Entertaining: Christmas Place Cards

Nothing dresses up a table like individual place cards.  This is an easy, festive one to use throughout the holiday season.

I just used some wrapping ribbon, taped together to form a circle, then added another round ornament hook/loop, and slid the name card between the two ornament loops.  Easy, festive and fun.

Cleaning: Using Your Microwave to Mop

I have a wonderful friend who has a floor steamer.  And although I know she'd loan it to me in a heartbeat, I'm hardly going to borrow it for my weekly cleaning.  My solution is to use one of my favorite kitchen appliances - the microwave!  I use my microwave once or twice a day to sanitize my kitchen dishrag.  Just get it nice and damp, then nuke it for 2 minutes to completely sanitize it.  That way I'm not spreading nasty colonies of bacteria any time I need to wipe off the counter.  It's easy and cheaper than using paper towels every time. 

I've decided to use the same concept in my mopping.  Although I toss my microfiber mop pad in the washing machine when I'm done, I do like to use the microwave to heat up my mop to help simulate a steam-cleaning of the floor.  It also saves water since I don't have to wait for hot water from my tap.

Just get your mop pad damp as you normally would with cold water.

Microwave on high for a minute or so.

Mop away.  Obviously the steaming heat dissipates fairly soon, so I do toss it back in the microwave part-way through the mopping job.  I especially like doing this when mopping bathroom areas since I don't like to use lots of chemicals (I hate the residue).  This way I get a much more intense clean with the steaming hot mop than with merely hot water.  Let me know if you have any other ways you use your microwave to clean.

Dipping Chocolates

I honestly don't know how my mother managed annually to teach 4 daughters how to dip chocolates an not end up in an insane assylum.  This year, I had my kids help me dip.  The night before, they both helped me shape the centers.  On dipping day, after giving it a go, they mostly said it was too hard so they ended up being my "gophers".  They stirred the chocolate, brought me centers, empty trays, and helped with the nuts on the melbas.  They learned that it takes more dexterity than they anticipated.  I learned that I need to get over some of my hatred-of-mess during the process and let them dip a few more chocolates next year.  But they truly were helpful with all the behind-the-scenes help. 

Nate enjoyed chunking up the bittersweet chocolate with a hammer and screwdriver the night before.

Emma wanted to try dipping with the bitter sweet.

Nate dipped a golf-ball sized melba he had shaped just for his own gluttonous enjoyment.  :)

Not bad for 4 hours of dipping.