Cleaning Up! - January RS Meeting

We hope you all made it to our January Relief Society Meeting full of wonderful tips to organize, beautify, and "clean up" our lives. Three amazing women shared their talents with us:

Markae Evans shared with us easy steps to clean and organize our homes. She brought her favorite cleaning products to inspire us to start the new year off right. Here are some of her great tips:

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

1. Get it clean then keep it clean!

2. Smelling clean is half the battle.

3. When you notice it, do it! (Have cleaning supplies in every bathroom and on every floor)

4. Get help. (husbands, dogs, and children can be trained. Teach them how to do the job up to your standard. Teach prevention. "Don't throw clothes on the floor, won't have to pick them up)

5. Don't buy high maintenance (furniture, flooring, carpet, tile, cabinets, etc.)

6. Restock in bulk. (When shopping at Costco take a list, and stick to it.

Organization Tips:

1. Do (at least) one small (or large) organizational task daily, no matter how small.

2. Treat organization the same way you would a diet or exercise plan: as a lifestyle change. To maintain results, you have to do a little bit, often.

3. To beat kitchen counter clutter open the mail over the shredder or recycling bin, and get rid of the junk immediately.

4. DEJUNK! "don't love anything that can't love you back" (Divide and conquer. Sort into 3 piles: toss, keep, and donate. reorganize the keep, get rid of the rest - DI, etc)

5. Edit, Edit, Edit. How many cool whip containers do you really need? Plastic grocery bags?

6. Give yourself permission to regift.

7. Dejunk like you are moving.

8. Once it is uncluttered, don't reclutter it.

Leisa Card, a professional decorator and good friend of several women in our ward, presented on ways to decorate your home on a budget. She gave us her top 3 favorite places to shop when she's looking for deals for her own home. (In reverse order of favorites.)

1) D.I. -

2) TJ Maxx - The Home Goods Store (but nothing in the front of the store) (Great place to buy area rugs, mirrors, and ottomans.)

3) Market Square - 1601 South Empire Road (about 1700 West - by the LDS Distribution Center).

Tips: Avoid visual clutter. Try to use fewer accessories, but use a bigger accessory to make the statement. Leisa likes to use everyday items in unusual ways. For example, quilts and coverlets make wonderful tablecloths and window coverings. They come in wonderful weights, patterns, heavy enough not to let light through, and are very easy to throw in the washing machine and never need ironing. Her favorite table cloth is a queen sized matelese quilt. Another favorite thing, especially when dealing with small spaces, is to use an ottoman (which can double for seating when needed) and a table. When it is being used as a cocktail table, she likes to put a large mirror on the ottoman, and then a vase and a book.

Leisa explained that something interesting is to layer rugs. If you have a small wonderful rug, but a larger space, you can purchase an inexpensive sisal or choir rug and then place the nice rug over the top.

Lori Hilton, along with some very sweet little models, taught us how to cut hair. She gave us some great tips. She recommended we have the following supplies: scissors, comb, cutting cape, clips, squirt bottle, thinning shears (optional, but important), and trimmers (good to have).

Girls Basic Trim

1. Shampoo and condition hair (to avoid painful tangles)

2. Put on cutting cape.

3. Comb hair.

4. Part hair into 4 sections and clip out of the way:

- Center or side part back to crown

- crown to tip of each ear

- crown down the center back

5.begin in the back at the nape of the neck.

6. Take down 1/2 to 1 inch partings depending on hair thickness.

7. Work your way up the occipital bone or higher depending on thickness

8. Do the front sections by the ears in 1 inch partings blending to the back

9. Stand in front and measure for eveness.

Bangs

1. Take a small slightly curved section around the bang area.

2. Have her hold her head straight, don't lean back or forward.

3. Usually trim to the bridge of the nose, or middle of the pupil.

4. You can cut straight across but it is a good idea to chip in with the tips of scissors.

Boys basic trim

1. Wet hair

2. Put on cutting cape

3. Set your guides

- above the ears

- at the nape of the neck

- blend the ear guide to the neck guide

- cut bang guide

- blend bang guide to ear guide

- cut guide from bang to manep of neck from front to back

4. Follow all guides as you take small sections from front to back

5. Check your work

6. Trim neckline and ears

Everyone brought their favorite cleaning supplies and tips. Thanks to our wonderful instructors for the great tips and inspiration to CLEAN UP our lives!