Preparing for Thanksgathering

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Hey Hey! My Husband is pretty much the BEST ever. You see, we moved from Louisiana (away from family) to West Virginia, almost exactly 14 years ago. Since then we’ve spent Thanksgiving a couple of different ways. In a restaurant (big bummer), with friends (always nice), but almost never with family. This tends to make me sad around the holidays and the above mentioned best husband EVER knows that. So this year, he has surprised me with a big gift. He is bringing family to me! My big brother and nephew will be flying in and spending Thanksgiving with us! Thus, I’m preparing for Thanksgathering.

For me that means several things. But creating a beautiful table for our delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and making sure the house is spick and span clean are right at the top of my list. We’ve had so many projects in our house happening at once that the cleaning has fallen a bit by the wayside. It happens, right? And the last thing you want is family judging you on a big holiday! (Not that mine would ever do that!)

I decided to use Glade® Apple Cinnamon 3.4oz candles that I bought from Home Depot to make these little place setting gifts. They serve two purposes. Obviously, your guests get to bring home a little treat with their Thanksgiving leftovers! Then, the tag lets them know where to sit at the feast table. You know you don’t want Uncle Jim and Uncle Bo sitting next to each other talking politics!!

These place settings are SUPER easy to make. They seriously take just a minute or so to make each one. I just stacked two sheets of tissue paper and trimmed them a little so they were square instead of rectangular. This just looks better at the end. Set your candle in the middle. Then pull each corner up above the candle, scrunch together then add a tag and ribbon. EASY PEASY! Your guests will love going home and lighting their candle for a nice calm evening after the festivities!

Now for the less fun, but still satisfying part of prepping for Thanksgathering; CLEANING. Because let me tell you, you don’t want any of your family members stumbling upon your 2lb. dust bunnies or getting a good whiff of your 12-year old son’s bathroom. Whew!! Ya gotta love family, right 😉 This is my favorite cast of cleaning characters from S.C. Johnson brand products:

Prepping for Thanksgathering – Cleaning Tips

1. Don’t try to accomplish it all in one day! I usually start about 2 weeks before the big Thanksgathering event so that I can spend a couple hours deep cleaning each room.
2. Use GREAT cleaning products – I mainly use the ones you see above. The Windex® Outdoor Cleaner is perfect for outdoor windows but also can be used on brick and outdoor furniture. I get all of mine from Home Depot in the cleaning aisle.
3. Save Money on cleaning supplies by purchasing multi-purpose cleaners, like the Pledge® 9.7oz Multisurface – Antibacterial spray cleaner. This can be used on sealed granite, metal, finished wood, glass and electronics. I especially like using it on our stainless steel kitchen appliances but then it also works great on finished wood. Antibacterial is great for our wood stair banisters so we aren’t transferring germs back and forth. 
4. Use products that work hard so YOU don’t have to. I don’t mind putting in a little elbow grease, but if I can use a cleaner that makes life easier I will do it every. single. time. No one likes cleaning bathrooms, but with Scrubbing Bubbles® Foaming Bleach Bathroom Cleaner the job is much easier and much faster. The bubbles cling 2.5X longer and it removes mold stains, mildew stains and soap scum so your perfect cousin isn’t judging you while she does her business 😉
5. Make It Smell Good. There’s nothing quite like walking into a house and having it smelling like HOME. Apple cinnamon in the fall is one of my absolute favorite scents. I like to light the same candles I made the place settings from about an hour before my guests arrive. Not only will your home smell great but the candle light is a nice welcoming touch. I also like to spray the bathrooms with Glade® Apple Cinnamon Automatic Room Spray 8oz It’s a pretty heavy scent so I leave it in the bathroom for other guests to use as well.

Happy Thanksgathering, Friends!!