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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

1b423419b4ec7059c50add70e34f7648

{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 

 

ALifeThatSaysWelcome_large

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!

Similar Posts

118 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas. I love the concept of having guests to stay but the logistics always get in the way. Getting the house clean, cooking extra meals, keeping our pets out of the guest’s room, keeping my young adult children out of the guest room (ha ha) since it technically is one of their rooms.

  2. I always get stressed having people over but I always enjoy when they are here! It’s probably because we don’t have a “perfect” set-up for guests. We drag out air mattresses and couch cushions :)

  3. Our family loves having company. Although it can be stressful, we love doing it over and over again. I would love to reach the point where I can be more organized though. Otherwise, it’s a joy to have guests, have fellowship and reconnect. To those who don’t know the Lord, we get to share our what the Lord has done in our lives and the world. We see hosting as a great ministry to share God’s love and Word. Thank you Lord for blessing us with homes that we can open for others to stay in!

  4. we recently moved into a home that I feel more comfortable opening up to friends. We had friends over last weekend for a BBQ, and I have several moms coming over next week to celebrate the start of the school year. Looking forward to hosting more people!

  5. I love this idea! I don’t have much company over besides my parents. My dog sleeps on the spare bed sometimes so I always wait until last minute to clean the bedding, but I always make sure there is clean bedding as I feel that is important and I would want to sleep in clean bedding. My mother in law is a pastor’s wife and she does a gift/goodie basket when they have missionairies stay at their house.

  6. I LOVE the cover of your book…it looks calm and soothing…I wish that’s how I felt about hosting people. Usually I just kinda dread it…will I have time to clear and organize everything, stock up on snacks and food (see, I am a snacker, so what to feed people with I think stresses me out the most and is my least fav part…as I probably would have to cook- when I normally dont at all for myself… :( )

  7. If I can get over myself and my fear of being judged for not being Martha Stewart, I enjoy having people over. I’ve begun trying to have someone over for tea and chatting once a week, or if that isn’t practical, to meet them for coffee somewhere (some people seem to prefer a neutral location, for some reason…) And my husband (usually even more uptight than I am) has even offered a few spur-of-the-moment inviations for dinner to some people we know. I do love making people feel welcome and comfortable in our home. I guess it works; I have one friend who sometimes comes over just to sit on my couch and read or nap for a bit and get away from her daughter, SIL, and three grands!

  8. I don’t really enjoy having guests over. We are a family of five in a small three bedroom house, and there is no room for more people! Guests and their luggage end up in the family room – which is then in the way of spending time together as a family. I love the company of being with guests, but the finding room for everyone and getting crazy because everything is so crowded is not something I enjoy at all!

  9. I love hosting people in our home where we can relax and connect. My husband and I have a Christ centered marriage so we love to share how God has blessed us, how God has helped us and how important it is to have Him at the center of your life and marriage.

  10. Do I like hosting or not? It all depends on my work load and how well I know the guests. Almost always I tell them good bye feeling recharged and glad we hosted them for some reason or other! The blessing of giving, I guess.

  11. I used to get Very stressed about having people over and rarely had them over. As I have gotten older I have been able to relax about that and realize that enjoying the time with people is more important than what my house looked like. I do try to make them feel welcome and special but I don’t worry over every little detail. Thanks for this week’s tips and suggestions —great ideas are being shared.

  12. Dread it! I really struggle with company! I want to love it, but I just don’t. However, I know it’s what God wants, so I keep on trying. :)
    Thanks so much for all of the great tips this week!

  13. My home is very small so overnight guests are very rare. However, I love the basket idea and I think I will try something along those lines to give my guests an added welcome when they visit! Thanks for all of your tips! Great ideas!

  14. I love having out of town guests but sometimes I feel insecure about my cooking skills and feel like everything should be perfect, so I get discouraged. These are some great tips!

  15. I love having people over. But sometimes I get a little stressed making sure everything is just right and I become unglued with my family. I do want to make the guest room a little more special and not get so unglued with the family

  16. I sort of love having company. I usually hate the pre coming part as I am not always a good housekeeper and I run around like a chicken trying to clean it up (here a stuff, there a stuff :) ) however after its all stuffed and cleaned…I enjoy having them. I love the ideas presented here…I am going to change my frame of mind and have more come and stay. Have a blessed day!

    Smiles & Blessings,
    Robin :)

Leave a Reply to jaimee Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *