Tag Archives: homemaking

“All Things Home” Link Party

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Sharon ت

It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! I’ve been eagerly anticipating this day since I began the series on Making Your a House a Home. Today, it’s your turn to share with us your tricks of the trade…the homemaking trade. (All of us are homemakers whether we work inside or outside the home.)

If you have a blog, then all you need to do is link up.

If you do not have a blog, but would like to share, please send me an email at sharon.hines3@yahoo.com, and I’ll see what I can do about adding it to the link party.

While you do not need to stick to the weekly topics of this series, I do want your links to be relative to “Making Your House a Home”.

Perhaps a family recipe that has been passed down through the generations, or you could share traditions that you had growing up or that you’ve established as an adult with your own family. Maybe you have found a routine that really works for keeping the house running smoothly or you have some great suggestions for establishing a strong foundation in your home….

Or how do you make sure that you are living according to your priorities? What are you priorities?

I’d love to hear what you do to restore, renew and replenish.

Do you have questions? Do you need advice? Is there an area in your life as a homemaker that you want to improve upon? Feel free to put that out here too.

This link party is for YOU! It will be what you make it. My vision is to see women coming together to share, encourage and support one another. This is a safe place to be real and transparent.

And I hope that you will respond to each other’s comments, make new friends and get the most out of this time together.

Okay, so let’s get this party started! You can link up as many times as you like. I ask that you please put a link back to this party. You can use the party button or a text link. That way you can give your friends directions to the party, so to speak.

Here we go!

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

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Posted in reflections, Uncategorized and tagged DIY, home decor, homemaking, link party. Bookmark the permalink.

whose home is it, anyway?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Sharon ت

Welcome back to my Making Your House a Home series! Writing this series has been a really fulfilling experience for me. Any time I share something like this, it makes me feel a little vulnerable. I want to thank you for encouraging me along the way.

So far we have defined home, talked about making sure “mama is happy”, and discussed the value of establishing traditions in the home. (click on the links to read past posts in this series)

I’m struggling to pull together my thoughts for this weeks topic: Decorating Your Home. Maybe that’s because I struggle with decorating my own home.

Arrange. Rearrange. Repeat.

That’s how I’ve been spending my time this week…way into the ~~night~~ wee hours of the morning.

My family is dumbfounded. When they ask, “Why?”, I say,”I’m going for optimal.” And therein lies my problem…striving for the perfect design that satisfies my desire for a pretty room with consideration for the way we use our space.

This new living room arrangement involved moving the piano into another area of our home.

Although it would probably be considered too big for the entry , I like it there.

However, I’ve been plagued with thoughts like, “What will friends think when they walk into our home and are greeted by a piano?” or, I hear my Mom’s voice saying, “There’s something so warm about a piano in the living room. You will lose that feel if you move the piano.” And my husband’s questions ring the loudest in my ear, “But what if someone wants to play the piano? They’ll have to sit in the entry to play?”

Well, yeah.

(cue harp playing daydream-y music)

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So the entry now doubles as a piano room. I let my imagination roam to magazine editors who love the whimsy of a piano in the entry, and ask to do a photo shoot of my unique home. The magazine feature boasts about how I make my house my own by throwing design rules out the window, and how I’m such an inspiration to others to follow their instincts and really live in their homes.

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Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away, but there is a moral to the story. I will get to that in a moment.

I want to share something else with you real quick.

While helping a friend who had asked for some decorating advice, she went into her closet and pulled out some beautiful fabric intended for curtains. The fabric had been sitting in my friend’s closet because she’d been told by a third party that the fabric wasn’t the right look.

I was burdened for my friend.

And I know there are so many like her, including me, who need encouragement to trust their instincts.

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My husband has said to me repeatedly this week, “You keep rearranging the room over and over and every time it looks really good.” What I think my husband wants me to understand is the same point that I’m trying to make here today.

Please don’t let the opinions of others, trends, design rules or even perceptions of the picture perfect home steal your joy in making your house a home.

I wish you all of the comforts of home!

We will continue next Thursday with a guest post from Traci at Beneath My Heart. (Yea!!)

Then, we will finish out the series on Wednesday, February 29th with an “All Things Home” themed link party. You can share your traditions, home decor, routines, special memories of home, tips, advice, anything that relates to making your house a home. I can’t wait to see what you have to share!

