Thursday, February 27, 2014

Snow Day Activities


All these snow days (even Mom and Dad have had them this winter!) have caused a severe case of the house-bound-crazies with all of us - but they have also provided some fun opportunities for experiments and projects and I thought I'd share some of them with you in case you need more things to keep the kids busy.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Easy Ways to Warm Up at Home


Have I said how brutal the cold has been this winter?  Another big temperature drop has come our way here in Michigan and it has me thankful for the little things we have done around the house to make it a little more cozy.  Of course, there is the list of things you should do before winter to ensure your home is prepared - caulking and insulation and such.  But if you are having some drafty areas, noticing hot/cold spots or just want to reduce your heating costs in general, there are some things you can do quickly, easily and without a large expense.


Fleece Blanket Curtains
This was a thrilling find, I will admit.  We had bought the kids some little fleece lap blankets at Walmart for $2.88 each at Christmas and they had a large selection of patterns and solids.  After the ice storm and during the first big snow storm, I started looking at things I could do to contain heat and block out drafts as we learned more about this house.  My dining room windows face the west and while lovely to let a breeze in during the summer, they also let quite a breeze in when the winds were blowing hard too so I needed something more seasonally appropriate than the sheers I had been using.  I returned to Walmart thinking that even if I had to sew them together, those blankets were cheaper than most fleece I could buy by the yard and I had seen some colors I thought might work.  I found this adorable blues/greens/grays snowflake pattern and realized that their 50"x60" measurements meant I only needed two to form perfect curtains for my 84"x60" windows (that measurement included the frames and measuring from the curtain rod).  With their cute blanket-stitched edge, no sewing was necessary.  

Monday, February 24, 2014

Pallet Garden Placement


Good day to you, dear readers!  What a long and trying winter this has been, hasn't it?  While I normally don't mind the cold and snow much because of the fun it brings with it, this winter has certainly been a lot of work with not so much time left in the day to play.  In fact, it has been so busy that I have been neglectful of you all.  My mother prodded me by gently asking if I still had a blog, lol.  Time flies....



I'm guessing quite a few of you are like me and have started to daydream of green shoots, twittering birds, and any other sign of spring.  The seed catalogs have begun to arrive and the feed store racks are full of garden planning magazines.  I've noticed an increase in gardening posts (and generally anything with the sun in it!) on Pinterest so I thought perhaps this would be a good time to discuss a few of the things I've learned about pallet gardening through my own experimenting.