Tips to Help Keep Your Kitchen Clean

This is a funny post coming from me. I love for my kitchen to be clean (who doesn't?) and I know how to keep my kitchen clean but I shamefully admit that I am not the best at keeping my kitchen clean. My kitchen is never nasty and when I say clean I am referring to daily use messes like stove splatter, a cluttered table, dirty dishes and the like.

If you, like me have a little bit of - lets call it lack of motivation to keep this area of your house clean let me give you a few ideas of things to do that will result in a beautifully clean and well kept kitchen.

Whether or not you like to cook (I personally do and spend A LOT of time in my kitchen) the kitchen is a room in your house that is used daily and requires constant upkeep to ensure it doesn't get out of hand.

*  When cooking, wash your dishes and clean your little messes as you go.

*  Clean out your refrigerator weekly. For me this happens (or is supposed to
    happen) on Monday because my garbage pick up is early Tuesday morning. 
    Anything I am throwing away doesn't have to hang around my house for very
    long this way.

*  Do not go to bed without washing those dishes.  As Fly Lady says - "Shine
    Your Sink".  Wash them by hand or run your dishwasher if you have one.

*  Wipe off your counters daily or multiple times a day.  Maybe after each meal.

*  Wipe off the stove and wipe out microwave each evening.  If the splatters,
    spills and gunk have time to sit and harden and then harden some more it
    takes a whole lot of elbow grease to get them cleaned up and this my friend  
    is NO fun.  My oldest son recently cleaned our microwave and
    now has a new appreciation for me because he never realized just
    how hard it was to clean. 

*  When using the microwave, try covering up whatever it is you are warming
    with a paper towel to help eliminate those splatters.  This will make cleaning
    it much less of a hassle.

*  Sweep the floor daily.  Even if it's just spot sweeping.

*  Mop weekly.

*  Lay out a clean dish cloth and towel nightly.

*  Light a candle.  It helps set a mood.  Hopefully one that says, I want to keep
    this room clean. 

*  Keep your table clear of clutter, dirty dishes and stuff that doesn't belong.

*  Create a center piece on your table. This is fairly new to me.  I just don't
    normally have a "center piece" but I have come to find out it helps me want
    to keep the rest of the room neat and tidy to match my table.  It can be as
    simple as a candle in a jar to any extreme you can imagine.

Do you keep your kitchen neat and tidy?  Do you have any other tips to add that might help someone who struggles with keeping up with this area of the house?

Do You Have A Vision For Your Home?

Over the summer while watching my teenage son do one of his weed eating jobs I noticed something that was very interesting to me. Instead of starting in one spot and working his way up the hill, down the hill or across the entire area so there was no mistaking where he had already been - he skipped around from one place to the next making it hard for me to even tell where he already mowed.  He mowed a patch here and a patch there. He was inconsistent. He had no real rhyme or reason for his mowing.  He had no plan for how he would accomplish this job.  No focus, no vision. 

 

Watching him got me to thinking and then The Lord spoke to my heart about the inconstancy in my own life. How I tend to start projects and not finish. How I get in a good routine of cleaning my house, or making menus, or having my quiet time with God only to allow something else to find its way in and move my attention elsewhere.  It is easy in today's world to quickly have our attention drawn from what we are supposed to be doing onto something else.

Habakkuk 2:2 says And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.

Write your plan and run with it!

We can take this verse and apply it to our own lives.  Pray and ask God to speak to your heart about the direction He wants you and your family to go.  Then write your vision for your family.  What are your hopes, dreams and goals you want to accomplish?  What do you want your children to learn? 

We can take it in a different direction as well - write your vision or plan for keeping your house in order.  Do you have a daily and weekly plan for house work?  If not - stop flying by the seat of your pants, get out a piece of paper and jot down the things that you would like to accomplish each week.  Write out your vision.  If you are anything like me my daily and weekly plans for keeping my house change often but I think that's ok.  We have to adapt to each changing season as the needs and responsibilities of our family change.

The important thing is to pray and ask God to give you vision and purpose for your life and then do it. 

What about you? 

Do you have a Vision For Your Home?

Practical Homemaking Skills I Wish I Had Known...

