Cool Easter Basket Ideas for Tween Boys

March 2, 2020 By Heidi 8 Comments
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Cool Easter Basket Ideas for Tween Boys

While your tweens might not still believe in the Easter bunny, you still might want to treat them to a few things for Easter, especially if they have siblings that still believe. We have found lots of great non-candy options to fill those baskets. We have a variety of items, in all price ranges to fit a variety of tween interests. You won’t want to miss our cool Easter basket ideas for tween boys.

To save this cool list of Easter basket ideas for later, press the “pin-it” button at the top of the page. [Read more…]

Clean and Organize Challenge – March Tasks

March 1, 2020 By Melissa Leave a Comment
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Light sweet spring breezes, flowers blooming, and the warm sunshine peeking through can only mean one thing- it’s time for sitting on the porch with a glass of sweet tea… and of course spring cleaning. Out with the old (winter items) and in with fresh new spring themed items, decluttering, and light cleaning. Take it one small task at a time throughout the year with our series and you can tackle at it all easily! We want to help you clean and organize your home the way that works best for you!

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.

Sign up to get your free Clean and Organize List for March

Be sure to see the full list and helpful hints below the printable sign up!

Here is the full list of tasks with some links to tools that will help!

Clean and Organize March Task List

Sweep off front porch- swap welcome mat for a bright new spring one. I love the cute doormats from Target. Sweep cobwebs out of the corners and leaves off the porch.

Spot clean spills and stains on the sofa- Holiday entertaining is fun but it can leave little spots of fun all over your couch too in the form of dripped drinks and dips. Before they have more of a chance to settle in spot clean each one.

Do a little housecleaning on your computer- Transfer a month’s worth of photos to zip drive or cd to clear up some space.

Dust electronics-TV’s, stereos, computers, speakers, and cable boxes need periodic dusting to ensure they continue to work optimally.

Scrub grill grates- If you didn’t at the end of last season you will want to make sure your grill is all ready for BBQ season, check the propane level in the tank or stock up on charcoal.

Go through bathroom towels- toss out or cut old towels into rags to reuse in the garage or for dusting rags in the house, toss out the worst.

Check all outdoor window screens- Replace as needed, while you are doing your walk around it is also a good idea to check the window seals to keep your homes heat and air efficient.

Grab a garbage bag- set a timer for 10 minutes, and make a quick sweep filling with items to donate. Try to do this each month and you will be rid of clutter in no time.

Box up any winter gear you no longer need- Put it in storage but where it is still accessible for any late cold spells or storms that may hit.

Wash throw rugs then hang to dry- spot clean the ones too big to put in the washer.

Replace your shower curtain liner(s)- If you haven’t in the past couple years you may need to toss your old one and replace it.

Give your glass cooktop stove a good scrubbing- Use a non abrasive cleaner and attack the cooked on mess you’ve been avoiding.

Add a new candle- And maybe some fresh flowers to your main living area to lighten it up and bring spring inside.

Go through receipts- file the ones you need, toss those you don’t. Gather them from the car console, your purse, drawers, and baskets-wherever your hot spots are.

Dust heat and ac vents throughout the house- Replace or repair any that are peeling ,rusty, or replace main filter.

Update the virus protection software on your computer’s- Check your operating system for updates as well.

Spend 15 minutes playing with your kids- Help them choose 5 toys to donate to charity or toss out broken ones.

Deep clean the microwave- by heating up 1 cup of vinegar for 2 minutes. Wipe down well.

Empty and sanitize bathroom trash cans- I like to soak mine in bleach water for 10 minutes, drain, and add a couple drops essential oil in the bottom to fight germs and make them smell good.

Take stock of your pantry- Use up winter foods like soups and heavy sauces, add lighter spring items to your list.

Run an empty load through your washer- use hot water and 1 cup vinegar to sanitize it, refill the rinse aid compartment and put your dish washing pods in a pretty glass jar to store.

Throw open all the windows- Let the house air out for several hours. Not only is this great for removing the stale cooped up smell but fresh air will improve the air quality and

Donate any appliances you haven’t used in 6 months – Rice steamer, spiralizer, fondue pots, etc..

Thoroughly vacuum or sweep under couch- Slide over that coffee table and armchairs too.

Degrease your range hood- Use vinegar in a spray bottle to cut grease and disinfect.

Toss out toothbrushes- Replace with fresh new brushes and sanitize toothbrush holder- a forgotten about spot that needs to be cleaned frequently!

Empty one desk drawer- Toss and reorganize everything until it all has a home if you don’t have a home office desk clean out a junk drawer, nightstand drawer, or bathroom drawer.

