15 Minute Tasks for the Week

Well, it's time for the first week of organizing and cleaning your home in 15 minutes a day!  Set your timer for 15 minutes each day, and do your best to finish the job before the timer goes off!

Monday

Coat closet/Entryway

Purge any unnecessary articles from your coat closet and/or entryway.  Place them in a bag to donate or put them in storage for a future yard sale (only if you’re completely sure you will have a yard sale!)  Throw away any trash.  Think ahead to how you want to organize this room.  Gather your supplies and place them in the room to be used on Tuesday.  If you need to purchase any items, add them to your shopping list.

Ideas for organizing the coat closet and entryway

–          Use baskets for holding miscellaneous articles.

–          Over-the-door shoe holders also work great for gloves and scarves.

–          Use baskets, cubbies, or a shoe tilt-out to contain shoes.

–          Umbrellas can be stored in an umbrella holder or hung on hooks.

–          Hooks are also good for purses and backpacks.

–          Coats can be hung in a coat closet or on a coat rack.

Tuesday

Coat closet/Entryway

Organize the coat closet and entryway.  (If you still have supplies that you need to purchase, move on to another day and come back to this job after you have obtained the needed supplies.)  Designate places for shoes, hats, gloves, scarves, purses, coats, umbrellas, and backpacks.

Wednesday

            Porch

Deep clean the porch.  Sweep the porch and stairs, vacuum or beat the rug, knock down cobwebs, dust the porch light and any decorations.

Thursday

Living Room

Purge any items that you don’t love or use often.  Place them in a bag to donate or put them in storage for a future yard sale.  Throw away any trash.  Think ahead to how you want to organize this room.  Gather your supplies and place them in the room to be used on Friday.  If you need to purchase any items, add them to your shopping list.

Ideas for organizing the living room:

– Use baskets to store like items together

– An ottoman or trunk is great for out-of-sight storage

– A pretty magazine rack keeps magazines and books from getting strewn about the room

Friday

Living Room

Organize the living room.  (If you still have supplies that you need to purchase, either work on Saturday's job or finish another job from earlier in the week that you didn't quite complete in 15 minutes.  Come back to this job after you have obtained the needed supplies.)  Place like items together into bins or baskets.  Store little used items out of sight in a trunk or cabinet.  Place books and magazines into a magazine rack.

Saturday

Living Room

Vacuum or sweep underneath the living room furniture.  Move furniture away from the wall if possible; otherwise reach under the best you can.

I'll be back next Monday with pictures of my progress!  If you're joining in, feel free to take your own photos and post them on our Facebook page!

2013 Goals and Plans

Whew!  It's January 3rd, and I'm finally finding a few minutes to sit down and make some goals and plans for this year.

I was glad my husband had a couple days off for both Christmas and New Year's, but it threw my routine way off for both of those weeks.

For my personal goals this year, I'm planning to sit down later this afternoon and re-read Tell Your Time.  (By the way, it's priced at only $2.99 right now, and is well worth the money.)  When I read it the first time, it really helped me determine what my priorities are and to successfully plan my schedule based on those priorities.  There are so many things I would enjoy doing, and so many good things I could be doing, yet there are only 24 hours in each day, and only 8,766 hours in each year.  (Boy, that sure doesn't seem like very many hours, especially when  you consider that about 1/3 of those hours will be spent sleeping!)

It's impossible to do everything I'd like to do, no matter how good those things are.  I would be stretched too thin, and although I may try to do a lot of things, I'll never be able to do all of them well.

So, I hope to be able to spend some time re-evaluating what my priorities are (i.e. what the LORD wants me to do) and plan my schedule in a way that will help me carry out those things in the most efficient way.

What are my goals and plans for Imperfect Homemaker?

Well,  first let me tell you what my goals are not.

My goal is not  to gain a specific number of followers.  (I want to have the readers here that God wants here.  I want to have the correct balance between making folks aware of my blog without catering to anybody and everybody just so that I can gain readers.)

My goal is not to be popular.  (It is my prayer that I will never get caught up in pride.  Whether I have ten readers or ten million, I want the focus here to be on Jesus Christ, not on me.)

My goal is not to make lots of money. (Although yes, I do have ad space here.  I'm not opposed to earning money as long as that doesn't become a driving force.  And, by the way, I don't earn lots of money and probably never will. 🙂 )

So what are my goals for Imperfect Homemaker?

1. To bring glory to God.

2. To encourage Christian women in their walk with the Lord and to show those who do not know Jesus that they can have a thriving relationship with Him.

That's it.  That's what this is all about.  The methods for reaching those goals will be varied, but the reasons behind what is done here will, by God's grace, always remain the same.

Some plans for 2013

I am excited to be adding 7 contributors to Imperfect Homemaker this year!  I have asked several of my blogging friends to come on board and contribute a post about once a month.  These ladies all have different talents, interests, and life experiences, and I am looking forward to being able to post (and read myself) the things that they're taking time to share each month.

I hope to be more organized about blogging this year.  I have lots of ideas for monthly themes and post series, and hopefully those will actually come to fruition!

Finally, I'll have a theme for the entire year like I did last year with Anti-Procrastination (an update on how last year went is coming soon).  This year I'll be focusing on 15 Minutes a Day to a Clean and Organized Home.  Every Monday I'll be posting a 15-minute organizing or deep cleaning task for each day of the week, along with an update on the previous week.  Hopefully at the end of the year our houses will be well-organized and clean without spending a lot of time or effort to get them that way!

Well, this post has gone on long enough, so I'll spare you any more details for now.

If you want to keep up with 15 Minutes to a Clean and Organized Home or anything else that will be going on around here, then you'll want to subscribe to email updates or follow me on Facebook so you won’t miss it!

Printable Scripture Art for Winter

I've been taking down the Christmas stuff and switching it over to winter decor. Of course I needed to switch out the printable in the frame that holds my seasonal prints, but I couldn't find a winter one that was Scripture.  So, I did what I always do and made one.

Click the picture or the link below it to download an 8×10 print.

Click here to download.

Free Christmas Printable

I was over at my mom's house and I saw she had this print framed. I asked her where she got it, and she told me that she made it.

I asked her if she would be willing to offer it as a download on my blog, so here you go!

This is a two-page download – one picture with the tan background and one with a white background.

Click Here to Download

Be sure to leave a comment and tell my mom thanks for making this available!

25 DIY, Last-Minute Gifts

With Christmas less than a week away, I know some of you might still be scrambling for those last-minute gifts for neighbors, friends, teachers, grandparents, etc. I've rounded up some DIY ideas that you can make with minimal time. Most of these don't require very many materials, and depending on your current hobbies, you may already have all the supplies on hand. I've tried to include ideas for multiple ages and genders so you can hopefully find what you need.

I've collected all these ideas from Pinterest, so you can just click on the picture if you see something that interests you.

Source: designmom.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Source: thepeacefulhousewife.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Source: craftinessisnotoptional.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Source: vanessachristenson.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Source: theribbonretreat.com via MaryEllen on Pinterest

Quick and Easy Waffle Sticks Recipe

Here’s a waffle recipe that is sooo easy! And what’s even better is that you can make up a huge batch of the mix ahead of time, and in the mornings, you just add milk, and your waffle batter is ready!

(Yes, this is called a waffle sticks recipe because I happen to have a waffle stick maker.  This will taste just the same if you make it with a regular ol' waffle maker.  🙂  )

Ready?  Here it is:

Mix together:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 tbsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

That’s your mix.  When you’re ready to make your waffles, just combine half mix and half milk.  (For example, 1 cup of mix and 1 cup of milk.)

Pour the batter onto the waffle maker, wait a few minutes, and breakfast is ready!  So easy!

 

Enjoy!