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Daily Task Cleaning Calendar

Daily Task Cleaning Calendar

As much as we love the build up to a large house clean it can feel like one big TO DO LIST. I have put together a simple schedule to help you stay organised and keep you on top of your housework.

I just love the daily cleaning tasks and when you follow my simple schedule that break it down, it becomes a easy way to keep your home clean.

My simple calendar will guide you through the organising, planning and cleaning that you will need to get your home sparkling clean.

Download your free copy

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Christmas Planning

Christmas Cleaning & Organising schedules

As much as we love the build up to Christmas it can be also be a little over whelming and feel like one big TO DO LIST. I have put together a few simple planners to help you stay organised and keep you on top of not only the Christmas prep but your housework too.

I just love the pre Christmas clean and when you follow my simple schedules break it down, shop right and buy practical gifts it all comes together.

My simple calendar will guide you through the organising, planning and cleaning that you will need to get your home sparkling clean.

Download your free copy

Preparing to welcome guests during the festive season means time to pay extra attention to the home, from the rooms and objects we touch the most, to all the corners and crevices that are often forgotten.

I have put together my 7 down Christmas count down, a few daily tasks to do to keep you extra organised on the lead up to the big day

To download a copy click here

Christmas Meal Planning planner

My Christmas meal planner is here to help you plan the key Christmas meals between Christmas and New Year and budget.

Christmas Menu Planner Printable

Christmas Shopping Planner

Keep track of who you have bought for and how you have spent

Christmas Presents Printable

I hope these little guides help you with your Christmas planning and organising.

 

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Getting Guest ready this Christmas

At Christmas time visitors can make the festive season all the more stressful, but a few simple steps will help ease the pain.

Guest preparation is the key at Christmas time. Always make sure you are as organised as you can be so you can relax and enjoy special time with your friends and family. Think of your visitors, there is nothing worse than ignoring them because you preparing food in the kitchen or tidying up and in turn they are sat twiddling their thumbs in the lounge.

Make sure if you have guests coming over for a meal that you are fully prepped. (ie) The table is set, extra chairs have been brought in, food is nearly ready, drinks are ready for pouring and you are ready. 

No dashing off too quickly get changed or apply your makeup!

I really enjoy playing host and will spend weeks getting organised. It’s so important that your guests feel welcome. If you have invited friends or family to stay then think about offering them privacy and a few home comforts.  Have the guest room ready or a dedicated area to accommodate them.

Always have a few spare generic Christmas presents wrapped up under the tree in case a gift is given to you but you didn’t buy them one.  You do not want to get yourself in an embarrassing situation.

The Guest room 

Having a space that guests can make their own allows for a much easier stress free visit. Your spare room may also be a bit of a dumping ground passing off as a home office, or a place where you dry your clothes so this is a good chance for you to have a quick declutter and organise. If this room isn’t used much you may not have the radiators switched on so get these switched on ready and warm the room.

Allow your guest some storage space, make room for their bags and a space for them to hang their clothes.

Leave a set of clean towels at the end of the bed and a set of mini toiletries in case they have forgotten something. Pop the wifi code on the bedside cabinet along with a few bottles of water.

If you have a family staying in the room invest in a few airbeds so a family can all stay together.

20 Minute Mad Guest Dash

We can also have unexpected visitors where little notice is given, Here are some of my top tips for getting you guest ready within 20 minutes.

Throw open the windows to let air through the house to make it feel refreshed and to get rid of any smells.

Entrance Hall 

Start by clearing the entrance to your home so guests don’t fall over shoes and coats when they walk in and make sure your door mat is clean by giving it a shake and sweep any dirt away.

Leave a space for guests shoes and coats.

Kitchen

Next, clean the kitchen. Put any dirty dishes in the sink or dishwasher and make sure your tea towel is clean. lighting a festive candle and emptying the bin. Spray a damp microfibre cloth with all-purpose spray and use it to wipe over kitchen surfaces and brush crumbs onto the floor. Once you’ve finished, speed-vacuum yourself out of the room starting in the furthest corner. 

People always migrate to the Lounge

The living room is another area of your home where guests are likely to spend a lot of time. Tidy away any clutter in your living room such as books and magazines, and if you have a pet, quickly rub your furniture with a damp rubber glove to remove pet hair. Spray sofas with a fabric refresher and turn your cushions over instead of vacuuming them to save time. Dim the lights and use lamps where possible to hide any dirt and hair on the carpets.

Your Bathroom must be clean

The bathroom is an area in your home where your guests will spend time alone and will make judgements about how clean it is! If you only have a few minutes to get your bathroom ready grab some fresh clean bathroom towels and change the bath mat.

1. Grab a clean cloth and a good bathroom cleaner and  wipe down the sink, the toilet seat and underneath the base of the toilet. Keep some handy cleaning wipes under the bathroom sink so you can just grab one quickly when in and out of the bathroom yourself.

2. Scrub the inside of the toilet and add some toilet bleach.

3. Leave the window slightly open

4. Light a strong pleasant scented candle.

5. Replenish Toilet paper.

No go areas

Lastly, if there’s a room in your home that you don’t want guests to enter, simply closing the door will make them less likely to go in.

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Christmas stocking gift ideas

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

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Christmas present hiding

Hiding Christmas presents is something I have to think about every year. I like to be super organised and start my Christmas shopping as early as I can, the summer sales can be great for picking up bargains but my issue is where do I hide them?

I always have to think of clever ideas where no one in my family will be quick to look. I also have to remember where the hiding spots are.

Being organised is always the key with Christmas.

I am sure some of us as children we went off looking for Christmas presents, you may even as gone as far finding them and then opened up your presents to see what was inside and then quickly stuck it back together again. Naughty Naughty!

I have come up with a list of places that you can potentially use as hiding places. But make sure you keep a list of what you have brought, who you have brought for and where you have hidden the present.  Print of my trackable printable to help you keep track of your Christmas shopping.

I have been known to hide presents to well and then I can’t actually find them when it comes to wrapping them up! Not a good move.

My top hiding places are

  • Garage or shed – Hide them in empty boxes or thick bin bags.
  • Laundry Basket – Hide items in a disused pillow case and then leave this at the bottom of the ironing pile.  I mean in my house I tend to be the only one who does any ironing so the chances of anyone looking here are very slim.
  • Suitcase – The holiday suitcases have been put away and are no longer in use so this is the perfect place to hide items
  • Family – Use the family for deliveries and to hide items, they may have a spare room where you can leave items that no one will see. This is good for larger presents such as bikes.
  • Car boot – If you have a boot tidy in the back on your car this is another great hiding spot but always ensure you lock your car.
  • Empty shoe boxes – You may have a few of these in the bottom of your wardrobe so empty out the shoes and fill the boxes with presents.
  • Loft – Perfect place that children will struggle to get into.
  • Plastic Tupperware tub – We all have quite a few of these in the kitchen cupboards, keep a few empty and use these to hold small gifts.
  • Filing cabinet – If you have a home office the filing cabinet is a great place as this can also be locked.
  • Ottoman – Mine is full of bedding and towels so I can hide items in between.
  • Underwear drawer – This is a personal space where no one should go so hide a few items in here.
  • In books – Gift cards, iTunes vouchers can easily be hidden within a book

I hope I have given you a few ideas to make your Christmas present hiding a little more stressful.

Plan your perfect Christmas with Meal Planning, Card Lists, Gift Lists, TV viewing, 10 Day Count Down and more with the perfect Christmas planner and keep all your wrapping paper, gift tags, ribbons together in the perfect fabric storage organiser. This is literally a must have!