New for BHG: Homemade Air Freshener

October 4, 2012 | Posted by

You guys…. I love contributing to Better Homes and Gardens. It’s been so much fun to do something that I just love so much… every two weeks I get to create a new DIY (a.k.a. get crafty). This week I was inspired by the chilly evenings, and color changing leaves. A little DIY air freshener for the stuffy home. Using the magical awesomeness of baking soda, and some essential oil… you have freshnessesesesess.

You can check out the whole post here! Happy Thursday to all of you.

– Chelsey

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Categories: BHG, diy

Better Homes and Gardens Post: Fridge Work Station

September 6, 2012 | Posted by

Another week, another DIY over at Better Homes and Gardens! I hope you head on over and check it out. I chat about creating your fridge work station! Made out of tins and a vintage wood box. Pahlus, I share a freebie printable. Yup, a cute little list to keep yourself organized. Enjoy, and happy Thursday!

– Chelsey

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Categories: BHG, paper mama house

El Pollo

July 23, 2012 | Posted by

As a little kid I knew I wanted many animals. Yes, kitties and doggies… BUT, I have always dreamed of having a little mini farm. Which is weird since I have zero desire to live in the country… I’m a city girl.

I grew up in the country…. My parents had a small bit of land, 5 acres, but we never did anything with it. We just lived in BFE (ahem: butt fudging Egypt…. What we called it growing up… since it was in the middle of nowhere).

So, when I was 11 I made a decision. I actually saved any and all cash I earned to raise money to buy an Alpaca (I know, random). I saved a LOT of money too. I did many chores, sold daffodils at the end of our driveway, etc. I saved over $400 and my parents suddenly realized how serious I was about this whole Alpaca thing… They had to tell me “no” (turns out you need a fence for farm animals… hee… and they cost money to feed, etc). So, like the responsible preteen I was… I went out and spent all my saved money on a CD Player and a Gameboy (and buying the Coolio album… Gangsta’s Paradise! ha).

I understand why my parents never let us get farm animals, because I bet eventually they would have done most of the work (darn lazy teenagers) not to mention the cost of keeping them alive.

Now that I’m a grownup (ha, that made me laugh), I’m ready for my little farm. I don’t see any Alpacas on my small small SMALL property… But, we are prepping to get 2-3 chickens next spring! I’m so excited. We’ve been saving and are going to build a little picket fence around our home! Get some chicken wire along the bottom, and attempt to build our own chicken coop. Attempt being the key word. I will be sure to document the whole mess err project.

And, who knows… Maybe the year after that, Miss R can convince her daddy to get a bunny… and a goat. Ha ha ha (I may be whispering the idea into her ear while she sleeps).

So, yup: we will have the start to our own little urban farm, by next spring! I’m reallllly excited.

P.S. I was guest tweeting for Whole Foods this last weekend… and, they had this lovely lady chatting about urban farming. She’s owned over 80 different breeds of chickens. It was fantastic listening to her.

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Categories: about me, paper mama farm

Made it: Doily Soap Cozy

July 17, 2012 | Posted by

It’s official, my sister is home from New Zealand. If you don’t know, she lives there 90% of the time. She’s about to get all married and stuff (August 11th) to a Kiwi (p.s. that’s what they call New Zealander’s… Kiwi’s). ANYway, that got me inspired to create some sort of out of town guest gift. Something cute for my bathroom when guests are here.

Introducing: the Doily Soap Cozy. These are perfect for increasing the amount of lather… not to mention the adorableness… to a bar of soap. Each Doily Soap Cozy took me 10 minutes to create. Cost: $3 each (2 for the doily and 1 for the soap). OF course… you could always make the doily yourself… but, there’s no way I could make a doily and then turn it into a soap lathering tool. That’s why I found these guys at a local craft shop.

Enough of my babble… here’s how you can make some for yourself.

Supplies:

– A favorite bar of soap (preferably with rounded edges)

– 1 small doily (mine was around 6 inches)

– Stretchy cord string

– Upholstery needle (you need a needle with a big eye)

Directions:

1.  Do a test run with the doily and the soap. Wrap the doily around the soap: Is there a lot of excess material? Then you may need to trim the doily. I trimmed enough so there was about a 1/2 inch of overlap, when I wrapped the doily over the soap.

2. Once your material is all trimmed to size, it’s time to stitch the soap in there. Using your upholstery needle and stretchy cord string… sew your soap up.

3. You are done. OR, you can make these little soap goodies into favors or gifts. Add one of my gift tags to your soap. The printout can be found here (right click + save).

Happy Tuesday everyone! Stay clean. Ha!

– Chelsey

Join the 14 million people who have already joined the Clean Hands campaign by using Kleenex Hand Towels, and click here for savings and more! Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own.

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Categories: diy

Wanderlust

July 12, 2012 | Posted by

Beats Antique = Love them. Amazing.

First we saw: Ziggy Marley… followed by the awesome… Gramatik.

Well, I was lucky enough to be sent to the wonderful Wanderlust Festival in Colorado last week (sent by Toyota). This festival is for yoga lovers…. while I’m into yoga (when I say “into it” I mean… I used to do it… and, now I do nothing), I didn’t really take away a ton of yoga knowledge from this event. I was more into the people. Yup. The amazing people. Everyone was so sweet and nice. PLUS… I met/saw some amazing inspiring folks: Aron Ralston, Deepak Chopra, and the Wanderlust creator, Jeff.

My favorite moments: Riding the chair lift on the first day… and, eventually realizing that there is a support bar that pulls down over us… safety. Ha! The meditation class… I had to go back to my room to nap. Aron Ralston’s talk… I definitely cried, mostly when he share the photo of his 2 1/2 year old. AND, the  last night: we started with a Ziggy Marley show….. and Terra and I stayed up WAY too late. 2 am… My brain was so tired the next day.

This really was an amazing experience. I don’t feel like there’s much more I can say. Just: What a wonderful community.

– Chelsey

P.S. I was joined by Terra, Suebob, and Kate for this trip. They were amazing ladies! Go say “Hi” if you have a moment.

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota. 

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Categories: travel