By Kathleen Wilson

Valentine’s Day is a special day in my household, and I try to share the feeling of love and romance with all my family! One of the best ways to do that is to set a holiday table, and spend time enjoying good food and drink with your loved ones. (Include your kids in dinner, and save a special after dinner and dessert for romance!) Here are some great ideas for setting the stage for a romantic dining experience, without breaking your budget.

* Set a background for your Valentine’s Day dinner. Layer your table with fabrics to invoke the sense of a luxurious hotel. Use sheets, quilts, tablecloths and placemats in coordinating colors. Pink, red and white are all indicative of love, but so are deep jewel tones. Look around your linen closet to find what you may already own! Flat sheets can be found at the discount shop for $3!

* Invest in a roll of wire edged ribbon from the discount store. Tie bows around chair backs, glass stems, and silverware bundles for that extra touch. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kathleen Wilson

So you just got all the holiday decorations put away (or maybe you didn’t!) and here comes another holiday… Valentines! Never fear, I have some great budget friendly ideas for quick and easy decorations you can use to dress up any room of your home and show all your loved ones how much you care!

*Dress up your everyday dining area with heart shaped placemats. Pick up some large red or pink craft foam sheets from your craft store and trace and cut a large heart shape from each one with a pair of sharp scissors. Use a gold paint pen and write a one word romantic sentiment in the center of each one, just like the “message heart” candies of our youth! Edge the hearts with squiggles and swirls, or perhaps personalize each placemat with a name of a family member. These will wipe clean with a damp cloth, and add loving style to each meal!

*Pick up four or six silk flowers and a small roll of wire edged ribbon (white, red, or pink) from your discount store and tie one flower each to the back of each of your dining chairs. Make the bow larger than you normally would for drama. The wire edge will allow you to shape the bow into a full, romantic style. Use leftover ribbon to add some romance to your front door wreath, your mailbox, or a big bow on the headboard of your bed! Read the rest of this entry »

by Rachel Paxton

Last year our family tried out a new way to preserve Thanksgiving memories, and the result was truly a treasured keepsake.

A day or two before Thanksgiving, my daughter and I used a turkey rubber stamp to make place cards for all of our family members. We colored the place cards with colored pencils and wrote people’s names on them with a metallic gold pen.

We then cut up strips of paper to put into a small basket to distribute before Thanksgiving dinner. The day of Thanksgiving, after all of the guests had arrived, we handed out the slips of paper and asked everyone to write down something they were thankful for.

Now you should have seen the looks I got! Keep in mind that there were family members of all ages, from young teenagers to adults. Most of them looked at me like I was crazy (because this memory-making stuff is all new to them), but I told them they had to do it before they could eat. Read the rest of this entry »

by Shelly Hill

For the majority of Americans, it is a tradition to serve a roasted turkey dinner for the Thanksgiving holiday…however, once the dinner is over, we are faced with a lot of turkey left-overs.

I like to freeze my left over turkey in freezer-safe 2-3 cup plastic containers. During the next few weeks, I can defrost my turkey in the microwave and make some delicious dinner recipes for my family.

Tip: You will want to remove the skin and bones from your turkey before placing it into the freezer.

The following recipes are the ones that my family enjoys the most after the Thanksgiving holiday is over.

Stir-Fry Turkey with Cranberry Glaze

1 fully cooked turkey breast, cut into strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons ginger
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries Read the rest of this entry »

by O Quinn

Thanksgiving dinner can be a very expensive meal. But you can take steps to reduce the costs this year using a few of these ideas.

One of the easiest and best ideas when trying to save money on Thanksgiving is to make it a potluck. Have all the parties coming to dinner provide a dish. We do this EVERY year and it cuts down on costs considerably. Make a chart listing categories such as main dish, vegetables, starch, dessert, drinks, etc and note who will provide what in each category.

Another idea is to not cook more than everyone will eat. My mother loves to cook many different dishes “just in case” but this “just in case” has often turned into a waste. Do your calculations on serving sizes and don’t over feed your guests.

Shop in advance. Things like butter, canned cranberry sauce, and soup stocks (unless you make your own) tend to go on sale during holiday time. Make sure you get yours before they run out. Pick up these storable items (butter can be frozen) a week or two in advance. Search brand websites and your newspaper for coupons for even larger savings. Read the rest of this entry »

by Shelly Hill

When our daughter was around 8 years old, she invited over a few friends for the day to do some crafting with us. Since it was the beginning of November, we decided to make a Thanksgiving holiday garland.

This project can be done in one afternoon. If you are doing several of them at a time (group project), I suggest precutting all of the fabric strips ahead of time.

1 roll of sisal twine (2 or 3 ply for durability)
scraps of homespun fabrics
all-purpose craft glue (or glue gun with adult supervision)
acorns, twigs, pinecones, dried pods
scissors

Step 1: Measure out the length of sisal twine that you will need to make your garland. We usually do 3 to 4 feet. Cut it from the roll. Tie each end into a loop, this way when you hang it up, you can easily do it via the loops. Read the rest of this entry »

by Corrie Petersen

Business owners need to grow their business all the time. They don’t stop for the holidays. Sometimes it can be hard to work for growth at this time of year, but it needs to be done.

Right after Thanksgiving people start preparing for Christmas. This is the perfect time to get your business noticed or to get your products out there for people to purchase. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you grow with ease.

• Prepare ahead of time

When you plan ahead, you will accomplish more. Plan your online and offline advertising in advance. Write your ads and save all the sites you will post them to in one place so you don’t have to search. Print out your flyers ahead of time and have them ready to go so you can hand them out without a flaw.

• Blog posts

Write your blog posts and schedule them for the dates they are to go out. When you do this, you won’t even have to think about it. You will have the time to think when you do it ahead of time and you won’t make mistakes. Read the rest of this entry »

by Darlyn Burkle

Whether you just fancy a turkey for dinner, or it’s thanksgiving and you are preparing the traditional turkey meal, you will need to get the cooking time right. Different sizes of turkey take different lengths of time to cook, and while an overcooked, dry turkey is not a very tasty meal, the alternative – an undercooked turkey and the risk of food poisoning, is even less attractive. While steaks are OK to consume rare, poultry has a much higher risk of disease from being consumed undercooked.

What to Consider

The cooking time of a turkey depends on several factors, including the method of cooking, the dish used to cook it, the size, and whether or not the turkey is being cooked from frozen or fresh.

You can get guideline cooking times from most cookbooks, and many cookery websites offer calculators that will help you work out how long the turkey will take to cook. The standard times are usually based on weight, and whether or not the turkey is fresh or frozen. Don’t forget to adjust the time – fan assisted ovens, for example, usually cook more quickly than non fan ovens. Read the rest of this entry »

by Shelly Hill

When it comes to hosting holiday parties and family events, it is important to plan ahead and come up with a game plan several weeks before the big day or event.

Here are 10 important tips to help you enjoy a stress-free holiday party.

1. When hosting family gatherings, we tend to over invite guests. Keep your guest list manageable and only invite the amount of people that you feel you can handle. Inviting too many guests will cause over-crowding and unnecessary stress.

2. There is nothing wrong with asking others to help out by bringing a dish, dinner supplies or even showing up early or staying an hour late to help you prep or clean up after the meal.

3. Keep your decorations and decor simple. You don’t need to go all out and decorate every nook and cranny of your home or entertaining space.

4. Clean your home and entertaining space a week in advance. Then the day before the gathering, go back in and just do some light cleaning. Read the rest of this entry »

by Corrie Petersen

You know, it doesn’t matter if you work full or part time from home, it’s a struggle when the kids are out of school. When you work full time from home, you are used to having your days free while the kids are at school, to work your business. When you work part time from home, you are used to having your evenings free because the kids have homework and have to get to bed early.

When Christmas break comes around, it can be a challenge. You want to spend time with them and they want to spend time with you, so your business time may be limited. Here are a few tips that will help you get through this break and still grow your business.

First you need to realize it doesn’t matter what type of business you run, this can be done. You need to put your mind to it and schedule your time in advance and you can make it happen. Read the rest of this entry »