Style, Recipes, Travel, Crafts & Household Tips
We love Star Wars movies and were inspired to make some printable star wars valentine cards that will be a HUGE hit with both boys and girls. These are so simple to print at home and have your child give them to their classmates. The Valentine’s include Rey, BB8, Finn and Chewbacca. [Read more…]
One thing I am focusing one this year is memory keeping. My girls are growing up so fast and I am sad that I don’t have items like this Valentine Quiz for Kids from when they were young. I am going to make them complete the quiz this year but wish I would have started when they were little.
If you are a room mom or teacher this would be a great activity for a classroom Valentine’s Day party. I am sure most parents would love to receive this.
Wondering how to keep a house clean? It can be hard especially once you have kids who seem to make messes quicker then you can clean them up. If you have had a hard time committing to a daily cleaning schedule, or sometimes feel like all you ever do is wash dishes and straighten your home, maybe you need to add a few simple things to your daily routine to cut down on housework time. These tips can become automatic and will do wonders to cut down on the time it takes to keep your house straightened up.
1. Clean As You Go
One of the quickest and most effective habits to create is to clean as you go! This may take some practice if it isn’t your natural tendency to be clean or orderly. But making it a priority to put things away as you use them and clean as you go is the best way to keep a clean and orderly home.
Taking those dozen extra steps to put your shoes in your room, or to hang your coat in the closet, or to put the shopping bag of items away will save so much time in the long run. It’s much easier to put things away immediately than it is to be facing an entire room full of things that are out of place at one time.
2. Have a Bathroom Routine – Bathroom Cleaning
Bathrooms are often the biggest drudgery to clean, but can be quickly cleaned each week if you make a simple daily habit. Chances are you have a nightly or every morning personal care routine – wash your face, brush your teeth, etc. Add a small step to that routine that will help keep your bathroom clean – wipe down the bathroom surfaces. Put a canister of cleaning wipes under the sink to grab and wipe down the sink, faucet, counter, and back of the toilet each night or morning. Or if you use disposable facial wipes, use that before tossing it to wipe everything down. It probably goes without saying, but make sure to use it for your face first. This bathroom wipe down habit will probably add less than a minute to your nightly routine, and will keep your bathroom looking freshly cleaned between actual cleanings.
3. Delegate Responsibilities
Repeat after me – I do not have to do everything by myself. It really is okay and a good idea to delegate house cleaning responsibilities to other members of your household. Even if your husband doesn’t load the dishwasher the most effective way possible, or if your children make a sloppy bed, it’s okay for things to not be done perfectly.
Especially with your children, it’s important to delegate tasks to help teach them the importance of keeping a neat and tidy home. Create a chore chart to help your children know who is in charge of which chore each day or week. If things aren’t getting done well, take a day to teach them a fast and effective way of completing their designated chore.
4. Beds, Dishes and Laundry
If you can only tackle a handful of daily chore habits – the three that will most likely make the biggest impact are the beds, the dishes, and the laundry. Make it an automatic to pull your blankets up and fluff your pillows each morning. Military corners and perfectly made beds aren’t necessary, but just having the blankets and pillows straightened will make a huge difference. Make it a family rule that no one goes to bed with dirty dishes in the sink. Waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes is a horrible way to start the day. Make sure to load and run the dishwasher before bed, or wash those last few dishes by hand. Then make it a morning automatic to put the dishes away when you wake up. Create a daily or every couple of days policy of finishing one full load of laundry. Letting your laundry pile up all week will most likely create an entire day of laundry and who wants to spend their weekends that way? Start a load in the morning, toss it in the dryer at lunch time or when you get home from work, and fold and put them away right after dinner. It will take minutes of your day and you won’t have to dread an entire day spent in the laundry room each week.
5. Perfection Is Unnecessary
This is the most important housekeeping tip of this list – you are not Martha Stewart and she most likely has paid help in the first place. And you know what – that is okay! Don’t allow a Pinterest-perfect world to give you the idea that you have to live in perfection as well. Keeping your home somewhat tidy and straightened will do wonders to alleviate stress and create a peaceful environment. But you can easily undo all of that serenity by having lofty and unattainable goals of a perfect home.
6. Use beautiful cleaning supplies: I know it sounds silly, but I’m way more motivated to clean and do dishes if I have nice supplies that I look forward to using. For example, Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps and dish soaps are made with essential oils and plant-derived ingredients, so they smell amazing and don’t irritate my skin. Plus, the matching set looks so nice sitting next to my sink!
Grove Collaborative has a special offer to help start the New Year with a clean home. When you place your first order of $20 from Grove using my link, you’ll get:
If you’re already a customer, you’ll get a free set of Grove walnut scrubber sponges, which are so pretty you won’t mind leaving them out by the sink.
