Category: Theme Thursday

Miss March 2013 ~ Jerusalem Greer

Hello AWB friends, my name is Jerusalem Jackson Greer and I am so happy to be hanging out with y’all this month.

Here are a few things about me: I am crafter, a writer, a former pastor, blogger, nest-fluffer, liturgical groupie, speaker and farm-gal wannabe. My day job is being the “Book Room Lady” at eStem Public Charter School in downtown Little Rock. I am surrounded by books and kids (including my own) all day. Working at my boys school is the closest I will probably ever get to homeschooling. Me, my husband Nathan (who I refer to as Sweet Man on my blog) and our two boys, Wylie and Miles, live in a 1940s cottage in Park Hill with an ever-changing rotation of pets, including a hen house full of heritage chickens and an English Sheep Dog mutt named Maizy. As a family, we are attempting to live a slower version of modern life. Sometimes it goes well, other times not so much.

Because I tend to think in words and pictures I thought I would take you on a little visual tour of my life. But first, go get your favorite beverage, find a comfy seat and settle in. Sometimes I get wordy when I get excited.

Jerusalem Greer

This is my family-well some of them. My boys who are almost always in some sort of costume; my parents in their twenties during my dad’s seminary years in Memphis – I get my love of overalls from him; me and Sweet Man whose shoulder I lean on often and who is my biggest fan; my Maw – who is my muse and whose belief in me propels me forward and finally me and my siblings when we lived in Alaska wearing our Hope Watermelon t-shirts that my grandparents sent us. I am the tall one with the frizzy hair. These are the people I was born to and who were born to me. They are the ones who shape me and encourage me and love me and put up with me and tell me the truth.

I am realizing now that I should have made a collage of my friends because they are the family I have chosen. But honestly I don’t know that you would stick with me through a blog that long. Sweet Man jokes that I have a hundred best friends. He might not be wrong. If you come to the AWB conference you will get to meet at least a dozen of them.

Jerusalem Greer

Here are some things I love. I am a wee bit obsessed with icons of the Virgin Mary. I collect paintings and chalk statues and I take pictures everywhere I go of her. My family and I love to camp. Especially places where there is already some sort of rough structure, like this tent at Petite Jean, where I can camp cute with my vintage quilts and melamine picnic ware. A dream job would to be a paid camping blogger for State and National Parks. I adore my Ariat men’s Rambler boots. I wear them constantly. I also like to Instagram them. We have 6 chickens in our back yard and they are precious. Sweet Man is a musician and introduced me to Bluegrass and Southern Rock. For this I am eternally grateful. I love fairs- county fairs, state fairs, and local festivals. I love the fried food, the animal barns and the blue ribbon competitions and the craft booths.

Jerusalem Crafts I have been blogging for 8 years this month. Growing my audience has been slow and steady as I have found my footing and my voice. I have had to “re-boot” the blog twice and I am still not 100% sure why my readers like me, but I am grateful that they do. I tend to blog about the following topics the most: Decorating our house, Crafting, inspiration out on the web (mostly on Pinterest these days!) my desire to slow down (and to sleep more,) what I am reading, other places I am writing, traveling – places I have been, places I want to go, my faith, and food- cooking and eating.

Twelve years ago I took my first steps into the design and craft world when I began decorating friends homes for Christmas and appearing on Good Morning Arkansas as the “craft girl.” Over the years I have had successes and failures. None of them came easy or fast, as even the hard lessons were learned over time. In a funny twist of fate (which is the only way things happen in my life) all of the really fun stuff, the “dream come true” stuff , has happened in the last few years. In the years after I officially closed my design and craft business. Here are some of my favorite fun stuff: Recently, P. Allen Smith came to our house to film a segment on urban farming. My boys are my favorite parts of this whole video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNePnp16fck&feature=youtu.be) My friend Jeanetta and I occasionally dust off our talents and whip up some crafty and vintage items to sell at Craft Shows. We call our venture Bright Ridge Co-Op. Parts of our home have been photographed for several magazines, including Vintage Style, Cottage Style and At Home in Arkansas. I design positive posters that I sell online from time to time (http://jollygoode.bigcartel.com/) and which have been featured on some of my favorite blogs like Whatever and Farm Patch Flowergirl . But out of all of this, the one bit of creative work that I am most proud of is my new book, which is being released this month: A Homemade Year; The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting and Coming Together. (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-homemade-year-jerusalem-jackson-greer/1113830866) The book is part narrative as I tell my story of faith, and part DIY/Inspiration. The entire book was shot by my sister Judea and styled by both of us. Everything you will see in the book was made by myself, Sweet Man, Jeanetta, Jemimah or my mother (the latter three helping me with the sewing) and the kids. Every meal we shot we ate, every person you will see I love. There are no models, no fake loaves of bread, no show homes. When we weren’t shooting at my house, we went “on location” in the backyards, around kitchen tables, and on the screened porches of friends and family.

To say that this book- from the stories to the crafts to the recipes and the parties- is the result of love, tears dedicated hard work, and countless hours of smiling and waiting and helping from everyone around me would be just scratching the surface of the truth. I cannot wait to share A Homemade Year with the world, because I cannot wait to show the world what love looks like from where I sit: Humbling, giving, generous, amazing, love.

So there you have it. All about me. I apologize if I talked your ear off. I tend to get excited about things like my family and the book. If you want to visit me at my place (http://jerusalemgreer.com) I would love to have you!

Till next time, cheers and blessings- Jerusalem

AWB Handmade Ornament Swap {Secret Santa}

It’s Christmastime! The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been served and you survived the Black Friday mad rush. Christmas lights have been lit and we’re now in the full swing of Christmas. It’s the perfect time of year to spread a little bit of holiday cheer to one of your AWB sisters!

AWB Handmade Ornament Swap {Secret Santa}

This week we’re giving you the chance to show off your craftiness and surprise an AWB pal with a handmade ornament. The ornament need not be fancy or complicated. It’s just a chance for you to share a little something with a fellow blogger. Enter your information in the form below before midnight on Thursday, November 29. On Saturday you will receive an email with the address of your secret pal. You will have until December 10th to mail your ornament to your secret pal. On December 17th we will each blog about the ornaments we received and we will provide a Linky so you can check out everyone’s posts.

If you’re not that crafty, don’t worry. We’ve created a Pinterest board full of handmade ornament ideas! Check it out here.

May I send more than one ornament?

Only one ornament is required. If you would like to send several you are more than welcome to. If you would like to include any extra little goodies you may, but this is not required! If you do include something extra, please keep the total cost of the box contents below $10.

How do I sign up?

If you wish to participate, please sign up using the form below. Remember, the deadline to sign up is this Thursday, November 29.

By filling out the form you agree to the following:

You will make an ornament and send it to your fellow blogger.
You will mail your ornament no later than December 10th.
You will not reveal who you are sending to or whom you received from until December 17th.
You will publish a blog post about what you received along with a link to the blog of the sender on December 17th.

Happy Swapping!
This swap is now closed. Join us again next year!

Makeup Secrets from Leslyn

Written by AWB October 2012 Blogger of the Month, Leslyn Jacks of Leslyn’s Lovely Life.

Hello, my dear friends!

I’m absolutely loving being Miss October- I have made so many new friends, and if you haven’t introduced yourself yet, I would love for you to stop by my blog and say hi! 🙂

Now on to fun things! I do not by any means consider myself an expert when it comes to makeup. But I will say that I have tried a ton of products, and I have figured out what my favorites are. And I figured I would share my little secrets!

FACE:

MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation. This stuff is absolutely AMAZING. It has fabulous coverage, it’s gel based, and it has SPF 15. If you try it, you will love it. I promise.

This concealer is pretty awesome. Benefit’s Erase Paste blends beautifully, and it covers dark circles really well.

Laura Mercier’s Loose Setting Powder is lightweight, it eliminates shine, and it gives you a stunning, silky smooth finish on your skin.

I am absolutely OBSESSED with Nars’ Blush and Bronzer Trio. They combined their three best selling blush, bronzer, and highlighter colors, and I couldn’t be more pleased with it! Also, I’ve used it almost every day for over a year, and I STILL have plenty of color left! So you definitely get your money’s worth.

EYES

Everybody rants about Urban Decay’s Naked2 eyeshadow palette. And they have every reason to. They have the most amazing colors, and work with any skin tone.

Yay for a drugstore find! I am in love with Maybelline’s Eye Studio Lasting Drama gel eyeliner. It seriously lasts ALL day, and it’s inexpensive. I’m always down for that.

They’re Real! Mascara by Benefit is seriously amazing. Just google before and after shots with the mascara, and you’ll be blown away.

LIPS

I absolutely love this Rose Salve… You can get it at Bath and Body Works, and your lips stay soft for EVER.

