Allison Weeks: 0:03

Hello, homemakers and welcome to this very special birthday episode of The Art of home podcast, where we are celebrating one year of exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong. I'm your host Allison weeks. I'm a wife, a mom to four grown kids. And I have been practicing the art of home for nearly 30 years. Well, we made it one whole year of podcasting at the art of home. And what a fun year it has been 28 episodes, comprising over 28 hours, or 1691 minutes of content for the encouragement of homemakers all over the world. Speaking of that, we have listeners in 59 countries. While the majority of our listeners are in North America, we do have people listening on every continent. Here are just a few of the countries Germany, Norway, Israel, Papa New Guinea, Canada, New Zealand, Peru, India, Estonia, Brazil, China, the Philippines, Lebanon, Zambia, New Zealand, Japan, and many more 59 countries. I am astounded, I am humbled. And I am grateful. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank a few people. First of all, my husband, Nate, I could not and I would not do this. Without your support and encouragement, you saw that this crazy idea was a natural fit for my lifelong passion of ministering to women, as well as a good challenge. For my creative side, you knew that I would need something to occupy my heart and my mind during this first year of a completely empty nest. So you cheered me on through the phases of doubt and fear. Can I really pull this off? Will anybody even listen? And you helped me to see it through celebrating every milestone with me. You even listened to a few episodes and offered really helpful feedback. But the highest compliment you paid was when you quoted a guest from the show to a work colleague who was struggling with a family decision. Thank you for the work that you do to provide for our family and for supporting my practice of the art of home for the last 30 years. I love you, babe, you're my favorite.

Allison: 2:26

Thanks also to all of the women who have been a guest on the art of home. I am so grateful and honored that you trusted me to share your story of home with the world. I do not take the responsibility lightly. You are sharing a very precious private thing with me and our audience with the hope that God will use it to encourage someone else. And often that means sharing some really hard things. So thank you all for stepping out in faith to share your story of home. And thanks to you the art of homelessness, for tuning in to each episode for sharing for telling your friends for emailing and DMing me with stories of how these women have encouraged you in your homemaking. I cannot tell you how much your stories and your feedback, encourage and inspire me to keep growing and stretching as a podcast creator. I'm not gonna lie. This is not easy work. But I love it. And I love it even more when I hear how it is doing the work we intended for it to do. And here in a nutshell is what we intend for the art of home. The art of home exists to provide encouragement and inspiration for women to practice the occupation of homemaking as an art with confidence, skill, joy and creativity. Through our podcast and other resources we desire to elevate the work of the home in the eyes of the homemaker and of the culture. homemaking practiced as an art. Exchange is drudgery for dignity, and brings beauty and great value to the ordinary tasks of life. That is our mission statement, folks. And you can find that on our website. It's been really satisfying to watch this thing grow and reach women with the message that the work of the home really matters. It is valuable, beautiful, dignified work. I can't wait to see what the next year of the art of home brings. I will be talking more about what's coming at the end of this episode, including a very big announcement. So make sure that you listen until the very end. This is going to be a really fun show. I'll be playing your voicemail tips and interacting with them with a few of my own comments. It's the next best thing to being able to actually interview each and every one of you. You will also hear some homemaking themed poetry sprinkled throughout the show. All of the poems are from the book songs of housewife by Marjorie K. Rawlings. It's a book I've talked about before on the podcast. It's a delightful little compilation edited by Roger Tarr and it's a collection of poems that she wrote, Marjorie K. Rollins, you might have recognized the name because she wrote the book, The Yearling, which was a really famous book in the 20th century. But she wrote these poems when she was a young housewife living in New York and doing journalism on the side in the 1920s. For two years, the local paper published one of her poems every single day, six days a week. And there are some funny ones. There's some that are just plain silly. And there are some very poignant ones, so I wanted to include a few of them here in this special birthday episode. So before we get into the great tips that you all shared with us, it is time to announce the winners of our birthday giveaway. The homemakers spirit bundle including the CSB on the go Bible, some Bible study resources from Daily Grace CO and the hospitality devotional goes to Meaghan Nelson of the organized little lady on Instagram, the homemaker skill bundle, including home comforts, the naturally clean home weekly planning pad, and some fun cleaning supplies goes to Eunice Najma. I hope I said your name right Eunice. I'm sorry if I totally butchered it. The homemakers heart bundle including the three classic homemaking books, a family planning calendar in the sweet linen crossback. apron goes to Marie Elmahdi. So congratulations to all of the winners. Thank you to everyone who participated in our giveaway. We're going to notify you winners via Instagram and email to see about getting your prizes shipped to you. Now without further ado, here are your amazing homemaking tips. In this first segment, we have some miscellaneous homemaking tips coming from Brea Lori, Gwyn, Cheryl and Alexandra.

