Tuesday Tip- 10 Things to do Before Traveling

Tuesday's Trip Tips.....

10 Things We Do Before Leaving For a Trip:

1. Remove sheets to let your matresses air out
2. Turn heat down
3. Turn off computer
4. Unplug night lights and scented plug-ins, turn on porch/outdoor lighting
5. Save destination address into your GPS (or print out directions to your destination)
6. Check the weather where you are headed to help with packing
7. Confirm hotel reservations (if you are flying, check flight status a few days before)
8. Stop your mail from being delivered
9. Check into places to eat/things to do
10. Car care (if you are driving)- fill up with gas, have oil changed, tire pressure checked

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Monday Madness- Cleaning Madness

Cleaning your house for company doesn't have to = MADNESS!

Keeping up with the daily housework will eliminate the stress of last minute cleaning for the Holidays!

Here's my idea to get everything, in the house, (continually) done....

On a piece of paper, list all of the things that need to be done once a week. You could also write them on index cards.

Here's my list:
Wash Sheets
Laundry (Towels, Whites, Darks, Reds, Colors)
Clean Bathrooms (Toilets, Showers, etc.)
Wash Floors (Bathrooms, Kitchen, Other)
Dust/Windex
Tidy Closets

As you make your list, keep a mental note of how long each item takes you to do. That way, you are not overwhelming yourself with time consuming tasks on the same days.

Then I divided my 'things to do' up by days. Here's my breakdown:
Sunday- Nothing (I like to reserve this day of rest to spend with family and we are very busy with Church)

Monday-  Dust (all furniture) Windex (glass in doors, TV, fireplace, washer/dryer- and any other place that little fingers touch)

Tuesday- Clean Kitchen (Wipe cabinets, scrub sink, clean out 'junk' drawer, wipe down refrigerator, stove and dishwasher, clean out refrigerator/freezer, vacuum)

Wednesday- Clean Bathrooms (Toilets, Tubs, Showers, Wipe Cabinets, Vacuum)

Thursday-  Clean Floors (Steam mop bathrooms, kitchen, all hard wood, laundry/mud room)

Friday- Laundry day (I like to get the majority of laundry done in one day)

Saturday- 1. Putting away laundry (sometimes finishing a load or two) and tidy closets  1. Picking out clothes for the week 3. General 'tiding up'

I also have a 'daily mental list' of the daily tasks I did not include in my index cards. These things are done everyday:
Vacuum
Wipe Bathroom Counters
Dishes
Make Beds
Wipe Kitchen Counters
Clean up toys (my little helpers do this)

If you wrote your individual items on index cards, you could keep them in envelopes labeled by day.

Don't overwhelm yourself with cleaning. Keeping your home tidy and clean will help keep your nerves calm and your spirits up this Holiday season!

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Saturday (recipe) Showcase- Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken (inspired by Buca di Beppo's)

What You'll Need:
1 large egg
5 Tablespoon lemon juice, divided
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 stick of margarine
2 teaspoons chicken flavored granules
1/2 cup hot water
Zest of one lemon
Lemon wedges to garnish

Here's How:
1. Zest and juice your lemons.

2. Combine flour, garlic powder and paprika in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and 1 Tb lemon juice.

3. In a resealable bag, flatten your chicken until even in thickness.

Dip the chicken in egg mixture and then dredge in flour mixture.

Brown over medium heat in 4 Tb margarine 2-3 minutes on each side.

4. Dissolve bouillon in hot water. Add bouillon mixture and 2 Tb lemon juice to chicken. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10–15 minutes or until chicken is done.

5. While chicken is cooking, boil spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

6. Drain noodles. Add 4 Tb margarine, lemon zest, and 2 Tb lemon juice. Stir to combine.

Serve lemon chicken over noodles and garnish with lemon slices.

(Don't forget to spoon out all the juicy-lemony goodness!)

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Friday Fun- Birthday Countdown

November in our house means Thanksgiving, the first snow, hunting, family and we also celebrate a certain little girls birthday.

This year, the party is all about Rapunzel. (If you haven't seen Tangled, do!)

I recently saw a wood door hanger used as a chore chart- moving a clothes pin (with the chore written on it) to the oher side of the door hanger when the chore has been completed. I thought that was a cute idea, but at 5 (almost 6) my daughter doesn't have enough chores for that.