Sephora’s Always Red Lip Stain. If you like my lip color in my profile, then you’ll like this. And it seriously lasts all day.
I hope you try some of these products! Have any suggestions for different make up products that you adore? Email me! leslynslovelylife@gmail.com

I Celebrate Life With Stinky Cheese.

Written by AWB October 2012 Blogger of the Month, Heidi Clark of The Busy Nothings.

I celebrate life with stinky cheese.

I’ll explain…

The last few years have wrecked me. Life didn’t turn out like what I thought it was going to- which sounds a bit juvenile even to me even as I write this, because really who ever gets their fairy tale? Perhaps some people realize this at different points in their lives. I’m not sure if I was just really that dumb or optimistic that if I made all the right choices that everything would work.

Actually, I know that is what it was. I thought if I wasn’t an idiot and made the best possible choices that my life would go as planned. I thought that I was in control.

I breathed out a secret to a friend, and immediately was fearful that since I uttered my deepest fear with arms over my first unborn child that it would come true… and it did.

Sometimes I find myself subconsciously wrapping my sweater tightly around and layering it over my ribs and squeezing myself tight. I am living through my personal worst nightmare. To some, my nightmare isn’t as bad as what theirs is, we all have our private fears that we lock away inside that part of us that doesn’t want to even think it for a second.

We smile tightly through a mask when we comfort those who are grieving and bargain with God whether or not we believe in him, “I could never deal with that, you are so brave and strong,” we murmur, telling fate not to mess with US.

So what happens when you are hit in the face with that locked away fear, the one you are scared to whisper?

You breathe in and out. You tighten your sweater around your body and choose to live again. You begin to realize that what you survived really just made you that much stronger.

I enjoy new things. I look for beauty everywhere because it’s still there, even if it’s hard to see some days. I slice stinky goat cheese and rejoice that my palate has changed to appreciate it. I choose to love every part of my life, even the parts that grate at my heart daily. I celebrate life with stinky cheese.

To read more about Heidi and Summit and William’s Syndrome please visit her blog The Busy Nothings.

In Order to Have a Life Well Said, You Must Experience A Life Well Lived

Written by Jasmine Banks of The Brokins

My grandma used to sit on her covered front porch and smoke Black & Mild cigarillos and drink Crown Royal. Her love for Canadian whiskey was only slightly overshadowed by her love of story telling. She would sit in an old metal chair with a vinyl cushion with her right leg crossed over the the left at the ankles. Her legs were shiny with oil and sweat, this Black woman never forgot to rub herself down with almond oil a day in her life. She always donned a house dress. The house dress was always of the Kmart variety. The lapel of her dress, as I vividly remember it, was a purple quilted pattern that was worn from years of use. The front of the dress had huge pockets where she kept her lighter and cigarillos and whatever other flotsam that was required to be on her person. I would sit next to her as she lit her cigar and told stories. She’d pause here and there to slowly sip her whisky and just stare off into space, as if she was replaying the events in her memories before releasing them into the air. She would open her mouth to speak and the words would whip around the air like a smooth riff from a Coltrane song mixed with salt and grit. She was a poet to me. She was a poet, and artist, and a sage. She was, and is, my Grandma Annie Pearl. Not Grandma Annie, Grandma Pearl, or Grandma! The full “Grandma Annie Pearl” is required to fully incapsulate the haughty and noble woman, though I dare say you cannot bottle her kind. Her kind are the kind that we remember when we taste food, when we smell a certain smell, or when we remember what plastic on the couch feels like. That clingy slippery feeling that made your lower back sweat and created the continual slide forward off the couch is an annoying experience that when coupled with Grandma Annie Pearl becomes a sweet wistful memory and a smile. Her kind are the kind that we remember when they are gone. They are more than loved ones who left us or we might fondly recal, no they are identity markers. We have drank them into ourselves. We have consumed the stories that continue to nourish our very souls even after the words can no longer be spoken.

The power to write, to blog, to journal, and to reflect are the sacred powers to create worlds. We build worlds and identities on the internet while our predecessors built worlds while sipping whisky on the front porch, around a campfire, or while driving in that one old rickety truck you remember. My Grandma Annie Pearl told her stories in such a way that I yearned to live in the moment she described. I wanted to BE there when “so and so had her baby and sure as day that baby came out white. Ain’t nobody in that room say a word, till the midwife say, his color will come in! E’rybody exhaled and started laughin’ cuz didn’t nobody want to say that child was white first!” Saying you are a blogger can easily be a way to excuse yourself from responsibility, “I am a blogger! NOT a writer!” The truth is: bloggers and writers are both storytellers.

