January is all about cleaning, decluttering, simplifying, and starting “fresh” for the New Year ahead.
Because of this, I’m sharing 3 guest posts I wrote this past month — all about these “fun” topics 🙂
Blog
Hot Fruit Salad (in the Slow Cooker)
A Place of Her Own… Nora’s New Play House
Apple, Banana, Berry Smoothies
Earlier this summer, I posted a very simple, very basic smoothie recipe that mixed and matched pretty much any fruits, juices, yogurts, etc. to make almost any type of smoothie.
Today, I’m sharing the recipe for our favorite Apple, Banana, Berry smoothie — and it takes less than 10 minutes so it’s definitely a doable week-day breakfast or snack!
Christmas Storage + A Tour of All Our Basement Storage
As I was packing up our Christmas decorations I thought, “I bet people would like to see some pictures of our basement and how I store our extra stuff.”
So, for those of you who’d like to see what the basement of a 120 year old farmhouse (with a cray organizer living upstairs) looks like… here you go!
My Christmas Gift to Myself
I don’t know about you, but I like to give myself a Christmas and birthday gift 🙂 This year, the gift I gave myself was a super comfy and soft Michigan Home t-shirt from the Home. T Company.
They have many other states available, and a portion of each sale helps support research for Multiple Sclerosis. Wouldn’t these also make a fun graduation gift?
My Clever Gift Wrap Storage
Happy New Year!
We had a fabulous Christmas and New Years, and I’m so excited to be back to blogging. Dave is still home from school for the rest of this week, but I have too many ideas floating around in my brain and I couldn’t wait any longer to share them with you!
Today I’m sharing a little recap of the past 2 weeks… but tomorrow it’s back to simplifying and organizing!
Merry Christmas… from the Dekkers
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m taking a two-week blogging break to spend time with family — and to enjoy Dave’s extra-long two FULL weeks of Christmas break!
However, I couldn’t just leave for two weeks without wishing you all a VERY Merry Christmas, or without sharing our 2012 Christmas card — and a few cute family pictures!
Our Plans for the Holidays
One of the pros of running my own business is that I can take time off whenever I want. One of cons is that it’s really hard to actually take time off! However, based on my past experiences and the last 5+ years running a business, it’s 100% worth it every time I do!
So as we enter another crazy and busy holiday season, I’ve decided to take a two-week break… and yes, I’m excited!
Our Child-Friendly Christmas Decor
My Simple “Clear the Clutter Before Christmas” Challenge
Today, I’m sharing a very simple (but effective) “Clear the Clutter Before Christmas” challenge that will hopefully encourage and motivate you to clear a little bit of clutter from your home and life before Christmas day.
No matter how busy you are these next 10 days, YOU CAN DO THIS… and you’ll be so glad you did!
Why I’m Not Cleaning for Company Anymore!
As I mentioned last week, Dave and I have been hosting all sorts of holiday parties with family and friends — and believe it or not, I hardly did ANY cleaning before company arrived.
No I’m not sick, no I’m not lazy, I’ve just decided that our company doesn’t care and a “lived in” house is actually more welcoming than a perfectly clean house.
How our Grocery Bill Has Changed in Two Years
When I first started this blog (Sep. 2010) I was spending $20 or less on groceries each week — yes, that’s $20, NOT $200 — and no, we didn’t eat ramen noodles every night!
Fast-forward 2 years and our grocery bill has more than doubled… but I suppose we’re in a different season of life right now and I’m OK with that.
My 10-Minute Photo Collage
Over the past few months, we’ve noticed that Nora has an obsession with pictures… like whenever there are pictures around, she can’t focus on anything else until she carefully looks at all of them.
So the other day, I took a yardstick and extra clothespins and made her a photo collage for her bedroom wall — in about 10 minutes!
What I Decided for the Wall Above Our Couch
Cheesy Mashed Potato Soup
Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts {Day 6} = Acts of Service
Today is the last day in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and it’s my favorite clutter-free gift of all {acts of service}.
I’ve always been a big fan of service gifts — much more so now that I’m married, have a house to maintain, and a child! I’d take the “gift” of a cleaned kitchen or a few hours of babysitting over almost anything from the store… any day!