Non-gift Giving

While we're on this gift giving topic (see last post), let's just acknowlege what we all know: We already have too much stuff. If this is your lament, here are some ideas to consider:

1. GIVE EXPERIENCES, NOT THINGS. Gift cards, tickets to a play or sporting event, or a spa treatment all fit into this category.

2. GIVE TO CHARITY IN RECIPIENTS' NAMES. Give to a cause that matters to the recipients, rather than you. For example, my sister and her family are very involved in their church. Though I haven't done it yet, I always think about buying a cow or chicks or bunnies in their name for a family in need through Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/).

3.  GIVE TO THOSE IN NEED:  Rather than exchanging gifts among your friends and/or family, adopt a family and buy for those in need.  A women's group I belong to does this each year.  These families are really in need, evidenced by neccesities, not wants, on their wish lists.

4.  GIVE THE GIFT OF YOUR TIME OR SKILLS. Offer to babysit for your sibling or best friend so they can have a night out without the extra expense of a babysitter. If you have a skill (decorating, painting, working with electricity or computers), offer your services in lieu of a physical gift. Last year my brother-in-law gave us the gift of installing new light fixtures for us. I wonder if there is an expiration date on that???

5.  SKIP THE GIFTS ALL TOGETHER: This one is hard to do, especially if kids are involved. I'll admit, I love to open gifts, and love watching somebody open what I hope is the perfect gift that I have found for them. But, it does get expensive. And, you sometimes end up with duds. A few years ago, we decided with my husband's siblings that we wouldn't exchange gifts among the siblings any longer. It saves us time and money, and puts the focus more on the kids than the adults. It's worked really well for us, but certainly isn't the right option for everybody.

Happy non-gift giving this year!

Until next time...
Missy

The Running Christmas List

Yes, it's that time of year again.  And no, this does not mean everything on my Christmas wish list is related to running.

Has your mother/spouse/child asked you yet, "What do you want for Christmas?"  If not, it won't be long before they do.  Will you have your answers ready?  Better yet, will those around you have their list ready when you ask them what they want?

My answer is the Running, or Cumulative, Christmas List.  I keep a sheet of paper in the kitchen, and throughout the year jot down ideas as they come to me, or as those I give gifts to make comments about what they wish they had.  It's how I know this year my husband's grandmother is getting a really awesome wine bottle opener like ours.  She thought ours was so cool last year, and now I don't have to give a second thought to what to get her. 

I also try to keep a running list of what I want but never bother to buy for myself.  My family isn't quite as helpful in giving me their lists.

There are two AWESOME benefits to the running list.  1) You don't have to try to come up with last minute gifts and just hope the recipient will love them.  2) when you know ahead of time what you are getting each person on your list, you can plan your holiday spending wisely.  You can look through ads to and buy when the item is on sale, or spread out the buying months so that you pay for everthing right away an aren't stuck with a mondo credit card bill in January.  Most years my goal is to get the majority of my Christmas shopping done by Halloween.  This year, that is definitely NOT happening, but it's nice to have a goal (as opposed to my husband, who before I came along was a Christmas Eve shopper!!).

If you are currently trying to assemle the wishes of all those you give to, here's another idea.  If you will be with family for Thanksgiving, let them know NOW that you hope to collect ideas when you are together for the holiday.  It gives them lead time to think about their own wish list.  And, you should be prepared with yours as well. 

If you have a lot of kids you buy gifts for, consider bringing all the Sunday ads with you to Thanksgiving (Target, Toys R US, etc.).  Assign each kid to a different colored crayon, and let them circle all the things they want (be prepared for them to circle everything).  Then review options with parents, and be sure to get current clothes and shoe sizes.

Finally, if you really want to get your point across, you can adopt my niece's approach.  Last year she put together a three-ring binder with all of her wishes.  She included printouts from websites that showed the store, item, price, color and size of everything she wanted.  Do you think she might take after her Auntie??  Her specificity paid off.  We knew exactly what she wanted, it took the guess work out of buying for her, we could look for sale prices because we had time to make the purchases, AND she got exactly what she wanted.  What a lucky girl.

Happy Listing!

Until next time...
Missy

Organizing Your Magazines

I got back into my organizing groove last night, and boy, did it feel good!

I have a wicker chest in the kitchen with 3 stacked drawers.  The top drawer collects items that need to get filed, and once full, is my signal that it's time to file.  In the process of sorting, and then actually filing the items in the file drawers in the basement, I found no fewer than 4 folders and collections of pages I've torn out of magazines over the last 1-2 years.  Clearly, I had some organizing to do!

If you buy or subscribe to a lot of magazines, here are my suggestions for keeping them under control:

1.  Only buy magazines you know you will read and thoroughly enjoy.  If you find you are buying a magazine for only one column, or you rarely get to reading what you buy, quit buying!  Local libraries carry oodles of titles that you can check out for free.

2.  Read immediately, or set aside weekly reading time to prevent magazines from piling up and gathering dust. 

3.  Only save what you know you will refer back to.  There's no need to keep full magazines for most people.  Tear out the pages that you want to keep.  And, if you have a subscription, you can likely access back issues online anyway. 

4.  Devise a filing system for what you save.  This is what I spent last night doing.  I gathered all 4 piles of torn out sheets, and sorted them into categories.  For me, those happened to be:  Money Saving Ideas, Blogging Ideas, Home & Organizing, Fitness, Dream Home Pictures, Crafts, Quotes and Photos, To-Read.  Once sorted, each stack went into a labeled file folder and filed.  Now when I'm looking for craft ideas or tips to share with you all, I know exactly what file to go to.

Now it's your turn!  Share with us your favorite magazines and your strategies for keeping them organized!  My favorite titles?  Real Simple, Woman's Day, and Southern Living.

Happy Reading; Happy Organizing.

Until next time...
Missy

Back in the Saddle Again

Hey y'all.  I've been MIA for quite some time, as my last post was the beginning of September.  YIKES! 

Here's what's been going on...

I love taking pictures.  Labor Day Weekend my camera died.  Kind of.  The LCD screen was shot.  I must admit I like adding pictures to each blog posting, so that is part of the reason I've been absent from the scene.  I tried sending my camera in to be fixed.  It came back unfixed, with the fix costing more than the camera itself.  I JUST bought a new camera, and feel ready to roll again!  I got the current version of what I had:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7

I have loved this camera and am excited to check out this new version, which includes GPS (don't think I need that on my camera, but there you have it).  It's got great zoom, captures color wonderfully, and is a point and shoot camera that is super easy to use.  

At the end of August I was contacted by a company I interviewed with in the summer of 2009.  They called ME and asked ME to interview for a job.  So, right now, I'm in limbo waiting to see if I'll get called back for a 2nd interview.  Should I get this job, which I am interested in, then I'll have to rework my website and scale back a bit on Render Lifestyle Management so I can do it all.  Until I know which way life is taking me, I've just been enjoying the fall.  And what a fall it has been in Minnesota.

And, as it is fall, that means the end of the cabin season.  We closed up for the winter last weekend, with unseasonably warm weather.  It felt really strange to be closing for the season in 80 degree weather!  Here are a few shots of the gorgeous sunset we enjoyed on Saturday night.

On the fun and frugal side...I made my first trip to an Aldi grocery store in the past month.  I was sucked in by the advertisement of pineapples for $1.99 (vs. $3.99 at Byerly's where I usually buy fruit).  I spent $8.60 total and came away with a box of cereal, the pineapple, a turkey kielbasa, 3 canned goods, and I think one other thing I cannot remember.  I will definitely go back- they really do have low prices, but with that comes a small selection.  For example, they only had gallons of milk (no half gallons).  And, you have to be willing to give up brand loyalty, because there are no name brands to be had there.  And, it's a very small small produce selection.

