1.  Cover Your Bases

Newspaper and paper towels can only go so far.  When you want real protection for your table you need something stronger.  My personal favorite?  Puppy training pads.  They’re designed to catch wet messes under puppy cages so they’re perfect for this project.  Essentially they’re like a giant, flat, super-absorbent diaper.  The pads have a plastic backing so they offer great protection – even against big spills like those you see below.  They also have built-in adhesive strips on the back so they won’t move around your table once you’ve got them in place.  Best of all, they’re totally disposable so you can toss the whole mess in the trash once the fun is over.  You can buy a pack of 20 for around $7 in the pet aisle of WalMart or Target.

2.  Secure the Perimeter

My kids are terrible with cups.  We rarely make it through a dinner without someone dousing the table (and themselves) with their drink.  Since the thought of a dozen cups of permanent dye tipping over scares me to no end, I hedge my bets by putting all the dye cups in tin foil oven pans.  The disposable pans catch most of the big spills and keep the majority of the dye off my table … and my kids.

3.  Stop the Fights Before They Start

“Hey, that was my egg!” or “That’s not fair, she did more eggs than me!”  Sound familiar?  Avoid the whining this year by giving each kid their own special container of eggs.  Cut the lids off your egg cartons and then cut the base into sections.  Give one section to each child.  We did 9 eggs each (an 18 pack cut in half – see picture above).  Not only will they have their own egg stash to enjoy, but they’ll also have a safe place to put their eggs once they fish them out of the dye.

4.  Keep It Together

Once all the eggs have been dyed and the mess cleaned up a whole new dilemma emerges.  Where to put all those colored beauties?  Since the original egg cartons are probably covered with drips from the previous step try this simple trick.  Place your finished eggs in a mini muffin tin.  The 24 small compartments will keep the eggs from banging together and help them store neatly in the fridge.

There you have it.  Four cheap and easy ways to make the Easter egg coloring process a little easier.  If you’d like even more tips on this topic check out this great post from Make and Takes; one of my favorite idea blogs.  Good luck.  I hope you have a happy, stain-free Easter!  Just thought I’d pass it on.

Speed Up the Small Stuff

Look in anyone’s gift wrap supply and you’ll probably find dozens of adhesive-backed bows.  Why?  Because it’s faster to adorn a package with one of these than it is to create a homemade version.  We value our time and when we find great shortcuts like the bows, we stock up.  Do yourself a favor this season and search for shortcuts like those listed below to help streamline your holiday workload.

Buy in Bulk: Coaches, teachers, neighbors and coworkers often add to our holiday shopping lists.  It can be daunting to find the perfect gift for each of these individuals.  Simplify the gift buying process by purchasing dozens of “the little black dress” of presents: something universally appreciated, relatively inexpensive and easy to accessorize.  Examples include candles, cocoa mugs, hand warmers and ornaments.  Like their fashion counterpart, these gifts work well on their own or can be enhanced with extras like teacher-supply store gift cards, restaurant certificates or holiday goodies.

Wrap It Up: Most stores offer a dizzying array of gift wrap.  Save time and energy by restricting yourself to a few color schemes with mix and match accessories.  Keep tabs on wrapped gifts by designating one color scheme for each group on your list, such as immediate family, extended family and non-family.

Call for Reinforcements: Hiring help during the holidays doesn’t have to blow your budget.  In fact, the help you need could be right around the corner.  Chances are the teenager you hire to watch your kids on Friday nights would gladly accept the same rate on Saturday afternoon to iron linens, wrap gifts or help you prepare your house for guests.  Likewise, the student you pay to cut your lawn in the summer would be grateful for a little off-season income by hanging your outdoor lights or moving furniture for your party.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the other two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 1

Holiday How-To: Part 2

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

Go Digital

This is a tough one for a lot of us.  We associate the holidays with a certain nostalgia and instinctively bristle at the idea of using a computer in our preparations.  However, much the way buying frozen rolls at the grocery store allows more time for perfecting the turkey, using the computer to simplify trivial tasks can free time for what’s really important.

Tackle Your To Do’s: Decorate the house.  Purchase gifts.  Send cards.  Make travel plans.  To keep track of the little details without scribbling lists all over the house, take advantage of the ultimate free website for list lovers: gubb.net (I now like evernote.com because it has an accompanying iPhone app).  As user-friendly as it is functional, this site allows you to create, update and share dozens of customized, printable lists.  With Gubb.net you can check lists on the go via e-mail or text messaging.

