Archive for the ‘home’ Category
Monday, February 21st, 2011
You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
I don’t remember when I started saying this but probably around the time our kids were old enough to be picky about what food we were serving at the dinner table. And I certainly know I’m not alone in this expression. Raise your hand if those words have escaped your mouth.
It’s not just about food though.
Sometimes life just doesn’t feel fair. Sometimes we’re dealt stuff that makes us feel like complaining and bickering. The thing is — life is made up of this stuff. It’s unavoidable. And we either complain about it or we make the most of a tough situation. We can choose to think long & hard about what lessons we are to learn from the experience. And then we can be better for it. But we have to choose that. We have to choose to not “have a fit”.
This is part of cultivating a good life.
So here is the friendly yet bold reminder, in a printable JPG format … 3 colors to choose from in various sizes. Just head over to the Free Stuff page to download whatever you want.
Put this in your kitchen area to remind your kids to not be picky. Have it on your desk as a reminder to keep on keepin’ on, even when you’re not loving the next item on your to-do list. Wherever you use the print, may it be a simple reminder to keep your chin up, try new things, and have a positive attitude about it all.
…..
By the way, have you noticed the color change on my website? If not, refresh. Valentines is over so the red went buh-bye and we’re moving on to a fresh coat of paint around here.
Tags: free stuff
Posted in family & children, home, style & design | 60 Comments »
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
Yesterday: Sick day for the kiddos. Two of our three tested positive for Strep the prior evening, so they started antibiotics immediately and we kept them away from the outside world so as to not continue spreading it.
The bad news: They missed school & friends & everything that happens on a typical Tuesday.
The good news: They hardly had noteworthy symptoms, so they really felt fine. Which meant … I got kind of a “free day” with all 3 kiddos. Yay us.
Welcome to my world: After sleeping in – serious yay — we had a little family council. (This is so me to do this. I get it from my parents.) Together, we came up with a list of what we hoped to accomplish in the day since no one was laying around “being” sick. I reminded the kids that each day when they go to school I have a checklist of things I hope to get done. Every. Single. Day. — that is my life. It’s how I stay focused, stay on track, and get so much done. They were on-board. As long as there was fun.
The first item checked? Climbing a tree, of course. By the end of the day, the only thing we didn’t check off was practicing piano & picking up the backyard. There’s always tomorrow.
So our day was really productive — a nice balance of work + fun. Just as it should be.
…..
The reason I share this? All day long a thought kept coming to my mind over and over and over. It’s something that one of my college professors shared some 15 year ago and I’ll never forget it.
“The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.”
It was one of my Family Science classes and she encouraged us to say it over & over so we wouldn’t forget it.
The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.
The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.
The purpose of the task is to strengthen the relationship.
Okay, you get the idea. You see — when you think deeply about what this means, it completely changes the way you view every little activity you engage in with a loved one. Going on a date with your spouse, playing a game with your child, talking on the phone with your sister … these are obviously relationship-strengthening things. But think about the little, everyday, mundane stuff.
Think about working on homework with your child. Yes, the purpose is to help her excel. But the purpose is also to strengthen your relationship with her. And when you think about that, well … you become more patient, more encouraging, more engaging, more interested in making this a happy memory for her.
Think about making dinner with your husband. Yes, the purpose is to put food on the table for your family. But when you consider that another important purpose is to strengthen your relationship with him, you find yourself feeling kinder, more apt to ask him about his day and listen intently while preparing food together.
Think about paying bills.
Okay, never mind. But seriously — This line really does affect the way you feel about a task and how you feel about the person you’re doing it with.
Checklists are fantastic. Relationships are more important.
…
***SPECIAL ADDITION***
I created a 4×6 print with this line in the next post HERE.
Posted in family & children, home | 62 Comments »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Hi. How are those resolutions coming?
Or … should we not talk about it? : )
One common goal for many of us at the start of a New Year is of course, better health. Betting eating habits. Less sugar. More exercise. Less take-out. More water. Something along those lines … right?
One thing that has helped our family in the past is e-Mealz. I’ve talked about it here before. Many of you heard of it long before I ever did and some of you are already using the service. I’m bringing it up again now for two reasons:
1. Because in our little family, we’ve totally gotten off-track lately with consistently homemade dinners. Holidays, wacky schedules, stress, feeling slammed with so much to do. Excuses, excuses, excuses. We’re so ready to get back on-track.
2. There is an e-Mealz promotion going on right now that will knock off $2.50 from the already-cheap subscription price. Click HERE to learn more and if you sign up, enter ORGANIZE. This code expires January 31, 2011.
We’re so getting back on e-Mealz. If you’re not familiar with how it works, you’ll learn all about it on their site. For me (and anyone else who uses it), it helps in several areas – budget, weight management, simplifying, and organization.
I know you guys well enough to know you’re going to ask me for this recipe. It was an e-Mealz recipe we made this past Fall but I’m afraid I don’t remember which one, sorry. It involved stir-frying rotisserie chicken and zucchini and red peppers in a little olive oil and we added pine nuts. That’s all I remember. It was delicious.
I also know you’re going to ask me if the kids like the food. Mostly, yes. Our kids are picky eaters like most kids. Yes, they say “ewww” and “ugh!” more than once a week when they see a pile of vegetables on their plate. We’re over it. As we say over and over and over again – You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
Here’s to more consistently homemade meals. Here’s to sitting around the table each night as a family. Here’s to better health and stronger family ties. Wishing each of you the very best with whatever your goals and resolutions may be.
Tags: e-Mealz
Posted in food, home, organization | 40 Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
{ refresh }
I’m going to ask you to do something: Please click on your refresh button. We made some changes to the website, namely the red background. If you’re not seeing red, you need to refresh. See it now?
{ why the red? }
Today we are exactly one month away from Valentines Day. So I thought it’d be fun to splash the color of love on the website to give us all that constant reminder of … well, LOVE. (This is not a permanent change.)
{ love }
Love isn’t just about being in a relationship. It’s not just about having a boyfriend or girlfriend or even being married (although that’s certainly significant and wonderful. In fact, marriage, as we know, often leads to children and I believe FAMILY is most definitely central in God’s Plan of Happiness.)
Love is about even more than that though. Love is what can heal. Love is what can lift another. Through love, burdens are lifted, hearts are mended, and a crummy day becomes blessed. And it doesn’t always mean a close friend or family member. Sometimes it’s a stranger. And you know what? They need love too. Do you realize that even a simple smile can change someone’s entire day?
{ love is a verb }
That’s what they say, right? Well because it’s true. A relationship takes effort. You don’t see a friendship blossom on accident. You don’t see a marriage make it through hard times because husband & wife are waiting for the other to make the first move.
This is a small invitation to each of us to be more proactive in being loving human beings. More patient in our driving. More willing to volunteer our time in service. More likely to following that prompting to phone a friend or write a note of kindness or stop everything you’re doing to read with your child. More effort in changing the subject when gossip flares up. More likely to express gratitude. Being quick to forgive. And more smiling. Definitely more smiling.
{ a visual reminder }
As a small token of my gratitude for you, dear reader, I’m sharing a couple “Love One Another” prints to use however you’d like. Let this visual be a daily reminder of what I hope we can all focus on this month … and always.
Head over to the Free Stuff page to snag your free print(s).
PS – Want a more tangible way to share love this Valentines season? If you missed it last February, this Post-it Love idea might get the wheels a-turnin’. (Unfortunately all the reader comments were erased in last year’s blog server transfer.)
Tags: frame, print, valentines
Posted in holidays & seasons, home | 62 Comments »
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
***NOTE: I have re-posted this with easier downloading this time.
—–
There is a very simple quote about home that I love. And so … I created a quick JPG in Photoshop, printed it, and put it in a 5×7 frame to sit next to a little arrangement that many of you voted on. (See? I promised the outcome would be based on your votes. So the greenery stays. At least for now.) ; )
If you would like this for your own home or to use as a housewarming gift or something … here you go. I’m including four color choices in two sizes each. They’re ready to save to your computer and print at your convenience. I printed mine at Costco, just as I would print any photograph. But if you have a good laser-jet printer at home, that would be fine too.
Click on the one(s) you want and then right-click on that full-size image and save to your computer.
Green 4×6 – click here.
Green 5×7 – click here.
Black 4×6 – click here.
Black 5×7 – click here.
Red 4×6 – click here.
Red 5×7 – click here.
Tan 4×6 – click here.
Tan 5×7 – click here.
Tags: home quote, jane austen, picture frame, quote display
Posted in home | 47 Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Happy September! In Arizona, we’re absolutely not seeing the temps drop yet, but we can sure celebrate Fall inside our home. We can and indeed … we are. (Hard to tell which is my favorite season, I know.) I’m going for fresh, clean, and light. Not so much the traditional darker tones that we typically see this time of year.
Note: I’m personally not into the gory, scary, icky, dark side of Halloween (at all). You won’t see any spiderwebs and bats hanging from my ceilings any time soon. I know. Call me un-fun, but it’s just not in me. Anyway, this decor will last through all of Fall, including Halloween and Thanksgiving.
John Broderick, personal friend & woodworker extraordinaire, made the lazy susan. That’s not seasonal. It’s there all the time, but I wanted to mention that since I keep getting questions about the lazy susan. More on John in this post about our pantry.
All the glass containers are from Michael’s (using a 40% off coupon) and Home Goods (usually great deals). These are terrific for switching things out each season or for special occasions. They’re great year-round. Ornaments in all colors are now available everywhere (seems to early, but that’s just how it is). I picked up the orange ones at Hobby Lobby and already had the green ones from Christmas decorating over the years.
Got those little green foam bead things at Hobby Lobby and these pretty, sugary little pumpkins at Pier One Imports.
Below: Found this giant green pumpkin at Home Goods and I had everything else from over the years. Notice the use of candlesticks here. Not for candles, but to elevate stuff. A fun technique that can be used for all sorts of decor, seasonal or not.
We always have a few pictures around the house from our childhood. I want our kids to remember that we were once kids too. Plus, I think we need the reminders ourselves sometimes. : )
Above: That sprig of green was not originally part of this pumpkin. More on this later. And that candlestick? It was blah & black and I gave it a little facelift with white spray paint. Of course. (If you missed it, click here and you’ll see a free download of spray-painting tips, down on the right side.)
Below: Candlesticks and pumpkins are Home Goods finds from this year. Love that place. I can already see how the candlesticks will look come Christmastime — giant ornaments on top. Or something like that. Fun.
This here is a niche in our kitchen that has these 2 TVs that always rotate through our pictures. This was David’s vision (he’s genius), which John carried out and built earlier this year. Naturally, the pictures are all Fall-related right now.
This wreath was one of my favorite Target bargains. I scored it on clearance last year. Or two years ago? Can’t remember. Doesn’t matter. It’s a fun splash of just the right colors.
Below: I think these black & white candlesticks are great year-round too. I think I picked those up at Hobby Lobby last year. I think they still carry them.
Tags: decorating, fall, halloween, kitchen
Posted in holidays & seasons, home, style & design | 77 Comments »
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
I am a grid-kind-of-girl. There is no denying that I prefer a perfectly aligned grid over any other arrangement of pictures, prints, and frames. Those of my readers who are familiar with my scrapbooking style and specifically my sketches over the years, know what I’m talking about. I think order is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
I don’t know how Martha does it, but I thought I’d share with you how we hang grids around here. “Oh Patient One” (a.k.a. David) has hung many, many frames with me over the years and I give him full credit for figuring this out during one of our grid-hanging projects. Maybe some of you have already implemented these tricks.
Here is our most recent grid collection. A little gathering of some family pictures (taken by the lovely Kara Layne last year). To help our 6 frames fill the wall more, we used leftover scraps from our kitchen wallpaper and John (our handy-dandy wood-workin’ magician) created the yellow frame, all of which are attached directly to the wall in our hallway. And because I know some will ask — the neutral grey paint on our walls is called Castle Path by Behr brand at Home Depot.
To talk about any kind of picture-hanging, I have to first share with you that these picture hanging strips are the only way we hang pictures. No hammer & nails. No holes in the wall. No crooked lines. And no, they haven’t pulled paint off our walls. We are believers. Seriously. Check them out here or your local hardware store or Target or WalMart or home store … and note they come in a variety of sizes.
At the beginning of the grid-hanging project, we adhere a velcro tab set to each side of each frame. No measuring or figuring out if they line up or whatever. Just wipe the surface clean and stick the tabs on. Leave the paper on the exposed sticky side until you’re ready to stick the frame to the wall.
Here’s the secret (these secrets are meant to share, of course): A level is good for more than just leveling. It’s also great for creating perfectly even and straight spaces between each picture instead of measuring how far apart each picture should be from the next.
So you start by figuring out your measurements for your specific space and figure out where that first picture (choose a corner) is going to be. Peel the backing off the sticky velcro backs and using level on top as your guide, firmly place that first frame on the wall.
Then — place the level flush against the edge of that first frame. If you have another level or something long enough & straight, put that across the tops of the frames. Now you know exactly where to place your second frame without having to measure. Get it? Bingo! You would do this for each picture across and up and down. The lines are perfect. The spaces are perfect. Yay!
And if you’re curious about this velcro concept, here’s what you’d see if you lean up against the wall next to a picture frame. You so can’t tell looking at it normally. Did I mention we’re velcro fans for hanging picture frames?
Added note: If you happen to be in Arizona and happen to need any woodwork done and happen to have missed when I shared his info before here, our friend John Broderick rocks. He has done several wood-based projects for us and we highly recommend him. bbfurn@juno.com | 623.566.2232.
Tags: picture frames, velcro
Posted in DIY, home, products, style & design | 72 Comments »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
A little do-it-yourself home decor project to start off the week. (I’ll be announcing the Project Life winner later today.)
(I know someone’s going to ask about the yellow candlestick and that turquoise vase-pot-container-thing. Got both of them at Home Goods.)
This is what you need:
styrofoam ball (I used a larger size but you have options)
sturdy toothpicks
hot glue gun
small flowers or moss (more on that toward the end of the post)
mini fake fruit ( same or a variety). I picked up a couple of these little variety packages of mini fruit at Target, in the home decor section, but you can find mini fruit at your local craft store too.
So this is what you do to start: Poke a toothpick in the bottom of one of the little fruits:
Then you stick that anywhere on the styrofoam ball. Push it all the way down:
Repeat those first two steps with each little fruit, placing them side by side or clustered, so long as they’re touching one another. Nestle them as close as possible:
Keep adding fruit. Get some water and stay hydrated. : )
You will eventually have your entire ball covered in fruit. Adorableness:
Okay … notice all those gaps? There are a couple ways to fix this. 1) Cover your ball with crafting moss first so that you see that instead of styrofoam. Or 2) use very small flowers to fill the gaps. I picked up a couple bunches of these flowers. The yellow goes well and they’re little. Perfect.
Trim the little flowers so there is just a short stubby stem:
One by one, hot-glue those little flowers between the fruit, filling in all the gaps:
That’s it! Done. So easy. And there is even something therapeutic about covering a styrofoam ball with fruit or flowers. (I’ll be sharing a flower topiary soon.) Know what? This could be a really fun project to do … on your own, with your friends, with your kids …
And remember: Those big craft stores (Michael’s, JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, etc.) — they offer great coupons (like 40% an item) and have sales on florals and stuff ALL the time. There’s no reason to pay full price. Also keep in mind that the bigger your styrofoam ball, the more stuff (fruit, moss, flowers) you’ll have to have to cover it.
Tags: floral, fruit ball, home decor
Posted in DIY, home, style & design | 21 Comments »
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
***NOTE: I have re-posted this with easier downloading this time.
While visiting Tallinn, Estonia I became especially fond of the doors in that city. Each one seemed to be entirely different than the next. So much character. I found myself snapping pictures of a few of my favorite doors and then it became kind of a game. We would walk and discover and see and shop and walk and walk and walk … and when a door stood out to me, the camera went up to my face. As I was doing this, I saw in my mind’s eye the end result, which is this –
 I’m putting this in a frame in our home office because it reminds me of a wonderful experience, and it’s a fun collection of color and texture that inspires me.
I am reminded of something I’ve heard from home decorators and organizers: Surround yourself with things that you love or things that you use. That’s all you need. The rest is unnecessary.
In the unlikely event that one of my readers may want this print too, I’m including it here in a few sizes. Just right-click on the size you want & save the image to your computer. Then upload it to your favorite online print shop.
11×14 – click here.
8×10 – click here.
5×7 – click here.
Applying this concept to your own photography, can you find a collection of things on your next trip, in your town, or even in your home? I’d love to hear what you’ve done or what you plan to do.
Tags: color, doors, estonia, tallinn, texture
Posted in DIY, giving, home, photography, style & design, travel | 110 Comments »
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