Homemaking Archives • Page 15 of 16 • New Nostalgia

Pantry Organization

There is nothing like a well organized pantry! I personally think that having a well organized pantry (and refrigerator and freezer) is KEY to saving money on groceries. You can clip coupons all you want, but if the food you buy ends up getting stale and expired while hiding out in a messy pantry, those coupons are meaningless and your money is wasted.

The jars in the above picture are so great! I believe you can get them at target. I use mason jars, they are half the price of these jars, and now come with silver lids. They are so helpful in keeping food air-tight and on display. My food peers at me through the glass, giving me all kinds of ideas and inspiration to create with their contents. They can’t hide as easily when in a mason jar!

A project that I am planning on asking my now retired Dad to help me with, is hanging shelves on a very blank wall in my kitchen. I want them to hold rows of beautiful jars filled with seeds, pastas, beans, lentils, corn meal, etc. Can’t you just see them lined up so pretty with all their beautiful shades of color, creating art and storage at the same time? Ahhhhh.

Here is a photo that inspires me. The black shelves are exactly what I want, but instead of jars of cupcake sprinkles, mine would be…well, what I said above.:)

Here is the blank wall in my kitchen that I am talking about. Won’t that look nice? Won’t it? (psst…Dad… when can we start?)

Maybe, just maybe–someday–my pantry will look like this. Isn’t that just pantry heaven?

I don’t know if I will ever get into canning, but the old-fashioned part of me sure would love to! I would like join a community garden this coming summer- there is one just a block from us, which is great because our back yard is tiny and all shade. Depending on how successful our harvest will be, I just might get to experience canning! If not, maybe I’ll find a good deal on peaches and at least can those.:)

HOME/ Homemaking/ Seasonal

Christmas Decorating

I wrote a post on fall decorating, so I thought a Christmas one would be fun, too.

Come with me on a tour of our home (if you are so inclined):)

We keep the Christmas cards/newsletters we receive in this tin “Merry Christmas” container. Of course, the ones with pictures go on the refrigerator.

This is the second year we have done a silver, black, white and sparkly Christmas tree.

We made the marble looking balls last year (click here for how-to). We made silver pipe cleaner snowflakes(there is one bottom left corner) and paper circles with mini round mirrors in the center of them (up top by star toward the right). This tree is a favorite of mine because my girls little hands created most of the ornaments, and because it is so sparkly, especially at night with the lights low.

The basket of books hold all our children’s Christmas books. We have a tradition of buying a new one every Christmas. We try to get through them every year, usually grabbing one to read as a family after dinner, if we have time. I have a favorite this year, click here, it is a must see!

This is a broken bookshelf that I now use as a magazine holder. I had some extra Christmas balls so I thought they would look merry hanging on the top. I think they are happy, do you?

My sister in law (the same one who made this journal for me) bought me the 2 candles and middle center piece for my birthday this year. Does she know how to pick the best gifts or what?? She knows I love circles, my eyes did a little dance when I took the polka dot candles out of the gift bag. I just love them. The glass holder has Christmas balls in it. She gave me the extra balls which were fun using in other parts of my house (like the magazine rack above). The 2 trees I found at a garage sale. My table is set for a Christmas ladies lunch, which I will write about soon.

We do not have a mantle, so the windows are our stockings home. These are fun, fuzzy cream ones. I am concerned for them, after 4 years they are looking a bit dingy. I am not sure how to wash them, any suggestions? This chair is usually in the living room corner where the tree is now. I have to say I love it here, and use it more often. I sit in it at night, covered in my cozy blanket with hot tea and a book.

Here is where I used some of the extra balls from my birthday gift. Ha! My same sis-in-law bought me those shiny red ball candle holders, too!! Ok, she really rocks.

I don’t really like what I did here, but I am too lazy to think about it and change it. I do love the little nativity snow globe. My daughter collects snow globes, and we could not pass this one up last year when we saw it. It plays the song “Away In A Manger”

The nativity set on the lower shelf is one we have had a long time. It is falling apart, but we still put it out every year.:) It still very special and my girls love it.

If you look closely, there are 3 mason:) jars behind my peace sign. We use them for a behavior/reward system we use for our girls. Again, a future post!

On to the kitchen. Pretty simple in here. There is my favorite Christmas mug from my Carma friend. It came with a coffee gift card in it. Perfect gift in my opinion! I’m spoiled.

These are usually filled with Christmas candy, but I thought these decorative balls

would be a bit more healthy!

Saying hello from our throne room. The little star ornament was handmade from Nepal

and given to me by my aunt who works with Tiny Hands International. If you have not yet, check out this post about the awesomeness of this ministry.

This is hanging above the throne.

The sunroom.

We got snow today!

Isn’t this pillow happy? A gift from my mom. She knows about my round obsession.

This is our “Jesse Tree.” It is a new thing we are trying this year. The kids are loving it.

I will tell you about it soon!

This year we put our family/memory tree upstairs. Usually it is in the basement. We had such a fun family night decorating this tree.

Every ornament on this tree has a special memory connected to it. I will post about that coming up soon, too! (Boy, I got a lot of blogging to do!)

HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

De-cluttering Our Study

My study was a MESS! I knew when I could no longer shut the doors of the study closet, that it was time to get busy and do something about it! It tends to be the dumping ground of our home, (what Flylady would call a great big “hot spot“) its located right in the middle of the house, but you can’t see it from the main living areas, so it seems to be the place that collects clutter. I’ve managed (with the help of the Flylady system) to get the rest of my house sorted and de-cluttered, except for a storage closet and some drawers, which I will be doing a before and after blog post of, once I get motivated. Being the last closet, it will be a doozy!
It’s humbling letting you see my mess, but I love before and after pictures, so I’ll swallow my pride and let you see. 🙂
I always start by making sure I have a trash bag for garbage, 2 baskets (one for stuff I want to give away, one for stuff that belongs somewhere else in the house), a duster, and a broom. Oh, and music, of course, music makes everything just a little more fun! Today I de-cluttered to Jordan Sparks, Colbie Calliat, a little Shakira cuz’ she makes me move!! For more details on how to de-clutter, check out this link.

My study is quite small, but the mess was pretty overwhelming, so I divided it into zones. I started with the desk zone, then did bulletin boards, then the bookshelf zone, and finally the closet zone.
It only took me an hour and a half! Going through paper work was what consumed most of the time. Why do I procrastinate so long, when it really does not take that much time to finish? I can’t tell you how great it is to sit here at the desk with everything in its place. It makes me want to tackle more, maybe even paint the study something other than boring beige!

About those baskets full of things to give away and put away, the DO IT NOW method is really important. In the past, I have taken a break with the idea that I deserved one, and had every intention of getting back to the baskets. Well, my “break” lasted months and I still had a bin of stuff sitting in the closet. (if you look closely at my before pics, you will find one in the closet that I sat there after de-cluttering my basement and taking a “break”:)) So this time, I did it right away! The “put away” basket is the worst, I usually just sit on the floor and make a pile for each room, then start delivering stuff back to their homes. This is a great time to get the kids involved, let them do the delivering for you!

HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

Flylady

If you have been around me long enough, you will learn that I am a HUGE Flylady Fan. I found her website at least 8 years ago, and have been using her techniques to take my home from chaos to peace ever since. There have been times in the past where I did everything her site told me to do, (and it worked!!) but honestly, most of the time I just use some of her main points to keep my homemaking and attitude in check. I would like to get back to using the system as a whole, I did that when my girls were babies and toddlers, and it really made a huge difference in my homemaking.

What is Flylady?

Flylady is a group online that offers advice, tips and humor to assist people in keeping their homes tidier, especially for those suffering from “CHAOS” (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome). It is a group centered around Flylady.net and uses an email delivery system, so the “Flylady” can speak to and encourage you through emails. You can set it up to receive numerous email reminders all throughout the day, or there is a setting to receive them all in one lump email at the beginning of the day (this is the one I choose, I don’t like inbox clutter!). Its like having your own little cheerleader as you get your home in order. I know, cheesy, but IT WORKS!!

Subjects covered by Flylady include clutter, routines, weekly cleaning with focus on the zone of the week (five in total), self-esteem, and letting go of perfectionism. It is a free site, but she does have a small store at the website where tools are sold for organization, decluttering and cleaning. I personally love her ostrich feather duster and I use her insulated water bottle every day!

The system encourages “baby steps” to develop routines and habits to organize and maintain your home. She has you declutter and menu plan, she has “anti-procrastination” days, and she teaches to plan ahead by establishing routines. She helps organize personal finances, makes sure you take time to pamper yourself, encourages Friday Night Date Night, Saturday Family Fun Day and Sunday Renew Your Spirit Day.

Below is a great explanation of what the Flylady system consists of from Wikipedia:

Babysteps and Routines

New recruits to Flylady are called “Flybabies” and are introduced to “babysteps” – a series of 31 small daily tasks which introduce and then reinforce aspects of cleaning and decluttering which build into a daily routine, with tasks split into morning routines, after-work routines and bedtime routines.

