Boy can kid’s rooms be a challenge. Trying to get them organized and even harder trying to get the kids to keep it clean. I don’t have the secret but I have a few tips to maybe make things more bearable for both parents and kids.

First when organizing a room make sure the furniture and every feature is kid size and kid friendly. So often parents buy these tall 3-4 drawer chest of drawers which the kids can only comfortably reach the second drawer for the first 6-7 years of their lives but yet parents expect them to put their clothes away in them.

We as adults have a hard time keep our things picked up even we can see into and reach the drawers how would you feel trying to put your clothes in something a foot or more taller then you. Besides tall chests can be dangerous.  The kids, because they can’t always reach the top will pull out the bottom drawer and stand on it to reach things sometimes pulling it over on top of them. Plus if the drawers don’t slid easily little fingers can get pinched.

Use low shelves as much as you can. Keep everything low. Lower the rods in the closets. This is very easy to do. We holler because they don’t keep their clothes hung up but try standing on your tip toes and reaching as hard as you can to hang things and you will see why they don’t do it.

Place things like hooks, bulletin boards, and shelves all down low. Don’t forget to hang their pictures at their eye level not yours.

Kids learn their colors pretty early on so place things in colored containers to make for easy clean up. For example all the marbles go in the red box, the crayons in the green box etc. You can also cut out pictures to place on the end of the boxes. Remember to keep their bins and containers small and light weight.

Make sure they have a small clothes hamper in their room and small trash can. I know one mom who always is hollering because her kids leave their dirty clothes on the floor but they have no hamper in their room and have to walk through 3 rooms to put their clothes in a hamper.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow I will post a few more motivational tips and ideas. Also I have written a kids e book which is jam packed with a ton of ideas to help with kids in not just this area but many others if you need or want more ideas.

Jill

After watching a bunch of “messy house” type of shows on TV all of New Year’s Day I was ready to get up and tear into my own house, sorting and cleaning. But as often happens to us I really got busy but by the end of the day I was physically dead and burning out. I had way over did.

The first thing in getting organized is to take it slow. Doing a small amount daily is better then speeding out of the starting gate only to find yourself puddering out half way through the race.

One thing I like to do and that helps me to pace myself is to find an area which is driving me crazy because it is piled and work on it first. For example the kitchen table, a fireplace mantle or a bed. I then pick one or two areas a day to work on.

Look at that kitchen table and in your mind think about what you would really like it to look like. Do you see a pretty tablecloth with a vase of flowers and two candlesticks? Or maybe you see it with something simple like a doily and a bowl of colorful fresh fruit.

What about the mantle place. Maybe you see a couple of candles with a pretty vase. In your room do you see your bed made neatly with maybe a decorator pillow or two and a throw either nicely tossed or folded on the end.

Once you get the picture in your mind get busy clear everything off the table, mantle place or bed and then make it look like your “dream” picture.

You will feel more inspired to work on something if you have a clear picture of what it is going to look like when you get it done.

When you are dreaming of your picture try something different. Maybe you have always had flowers so try fruit instead for awhile or you have always had a tablecloth so try a doily for a change. Maybe when it wasn’t piled with stuff that didn’t belong there, you had an elaborate arrangement on your mantle so try something more simple like 5 matching pillar candles.

Here’s a side tip; when decorating  try to group things in odd numbers like 3,5 etc. Instead of setting 1 or 2 knick knacks on an end table do an arrangement of 3.

Start going from room to room and spot to spot picturing and then cleaning and organizing.

Jill

The other day my daughter, daughter in law and I went to the Parade of Homes in our area. For those of you who don’t know what that is it is the homes you always dream about but know you can never have. They are perfectly decorated model homes and some are quite expensively done.

My son and son in law were moaning as we trotted out the door all excited to once again get some new decorating ideas. They yelled all the way to the car “Don’t even think about moving when you get home and no more remodeling projects”. They know their wives oh so well.

Why we torture ourselves I don’t know but we do it every year. My daughter called the next day and said I get so discouraged looking at those houses and then I walk into my house and there is stuff every where.

I know what she was talking about because I felt it too but at that same moment in my minds eye I was thinking about my daughter’s home and the way it looked the last time I saw it. I then started comparing it to the model homes we had just seen and these words popped into my head, “Her home was decorated with love”.

When you walked into the living room of the model home there was a place for everything and everything was really in it’s place. I think they even measured the throws and pillows to make sure they were in the right spot. The pictures were beautiful landscapes and not a toy in sight.

Where as in my daughter’s home there was a music stand and chair in the middle of floor where sister who is just learning to play the flute had played Hot Cross Buns for the twentieth time and sat beaming as family members patiently applauded and praised her again and again and again after each attempt.

There was a very worn “security blanket” (not a throw) in a ball at the end of the couch with a favorite pillow laying half on and half off of the couch where middle brother had laid when he was sick and had been given special love and attention from mom.

Instead of landscapes there was mom and dad’s wedding picture, the kid’s school pictures along with family pictures scattered here and there. There was a dog chew in one corner where big brother had just finished playing with the dog and in another corner was the cat bed where a well loved kitty contently slept. There was a stray toy here and there, a few books, a couple of Bibles and magazines all having been shared and read together at different times.

When you walked into the kitchen of the model home there wasn’t a dish in sight or a thing on the counters. It was spotless and shiny.

My daughter’s on the other hand had a handful of dishes in the sink left from when dad took over and fixed lunch because mom wasn’t feeling good. There was a pan of water on the stove where sister had fixed a cup of tea for mom. There was a pan of burnt unrecognizable something that dad had burnt while trying to cope with lunch and feeding baby brother his bottle all at the same time.

The dining room chairs in the model homes were lined up in perfect position with a lovely arrangement taking up most of the table.

My daughter’s were all in a different place from having been used over and over that day. Some doing homework, others crafts, coloring, painting or fixing a broken this or that, having a snack together, and always at the end of the day sharing dinner together with everyone talking a mile a minute.

Last but not least there was total silence and quiet in the model homes. But at my daughter’s there was music all the time. Someone is always singing, whistling, humming and laughing. The dog is barking, someone is always talking and there are even a few boyish burps followed by mom’s scolding for doing it.

Yes those model homes looked beautiful on the outside but like your mom always said it is what is inside that counts. Inside the model home it was empty, cold and lonely. My daughter’s home certainly wasn’t empty, there were lots of “items of love” scattered everywhere, as far as being cold, all that love and laughter spread warmth to every corner of every room and as for being lonely, you couldn’t find one spot to be lonely in. Trust me my daughter has tried to find a quiet place to be alone in and they still seem to find her.

So here’s to all the homes decorated with love and the mom’s and dad’s who decorate them.

Well, we got the fence done over a month ago and I didn’t get a chance to put the pictures up for you to see.

I have to say we are so happy with it. I can’t wait to get the shutters up and plant some flowers. I have great cottage garden visions dancing around in my head. LO

I just hope I won’t be on bedrest come April. Since I was on bedrest at that stage of my pregnancy with the other 3 I may just have to keep the visions in my head until Baby K is born in June. Ok, maybe Sept. since it will be to hot to be in the garden by then. (Gotta love Kansas!)

I am waiting to do the shutters on the house until I get my $50 home depot gift cards from our credit card reward points. I have to say, that is a wonderful perk of using your cards and paying them off each month. Most of our points come from the business card and with this last purchase of books we will be able to get almost all the shutters. Yeah!!

I have had a lot of fun with the credit card rewards and gift cards from Swagbucks. It’s fun to be able to get things for free or nearly free! Free is a Tightwads favorite number! LOL

Tawra

• The best way to relieve stress at the Holidays is not with a bubble bath (although they are fun) but by being organized. Even though I’m not normally a big list person, at Christmas I not only write a list but I write enough lists to fill a book (making up for my lack of lists the rest of the year ;-).

  We wanted to create a cute calendar for readers that would list what you should do on each day, but every household is so different it was hard to put together something that would tell everyone when to do what and we didn’t want to make anyone feel locked into a particular plan. It can almost be more stressful trying to follow someone else’s plan then to have no plan at all.

  So we came up with a compromise. It’s a list of some general things that need to be done at Christmas. If you are attached to the calendar idea, take a calendar or day planner and, using this list, write down the day you want to get something done. For example on December 1, “Put up inside decorations.”

• If it is easier, simply hang the list by the calendar and then just mark things off as you do them. This is just a guide with our own hints and ideas. You can add to or take away from it as necessary.

  The key to a low stress holiday season is to remember that the more you spread things out, the easier it will be. Doing just a few things each day is much easier than waiting for the last minute “Holiday Squeeze” (and it won’t make you look like you accidentally fell into the clothes dryer.)

