school boys

Back to School Essentials Check List

by Family Organising

The summer holidays may of just started but many of us will already be thinking about Back to School.  Most of the shops will have the Back to School posters up with uniform strategically placed at  stores entrances.

We always go away the last few weeks of August and I like to have everything done before we go so as soon as the holidays start I start to pick bits up for my 3 and I use this checklist and mark off what I have brought.  I find this way I don’t forget anything.

The worst thing you can do is head into town a week before they go back as most stuff will be gone, limited sizes will be left for school uniform so get out there early and be prepared. If stores don’t have your sizes they will have plenty of time to order for you or for you to go home and order online.

I have designed a back to school check list that you can download here Back To School Check List

I have also put together a few ideas for those back to school essentials

Back Packs For Girls

B07BSP257H

For younger girls
JoJo Siwa Bow Backpack Ruck Sack Sholder Bag Large Pocket Print Back Pack Rainbow, Clouds and Glitter.

B07DK8ZX7K

KS2 Girls
FRINGOO Girls Boys School Backpack Waterproof Travel Bag Fits Laptop 17” (Unicorn WiFi)

B07DH11SK2

Secondary Girls
Adidas back pack

Back Packs For Boys

B07FFS33CX

Younger Boys
Paw Patrol Back Pack

B07DTK3917

KS2 Boys
Marvel Back Pack

B00XDRJI28

Secondary Boys 
Vans Back Pack

Stationary

B01DD29PJS

YIMOJI Large Capacity Pencil Case, 72 Slots Multi-layer School Stationery Pencil Eraser Ruler Bag for Student Boys and Girls

B077H649SL

Smiggle Pencil Case

My son would absolutely love this and if he behaves this summer I may treat him, his addicted to smiggle stuff.

B000J66XPG

Maths set

B0006L25FQ

Casio Calculator

Love the classic casio calculator. Perfect for in the home office to. 

For school uniform I always find that Next and John Lewis offer the best range of sizes and styles. Plus if your have older girl New Look have a great teenage range with more tailored clothing plus a good selection of practical bags and shoes.

To help stay organised this summer with your home maybe look at joingin in with my 5 Minute Challenge or use one of my cleaning calendars

Personally I love Back to School shopping so have fun and enjoy.

Thanks for reading
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxox

This post does contain affiliate links

kids cleaning

Keeping the house tidy when you have kids.

by Cleaning TipsFamily Organising

If there is one thing that seems impossible to achieve when you are a parent, it is a clean house. Children have a knack for creating mess wherever they go. The last thing you want to do is spend your day scrubbing the floor and tidying up, only to find that you need to repeat the process come tomorrow. With that being said, read on to discover some secrets on keeping your house tidy while you have children.

Involve the children

Why not put your kids to good use and get them to join in with the cleaning too? Needless to say, it is not like your eight-month-old baby is going to pick up the hoover and give the house a good vacuum. However, most toddlers love helping out around the house because it makes them feel like they are adults. Kids love copying their parents, so why not get them their own children’s sized broom or mop and let them give you a hand? Head to Raising Children for some examples of household chores that are suitable for children or check out my top tips CLICK HERE

Get up before the kids do!

Waking up before your children can make a massive difference in terms of keeping your home tidy. You will typically find that you have a lot more time and, shockingly, more energy to do the dishes, laundry, and put their toys away than you would if you left this task until later in the day. I have a good hour downstairs before my 3 come down and I get so much done. The mornings are the best time of the day as you have much more energy too.  Why not give my 5 minutes challenge a go – JOIN HERE

Consider putting some items in storage

It’s crazy to think that one little child can end up having more belongings than you! One of the best ways to keep your house tidy and organised when you have young children is to put some of your belongings in storage – just until they get out of the phase whereby they want to cause destruction around the house. Plus, it will help to make sure some of your favourite items don’t end up damaged. Some great storage ideas from canningvalestorageunits.com.au You will see that there are plenty of different options available depending on the type and quantity of items you need to store.

Have a routine 

It is also pivotal that you have some sort of routine to your day. This does not need to be a stringent routine whereby you need to follow it to the minute. However, if you have a bit of a pattern to your daily activities it will ensure that you build in the time to tackle chores. Right down what errands you have, any shopping you may need and any household tasks you need to do and tick off as you through.

The fabulous Mummy of Four swears by a virtual calendar to act as you PA and its such a fab idea.  Read how she does this and keeps extra organised with her very simple simple.