Shine Your Sink: The first task is “Go shine your sink!” By clearing away the clutter in the sink, scrubbing and shining it, the entire kitchen looks better from such a simple step, and the Flybaby gains encouragement from seeing such a clean and shiny sink and is inspired to help make the rest of the kitchen gleam, too. Flylady asserts that each room has its own “shiny sink”– making the bed in the bedroom and cleaning the desk off in the office will all have the same effect.

15 Minutes at a Time: A crucial part to the Flylady system is that you should only spend 15 minutes doing something, as otherwise you will become bored and get sidetracked. Flylady refers to people who need her system as “SHEs”– “Sidetracked Home Executives” who are perfectionistic and fear beginning to tackle housework because there won’t be enough time to do it all or it won’t be done perfectly. SHEs are in contrast to “born organized” people who are naturally very organized– but even “born organized” people can use Flylady’s system with success. Because of this perfectionism, the SHE cannot ever get started cleaning and the clutter gets worse. By focusing on spending only 15 minutes at a time on cleaning, SHEs learn that a lot can be done in 15 minutes, a task is always quicker and easier than you would imagine it to be, and you do not have to spend all your time cleaning in order to get your home company-ready. Flylady also highly encourages the actual use of a timer to measure the 15-minute increments, to measure them accurately.

Clutter Cannot Be Organized: Another important aspect of Flylady’s system is her attitude towards clutter. She tells her group that if you look at something and it doesn’t make you happy, you should get rid of it. Many people fill their houses with clutter and then try to organize it in some way. Flylady says that clutter cannot be organized, because by its very nature it’s an obstacle. Only when Flybabies reduce their clutter can they expect to be able to organize their household. This is done in Flylady’s system, 15 minutes at a time, through the “27-fling Boogie,” in which a Flybaby goes around an area and chooses 27 things to either throw out or give away. FlyBabies are also encouraged to prevent clutter to enter the home – buying less and buying only what they need.

Weekly Routines: Once Flybabies have learned the basic habits and are able to manage their daily routines, Flylady then advises including weekly routines, whereby each weekday is assigned an additional task – Monday is daily cleaning, Wednesday is errand day, Thursday is grocery day and Friday is “desk day” – sorting out paperwork and finances, as well as the day to declutter the car. One additional day can be a “weekly home blessing.” If a Flybaby has been keeping up with her routines, 15 minutes at a time, during the week, she will only have to spend a small amount of time doing a weekly dusting/cleaning, or a “home blessing.”

Get Dressed to Shoes: Flylady encourages Flybabies to “get dressed to shoes”– getting dressed in street clothes down to lace-up shoes, which help them to get moving during the day and have a better effect on the mind than staying in pajamas. For women it is also important to do their hair and wear make up as this is intended to have a positive effect on their self-esteem.

Zones: Once your home is decluttered and your daily and weekly routines established (which may take months or even years, depending on how cluttered your home is!), Cilley advises “zone work” – each month, the home is split into five zones, and a daily ‘mission’ is set in that week’s zone. Each mission covers more detailed cleaning but should take no more than 15 minutes. Some missions are repeated in subsequent months, so that the missions take less time as there is less clutter and cleaning. As this point, Flylady recommends you tackle detailed zone cleaning, which cover the kinds of tasks you would usually expect of a spring clean – cleaning skirting boards, cleaning windows etc. However, as you should only tackle what you can do in 15 minutes, this spreads the detailed cleaning over a period of time, so that rather than ‘spring cleaning’, you simply do a little bit every day and your home stays tidier and cleaner.

Control Journal: Flylady advises the use of a “Control Journal,” a notebook or binder, as a personal manual for noting one’s routines. This may also include a folder in which important papers and bills are kept so they can be worked on while waiting in public places such as doctor’s offices. A Control Journal should also include important information so it can be had at a moment’s notice in case of an emergency. Before taking someone to the emergency room, a Flybaby might grab her Control Journal, where she knows she has stored a list of medicines taken by the patient. Knowing that all that important information is kept in one place saves a lot of time, money and stress, according to Flylady, and is certainly worth the initial time involved in setting up the journal.

Flylady Reminders: Daily reminders of the routines, zones and missions are sent out when you subscribe to the Flylady groups. There is a UK group which sends out reminders according to GMT rather than US timezone, and many alternative ‘non-official’ groups.

