Happy first of Friday of 2019! The kids went back to school on Wednesday, so it feels like it has been the slowest week ever. It is hard to believe that just this past Monday was New Year’s Eve! Anyway, just like last year, I am linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea. for Friday Favorites! I’ll recap our week, share a few new fun finds and favorites!
New Year’s Eve Family Activities
I hope you had a fun New Year’s Eve! Did you make it up until midnight? We were with friends and I’ll admit that I could barely keep my eyes open until the ball dropped. We had so much fun celebrating earlier in the evening. Each year, my friend and I try to plan a few surprises for the celebration. This year we had some festive new New Year’s Eve family activities!
First, we organized a little friendly competition with a Family Olympics. The two families battled it out for the trophy and I will say it got a LITTLE intense. But it is always good to reinforce some positive sportsmanship:) This year, our family won the trophy and I know it will be an even fiercer competition next year.
Also, I created a year end questionnaire for each person (including adults) to fill out. We are going to save all of these questionnaires in a New Year’s Eve binder. This binder will also include a write up of what we ate and what we did. Just a fun way to capture the memories of this family tradition.
I’ve created the file for you to download your own Year in Review Questionnaire!
Download the Year in Review Questionnaire
Also, we made up some New Year’s Eve Survival Kits for all of the kids. These kits occupied the kids while the grown ups to eat their own dinner. All the kids settled in and watch some movies! These kits were a HUGE hit and we will definitely be recreating them next year. We bought everything from the dollar store including the caddy that all of the goodies are in. I’ve saved these caddies in a box for next year, so we have one less thing to purchase!
Finally, we celebrated with these LED plastic wine glasses from Aldi! We filled the kids glasses with a mix of sparking water and cranberry juice.
Everyone had fun and we created a lot of memories. I have no idea what we will come up with new next year!
Decluttering Five Week Challenge
Now that the kids are back in school, it is time to get the house organized! Our dining room table is covered in Legos and other Christmas gifts, so it is time for every gift to find a permanent home.
On Monday, Keri, Brittany B. and Brittany W. and I are teaming up for the Five Week Clear the Clutter Challenge. Each week we will focus on different areas of the home. Our first challenge is kitchen/pantry/dining room.
I have already gotten started on our kitchen! It is often hard to find big blocks of time to declutter. So instead, I squeeze in little moments here and there to tackle a room. The other day, I used a few minutes while dinner was cooking to clean out a few cabinets.
These little bits of time can lead to a lot of progress! It is amazing what can be done in 15 minutes! 🙂
Next week, I will share the “after” cabinet pictures with you!
If you would like to join our challenge and receive exclusive tips and printables, sign up HERE! Also, be sure to join our Clear the Clutter Facebook page!!
Home Organization at Marshalls
Speaking of getting things organized, I stopped into Marshalls this week and found a lot of fabulous home organization pieces! My motto is always to use all the baskets, bins and other organization tools in your home first before shopping. The more bins and baskets you have around your home, the more “stuff” you end up having. But if you are in need of a few organization tools, Marshalls and Homegoods are always the places to go!!
I love this basket on wheels from Marshalls. It would be so cute to display in a kids room or a playroom. Perfect bin for storing stuffed animals and blankets!
I loved this Dry Erase Monthly Calendar with the pretty rustic frame! If I had the room for a wall calendar I would want something like this. When I looked for similar framed calendar options to share, they all came up much more expensive. So if you are wanting one, definitely check out Marshalls and Homegoods!!
These ottomans are pretty but also functional! The lids remove for storage! We have two storage ottomans and I love the functionality of them. The purple ottomans are so pretty although they do not provide storage. But they would be adorable in a little girl’s or tween’s room!
While a pillow has nothing to do with organization, this Peace one did come home with me! The color ties in perfectly with our family room decor.
Similar Peace Pillow Option HERE
I’m planning to keep our decor pretty simple …until Valentine’s rolls around. Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day??
**********************************************************************************
If your kids are still on break, good luck getting them back to school on Monday! The school mornings were tough for us this week but I’m hoping the weekend will allow us to get caught up on sleep. I hope you have a great weekend!
The New Years eve kits are SO fun, I’m going to write that down to remember for next year, thanks for sharing and happy Friday!
Love those LED glasses- adorable and Marshall’s always have the best organization items! We don’t really decorate for Valentine’s outside of some festive fresh flower arrangements- can’t wait to see what you come up with! Have a great weekend Jaclyn!
You had a fun time on New Year’s! I went to Home Goods yesterday for a magazine box (mine broke) and a mail sorter box!
I’m looking forward to you Clear the Clutter challenge again this year. I like the 5-week idea much better. You did such a great job last year I don’t have much to do this year, but there’s alway something to be cleaned out!
I’m so glad you are joining us again! You did a great job too! Be sure to follow us on Instagram and use #cleartheclutterchallenge2019 as we are giving away some prizes!
That looks like such an amazing New Year’s Eve party! We played games an all went to bed around 9… even earlier than usual!
Looks like a super fun New Years Eve! Love the printable – I will have to remember to use those next year.
What a fun NYE party. Somehow putting together things in a “kit” makes things much more interesting to kids. Great Marshall’s finds! I put our a few Valentines decorations at the beginning of February.