E-mail Holiday Cards: If during the family meeting you chose “create handmade holiday cards” as your favorite tradition, then by all means whip out your cardstock and enjoy. However, if your goal is to simply keep in touch and send a greeting, try an email version.  Free programs such as Windows Movie Maker (pre-installed on most PCs or available for free download here) offer easy tools for creating a video or photo slideshow that can be emailed or burned onto a disc.  If you prefer the traditional postal method, use your computer to manage your mailing list.  Save data entry time by sending a mass email (or facebook request) to your friends and family requesting their addresses.  As the responses come in, use your copy and paste tools to add the addresses to your list.

Use Online Postage and Pickup: Few things are more frustrating than waiting in line at the post office.  At the website usps.com you can order free mailing supplies to be delivered right to your door, print postage on your home printer and schedule a free pickup.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the other two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 1

Holiday How-To: Part 3

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

The holidays are a time of warmth and tradition.  Family come together, neighborhoods glow, and homes bustle with preparations.  We all know this special magic doesn’t happen on its own.  In fact, many of us find ourselves trying to fulfill ever-increasing expectations with very limited resources.  So how do you savor the spirit of the season while cutting back on the stress?  Believe it or not, it doesn’t have to mean starting your shopping in July.  Regardless of where you are in your preparations, these strategies can help you save time and money – and provide you with holiday peace of mind.

Step 1: Get It Together

Halloween comes and goes, and seemingly overnight the stores transform into holiday-centric spending traps.  Confroted with a surge of shrink-wrapped cheer, we often reach for our wallets.  The same temptations hit our calendars.  Holiday parties, school events and religious activities get scheduled and before we know it, our entire season is booked.  This year, take control!

Establish a Game Plan: Most parents wouldn’t dream of going on a family vacation without a rough itinerary and basic budget.  Yet during the most hectic and costly time of year, we tend to jump in without a road map.  Essential to your holiday plan is a detailed family calendar, a comprehensive gift list and an itemized budget.  [You can find free MeckMom printables for each of these here].

Schedule a Preseason Family Meeting: Make sure your family is in the loop by sharing information about the basic holiday budget as well as your overall goals for the season.  Give each family member a chance to request his or her favorite traditions.  If making a gingerbread house is important to your 5-year-old, schedule it on your calendar.  If ice skating is your 12-year-old’s favorite activity, find time for it.  If no one votes for attending the company party or the school’s holiday shop, drop those events from the calendar.

Do an Inventory: Before you wander through the toy aisles, look through your kids’ toy collections.  Take stock of what they need, and purge what they can do without.  If you have time, make an inventory of your holiday decorations and note gaps you need to fill before you hit the craft store.  If you’re in a rush, at least force yourself to open and quickly look through every box.  Actually seeing how much you already have will help prevent you from overspending.

*Don’t stop here, there are more great tips in the next two steps…

Holiday How-To: Part 2

Holiday How-To: Part 3

This post is an excerpt from an article published by Organize Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007, Volume 03, pg 68-73, written by Maria Eckersley, photos by Poul Ober, styling by Kendra Smoot.

So for today’s Talk to Me Tuesday post I’m asking for your help.  I need some fabulous Turkey Day Tips.  What tricks do you have up your sleeve that help you pull off a warm, family-friendly Thanksgiving?  What recipes do you love?  How do you organize your timing to pull everything off?  What traditions do you incorporate into your Thanksgiving celebration? How do you involve your kids in the preparations? Are there any cooking tools or tips that save you time and energy on the big day?

To get you started, I thought I’d share my new favorite turkey recipe.  Last year, I made a maple & sage roasted turkey and I can honestly say it was the most delicious turkey I’ve ever tasted – moist, tender and packed with flavor.  My house smelled fantastic for hours!  I found it on Food Network’s website.  You can find the link here.  The recipe includes a corn bread stuffing but I skipped it and used a box mix instead.  If any of you give it a shot, I hope you’ll let me know if it was worth it.

Now it’s your turn to pass on your favorite Turkey Day Tips.  As always, to those of you who comment, thanks – in advance – for passing it on.