Blog - Graceful Order

Christmas Morning Breakfast

December 10, 2013 · by Maria · 14 Comments

Every Christmas morning we host a pajama breakfast at the house. Our whole family knows that they are invited to swing by, eat and hang out. They also know that they are welcome to come in their pajamas. I really look forward to this day and so do the boys!

The menu is plentiful but the cooking is really simple because most of all, I want to enjoy my boys opening their gifts.

The night before, I prepare a couple of casseroles and I place them in the fridge. These casseroles are supposed to be refrigerated so that the flavors can marry. One is sweet and the other is savory. As soon as I wake up, I turn on the oven, get the casseroles in there and turn on the timer.

My husband buys a ham the day before. I prepare a fruit platter the night before. I bake some cookies with the boys the day before and also bring them out to the table.

I prefer to buy or make everything myself because that way I know that all the food is laid out on the table and I don’t have to fuss with it again. If I delegate the dishes, then I constantly have to come back to the table to re-arrange once the guests arrive, I have to re-heat dishes…you get the point. It may sound easier to delegate but if your goal is to spend time with little kids…consider an easy menu that you can execute yourself.

My husband gets up really early and starts making the hot cocoa and grinding the coffee beans.

We put both the coffee and the hot cocoa in carafes so that they will stay hot for the duration of the breakfast. Thermal carafes are a great investment because you wont have to re-heat or make more coffee. These are pretty inexpensive and you can find them “here“.

I set up this coffee/cocoa station the night before. Hence the dark cell phone picture!

I sometimes make scones and freeze them in zipper bags with instructions for baking. If I have any left in the freezer come Christmas morning, then I will bake them but only if I have extra time. They are delish! The ones below are cranberry scones.

Whatever you do, keep it simple. Do as much as you can ahead of time. Buy some of your items, they don’t all have to be homemade. Have a checklist. Have fun! Whatever you do…don’t miss this!

These are my boys opening their gifts…this is my favorite part. There is no scone that is yummier than this moment.

I love you all! Remember to give. Remember to live.

Maria

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6”

Organizing Thanksgiving

November 26, 2013 · by Maria · 4 Comments

Yes! Even the holidays can and should be organized.

There is definitely an art to hosting a dinner party and my goal is to share some of my tips with you so that you can avoid some of the mistakes that I have made in the past. These are general dinner party tips but you can definitely use them for Thanksgiving.

Our Thanksgiving table last year. I buy items right after the holiday is over so that I can decorate the following year to my heart and wallets content!

Have you ever had a dinner party that 30 minutes before your guests arrive you are still running around like a ~~chicken~~ turkey with your head cut off? The moment they arrive everything is done and you think to yourself…”if you only knew how crazy my day has been in order to pull this off!” Basically, they are ready to start having fun and you are ready for a nap!

Situations like this make us want to avoid having people over. It’s a shame to avoid dinner parties altogether considering that when we move into a home, when we buy new dishes…we think of entertaining. We think of well orchestrated dinner parties.

In my case, I love to entertain and have dinner parties. I have had great and not-so-great dinner parties and I can tell you that planning makes the difference! The ones that were not so great had nothing to do with the people I invited. I was just simply too exhausted to enjoy what I had worked hard to put together. Nowadays, although I have small kids and I can’t entertain as often as I would like, I still have dinner parties. And….

I plan. I plan EVERYTHING.

I have a timeline of when things need to get done. I even write down when to turn on the candles, when to start playing the music…those are the little things that you can easily forget to do until after the guests arrive. Those are the things that really set the ambiance for your party.

Whether you like to be really fancy or really laid back, a list will make all your gatherings more enjoyable. Whether its paper plates or fine china, a list will keep you on track and relaxed.

These little pumpkins were about 1.00 each on clearance. I had to wait a whole year to use them but I loved the result!

These little ceramic pumpkins were about 1.00 each on clearance. I had to wait a whole year to use them but I loved the result!

The point of the to-do list is not to stress you out or to try to impress anyone with “the perfect dinner party”. The point of the list is to help you relax and know that everything is on schedule and that you don’t need to be anxious about anything that you may be forgetting because everything is written down and accounted for.

The point of a dinner party is to have fun and to entertain but that is impossible if by the time that guests arrive you are so tired that you are counting the minutes until they leave and you can take off your shoes.

The truth is that even with a schedule, things happen. Food can burn, overcook, things can spill. However, these events are much less overwhelming when you have a schedule.

So with Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to share some printables with you to help make this dinner party go as smoothly as possible.

Let’s face it, Thanksgiving is the mother of all dinner parties! There are so many dishes to keep track of that without a schedule I would not be able to pull it off AND have fun.

Even if you decide not to do a list for all your dinner parties, consider doing one for thanksgiving.

