Ask The Helpful Housewife

Christmas in June! Presents for you!

Do any of you remember "Club House"? Ah, there's a blast from the past! Anyway, I found a couple extra packets of the very first edition tucked away that I had no idea I still had!!!!  (Talk about buried treasure...) If you would like to get your hands on it as a gift from me to you, please leave a comment here.  I will go down the list until I run out of packets, so you are taking your chances that I have enough!  So don't wait too long to leave a note here.  I'll post the results when I know them - hopefully soon!

Dishtowel Swap Update

Hi everyone!  It has come to my attention that quite a few of you have not received your dishtowels from your swap partner.  I know of one instance where this is completely excusable due to sad family events, and the partners involved are aware and it's no problem!  HOWEVER, there are quite a few who have not communicated at all with their partners, or even to me when we've tried to find out if they are still participating or not.  Please girls, I beg of you, please hold up your end of the bargain!  It's not fair to those who have been sending out their packages to not receive one themselves... 

If you have not received your package, please do drop me a line and let me know.  If you are one who has not sent out your package and is not intending to, let me know that as well.  This way I can find someone else to take your place if possible....   If you just haven't sent it because it has slipped your mind, then this is just a gentle reminder to get yourself to the post office!  Thanks girls!

Dishtowel Mania!

Oh My Goodness!  Just look at what was in my mailbox today from Holly:

Look at all the lovely dishtowels!  Holly, you were only supposed to send two for this swap, but thank you very Very VERY MUCH!  The two on the bottom are a lovely pale green color with embroidered tea cups along the bottom.  The top three are all vintage dishtowels and are GORGEOUS!  I love them!  Especially the print on this one:

Isn't it fun!  Holly, you completely had my number with all of it.  The recipe cards are cute as can, and the recipe for the Ham & Potato Casserole sounds sooooooooooo yummy.  I'm going to be making it this weekend.  While it's in the oven, I'll be writing out my dessert recipe on the other card to mail out to a mystery recipient. Thank you so much for everything!

Is Anyone Hanging A Fresh New Tea Towel?

Just checking in to see if anyone has been receiving their dishtowel swap packages yet!    Melanie, if you are reading this, you should be receiving yours any minute now.  It was sent via Global Priority so it wouldn't take forever to get there!  :)

Hopefully I'll have a few minutes to post a proper little writing here on the blog, but I've been busy getting ready for the next go-round of HK101, the launch of a physical store here in town, the farmer's market, and the usual business of running this household.  Please forgive me, and I promise I will return soon!  For those of you signed up for HK101, I have received your enrollments, and just haven't yet emailed out the confirmations and lists for you yet...  it will get done this week however, as the registration period will be ending. 

In the meantime, go make a cup of tea/coffee/cherry cordial and put your feet up.  It's summer vacation for housekeepers, too, you know!  I want everyone to promise that one day this week they will do absolutely no housework, no laundry, no cooking, and just RELAX!   I'm going to do that on Wednesday.  That's just my day I'm choosing, pick whichever one you really want to have for a day off.  But promise me you'll do it! 

Happy Dusting!

The Helpful Housewife

"Household Management"

OK, some administrative-managerial-secretarial-whatever-you-want-to-call-them items are on deck this morning.

First of all, I did email the partner list for the dishtowel swap last night as promised.  Those of you who sent me emails saying you wanted to participate but didn't give me addresses were left off the list as I had no way for people to send you a package! Sorry!  But if we do another swap in the future, please sign up again...  the more the merrier!  We just need to know how to send you your swap package!  Those of you who did send all the info, I hope you are happy with your matchup.  This should be fun!  Let me know if I missed anything, or made any errors in the email...

Next, Housekeeping College will be starting up again.  On the 15th, I will post the registration link for HK 101.  I am not sure yet if there will be a HK 201 -- some bugs I need to work out.  Hopefully I will get them fixed in time to open up registration, but please don't count on it!  I promise you though, I am working hard on it...

And finally, many "Club House" issues have been mailed to subscribers!  Wow!  I am still amazed that anyone wanted to do this!  I hope you are all receiving them and that they are arriving in good condition.  ( I always worry about the postal system and things getting damaged...)  I'm already working on the  next one to be published around October 1st.  The tentative theme is "entertaining" or "being the perfect hostess".  I won't give away too many details, but this package will be bulging!  Lots of goodies, project instructions, and more....

OK, off to manage my own household now.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Happy Dusting,

The Helpful Housewife

Kitchen Towel Swap List

Hi Everyone!  I'll get the list emailed tonight, probably around 10 pm est time, after all of the little ones are asleep and the house is put away for the night.  I would send it now, but I'm just waiting on a couple of addresses....  I promise to do it tonight though!  And if you haven't yet sent me your mailing address info, this is your last chance!  Anyone who hasn't sent it won't be able to participate as I have to close the sign ups so we can get started swapping!   Hint Hint.... 

REMINDER -- SWAP SIGN UP DEADLINE

Don't forget!  The last day to sign up for the dishtowel swap is July 10th!  Send me an email with your mailing address so that I can send out the partner list on July 11th!  So far quite a few have signed up, so it should be a great swap!

A Swap is in the Works...

If anyone is interested in doing a kitchen/tea towel swap, please leave a comment here or email me to let me know.  The swap would be as follows:

• 2 kitchen/tea towels in a retro or vintage style
• 1 recipe card with your favorite "casserole" or "jello mold" recipe on it
• 1 blank recipe card to have your swap partner fill in with a favorite dessert recipe and mail it along to anyone they want to (just to spread a little sweetness!).

All of it would be packaged up in pretty wrapping and sent off to your partner within two weeks of the swap partner assignments.   If you are interested, let me know by July 10th.  I will need your name, blog url (if you have one), and your mailing address.  On July 11th, I will email the list of swap partners and their addresses to those participating.  After you get your partner's name, I suggest visiting their blog to get an idea of what type of towel they might like for their kitchen decor.  Flowery vintage, abstractly retro, homey and country... you get the idea!  I hope you'll all join in!  We can always use an extra dish towel, especially a pretty one to hang out and cheer up the dinner preparations!