Resolve to Get More Organized

Tis the season for New Year's resolutions! I know that some people don't agree with making them but I see a resolution as a gigantic goal and I'm all about goal-setting. This year I challenge you to make one of yours to become more organized.

I know people think my house is always immaculate and that I spend all day slaving away to make everything sparkly and clean. I am here to state, however, that both of those statements are untrue. If you were to drop in on me unexpectedly you would find toys strewn about, crumbs under the table, and rings in my toilets. I have four kids, one of whom is a sweet little baby who insists on being carried pretty much constantly. That makes keeping a spotless house impossible. I do, however, clean up quickly if I am expecting guests. :)

Day-to-day maintenance of a house is a necessity, not a passion for me. I try to at least keep up on laundry and keep the main floor of my home picked up every day. The rest of the chores get fit in where ever they can. Organizing is where I shine and find a lot of peace.

When my house is organized I feel my life is too. In fact, when I am stressed, I clean out a closet and feel so much better. It drives me crazy when I can't find things or piles of clutter start to build up.

Now I want you to take a look around your own home and ask yourself, "Are there any specific points in my daily routine that aren't working for me?" "Which areas cause me a lot of unnecessary stress?" Did you find any? I'll bet you did! These are questions I ask myself constantly and when I realize problem areas, I fix them.

Find and fix yours too. Whether it's a cluttered pantry that's slowing you down in the kitchen, a way to get your kids to put their things away, or an inexpensive way to make a laundry room more functional. The possibilities are endless if you can find the motivation to do it.

And don't you worry I've got lots more ideas in store. So stay tuned!

Baking Blunders

On Saturday I devoted my whole day to Christmas baking. After spending two hours at choir practice, I came home and got to work. I wanted to try two new recipes this year but I was confident they would work out fine. The first one I started was a recipe of Martha Stewart's that she makes for her own family every year-- Noel Nut Balls. Sound yummy right? I followed the recipe exactly and things were going along great. However, when I got to the part that said "form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for three hours", I ran into some problems.

The dough was so crumbly it was extremely difficult to get into a ball. It stuck way more to my hands than it did to itself! Finally, after much effort, I got it to mostly stick together. After its three hours in the refrigerator, I was supposed to take the dough out and roll it into balls to prepare it for baking. There was just one problem... the dough was literally as hard as a rock! I couldn't even press my thumb into it at all! I finally ended up putting the whole ball of dough, bowl and all, into the preheated oven to soften it a bit. It worked and I was able to bake them, and roll them in sugar.

Here's the final result. And after all that?? I found them to be not very tasty. They tasted like a ball of crunchy butter with sugar on top. Martha Stewart, where did I go wrong?

The other new recipe I tried was called St. Nick's Dove Sticks. I saw the recipe on the back of the holiday peanut M&M's bag and thought they looked so yummy and easy. First, I had to made a graham cracker crust with peanut butter and margarine. I was to press it into the pan. Slight problem though-- the crust was so sticky it would not press! It did get all over my hands though. I finally got it down using a rubber scraper and proceeded to melt the hundred Dove chocolates (okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't that many but after unwrapping them all it seemed like it!) and pour them over the crust. That part went smoothly and I felt my confidence returning! Finally, I placed M&M's on top of the chocolate and refrigerated it to let it set.

Now, the picture on the back of the bag shows the sticks in perfect little rectangles. However, when I tried to cut them this is what happened:

They were not cooperative. The crust was still very sticky, the chocolate broke into pieces, and everything fell apart, including me! I was so tired after working on these things (plus chocolate covered pretzels) and so bummed that they didn't turn out the way I expected them to.

I was feeling a little teary and so my husband came over, wrapped his arms around me, and said, "Don't worry. We get a lot of Christmas goodies from people that look yucky but they always end up tasting good." Hmmm, thanks?

