Home Organizational Tips

I do not have room in my home for an office so I chose to use the space in my closet. It's not glamorous but it works for me. I can close the door to the office and it is out of sight until I need it.


Under my bed I have a long pull out container that I keep my shoes in. I never have to walk to the closet to put them away, because I just keep them out of sight right under my bed.

In the bathroom I use a lot of different containers to keep things tidy. A pretty container with a lid helps keep personal items personal and handy. Next to my sink a crystal candy dish holds my decorative soaps.


Planters are great to use next to the toilet for the toilet brush. I also use planters in the shower to hold shower items. A large planter holds combs and hair brushes. A smaller planter holds my make-up brushes. My necklaces look real pretty hung on the neck of an angel in the corner on the counter.



Also on the counter in my bathroom I have items arranged on a tray so that counter clean up is easy. Just slide the tray over to wipe down one side then slide it to the other side to finish wiping down the counters.


Now for my kitchen and all things messy I use place mats. I use a color coordinated cloth place mat under the toaster over, plastic place mat under dogs dishes and indoor grill. On top of the place mat I also use a cookie sheet under the grill that has never been used in the oven so it looks new all the time. The non-stick cookie sheet makes clean up easy and holds any drips that miss the drip pan. I also use a decorative tray under the coffee pot to make it easier to pull out to pour in the water and contain mess.


Now last but not least on the tray that holds my coffee maker I also have a pretty dish I decided to use as a trash container for the empty sweetener packets that never make it to the trash can. If you can not beat them join them in a prettier way. Now my family use the dish and I just empty it out when full.

Pink and Green Baby Shower Tea

I have been waiting to put these ideas to good use for years. I have been planning children's parties since 2000, but had not been asked to plan a baby shower. I have had these baby shower plans and ideas for years now and finally took the opportunity to used them for my cousins baby shower.

I used 24 mini tea cups to hold the mini cupcakes. The recipe for the Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime icing I found on food.com. I have to confess that I did not make the cupcakes my self, but they were a hit. I bought chocolate crown molds to decorate the cupcakes with and put the cupcakes in rows on the dessert table. The extra cupcakes were placed on a 3 tiered dessert stand next to the mini tea cups.

On the other side of the dessert stand I placed baby bottle party favors. The bottles were filled with milk bath for each lady to take home.



On the baby bottle I put a label that read "Milk Bath" and with Pink curling ribbon I tied on a green tag that said "Thank you for attending so and so's baby shower."

It turned out to be a beautiful baby shower.

Superhero Party!

Up up and away! this is my first paid boy party. I bought 8 superhero capes and made about 8 more myself out of costume satin. I bought royal blue fabric to make the bottom table cloth that covered the table all the way to the floor. I bought red satin to make a table cloth that goes on top of the blue table cloth. To decorate the table I dressed 2 bears in superhero costumes. One was dressed as spiderman and the other was superman. I painted wood frames royal blue and put them on the table for the boys to decorate them with stars and planets.

We played keep the kryptonite up in the air and then the game musical chairs. while they played games I would pull each child out to pose for a photo to put in their frame. We then ate cake and cookies. The cookies were made by my cake lady Jennifer. http://mycakesandmore.bravehost.com/ I asked for them to look just like the superman logo, but instead of an "S" in the middle we put the child's initial "M". Party was an hour and a half and a lot of fun.

Summer Fun 2010!

Well I have a lot of catching up! Summer has been fun and productive. I need to get in a better habit of posting on a regular basis. I have some wonderful parties to write about, cleaning projects to brag about and summer fun to continue to enjoy.



My son had a "Star Wars" party. It was great if I should say so my self. I did get all of my ideas from several other blogs so thank you bloggers! My cake lady Jennifer of http://mycakesandmore.bravehost.com/ made me to best R2D2 cake!
An idea I got from another blogger was to make light sabers from pool noodles

We started out making the light sabers then moved on to decorating a construction paper frame. We then ate pizza and cake. All of that took about an hour. The boys spent the last hour running outside and wacking each other with the light sabers. We came in and opened gifts. After opening gifts I had the boys get together for a group photo to put in the frame they decorated and the boys went home. Fun fun fun!



The party favors were the photo, light saber, and a goody bag that had slim jim, cheese stick, balloons, poppers, sticky hand. I am not a big fan of huge bags of candy and little toys that just fall apart. I was very happy with the whole thing.

Water water every where and not a drop to drink!

This is a continuation from the clogged sink saga. I am being dramatic, but I am very thankful for my upright Bissell. There maybe other bigger and better wet vacs out on the market, but I have sure gotten my moneys worth out of the one I have. I bought it when my daughter was little. She was sick and had thrown up on my carpet. It was around $200 at the time and nine years later it is still cleaning up my messes as well as all the other messes my children have made.

I called a friend of mine and asked if she could recommend a plumber. He came over after 1 pm and left at 5 pm and only charged me $75. Even though I did not show it I was so happy I almost kissed him. Well now to go back to the task of vacuuming up all the water.

Garbage Disposal and children. Ugh!

