How to Make Seed Bombs

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

seed bombs How to Make Seed Bombs

Gardening can be fun and exciting.  Personally, I’ve always been kind of jazzed by it, but my parents met at college – an Ag college.  And they’re both free spirits.  Sooo…my childhood experiences are kind of different than most peoples. 

While I think it’s exciting to know that the seeds that are sown are going to turn into tasty veggies, vivid flowers, and flavorful herbs and spices, some people need a little more instant gratification.  That’s where thesefun garden projects from Miracle Gro come in. 

[Read more...]

Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring

This post brought to you by Scotts Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

burgbad sanctuary garden bathroom 575 x 408 Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring

It’s Spring Time again!  Seriously, where does all this time go when it’s flying by so crazy-fast?  Anyway, Spring signifies a time of renewal and  a time of rebirth.  The trees are budding out, and, in my area at least, the Dogwoods and Magnolia trees are in full bloom.  I’m planning my vegetable garden.  Life is good.

[Read more...]

Introducing The Moen Kiran Faucet

This post brought to you by Moen, Incorporated. All opinions are 100% mine.

87599srsSET2 zps497d8a94 Introducing The Moen Kiran Faucet

Decorating your home is such a personal thing.  My personal aesthetic has long been Mid Century Modern.  I’m sure that a big part of that has to do with the fact that my mom loves all things vintage.  Well, not all things, but a large portion.  We’ve always lived in older homes and  had retro or vintage items in these homes. 

That has just stayed with me.  My first set of grown up furniture in my own home was a set of Danish Modern furniture from the 1960’s.  That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy some modern touches and amenities, though.  Oh no. 

[Read more...]

Closetmaid Closet Organizers Giveaway – US – $170

closetmaidshelf4 550 x 487 Closetmaid Closet Organizers Giveaway   US   $170

Did you get a chance to check out my post regarding the all new Closetmaid closet organizers?  If you answered yes, keep reading.  If you answered no?  Well, go look.  I'll wait. 

Anyway, these Closetmaid organizers are amazingly awesome!  They can be configured in so many ways, plus they're like real furniture.  Not those plastic drawers that you still have to find a place to stash. 

[Read more...]

Building an Art Collection on a Budget

buildanartcollection Building an Art Collection on a Budget

Herbert Vogel, who passed away last year at the age of 89, was a retired postal clerk from New York. To all intents, along with his librarian wife Dorothy, Herbert lived a normal life. However, together, they were one of the most fascinating and unassuming art collectors the world has ever known.

From the early sixties onwards, they brought together over 4,700 works of art, which they stored in their humble one-bedroom apartment. It was a passionate endeavour, one that they managed to enjoy on their modest incomes.

[Read more...]

Growing the Garden and Preserving the Harvest

growinggarden Growing the Garden and Preserving the Harvest

Alright, I’ve gone and done it now.  What’s “it” you ask?  I committed to a community garden!  I think it’s going to be a ton of fun. And super awesome.  Of course, the idea is still somewhat new, but we’ve always had gardens.  Unfortunately, in my current place, there is just absolutely no space to have any type of garden. 

So my  community garden plot is just a big ol’ rectangle of tilled up earth right now, but it has tons of potential!  I have visions of tomatoes and zucchini and radishes dancing in my head.  One of the other features that drew me to this group was the fact that they donate a portion of their harvest to the local food banks.  We all know how important it is to eat fresh produce, how expensive it can be, and how difficult produce can be to purchase.   

We’ll be doing posts about the garden, recipes, and gardening tips.  We’ll probably also do some preserving and canning tips and recipes.   If you have a related company or product  that you’d like to see featured in our Growing the Garden and Preserving the Harvest series, contact me!  You can use the contact form, or the direct email address on the press page. 

Getting Organized with ClosetMaid

closetmaidshelf2 555 x 740 Getting Organized with ClosetMaid

I am a bit of a messy person.  I may or may not have mentioned this before, I really can’t remember.  Anyway, my mess issues are three or four-fold.  I’m a bit of a packrat, you see.  I can’t bear to throw anything away, always believing that it’s going to be the perfect item I need for some project.  Well, that’s not totally true.  I throw lots of stuff away, but if I deem it has value, it has to stay FOREVER

I am always in the midst of a project – or ten – and I have half projects sitting all over.  I tend to do projects assembly line rather than one from start to finish.  Since it’s a beautiful day I might as well paint everything I ever thought about making all at once.  Or I might was well glue everything since I have it out. 

[Read more...]

Easy Ways to Deter Thieves

burglar2 542 x 600 Easy Ways to Deter Thieves

I live in what would be the equivalent of Mayberry, were Mayberry a mid-sized city.  There is no six degrees of separation, and everyone knows one another.  And if you don’t know them directly, you can be sure that you’re no more than two degrees of separation. 

As such, we have a super low crime rate.  Except for theft.  Theft is, like, off the charts.  At first blush, that looks really out of whack, but once you begin to dig deeper, you understand why.  This Mayberry-esque feel leads people to let their guard down. 

[Read more...]

The Perfect Easter Flowers – A Guide

tulips2 The Perfect Easter Flowers   A Guide

Easter is the perfect time to surprise a loved one with a beautiful bouquet, thanks to the fact that it heralds the arrival of spring and the wonderful flowers it brings with it. If you're thinking about doing just that, read our guide for some inspiration when it comes to the particular blooms you can choose at this time of year.

Tulips

Tulips might have a long association with the Netherlands, but they're also an incredibly popular flower for both growing and giving in the UK. One of the great things about tulips is the sheer number of varieties and colours you can choose from, meaning it should be easy to create the perfect bouquet incorporating the recipient's favourite shade, although yellow would be particularly good for Easter.

[Read more...]

Spring Cleaning with the BISSELL CleanView Vacuum

bissellcleanview Spring Cleaning with the BISSELL CleanView Vacuum

Spring is a time of renewal.  The winter cold fades away, the trees start leafing out, and before you know it, there’s flowers and baby animals everywhere you look.  Doesn’t your home deserve some of this rejuvenation?   I’m starting with spring cleaning and the BISSELL CleanView Vacuum

I thought that my current vacuum was doing a good job.  Sure, every once in a while I’d have to stop, untangle stuff, and then get back to work, but that was no biggie.  I probably shouldn’t have vacuumed over all that stringy stuff anyway.  But, it seemed to clean up the dirt and debris with no real issues. 

[Read more...]

How to Deal with Clutter

clutter3 How to Deal with Clutter

Clutter.  How does it happen?  It seem like one day, you’re perfectly fine, and the next thing you know, it feels like you’re being overtaken by all this stuff.  Where did it come from?  And more importantly, how do you get rid of it? Here are some easy ways to deal with the clutter that may be overtaking your home and your life.

Get rid of a few things every day.  I was reading an article that said if you got rid of 10 items every day, in a year, you’d get rid of 3650 items.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  And that sounds totally doable!  I think I could get rid of 10 items a day.  You could sell them, throw them away, donate them to charity, or anything you want!

[Read more...]

5 Tips for Swimming Pool Maintenance Safety

poolmaintenance 5 Tips for Swimming Pool Maintenance Safety

My husband Ed laughs when someone asks him if I’m detail oriented. I tend to be a spreadsheet type person – I like to do things in a regular order. It just makes life easier. Ed is the other way – he picks up after himself if he happens to think of it. So we work better if we set up a schedule for swimming pool maintenance. Here are 5 tips we have found helpful:

1) When the kids aren’t home. During swimming pool maintenance, Ed is handling chemicals that can be harmful before they’re diluted for use in the pool. They might contain up from twelve to ninety five percent chlorine. If the fumes from that are inhaled, or if some flies into the air, it could be a real danger. So we plan our maintenance schedule for a time when the kids are at soccer practice or some other activity. That way we do not have to watch out for the children while we’re trying to safely handle pool chemicals.

[Read more...]