How to Make Meal Planning Work for a Blended Family
While I’m away this week on a home exchange to Victoria, British Columbia, you’ll find guest posts from friends. This is a guest post from Rita, who writes the blog, This Sorta Old House, with her living/blogging partner, Cane. They believe that how we do home is how we do life. For the first year {How to Make Meal Planning Work for a Blended Family}
Website and Blog Tips
Do you have a website or blog? If you answered “yes.” Read on because you may find some of these website and blog tips useful. If you answered “no,” you’re welcome to continue reading or you can click HERE for my archives page and find more reading options. Before going through this list, think about {Website and Blog Tips}
Gingham Style Defined
Gingham Style is not to be confused with Gangnam Style…Go Gingham is where you can get to be stylish and frugal! But what is it exactly? Well maybe this will help… I was interviewed recently and given a list of questions to answer about my style. I don’t think the story will run so I {Gingham Style Defined}
Living Your Best Life Tips
There are many days when I think about how little time I have left with teenagers at home. When my kids were younger and I was home with them, some days felt as if they went on forever. Now, with college letters arriving daily in our mailbox, I am feeling as if I’ve got to {Living Your Best Life Tips}
Rethinking Laundry and Cleaning Detergents
I’m feeling duped right now. For years, I’ve been using Borax and touting it as an “old-fashioned cleaning” product and one that our grandmothers probably used. While that may be true, several readers brought to my attention its health risks. After doing some online research, I’ve decided to mostly discontinue (* see note at bottom) {Rethinking Laundry and Cleaning Detergents}
Camera Crews and Cleaning House
Because my kids do most all of the house cleaning around our home as part of their “allowance” responsibilities, I really don’t do much house cleaning anymore. Yes, this is nice but trust me, standards must be lowered when it comes to teenagers doing “housework.” At least I’m not doing it! It’s best if I {Camera Crews and Cleaning House}
6 Tips for Returning Holiday Gifts
At this time of year, everyone wants to know what to do with gifts they’ve received but don’t need or want. Here are some handy suggestions about what to do with unwanted or not needed holiday gifts. Regardless of which of the 6 tips for returning holiday gifts you choose, a thank you note is {6 Tips for Returning Holiday Gifts}
Green Living Is Often Grey
Sometimes the environmental cost involved with “green living” isn’t exactly what we expect. When I wrote about using reusable cotton or canvas grocery bags, as opposed to using plastic grocery bags, who knew that, scientifically speaking, the best choice was a reusable bag made of recycled plastic rather than cotton? Green living is often grey {Green Living Is Often Grey}
New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep
Denmark is known for perennially being one of the happiest countries in the world. Why are the Danes so happy? Sure, they have a fairly short work week and enviable social safety nets, but what’s the kicker? They keep their expectations low. With lowered expectations, when goals are met, you’re happy. This is the same {New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Actually Keep}
Shutterfly Winner Announced
The winner of the Shutterfly Family Photo Giveaway is: Darcy! Congratulations! Look in your email box for all the details and the discount code. Darcy’s comment was #6: Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway. I enjoyed reading all of your comments. Thank you also to Shutterfly for this giveaway. Go Gingham related links: {Shutterfly Winner Announced}
Shutterfly Family Photo Giveaway
Hello readers! Shutterfly and I have a nice little holiday gift to giveaway to one lucky reader. It’s a $50.00 gift certificate to use on Shutterfly.com. If you haven’t ordered your holiday photos or cards, you can use this gift certificate to do so. We don’t have a particular day that we set aside for {Shutterfly Family Photo Giveaway}
Homemade Christmas Gift: Our Family Calendar
Every year since 1994, we have given the exact same gift to our extended families for Christmas: a family calendar. This isn’t just any calendar. It’s one that we make. Our homemade Christmas gift tradition is a family calendar that we still make the old fashioned way with pictures, scissors, and yes, double-sided tape. We {Homemade Christmas Gift: Our Family Calendar}
Plastic Grocery Bag Alternatives
Ever since our first home exchange to Paris in 2004, I’ve been making a real effort to not use plastic grocery bags. While on our trip, with my starving family (they weren’t really starving but that’s how they were acting!) waiting in the car, I ran into a grocery store in Germany to buy a {Plastic Grocery Bag Alternatives}
Celebrating Simply: Thanksgiving
If you dread every holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving, because you feel like it exhausts you, then turn the holidays on their head and start a new tradition: celebrate simply and begin this year. Consider trading what you’ve done in the past and not enjoyed for a different standard of what you plan to enjoy. {Celebrating Simply: Thanksgiving}
Screen Time Equals Potato Chips
I know that Forest Gump gets credit for the line, “Life is like a box of chocolates…” but the line I’d like credit for is, “Screen time is like potato chips…” and here’s how that math works. We’re a family of four, 2 adults and 2 teenagers, and we’re pretty normal. We like to do {Screen Time Equals Potato Chips}