Throw out expired condiments in the refrigerator- There is probably still things like cranberry mint jelly lurking from Christmas that is past it’s prime.

Check garden tools for rust-give hinges a good oiling for this year’s garden even if you are just doing container gardens and not a big plot get your gardening gear in top shape.

Sort last year’s seeds-peruse seed catalogues, or online if you really want to keep the clutter out, and order a few new varieties for this year.

More great info here

Spring Cleaning Checklist

How to Declutter Your Home

Simple Steps to Help Keep Your House Clean

Routines to Help you Get Your Home Organized

Get Organized with a Nightime Routine

Fun & Unique Easter Basket Ideas for Tween Girls

February 27, 2020 By Heidi 9 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Tween girls can be hard-to-please and if you need help filling Easter baskets this year, we have lots of great ideas they will love. My tween loves arts, crafts, games and other fun activities. I like to fill her basket with a few non-candy items for her to enjoy. We have filled this list with lots of great Easter basket ideas for tweens at all price points.

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.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

[Read more…]

Easter Bath Bombs / DIY Easter Egg Bath Bombs

February 24, 2020 By Melissa Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

These fun Easter Bath Bombs would be a perfect Easter gift for tweens, teens or adults. These DIY Easter Egg Bath bombs are simple to make and require just a few ingredients.

Pin for Later

Making DIY Easter bath bombs seems like it might be difficult or overwhelming but you can use plastic Easter eggs for bath bombs! If you are like me you have a bunch of plastic Easter eggs lying around and they make the perfect Easter bath bomb mold. Bath bombs from a store like Lush are very popular but you can make your own Easter egg-shaped bath bombs for so much cheaper.

I think these DIY colorful bath bombs would look super cute wrapped up in a favor bag and handed out as little Easter gifts for friends.

This Easter egg bath bomb recipe requires just a few simple ingredients and they are all available from Amazon if you want to save yourself a trip to the store. I linked to each ingredient to make it easy. [Read more…]

Quick and Easy Ways To Save Money Every Day

February 21, 2020 By Melissa 2 Comments
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Getting on a budget and saving money can be overwhelming. Start small with a few easy ways to save money this year. You can easily save $5 or more each day! Most of these are very simple changes that have a real impact on your bottom line without changing the quality of your life too much.

[Read more…]

How to Declutter Your Home & Simplify Your Life

February 13, 2020 By Melissa Leave a Comment
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Dealing with clutter can be nerve-wracking. When you are wondering How to Declutter Your Home but are not sure how to go about it, you need to read these easy tips to help get your home organized and back on track in no time.

clean organized decluttered home - how to declutter your home

Learn How to Declutter Your Home

How to Declutter Your Home and Simplify Your Life

We all look around our homes and want to declutter but sometimes it is hard to know where to start. Sometimes the clutter and mess can be overwhelming and make it hard to start. Or worse, you get started and then everything is torn apart and you don’t want to keep going. Then the house is worse than it was before you started. You aren’t alone. Most of us have been there. Use these easy tips for How to Declutter your home to get organized and clutter-free.

Tips to Declutter Your House / Steps to Declutter

When you are ready to get started, use these tips to declutter your home. By using these ideas, you will know how to declutter your home fast and without feeling like it is a difficult job. These are the best ways to declutter a house, in my opinion.

Start Small

Most people want to tackle all the clutter at once. If it was that easy, you wouldn’t have put it off for so long. When you look at a giant mess, trying to tackle it all at once is what makes the job seem overwhelming. Start small in one area. Maybe it is an end table or another catch-all spot in the house. Plan on only working in that area. You can have 3 bags, boxes or bins. When you start, put anything that is trash in one bag. Things to be donated goes in another. In the last bag, anything that you want to keep but does not go in that space. After clearing out the space, wipe it down, vacuum or sweep the area. Then put anything that belongs there back. Only the things that belong there. If you are keeping it but need to find a home for it, leave it in the container labeled keep. If you found things in the space that you are keeping but it has a place it should be kept, move it to where it belongs. It doesn’t matter if that place is still a mess. You will get to it and when you do, you will be able to get the items you put there into place.

Once you have finished one space, you can move on to another or you can wait until another time. This helps you to see progress right away and doesn’t take much time. Using this method, you can declutter fast, in as little as 10 minutes at a time. One of the ways I love to declutter and organize is to set a timer and give myself just 10 or 15 minutes to work on an area. This makes it seem less overwhelming and in my opinion, is the best way to declutter a house!

