The Busiest Place in the House!

The Pantry!



Before- only 1/2 these appliances were being used.





After- much more functional, and gained a shelf for snacks.

More to come, experiencing technical difficulties and need to move on with my day to make my home a little more BLISSFUL!

Heart Attack!!

Happy Valentines Month!
     What to do with all that candy, cards, and more candy.
      Here's what works for us:
      After a few days of the kids devouring their candy before & after school, before & after dinner, and any time in between when your not looking, I finally purge it all into one candy bucket in the cupboard.  Because silly I know, but out-of-sight, almost out-of-mind.  And I can't stand the clutter on top of the counters.  Then narrow the rations down to one treat after school and one after dinner.
       As for the cards and such, definately keep the ones from family; parents, grandparents, etc., as for all the little cards from schoolmates or neighbors, I let my kids choose their top 3 and put them away in their keepsake books (makes for designing a scrapbook page easy with just a pink or red background).

Stay fresh-faced all day!

If your foundation looks flaky, blame the thermostat.  Harsh indoor heating can rob skin of moisture--and since dry skin doesn't absorb makeup well, you could end up with powdery patches.  A quick fix: Dab a bit of moisturizer over your foundation and massage it in with your fingertip or a makeup sponge.  The lotion rehydrates dry spots to even out skin tone instantly.  Making your skin feel a little more Blissful!

PURGE!

Don't let paper scare you, it might take some time, but it really takes a load off (your mind and your office space)!  I know you would love to go through it in one day, it won't happen.  Set a timer for 1-2 hours, (as long as a movie for the kiddos), or take one drawer or box (depending on your current filing system) at a time. And definately have some D.D.P. (diet dr.pepper), or your choice of beverage and chocolate around.
To begin: have 1 box for keeps, 1 for shred, 1 for just plain garbage you can't believe you've hung onto.

Whether you have a filing cabinet, nice roll top desk, or just a plastic rubbermaid filing bin, or an old computer paper box, you should be storing SOME important documents.
For example: Keep taxes=7 years
Birth certificates, titles, immunizations, life insurance policies, etc.=indefinately (preferably in a safe)
File important receipts-bank statements=keep 1 year
Bank deposit slips=till statement comes
Receipts and warranties=till they expire
Paycheck stubs=till finished filing taxes, then shred.
Monthly bills=3-6 months




Shred all documents containing social security numbers or account numbers after no longer needed.

Hopefully this will help all of you start a corner of your world for the new year to be a little more Blissful!

Birthdays!

Just a thought on birthdays

With a birthday this week, and shortly after Christmas with little or no $ left, and 4 kids my husband and I decided a few years ago to make birthdays a little more Blissful at the Brower home. We give the kids 3 options and they get to choose 2;

1. Go out to dinner with the family (nicer than the usual Wendy's),

2. Party with friends and small gift,

3. A certain allotment of $ to spend on themselves-whatever they want.

9 times out of 10 they choose the dinner and $. They also get to choose their favorite homemade breakfast, and lunch and the day off from chores (yes, that includes the mom-because when else do you have an excuse), and of course cake and ice cream with the extended family.  This has made our birthdays around here far more blissful being that the birthday person is king/queen for their SPECIAL day and less stressfull on the mom.  Please share what birthday traditions you have.

The Office

I was going to post this in the tip of the week, but blogger is giving me a headache with this design, so you get a whole post on it.

Your space should be clean and functional.  Make sure you have plenty of necessities, like;paper, pens, and the upcoming tax file folder.  UGH! I know, it's that time of year.  But why not make it easier by putting a file folder in one designated spot (by the computer where you will do taxes, or on a desk), labeled TAXES 2010.  File those documents as they come in  so you are not searching for them later, making tax time a little more Blissful!

It snowed again!

This was one big baby receiving blanket I had made when my kids were little. I had so many I took one for each child and sewed them together for one big quilt we can all cuddle in together now on the couch. This is one leftover, how cute for a pillow to match my craft room that I covered an existing pillow I didn't like and made the other half into a baby sleeping bag for my neice for Christmas for her doll.  I made a matching pillow with scraps I had.

Like my friend Angela says, fabric can really add coziness to a room, I just wish I had enough for curtains.



I added a matching ribbon on the bottom so she can roll it up and store the pillow with it just like a real one.