Home Helper

Last February, I ran in the 12th Annual Mardi Gras Run in Dallas, and the first thing I noticed upon arriving at the race was the huge crowd of walkers and runners. I was a little intimidated at first – as it had been quite a few years since my last 5K – but I ended up having a total blast. Some people were dressed in wild costumes and others had their faces painted. Everyone seemed to have smiles on their faces and there was a collective energetic spirit in the air. The best part was the group of event volunteers standing around the finish line with armfuls of Mardi Gras beads. As each race participant crossed the finish line, they were showered with beaded necklaces in bright green, gold, silver, and purple colors.

In the days that followed the race, I found myself looking at my beads in admiration of my accomplishment and also puzzled as to what to do with them. I’m a big fan of recycling and repurposing. So, I put on my thinking cap and came up with a solution… I could use the beads for gift wrapping!

To help you see my vision, I put together a couple of samples. ...read more

Every year, I look forward to Valentine’s Day because I know it means getting delicious sweets from loved ones. This year, I thought I’d return the favor and bake up some goodies for my friends and loved ones to enjoy. (Not that I don’t still want that heart-shaped box of chocolates for myself, too!) And what better way to show others you care than with some tasty treats made just for them! So for our weekly round-up, I’ve found some yummy recipes worth sharing for anyone else in the mood to bake this weekend! And make sure you check out the fun project I whipped up at the end to go along with the goodies! ...read more

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and even though I’m single I still love the holiday! The blogosphere is absolutely overflowing right now with holiday projects. Next week we'll feature some drool-worthy food finds, but for today's post I’ve spent a few hours surfing the Web looking for some of the most creative ideas for fun or romantic gifts, home decor, and family projects. (I have a rough job, right?!) I absolutely adore the ideas below and I hope you will too. ...read more

My husband and I have never been big fans of Valentine’s Day…it seems like the restaurants are always crowded and everything is over-priced. But now that we have a two-year-old, I want him to appreciate the general meaning and sentiment behind the holiday. And, it is a nice reminder that we all need to stop every now and then to say how much we care about each other! So I’m thinking of hosting a Valentine’s theme play date at my house this year for Tate’s friends and their moms.

If you want to host your own family celebration, here are some of my top ideas to make your home look fun and festive with some Valentine’s Day decor. ...read more

With living in the Midwest, I find myself continuously looking for indoor activities to entertain my toddler when it gets too cold to go outside. Thought I’d share a couple of great ideas I’ve found from other bloggers that are easy and fun.

If your kids like arts and crafts projects, you can help them create a paper plate snowman with easy-to-find objects around the house. The Busy Bee Kids Crafts blog has step-by-step instructions and tips for creating this. You can read it here. My favorite part is how little clean-up is involved with this one! ...read more

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Click here to place an order with this discount. ...read more

Being a mom means being a worrier sometimes. Worst case scenarios are always rushing through my mind. I’ve heard about the campaign to add an emergency contact to your cell phone directory under the label “ICE,” which stands for “In Case of Emergency.”  So, if you are ever in an accident (heaven forbid), the emergency personnel will be able to easily locate someone on your behalf.

I did this, but then I took it one step further. What if the cell phone isn’t with me or is damaged? What about my child, who doesn’t carry a cell phone? What if the emergency personnel don’t know how to work my phone? (Even I can’t figure it out half the time!) ...read more

It’s time for another “best of the blogosphere” round-up from the Out of Office Team. This time I thought I’d share some of the cool things we’ve seen from other sites on home décor. Hope you find their ideas and projects as inspiring as I did!  

• I love the Better Homes and Gardens online decorating archives – check it out here. They’ve got hundreds of projects big and small, plus photos to get you thinking. Their DIY site is also loaded with easy-to-do projects, templates and instructions.
• A home blog on AZCentral.com has a great tip on turning old family photos into something visually stunning on a big, blank wall.
• Room Envy is a fabulous site with amazing room design photos to fit everyone’s tastes – from sleek modernism to retro 60’s designs. Definitely give it a look if you’re in the market for a change.

Have you ever noticed when you travel that everyone else seems to have a suitcase just like yours? They all look like giant black boxes coming off the conveyor belts. Some of us tie colorful ribbon to the handle or use a bright-colored luggage tag. I have done both, only to find myself trying to remember the color of the ribbon. And then there was this one time when the contact card from my luggage tag went missing altogether! I figured it must have fallen out somewhere in transit. ...read more

Now that the Out of Office team has shared with you some of our resolutions for 2010, I thought it would be cool to share some interesting resolutions we’ve seen in the past week from other bloggers and sites. You can check out some of our favorites below. ...read more