Holiday Cake Pops!

Simple Cake Ball Recipe

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can frosting (16 oz.)

Chocolate melts
Wax paperLollipop sticks

1.             After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2.             Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)

3.             Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)

4.             Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)

5.             Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)

6.             Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.

7.             Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.

8.             Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

Santa Hats
Hats: Red Candy Melts and White Candy Melts
Fur: white sugar crystal sprinkles
Balls: white coated expresso beans, gumballs, yogurt covered peanuts will workPaper Lollipop Sticks

Make the Hats: Make a cone shape instead of a ball. Put in the freezer until firm. Then, holding the top part of the hat, dip the bottoms in white candy melts, insert the lollipop stick and set in a styrofoam block to dry. Once dry, dip the tops in red candy melts so that it meets where the white ends. Gently place the balls to the top of the hat while still wet. Let them dry. Then, use a toothpick to generously dab more white candy melts all around the bottom of the hat. While still wet, sprinkle the sugar crystals on.

Photography by Danielle Lamoureaux

Ten Holiday Organization Tips!

Have you been a bit stressed during past Christmas seasons? Does it seem like the holidays bring too much to do? By organizing Christmas this year you can help to make this a low-stress holiday. Here are a few Christmas organizing tips to get organized for Christmas.

1.      Automate your card list

       A good way to store you Christmas card addresses is in a spreadsheet. Use separate columns for each item in the address such as first name, last name, street address, city, province and postal code. Use mail merge with your word processor to create address labels. You can also create columns on your spreadsheet to track gift ideas, friends’ children’s names, ages, birthdays, etc.

This link describes in detail how to do this with Microsoft Excel.

2.      Have a gift-wrap center

       Keep a storage bin for wrapping supplies under your bed or in a closet. Include wrapping paper, scissors, tape, name tags, bows and any other supplies you might need. Do not borrow from these supplies for other areas of your home. If you have to search for a gift-wrap supply each time you need to use it, that’s not organized or easy.

3.      Ask questions

       Ask people what they want for gifts. Don’t get stressed trying to guess when you can ask them. You’re more likely to give them something they really need. To keep the surprise factor, ask for a list to chose from or get some general suggestions and surprise them with a specific item.

4.      Shop on-line

       I hate shopping in general and gift shopping specifically. One can stand in long lines and go from store to store looking for an item in stock; or you can shop online. Often, your favorite store has an on-line version.

      You have a choice, go to your doorstep to retrieve the gift and spend the rest of the time drinking eggnog and watching holiday movies,  or you can fight for parking, sweat in line, get frustrated by items not in stock.

5.      Ask for help

      You are not a superhero.  If you are, you don’t need to do everything yourself. Delegate a few tasks to willing family members. Perhaps you can swap errands with friends. You will stand in line at the post office if she will pick up your recipe ingredients at the supermarket.

6.      Christmas Celebrations for Christmas Card Lists

       Save the envelopes from this year’s Christmas cards for Christmas celebrations. Put them in the box with your unused cards. Use the addresses on them to develop your card list next year. Everything will be in one box and easy to reference.

                                                                                                                   

7.      The Perfect Host
Unexpected guests show up bearing gifts and you have nothing to give them in return. Now what?  Buy a dozen boxes of nice chocolates at the start of the holiday season, wrap them, keep them in a cool place and give them as hostess presents for unplanned gift exchanges. Don’t want to give chocolate? Try wine or white pillar candles instead.

8.      Pre-test new recipes

       If you’re planning a big holiday party, that’s not the time to test a new recipe. If it doesn’t work, you’ll hear about it forever. Test drive a new recipe before the big day.

9.      One for All
If wrapping presents for family and friends makes you feel like you’re working the gift wrap station at a busy department store (all sorts of paper, bows and ribbons strewn everywhere!), it’s time to bring some order to the chaos.  Have a signature wrapping style, for example, always wrap presents in silver paper with matching silver bows and name tags. It’s not only perfect for holidays, but for birthdays and weddings too.  Most important, it streamlines the process.

10.  Record what works and what does not
It can be as simple as a list or as complex as a diary. This can include activities, recipes and anything else that makes up your holiday season. Next year, when you are stretched thin, you should automatically know what is worth investing time and effort in and what is not. This is especially true when it comes time to put away your holiday decorations. This can eliminate stress because you have a written record of what type of organizational techniques to avoid and what has worked in years past.

Five Ways to Keep Moving on Thanksgiving!

Here are afew ways to keep you family moving this Thanksgiving:

1.       Help out

Getting a Thanksgiving meal together and then cleaning up after is a lot of work!  Helping out will not only keep you on your feet but also keep you away from the appetizer table.  Make sure each person has at least one chore to do before and after the meal. 

 

Family Cleaning



2.       Put on some music and dance before or after the meal

Dancing is a fun way to keep moving and everyone can go at their own pace.   Just make sure you have CD’s instead of trying to find something on the radio and make sure you have a variety of music everyone will enjoy.

Dancing the night away!

3.       Plan a family game: soccer, softball, kickball, tag

This will get everyone in the family outside burning some calories plus the kids will have a blast! 

