Vintage Homemaking Week: Day Four

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VINTAGE

Welcome to Vintage Homemaking Week! This series is designed to bring back some of the old-fashioned skills of homemaking for the woman of today.

Each day I’ll feature a post or guest post here on my blog as well as links to some others who are participating. Each individual post will not only have a how-to on a skill of homemaking, but also a great giveaway! {And remember that Samantha from Fields of Gold has a new how-to gardening post every day this week!}

And, there is a grand prize giveaway for one gal who either Tweets, Pins on Pinterest or writes a Facebook status about our series. She’ll win a $50 gift certificate to our Proverbs 31 ministries Online store to buy books and products just for her! {details at the end of this post}

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Here on my site today we’re learning how to make guests in our home feel welcomed with special touches. Angela Perritt from Good Morning Girls will be sharing this with us. We’ve done ministry together online but recently met in person. You are gonna love her as much as I do! But first, our other gals on the vintage tour:
IUsedtobeSoOrganized_largeMy friend Glynnis is reminiscing about vintage tea towel … well, not really the tea towels, but what was often embroidered on them:  A vintage homemaker’s weekly schedule.  Is there any place in a modern homemaker’s life for this old-fashioned practice?  Visit Glynnis’ blog today to see what she thinks.  She’s giving away a copy of her book I Used to Be So Organized.

Joys_of_Reading_with_Your_ChildrenNext we have my online friend Latoya Edwards. LaToya is a single, homeschooling mom of two bouncing boys. She lives for the quiet moments of the day which are few and far between with two rambunctious young men running around the house. She strives each day to life fully for God and although she often falls short she is determined to stay the course. She wants to encourage women to follow God’s direction for their lives no matter the circumstances. She is giving away a $15 Amazon gift card to one reader. Click here to read her thoughts about reading to your children and to enter the giveaway.

scripture_tea_1Next we have Rachel Wojo. Rachel has been described as both inspiring and practical, as well as engaging and interesting.  Her passion is to inspire you to live out extraordinary faith in Christ by providing everyday real-life solutions and to encourage Bible reading and prayer in personal relationship with God to grow your faith, as well as the faith of your children. She is a reader, writer, speaker and dreamer but most importantly, wife to her man and mom to 7.

Combining her passions of inspiration and God’s Word, today Rachel is sharing how to make your own Scripture tea. She’ll show you how to mix and match loose leaf tea and make your own tea bags. She’s offering a free printable to make your own Scripture tea tags and giving away a fabulous handmade Scripture tea set! Click here to check out her tea-rrific post and enter to win the beautiful giveaway.

Now…for Angela’s post…

 Out-of-Town-Guest-Basket

{Photo credit: http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com}

With our holidays fast approaching, I know for many of us that means we will be having friends and family members staying in our homes. Today I’d like to share with you 10 simple ways I try and make my guests feel loved and welcome in my home.

The most important item to remember when you have guests coming to stay in your house is this: they are coming to see you. Your house doesn’t have to be Martha Stewart or Pinterest perfect….just loving and inviting.

Here are a few ways I try to achieve that for my guests who come to visit.

1. Welcome basket-I always have a welcome basket in my bathroom waiting for my guests when they arrive. I normally purchase items for it when I see them on sale. Items I include in my welcome basket are:

·Toothbrushes

·Toothpaste

·Shave cream

·Razor

·Mouthwash

·Hairspray

·Scissors

·Shampoo

·Conditioner

·Body lotion

·Q-Tips

·Cotton balls

·Deodorant

·Hairdryer

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{photo credit: http://www.decotheca.com}

2. Picture frame with their picture inside.- If they are close friends or family members, I try to include a picture of them in a picture frame in the guest bedroom where they will be staying.If I don’t have a picture to place in the frame, then I just include a quote that I have found about the importance of family and friends.

3. Fresh flowers- Either the night before or the day of, I always try to have some fresh cut flowers in a vase by the bed they will be sleeping in.

4. Chocolates, water, candle and snacks- taking a cue from hotels, I always like to leave a candle with a small basket of snacks, water and chocolates on the bed or dresser in my guest room.

5. Clean sheets & towels- I think that should just be a given….

6. Goodies for the little ones- Nothing is harder than traveling with little children. When I have guests staying at my house with small children, I try to have a few small, inexpensive items for the children to use and play with while in my home. The items don’t have to cost a lot, I normally make a run to my local dollar store and pick up small toy and a coloring book with crayons. If you happen to have some baby gear in your house like a pack-n-play or baby swing….make sure and get those items out! Remembering to bring all the gear that accompanies little ones can be overwhelming so if you have a few items that the parents don’t need to bring, that will help lessen their “load” and make traveling on them a little easier.

7. Don’t forget the coffee & creamer– Yes, I learned that one the hard way. I’m not a coffee drinker and well….I forgot to have those two items in my house when I had a certain family member come and visit. It wasn’t until that visit that I realized how important those two items are to some people in the morning. Lesson learned.

8. Welcome note– Include a small hand written note in your welcome basket with your chocolates, water and snacks. Items you may want to include in your note are your guest Wi-Fi username and password, your home phone number incase they don’t’ already have it and a special kind word telling them how excited you are to have them in your home.

