As a little girl, I frequently dreamt about the day I would have my very own home to decorate. And when Dave and I got married, I blissfully decorated our home for Christmas every year… I loved the whole process!
This year, however, I’m planning to keep things a little more simplified and am scaling back on our holiday decorations in lieu of other projects and leisure activities.
Although Nora is almost 2 years old, we really have not amassed many traditional toys at all. And while Nora loves playing with her real toys, sometimes I think she loves her “non-toy toys” even more.
Today, I’m sharing more than 75 of our favorite non-toy toys that help us save a bunch of money and keep toy clutter at bay in our home.
I’ve been on a “quiche kick” lately and have tried out multiple different recipes. One thing I’ve noticed is that although I love pie crust on pies, I apparently don’t love them with quiche!
In the past, I’ve made quiche using crescent roll dough. Last week, I tried something new — hash browns as the crust!
For the last couple of months, our home has had much less paper clutter and we’ve had much less time clutter, thanks to one simple decision… we canceled our newspaper subscription.
We have enjoyed reading and supporting our local newspaper — but for various reasons (including the time and physical clutter it caused) we decided it would be best to cancel our subscription.
I regularly share my Craigslist experiences on my blog, and because of this, I often get emails asking how exactly I handle my Craigslist meet-ups — specifically when I’m selling items out of our house.
Today, I’m answering some of the most common questions I get related to my little Craigslist “side job”!
When we finally finished our summer-long landscaping project, Dave and I decided to have a bunch of friends over for a backyard BBQ. Of course, our friends were all on board for a free dinner… however, we opted for a homemade soup and bread buffet over traditional BBQ foods.
Today, I’m sharing the recipes I used, how I organized this event, and how I managed to feed 28 people for around $90 total!
As you probably know by now, I’m a big fan of saving money whenever I can, using coupons, finding great deals, etc. etc. — and that philosophy transfers over to my gift giving as well… but only to a point.
I personally think there is a distinct difference between giving frugal gifts and cheap gifts — and today’s post is based on this topic and a few recent emails I’ve received on this topic.
Now that it’s officially October, I find myself frequently thinking about Christmas gift ideas. Two gifts I’ve ALWAYS been an advocate for are clutter-free gifts and educational gifts — especially when it comes to gifts for kids.
Today I’m sharing a really fun educational gift Dave’s mom made for Nora — it would make a fabulous Christmas, birthday, or “just because” gift for any lucky child on your gift list!
I had a really hard time choosing what to include in my Favorite Things post for October. I keep adding to my list of things I want to share with you all eventually — and seriously, for being a clutter-hating minimalist at heart, I sure have a lot of tangible things that I like!
Today’s post includes the things I’ve decided to share with you for this month — but my list is already growing for next month!
One question I get over and over and over again is how we use and organize the space under our kitchen sink.
To be perfectly honest, there are a handful of questions I get on a very regular basis about our sink, our faucet, etc. etc. so today, I’m answering a bunch of these questions for all the inquisitive farmhouse sink lovers out there!
Almost weekly, I am asked via email, Facebook, or my blog why I don’t shop at Aldi. I have nothing against Aldi stores in general — and I DO shop there every once in a while to stock up on canned goods and chips — I just don’t do my regular weekly grocery shopping at Aldi.
Today, I’m sharing a few reasons why Aldi doesn’t seem to work for me… in hopes of answering all the Aldi questions I get!
Today is a monumental day in the Dekker household! For the very first time since Nora was born (over 22 months ago) this mama bird is leaving the nest. And yes, I feel SO anxious, nervous, sad, excited… and guilty.
Keep reading for more about my mom-only “vacation”… and a few 17 week baby bump pictures 🙂
If you feel like your family’s schedule is out of control now that school is in full swing again, let me take 10 minutes to introduce you to the Calendars & Chores Etsy Shop.
More specifically, let me share their fabulous Magnetic Wet/Dry Erase Calendar. Seriously, this thing might just revolutionize your family’s schedule!
We’ve been finished with yard work for the summer for several weeks already — but I’ve had a difficult time trying to accurately photograph the “after” pictures. It’s so hard when the plants and trees are still small!
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more pictures next summer — but for now, I’m excited to share our official 2013 landscaping before and after shots!
Before I had Nora, I was literally busy busy busy from the moment I woke up until the moment I went to bed. And not just busy shopping or other leisurely activities.
After Nora was born, the realization that I just couldn’t do everything I had been doing before was extremely difficult for me. Although I was willingly giving lots of time and energy to my family, I felt like a failure in pretty much every other area of life.
In case you missed it, I took the entire month of August off from blogging. However, after I announced I was taking a full month off, I found it interesting that MANY other bloggers emailed me asking more about why I took a break, how I decided on a month, and if I would share some of my thoughts once I returned.
I figured that was a reasonable request — so today I’m sharing my thoughts and answering a few questions I got over and over again.
It’s no secret that I love planning ahead, stocking up, and being prepared. Our freezer and pantry are full, our bank account has plenty, and we have an almost endless supply of diapers and toilet paper!
But recently, I’ve been thinking about the principle of scarcity and how much less likely we are to waste a resource if it’s scarce. Not that I’m a wasteful person; it’s just a lot easier to inadvertently waste when you have plenty. Don’t you think?
After showing pictures of our new garage makeover last week, I got an insane number of questions about the garage floor coating. I totally understand why — Dave and I are thrilled with the results. So I decided to send your questions directly to the Monkey Bar expert.
Today’s post has their answers mixed with my comments and photos — and seriously, this floor is amazing!
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