smart house

Are smart homes real? Well they maybe already and they defiantly will be in the future. If you have a smart phone that acts as your TV remote, or turns off your lights, or locks your doors, you are already one step closer to a smart house. Now a days I see many commercials about being able to control the inside of your home while you are away with just your smart phone. It’s a bit alarming to me to see that this is possible, with all the abilities hackers have these days it scares me to think what is someone got a hold of my phone and then was able to unlock my doors or see inside through the cameras you can hook up as well.

It makes me think about out future in smart homes and if any of you have seen the movie Smart House (1999) you can imagine the type of neat and frightening things a smart house could possibly be capable of doing. Of course in the movie the smart house computer turning into an actually person is a bit farfetched but the rest I can see being possible. For example the house was awesome because it cleaned for them, socked up spills through the carpet, made amazing food on command and of course helped the teenage kid through an amazing party. However when the house starts to malfunction is locks them inside, shocks the kid with the doorknob, throws oranges at the family, and kicks out a woman who the house things is replacing her. This all relates back to whether smart houses will be a good or bad thing, because there’s no doubt in my mind that they will become a reality.

However I do see the advantages to our phones being able to control our homes, it can help us keep an eye on your dog, or your kids, and if you forget to turn off the light you can just turn them off with one click on a screen, and it all can be seen as making your home safe place. What I think none of us realize is that technology controls our lives, and now it controls our homes as well. If our phones or our house itself is what controls the house is it really still your home. A home is where you do your work, make your own pies, clean your own carpets, and entertain your family, if a computer did all that instead of yourself is it really YOUR home, or just some smart house.

Gardening tips for the no pros

My childhood memories are filled with the big garden at my grandmas with fresh vegetables and herbs, and at my home with our small flower garden by the steps and the rhubarb growing in the backyard. Gardening can vary from a small flower bed to your very own vegetable and fruit garden. Either one adds great character to a home, it all depends on how much effort and time you have to put into a garden. Whether you want one strawberry bush or an entire vegetable garden they all need the same things, soil, water, sun.

Depending on the size of your yard the environment of where you live is the potential you have for certain gardens. The main and most important tip is to always do your research, and always read your labels. Ever place you go the vegetation is different, because different plants can only grow in certain climates, seasons, and because of other environmental factors. You don’t want to buy an expensive plant that only grows in the summer and then dies if where you live you have short summers. It is like planting a tropical plant in a desert and watering it a cup of water a day. Doing your research and reading your labels will tell you which plants can grow the best in your area, how much water they need, the amount of sunlight, the type of soil, etc. Some plants may need to get sun for twelve hours and other may only need it for three or else they dry out quickly. A big tip I have for finding the best plant and saving money is buying a plant that will come back next season so then you don’t need to go purchase a new one when that flowers season comes around again. Another hint to saving money is to buy seeds instead of already gown plants. Many people don’t like to take the time for them to grow but if you take good care of them it saves you more money and you can get more flowers out of a pack of seeds then a couple flowers in a container from the flower shop. A couple last tips are to keep it colorful, bright colors in a garden make a home look exciting, fun, and joyful. Also brick work is always great around a garden. It can help keep critters out and separate your garden from the grass or driveway. Brick can be used for a wall that goes up from the ground to the garden, or be in the ground making a line of separation from anything else. Anything you do with a garden and plants will look good and add lots of character to the outside of your homes what why I think it is important to know where to start and how to improve it as time goes on.

stain glass fall craft

One of the things I love to do for Halloween and fall decoration is stain glass candle holders. You start out with a glass jar, or some cheap glasses. Then you mix glue and water in a bowl. There are two different ways I like to make these, one involves leaves and the other involved tissue paper. You can pick any color tissue paper as long as they are light colors so the light can shine through. For fall I of course pick red, orange, and yellow. You then cut the tissue paper into small pieces, around the size of a quarter, maybe a bit bigger. Of course the size depends on your preference, and for kids it may be better to use bigger pieces. If you would rather use leaves it is as easy as going into your back yard and finding any leaf you like. Next either using your cut up tissue paper or leaves you lightly coat one side with the water and glue and then stick in anywhere on the outside of the glass then you just keep on adding either leaves or tissue paper pieces, over lapping them, and leaving spaces, any way you want it. For one of mine I did once I placed the pieces of black tissue paper so it made a Jake O’lantern’s face. To finish off the outside and make sure it is secure you can use a brush or even your fingers to put a coat of glue and water over the leaves or paper. Now all that’s left to do is place a candle in the jar. If you are afraid of having real candles in there you can go to places like Walmart, Target, or Michaels and buy fake candles. Otherwise if you use real ones I suggest putting sand in the bottom of the jar first so that the candle doesn’t side around, and if the candle tips over the sand will put out the flam. It is also helpful for weighing it down, but not necessary for that reason.

The following are not pictures that I have taken of my own but they do look very similar to the ones I that I have done.

how to make a room look bigger

How big a room is isn't defined by a number, it is by how you use that space. Different aspects can make a room look smaller and I am here to not only give you tips on how to make a room look bigger but also make it look like the entire space and counter area is larger. First we will start with the floor, the amount of walkway in a room can give the room a different feel of space. To improve this it best to have a separate room or closet or rack to keep shoes and coats. If you do use a closet make sure it is close by so you don’t track water and mud through out to house to but your shoes and coat away. Second hint to make a room look bigger is to use glass furniture. Not much glass furniture out there but a class table and glass panels on the bookshelf can make it seem like you can see right through it so it is almost like it isn’t there. My biggest tip to open up the space is to have lots of storage! What makes a room look small and crowded is clutter. Sometime I would use is a filing cabinet, doesn’t need to be big or fancy, but it is extremely useful because it can hold your work papers, mail, ect. It keeps if off the counters and kitchen table and opens that space up more. Another useful thing for storage is simply a bowl on the counter, this is where you can put your keys, mail you just brought in, coupons, and anything else you would usually just leave on the counter. Keeping you counters and dinner table will make it look like you have a lot of counter space that you can then use for cooking and eating. An easy way to open up the space is wall mirrors, they will reflect the light and images giving it the illusion of a bigger space. To get the reflection of light of course you need to have big windows and make sure to always have a good light source, it makes the room look lighter, more airy, and then of course bigger. My last tip is too stick with lighter colors, darker accent colors are fine but try to stay away from a big piece of furniture with a dark color, lighter colors always make a room look more open.

Tailgaiting at home!

Schools been in session for a while and college football is heating up. Here is some tips and tricks to have your home be the place to be on game nights. Besides food the most important thing is to show your teams pride in your decorations. You always want to make sure people know which team you are supporting and if your party members are divided you can always split up themes or don’t and let them know which team is best. Here are some easy ideas for banners, themes and setting up.

Team door wreath- http://detoursinlife.com/football-spirit-wreath/

Football field party table- http://anightowlblog.com/2013/01/easy-football-field-party-table.html/

Giving your party the team spirit feel can be as easy and inexpensive as having everything only in your team colors. Such as cups, napkins, table cloth, Kool-Aid, balloons, pillows. Other simple ways is turning all your foods into football teamed foods. It’s as easy as decorating cupcakes to look like footballs, or chocolate covered apple slices with white chocolate football lines on it, or deviled eggs made to look like a football. Of course you have to remember to have the traditional football snacks like wings, cheese and crackers, mini hot dogs, chips and dip, basically anything that’s finger food.

25 football snack ideas- http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/25-football-snacks/

Another fun part about having a game day party is the games, because let’s face it, most of the kids that come along and some of the women aren’t really into football. And you need something to do before the game as well. Two of my favorite games that I like to play at game day parties is the bean bag toss, and a game that no one ever really has the same name for it because it has a million different names but it sometimes known as bolo toss. My family just called it the game that dad made with the golf balls string and PVC pipes. And it’s as simple as those three materials to make one, and it’s a great game for parties. It’s also really easy to make a bean bag toss game as well, and to make it even more fun you can make it football themed. Most of the ones I see are because that mainly that type of parties that you play it at, and it then resembles a ball being thrown across a football field. Don’t forget the original and best game at football games which is plain old catch with a football. After using these tips no one will be able to top your game day party!

Bolo toss- http://www.jeepfan.com/other/bolotoss.php

Bean bag toss- http://builtbykids.com/how-to-build-a-bean-bag-toss-board/

Your home is Important!

Your front porch is the first thing people see when they walk up to you house, your backyard garden is what brings color so the green space, and your dinner room table is where your guests spend most of their time. This is why it is so important to know how to give your house the special touches it needs to make it feel and look like YOUR HOME, not just any other house. Your home has its own first impression to your guests and you want one of their first comments to be “oh I love the colors in this room” or “you need to show me how you did this it’s gorgeous” or “I love what you’ve done with the backyard”. So how to you accomplish this? That is that this blog is for, to give tricks and tips on how to improve your home or just to try something new, try a new style. How your home looks and feel is important. It is also lots of fun to change up your home maybe depending the seasons or a holiday. I am not saying buy all new furniture and paint the living room. Sometimes the most simple and smallest things can change a room, it does not need to cost much either. You just need to have some creative thinking and have fun with it. Some small things to think about to change a room are pillows, candles, new curtains, and one of the things most people don’t think about is storage. If things are put away, shoes are on a rack, and extra paper are files away your house can look a lot bigger and more put together. It all comes back to the first impression, you want your guests to see your beautiful counters, and big couch rather than your mail or thousands of stinky shoes. There are also the bigger projects such as a new color in the living room, or a back splash in the kitchen, or maybe just a small garden in the front of the house. These things can make your home stand out from others and your guests will notice. So that is why this blog is here, to help you improve your home because what your home looks and feel like is important.