Organizing Utensils, Silverware and Such...

In the heat of the moment, that missing vegetable peeler can create chaos in the kitchen. Where is it??? Depending on the amount of humans you have rummaging through your drawers, an occasional organizational clean up of silverware, utensils and kitchen tools is a good project to pursue.

The first step is to remove all your utensils, silverware and odd items (such as cheese graters, measuring cups, etc.) from all your drawers and crocks. You may want to wash the more neglected pieces. If you have a dishwasher, throw them all in!

Next, remove any utensil caddies and compartments. Wash those in hot, soapy water.

Wipe out the inside of all your drawers with a damp rag. If they are really yucky inside, you may want to place some pretty contact paper on them which could give an older area a fresher feeling.

Sort out all like-kind utensils and redistribute in proper places. Our kitchen didn't have a set of slim sliding drawers so my husband surprised me with this portable kitchen island. The size of the drawers are smaller so I had to be a bit creative with how we store our silverware.

There are many ways to organize. I do my smaller utensils by colors. I put the black grip ones on one side of the drawer and the silver ones on the other. This way I can sort through my items quicker than one huge mass of items would allow.

Discard any broken or abandoned parts. Now would also be the time to move those tongs that keep jamming up your drawers. Place a rubber band around them to keep them closed. If you have any bulky duplicates in the lot which are hindering space, put those in a plastic storage container in a closet. When one breaks, check your reserves before purchasing a new one.

If you store some of your utensils in a crock, make sure you include one of each of your favorite pieces. When I went through ours, I found I had two sets of some items and zero whisks. I also had to add in some spatulas that got misplaced along the way.

Our everyday cooking supplies are found in a basket-created drawer underneath our butcher block for easy access. Here is where I store our cheese grater, some measuring cups and spoons, garlic press, sieves, strainers, steamer, garnisher, etc. They are all awkward sizes so this drawer doesn't seem much cleaner but I know that I have washed the basket lining and removed excess items and bulk.

All of our baking supplies are gathered together for convenience in our "baking basket".  It's the place to store our extracts, cupcake tins, nut grinder, pastry dough kneader, cookie cutters, cheesecloth, more measuring cups and spoons, etc. Our other basic baking ingredients are stored like this.

Of course, as you fix one area, your journey often takes you into another! I ended up wiping out my plastic basket which stores my most used small appliances which are the coffee grinder, salad shooter and hand mixer. My drawers feel more orderly when these items are gathered together. How do you store yours?

Once everything is nice and clean, bring over the children and show them the new order of items in hopes that they can help to maintain it. I don't know about you, but there is great satisfaction for me in doing these types of organizational projects! Some things in life are beyond our control, but in our God-given world called "home", we have the power to be creative, change and improve (when we find the time…).

"...the mistress of the household, who ought to remember that cleanliness in the kitchen gives health and happiness to home, whilst economy will immeasurably assist in preserving them…" 

~ Isabella Beeton, The Book of Household Management

You may also be interested in our other (printable) organizational tools: "Good Steward" Record Binder, "Inspirational" Recipe Book, Pantry Labels, Laundry Room Labels, and/or a Baking Basics Jar Set. 

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Roses of Inspiration, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, From the Farm Blog Hop, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. 

"History of the World" Study: Part 4 ~ Practical Ideas

Robert Harris (1849 - 1919) The One-room School, Canoe Cove, P.E.I., 1880

Welcome to "Part 4" of our "History of the World" Timeline Notebook Study (Part 1 is shared here, Part 2 is here and Part 3 is here )… In this segment, we will discuss some practical ways to teach history in order using the concepts we already covered while incorporating most school subjects. We will also share some insight from Victorian era educator, Charlotte Mason who also supported chronological teaching of history.

For History/Language Arts:

• Read "living books" which take place in the time period you are studying. Children will absorb the most about a culture and learn about historical lifestyles when listening to wonderfully written stories. If you were only to do one thing for this study, then read, read and read more! 99% of our learning takes place by simply reading good literature (and it is so fun!)!

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” 

~ Rudyard Kipling

• Have children copy favorite sentences from the books you are reading, related literary works, Scripture or pertaining poetry (visit here for the value of copywork).
• Older students can write short essays and reports about the subject matter.
• When you come across challenging words, have your child write them and define them in a "vocabulary" or "spelling" page. At the end of the study, give an oral or written test on the meanings of the word or its spelling.

"Let a child have the meat he requires in his history readings, and in the literature which naturally gathers round this history, and imagination will bestir itself without any help of ours; the child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint." ~ Charlotte Mason

Geography:

• Print outline maps (maps that show the outline of areas without the identifying texts) of the locations you are studying and have children label the relevant countries,  important rivers, mountain ranges, oceans and/or famous historical routes.
• Read about the country where your studies take place and record interesting facts.
• Study the habitats of the areas you are studying and what kind of animals live there.
• Read about what kind of food was eaten and what kind of clothing was worn during the specific time and place.

