Top Posts of 2016

Wishing you a really happy 2017 as the new year approaches!

This is often a good time for reflection and goal setting, a time to look back on the past year and to consider plans for the future.

Photo by Ian Schneider

I thought it would be a helpful time to collate a list of my top posts from the last year:

Getting on Top of the Paper Pile
Developing a Self Care Plan
The Essential Hospital Birth Packing List (Guest Post)
Setting Achievable Goals
Using a Gift Wrapping Style
The Opportunity Cost of Time and Three Productivity Tips
Managing your Time by Setting Big Picture Goals
Get Organizing
Where to Start Organizing?

Thank you so much for reading dandelyn and I hope you continue to follow the blog in 2017!

Merry Christmas

Thank you so much to all my readers who have taken the time to read my ideas on creating a beautiful and functional home this year. In our part of the world we have a summer Christmas, so we will be enjoying some outdoor time and probably cooking a turkey on the barbecue (which we call a braai!).

Photo by Kelly Sikkema

I hope that you are finding the time to rest, relax and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.

Best wishes from dandelyn!

Easy Christmas Cookies Recipe

One of our Christmas traditions is to bake cookies for our neighbours and friends. I used to make a complicated ginger biscuit recipe, but now I have an easier recipe that is quicker and uses ingredients that I generally have available in my baking cupboard.

I usually double the quantities to make about 60 star shaped biscuits in a batch. These biscuits are an ideal tea time treat! I package them up either in a big jar with a ribbon round the top, or in smaller quantities in a cellophane package with a ribbon and best wishes label.

Photo by Kari Shea

Recipe for Christmas Cookies (makes about 30)

100g butter
100g castor sugar
1 large egg
5ml vanilla essence
225g plain flour

1. Beat butter until smooth.
2. Add castor sugar and beat it into butter.
3. Add egg and beat mixture.
4. Add vanilla essence and beat mixture again.
5. Finally add sifted flour.
6. Roll out and cut into shapes.
7. Bake in oven at 180 degrees Celsius for approximately 10 - 15 minutes.

What are some of your Christmas traditions? Do let me know if you bake and enjoy these cookies!

Creating a Welcoming Guest Room

If you are expecting guests during the festive season, then it might be a good time to start evaluating your guest room. Is it a lovely space to spend some time or has it become a junk storage area? What will you need to do to make your guest room a welcoming space?

Photo by Annie Spatt

A few things to consider when preparing your guest room:

1. Consider if the room can be multi-functional:
Earlier this year, we set up a lovely craft cabinet in our guest room which I absolutely loved! It was a great space in which to work and housed all my creative materials. However, as soon as we had guests to stay for a few weeks I had to move the cabinet out to fit in an extra bed. It was also not really possible to go in there and work while we had guests staying in the room. So in our case, having a multi-functional guest room just doesn't work.

2. Take out things that are not useful in the space:
When I decided that our guest room was only going to be used for guests to stay there, it was easier to keep just guest room essentials in the room as well as a few stored items. In between visitors it can become a bit of a junk deposit area, but after another few hours of having to clear the space again I have made a firm decision not to just stuff things into the guest room cupboard when I don't have time to deal with them.

3. Keep it guest -ready:
If you are in a position to have a dedicated guest room, I think it is easier to keep it in a state that it is ready for guests rather than rushing around madly at the last minute like I sometimes do! That may mean having guest towels and linen clean and ready to use as well as a dedicated drawer or shelf with extra toiletries in a basket. We also have a hair drier set up and a music player that lives in the guest room. I like to add fresh flowers, a chocolate treat and water bottle at the last minute but everything else can be prepared in advance. If you would like to read my previous post, which has a list of guest room "essentials", click here.

I will also ask our guests what their experience of the guest room is like so that I can make adjustments and improvements in future.

Do you have a dedicated guest room? What are some of the essentials you feel are necessary for a pleasant stay?

Christmas Tree Decoration Tips

One of our most loved Christmas traditions is decorating  our tree. We have a collection of sentimental ornaments that I love to see each year as we listen to carols and decorate. Typically our tree has been rather a hodge podge of elements, but this year we watched some videos on YouTube to inspire us and give us some decorating tips!

Photo by Joanna Kosinka

It helps to start up with a unifying theme in mind - either a colour or feel such as "red and gold" or "Scandinavian style". Then you can use baubles in your chosen colour or theme to give a cohesive look to the tree before adding your collection of other ornaments. If you really want a stylish look, you may like to match your tree to the decor style of the rest of your house.

We used silver pine cones (instead of baubles) and silver beaded garland as well as mainly red coloured (non-breakable!)  decorations as our basic theme. I also like to try and use a gift wrapping style and colour that co-ordinates with the tree, so I typically use red ribbon bows on wrapping paper that has a red pattern of some sort on it. If you would like to read my previous post on using a gift wrapping style, click here.

Here are the steps we used this year to decorate our tree:

Step 1: Consider your tree skirt, pot or other container that the tree will stand in. Check that the bottom of the tree looks attractive.

Step 2: If you are using a fresh tree, turn the tree till it is facing the best direction and prune branches if necessary to get a good symmetrical shape. You can use secateurs to do this and cut at an angle to disguise the fresh cuts. If you are using a plastic tree, fluff out the branches and arrange them so that the tree has a good shape and looks more natural.

Step 3: If you are using fairy lights, check that they are working. Wind them around the tree in a spiral. Use lights near the inside part of the tree too to give the tree a sense of depth.

Step 4: Add garlands around the tree. These can be made of popcorn, beaded strings, hessian or anything that goes with the theme you are creating with your tree. You could also use bows instead.

Step 5: Sort your baubles into small, medium and large sizes. Hang your baubles on the tree, one colour at a time to get an even spread. Hang the large ones near the bottom of the tree, medium towards the middle and smaller at the top of the tree.

Step 6: Also sort your other decorations into sizes: small, medium and large. Use these to fill in the gaps left by the baubles again with bigger decorations at the bottom ,medium in the middle area and smallest at the top.

Step 6: Finish with a tree topper that is secured in place or hung in front of the tree top.

After following these steps, I think our tree now looks at its best and we are enjoying the festive atmosphere it creates in our home.

When do you put up your tree? What tips do you have for getting your tree to look its best? If you would like to read my earlier post about planning for Christmas, click here.

