The Easiest Christmas Decoration Ever

You know me, right? (And if you don't, hey, subscribe! I'm strange but endearing.) I am disorganized. A mess. And I don't really craft. Any craft I do with Libbie is either from Pinterest or laid out explicitly for me a la Truth in the Tinsel.

But I volunteered to host a table at our annual ladies' Christmas dinner at church. And that requires decorating a table. It may seem out-of-character, but I do like to do tablescapes. Back in the day, before kids, I loved making little centerpieces for our formal dining-room table.

On Tuesday I put together my table decorations and realized my crystal candlesticks were still packed away with my china somewhere. I wasn't about to dig through six or eight boxes in hopes of finding them. So I decided to put together a makeshift taper-holder from what I had.

Here's what you need:

• small Mason jar (8 oz.) or other small jar (I save glass jars and put EVERYTHING in them!)
• ribbon or cord of some kind
• rice or epsom salts
• glitter
• taper candle

Pour rice or epsom salts into jar so it is about two-thirds full. Sprinkle in some glitter and mix it around until even throughout. (I just used the candle to mix. Because I'm that kind of girl.)

Break off the bottom fourth of the candle and then push it into the rice/salt.

Tie a seasonal ribbon or cord around the top of the jar.

Tada! It's three minutes later, you're done, and you have done your crafty thing for the year.

I loved how my table turned out, and these little Mason-jarred candles were the perfect final touch.

Added to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family and Show Me How at It's a Blog Party.



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Throwing a Shoebox Packing Party

For years I've enjoyed packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Do you know about this wonderful ministry? Here in the States we fill shoeboxes with toys, toiletries, clothes, crafts, and other fun things children might need. Samaritan's Purse ships these boxes around the globe to children in orphanages and very poor communities, where they probably won't receive any other Christmas gift.

When I taught Girls in Action at our church in Nashville, we spent several Wednesday nights effectively having an Operation Christmas Child shoebox-packing party, just spread out over time. We would fill in the fun sheets Samaritan's Purse provides with information about the children and some of their favorite things. We would wrap shoeboxes in Christmas paper. We would fill our boxes together and take them down to the altar of the church. It was an awesome time to see kids doing ministry together.

Libbie's third birthday is this Thursday, October 27. I kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking about what I wanted to do for her. I swore last year was her big hoopla while she was still an only child, and I didn't want to do something that big again. (And yes, to some of you it might seem like a small soiree, but I get stressed out over things being perfect.)

We were also in the midst of moving into our new apartment, which is not tiny but very difficult to get people to on the campus where we live. Between that and juggling two little kids all the time I just could not get up the oomph to plan a party for her. And my mind kept coming back to the fact that she just has SO MANY TOYS. The last thing the child needs is more toys.

Like a lightning bolt, it struck me that what I wanted to do was send toys to kids who didn't have overflowing shelves like we do. So we had a Shoebox Packing Party/Birthday Party!

Here are our tips and plans, if you'd like to plan something similar.

1. Ask families to bring items to go in shoeboxes in lieu of gifts. (If your church does not provide the standard shoeboxes from Samaritan's Purse, you should ask each family to bring a shoebox, too.)

2. Make the party "open." Since this is a ministry, we wanted as many kids to come as wanted to! We actually only had 10 kids, but that was about what I expected. It was perfect for the space we had. But I wanted to make sure people felt comfortable bringing friends if they wanted to. We advertised it to our whole preschool department at church.

3. Buy ahead. Before I even knew we were having our party, I started buying items on clearance for shoeboxes this year. Target and Office Depot had some great close-outs on school supplies at the end of September. College items were also clearanced around that time. Last week, I ordered a bunch of stuff for up to 90% off online from Gymboree, with their fall clearance plus a coupon. Score! Keep your eyes peeled for awesome deals throughout the year.

4. Plan food! Everyone's favorite part, right? I kept it simple with drinks, pizza, and cake. We waited until we saw how many people were there, and then Mr. V went and got hot-and-ready $5 pizzas at Little Ceasar's. This cake was the one "indulgence" I allowed my crazy-Jessie-party-planner self. It is Glorious Treats' Pink Ombre Cake. I used her recipe for Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes and Vanilla Buttercream with a touch of cream cheese. It didn't turn out quite as perfect as hers, but it tasted INCREDIBLE and was gorgeous. (Especially thanks to my sister's skill with a pastry bag!) (See below for my sample menu.)

