DIY Life

Back-to-School: Teacher's first week survival guide

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-21T15:00:00 00:00

The school bell is about to ring in a new year, but there is a group of adults who need just as much attention for Back-To-School preparation as the students: the teachers. Most people don't realize, but a summer break for a teacher is not a break at all, but an opportunity to lesson plan for the upcoming year, get those state required classes completed, fight in line at the local state board of education for re-licensure, and catch up on the required reading for next year.

Regardless, going back to school is just as exciting and demanding on teachers as it is on students. Unlike students, however, most teachers have the added stress of family and household demands. So, here's a survival guide for the teacher on easing back into the school year without fainting from exhaustion.
The Week before school starts

Make extras for dinner each night, tupperware them in individual packages, freeze. Viola! Frozen dinners for either lunch or dinner next week.
Get in the habit of getting up early now. The best is to get up at your normal school time. I know, this sounds painful, but it will make next week that much easier. Remember, you need to be more awake than the students.
Get all "day-time" stuff done now: return library books, stop off at the DMV, wait in line at the post office.
Make a list of all the daily things you want done during the school year. Make a schedule of chores, when you'll work out; remember, during the school year, each hour during the day is precious, use it wisely. And don't forget to include relax or play time. Put this schedule on the fridge.

The Weekend before school starts
Friday

Enjoy a night with the girls or go out for a game of pool. Keep it low key, but enjoy the night.

Saturday

Get up only a few hours after you would normally get up on Monday - Getting your body acclimated to getting up early will help with the Monday alarm.
Work out - Make sure you work out now; it will give you the energy needed to shake off that summer slump.
Casserole heaven - Make several casseroles and freeze them. The first week of school is much like having a baby: nothing gets done around the house due to pure exhaustion. So, get the food ready. Make the casseroles big enough for left-overs for lunches.
While doing errands, fill up on gas - This will get you through the next week without having to worry about running out on your way to work.
Party out one last Saturday night - Watch SNL, Adult Swim, or go out. You've got to celebrate that last weekend of freedom.

Sunday

Again, get up a few hours after you would normally.
Clean the house one last time - Again, you won't get to it during the week, so do it now.
Relax in the afternoon - Enjoy your family, or have tea with a neighbor.
Order a pizza or Chinese for dinner - Why make dirty dishes the night before school?
Set out tomorrow's clothes, make a lunch, and set the alarm early.
Get to bed early - If you've been cleaning your house the entire day, you won't have those panic attacks in the middle of the night. You'll be sleeping instead.

First Day of School
Before school

Get up early enough to have time to stare at the coffee for a bit and get to school before those students do
Accept that things will not go as planned, and that's half the fun of teaching

During school

Find a quiet moment to just breath and be thankful you're not in a cubicle career.

After school

Relish in one good thing from the day.
Make an 'at-a-boy' phone call home.
Pop a casserole in the over
Work out
Eat - stick the leftovers in tupperware for lunch tomorrow
Grade/plan
Relax just before bed

Rest of the week

Remember to give yourself enough time in the morning

Nap on opposite days of working out

Go out Friday night with adults - being around kids all day is taxing, albeit amazing. We all need adult interaction.

Keeping a good balance between work and play is important for sanity's sake. Remember, the job is enticing because of all the excitement. And really, what other job gives you a management team of 30, many of whom remember you for the rest of their lives? And with that, let the school year begin!

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Laundry - How to Make Starch

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-16T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: food, household hacks, sewing, cleaning

Homemade starch can give your clothes a crisp, clean look of clothes -- without the high prices dry cleaners charge.

I love laundry starch. It makes ironing so much easier. However, store-bought starch often can damage old linens or have a synthetic that does not decompose. Good news: it's super easy to make homemade ironing starch with natural ingredients that easily decomposes.

1 pint cool water
1 tablespoon corn starch

Dissolve corn starch into water and put into spray bottle. You can use other starches as well, but corn starch is most convenient. Also, the best kind of corn starch is organic starch since it doesn't have the extra chemicals that come with generic corn starch.