Be sure to have a system of what you will keep, donate or trash

Don’t Try it All At Once

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they want ways to declutter is to try to do it all right now. While that sounds good in theory, most people will be on a roll, tearing everything out and then get started on moving things around. Have you ever been in the middle of a big project and half way through, you don’t want to do it anymore, or it took longer than you thought and you do not have time to finish it. Then instead of feeling like you have gotten anywhere, the house looks worse than it did before.

Do You Really Need It?

One of the best steps to declutter your house is to ask yourself do you really need it. If it is something that you do not use often, do not need, but want, decide where it should go. Is it something you want to hold onto for sentimental reasons but do not need out all the time. Is it something that you want to be able to see all the time and need to find a place to display it. This can go with knick-knacks, trinkets, family heirlooms, and even clothes. Once you can decide that you want it but don’t need it, you can start to decide what to do with it. Maybe it is best to put it into storage. Maybe you want to find the perfect shelf to set it on. If you know you are keeping it but need somewhere to put it, you can put it in the keep bin until you can find the best place for it. If you are keeping it but putting it in storage, get it moved to storage and out of the way.

Room By Room

Are you one of those people that bounce from place to place when you want to declutter your home and simplify your life? The best plan of attack is to complete one room at a time. And that means the whole room. Start small and do one place at a time, as mentioned above, but after that space is finished, move to the next space in the same room. Do not take something to put it in its new home and start working there because, well, it needs to be decluttered too. Stay focused and work section by section in each room, and then move on to the next room. By using a methodical method, you will see the progress you are making and it will motivate you to keep going.

Donations

After making your donation bags or boxes, be sure to take them to donation right away. You do not want to leave them in a corner of the room, collecting dust and taking up space. If possible take them to the donation center right away. If you can not do it that day, schedule time specifically to take them. This gets them out of the house and keeps them from being more clutter, just in a different form.

Once you get started with steps to declutter, you will see how nice it looks. This will help you stay motivated. Don’t get overwhelmed with the mess. If you need help, you can always create a declutter your home checklist. List the places that you need to work on and stick to the plan.

Looking for a Declutter Your Home Checklist?

Join our clean and organize challenge where I send you a free declutter checklist every month!

Other Simple Cleaning & Organizing Articles That You May Find Helpful

How to Keep Your Home Clean

Spring Cleaning Checklist and Tips

How to Get Organized At Home

Organize Your Life with a Night Time Routine

101 Meal Planning Tips

Clean and Organize 365 – February

January 31, 2020 By Melissa 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

While spring is still a long way away we can still make it feel fresh, clean, and airy indoors with some deep winter cleaning. Take it a day at a time with these small tasks to clean and organize and watch your house sparkle!

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 monthly 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.

Sign up to get your free Clean and Organize List for February

Be sure to see the full list and helpful hints below the printable sign up!

Here is the full list of tasks with some links to tools that will help!

Clean and Organize February Task List

Thin out Takeout menus, condiments, and supplies – We all have one of those drawers or baskets that overflow with sweet and sour sauce and sporks. Weed out menus and condiments, wipe it down if needed.

Wash throw pillows throughout house, place in dryer with a tennis ball to help shape- Remove cases if pillows are not machine washable, this will really help freshen up the living space.

Wash throw rugs, hang area rugs outdoors to air out, spot clean as needed- Pound rugs with a sturdy stick to remove dirt if they can’t be laundered and attack spots left over from the holidays before they set in.

Wipe down kitchen chairs from top to bottom and table legs or base with wood cleaner- A dreaded task to be sure but toast crumbs and dust add on on these spots and they need it!

Go through 2 kitchen cabinets toss or donate unused mugs,etc..- Most of us have a cabinet filled with mom mugs and chipped saucers, let’s thin it out!

Run a vinegar then water cycle through your coffee pot- I run a full pot ( or about 2 reservoirs full for a single cup brewer) and then several water cycles to rinse.

Swap out 5 photos in the frames hanging up on your wall to freshen up the area- Changing things up just a bit creates a new area for your eyes and makes it feel updated.

Grab a garbage bag, set a timer for 10 minutes- Make a quick sweep filling with items to donate. Hit every room in your house and grab at least one or two items from each.

Scrub behind and at the base of your toilets- Let the cleaner soak for 10 minutes before wiping away, use a toothbrush around the floor bolts to get in really good.

Wipe down all switchplates in your home with antibacterial cleaner- It’s a good idea in the middle of flu season to hit those forgotten areas and kill the germs.

Clean off the top of the refrigerator- Wipe with a good degreaser and avoid putting anything back if you can help it. Keep clutter to a minimum!

