Tip of the Day 10/17/11

When was the last time you cleaned out your jewelry box? It could be filled with all kinds of treasures you have forgotten about. Maybe there are some pieces you would like to cash in at the local"Cash for Gold" business or you might find just the right earrings to go with the new outfit you got for the Fall. There might be an impossible tangled bunch of necklaces that you could use to enhance a Halloween costume (saw that idea on Martha Stewart last week) or it might be full of junk you just need to throw away.

Once you have sorted the items clean the box and clean the jewelry before returning it to the box. A great way to clean your jewelry is to soak it in Dawn dishwashing liquid and then gently scrub with a soft toothbrush. Be sure to check all the pieces for loose stones before soaking.

Enjoy the NEW jewelry you will now be able to wear.

Tip of the Day 10/15/11

The weekend is here and we are another week closer to Christmas. How many of you have made your Christmas list? How many of you have actually begun purchasing Christmas gifts? Well, why not start this weekend.

At least two department stores are now offering lay-a-way plans. This is a great way to keep the budget under control and not pay interest like you would with a credit card. Please do not under any circumstances purchase gifts on credit. This may satisfy a need you feel to give gifts, but will only cause undue hardship later. Okay, so much for my sermon. :)

Make a plan for purchasing gifts over the next several weeks. Watch the ads and purchase a few each week. Making a list and a plan will help you keep the spending and desire to purchase more under control.

Be purposeful in your purchases and you will enjoy the Holidays without regrets or dread of the bills to come.

Tip of the Day 10/14/11

A few more tips to bring together an awesome Holiday Event:

1) Use Plasticware instead of the good stuff you would have to wash.

There are so many pretty ones to choose from and I recommend using them unless you are

doing a small sit-down dinner party.

2) Prepare as many of the dishes in advance and freeze them.

If you plan to do most of the cooking this will save you a lot of time on the day of the event.

3) Accept all offers "to bring something" to the party.

If someone asks, even if you had planned to cook everything choose something that is not

integral to your menu, but is needed to complete the meal.

4) Consider hiring a couple of teenagers to clean for you before and after the event.

It won't cost that much and will save you a lot of work. Check with your church youth

group for kids looking to raise money for mission trips.

5) Plan an afternoon or morning event so as not to conflict with all the obligations people have

during this season.

Brunch is a great meal to plan for and host.

As I have encouraged all week, just go for it this year. Step out and do something you have always wanted to do.

Enjoy the weeks to come.

Tip of the Day 10/13/11

Where to begin with the planning of the event you are going to host this year: As I have pointed out several time Lists are your friends.

Start by listing everything you would like to have happen revolving around the event. Do not limit yourself by thinking you could never accomplish a particular aspect of the event. The only way you will know is if you try. After you have listed everything you would like the event to be, break it down into smaller segments and determine how to best accomplish each item.

If you are doing a formal dinner, decide if you will cook everything yourself and then form a time line for accomplishing all the parts. You might decide to cater the dinner or possible purchase the entree from a caterer and prepare the side dishes yourself. You can have a formal dinner with you supplying the entree and having guests bring the side dishes.

Maybe a dessert event would be better for your household. Don't feel like if you are not doing the entire meal people won't come.

Plan, plan, plan. It is only October and if you start now you can host an awesome holiday event this year. Magazines are filled with ideas and they print them so that you will "borrow" the ideas. You can do it if you try.

Tip of the Day 10/11/11

Yay, you have made a decision about what event you would like to host over the next few months. As we talked about last week, lists are your friend. Make a list of everything, no matter how trivial it seems. You will feel much more relaxed and not have to think as much as you prepare for the fun.

Plan the food, the entertainment, the decorations, the guest list, the things to attend to around your house. Do I need to borrow or rent chairs, paper or real china, buffet or sit down, pot luck-cater-cook, a combination? Look through magazines for ideas for a signature dish to prepare, center pieces, decorations, or fun activities to do together with your guests.

The more you plan now and begin preparing the more fun you will have on the day of the event. Don't be afraid to do something out of the ordinary or out of your normal comfort zone. Just go for it and if something doesn't work laugh it off and trust that no one is going to notice because they are having too much fun at a party they didn't have to host.

Tip of the Day 10/10/11

Holiday Prep Week:

This is the perfect week to take advantage of the nice Fall weather to finish up some Fall house cleaning to prepare for the fun filled months ahead and all of the Holiday events you want to host and enjoy.

Determine what events you would like to host throughout the holiday season. Maybe you would like to have a Harvest Party because you love Fall, or this year you would like to host Thanksgiving Dinner, how about a Christmas Tea and gift making or collecting event for an organization.

Once you decide what type of event/events you would like to host make lists of ALL of the supplies you will need including food prep, serving ware, guest tokens, table decorations, etc. By focusing and pre-planning you could host a wonderful event like you have always dreamed of.

Do not be afraid to consider a "pot-luck" type event. When I host a holiday tea, I ask the guests to bring their favorite tea and cookies or finger food. I have asked guests to bring their own teapots and cups and as part of our "entertainment" everyone told the story behind the item they brought with.

Other "event" ideas have included a Fall Kick-Off Chili party where everyone included a secret ingredient in their chili and we guessed what they were. The person that guessed the most received a "Best Taste Buds" Certificate.

An annual event is filling "Operation Christmas Child" shoe boxes for Franklin Graham's ministry. Instead of everyone bringing a filled box to contribute, we all purchase items to fill the boxes and come to the party with pre-wrapped empty shoe boxes. All of the items that have been pre-purchased are put out on tables and everyone "shops" for the items to fill the shoe box they have brought. Children and adults love this event. An additional aspect of this event is our food for the evening. Because rice is a staple of so many countries, each family chooses a country to bring a typical meal a family would eat with rice as an ingredient. This helps us to understand and have a better vision of who we are packing those shoe boxes for.

When planning a Holiday dinner at your home plan some specific activities that every age group will enjoy. Some families make an event of watching "It's a Wonderful Life" together. Some other ideas are a craft the children can do while dinner is being prepared like making placemats or place cards or centerpieces for the table. Choose a game everyone can play together every year. We have a game that my grandkids call "The Pickle Jar Game." It is a large jar filled with cards that suggest everything from acting out a part of the Christmas Story, playing telephone around the room with a phrase, everyone singing a Christmas Carol together, etc. We all look forward to playing it together every year. On Thanksgiving our tradition is to head to the opening session of the season at the outdoor ice skating rink after dinner, then return home for dessert.

We all want to make memories and hopefully these ideas will spur you to undertake some"events" of your own this year. With just a little planning, you really can make it happen. Be creative, thinking outside the box. Everyone will enjoy someone stepping up to host the event.

I would love to hear some ideas of holiday events you have hosted or been a part of.

Tip of the Day 10/6/11

Hopefully you have spent the week compiling some lists. In this part of the world, Southwest Michigan, Garage Sales run from Thursday - Saturday, so I am taking my lists and heading out to see what bargains I can find. My lists consists of items I would like to add to my holiday decorating (more gold beads for the living room tree), small toys and things for the Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes we will be packing at church, fabric and trims from old collections that I can use in fun projects (love finding a box full of a Grandma's old sewing items for $5). The key to successful shopping at garage and rummage sales is to have purpose. My lists keep me focused and prevent coming home with a lot of stuff I don't need. These sales are a great place to find bargains, but shop there with a purpose just like you would in the grocery store.