Three Steps to Organizing a Home Work Space

If you work from home, pay your bills electronically, do some blogging or study at home, you could do with a dedicated work space!

Photo by Alisa Anton

Although we have gone through a few attempts to set up a home office in various places in our home, I have recently needed to think again about how to do this effectively. I started out with a desk in our bedroom - this was a temporary fix but it was not calming to have a reminder of work that needed to be done. Next I tried a small corner of the living room - but the area was too small and drafty and didn't work well as there was not much space to spread out papers. When we re-organised the living room I moved the printer to our outside art room/music studio. This area was initially a great place to work, but we found it was not easy to have to go outside in the late evenings to work there and it was too far away to always have a good internet connection. I was tending to set up on the coffee table or dining table each time I needed to do some work. Time for a re-think!

The following questions have helped me to re-assess our work space requirements:

1. What purposes will we using this space for? What will we need to fulfill those purposes?
We need our work space to accommodate our home admin, my blogging and homework for my daughter. To do these things we need a desk with drawers for homework supplies and lots of work surface space. We also need enough light to work at night and a good internet connection.

2. Who will be using the space? When will it be used?
The whole family will use it at different times of day from mornings until late evenings.

3. Where is the best location considering the above requirements?
I have decided to move our work space back to the living room as it is the largest room in the house and the place we spend most of our time as a family. I have chosen to use a long console table as a desk so it is not too out of place in our living room and gives plenty of room to spread out paperwork. There is a also a wall light above the console table so it can easily be used at night. We will try it out as a solution, but so far it is working out well.

What are your thoughts on creating a work space at home? Where have you located your work space? If you would like to read my previous post about creating a home office click here.

"The Inspired Room" Book and a Kitchen Re-Organization

I was so delighted to receive a copy of Melissa Michael's book, "The Inspired Room" as a birthday gift. As the title suggests, the book really was an inspiration for re-thinking how we use our home and has helped me to feel motivated to re-arrange and tweak things to work better and feel more cozy.

In her book she writes, "A kitchen nourishes your family in many tangible and intangible ways, so improving the physical space to make it more inviting is worth considering as your budget allows." On reflection, I realized our kitchen was not functioning well. I had found myself avoiding going in there because it felt cramped and dark and a bit disorganized. It was time for a re-assessment of what worked and what didn't. With the help of my husband, we did some re-arranging and now it is functioning so much better!

We did the following "baker's dozen" changes:

• Moved the microwave to an unused corner next to the kettle to better make use of the "dead space" there.
• Moved the bread bin and toaster to the counter space where the microwave used to sit so the space next to the stove is now free and can be used as an extension of the prep area.
• Replaced the toaster that didn't match the rest of the appliances.
• Removed the tray and tea-set that was not used daily but took up a lot of space.
• Moved the dish washing liquid, hand soap and cleaning sponge to the counter top in a old pie plate so the windowsill is clear (and my daughter can reach them). I need to put these in more attractive packaging at a later stage.
• Consolidated the various bowls of fruit onto one single large platter that can be easily cleaned and fits the corner of the kitchen. I may also add a pot plant next to the fruit platter.
• Moved the scale and weights from a high shelf onto the counter top where they are easy to use.
• Introduced a recipe stand that I had been previously unable to use so now I can have a recipe book open for inspiration.
• Introduced a small chalkboard with a fun cooking-related quote.
• Replaced the mismatched recycling basket with a collection of matching baskets on a high shelf so recycling does not sit on the counter top. Thanks to my mom for the shopping trip to find and buy these lovely new baskets!
• Put away medicines/vitamins as well as the spices. The different packaging and colours of these things were visually distracting.
• Replaced the small clock on the windowsill with a new wall clock. (Another birthday gift!)
• Space is now available for my new bread machine (also a delightful birthday present!) and a food processor that I have ordered with a birthday gift voucher from a dear friend.

So with a bit of  inspiration and some thought (as well as a whole lot of kitchen-related birthday gifts!) I really love spending time in our kitchen now. And all this took only about two hours!

You can follow Melissa Michael's blog, also called The Inspired Room, if you too need some home inspiration!

Christmas Planning Ideas

Do you enjoy all the planning and build up to Christmas or does the festive season leave you feeling frazzled? The secret to a stress-free Christmas is to start planning and organizing ahead of time - even in November!

Melissa Michaels of "The Inspired Room" has just started her series for Christmas, and she advises thinking about what is important and meaningful for you at this time of year and then planning from there. There is a lot of wisdom in being deliberate about what you choose to do (and what you plan NOT to do!) during the festive season. Having a big picture plan that helps you prioritize will go a long way to preventing that frazzled feeling in the New Year.

Another helpful site is Emma Marie Designs "15 Days to an Organized Christmas". She has a free Christmas Planner that includes everything you need to do and think about before Christmas as well as 15 days of blog posts to guide you through the process.

I also like "The 36th Avenue" for their list of  Christmas traditions which includes a list of scripture verses to read by candle light in the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Another of our Christmas traditions is to use the Jacquie Lawson electronic advent calendar in the count down to Christmas.

This year I have made a Christmas "To Do" list ahead of time, with a time line for doing different things so that I can spread out all the things that I would like to get done. This is a rough plan of what I think I would like to do:

By End of  November 

• Make Christmas Cards
• Update address list
• Write in cards and address envelopes
• Set a Christmas budget for gifts and festivities
• Write a list of gifts that I would like to give at Christmas
• Plan what shops I need to get to to buy gifts or supplies to make gifts with
• Set up advent calendar for my daughter with tiny chocolates and scripture verses
• Finalize plans for Christmas supper/lunch

By early December

• Post Christmas cards
• Finish making handmade gifts
• Christmas gift shopping done
• Put up Christmas tree while listening to suitable "Christmassy" music

By Middle of December

• Complete gift wrapping and make tags
• Make star biscuits or fruit mince pies for neighbours
• Carol Service tea duty organized
• Buy ahead ingredients for Christmas supper/lunch
• Make paper angels 

By Christmas Eve

• Set the table and make a center piece
• Finish prep for Christmas supper/lunch

Christmas Day

• Attend Christmas Church Service
• Relax and enjoy the day!

What are your essential "To Dos" for Christmas? Do you like to plan ahead or are you more of a last minute kind of person when it comes to the festive season?

My Top Three Tips for Staying Organized

If you are struggling to stay organized or to get organized you are not alone! With each new season of our lives come new challenges and different organizing strategies and solutions need to be found. Being organized is definitely a process as well as a mental habit.