Perfectionism leads to Procrastination: According to the FlyLady system, the most frequent reason for procrastination and inefficacy is perfectionism, as people won’t start a task if they think they don’t have the time or the ability to do it perfectly. Some frequently repeated sayings in this respect are “good enough is good enough” or “housework done incorrectly still blesses your family”.

I have loved Flylady, and what I have learned from her influences what I do and how I do it, everyday. I will be talking about her from time to time on this blog.

FAMILY/ HOME/ Homemaking/ Marriage/ Simplifying

Is Your Bedroom A Retreat?

There is something about staying in a hotel that I love. Yes, the fact that I am not the one to wash the sheets, make the bed, or take out the trash is pretty awesome, but it is more than that. I LOVE the simplicity of it. There is no clutter in a hotel room, and everything that exists in the room is well thought out and purposeful. There is a chair to sit in to put my shoes on, there is a nightstand with a lamp and clock that are both bedside and easy to reach. There is a drawer in the nightstand to house books and my Bible. A pen and paper sitting ready for me when I need to jot something down. The closet is small enough to hold only the bare minimum, which forces one to think through what is put in there. There is an extra pillow and blanket in the closet, just in case. A laundry bag for dirty clothes, an iron and ironing board to grab if needed and a trash can for waste. All of these things are practical and useful and make our stay comfortable.

At home in our own room, I have most of the things mentioned above, minus the extra blanket, pillow, trash can, pen and paper. I would have to walk downstairs for an extra pillow and blanket, to the bathroom for the trash can, and to my daughters room for a pen and paper. That sounds like a bit too much walking for me, so I will add these items in my room when I get home! Notice the thinking through process…I am constantly thinking about the most practical spot in my home for things, depending on how and where I use them. I have to pause and think, “Is it worth having this item in more than one spot in the house?” I try to avoid having the same item in two different places, as much as possible, for the sake of simplicity. Before I add new items to any area, I stop and make sure it jives with the simplistic approach to life. So, do I really need a pen in my room? How often would I need or use one? The answer is quite often. I love sitting on my bed and reading my Bible. There are many times I want to underline what I am reading, but I have to get off my cozy bed to get a pen. Or, those times when I have my phone right by me and I need a pen to jot down a phone message. Yes, it is time to put a pen on my nightstand, in a pretty holder, within reach!

(Not our bedroom. Thought I would keep ours a private retreat:))

I have been very purposeful about keeping our bedroom clutter free and comfortable. It is important to me that our bedroom is a room that we both want to be in, that is intimate, relaxing, comfortable, practical, and that feels like a retreat from the rest of the world. There are a few things I have done to help create all those things. I did not spend a bunch of money, most things are just small touches here and there.

Here are a few ways I created a retreat like feeling in our room:

-A good place to start is get rid of clutter! I cannot relax when I am surrounded by stuff, and I do not want reminders of what I have not done staring at me while I am trying to retreat from life, trying to “spend time”:) with my husband, or trying to sleep.
-Get rid of those piles of clothes. Hang clothes up right away that are clean, have a place to put clothes that are dirty.
-Make sure everything you use regularly has a place. Have a basket for the tv remote, a shelf, basket or drawer for books.
-Clear off open areas (like the top of a dresser) and keep them clear except for things that are important to you and belong there. On my dresser, there are pictures of my kids that make me smile, a picture of Todd and I on our honeymoon, a few candles, and mirrored vases that reflect the candles which makes great ambience. (ohhh, this is getting a bit personal…moving on)
-Gender neutral, if there are two of you. I made sure the decor in our room is not too feminine, I am sure Todd appreciates this:) Remember, if you are married, this is a place for both of you, so be careful how much pink and flowers you use. Let your husband know by your decor that you care about how he feels in the room, too.
-Invest in quality bedding. We couldn’t afford the best sheets in the world, but I bought the best we could afford. Our comforter is fluffy and soft, and we have enough pillows to prop us up in bed to read or watch t.v.
-Pillows! Ahhh, pillows. I love pillows. I must confess this is an area where Todd has complained. I got a bit carried away with decorative throw pillows,(ok, really carried away) and every night he would have to move a boatload of pillows to get into bed. We are now down to moving just three, they add color and beauty to the bed and are not that big of a deal to move. If I am in the room before my hubby, I try to remember to move them out of the way for him and pull his covers down. I don’t know if he notices this, but I know it is a small touch hotels do that I love, so I do it for him.
-Music! This is something that is missing from our room. I would love, love an ipod speaker dock that comes with a clock! Maybe someday..:) Relaxing music would be great to add atmosphere and ambience.