Regardless of what starch you use, make sure to shake before each use to redissolve the starch. If you don't plan on using it often, make small amounts or refrigerate the unused portion; however, make sure to let the mixture return to room temperature before you use it. See? I told you it was easy.

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Eliminating hiccups through yoga breathing

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-16T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, miscellaneous

There are hundreds of "cures" for hiccups, and although my method may sound just as campy, it has worked for everyone I have suggested it to. It's a simple situation of mind over matter. Hiccups are spasms in your diaphragm; a sudden spasm of your diaphragm causes air to rush into your lungs. Your windpipe responses by closing suddenly, thinking something is wrong. Hence, the "hic" sound. The only way to get rid of the hiccups is to control the spasms, and this can be accomplished through focused, controlled breathing. The best form of controlled breathing is Pranayama, commonly known as yoga breathing.

Much like blinking your eyes, breathing can be manipulated, and by learning to control your breathing, you can regain control of your diaphragm during hiccups. Yoga breathing gets you in touch with the diaphram through slow, deep breathing. The key to this type of breathing is focus and control. Just breathing deep will do nothing, you have to mentally take control of your lungs' sympathetic system. It can be done.

For a how-to on yoga breathing, Health and Yoga has a great page on the intricacies of the breathing technique. The basic idea is to breathe in through your nostrils slowly, and fill your lungs all the way down to your belly, and exhale slowly pushing all oxygen out of your body. Ideally, yoga masters are able to slow their breathing with each inhale/exhale. Great masters can breath in for thirty seconds and out for thirty seconds. Yeah, I'm not one of those people, but I have found that the focused breathing allows me to control my diaphragm and regain normal breathing.

If hiccups last for a long time, however, seek professional help.

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Give your budget a check-up

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-10T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous, money, Essential Skills

On July 22nd, Tanya Ryno posted a great list of how to save money in the house simply by doing a few little things. It's amazing how those little things can add up. Leonid Shalimov on CashBulge posted a few more ideas on saving money around the house. The key to saving money, regardless of your financial situation, is to be aware of your spending, aka Cognitive Spending

Cognitive spending will help you see the bigger picture and, ultimately, will help you see how honest you are being with budgets. There are two major things you need to do to consider yourself cognitively aware of your spending: budget review and purchase awareness. In the following post, I'll walk you through how to be fiscally responsible, yet reasonable.
Budget Review
When was the last time you took an afternoon, busted out all the bills, payroll and bank statements, and a calculator to update your budget? With prices of necessities fluctuating (gas, car insurance), you should really do it every year or at every major life event (kids off to college, marriage, etc.). However, there's more to it than looking at your income and budgeting from there. There's a better, more honest way to reviewing your budget.

Here's what you do:
1. Take last month's bank statements and add up all the spending following categories:

Groceries
Dining out (include those trips to Starbucks in here)
Entertainment (i.e. movies, concerts, books, etc.)
Fixed bills (cable, Internet, mortgage, car insurance, etc.)
Fluctuating bills (energy, water, etc.)

Make sure every transaction is accounted for on your bill. In other words, make sure you've divided each transaction into a specific category. Change the categories if you want or need.

2. Take last month's credit card statements and do the same thing.

3. Match and add the categories. This will give you a total amount you spent in the month.

4. Review your spending. You will be surprised where you spend most of your money, and you'll be surprised at where you spend most of your money. Bet you didn't realize going to Starbucks five times a week can cost you about $60 a month. That's half my car insurance for both cars!

5. Budget cuts: can you cut anything down? Be honest with yourself here, but be proactive about your savings. The money won't magically come just by making a list of your spending. You have to commit to saving in little areas.

6. List all incoming money for the money.

7. Draw up a new budget based on all incoming money and your new list. Use your spending categories to guide your decisions. Don't over budget! Don't plan on getting a bonus, or working overtime. Base your budget on your reliable, fixed income. If you don't already set money into a savings account, start now! Even if it's only $5 a month. $5 a month is $60 a year - that's the price of one child's ticket to Disney World for an entire day! $10 a month is $120 a year - that's enough to get you a membership at your local rec center or a Thursday night in Vegas hotel!

