Archives at Zinester: The Dot Com Woman Holiday Special. The Dot Com Woman. Women, Fashion & Beauty

Label while you Un-Decorate After Christmas

The holidays are over and it's time to un-decorate and pack away your decorations. The best way to make your next Christmas more stress-free is to label away all boxes you are using for storage while you are taking out your decorations. That way, you will make sure that you find everything easily and conveniently after 11 months, i.e. for next Christmas. A little time spent in labeling this year will make things much easier next year!

If possible, assign one place for all Christmas items. For e.g. a shelf or a chest. Place all boxes in it so that you can find them in a single place next year. Label this chest separately and then, label individual boxes inside it. You never know just what you might need from inside it.

Some things which will need proper storage, handling and labeling are lights, ornaments, decorations, candles, wrapping paper, bows, gift tags, unused cards, paper snowflakes, holiday craft supplies etc.
You can group some items together. For e.g., all tree decorations, all centerpiece decorations, wrapping and craft supplies etc. can be grouped and put in single box. If they require more than one box, you can name them 'XYZ Decorations - 1' and so on. Store glass ornaments in their original containers or in a divided storage box. Wrap keepsake ornaments individually to preserve their shine and then store them in one box.

If keeping different items in one box, record the items on a separate sheet or on the box. For e.g. if you are placing all Wrapping material in one box, do write down wrapping paper, bows, strings, tape, gift tags etc. Sounds tedious, but will be well worth the effort.
If the boxes are plain, you can write on them directly. If they are printed, don't bother searching for proper colors and writing and re-writing. Use thick paper cards and glue them on the top. Use such a writing medium which will not fade away soon to keep the writing visible till next year.

After properly labeling the boxes, store them in a cool, dry and safe place and make your next Christmas stress-free!

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About the Author

Lata Tokhi is the Founder and Editor of Dot Com Women, a premier women's website and fast-growing online community, Celebrating Christmas, a resource for celebrating Christmas in style and I Love to Craft, a website for Craft Enthusiasts.. Visit her websites for lots of homemaking and business ideas, free downloads, free Ezines and message boards for women to network and share.

HOLIDAY LEFTOVER RECIPES

Cassoulet

Cassoulet is a delicious Christmas Recipe and a great way to utilize leftover cooked meat.

Ingredients:

500g haricot beans soaked overnight and rinsed
2 large onions sliced
4 tbsp fruity olive oil
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
700g mixed cooked meats such as goose turkey ham chicken and duck roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g french garlic sausage diced (buy the sausage from a delicatessen in one piece then dice it)
5 tbsp parsley freshly chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
450m1 well flavoured game chicken or vegetable stock
750g fresh wholewheat breadcrumbs
tossed green salad to serve

Bring the beans to the boil in a pan of fresh water then cover and cook them quickly for 10 minutes on the simmering plate.

Drain off any excess water leaving just sufficient to cover the beans then cook them covered on the floor of the simmering oven overnight.

Cook the onions in the olive oil in a large covered oven to hob casserole on the floor of the roasting oven for 10 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and cooked meat and season well.

Cover the casserole and cook for a further 10 minutes in the roasting oven.

Make a layer of the chopped garlic sausage over the cooked meats then scatter the parsley over and add the chopped tomatoes.

Drain the beans then spoon them into the casserole over the meats seasoning well.

Add just enough stock to reach about lcm below the level of the beans then bring the contents of the pan to the boil.

Cover and cook on the floor of the simmering oven for 3 hours or longer but do not allow the cassoulet to become dry.

Make a thick layer of the breadcrumbs over the top of the beans then bake the cassoulet in the roasting oven for 30 minutes until the bread crumbs are crisp. Serve with a tossed green salad.

Recipe Courtesy: http://www.celebrating-christmas.com
For more holiday leftover recipes visit http://www.celebrating-christmas.com/recipes

ELKE'S WEEKLY BEAUTY TIP

Pick up your blush by lightly tapping the blush with the tips of the bristles. If you are sweeping the brush across the color, you'll pick up about 10 x more color than you need, and you waste alot of product. Just tap the ends of the bristles about 2-3 times onto the color. Shake off any excess. You should barely be able to see the color on the brush. Don't worry, you do have enough on.

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'Elke's Weekly Beauty Tip' brought to you by E. Von Freudenberg, Editor of The Beauty Newsletter: http://www.beautynewsletter.gq.nu. For a free subscription, email BeautyNewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Ms. Von Freudenberg is also a top celebrity makeup artist whose work has been seen in Allure, W, Rolling Stone, Paper, Detour and many more. Von Freudenberg Ent. ?� All Rights Reserved.

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