HGP Week 10: November 3-9, 2013

[HouseElf]

Family Room Week

By Cynthia Ewer, Author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Organized
Moving into the heart of the household, it's Week Ten at the Holiday Grand Plan: Family Room Week!

The family room is the heart of the home, and never more so than during the holiday season. We'll clean and organize this central area of family life as we begin to think ahead to holiday visitors.

In holiday prep, we'll celebrate Halloween, then recycle autumn decorations to look forward to Thanksgiving. Keep working on those gifts!

Ready? Let's get organized with the Holiday Grand Plan!

Cleaning/Organizing Area:

Family Room
Family Room checklist

Holiday Prep:

• Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
• Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
• Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
• Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
• Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
• Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
• Polish silver; clean glassware (baking soda & water). Put candleholders in freezer to help remove wax. Alcohol removes stains from candles.
• Take down Halloween decorations. Put up Thanksgiving ones.
• DO NOT shampoo carpet - partying people spill things.
• Clean/clear library/front hall closet so there will be room for guests' coats. Give unwanted coats to charity. Store other stuff in attic in empty luggage

 

[DawnSu]

Family room was done last week, when I was re leaved by an aunt to sit with my mother. I came in & stripped it. lol cleaned from one wall to another. taking down curtains, to cleaning the glass on my curio cabinets. now I am tackling the bathroom this week...
Good luck to everyone.....

 

[HouseElf]

Halloween decorations are put away. As Thanksgiving is over for us (Canadian) fall decor is slipping back into the storage totes too.
November usually is a time of reflection and remembrance in our home. Remembrance Day is on the 11th, and I hang just a single wreath on our door – a boxwood wreath with a cluster of paper poppies.

Our family room /living room - the "parlour", is in ok shape. DH is working on the built-in book shelves for this space - they run the entire length of one wall - is on hold till we have the storm windows up. They have a set of base cabinets along the bottom length that I will sort. We store our board games and candles in them.

Found my missing rectangle blanket basket for under the end table! Is upstairs in the attic with a big pile of books we removed from the parlour so DH could work on the shelves. I keep it tucked full of lap blankets and a quilt, sometimes a good blanket and a book - with a cup of tea is needed!

Made a few 'dates' with my scrapbooking friend to work on DH book of childhood photos, for Christmas.

All is going well!

 

[Winged One]

I already did some cleaning of hot spots this week. Halloween is put away. There are lots of places where I am behind, but tackling both the study (today) and family room this week. And dd and I got a couple of gifts at a craft fair earlier, so those lists are slowly getting ticked off too.

 

[luludou]

Halloween is put away too. Finished the Halloween wreath today - it'll be ready for next year
Need to finish washing inside front windows and clean ds's closet. Want to do some more online ordering and gift shopping. Need to start getting gifts in boxes ready for wrapping. Have to check if I have everything I need for elf gifts, stocking stuffers, advent calendar.

and this week I want to wash ds's closet.. YEP this time I am doing it.

 

[Winged One]

Christmas cards are finally on sale!! I got 3 packs this morning on my way in to work - so 44 cards in all. Supporting the local Children's Hospital that DD occasionally has had to attend, and the Hospice Foundation, which does so much to help those nearing the end of life (personal experience again this year of support for my DGrandmother at home and the DDad of a colleague both at home and in the hospice). There are fewer cards (or at least, not yet for sale) supporting overseas projects, and lots more supporting cancer, hospice, depression and children this year, which is interesting in the shift of concerns here.

I need to start printing a few activity pages for DD, as she is starting to look for Christmas sheets. She loves colouring pictures together in bed, and then doing crosswords, word mining and Sudoku herself to help her brain switch off for sleep. And she is moving beyond many of the sheets I had found in the past, so I need to go looking for more advanced ones - if I still have the various homeschooling links I had found before.

Well done Lucie on getting through DS's closet!!

DawnSu, that is great that you are getting a little time to yourself to look after your own home and self. I hope things are still going ok for your DMum, I am still thinking of her and you.

And your wall of closets sounds great HouseElf, I bet you'll be glad when they are finished!

 

[luludou]

DS's closet has been emptied & washed. 3/4 of the stuff has been put back in.. the rest he has to go through to see what papers & books he wants to keep. I threw away 2 big bags and has some other stuff to donate too.

Yippee! deep-cleaning is done for this year! from now on it is maintenance and Christmas prep (decorating, gifts, wrapping & ordering, cooking, etc...)

 

[HouseElf]

Awesome job Lucie!

 

[Winged One]

Bought my stamps yesterday.

And printed lots of activity sheets for her too (which she wants already!), which are harder wordsearches and puzzles, and a few more intricate colouring sheets on Christmas (more secular - Santa, snowmen etc) and the Nativity story. It's not that easy to find things for older children online - plenty for nursery age and kindergarten, but not those in the 7-12 year old age bracket. But I found a few, as long as I can keep them for December!

My cleaning plans have fallen by the wayside almost entirely! I just have no time or energy when I get finished with daily chores at night, and busy all weekend too. I know I need to do the sitting room windows and dusting (I got a fright putting up Halloween decorations at the layer of dust!). So I am planning on tackling that tomorrow before DH heads off again on Sunday. And hopefully do another few small jobs.

 

[HouseElf]

WingedOne, no worries life happens and we have time!
Stamps, still need to pick up ours!

Sorted out games from the parlour today, and put on DH list a new to-do item, the bottom of our pole lamp has crumbled away - needs fixing!

Another week completed