• Make your list of all of the people who you plan to buy gifts, including their sizes, things they would like and how much you can spend.
• Make your list of the people you are sending Christmas cards to and write the cards or at least get the envelopes addressed. You can then keep a few cards with you to write in during those “waiting minutes” when you’re at the doctor, picking the kids up from school or on your break at work.
• Get those sewing and craft projects done now! Don’t wait until Christmas Eve.
• Decide on what cookies and candies you want to make. Pull out the recipes now.
• Decide on what you are going to have for holiday dinners. Pull out the recipes.
• Many types of cookies freeze well. Mix up the dough several weeks ahead and freeze. That way all you have to do later is bake them.
• For cookies that you can’t freeze, measure all the dry ingredients and put them in a plastic bag. I often do this three months early. Be sure to label the bag so you remember what is in it.
• If you make your own pie crust, make them ahead of time and freeze until you need them.
• Several months ahead of time, put a bag or container in the freezer and throw in those unused heels of bread or slices of dry bread to use for dressing.
• If you make cornbread dressing, make up your dressing in early November and freeze.
• Deep clean the house.
• Set up a wrapping table or collect your wrapping things all together in one area so you can quickly and easily pull everything out to use. Wrap gifts as you buy them, not all at once at the last minute.
• Make a list of linens and dishes that you will need for meals.
• Put up outside decorations.

Hi Tawra,

Just a tip for cheap Christmas decorations. I use the leftover nuts from Hallow E’en along with interesting pasta shapes. Spread all out on a sheet of newspaper and spray with gold spray paint. These decorations look great scattered around or in a glass jar and keep for years. I occasionally gold spray a grapefruit to place beside a golden Santa Claus and it looks terrific too.

Siobhán M.

Do you have any ideas for Christmas on a dime??? I would love to see some ideas.  I have teenagers who have been happy to receive furniture that I have refinished like end tables and solid wood rocking chairs… things they will take with them when they move out. A Reader

We have several articles here that you can check out here at the bottom. How about it readers? What are your ways to save on Christmas?

Tawra

A few simple games are always fun at a party. Here are some out of our e book Halloween on a Dime. You can even take some of your old favorites and put a Halloween twist on it like instead of pin the tail on the donkey make it pin the stem on the pumpkin.

For adult parties have everyone come in a costume that they can’t be identified in. The host and hostess can leave the house too and pretend like they are walking in with the other guests so even they can’t be identified. Tell everyone they can’t talk for a certain amount of time in which they are suppose to try and figure out who is who.

It can be very funny just everyone sitting and looking at each other in these weird costumes. My folks did this once and one of the guest had a mask with no mouth in it. He wanted to eat some of the candy that was sitting on the the coffee table so the whole time he kept placing candy through the nose hole of his mask causing everyone to laugh.

Here are a couple of more games for kids and adults alike will enjoy.
Be sure to check out Dining on a Dime for the next few days for great Halloween recipes and more ideas.

Jill

Leaf Leap
Hide lollipops, small bags of candy or wrapped treats in a huge pile of leaves. Then have all the kids hunt for them in the leaves.

Halloween Guess It Game
In this game, you challenge the participants to reach into mystery boxes filled with creepy things and try to guess what each item is. The person with the most correct answers wins the game. An example is if you want them to guess “grapes”, you might try to confuse them by saying, “I think it’s eyeballs…”
Cut a hole in the top of a shoe box or laundry box for each item to be used. Cover the box with black spray paint. Decorate each box with pumpkins or spiders for a more festive flavor. Place the following items inside, one per box. Be sure to place enough of each item so the guests can adequately “feel” the guts.

Eyeballs grapes or peeled cherry tomatoes
Intestines cooked Spaghetti
Skin oil a piece of plastic bag
Brains scrambled eggs
Hair an old clown wig
Bones thoroughly washed chicken bones placed in some sand
Vomit chunky salsa
Fingers hot dogs cut into finger sized pieces
Teeth corn nuts, pine nuts or popcorn

We got these pumpkins that light up for around $1 several years ago. Each year mom dresses hers up so I thought I would share the pictures.

Tawra

I finally got my “rock” carved and painted. I got this rock from my great grandparents place in Springfield Colorado. We lived at the house when I growing up for a year and there was an old stone house behind ours.

Last year when we were there for my great grandmother’s funeral I picked up one of the rocks for me and one for my brother. Yes, the poor shocks on our car were screaming.

It took me a little bit to figure it out but I was finally able to carve our name with a diamond bit and the electric drill. I made the letters on the computer and traced them to get a nice even name.

The dark area next to the K is just moisture from the rain.

Here are the pumpkins I made several years ago. I have wanted to add to them but haven’t gotten around to it.

Then yesterday I put out some new pumpkins decorations. I didn’t work on them too hard because I wasn’t feeling so great and needed to get the house cleaned for when mom and grandparents from Colorado came over.
Tawra