Photo by Angelina Litvin

My top three tips for staying organized even if you are feeling overwhelmed:

1. Use a diary/planner/bullet journal and keep all your appointments and to-do lists in one place. Having scraps of paper here and there can make it difficult to keep track of everything - so centralize them all into one place.
2. Have a place for everything and put items back in their places. Where you would first think of looking for something is probably a good place to keep it. If it is too difficult to put something back it might mean you are keeping it in the wrong place. Make everything you use regularly easy to access and to put away again.
3. Try to keep surfaces clear. It is so much easier to clean (and also to relax) if you are not confronted by piles of things on various surfaces. If things are piling up it is a sign to do a clean up. If you need to do a major organizing session some good advice is to use the  PROCESS method by the Organizing Junkie. She goes through some logical and helpful steps to take when doing a tidying project - big or small.

What are your top tips for staying on top of the chaos?  Do you have any tried and tested ways to stay organized?

Creating a Visual Schedule

One of my favourite quotes is an old proverb, "The palest ink is better then the best memory".  I just can't keep all the things I need to do and remember in my head, so I am a great believer in writing them all down.

One of the tools I like to use as a visual reminder of routines throughout the week is a "visual schedule" that the whole family can check. This is especially useful for my young daughter who has various school activities for which she needs to pack various things each day.

Photo by Tristan Colangelo

A visual schedule is easy to create with pen and paper - it is really just a chart that lays out the days of the week and items and activities to remember each day. I prefer to use a table in a word document that I can adapt each school term as our activities change. I like to put the days of the week down the left hand side column and then list the activities and reminders in the right hand column next to the days.

I also like to add "clipart" or small drawings that are graphic reminders of each important activity. For example, a picture of a swimming costume on days that there is swimming and she needs to pack her swimming kit.

A helpful tip is also to have the schedule in more than one place if necessary, in our case there needs to be one in my daughter's room as well as one on our fridge.

Another tip is to print out or draw the schedule on colourful paper so that it stands out in the mass of other paperwork and reminders that might be on your noticeboard. If the visual schedule is eye catching then it is easy to refer to each day.

I have tried printing out a schedule each week so that I can add notes to it, but for our family it works better just to use one visual schedule per school term that is only changed if our regular weekly activities change. Perhaps an idea would be to laminate the schedule so that it is possible to write on it and then wipe it down each week for new notes?

What are your tips for organising a family schedule? Do you use a calendar or a weekly visual schedule or both? Please comment with what works well for you and your family.

Getting on Top of the Paper Pile

Getting on top of the paper pile is a job that I think most of us avoid because it can be boring and time consuming. I think the key to getting the job done is to try and make it more fun. I have quite a paper pile of filing to get through, so my plan is to put on some music, set a timer and take a few coffee breaks until the pile is reduced. I think I might also try and use more colourful and pretty stationery in future, to make this mundane more appealing. From now on I would also like to try a "little and often" approach instead of letting the pile accumulate to a point where it is painful to deal with it!

Photo by Andrew Pons

The following tips and suggestions are ways in which I find it helpful to conquer the paper mountain when it threatens to become overwhelming!

Step One:
Starting to deal with paperwork requires gathering all the bits of papers around the house as step one. At least having a central paperwork place will help things from getting mislaid or even lost. There are some lovely "Command Centres" on Pinterest that can act as inspiration for an area in which to deal with paperwork on an ongoing basis.

Step Two:
The next step is to categorise the papers. Some can be immediately thrown away as either junk mail or no longer relevant. Remember to shred personal information! Some useful categories that I use include:

1. Important Documents and Records to Keep Indefinitely
2. Action Items: Incoming Bills to Pay/Paperwork that Requires a Response
3. Children's Artwork and Keepsakes
4. Receipts 
5. Papers to File
6. Manuals and Guarantees

Step Three:
Step three is to consider the systems to keep in place to deal with the different types of papers and to use them! I have different systems for the different types of paperwork. Using the categories above as examples:

1. Important Documents and Records to Keep Indefinitely: These need to go in a safe place, which is at least locked, preferably even in a fireproof box. It might also be helpful to have scans of these in case they are damaged or lost. 
2. Action Items: These need to be kept to hand, and ideally the actions that need to be taken diarised or done immediately. They can have their own file that needs to be kept on hand and checked regularly. When the bill is paid or item is actioned it can be moved into the filing system or shredded and recycled. I need to set up an accordion type file for these.
3. Children's Artwork and Keepsakes: I have set up a big plastic box with a number of plastic envelope-type folders inside it to put in special artwork, greeting cards and certificates each year. Anything that we want to keep goes inside this box. Other artwork can be temporarily displayed and then recycled when new ones are created. I keep large artwork and 3D projects elsewhere, and my intention is to take photographs of these as a memory and then recycle the original project.
4. Receipts: I have a glass bowl where all the current month's receipts go until they are recorded. At the end of the month they all go into a labelled ziploc bag to be kept until the end of the tax year when they can be shredded and recycled.
5. Papers to File: This is my most problematic category as I tend to have a build up of papers to file that need to go into our manila folder filing system. At the moment there is just a pile of these papers that sit in the drawer until I can get to them. This is the paper mountain I need to tackle! These also need to be categorised and filed away on a more regular basis. We have gone onto electronic billing as much as possible, but there are still a few paper based ones that need to be dealt with.
6. Manuals and Guarantees: I staple the receipt onto the manual as a proof of purchase and then they all go into a plastic box where I know I can find them for future reference.

I hope that these tips and suggestions inspire you to get started on your own paper pile! Please comment with more ideas for tackling paperwork.

Get More Organized with an Annual Planning Session

It is my annual tradition to start to plan for the following year in September or October. I like to start planning so early because I find the last quarter of the year is very busy with lots of family birthdays, end of school arrangements and Christmas holiday time, so the new year tends to sneak up on me.

Photo by Aaron Burden

For 2016 I drew up my own planner/diary in a notebook that included a weekly page view as well as a space at the back of the notebook for lists and reminders. I have done the same again for 2017, but in my new planner/diary I have put all the weekly reminders on one page and then the facing page is blank for a weekly to-do list. It is like a hybrid of a bullet journal and a more traditional planner/diary.

