7 Tips for Packing Up Christmas

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 14, 2015 // 11 Comments

I realize I’m probably two weeks to late to give you any tips to use this year… unless you’re like me and have only JUST now put them away.

But I do have some tips for packing away those Christmas decorations, so that you’ll make your life so much easier when you get ready for NEXT Christmas.

1. Purge | This should probably go without saying, but if you are holding on to any decorations, gift wrap, ornaments, etc that you can get rid of, do it! Dig through those boxes and bins, before they get repacked. Anything you didn’t end up using this year to decorate, get rid of it.

2. Stock Up | A little late now, but take advantage of the post-Christmas sales to stock up on wrapping paper, tissue, bags, Christmas cards, or other decor items. Save now, and skip stress later. I scored 3 rolls of wrapping paper, in my color scheme, at Target for only $0.39 a piece! Cheaper than my $1 wrapping paper from Dollar Tree.

3. Write a Note to Yourself | Call it a time capsule, or call it smart. But this tip has saved me for several years. When my sister and I were younger, we used to write a note for ourselves in the future and tuck it in the tree decorations box, just for fun. THIS year, I wrote myself a note to remind myself that our pre-lit Christmas tree is no longer wonderfully pre-lit.

To make Future Katie smile, I decided to write it on the back of this year’s Christmas card picture, so I can see little 2014 Elizabeth, and remember all the fun we had this year.

4. Take Pictures | If there was anything you thought looked particularly nice (like my DIY outdoor tomato cage tree!), snap a picture of your decorations before taking it down, so you can replicate it next year.

5. Start a Pinterest Board | Keep it secret or private, but try to have a Pinterest board full of good ideas to try next year, or ideas that worked this year. And actually refer to it next year! (I’m guilty of doing this ALL THE TIME! But not next year!) This year, I felt like I wasn’t prepared for fun activities my toddler could do, so my Pinterest Christmas board is all about toddler-friendly fun!

6. Pack Up Smart | Group like things together, like decorations from one room, or everything you need for the Christmas tree. Whatever works best for you. But it will make it MUCH easier to find what you need.

7. Keep It All Together | If you have the space, try to keep all of your Christmas decorations together in one spot in your home. When it comes time to setting up next year, you only have to hunt for decor items in one spot! Sounds simple, but I’ve definitely stuck random things in random spots (like table linens) and completely forgot I had them until… after Christmas.

Many of these tips are probably common sense, but each year I forget at least one of these myself. And while you are probably super speedy and have all your Christmas decorations put away, pin this to your Pinterest board and refer to it next year 😉

Menu Monday #34 + Favorite Quick Meals

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 13, 2015 // 8 Comments

It’s Menu Monday! *ahem, Tuesday

Sorry I’m a day late. We didn’t get back home Sunday until very late. And then, let’s face it. As a Buckeye girl, through and through, yesterday and today are basically national holidays.

But that being said, I was planning on this week’s menu to be a “clean out” week. Basically, I’ve got a freezer full of stuff, and a pantry of various pastas, sauces, curries, etc. So I thought this would be a great week to just make dinners using what I have. I try to do this every 6 weeks or so. Or when I can’t close my freezer anymore.

Instead of my usual menu, here’s a collection of my favorite quick dinners. I usually have the ingredients on hand at all times. And these are meals I cook when what I had planned to make just doesn’t sound good, or if we have a bad toddler day, and I’m just spent. Know what I’m saying?

Favorite quick meals are:

Burritos, Quesadillas, or Tacos
Spaghetti or Baked Pasta
Frozen Potstickers
Indian or Thai curry from Trader Joe’s
Taco Salad
Burgers
Breakfast For Dinner (usually pancakes)
Fritattas
Paninis (usually buy panini rolls in bulk and freeze)
Variety of salads

What about you? Any favorite quick meals that your family gobbles up?? I’d love some more ideas to stretch my pantry clean out another week 🙂

Want more ideas for dinner tonight? Check out my Pinterest board where I pin all my favorites!

High Five for Friday | New Home Kickoff!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 9, 2015 // 12 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by Katie, Caitlin, Tif and Della!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up AND be automatically entered to win a $100 Target giftcard? Scroll to the end of this post to read what to do. If you’re a #H54F regular, it’s business as usual, and you know what to do!

If this is your first time to Cup of Tea, then hi! Glad you’re here! You can learn more about me here.

Here’s what I was up to this week!

1. First off, woohoo for a new home for High Five for Friday!! A HUGE thank you to Lauren at Lauren Elizabeth, who has been hosting this link up forever! Us hostesses actually found each other’s blogs and became friends thanks to the H54F link up, so it’s very special to us. Now, she graciously passed the torch on to us, and we’re hoping we do it justice. And thank you to all who have decided to continue to pop over to join! If you missed Wednesday’s grand announcement, you can read more here.

2. My goal this week was to get all the Christmas decorations down and put away. And I was successful with step 1. Our office looks a mess, because I hauled all of our decorations up there to box up… but at least it’s all down. I’m planning a little post on how to put away Christmas decorations so it’s easier on you next year. For example, if your pre-lit Christmas tree has burned out bulbs, write yourself a note and tuck it in the Christmas tree box. *cue picture

3. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to stop the frivolous spending. Basically, that means I’ve relegated all emails regarding special sales to a separate folder (I’m looking at you, C. Wonder!!), and I’m avoiding Target like the plague. I managed to go to Target twice this week and stuck to just my list, which was a victory! But I think Target is trying to get me to come back… If you follow me on Instagram, you saw this story unfold, but I went yesterday to pick up many bins for organizing projects. Like this one!

Once I got home, I noticed in my stack of coupons that I received after paying was a $3 off coupon when you buy bins. Gah! They want me to come back and buy more bins! Resist the temptation, Katie!!

4. Elizabeth, who is now 15 months old, has decided all food is disgusting, and she refuses to touch it. However, any cheesy cracker is ok. But a girl can’t live on cheesy crackers alone… so I’ve been trying to give her other things for a more balanced diet. Needless to say, by the afternoon she’s a weepy, boo-hooing mess. And so is mommy. Any tips from seasoned mommies out there?? Please tell me this pickiness is a phase!

5. We are headed out of town this weekend to Virginia Beach for an auto show. Anyone in the Hampton Roads area?? Are you going? Or will I be the only girl there? I dutifully go every year with my husband to an auto show, somewhere. One year we went to 4 – Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. I’m a dedicated wife…. but it should be fun!

So that’s some of the MANY random things that happened this week! I can’t wait to hear about your week!

Fellow bloggers – ready to join in the link up? In case there’s anyone new to the game, here’s what you do!

Just write a blog post about 5 things that made this week awesome! It could be 5 memories, 5 pairs of shoes you wore, 5 “good job” comments you got, or 5 pieces of chocolate you scarfed down when no one was looking.

Add your link to your blog post down below. Then be sure to link back to the link up by grabbing the H54F button!

Caitlin, Tif, Della and I want to put our own spin on H54F. We are planning on visiting each and every one of you and saying hello! We want to get to know you all and find some new blogs. Each week we’ll be featuring one of you as our blog pick of the week.

Also, bloggers, you have a chance to enter to win $100 Target gift card! (open to US residents only – sorry!!) Simply link up to this week’s H54F, and then we will randomly select one winner using a random number generator. Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, January 9, 2015. By linking up, bloggers agree to the full terms and conditions, which can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by! If you’re a veteran H54F-er, we hope you’ll continue to link-up. If you’re new to the H54F game, we hope you’ll join in every week! Happy reading!

Don’t forget to grab the button to add to your own blog post!

Resolutions…

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 8, 2015 // 16 Comments

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Are you good at sticking with them?

I don’t typically sit down and write out goals and aspirations for the new year. If I do make one, it’s usually something simple, that I would have done anyway, like “try new recipes”.

In 2014, I had a few things I wanted to accomplish:

Get consistent with blogging (check – at least it was better than 2013!)
Transition my blog to my own domain and self hosted server (check!)
Menu plan more often (check – thanks to Menu Mondays!)
Wear actual lip color, not just tinted lip balm (check!)
Be more social (check! Thanks to Elizabeth and play dates)

Feeling inspired by my few resolutions getting accomplished, I thought I’d try to tackle a few more this year!