Maybe I am just a romantic? Maybe it is the nostalgia of being raised by such a dynamic storyteller? Either way, I want to challenge you in this

Live a life that is worth being told stories about. As I said at the Arkansas Women Blogger’s Conference: In order to have a life well said, you must experience a life well lived. This requires unplugging from the phone and laptop, getting your hands dirty, and experiencing your world. It means building relationships worth talking about. It means figuring out why that one thing bothers you so deeply. The power of a story is, at its most fundamental level, about the power of reflection. Lets get back to living good lives, telling good stories, and building worlds with our worlds that people want to live in because we’ve lived in them first.

Healthy Communities: Every Blogger’s Business

Or, What I Wish I’d Known About Parenting and Ancient Sea Monsters Circa 2003.

Details on an Arkansas Women Bloggers Twitter Party tonight (Tuesday 8/14 at 8p CST) AND a free conference registration giveaway in this post!

When I was pregnant for the first time nearly a decade ago, I went through what I’ve learned is a common ailment affecting many new mothers-to-be: behavior best defined as psychosis.

First, I grabbed copies of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and, naturally, What to Eat When You’re Expecting. In case you’re unfamiliar, these are massive volumes. I began reading and nearly had a mental breakdown. I bookmarked pages for my husband (which he dutifully ignored), informed him I was giving up sugar in all forms (which caused him to laugh out loud) and made copious notes on all my findings (which only increased my certainty that I was incapable of parenting).

At some point early in my pregnancy, I remember hearing that as a future Arkansas mom I could order my very own copy of the Happy Birthday Baby Book, and I pounced on the telephone (mounted to the wall) to dial what is known as a “toll-free number.” Foreign concept, I know. I waited for it to arrive in the mail, and found that it was pretty full of resources for parents in Arkansas as well as a quick, easy read.

Fast forward to today (that kid is entering the third grade on Monday, by the way): I’ve had another daughter who has cemented my belief that while I’m capable of parenting, I may barely survive the childhood of the Kraken. Yes, that’s what we call our second-born, in reference to Liam Neeson as Zeus in Clash of the Titans (2010) yelling “Release the Kraken!” in reference to a threatening monster from Hades.

A likely Kraken: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (1870). And yes, this is how I often feel with my little Kraken.

Here’s the point of that diatribe (sometimes I have one): just like my intelligent and helpful older daughter, the Happy Birthday Baby Book has grown up. And, I’m far more likely to somehow emerge unscathed from the Kraken’s childhood thanks to the assistance of that intelligent and helpful older daughter AND the intelligent and helpful new Happy Birthday Baby Books.

There are now TWO super useful editions: Book One (Pregnancy through Age 1) and Book Two (Newborn through Age 5), and they come in either ebook form (hallelujah!) or a very useful purse or diaper-bag size hard copy (click here to check them out and order copies!) We shared recently that we were exceptionally excited to have Healthy Families as the Presenting Sponsor for the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged Conference (click here to read that post!) next week.

HF Badge — Click here to read online or order your free copies of the Happy Birthday Baby Books!

Thanks to these books, I’m receiving the counseling I need to raise a good little Kraken. For example: Plan play dates, but remember that your 1-year-old is too young to be expected to share (Book 2). Oh. Right.

Also: regarding the comments I’ve made to several of you about the Kraken being very OCD: Your 2-year-old may want to eat the same thing every day. WHAT? I’m telling you – the Happy Birthday Baby Books people know everything there is to know about parenting.

Now, don’t check out on me if you are a) not likely to have kids anytime soon, if ever b) SO DONE with pregnancy and childbirth, and wondering why we don’t sponsor a nanny giveaway already or c) enjoying feeding sweets to your grandchildren on a regular basis as revenge for the wrinkles their parents caused you.

Here’s the thing, bloggers: Healthy Communities Are Every Blogger’s Business. That’s why I am making note to start ordering copies of these books for every mom-to-be I know. I may even keep some extra copies in my car – I’ve been known to accost people who talk about politics with voter registration forms, reminding them they are welcome to share their opinion with me by visiting the polls. I’m thinking I may start giving copies of these gems to random pregnant women. That should help me win friends and influence people – right?