8. Implement the new budget. Most people forget this. They let themselves overspend because of any number of reasons: stress, fatigue, or just plan rebelliousness. Regardless, be the commander in chief over your life. It's you doing the spending, so being lenient will only hurt...well, YOU.

Purchase Awareness
Purchase awareness is just what it sounds like: being aware of your purchases. This may sound tedious, but it works miracles on your pocketbook. How does it work? Easy. Before you by anything, and I mean anything, ask yourself - and answer yourself - the following questions:

Why am I buying this?
Do I really need this?

The key to purchase awareness is not to talk yourself into buying something. Don't justify the purchase to yourself, just answer the questions simply. We are amazing at talking ourselves into anything, so don't argue with yourself. Go with the answer you know to be true.

Initially, you might find yourself getting frustrated over purchase awareness. Your frustration will likely come from the sense of responsibility and the sadness that you may not need what you want to purchase. Every single one of us wants to be able to buy things; it comes from the desire for immediate gratification. However, you need to focus on the pride that comes from self-restraint, not the false sense of loss from not buying something.

Also, be aware that psychologists recognize a disorder called Compulsive Shopping Disorder. Believe it or not, it's considered an Impulse Control Disorder and has many causes. In 2002, Al Benson wrote a book called I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self that addresses the disorder with suggestions on how to combat it. If you find yourself unable to control your overspending, talk with your doctor or find a counselor who specializes in compulsive disorders. For more information and a great article on how to help a loved one through it, see MSNBC's article "Is Compulsive Shopping Eating Up Your Wallet."

So, be proactive about your money spending. No one else is spending the money but you, so be aware and take control of it. If you're in debt, contact a financial advisor to help get you out. It's much easier to get into debt than to get out. As Jim Rohn put it, "we all must suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment," and discipline, after all, is what makes us human.

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DIY: With Dad - Raphlie's "Old Man" in all our families

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-09T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: DIY with Dad, Know-How

Somewhere along the way, all our fathers became the same. Anyone who laughs at Chevy Case in National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, John Candy in The Great Outdoors, or Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story recognizes those iconic fathers as representations of our own. Each one of our fathers is determined to fix things himself, come hell or high water, and when I started Do-It-Yourself stuff around my own home, I had visions of my own "Old Man" tinkering with things around the house to "improve" them. However, when he came to visit a few weeks ago, I was reminded how I learned the value of home-improvement from my Dad. A lesson that is not easily forgotten.

Within two days of entering my house a few weeks ago, my father was shopping at Lowe's. To him, improving my house shows his love and concern for his married "little girl". For instance, our downstairs toilet never had the oomph it often needed. So, he spent an entire Saturday afternoon in the downstairs bathroom watching the water flush.

"It's an efficiency toilet," he puffed, "uses less water to flush. I'll see what I can do about it."

He proceeded, with my mother in tow, to watch the toilet flush for another hour. Only a father would be willing to watch water flush for three hours in order to prevent his daughter's toilet from overflowing. He ultimately decided that in order to fix it, the whole toilet would have to come apart, and since he only had a few days left visiting, he decided it was best not to mess with it.

So, how did he fix it? "Just don't use it often." Advice, which we followed like holy law, and which, has worked.

His dedication is touching and contagious. I have inherited his snicker-of-pride every time I do something notable around the house. He has taught me the value of having a well-designed and maintained home. Whenever I just want to ignore a problem in the house, his pride comes to mind. He showed me how doing things yourself creates pride naturally, and allows for a sense of accomplishment, like you have control over your house, not the other way around.

My father's DIY mentality also re-enforces the value of understanding your house. So few people understand how things function and thus become wasteful. Like a dripping faucet; losing water becomes an ethical dilemma as well as a structural one.