My current project is a floor lamp re-do.  It was given to me by my mom (helping her clear out her basement), and was brass.  I'll be spray painting it and either getting a new shade or recovering the old one, and will end up with a brand new lamp for the newly re-done guest bedroom.  I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Many of you have told me you love the organizing ideas I've suggested thus far in my blog.  If that is you...please comment and let me know what organizing conundrums you are facing and I'll answer in future posts!

Until then...happy fall!
Missy

Another Bathroom Re-Do

The first floor powder room wasn't the only room in our house in need of a makeover.  This spring I also tackled the guest bathroom.  I don't have any good before pictures, but nothing had ever been done in it.  It still had the plain construction-white walls, all scratched and marked up from the previous owners. 

In this bathroom I chose I soothing green (to match the guest bedroom- for another post) with black accents.  Everybody questioned my use of black, especially for the shower curtain, but I love how it turned out.  This bathroom also had a brass light fixture, which I removed, spray-painted black, and put back up.  It was my first spray-painting adventure and I loved it!

I shopped in my basement and found the perfect artwork in black frames.  One is a boat in water (photograph).  This was a card with a photograph on it that I purchased years ago in New Hampshire and framed.  The other (pictured below) was also a card that I purchased in Duluth and framed. 

This was a really inexpensive and easy makeover.  I don't have the exact cost, but it was definitely under $100 total.  It amounted to about $9 for primer and spray-paint; paint (shared cost with guest bedroom re-do), about $20 for the shower curtain and another about $40 for towels, hand towels and washcloths for guests.  I bought black hand towels to match the shower curtain, and found guest towels and washcloths at TJ Maxx that match the paint color exactly.  I LOVE that store!!

Here is the light fixture before:

And after:

Here's the rest of the guest bathroom, post makeover:

End result:  a bathroom I love!  Good luck with your next home improvement project.  Post a comment about how it goes!

Until next time...
Missy

The Perfect Summer Night

We've just returned from a great weekend at the lake, or as we Minnesotans say..."up north." 

We got to the lake Friday night, just as the sun was setting.  Here is one of my husband's favorite shots- taken through the car window.

Saturday was hot, but sunny and beautiful.  Brad captured several loons hanging out:

We had THE perfect summer dinner of steak on the grill and Minnesota-grown corn on the cob.  Mmm-mmm good.  There was wine, in the wine glasses my dad just won in a big golf tournament, topped off with a wonderful sunset.  Behold:

Ahhhh....Minnesota at its best.  I hope you all had an equally great weekend.  Dinners at home are economical and have better ambiance than any restaurant!  With nature's glory on the shore, you don't need much more!

Until next time...
Missy

Bathroom Re-Do

My husband bought a great house as a single guy.  Then we met, and when we got married, I moved in.  Together we picked colors and painted every room on the first floor...except the bathroom.  I had a plan for it.  It just took me 4 years to actually get to it.

There's nothing like a deadline to motivate you.  I started stripping wallpaper and sanding the sponge-painted walls, with entertaining my family for Easter as the motivator and deadline.  Once started, well, I HAD to finish it.  I could hardly have my family over for Easter with a babthroom with no light and taped walls. 

This was a cheap project- sweat equity, paint, and a light fixture from Menards.  The hardest part was sanding the walls; the scariest part was changing a light fixture myself.  I'd never done anything with electricity.  Turns out it isn't that hard! 

Check out the before and after pictures...and if there's a project you've been putting off...what are you waiting for?  It's so much fun to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Before:  Think sponge painting about 4/5 of the way up the wall, a brass light fixture, then a wall-paper border, and top it off with an irridescent leaf stamp the rest of the way up to the ceiling.  Very country.

After:  Two coats of paint (Monk's Hood is the paint color) and a new brushed nickel light fixture make this bathroom all better. 

Until next time....
Missy