In my annual planning session I do the following:

1. Rule up a notebook in the format I think I will need for the following year. This is quite a lengthy process but I get a custom made planner/diary that exactly fits my needs. (Of course there are plenty of really lovely ones already out there, so it would be equally helpful to just buy one that is ready-made if you can find one that fits your needs.)
2. Next I write in all the birthdays, anniversaries and special dates to remember for the year on the relevant pages in my planner/diary. I find this more helpful than a separate birthday list as it reminds me on the day to send a birthday wish. I usually used a brightly coloured pen so that these reminders stand out.
3. Then I mark off the school terms and holidays, and note first days back and last days of school term.
4. When the school calendar of events comes out for the following year, I transfer the relevant dates to my diary/planner so that all my reminders are in the same place and I don't accidentally book another appointment at the same time as a school event.
5. At the back of my 2017 planner/diary I have also added some page headings to help me remember extra lists:

                   Goals for the year
                   Books to read
                   DIY reminder list
                   Master packing list
               
If your family needs visual reminders it is helpful to also use a monthly or weekly calendar in a visible place (fridge door for us!) This may be helpful to keep everyone on track and can incorporate weekly activities and meal plans. For some lovely free printable 2017 calendar pages from "The Typical Mom" click here.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it is a most helpful organizing session that really sets me up for the year and helps me to remember all the important dates.

What are your tips for using a planner/diary or bullet journal effectively? Do you do an annual planning session or do you plan on a shorter term basis? Please comment with your tips and tricks.
                 
             

Five Ways to Make your Home Feel Comfortable and Cosy

What makes a home feel cosy? In my mind a cosy space has a comfy reading chair, books and a space to put a cup of tea! But a cosy space is made up of many different aspects.

The following five tips might serve as inspiration to add a comfortable feeling to your space:

1. Fresh flowers or pot plants are a great way to make a space feel welcoming. Flowers or greenery picked from the garden or bought from the grocery shop add life to a room and freshen up a space. I like to put greenery on the dining room table as it is also the enterance to our house. We also recently potted up some violas and petunias for our outdoor table which is in direct line of sight of the living room. I was amazed that it only took a few bright annuals in a pot to really cheer up this small space.A fresh bowl of fruit can also be an inviting addition to a table or kitchen counter top. 
2. Cushions and blankets are also a helpful addition to up the cosiness of a room, especially if you live in a chilly climate or have cool evenings. In spring and summer, light weight cotton throws may be just the ticket to add some colour and texture to a room and as the season changes to autumn/fall and winter some more heavy weight wool blankets might be in order. I love neutral tones, but adding a bit of colour with these decorative elements has certainly added a fun element to our spaces.
3. Lighting is something I tend to forget about, but that adds a lot of warmth and cosiness to a space. Table lamps and floor lamps as well as candles and fairy lights can change the mood of a room from dreary to magical in a moment. Scented candles can also add a lovely atmosphere to an evening at home (or even a long soak in the bath). If it is possible to fit a dimmer switch to dining room and bedroom over head lights, this small modification can create a lot of atmosphere. It might be helpful to have "layers" of lighting that include overhead lights, mood lighting as well as task lighting.
4. Floor Rugs and carpets are another forgotten aspect of warming up a space. Especially in the bedroom where you step out of bed, it is lovely to have a warm mat to step onto. Rugs can also add a design statement to a room and add an injection of colour if necessary and they are useful for demarcating specific areas in a room, such as a reading nook or children's play area. They might also help to take up a bit of wear and tear in high traffic zones.
5. Artwork and meaningful items are the final touch to make a room feel comfortable and cosy. These can be anything that makes your heart glad, from quirky to classic depending on the mood you are trying to create. They are the items that really make a house into a home and lend personality to a space. They can also be changed seasonally or moved around to freshen up a room and add some pizazz.

Do any of your spaces lack cosiness? What are your ideas about what makes a space cosy and comfortable? 

Developing a Self Care Plan

So much of our time is scheduled for urgent and important tasks that it is often difficult to take a break from parenting/building a career/running a home/caring for others. With many things on the go, finding the time to look after ourselves might be the last thing on the list.

But like a car needs regular maintenance to keep it roadworthy and running smoothly, we too need a "self maintenance" plan to keep us from getting exhausted and burnt out. What does a self care plan involve? It takes a deliberate effort on our part to do things that nurture our souls and recharge our energy levels.

A self care plan will involve different things for different people - as we are all unique individuals that have particular needs and preferences. It might be helpful to write down a list of things to do that replenish mind, body and spirit and then schedule appointments with yourself to do some of those things on a regular basis, even if they are small pleasures that make you smile.

Some suggestions of self-care areas to consider:

When setting up a self care plan also be realistic about what is achievable and consider things that might get in the way of your plan. It may be helpful to re-assess your plan after a month to see if it is working well. You might also like to include in your plan a list of signs that you are feeling burnt out or overwhelmed, so that you are able to recognize when you need some additional care. Remember to keep your plan accessible so you can refer to it regularly.

Self care is vitally important for maintaining your well being and managing stress. I strongly encourage you to make a self care plan and keep appointments to care for yourself as regularly as possible.Check out these suggestions for more ideas about developing your own self care plan.

Fostering Independence: Helping Kids to Help Themselves

In hindsight I can see how helpful it was to establish some good habits from when my child was little. However, I need to be reminded that it is part of a mom's job to foster increasing independence in her little ones so that they will be able to function well as adults.

Photo by  Jordan Whitt

A few thoughts on how to help children help themselves:

1. Tidying and Organising: Although it is sometimes easier to just do some toy tidying when little ones are out (or even asleep!) in the long run I have found it surprisingly helpful to actually involve them in the organising process. They definitely have their own ideas about what to keep and what can go, and with some coaching they can learn how to effectively tame the chaos and come up with a workable solution for tidying up and storing toys and games. This will probably need to happen quite often, as I am sure it seldom happens that things are able to stay tidy for months at a time and collections may need to change as children grow and their needs and preferences change. But if children are involved in the process they are more likely to keep their spaces in order and take some responsibility for cleaning up.
2. Age appropriate chores/household help: Although the degree to which children help out may vary depending on their capacity, I think it is helpful for them to do at least few chores to help around the house. This will really help them when they have a home of their own to manage as they will have learned some of the jobs that need to be done in order for a home to stay clean and mostly organised. Again, it is sometimes quicker and easier to do things yourself, but taking time to help a child to learn a skill is never wasted.
3. Kids' kitchen drawer: Another tip I have found most helpful is to have a drawer in the kitchen with plastic cups and plates and small cutlery so that children can get their own things out, and eventually learn to make themselves easy snacks and drinks when they are old enough. Gradually they are able to learn to be more independent if they have access to some safe kitchen essentials. I am also trying to establish the habit of returning used items to the kitchen for washing up!
4. Routines and Visual Schedules: As I am a very visual person and have a bit of a weak memory, I rely on lists to keep me on track. For some children, a regular routine and even a "visual schedule" that lays out the day (or week) may be a helpful way to get more organised and help transfer some of the responsibility of remembering to do things. If children are too young to read, pictures may be helpful reminders and they also add a bit of fun to a "to do" list.
5. Homework stationery center: For older children who need to do homework, a "caddy" or center where all the necessary supplies are kept is a helpful way to streamline this daily routine. The challenge is just to remember to keep putting everything back in its place afterwards so it is ready for the next session!

What are your ideas for fostering growing independence in children? What are some of the good habits you have established from a young age? I would love to read your comments!

The Essential Hospital Birth Packing List: Part Two

This post is a continuation of Kirsten’s guest post, who as a new mom herself, has kindly agreed to share her recent experience and advice with expectant moms. To read the first part of the post click here.

Photo by Arnaud Jaeger

6.Toiletries

There’s nothing quite like a hot shower after a hard day’s work, but leave your fluffy white towels at home, pack something old, as well as all the usual toiletries. Leave anything strongly perfumed at home so baby can learn your scent. Hospitals are air-conditioned, so if you suffer from scratchy eyes, dry lips or skin, pack appropriate moisturisers.

7.Girly bits

No matter what kind of delivery you have, some of your girly bits are going to catch you by surprise.  The hospital will generally send you home with a packet of pads that look like they could absorb the contents of a bathtub, don’t laugh - take them! You may also want to purchase something a little less chunky as the flow becomes a bit lighter. I took one look at the suggested disposable panties, left them on the shelf and went to Pep to purchase some cheap, cotton granny-panties in a size bigger than usual. Good choice. Ice packs can also be helpful to ease the swelling and sensitivity especially the day your milk comes in, as well as breast pads to absorb the extra milk while your body figures out how much it needs to produce.

8. Baby

Amazingly, your little person needs very little for their stay in hospital.  Many hospitals supply everything you need, nappies, wet wipes, blankets and even clothing, but won’t stop you from taking your own belongings along if you want to, including cloth nappies if you’re going that route from birth. Also, don’t forget to fit your car seat in advance; some of those fellas require a degree for correct installation.

9. Paperwork

You will probably have some kind of pre-admission to take along as well as medical aid details. When you leave the hospital, make sure to gather everything you need for you babies birth registration and to add your baby onto your medical aid should you need to. You have 30 days to register your bubs, but don’t be fooled, 30 days passes in a flash!

10. Education

Let’s not forget that hospitals are businesses, while they are staffed with many caring souls, most often, they will streamline things to make it easier for staff. Know your rights.  Know what you want.  If you’re not sure, ask. If you don’t like the way something is done, say so. If you need assistance, ask. If they have forgotten to bring you something, remind them. If it doesn’t sit well with your instinct, question it. Make sure you know what's considered 'the norm' at your chosen hospital, should you like things done differently, voice your wishes. Some places will assume you’re ok with their standard protocol unless you say otherwise. This may include bathing your newborn, formula top ups, taking your baby to the nursery, vaccinations and vitamin K injections and your length of stay in hospital.

During our birth preparation class, we were reminded that actually delivering the baby was the easy part; the hard work was yet to begin.  During labor I wondered if it could it get any tougher? Indeed it could, and it did, and I’m sure we will continue to have extraordinarily trying times. My heart didn’t know such love existed, my body didn’t know if could function on so little sleep, my hands have never hung as much washing and my back never ached as much, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Our little cherub has been the most precious gift we could ever have imagined and we thank God for entrusting her care to us daily. 

The Essential Hospital Birth Packing List: Part One

What to pack and how to get organised as an expecting mom? This two part post may help you prepare for your hospital birth experience. Welcome to my guest contributor, Kirsten, who as a new mom herself, has kindly agreed to share her recent experience and advice with other expectant moms.

Photograph by Bonnie Kittle

My introduction shall be by way of a few disclaimers.

With exception for the odd birthday card or shopping list, it's been years since I wrote anything of significance. Prior to the arrival of our little cherub, my job as a designer required that I do more drawing, cutting, and sticking than anything of literary importance.  (Perhaps I'm better qualified to be a mother than I realise?)

I have a tendency to be more practical than sentimental and an affinity towards boldness where I feel passionate about a subject.  Since the delivery of our precious little person, I've developed a desire to encourage expectant mothers to fight for the kind of delivery they would really like. All too often I hear of mothers who are either bullied or scared into a delivery they weren't expecting at their most vulnerable and exhausted time of pregnancy. 

I am by no means an expert in this field, our little cherub is our fist-born and we deliberately chose to remain blissfully ignorant. All that I have to share with you is from my own personal experience.  She arrived in a peaceful, natural delivery, just after midnight with the help and support of two incredible women; midwife Cheryl, doula Christine and my amazing husband, who didn’t leave my side for the entire duration. Although I cannot comment on a caesarean delivery, I suspect many of my suggestions will still be applicable.

Gentlemen, you may want go now.  In order for this post to be helpful, I've included some sensitive details.  Thanks for reading this far.

10 Essentials for your Hospital Birthing Experience

1. Support Team

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not for a second suggestion that birthing is a spectator sport, but I do strongly believe that having the right people around you can make all the difference. Do your homework before you decide who will be by your side when your little miracle arrives. If you’re not comfortable with a particular service provider, don’t feel obliged to continue seeing them. Gynecologists are not the only people qualified to deliver babies. Up until very recently, most textbook pregnancies would have had a midwife deliver the baby and obstetrician would only have been consulted if there were complications. If you would like your family/photographer/baby’s siblings to be there ask if your doctor/midwife will allow it, if not, and it’s important to you, consider relooking at your support team. Birthing can be lonely and scary. As dedicated as the staff might be, they work shifts so your delivery may well stretch over several shifts meaning that you are sharing your most vulnerable experience with new faces at each shift change. A private midwife and/or doula will be by your side the entire journey, encouraging you when you’re weak, comforting you when you’re scared, being your support when you’re out of energy, ensuring your privacy is a priority and if you’re lucky, even bringing you milk tart to celebrate.

