Blog Posts by Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesMoms and dads are clicking coffee mugs (and wishing they were martini glasses) over breakfast this week as they prepare to send their young kids back to school.

As I read through my Twitter feed and Facebook status updates from friends today, the general message went like this: "Awww, yeah. Winter break is over."

I know, I know, there are those of you that cherished every single millisecond that your kids were home for two weeks. I (mostly) adored every moment with my kids. But we were playing on the beach in Kauai for nine days, so I kind of feel my opinion doesn't really count.

Here's the thing: the clinking of the coffee mugs is not so much because about our eagerness to get the kids out of the house. (Yes, I can say this with a straight face). It's a celebration of the few consecutive hours of blessed silence we'll regain since school let out two weeks ago. It's a cheer for surviving the many, many moments of unstopped banter (and bickering) among your kids when you thought your

photo credit: charlene prince birkeland/crazedparent.orgThe holidays bring out my crafty/cooking geekness like nobody's business. I usually try to add some homemade element to our Christmas gifts, but this year I'm going gonzo (my husband's word choice). Cooking, sewing, crafty bits and pieces. It feels really good to be making things after being completely immersed in work.

On to the homemade gift idea.

I can't even remember where I got the original recipe for this homemade barbecue sauce. After a few modifications, I think it's safe to call it my own.

We spent Saturday morning making the sauce and storing it in these cute preserve jars I found at Cost Plus. They're made in Italy and super cheap (the smallest jars are $3).

I had two final decisions to make: what to name the sauce and how to label the jars. Last night I was over at BigHugeLabs.com making the mosaic for the Cranberry Obsession Snow Cake post when I found this Badge Maker idea (wave hello to John Watson at Flagrant Disregard).

I decided the badge must

Little kids love showing their grandparents how much they adore them. Around the holidays, you can let them be a part of the gift-giving process by letting them create their presents for Grandma and Grandpa. We've picked some of our favorite ideas for DIY gifts from the grandkids.

Do your kids make anything for their grandparents? Share your ideas!

(Alt. title: What happens when I see a photo of a gorgeous dessert on a magazine cover.)

No sooner had the December issue of Sunset magazine landed in our mailbox when I declared, "I must bake that cake on the cover."

Cranberry Obsession Snow Cake.

At the time, I had no occasion for such a glam dish. When CityMama asked who could bring dessert to a little Silicon Valley tweet up, I quickly volunteered. I spent most of Sunday in the kitchen, the boys (all three) sauntering in and out of the room, desperate for a taste of a key ingredient: white chocolate.

The photo of cake on the Sunset cover makes it appear that it would be quite difficult to make. On the contrary, it's easy to make. It just requires patience along with a couple pounds of butter and a dozen egg whites. (My arteries pumped furiously as I read the ingredients list.)

Woah mama! Look at that butter!
The recipe is broken up into three parts. First, the cake. Seven egg whites, eight ounces of unsalted butter, flour, sugar, salt

photo credit: Arnaldo Magnani/Getty ImagesWhere do we begin?

Tom Cruise recently told Usmagazine.com that he'd love it if Suri became an actress. (She's even spent enough time on film sets to know when to be quiet when dad is shooting a scene. Ugh.)

No word on what mom, Katie Holmes, thinks about it.

Obviously, it's none of our business. However, we can opine, right?

I expect to see this little gal in the limelight for a very long time. It seems inevitable. But wouldn't it be cool if she just was a regular kid and her parents told her to steer clear of Hollywood life?

Discuss.

Photo Credit: theblackapple.typepad.comMy kids spend the weekend painting red and green holiday art on brown grocery bags. We're using them as wrapping paper for our Christmas gifts (in the spirit of eco-friendly holidays).

I hadn't come up with an idea for gift tags. Maybe rubber stamps?

But now I'm set because I found these super cute printable tags designed by Inside a Black Apple. You can print them on label paper, regular paper or heavier card stock. Love them!

[via Craftzine]

Photo Credit: Getty ImagesI love a good bargain on children's clothes. (Okay, I love a good bargain on clothes.) But somehow I haven't made it yet to Mervyns, even though I know that this California and Southwest-based department store chain is going out of business. There are bargains to be found.

Lia over at Freitas Family Follies sent me a note about her recent trip to Mervyns to pick up some clothes for her daughter. She spent US$35 on a pair of shoes, two pairs of pants and four shirts. Lia also mentioned the store is selling kid's jeans for US$5 a pair, which is awesome. I have always found children's clothes from Mervyns to be really durable, especially items from the Carter's brand.

Now, I must warn you that you may have to hunt around for your bargains because one, it's holiday time and two, the stores are in clearance mode (read: possibly...okay, probably...unorganized).

But I say it's worth it if you can stock up on inexpensive kid's clothes.

What's your bargain store for kid's clothes (besides

Photo Credit: Tracey Clark/shuttersisters.com
My favorite camera in the world broke a few weeks ago and I'm now learning how to deal with my new one, which has more bells and whistles than I'm used to (I still love it). But I'm in a mad rush to learn how to use it because I am the official photographer for all holiday gatherings for my family. And there will be many, many moments that need to be captured.

It's one thing to know how to use all the features on your camera. It's quite another to know how to compose a good photo. Tracey Clark, one of the founders of the community photo blog Shutter Sisters, recently posted a series called Great Greetings, which offers tips on how to take photos for holiday cards. But many of her tips can easily be applied to snapping photos of your family over the holidays.

Two of my favorite tips from Tracey:

• Look for the light. Tracey writes, "I love soft, somewhat flat light for my family portraits so I don't shoot in direct, shadowy sun. I look for open shade or shoot in early morning or