Start a Santa Letter Business

So many moms I know are looking for a way to make extra money. But they also don't want to overcommit themselves to some sort of full-time position or even a business that will force them to work 80 hours a week.


I think one of the coolest businesses I've seen that can really give a mom a jump start to making some extra money is starting a Santa Letter Business.

It's basically an online business that, for a fee, allows people to order Letters From Santa for their kids. The business owner creates the letter based on a questionnaire, throws in some special extras and mails the letter to the child.

Even though it's a business that is focused on Christmas, it's also a business that can be expanded to other times of the year and childhood milestones, like Birthdays, losing teeth, new baby, etc.

The gals at Just Add Sweat just released a complete 'how-to' guide to starting a Santa Letter Business and for the $20 that they charge for it, it's a neat way to dip your toe in the swimming pool of online business. They offer a guarantee so it's a pretty good deal.

I know my kids would love a personalized letter from Santa so I may just get the guide to have the complete set of letter templates at my disposal.

Click Here to Start your Santa letters today!

Creating Crafts for Kids

Do Parents Spend Enough Time With Their Children? - Population Reference Bureau

Do Parents Spend Enough Time With Their Children? - Population Reference Bureau

5 Low Cost Ways to Cook Black Beans

5 Low Cost Ways to Cook Black Beans
by Nicole Dean

If you have a family budget worked out, you know how hard it is to stick to it without having some real concrete plans and strategies to stretch your money as far as it will go. Usually, the first area we can squeeze a few extra dollars out of our wallets is on groceries. I'd like to introduce
you to your new partner in your frugal endeavor, the black bean.

We all find ourselves searching the grocery store for something to cook for the family that won't take our last few dollars. When you find yourself standing in the middle of the store ready to give up, wander over and take a look at the black beans. First take a look at the price. Then
take a look at the nutrition label. How can something with the nutrients you need like protein, calcium, iron, and fiber, also be so inexpensive, and low fat, too? When you can feed your family a healthy, delicious meal for literally pennies per serving, you should consider black beans a
pantry must-have. How about a few quick and tasty meals that you can prepare for your family so they can fall in love with the wonderful black bean, too.

1) Easy Bean Soup

You'll need 1 can each of black beans, garbanzo beans, butter beans, and navy beans (although you really can use any kinds of beans). In a large pot, pour 2 tablespoons olive oil, add 1 cup chopped celery and 1 cup chopped onion. Cook until celery is a little tender. Now add 1 clove
garlic, minced or crushed and cook for just a minute. Open and drain, but do not rinse, all four bean cans and pour into pot. Add 1 small can diced tomatoes and 1 small can chicken broth. Simmer slowly for about 20 minutes. It's ready to eat.

2) Multi Bean Salad

You'll be choosing your favorite canned beans for this salad, keeping in mind color and texture; favorites like black beans, butter beans, navy beans, kidney beans, waxed beans, and whatever else you like. Drain and rinse all the beans and put them in a large serving bowl. To the beans,
add some sweet onion, or green onion including the tops,chopped celery, freshly chopped parsley, maybe some fresh rosemary, or whatever herb you like, and top it all with a little shake or two of a very good vinaigrette salad dressing, I use Paul Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette. You've got yourself a kid-friendly and nutritious salad

3) Too Easy Black Beans & Taco Sauce

Try it and I guarantee you'll be wondering why you haven't thought of this before. My daughter was the person who "invented" this recipe in our family, and now we're all sold on it. Simply drain and rinse a can of black beans. If you have those little packets of taco sauce laying around,
leftovers from carry-out, just squeeze a few in your black beans, give it a toss, and you have an incredibly delicious side dish that is sure to please. You'll have to try this one to believe it. You might want to try some hot salsa instead of the taco sauce, but use only a little, just
enough to flavor the beans. (Throw some shredded cheddar on top and you're set.)

4) Black Bean Salad with Cottage Cheese

A simple but delicious use for black beans is turning it into a creamy salad. Put a 1 scoop of cottage cheese in a serving bowl, and sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground black pepper on top. Then top with some drained and rinsed canned black beans, about 1/2 cup. Add a bit of chopped
celery to the mix and you have a great, crunchy, creamy lunch, packed with protein, calcium, iron and fiber.

