Homemaking 101 ~ Week #1

I'm starting a new series...homemaking tips and over the years have acquired quite a few.  I thought I would start sharing these once a week.  I would LOVE to hear about any of your favorite tips and perhaps feature them in the following weeks.

My first tip is a real basic one and it came about because of my absolute dislike of ironing boards...they wobble, are cumbersome, take up room, don't have a very efficient use of space and in my small home dragging it out and setting it up is a hassle.  In the days when I sewed a lot I always had mine out  but nowadays I mostly use it just for touch up or for ironing smaller amounts of fabric.  I had tried using a small apartment ironing board...too small and wonky...hated it.  I tried using a towel....stupid...I couldn't get crisp creases or edges {why I thought that would be an option is beyond me}.  A few weeks ago I was looking over the Bed, Bath and Beyond ad and saw the Real Simple Roll-Up Ironing Pad.  I wanted it....I needed it....and I had a coupon. A few days later I found myself at the store, picked up the pad, went to the register with my coupon and have never looked back.  I came home and started ironing everything that didn't move.  It works for both smaller items and larger items.  I really like this product.  It is just what I was looking for.  I put it on my dining room table {it has little rubbery grippers on the underside that keep it in place on the table....no sliding around}, it rolls up and can be stowed in a small space {closet shelf},

it has some great little ironing tips on it {some of which I did not know!}

and it's convenient.

I like that when I have just a small amount of ironing to do I pull it out, roll it open, iron, roll it up and put it away.  I also like that because it is on my table I can move an ironed item to one side of the pad or off the pad altogether and move on without the item falling off my ironing surface.

I hope you found my first tip useful and remember that I would really love to hear any tips you would like to share!

homemaking hugs, mb

p.s. If you would like to make your own, I found this easy to follow tutorial {here}.