I am not blaming my lack of knowledge on my child hood or on my parents but it would have helped greatly to have been taught few things before I set out on my own. I got married when I was 18 years old. At the time I felt as if I were ready to tackle the world but looking back now I see that I was nothing more than a young, immature child that had no idea of how to really make it in this world. I am sure there were times when my mother may have attempted to teach me some sort of homemaking skill but it wasn't enough for me to catch on to. It is quite possible that she was met with a teenager who thought she already knew it all and didn't need to be taught but either way I was ill prepared to be a wife, mother and homemaker. Homemaking has to be taught. It is not a job that just comes naturally. Would you like to know about the skills I Wish I had known?  Head on over to the other Jennifer's blog A Heart For THE Home where I am contributing today to find out what they are.   

Dollar Tree Favorites

The following is a list of my 15 favorite things to buy at the Dollar Tree. If you have never been you need to stop in and check it out. And always keep in mind that while some things like I am listing below pretty much stay the same, there are a lot of items that change and while you may see it there today it may not be there the next time you visit.

 
Foil pans - disposible (good for baking to bless others or freezing baking)
Containers and baskets for organizing your home and/or storing food
Balloons - helium for parties or gifts
Gift bags
Tissue paper
Wrapping paper
Photo paper - I use this all of the time and it really is good quality
Shower gel/body wash
Hand soap
Hand sanitizer
Tooth brushes
Candy - Going to the movies?  Stop in here and get your goodies much cheaper. 
Brims butter popcorn - tastes like movie popcorn but BETTER and the EVEN BETTER PART is that it is made by a Christian company.  The Utz brand also tastes good but the bag is smaller. 
Goo gone
Picture frames

Not to mention an amazing selection of seasonal decorations, treats and prizes for use at home, school or in your Sunday school class, pool/water toys for summer and trinkets to set around.

They also sell food and have a growing number of name brand items.  And now they take coupons for those name brand items.
 
Are you a Dollar Tree Shopper? 

Weekly Chores For Life

I love this!

WEEKLY CHORES FOR LIFE

Author unknown

Monday - Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday - Ironing Day
Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday- Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday - Cleaning Day
Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday - Shopping Day
O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may bless my family with contentment and happiness and all others in need of love.

Saturday - Cooking Day
Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday - The Lord's Day
O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

No More Barely Enough.

Despite  all of my many written routines, cleaning charts, schedules, and lists I have found myself in a state of doing Barely Enough.  

What do I mean by barely enough?  Basically doing just barely enough to get by.  Laundry has been done on an "as needed" basis.  Grocery shopping has consisted of many quick trips to pick up stuff for dinner today or breakfast tomorrow.  Menu's and actual grocery lists haven't existed.  House work has been done in a mad dash during the hour before my husband arrives home from work.  

If I was working a job outside of my home where I had to clock in, work a certain amount of time and actually show progress in my work - I would be FIRED!  

I am thankful that my husband is a patient man.  Patient with me and the lack of progress going on inside of our home.  I am not sure exactly why I been this way lately.  Lazy, I guess.   What  I do know is the lack of organization and having things in order is really stressing me out.  Also, the Lord has really been dealing with me about how well I have been taking care of my home.  I definitley have not been doing everything heartily as unto the Lord.  Don't misunderstand, we are not living in a pig pen but the busy-ness of life the past few months has resulted in extra clutter piles and a lot of routine maintainence being neglected.   

 

Just the other day this was the scene as I sat on my porch with my family binder, notebook and some old printed off notes from Fly Lady trying to re-vamp my daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning plans.  My husband joked and asked why I was reading Fly Lady when all I really needed to do was go get out Mr. Clean.  lol  He was right but I like having a plan, a list to go by.  I just work better when I do.  Having a plan that works is the key though.  So get ready as I soon will be re-posting my cleaning plans and schedules.  No more barely enough! 

 

What about you?  Do you like to have lists and a written plan for what you want to accomplish each day, week and month in your home?  Do you stick to them?

Freezing Homemade Biscuits

A while back I posted my recipe and a step by step tutorial of how to make Homemade Biscuits.  There are several reasons why I like to make my own.  It saves money.  They taste better.  I know what ingredients are used. 

Here is an easy way to freeze your own homemade biscuits. 

First, after you have cut your biscuits out place them on a cookie sheet (not touching) and place the cookie sheet in the freezer.  I usually leave mine about 30 minutes or so until they are frozen pretty good. 

Take them out of the freezer and stack them up.  Because you have flash frozen them already they won't stick together and later when you want to bake them they will pull apart easy.

I usually stack 8 - 10 and you can wrap them in saran wrap or wax paper for an extra layer of protection if you would like.  I do sometimes do this especially if I am hoping to keep them for a while. 

