Mini Print: Love at Home

Getting ready for Valentines Day! Download a copy of this 5x7 [Love at Home Mini Print] by right clicking (pc) or option clicking (mac) on the link above. I hope this week of LOVE is beautiful at your house.

Ding Ding Ding... announcing the winner!

Congratulations are in order for Allyson Elizabeth who said:

Email me your mailing address and the fondue set will be on it's way! Happy Dipping! For those of you who didn't win, you can still make fondue. Just use a sterno can surrounded by rocks or bricks above the sterno can. Stack a pot with a little boiling water on your ring of rocks/bricks and over that a ceramic bowl filled with your fondue.  Use skewers for the dipping. Enjoy!

Chocolate Fondue:

6 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flavoring

In saucepan melt chocolate over low heat. Add sugar, cream, butter, and salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in flavoring.  Pour into fondue pot and place pot over burner.

Suggested dippers: strawberries, cake, bananas, cherries, marshmallows, brownie bites... what wouldn't be good dipped in chocolate :)

Homemade bread in an hour

I just learned about a method of baking all kinds of breads using one recipe. So. Cool. It's from a website called [Pantry Secrets].  Have you heard of it? Easy to follow recipe and fast results- mixing for about 6 minutes then in the pan to raise for a 1/2 an hour then bake.  

Super secret cool tip: spray your counter and hands with baking spray instead of flour when handling the dough instead of dusting with flour.  Light bulb moment!

Thanks April and  Kim!

The Family Franchise: The Motto

Here's a little game. I'll give you a phrase, you figure out to which company it belongs.

1.  Just do it

2.  The happiest place on earth

3.  Snap, Crackle, Pop

4.  It does a body good

5.  They're grrrrreat!

6.  I'm lovin' it!

7.  Built for the road ahead

8.  Oh, thank heaven for _____

9.  Have it your way

10.  The family company

How did you do? I'll give you the answers at the end of this post.  Chances are you got most of them right. Most companies have a slogan, motto, or mantra that helps define their company. Often it is used internally to rally employees.  Other times it is used as a branding positioner to help potential customers get a feel for the company.

Families can have a motto too. Something that you say to your kids or spouse and it reminds everyone of who you are as a family. Think of what you wrote in your plan, or put in your vision board. Can you boil it down to a short phrase?

We decided ours would be this: Choose Happy-Do Happy-Be Happy OR Choose-Do-Be for short.  We say it to our kids all the time and they know what it means.  It's a great little reminder.  My family had one growing up- it was "One heart. One mind." We all knew what it meant and I still think about it. It brings back memories of all of us sitting around the table while my mom and dad taught us. 

What can you do with your family motto? Stamp it into jewelry for each member, create a self inking stamp to put on notes and letter to your kids, create a vinyl wall decal, or just annoy your kids with it all the time like we do. He He Ha Ha!

Really though, we hope that it will be something they remember now and after they are out on their own. Even if they remember nothing else we tell them.

The answers:  1. Nike 2. Disneyland 3. Rice Krispies 4. Milk 5. Frosted Flakes 6. McDonalds 7. Ford 8. 7-11 9. Burger King 10. Johnson & Johnson

P.S. Did you notice the name of the post series has changed? I was talking to some lovely ladies at a [Startup Princess] event and one of them suggested this name. I loved it and think it better describes what these posts are about. Thanks [Tara]!

A Home after my own heart

You've got to check out this [home tour from Making Chicken Salad]. I love the mix of vintage, thrifted, modern, and handmade! I remember when I decided to just embrace my craziness and stop trying to make my house look like my parents. Not that there is anything wrong with my parents house. It's beautiful. But I used to try and match their style on my budget. Didn't work so well.

I finally decided that instead of being embarrassed by my non-show room worthy house, I would be grateful for every scratched up, mismatched, handmade or thrifted item.  Slowly I felt my attitude and preferences shifting, and now I LOVE it! Even if I could afford that show room home, I wouldn't change it.

I love the time it takes to find unique things. I love making something we need out of something we already have. I love mixing up all the styles I love and putting it together in a way that works for our family. I love that it's a work in progress and I hope it's never "complete."

How about you? What makes your home your own?

Quote of the Week

From my stash: Vintage Fondue Set Giveaway

Try your hand at a fun fondue dinner with this vintage fondue set. The set includes everything in the photo including the 1970's cookbook with lots of great fondue recipes.  We have a family fondue dinner every Christmas eve and love it. Wouldn't it make a great alternative to going out on Valentines day? I think it would -so I'm giving away this set from my vintage stash.

To enter, leave a comment before Feb. 4th at midnight. The winner picked at random and will be announced the next day.

Cute Fabric Mail Sorter

I love this simple fabric mail sorter idea from [Bright and Blithe].  You could also make a larger size for the back of kids room doors to house school papers, homework, etc... contain the madness of after school papers. Do you have piles of those too?

I wish my kids school had an opt-out or email option. I get all the notices times four for one school. Yikes!

The Family Franchise: The Manual

Businesses create operations manuals to help things run smoothly for managers and employees. Typically they include every aspect of the business that needs to be done. If someone were to franchise the business, it would ensure that it operates the same at every location.

You can create an operations manual for your home in the same way.  Often called a Home Management Binder- this manual contains all the information you need to successfully run your home.  When putting together your manual, remember your plan from last week and try to make sure that your ideas from last week are showing up in your plans for day to day living. 

1. Find a binder, file box, or other container to keep your information handy- cute [Oilcloth Binder Cover] by RBT Bags,  Awesome [Mini File Box] with tabs made from vintage record covers by Freestyle Gifts.

2. Print out checklists or planners to write on for the binders or write on 3x5 cards for the mini file boxes. Check out all the free printables available from [Organized Home].

3. Gather information. What do you want to keep in your binder? Some ideas of what to include:

•Babysitter Checklist
-Names, ages, birthdays of members of the household
-Street address
-Phone numbers
-Bedtimes
-Allergies/Medications
-Emergency contacts
-Neighbors phone numbers

•Home Cleaning/Maintenance Schedules
•Menu Plans
•School Schedules/Times/Drop-off Locations
•Lessons/Practice Times/Locations
•Birthdays
•Emergency Shut Off Locations- Gas, Water, Electric
•Medical Information- Doctors, Dentists, Insurance
•Car Maintenance Schedule/Insurance Info
•Bills
•Price Book
•Shopping Lists/Pantry Inventory/Freezer Inventory


4. Assemble your manual.

Pillows in disguise

I love these pillows from SoapStudiooos. Classic chair lines printed onto fabric and made into pillows.  I can imagine a whole set made from [famous chair designs]. Lovely.  Make your own using [Freezer Paper Fabric Stenciling] from a tutorial by PanjoKids. Or head over to the [SoapStudiooos] Etsy shop for these and a lot of other creative silk screened pillows.