Next year I am going back to my old stand-bys: Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Rachael Ray's Five Minute Fudge, and Chocolate Covered Pretzels. I'm good at those ones and they always look pretty too. And if you were one of the people who were so unfortunate as to get my goodies this year, I'm sorry. Try the Dove sticks though. They may not look pretty but they taste like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. :)

Just Fake It

A few years ago I went to my mom's employee Christmas party with her. We happened to be in town so my husband and I offered to accompany her as my dad was working. Or maybe he was there and we just went too? Hmm, I'm finding my memory is a bit fuzzy on the details because now I am picturing my little brother there as well and possibly my daughter. Anyhow, I do have a point I promise!

The hostess had the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. It was about twelve feet tall (was a real tree) and ornately decorated to perfection. The presents under the tree were perfectly wrapped too. Each one in it's own square box with sparkly paper and elaborate bows. The gifts all coordinated with the tree in classical harmony. It was so pretty. As I gazed upon the tree through the night, I realized how shabby my presents really did look under my own tree.

I became conscious of the fact that the gifts under my tree were mismatched in cheap paper with ugly shiny bows. We had recently gotten a new Christmas tree and I wanted my presents to not only match my tree but go along with the theme of the room as well.

I decided to start wrapping gifts in kraft paper with a country Christmas theme. The ornaments on my tree are all handcrafted for the most part so I knew kraft paper was the way to go. Plus I love how thick it is which makes wrapping easier for someone like me who is wrapping-impaired. :) I also desired to adorn my presents with fabric bows too but I knew that would be time consuming and expensive.

So this is what I do instead. I just fake it! I put my prettiest presents at the front of the tree. Then I use cheap plastic bows on the ones that go under and at the back of the tree. This way I have the illusion of having all these fancy gifts but without all the work.

It works for me and although my tree will never look like the one I saw at the party, it is now much more me and I like it that way. :)

Christmas Crafting Just for Me

 Last week I took some time off from house upkeep and took some time for myself. I've always loved hand-crafting things but admittedly, the more kids I've had, the more I've set my own interests aside to concentrate on motherhood. I know, however, that I'll be a better mommy if I take time to cultivate my own talents too. So I did!

 First, I created these cute winter snowmen scenes. I love snowmen and most of my Christmas decorations consist of them. These snowmen were so easy too! I have a large collection of scrapbook paper that I don't use often. I tend to be somewhat of a paper hoarder. :) Anyway, I've had some mulberry paper for probably ten years and have never used them because I didn't what to use them for. I discovered, however, that they work well for landscape pictures. I used two different kinds for the snow in my scenes, another for the angel wings and one more for the pine garland too.

I didn't have any white design paper so I made my own by taking plain white card stock and rubber stamping small snowflakes in light tan all over it. The result was rustic-looking paper perfect for country snowmen. Self-adhering buttons and various patterned papers complete my cute snow guys. The words are 3-D scrapbook stickers my mom got me last year for Christmas.

I re-purposed some old wooden frames by first painting them with a shiny bronze paint. Then I applied a crackle medium and let it dry. Finally, I painted a top coat of Rockwood Red paint over the top. I love how they turned out!

And we can't forget this snowman can we? I love wooden crafts. Someday, I hope to have my own saw that cuts out wooden shapes so I can create whatever I want. I bought this guy at Hobby Lobby for a whopping 3 bucks! A little craft paint, some sparkle glaze, and lots of love later and he's all done!

Now I have three cute new Christmas decorations, four happier kids, and one happier me!

Making Christmas Memories

I have always loved Christmas. My mom, in my opinion, did a great job making the whole month special for her kids and it is something I have striven to do as well for my own family. As I was reflecting upon what made that time of year special it was never anything to do with presents. All of my most favorite memories revolve around family togetherness.

I loved loading up in the car to drive to the Kaibab to find the perfect tree. It was always so much fun to get to play in the snow and eat a snowy picnic together. My mom, no matter how busy she was, always made time to make her grandmother's old-fashioned butter cookies for us to decorate and then we would deliver plates of them to our neighbors. When we were teenagers we added reading the Forgotten Carols to our list of traditions. It was something I looked forward to all month.