 

Family Kickball!

4.       Create a tradition of a family walk after the meal

Walking on some trails after a meal can be a beautiful and relaxing way to keep moving and stay off the couch after a turkey dinner.  Play some games with the kids to keep them occupied.

 

A walking trail perfect for some family exercise!

5.       Plan a work out the day after Thanksgiving

  You can either make plans with a friend or schedule a session with a personal trainer.  This will help you get back on track after having a few too many calories at your holiday meal.

Gym time gets you back on track!

Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions that help get your family moving?  Leave a comment below!

  

Dear Emily Victoria

Dear Emily Victoria,
I have a really BIG antique cabinet in my living room. It is too big for the room and not very practical for what we have been using it for, but my husband and I aren’t ready to part with it. We constantly get comments on how BEAUTIFUL it is. Right now we are using it for storage for all my son’s toys. The problem we keep running into is that there is no sense of organization. Things are thrown where ever we can find a place for it. I would love baskets or some other advice on what to get to keep all the toys organized and still when the doors are opened looking nice for when we have guest over. It has 4 shelves, the bottom two are the biggest and the rest of the shelves are similar in size and much smaller than the bottom two. We are constantly losing pieces to toys, so any advice would be GREAT!!
Stacey
This is a great question Stacey. The first question is do you have another room to put the cabinet in? If not, here is what you can do:


1) Go through all the toys/ games and make sure all the pieces are together.
If any of the toys or games is missing a piece put it aside. If you can not
find all the pieces to the toy or game and it cannot be used without the
missing pieces GET RID OF THEM. Organize the toys and games into sections of
the same category. For example, cars and trucks in one section, trains and
tracks in another, educational (stackers, learning games) in another, blocks in another, etc.


2) Once you have gone through all of the toys and have gotten all the pieces
together you should see what your child does not use any more. Put all of those toys and games that your child has grown out of into a clear storage bin, and label it BABY TOYS with the age example (0-12 months) on it. This way you can give it to a friend or save it for your next child. You can store it in your storage area and you will know what is in the box without opening it.


3) The next step is to decide where the cabinet fits best in the living room. If it is really too big for the area and there isn't another room to put it in you may just want to get rid of it. Maybe you can pass it down to a family member so you feel better about giving it away and get a more practical piece of furniture in the living space. If you just can't part with it, then put the cabinet in the best space possible.


4) After making that huge decision. Take some time categorizing. See how many bins you will need. Depending on how many categories of toys you have and the size of the shelves.


5) You can then go to Target, Pottery Barn, Pier One, Overstock.com, etc... and find baskets for the shelves. There are many varieties of baskets. Consider lined baskets if you’d like to add color or match your décor. You may want baskets in darker colors or with an antique flair if you’d like to stay in keeping with the antique style of the cabinet.(I recommend measuring the shelves to see how many baskets you can fit on one shelf and how big the baskets should be, H x W x L. The bottom shelves should hold the heavier toys and the top shelves should have lighter toys.


6) Once you have the baskets, put the toys into the baskets separated by categories. Trucks and cars in one, Trains and tracks in another, and blocks in another.


7) Then label the baskets so you know at a glance where you’ve put things. You can even put a piece of paper at the bottom of the basket saying what goes in that basket, until you and your child get used to this system and have it memorized.


8) Next, place the baskets on the shelves step back and admire your new
improved, attractive, organized Antique Cabinet!!


By following these steps you will have a more attractive area and not be embarrassed if you have to open the cabinet when guests are over. You’ll also feel less stressed knowing that everything has a place to go. By having your surroundings in order you will spend less time cleaning up & have more time to do other things. Children also enjoy having an organized place to put everything.


Thanks for asking this question and please let me know if you have any other
questions. I always love to help!


Sincerely
Emily Victoria

What is a Professional Organizer?

What is a Professional Organizer?

Essentially, a professional organizer is someone who helps other people to take control of their surroundings. They do it by designing systems and processes based on tried and true organizational principles. They also work to educate the public on various organizational solutions as well as the resulting benefits they can expect.

So now that we know what a professional organizer is, let's take a closer look at some of the things that a professional organizer does.

What Does a Professional Organizer do?

An easier question to answer would probably be, "What doesn't a professional organizer do?" 

These are just some examples of some of the various tasks professional organizers regularly perform: 

·         Residential organization

·         Business organization

·         Time Management

·         Paper Management

·         Clutter Control

·         Chronic disorganization repair

·         Behavior modification

·         Space planning

·         Filing

·         Coaching

·         Wardrobe organization

·         Closet system design

·         Event planning

·         Errand running

·         Personal shopping

·         Financial management

·         Memorabilia/photo organization (like scrap-booking)

·         Packing & Moving

·         Records management

·         Various types of training & education

·         Computer organization

·         Designing and organizing kitchen spaces

·         Public speaking and seminars; and

·         Home office organization

And that's just a small list! 

If you could have a professional organizer complete one task for you what would it be?  What would be the one thing that you really need help accomplishing?