Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Autumn is falling upon us once again, gifting most of us with more crispy, colorful leaves than we know what to do with. Sure, they make a decent mulch additive, but wouldn’t it be great if there was something creative we could do with them besides rake and burn?

We thought so, too. To that end, here are ten things you can do with those crunchy bits of red, yellow and orange:

1. Stuff a scarecrow. Instructions below.
2. Spice up a BBQ supper. Apple and Maple leaves make a flavorful addition to an outdoor cooking fire.
3. Bag ‘em up and send to a friend living in Hawaii or Alaska; they always get a kick out of such “exotic” treats.
4. Hot-glue dozens of leaves to a wreath base, easily obtained at any craft store. Add a few seed pods for an especially lovely door decoration.
5. Make a bouquet by attaching single leaves to a straw or bamboo skewer and arrange in a vase.
6. Slip one special leaf into a grandchild’s Halloween card.
7. Pile the prettiest leaves into a basket for an instant Fall time centerpiece.
8. Fill a clear glass lamp base with leaves for timely, temporary decor.
9. String leaves, alternating with cranberries, for a gorgeous swag which can be draped over a curtain rod or wrapped around a banister.
10. Powder especially fragrant leaves into an incense, which can be burned on coal disks.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/autumnleavesproject#b#ixzz1TYG9VQ2m

As a parent, you have a job to teach your child valuable life lessons. One of these important lessons you must teach your child is how to be more organized. Let’s face it — not all kids are naturally organized (oh how the world would be so much easier if they were!), so it’s your job to help your kid learn good organizational skills. Not only do good organizational skills keep things neat and tidy in your home, but they can also help life feel calmer and more controlled. Rather than picking up after your kids, follow these tips to teach any child to be more self-sufficient and organized!

1. Store similar items together. If your child has a collection of similar items, teach her to store all of these items in the same place, such as tiny plastic toys in clear bins and large stuffed animals in mesh bags. Not only will this make the items easier to find, but it will help your kids develop their fine motor skills. Double win!

2. Set an example. If you really want to teach your child to be more organized, you yourself have to be organized. Try to refrain from scolding your children for having messy rooms if your bedroom looks like a tornado hit it. Kids will have a harder time getting organized if they have no examples to follow.

3. Create a schedule. Creating a daily schedule is a great way to help your children feel organized throughout each day. Every morning, set specific times for activities, like chores, homework and playtime. Explain these times to your children so they understand what is expected of them. When your kids follow their schedules-without complains!-reward them with something small. Slowly, organization will become ingrained and rewards won’t be necessary.

4. Be consistent. The only way to truly teach your child organization is by teaching him to be consistent with daily chores and activities. Regardless of time constraints, make sure that your family remains dedicated to their daily tasks and the age-old, “we’ll do it in the morning” excuse doesn’t become your family’s motto.

5. Daily cleaning. We know how much children love cleaning their rooms, right? Wrong. But it’s still necessary for your kids to take responsibility over their personal property. Help your kids develop this by making them clean their rooms on a daily basis, and taking pride in the work they achieve. Help cleaning be more fun by bring your children to the store and allowing them to pick out their own bins, tubs and bags. Kids like having control just as much as you do!

One of the most valuable life lessons you can teach your child is how to be more organized. When your child learns how to be organized at an early age, it will help him or her be more successful in life.

Jessica Brimes is a full-time au pair and a contributing writer for healthinsurancequotes.org http://healthinsurancequotes.org> <http://healthinsurancequotes.org

I work mostly from home, and my desk is where I spend much of my day doing business, both with my real estate and feng shui clients, writing, paying bills, and sometimes eating breakfast and even painting my nails.

In other words, my desk is a mess.

Since I became a Feng Shui Practitioner, I am much more mindful of the “active chaos” on my desk. In feng shui, keeping your desk organized is not an option – it’s absolutely mandatory.

No, the feng shui fairy won’t come check up on me if I leave a teacup next to my printer, or a stack of paper gets too high. The fact is, I know that a clean desk will help me be my best. And that makes it easy to keep things in order.

Whether you work at home or in an office, full- or part-time or just on the side, your desk is your “place of power.” It is a place where you attract prospective clients, generate leads, and earn a living. You are associating this space directly with the wealth and prosperity aspect of your life. Therefore, if it’s not organized and arranged in a way that aligns with your goals and desires, you’re defeating your own capacity to stay disciplined and productive.

Keeping my desk organized and clutter-free not only makes the space beautiful and inviting, but it enhances my ability to focus, create, and flow. When my desk is in disarray, my mood mirrors my environment. I am anxious, blocked, and less efficient – impeding my ability to be my best.

Feng shui is about harnessing positive energy from our environment to create a harmonious life. When we are in harmony with our surrounding, we can begin to see the flow of abundance; nurturing a healthier and happier self. And when we are healthy and happy, we naturally feel more productive, balanced, confident, focused, optimistic, and ready for anything.

