Homemaking Tip--Favorites

This morning Cali, Ande and I were driving over to help a friend, who badly sprained her ankle a few days ago. This friend has been house-dog-sitting for a month and the owners are returning in a day or two, and she needed help getting a few things back in order. Thinking that today was Homemaking Tip day on the blog, I said, “Okay girls, what’s a homemaking tip for the day?”



Cali quickly answered, “Teach your kids to can so you don’t have to.” Apparently she was thinking about the tub of green beans on the counter at home that she promised to can today. But that tip doesn’t work because she got a text message a few hours later and she’s bailing and heading out of town.



Ande said, “You are making cookies today, right?” —alluding to this tip that I’ve already shared.

So, other than being great help to our friend, they were no help; however, the house we went to clean was so creatively decorated that I have a homemaking tip after all.

I love when someone can combine several different genres successfully. The homemaker of this home had taken her favorite things from every culture and time-period and combined them.



She successfully combined a zebra print rug on the floor with a white couch and an old, wooden framed, bubbles-in-the-glass window hung by two chains from the ceiling as a couch back or art. (I stood on a real zebra hide to take this picture and there was a black armoire behind me.) The kitchen had two hoosiers and white-washed boards on the floor, but modern art on the wall.



The bathroom had a plush, gold, high-backed chair with black marble flooring and brass fixtures, but a wooden cabinet filled with white fluffy towels and the sign “Prive” hanging from the door.

This homemaker was not afraid to combine a few of her favorite things and the house was so attractive because of it. So my homekeeping tip for the day is: Don’t be afraid to combine your favorite things. Eclectic can be a very attractive decorating style.



This is one of my favorites—all kinds of vegetables from dinner the night before tossed together and browned in a frying pan. (If you’re a cheese lover and not counting WW points then sprinkle that on top, too.) Combine your favorites—whether in a house or a frying pan-is my tip for the day.



I’m pleased to report it wasn’t me who had to buy the ice cream last night after our mini-golf game. I had one stroke less than Cali and Ande. Calvin thumped us all, but he practiced while we were doing the dishes AND he designed the course so that all but disqualifies him from being an honest contender. It was great fun and we laughed awful hard (especially at the end when we gathered for a self-portrait and a bird flew over and dropped and it ONLY hit Ande).