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The Best of Christmas Garlands & Wreaths at Hobby Lobby 2023
Ladies, Some of the featured items here are out of stock online at the time I wrote this article for you, but your local store might very well have these items in stock. I do think posts like this are timely as we near decorating for Christmas, but the best time to shop for Christmas decor is right when it comes out in September or October because the quality pieces sell out quickly. But you just might be in time for these still! If you are new to shopping at Hobby Lobby, all of their items go on a half-price sale in a rotation every week. Be sure to buy…
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The Best Luxury Christmas Decor at Hobby Lobby 2023 Part I
Ladies, Happy Christmas decorating season! I am buzzing with enthusiasm to dress this little rental house for Christmas. It led me to reflect on so many years where I worked with very little money to make things beautiful, and this year is no exception. Since I have champagne taste, here are the best luxury finds at Hobby Lobby this year. There seems to be a misconception among women that affordable big box stores equal cheap inauthentic decor while thrifting or shopping expensive decor stores is where you find the best pieces. Decor is not that cut and dry. With more options than ever in large stores, there are bound to…
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10 Tips for the Best Guest Prep HOSTESS GUIDE
Ladies, We prepare for guests by anticipating their needs and desires. Tips can feel overwhelming because it’s a lot of information but know that it’s not about perfection, it’s about thoughtfulness. The most seasoned hostess is still always learning. She is merely willing to notice a person’s needs and willing to serve them during the stay. The goal is to serve others out of reverence for Christ. Never feel like you need it all figured out to be a good hostess but also be willing to do your best out of love. These 10 tips will help you build on a solid foundation of good guest preparedness. Aside from reflecting…
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5 Ways Any Homemaker Can Decorate Better When Broke or On Budget
Ladies, I have always believed that by wisdom you can make things better, no matter how dire your financial circumstances. It takes wisdom to design and decorate a home beautifully on a budget. Design can be a way you bring about beauty despite your means not because of it. When the budget is slim, and I mean seriously slim, we have to make careful purposeful decisions for our homes. We can’t afford to make a bad purchase on a secondhand item because we cannot return it! While your recourse is to resell, there’s no telling if or when you will earn your money back! I have always been willing to…
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Decorate with Me: Classy Fall Tablescape & How to Layer Decor
Ladies, Come into my kitchen today to decorate with me for my fall tablescape. Think of this as a template to create a classy and layered design for a high use table. You can get as creative as you want, but this idea is an outline and just needs to be filled in with your specific finds! The Main Centerpiece I always start decorating the table with the main focal piece/largest piece first. Once this is in place, everything else comes in to compliment it or balance it. I think this is important for all of decorating. People tend to gather a lot of little things first and try to…
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2 Summer to Fall Transitional Outfits: Classics & Trends Feminine Style
Ladies, Here are two look-like-autumn-when-it-feels-like-summer outfits. Even better, these pieces are absolute classics and on trend as well in some ways. I need clothing to work in a very practical sense as this is just the reality of life when you are cleaning, cooking, gardening and doing home projects. I enjoy considering the shifts in fashion, but I filter out trends a lot because at some point you realize that fashion trends can lead you away from styles that look timelessly beautiful on you. Sometimes my long-worn fashion favorites come back into style. Fashion is fun, unless it becomes a chasing after the wind. Trends change too often for many…
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Laundry Room Before & After Makeover to Laundry Spa
Create a Laundry Spa Ladies, Let’s transform our laundry rooms into laundry spas. Every room & detail matters This before photo is from when we had moved into this rental house, before I had set up the laundry room (or closet) properly. Which is a wonderful point, that no matter the size of your laundry area and even if it is a rental, it is where you are making a home, and it needs design and decor. I especially encourage this space to be made nice because laundry is such a daunting duty for so many women. This room can either get forgotten or deemed too industrious for comfort. Often…
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Why Grow Hydrangeas: Longest Lasting Blooms in the Garden
Best Return on Investment in the Garden Ladies, This seasons best bloomers was between the double knockout roses and the hydrangeas. But the longest lasting blooms award definitely goes to my hydrangea friends. I’m swooning over their gorgeous blooms that lasted five months from March until August. After five months, the blooms started to look too tattered to keep. I gave them a major pruning once I saw new buds and blossoms and once the old blooms were off, all of that energy diverted to the new blooms and they matured faster for another round of gorgeous blossoms. Economical Landscaping When we moved into this rental house six months ago,…
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How to Design a Mediterranean Country Summer Home: Outdoor Dining, Flowers, & Fashion
Welcome to my summer home in the countryside Ladies, Summer always makes me think of the Mediterranean. So aside from never-ending laundry from sweating through our clothes in one day, I design a summer home reminiscent of this look and feeling of being among the rolling hills of the French and Italian countryside and those coastlines. My vision of this retreat has not yet been fully done but I continually pull from this idea to create the feel wherever it is I live at the moment. The Mediterranean feel, look, and lifestyle has been my favorite template to design my home for summer. Vacation Perspective One thing that stands out…
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What to Wear for Gardening in the Summer
Country women & gardeners have style essentials too Ladies, have you ever noticed how fashion magazines assume we all live in the city and work in offices? Their recommendations never seem to take into account the one who spends her days outdoors, among dirt, plants, animals, even children, working for her own family or a paid job that is grittier. What does a woman wear for her day working at home, working outdoors, surrounded by life, sticky hands, dirty paws, dough flinging off her beaters, flour in her hair, and insects buzzing all around her? I don’t think the fashion industry touted white button-down blouse fits anywhere into this kind…