Simply place them in your freezer bag, squeeze out all of the air and label them if you like.

When it is time to bake your frozen biscuits I find it best to take them from the freezer, pull them apart and place them on your baking sheet and allow them to sit and thaw for about 30 minutes before placing them in the oven.  This helps them to puff up and raise like they would if they were fresh. 

I bake my Frozen biscuits on about 375 for 18 minutes or until golden brown on top.  If you are trying this for the first time I would recommend that you set your timer for about 12 minutes and check them adding additional time if needed.  Ovens all bake differently and yours may take more or less time than mine. 

Have you ever frozen biscuits?  Are you planning to give this a try?

Clean Hairspray Residue From Bathroom Surfaces

I know I am probably not the only person in the world that this happens to.  Hairspray build up on the flat surfaces in my bathroom.  On my sink and floor mostly.  Even with regular cleaning and daily wiping of the sink over time the hairspray, because it dries quickly builds up.  Lately I was noticing that my sink top was a little rough feeling and didn't have the shine to it that it once did.  Regular cleaners were not removing it. 

 

So, how did I fix it?  Rubbing Alcohol. 

I took a cotton ball and saturated it with rubbing alcohol and then rubbed it all over my sink top.  It took away all the hairspray residue and left it smooth and shiny again. 

 

It worked like a charm and was quick and cheap.

 

 

Do you ever have to clean hairspray residue from your bathroom surfaces or am I the only one?

Dollar Tree Drawer Organizing

A desperate need to clean out and organize my drawers and cabinets combined with a quick trip to the local Dollar Tree resulted in some great looking drawers.  I am still in the process of getting them all organized but wanted to quickly show you a few so that you can see what you can accomplish by only spending a few dollars and a small amount of time cleaning. 

Here is a look at some of my Dollar Tree baskets and containers.

The possibilities are endless as to what you could use these small containers and baskets for.  I especially like them because they are the perfect height to fit in both our kitchen and bathroom drawers. 

First up - one of my kitchen utensil gadget drawers.  Previously everything was just thrown in there and you could barely even get it shut but now everything has a home. 

Now on to the bathroom.  My husbands drawer.

And then my makeup drawer.  I added 4 small containers to my drawer.  The red one holds foundation, compact powder, blush and bronzers.  The blue one houses all of my eyeliners, mascara, tweezers, tweezing mirror and lash curler.  The green one in the back holds eye shadows.  The long skinny green basket is the perfect size to hold all of my makeup brushes.  I have lipsticks, lip gloss and lip liners in the little black zipper pouch in the front (no more room for a container) and my loose powder and bronzers just sitting there in the front.

I am so excited (yes I am that big of a nerd) to be getting everything decluttered and organized in my home.  When all of your stuff has a home to live in it makes life much more enjoyable and peaceful!

Do you ever shop at Dollar Tree for containers to organize with?  If so, please share. 

A Heart For My Home

Where is your heart? 

Where is your treasure?

Matthew 6:21 says For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Before I go further in the is post - let me say that my Number 1 Treasure is found in God and The relationship (not religion) that I have with him. 

This blog is titled A Heart For My Home because truly that is where my heart is.  My Heart is at Home and my Treasure also is at home. 

No, My treasure isn't found in the stick built house we call home.  My treasure is not the little trinkets or decorations that adorn the tables and walls inside my house and it's not in the food that is prepared here on a daily basis. 

My Treasure at Home is My Family. The Family that God has so richly Blessed Me With.  My Husband - a godly man, the Leader of our Home,  my best friend.   My Sons - that I am a steward over for the Lord - the ones I am working on building and shaping into Mighty Men of God that are Gonna Shake Future Generations for Jesus.  

In today's world so many people treasure the wrong things.  The big house they live in, the newest car to drive, name brand clothes, flat screen tv's in every room and all the cool gadgets of the day.  Don't get me wrong here - there is nothing wrong with having all of these things, God wants us blessed so we can be a blessing to others but what God doesn't want is for our treasure to be in earthly good's. 

3 John 1:2  Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

Matthew 6:19-21  ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

I encourage you to examine your heart today and really think about what you treasure.  Do you enjoy taking care of your family?  Do you love the mundane tasks of cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, running errands, etc... 

In Titus 2, Woman are called to love their husbands and children and be keepers at home among other things.

My job is at home.  My heart is at home.  My treasure is at home.

Titus 2:4-5 ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Where is your Heart? 

Homemade Glass Cleaner

I have tried most name brand and store brand glass cleaners out there and have also made several different recipes of homemade ones that have just never made me happy until now. 

