces needed to make it happen:
Leather storage ottoman: A centrally placed ottoman makes toy clean-up a breeze—just prop open the lid and play a round of baby-doll basketball (use only the unbreakables, please). When you’re ready to have the guys over, the ottoman can provide extra seating or be topped with a tray to hold drinks and snacks. Storage couches (they do exist!) and cushioned window seats with hinged lids are also multitasking winners.
Lidded LEGO table: Most LEGO tables don’t come with tops, but take the time to cut and paint a sheet of wood to fit, and you’ll cut out the time it takes to pick up those tiny blocks when the kids are done with their fun. Simply hide away their building bocks with a slip of the lid, and their play table instantly becomes your coffee table. If you’d rather show off your kids’ creations, use a sheet of Plexiglas as the top and make their designs part of your design.
Tall Bookshelves: Roll out a mobile room divider by screwing casters to the bottoms of two or three tall bookshelves. Outfitted with a variety of baskets and bins, the shelves make the perfect organizational tool for all of the kids’ tidbits. If you store larger toys such as trikes and easels along one wall, you can then shift the bookshelves in front of the clutter to hide it from sight when you’re ready to kick back in the man cave.
Card table: A round wooden table tucked into a corner is a safe bet for little boys and girls to spread out art projects or homework and big boys to enjoy a poker night. Opt for one with drawers and divide the storage between the users, tucking away markers, glue, pencils, pens, tape, a ruler, and a calculator in one half and cards, dice, and chips in the other.
Play your cards right, and you could have a triple-duty denLarge whiteboard: Kids love dry-erase boards, whether for doodling, playing tic-tac-toe and hangman, or practicing homework problems. And when the small fries are done playing games, you can use the board as a backdrop to showcase the big game with a home projection system.
Hinged-top desk: While a hinged-top desk (think back to your elementary school days) can be tricky to find, if you’ve got some basic woodworking skills in your tool belt, you should be able to craft one (or retrofit one) fairly simply. Affix a corkboard sheet or thin ribbon board to the underside of the top so that, in its open position, the top becomes a pin-up spot for reminders and loose papers; a slim laptop can also be nestled inside the desk compartment for homework time. When it comes time for entertaining your pals, simply close the lid on the clutter and set up your bar and snack station on top.
Mini fridge: Depending on the day of the week, this cool convenience can hold juice boxes, water bottles, string cheese, veggie sticks, and yogurts for after-school brain fueling or beers, sodas, sandwiches, and chip dips for game-day snacking. Bonus points if you have a large cabinet in which to hide the appliance.
Balancing a small space between the needs of children and the desires of the home’s adult inhabitants is possible — it just takes creative use of furniture and a willingness to share.
Tim Eyre helps residential and business customers who use self storage when they don’t have enough storage space on their own property. Tim’s company – Extra Space Storage – has locations from coast to coast, including a self storage location in Chicago. Tim also blogs regularly about self storage related topics on the Extra Space Storage blog.

This post originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
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My sugar scrubs are made with all natural ingredients. Winter-worn, chapped and dry skin will receive a refreshing respite from the harsh elements with this gently exfoliating, moisturizing sugar scrub.

Product Description:
Product includes 4 oz of Sugar Scrub in a twist top, blue tinted plastic container. You won’t have to worry about breaking the container if it gets dropped. All ingredients are natural, so if the kiddos decide to have a snack in the shower, no harm done (other than the possibility of an upset tummy and a few unpleasant hours on the toilet, but they probably won’t try it more than once!). Each bottle is made to order and sealed to ensure the freshest quality product possible. If water is kept out of the container, product lasts 2-3 months. 

Ingredients: 100% pure sugar, 100% pure coconut oil, 100% Soybean Oil, Mineral Oil, Sea Salt, Cocoa Butter, and 100% pure extracts for scent.  100% natural color dyes are added for appearance only.  These will not stain.

If you would like a custom scent or flavor, please contact me to discuss.  Or purchase from my Etsy Shop for more scent options.

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

Well, I decided one day last week that we should probably eat something besides hot dogs for the twenty bajillonth day in a row.  I decided on grilled cheese, but the Monkey wasn’t so excited.  So… we made the puzzle sandwich.  Although he did play with his food more, he also ate all but two pieces of the sandwich.  That’s right, almost an entire sandwich for this kid.  He loved it.  Now, we cut all our sandwiches into puzzles and, although it takes longer, there’s less coaxing from mom and more eating from Monkey.  It’s great stuff!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here:

It’s November!  I can’t believe this year is flying by so fast!  Well, I don’t know about you, but I am in full-on Christmas Gift Hunt mode.  Sure, we’re still doing Thanksgiving, but it seems like it requires so much less prep work on my part.  We still get together with my Dad’s extended family and so I show up with a side dish and eat like a king.  So, I am not ignoring Thanksgiving, just getting an early start on preparing for Christmas, which takes so much more work for me.  But, it’s my favorite holiday and I tend to go all out for it, including Christmas gift shopping since September.  Don’t worry, the tree won’t come out until December. =)

I will be having a daily deal every day in November.  That’s 25 deals.  Basically, 25 different items from my Etsy shop will be available for ONE DAY at a steeply discounted price.  We’re talking at least 30%, up to 75%!  This will be an awesome way to get some great deals on some Christmas gifts.  Not all the deals are in my Etsy shop yet, so you will get first dibbs on them!  There will be everything from handcrafted jewelry, printables for decor and organizing, gifts for him (or her), gifts for the kids, bath and body products, home organizers and decor and more!  You’ll have to check in everyday to grab the deal.  Otherwise, it’s back to full price.  So, I hope you’ll come join the fun and get a little jump on some of your Christmas shopping.  

PS… Sorry, I totally spaced the link party this weekend.  It will be back next week.  Assuming I remember to set it up… Thank you, mommy brain.  

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
If you’d like to get more While He Was Napping, you can find me here: