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About Shifrah Combiths
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This $10 Closet Organized Transformed My Garage Storage
Teachers have the most innovative storage and organizing solutions. I'm lucky enough to live next door to a retired fourth grade teacher, and I learn something from her every time we're together.
Shifrah Combiths
Apr 3, 2022
8 Spring Cleaning Tasks Kids Can Actually Help Out With
Spring cleaning is hard enough without also having to scoot kids out of the way! Here, some little chores they can do with you (without creating a bigger mess).
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 26, 2022
We Tried 5 Stainless Steel Cleaning Methods and the Winner is Affordable and Ridiculously Effective
Can Bon Ami or dish soap do the trick? Let's find out.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 25, 2022
One Great Decluttering Tip I Learned From My Friend Who’s Always Moving
She said something so simple yet so wise that it will always stick with me.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 22, 2022
I’ve Been Using a Meat Subscription for 4 Months and Here’s How It’s Transformed My Meal Planning
Surprisingly, we eat less meat now.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 21, 2022
21 Little Tricks for Keeping Your Kitchen Clean
It's not all that hard. Promise.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 21, 2022
13 Things You Should Never Do with Your Dishwasher
Don't be so fast to automatically run the drying cycle!
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 15, 2022
This Crowd-Pleasing Chicken Tortilla Soup Is Made Mostly from Pantry Staples
You can throw it together in just twenty minutes — really!
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 3, 2022
5 Essential Things to Clean This Spring
Because your kitchen needs a little springtime TLC.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 2, 2022
Our Favorite Naan Pizzas Come Together Super Quickly — And Only Require 4 Ingredients
We love having formula meals like this one in our back pockets for busy nights!
Shifrah Combiths
Feb 18, 2022
The Genius Teacher’s Cleaning Hack That Makes Kids Actually Want to Help Pick Up
We call it the "Magic Trash" strategy — but it's more like a fresh game they can't get enough of.
Shifrah Combiths
Feb 6, 2022
The One Game My Active Kids Beg to Play (It’s Not a Board Game!)
I was NOT prepared for how much we'd all laugh while playing this.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 24, 2022
I Tried Smitten Kitchen’s Raised Waffles and They Are Our New Stand-by Breakfast Treat
A crisp exterior gives way to fluffy goodness for the best-ever waffles.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 16, 2022
My Number One Piece of Advice for Getting Kids Out the Door on Time in the Morning
It's the easiest game-changer we have ever found.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 11, 2022
The Winter Minestrone Soup That Tastes Like a Cuddle in a Bowl
The wholesome, savory flavors bring kids of all ages into the kitchen.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 7, 2022
The Easiest and Best Ways to Get Rid of These 5 Household Stains
From "art" on walls down to pesky food stains on carpets, we've got solutions to life's little messes.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 3, 2022
Two Simple Rules to Solve Your Holiday Decor Decluttering Woes
Rather than waiting until it's time to put it all back and bemoaning the amount of stuff you have that, once again, you didn't use, go through it now.
Shifrah Combiths
Dec 30, 2021
The 10 Most Important Things That You Need to Clean for the New Year
And some of these must-clean items are rather unexpected.
Shifrah Combiths
Dec 26, 2021
Here’s How to Remove Chocolate Stains from Fabric
The most important step starts with your utensil drawer.
Shifrah Combiths
Dec 22, 2021
6 Fast Tips for Getting Your Kitchen Back in Order After Thanksgiving
(Image credit: Esteban Cortez) Preparing for Thanksgiving is by no means a one-day affair. If you’re hosting, you’ve been getting your house and kitchen ready, and spent days making lists, shopping, and cooking. Once the feasting is over, the last thing you want to do is spend hours cleaning up—and you shouldn’t have to! Here’s our fail-proof, get-it-done method for getting your kitchen back in shape so you can relax.
Shifrah Combiths
Nov 24, 2021
A Last-Minute Thanksgiving Cleaning Checklist
On Kitchn: A Thanksgiving Dinner Outdoors (Image credit: Leela Cyd) Thanksgiving is almost upon us. And you’re hosting. If you started planning weeks ago, you’re in great shape to pick up and get to the real work of having guests and preparing a very special feast. If you’re only getting around to preparations now, don’t despair!
Shifrah Combiths
Nov 20, 2021
You Have Full Permission to Skip These 5 Annoying Cleaning Chores
You deserve a break!
Shifrah Combiths
Nov 18, 2021
14 of the Very Best (Most Practical!) Pantry Organizing Ideas
Achieve not the perfectly styled pantry of your Instagram feed, but a realistic one that serves you well, no matter its size, shape, or the kinds of containers you use.
Shifrah Combiths
Nov 3, 2021
13 Little Cleaning Tips Every Parent Should Know
The never-ending cleaning cycle just got a little easier with these game-changing tips!
Shifrah Combiths
Oct 26, 2021
8 Kids Rooms Using IKEA’s Trofast as Genius Storage
Smart customizable options to solve a range of organization conundrums.
Shifrah Combiths
Oct 11, 2021
The Easy Method for Getting Your Whole Home Clean, Without Really Trying
It'll be easy! Promise!