9. Nice hangers and area to put their clothes- Just like in a hotel, it’s always nice to have a few good quality hangers waiting in the closet for your guests to use. I also have a dresser in my guest room which I purposefully leave empty so my guests have a few drawers to place their folded clothes.

10. Most importantly…SMILE- nothing says “Welcome to my home” like a warm smile and hug. Greet your guests as they come to your house and make them feel welcome the moment they enter.

Love God Greatly! Angela 

 

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TODAY’S  GIVEAWAY: A personalized and signed copy of my book A Life That Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart and Home to Others and a $10 Target card to buy supplies for a welcome basket for your guests.

To be entered to win this giveaway, leave a comment here about having guests over. Do you enjoy this? Dread this? Why or why not? All winners announced the Tuesday after Labor Day.

To be entered in the grand prize drawing for the $50 gift certificate to Proverbs 31, Just grab a Tweet, Facebook status or Pin below and then tell me by clicking here and commenting that you did so. If you share one way, you’ll be entered once. Share two ways? Twice. All three? {You get the picture}

Here are two tweets to copy & paste into Twitter:

Old-fashioned how-to homemaking skills from over a dozen bloggers! @karen_ehman Its Vintage Homemaking Week at karenehman.com

Homemaking need some new ideas? How about some old? @karen_ehman Vintage Homemaking Week karenehman.com A dozen bloggers & prizes!

Facebook:

Homemaking need some fresh new ideas? Well…….how about some old-fashioned ones instead? It is Vintage Homemaking Week at karenehman.com Over a dozen bloggers & awesome prizes! Baking, canning, freezing, gardening, cleaning and organizing strategies, re-furnishing furniture, throwing a vintage party, retro-hair & make-up and other old-fashioned how-tos! It will spark your creativity and re-energize your home, marriage and mothering. Join us!!!

Pin:   http://pinterest.com/pin/149744756333513747/

See you tomorrow for the final day in our vintage series!

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118 Comments

  1. LOVED this post!!! I loved the ideas about making it extra special for guests… and agree completely about having coffee creamer on hand… hahaha!!! I’m also a TEA drinker myself, so Rachel’s post about making special tea bags with the scriptures included was AMAZING!!!! I PINNED that!!!!! Thanks so much!!! :)

  2. I dread having guests because I just can’t relax while they are here. I feel that I have to have on my happy smiley face the whole time.

  3. Hmm…I could really use leading in this area! I love to be open to blessing others and meeting their needs but I let my insignificance get in the way. Maybe this info would help me learn to put my inadequacies aside and let God use me.

  4. I dread getting ready for guests–hiding the mess, planning menus, etc. But I love sitting down and enjoying their company, so it’s worth it!

  5. We don’t have any spare bedrooms so we often don’t have overnight guests. I tend to get rather stressed out when we have guests.

  6. Love to have overnight guests, it just doesn’t happen that often for us even with all of our family living out of town/state. When they do come, I create a basket that has things they may need and I also have on hand some of their favorite things to eat/drink.

  7. We have people over on a regular basis for tea. I find tea to be the easiest way as we have little ones. Our finest china comes out (a lot of garage sale finds) and we make a special treat. We also offer fresh fruit and various drinks for the kids who do not like tea. The first few times were stressful, but you get the hang of it. Especially when you realize that people come to see you, not your house. :-)

  8. I love the IDEA of having guests, but often times, once they arrive, I want them to leave. I think the difficulty is not really having a guest room or a guest bathroom. But we make do with what we have–a nice pull out bed with clean sheets, some cookies or baked good on the dining room table or counter for a nice snack as we visit, clean towels in the bathroom. I really desire to someday be less OCD about my home and welcome guests with open arms regardless of what my home looks like.

  9. Well, I sort of have mixed feelings about having guests. I always love the idea of people coming over and the idea of making them feel at home and pampered while they are here, but usually don’t quite know how. I become overwhelmed with preparing for guests, then begin to dread it since I’m exhausted from the cleaning, etc!! I would love to be at a point where I am free and happy to welcome friends and family at anytime! I could use this book! :)

  10. Yes, I do enjoy having guests because I like to make them feel warm and cozy in my home. But, if I don’t know the person very well, there can be a little bit of an apprehensive feeling. But when my family visits, I love it! I’d like to be a great hostess. The book in this giveaway sounds like a great way to learn how to even more!

  11. I love having company over. Our families live about 2 hours away, so when they come I want everything top notch. I have never done the baskets before, so I was very excited when I saw this post. Can’t wait to try this!!

  12. Love having guests in our home. I really like for people to feel comfortable in our home, so I try to think about how I would feel coming into our home, anticipate their needs/wants and then adjust accordingly. My very favorite time is breakfast the next morning for overnight guests. I just love putting out a buffet of muffins, scones, bagels, fruits, yogurt and sitting around enjoying coffee and tea. At that point in the visit our guest really feel at home (I hope) and the conversations are so much more comfortable and in-depth.

  13. I tend to dread guests coming to our house. I never feel that our house looks nice enough….it’s certainly not a cozy house. I struggle with the gift of hospitality. However, after people leave, I am glad they were here!

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