Switching to beautiful home care products has been a real game-changer for me. Because I look forward to getting out this stylish cleaning caddy, I’m much more inclined to stick to my cleaning routine. And dishes don’t feel like such a chore with a stylish sponge and lovely smelling dish soap.
Plus if you spend $39, you’ll get a beautiful stoneware tray for free! It’s perfect for holding your soaps and a sponge.
Grove hand-selects the best green products and delivers them (carbon offset) right to my doorstep, on my schedule. I get helpful reminders when it’s time to reorder, so that’s one less thing I have to think about.
As a VIP, I also get free shipping, free gifts, price matching, exclusive sales and personal service. Once you’ve submitted your order, you’ll be signed up for the free 60 day VIP trial so you can check it out for yourself!
Here’s how it works:
Learn more about Grove Collaborative here.
What are some ways that you make housework easier? What seems to be your problem area where cleaning is concerned?
Next check these tips on home to stay organized at home.
and get a free printable task list for each month with the Clean & Organize challenge for 2019.
A new year always makes us want to start every aspect of our lives off on the right foot. Diet, exercise, family time, and of course cleaning, organizing, and decluttering often top the list. To help you clean and get organized in 2018, we are having a fun challenge. We will be sharing a new list of tasks that can help you get on track each month this year. (We ran this same challenge in 2017 and 2018 and people loved it!)
Instead of spending a month breaking your back getting it all done instead we will help break it up into smaller tasks over the entire year. We even have a printable checklist that you can laminate and hang on your refrigerator or slip into your planner. I will be sharing 365 simple tasks that can be done each day to help you get your house in order this year. Most tasks should take 15 – 30 minutes. If it works for you do each task on the corresponding date, if not just use it as a list of tasks, some days you may get more than one done. You may wish to take off the weekend and double up on weekdays or vice versa. I want you to be successful so do what works best for you.
Be sure to see the full list and helpful hints below the printable sign up!
Here are all the tasks we have included for January and some helpful tips.
Dust blinds, remove cobwebs from corners, and wipe off window sills– Something like this blind duster makes quick work of this chore. A damp cloth with a bit of all- purpose cleaner is great for the sills.
Remove and rewash curtains in main living areas of the house, rehang– I occasionally dust my curtains but sometimes they need a good refreshing that only a wash and hang can give them. Some curtains can be washed and rehung while still slightly damp and you won’t need to iron them, otherwise for formal curtains you can send them off to the dry cleaners.
Scrub the oven, and toss out pots, pans, and baking sheets in rough shape- After this task, you should treat yourself to a nice new pan if you need one! I could not believe how bad some of my baking sheets looked!
Start a donation box, put at least 15 items in it immediately- Toys, clothes, extra kitchen items, whatever you come across that you consider clutter and needs a new home. This is essential for helping you feel more organized and overwhelmed. I wish I had stayed on top of this the last few years. It was a HUGE project when we moved to Germany and I could not believe the number of things we had in our home we no longer needed. I know even with the amount of items I got rid of it will still be easy to find 15 more items.
Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures, replace burned out bulbs- This should take no more than 10-15 minutes to do and will make a big impact.
Replace ac/heating filter, dust vents, make service appointment to have it checked- Stock up on filters you will see this pop up every few months and keeping your filters changed regularly will keep your unit running better and longer.
Test and replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide alarms- This task takes just a few minutes but makes an important difference in your family safety!
Remove 1 pair of shoes, and 8 clothing items that you don’t love, add to donation box– Purging always feels good, dig into your closet or your kids and add to your donation box (if you want to add more, feel free). If you want to
Reorganize pantry, toss out expired items including spices- Check dates and toss anything past expiration, take a few minutes to reorganize and add items to your shopping list if needed.
Dump out your junk drawer, rehome items that don’t belong, reorganize- Consider grabbing one of these drawer organizers to help keep your drawer from returning to its cluttered state.
Soak all shower heads in vinegar, clean and replace caulk where needed. Snake hair out of drains.- Slip rubber band over your shower head, then place a baggie filled with vinegar over it, secure with rubber band, leave in place for a couple hours then remove. This easy trick removes hard water buildup and mildew. If you are anything like me your hair sheds like crazy in the shower and they need a good snaking now and then.
Clean keyboard, delete unused apps and pics off phone– If you have done all of this recently find something else to do similar like moving computer photos to a zip drive, cd, or usb.
Flip mattress, clean out under bed, and replace bed pillows if needed- A good spring cleaning of areas like this is a good idea several times a year.
Sort through medicine cabinet, toss out expired medicines- Call your local pharmacy or hospital and see if they have a disposal program in place. I was able to take expired medicine to my local police department.