2. Food

It’s said you burn more calories during a natural delivery than in a marathon.  You will need some sustenance to keep you (and your support team) going. Consider high energy, easy to eat foods such as dried fruits, biltong, nuts etc.  That being said, my contractions arrived so suddenly and strongly, I had to sacrifice a perfectly good plate of bangers and mash as my body purged anything it felt wasn't essential to survival and after this, it refused to accept anything other than fluids. Luckily we were well prepared with liters of water, fruit juice and a bottle, which made drinking far easier than trying to sip from a glass. Just when I felt I no longer had what it took, a glucose drip gave me the energy for the final few pushes, before we celebrated our cherub’s birthday with tea and cake in the small hours of the morning.

3. Comfort

You body will feel like it’s been stretched to the maximum, in all senses of the description. Few times in my life have I been less concerned with how I looked, but rather focused on how I could be comfortable. If you would prefer to be in your own clothes, ask if you may wear them. If you have a favorite pillow, take it. If you have long hair, tie it up. It’s very likely you won't instantly shrink back to your original size, pack some pj's and clothes that will accommodate your jelly belly and have easy access for breast feeding and skin-to-skin contact. 

4. Technology

If you have a smart phone, it can pretty much do everything you need for a technological point of view; photographs, video, phone calls, text messages, music etc. Don’t forget you charger (and a plug) You will be amazed how quickly your battery runs flat sharing the wonderful news of your arrival with any and everyone you can possibly think of!

5. Meds

I had an un-medicated birth. While I cannot deny the pain was indescribable, once she had arrived, the labor pain was instantly gone and in its place was a glorious cocktail of hormones that made the first week of her life all rainbows and unicorns. However, I would like to thank the manufacturers of Voltaren suppositories. A lot more subtle than the magic of Voltaren, Rescue drops are multi-purpose, and can be used to clean the umbilical cord and to take the edge off, both you and baby while your sleep deprived nervous system adjust to a new norm and your nocturnal new born learns day from night while your eye lids are propped up with match sticks.

To continue reading the second part of this post click here.

Tips for Organising Travel Packing

This year has been a busy one with lots more time away from home than usual. I have found it most helpful to create packing lists for the various trips, but on reflection it would probably be best to create a "master packing list" that can be re-used and tweaked depending on the length and type of trip.

Image by Erol Ahmed

Although I am not a frequent traveller, I have found that these tips make packing much easier:

1. Use small size toiletries that take up much less space than the regular size. If you have favourite products you can decant them into small lightweight containers.Remember to label the containers! I also like to take liquid soap rather than a bar as the wet soap bar needs a special case that won't leak - but this is just personal preference. It is also helpful to leave a toiletry bag ready packed, so that it is just a matter of grab and go when necessary. This may mean that you need to purchase duplicates such as an extra toothbrush, comb etc, but it is really a lot easier than having to think through everything every time. A travel size hair drier is also a really worthwhile investment for a frequent traveller. Remember that if you are flying, restrictions on liquids and gels in hand luggage apply!
2. Depending on where you are going, you may need to take a towel. I try to take a dark coloured towel and face cloth that will be less likely to show marks. I also always pack a few empty plastic packets for damp things just in case.
3. A small laundry bag in which to put clothes that need washing is also helpful so when you get home you don't have to try and remember what needs laundering. If you are on a long trip, some soap powder which can be used for hand washing might be a helpful way to extend the time you can use clothes and under wear. Also remember a few clothes pegs if you will be doing laundry yourself.
4. A "tech bag" with various cords, chargers and adaptors is also a helpful addition for travelling. If you have a lot of cords it might be helpful to label them too. 
5. Remember to pack prescription medication and a small collection of any necessary extra medicines such as pain killers, plasters and possibly antihistamines. I also find a travel pack of wet wipes and tissues are essential!
6. Some snacks and a water bottle might be handy extras to tide you over between meals. 
7. Finally, thinking through the clothes you will need before you pack is essential. Your choices will obviously largely depend on the climate, activities and length of trip you are taking. I would highly recommend "The Vivienne files" for helpful advice on choosing a suitable travel wardrobe. Essentially I find it helpful to take more tops than bottoms, with the bottoms mainly neutral in colour and then an accent colour for tops and accessories. Scarves and jewellery take up very little space, but can liven up a simple outfit. However, shoes are relatively heavy and take up a fair amount of space, so it is helpful to limit them to as few pairs as possible. Also remember to put shoes in bags (or wrap in shower caps!) to keep any dirt off the rest of your luggage.

Are you a frequent traveller? What are your tips for being an organised packer and travelling light?

Setting Achievable Goals

I feel it is important to have a vision so that your time and energy can be focused on what is important. However, sometimes goals can remain unfulfilled for various reasons and never quite come to fruition.

I recently saw a number of pinterest pins with the following acronym that may be helpful in setting realistic goals which are achievable. SMART goals are:

Specific: Write down exactly what it is you wish to achieve.
Measurable: How will you know that you have achieved the goal(s)? Write down some measurable way in which you know you will be getting closer to your aim. 
Achievable: Be realistic about the steps that you need to take to achieve the goal(s). Write down a list of the smaller steps you will need to take in order to achieve your goal.
Relevant: Think about why you want to achieve the goal(s) you have set. Why are they important to you?
Timeous: What is your time line for achieving your goal(s)?

Once you have considered the SMART way of setting goals it may also be useful to think about how often you need to review your goals. This is often the step where I fall down! Possibly a weekly or a quarterly review may be a helpful way to keep on track with achieving goals. It may be helpful to actually make a note in your diary or planner to check on your progress.

Photo by Aaron Burden

If you use a bullet journal, a helpful popular technique is to make up a "habit tracker" that you fill in daily to have a visual track of new habits that you are attempting to establish in order to achieve your goals. Another useful point to consider is how many goals to focus on at a time in order to remain realistic? Maybe it would be more realistic to focus on just a few goals (even one!) at a time.

My most valuable tip is never to give up, even if your plans are derailed for a time! It is actually fine to just get back on track again if things go wrong for a while. I have learned this through needing to be on a stringent eating plan that goes wrong occasionally,  but then I need to get back to the plan and carry on even though it is tempting to give up completely at times. If your goals are important to you, it is worth following through on your aims even if they take longer than you would like to achieve them.

