Tips To Reduce Possible Water Damage

Winter is coming; prepare now for the spring thaw. Get tips on reducing the possibility of water damage to help protect your home and property.

Tips To Reduce Possible Water Damage

Help protect your home and property

As the cold of fall and winter settles in, most are consumed with the worry of snow. Why? Because spring happens. It’s inevitable. For most people who inhabit the frigid winter areas to the north, it is eagerly anticipated, with days marked off on a calendar and seedlings warming in a window. Every day there is still snow on the ground, they measure it, marking the thaw.

No matter where you live, however, spring thaw means rivers can overflow and flood. Even without a river overflowing, days of spring rains or even snow melting around the foundation of your home can cause flooding. That’s why autumn before the snow falls or winter rains begin, is the perfect time to protect your home and property from potential water damage.

From the Bottom Up

When cleaning your house, you probably start at the top and work your way down so when you clean your ceiling fan blades, you can vacuum any dust that falls. However, a house is built from the foundation up so the builder knows it will be on solid ground. When protecting your home from potential water damage, you want to make sure your foundation stays firm.

You may have already taken steps to direct rain gutters away from your foundation, but you can also take advantage of low spots on your property by creating a dry creek bed. This can direct water away from your house. You can also try a rain garden in the low spots, which uses native plants that love the occasionally soggy soil. You may even install an underground pipe that drains water buildup in a low spot even farther away. If water persistently builds up on your driveway and flows into your garage, consider re-paving with gravel or pavers that allow water to get into the ground below.

Sometimes, no matter how much you try to protect your foundation, spring thaw can still cause basements to flood. As soon as you can, turn off all electricity to the house before you step into standing water in the basement. Remove the water as quickly as you can to prevent mold and other bacteria from growing in the damp walls and floor. Items that have been waterlogged need to be dried out or disposed of, including baseboards, furniture or carpeting.

In Over Your Head

Before snow or ice prevents you from getting to your roof’s rain gutters, make sure they are cleared of any debris that would block melting snow from draining off, or cause ice to build up and lift shingles. Inspect the ceilings in all rooms of the house, especially inside closets where water stains may be hidden until the damage has become significant. Look for any discoloration in ceiling paint. Windows should also be inspected for water leaks which can run inside walls undetected and lead to mold growth.

Skylights, chimney flashing, and vents in the attic can also leak unnoticed until there is significant damage to a ceiling. Look for signs of moisture or rust around any ceiling vents, or vents that persistently drip water when it rains. Have your attic inspected periodically, especially along joists that may allow water to run from the actual leak to another part of the attic. Indications of water leaks in the attic can be dark stains on wood, mold or obvious water.

It’s important to remember that damage also doesn’t necessarily just exist inside your home. Have you been wondering why your garden doesn’t bloom each spring and summer? The flow of water in your yard could be impacting your plants negatively if they’re getting too much (or not enough) due to the slopes and dips of your yard.

Protecting your home and garden from potential water damage can be as simple as creative landscaping and routine inspections. Preventing mold from water damage is always much easier than removing mold after the fact.

Protect your home and garden from potential water damage. Get the tips! #WaterDamage #Home

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~Megan

Potted Plants keep your deck colorful during autumn and winter. #garden #gardening #PottedPlants

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Throwing An End-of-Summer Party

Give summer a last hurrah by throwing an end-of-summer party! Find great tips and ideas from our regular contributor, Megan Wild.

Tips for Throwing an End-of-Summer Party

Say Good-bye to Summer with a Festive Bash!

Summer is starting to wind down. It may seem like it’s only been here for about three days, but you can still squeeze a few small drops of summertime fun out of it! While Labor Day has already passed, we still have a few more weeks of reasonable temperature left, so get your friends together to go out with a bang!

Go With a Summery Theme

You don’t have to choose a theme, of course, but it does make the whole party feel a bit more cohesive. Tropical is a pretty clear choice, too, but you can always branch out some. Beach themes, rainbows, flowers or even something different, like fairies, can make for a really fun summer party.

Even if you don’t want to do an actual theme, try to pick a color scheme to stick to. It’ll wow guests without making too much extra work for the hostess (or host)!

