Who decorates their mantel every month? I do! I love changing things up to represent a season or holiday. I wasn’t ready for red, white, and blue yet so I decided to decorate using a Seaside Mantel theme. I don’t live by the sea, I live in the desert but I could totally live on the coast. It’s my happy place. This mantel reminds me of the sea without being too obvious.
My teen daughter went from a large closet to an average size closet with our last move. Oh, the joys of moving to a smaller home. I’ve talked about portable storage solutions in the past and that is the key to this Organized Teen Closet. The first step was to get rid of the excess, or what we usually call clutter.
A couple years ago we were living in our forever house (or so I thought). I decided I wanted something special going up our stairs to represent out family so I started gathering finished and unfinished letters in different fonts, sizes, colors, and styles. The stairs were at the front of the house so they made quite a statement as you walked in the house. I loved seeing our Family Letter Wall all throughout the day. It was the hardest thing I had to take down when we moved.
I think my slow cooker might be my favorite appliance in the house. I really don’t know what I would do without it, especially during the Summer months. I try to cook in it at least once a week, sometimes as many as 3-4 times a week. So I’m going to start sharing some of my tried and true family recipes. I seem to always have chicken in the freezer so don’t be surprised if over half of them include chicken. Let’s start with this Slow Cooker California Chicken. I used all gluten free ingredients so that I would be able to eat it also.
The end of the school year always comes sneaking up on me. And since Teacher Appreciation Week is at the end of the school year that usually sneaks up on me too. How did I not know it was this week? In my defense it has been a crazy busy few months, but the teachers shouldn’t have to suffer because of that. If you’ve been caught off guard like me I have a quick and easy Teacher Appreciation Printable and Gift Card Idea for you. It took me 5 minutes to put it together after I went to the store and bought the gift cards, of course. It would also make a great end of year gift!
Most of us don’t have unlimited resources and space. Downsizing to a smaller home has made me more aware of my limited space. I used to have a whole basement for storage, now I have a small closet and a portion of the garage. The problem is there are things I still like to have that aren’t used often. I have tried to make pieces function in more ways than one, like this tub bucket for organizing and fun.
I love florals! I enjoy having flowers in every room of my home whether it be on cushions, prints, rugs, towels, furniture, or framed. Since I live with a male who doesn’t necessarily want to live with flowers floor to ceiling I try to tone it down a bit. Adding just a touch of flowers to every room gives me the feel I want without overpowering the room. So let’s talk about How to Decorate with Florals (without alienating everyone else in your house).
I love Mother’s Day! I’m a Mom so how could I not love it. My kids make the most adorable and thoughtful gifts, fix me breakfast, sometimes dessert, and usually let me sneak in a little nap. They even let me pick a movie for the family to watch, that’s a big deal.
I also love giving gifts to other women on Mother’s Day. I know so many wonderful women that I look up to and try to emulate, they make me a better mom by their example. My own mom is the best example of love I have, but I haven’t lived close to her most of my adult life. It made me realize that a lot of other women are in the same situation. Since I don’t have a lot of money to purchase gifts for all these amazing women in my life I decided to make some Mother’s Day printables to give them. Of course, there are phone calls and gifts from their loved ones but sometimes it’s also nice for someone close by to show their appreciation of what a great example they’ve been. In our church all the women attending get a small gift on Mother’s Day. I have always thought that was such a lovely tradition and so appreciated.
I hate wasting things but I don’t like things just hanging around either. I like to be able to recycle and find a purpose for them if possible. This DIY Pencil Holder is so simple but is exactly what I needed to hold my awesome branch pencils.
I don’t know how this happened but up until the age of 27 I had never heard of Blonde Brownies. Our young family had moved to Florida from Maryland and I had already lived in Indiana, Utah and California but not in one of those states did I ever taste a blonde brownie until living in Florida. Why were people hiding this delicious dessert from me? Luckily I met a friend who was willing to show me what I had been missing.