On Party Day

5. Set up tables. Divide your items into categories, and as people arrive have them sort their items onto the tables as well. Our categories were: clothes and accessories, girls, boys and unisex, toiletries, school supplies, and candy.

6. Personalize your boxes. I ordered the (free) OCC Party Pack from Samaritan's Purse, and it came with a bunch of the form-letter-things for the kids to fill out. It lets them put their name, age, where they live, some of their favorites, and draw some pictures. It's a cute way to make the box a little more personal for the recipient.

7. Fill up the boxes. We led each family to pick a gender/age for their box, check the appropriate box on the tag, tape the tag to the box, and then go down the line and pick items for their boxes. Some families did two, and after the kids were bored moms and dads stepped in to do the rest. We ended up with 16 boxes, which was great!

Try to make sure your boxes are a good assortment of each category of goods as well as being age-appropriate. If you have leftover items you can always try to stuff them in the packed boxes, or make an additional box later.

Adorable baby not included with this free party package!

8. Christmas card time! I bought bright paper, glitter foam stickers, Christmas stickers, and crayons at the Dollar General and let the kids go wild. With pre-schoolers, the cards were mostly a bunch of stickers randomly placed on the paper, but who cares? Again, it's personal and fun.

9. Bon appetit, it's time to eat. Like I said, we kept it simple. Libbie got to blow out her candles (well, I did it for her as she was too shy to do it in public) and the kiddos were happy with the fare. If you want to do something different, you could serve foods from countries around the world: enchilada puffs, layered Greek dip, sesame-crusted chicken strips, roasted honey-cinnamon chickpeas, and some fun cupcakes might make an interesting and delicious menu.

10. Playtime! You could create a game (how many countries of the world can you name? pin the OCC logo on the box?) or just let the kids run around in a yard or open space. We held our party in our church's gym area, so the kids went to town playing with balls and running around.

This lovely OCC Packing Party surely worked for me! And yes, it's also a top 10 list.

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Guest Post: How to Line Dry Inside

Tiffany is a fellow Chattanoogan—even newer to this town than I am! I've been blessed to get to know her over the last few months.  She writes a review/giveaway blog for moms and dads at Stuff Parents Need. Tiffany is a work-at-home mom and has one toddler daughter, Darah.

We have had a drying rack in our home for as long as we have been married (8 years ... can't believe that!). When the weather is warm and you aren't in a hurry to start wearing your freshly washed clothes, hanging them up to dry is a terrific option. It saves energy; it keeps the house from getting even hotter by not using the dryer; and, of course, it saves money. It also helps prolong the life of your clothes!

I live in the South, so it is warm enough to hang clothes outside pretty much between April and October, and there are days in March and November when I can dry clothes outside, too. But what do I do during the months where the weather is a bit more questionable?

Sometimes, I'll admit, I do turn to my dryer. If I need my clothes quickly, that's really just the way to go. It also will heat up the house when it NEEDS heating up (we keep our house on the cool side during the winter and just try to bundle up a bit more).

But more often than not, I just move my drying rack inside and also make use of my indoor clothesline. I've heard many people say that line drying during the winter, even inside, isn't really possible. I'd say that in general, this isn't true!

If you are using a heater indoors, then your inside air should be rather dry. This is the perfect environment for drying your clothes. I find that my clothes are dry after hanging up indoors for 24 hours (and sometimes less!). The clothes also add a little bit of humidity to your artificially dry air, and that's a good thing!

There are two tricks to making this work, though. First, throw your clothes in the dryer for 5 minutes, just to get them started. I've found that when I don't do this, it can take my clothes up to 36 hours to dry, so that little bit of energy I use is totally worth it to me.

Second, you need to keep up with your laundry on a daily basis (at least in my house). Since I don't have the space to hang up three loads of laundry—and since drying takes a full day—I try to tackle one load every single day, so there's pretty much always something on the drying rack at my house. We only have space for one drying rack, but if you have room for more, by all means go get more, especially if you don't like the idea of doing laundry every day.

I'd also strongly suggest that you hang an indoor clothesline, preferably the type that will retract when you don't need it. We have ours inside of our closet, and we string it all the way across our bedroom to the opposite wall.

So that's how I dry clothes all year with just a tiny bit of help from my dryer! Works for me!

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Charitable Giving with Stocking Stuffers

I love me some stocking stuffers. They are so fun to pick out. When I was a kid, we always got a LifeSaver Storybook, an orange, and a book, amongst other things. Last year, I detailed some fun stocking stuffers from Etsy and a few other sites.

This year, I wanted to share some inexpensive items you could purchase that help give back at the same time!

1. Hope Suds

A bag of detergent might be a little large for a stocking ... but you could divide it into baggies and give them to your friends. These earth-friendly detergents help support orphan adoption through Vitafamiliae.

2. Orphaned No More Bracelets

I am totally in love with these fabric-covered bracelets, which one mother is selling to help support the adoption of her daughter Isabella from China.

3. Kiva gift card

Kiva is a program that gives microloans to people who really need them. My husband was just telling me about this the other day, so I was super-excited to see a Groupon today for their gift cards! Guess what you're getting in your stocking, dearest?

4. Donation to any charitable site in the person's name

On that note, I've often purchased items from the Samaritan's Purse Catalog in someone's name and printed off an explanation of what the gift was. I would much rather spend $20 on clean water than on a kitschy desk toy.

5. Shopping Tote

I love this little reusable shopping bag that folds up into your purse. I am sure I am not the only one who sometimes has trouble remembering to bring those reusable bags to the grocery store. This would fit neatly in a stocking, helps the environment, and brings funds to Mercy House Kenya.

6. Coffee

Mmm, coffee. I love coffee. Buying this fair-trade coffee helps my friend Nancy's family adopt from Ethiopia.

7. Pacifier clip

Buying one of these precious paci clips helps a family sponsor a child in Ethiopia. If you like to fill a stocking for your wee ones, this would be a fun gift!

8. Handmade Jewelry

Buying these gorgeous earrings would help support a local humane society!

And if you buy THESE earrings, the crafter will donate $2 to school-building efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

9. Ponytail holders

My fellow Chattanoogan, Sara, has just made the decision to adopt from Ethiopia; so all the items from her Etsy store are helping to support their adoption. I love the ponytail holders!! I may buy one or two for my own stocking. ;)

10. Bookplates

If you have and lend out a lot of books like I do, bookplates are a great thing to have! I love these cute designs, and 50% of the seller's proceeds benefit the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Fund.

There are so much amazing, hand-crafted goods out there that support great causes. Do you have a favorite cause you support at Christmas?  

You should also check out Amanda's post on gifts she wants to give for more ideas!



Added to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family and Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.

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Super Easy Christmas Gift Tags

Want to know how to make the cheapest, easiest, Christmas gift tags in the whole world?

Of course you do!

What you need:

• Stack of old Christmas cards (not photo ones) - if you don't have any from last year, check out Goodwill or an antique store, or ask around!
• Scissors
• Pen
• Wrapping supplies - paper, ribbon, tape

1. Pick out cards that have any kind of fun design on front. Make sure there is no writing on the inside top of the card (on the back of the design).

2. Cut around pictures from the fronts of the cards. You can often get more than one cut-out from each card.

3. Punch or cut out a small hole in the cut-out design.

4. Wrap present as normal, but thread ribbon through your homemade gift tag.

5. Address tag appropriately.

I love that this:

• Recycles something old
• Doesn't cost a penny if you save some cards from year to year
• Is unique
• Is simple

If you use gift bags, you can tie these on to the handles with some fun curly ribbon.

{Believe it or not, these are my presents for THIS YEAR! I love to shop early and wrap early. Particularly when I have a baby due on December 22nd!}

This easy tip works for me!


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Works for Me Wednesday: The Cheapest Toy Ever

There are a lot of toys that I would say Libbie loves.

She is obsessed with her baby dolls. She still likes her LeapFrog Learning Table. I could write a whole post on how much she "plays" with the giant mirror at our front door.

This picture is from March! Wahhh! So little!

But one of the "toys" that has gotten the most use in our household is an old (plastic) spice jar filled with dry lentils.

It's a baby bottle. A maraca. A salt shaker. Diaper cream.

A great exhibit of a child's imagination. She finds endless use for this little noisemaker. I highly suggest you replicate one for your toddler. Any well-sealed empty container and small, dry thing will do--lentils, beans, rice, rocks.

I want to hear what your toddler thinks it is.

Added to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

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Stuffed Peppers in the Crockpot: Works for Me Wednesday

My cousin, Tricia, recently created a recipe for Italian Stuffed Peppers. They looked good to me, but I thought I would miss the tomato sauce that usually tops stuffed peppers. Mr. V and I have made the Betty Crocker stuffed peppers* since college, and we love them; I was a little afraid messing with stuffed peppers might get me kicked out of the house.

The recipe kept talking to me, however, and when I saw these amazing sweet peppers at the farmer's market here in Chattanooga, I could no longer resist the siren's call.

I wanted to try something else this time, too. I've always hated blanching the peppers, then trying to handle them hot, then trying to get them to sit up in a baking dish and covering them with foil. It's a pain in the neck.

So this time I went for the slow cooker, and I am glad that I did! A few hours on high and the peppers were just soft enough without dissolving. The depth of the slow cooker makes it easy to keep the peppers upright. Making stuffed peppers in a crockpot definitely works for me!

Italian Stuffed Peppers with Sausage
adapted from Once a Month Mom

4 sweet bell peppers
1.5 cups cooked rice (I used brown)
6 oz. feta cheese crumbles
.5 lb. ground sausage, cooked and drained of fat
1 cup pizza sauce, divided (or tomato sauce with some basil and oregano stirred in)
salt and pepper

Cut the "lids" off the bell peppers; take out the seeds and veins.

Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or grease the bottom with olive oil. Place peppers, sitting upright, inside.

In a bowl, combine cooked rice, feta, sausage, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup pizza sauce. Spoon gently into peppers until they are full; a little overfull is OK!

Spoon remaining tomato sauce over the tops of the peppers.

Cook on high 3 hours or until peppers are soft (test with a paring knife).

*Does anyone else just LOVE the Betty Crocker Big Red Cookbook? We have that version, which was out when we got married, and the 70s version I used growing up. Betty is simply the best for easy recipes and directives on how to cook certain vegetables or cuts of meat.

Added to the gluten-free parade of recipes at Heavenly Homemakers.





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Chore Planners and Homemade Cleaners: Works for Me Wednesday

You know how I say that I'm trying to be the housewife I'm not? Originally, that meant literally. I worked full-time, thus I was not a housewife.

Well, now I am. (That thought still scares me a little.) And it turns out I am not really any better at keeping my home clean now than I was when I worked 8 hours a day. Our home in Chattanooga is bigger, older, and apparently attracts more bugs than our little Nashville condo; we also have a toddler now, who loves to go behind me, undoing any cleaning I seem to have accomplished.

But in all truth, it's just me. I find it much easier to come to my computer during down time rather than pick up my mop or a sponge. While I love to cook, I just don't love to clean up after myself. And that leaves me feeling incredibly inadequate as a housewife.

When Mandi linked to these Motivated Moms chore lists, I wasn't especially interested. But then I thought about it. Maybe what I needed was someone to tell me what to do to keep my house clean. And for $4, it was worth a try!

Some perks to the list?

• I stick it to the fridge with a magnet, so my husband can see it too. That gives him the chance to keep me accountable … or pitch in himself and check an item off!
• If I don't get to something one day, I can always come back to it over the next day or two. (Even though that's obviously not the point, it works for me.)
• It gives me a sense of accomplishment to check something off the list.
• The creator of this program has thought of things that would never cross my mind. I know I need to clip Libbie's fingernails, for instance, but I never do it on a regular basis--I do it when she scratches the heck out of me or Adam. This list gives me a nudge to clip those suckers before they cause havock.

Because it's halfway through the year, Motivated Moms has the chore planners marked down to half off ($4). You can get planners in regular paper size, planner size, and with or without Bible readings! 