5) Use-It-Up Black Bean Burrito

Throwing a burrito together with just a few items in the house is easy when you have a can of black beans in the pantry. Start with a flour or corn tortilla, warm it up if you like, and put it on a plate. Next, drain your canned black beans and rinse them well. Now, just start adding
whatever you have. I start by placing some black beans on my tortilla, then adding a little onion, celery, chopped parsley if I have it, some chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream or cottage cheese, leftover rice, pieces of fish leftover from last night, and anything else I can
see in the refrigerator that needs to be eaten. But, I like the black beans to dominate my burrito, for flavor,nutrition, and cost. Now, just top it with a bit of salsa or taco sauce and you've got yourself a great inexpensive meal.

These recipes are just a few ways to use the wonderful, and versatile black bean. All five of these simple black bean dishes can be tweaked easily by you to show off your individual style and to become your own family favorites.
Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom behind ShowMomtheMoney.com - a fun and informative website to help moms achieve success working from home. She welcomes you to learn more ways to save money in her Frugal Moms section. Be sure to sign up for her free lessons for work at home moms.

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What do the Holidays Mean to you?

What do the holidays mean to you? This is probably a question that you have been asked a time or to in your life time. What would your description of the holidays be? I will share mine with you, I believe that the holidays are remembering the blessing we are given each day that we wake up, gratitude for the people who make you feel whole and the ones that cross your path, that has given you even just a simple thing to remember, something as simple as a smile when you have had a bad day. Giving of yourself and not expecting anything in return, because you did something nice for someone. The sad part of the holidays is this should not be something that just happens once a year, giving and being greatful for what we have should be an everyday thing. Giving a card to someone to show how much you appreciate them or you were thinking about them. We all like to be given those special little things, something we can treasure and hold close to our hearts.

Family get togethers seem to be a big thing at this holiday time of the year, but don't you think you should reach out your hand through out the year? The meaning of family and the holidays, there are alot of days that you can show just how important someone is to you, without it being once a year. One day you wake up and that one person that you said time and time again "I will call them tomorrow" what if there is no tomorrow? The holidays are a time of special ocassions and creating memories, or maybe you have a family tradition. What happens to the ones who don't have anyone to be able to share those memories with, the ones that are not sure what they are doing for the holidays, because they haven't been invited and fear that they will spend it alone?

As the holidays approach remember that there are 365 days in a year, but for some tomorrow never comes. Remember that you no matter what has happened in the past that your family and friends are your rock and support that helped you get where you are. I know its hard to fathom and think to yourself how they have helped you, your hard work was why you are where you are, but remember its the parents that taught us to be how we are, and gave us strength and guidance. It was our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and close friends who were there on those bad days when you felt like you just could not go on.

Remember that giving and the holiday spirit should last all year long. Make someone feel as though they are special because they smiled and made you forget about how bad things could be. Appreciate the fact that you do have one more day of those 365 days, because tomorrow may never come.

As parents we spend all year long teaching our children morals and values, the respect that they should give others as well a ourselves. How as parents are we showing them, just what kind of loving person we are, if we don't show them. A phone call, an email, a quick way to let someone know you were thinking about them today is not a hard task. Most people probably have a type of social media such as facebook, my space etc. and you are probably on it regularly, use it to its benefit, drop a note, send a message. Don't let the time get away, create even just a simple memory during these holidays and carry it through out the year, it makes a great New Years resolution too. Think about today, what are you missing out on?

How to start a review blog

Have you ever gone online in search of someone offering their opinion about a product or service you’re interested in purchasing? People do it all the time and that’s why it’s a great idea for a blog.

Over at Just Add Sweat they offer great eGuides on how to start a home-based business. One of these guides is ‘How to Start a Review Blog for Fun and Profit’.
JoAnne Wescott and Nicole Dean started the site because they were sick of the hype and fluff offered out there and wanted to provide something real that gets results. There’s a quote on their website that really does a great job of defining their whole concept:

"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." - Thomas A. Edison

What I really love about all their eGuides, including the Review Blog guide, is that they are easy to read through, provide clear action steps and even give audio examples of people who’ve been successful with the idea.

The premise (as with all the JustAddSweat eGuides) is that they provide the inspiration and you provide the sweat!
What you’ll find inside:
· How to choose a niche.

· Definition of a blog.

· How to set up and use your blog.

· How you can make money blogging.

· How to choose your market.

· SweatStory of a successful business doing a review blog.

· What to blog about.

· How to get traffic to your blog and make money.



You’ll get a 34-page eGuide, a SweatStory Success interview, audio blog tips, and a 2007 Blogging Calendar for a great price so hop on over to Just Add Sweat to find out more:

See how you can create an income by just giving a review at a price that is sure to not break the bank.

Heartfelt Gifts

Heartfelt Gifts - Your Homemade Chocolate Covered Coffee Spoons
by Nicole Dean

Has your gift giving budget taken a hit this year due to your dwindling finances?  You are not alone.  So, what do you do when you want to give someone a gift for their Birthday, or for dog-sitting, or Christmas, or Valentine's Day, or any number of times when a small gift would be appreciated? 

We've discovered in our goal to reduce spending, that when money is tight, the first thing that we start to question is our gift giving.  We all want to lavish people we love with beautiful, expensive gifts.  But, that won't be the case any longer in our family, so what do we do?  I believe a gift given from the heart is appreciated just as much, if not more, than a gift of monetary value.

One of the most enjoyable gifts I've ever given is a gift of chocolate.  Whether it's homemade peanut clusters or fancy chocolate covered cherries, everyone seems to be enamored with their little boxes or bags of beautiful, and delicious chocolate goodies.

Most chocolate treats are relatively easy to make once you get the hang of it.  You'll find out which pans work best, which spoons you like, and how long to melt the chocolate on the first or second try.  I especially like this chocolate treat because it's something that most people would never dream of making for themselves. 

Chocolate Dipped Coffee Spoons

If your gift recipient likes a nice, hot cup of coffee, then they'll like it even better with a little spoon of chocolate.  This is a gift that both men and women love.

Start with this list of items:

Purchase some heavy duty plastic spoons.  You may even wish to check out some flea markets or thrift stores for silver spoons that are pretty.  Either way, make sure they're nice and clean.

Purchase milk chocolate coating, not Real Chocolate. You'll find blocks of the coating in the baking aisle at the grocery store.  The reason you don't want to use Real Chocolate is because it tends to be a little more difficult to get just right.  You don't want to bother with it, and the chocolate coating is delicious.

Peppermint oil flavor and other goodies like peppermint candy are good additions to the chocolate spoons and add yet another fancy element to them.  You may also wish to sprinkle on some little candies like you would buy for sugar cookie decorations.

Purchase some parchment paper, NOT wax paper, to cool the spoons on.  This will keep them from sticking to your cookie sheets as well as keep your pans clean and ready if you are into mass production. 

I recommend that since you're giving a gift of food, buy the proper wrapping.  Look in your candy making section of any craft store for clear cellophane candy bags in a size to fit the spoon, leaving some of the handle sticking out.  You'll also want to find some ribbon and raffia to tie the package closed and to decorate the gift. 

The process is simple:

Fill a large pan with water and bring it to a boil.  While you're waiting, carefully chop your chocolate into little pieces. Place your chocolate pieces in a smaller heavy pan that will fit into the large pan.  When water boils, remove large pan from heat, and carefully lower the smaller pan into the water, being sure you don't overflow the water.  Let chocolate sit and start to melt, then remove from pan with water and begin stirring with a big spoon or spatula until chocolate is all melted. 

When you are done stirring the chocolate, dip one spoon at a time in the melted chocolate and lay each one on the parchment paper you have on your cookie sheets.  If you plan to decorate the spoons with other candy, do it while the spoon is still wet. Otherwise the candy won't stick. Then move on to the next spoon, dip, decorate, and so on.  Once all of your spoons are done, take your cookie sheet to a cold, preferably dry place.  A refrigerator or freezer is okay to just get them set up a little, but don't leave them in that moist environment for more than a few minutes.