Here is the recipe I use for my Homemade Glass Cleaner

2 cups water
2 cups rubbing alcohol
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. blue dawn dish liquid

Simply Mix it all together and you are ready to go.  In my opinion this works great. 

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Note:  Anytime you are making your own cleaners it is a good idea to write on the bottle what it is and the ingredients used if possible. 

Vinegar and How I Use It

Vinegar is a great all natural cleaner, mild disinfectant and deodorizer that is not harsh or abrasive and can be pretty much used on anything anywhere.

Here are the main places I use Vinegar in my home on a regular basis for the purpose of Cleaning.

1)  Toilet Bowls - I add about 1 cup of vinegar to my toilets and allow it to sit while I clean the rest of the bathroom then scrub your toilet just like you would using any other cleaner and flush.

2)  Fabric Softener - I add between 1/3 - 1/2 cup vinegar as my liquid fabric softener and it works great.  No, your clothes do not smell like vinegar when they come out of the wash - they just smell fresh.

3)  Dishwasher -  I used to use 1 cup of vinegar about once a month as cleaner but now I use it instead of Jet-Dry or other "spot removers".  Works great, super cheap and your dishwasher is getting cleaned in the process.

4)  Floors - 1 cup of white vinegar to 1 gallon of water.

5)  All Purpose Cleaner - Vinegar diluted with water (equal parts) and put in a spray bottle works great as an all purpose kitchen or bathroom cleaner.

You can google "Uses for Vinegar" and honestly there are so many they are countless.  Here is a link to a great website that lists many of its uses from cleaning and laundry to health and cooking and gardening.

Do you use Vinegar to Clean with??

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Proverbs 31:17 (Good News Translation) 
She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.

My Bedtime Routine

Yesterday I talked about the importance of establishing good habits and turning them into your routines.  Today I am talking more about my Evening/Bedtime Routine.  I call it my Evening/Bedtime routine because really it is not something that I just do at bedtime.  I start my bedtime routine (at least the kitchen part) while I am preparing my families dinner and it lingers on until I go to bed.  It really doesn't take long - even though it looks long - and most of the things in it are second nature to most people.  However, I do not fall into the category of "most people" so I needed to learn how to break my day down into parts and then I had to figure out what I needed to do in each part of my day.   

I break my Bedtime Routine down into 3 parts. 

Pick up the house.

Think about tomorrow.

Focus on me.

Pick up the house. 

  Kitchen - After dinner is done do your dishes, wipe off your counters and sweep your floor.

Load and Run your Dishwasher.

Check your Washer and Dryer - make sure all clothes are put away

Put away all toys, clothes, etc...

Quick run through of the house - no more than 15 minutes to tidy up.

Think about tomorrow

Check your calendar.

Make "to do" list.

Lay out clothes (iron if needed).

Pack/prepare lunches (as much as possible).

Pack back packs.

Think about "What's for breakfast?".

Think about "What's for dinner tomorrow?".

Check/Send emails, Facebook, blog.

Prep coffee pot.

Focus on Me

Bath/Shower

Skin Care

Teeth

Lotion

Read/Pray/Journal

Snuggle with my husband

Are you ready to start this with me? You can follow my bedtime routine or use it as an example and come up with your own. It takes 21 days or 3 weeks of being consistent to form a habit. Lets start today with our evening/bedtime routine and work at making it a habit.   

This is a picture of my bulletin board in my kitchen with 21 little "post it" note page markers on it.  I saw this somewhere and thought it was a good idea to mark our 21 days of forming a habit.  I encourage you to do this, make a chart or get a calendar so that you can mark off each day that you successfully do your Bedtime Routine. 

Once we master this we will move on to our morning routine. Oh yes, there is a morning/afternoon routine as well.  And after we get our daily routines established we will move on to a weekly cleaning schedule.

What about you?  Do you currently have a Bedtime Routine that you follow?  If so, what does it look like?  Are you consistent with it?

Housekeeping 101 - The Number One Way to Keep Your House Clean

I took this picture the other night of the "how to" cleaning books that sit on my shelf.  How nice would it be if just having these books would make my house stay clean.  Of course without reading the books and applying the techniques and ideas that are written on their pages this will not happen. 

What is the number one way to keep your house clean?  Are you ready for it?  Ok, here it is...  My Secret and the number one way to keep your house clean is....

ROUTINES

Yep, that's right - Routines.  I know to some of you this may sound too easy or silly but to others of us it makes perfect sense.  About 11 1/2 years ago in an attempt to get a handle on my housekeeping chores and make them easier I searched the Internet for ideas.  A dear friend of mine helped in the search and we found an awesome web sight to get us started. 

Fly Lady 

We were fly babies way before it was cool.  lol  Anyway I am almost ashamed to say that I have worked my way through Fly Lady's steps more than once or twice.  In fact it seems that every time I feel like I am losing control of the order in my house I fall back to her and her system of doing things.  The one thing she stresses the most out of everything is establishing ROUTINES and habits. 

Are you starting to get the picture of what is important? 

Having a consistent established routine is important in everything we do.  Bed time with our kids and their daily routines, our Bible reading, housecleaning, etc...

We are "creatures of habit" and most of us work better when we are following some type of routine.

What should your routine look like?

This will look different for different people depending on your own individual family needs.  There is no right way or wrong way it just has to be something workable that you can do and keep up with.  Start small and simple.  Take "Baby Steps" and build from there.

I am writing this post on this subject because as you probably can guess I am feeling a bit out of sorts with my house work - AGAIN!  My house is not a disaster area but it is not where I want it to be.  So I reevaluate my old routines to see where I need to adjust and attempt to make things better.  

Start with a simple "Bedtime Routine".  Think about the things that you would like to have done when you wake up in the morning.  Flylady suggests shining your sink which basically means that all of your dishes are done and table and counters are wiped off before you go to bed.  If that is important to you then maybe that is a great place for you to start.

Let me stress (because this tends to be my problem) that just writing down what you hope will turn into habits and become a routine for you will not make it be so no more than the books sitting on my shelf on how to clean my house will make my house be clean.  You have to actually get up, get moving and make it happen.  It will get easier the more you do and the benefits from having a neat and tidy house will be a blessing to your whole family. 

I break my Bedtime Routine in 3 parts. Join Me tomorrow and I will break down my Evening/Bedtime Routine for you and we will get started on establishing good habits.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Note:

There are many websites, blogs and books that can help you and inspire you to get your house work in order. Fly Lady is just the one that I personally like the best. It can be a bit overwhelming if you do not follow her steps and do them one at a time. Trust me, trying to skip ahead will only leave you frustrated. 

10 Easy Ways to Tackle Paper Clutter

 

Paper clutter!  Ugh!  Just the thought of it makes me have ill feelings and that is because this is an area that I struggle with often.  Paper comes into my house daily either through mail, school work and notes from school, shopping trips, etc... and it can pile up on us very quickly if we do not take action against it.

I have been trying to make it a point in this new year to tackle paper clutter as it arrives so that I do not have a mess like the picture above EVER again.  It is not a good feeling when stacks of paper (some important and some not) sit on your desk, or kitchen table or where ever your hot spot for it may be.

So, here is my list of 10 easy ways to help us get a handle on it.

1. Stop Junk Mail.
2. Go through your mail as soon as you bring it in and file it appropriately.  Does it need trashed, filed away, responded to, or place with your "bills to be paid"?
3. Balance your checkbook frequently (at least 2 times per week) and either toss, shred or file (important) receipts.
4. File important papers at least weekly.  In order to this efficiently you will need a workable filing system.
5. Create a "bill binder" or basket.  Have a place where you keep your bills that need paid and the ones you have already paid.  Or go paperless on your bills.
6. Cull magazines at least one time per month.  I order a few different magazines that we enjoy but almost daily we receive magazines from different companies wanting us to order from them.
7. Keep only important or special notes and papers from your children's school.
8. Have a basket, binder or some other system you use to store receipts in until they clear your bank.
9. Shred papers and empty shredder monthly.  My papers in my shredder usually pile up so high I would never get them all shredded and I end up adding them to a bon fire when we have one.
10. Write dates and information from cards and invitations in your calendar ASAP and toss the actual invitation.

So there you have it.  My list of 10 things that I am doing to try my best to cut down on paper clutter in my home.

Do you have any other good ideas to help with this problem?  I would love to hear them.

TV/Play Room Closet Organization

I love plastic storage containers and baskets.  Here is a little peek into my TV / Play room closet that holds my children's games, extra school supplies, movies, etc...

 

 

When building our house and working on closets we went with the Closet Maid shelves that are adjustable. They are great because it's nice to be able to change the height of your shelving when the need arises. 