Every father has inspired us in some way. There are many things I learned from my father's home-improvement dedication that I am eternally grateful for. I only hope some day I can pass this along; someday I'll be the one downstairs, cursing at the broken furnace. Do you have a DIY-with-dad moment like this? Please share it with us in the comments below!

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Coffee grounds in the garden - When and where?

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-08T19:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, in the kitchen, gardening and plants, staying green, cleaning

You may have noticed your local coffee shop offering free coffee grounds to gardeners. Although it's true that coffee grounds can act as a slow-releasing fertilizer for some plants, it can invite mold and other problems if not properly used. So, here's the break down of when and where to use coffee grounds in your garden.

Coffee grounds add acidic nutrients into the soil, so they are most beneficial for plants that yearn acidic earth, like roses and columbine. The great people at Crescent Bloom organized a list of acidic soil loving plants. Evergreens also pine for these roasted dregs in their root system.

Grounds are are also full of other nutrients like iron, and the caffeine can encourage plant roots to spread. However, grounds should only be applied fresh and in a thin layer once a year. If you apply them too thick, they are more likely to mold and that causes more problems.

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Home Theater 101

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-08T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: audio and video, electrical, entertaining

Okay, so you have an idea of a home theater, but knowing exactly where to put speakers can be a guessing game. Not anymore. Setting up a home theater is easier than you think. Most people don't want a separate movie room, and for good reason. Most of us are not part of the Motion Picture Academy of Directors and don't need the $600 movie chairs with cup holders (although my husband would argue this). It only takes two great things to make any living room into a great movie room: audio set-up and video quality.

I'm not an audio or visual expert, but I do know what works in my room and my set-up. Every room and personal preference is different, so trust yourself when it comes to making adjustments and modifications for your set up. However, here are the basics for any home theater.

Audio
Audio can make or break a movie. However, audio is a tricky science. So, to make things easy, let's talk about the basics. Typically, you want a stereo that has 5.1 sound. This means there are 5 speakers - center, front left, front right, back left, back right - and 1 subwoofer, hence 5.1. The purpose of surround audio is not to literally surround you with sounds the entire movie; it's meant to add effect and reality to the movie. When your neighbor is outside mowing the lawn, you don't hear him from every angle all the time. It's ambient sound that adds dimension to your world. Same is true to movie audio.

History
Back in the day, there was quadraphonic sound, quad meaning 4, and stereos with quadraphonic sound had four speakers. The reason it shifted to five was because audio specialists found that having a center speaker, stereos could dedicate that center speaker to necessary sounds, like dialogue. Have you ever rented an action movie and wondered why you have to adjust the volume between action scenes and dialogue scenes? That's because either the center speaker is misplaced, not working, or is not present.

The subwoofer came along with the same intention, but instead of amplifying dialogue, it amplifies deeper, resonating sounds. Thanks to the subwoofer, the explosion of the Death Star can be felt, not just heard. It allows for more realistic audio since it projects sounds at a deeper tone than the human ear can detech, but the human body can register. Again, a tricky science.

Best set-up
So, where do you place these speakers? First things, first: look at the shape of your room where the TV is. Is square? Rectangle? Does it bend? How many open walls does it have? How much furniture is in it? All these things factor into the sound. Here's the basic rules for any room:

Back speakers should be at least two feet behind the head of the viewer, and the speakers should be angled downward, toward the center of the room.

The experts out there will tell you that all speakers should face the viewer's seat, but who only has one chair in their living room? Facing it toward the center of the room will be better for all seating arrangements.

This means you might have to move your couch away from the wall. This was a great excuse for my husband to buy a reclining couch.

Front speakers should be at least two feet behind the TV.

Again, this means you might have to move the TV forward. This was a great excuse for us not to buy a flat screen for the wall.

Center speaker should sit on or near the TV.

Most center speakers are designed to sit on the TV without messing with the picture; however, always check with the manual or the store from which you bought the stereo.

The subwoofer should face forward, toward the center of the room with the mesh side open.

Most subwoofers have a side covered by mesh fabric. Make sure this side is not faced up against a wall or other blocking object as it will distort the sound.

Those are the basics. If you're unable to have the back or front speakers behind the couch or TV, you should be able to adjust the volume of the speakers through the stereo menu. Either way, the center speaker is the most important speaker in your room. It must be the loudest speaker in your room. This will prevent the need to adjust the volume between action and dialogue scenes. A few inches can make a huge difference in audio.

Video
There is good news and bad news with video. The good news is that it's easy to determine what video is best because, well, you can see it in the store. The same can't be said for audio because audio depends on the set up of your room. The bad news with video is that it's easy to determine what video is best because you can see it in the store. This is bad because it generally means you're comparing a standard TV with a better one sitting right next to it, like an HDTV. Remember, stores are there to make a profit, so they often will put TVs next to each other where you are inclined to by the better, more expensive one.

There are only two pieces of advice for video:
1. Measure how far your couch is from the TV you currently have in your living room. This way, you can step back to the appropriate distance in the store and judge. It will also prevent you from buying a 52" screen TV for a 10X10 room.
2. Once back in the living room, will you notice the discrepancy of the TV when it's standing alone? In other words, there will not be a better model sitting next to your TV in your living room. If you think you will notice a lower quality when it stands alone, buy the better TV.

Upgrades
There are hundreds of sites dedicated to helping you create a movie-room, and most sales people know what they're talking about. However, if you want more information, here are a few sites that offer more detailed accounts of movie-room set-up:

Wall-construction instruction for better sound.
Projection-screen theater
For more on 5.1 and 7.0 set-up
Dos and Don'ts of basic set-up

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Frosty Strawberry Hulling Tip

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-06T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: food, household hacks, in the kitchen

A few of my favorite summer recipes, such as Strawberry Pie, require a large sum of whole, cleaned and hulled strawberries. However, yanking those green tops off can be time consuming, not to mention all the sweat meat lost when we rush. Some stores sell a contraption called a "strawberry huller" but they're clunky and often waste too much of the strawberry.

I'm a big fan of using what you have, but some older remedies work no better than the strawberry hullers. One such technique is the potato peeler. You stab the strawberry in at the top next to the stem, rotate the strawberry so the peeler cuts around the stem and pop it out with a flick of the wrist. That works great with larger strawberries, but what about those petite sweats?

The best berry-hulling tool is actually located in your cake decorating kit. The variety of star-shaped frosting cones is perfect for the varying sizes of strawberries. Use the larger star on over-sized strawberries and the small star on homegrown beauties. You're sure to have a huller the perfect size for your needs. Plus, the cones allow you to dig as shallow or as deep as you need, thus preventing the loss of berry meat. To use, place the frosting cone over the stem and push into the strawberry, then twist and pull up at an angle (a.k.a. just not straight up).

As an added bonus to this tool, there's no need to clean out the cone between berries. Just move on to the next berry and the stem from the previous berry is pushed up and out of the open-ended side of the cone. Icing on the cake, the cone is dishwasher safe.

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Counter top Ziploc bag dryer

Jessi Chartier — 2007-08-01T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: in the kitchen, organization and storage, kitchen, staying green, cleaning

With all the environmental consciousness of today, maybe your mother wasn't crazy to wash and reuse the zip-top bags. However, drying those suckers can be a headache. Gaiam sells a counter top bag drying rack for $19.00 (seen in picture on the right). You can also opt to use chopsticks in a tall glass to create the same system.

Regardless, make sure you clean each bag thoroughly with warm, not hot, water (hot water will warp the bag). Every little thing helps, especially since it takes about 35 years for a single plastic margarine container to decompose.

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Floating Bookshelves

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-31T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, organization and storage

Umbra offers a great new way to display your books. The have developed a concealed bookshelf which allow a stack of books to hang on your wall without the visual disruption of a bookshelf.