As you can see, there are many different ways that you can keep your house clean and tidy while you have children. Of course, no one is expecting your home to be immaculate, but you can keep a bit of your sanity by following the suggestions that have been mentioned above.

Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxo

christmas-518587_960_720

Christmas stocking gift ideas

by Christmas

I always used to struggle filling up my children’s stockings.  It is not always easy looking for small gifts that easily fit.  I still have younger children in my family and I absolutely love to put together a stocking for them.

There are so many options for what to put in a Christmas stocking. The traditional approach to a Christmas stocking for kids is to fill the toe of the stocking with either an easy-peel orange or satsuma, or a Terrys chocolate orange.

Other ideas include adding the traditional gold coins which you could do by adding in a small bag of chocolate coins or even some money.

Putting together the stockings at Christmas is one of my favourite Christmas activities and these little. nik naks are always really appreciated sometimes more so than the big expensive items.

Last year I went on a Christmas Stocking mission and this is what I have come up, hopefully this will help give you a few more ideas.

  • Scratch card
  • Gift cards
  • Lego min figure
  • Plasticine pack
  • Hair bobbles
  • Hair clips
  • Match box car
  • Pen
  • Pencil
  • Rubber
  • Money
  • Key ring
  • Socks
  • Tattoo
  • Stickers
  • Glow sticks
  • Card game
  • Glitter
  • Badge
  • Nail polish
  • Funky tooth brush
  • Bouncy Ball
  • Marbles
  • Christmas earrings
  • Nerf Bullets
  • Chocolate
  • sweets
  • Candy Cane
  • Book mark
  • Bag decoration
  • Small action figure

Don’t forget some adults love a Christmas stocking too. For adults, stocking fillers could be chocolate, some fruit, something useful like socks and maybe some mini perfume samplers or skin creams to fill space. You can also be a little cheeky and add a cocktail can to start the festivities.

The 5 gift rule

The 5 gift rule is a useful way to plan buying gifts. This is particularly useful if you are buying for children or a large family. The 5 gift rule helps you plan for a variety of different types of gifts whilst keeping the number of gifts sensible.

For presents the general 5 gift rule is:

  • 1 thing they want
  • 1 thing they need
  • 1 thing to read
  • 1 thing to wear
  • 1 thing to do

Hope this has given you some stocking inspiration don’t forget my Christmas Calendar countdown is now available.

Happy Christmas Planning

Child eating ice cream

Summer Stains

by Laundry

The summer months are for getting out and about and enjoying the lovely weather.  We all enjoy a good picnic in the park or a family BBQ. But with summer fun comes dirt and stains.  I have jotted down some of my quick stain removal hacks for you.

Grass is one of the biggest stains over the summer especially on children’s clothing

Grass stains on clothes can be removed with a toothbrush and plain white toothpaste; Squeeze a small amount of the toothpaste onto the stain, then dip the toothbrush in clean cold water and use it to scrub away the stain. Repeat this process as needed to treat all of the stain. Rinse the area and wash the clothing as usual.

Mud

Don’t rub mud because that only pushes the soil deeper into the fibres. As soon as possible, hold the stained areas under a tap of running cold water. Hold the fabric with the wrong side of the stain directly under the tap to force the mud out of the fibres. Then put a spot of washing up liquid onto the stain and wash as normal.

If your washing a muddy sports kits soak in a bucket of cold water along with a good squirt of washing up liquid and then put in the washing machine as normal.

Ice Cream

If your like me you will carry around antibacterial wipes or you will have my handy handbag cleaning pack so you can act quick with an ice cream stain, a quick blot with the wipes and the stain will be halfway out. Once home pop some washing up liquid onto the area and then wash as hot as possible to get the stain fully out.

Oil Off Bike Chains

We all enjoy a good long bike ride in the summer but there is always that risk that the chain may come off and then you are left you have to put this back on and get your hands all greasy which in turn can easily transfer onto your clothes. My advice is to not treat with plain water as this will help set the stain. Place the clothing face down on clean paper towels and apply a stain remover to the back, I like the vanish stain remover or the OXY plus from Astonish  is also a good choice. Let the clothing air-dry, then rinse. Machine wash, using the hottest water recommended for the clothing and this should hopefully come out for you.

Blood

We have all been there, a play at the park turns into a cut, graze of a t-shirt covered in blood!!  The joys of being a parent a fast fix is to wet and soak the fabric in cold water, then rub with a bar of soap as soon as you get home.  Then put in the washing machine on the hottest washing cycle your clothing will take.

