November, 2012

Today is day 5 in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and we’re talking about a bunch of ways you can give back to different charities!

If you have people on your list who literally have everything, a simple donation to special charities in their name might be the best gift you can give them.

Today is day 4 in my Creative and Clutter-Free Gift series and I’m super excited — because we’re talking about giving cash!

I never liked giving cash until I realized that there are tons of creative {and personalized} ways to give this fabulous clutter-free gift. I’m sharing 10 ideas today!

Today is day 3 in my creative and clutter-free gift series and I’m talking about “experience gifts”.

Experience gifts can be a little more time-consuming to plan… and they aren’t necessarily inexpensive, but they ARE a fantastic clutter-free gift that your recipient will probably remember for a very long time.

Today is day 2 in my week-long creative and clutter-free gift series… and we’re talking all about gift cards.

I’m a huge fan of giving (and receiving) gift cards and today, I’m sharing 9 ideas to add a little creativity for this fabulous clutter-free gift.

Today is the first day in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and I’m just SOOOOO excited! All week long I’ll be sharing lots and lots of creative ways to give practical and clutter-free holiday gifts that should please everyone on your Christmas list!

I’m starting the series off with my favorite clutter-free gift {FOOD}… I have 13 creative ideas for giving the gift of food.

Today we’re celebrating Nora’s first birthday with both Dave and my immediate families… so since you all can’t celebrate with us, I figure I’ll just share a bunch of cute pictures and her 12 month updates with you!

I love Advent Calendars — and even though Nora isn’t old enough to remember this Christmas, I wanted to start a tradition of using an Advent Calendar to count down the days until Christmas.

So if you’re staying home today and avoiding the crazy shopping chaos, go dig out your mini-muffin tin and a few scrap pieces of paper and make this ultra simple Advent Calendar with your kids!

Our sweet baby girl celebrates her first birthday today… and although it has not be an easy year, we are so, SO thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends… and Happy FIRST Birthday Nora!

Way back before we had kids (and way back before Pinterest) I had an idea of creating something that would hang on a wall in our house and would be used to measure our kids’ heights at every birthday.

So since Nora’s 1st birthday is TOMORROW, I figured it’s about time to share the DIY growth chart I made!

To celebrate Christmas, invite.L is offering either the Red or Green bag-in-bag for a special discounted rate — with free shipping! The offer is only for Simple Organized Living readers and it’s only good for one week.

Happy Shopping!

Thanksgiving is Thursday… and since we’ll be celebrating at my aunt and uncle’s house, I decided to make our own little family Thanksgiving last week (especially since we spent last Thanksgiving in the hospital!)

Today, I’m sharing a bunch of our REALLY simple Thanksgiving menu favorites!

Today I’m offering a little encouragement {and a few ultra-simple tips} for those of you who are overwhelmed and frustrated by clutter, debt, chaos, and stress.

You can do it, I promise!

In honor of Nora’s first birthday {and my first year as a mom}, I want to offer one of my all-time favorite “mom things” for this week’s giveaway — the GlamourMom Nursing Top.

If you are expecting a baby, know anyone who is {or will be} nursing, or even if you’d just like a fabulous gift to donate to a local women’s shelter, you MUST enter today’s giveaway!

Last week, I snatched up a huge bag of Michigan apples on the discount produce rack… and while many were still good for eating, a few were quite bruised and mushy.

So instead of baking bread or a pie, I decided to make a very small batch of homemade applesauce… in the microwave. After cooking the apples for 8 minutes, the sauce was ready, and my kitchen smelled fabulous!

A few weeks ago, I blogged about Busy Bags — and how I was going to take part in my first ever Busy Bag Swap with a few friends.

Well, the Busy Bag Swap happened — and it was a huge success. Not only was it a fun excuse to spend time with friends I don’t normally see on a weekly basis, it was also a great way to get lots of fun new educational activities for Nora.

It’s THAT time of year when there are so many sales and “great deals” that it’s often easy to make quick decisions and impulse purchases that we later regret… and yes I say “we” because I’m writing this post from experience

Today, I’m sharing a simple tip that has saved us hundreds on impulse purchases.

I’ve mentioned (just a few times) that Dave and I really love pasta! So for as much as I love pasta, you might be shocked to know that I’ve NEVER made homemade meatballs… that is, until now.

Today I’m sharing an extremely simple homemade meatball recipe that you can eat tonight…. or freeze for later!

I LOVE holiday cards! I love receiving cards from family and friends, I love sending out our cards, and I really love coming up with a new idea for our cards each year.

If you share my love of holiday cards, you’ll definitely want to enter today’s giveaway — a $100 Minted.com gift certificate for holiday cards!

To say I’m super excited about today’s giveaway would be a HUGE understatement. I’m absolutely thrilled and honored to be able to share today’s featured business — Better Life Bags — with all of you.

Oh yeah, and the giveaway is fabulous too