How does it work? The shelf is a piece of metal bent at a 90 degree angle so that when you screw it into the wall, a wide, flat piece of metal sits perpendicular to the wall. You slide the metal flap in between the back over of a book and the pages, close the book - there are holders for the back cover of the book - and stack other books on top. Viola! A floating bookshelf.

They also have a Flybrary, which holds books perpendicular to the wall.

Both are ingenious ideas that adds a great touch of contemporary style to any room. Plus, they allow you to display your books in a unique way. And best of all they're reasonably priced. The concealed bookshelf runs $11 on Umbra's site and the Flybrary runs $27.

You can find both items at Umbra's website, or find the concealed bookshelf at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

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Spa treatment for hands while gardening

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-30T19:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, in the kitchen, miscellaneous, gardening and plants, cleaning, Know-How

Every wonder how to avoid chapped hands after heavy-duty cleaning or gardening? There's an easy solution: liberally apply hand cream to hands before you pull on garden or thick dish gloves. As you work up a sweat doing your task, your hands will indulge in a spa treatment. The added bonus is that you will be more likely to wear gloves around cleaners you may not think damage your skin, like floor cleaners; thus, keeping your hands and skin happy and healthy all the time.

Also, run your fingernails across a bar of soap before heading off to the garden. The soap will prevent dirt from sinking into the depths of your nails and it provides an easy way to clean your hands afterwards. Keep your hands looking as good as your garden.

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Ditch the receipe box

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-30T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: in the kitchen, organization and storage, Crafts, scrapbooking, Storage & Organization

Handwritten recipes from mother's kitchen somehow always turn out better than any book-written recipe. But how do you keep the index-sized cards from fraying or disintegrated beneath food stains? The most-common practice is to purchase sleeves for the cards, but there is an easier way to use your mother's recipes without endangering the card itself: a photo album.

Buy a photo album that has the ability to add sleeves, and you can divide recipes into categories. The photo sleeves will protect your cards while organizing them to fit conveniently on the bookshelf with your cookbooks. Plus, you can use your scrapbooking techniques to decorate the cover.

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Pillowcase Skirt

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-30T08:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, miscellaneous, Crafts, sewing

The pillowcase skirt is the easiest way to make your old sheets into new, fashionable attire. Your pillow may be ready for a change too, having the same wardrobe for too long is not only boring for you, but also something your pillow doesn't want either. Here is how you can put new life into your old sheets, and give your old pillowcase a spin out on the town.

What you'll need:
1 standard pillowcase
2 feet of 2" wide non-roll elastic (or enough to wrap around your waist)
seam ripper
matching thread

Step 1: Cut open the closed end of the pillowcase so that you have a long tube
This is the skirt without waistband.

Step 2: With seam ripper, open three inches of long seam on the end you just cut open
This will allow the elastic to be slid into the waistband

Step 3. Hem freshly cut end 2.5"
This creates a waist band and the three inches from the second task allows access for the elastic to slide through the waistband.

Step 4: Measure and cut elastic to fit where you want the skirt to lay (i.e waist or hips)

Step 5: Slide elastic through hem and sew elastic ends together

Step 6: Sew open elastic ends closed

Step 7: With seam ripper, open seam to create slit in the bottom of the skirt.

Step 8: Sew open seam back, making sure to sew across top of slit to prevent further tearing

Ta-dah! You're done.

Options:
1. You can use ribbon along the edges of the pillowcase to create a contrast on the bottom of the skirt.
2. After you cut open the skirt in the first instruction, pull the skirt on and up to the length you want; mark the pillowcase where your waist falls. Then you can cut and sew your skirt to the desired length.

This project is a great, easy way to make a comfy skirt. Because, let's face it, who wouldn't want to wear clean bed sheets to work?

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Venetian blinds - not your college shades anymore

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-28T08:00:00 00:00

Filed under: fix-it, home decor, weekend projects, doors and windows, Living Spaces

I used to believe the devil created venetian blinds: those nasty metal window treatments found in most dorm rooms, held together by string pulls covered with migraine-inducing knots. However, when my husband and I were forced to rethink window treatments, we discovered the joy and elegance of venetian blinds.

