Bring Spring In!

Written by Kathleen Wilson


Continued from page 1

Use those beautiful pictures from your garden catalogs to frame into botanical prints, who will know!

Use gold spray paint left over fromrepparttar holidays to transform small clay pots and saucers into coasters and silverware caddies. They stack well, too, and best of all, they’re cheap!

Make and herb drying rack for your kitchen by nailing small wire brads into cheap lathing strip, or better yet, an aged piece of wood you might find, even driftwood! You can make and hang just one, or several together to make a large wall arrangement. You can gather flowers, herbs, even grasses to dry directly onrepparttar 130952 rack from your own yard. I recommend using a rubber band to secure them, as plant material shrinks when it dries. You can coverrepparttar 130953 rubber band with ribbon or raffia if you wish.

Save those clear bottles and fill with colored water for a bright accent in a window. Use your glue gun to dress uprepparttar 130954 bottle caps with organic odds and ends…beans, lentils, dried flowers, you getrepparttar 130955 idea.

Never underestimate how much impact a small container of fresh flowers can have in a room, even just a pretty cup full of roadside daisies!

A couple of packets of seeds can keep a house in cut bouquets all summer. Sunflower, cosmos, and zinnias are VERY easy to grow, and are great in arrangements.

Replace heavy window treatments with a simple drape of gauzy fabric. This type of material is very inexpensive atrepparttar 130956 fabric store, or keep your eye out for tablecloths that can be pressed into service.(Watch those garage sales!)

Need more ideas for warm weather windows? Simply hang cloth napkins or placemats overrepparttar 130957 rod. Experiment with overlapping, laying them onrepparttar 130958 diagonal, or tying them with ribbon. Cherry valance that ties right in with your kitchen or dining area!

Make easy, virtually free ivy topiaries. Pot up your ivy cuttings (straight fromrepparttar 130959 yard, or a neighbors) then form a wire coat hanger into your desire shape. You may need pliers to help you with this. Insertrepparttar 130960 hooked end intorepparttar 130961 pot, and secure by pushing sticks, or bamboo skewers intorepparttar 130962 soil on either side ofrepparttar 130963 wire. Securerepparttar 130964 wire torepparttar 130965 skewers with twisty ties, then cutrepparttar 130966 skewers of level withrepparttar 130967 wire. Wraprepparttar 130968 ivy aroundrepparttar 130969 wire fromrepparttar 130970 base upwards, and continue to tuck and wrap as it grows. Very soonrepparttar 130971 ivy will completely coverrepparttar 130972 wire, and you’ll never know it was a free coat hanger, instead of a 20 dollar topiary form!



Kathleen Wilson is the author of "Quick Decorating Ideas Under $20: The Budget Decorator's Bible" and the editor of The Budget Decorator, a free ezine dedicated to the "budget impaired" home decorator. For more free ideas and for information on her book, please visit her at http://www.TheBudgetDecorator.com.


Are You a Self-Saboteur?

Written by Suzanne Falter-Barns


Continued from page 1

7. When an important project begins to reach some kind of climax, as it nears its conclusion, you a) withdrawal and let others finish it b) begin to get pretty bloody sick ofrepparttar whole thing, and start to complain loudly c) start looking forrepparttar 130947 next thing to work on d) hang in there for completion, taking care ofrepparttar 130948 details, knowingrepparttar 130949 next thing will come along soon

Scoring: If most of your answers were a: You are committed to hanging out, which is fine, unless you've got that nagging feeling you should be doing something more. If so, you probably need a therapist, or a life coach atrepparttar 130950 very least (see Chapter X, "What is a Coach and Why Do I Need One?") when you're ready to get serious. b: Your fear is definitely getting inrepparttar 130951 way of what you want to do in life. You need to get an arsenal of support including a support group, a coach, and plenty of meditation time. c: You're grappling withrepparttar 130952 usual fear and doubts, butrepparttar 130953 problem is you're listening to them, even though you knowrepparttar 130954 deal. Set up a regular support group and find a support buddy or coach who will bug you to get your work done every day. d: You're doingrepparttar 130955 jobrepparttar 130956 way it should be done. The only possible problem is burn-out, so be sure to schedule inrepparttar 130957 rest you need, and stimulating stuff to keep you perking along. A coach would be a wise investment towards seeing how far you could go.

Want to get out of your own way and get on with your dreams? Check out Suzanne Falter-Barns’ ebook, Living Your Joy* How to Findrepparttar 130958 Time,repparttar 130959 Money andrepparttar 130960 Energy to Live Your Dream at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/livingyourjoy.html Her free ezine, The Joy Letter, brings you a crisp, fresh burst of inspiration for your dream every week or two. Sign up at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html and receive her valuable report, “35 Guaranteed Time Savers.”

©2002 Suzanne Falter-Barns. Reprint permission available by request. Article must be complete and must include all contact information above. Apply to info@howmuchjoy.com

Suzanne Falter-Barns is the author of How Much Joy Can You Stand? (Ballantine) and keeper of http://www.howmuchjoy.com -- a website where you can push past your fears and create your dreams. Join her if there's more you want to accomplish in life, and you just need an inspiring nudge!


    <Back to Page 1
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use