Well Saturday evening my daughters chore is the dishes. She thought it was a good idea to put leftover chucks of pot roast in the garbage disposal. Now on Monday after a whole bottle of Draino and a plunger we have a sink full of water plus water coming up through the carpet in the living room near the bathroom. I have actually called a handyman with the hopes it is an easy fix, but...I will have to let you know how it turns out later.

Here are some stories from friends:
"I put a whole pot of macaroni down one time and had to unscrew all the plumbing myself and take out the garbage disposal and clean it out. You probably just need to unscrew the pipe that goes into it (after you unplug it from the electricity first) and clean out the roast. yep one day I had macaroni backed up and all swollen up all the way from the disposal into the pipe in the wall."

"I put peanut shells in ours a few days ago and hubby is still working to fix it." :o(

I guess the lesson here is never trust the garbage disposal with large chunks of anything heavier than lettuce. I will let you know what happens.

Summer Day Camp

Character Building Fun

There will be a week of dress up, singing, etiquette, character building, snacks, arts and crafts.

Daughters of the King Princess Camp
Fridays Fabulous Tea with… Mom

Character and Etiquette Camp
Fridays Fabulous Tea with… Mom

Animals from A-Z Camp
Animal to Hand Stuff-N-Fluff $10 extra

Chef’s Cooking up Literature Camp
Cooking up a different story daily

Disney Princess Glam Camp
Fridays Fabulous Tea with… Mom

New 2009 Summer Day Camp in your Church, Daycare or choice of venue for ages 4 to 7 years old $100 per child for early registration $115 at the door 9 am to 12 pm or 6 to 9 pm for a week of character building fun!

Must book 2-3 weeks prior to event.
We except Cash, Checks and Credit through PayPal.
Minimum 8 children per session and max 25 children per session.
Hosted by Little Women Tea Parties at your choice of venue 423-4085

In the New!

Prim and Proper
Valley woman starts business hosting tea parties by Brandice J. O’Brien

Harlingen—Many little girls play dress-up with Barbie dolls and dream in pink and purple. Rainbows, teddy bears and tea parties define their world. As they grow up, they abandon childhood fantasies and tea parties end—unless they are like Carrie Fullerton who did not set up her tea parties until she reached adulthood. “I was never a real foo-foo person. I thought tea parties were for snobs,” Fullerton said.

After she married, Fullerton read home organizing books by author Emilie Barnes. One book lead to another and soon she was reading “If Teacups Could Talk”. The story inspired her and she saw an elegant side to tea parties.

Through the direction of her mother-in-law, Fullerton started a business, “Little Women Tea Parties,” in which girls, ages 3 and up are invited to take part in a grand socializing event, complete with a delicate china tea set, genuine silverware, beverages and snacks. “It’s a nice way to pamper yourself,” Fullerton said. “Socializing without a lot of cooking involved.”

Since introducing the business in July 2000, Fullerton has been hosting tea parties for little girls.

She offers 10 themes including “Mommy and Me,” “Teddy and Me” and “Women’s Groups”. Fullerton has 5 packages—Royal Tea Parties, Specialty Parties, Host Your Own, Bridal Showers and Baby Showers. Prices range from $100 for Host Your Own to $199 for a 2 hour party.

Fullerton offers “Host Your Own Tea Parties,” which is accessories for a tea party for those who may not want a party planner.

Parties and prices are set up for eight guests, although other arrangements can be made.

In addition to party food served on dainty table service, children can enunciate the atmosphere with dress-up clothes and accessories provided by Fullerton. All will be able to remember the event with a keepsake Polaroid and will be able to indulge in a game or activity.

Although tea parties may come across as children’s fun, Fullerton assures that adults can take part in the event as well. “I would be interested in doing bridal and baby showers,” Fullerton said. “I would love to do adult tea parties as well.”

Because of the age difference, grown-up tea parties would vary slightly. Since Fullerton doesn’t have dresses to fit adults, they could only use her accessories. Also, she would suggest a different menu. “Instead of bread, I’d suggest croissant rolls to make it more adult,” Fullerton said.

“One day, I would like to have my own shop, so (people) could come to me for parties,” Fullerton said. Currently, she travels to either the guest of honors home or their choice site for the party. “I’d really love to buy a Victorian home with a side area to do the business out of home, but still a shop.”

Fullerton prefers her clients book services at least two weeks in advance in order to make the necessary arrangements. for more information, call 423-4085

New friend on facebook?!

I received a friend request from a senior in High School the other day! To my suprise one of my past Early Childhood (3 year old) students decided to look me up on facebook. She told me that she remembered that I would not let them eat sweets until they ate their lunch. I told her that I hope that is not the only memory she has of me. She then said that I was a good teacher and that she is thinking about becoming a teacher. I do not believe every student of mine should become a teacher, but that is a great complement to me and all her teachers. To all teachers out there be sure to keep learning fun. I cook in my classroom with my student and host a parent / child tea party every year.

Prayer

I have so many friends and family in need of prayer. I have added 3 blogs of such cases.
1. My past student for one of my kinder classes is now 11 years old and battling with Leukemia.
2. My Aunt's niece had a baby in November pre-mature.
3. My husband's Aunt and Uncle's house burned to the ground.
4. A year ago my parent's home flooded first in hurricane Ike in September and then burned to the ground in November 2008.
Please keep them all in your prayers.