One year, when I was in elementary school still, I remember coming upstairs to find my parents sitting in the living room cutting out snowflakes. I discovered that my dad has a hidden talent for making beautiful and unique snowflakes. I secretly went down to my room and tried to make my own, but sadly, they fell short, but I vowed that someday I would develop a talent for making beautiful snowflakes just like my dad. It took a lot of years to perfect my snowflakes but I have learned to make creative and pretty snowflakes just like him. I have received many compliments on the snowflakes I create to hang in the windows.

As I said before, I have tried to make Christmases memorable for my kids too. A few years ago I was feeling extremely crafty and created a Christmas Memory Advent calendar for my family. The goal was to create something that we could incorporate all of our favorite things to do at Christmas time and create family togetherness and memories at the same time.

The calendar itself was quite simple to make. All it is is a large piece of felt on which I sewed a felt Christmas tree to and three rows of felt sewn into pockets for the traditions. The ornaments on the tree are decorative buttons I found at Michael's. They are hung on the tree by hooks made of floral wire which I hot glued to the tree. The title letters are simple foam letters and the snowmen on the sides are pieces of scrap ribbon. Each day the kids reach into a pocket and pull out an ornament to hang on the tree and a tradition to do.

As far as the memories go, I wrote down things we do every year like attending the Ward Christmas Party, looking at Christmas lights and decorating Christmas cookies. I also included lots of family activities such as going on winter walks, watching Christmas movies, and doing good deeds for each other. My kids love it and look forward to seeing what the calendar is going to say everyday.

The Christmas season is not meant to just be endured. It is not meant as a time to get and give presents or attend parties and fill every moment with activities. It is a time to remember the true meaning, the birth of our Savior. For without him, none of us would ever have the chance to return to our Father in Heaven. Our families are so important to this plan. I hope we can all make the time, just as my mom did, to make wonderful Christmas memories and make it a time of year that will be remembered for years to come.

Chill Out on your Carpet

The other night Nathan and I were relaxing in the living room. We had endured a hectic weekend and needed some time to just sit quietly and de-stress. After a little while we decided we needed to rearrange the furniture. Did you know that rearranging furniture is a proven stress-reliever? I don't know why exactly. Maybe it's the exertion of pushing around heavy furniture or it's symbolic to rearranging things in your life to a more harmonious way. Who knows, but it always works for me!

Anyway, after we had moved everything around and were satisfied with the results we were left with unsightly indentations in the carpet where the couch and chair had once been. I remembered reading recently in an Ask Heloise column in Good Housekeeping Magazine that if you place ice cubes in the divots and let them melt it will cause the carpet to spring back up. Well, I tried it and sure enough by morning I could barely see them! After vacuuming, I couldn't see them at all. It worked great and that's definitely a little trick I'll use again and again. :)

Christmas in a Bin

One bin for each kid!

Yes, I know my last post was also about Christmas. It's because I'm trying to tell you something... Get your Christmas shopping done early so you can enjoy the Holidays!

My husband, Nathan, is my perfect match. He and I complicate each other in every way. Where I am weak he is strong and vice versa. We also share many of the same traits. One of them is list making. We both love to make lists and plan ahead!

Nathan and I start planning Christmas in September. We start by making a running list of all the presents we want to buy, complete with estimated prices. As we think of more things we add them to list or subtract them as we learn more about what our kids and each other really want for Christmas. Then we get to work collecting the gifts. Most of our shopping is done online which is much less hectic and much more convenient.

Each of our children have a bin in the garage numbered with their corresponding birth number. As the gifts arrive, they go in the bin to await wrapping time. My mom used to hide our presents in her closet and there were a few times that things got lost in there only to be found years later. Hmm, there's probably still some lost in there!

Thanksgiving weekend, the tree goes up and the presents get wrapped. They're all bought by then so why not? Nathan helps me wrap and we get through them in about a week. Then we have the whole month of December to enjoy the Christmas season. No last minute chaos at our house. See how much Christmas shopping you can get done this month. The less stress the better!