You have seen them everywhere– bags of those ugly old silk flowers and garlands. I even have a few in my garage. Well, believe it or not there is a use, even for those.

• I have spray painted things like faded silk geraniums red and tucked them into my flower boxes with my real flowers and people can’t tell they aren’t real.
• Try different colors. For example, if you like the shabby chic look then spray paint all of the silk flowers white and tuck them in different places.
• Silver or gold will look great with many different styles of decorating.
• Spray paint your old silk flowers black and use them to decorate for Halloween. The more worn the better.
• Don’t forget you can paint those ugly old vases, too. They work especially well for things like Halloween decorations.
• I just found a bunch of glass pop bottles. Instead of tossing them, I am going to spray paint them all white and line them along my kitchen window sill with a colorful flower in each one.

You can buy special silk flower paint, but I just use regular spray paint. I don’t stress about it if they don’t turn out or if the paint starts to peel after a bit. I was going to toss this stuff anyway, so I don’t have anything to loss and I might have a lot to gain.

      -Jill

Photo By: Brianna Lehman

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I love Christmas Trees! The worst part of Christmas is taking down the tree. It’s great to sit and watch the tree lights twinkling at night all through December. There’s just something about Christmas lights in the evening that is so soothing! I love it so much that I turn my Christmas tree lights on in the morning and leave them all day. About 9 years ago, I came up with the idea to keep a small three foot tree up all year. Then I would make or collect ornaments for it and change it each month depending on the holiday or season. Of course about 2 years after I came up with it, someone else did too and now you can find mini ornaments in every store.

Here are a couple of pictures of my tree at different times. 

This one is for fall. I think I spent about $7.00 on all of it. The tree was $2 at an after Christmas clearance sale and then I collected the decorations at after Halloween sales and at yard sales.

For September, it has leaves and mini pumpkins on it for ornaments.

In October, I put little ghosts, Jack O’ Lanterns and bats. Then I put some garland or black and orange ribbon around it.

After Christmas one year I bought all snowman stuff for my January tree. I spent about $3 on everything. I used leftover fake snow to put around the base too.

The first year for my Valentine’s tree I made all red and white hearts out of construction paper. Then one year I found heart ornaments on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

I keep a tree up each month: Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and of course for spring I bring out my favorite collection of gnomes!  For each tree I’ve spent less than $5 and it’s always so nice to have something festive all year. 

Tawra

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Halloween Party Games

A few simple games are always fun at a party. Here are some great party games from our e-book Halloween on a Dime. You can even take some of your old favorites and put a Halloween twist on them. Instead of pin the tail on the donkey, make it pin the stem on the pumpkin.

For adult parties, have everyone come in a costume that they can’t be identified in. The host and hostess can leave the house, too, and pretend like they are walking in with the other guests so even they can’t be identified. Tell everyone they can’t talk for a certain amount of time during which they are supposed to try and figure out who is who.

It can be very funny with everyone just sitting and looking at each other in those weird costumes. My parents did this once and one of the guest had a mask with no mouth in it. He wanted to eat some of the candy that was sitting on the the coffee table so the whole time he kept placing candy through the nose hole of his mask, causing everyone to laugh.

Here are a couple of more games that both kids and adults will enjoy.

Be sure to check out Halloween on a Dime for more great Halloween recipes and ideas.

-Jill

Need more creative Halloween Ideas? Halloween On A Dime shows you practical and creative ways to make your own decorations, costumes, party games and more! Buy Halloween On A Dime e-book now!

Leaf Leap

Hide lollipops, small bags of candy or wrapped treats in a huge pile of leaves. Then have all the kids hunt for them in the leaves.

Halloween Guess It Game

In this game, you challenge the participants to reach into mystery boxes filled with creepy things and try to guess what each item is. The person with the most correct answers wins the game. An example is if you want them to guess "grapes", you might try to confuse them by saying, "I think it’s eyeballs…"

Cut a hole in the top of a shoe box or laundry box for each item to be used. Cover the box with black spray paint. Decorate each box with pumpkins or spiders for a more festive flavor. Place the following items inside, one per box. Be sure to place enough of each item so the guests can adequately "feel" the guts.