Speaking of sharing, this week’s Show & Tell party is still going on. I’d be honored to have you join in the fun.

Until next time,

Sharon

I’m sharing this post at:

Country Homemaker Hop @ My Simple Country Living

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy Me @ Crafty, Scrappy Happy

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop @ Katherine’s Corner

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged decorating, design, home decor, homemaking. Bookmark the permalink.

dinner’s ready

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Sharon ت

I’ve heard from a few friends that they struggle to plan dinner so that everything is ready at the same time. Today, I’m going to offer some tips to help with that.

The other night, we had blackened fish, green bean casserole and dirty rice for dinner. Each dish has different prep and cooking times. So, I will use this meal as an example.

The following is the prep and cook times for each dish:

fish- prep 10″, cook 5″

dirty rice- prep 10″, cook 25″, and another 5″ to sit and fluff

green bean casserole- prep about 7 or so minutes, cook 30″

The casserole and dirty rice take about the same amount of time and take the longest amount of time. So, that ‘s where we should start. Preheat the oven so it will be ready when your dish is ready to bake.

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First, I put on the water to boil for the dirty rice. Dirty rice also calls for lightly browned ground meat. So, I started browning the meat right after I put the water on to boil.

Next, I let the meat sit for a minute while I opened and drained the cans of green beans and mixed together all of the ingredients for the green bean casserole. I would occasionally check the meat and stir it around.

Once the meat was done, and the water had come to a boil, I emptied the contents of the Zatarain’s dirty rice and the ground meat into the pot of boiling water.

Once that was cooking, I put the green bean casserole into a baking dish, and put it in the oven. Both of those dishes were going to take 30″.

From prep to cook time the fish will only take 15 minutes. So, I waited until the other dishes only had 15 minutes left before I started on the fish.

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I like to take advantage of down time. So, this would be a good time to fix a salad if you are including that on your menu. Or, you can load the dishwasher with the dishes you’ve dirtied so far. Cleaning as you go makes cleaning after dinner a little easier.

When it’s time, prepare and cook the last dish. It’s okay if casseroles finish cooking a few minutes before the rest. It gives them a chance to sit and settle a little bit before serving. Just be sure to leave them covered so that it’s still warm when you fix your plate.

To sum it up:

1)Start the dishes that will take the longest first.

2) Then wait to cook the quickest dish until the equal amount of time is left on the longer cooking dishes. ie. fish takes 15 minutes to prep and cook, wait til there’s only 15 minutes left on the dishes that are already cooking.

Hopefully, this example will help you time your next meal. If you have any questions or if you have your own tips to share, feel free to contact me.

Until next time,

Sharon

Joining these parties:

Take it on Tuesday @ Romance on a Dime

Tutorial Tuesdays @ The Kurtz Korner

Tutorials and Tips Link Party @ Home Stories A to Z

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Posted in Uncategorized and tagged cooking, homemaking, kitchen, meal planning, recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Peach Poplin Shorts and Parfaits

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Sharon ت

Who remembers 8th grade homemaking class? I sure do. My teacher used to play a motivational tape by Zig Zigler in the background as my friends and I worked together to cook and create. I remember learning to make funnel cakes and parfaits. I was so excited about the parfait that I served it to my parents for dessert one night. They were good sports. :) Right around the end of the class period, we would be finishing up, and The Zig Zigler tape would come to an end. We’d chime in with him as he declared, “I’ll see you at the top!” My fondest memory, though, has to be the peach poplin shorts.

After days of laboring over the pattern and finally stitching the last seam, I was ready to take my pretty peach shorts up to show the teacher. I’ll never forget her encouraging words, “They look like you bought them at Foley’s!”

I went home with a smile on my face that was bright enough to light up the state of Texas. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom the good news! Of course, mom agreed.

After reflecting over my experiences in homemaking class, I’d have to say that’s where it all began. The feelings of joy as I prepared meals, exhilaration after a completed project, and pride in my newfound abilities were all such positive experiences. I think this is why I get such great satisfaction from homemaking even today.

There were many times over this past week that my thoughts kept coming back to, “I’m so happy!” Being home again has been truly fulfilling. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to take care of my family, tap into my creativity and pursue dreams. For the first time in my life, I’m okay with not knowing what my future holds, and it’s because I’m truly enjoying the journey.