Vintage Homemaking Week: Day Four
Want to stay connected? Sign up to get my blog posts automatically, follow me on Pinterest, on Twitter or “Like” me on Facebook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:
My 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.
Next 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.
Next 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…
{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
{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
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!
Hello,
Just found your blog, and I’m so glad that I did. I love reading your ideas. And to answer your question posed, I love having guests over. Something about a house full of people makes me feel so happy.
I would love to find the free time to have company.
Love having company, trying to get over the thinking that my house has to be perfect!
I LOVE having quests come to see us! I love your idea of a welcome basket. I already do some of them but the idea of a basket is awesome! Can’t wait to try it out with my first guest this Oct.
I think it’s easy to lose sight of the company and get stressed with having everything perfect. The most important thing to do is to make the guests feel welcomed and loved and these ideas do that. Little items like these help guests to feel truly appreciated and welcome. Love it – thanks for sharing!
I have mixed feelings!! Before the guests arrive, I worry too much about how things look, etc.!! But once they arrive, I’m so glad they’re here & enjoy our time together!! I love these ideas (& have already used some of them) – this is one book I would LOVE to have in my collection! :)
Great ideas. So excited to integrate them.
I enjoy having guests over because I live so far from home as it is! I just recently had my sister-in-law over to visit and I made a summer basket which included a lot of items that are actually listed in this blog post!
I love having people over – just wish I had more room for them…
I am working on opening my home more and making people feel welcome. Now that I am in my own house, it is easier to do.
I enjoy hosting and having people over although I don’t do it very often. :)
I freak out right before company arrives. My husband is usually very good at pitching in and remains the calm one. It’s takes a while but I’m eventually able to just relax and enjoy our company.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with having company as I love to care for and feed people but if my company is not self-sufficient and doesn’t bring anything to do or have anything they like to do but SIT, I find it draining. We are fairly social, active people who are involved in our Church and really enjoy life. I like to have meals prepared or at least planned ahead of time so I am not always in the kitchen, overnight breakfast recipes are great! I love to make them special coffees and always want the floors, bathrooms and walls to be clean so they are comfortable. I try to take them out for a meal and show them around the area while they are here. I’m informal so help yourself to whatever, Me casa es su casa!!
I LOVE to have company but I dread the preparation for them to come over. It can be stressful trying to feel hospitable when trying to get things in order. :(
I am trying to stress less about having company and enjoy it more. Everything does not have to be perfect!!!
I am actually having my parents to our new house this weekend. I love the idea of having the basket and the picture of all of us for them. I think it will make them feel special!
I love this! Well bc I love having guests! I love the welcome basket idea! I actually already do some of your ideas like flowers and candles but that’s bc I love both lol. Thanks for this post!
Thanks so much for these great tips, I love having guests! I can always use some new ideas. ????Your site ????
I usually dread having company. Wanting to turn that around & have started working on that diligently!
I like having guests over but I dread it at the same time since I long to be good at hospitality and to offer all the cute little welcoming gifts and things you mention above to my guests, but I’m not really good at it! It’s something I pray about. I’m so glad for this series, I’m learning a lot! :)
Oh goodness, I don’t know how to be a hostess at all. I didn’t see it modeled at home, so I never really learned how to do it or develop the confidence to carry it out.
So glad I found your website. I think I will learn a lot. My heart is open to trying new things.
I love to have guests, but I don’t love getting ready for them. My goal for this school year is to get everything in order, so it’s easy-peasy when people say they’re coming!
Thank you for these great tips. I like having guests once they are here, but do stress before they arrive. Would like to just relax and enjoy the journey of getting ready. Concerns about everything being just so and looking just right have been a negative for me in entertaining.
Currently trying to overcome my nervousness/anxiety about having guests over. On the rare times I have had people over – I’ve realized it’s quite an enjoyable experience!
I love having guests! I also include a city map and list of area attractions in my guest room basket, as well as a guest book for them to sign.