The Young Artists by Harry Brooker

Art:

• Have your child illustrate a scene from the time period you are studying or anything else which relates to the subject. For example, when studying Ancient Egypt, they could include a drawing of a pyramid or a boating scene on the Nile river. A history with art set we like are the "Draw and Write Through History" series which is Creation based, chronological, while showing children how to draw history related subjects. 
• Share art that was famous at that time period, art that is depicted from that time period (such as famous paintings of Noah's ark when you are studying about the flood) or read about the famous artists of that particular time. 

"They love, too, to make illustrations. Children... were asked to make a picture of their favorite scene, and the results showed the extraordinary power of visualizing which the little people possess. Of course that which they visualize  or imagine clearly, they know; it is a life possession. The drawings of the children in question are psychologically interesting as showing what various and sometimes obscure points appeal to the mind of a child; and also, that children have the same intellectual pleasure as persons of cultivated mind in working out new hints and suggestions." ~ Charlotte Mason

Science:

• Science can taught in bite sized nuggets! For example, when studying about the Ice Age, read about all the interesting animals they found frozen. When studying about Jonah, draw a whale (or large fish), read a book about them and label the body parts. When studying about Rome, spend some time reading about volcanoes as you learn about the ruins of Pompeii.

The Youthful Duet by Harry Brooker

Music:

• Listen to music from the time period (when applicable) you are studying while working on your notebook projects (an internet search can provide you with period music for free).
• Include a short biography about any famous musician during your time period.
• The Old Testament is full of musical references, learn about these instruments when you study the ancient world and copy the Bible verses that correspond.

Bible:

• Biblical application is woven through world history! The first part of it takes place in the Scriptures! Read the accompanying stories in the Bible when learning about the specific time periods.
• Study biblical principles when appropriate. For instance, when you study the Egyptian tombs, discuss the fact that beleivers are supposed to store their treasures in heaven (and not on earth like the Pharaoh's believed) "where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." (Matthew 6:20)
• When choosing your literature, use books which emphasize a Christian worldview which will include biblical application naturally.
• Read about godly men and women in history and how their love for God gave them direction and purpose to accomplish what they did. Christian biographies are excellent resources for this study.

"Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age…" ~ Charlotte Mason

World History:

• Create a timeline for your homeschool. It can be on the wall of your school room or inside a binder such as the Book of the Centuries and record (by simply pasting down a relevant picture) all the major events in history as you learn about them.

"In order to give definiteness to what may soon become a pretty wide knowledge of history––mount a sheet of cartridge-paper and divide it into twenty columns, letting the first century of the Christian era come in the middle, and let each remaining column represent a century B.C. or A.D., as the case may be. Then let the child himself write, or print, as he is able, the names of the people he comes upon in due order, in their proper century. We need not trouble ourselves at present with more exact dates, but this simple table of the centuries will suggest a graphic panorama to the child's mind, and he will see events in their time-order." ~ Charlotte Mason 

World History for Younger Children/Positive Playtime:

• Remember that everything learned is usually applied in everyday play and makes for further education on the child's own time. For example, when studying pioneers, it is wonderful to provide dress up clothes from that time period (Example: coonskin hat for boys, prairie bonnet for girls…). This encourages further play for children and history takes on more meaning! All you need do is provide the tools and they will provide the imagination!

"Children have other ways of expressing the conceptions that fill them when they are duly fed. They play at history lessons, dress up, make tableaux, act scenes; or they have a stage, and their dolls act, while they paint the scenery and speak the speeches. There is no end to the modes of expression children find when there is anything in them to express. The mistake we make is to suppose that imagination is fed by nature, or that it works on the insipid diet of children's storybooks." ~ Charlotte Mason

The Scrapbook by Harry Brooker

Notebook Project:

• Lastly, make sure to include all this information in a "History of the World" Notebook (aside from the Book of the Centuries Timeline Notebook) so you have something to look back on and understand how history unfolded in front of your very own eyes! You will be creating your own "Encyclopedia of History" set for your family to cherish forever!

History of the World Notebook Study/Part 1 (Introduction)

History of the World Notebook Study/Part 2 (Recommended Ages and Such)

History of the World Notebook Study/Part 3 (How to Conduct One)

History of the World Notebook Study/Part 4 (Practical Ideas)

History of the World Notebook Study/Part 5 (Preparation and Binder Printable)

Creation Study ~ History of the World (Study 1)

Noah's Ark & The World Wide Flood ~ History of the World (Study 2)

Uses for and How to Dry Lemon Peel ~ Citrus Series

"Lemons aren’t just for lemonade. The lemon peel is full of nutrition. It has vitamin C to help build the immune system and citrus bioflavonoid for healthier circulation. It has been used to aid digestion, helping ease colic, indigestion, upset stomach, and vomiting."

 ~ Bulk Herb Store

Drying lemon peels and zest is simple to do and can be a useful ingredient for the frugal homemaker! Grind up a portion of your dried peels and use in recipes that call for lemon peel granules. There are many other resourceful ideas we are sharing below… but first, here is how we dry them.

Directions for Drying Peels and Zest

Make sure your lemons are "clean". (Our neighbors haven't sprayed their trees so we are thankful for the organic source.) Place pieces of citrus peel on a cookie sheet and let sit for 3 - 6 days (depending on the humidity) in a warm, dry area (we did ours by the wood stove). Stir every few days until it is dry. Keep in mind that the smaller the pieces, the quicker they dry. The zest (shown above) will take half the time to make since it is thinner.

Make Lemon Pepper

Combine equal parts of freshly ground pepper and dried lemon zest (or adjust ratio to your liking). Grind ingredients together in a coffee grinder. Store this seasoning in an airtight container and use within a month for the fullest flavor. This would be tasty on chicken or fish!

photo source

Add to Potpourri

The lemon peel also adds a splash of color and scent to your potpourri basket! Be creative with your cuts when you know that potpourri is being prepared. You can also dry lemon slices in a dehydrator or your oven for a fancier look.

Make Your Own "Tazo" Style Tea

With it's lovely aroma and medicinal properties, dried lemon zest/peel is a wonderful addition to your cup of tea. It is also enjoyable to create your own blends. Think "Tazo" style tea! Mix together some of your favorite loose tea with some dried lemon peel and you have a wonderful gift when presented in an attractive container.

For a relaxing blend (which will also sooth the nerves and stomach), mix chamomile, lemon peel and lavender flowers. For an energy boost, brew loose green tea with lemon peel (my afternoon favorite).

"Lemon or Orange Peel for Tea Caddy—

Thoroughly dry the peel from an orange or a lemon, and place it in the tea caddy. 

This will greatly improve the flavor of the tea."

~ Fowler's Household Helps by A.L. Fowler, 1916

If you enjoyed this project, we share 100+ more ideas on how to use up fruit scraps in our Ebook here! Happy kitchen-crafting, ladies!

All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, The Homesteader Hop, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, and Shabbilicious Friday. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them).

Doth $afely Trust in Her? ~ A True Story

It all started 15 years ago when her clock broke. Being the new daughter-in-law in the family, I jumped at the chance to bond with my mother-in-law. I quickly informed her that we now have an excuse to go shopping! She looked up and said softly, “Oh, I’m just going to purchase a clock kit and repair it”.

A clock kit? Repair it? Did they make such antiquity and where would you find such things?

I proceeded to casually glance at the subject matter. Definitely not an heirloom or anything else of special interest, it was simply a basic kitchen clock. This was all very interesting…

A few months pass, the clock is fixed for a fraction of the price and now her microwave tray has been broken during a routine cleaning. Once again (the slow learner that I was), I offer my shopping services (for as a newlywed with no children, I was always on call)! However, when I saw her bring out the measuring tape I knew something weird was happening again…

You see, we were on our way to the flea market that weekend in search of treasures and she thought she may find a replacement there. I suppressed a smile and proceeded to think, we would be heading over to Target once the day was done to purchase her a new microwave. But alas, the joke was on me as I witnessed a woman selling cast off parts in a corner booth! Lo and behold, there was the 15 inch, circular glass microwave tray there, and for fifty cents!

These were my first introductions into “real” thriftiness. Young and presumably economical (I clipped coupons…), I still had a lot to learn!

I began to realize that what was happening, was beyond budgeting. I saw that she loved her husband deeply and appreciated his hard work. She understood the difference between “cheap”, good value and quality. Her husband knew that when she walked out of the door, she would be a blessing to their household. He had complete confidence in her management of the family income. There were no arguments about money for they were on the same team!

I hope these incidents will encourage you to be creative when a need presents itself in your home. I realize that many of us do not have the time to go hunting down parts but online shopping such as EBAY and Amazon provide us with quick access to many goods. You will be surprised at what you can do if you put your mind to it.

Consider it a homemaking challenge!

We are always so quick to “replace” in this modern society when there are other useful “r” words such as “repair”, “resourceful”, “reuse”, “recycle” and “repurpose”. This way of living will yield many “rewards”…

“The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,
so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”
~ Proverbs 31:11-12

"...he confides to her the care of his household. He knows that she is true to all his interests – that she is prudent and wise, neither wasteful nor extravagant. It is one of the essential things in a true wife that her husband shall be able to leave in her hands the management of all domestic affairs, and know that they are safe."

~ Excerpt from The Family by J.R. Miller

What thrifty things have you done in your household? I would love to hear them!