Disclosure: I received product samples for this post. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

The laundry is caught up.  My house is clean.  There is food in the fridge, prepared and ready to reheat.  What has happened?

Ah.  My mother-in-law has been here.

This dear woman brings sunshine wherever she goes.  During her visit, my daughter told me, “Grandma really likes our dryer.”  Why?  Because she’s always using it.  HA!!!   Now, I definitely do not expect my MIL to do all these wonderful Mary Poppins-like things while she visits, but it’s such a blessing that she does.   Alas, we are 7 days post-Grandma’s visit and our house is getting back to its normal chaos.

Now, I recently found this jar of something.  It’s the mystery meat of home canning, apparently. [Read more…]

Do you love entering giveaways but wish that there were more prizes to go around?  Well, in this fun hop, you have twice the opportunity to win because it’s the TWICE as Nice Giveaway!  As the name suggests, each blogger is offering two prizes.  Some prizes are related, some aren’t.  Either way you’re sure to find some great packages to help you enjoy spring!  Thanks to The Review Wire for hosting this event.

Disclosure: I received these products to review thanks to @TommyNelson and Rigoni di Asiago. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

Make sure to stop by The Review Wire and enter for your chance to win 1 of 2 Beard Head Hats (RV $45)! These feature a beanie, a cap and a hat, all rolled into a magnificent beard and mustache! Choose from one of several collections that include Duck Dynasty, Barbarian or the Tailgate Series.

Our sponsors for this event are Rigoni di Asiago and Tommy Nelson. [Read more…]

Yesterday we were watching one of our favorite shows, Call of the Wildman. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing some live action from the forests of Kentucky. It’s hilarious and unbelievable at the same time. On today’s episode, a date with the Turtleman was auctioned off and went for over $700. The three girls who went in together for the date were expecting a nice dinner out. For someone who gets paid in jars of honey, gets sprayed by skunks, and doesn’t look like he bathes very often, I’m not sure that the Turtleman even had a restaurant on his radar. Instead he took the three girls to one of his jobs where they fished (using their bodies as bait) for snapping turtles.

The show made me wonder about some of the strange dates I’ve been on in my life.

[Read more…]

My son was the only one of my two children to go to daycare as a baby.  Everything had to be labeled and for the life of me, I couldn’t find something permanent to label the bottles with.  Even permanent markers didn’t work; it washed off with soap and I had to start all over again.  Masking tape worked for a while but eventually would wear off, leaving behind a sticky residue.  I kept an arsenal of labeling paraphernalia in the van so that I could mark stuff up last-minute.  We had to label it all…..bottles, lids, and snack cups.  When it was time to give up the bottles, I tried to pass them on to a friend but was very embarrassed about the graffiti all over those pretty bottles.   We revisited the issue again when it was time for my daughter to pack her school lunch.  Everyone is forced to take plastic containers with her name partially smeared across the lid, because it doesn’t properly stay on and didn’t fully wash off.

Mabel’s Labels changed all that with their new line of Wash Away Labels.   No more label goo for you! [Read more…]

Whenever a new year begins, I get super excited to start getting ready for my garden.  When the winter hits, I really miss having those fresh flowers and veggies each day.  I pacify myself by saving small jars and bottles all winter long.  I’ll post about my favorite freebie containers later!!   For now, my focus is on my gardening catalogs and websites.  I am trying some new plants this year, but my old standby veggies will always be with me (lemon cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes).  The kids and I spend our time looking through the catalogs and circling the seeds we want to try.  We make lists of our must-haves.  We read every description then plan out the way we’ll set the plants.  My husband has promised to design some raised beds for me this year, which will allow me to expand to some new plants.  I’m sooooo excited, can you tell?! [Read more…]

I love re-using materials that I would otherwise throw out.  Maybe it came from living in a home where my mom had to make do with what we had.  My mom was the queen of re-using items to give them new life.  Even now that her money is not as tight, she still takes objects that would have been thrown out by most people and she creates a brand-new need for them.  For example, she recently made a new slipcover and pillows for her wicker set by re-purposing an old shower curtain.  It looks fabulous!

We recently visited my husband’s grandparents who grew up during the Depression.  Living in that era made lots of people value the things they had.  The grandparents re-use every container from the cheese-puffs tub to peanut butter jars.  I am always impressed by their resourcefulness and unintentional green living.

In what ways do you re-use items or find creative ways to incorporate them in your home?   I’d love to hear about them and Pin them!

My ideas….not necessarily original, but still worth trying!  These are all things I’ve tried in my home.

Use glass spaghetti sauce jars or salsa bottles for vases

Refill trial size shampoo bottles with the pouch-samples you get in the mail

Use white toothpaste as makeshift spackle for a nail hole in the wall

Put your orange peels in the garbage disposal for a fresh smelling sink

Use a foam pool noodle as a bumper around your fireplace if you’ve got a toddler

Use that ribbon-board as a hairbow holder

Find it hard to find affordable flowers?  How much do you think this arrangement cost?   Go ahead, take a guess.

Would you be surprised if I said it was $6?

My daughter purchased it for me at the Farmer’s Market last week.  She gets a weekly allowance and used it to surprise me with this beautiful bouquet.
What a sweet girl!   I was so proud of her for her bargain-shopping skills!

Our local Farmer’s Market is open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  There are always vendors selling homegrown flowers at a very fair price.  No two are exactly alike.  I love that they use repurposed containers like salsa jars and similar bottles for vases.  This arrangement was breathtaking—10 flowers in perfect bloom and glossy magnolia leaves encircled the entire bouquet.   I was stopped at least five times on my way out of the parking lot by shoppers wanting to know where I got it.  My daughter beamed and so did I!

Next time you have a need for a beautiful centerpiece or want to give a pick-me-up to a friend, consider supporting a local farmer and get an affordable hand-picked bouquet.   Your budget will thank you!

Our local Farmer’s Market is a wonderful place to spend a Saturday morning.  We often give the kids a couple of dollars so they can get a snack (more often than not, it ends up being a fresh baked good from a vendor.)  We take a stroll and get to see the wonderful things our community growers have produced.

(Disclosure:  I received no compensation for this blog post.)