Do you currently have any goals or aims that you would like to fulfil? What do you think might be getting in the way of achieving your dreams? 

Creating a Small Home Office Area and Craft Room Combination

Even if it is a small space to perch with a laptop, a home office space is an essential part of the home.  As I mentioned in a previous post, our former working spot has been taken over by a bookcase so I needed to find a new space to work (besides the coffee table or dining room table).

Fortunately the art/music room has a relatively unused surface at the back which I think may make the perfect spot.  So we are currently sorting out the art/music room once again in order to accommodate a bit of a home office.

Photo by Tim Gouw

The office/craft area is a bit like a basement in its feel, so there are a few things we have needed to take into consideration:

• Storage - We have decided to work with open plan storage for all the art supplies so that the counter tops can be clear for work and the area will hopefully feel less cluttered. I took all the art supplies out of the room and sorted them into categories. We now have most of the items stored in clear plastic containers so that they will be easily visible on the shelves when we need them. I have also asked myself the question, “Why am I keeping this?” to help me get rid of things that are no longer being used as well as to group the supplies into “kits” for each activity. For example, all the card/tag making items are stored together in a plastic container and all the scrapbooking supplies are now in a portable bag.  We also moved a small drawer unit into the office area to house supplies there.
• Lighting- The room currently has a small single bulb fitting which is in a very high ceiling. I think some track lighting that can be angled towards the work surfaces would probably be more helpful. For the moment a higher wattage bulb has done the trick!
• Heating- We need to have a heater as the space is quite cold, particularly at night.
• Traffic flow/Seating Arrangements – We need to be able to seat two crafters side by side at the arts and craft surface as well as a third person in the home office area. I would also like to include a comfy reading chair for perusing our art inspiration books or just having a cup of tea.
• Art Display – I would like to include an area for displaying our creations. The long wall opposite the crafting surface has plenty of space for putting up art and craft projects. I am also thinking of some space above the crafting and office areas for inspirational quotes and pictures that we can see while we are at work.

So far our art room/home office is working out beautifully – mainly thanks to my husband sorting out our storage needs by putting up shelves.  Where do you like to do your home office work? How is your home office space working for you?

De-Cluttering Electronic Clutter

I must confess I am not very good at cleaning up electronic clutter. We recently backed up our computer, and there are quite a number of documents and images that are no longer necessary or useful – the exact definition of clutter!

Image by Luis Llerena

In my mission to clean up my electronic clutter, and I intend to use the following strategies:

1. Unsubscribe from e-mail lists. This is perhaps one of the most useful tips on avoiding electronic clutter in the first place. I used to just delete unwanted e-mail, but now I take the trouble to find the link at the bottom of the message and actually unsubscribe myself from mail I don’t have time to read or am no longer interested in receiving. It has made a massive difference to my inbox!
2. Delete items that are no longer necessary.  I tend to hoard up e-mails that have been read in case I want to read them again. However these must really go as well as blurry and duplicate photographs and documents that are outdated and no longer useful.
3. File e-mails, documents and photographs efficiently.  I am quite good at keeping documents and e-mails in labeled folders but somehow our photographs have got into a mess. I think it will be helpful to get all digital photos in one place and file them in folders that make sense (either in date order or by occasion).
4. Keep back-ups. This needs to be a scheduled or regular routine, not a random and haphazard event. I am quite good about keeping electronic photos in more than one place, but it needs to be a more intentional process. If backing –up is routine then cleaning up before backing up might also become routine.

These strategies seem simple, but I suspect like all clear ups they might end up being time consuming and require a lot of thought.  But as with all clean ups, I am sure the time and effort will yield results and get easier as it becomes more routine.

What are your tips for keeping on top of electronic clutter? What are your thoughts on how to keep effective back-ups of photos and documents?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Last year in December, my daughter encouraged us to set up a recycle station. We already had a good system in place for recycling paper, but the rest of our efforts were a bit haphazard! I was keen to keep all the recycling in the garage and out of the way, but she was much wiser than me and suggested we keep it closer to the house so that it would be more accessible. So we now have an assortment of bins and containers tucked in next to our laundry for which she has made suitable labels.

Having a system of bins and boxes in place that we use for recycling has greatly improved our recycling efforts, and made a big difference to the amount of rubbish that has to go to the municipal landfill. We have even started checking the plastic packaging on our groceries to see if it can be recycled! Recycling is also actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, even though the boxes do sometimes get a bit too full before we do a visit to the recycling center.

At present our recycling efforts include the following:

• A wormery, in which we put vegetable scraps from the kitchen as well as moistened newspaper pages to keep them from dehydrating. This produces compost and “worm tea” which we can use on our plants.
• A paper bin for cardboard and paper, that has been shredded up if it contains any personal information.
• A plastics bin, which I find a bit difficult to manage as I can seldom remember which types of plastic can be recycled. I think I need to add a note on the bin to remind me what can go in it.
• A big box to contain glass that can be recycled. We have to take the glass to a special recycling center as it is not included in the local municipal rubbish collection service.
• A bin for cans, which are also taken to the recycling center when we go to drop the glass.
• In our laundry we also have an ice-cream tub where we collect used batteries and another tub for light bulbs that are no longer functional. These have to go to a different recycling center in a local supermarket.

Now we need to work on imaginative ways to re-use and reduce our consumption to try and cut down on waste even more if we can. We are going through a severe drought at the moment, so in particular our water consumption is something we are working on reducing as much as possible.

Is the mantra “reduce, re-use, recycle” familiar to your household? Do you have any tips for living in a more environmentally friendly manner?

Using a Gift Wrapping Style

Gift wrapping is part of the fun of giving gifts – but the collection of paper, gift bags and ribbons can get overwhelming.  Especially when Pinterest is full of beautiful ideas for presenting gifts, it is easy to accumulate a large collection of various gift wrapping supplies for various occasions.  I have found that the easiest way to minimize my gift wrap collection was to choose a personal style that I like to use for giving gifts and only to keep the essentials that fit with that style.

My chosen style is to use silver patterned paper to wrap gifts and then finish them off with a simple bow made out of florist ribbon. I then add a handmade tag or card with a greeting. This is fairly simple to manage and works for most of our gifts.  It also means that if I am tempted to buy more gift wrap, I always stick to paper that has a silver colour so it co-ordinates with the ribbon that I already have.

