Get Crafty with Dried Flowers

Prepare for spring by collecting and preserving flowers for precious and fun crafts. Follow these easy steps to create a pretty picture with your kids, and hang them up to display your fun family creations!

Materials Needed:

• Flowers
• Newspaper
• Tissue Paper
• Wax Paper
• Clear Contact Paper

Instructions:

Press your flowers as described here: Save Your Summer Blooms.

Once your flowers are ready, cut a piece of wax paper to the size you want your picture. Carefully arrange your flowers on the wax paper into the design you want – be careful, they might be fragile!

Cut a piece of clear contact paper about the same size as your wax paper. Peel off the paper backing and carefully cover the flowers and wax paper with it. Gently press to make sure the paper adheres to everything.

Protect your flower craft in a lovely frame or even use as a cover for a card, a book, or whatever else you can dream up. Enjoy!

Presidential Crafts

Presidents Day is celebrated annually on the third Monday of February. It mainly recognizes George Washington’s birthday, but it is also the perfect time to teach your children about the American presidents. You can tell them about your favorite president, ask them what they think they would do if they were the president and consider what qualities they would imagine a good president should have.

Here are a few playful craft ideas from holidays.kaboose.com to keep your kids informed in a fun and creative way!

Future President Pin

Presidents Day Finger Puppets

Make a cotton ball wig! Perfect for dressing up as George Washington. 

Find Comfort in your Kitchen

The power of comfort food is amazing. These dishes might take you back to your childhood, remind you of a special place or stir up a memory of a special person. Whether you’re reminiscing on old memories or creating new ones, one of these recipes will surely take you there. Feeling particularly nostalgic? Try combining a few into your next meal.

We found recipes for our favorites—Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Chili, Chicken Soup and Chocolate Chip Cookies—with help from Martha Stewart.

Tastes like home.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I imagine many of you out there already have plans for Valentine’s Day – dinner at a nice restaurant with your significant other, showering your lovers with roses, sending them packages filled with Hershey’s Kisses. However, sometimes the best Valentine’s Day can is spent curled up on the couch with your loved one, watching a romantic DVD.

Here is our list of the Top 5 Romantic Movies for this year’s V-Day:

1. Casablanca

An interesting and classic love story, this 1942 film is timeless. Everything a romantic drama should embody.

2. West Side Story

Based on “Romeo and Juliet”. American-born gang members, the Jets, are battling for New York City territory with the Puerto Rican gang members, the Sharks, and nothing seems to be able to stop the feud. But when one of the leaders of the Jets, Tony, sets eyes on Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks, it’s love at first sight.

3. Titanic

The 1997 film by James Cameron about the tragic sinking of the massive ocean liner is also the story of a rich passenger, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), and working-class Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio) who meet despite the mandatory class separation on the ship.

4. When Harry Met Sally

Throughout the film, married couples tell the story of how they met in documentary-style scenes, and while the couples are played by actors, the stories they tell are all real stories collected by the production team.

5. The Notebook

One of my favorite romantic films of all times, it is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. The drama of Noah and Allie’s courtship moves across decades.

Super Snacks for Super Bowl Sunday

While the New York Giants and New England Patriots face off in the Lucas Oil Stadium, you’ll be sure to be serving touch down worthy treats in your own kitchen. Browse GoodHouseKeeping.com‘s Super Bowl Menu to find some tasty eats to keep your football fans satisfied as the game kickoffs this Sunday evening. Try this quick and easy recipe for mini Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, a traditional favorite.

Five Tips for the Next Six Weeks of Winter

According to official weather-predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, winter is far from over. Short days and long nights can make for a boring time, so beat the winter doldrums with these easy tips.

1. Exercise. Keeping active during these next weeks is crucial. Don’t start spring off with another pseudo-New Year’s resolution—start now!
2. Start reading. Pick up a series of books and, by the time you’re done, it’ll be time to enjoy the outdoors again.
3. Rest. Take advantage of the ample dark hours and catch up on sleep. You’ll feel better, and might even be more inclined to act on suggestion #1.
4. Plan a trip! Whether you want to get out of the cold weather or escape the heat and vacation in a snowy place, take a break from your usual climate.
5. Dress the part. Break out your brights and spend the rest of the winter wearing your most vibrantly hued clothes.

Keeping Organized is Easy as 1-2-3

Last Monday, we gave you a few tips on organizing your home office into a clutter-free, orderly space. This week, we’re giving you three tips to keeping it that way.

1. File away papers that aren’t being used and lay papers you are working with in a paper tray.

2. Shred the papers you no longer need.

3. Place each item in its corresponding place—keep pens, paper clips and other items you have multiples of in organized sections.

We can see the glow already!

Cleaning Tip: Hard to Reach Areas

As January comes to an end, there’s still plenty to be cleaned and organized, especially per out New Year’s resolutions. Only have the tough, tight spaces left? Follow these glow tips and they’ll be done in no time, leaving you with a glowing home and a clean conscience.

Stop struggling to clean small spaces and hard to reach places in your home. Watch this instructional video for tips on how to get those spaces clean without getting frustrated.

Watch here: The Glow System Video on Cleaning Hard to Reach Areas

• Always use a ladder to reach those concealed edges.
• Wrap an extendable duster with a towel and secure it with a rubberband to reach into high places.
• Lightly spray a cloth with water to pick up all dust and dirt.
• Always start from top to bottom.
• Don’t forget to wipe all sides of the frame and clean the door and door edges.

 

 

 

Soup’s On! Combat Winter Weather with an Easy Recipe

Wither away the wintertime blues with a warm bowl of hearty soup. Easy to make and simple to store, it’s just a matter of finding one the whole family will enjoy.

Try this option from The Food Network—with a 40-minute prep time and an “easy” skill level, all there’s left to do is enjoy!

Organization Mondays: The Home Office

Part of welcoming in the New Year has to do with starting off with a clarified state of mind – as well as an organized living and working environment. A home office should be maintained in order to keep up with your lifestyle and work out of the home.

Glow Tip: Make sure you have the appropriate storage equipment to be able to store each item in its corresponding place.

As hard as we may try to contain organization in our home office, there are those unavoidable forces that will always leave a mess behind (kids, especially). Some objects that typically clutter a home office are:

• School supplies
• Crayons and markers
• Pencils, pens and erasers
• Papers and journals
• Paper clips
• Tray for pending items
• Stationary
• Mail
• Post-it notes

The best method to get things in order is to purchase separate containers for these items in order to keep them visible, accessible and arranged properly. Also, don’t forget to label the containers with the names of the items inside for easy finding.

Here are some more tips on how to organize your workspace from the ever-reliable Container Store.