Shifrah Combiths
Sep 23, 2021
This “Magic Basket” Solves Two Small But Common Family Life Problems
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Join us over on Instagram for more! I have a clutter-busting, kid-resetting secret weapon. It’s called the Magic Basket and it lives in our game closet. Family life is messy. Figuratively, but also literally. Having so many people inhabiting one space means that things get left out all over the house.
Shifrah Combiths
Jul 30, 2021
This Award-Winning Writer’s Tiny Nature-Themed Nursery Tells So Many Stories
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Names: Jacqueline Mellow, husband Christopher, and Baby MellowLocation: Denver, COSize of home: 1,700 square feetEven before she became a mother, Jacqueline Mellow was a storyteller. An award-winning author of several books written under the pen name E.J.
Shifrah Combiths
Jun 16, 2021
The Best (Free!) Way to Store Your Kids’ Art
It’s difficult to imagine, in advance, the sheer enormousness of actual, physical things that kids come with: the clothes, the shoes, the sports equipment; the books, the games, and the toys. And then there’s the paper. No one prepares you for how long and never-ending the paper trail is. It starts before they’re even born, with doctors’ records, books, and all those special baby shower cards. And the deluge never stops.
Shifrah Combiths
May 3, 2021
The Three-Ingredient Meal My Kids Beg For
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. Whenever I ask my kids if they have any dinner requests before I make our weekly menu, at least one of them will shout for “pesto pasta!” It’s one of those family recipes that has become a household staple, the kind of dish that I imagine they’ll always remember from their childhood.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 17, 2021
One Simple Hack to Gamify Kids’ Chores
This piece was created for Cubby, our weekly newsletter for families at home. Want more? Sign up here for a weekly splash of fun and good ideas for families with kids. One of the most utterly soul-sucking requirements of being a parent for me is having to repeat myself over and over and over again.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 10, 2021
Packing Lunches Is The One Ritual I’ll Never Get Rid of — No Matter Where School Is
At the beginning of the pandemic, my children’s spring break turned into a two-week hiatus and then an experiment in distance learning with a timeline that kept getting extended. I found comfort in the extra time with my children and doing things together like puzzles and making pasta from scratch. Enjoying these moments anchored me in a sea of uncertainty. I also found relief in not having to do certain things anymore, like the morning stress shuffle.
Shifrah Combiths
Mar 3, 2021
The “Power 10” Method Gets Everyone in the House Inspired to Help Clean Up
You know how in that post-holiday, pre-New Year’s limbo zone your house becomes kind of a mess because everyone is home, all day long, for days? It’s been like that around our house for two and a half months and it’s probably similar in yours. With school, pre-school, and every single out-of-the-house activity on hold, each and every mess made by my curious and vivacious kids and always-home husband happens right under the roof of our perpetually full house.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 19, 2021
The Little $9 Amazon Find That Lowered My End-of-Day Stress
My current life does not cater to my natural HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) tendencies. I’m a mother of five, three of whom are active little boys, and our house is … boisterous. (Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.) I’m learning to listen to the sound of sibling scuffles and middle children clamoring to be heard, and doors slamming as kids go outside to rollerblade and then back inside for an urgently needed snack as the soundtrack of the “good old days.
Shifrah Combiths
Jan 19, 2021
The Best Ways to Clean Slime from Your Carpet, Sofa, Clothes, and More
To this day, my mother has a mark on her ceiling from when my younger sister threw a glob of slime on the ceiling and it stuck for a while. I guess the oils or whatever was in that abominable stuff seeped into the paint as the slime slowly dripped and squelched away from the ceiling and fell onto the carpet where, thank goodness, it didn’t stick.
Shifrah Combiths
Dec 17, 2020
I Do 1,800 Tuck-Ins a Year. Here’s What I Can Tell You About Bedtime Routines
I did the math. Tucking my five kids into bed every night means I do almost two thousand tuck-ins a year. As much as it’s my joy and pleasure to do them, I’m not always Patient Happy Mommy by the time it comes time to switch off the light and leave the room. Sometimes all it takes is an “I’m thirsty” while I’m kissing a forehead for Growly Mom to come onstage. And I know I’m not alone.
Shifrah Combiths
Nov 24, 2020
The One Question I Ask Myself When Decluttering My Kids’ Books
A child’s relationship to books is one of the biggest predictors of their success down the road, and exposure to all types of print has a lot to do with early reading ability. So hang on to your well-worn “Calvin & Hobbes” treasuries, go ahead and subscribe to Highlights, and definitely send a book-loving message by keeping a fairly robust library, if that’s your thing.
Shifrah Combiths
Oct 28, 2020
The Time-Saving Reason I Switched to These Smaller $8 Laundry Baskets
I enjoy simplifying and streamlining wherever I can, especially when it comes to routines and tasks at home. Usually this means downsizing supplies and tools and cutting down on decisions when possible. Simplifying almost always means less.But when it came to solving my laundry problem, it turns out that simplifying means having more of something, specifically more laundry baskets. First some background: We’re a family of seven.
Shifrah Combiths
Oct 21, 2020