Maybe plans fell through and now you’re sitting with your head in your hands, praying for a Christmas miracle. If you just found out you’re in charge of this year’s Christmas feast—for whatever reason—don’t panic. Okay, panic a little! Is it out of your system? Good. Now it’s time to get down to business. Contrary to what you’re probably thinking, it is actually possible to pull off a delicious feast with limited time—it just takes a bit of foresight and a lot of patience. Follow these tips and throw a dinner party your loved ones will enjoy to the fullest this Yuletide season.
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Hi my name is Alice and I am glad to be guest posting here today! I am a blogger with the vision to do home decor for everyone. Say hello to me HERE
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Be Passionate
If you are not interested in decor and do not really care about what your bedroom looks like, this will show in the finished room. Do not worry if you have never decorated a room before, but do make sure that you have strong feelings and ideas about what you want the decor to portray. Do you like cool elegance or warm vibrant colors? Are you a neat-freak, needing smooth uncluttered surfaces or do you prefer a more lived-in room? Plan out your bedroom on paper and in your head, drumming up enthusiasm for the task ahead before putting any of it into action.
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Put In the Necessary Effort
Do not be tempted to race through the job as this can result in poorly applied wallpaper or streaked paint. Rather, think ahead to the finished decor and imagine it as you would like it to look then, rather than racing to get it all done too quickly. Take your time over the decor task, slowly purchasing all the products you will need before you start,
and then working your way slowly and steadily through all the tasks on your to-do list.
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Tweak Where Necessary
Once the job is done, look around with a critical eye and allow yourself some leeway to make changes to anything that does not look as you imagined it would. Flexibility is a key trait that we all need at some stage during our lives and learning to embrace it makes our lives very much easier. Having said that, do not continue to change and fiddle with the decor: try once or twice and then perhaps decide to accept that you may not ever achieve the exact effect that you are aiming for.
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Fantastic Furniture
Although costly furniture is not necessary, buying the best quality bedroom set that you can afford is the best policy. Better quality furniture will look good and last for a longer time than poorer quality pieces. Do shop around though and make sure you pay the lowest price for the best quality pieces.
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Beautiful Bedspreads
Choose your bedding with care and attention. Not only will you be forced into contact with the bedding every night but the bedding will go a long way to setting the whole tone of the bedroom. There is an immense of bedding fabrics, styles and patterns on the market today and some research should help you to find the perfect bedspread to complete
your chosen decor style. I have a strong thing for colorful bedspreads in Summers and Yorkshire Linen is a good option for getting them.
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Lovely Light
Good lighting is essential in any room. Poor lighting detracts from the decor as people are simply unable to see it clearly enough to appreciate it! Choose attractive light fittings and make sure that you put in relatively high wattage bulbs. Lamp & Light has fabulous glowing bedroom lights.
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The Whole Picture
Look at the room as a whole to see what is lacking and to pick out any jarring notes in the decor. It can be all too easy to want certain things in the bedroom, for perhaps sentimental reasons, but if these items (it could be a picture, statue or even an old chair) upset the smooth flow of the decor you may be better of keeping it in another room.
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Finish It Off
Make sure that you complete the entire bedroom. As mentioned above, you may need to work on your bedroom over time, but do give yourself a timetable for having the room completely finished. As a final touch, having checked the overall ambiance and feel of the room, make sure that there are no obtrusive spaces in the room, areas where there is something lacking. Fill these spaces with accessories, soft furnishings or even soft toys: whatever will please you!
Today I have a guest post from Studio One Contributor Caitlin Boyle. If you are interested in guest posting or other forms of advertising on my blog please visit my media page
HERE, and feel free to email me @ melissakaylene.gmail.comIdeas That Spark: Mom2Mom
Fall Crafts for Kids
By Caitlin Boyle for Ideas That Spark
Get the entire family in the seasonal spirit with these simple craft ideas for fall. Together, you’ll create beautiful decorations to display and treasure for many autumns to come.
Autumn Trees: For this project, you’ll need white construction paper, non-toxic finger paint in a variety of fall foliage colors, several paper plates, and a brown marker. Squirt one color of paint in the center of each paper plate. Use the brown marker to draw a tree trunk on the paper, and then add ‘leaves’ by dipping your hands in the paint and pressing them onto the paper.
Pumpkin Art: Paint stripes, stars, and swirls on pumpkins. After the paint dries, use a black permanent marker to color in a cheerful (or scary!) face, your child’s name, or the first initial of your family’s last name.
Acorn Art: Your children will love collecting fallen acorns! After gathering the nuts, you’ll want to de-bug and dry the acorns before using them in crafts. To clean the nuts, soak in water for an hour, spread out on a cookie sheet, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees (stirring once). Check the nuts regularly to ensure they don’t burn. Let cool completely. Hot-glue the acorns onto picture frames, wreaths, or baskets.
Pumpkin Plates: Paint six to eight paper plates orange. Depending upon your child’s age, you can either provide a variety of eyes, nose, and mouth shapes cut from black construction paper or they can design and cut their own. Once the paint dries, select and glue down the eyes, nose, and mouth shapes. String the plates together vertically to create a beautiful door decoration.
Pine Cones Décor: Like acorns, children love collecting pine cones, which can be placed in baskets or glass jars to decorate entryways, tables, and fireplaces. To de-bug and open pine cones, bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes; like acorns, be sure to regularly check the pine cones to ensure they don’t burn.
Scented Pomanders: Pomanders are
clove-studded fruits displayed in glass dishes or hung off mantels with pretty
ribbon. This decoration is not only fun to make; pomanders also release an
earthy, spicy scent. To make a pomander, use a wooden skewer to press whole
cloves into the skin of a citrus fruit (grapefruit or orange works best). Covering
the entire fruit with cloves keeps the pomander fresh for longer.
speaker and author of the book Healthy Tipping Point: A Powerful Program
for a Stronger, Happier You. She helps her husband run a holistic health clinic
in Charlotte, N.C.
Welcome! Today I have a guest post from Jennifer who is a contributor to shopathome.com. If you are interested in guest posting or holding a giveaway on Willamette Valley Wonder Woman make sure you check out my Media Kit. Currently, all who purchase sidebar advertising will also have an opportunity to guest post as well.
~Melissa
Score a hole in one with DIY golf cupcakes
By Jennifer Osieczanek, ShopAtHome.com
I don’t know about you, but when it comes time to celebrate my husband’s birthday, he’s not forthcoming with party ideas. Sure, he claims he doesn’t like the fuss – but we all know that’s not true.
So, when his b-day rolled around, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Knowing there’s nothing he loves more than golf, I found a way to incorporate the sport into our simple get-together with friends by making super cute (but in a manly way, of course) golf cupcakes. And also knowing there’s nothing I love more than a good deal, I was sure to find valuable coupons on supplies on the ShopAtHome.com grocery page, where you can virtually clip and print coupons on cake mix and more.
Grandmas home cooked meals
In this day and age it is hard to sit down as a family and eat together let
alone find time to make a home cooked meal.
When I got married my mother and sister came up with a wonderful idea to share
with me all the home cooked meals all of us had growing up. Shower guests were
asked to fill out a recipe card with their favorite home cooked meal and bring
it with them to the shower. This enabled me to start a recipe collection of my
very own home cooked meals.
I was given recipes from aunts with a side note that expressed that it was my
cousins or uncles favorite meal, my grandma’s famous sauce, my grandma’s famous
chicken and rice, my moms and sisters all-time favorites among many others.
to make quite a few recipes from my selection. One meal has stood out that
granted me much needed comfort one day. I needed something that would settle
nicely in my stomach but yet with a ton of flavor. (If you read THIS POST , it will
start to explain why I needed such a food). What else would one choose other
than one of Grandma’s or moms famous comfort food?!?!?!?
rice
broth (14.5 oz)
of Chicken (10 ¾ oz)
garlic powder
butter (optional!)
Breasts
enabled my hubby and I to sit down to a home cooked meal, a first time in a
long time.
will be giving away a set of 25 recipe cards to help you compile your
collection of home cooked meals.
Italian themed recipe cards or flower themed recipe cards: