Blog - Graceful Order

Sweet Bliss and a Giveaway

March 25, 2015 · by Maria · 198 Comments

I partnered with Born Sweet™ Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener to bring to you some of my favorite stevia recipes and an awesome giveaway that Zing™ is sponsoring for YOU! I have been using stevia for many years to sweeten our drinks and snacks and I especially like Zing™ because it’s made with only real ingredients — nothing artificial, and has a perfect sweet taste. Stevia sweetener is derived from extract of the stevia plant, so it naturally sweetens drinks and food without adding calories or artificial ingredients. Below are some of my favorite ways to sweeten my day with Zing™.

Our mornings are made up of coffee, smoothies, and coffee. Did I just say that twice? Yeah, we like our cup ‘o joe. My favorite coffee drink to make with stevia is a Skinny Vanilla Latte. You can customize the ingredients to your taste but what makes it “skinny” is the skim milk and the no calorie stevia. I added an image with the recipe I use so that you can pin it for later. You know I drank that cup of goodness right after I shot this picture… yum!

Well, coffee is in first place but in at a close second are smoothies. I try to teach my kids to eat their veggies but truth is, I am still trying to learn myself. I sneak in some healthy kale into this strawberry smoothie and the kids (and me) love it! Of course, I add a few packets of stevia sweetener to cover-up any bitterness from the kale and we are left with sweet yumminess. Tip: When I buy strawberries in bulk, I freeze half of them for smoothies and I leave the rest in the fridge for snacking.

This one is for you so I dressed it up with a strawberry. Don’t say I never gave you anything.

This simple snack is my kid’s favorite! I simply mix some 2% Greek yogurt with 2 packets of Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener and I cut up some strawberries.

I then dip them into the yogurt/stevia mix and I place them on a tray lined with parchment.

Then they go into the freezer for a few hours. I don’t make too many at once because I will usually make it for an after-school snack and they all get gobbled up.

And they come out looking like this. Kids will want to eat them asap.

No, really. I was barely able to take the finished-product pictures before my little taste-tester attacked the plate!

Those are some of my favorite ways to use Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener. What are yours? Look for Zing™ in the Sweetener Aisle at mass merchandisers and grocery stores nationwide! You can also add ZING™ to your life by visiting www.zingstevia.com to request a Free Sample of Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener, plus a $1.50 Coupon.

And now the giveaway! To enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave a comment below answering this question: Which one of your favorite beverages are you most excited to mix Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener into first?

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 3/25/15 – 4/21/15.

Be sure to visit the Zing™ Zero Calorie Stevia Sweetener brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

5 Essential Oils you should stock up on

March 23, 2015 · by Maria · Leave a Comment

Today I am guest posting over at A Bowl Full of Lemons, and sharing my top five essential oils that you should stock up on. Better yet, I am giving away an essential oil kit valued at almost $170.00!

So hop on over HERE and read all about it and dont forget to enter the giveaway!

It will only last another 2 days…don’t miss out.

Spring Bridal Shower

March 18, 2015 · by Maria · 9 Comments

Truth be said, I had not been to a bridal shower in over 10 years but when I offered to host one for my sweet cousin, I thought “how hard could this be?” I have done a bunch of kid parties. I will just do the same thing, minus eye patches and Spider-man.

I don’t share too many party planning ideas on the blog but the girls that attended the shower encouraged me to share my tips for creating a beautiful bridal shower on a budget.

Concentrate your decorations

If you don’t have too many decorations, it is better to choose a table to deck out than to spread out decorations throughout the room. In this case I decorated the main table where we would eat and the cake table in our kitchen. In the picture below, I used a long piece of fabric instead of a tablecloth. I don’t have a tablecloth that fits this table when it’s fully extended. Purchasing fabric by the yard is way less expensive than purchasing tablecloths to match the event.

Use small arrangements of flowers.

Flowers can be costly, especially if you are filling up large vases. Just a few small arrangements can really dress up a table. Some flowers (like roses) are prettier when they are a little open. In this case, consider purchasing them a day or two before the event so that they have time to open and fill up your vase.

Use pedestals and risers to create visual interest.

In order to create a pretty tablescape, use pedestals and boxes (under the tablecloth) to create different visual levels of interest. It makes a huge difference! In the picture below, the cake is on a pedestal and the pedestal is on a large plastic cube. The lace covers the cube and the small cake is highlighted.

Make a signature cocktail or limit the drink options.

Since this shower was more of a brunch, mimosas were perfect! I added a pretty straw to each cup as a finishing touch.

I also had a bottle of pink sangria. Anything pink made the cut!

I added a tray of cut fruit to add to the mimosas which also added a pop of color to the table.

Dress up a simple cake.

Cakes can be really beautiful and really expensive! I chose a simple white cake (purchased at The Fresh Market) and I dressed it up with a homemade banner with the bride’s name. It still looked a little plain for the fancy pedestal, so I added a couple of tulips to the pedestal. I love how it turned out!

Buy a few of confections that are fancy and display them on a tier.

I served pink lemonade alongside a small tier full of petit fours and chocolate covered strawberries. There aren’t that many of either but enough to fill the tier and make it look beautiful.

It is possible to put together a bridal shower that is beautiful and stay on a budget. You just have to choose wisely what items to invest in.

Here are some other ideas for bridal showers on a budget:

Send evites instead of mailing an invitation.

Make the food yourself and keep it simple.

