An Organized Wedding!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my baby sister was married last weekend- a wonderfully special day of celebration (and a few tears!).  I could go on and on about all of the special details she added, and projects we took on to make the day a success, but I just wanted to share one (quite important) project I took care of for my sister's big day.

The Bride Kit!

If you have been married before, you know how it goes- you're mostly thinking about your perfect day, your studly man, and your upcoming romantic honeymoon!  As the bride, you're not always thinking about things like static guard, chap stick, extra under garments or a toothbrush.  For that reason, I made Meag an easily accessible kit complete with all of the "9-1-1" essentials for the day of her wedding.

Check it out!

"Bride Kit, June Nine" - simple scrapbooking letters (easily removed to make this rubbermaid useful for a laundry room or storage room down the road!)

Deodorant, mints, sewing kit, purl, shoe pads, extra undies, and of course- candy! :) (which is an essential in my sweet tooth family) 

Did you know that chalk gets a grease stain out of almost every fabric and is the only thing you can safely touch up a silk gown with?  Well there you go! Add it to the list of "essential items" for your special day :)

An organized life doesn't stop with your linen closet!  Your refridgerator , scheduling, fitness, nutrition, event planning- it's all about having a plan! :)

~Kaitlin

Card Organization

I've always been a card lover- I got that from my mama! We both peruse hallmark (or- my favourite- Chapters!) for hours sometimes just to find the perfect card for a special someone.  For that reason, I also enjoy keeping cards we get in the mail- especially all of those "photo cards" from Christmas, births, birthdays etc: it is such a wonderful way to remember people/families during different periods of their lives!  The only problem with this is the way they get chucked downstairs in our unfinished basement into a tub.  I have been racking my brain for some time trying to figure out how to best organize them all in a simple, practical way.

Here's what I came up with!

all you need for this is a whole punch...
and a package of "binder clips" from your local craft store

birth announcements and family photos

I even used it for my race bibs!

Baptism/birth

I'm thinking to hang these above my desk when we finish our basement!

Can we come up with some fun organizational solutions for those things you "chuck" into your basement and try to forget about? Don't kid yourself- we all do it! :)

~Kaitlin

Only so much time to give...

When you have a little man with a WILD 1st birthday to plan!!
I must first apologize, as I (Kaitlin) feel as though my time has been dedicated almost entirely to two big events in our life right now (and not on work).  My sweet son, Lincoln, turns one tomorrow and had his big partay yesterday; and my little (and only) sister marries her love on Saturday! (A lovely DIY outdoor affair, which requires a few extra fun details!).

Aside from our venue being changed last minute due to the crummy weather, and my hubs and I feeling like we were hit by a train this morning, Linc's where the wild things are birthday party was a roaring success!  We were hoping to celebrate at Bronte Creek, a Provincial park right outside of our neighbourhood!  Swings, hiking paths, charcoal bbq, and the endless space for kiddos to romp around sounded like the perfect location...but not in 13 degrees, with rain and wind in the forecast :( So, we quickly rearranged our house a little bit, set up some makeshift decorations and improvised!  Isn't that what life is all about with a one year old monster?

30 adults
8 kids 3 and under
one little house
lots of food (mostly of the junk variety)
a little beer :)
TONS of fun!
....oh, and some intense clean up post-party!

We based Lincoln's party on the book "Where the Wild Things Are" by maurice sendek.  It was a wild rumpus at its best!  Lincoln had a great time, I think, with only a few minor meltdowns.

If you like what you see in my style of party decor or organization, contact Time to Give to help you plan your next party!

~Linc's girlfriend Maddy made her appearance, and they had fun playing together!

~the invitations we found on Etsy!

Now- it's nap time for this tired mama! Enjoy your week, and let us know how we can help you tackle that to-do list or help with those special summer events coming up!

Kaitlin

Time to GIVE!

Well, we have reached a grand total of 100 "likes" on Facebook in a mere couple of weeks- and we couldn't be happier!  The word is spreading, and hopefully so will our business! As promised, we have randomly selected one "liker" to receive the ultimate gift: 2 free hours of Time to Give service.  We truly will be giving our time to the lucky winner.  I can't wait to meet this deserving mama and treat her to some errands, organization, cleaning or anything else!  The rumour is she's a "mompreneur" herself! :) Stay tuned for updates from this one!

Do you know a deserving mama or dad that could use a couple of hours of skilled type-A personalities to come get things done for them?  We would love to help you give the gift of time using Time to Give! email us at: timetogiveburlington@gmail.com
-Kaitlin

Is your fridge scary?

I'm not talking about the moo-ing or clinking it seems to make whenever we walk away...

A fridge holds our most perishable food items- some of which have expiry dates, some of which just turn blue and fuzzy- telling us to toss them.  Condiments stuffed into the back from who knows when, ground beef drippings solidifying somewhere near the middle, and last week's leftovers in front (is it still safe to take them for lunch today?...)

...it can be a scary place. But it doesn't have to be! I believe that an organized, clean fridge can make all the difference in your health as well as your cooking for the week.  My husband recently lost 25 pounds (woot woot!) by making some moderate changes in his lifestyle.  Some of those changes were adopted by us as a family as well.  It is now a habit for me to, immediately after grocery shopping for the week, wash and chop all of the vegetables and put them in easy-to-access containers at eye level.  When hubby takes a snack to work, he is more likely to take cut up celery than find the crackers or pretzels in the cupboard.  Fresh, crunchy, refreshing celery.  But if it were in a bag with all it's leaves on in the crisper? We'd be taking it out in 3 weeks after said vegetable turned blue and fuzzy!  We live in a world the convenience is everything, whether we like to admit it or not.  And when healthy foods are convenient, we're more likely to eat them! (this is great for little ones too- keep pre-chopped fruits and veg at their eye level in the fridge- and cheese slices and water bottles too!)

I also like to organize my fridge with food prepared for different meals.  I'll pre-chop the broccoli, mix up the dressing/marinade, dice the onions etc.  Then, when dinner time comes I simply have to stir, put in oven, set the table etc.  It saves a LOT of time. 

Can we help you organize your fridge?  Plan and prep some meals?

-Kaitlin

Wine...

I suppose this post is not necessarily about wine. It is about meeting my very first client yesterday- a wonderful woman with 2 sons, wishing to spend every minute with them.  We chatted, as she showed me around her house.  We laughed as she showed me the 4 month old returns she had been putting off.  We smirked when one of the boys said "who is SHE?!" :) And then I was off!  Toys R Us, Walmart, Canadian Tire, Zellers, The dry cleaners, and wine.  Oh, thats right.  I guess this blog is about wine. I stocked her wine rack.  I actually got paid to stop at the local liquor store and pick up her favourite cab.

Not a bad gig, I'd say!

-Kaitlin

A New Opportunity!

Good morning readers! I'm so excited to be launching this blog for you.  I'm encouraged and enlightened, especially today as I look out my kitchen bay window to a gorgeous blue sky, with the blinding sun piercing through the tree branches!  Today is a "...brings may flowers" kind of a day (which is refreshing, since we've had too many "April showers..." kind of days lately).  Sure, my kiddo is sick with a nasty fever, and I had little to no sleep last night, but the prospect of this new career partnering opportunity can bring me nothing but joy!
I feel it appropriate to share the beginning of this new venture from its birth.  I'll keep it simple:


a boy i knew in high school married a girl.  
that girl and that boy moved to burlington.  my hub and i moved to burlington
enter baby to that boy and that girl (a sweet sweet girl)
enter baby to me and my hub (a busy baby boy)
girl and boy connect with hubs and me- a fast friendship begins! (right down the street from each other)
(note: busy boy and sweet sweet girl will get married one day. for now, boy beats girl up, but we're working on that).


That girl is Elizabeth.  A kind heart, a nurturing soul, and a determined woman! She and I chatted a bit, at times, about our "type A-ness," our love for "DIY," our interest in part time work after mat leave, and one thing led to another: Let's start our own business!  Hmm...how about serving the busy moms and families of the Burlington/Oakville communities with their endless "to dos?"  


And so it begins!  We are so thrilled to be able to help YOU in any way we can.  We love to organize, simplify, de-clutter, run errands, decorate, plan, and mostly cross of items on a list.
We're still in the very beginning stages of this opportunity (ie. we don't even have a logo, website, business cards etc. yet), but we have been very affirmed in our idea and have seen plenty of interest and intrigue in the past few days that we have spent spreading the word- how fun!
More on our backgrounds, hobbies etc in future posts, but for now just know that our passion is you and your family's needs! We hope that this spring will bring more family time for you, and less stressin' about the little things.  


-Kaitlin 


"my dear, dear friends, stand your ground.  and don't hold back.  throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort." - 1 cor 15 (message)