Tea and coffee Stains

Beautiful sunny afternoon so lets meet for a coffee or a cuppa and oops someone knocks the drinks over.  Tea and coffee all over the table and all over you!  But don’t despair, The stain will come out with a little sugar.

Mix up a solution of heavily sugared water by stirring the water as you add sugar to it. Keep adding sugar until it no longer dissolves. Then submerge the stained area for several minutes in a small container of the heavily sugared water, then wash as normal. This is such an old fashioned cleaning tip and I remember my great Nan doing this to my Mum when I will a child and it worked like a treat.  Its so surprising that kitchen cupboard items can really help!

Well I hope this quick stain removal guide will give you a stain free and clean summer.

Enjoy the glorious weather and don’t worry about those stains too much as we will get them out.

see more of my cleaning tips and advice by clicking here

Thanks for reading.
Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxo

egg

The messiest stains at Easter Time

by Laundry

Who doesn’t love chocolate Easter Eggs?

The Easter weekend is a traditional a time to give out chocolate eggs and let the kids go crazy with Easter Egg hunts and mountains of delicious chocolate and Easter cakes.

As yummy as chocolate is, Chocolate will stain over the easter period along with other stains such as grass stains, mud, butter from delicious hot cross buns and sticky finger marks.  

If you catch the stains quickly they don’t tend to be a problem and my stain busting guide has most of them covered.

But when left untreated for a few hours they can become hard to shift as the stain will absorb itself into the fabric.

I have put together a few very simple tips to help you tackle those Easter weekend stains.

Grass Stains

To remove ground in tough grass stains from children’s clothes.  Simply add a Stain remover and leave to soak for at least 15 minutes before washing as normal.

 If you don’t have a stain treatment to hand then good old washing up liquid or using a liquid laundry detergent as a pretreat should work.  Once you have left the soap to soak into the garment then, get a toothbrush and gentle rub over the stain to work the liquid into the area. Finally add to your washing machine and pop on the highest temperature the garment will take.

If you are out and about when the stain hits, grab your hand sanitiser and cover as much of the stain as possible.

If your stain has not been completely lifted after washing, you may want to consider using rubbing alcohol or hairspray. The reason why is that the alcohol found in these products breaks down the green pigments in grass stains.

If you are using rubbing alcohol, dab a small amount onto a clean cloth, and gently sponge it over your stain. When you see the colour lifting, rinse your garment in cold water and continue with the usual removal process. 

To use hairspray, spray a liberal amount over your stain and wait for it to completely dry. Once it has dried, used a soft-bristled brush, such as a toothbrush to scrub at your stain. When you notice the colour begin to fade, flush out the hairspray with cold water. 

Butter 

Hot cross buns are complimented perfectly when topped with a generous amount of butter. If you accidentally drop some butter on your clothing, don’t panic, simply follow these instructions. 

If your butter stain has been caused by a blob of butter, begin the removal process by using a butter knife or spoon to gently lift as much solid butter as possible.

After you have removed any solid bits of butter, use a clean white cloth, or paper towel, to gently dab the stain. Make sure that you are dabbing and not rubbing, as rubbing will cause your stain to set further into your clothing.

Once you have removed as much excess oil from the stain as possible, sprinkle a generous amount of either cornstarch, bicarbonate of soda, chalk or talcum powder over your stain. Allow your powder to sit on your stain for at least 15 minutes to give it an ample amount of time to absorb as much oil as possible. After 15 minutes, gently brush the powder off of your item. 

Next cover the stain with either your liquid laundry detergent or washing up liquid and gently work into the stain using your fingers.

Finally, wash your item as you usually would. If your stain has not been removed, repeat the process. 

Mud Stains

Pre-soak the garment as soon as possible in a bowl of cold water with 3 heaped tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda for approx one hour.  Then pop in the wash as normal with the highest temperature the garment will allow.

Chocolate stains

Gently wipe as much of the excess chocolate as you can, taking care not to push the stain deeper into the fibres. You can use a blunt knife or credit card for this. Then flush out as much chocolate as you can using cold running water from the back of the stain. Make sure that you are using cold and not hot water because hot water will only set your chocolate stain further into your clothing. 

Soak in a solution of detergent and warm water for at least 30 minutes before washing as usual at the highest temperature allowed.

Want to learn more crazy cleaning tips then then grab a copy of one of my books and I will show you how to clean your house and tidy up your life