Some of the things that I suggest adding to your list are:

Setting the table one to two days before a dinner party.
Make ahead anything that can be so that you can check it off your list.
If a dish cannot be made ahead then perhaps do the chopping and prep-work ahead of time.
Take out all your servewear so that you can have all the platters handy on the day of the dinner party.
Print out or make copies of all the recipes you are using so that you can staple them together and have them handy on the day of the event.
Set up your coffee maker ahead of time so that you don’t have to fuss with it when your guests are there. Just press a button and you can join your party once more.
Set up a coffee station or a platter with coffee cups, sugar, creamer and stirrers so that you can just bring the pot to the table along with all the necessities.
Have a couple of music playlists that you can play during parties. A more soothing one for the dinner portion and a livelier one for later.
Try to wash dishes as you go to lessen the clean up later.
Empty your dishwasher so that you can fill it up after your dinner party is over.

The most important TIP is that you have fun. I love lists but the list goes out the window the moment that my guests arrive. It’s all about them at that point and about enjoying myself with them.

Your guests will feel it if you are stressed out, so relax. If you are relaxed then they are relaxed. If something burns, just move on…laugh about it. No one really ever remembers what they ate or the table linen that was used…they remember how they felt. People remember having fun, good conversation. In the end, the list was never to assure that they had fun. It was to assure that you could have fun with them.

Here you can find the lists that I made on JPEG format. I hope they make your holiday a more enjoyable one!

THANKSGIVING MEAL PLANNER

THANKSGIVING GUEST LIST

THANKSGIVING COOKING SCHEDULE

Below you can find them in PDF Format :

THANKSGIVING MEAL PLANNER

THANKSGIVING GUEST LIST

THANKSGIVING COOKING SCHEDULE

Remember: Do as much as you can before your guests arrive but when they do (regardless of what still hasn’t been crossed off your list) throw this list away and just have fun!

With that being said, Have a Happy Thanksgiving and count all your blessings. There are many. You can make a list about that too!

Happy Organizing,

Maria

Organizing Little Girls’ Drawers

November 12, 2013 · by Maria · 5 Comments

You already know I had to ask a friend for help to pull this one off considering…I don’t have girls.

Yup, I live in a land of denim, fishing lures and camouflage.

I was so excited to organize this beautiful dresser that was full of color and cuteness. So girlie!

So let’s see the dresser.

Inside the dresser you find the expected 525 hair clips and ribbons…

This is a great time to sort through the items and toss the ones that are broken and give away what is not used.

I decided to use clear acrylic organizers because I wanted to showcase all the color. I also grouped the items by color to make it easy to find and to put away the bows.

I forgot to take before pictures of the rest of the drawers. I get excited and forget to document things.

At least, here are the after pictures…

I used plastic spring-loaded dividers to keep all the clothing in it’s place.

You can find the OXO dividers HERE or at The Container Store. I have also seen them at Bed Bath and Beyond.

This post is for all of you that asked me for organization tips for your princesses!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and thank you all for your comments!

Until next time,

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Makeup Drawer – Before and After

October 28, 2013 · by Maria · 4 Comments

Anyone up for some before and after pictures??

A while back I shared where and how I store my makeup. You can find that post “HERE“.

A friend of mine has a huge bathroom…with a huge vanity…with a huge drawer to store all her glam! Is green the color of envy? I forget.

Well, she was nice enough to let me photograph her space and share with all of you.

Here you will see the before and after of the drawer. It’s really not a bad before picture and most of us would consider it an after shot. Here it is:

All we did was purchase some clear containers that had more customized dividers. That way everything has a home!

Doesn’t it look better already?

And the makeup lived happily ever after…THE END.

Well not really…not until I say goodbye and ask you how you store your makeup.

Please share and as always,

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Organizing the Car Glove Box

October 16, 2013 · by Maria · 2 Comments

We all want a neat car. That’s established.

I will be sharing tips during the next couple of days on how to keep your car free from clutter.

A good tip is to try to empty your car when you are pumping gas. This is the best time to throw away all the little receipts that you accumulate during the week.

Another tip is to always take something with you (besides your purse) that needs to be thrown out or put away when you leave your car. We shouldn’t have the attitude that if we can’t clean the whole thing we won’t do anything at all. However little you do adds up and you have less to clean later on.

There are things that need to stay in the car. There are certain papers that we need and I like having them all in one spot. I do this with an accordion organizer.

I’m sure you already have one of these files lying around and you can put it to use right away!

I created the following tabs on mine:

All of our bank accounts / Roadside assistance info / Car Registration / Maps / Repairs / Car Insurance Info / Note pad

In the bank account tabs I only file deposit slips that have no account information. This way when I need to make a drive thru deposit (the only sensible way to deposit with kids) I have the slips ready to go. I just grabbed a stack from each of our banks.

The car insurance cards I have in my wallet but I photocopy them and place the copy behind the “Insurance” tab.

In the “Repairs” tab I only keep receipts such as car battery purchases and the latest trip to the mechanic.

All the other tabs are self-explanatory. I hope you liked this quick tip on organizing your car. You can personalize this further by filing other items that you use often.

More to come later this week!

Happy Organzing!

Maria