Eyeballs- grapes or peeled cherry tomatoes
Intestines- cooked Spaghetti
Skin- oil a piece of plastic bag
Brains- scrambled eggs
Hair- an old clown wig
Bones- thoroughly washed chicken bones placed in some sand
Vomit- chunky salsa
Fingers- hot dogs cut into finger sized pieces
Teeth- corn nuts, pine nuts or popcorn

From: Jacqui D.

Here is a fun Halloween game that I plan on trying at our Church party…

Spiderweb

Have all the children stand in a circle. The first child takes a skein of yarn and ties one end around his or her waist, then tosses it across the circle to another child. That child wraps the yarn around his waist and tosses across the circle to a different child. Once all the children have received the yarn, the last child ties it off around his or her own waist and cuts the yarn. Now comes the fun part — trying to untangle the spiderweb without cutting the yarn!!!!!!!

photo by: tammra

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How to Paint Tile

For years now I have been painting everything and I mean everything– long before it was the "in" thing to do and before there was special paints to use for the job. Forty years ago people were horrified when they heard that I had painted a metal storm door with latex paint (the paint still looks good on it). I have also painted vinyl flooring, kitchen cabinets and tiles.

I always thought, "If they look ugly anyway and I am going to have to replace them, why not try it? What do I have to lose?"

When I moved into my current house it had the absolute most awful porcelain tiles I had ever seen in the bathroom. I thought, "Why not paint the porcelain tiles?" This was before the decorating shows came up with the idea that you might be able to paint tiles.

Six years later, they still look great!

Here’s what I did:

• Sand them lightly
• Clean well with degreaser – Dow bathroom cleaner or mineral spirits works well
• Paint with "No Sand". No Sand is a product found with the paints, which is sometimes used in place of sanding but I use it as a paint "glue" for things like cabinets or tiles.
• Paint with Kilz (I prefer oil based.)

• Paint with latex paint. You can use any kind of latex paint. I used flat paint in my bathroom because that is what I already had but I usually prefer semi-gloss or gloss paint for places like that because it is easier to clean.

  I haven’t tried using paint in shower stalls where the water would be hitting it all the time. I’ve only used it on the bathroom walls and kitchen back splashes that had plastic tiles (Yeah, there is such a thing) and it worked fine.

      -Jill

 P.S. Here are some instructions on how to paint a vinyl floor. 

Photo by: jpvargas

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How Pleasant Is Your Home?

I read a lot of Grace Livingston Hill books and in one of them she refers to a woman’s home and her responsibility in the home. She said the responsibility was "to make it pleasant for those to whom she had been given."

I really started thinking about those words. I was to make my home pleasant for those whom I had been given. My home (husband and/or children too) are special gifts and treasures that have been given to me too. I wonder how often we disappoint God because we abuse and neglect those treasures that He has given us after having faith and confidence that we would take care of them and treasure them in the same way He does.

If we were given precious jewels, we would polish them, store them to protect them from nicks and tarnishing and see that they were carefully maintained. We wouldn’t allow them to become buried and forgotten under piles of dirt and dust and stuff. Do we care for our homes and families in the same way we would care for a treasure– by making sure they are well maintained and cared for?

If you give a gift of great value to one of your children, how do you feel when you find it lying out in the rain and weather being neglected? We have all been given a special gift – our homes yet so many of us neglect them or regard them as unimportant.

It doesn’t matter if that home is small or large, if it is in a great part of town or a not so great part of town. We have a responsibility as women to make our homes pleasant for those we love. Men and children can’t do this. That doesn’t mean they can’t help take care of your home but they don’t have the ability to make a home "pleasant" in the same way that a woman can. Don’t worry guys– you have other very special gifts and jobs we gals don’t have and I am speaking in general terms. I know there are always exceptions.

Let me give you an example. We just got through painting Tawra’s house. As we were painting it, we were talking about how none of the male members of our family and extended family like to paint. They hate it. A majority of guys don’t like to paint unless it is for profit.

I said, if left to themselves, I bet most men would never paint one thing (except maybe their cars :). They couldn’t care less if the walls of a house ever got painted or if curtains were ever put on a window. Most men would probably never put anything on a plate, instead eating their food straight from a can and drinking from a carton.

Why? Because men think in terms of comfort and necessity and painted walls or curtains don’t fit into either category. Those things only spell unnecessary work and painted walls do not add to their physical comfort at all. Eating out of a can– well that means one less dish to wash.

That leads to this next statement from the same book  "Home without a woman… was a shell with the spirit gone." We add the spirit to our home. Yes, you can live without painted walls, curtains and decide to eat out of cans but painted walls, curtains and such are what add that spirit to our homes. They are what make a home "pleasant."

Have you made your home pleasant? Does your family hate having to leave it each morning and can’t wait to get home at the end of the day or do they dread coming home? What kind of spirit is in your home? One of warmth, comfort and joy or is it cold, dirty, tired and unkempt?

Only you can make a house a home. God has given you a special gift and treasure. Don’t neglect it. Appreciate it and take care of it.

       -Jill

photo by: indieman

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I just finished putting up my decorations. I had several "ho hum" Jack O’ Lanterns with lights in them. They really needed a boost. I spied some masks which go across your eyes with feathers and sequins decorating them. I probably wouldn’t be wearing them this year, so I popped them on to the Jack O’ Lanterns. My pumpkins instantly went from plain and boring to hilarious.

They looked so funny with their cock-eyed grins under the fancy masks. You could even add funny little hats and things like that then make an arrangement of several of them. If you have older kids who love "gross" things,  arrange some plastic spiders crawling in and out of the pumpkins mouths or slime running down one side of its mouth.

Hot glue straw on one of their heads for hair, add a wig or add false eyelashes. The sky is the limit.

I usually make mine a little fancier then the pictures below. This was one of those "hurry up" things I just slapped together so you could get a general idea.

Jill

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I love all kinds of old things. When one of my favorite sites Remodalaholic  had this project to frame old recipe cards I just had to share it. What a cool idea!!! I will have to some this with some of mom’s recipes since we don’t need her recipe cards anymore thanks to a several thousands copies of Dining on a Dime!

LOL Tawra

Oh, I just found another one to use those ugly bread boxes! How cool! I’m on the look out for one or two now!

  Tawra

I was looking at my recipes the other day. Boy what fond memories I have in looking at those. I have recipes in my grandma’s writing, my mom’s, aunts and many other friends and family members.

I will some day pass my recipe box on to my granddaughters. I know many of my recipes are in Dining on a Dime but some how it isn’t the same as my recipes in their box with all the years of splatters and love smeared all  over them.

I feel so sad because now everyone loves the convenience of putting things on their computers and I know it is easier but holding that recipe my grandma or mom wrote for me brings cooking for me to a whole ‘nother level.

Jill

photo by: calliope

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One day my daughter, daughter in law and I went to the Parade of Homes in our area.

The homes on display in a Parade of Homes are homes you always dream about but know you can never have– perfectly decorated and expensive model homes.

My son and son-in-law were moaning as we trotted out the door all excited to once again get some new decorating ideas. As we made our way to the car, they yelled, "Don’t even think about moving or remodeling when you get home." They know their wives oh so well.

I don’t know why we torture ourselves, but we do it every year. My daughter called the next day and said, "I get so discouraged after looking at those houses when I walk into my house and see that there is stuff everywhere." I know what she was talking about because I felt it too but at that same moment, in my minds eye, I was thinking about my daughter’s home and the way it looked the last time I saw it. I then started comparing it to the model homes we had just seen and these words popped into my head, "Her home was decorated with love".

The Living Room

When you walked into the living room of the model home, there was a place for everything and everything was really in it’s place. I think they even measured the throws and pillows to make sure they were in the right spots. The pictures were of beautiful landscapes and there wasn’t a toy in sight. Contrast this with my daughter’s home, where there was a music stand and chair in the middle of floor where sister, who is learning to play the flute, had played Hot Cross Buns for the twentieth time and sat beaming as family members patiently applauded and praised her again and again and again after each attempt.

There was a very worn "security blanket" (not a throw) rolled up in a ball at the end of the couch. A favorite was pillow laying half on and half off of the couch where middle brother had laid when he was sick and where he had been given special love and attention from mom.

Instead of landscapes, there was mom and dad’s wedding picture and the kids’ school pictures, along with family pictures scattered here and there. There was a dog chew in one corner where big brother had just finished playing with the dog and in another corner was the cat bed where a well loved kitty contentedly slept. There was a stray toy here and there, a few books, a couple of Bibles and some magazines all having been shared and read together at different times.

The Kitchen

When you walked into the kitchen of the model home, there wasn’t a dish in sight- nothing on the counters. It was spotless and shiny. On the other hand, my daughter’s home had a handful of dishes left in the sink from when dad took over and made lunch because mom wasn’t feeling good. There was a pan of water on the stove where sister had fixed a cup of tea for mom and a pan of something burnt and unrecognizable that dad had burnt while trying to cope with lunch and feeding baby brother his bottle all at the same time.

The Dining Room

The dining room chairs in the model homes were lined up in perfect position. My daughter’s were all in different places from having been used over and over that day. Some were from doing homework, others crafts, coloring, painting, fixing a broken this or that, having a snack together, and always, at the end of the day, sharing dinner together with everyone talking a mile a minute.

Last but not least there was total silence in the model homes, but at my daughter’s there is music all the time. Someone is always singing, whistling, humming or laughing. The dog is barking, someone is always talking and there are even a few boyish burps followed by mom’s scolding them for doing it.

Yes those model homes looked beautiful on the outside but, like your mom always said, it is what is inside that counts. Inside the model home, it was empty, cold and lonely. My daughter’s home certainly wasn’t empty, there were lots of "items of love" scattered everywhere. As far as being cold, all that love and laughter spread warmth to every corner of every room and as for being lonely, you couldn’t find one spot to be lonely in even if you tried. Trust me, my daughter has tried to find a quiet place to be alone in and they still seem to find her.

So here’s to all the homes decorated with love and the moms and dads who decorate them.

Jill

photo by: colleen-lane

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Here are a couple of pictures of mom’s falls decorations.

She made the rake (it says "Free Leaves – Rake All You Want") for $0 using stuff she already had. I made the pumpkin guys in the back a couple of years ago. It was easy and cost me $0 because I already had the stuff.

Mom went to put  up a funny witch one year and the silly thing kept falling down as she was hanging it. She finally got frustrated and left it on the ground until she could figure out what to do.

She then decided to just leave it and add a "water" bucket like the Wizard of Oz when the witch was melted with water! Great idea! (And so much easier)

      -Tawra

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Doing Projects with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

If you are wondering how I accomplish projects around the house when I have CFS and FM, I thought I would show you.

For this project, I was making a coat rack out of an old window.

The first week I washed them in the tub since they had been outside for a long time.

Then I painted them outside. I forgot to take an after picture but you can see it in the next one.

Then the next week, I started by cutting the wood for the back.

Then I sat down and had a cup of tea.

Then I painted the front side. You can see the window I had already painted the week before in the background.

Then I sat down and had a cup of tea.

Then I painted the back side.

Then I went inside and had a cup of tea.

Then I put the back on the window and brought it in to hang on the wall.

Then I laid down to have a cup of tea.

So it’s Tea. That’s how I get so much done! hehehe

I got the thing hung on the wall but after I got it up there I hated the way it looked so I am going to have to find something else to do with my "purple window almost a coat rack" project.

Tawra

BTW, just so I don’t get any emails. I made one pot of tea with one tea bag that gave me 3-4 "cups" of tea.

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