Go through t-shirt drawer, get rid of stained, ill-fitting, or unwanted tops – One drawer at a time and before you know it we will have the dresser in order!

Rub coconut or olive oil onto your wooden cutting boards to recondition them- Add a drop or two of your favorite essential oil, work it in with a soft cloth and remove excess. This will extend their life and make them look pretty on your counters.

Season your cast iron pan- Seasoning your cast iron pan keeps it in top shape and will make your recipes turn out perfect everytime. Scrub cast iron with hot soapy water, dry well, rub with a thick coat of vegetable oil using a cloth, bake upside down in an oven preheated to 325 for one hour (place a piece of foil on the lower rack to catch drips).

Clean out under kitchen sink, safely dispose of chemical bottles- Toss out empty containers, add items you are low on like sponges to your shopping list.

Dust/Clean all TV screens throughout the house- Dust builds up and while it is not as noticeable as the TV is running it shows terrible when it’s dark. This electronics cleaner can make the job easy!

Put a fresh box of baking soda in the fridge and freezer- If you haven’t changed it in a while now is the time. This 1-minute job makes a big difference on the smell or lack thereof in your fridge and freezer.

Take 15 minutes to gather and organize tax information- Begin tidying and making a folder for your receipts and other documents you may need for taxes.

Wipe down all interior doors throughout the house with a damp rag- Use a magic eraser for stubborn marks and scuffs.

Have items waiting for repair or dry cleaning? Make a trip around town and drop them off, stop for an iced coffee or ice cream to treat yourself for a job well done.

Wash pet bedding and any clothing they may have, air dry- Your pets and your nose will really appreciate fresh clean smelling bedding. Add a comfy blanket to keep them cozy through the remaining winter.

Clean hairbrushes thoroughly- Use a comb to remove as much hair and dust from brush as possible. Soak brushes in hot soapy water for an hour, rinse, and allow to dry.

Dust all pictures and decor on the walls- Use a telescoping handle to get high and cut the dust down on out of reach photographs. This microfiber duster set with an extendable handle makes the job easy.

Wipe down window sills throughout the entire house- A quick swipe of the sills takes just a minute but will have a big impact.

Scrub the front door well, change out your winter wreath if you have one- Create a welcoming front door that sparkles.

Visit the kids’ closet and pluck out 12 items to add to your donation box- Clothes, toys, games, etc…Even if you did a Pre Christmas cleanout you can surely squeeze out a few more items.

Give couches, throw pillows, and drapes a good spray with fabric deodorizer- I love this natural alternative to Febreze. After the many bodies that have graced your couches during the holidays( some sleeping on them all night), they need a good freshening up!

Spend 10 minutes on the game shelf, toss games that are missing pieces, donate those not played with. Treat the family to a game night tonight! Looking for fun new family games? We love Exploding Kittens and Apples to Apples.

Grove Collaborative has a special offer of a bundle to help people keep their homes stocked with the best products…all while staying warm inside. When you place your first order of $20 from Grove using my link, you’ll get:

Mrs. Meyer’s Hand Soap
Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap
Mrs. Meyers multi-surface spray
Grove bubble-up
Grove Walnut Scrubber Sponges
Free Shipping & VIP Trial

Check out this special cleaning offer

My favorite products to get to the $20 cart are

I use these in my home every single day! The quality of the towels and reusable Microfiber clothes are amazing.

Grove Collaborative has another special offer of a healthy home essentials bundle to help people keep their homes stocked with the best products…all while staying warm inside. When you place your first order of $20 from Grove using my link, you’ll get:

Grove Collaboratives All Purpose Cleaner Concentrate
Grove Collaboratives Glass Spray Bottle
Seedling by Grove Bath Tissue (3 Packs of 4 Rolls)
Seedling by Grove Paper Towels (2 Packs of 2 Rolls
) Seedling by Grove Facial Tissue (2 Boxes)
Seedling by Grove Pocket Tissues (1 Set of 8)
Free Shipping & VIP Trial

Check out the special natural cleaning offer

It is so handy to have cleaning products come right to your doorstep and they make it easy to cancel auto shipments so you can just order whenever you want or you can easily cancel.

Unique Valentine Gift Ideas for Men

January 27, 2020 By Heidi 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Men are hard to buy for and if you exchange gifts, I try and find gifts that my husband will love. He would rather that I wrap up something useful in Valentine’s wrapping rather than gift him candy or stuffed animals. When choosing out a Valentine’s Day gift, I try and find something that my husband wouldn’t normally splurge on or a little something to make his life easier. If you are looking for Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Men, we have a great list of gift ideas that will help you find something unique for the men in your life. We tried to find really fun things in all price ranges to help you with your shopping this year. [Read more…]

Great Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Women

January 24, 2020 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Sometimes my husband and I exchange little gifts on Valentine’s Day and he knows I appreciate very practical items. I would rather have something that I will use or wear all year long than for him to spend lots of money on flowers and stuffed animals. If you need gift ideas for women for Valentine’s Day, we have found some really cool and unique things for teens, signifigant others and other women in your life. There are lots of fun items in many price ranges to help surprise your loved one this year. [Read more…]

How to Keep A House Clean – Simple Steps

January 19, 2020 By Melissa 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Tips and tricks for how to keep house clean. These simple steps make it easy to keep your house clean everyday!

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. [Read more…]

Cleaning & Organizing 365 – January

December 31, 2019 By Melissa 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Is cleaning and organizing one of your resolutions for 2020? This declutter plan will help you have a clean and organized home.

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 2020, 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 , 2018, and 2019 and people loved it!)

How to keep your house clean and organized

One easy way is to sign up to get your free Cleaning and Organizing List for January (or whatever month it is) If you happen to come to this post sometime else during the year, we will send you the correct month.

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!

Do you say I Need help cleaning and organizing my house and need more tips and guides?

Learn Simple House Cleaning Tips here

Check out how to be organized at home.

Need help getting everything done in a week? Be sure to also grab our free weekly planner here.

Unique Stocking Stuffers for Girls

December 16, 2019 By Heidi 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

I love finding really unique stocking stuffers. My kids get so excited opening their stocking and discovering the cool things tucked inside. I buy a few cool things and then add bandaids, undies, toothpaste and body wash. We have found some really cool things that would make great stocking stuffer ideas for girls.

To save this cool list for later, press the “pin-it” button above to save it to your Pinterest boards.

If you are looking for great deals on gifts, join our EverydaySavvy Deals Facebook group.

We have more unique stocking stuffers for girls and tweens on our ultimate list of gift ideas page.

[Read more…]

Personalized Holiday Cards And Holiday Tips

December 14, 2019 By Melissa Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

These tips will help you get personalized holiday cards made and mailed this holiday season. I partnered with Minted and they gave me some credit to make my own awesome holiday cards. I have bought them myself though in the past. I am a HUGE fan of Minted. Read more to find out why.

I absolutely love receiving personalized holiday cards even in this age of Facebook and Instagram. It is so wonderful to receive an update from friends and family and pictures from their lives this year. Finding the perfect photo and card and addressing and mailing the cards can sometimes feel like just one more thing on the to-do list during the busy holiday season. There are a few things though that you can do now to make sure you save yourself some time and stress and help you send an amazing holiday card your friends and family will love.

1. Think About the Photo ASAP

Go through your pictures now if you like to use a snapshot from the year. If you like to have professional photos taken, make the appointment now. Here is some inspiration for coordinating outfits for the whole family for Holiday Photos.

We were lucky enough to have photos taken by the talented Evan Willingham of Evan Willingham Photography before we left Germany. I used these photos for our holiday cards this year. You don’t have to get family photos taken during the busy holiday season. Instead, schedule your photo season in the summer or fall or just use fun family photos from throughout the year. I put an individual photo of each of my daughters on the back on the card. My oldest is one of her senior photos taken last summer and my younger daughter is a photo from a color guard performance.

2. Select Your Card

Once you find your favorite photo or photos Minted makes it easy to see what they would look like on each card. They have a “find it fast” feature that will show your photo on all the available cards. It was easy for me to see which cards would not work with our photo. You can filter by the type of card and the number of photos as well. I had just one main photo for the front of the card so I filtered the cards that had just one photo on the front.

Here is a picture of the front of the personalized holiday card I chose. I love the holly and gold. The card is absolutely beautiful. You can also see a portion of the back of our cards with the pictures of my daughters. I also wrote a quick update underneath the photos. I love to get a little update from friends about their lives every year. I wanted to share a little something on our card as well. I was able to add two pictures and a personal paragraph to the back of our card. I love this feature! They even include a few sample paragraphs to get you started.

Last but not least are the pre-addressed envelopes. This is such a time saver. Most of my addresses were already in my Minted account and I just had to update for those people who had moved and I added a few new people to my list.

3. Get Your Envelopes Addressed for Free

Minted will even address your envelopes for free and they even have cute fonts that match your card. This is a HUGE time saver. The first time I used Minted for my cards I was able to upload a spreadsheet with all my addresses which made the process super easy and now I just update it!

4. Impress Your Friends with Premium Quality & Craftmanship

The holiday cards at Minted are printed on high-quality paper. Without an extra fee, they are printed on a thick and luxurious stock in an off-white hue with a creamy cotton texture, usually reserved for fine stationery. There are also options for foil pressed and letter pressed cards. Many of the designs are by independent artists and are picked as part of design challenges. This makes it easy to find a card in a style you love.

5. Get A Proof of Your Personalized Holiday Cards

Are you worried you might make a typo when you make your card? Each card is reviewed by a real person for mistakes and a proof is sent to you for review. If you are in a hurry, you can skip the proof, save $5 and receive your cards two days faster.

I hope that this post inspires you to send out holiday cards this year or next year. I promise that Minted will make it easy for you! It is getting a bit late to get your cards but you can also consider New Year’s cards as well. Minted has a HUGE selection of New Year’s cards in addition to personalized holiday cards.

Now that you have your holiday cards all handled, let cross off everyone on your gift list. Check out unique gift ideas for everyone on your list here.

Cool Stocking Stuffers for Boys

December 12, 2019 By Heidi 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Cool Stocking Stuffers for Boys

I love finding neat stocking stuffers for my kids like fun games, small toys they will enjoy or small books to read. I try to buy them just a few quality items that will last instead of dollar items that will all get tossed. We have some great ideas for some cool stocking stuffers for boys that you won’t want to miss.

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.

We have more great boys stocking stuffer lists on our Ultimate Gift Buying Page.

If you are looking for great deals on gifts, join our EverydaySavvy Deals Facebook group.

[Read more…]

Best Gifts for Grandparents

December 10, 2019 By Melissa Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Grandparents can be hard to shop for but we came up with the best gifts for Grandparents at a bunch of price points so you can find the perfect gift for Grandma or Grandpa!

Do you need ideas for gifts for grandparents? This list can help you find just the right gifts for grandma and gifts for grandpa.

To save this list for later, be sure to pin it here.

We have many more lists of gift ideas on our Ultimate List of Gift Ideas page, with tons of unique and fun gift ideas for kids and adults. [Read more…]

Super Fun Tween Boy Gift Ideas

December 10, 2019 By Heidi 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Super Tween Boy Gift Ideas

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…]

Unique Gift Ideas for Men

December 8, 2019 By Heidi 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Unique Gift Ideas for Men

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.

[Read more…]

Fun & Useful Stocking Stuffers for Women

December 6, 2019 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Finding quality stocking stuffers can be a challenge. I am all for filling those stockings with fun and useful items. If you have women or teen stockings to fill, you will want to check out all of the cool items we have found. A lot of these items would be nice small gifts as well.

To save this fun list for later, press the “pin-it” button at the top of the page to save it to your Pinterest boards.

Need more gift ideas, check out the ultimate guide to gift buying ideas here.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

[Read more…]

Home Holiday Checklist – December Clean & Organize Tasks

December 5, 2019 By Melissa Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

This Home Holiday Checklist will help save you stress this December.

This is our final cleaning and organizing post for the year, I hope it has helped you get some things in order and taken some stress off you. We are going to finish up strong and enjoy the end of this year and look forward to a new year! We are working on Christmas preparation for your home (or the holiday you celebrate) You can repeat these daily quick cleaning and organizing tips again this next year to keep on top of those tasks that are sometimes forgotten!

Take it one small task at a time throughout the year with our series and you can tackle it all easily! We want to help you clean and organize your home the way that works best for you! We have been working on getting ready for the holidays that last few months and these final daily tasks should help you have less stress this holiday season.

My friend’s over at Grove Collective made a special cleaning offer for my readers.

You can items FREE from Grove Collaborative when you place your first order of $20 using my link.

New customers will get the holiday set

Free Mrs. Meyer’s holiday hand soap
Free Mrs. Meyer’s holiday dish soap
Free Mrs. Meyer’s holiday multi-surface spray
Grove Collaborative caddy
Grove Collaborative walnut scrubber sponges

Check out this special cleaning offer

It is so handy to have cleaning products come right to your doorstep and they make it easy to cancel auto shipments so you can just order whenever you want or you can easily cancel.

