{ "item_title" : "Homemaking with Babs", "item_author" : [" Barbara Costello "], "item_description" : "From the New York Times bestselling author of Every Day with Babs, comes Babs' life-tested advice and tricks for setting up, cleaning, and maintaining an organized, happy, and healthy home. Everyone's favorite grandma is back with a comprehensive guide to caring for the home, whether you live in a house or apartment. Through their decades of experience as homeowners, Babs and her husband--aka Mr. Babs--have figured out the most efficient way to manage a home with ease. From daily routines to seasonal cleaning, organizing, and home maintenance, Babs shares her innovative methods and family traditions that make homemaking simple and enjoyable. Perfect for renters and homeowners alike, Homemaking with Babs also includes DIY solutions for natural cleaning and pest control, making it a valuable resource for anyone looking to create a peaceful and well-maintained home. With more than 150 full-color photographs, this book offers advice and tips covering:Clean in 15: Practical routines for morning and nighttime that you can do in no time, along with daily, weekly, and monthly reminders to keep the home running smoothly.Seasonal cleaning and organizing: Detailed checklists and tips for spring, summer, fall, and winter, including specific tasks for each area of the home.Home maintenance: Guidance on maintaining home systems, planning for repairs, and creating a home maintenance fund.Natural recipes: DIY recipes for natural cleaners, pest deterrents, and seasonal simmer pots to keep the home fresh and healthy.Get everyone involved: Tips for getting everyone in the household involved in homemaking tasks, from kids to adults.With more than 100 easy home hacks, practical tips, and seasonal checklists to help readers manage their homes with ease, Homemaking with Babs makes managing the home feel, well, manageable", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/59/379/792/0593797922_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "38.00", "online_price" : "38.00", "our_price" : "38.00", "club_price" : "38.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "38.00" } }

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Before Barbara Costello, known to her fans as Babs, became the advice-giving social media influencer she is today, she was a mother of four who founded her own preschool. That background explains why her gentle but clear approach to homemaking is so effective: She’s an expert in this field. In the first pages of Homemaking With Babs: Tips and Tricks for Making a House a Home, Costello shares what could be her life’s motto: “A good home is the foundation for a good life.” This book is organized by seasons; the section on spring is subtitled “Start Fresh,” and winter is “Decorate and Celebrate.” It’s a smart way to get as much out of Costello’s methods as possible. Recurring items like simmer pot recipes are amended to include seasonal scents like cinnamon and apples in the fall and lavender in the summer. The book is certainly aspirational: The photographs of her home projects may even get Martha Stewart salivating. But there are tons of thoughtful, practical ideas that I had never heard before, such as a cleaning tip that involves squeezing an entire container of Elmer’s glue directly into the car cupholder, and a tip about enclosing fragile Christmas tree ornaments in paper cups before putting them into storage bins. Homemaking With Babs is uncommonly well-researched, and there are sources cited throughout, such as a study that says kids who do chores are more likely to be successful later in life. This is a thorough and incredibly useful guide to homemaking that combines ease (“Clean in 15” is one of Costello’s mantras.) with careful attention to detail.