So as much as I love hotels, coming back home is always something I am ready for. I love our home, and I am so very thankful that God has blessed us with a little retreat from the world that I get to take care of! (and yes, that includes being thankful to make the bed and wash the sheets!)

Frugal/ HOME/ Homemaking/ Seasonal

Fall Decorating

I finally got my fall decorations out this week. I have been looking forward to digging the bin out of the attic closet and seeing what goodies were waiting for me. Here is a picture of what was inside, boy it looks like a lot! Don’t know if I can call it simple, but it was pretty easy to place things around the house, and I didn’t feel like I had to use everything, and got rid of stuff that didn’t excite me

Fall decorating really can be done quite frugally. It really just takes a few touches. Even just a couple little pumpkins sitting around gives a festive feel. I did not buy a thing this year, over the 13 years we have been married, I have accumulated quite a bit, so I didn’t need to add more. As much as I love the look of real pumpkins and gourds, it kills me just to have them sit there and get soft and thrown away after the season, so I didn’t buy any.

Here are some picture of what I did with that table- full of fall

This is my sunroom. It is fun to put seasonal decorations out there to greet my guests when they visit.

Notice the basket of pine cones. Pine cones are a great way to decorate fugally. I use them during the fall and keep them out for Christmas. I know people here in Nebraska who can just go right out to their own yard to gather pine cones. Now that’s cheap!

These pictures are all of my living room. Just little fall touches here and there. That leaf candy dish is from a dollar store, I like to fill it with nuts when guests are here. You can find sprigs of fall berries

quite inexpensive at craft stores, they add a lot and keep year after year.

Throw pillows and magazines are two of my favorite ways to bring touches of the season into my home. This chair did have a red pillow with yellow circles on in, but it was just too bright and summery, so it got packed up with some other red touches I had in the living room, and replaced with this fall looking one instead. Magazines are great, use them to decorate!! I love, love, love the cover of the Martha Stewart Living magazine this month!

On to the dining room. I didn’t get a picture of our dining room table, but it is a central location in our home, so I always have a seasonal candle sitting on my table during the fall and winter months.

We have one lit almost nightly, I even light them during the day when

I am the only one home! I love candles!

Kitchen-I don’t do much decorating here. I like my kitchen simple and clutter free, so just a few fun things here and there.

Lastly, you just can’t forget the bathroom! This is another room I like to keep pretty simple (who wants to clean around a bunch of chotskies?) This is another place I always have a candle burning when guest are over, and um, the back of the, um, ‘throne’ is a great place for potpourri and deodorizing spray. This spray smells like Red Delicious Apples. I hope it still smells delicious,

it has been packed away since last fall!:)

So there you have it. Simple fall decor… a pumpkin here, some pine cones there, a couple of throws and pillows, a magazine or two, candles and…VOILA! FALL! It really did help warm up the feeling of my home, and compared to past years, I kept it pretty minimal. Happy Fall!

FUN/DIY/ HOME/ Homemaking

Makes Me Happy– Under-The-Cabinet Music Player

I find a lot of joy in cooking and baking, but I pretty much despise doing the dishes, that is, until I bought an amazing item that should be in every woman’s kitchen. AN UNDER- THE- CABINET MUSIC PLAYER! Oh yeah, its the bomb. (I have this one..Sony Under-Cabinet Kitchen ICF-CDK50 CD/Clock Radio (Silver)

Its up out of the way, it has a clock that makes a great little night light, a timer (so handy when I have the oven timer going and need another, for naughty girl time- outs!), a radio and cd player. Oh, can’t forget my favorite feature, it has a little holder and adapter for my ipod! Isn’t that GREAT? Makes me happy, which reminds me that we use it often to play happy songs on those grumpy mornings, when the breakfast table is full of grumps. I also use it most nights as a signal that the evening is slowing down and bedtime is approaching, by turning lights low and playing chill music.

As Christmas is approaching, I find myself starting to think of gift ideas. If you have parents or grandparents who are hard to buy for, this would be a great gift. Not the most inexpensive one, but hey, it would knock 2 people off your list and make them happy!

I got the idea from a girlfriend (Keeli!) who was tossing around good gift ideas with me last Christmas. Notice I bought one for myself instead of getting one for someone else:) If you really wanted to go all out, they even have them with dvd players and a tv screen that swivels!! This is great for little ones who are under foot while cooking. Grab a little stool, stick in some Blues Clues, and problem solved! (yes, I am suggesting using Blue to babysit, ya gotta get dinner made somehow, right?)

So there it is. An under-the-cabinet music player. Makes me happy!!

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