All kidding aside – we want you to join us in our enthusiasm at working with Healthy Families. Put very simply, they get it, ladies. We all want more healthy moms, healthy pregnancies, healthy babies and healthy communities – it’s good for all of us. So join the fun: place the badge above on your own blog, tell everyone you know about this phenomenal program, click the links to check out the website and the books, and… (drum roll please):

Join us tonight (Tuesday, August 14) for our FINAL pre-#AWBU Twitter Party! It’s a short one, and it kicks off at 8:00 p.m. CST. You may want to click over before then to http://www.HealthyFamiliesNow.Net/ebooks to do some checking it out, because we will have some questions for you to answer tonight that just may win you goodies or a FREE conference registration! Join us even if you are already registered (we’ll let you give the last spot away!) or even if you can’t come to the conference, we promise it will still be worth your time! Just set up a Twitter column to follow #AWBU and #HFNow, and be sure to use those hashtags in every tweet so we can keep up with you!

These boots are made for walkin’ – to #AWBU!

Top Ten Reasons You are NOT Going to Miss #AWBU

by Lyndi Fultz, nwaFoodie (www.nwaFoodie.com)

10. You’ve hit a wall and you want to energize your blog.

9. You’ve been wanting meet other Arkansas women bloggers in your area!

8. You know you want to improve your blog stats, but you aren’t sure how to start.

7. You feel you need to “unplug” and get back to the real reasons you started a blog.

6. You want to build on your “village.”

5. You heard last year’s event was rejuvenating and you knew you missed out!

4. You need to bounce off ideas for the next phase of your blog.

3. You are kicking around the idea of monetizing your blog and you’re not sure where to start.

2. You know that “iron sharpens iron” and you want to share your knowledge with others… and benefit.

1. #1 reason why THIS is the year you are going to #AWBU? You are Arkansas-proud and this is the premier Arkansas blogging conference for women!

Learn more about the conference & REGISTER (early bird rate ends on July 31!)

Check out the conference agenda!

Want to learn more? Follow @ARWomenBloggers and #AWBU on Twitter and register for our Twitter Party on Tuesday, July 24 at 8p CST to interact with other attendees and get the details!

Lyndi Fultz is the cultivator of nwaFoodie.com. She will be hosting a special Foodie Friday add-on option during the Arkansas Women Bloggers conference, jam-packed with food styling, photography, content and tips for food bloggers and those who just happen to like food… and blogs. Visit www.nwaFoodie.com to check out her awesomeness, or read her posts as Miss January 2012 – the featured blogger on the Arkansas Women Bloggers site!

Top Ten Reasons to Attend Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged 2012

by Angie Albright,
author of A Growing Season at www.AGrowingSeason.co

10. Learn new blogging strategies, tech tips, and writing tricks. Discuss at some length and with great earnestness how much correct punctuation and grammar matter on your personal blog.

9. Put a real live person with a Twitter handle! Ever wonder who @DyingForCheesecake or @MysteriousTwitter52 is? You could meet her at #AWBU!

8. Add more blogs to your Google reader or feed burner that you won’t have time to read and will feel guilty about not getting to until the day you read 400 in one sitting and realize all the great stuff you’ve been missing. You also may find out that a close friend or fellow blogger has started a new business/had a baby/gotten married/gotten divorced/got a job/lost a job/published a book/discovered the secret to no-fail merengue. That’s never happened to me; I’m just saying it could happen.

7. Find the peace and quiet you always say you are wanting! Except for the times when you have a bunch of women bloggers together and then all the laughing, giggling, and sipping could get pretty noisy.

6. But seriously. Peace and quiet. Unplugged. Step away from your phone. Unplug those Interwebs. Exhale. Breathe in mountain air. Get a good night’s sleep.

5. See the always humorous, always engaging Lela Davidson as the keynote speaker. This woman has a few things figured out and she is happy to share her secrets. The things she doesn’t have figured out she is happy to ‘fess up to and make you feel better about just being you.

4. Hear women say some of the most inappropriate and ridiculously truthful things you’ve ever heard. And then reply with something equally inappropriate that you can’t believe is coming out of your own mouth. Again, that didn’t happen to me last year at all; I’m just saying it could happen.

3. Awaken the giant blogger within! Just being in the presence of other creators, writers, content generators, mothers, and women in a gorgeous environment will rev your blogger engine and send you home ready to write. You’re sure to get at least one new blog post out of the weekend!

2. Make new friends. Make friendships that already exist even stronger. Establish business and networking relationships that reap benefits throughout the coming years. This did happen last year (well, it’s just the thing I’m willing to cop to) and the relationships over the last year have been fruitful and significant. At the very least, you’ll go home with new people with whom to play Words With Friends.