Empty refrigerator, give it a good scrubbing, throw away nearly empty or expired containers-This one may take more than 15 minutes to do and can be broken up over a couple days if you like.
Create a family command center, add a few organizational pieces if necessary– Use a chalkboard or dry erase, hooks, and whatever else you need to streamline family life.
Wash fabric shower curtains, take out old towels and cut up for rags- If you have a vinyl curtain you can soak it in a tub with soap and a bit of bleach to sanitize.
Spend 15 minutes tackling an area that has been bugging you for awhile- Set a timer and attack that desk or tidy up the mudroom.
Go through your jewelry box, take items in for repair, get rid of single earrings, and unloved pieces.
Toss magazines older than 3 months, unsubscribe to virtual subscriptions you don’t use.
Rearrange furniture and pictures in the living room to give it a fresh new feel- Sometimes this is all you need to get out of a winter funk and freshen up your living space, and it’s free!
Vacuum and wash car, put air in tires, top off all fluids. Don’t forget to empty the trunk!
Sweep off front porch, put away any holiday decorations still out, add a new plant- Giving the front of the house a freshen up will make you smile every time you come home.
Find 5 more items to add to the donation box- Outgrown kids clothes, an extra toaster, unused rice cooker, etc… You can go over 5 of course but at least make it the minimum.
Replace ragged kitchen towels and potholders with new ones- Pass usable ones on to the garage in a rag bucket, throw away others.
Clean out dryer filter, toss mismatched socks, buy new laundry baskets if needed– I can not believe the number of mismatched socks in my home. Where do the matches go?!?
Go through PJ’s, socks, and underwear drawers– Toss or donate overly worn out items. Treat yourself to some scented drawer liners.
Empty spam, delete emails and answer a few-feels good doesn’t it?
Dust the tops of high furniture pieces- Those places we forget like the top of the entertainment center, cupboards, and armoires need attention now and then.
Wipe down baseboards throughout house- If you are so inclined after giving them a swipe with cleaner you can go back over dry trim with a dryer sheet to help repel future dust.
Take your full donation box (or two) to a local thrift store or charity center- You can pat yourself on the back for cleaning out the house and doing good!
My husband can be hard to shop for and my Dad can be even more difficult. It’s hard to find unique item that will surprise them. Our list of unique gift ideas for men has some really cool tech items, games to play with the family and other fun things. The men in your life won’t be disappointed this year.
To save this great list of gift ideas for later, press the “pin-it” button at the top of the page to save it to your Pinterest boards.
If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.
We included a few holiday outfits in our latest capsule wardrobe from JCPenney. Having outfits that mix and match makes it easy to look great for holiday get-togethers.
Pieces 2 + 9 +12
A few weeks ago I shared our newest capsule wardrobe with cute winter outfit ideas from JCPenney and I highlighted the outfits I was wearing for Thanksgiving and other casual winter events. I am excited to partner with JCPenney on these two posts since I love clothing that is stylish and affordable and JCPenney offers incredible style and value for all. They offer a variety of affordable fashion for the whole family and home decor. JCPenney offers a huge variety of high quality stylish pieces at great prices.
The outfit above I choose to wear for dinners out and casual holiday get-togethers. I included the Liz Claiborne pull-on pants in the capsule in both pine and black. Many of you love the comfort of leggings but not the tight fit. I find these pants to be the perfect solution. They are so comfy for when you are on the go but want to look more dressed up than leggings. The Liz Claiborne Three Keyhole Top, Black Dot can easily be dressed up or down. It looks great with the black pants or jeans. I love the fit of this top so much I also bought the red floral style.
Did you know that you can pick up items in store if you need items quickly? It is a huge time saver to browse online and then pick up in store or have the items shipped to my home. In this busy holiday season, we are all looking for ways to save time and money. I ordered each of the outfits I am wearing online but then picked up in store. I love this service. [Read more…]
Shopping for a tween boy has you stumped? Everyday Savvy has chosen out some unique, top holiday gifts that your boys will rave about. We included a few electronic items, but there is so much more for your boys to explore here and you will love our tween boy gift ideas. We have several other gift idea lists for tween boys, so if you need more ideas, check them out!
We have more gift idea lists for tween boys, be sure to check them out here: Great Gift Ideas
To save this cool list for later, press the “pin-it” button at the top of the page to save it to your Pinterest boards. [Read more…]
I love finding really unique stocking stuffers that are both useful and fun. Instead of choosing items from the dollar store or dollar section, I like to buy a few nicer stuffers and then add things like candy, soaps, socks and other useful items to fill those stockings. Tween boys can be really hard to shop for, so we are here to help with our list of unique stocking stuffers for tween boys.
If you want to save this cool list of ideas for later, press the “pin-it” button to save it to your Pinterest boards.
If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.