Something else that keeps me sane is making my own cleaners, because I despise buying cleaners all the time. You've probably seen these tips before, but here are some great cleaners that work for me!

Instead of dusting spray, I dip a cloth in a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil. It shines furniture right up and gives it a nice citrus scent as well.

For glass cleaner, mix 2 cups water with 3 tablespoons white vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon dish soap.

To unclog a sink or tub, sprinkle baking soda down the drain. Dump in some white vinegar and it will foam the clog out!

For more tips on life in general, visit Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

**The Motivated Moms links are affiliate links.

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A Working Parent Tip

These days, we're REALLY trying to save money due to the abysmal selling-our-house situation. So I try to take my lunch to work most every day.

In the mornings, however, I'm not only trying to get myself ready for work, but also getting my baby girl up, changed, dressed, fed, and packing her diaper bag for the day. She eats a LOT of little things so it takes me time to prepare all of those each day. In addition, she wears cloth diapers so if they aren't already folded and stuffed, it's another task I add to the morning routine.

(This single parenting during the week stinks! Not only do I have to get all our stuff ready, I have to make sure she's not trying to swim in the toilet or falling down the stairs.)

If there is not something I can easily grab for breakfast or lunch, I often give up and end up eating out for lunch at work.

So my number one solution to this has been to divide up leftovers in individual portions right after dinner. That way, I can easily grab a tupperware container on my way out the door in the morning and have a delicious lunch.



I keep them stacked at eye level in the refrigerator so I can see my selections and make a quick choice.

This tip helps me save money, eat healthier, and it works for me!
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If you're visiting from Works for Me Wednesday, I have a fun little carnival going on called The 12 Days of Libbie. I'd love it if you'd link up a post you've written that loves on your kid(s)!

Publix Bargain Meals: Garden Cucumber Salad with Tuna

File Under: Things My Husband Would Not Eat in a Thousand Years

Deals:
Cucumbers--.50
Hellman's Mayo--half off
Corn--.25/ear

My recommendation is this Garden Cucumber Salad with Tuna and Fresh Basil from Kalyn's Kitchen. It looks awesome! Serve with corn on the cob--boil the cobs for 4-5 minutes and slather with butter and salt. YUM!

This is the second year I've bought a basil plant. We don't have a lot of room to grow things because we live in a condo, but we have a very small front flower bed where I'm allowed to plant. Last year my $1.50 basil plant grew into a bush that could have supplied the whole neighborhood with pesto. I think I may have watered it twice.

I am definitely pro spending $1.50 for an herb plant that will supply me with delicious fresh basil all summer instead of buying some for $2-3 at the grocery every time I need it. Had I not been gigantically pregnant, I probably would have frozen some of the basil to have later in the winter as well.

Here's my favorite summer recipe to use the basil in: Summer Bow-Ties.

I'm linking this frugal herb tip to Works for Me Wednesday: The Frugal Edition.

Ode to BumGenius, Part 2

Well, I feel like I have been cloth diapering long enough to be able to sing the praises of our diapers. I think it's really only been about about 10 weeks, but everything seems longer in Baby Time. In Ode to BumGenius, Part 1, I was mostly entranced with how cute the little diapers are. And they still are. Sure, the little cloth-diapered booty is a little harder to fit into her pants (probably a key factor in the changing over to 6-9 month clothes this past weekend), but the diapers are precious.

I never, EVER would have thought I'd be cloth diapering. Trust me, I'm not an organic-eating, tree-saving kind of girl, really. We don't even recycle. Shhhh. But y'all, diapers are expensive. And we cheap, yo. (OK, sorry. I'm feeling kind of weird today!)



Reasons Cloth Diapering Works for Us:

1. Inexpensive. We did choose a more expensive brand of cloth diapers (BumGenius, as the title notes). Even at that, we only spent $300 for diapers that should last until she is potty-trained, as they are the one-sized ones. That will save us approximately $2700 in diaper costs over the next few years.

2. Not running out of diapers and having to rush out to the store all the time. If all my diapers do get dirty, which has only happened once, I think, I have one package of disposables in the size she's in that I use for this occasion (or if we need to use diaper cream, because it can stain the cloth).