Make Use of the Summer Produce

The end of summer is prime time for a few choice food options. Melons are always a big hit now, and tomatoes are ripe for the plucking. This is also the best time of year for things like zucchini and peaches. Try making dishes with these options, like Watermelon, Blueberry & Feta Salad, or perhaps some of these End-of-Summer Recipes. A seasonal produce guide can help you plan your menu for the summer party, especially since produce that’s in season will be cheaper!

Make Serving Simple

The key to simple self-serve is to space things out. Try and place things around so that people can pick and choose where they’d like to go. A table by the grill, one near the fire pit, drinks by a flower bed and a few appetizers close to the door or gate should do it. It keeps everyone from having to crowd around one area and gets the conversation flowing as everyone has a chance to talk.

You can even set up a kids’ area near some toys to keep the little ones entertained! If you plan to have lots of kids for a birthday party or some other family-friendly event, make eating fun, too! A big box of crayons and a tablecloth made of paper means little ones can spend their time playing instead of asking for the next activity.

Create the Right Atmosphere

There are really two aspects to creating a fun-going atmosphere: music and lighting. No matter what, you can’t go wrong with lanterns and string lights, or even this DIY Solar Lamp. When evening starts to set in, break out a few candles, and don’t be afraid to use the citronella ones! If you already have outdoor lighting, such as solar-powered garden lights, those should help add a dreamy atmosphere to your fun.

Of course, lighting isn’t everything. Music sets the mood before sunset, and even before you can see the festivities! Birthday parties should be fun, with dance music for adults or kids’ music to get little toes tapping. A swanky garden party will sound elegant from the driveway with classical instrumentals, and a laid-back barbecue will always be fun with a classic rock playlist.

Keep Bugs at Bay

No one likes to spend a party swatting away mosquitoes or fishing bugs out of their drinks. The end-of-summer always seems to be when the bugs get the most aggressive, as well, so do what you can to keep people bug-free. The most common idea is citronella candles, and they do work wonderfully. However, you can also offer other options.

Put out Bug Umbrellas, paper cupcake wraps to cover drinks, and try to incorporate some insect repelling herbs, like mint and rosemary, into the food. Insects don’t care for those smells, and it’ll help drive them away. Besides, there’s nothing as good as a honey-mint drizzle over fresh fruit salad! You can also check out these 35 Plants That Repel Mosquitoes.

Show off the Last of the Flowers

While autumn does bring some beautiful colors, nothing really beats the flowers from summer. Use this last shindig as an excuse to show off the last of the blooms around you.

If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of flowers still in the garden, plan to have some of the gathering spots around them. Place food and drinks near your late bloomers to draw people close to them. If your flowers aren’t nearby, then snip off some blooms and place them around. A few small, scattered arrangements add an air of whimsy without making the florals seem over-the-top–a perfect touch for your summer party.

Label It!

Many people don’t automatically announce a food allergy, especially if it’s not life-threatening. Others might be trying to stick to a specific diet. For those reasons, try to label things. It doesn’t have to be laborious, but some kind of simple system can be very helpful. A few different groups of things like “Vegetarian,” “Vegan” or “Allergen-Free” can save everyone an enormous headache, and keep them all safe. If that doesn’t fit with your setup, try a simple menu instead.

An end-of-summer bash is the perfect way to say goodbye to the warm weather. Remember to consider it from the guests’ point of view. The biggest factors are food, music and entertainment. Everything else is just gravy. So get outside and soak up the sun!

~Megan

Throw a bash and celebrate with an end-of-summer party! Get great #tips and ideas. #Summer #Party

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Homestead – Get Tips To Start Homesteading

Are you looking to start a homestead? Does a self-sufficient and sustainable lifestyle seem appealing to you? Then check out these tips on how to get started from our regular contributor, Megan Wild.

Tips on Starting a Homestead

Do you pass by quaint roadside stalls brimming with delectable fresh produce and wish you could live a peaceful, self-sufficient farm life? Do you already have a small vegetable or flower garden in your backyard because the idea of homegrown sustainability is one of your family’s goals? If so, you may be ready to start your own homestead!

Homesteading is a lifestyle that includes small-scale farming, animal husbandry, food preservation and textile or craft making. Don’t worry, you don’t have to dive right into all of those elements at once. It really is a lifestyle change that takes time and practice, but will ultimately result in the pride and satisfaction that you’re moving toward a life of self-reliance.