Here’s what feng shui has to teach us about turning our desks into a “place of power:”

1. Choose safety over beauty. In feng shui, our goal is to minimize stress and irritability by choosing furniture with rounded corners. And this includes your desk. Sharp corners and edges, often referred to as “poison arrows,” can stop the energy flowing around your space in a natural, balanced, and positive cycle. Additionally, sharp corners can often “hurt” us physically – when we accidentally jab or poke ourselves trying to maneuver around the desk in a tight space, for example.

1. Sit on your throne. Be the king or queen of your business. Choose a chair that is absolutely the most comfortable thing you’ve ever sat on. Your ability to be effective is considerably enhanced by a great chair. Pick one that you love and can easily adjust, is ergonomically correct, and has excellent support.

1. Be in a power position. Take a moment and think of the office of a successful CEO. What do you see? You notice a CEO who “sees” everything. Make every detail of your space serve you by arranging your desk in a power position. The best power position is to place your desk where you have a perfect view of the door, a pleasant view of a window, and a solid wall behind you. This will give you complete support from the back and a commanding view from the front.
2. Declutter. Throw out old receipts, outdated to-do lists, magazines, bills, dishes, nail polish remover, and anything else that does not belong on your desk.

1. Find a home for everything. Every object must have a home. Store each one away so you know exactly where they are when you need them. This will eliminate wasted time and feelings of annoyance when you can’t find what you need, when you need it!

1. Apply the Bagua Map. The Bagua Map is a feng shui tool. It contains 8 trigrams (or “Gua”), each representing a goal in life. Place the Bagua Map above your desk, divvy it into 9 squares, and organize your belongings on your desk accordingly (See example in bullets below). Only use objects that directly correlate with each goal and one that fosters positivity. You don’t have to do all guas if you don’t have enough room, but focus on the ones you can do easily.

• Wealth & Prosperity (top left corner) — A healthy bamboo plant and a piggy bank that represent growth, nurture, and money.
• Fame & Reputation (top center) – my business cards remind me I offer a great service and I am awesome at what I do.
• Love & Marriage (top right corner) – A framed photo of me and my love, depicting partnership and unity.
• Helpful People & Travel (bottom right corner) – My teacher’s feng shui book inspires me to share my passion with my clients.
• Career – (bottom center) – My laptop, where all the “magic” happens!
• Knowledge & Self Cultivation (bottom left corner) – A book on introspective self-growth to help deepen my spiritual development.

1. Bless your desk. There are different space-clearing techniques. Lighting a candle or incense, ringing a bell, clapping, or playing music are great options. I often like to burn sage over my desk to quickly cleanse and “call-in” new energy. There is no fast-and-hard rule to doing this, but I bless my desk whenever I have successfully completed a business transaction. Simply thanking your space for allowing you to do what you do is just as effective!

You can apply feng shui anytime, anywhere, no matter how small or big your space is! Remember to always surround yourself with things you love, keep the space organized, clutter-free and beautiful, periodically change it up, and have fun!

Note: For the purpose of this illustration, I only explained how you can organize your desk using feng shui, excluding any discussions on yin/yang and the Five Elements. As a student of feng shui, I acknowledge its complexity and a deep responsibility to share it accurately. This requires studying its history, philosophy, and application diligently under the mentoring of master practitioners.

Jen Nicomedes

Jen graduated from the Western School of Feng Shui and studied under the guidance of Terah Kathryn Collins, renowned feng shui practitioner and best-selling author. Feng Shui by Jen ©offers intimate and personally tailored consulting services to residences and small businesses using the “Form School” Feng Shui. This method observes that all forms – shapes, dimensions, areas, objects – define energy without referring to compass directions, making it more adaptable and applicable in today’s Western culture.

Jen is also a real estate entrepreneur, contributing writer for MindBodyGreen, and yoga practitioner.

Website: www.JenNicomedes.com

Facebook: Jen Nicomedes

Twitter: @Jen_Nicomedes

Now that school has been in session a little while you may be looking for some inspiration as to what to put into those lunch boxes in order to keep kids excited and interested….

Halloween is meant to be enjoyed, but somewhere in between “planning” and “cleanup,” many parents find themselves feeling overwhelmed. It might seem that attempting to consider the Earth while planning a great ghoulish party is just too much work and way too expensive. Some fear it might even zap the fun right out of the day. But creating an eco-savvy Halloween doesn’t have to be scary, nor does it have to cost an arm and a leg when you follow these pointers…

1. Consider your costumes. The truth is, many store-bought costumes and accessories contain toxic chemicals that not only are a potential hazard to your child, but also to the environment and the people who helped to make them. Choose fabrics such as cotton, wool and silk or make costumes yourself from materials you know to be safe.
2. Go au natural. When decorating your home for Halloween, skip the plastic black cats and paper skeleton streamers made in China. Instead, use décor inspired by Mother Earth by choosing fallen leaves, gourds or pumpkins, and 100% beeswax candles.
3. Trim your trick-or-treats. Hand out less ________ (fill in the blank). Preferably your goodies of choice are healthy and/or Earth-friendly, but even if they’re not, handing out just one (rather than the conventional handful) of something is better for kids, better for the planet and better for your bank account.
4. Apply the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) to all of your holiday choices: costumes, décor, goodies, etc. Of the 3 R’s, reducing is the best for the Earth, our wallets and, in regard to food, our waistlines. Rent, borrow, make or acquire used, when possible, to avoid buying new, especially disposables.
5. Choose eek-o-décor. Say ‘no’ to disposables and instead, re-use or re-purpose items you already own. Look also for items from nature and don’t forget to decorate with food (consumable décor). If you must use disposables, look for products that are compostable and then be sure to compost them. Or, choose a recycled, reusable and recyclable items like Preserve products. Too bad they don’t come in Halloween colors… yet.
6. Give your child a shakable flashlight to light his way.
7. Use decorative Halloween LED and/ or solar lights for trees, outside of your home, and for lighting the path for trick-or-treaters. They come in every shape, theme and color imaginable!
8. Instead of buying, make your child’s goodie bag from a pillow case, recycled cardboard (enter the coupon code GREEN in the shopping cart, when promoted, for FREE pattern), or anything else you already own that goes with the theme of the costume.
9. Turn costume making into a creative and fun experience for your child. Hunt through the house, at neighborhood garage sales, or a thrift store for cotume-worthy items. Enjoy the process and the product! If you’re not feeling creative, host a costume exchange.
10. Instead of allowing your child to eat all the candy he collects, ask him to select a limited, pre-agreed upon amount and then leave the rest out for the Halloween Fairy/ Witch/ Great Pumpkin, who will, while your child is sleeping that night, swap the candy for goodies such as books, games or “pumpkin points” redeemable for outings.
11. Make the party meal using foods that are mostly orange, black and green. Create spooky names for the food, if you can. Shop locally (support local farmers) and choose organic, whenever possible.
12. Compost all leftovers, jack-o-lanterns, natural décor and unconsumed candy - remove wrappers unless they’re compostable. In some places of the country, you can add compostables to your yard waste bin.
13. Host your Halloween party at a retirement home, children’s hospital, organic farm or similar.
14. Make your own face paints – the recipe is in our book, Celebrate Green!
15. If buying candy, choose organic – you’ll be surprised at how affordable some brands are! If buying chocolate, look for triple certified: organic, shade grown, Fair Trade.
16. Instead of giving out conventional candy: give away healthy and/or Earth friendly treats and treasures.
17. Make your own Halloween décor by visiting craft sites and swapping conventional materials for eco-supplies. For example, if you are going to make some paper ghosts for your window, be sure the paper is reused, recycled or tree-free.
18. Invitations – use e-invitations or make your own from reused, recycled or tree-free sources. Kids will love Mr. Ellie Pooh’s Elephant dung paper! It comes in gorgeous fall colors (all scent-free!). The orange cardstock is perfect for Halloween invites, place cards and more. Supporting Mr. Ellie Pooh means supporting the Elephants in Sri Lanka, who are losing their lives because without profit associated with them, they are seen as liabilities to local farmers.
19. Collect candy and bar wrappers and turn them into picture framed, purses, jewelry and more. Tweens and teens especially love this activity. Contact Terracycle.net for a collection box.
20. When tweens and teens are too old to trick or treat, but still enjoy the traditions, encourage them to take a look at how they can turn trick or treating into an activity that benefits others such as: Reverse Trick-or-Treating, trick-or-treating for cell phones, or of course, UNICEF’s program.
21. Start small and build your confidence. Start simply by having (and using) a recycle bin at your party or by going bottled water-free. You can green up each of your next celebrations a little bit at a time until celebrating green-style becomes old hat.
22. Plan ahead to avoid costly impulse buying. You’re less likely to invade the local super party store at the eleventh-hour when you make food, gift, décor and activity decisions in advance.
23. Get the family involved. Ask your kids to come up with three ways to give Halloween a green makeover. Write all of the viable ideas down on paper, toss them in a bowl and select three to try this year.
24. Don’t drive to trick or treat. Encourage your neighbors to go green and then go door-to-door near you. It’s good for you and the planet and builds community.
25. For more great tips and tricks sign up for the e-newsletters from www.GreenHalloween.org and www.celebrategreen.net. And don’t forget to buy a copy of Celebrate Green!. It features ideas, recipes, crafts, gift suggestions and more.

Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and co-authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, available at www.CelebrateGreen.net <http://www.celebrategreen.net/