Young green plants, possibly daffodils, sprout from the soil in a garden bed. The text "South House House Mates" is written in stylized script over a white brushstroke in the foreground.

3-1-25

What I Can’t Let Go Of:

(just like the NPR Politics podcast on Fridays- minus the “Politics or otherwise” disclaimer.
This blog is publicly, a politics-free zone, so all musings will be “Otherwise“.)

The joy and warmth I feel when I see the first Spring bulbs.

The ones above were on one of my “baby walks” this last week in DC!

OKAY, so perhaps the warmth and joy had a bit to do with that precious little one I was strolling with, PLUS, the Spring bulbs peeking out.

On the Blog This Week

A wicker stool holds a woven basket with white tulips, a pink ceramic rabbit, and a pastel green egg. The setup is against a brick wall with cascading flowers.

SPRING!!!!

We had this little talk last week about my preference for tulips. Well here are the ones I force inside every Spring, because apparently the deer around me also prefer tulips to just about anything else!!!

This blog post is about the thrifted mirror that I repurposed into a super fun wreath, how I made that cute stool and all the rest of this Spring stairway landing.

TO THE SPRING STAIR LANDING

Tech Tip

Wow! How about saving money on all those subscriptions????

Remember, these tips are exclusive content for my creative community.

They will be in the Saturday newsletter emails only

(and sometimes in the FB and IG stories for my followers there).

It’s just one way I can say thank you to all those who support me time after time!

Don’t worry, you too, can become a House Mate!

Shopping With Friends

I had the delight of 5 days with our granddaughter last week! She’s a week shy of 7 months and sooo amazing and fun! I had forgotten how fast their development is at this stage. So let’s talk baby development:

Toy Box Subscription

I am so impressed with these toy box collections by Lovevery, I had to put this out here again!
If your baby or grand baby has parents with demanding careers, the best thing you can gift them is time with their little one. This box does just that. They don’t have to spend precious time researching the best tools for the baby’s age. Or how to introduce the toys. It’s all done for them, complete with a fun guide book to help them. That invaluable time is spent doing what they want most, enjoying and helping their little one.

A collection of baby toys and books is displayed, including a wooden box with colorful balls, a board book, stacking cups, and a basket with balls. A cardboard box labeled "The Inspector" by Lovevery is in the background.

A collage titled "Board Books To Read" featuring covers of three books: "Llama Llama Red Pajama" with a llama on the cover, "Woodland Dance!" with animals, and "The Going to Bed Book" with animals on stairs.

Board Books For Reading Time

Plus, it’s impossible to have too many board books!!!

My personal favorites are the Llama, Llama series. They are so fun to read and great artwork too! Llama, Llama, Red Pajamas is a MUST!

I’m ordering more Llama, Llama books for my next visit.

We also really enjoy the Boyton books, particularly Woodland Dance and The Going to Bed Book.

Board Books For Exploring

It’s good to also have books that are for exploration — simplistic artwork with single words. Not really good reads.

Our little one likes to sit on our laps and explore these kind of books. She has been actually turning the pages of the board books and acts surprised with the new images.

Her favorites for this are (surprising to me) the Jimmy Kimmel DaDa and MaMa books. She turns to the waffle and monkey page and laughs! (It’s so amazing to watch)

A promotional image for board books featuring two covers: "Everything Is Mama" with a penguin and "Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada" with a cow. Text at the top reads "Board Books To Explore.

Colorful baby toy with various textured fabrics in blue, orange, yellow, and green. It features a purple, segmented handle and black-and-white striped tags, designed to stimulate sensory play.

Favorite “Other” Toy

This inexpensive “Crinkle Ball” from Sassy (on Amazon) or (on Babylist) is her favorite stroller/car seat toy. Every fascinating petal is a slightly different texture and has crinkle fabric inside. It comes with a (sanity saving) ring to attach to the straps of the carrier!

Now Let’s See What the Other Gals Found For Us

Lynn – Living Large in a Small House

In February I do a lot of organizing. This month I accomplished quite a bit.

I cleaned out and organized our nightstands. I absolutely love to use the inexpensive organizers from Target that are in the Brightroom Collection. The large ones are 2 for $2, the medium size are 3 for $2, the small ones are 4 for $2, and the long slim size are 3 for $2. The one’s I like are in white but if you like green those sets are on sale for $1.70.
I use the Woven Water Hyacinth Milk Crate Baskets to store everything from books to shoes. I also love to use them as a gift basket for shower gifts.
I love these clear plastic turnstyles to store food in the pantry, spices in the kitchen cabinets, and craft supplies.
You can find these beautiful Wire Natural Wood Handle Crates in all the spots that I want to corralled in areas that you can see things out in the open. I have decorative towels in one of these baskets in my kitchen and laundry supplies in my laundry room.

Cindy – Reinvented Delaware

Making homemade yogurt is a weekly task in our home. I use my Instant Pot to turn a $2.52 gallon of whole milk into a 1/2 gallon of homemade greek yogurt that would cost me $11.16. That’s a huge savings on the grocery bill! The strainer I have used for years is unavailable but this strainer is comparable. You can also use a smaller strainer to make half the amount of yogurt if you prefer!
I’ve needed a cordless stick vac for my kitchen area for awhile and I finally bought one! The Bissell Clearview Cordless Vac arrived this week and it is working wonderfully! Such a great purchase! It has over 106K 45 star ratings and I can see why! The Dyson Cordless Vac was also on my list of options. Let me know if you decide to get one of these!
While I am talking about cleaning floors, let me tell you that the O-Cedar Easy Wring Mop has been so handy to have! I can quickly run the mop throught the kitchen and not even get my hands wet! We have wood floors and having the the ability to remove most of the water from the mop head is a necessity.
At the end of the day, my face needs a little massage. Unfortunately, I squint and wrinkle my forhead when I am in deep thought. Well, you can imagine that creates tension as well as wrinkles on my forhead! My facial massage tool and roller set eases the tension I feel at the end of the day. Call me crazy, but think its also decreasing the severe wrinkles in my forehead too!

Lora – Lora Bloomquist

Cabbage ware is hot right now (and has been for awhile). Yes, everything that’s good comes back around. I’ve been picking up vintage versions whenever I find it (you can find vintage cabbage ware HERE), but it can be hard to find. When I saw THESE new versions reasonably priced, I just had to get some. Do yourself a favor and just buy them online rather than running to several different stores like I did; they’re going fast (yes, I also got the adorable napkins and a runner, too).
The great outerwear switch up is happening. I won’t put the winter coats away just yet, but THIS cute green jean jacket can hopefully be worn some days. I just love the artsy fringe at the bottom.
I’ve been so tired of crumbs in the kitchen drawers at my house. And I hate having to use the vacuum I use for the rest of the house in drawers where clean silverware, placemats etc. are. The new answer is this handy rechargeable mini vacuum I can keep in a kitchen drawer. If I spy crumbs or have other dry kitchen messes, I pull it out and suck it up. So satisfying, and a quick fix. And it easily empties into the garbage. Find my mini vac HERE.
THESE red toile curtains we had for Christmas through Valentine’s in the living room were so cozy. But I’m tired of red until the Patriotic holidays. THESE fresh curtains are being hung today and feel like a breath of Spring to kick off the new seasonal decor. THESE were also so pretty and a little more sheer (and I’m hanging them with THESE this time; so much easier to open and close).