Here are some tips on how to transition into starting your own small homestead.

Get to Know Your Surroundings

Is your property able to support a homestead? You don’t need hundreds of acres, but you will need to do research to make sure you have enough sunlit space for your garden and a big enough pasture for any animals you wish to raise. It’s also extremely important to check with your local zoning board to ensure that everything will be up to code.

Get in touch with nature and learn what plants and natural structures surround your property. Are the local shrubs poisonous, or are they a natural medicine you can use at home? Is there a clean stream perfect for keeping cows watered as well as backup in case your well dries? What wild animals are native to your area, and are they a threat to your produce? These are just a few things to consider, and you will have to build your homesteading activities based on the land you have available.

Chickens and Goats and Cows, Oh My!

One of the biggest reasons people turn to homestead living is the growing concern over ethical animal treatment. By raising your own animals, you are in control over their happiness and the many uses they provide for you and your family.

Chickens are often the first animal homesteaders start with as they’re easy to maintain and don’t require large pastures. Not only do many people tout the taste of free-range eggs over commercial eggs, but studies show that free-range eggs are healthier for you overall. Watching chicks hatch, or looking for fresh eggs, are fun activities everyone in the family can participate in watching and doing. For chickens that no longer lay, you then have a cruelty-free source of poultry and feathers to be used whenever.

When it comes to meat and milk, cattle and goats are great for both. Just make sure you’re completely read up on the proper care and handling of any livestock you choose to own before you buy any. Once you have their pasture and housing situated, you can start going to auctions. Even if you don’t buy the first time, this is a great way to get a feel for what other experienced farmers do and the types of cattle you could buy. Don’t be afraid to speak to the sales manager at the auction, as they will help acquaint you with how things are run.

After your animals are settled in their new home, make sure you continue to look after their care. Get in touch with your local veterinarian before and after making any purchases. They can tell you what vaccinations are necessary and which warning signs you should watch for.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Growing a vegetable garden is not so different from a flower garden. With careful planning, you can have both to utilize throughout the growing season. Tomatoes, squashes, peppers and beans are all easy starter vegetables. You don’t have to sacrifice the beauty of a regular floral garden — consider switching to colorful herbs such as lavender or chamomile or even rose varieties that produce large hips, which are great for brewing in tea. Let your children participate in the digging and planting when you first get started. It’ll make hunting for hidden vegetable bounty under the leaves all that much more rewarding.

You want to make sure you benefit from your garden year round, so dry or can your produce properly when you’re not eating it fresh. This will help you cut back on wasted veggies that aren’t eaten in time when your crop really booms. You’ll also stock your shelves for the winter.

Attitude Is Everything

Finally — and most importantly — remember that it takes patience and an open mind to change into this new lifestyle. You may make mistakes, and you may fall on hard times. However, the benefits truly outweigh the costs when you earn your self-sufficiency.

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find homestead life to be extremely rewarding and you’ll thank yourself for all the hard work you put into it.

~Megan

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Making Your Home Homey

Turning a house into a home has to do with the atmosphere inside the home just as much as it has to do with the skill and thought you put into creating a cozy space. The good news is that it isn’t difficult at all — in fact, it’s fun and even joyful, especially if you’re in a home that you love. You can use your creativity and inventive choices to make your home a homey place, and the fantastic part is that it doesn’t have to cost a fortune because there’s so much you can do on your own.

Making Your Home Homey

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Start With a Personal Touch

Image via Flickr by AndyRobertsPhotos

The best way to create a homey space is to put pieces of yourself into it. What that means is that you need to imprint your personality on the home-improvement and decor choices you make. Do you paint? Decorate using pictures and portraits that you’ve painted. Do you love to refurbish old pieces of furniture, accent pieces, picture frames, and other such items? Use those pieces to furnish your spaces. If you’re a photographer, display your own photographs on walls and tables. This also gives you the freedom to decorate different rooms using different themes and color palettes.

Start With Your Outdoor Spaces

Image via Flickr by Timothy Tolle

In addition to improving your curb appeal, decorating your outdoor spaces takes your homey atmosphere outside, too. After all, there’s no reason to keep all your cute, cozy touches locked away indoors. You can create stunning garden spaces or focus on decorating your front porch. Imagine a porch with rocking chairs and tables, a flower garden in front decorated with lawn gnomes and fairy statues, and a front walkway lined with rocks, lanterns, or decorative bushes.

Keep Your Home Up to Date

Image via Flickr by peretzpup

Making a homey home involves more than simply decorating, however. If you want your home to feel inviting, you also need to keep it bright, clean, and airy — and that means keeping up on some specific aspects of home maintenance. Clean out your ducts, vents, and chimney regularly. Keep your curtains, drapes, and walls in good shape. It’s a good idea to have professionals check over essential areas, such as your roof and your plumbing. Similarly, get an HVAC professional in to check your heating and cooling systems, because lapsing on your inspections can cause problems down the line.

Splash Out With Paint

Image via Flickr by hannah balloo

Last but definitely not least, a fresh coat of paint works wonders. Take a look at the walls in your home now. Are the colors welcoming and inviting? Are they aging well? If not, it’s time for an update. Only you know which colors will work best in your home, but it’s a good rule of thumb to focus on a neutral base and introduce pops of color as accents. Don’t forget: you can easily paint ceilings and hardwood floors, as well.

In the end, if your home is full of love, welcoming, and beautifully put together, it’s a homey home. It just takes some elbow grease, a splash of creativity, a few knowledgeable professionals — and gnomes.

Make your home homey with atmosphere and cozy places! #Homey #Cozy #Lifestyle

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Sunflowers – How To Grow These Healthy Giants

We’re back in the garden with regular contributor, Megan Wild. You’re going to love these floral giants — sunflowers for your garden!

How to Grow Healthy Sunflowers

Add some wow factor to your garden!

One of the greatest joys of gardening is watching something you planted from a tiny seed grow and reach amazing heights – even towering over you. There’s no better way to get that wow factor in your garden than to plant sunflowers. Some varieties can reach 10 to even 16 feet high! To grow large, healthy sunflowers, though, it pays to follow a few best practices to give them the best chance to thrive.

Choose the Right Location

It should come as no surprise that sunflowers do best in a sunny location. They need at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day – the more the better. Sunflowers also need a soil that drains well, so planting them on a slope will often help keep their roots from becoming too waterlogged.

Another advantage of planting sunflowers on a slope is that picking the right plants can help reduce soil erosion and minimize flooding in other parts of your yard. Sunflowers have long taproots that anchor deeply and soak up a lot of excess water, which can help preserve the rest of your landscape.

Got a slippery slope? Plant Sunflowers! Learn more… #sunflowers #garden #gardening

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Plant in Mid-Spring for Best Results

Sunflowers aren’t frost-hardy, so it’s best to wait to plant until all danger of frost has passed in your area. Prepare your soil by adding a low-nitrogen fertilizer and lots of compost. Turn these into the soil with a spade to loosen the planting area and allow roots to flourish. Press sunflower seeds into the prepared soil to about an inch in depth, making sure to plant seeds in rows 6 inches apart. Cover seeds with soil and water well.

If garden pests like birds, chipmunks or squirrels disturb your seeds, cover your planting bed with bird netting or chicken wire to protect them. Water seeds daily until they sprout.

Support Your Sunflowers as They Grow

Once your sunflowers sprout, they don’t need much care unless you are experiencing a drought. An inch of rainfall per week is the right amount, but if you get less, water your sunflowers deeply once per week to make up for the deficit.

When your sunflowers reach a foot in height, it’s time to thin them. For a row of dwarf sunflowers, you should pull out the weaker seedlings and leave the strong plants at a spacing of about one per every foot. For giant sunflowers, thin to one every 30 inches or so. It’s important to create enough room for your sunflowers to reach their full potential, so don’t skip this important step – even if it seems sad to kill half of your seedlings.

Give #sunflowers some elbow room! Tips and tricks on growing sunflowers. #gardening #planting

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As your sunflowers bloom, they will need staking to keep them upright. Sometimes the seed heads get so heavy that the stems bend or break, so use strong bamboo stakes to hold them upright. Simply insert the stake into the ground a few inches from the stem and use garden twine to tie the stem to the stake every 6 inches or so. This will also help your sunflowers if you live in a windy area.

Protect Sunflowers From Predators

Sunflowers are tempting food sources for local garden critters, so you may need to protect them, especially if you are interested in harvesting the seeds for yourself. To do this, you can spray plants with a hot pepper spray or other squirrel deterrent. You’ll need to reapply ever few days, or after a rainfall.

To keep birds away from your sunflower seeds, tie a paper bag over the flower head as the seeds begin to develop. This won’t allow you to enjoy your flowers for their beauty, but it’s usually the only way to keep the local birds from making off with your crop. If you’ve planted a whole bed of sunflowers, you can select just a few to protect and allow the birds to eat the rest while you enjoy the flowers for their decorative features.

Once you get the hang of growing sunflowers, you‘ll never want to be without them. They are a brilliant feature in any garden, and they’re loads of fun for kids to enjoy – especially if they get to snack on the seeds in the autumn. Give these giant beauties a try for a fun garden project this summer.

~Megan

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Hosting A Perfect Dinner Party

Want to entertain your friends and family with ease and confidence? Then, read on… today, we are going to get the tips and tricks for Hosting a Perfect Dinner Party in this guest post from Emma Lawson.

Hosting a Perfect Dinner Party

Making Entertaining Fun and Easy

Nowadays, when people are always in a rush, a dinner party can be a real treat. Nothing is better than having all your friends at one place, eating homemade dishes, drinking, and laughing together. Such a lovely event can indeed make us much happier and even lower the levels of stress. However, many people think that throwing a perfect dinner party is a pain in the neck – very complicated and often frustrating. Well, this is so not true! If you are still skeptical about this – stay with us. Here are some of the most important tips on how to successfully host a perfect dinner party. Enjoy!

Hosting a Dinner Party can be fun and easy – Lear how NOW! #Entertaining #DinnerParty #Tips

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Stick to the Familiar Cuisine

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Even though it may be extremely tempting to prepare some exotic Taiwanese dish – trust us, that is not such a great idea. First of all, you probably won’t even pronounce its name properly, and what is more important, most of the ingredients will be unfamiliar to you. Cook something you are confident with.

Plan Your Time

This is a crucial step, particularly if you plan on having a dinner with multiple courses. This means that you will need the oven for more than one dish, so planning your timetable is always a good idea. Cooking for a larger group obviously takes longer than preparing a meal for two, so have that in mind – give yourself an extra hour or two in the kitchen, just in case.

Cook Smart

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This basically means that you should avoid dishes that require constant checking, stirring or flipping, especially when you are cooking for many people. The key lies in simplicity, and it is definitely smart not to complicate things too much. If you are a proud owner of all those electrical kitchen appliances that serve as a posh décor, now would be a good time to use them. Also, doing the hard work first is a good way to go. Besides that, you can always chop vegetables the evening before the party, as well as to bake desserts a few days before it.

Maintain the Balance

When planning the menu for your perfect dinner party, you should definitely avoid too many heavy dishes. Instead, just think about what goes together and prepare the dishes according to that plan. For example, if you decide on having a steak or fried chicken for the main course, it would be a good idea to choose a light dessert. You can also stick to the particular theme, such as Italian or Chinese cuisine.

Decorate Like a Pro

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All of us would agree that table decoration has a major role while planning on a dinner night, which is why it should be taken care of properly. Great presentation can turn even the simplest dish into the most special one, so take care of the finishing touches that will impress your guests. Take the whole event to the next level and do it classy – by choosing crystal glassware that will add a touch of glamour to the whole room. A vase or two filled with freshly picked roses will also enhance the overall atmosphere at the party.

All of the aforementioned tips are essential if you want to make it work, however, it is also very important not to take yourself, as well as the whole party, too seriously. The host’s mood actually sets the tone of the party, so give your best to be as relaxed as possible. If you are having fun, be sure that everyone else will, too. Good luck!

Throw a Dinner Party – Impress your friends with confidence and good times! #DinnerParty #Tips

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Parenting The Strong-Willed Child

Keep Calm And Parent On!

Parenting the Strong-Willed Child

Regular Contributor, Calvalyn Day, shares tips on raising a strong-willed child.

This morning on the way to school, Leila, that’s my five year old, told me that the trees were naked.

She meant that the leaves had fallen off. After a particularly windy fall evening, which I love, she noticed that on the same route we always take that the trees were different.

I love this little girl. This is her telling me which shoes she wanted for back to school a couple years ago.

She’s amazingly creative and intuitive and observant.

She also happens to be quite strong willed.

When this Washington Post article came across my feed earlier this week, about the benefits of having a strong-willed child, I clicked it, partially because I generally agree with it. And, partially because I am always looking for more ways of supporting Leila’s healthy development and acquiring ammunition for those who haven’t quite taken to the whole “children should have rights” thing. I love how the article highlights the fact that many of our most successful entrepreneurs are, in fact, free thinking, never take no for an answer type people, and that these traits are actually skills.

Your Strong-Willed Child has some healthy skills. #Parenting #StrongWilledChild

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Now, I know what many of us are saying. These kids need discipline, structure and routine. If we let them run wild, they’ll get hurt or take advantage of us. And this is partially true, there are absolutely times when we, as parents, have to bite the bullet and lay down the law. I wrote about that a few weeks ago in an article I shared with the Huffington Post about life with my teenagers. But, what I loved most about this article was that it really challenged us to look at how simple obedience, without question, can have disastrous consequences, and that pushing our children to always comply may not be the best course of action.

As a mom of a strong-willed child and an advocate for peaceful parenting, here are a couple of tips that I have found to be helpful to enjoying life with kids who don’t mind giving you a no for an answer.

Pick your battles. Would you rather he wear the blue pants, but he wants the green? Of course. But, will that actually make or break the family dinner? Nope. So, save your energy for when he wants to wear swim shorts in the snow. Yes, he won’t match perfectly, and no you don’t have to make everyone change to suit his tastes, this will just be a day you don’t match. No harm, no foul.

Give them a chance to explain. The awesome thing about strong-willed kids is that they often see the world differently than the rest of us. It’s amazing and exactly the kind of thing that could make them a millionaire one day. Sometimes they want to explain things so you understand what it’s like in their head. What an awesome opportunity to help them feel closer to you, while also giving you a chance to share what it’s like in your head too. This helps build empathy, and it’s a trait that strong-willed kids might need help mastering. When Leila was about 4-years-old, she wrote our address this way.

At the time, we lived on Shallow Water Place. Get it? Shallow WATER. This made perfect sense in her head, and without asking her, I might not have known that. I love getting to see the inner workings of her brain.

QTIP. Quit taking it personal. Other people may not understand your child. They will give you that mommy guilt like nobody’s business, but at the end of the day, your value as a parent has nothing to do with whether or not your son wants his hair cut, or your daughter is wearing a matching outfit. Don’t take your child’s strong-willed nature personally, nor the judgement you may get when others don’t understand.

Protect her heart. Some people still believe that kids with strong personalities need to be “broken” like a wild horse. They don’t appreciate the unique characteristics of these kids, and they may overstep their bounds to help you by giving their personal opinions. The truth is, strong-willed doesn’t mean that the child doesn’t have feelings, or that they can’t get their feelings hurt. In fact, sometimes, theses children feel things very deeply and are pained when people try to silence them. Don’t let your head-strong child, get her heart broken for the sake of compliance.

Get helpful #Tips for your Strong Willed Child! #Parenting #StrongWilledChild

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If you’ve got a strong-willed child, hit me on Facebook, and let me know what you love, or don’t love about the experience. Parenting is hard, and we all need a safe space to share.

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Homework – Tips To Make It Easier

Homework

Tips To Make It Easier

I wanted to kick-off the new school year with a little advice on homework. So, I’ve put together some of the things we found helpful through the years, and also gathered a few other posts for you to peruse.

Let’s face it, everyone wants their child to be successful in school, and homework is a large part of that success. The importance of learning how to do homework is a life lesson in itself. Learning organizational skills, study habits, how to prioritize, and budgeting your time is essential to becoming a successful adult.

Here are some of the things we did:

Do Homework Right After School
This serves a couple of purposes. The first being that the lessons learned in school are still fresh in their minds, and they will have an easier time recalling the information and putting into practice. Secondly, With the homework monkey off their back, kids will have time to relax, rejuvenate, and share some family-time before getting organized for the following day and going to bed.

Have a Homework Cabinet
By this I mean have a place where you keep all homework supplies–paper, pencils, crayons, glue, etc. Have file holders for sorting: Homework in progress (for those longer projects), Graded Homework (for studying for tests), etc. We had separate stacks for each child.

Doing Homework on the Go?
I carried homework supplies in my vehicle–for those days when you pick-up the kids from school and head straight to dance class or soccer practice. Colored pencils, pencils, pens, pencil sharpener, scissors, rulers, compasses, protractors, glue sticks, tape, paper…you name it. If it didn’t melt, I had it in my box. While one child was dancing, I had the other two doing homework. We also carried folding chairs so we could sit outside the hot car.

Use Car Time Wisely
We practiced math facts, spelling words, and memory verses while driving to and from school everyday.

Help But Don’t Do
Sometimes kids need help with their homework. It is great to help them before they get so frustrated they just shut down or melt down. The key is to help and not do their work. Do not give answers. Ask questions they can answer that will lead them to the correct answer. If they are just not understanding a concept, re-read the lesson with them and share examples. Help them understand the lesson, before attempting the assignment again. Helping teaches, and kids learn–doing does nothing.

Homework Tips – Make it easier on your kids and you! #Homework #BackToSchool

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Check these posts out for more Homework Inspiration and Ideas

Homework Tips From An Ex-Tutor
from Kathy @ Mothering From Scratch

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Homework Planning & Organizational Tips For Students
from Angela & Heather @ Sports Mom Survival Guide

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5 Simple Tips To Stress-Free Homework Time
from Rebecca @ Simple As That

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10 Tips For Giving & Managing Homework (Without Going Crazy)
from Linda @ Teach 4 The Heart

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A+ Homework Tips From A {{Former}} Teacher
from Katie @ Clarks Condensed

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Looking for a Fun Idea for School? Check this out!

Cool For School Or Anytime – Shoelacing!

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What are your Homework Strategies?

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~Lorelai

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12 Tips On Choosing The Right Paint Colors

What should you take into consideration?

You may have read previously that we are turning a room in Luke’s house into a Guest Room / Rory Room. You can read about some of our Bedding Ideas, here. A major part of re-doing any room is painting, but what color do you choose? Choosing the right Paint Colors is always one of the most difficult decisions to make.

Choosing the right #PaintColors is one of the most difficult decisions to make. Get 12 Tips here…

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Painting a house or just a room is a large investment — in time, hard work, and money. Add to this the absolute plethora of color choices, and a decision is not easy. So, how do you choose just the right paint colors for your wants, wishes, and needs? Luckily, I have a dozen tips to aid you in making this decision, and lead you to a color that you will love.

Sample Chips, get your Tips here…

What mood do you want to create and inspire?
Different rooms in your home are used for different types of living. Think about how you live in the room you are planning to paint, and what feeling you want the room to express. Our guest room for example, we want to bright and cheery, yet cozy and relaxing.

Look for color scheme inspiration.
Find color inspiration from your other home decor, fabrics, magazines, Pinterest Pins, Color Scheme swatches, or Open Houses. The Design Seeds website is an awesome resource for color inspiration.

Gather paint brochures.
Not only will paint brochures give you ideas for color schemes, but you can see the actual paint colors that are available from the brands of paint you are interested in using.

Consider the furniture style and color.
Think about your furniture style. If you have shabby chic furniture, you are probably not going to want something ultra modern and cold.

Think about transition and flow.
This is important. You want your home to feel cohesive and inviting, and not just a bunch of chopped up rooms stuck together. Pay attention to what you see of the room you are painting from the other rooms and hallways on your house, as well as what of the rest of the house you see from the room you are painting.

Choose a basic 5-color palette for the house.
Color adds warmth, and depth, and provides a pop. It touches the soul and makes you feel. So, in conjunction with the previous item, transition and flow, decide on a color scheme for the entire house. Now, this does not mean precise colors, but rather just a basic scheme. Pick three to five colors — 1. A White; 2. A Neutral; 3. An Accent Color; 4. A Coordinating Color; and 5. Another Coordinating Color.

Get sample paint cards or strips, and place them on the wall you will be painting.
You are re-paingintg anyway, so go ahead and tape those sample cards right to the wall. Tape from the back so you leave the color fully showing. Leave them up for days, a week, or more.

Make note of lighting (both natural and electric), and understand undertones.
Light plays on colors in different ways, and differing light can bring out or mute the undertones in the paint colors. What are the undertones in the colors you like versus the colors you are not liking? Yellow, Red, Blue, Green? The easiest way to determine undertone is by holding the paint chip next to a white piece of paper. It is easier to find a color you like once you know what color group you favor.

Narrow your choices to 2 – 5 colors, and buy sample jars of paint.
You can purchase small sample jars of paint. They are not that expensive, and it is by far the best way to help you truly decide on a color. Sample cans cost a lot less than a gallon or two of the wrong color.

Paint samples onto Poster Board to make large color swatches and hang on the wall.
This is one of my favorite tips. Hang poster boards on the wall and paint them with your selected paint colors. You have just made a large paint swatch. This gives you a much better idea of what the true paint color is, and how it will look on your wall.

Check paint swatches at varying times of day and lighting.
Look at your painted swatches at all times of the day and night, and with various lighting, so you know how your color will look under every circumstance.

DO NOT RUSH into a decision.
This is probably the most important of all the tips. Paint is something you live with day in and day out for years on end. In the long run, waiting a few weeks or a month to choose the right paint colors is really no time at all.

I hope you find these tips helpful in choosing the right paint colors for your project. If you have any other tips or suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

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Do you have any painting projects planned?

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Where do you like to find your inspiration?

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~Lorelai

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Labeley Customizes Your Party Drinks

Customize Your Party Drinks with Labeley

Give your party a little pizzazz!

Are you ready for your Super Bowl Party? Want to make your party the one everyone talks about all year long? Want to give it a little personalized kick? I have a fantastic and fun idea for you!

When Doris from Labeley contacted me and asked about publishing a post about making personalized labels in time for the Super Bowl, I quickly went to check out their website. I was impressed! What a great idea–so creative and super easy. Of course, I had to say, “YES!”

So, now, learn and enjoy Labeley with Doris…

Give your party a kick with personalized labels for your drinks in 3 easy steps! @labeleyapp

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How to Make Your Party Drinks Stand Out with Custom Labels

Are you ready for this coming Sunday? You had plenty of time to explore these Super Bowl party tips and perhaps choose a few that you liked the most to try out for your wild party. If you’ve already got everything planned out, good for you! But I’m sure there are many of you who still need inspiration, so one more idea for throwing a unique football party with very little effort might come very handy.

Since there seems to be an abundance of food ideas online, let’s focus on drinks. Here’s one interesting tool for playing with beverages that can really make your party the talk of the month.

The tool is called Labeley and it lets users create personalized labels online for free. It is pretty simple and offers a lot of neat options.

First go to the tool’s homepage here and choose the type of label you need for your party: beer, wine, or even kids labels if perhaps you’re throwing a children’s Super Bowl party.

Let’s say you want to surprise your beer-drinking buddies. Click on “Beer Labels” and start by picking your labels’ shape.

I outlined which shape and border I’m using for this demonstration. Click on the arrow on the right to choose some interesting color and background template/image for the label:

The commands are pretty straightforward. As you see, you can choose any color in the upper left hand corner of the tool, then pick a background template or choose an image file that you want to use as background.

Next on the menu are Main Graphics. Explore this collection of fun illustrations and choose one you think your guests would enjoy:

You can also choose not to add any graphics (click on the “no graphics” field), because the tool will let you upload any file from your computer and use it as the main label image in one of the next few steps.

Before personalizing the label with a unique photo, choose a ribbon or banner that will be used for placing the beer title or any text you wish to add later.

Go to the next step and choose text for your label.

You can play around with text options, choose font, its color, size, style and shape, as well as add different outlines and effects.

If you want to personalize your label with a funny photo of your friends or a photo of your favorite Super Bowl player, go back to Main Graphics and choose the “no graphics” option, and then upload your chosen photo in this final step.

You can then save your label, print it out and decorate your beer bottles with it.

Enjoy the party!

Personalize your drink labels with a photo of friends or favorite Super Bowl player @labeleyapp

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Doris, thank you so much for sharing Labeley with us. What an awesome tool. I can think of so many creative ways to use Labeley–21st birthday parties, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, baby showers, weddings… Oh , I can’t wait to give it a try!

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How would you use Labeley?

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Do you have a design in mind that you’d like to try?

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