Join Laura Morey, your Simple Solutions Diva, every Friday in January on First Coast Living, WTLV-TV/Ch. 12 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.!
Tune in to see the following topics:
Friday, January 10: Simple Ideas, Gadgets and Applications For Healthy Eating
Friday, January 17: Simple Cleaning Ideas For The Home
Friday, January 24: Simple Ways To Bring The Garden Indoors
Friday, January 31: Simple Super Bowl Party Ideas
You can check this site every Friday at Noon to get all the details of each segment!
On Tuesday, November 26, Simple Solutions Diva got to share her simple craft ideas for Thanksgiving. If you missed the show, you can check it out here!
Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to gather and be thankful for all they have. Simple Solutions Diva has a few simple ideas to add to the Thanksgiving festivities, keeping family and friends connected, and keeping the conversations going! Thanks to WTLV-TV/Channel 12’s First Coast Living for inviting me to share these ideas on air!
May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Father, we thank Thee for this food, for health and strength and all things good. May others all these blessings share, and hearts be grateful everywhere. — Traditional American Blessing, circa 1800’s
This project is very simple to make. You need the following items:
Place your pot on a flat surface. Place styrofoam or floral dry foam block inside pot; secure with tape if needed.
Insert branches into the foam block. Add filler material around the base of the branches to cover the foam block.
Place the Thankful Tree, tags and pens in a prominent place in your home and ask guests to write what they are thankful for and to tie it to the tree.
I found this thoughtful idea from Yesterfood.com – to see their beautiful post, click HERE.
Keep the fun conversation going at the Thanksgiving table! For this project you can use many items from around your home. You will need:
Assemble your filler of choice in the vase or bowl. Write conversation prompts on the small cards and fold them (or roll & tie them). Place the cards into the bowl. Place bowl on or near the Thanksgiving table. Reach for the the bowl whenever the mood or need arises! Make sure you have at least one prompt per person.
Stumped for prompt ideas? Try some of these:
What life advice would you give a younger person?
What is your favorite holiday memory?
What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?
How is Thanksgiving different today from when you were a child?
When you were a child, what were the popular toys everyone wanted for Christmas?
I found this great idea on CraftyChica.com. Here is the original post!
Let your guests get creative during the Thanksgiving meal! Let them discover their inner artist! And most importantly, keep them at the table by giving them something to do between courses!
You will need:
Brown or white plain wrapping paper or white butcher paper. I used postal wrapping paper because it is a little heavier than wrapping paper and there is no gloss to it. It is also significantly cheaper – $4.99 for 75 sq. ft of paper, versus $4.99 for 45 sq. ft. of wrapping paper.
Pens, crayons, markers (no bleed).
Thanksgiving themed stickers or other decorations
Run the wrapping paper down the center of your table. Add your major table elements, like your candles, centerpiece, salt & pepper – whatever you plan to place on the table for dinner.
Add a few decorative elements to your table runner, to let people know they can write on it. Add stickers or other decorations. Or even use it to write out place cards for your guests!
Place markers and or crayons in small cups along the table within easy reach of guests. Be sure to let them know they are free to doodle!
This is a perfect project to get your kids involved in, but be sure to have plenty of the candy filler around!
You will need:
Take your waffle cone and soak the pointy end in the bowl of water for about 30 seconds (not too soaked – you don’t want it to get too mushy). Place cone in microwave for approximately 30 seconds, until the ends is just softened and pliable.
Remove cone from microwave and using the fat pen, flatten and curl the cone’s end up around the pen to create a cornucopia effect.
Fill cornucopia with candy or nut filler and lay at the place setting. Filler can spill out for effect, or you can wrap the open end in plastic wrap and secure with ribbon.
Lay the place card on the back end of the cornucopia.
This creative idea came from Squiddo.com.
A simple little craft to entertain the kids while waiting for dinner!
You will need:
Smear white icing to cover the cones. Let the kids go to town decorating their teepees!
With the craziness of the season, time is a Luxury during the holidays! Simple Solutions Diva’s Laura Morey shares simple tips to make time for what is important for YOU, in a guest blog post on LikeLoveWantNeed.com. Check out her simple tips by clicking on the photo below!
We love tacos in our house, and I like to make large batches of the meat mixture so we can have leftovers through the week. But it can get expensive! Try this simple tip to stretch your grocery dollar:
When making taco meat, add a one pound can of rinsed and drained black beans to every one pound of meat. The beans are a very low fat protein that goes great with the meat and spice mixture. Just be sure to double the spices!
Pool and beach time are key ingredients for a spectacular summer, but don’t let Swimmer’s Ear ruin your enjoyment! Telltale signs of Swimmer’s Ear include ear pain and tenderness, especially when the ear is pulled or slept on.
You can prevent Swimmer’s Ear by making a simple prevention “kit” with just a few common, household ingredients at minimal cost.
Assemble the following:
Preparation:
In plastic bottle, mix equal parts rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. Thoroughly dry the outer ear with a soft towel after exiting the pool. Saturate a cotton ball with the rubbing alcohol/white vinegar mixture and squeeze 5-6 drops in each ear canal.
Allow the mixture to stay in the ear canal for a few minutes with the aid of a cotton ball.
Discard the cotton balls when done! And that is it! Use at the end of every pool or beach day.
You can assemble your kit (plastic bottle filled with mixture, cotton balls) in a plastic ziplock bag to take with you to the pool or beach.
Swimmer’s Ear Prevention information courtesy of Baptist Primary Care Pediatrics.