The Homestead
Warm experiences, recipes and all things about Home.
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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 –…
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Martial Arts – Yes Arts
A few months back, a friend and I had a conversation about breast cancer and then kickboxing. This friend owns multiple martial arts studios. I shared with him that I’ve always wanted to give kick boxing a try. Lo and behold, about a week later I had a pair of pink boxing gloves on my desk with a gift certificate to try out kick boxing. Well, I fell in love with kickboxing and martial arts. I attend United Studios of Self Defense (USSD) Mission Viejo North. I had never been exposed to martial arts (except in the police academy when we were given one weaponless defense course). The Sensei’s (instructors)…
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Crafting Egg Rolls – A DIY
Life has been busy. I did want to however share with you a fun recipe and party idea. A couple months ago I was invited to attend an event an Egg Roll Party. What fun it was and I rolled my very first egg roll. My friend (who is a beautiful Vietnamese gal) taught us how to make these delights and I captured it on a ‘raw’ video to share with you. Pardon the background noise, it is a party. So if you’ve ever wondered how to make an egg roll . . . here’s the how to. P.S. ~ You can purchase egg roll wrappers at most grocery stores.…
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~ 100 Days to Christmas Countdown ~
‘We need a little Christmas . . . right this very minute’ . . . Yes! The countdown is on and over at Paperless Post they are celebrating 100 Days to Christmas Countdown. I was inspired by Christmas cards over at Paperless Post. Feel free to check out their Christmas cards here as we prepare for the season. So in tune with Christmas, we were chatting recently about Christmas traditions. No, it’s not too early as I’ve been planning my Logan’s tradition (more to come) since August 1st per their request. Christmas is such a time of hope. While most of the time Christmas is joyous, there are those times where…