 

Plastic containers in this closet hold Lego's, card games, video games, controllers and accessories. I also use the Dollar Store plastic baskets to hold a variety of items. In this picture one is the home of extra school paper (loose leaf and notebook) as well as pencils for my boys. They know right where they are and can get it themselves as they need them - yea right, like that actually happens (that's a post for another day, LOL).

 

Check back often to see other ways I try to keep things organized around our home.

What are some of your favorite ways to organize your closets?

Ready, Set, Go!

Do you ever just feel like your in a race and life is speeding by so fast that you barely have time to breathe?

Lately, that is how things have been for me.  I am feeling more scatter brained with each passing day. 

Our normal daily routine is about to kick into high gear as the new school year quickly rushes towards us. 

As I have said before I am a stay-at-home mom but I will be volunteering one day a week in the high school office and at the middle school where my youngest will be attending I am starting my fourth year as the Parent Volunteer Coordinator which is basically a volunteer that works closely with the county, school and parents. 

Each year at this time I begin to think about my new daily and weekly routine and I try to map out our school year.  This time my oldest son is playing high school sports so that adds a lot of extra running to the mix.  Until now both boys have played on youth and recreational leagues which take up way less time than school sports. 

I am praying for God to help me make the most of each day and to get everything completed that I need to.  Ephesians 5:16 says  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

My brain works best with organization so this week before school starts back here are some things that I am working on to get our school year off and running with a great start:

1. Making a master list(s) of things I need to do both at home and at the school
2. Writing in my personal planner and also our family calendar - adding things like the school calendar, sports schedules and other misc. things I know will be coming up such as family gatherings and church events
3. Sitting down with paper and pen and jotting down my basic weekly cleaning plan and my basic weekly routine for example what day I will clean, grocery shop and run errands, etc...
4. I am making a detailed prayer list for this school year for each child like Stormie Omartian talks about in her book The Power of a Praying Parent.

What kind of things do you do as the fall approaches and the new school year starts to get you organized and help you to stay on top of things?

Make a Family Binder

(This is a picture of mine with a generic cover slipped in the front.)

I am a little late on starting to post my favorite things that keep my family organized due to being without electricity at our home for 8 days.

  I will say there are several things that could fall into the number one spot in my opinion for the best organizing tool for our family.  However, I have picked our family binder to start with.  I love my family binder.  You can call it your family binder, control journal, household management book, a household binder or whatever name you want.   

The purpose of having a "family binder".

It's simple - It keeps me better organized! 

Here are a few things I want you to know about having a "family binder".

*  You can make it as detailed or as simple as you like

*  My family binder has changed many times through the years 

*  You can use a notebook, a 3 ring binder like me, a day planner, etc...

*  Some people have multiple binders (I sort of do and will explain later) 

*  You can make your own binder pages and inserts on your computer or find tons free online to print  (or just use plain notebook paper)

*  Your binder is meant to be a help to you and your family not a burden - so if keeping up with one is a lot of trouble to you, DON'T do it.  We all have to do what is helpful to our individual family needs. 

Building your "family binder".

I use a 1 1/2 - 2 inch 3 ring binder. 

Tabbed dividers that have pockets in them and are erasable.  (I don't have to buy new ones each time my binder needs to be updated)

I have a combination of free online printables (google search "family binder or family organizer printables), homemade pages, notebook pages and various handouts or print outs that pertain to the particular topic it is filed behind. 

Some of my tabs include:

Sports for each of my children

School for each of my children

Menu

Home Blessing

Special Days and Holidays

Vehicle Maintenance

Home Maintenance

Outside

Vacation

Needs / Wants

As you can see the possibilities are endless as to what you can include in your binder.  You need to sit down and think of what is important to you and what things you want to be better organized in.  My tabs change from time to time as I go through different seasons of my life. 

You can also search You Tube for video's on how to create one if you need a little more information.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I recently had someone ask about a good recipe for homemade laundry detergent so here is what I use when I make it. 

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

This is the basic recipe from the Duggar family website, however I usually use at least 1 1/2 bars of the Fels-Naptha soap (sometimes 2) and I also add more in my wash than they say. I usually use 1 cup per load but this is still a huge money saver! It costs around $2.00 per batch to make and it lasts my family of 4 around 1 month and we do ALOT of laundry. The other great thing about this recipe is that it is super easy and my kids help me make it.

I still buy gain detergent to keep on hand to use when needed and I still use either gain or downy fabric softener to make everything smell nice. 

UPDATE:  Click here to see what I use as a cheap fabric softener.