3. Practically no diaper rash or blowouts. In the 2 1/2 months we've been using these, we've had two blowouts. She sometimes had two blowouts a DAY in disposables. Less dirty clothes to wash and deal with.

4. Not populating landfills. Again, I am no environmentalist, really. I do believe we should honor God's earth, though. And at the rate it takes disposable diapers to disintegrate, ALL of the disposable diapers EVER used are still in landfills. That just grosses me out.

Modern cloth diapering is so easy. The adorable BumGenius 3.0s we got velcro and move just like a disposable. They are easy for our daycare teachers and church nursery workers to deal with. We use wet bags from Monkeyfoot Designs (that are CUH-YUTE) in her diaper bag and her room to contain the wetness and smell. You just throw these in the wash with the diapers.

I wash every other night--one cycle on cold, one on hot, and one long cycle in the dryer.

Two nights she had some diaper rash and wore a disposable to bed. Both nights she soaked through the disposable and onto her gown and sheets--ICK! My husband, who was extremely skeptical about this endeavor, then proclaimed, "No more disposables at night! And ever, unless it's completely necessary!" They've even won him over.

I can't recommend every brand. And it doesn't work for everyone and every baby, I know. But cloth diapers definitely work for me. How about you? (And if you have any questions about cloth diapering, you're more than welcome to e-mail me or comment here and I'll respond.)

And P.S., BumGenius, if you read this and want to send me free diapers or some to give away or anything, you'd be more than welcome to do so! E-mail me!

Step 1: The Schedule

As promised, here's my first step toward keeping my home a decent place.

Since Libbie was born, I've sporadically tried to keep myself to some kind of schedule when it comes to cleaning.

I HATE CLEANING. It usually ends up like this. The only cleaning at all I care to do is laundry. And that is probably because my laundry room is upstairs with our bedrooms so it's not too bad to lug things back and forth. And now I love to fold and hang up the itty bitty baby things.

At one point I was frustrated and tried to make a list about how I would clean the bathrooms every week, vacuum every week, we would wash dishes together every night, he would take out the trash, etc... It didn't work.

I finally decided that if I could tackle one room in my house per day, it would not lead to the cleaning marathons we tend to have before someone comes over. I really like this plan. It means I only have to clean about 1/2 an hour every day at most. I can do that while Libbie naps or after she goes to bed. Mr. V usually pitches in a little bit with dishes or general picking up. I don't do everything every week, but I try to do tidying and some heavier cleaning each week.

It's been working out great so far and I can't believe I might have actually found a plan that works for me!!

Here's my schedule.

Saturday: Bathrooms
Sunday: Kitchen
Monday: Family Room
Tuesday: Nursery
Wednesday: trash/dog cleaning duty (Mr. V's jobs)
Thursday: Our Bedroom
Friday: Closets/Laundry (I do laundry throughout the week, but this and Saturday are my "try to get almost everything in the wash" days)

Works for Me Wednesday: Kitchen Organization

Now, you are probably laughing if you know me. Kitchen organization? My husband is especially getting a kick out of this, I'm sure.

But then he'll realize I am just sharing his brilliant idea and he'll be OK with it.

Shannon shared today her distaste for spice organization and her super cute Watkins spice containers. They are very cool and vintagey, and it's nice to have all your spices match. Here is our solution.

I don't even know when or how he came up with this, but a few years back Mr. V came home with a bunch of these stacking bead organizers:

Ours actually click into a base separately, if that makes sense. Here's our drawer (and yes, I do stuff the other spices in the middle. Which might defeat the purpose).:

I think we got enough to store 24 different spices. We used sticky tape to put the bases in a drawer in the kitchen, and then wrote the name of the spices on the side of each clear container in permanent marker. I think each container holds around 2 tablespoons, which is plenty for how much I usually use when I am making a recipe.

It's great not to have to dig through a huge shelf or box looking for a specific spice each time I need one! When I run out in the small containers, I do have a box with the larger containers to transfer, but it's much less frequently! I think my husband is ingenious for coming up with this. Any kind of jewelry or bead storage unit would probably work--check out your local Michael's or Joann's and see what you can find! Our method is easy because it fits in the drawer.