If you put together a sweets table, add white or pink marshmallows to a pretty apothecary jar. Marshmallows are usually inexpensive and easily fill up a glass jar.

As far as favors for the ladies, a simple bar of soap wrapped in tulle with a bow and a label that says “Shower” is a cute and inexpensive gift.

Print out a pretty picture of the couple on your home printer in black and white and frame it. This is a great way to decorate and personalize the event.

Re-use decor items from the around the house to decorate. The silver candlesticks on the table are the same ones I used last Christmas.

These are just a few tips. What are your favorite shower ideas?

Organized Home Week 9 – The Dining Room

March 16, 2015 · by Maria · 3 Comments

This week we are organizing the dining room. In our home, we have a formal dining room and a small table in our kitchen which is where we usually eat. When we have guests over, we move into the formal dining room because otherwise we wouldn’t fit in the small table.

Like any other room in the house, the dining room needs a little love and order. When we purchased our dining room set 11 years ago I went back and forth as to whether to buy the matching china hutch or the matching buffet. At some point I wanted both but my husband gave me crazy eyes when I suggested it so I picked the china hutch. Of course, had I purchased both I would now hate the room being cluttered, so I am thankful that my husband opened his eyes as wide as he did when I said “I think I want both”.

We opted for this piece.

And I love it, I really do. There is a lot of storage in this piece but I did miss having drawers. So in the entrance of our home I added a buffet instead of a sofa table so that I could store some more dining items.

The top two drawers are dedicated to napkin rings and an extra set of silverware.

Here is the second drawer.

So why do I need so much storage? As much as I preach on pairing down and getting rid of excess, I love to be a prepared hostess. Over the past 17 years, I have collected pieces that I love and use for entertaining. I donate items as I bring in new ones so that everything still has it’s place.

A great idea if you don’t have a china hutch, a buffet or just need a little extra storage, is using an ottoman.

I keep this ottoman in my living room and it is full of napkins. Wanna see? Promise you won’t give me crazy eyes.

I love setting a pretty table and over the years, I have collected quite a few napkins. I only buy napkins when they go on sale, sometimes for $2 a piece. I won’t buy more than fit in this ottoman which I guess means, I won’t buy more. 🙂

I don’t buy as many placemats. I only have a few different designs and they are all pretty neutral. I would rather dress up the table with napkins which are less expensive and not as bulky to store.

So now that you had a mini tour through my dining storage, let’s get to work!

Create piles for Discarding, Giving away and Keeping

If the items that you currently have do not fit into the designated space, do your best to sort through everything and decide what can go. It is such a good feeling to open up an organized drawer and you can actually find things when you need them. When it comes to entertaining, that’s a big plus!

Clean the items that you are keeping

Since you have emptied your space, take advantage of the opportunity and clean up. Sometimes we don’t notice how cloudy cups can get stored away in a hutch. Also inside the furniture dust accumulates over time, even if it has doors. Dust is sneaky like that! Everything will look amazing when you put clean items back into a clean and organized space.

Also, take the time to clean your dining room table thoroughly, including the table legs that often get ignored. This is also a great time to clean the chairs in those little crevices that gather dust. I can’t say that anyone will notice that your chairs don’t have dust in that little hole where the arm meets the seat cushion, but you and I will know and that gives us comfort and hope and crazy eyes.

Organize the dining room

The fun part! Placing items back into the designated space. Be sure to make it pretty, not just functional. Last year, I shared how I organize my china hutch. You can certainly stack items but try your best to keep the visible storage from looking too busy. Inside the drawers, things don’t have to be perfect but be sure that items are accessible. When you are entertaining and need a large platter or server, you want to be able to access it.

Voila! All done.

Do you enjoy entertaining and collecting housewares? What are your favorite items that you keep in the dining room? A silver piece, fine china, something small with big meaning?

Also in this series:

Week 1 – Organizing the Refrigerator

Week 2 – Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

Week 3- Organizing the Pantry

Week 4- The Master Bedroom

Week 5- Organizing the Entryway

Week 6 – Organizing Kid’s Bedrooms

Week 7 – Organizing the Laundry Room

Week 8 – Organizing Hall Closets

Organized Home Week 8 – The Hall Closet

March 6, 2015 · by Maria · 3 Comments

We are back at it! Today we focus on organizing hall closets. Hall closets tend to be narrow and sometimes double as linen closets. Today we will focus on a multi-purpose closet that doesn’t include linens, but you can tweak it to fit your home.

As always, the first step is to clear out the space and clean the shelves. The rest of the steps are detailed below.

Sort through items

Sort through items and create a KEEP, DONATE and THROW AWAY bin or section. Decide what you want in this space so that you don’t make space for something that doesn’t need to be in this closet.

Choose the right storage

I like using baskets that match but are not necessarily the same. In this closet I used the following two baskets depending on what I was storing.

These are both from Target.

Place items inside the containers.

Place items inside the containers sorted by type.

One basket can be for band aids.

Another can be for lightbulbs.

Another for batteries. We go through so many batteries with our kid’s toys!

Bins are great for small outdoor toys. I like these plastic bins for kids outdoor chalk so that the bin can be easily cleaned.

Maximize your space when placing bins back into the closet.

Place containers back into the closet. I try to play with the placement so that I can get the greatest amount of bins into the closet. Also, consider what bins you will use most or if some items need to be kept out of kids reach.

High shelves are great for infrequently used items like blankets or a bin with travel items.