When November 1st came, her teacher hung a cupcake up in the classroom representing Reese's birthday. When I told her it was still weeks away, she said "So my birthday is in four days?" That's when I decided I NEEDED to make some type of countdown to her birthday so I wasn't asked every day, "How many more days now?"

That's when I decided on a Birthday Coutdown Door Hanger (Rapunzel style, of course!).

What You'll Need:
Wooden Door Hanger
Clothes Pins
Paint
Yellow Yarn
Hot Glue

Here's How:

1. First, I painted the door hanger- Rapunzel Purple. (When it was dry, I sprayed glitter on it as well, to give it that princess touch.)

2. I added stars to my clothes pins to write the date on them. I used the mini clothes pins because I was adding so many to my door hanger. If you are doing something different, using the bigger pins might be better for little fingers. (The small pins tend to break easily.)

3. I braided yellow yarn to make Rapunzel's hair coming out of the 'tower' (Through the door knob hole.)
Attached my clothes pins and wha-la!

(I also hot glued a little bag on the back for the clothes pins when they get removed.....)

How will anyone know to come to a Rapunzel party without a Rapunzel Birthday Invitation???.....

What You'll Need:

5 1/2 by 5 1/2 white envelopes

Purple paper

Gray Paper

Black Paper

Vellum Paper

Yellow Yarn

Spray Glitter

Glue

Here's How:

1. Cut your purple paper for the background of the invitation. (Mine were 5 1/4 x 5 1/4) I then sprayed the paper with spray glitter. (It's cheaper to do it this way than buy the already glittered paper.)
Then start cutting towers. (This was free-handed, cut out, and then traced onto the gray paper)

2. Next came the braiding. I cut yellow yarn to the length I wanted the braid to be and braided 9 pieces of yarn together to get a nice, thick braid.

3. I attached the yarn with hot glue to the back side of the tower (through the window) and then hot glued the tower onto the invitation. I covered the back of the window with a piece of black paper.

(I did change the tower a bit because when I cut the original ones out, they were too 'boxey'.)

4. I printed my invitation wording onto vellum paper in a Walt Disney font. And attached it to the invitation with ribbon thread through holes I punched.

And Wha-La!

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Thanksgiving in on Thursday

Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away!

Do you have any table place card ideas? Let me share some of mine....

Sugar Cookie Initial 'Place Cards'

(Cause who doesn't want a sugar cookie made just for them?)

And they are fun to make...

A more formal way to initial the place setting....

A pen is not a usual Thanksgiving utensil but, if you are sharing what you are thankful for, it might be nice to add. Tie a paper tag to the pen with the saying, "Reese is thankful for.." and let them fill in the rest.

Simple Paper Leaf....

Inexpensive paper napkin holder with the name written on....

Two in one! Name place card and napkin ring....

Mini Chalkboards....
(This might be a fun addition to the 'kids table')

(I show you how to make the chalkboards here.)

Bringing in nature, adding twigs to your napkins with a paper leaf for the name.....

I hope I have inspired you to create a unique Thanksgiving table!

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Wednesday Weekly- Clothes for the week

Taking 15 minutes out of your weekend, to pick out clothes for the week, can save much frustration in your weekly morning routine!

I hung a hanging divider in my daughter's closet. It has 6 cubes, each one I fill with her clothes for the week. Monday is at the top, followed by Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday dresses I keep hung on hangers.

In the wee hours of the morning, there is no question (or arguments) of what to wear. She starts at the top and works her way down everyday.

Each cube holds her top/sweater, skirt/jumper or pants, socks/tights and hair bow that she will wear that day. She wears uniforms to school so I include an undershirt and bike shorts when required. (I take time to fold the clothes nicely so there are no wrinkles to iron out on those busy mornings.)

Hope this can help your weekly routine go smoother!

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Tuesday Tip- The 'Broken Basket'

The pile of  " things that need fixin' " seems to never end. I always have something that needs to be glued, sewn, carefully put back together, or past-the-point-of-fixing, let's just throw it out.

I put a basket in my laundry room that everyone in our house knows is the 'Broken Basket'. The basket itself is not broken, but it's contents are in need of repare. I let it fill up over time and then one day, I sit down, with my hot glue gun in hand, and mend the contents.

Our 'Broken Basket' solves the questions of "Where did this come from?' or "What does this go to?" or "Where's the button to these?"

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