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Some people (and those people are probably wise) make it a point to not eat in their living room. But, that’s just not the case in my busy house. So, yesterday as I walked into the living room with a hot plate of food, I noticed white heat marks on my table—telltale signs we’ve rested one too many hot plates on top! After a little research, I found some tips on removing those marks and it WORKED! All you do is place a clean, white cloth on top of the mark, turn your iron on the steam setting, and run it over the top. Voila! White marks gone.

What an easy way to make your house look clean and polished…and it took 10 minutes! As we get ever-closer to the holidays, I love little tips like this.  We’ll get our homes company-ready yet!

When do you start decorating for Christmas in your house? Early December? The weekend after Thanksgiving? I tend to start as soon as Thanksgiving has ended because I just love Christmas and all its vibrant, glittery decorations. In case you’re an early decorator too, I wanted to share two recipes/DIY ideas that you should absolutely do with the kids: homemade Christmas ornaments.



Here’s the recipe for those Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments:

Ingredients:

•    1/2 cup (4-oz) ground cinnamon
•    1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
•    1 Tbsp ground cloves
•    2 Tbsp white glue
•    3/4 cup applesauce
•    3/4 cup flour

In case you’re seeking a recipe a little less involved, you can’t go wrong with traditional Salt-Dough Ornaments:



Ingredients:

•    4 cups flour
•    1 cup salt
•    1-1/2 cups warm water

Directions:

1.    Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2.    Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and slowly stir in the water. Knead the mixture with your hands until you have a soft dough.
3.    Roll the dough out on a flat, floured surface until it’s 1/8” thick.
4.     Use holiday-shaped cookie cutters to make shapes. Use a straw to cut a small hole in the top of the ornament (so you can attach a ribbon for hanging).
5.    Place the ornaments on ungreased baking sheets and bake for an hour, or until hard.

Decorate those ornaments any way you wish…when Trevor and I made these, we used rubber stamps (before baking, obviously) to get his name as that pretty textured pattern you see in the photos. Then, after baking, we painted our ornaments and two coats was plenty. We let them dry overnight and then we cut some colorful string to size and looped it through the hole. Now we’re ready for the tree—which we still haven’t gotten just yet. But, at least we’re ready!

If you plan to give these to family and friends as gifts, put plenty of padding in the gift packaging. And, be sure to wrap these carefully after the holiday season ends.

Have fun with this! Don't forget to check the You're Home with Jill brand page on QVC.com for more recipes and DIY ideas. 

From my home to yours,
—Jill