As we save money for a house, my husband and I are renting a great row home. However, as renters, our home-repair-hands are tied. So, when we discovered the walls around our living room windows were too damaged to hold curtain rods (even with molly's), we trekked off to our local home improvement store to discuss options.

Our treatment options were roman shades or venetian blinds hanging from the ceiling or the window frame. With popcorn ceilings, we opted to hang from the window frames, but I shuddered at the thought of those metal, floppy blinds. So, we looked at roman shades only to find that they were just as clumsy as venetian blinds and twice as expensive. Then we looked at the venetian blinds. We discovered a wide array of wood paneled blinds, coming in both real and faux woods, and became enamored with the colonial style the wooden blinds would bring to our home.

The home improvement store was able to custom cut the length of the blinds - a great advantage for those odd sized windows - and offered to install them for us. However, we were able to easily install them into our window frame and enjoy them within an hour of getting home. Now, we have beautiful shadows on the walls and stairwell when we want, and have a nice dark TV room during any time of the day.

So, if you are looking at redoing your window treatments, I highly recommending looking at the new variety of venetian blinds. You might be surprised at what you find.

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Creating a picture wall without stress

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-27T19:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, art

Whether it be an eclectic array of family portraits or a refined collection of photography, everyone wants a well-designed picture wall. Debra McDuffee wrote a great post on eclectic picture placement. However, what about a wall? How can you create that eclectic movement on the wall without trial and error?

An easy way to create such a picture wall without the wall damage of trial and error is to use paper cutouts of the frames. Use old grocery bags, lay the frames on the paper, trace and cut out. Then you can tape them to the wall and design their organization. All this without guessing or wall damage.

This works great for anything you want to hang: masks, decorative plates, etc. So go, make that fabulous picture wall without worry.

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Wedding Etiquette: Rethinking the Favor

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-20T09:00:00 00:00

Filed under: wedding

Traditional wedding etiquette calls for a small gift to be given to guests. Although some couples tend to scoff and scratch this off their wedding lists, finding the right favor not as difficult as you think.

According to LoveToKnow, the favor itself was a porcelain box, given at any large celebration to the guests. The Jordan almond eventually became the staple, and the porcelain box was replaced by wedding veil material (tole). Unfortunately, this has developed into the tradition. Boring.

If you're going to spend the money, why not make it personal? My best friend and her husband - who is now considered cured of Hodgkin's Lymphoma - donated what they would have spent on favors to a cancer research charity. The key is to find something personal to you and your wedding. Is your wedding in the winter? Why not give homemade hot chocolate mix? If you're a gardener, give seeds or seedlings; baby trees make a great and lifelong gift. Even if your budget is tighter than bark on a tree, do something simple, like write a thank you poem. Even a great family recipe can make a great favor.

Regardless of what you decide to do, make it personal, make it meaningful. This way, not only will your guests be touched by your thoughtfulness, you will be able to express your gratefulness authentically.

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The $200 Kitchen by the Today Show

Jessi Chartier — 2007-07-18T11:54:00 00:00

Filed under: food, in the kitchen, money, kitchen, Kitchen & Bath, Small Projects, Makeovers & Inspiration, Products & Materials

The Today Show on NBC has answered my prayers. Mark Bittman developed a list of must-haves for the kitchen, a makeover that comes in around $200. This is a great resource for those getting married or those getting into their first apartment.

The list consists of typical items, like a chef's knife, but it also consists of unusual items, like a Japanese mandoline (a thin slicer) . Mark's list also includes brief descriptions of and reasons for each item in the list. Something I like since I had no idea what a Japanese mandoline was before today.

If you've got a bigger budget than $200 for your kitchen, Mark also has a video section that includes the "luxury" kitchen items, but even that additional list comes in under $100. He found everything at a local restaurant supply store, and recommends you do a bit of looking for a supplier in your area. Regardless, enjoy the ease of using Mark's list to redo your kitchen essentials and cook on!

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