Sign up a the end of this article to get your free Clean and Organize List for Every Month This Year

December Savvy Cleaning and Organizing – Home Holiday Checklist

Launder and put away fall linens and dishes– if you didn’t already at the end of November finish putting away out of season items.
Make your list and check it twice– Maybe you are already done Christmas shopping, good for you! Take today off, if not make a list of what you have bought and what still needs to be picked up. Need gift ideas? Check out the list of gift ideas for all ages. You might want to pin this too since these gift ideas are great for birthdays and other holidays.
Start a file for Christmas receipts– Doing this will help you keep track of your spending, make returns/exchanges easier, and keep your counter and desk clean.
Dust off and polish the mantle– Let’s get it ready for those stockings and other decor items that will set the holiday mood.
Sort through holiday decorations– As you bring out ornaments and other decor instead of repacking items you have not used in years set them aside for donations. Only keep those items you love and use.
Wrap gifts as you bring them home– Doing this simple thing will keep your holiday from overwhelming you and keep your shopping and wrapping organized. If you have other items not wrapped yet, catch up today.
Thin out your movie collection– While you’re bringing out the Christmas movies make sure all your dvds have case, toss the empty cases and scratched movies. Donate or place unloved ones in a yard sale box.
Make a batch of holiday stove potpourri– Make up a mason jar of holiday scent to keep your house smelling festive throughout the entire season. Just grab distilled water and whatever you have on hand- orange or lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, cloves, allspice, etc… Mix it up in the jar and keep it on hand. To use: pour some in a pot and simmer on low on the stove.
Empty out your purse– Switch to a new winter color or wipe down the outside and inside with a damp cloth. Spray with cleaner and allow to air out overnight. Reorganize the contents.
Purge in the kids’ rooms– Help the kids spend 15 minutes sorting toys- toss broken items choose at least 5 things to donate.
Create your holiday dinner menu– Make a list of all items you need for the store, spend 15 minutes tidying up the pantry while you check off items on your shopping list.
Water the Christmas Tree– If you haven’t been doing so, water the tree well. This will help keep pine needle droppings to a minimum and cut back on your work. Have an artificial tree, spend 15 minutes tidying a hot spot in your home.
Create a Christmas morning basket– Batteries, tape, trash bags for wrapping paper, scissors, and tuck your camera in also so you are not scrambling for it last minute! If you don’t have extra batteries or trash bags on hand. Order them today so you don’t have to run out later.
Stock the guest bathroom with plenty of fresh towels, toilet paper, and spray– Be sure that your bathroom is guest ready for any entertaining that you might do. Did you know that Amazon will deliver toilet paper right to your home and at a great price?
Go through kitchen towels and pot holders– Toss worn out hand towels, pot holders, and rags. Pick up a pretty new set or two for the holidays.
Freshen up the couch and chairs– Before holiday entertaining begins give your sitting areas a freshening up. Vacuum out under the cushion well and saturate cushions and throw pillows with fabric refresher.
Wash all throw rugs throughout the house– Right before your holiday gatherings, washing them will add to the fresh clean smell in your home.
Dust shelves, knick-knacks, books– Give all surfaces a quick but thorough dusting.
Empty the fridge of leftovers, wipe down shelves– You are gonna have it stocked soon with all baking, leftovers, holiday drinks and more. Get it ready now!
Add fresh flowers/greenery and candles to freshen up your decor– Not only do they add a wonderful scent but they are a simple way to make your home inviting and festive.
Spend 20 minutes decluttering – Hit areas like kitchen counters, dressers, and other surfaces that seem to be a magnet for clutter.
Freshen up the entryway– Welcome your guests with clean, bright, and festive entryway. Keep clutter to a minimum and add a touch of holiday decor.
Clean out the oven, scrub off the stove top– Spray the oven and let it sit overnight, wipe it out well the next morning. Be sure to clean the top just as well.
Clean and stock up the coffee/cocoa bar- Wipe down the coffee pot, stock up on creamers and coffee, and tidy it all up. Add a piece or two of holiday decor.
Enjoy your holiday!

Hopefully by tackling a few things each day throughout the month. It will help make your home run more smoothly and help you enjoy your holidays more. It is amazing how just 15 minutes a day can make a HUGE impact! Don’t forget to sign up and we will email you free tasks lists for each month.

Be sure to check out more great info here to help with daily cleaning

Simple Steps to Help Keep Your House Clean

Routines to Help you Get Your Home Organized

Get Organized with a Nightime Routine

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids – Girls

December 4, 2019 By Heidi 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

I have changed my strategy as far as shopping for kids stocking stuffers over the years. These days, I try and buy a few nicer stuffers that they will really use or enjoy, plus tuck in some chocolate rather than hit the dollar store. I find that I end up tossing most of the dollar store items later. I even like to fill my kids’ stockings with toothbrushes, undies and socks too. If you need stocking stuffer ideas for kids, check out our list of fun stocking stuffer ideas for girls.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button.

[Read more…]

Kids Stocking Stuffer Ideas – Boys

December 3, 2019 By Heidi 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

I love shopping for stocking stuffers, but I prefer to choose out useful items rather than dollar store items. I have chosen out some fun items that won’t get thrown out the day after Christmas. I also love to give necessities like socks, undies and bandaids. My kids love receiving these items just as much as toys! If you are looking for stocking stuffer ideas for kids, check out all of the neat things we found for your boys.

We will be adding more gift ideas and holiday shopping tips all month. Be sure to sign up for our free newsletter so all the updates come right to your inbox.
To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook. [Read more…]

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Men

November 27, 2019 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Unique Stocking Stuffers for Men

I work pretty hard to find unique things for my husband and Dad and it is very hard to find neat and useful things for them. We have a list of really neat stocking stuffers for men to help you out this holiday season. I am a big fan of practical items, especially in their stockings.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button. We have even more lists of gift ideas for Men!

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook. [Read more…]

Great Toddler Boy Gift Ideas

November 24, 2019 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

If you need great toddler boy gift ideas, check out the neat things we have picked out. It can be hard when your toddlers have older siblings as there are so many things that might be handed down. I love buying bath toys for toddlers as it’s fun to have really great toys to keep them busy while you are getting them clean. Toddler boys also tend to gravitate to toys with balls, cars and it’s nice to find toys that will keep them busy for long periods of time.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

[Read more…]

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Tween Girls

November 22, 2019 By Heidi 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Tween Girls

It is a challenge to find really unique stocking stuffers for tween girls 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, nailpolish, socks and other useful items to fill those stockings. Tween girls can be really hard to shop for, so we are here to help with everything from craft kits, to games to beauty items that are suited perfectly for tween girls.

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. [Read more…]

Great Gift Ideas for Boys- Ages 6, 7, 8

November 21, 2019 By Heidi 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

There are lots of neat new things for young boys this year. If you are struggling for unique gift ideas, we have some of the standard “hottest toys” on our list, along with so many other things. We have a few video game-related items, but there are many other neat things that will keep your young boys exploring.

Need more gift ideas, check out the ultimate guide of gift ideas here.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

[Read more…]

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Tween Boys

November 20, 2019 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Unique Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Tween Boys

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.

[Read more…]

Fun Gift Ideas for Toddler Girl

November 19, 2019 By Heidi Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Gifts for Girl-Toddler

If you are looking for fun or unique girl gifts, check out our gift list for toddler girls. Several of these are educational and help with skills-building like colors, matching and counting. Many of these toys your toddler girls can grow into and enjoy for several years. When my daughter was this age, her favorite toys were for pretend play. She loved anything that had to do with cooking, baking or playing in her kitchen. There are so many adorable options for unique girl gifts.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, hover your mouse over the photo above and press the “pin-it” button.

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook.

[Read more…]

Best Gifts for Book Lovers (Bookworms & Anyone Who Loves to Read)

November 19, 2019 By Melissa 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Here are the best gifts for book lovers and Unique gift ideas for people who love to read and bookworms

If you have someone who loves to read on your holiday gift list, the obvious thing to get them is books but we found lots of cool ideas for book lovers that are unique gift ideas for book lovers and perfect for someone loves to read. Everything from shirts to jewerly, home goods and more.

We have unique gifts ideas at many price points so be sure to check out our page of Great Gift Ideas. for everyone on your list!

[Read more…]

Fun & Unique Gift Ideas for Women

November 18, 2019 By Heidi 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Women Christmas Gift Ideas

If you need gifts for women friends or gifts for family, we have found some really unique things. There are plenty of fun things on this list, but there are also a few practical things. I personally appreciate practical gifts. We found gifts in all price ranges so you can check all of your favorite women off your gift list this year.

To save our cool gift list to your Pinterest boards, press the “pin-it” button.

Be sure to check out more gift ideas here – List of Gift Ideas for Everyone On Your List

If you are interested in finding deals on gifts for the entire family, check out our EverydaySavvy Deals Group on Facebook. [Read more…]

Cool Stocking Stuffers for Teenage Boys

November 17, 2019 By Heidi 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that help support this site at no additional cost to you. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Cool Stocking Stuffers for Teen Boys

Stocking stuffers are one of my favorite things to buy. It can be a challenge to buy small things that your teen boys will like. I usually try and buy one or two nicer stocking stuffers and mix those up with things like candy or other treats. We have found some great ideas that your teenage boys will love!

To save this list for later, be sure to pin it to your Pinterest Boards using the “pin-it” button

We have many more lists of gift ideas for teenagers on our Ultimate List of Gift Ideas page, plus tons of unique and fun gift ideas for kids and adults.

[Read more…]

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