The Homestead
Warm experiences, recipes and all things about Home.
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Quick Present Topper
Need a quick gift topper that’s cute and adds extra pizzazz. Feel free to check out a vintage looking Candy Cane tutorial from the archives here . . .
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Making It – Gifts
How many of you are enjoying another season of Making It on NBC? I know I am! It’s phenomenal. I thought I’d share some of the gifts that I made this year. I shared a quick tutorial HERE on making your own quick gift bags while using your stash. What’s behind those gift bags? Let me tell you. I enjoyed personalizing them according to co-workers personalities. While it’s fun to receive, I think I experience a lot of joy making and giving. I’ll be making gifts for the guys in my work life as well. Handcrafted and homemade is fun for both the giver and receiver. How about you? Are…
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Rough Day Kit
We all have rough days from time to time. Days where things just don’t go as planned, or an unexpected, not so joyous event takes place. It’s Summer and our girl is home with us but while off to college in Montana, I knew there would be days she would miss family or just need a little pick me up. Quite a while ago, I received a cute little tin box called a ‘Rough Day Kit.’ Iy came empty and you were to customize it. I knew exactly what I was going to do with it . . . collect some things and send to our sweet girl at college.…
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Get Outside – What’s Unique to your Area
Hubby and I celebrated 28 years of marriage on June 22nd. It was a beautiful Saturday. We started the morning with a lovely time hanging out at home . . . cards and he gifted me with some gorgeous flowers. We headed to the Lake Forest Sun and Sail Clubhouse for some self-care and exercise. This is also where we had our wedding reception so many years ago. We headed to lunch, then went on to The Camp and The Lab in Costa Mesa. We visited Black Market Bakery and enjoyed the free smells and a drink. We ended at Crystal Cove State Park/Beach for several hours flying our kites…
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Easy Sweet Crafted Candy Canes
Need a quick mini gift or something to beautify the top of a gift? Here is a quick, fun, inexpensive idea. What you’ll need: Chenille pipe cleaners in red and white, a pair of scissors, Smooch Spritz (I used Spun Sugar – one of my favorite colors), scrap piece of fabric, safety pin, small ‘shipping’ tag and some plastic to cover your area. The How To: Take red pipe cleaner and wrap it diagonally around the white pipe cleaner until used up. Trim the excess. Bend your red/white striped pipe cleaners into a candy cane shape. It doesn’t need to be perfect, in fact if it’s not, it gives it…
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Vintage Inspired Organization
While I’m a very creative person, I do like to have order to the madness of art supplies, personal items, clothes, etc. I find that if I see it, I’ll use it more often. One thing I enjoy is finding ways to use vintage items to keep order and stay organized. I love scarves and hats of all kinds. Recently I wanted to bring my scarves out of a small drawer and into the open so I could see them. I found this mini ladder and thought it was perfect to display and organize my scarves. I love the outcome. How about you . . . what is something you’d…
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Artsy Adventures (Outings, Flea Marketing and More), The Homestead, Tutorials and How to's, Uncategorized
DIY Signs ~ A New Place in Town
Signs are a great way to convey love or a message of encouragement in your home. I’ve always loved taking something old and repurposing it such as the sign below in which was simply a rusted oval. I created something new when I added letters and a rose embellishment. As well, I love signs big and small throughout my home to communicate something special or serve as a reminder. See below just a few signs I have in my room. If you’re in Orange County, California, specifically Lake Forest, where I happen to live, and you enjoy DIY, you may want to check out Board and Brush Creative Studio. Before…
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A Place to Plan
As promised I wanted to share with you a corner in my room to plan. My laptop also lives there. I’ve had some fun vintage items I’ve wanted to hang and my hubby helped me do so. Here’s the end result. Warmest creative wishes.
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Getting Creative with the Crock Pot ~ A Quick Delish Meal
My crockpots are so well loved. I have a family of crockpots; a large one, medium sized and one for keeping things warm like dips or appetizers. I also have a tri crockpot station that keeps three things warm at a time; great for entertaining. Well, these last couple months have been the busiest in a long time with graduation and award ceremonies, friends who are graduating, overtime and being short staffed at work, getting ready to move our girl to Montana for college, and so much more. I work full time (ten hour days), head to the Dojo (Karate/Kickboxing) and then home to fix the family something filling. I’m…
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10 Things I Can’t Live Without
What are ten things right now in life that bring you enjoyment or make your life a little easier. We all know that faith, family and friends are on the top of that list but I’m wondering about tangible things. I figure as we grow and throughout different seasons some of these probably change. I’d love to know what are your top ten? For me . . . here’s what I think would be my top ten right now and not necessarily in this order (except for number one) . . . My Bible/Devotional – Starts my day off right, encourages and lifts up, inspires and provides wisdom. Coffee –…
