Homemaking Archives - Trophy Mom Diaries

What the road warrior taught me about flowers

August 21, 2012 by Karin

Fresh cut flowers in the home were never something I truly appreciated until The Road Warrior. He always liked them and his “Bachelor Pad” always had fresh arrangements. When we got married he inquired a few times why I didn’t have fresh flowers in our home. Usually after few inquiries I would grab a mixed bouquet at the grocery store and put it in a vase in the kitchen.

Needless to say that wasn’t what he meant.

He meant floral arrangements that were an accessory to the home, not just haphazardly thrown in a vase in a random place. But I didn’t get it then.

Last year I decided to hire a florist to do customized weekly arrangements in the home. It was fun planning out the areas that I wanted to have flowers and after a few weeks I began to develop preferences. Walking through a house with beautiful flowers, artfully placed, made me smile. And no matter what was going on in our lives I believe our house looked a little dressier and neater because of the floral arrangements.

As I’m seeking to simplify the running of our home and lifestyle I’ve been looking at the services we use. Am I being a good steward? Is this something that really adds value to our family life? Is it something that we could do ourselves?

This week I discontinued the flower service. Using a wholesale flower distributor I placed my first order, took a deep breath and gave it a try.

I’ve discovered that I enjoy flower arranging. Who knew?

The Road Warrior said he was so happy to come home to a (clean) house full of flowers. It looked welcoming and inviting after a hard week away working on the road. My husband felt loved by this (simple) act of service.

Now as I walk through the house, they not only make me smile, but they have become a tangible sense of accomplishment that one doesn’t always find so easily as a homemaker.

I’m adding Florist to my job description…

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How to make your own candy bar

January 10, 2012 by Karin

Candy Bars have been all the rage at birthday parties and weddings and for quite some time now. So, why not have one in your own home year round?

Wait, on second thought, don’t answer that.

My Sweet tooth (AKA addiction) is well known among my close friends and family. Last year I went all kinds of nutty due to the stress related to our home construction issues and ordered up a candy bar right smack dab in the middle of my kitchen counter!

Now that we’re back in the house and things have calmed down a bit I’ve decided to move the Candy Jars to the Butlers Pantry (off the kitchen but not so front and center) where I believe it will stay.

You can make your own candy bar simply by collecting a few interesting apothecary jars and filling them with your favorite bulk candies.

Bulk Candy Sources:

ACandyStore.com

A Candy Warehouse

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How to create a household inventory

May 30, 2011 by Karin

This past summer I celebrated my 11th year of marriage. During our marriage I have lived in 6 different residences with my husband. In all of my married life I must admit that I’ve never once properly cataloged our household items for insurance purposes. Have you? Thankfully our family has never suffered a major loss due to fire or natural disaster. We’ve had our share of loss and trials but nothing on a very large scale. Nothing that would have required me to have my affairs in order for insurance purposes. But why continue to risk it?

Now that we are (thankfully) back in our home I’ve decided to get some things in order that I’ve been putting off. First on my list was creating a household inventory.

The three main ways to inventory your possessions are:

Written sheet for each room including serial numbers along with purchase price, date and receipts of large ticket items
Photographs of each room with descriptions
Video of each room

I’ve decided to do all three because I can see how utilizing each method would best convey the contents, replacement value, and condition of our personal belongings.

After putting together my room by room sheets, I took photographs of the rooms and then included everything in a binder titled “Household Inventory 2011″ which I then put into a fireproof safe (or you may want to keep yours in a bank’s safety deposit box.

I cannot tell you how good it feels to have accomplished this. By doing this while we were moving back into our home I did add some extra work for myself, but I must admit it was easier to catalog everything as I was unpacking it piece by piece.

Do you have a household inventory? Have you ever needed one or found yourself wishing you had made one?

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A well stocked-pantry

February 2, 2011 by Karin

I am in a nesting stage right now. Whether it is just my typical homemaking OCD kicking in or post adoption nesting is anyone’s guess.

Having a well-stocked pantry is essential to homemaking. It also varies by family and cook.

The cook who makes everything from scratch will have a very different pantry from someone who uses canned or pre-prepared foods as their base and a person with no children and gourmet tastes will have a different pantry from someone with 4 picky little eaters.

My goal in sharing this list of pantry items is that it help serve as a launching point for you to create a list of pantry items for your home. The idea behind a well-stocked pantry is that by having one you will always have the essentials on hand to make meals for your family. Savvy homemakers also utilize a well-stocked pantry to lower their monthly grocery costs.

The Essentials for a well-stocked pantry

Baking Powder (small container)
All-Purpose Flour
Baking Soda
Sugar (granulated)
Confectioners’ Sugar
Brown Sugar
Chocolate Chips
Cocoa
Cornstarch
Yeast

Dry Cereal
Oatmeal

Bread (sandwich, pita, hot dog, hamburger)
Rice
Pasta
Popcorn
Worcestershire Sauce
White vinegar
Red Wine vinegar
Vegetable Oil
Olive Oil
Maple syrup
Non-stick cooking spray

Chicken broth

Vegetable Broth

Beef Broth

Ketchup

Mayonnaise

Mustard

Nut Butter (Peanut, almond, coconut, Sunflower butter)

Jelly/Jam

Spaghetti Sauce

Canned Tomatos

Tomato Paste

Canned Beans

Canned Tuna

Salad Dressing

Basil

Bay Leaves

Cinnamon

Garlic Powder

Nutmeg

Onion powder or flakes

Oregano

Paprika

Black Pepper

Sea Salt

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme

Vanilla Extract

Coffee

Tea

How to create your own Well-Stocked Pantry:

1 Determine what your favorite 5 family meals are and try to have those ingredients on hand at all times.

2 Look over your grocery lists for the past month. Do you see any repeating patterns? Consider those items for your own well-stocked pantry list.

3 Always arrange your pantry shelves so that the newly purchased items are in the back.

Did I miss any essentials? What would you add to this list?

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232 Boxes

December 2, 2010 by Karin

The boxes arrived today. All 232 of them. Lets just hope all of our earthly belongings fit into them and I don’t have to try to get more boxes over the Christmas holiday.

In preparation for the move I:

Found a place in my garage to store the 232 boxes and packing supplies that await me

Outlined a packing plan (room by room) with deadlines, which begins tomorrow

Decided that I would set up Christmas in our rental home, maybe. I’m going to sleep on that one and see how I feel in the morning. There is an emotional component that I have to deal with: It will be Baby Sister’s First Christmas and I’m resentful that she has to spend it elsewhere (temporary rental home) because we have to move out of the house we just finished building last year due to construction issues.

If you are facing a huge project, remember to break it down into tiny baby steps. By doing so you will be able to focus on tiny bits and pieces instead of the entire project which will make it seem less overwhelming.

When dealing with emotional matters try to pin point why they are emotional for you, so you can gain perspective before weighing the pros and cons of each decision.

I know in the end that it matters more that Baby Sister is with her Forever Family then what house she spends it in. So, I will most likely just set up Christmas at the rental property and try to make it as festive as possible (which definitely will not be possible in a house full of boxes).

Baby Steps….I can do it….