Brea: 6:52

Hi, this is Brea from Baltimore, Maryland and my homemaker tip is to reset your house for the next day. So make sure you have your kids clothes, set out everything you're going to make, maybe make a list. Set your coffee maker on put the cup under the coffee maker and make sure everything's in place for you to start your next day because for me, it makes my day flow a lot easier when everything's set for the next day. And I always do it the night before there is a house reset. Everything is in place and ready to be used for my instagram name is Brianna joy spyres Happy Birthday art of home podcast.

Chrissi: 7:31

Yes, Brea that is such a good tip. Doing the nightly reset on the house is one of those situations where your future self will thank your past self. Because there's nothing more discouraging than getting up in the morning to a sink full of dirty dishes, or a huge pile of laundry on the sofa that you have to deal with first thing in the morning when you're tired. And you'd rather just grab a cup of coffee and sit down and maybe spend some time in prayer and devotional and not have that laundry or dirty dishes staring at you the whole time. So bravo. That is an excellent suggestion. And I recommend whenever possible that everyone reset their home before they go to bed at night and prepare as much ahead of time for the day that's coming as you can the night before.

Lori: 8:22

Hi, and happy birthday to the art of home Podcast. I'm Laurie a pond from Atlanta, Georgia. And I have a few homemaking tips when it comes to cleaning. If you're doing something in that bathroom that smells it up strike a match for those bathroom smells and then flush it down with the culprit. I'm talking about those personal bathroom smells. And every kitchen should have scissors, some kitchen scissors when my children were little. We use scissors to cut the salad to cut the pizza to cut waffles. It's so much easier than a knife. And to this day even though I'm empty nest I still have several pairs of scissors in my kitchen. And when it comes to hospitality, intentionality and spontaneity are key. be purposeful about inviting people into your home, but also have flexibility for those unplanned visits. When it comes to budgeting, JUST DO IT budget. But don't forget to include funds for generosity. And my tip for parenting if you are raising children without a dad, whether that's through death, divorce, or desertion. The best advice is to direct their focus to God his Father. He promises to be a father to the fatherless. Again, I'm Laurie a pond and Atlanta, Georgia. You can find me on Instagram at perspective ministries. I am so thankful for the art of home podcast you have been instrumental in leading me to step out and the same podcast world. So the Lord bless you.

Chrissi: 10:13

Great suggestions. Lori. I especially love your suggestion about the kitchen scissors. I have some I use them for all kinds of things, but I never thought to use them for cutting up salads, and pizza. What a great idea. Especially if you have little kids in the home because you're always cutting things up. And it'd be so much faster to just use kitchen chairs. excellent suggestion. Also for our listeners, just so you know, Lori is a friend of a friend. That's how we got connected through the podcast actually. And she's going to be starting her own podcast. So I got to help her brainstorm on some ways to get started with that. And I am really excited to see her podcast come out and minister to women who for whatever reason find themselves parenting without a father in the home. And I know that Lori is going to be speaking out of her own personal experience. And she has a real heart for women in that situation as she lived it herself and saw God's faithfulness in it. So all the best to you Lori, I can't wait to see what God does through your ministry and Thanks for leaving your tip.

Gwen: 11:16

This is Gwen from Spring branch. My Instagram handle is Mrs. honey ham 86. And this is my homemaking tip. If you have a painting project that's going to last several days, you can put your used paint brush or paint roller in ziplock baggies and store them in the freezer until the next time you paint. This saves you from having to clean them after each time you paint with that brush or roller and these will stay good in the freezer for several weeks. Then just take them out when you're ready to paint again take them out and let them thaw in the sunshine for about an hour before you start painting.

Chrissi: 12:00

When I love this tip, this is so smart. So I do something similar where I put my rollers or my paint brushes in his ziplock bag and I squeeze out as much air as I can and I close it as well as I can around the handle of the paintbrush or the roller. But I never heard about putting them in the freezer before and that it actually will last for quite a long time in there. So the next time I paint something, I am absolutely going to try this tip. Thank you so much.

Cheryl: 12:32

Hi Allison. This is your mom, Cheryl, calling from Lafayette, Louisiana, and I wanted to share my homemaker tip with your listeners. As you know I moved into a brand new house about six months ago, I purchased a Rubbermaid like shelf liner for my cabinets and drawers. I spent a lot of time measuring, cutting and lining cabinets, shelves and drawers. This product did not work. The liner would not stay in place constantly curling up and every time I opened a drawer, I was pulling the liner back in place it drove me nuts. So I started buying inexpensive yoga mats at Tuesday morning and home goods. These make great liners. They provide a thin cushion that protects the bottom of your cabinets and drawers and nothing moves. All of my utensils stay in place. It works wonderfully. Also, with the size of the mats, I was able to line large cabinets and drawers with one piece instead of having to put several pieces together. If there's a logo on the mat, I just turned it over the Rubbermaid liners can be expensive. And I think I received a better bargain with the yoga mats. Well, that's my homemaker tip for today. Love you.

Chrissi: 13:51

Thanks, Mom. I love you too. And thank you for all of the support you have given me this year as I started the art of home podcast. And you didn't call me crazy, and you were my biggest cheerleader, and probably my most faithful listener. And I just appreciate all the love and support that you've given me over all of the years, but especially this past year doing this project. So thank you so much. And thank you for the tip. That is an excellent suggestion to use yoga mats to line your drawers. And I can commiserate with you because as you know I was in there cutting up some of those shelf liners helping you line your shelves and that's really a bummer that that didn't work out. So for all our listeners, those shelf liners that are made for that purpose are absolutely very expensive, as she mentioned. And you can pick up a yoga mat, probably even maybe a used one at Goodwill or something. Although that might be kind of stinky, but you could pick them up pretty inexpensively brand new at stores like TJ Maxx or home goods or Marshalls if you have those out wherever you're listening. So great suggestion mom. Thanks

Alexandra: 15:02

Happy Birthday art of home. This is Alexandra from homemaking Alex on Instagram. My homemaking tip for the day is not one that you would use every day. But it's certainly a helpful one..weekly fridge clean out, or even the accidents with the little ones. After you're done cleaning your fridge, wine yourselves with the glad claim wrap. It makes it so much easier. When it's time to clean. All you do is pull it off, wipe down and lay a new piece down. Takes a fraction of the time. Have a great day.

Chrissi: 15:37

Great suggestion homemaking. Alex, thank you so much for sharing that putting some cling wrap down on your refrigerator shelves would really save you a lot of time when it was time to clean out the refrigerator. And I know that when I had a bunch of kids at home that was something I did at least once a week if not twice a week, because you just have so much more going on in the kitchen and in the refrigerator lots of food in and out all the time and extra spills when people were getting milk or tea or whatever out of the refrigerator. So yeah, that would have been a real time saver. So great suggestion. Thank you.

Allison: 16:14

A Housewife's Hands. What gave my hands their housewife skill? Their handy way with mop and broom, their knack of nursing old and ill their swiftness tidying up a room, whence came the ease with which they dress an eager child for school or play, or make small beds with soft caress and sketch the order of the day. Not so much practice or in order, but that the eternal housewife stands behind me, those who went before with age old quick maternal hands. Well, you guys had a lot to say about the kitchen and some fantastic tips for cooking and all kinds of things related to the kitchen. So I divided you up in a couple of different segments. And in this first segment, we're going to hear from Tiffany and Meaghan, some great tips that are going to help us a lot in the kitchen.

Tiffany: 17:09

Hello, my name is Tiffany Weeks, and I live in San Antonio, Texas. My first tip has to do with cooking and as a side staple. I love sweet potatoes, especially baked sweet potatoes, but they can be so annoying to either cut up into little squares or to just throw the whole entire thing in the oven and it takes forever for it to bake. So a tip that I love is to just cut the sweet potato in half. And then you put it face side down and cook it for 30 minutes at 400. And it takes only about 30 minutes. And you don't have to do all kinds of little chopping or wait for an hour and a half for your baked potato to be done. My other tip is I love cooking my grains in a kind of broth that makes them so much more rich. cook your rice, your Kanwar or Pharaoh in any kind of broth, chicken broth, vegetable broth, and it makes them taste so much better. And lastly, my favorite baking tip that I have learned in the past few years is to just keep two sets of measuring utensils. Okay, just keep two sets of a cup measurement. Keep two sets of teaspoons and tablespoons because whenever we're baking, and we got to measure everything all at once, sometimes you need to measure something that's a liquid. And you do it with one thing and you're like, Oh no, I have to walk all the way over to the sink and wash this and they're so cheap and they really don't take up a ton of space. I know it's not very minimalist, but honestly it has saved my life when I've been baking things. It makes things so much easier.

Chrissi: 18:55

Thank you Tiffany for those fantastic tips. And yes, listeners in case you caught that, we have the same last name. Tiffany is married to my oldest son. So it was really fun to have her call in and leave some homemaking tips. She's a newbie and she's got some great tips. I especially loved the tip about having more than one set of baking measuring tools. Because they really are very inexpensive. You can pick these up, almost I see tons of them at Goodwill and secondhand stores. You can even pick up some really fun antique ones and they're not typically not that expensive. Because it's just really frustrating when you have to measure out lots of different things and like she said some liquid some not liquid, and then you only if you only have one set then you're constantly having to go back and forth and wash them and wipe them out. So great tip I highly recommend that.

Meaghan: 19:51

Hi, I'm Meaghan and I'm a busy mom to three children. And we currently reside in Massachusetts. If you would like to follow me on instagram I'm at organized little lady, I have a passion for homemaking and organization. So as my children are getting older, it has become increasingly more difficult to spend quality time with them. Dinner time has been our go to time lately for connecting with our family. And I wanted to simplify it. So that way I'm spending the bulk of the time enjoying my family and not worrying about what are we going to have for dinner. So in doing so I created what's called the dinner bin. The idea of the dinner bin is to have a bin or a basket that holds all of the ingredients who need for dinner. I usually check my meal plan the night before, make sure that I have all the ingredients on hand for what we'll be making the following night and put everything in my dinner bin. When it's time to cook dinner, I just take out that bin, everything's in one spot, it makes prep super easy. And then not rushing around trying to figure out what we're going to have for dinner, when it's noon time and then having to run to the store, etc. This way, it just simplifies dinner time. And I can spend a nice evening with my family instead of worrying about what's for dinner. So I hope this tip helps you. And thank you so much, Alison, for having me on.

Chrissi: 21:14

Meaghan, this is a fantastic idea. So I have a couple of questions that maybe I can contact you on Instagram or maybe you can answer on Instagram when we post about this episode when it goes live on March the 30th. But I'm wondering do you have been for pantry items for dinner because I'm assuming there are some things that you know they have to stay in the refrigerator until it's time to cook dinner. So I was wondering do you have a bin that goes in the fridge and that's all the fridge items for that dinner and then do you have a bin that sits on the counter for the non perishable items that go with that dinner. Either way, this is a brilliant idea, gathering it all up having it all in one place so that you know what you need for that day's dinner that is just so smart. Thank you so much for sharing this inspirational kitchen idea. In our next kitchen related segment, you are going to be hearing some very wise words from Jade, Shelby and KarenAnn all about prepping or cooking dinner early in the day.

Jade: 22:14

Hi homemakers my name is Jade. I am from the Pennsylvania area. My IG handle is Mrs. modestly made. And my homemade tip that I would like to give is to prepare your dinners early in the morning. So I find that this tip is very helpful because as homemakers we have a lot of tests that we need to do. We need to do the laundry we need to run errands we need to do all sorts of things. And by the time it rolls around to dinner, we are very, very tired. And I know that by that time, preparing a full blown dinner is just the last thing that we want to do. So I find that if it's done early in the morning, you get it out of the way. And it just avoids dinner either not being prepared or having to order out. So take your time to just try to prepare your dinner as early as you can. Unless you have something like that needs to be prepared a little bit closer to dinnertime, just try to do the bulk of it in the morning time and just do it that way. But I think it's very helpful just to do that and see how it benefits you.

Shelby: 23:24

Hey, y'all, my name is Shelby. I live in Tennessee. And I'm the creator of the simple homemaker meals, Instagram. And my top homemaking tip is to always prep dinner ahead of time. You shouldn't wait till dinner time to cut the vegetables have the bread ready. It needs to be all done before dinner so dinner time goes smoothly for you. Less stress makes makes homemaking so much easier. And I usually cut all vegetables early in the day usually between my baby's first nap and when my son's having his downtime. This just makes it a lot easier. And I do have another tip for you too as far as cooking to make it easier on yourself is to plan easy meals on hard days. And this is if you're working mom listen to this. This applies to you as well. So when I'm having to deep clean my house, I always do like a crock pot meals a soup or just something I throw on so dinnertime, it's done. I don't have to do anything else. It's just easier for me so I don't have to stress and I'll viewed as I'm working smarter, not harder. So hope this helps my fellow homemakers. Thank you

KarenAnn: 24:41

hi Alison, this is KarenAnn over at the integrative mama on Instagram. Cooking is by far my favorite part of homemaking, but I have a little bit of a secret. I rarely cook dinner in the evening. As a mom with small children I find the dinner hour runs much smoother if I prep and if possible completely cooked dinner after my morning coffee or during nap time. Identifying those pockets of time in my day allows me to utilize them better and be more present with my family in the evening. There is absolutely no shame in reheating dinner before serving it. Permission granted. And of course, don't forget to prep your coffee the night before your morning self will thank you. Happy Birthday art of home podcast. Bye bye.

Chrissi: 25:33

Y'all are so smart. These are excellent suggestions of making the most of the time during the day so that you're not stressing yourself out at the dinner hour otherwise known as the witching hour. When it seems like everything can possibly go wrong right before dad walks in the door. And he meets a totally frazzled harried wife who is ready to just run out the door screaming not sit down to a nice dinner. So Jade. Yes, I completely agree. We have so many tasks to do during the day that it is very wise to do what we can earlier on in the day, instead of waiting till we're super tired. And we end up having either no dinner at all and everybody's eating cereal, or we have to unnecessarily order food out. And that just may not be the best option for our budgets or for our health shall be. Absolutely I agree. Plan an easy meal on a hard day. If you know that you're going to be doing eight loads of laundry and ironing that day. It's probably a great day for a crock pot meal. Or like Shelby said when she does a deep clean, that's a crock pot meal or a soup day. Just get it in the crock pot or whatever early on in the day. So you don't even have to think about it. I know that traditionally in many households back in the day like 100 years ago, Monday was wash day and that was also beans and rice day at least in the south where I'm from, you would often have beans and rice on Monday because you were busy literally all day doing the laundry. That was when you had to do like a hand ringer and put everything on the line. And laundry was a much bigger deal than it is now. Boy, I'm grateful for my washer and dryer. But yes, absolutely planning an easy meal on a hard day and KareAnn I love that you are so intentional, intentional about getting your dinner prepared early so that you can be more present with your family in the evening. And thank you very much for granting permission to reheat dinner in the evening that's already been cooked the morning of or even the day before. Thank you so much for these great tips, ladies. And our final installment of kitchen tips comes from Eunice who left us a message all the way from Kenya. And from my friend Abby, who also happens to be the mother of my daughter in law Tiffany. Yes, I absolutely called in the troops and asked my friends and family to contribute to this episode. So enjoy their tips.

Eunice: 28:02

Hi All My name is Eunice. I'm from Kenya. I am a mom of three. And I work away from home. My home making tip is batch cooking. Often here in Kenya and specifically my whole we use pulses as our main food like beans, green cramps and all. And so while cooking, it may take time, especially in the evening after work. So what I do I batch cook and then I portion them and divide them and freeze them. So the day I'll be cooking in the evening, ensure that I removed them a few hours before cooking. And that will half my time of cooking in the evening. I hope this works also for you or for anyone else who wants to conserve time while cooking pulses. Goodbye.

Chrissi: 29:00

Yes, Eunice. Thank you so much for that suggestion. We all know that beans are an excellent source of protein and they're very inexpensive. They're easy on the budget, but they take forever to cook. And if you are dealing with a really tight schedule if you work outside of the home and you just don't have a lot of extra time to be soaking and long cooking beans in the middle of the day. That is a wise thing to do to cook them in big batches. portion them out and store them in your freezer. Excellent tip Eunice, Thank you.

Abby: 29:32

Hi, my name is Abby and I'm from Spring branch Texas just north of San Antonio and a couple homemaking tips that I have found to be helpful for our family. One has to do with food and food preparation and other things that really helps our family make it through a busy week during different seasons of our life, whether with lots of young children or old We're busy teenagers has been to do food prep at the beginning of the week, usually on the Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. And sometimes it means a few of us in the kitchen. Sometimes it means just me. But usually I already have groceries from before but just prepping stuff ahead of time. One of our favorite things, one of my favorite things to do is to make egg meat and cheese breakfast sandwiches and make about a dozen or so and wrap them in foil, put them in the fridge and then the kids can get them first thing in the morning already have a protein packed of the breakfast. Or, or they can if they forget to make a lunch for school or need to grab something to eat, they can grab one of those so usually have at least a dozen or so of those made ahead of time. Other homemaking tip that has been fun for our family has to do with birthdays. And I think it's cool because it's a birthday episode. And it's been two to make each child's birthday special. We have a birthday date, they just get a birthday date with mom and dad. And they get to pick the place to go and the thing to do. And that's something that all of our kids have looked forward to, from the time they're like three or four years old. And usually they get a birthday breakfast date with dad until they're a bit older. And then sometimes it's with mom and dad. But that just makes it fun birthday celebration tradition that we've continued on in our family. So I hope you enjoy those.

Chrissi: 31:29

Thank you Abby, those are great tips. And for our listeners just so you know Abby has six children and some are out of the house and some are still at home. So she is a busy mama and has some really great suggestions and ideas. I love the breakfast sandwich idea because you can eat a breakfast sandwich for any meal and snacks and I know especially when you have hungry teenage boys, they are always looking for food. And her kids are athletic and are always doing sports things so they're extra hungry. And I love the birthday date idea. I think that is just such a special way to make each child feel like their day is extra important. And especially if you have a large family it can be easy for some of the more quiet ones to get lost in the shuffle. So it's a great intentional thing to do on that child's special day. Thanks for sharing those tips Abby.

Allison: 32:28

The Noisy Kitchen. I am noisy in the kitchen. I open up my cans with bangs and bumps and knockings. I rattle pots and pans. I click the kitchen China I thump my rolling pin and in my pantry cupboards I make a fearful din. I turn the Dover beater with a whole- souled clack and whir. I make a glorious racket of anything I stir. My hungry family tells me my noises do not matter. As signs of coming food, they seem a most delightful clatter. So now we're moving into the laundry room and we've got a couple of tips from Chrissi and Samantha.

Chrissi: 33:09

Hi, my name is Chrissi. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba. My tip is to dry clothing on a drying rack rather than using a dryer. The only reason I started doing it was because my dryer broke over the holidays. And so I decided to invest in a larger rack and put it in a nice place my house so I put it right under my bay windows so that I could look out and see the neighborhood while I hung the laundry. And I found that it saves money on my utility bills. But the biggest thing was for for me personally I have two little kids and it made the house smell so much better and so much fresher because it was just smell of detergent when I walked in the door. And to me I love that smell and it also kind of made the air a little human, which we have like really dry cold winters here. And also my kids would help me like I would notice that they would help out whenever it was time to put the clothes on the rack. So it was kind of teaching them to do a chore as well. And it's very gentle on your clothes, our SmartWool for any wool things we have we don't have to worry if someone's going to dry them on accident because we just hang everything. So yeah, that's my tip and happy birthday. We love listening to your show. And my Instagram is barber Chrissy. Okay folks, if Chrissi has not convinced you to dry some if not all of your clothes on a drying rack. I don't know what will convince you. I mean she gave you like five great reasons there. It makes your house smell better. It saves on utility bills that humidifies the air it helps your kid motivate your kids to want to help put the clothes on the rack and maybe even put them away and of course it is much gentler much more gentle. I think that's how you say that it's much more gentle on your clothes than running them through the dryer every single time that you wash them. So thank you so much, Chrissi for that motivation to be a little less dependent on our clothes dryer.

Samantha: 35:17

This is Samantha from Tennessee. And my tip is to help remove grease stains that you have accidentally washed and then dried without applying a stain remover before washing. So I found this to be really helpful with butter stains, baking grease stains, anything like that. First I will saturate the stain with schaut stain remover. Then I will squirt a little bit of Dawn dish soap over that area and I will scrub it in with a toothbrush. Next I sprinkle a little bit of baking soda over the stain and I will again scrub that in with the toothbrush. I will let that sit for about 20 minutes and then wash the garment as normal. My Instagram handle is at Samantha Marie Bain. Thank you,

Chrissi: 36:09

Samantha that's an excellent tip. And that is a laundry stain remover recipe that I have not heard of. So I'm definitely going to try that out. I mean, I love my shout stain spray. I buy it in bulk. And then I pour it into a pretty blue glass spray bottle that I keep on my shelf in my laundry room. And I use that on everything particularly on the napkins, we use cloth napkins, and a lot of times they'll get stained and they'll get yucky with of course food because that's what they're meant for. But I will pretreat them with that spray. And then I have a little laundry hamper on the counter that is just for our towels, our kitchen towels and our dinner napkins. And then when I get enough, I do a load of laundry but they might sit there for several days. So I use the shout for that. But I love this tip about treating a stain that's already gone through the washing machine and the dryer because as we all know, once something has been through the dryer, it's almost always going to be set in or we think it's set in permanently because of the heat. So that's a great, great tip. And honestly if you combine Samantha's tip with Christy's tip, and you just actually don't run things through the dryer and you hang them on the line or hang them on your clotheshorse. You will discover those stains and be able to treat them without the worry that they've already been to the dryer. So great laundry tips lady, thank you so much. Next, we have a couple of tips from Julie and from Marie, they're going to help you with those stubborn dishwasher spots and cleaning the oven racks. Take it away ladies.

Julie: 37:44

My name is Julie from San Antonio. And my tip is for those who find water spots on their dishes after washing them in the dishwasher. Especially due to hard water which I have. I pour I put in the detergent as normal. And then I pour a third to a half a cup of vinegar straight into the dishwasher every single time I run it and it makes a world of addition difference and everything comes out shiny, sparkly, and no spots. Again, I have very hard water and this may work for other spots as well.

Chrissi: 38:28

Thank you Julie. I am totally going to try that because I also live in the San Antonio area. And our water is extremely hard. We even have a water softener but it still damages our dishes. So I'm looking forward to trying out that tip and I'll let you know what kind of results I get.

Marie: 38:46

My tip is for cleaning oven racks. placed them in the bath with hot water and a generous helping of washing powder and leave to soak for as long as you can. preferably overnight. The grease and burn on food will lift straight off so no scrubbing is required.

Allison: 39:05

Okay, Marie, you had me at no scrubbing as required. I have a confession to make you guys. I have you lived in this house for nine years. And I've never cleaned my oven. Yes, that is correct. never cleaned my oven. I mean I've wiped it down. It's not full of spilled food because I always lined the bottom with a piece of foil. If I have something that's going to be bubbly or you know spill over and if I get something burnt on the bottom, I've scraped it off but like a proper thorough cleaning, I have never done so I'm going to try Marie's trick. I'm going to take out my oven racks and I'm going to soak them in the hot bath with washing soda overnight. And I'm going to bust out the scrubbing powder and scrub out my oven and I pray that this confession has not diminished Okay, Doherty, on things homemaking in your eyes. I just want to be real here, y'all. You know, I've done a lot of things in this house and I've maintained lots of appliances, and I take care of my stuff. But cleaning the oven like deep, deep clean, it's just never ever made it to the top of my priority priority list. So I'm going to make it a priority, and I'm going to do the thing. This next tip comes from Shannon. And it's a really unique idea to help you stay on task with a big project.

Shannon: 40:34

Hi this is Shannon from North Carolina. And this tip is probably for more more techie homemaker. But I like to set my phone on a time lapse when I'm tackling a big task. And it just helps me stay on task and organized and focused. And the added benefit is that I can't get distracted by my phone because I'm using that to take a time lapse video. So that's what's helped me to stay on track, especially with little kids. And hopefully that helps you as well. On Instagram, I am Shannon Poore underscore.

Allison: 41:11

Okay, Shannon, I can't help but laugh what I'm hearing this, this is a great idea. And I was thinking, I wonder what she does with the time lapse videos after she's done with her tasks. Do you like archive them and save them? Because I mean, not that our husbands would ever do this. But you know, maybe they might come home and be like so what did you do all day and it could be a totally innocent question. And then you could just whip out all these time lapse videos and show him this is what I've done all day. I just couldn't help but think of that as you were giving that tip. Great suggestion and yes, with the added benefit of doing the time lapse has your phone occupied with that one thing and you cannot get distracted and quickly check your Instagram or quickly check your email or quickly send a text message or whatever it is. That's a really unique and great idea to stay on task. Thanks, Shannon. A Housewife's Luxuries. It is my pleasure every day to set the table leisurely with China patterned bright and gay with silver and find nappery. My fingers and eyes delight to place pink roses in a bowl. Arrange them exactly right. a treat for any artists soul. How I enjoy the evening hours when Twilight lies across the lawn. puttering with my shrubs and flowers before the last pale light is gone. Bright moments in the every day. These pleasures of a busy wife makeup for many an hour of gray, the daily luxuries of life. Next up we have Kelly and Colleen who both have some great suggestions to help us simplify the art of home.

Kelly: 43:01

Hi, this is Kelly from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. And my tip for you is that planning I'm really big on planning and to help manage the home a lot better and a lot simpler and that for my own homemaking, if I didn't slow down and start learning how to just simple planning things from like creating routines and creating chore routines and whatnot. If I didn't slow down to learn how to plan my home just would not be as as simple or as peaceful. So that is my tip is to really learn how to plan if you don't know how to and to start somewhere small if you are not into planning such as learning how to do like a laundry routine. And just going from there. i You can find me over at simple home mom on Instagram.

Colleen: 43:54

My name is Colleen and I live near the Memphis, Tennessee area with seven children. I feel like simplifying is really the key for us, simplifying not only what we own, but really being intentional on what we fill our time with. learning to say no to things that don't fit into the life that we are creating. setting boundaries is so important. And just really saying yes to more ways and more things that bring peace into our home. I think that, you know, as a Christian God calls us to live a life of simplicity. And that can mean a lot of different things for different people. But simplifying the laundry system simplifying the meals, simplifying the stuff that we own, and really deciding what do we really need to put our time and energy and money into what are our values? What are we really all about in our family and sort of coming up with a family mission and really just working No man, as a team, as a family has just made a world of difference for us.

Chrissi: 45:06

I love both of these tips so much. And I put them together because I feel like they're really saying the same thing. They're focusing on simplicity, they're focusing on really paring down to what matters the most to your family. That's part of the reason why we call this show the art of home. It's because just like any kind of art, it's very individualistic to the artist, every single home is going to be very tailored in individual to that family, to the homemaker who is there setting the tone for the home, and the values that that particular family ascribes to, as believers and followers of Christ, we all have some common values, but there are things that are going to be important to your family that might not scale so high on another family's importance or value scale. We even talked about this a little bit with joy in our organizational episodes, if you remember those, when she gave us her acronym for helping us sort of get started in the process of organization and calling down our, our belongings, she said, you know, you really need to look at what is your life purpose? What is God calling you to do in this season of your life? And what are your values? So we should probably take the time as a family to think about what are our values, and how will the things that we do as homemakers every single day, either hinder or support those values. And a great place to start, like Kelly said, is setting up some simple systems, do some planning, take the time to learn the skill of simple planning. There are so many resources out there to help you set up a simple laundry routine or a simple house cleaning routine or meal planning routine or whatever it is, that's going to help bring some order and simplify your processes in the home throughout the day. But it's starting with those values as a as a as a person and as a family that's going to help define the path that you need to take to bring peace into your home and to create the home that you and your family are wanting to enjoy every day. Our final tip comes from Alyssa at then blue pines over on Instagram. And I saved her tip for last because it's actually more of a call to action than it is a tip. And she is boldly imploring the older women to step into their role as leaders, and mentors and guides with all of their wisdom to the younger women. And that is exactly what we are doing here at the Art of home. So I thought it was a fitting way to end this episode of listener tips.

Alyssa: 47:56

Hi there, my name is Alyssa. I'm from Wisconsin, and you can find me on Instagram at thin blue pines. Thank you so much out of home podcast for having me and big old Happy birthday to you. Congratulations, Allison. My piece of advice I have is geared towards the wiser and more experienced generation of homemaker and that is to encourage you to step into your leadership role as a mentor to the younger generation of women. I think that a lot of women don't even consider homemaking as an option for them anymore. And I think they are dead set on the necessity for a two income household. And I would encourage you to explain to them in display for them in your own life that it is possible to be a homemaker in modern society. I think especially for women who don't yet have families, it's important to encourage them that homemaking is an option for them and something that they may find their heart pulling them towards later on in their life once they do have a family. Oftentimes I hear of women who wish to be homemakers, but they can't because they have so much debt or they have a mortgage that they can't afford on one income and so on. And it is really devastating to hear that their heart is pulling them home, but their finances are keeping them in their career that they don't want anymore. So I want you to encourage the younger generation and display to the younger generation, that homemaking is important. It's valuable. And it is what God calls them to do. God does call women to put themselves in their home and their home and their family be their first priority and to remind Christian women of that role in responsibility that God calls them towards. So that is my advice. Thank you.

Allison Weeks: 49:44

Thank you so much Alyssa for that bold and encouraging call to action. And I just want to say that it is a call to women of every age. So of course those of us who have decades under our belt. We have a lot to share and there's a lot of people under Meet us because we were getting on up there in age. But there's always someone who is younger and less experienced than you. Whether you're 50 or 20, there is somebody who can learn from your experience if you're willing to open up and just be vulnerable and share with them, what you've learned what God is teaching you and how he's grown you through the work that you've done in the home and with your family. So thank you, Alyssa. For that reminder. I hope you have enjoyed this very special birthday episode of The Art of home podcast. Thank you to all our listeners who submitted your tips. You can find all of the IG handles for today's guests in the show notes. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter, where you will hear all about what is coming on the podcast, links to new episodes, resources and some fun little extras like recipes and small segments of my story of home. Maybe one day I will be interviewed on here by a friend or perhaps my husband as some people have suggested. But until that time, you can rest assured you'll get little bits and pieces of my story of home as I talk to the other homemakers and through the newsletter, we have some very exciting things coming for year two of the art of home. We're planning several deep dive series including a two part series on the art of sewing and that is coming next season. Also next season we're introducing some newbie and some in the You may be homemaking full time or you may be homemaking part time. You may be in a culture that respects and honors the trenches, homemaker portraits, along with our familiar seasoned homemaker or in a culture that ridicules and punishes the homemaker. Wherever you are, please know that if your heart homemaker portraits. Don't worry those aren't going anywhere. We is in homemaking, you are in good company here. We are here to say yes, this work is worth your time. It's important. It's will be bringing back the very popular holiday homemaking hard, glorious, tedious, creative, repetitive, joyful, sacrificial, freeing, challenging, monotonous, series in December, as well as something special in November to necessary, valuable, and ripe with opportunity for growth, beauty and joy. It's a lifelong pursuit, the art of home, and help us focus on gratitude. And the big announcement I have to one we will never quite fully realize until we arrive at our share with you is that we are moving from an every other ultimate home. In the meantime, through our art, we can point people to their ultimate place of belonging in the one who Wednesday release schedule to a weekly release schedule. That's authored and perfected the very concept of home. I'd like to close this special episode with one last poem from Marjorie right, you will now be getting a new episode of The Art of home Rollins called, A Prayer for Housewives. Until next time, keep practicing your art of making a home. every Wednesday. So the seasons will typically be six weeks Let me have endless patience first of all, and not grow angry when the quick doors slam, or when small fingers stain the new long. And then we'll take a couple of weeks off in between washed wall. Let me ignore the mud tract or the jam. Let me be seasons. This gives us a little break and it gives you time to tireless for the hours are long. Let me be merry when I want to weep. And if my days may not move like a song, grant me at catch up on the episodes if you get behind listening. There is night the healing touch of sleep. May I remember small, important things and empty cookie jar is such a crime. Is just so much content that I want to cover. It was time to move to it too much to pray at time for wings? How else somedays to have the meals on time? And if there's any fun to come my way, a weekly release schedule. I would really appreciate your or any laughter do me Lord, decree it and where there's prayers. As I navigate a new tighter schedule. beauty in the every day. Oh, let me not be blinded. Let me see it.