Now your chocolate is set and you are ready to wrap your spoons up.  Begin by placing each spoon in a candy bag that you purchased.  Tie a piece of raffia, or gift wrap ribbon, or other pretty material on each bag around the handle so that the bag is closed securely.  You may wish to tie more ribbon or some decorations on the bag, even a peppermint candy cane, or anything that makes your spoon gift more festive.

You have now completed a gift that anyone would be thrilled to receive.  Don't you feel good knowing that you used your creativity and time to make a personal gift for someone you care about?  This is not just any gift... it's a gift you gave from your heart

Technorati Tags: chocolate,homemade,coffee,frugal,gift,save money,kids,christmas,holiday,crafts,crafting,moms,family,drinks,food

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Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom and owner of <a href="http://showmomthemoney.com">ShowMomtheMoney.com</a> - a fun and informative website to help moms achieve success working from home. She invites you to learn more ways to save money in her <a href="http://showmomthemoney.com/frugal-moms/frugal-meals/">Frugal Meal Ideas</a> section. Be sure to sign up for her free lessons for work at home moms. Get a totally unique version of this article from our <a href='http://www.uberarticles.com/home.php?id=159039'>article submission service</a>

Start a Craft Blog for Fun and Profit

Technorati Tags: how to,earn money,make money,work from home,business from home,from home,online,internet,blogging,craft blog,start blog

Are you looking for an online business that you love?  If you enjoy crafts or finding information about crafts then starting a craft blog may just be the perfect opportunity for you.

Well, Just Add Sweat is offering great eGuides for people who want to work from home and they are filled with practical advice on starting your own business.

JoAnne Wescott and Nicole Dean are two great business owners who are sick of the hype and just want to offer real information on making money using real business models. There’s a quote on their website that really does a great job of defining their whole concept:
"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." - Thomas A. Edison

After spending some time going over the ‘How to Start a Crafts Blog for Fun and Profit’ eGuide I was very impressed by the quality of information they are offering and how easy it is to start your business.

Of course, as with any JustAddSweat guide, the only thing you need to add is your own hard work and sweat!

What’s included:
·    Ideas for types of craft blogs to start.
·    Definition of a blog.
·    How to set up and use your blog.
·    How you can make money blogging.
·    How to choose your market.
·    What to blog about.
·    How to get traffic to your blog and make money.

There is real value in this product and for one great price you get a 35-page eGuide, a SweetStory Success interview, audio blog tips, bonus Time Management Guide and a 2007 Blogging Calendar.

Check it out for yourself, right here:

Starty your blog today!

For less than it cost to put fuel in your car.

The House that was

On our blog we talk about alot about creating memories and the items we can do to create those memories. After going thru alot of information and my sons watching me work, as I do at the computer everyday since I work from home. I have began teaching my children not only, NOT to watch TV but to use their creativity in useful thing such as reading, writing or drawing. I wanted to share a short story from one of my twins, that I found rather interesting, since he is only 8. I don't think he has finished it but here is the part that he wrote and when he handed it to me, he said "mom, this is for you, keep it as a memory.

"The house that was"  by Chase Lowe

Once upon a time there was a house that was haunted for 10 years. Nobody lived in it, until one day somebody lived in the creepy old house. The next day this kid named Robby went over to the house and rang the doorbell, the door opened up and it ate him. That same day, his brother Chris went to the house and rang the doorbell and the door and the house almost ate him, but he got away.  to be continued...

the rest of the story will come but he ended it there. I just wanted to share the imagination and what we can create as memories from our children.

Part 1: How a Virtual Assistant can set up and record Webinars

This is a demonstration on the Definitions of webinars, podcasts using camstasia.

Winter Fun and Crafts for Kids

So the weather is changing, and the days are getting colder. The kids are going to be needing something to do. Its not always feasible to sit with your kids on projects that they can have fun with. Winter fun made easy, is a key to not driving yourself crazy, with chaos and "I'm so bored" days. Find things to occupy the little ones that give you a piece of mind knowing that they are using safe ways to have Fun.

I have provided a video here that I wanted to share to show just one of the ideas of ways kids can have fun, and make a little money if they so desire. Winter Fun E-book will be published with in the next month just in time for you to get it for the holdiays. So keep an eye out, it will be worth every bit of it.