1. Take your blog to a new level! Seek and you shall find—revamp or redefine your blog’s mission, update the look and feel of your blog, gain new writing and personal.

Learn more about the conference & REGISTER (early bird rate ends on July 30!)

Check out the conference agenda!

Want to learn more? Follow @ARWomenBloggers and #AWBU on Twitter and register for our Twitter Party on Tuesday, July 24 at 8p CST to interact with other attendees and get the details!

Top Ten Ways to Personalize Your Home

Hi! I’m Amanda from My Heart’s Desire, and I am thrilled to be with you today as a part of Arkansas Women Bloggers’ “Top Ten” Series!

I should throw out the disclaimer that although I love to blog about seasonal décor and making my house a home, most days my house looks just like anyone else’s…lived-in, messy, and in need of a deep clean! Even if your house is a mess, stick with me and perhaps you’ll be inspired to personalize the space you live in and call home!

Replace tired photos with updatedphotos of your family, friends, or latest vacation spots! Pick up inexpensive frames in varying sizes and print those photos you’ve been storing on your computer for so long! Fill a large, blank wall space with 8×10’s and 11×14’s.Confession… A frame with the package insert photo currently sits on my bedside table and has for over a year. Over a year, people! My husband tells the people in the photo goodnight now. They are family. I should take my own advice.
Light a candle! Keep favorite seasonal scents going year-round! A few of my go-to’s:
Year-round: Red Currant–Votivo
Spring and Summer: Pineapple Crush–Tyler Candle Co. or Smell of Spring–Aromatique
Fall: Farmer’s Market–Yankee Candle Co.
Christmas: Balsam and Cedar–Yankee Candle Co.
*Tip: Local stores routinely mark down seasonal candles the day after a Holiday, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond runs a “Candle of the Month” special year-round.
Make your bed. (Insert head hung low.) Coming home to a tidy personal space is far more calming than the chaos of a junky bedroom. Make your bed the second your feet hit the floor, then it’s done!
Sort your mail over the recycle bin as soon as you bring it in. The mountains of paper threaten to overtake most of us! Avoid an hours-long sorting event on your valued weekends, and keep your surfaces clutter-free.
Before bed each night (especially if you have children), have everybody spend 10 short minutes putting things where they go. Make it a game for younger children! Starting tomorrow well is easier when socks or favorite shorts or car keys are where they are supposed to be! Don’t wake up to yesterday’s chaos.
Display your kids’ (or your own) artwork! This is a special way to personalize your space. Discount and craft stores have inexpensive, matching frames of all sizes to help you create an instant collage or gallery wall in a hallway, playroom, or even your kitchen!
Display unexpected family treasures. Some items to consider:

A family hymnal– (the one pictured is from my grandmother’s church where she played the piano and is opened to the hymn I walked down the aisle to!)

Keepsake baby clothes/Christening gowns

Championship game tickets or Sports magazine covers

Newspaper articles with special meaning

Keepsakes from a vacation (menus, tickets, postcards, photos)

Menu or t-shirt from the restaurant where you had your first date with your spouse

Favorite toys from childhood (I recently framed my son’s favorite childhood toy train and a personalized piece of track in a shadow box)

Silver spoons from your grandmother’s collection

License plates from every state you’ve lived in

Favorite childhood book cover

Military medals

Fishing reel from a dad or granddad

Sports jerseys or pennants

Flower bouquets from weddings or special events, dried and pressed

*If you are interested in a pressed wedding bouquet you may want to check out this artist on Etsy who makes pressed flower bouquets and can also turn your flowers into beautiful Pandora style beads and jewelry pieces.

You might also consider making a Wedding Memory Capsule Christmas Ornament.

You can find a great tutorial on Come on, Ilene!
(Above photo used with permission as per the guidelines found on Come on, Ilene!)
Place a fresh “Welcome” mat and a live plant at your front door! Such an inexpensive, simple way to soften the first place people experience when visiting your home!
Keep cozy throw blankets on the back of your couch and chairs in living areas/bedrooms. Inevitably, someone is always asking for one. It’s also an easy way to add a little color.
Turn your overhead lights off! Overhead lights tend to be harsh. Use lots of lamps! Find fabulous, affordable lighting at Target, HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby, etc.We’d love to hear how you make your house a home! Share your ideas in the comments below!