For the home:

Cut back on frivolous spending! Our expenses in 2014 were out of control. And that was all thanks to me. I just get bored! If I needed to get out of the house, I just went to Target. And that’s dangerous. I’m on a spending freeze for January, and we’ll see how it goes from there. Some people loose weight. I loose my credit card.
Read more. I love to read! I can reread my favorite books, no problem. But I just don’t take the time to do it these days. My book reading consists of Goodnight Moon and those glorious tomes by Sandra Boynton. So I need to dust off my ol’ library card and get cracking!
Actually learn how to bake a good pie. I don’t know why, until now, I’ve had no desire to learn! But this changes in 2015.
Send handwritten notes to friends and family throughout the year. I got inspired yesterday reading blogs from Whitney at Come Home for Comfort and Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place. They both talked about writing thank you notes post-Christmas. It got me thinking how much I enjoy getting real mail, and wouldn’t it be nice to do that for folks all year round, not just at birthdays or Christmas? Plus, it’s a great excuse to stock up on cute stationary! (And just like that, I’ve already broken New Year’s Resolution #1. Come on, Katie….)

For Elizabeth:

Be more patient. I realize my patience will be thinner as the years go on, but I need to remember she’s only 15 months. She (probably) isn’t doing those things to get on my nerves on purpose. But she has mastered my patented under-breath growl when I get frustrated…. great.
Organize more activities. I need to schedule weekly activities that don’t involve Target (see that one point above). I’m thinking one day to the museum, one to the park, one day to reading time at the Library, and at least one play day a week. I also need to plan more structured learning activities.

For Myself:

Get better at applying eye shadow. Y’all… I’m horrible at getting eye shadow in my eye lid crease. Either it’s my eye, my tools, or the shadow, but I always look like I’ve been punched in the face when I try to make an effort. So I want to get better at that.
Find the perfect “not quite everyday but natural enough to be everyday” foundation. I was always a loyal luxury foundation user. And then I quit my job and became a stay-at-home mom. I decided I should find a great drugstore foundation for everyday use. And I did! But now I need to find one that offers full coverage, but still easy to apply. That should be fun, right? (Although it’s in complete violation of my “cut back on frivolous spending resolution”)

For the Blog:

Get back to YouTube. Last year’s resolution was be consistent on the blog. This year I’d like to get more consistent posting videos on YouTube. I love doing them! But sometimes, when you have a busy month, something’s got to give, and it was inevitably that in 2014.
Take better pictures. I have my sweet husband to thank for this. For Christmas, he bought me a new camera, just for the blog. Now I just need to get better at photography!

Phew! That was a lot!

So what have you resolved to do this year? I’d love to hear it, in case I missed something 🙂

Happy New Year!

Linked up with Tuesday Talk

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT | H54F Link Up’s New Home

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // January 7, 2015 // 8 Comments

*Happy dance happy dance happy dance*

If you’ve been a regular reader here, you know I always write a “Hey Hey! It’s Friday!” post, recapping all the excitement, or lack there of, from the week.

I started writing those posts so I could be sure to link up with Lauren at Lauren Elizabeth for her High Five for Friday link up.

Basically, several hundred bloggers write a similar post, recapping and celebrating their week. Then they add their blog post link to the list. You get to discover and read so many new blogs! And, if you’re a fellow blogger, you can make new friends!

I’ve made so many new blogging friends, thanks to High Five for Friday! (Hey everyone! *waves) And of all the link ups I try to join, it’s the one I consistently get my butt to, and make an effort to visit and comment on other blogs.

Last week, Lauren announced she wanted to pass the High Five for Friday hosting torch on to another group of bloggers.

And so, I’m SO EXCITED to announce that myself, Caitlin, Tif & Della will be co-hosting High Five for Friday, every single week!

*happy dance happy dance happy dance*

The High Five for Friday link up brought us all together as blogging friends, and we’ve all collaborated in various ways together. Now we get to co-host this wonderful link up.

What does this mean?

Basically, I still have my usual weekly recap every Friday morning! If you’re not a blogger, then you will also see a huge list of other blogs to explore and read! You may find your next favorite blog in that list!

If you’re a fellow blogger, you’re welcome to write your own weekly recap and add your link to the list! We’ll have the link up live every Friday morning, 7AM est, at any of our 4 blogs. It’s the same link, no matter where you submit, and all submissions will compile to one list, easy to view on any of the 4 blogs.

*UPDATE – for bloggers: There will be a $100 giveaway for this Friday’s H54F (limited to US residents only – sorry!!). Come link up on Friday to learn more details!

Be sure to subscribe via email to Cup of Tea, so you get an email alert when the High Five for Friday link up goes live!

It’s so special for the 4 of us to be taking on this responsibility. We hope we do it justice! And we hope you join us!

Grab the button to add to this week’s blog post!

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