I do find however, that this style can be a bit somber for small children, so I do sometimes end up buying a small amount of more colourful paper to wrap their presents. For Christmas I also usually splash out and buy a few rolls of themed wrapping paper that co-ordinate with red florist ribbon as we have a red and green colour theme to our Christmas tree.

This strategy seems to work for me at the moment and it means I only need to keep a few bulky rolls of paper and a small collection of florist ribbon to meet most of our gift wrapping requirements. I keep all the supplies together in our art and craft room, so when it is time to do some wrapping everything is to hand. I have also discovered the joy of having a proper sticky tape dispenser to hand rather than wrestling with a roll of tape!

Besides choosing a particular colour theme, here are some other ideas for a gift wrapping style:

• Brown paper or brown paper bags with a colourful fabric ribbon attached
• A particular pattern of wrapping paper such as butterflies, dots, hearts or star shapes
• Adding a fresh flower or greenery to an otherwise plain package
• Using washi tape decoration on plain paper
• Embellishments such as lace, fabric or feathers on a plain background paper

Image from Pexels

A note on gift bags: I think gift bags are eco-friendly as they are more likely to be re-usable than wrapping paper. If we are given gift bags I try to re-use them if I can. However they are a bit tricky, as they often require co-ordinating tissue paper (which I always forget!) and they need to match the size of the gift. Unless they are plainly coloured, I also find that they are often themed to a particular occasion or gender. So I tend to rather use wrapping paper unless I am trying to wrap something awkward, like a bottle!

Do you have a gift wrapping style? What are your tips for keeping a gift wrapping stash to a minimum?

Setting a Table for a Special Occasion

A special table setting really adds to the sense of occasion and can be fun to set up if you want to celebrate a particular event.  I think a setting can be as simple or elaborate as the time and energy you have available!

On a day-to-day basis we often set the table very simply for dinner, using just place mats and serviettes with the essential plates, water glasses and eating implements. It is a fun tradition and eating at the table makes mealtime feel a little bit more special.  We keep everything in the dresser near the dining table, so it is really easy to take out and put away again afterwards.

I also have a small collection of items that work together for more elaborate occasions. We have a round dining table and although I have struggled to find a suitable table cloth to cover it, I eventually found a neutral coloured cloth which works well as a backdrop.  I also use neutral serviettes and silver coloured rings which co-ordinate with them. Although they are all silver coloured, the serviette rings have different patterns on them so we can tell which belongs to which person. Also essential are the place mats with plain white crockery, as are some small clear water glasses, wine glasses and champagne glasses if we are really going to splash out! I also try and remember to have a selection of white serving platters and various serving implements on hand to try to present the various eats in a simple but attractive way.

The colour and theme of the table then comes from a centre piece of flowers or candles.  Sometimes I also use paper serviettes that co-ordinate with the flowers so there is less laundry after the event. It is also fun to add colourful balloons tied with ribbon, especially for birthday celebrations! Last year for my birthday I decided to host an afternoon tea party, so the table setting was made colourful with a mismatched selection of tea cups and saucers that I had inherited.  I was also delighted to find serviettes with a tea-cup design on them to complete the theme! This year I would like to use a butterfly theme for my birthday celebration and I am already thinking about what little finishing touches will make the occasion special.

Image by Ali Inay

Do you enjoy setting the table for special occasions? What tips do you have to make a celebration memorable?

Getting the Linen Cupboard Organised

Another example of a quick project that will take under an hour is getting the linen cupboard sorted out. We have a rather small linen cupboard and it seems to get easily cluttered with bits and pieces that get popped in there. I have found the easiest way to get it back in shape is to think of what the function of that cupboard needs to be and to remove things that do not fit with its function and store them elsewhere. The function of our linen cupboard is to hold linens, various bags and beach/swimming necessities.

I even went so far as to think about the function of each shelf, so that things have a logical place to live. These were the categories that I ended up with:

• Spare plastic bags, extra cloths and spare tablecloths
• Sheets, pillowcases and hot water bottles/wheetie bags
• Towels and facecloths
• Spare blankets and beach/swimming things
• Cooler bags and kit bags

Although they are not all logical pairings, they neatly fit the space and are accessible to everyone in the family to use and hopefully put back again! I also used bags to store like items together. For example, the spare blankets are in a big bag that can be pulled out from the shelf, and all the swimming and beach paraphernalia are in a big beach bag, ready to go. I also keep a check list of what we need to take to the beach stuck on the inside of the linen cupboard door as a helpful reminder.

Image by Martin Vorel

I choose to store spare toiletries, medicines and paper products elsewhere in the house as they will not fit in the linen cupboard as well as everything else that I need to keep in there.

I am so pleased with the newly organised cupboard, it has motivated me to get stuck in to other small projects around the house!

Do you have a dedicated "linen cupboard"? What are your tips for keeping it neat and organised?

Handbag Organisation

Recently I watched a Youtube video by www.athomewithnikki.com on handbag organisation, and was inspired by her to sort out my own handbag. (One of those “quick wins” I mentioned in a previous post).

I have always been drawn to handbags, particularly the bigger variety, and tend to carry around a lot of items “just in case”. My daughter calls it my “Mary Poppins” bag. I realise now though, that unlike when I was working outside of the home, I actually need not pack so many things! So I took a critical look at what I was carrying with me when I was out and about, and sorted it down to the real essentials.

Nikki suggests using smaller pouches within a larger handbag to keep like items together – which is a great tip for finding those smaller items that might otherwise get lost. In her handbags she co-ordinates her small pouches, planner, notebooks and glasses case with the colours of the handbag to create a stylish and co-ordinated look.

After my organising session (which only took about 10 minutes), I managed to only keep the following items in various pouches:

• Pens, business cards, notepaper
• Cereal bar snack
• Tissues and wetwipes
• Sunglasses
• Wallet
• A few personal items
• Keys on a chain

After getting a bit more organised, I can now downsize to a smaller bag, or easily swop to another handbag. (I was tempted to say here that I can now fit more into my bag – but that would defeat the object of downsizing!) Hopefully it will also prove easier to find things now that everything has its own specific place!

Image by Anna Hamilton

What are your handbag essentials? Do you also have a “Mary Poppins” bag or are you more streamlined in your approach?