A Storybook Life

There’s nothing quite as relaxing, as being blessed with an early morning serenade of song, from the chorus line of finches outside of my bedroom window in early Spring.

It starts as soon as the snow starts to melt, and for some reason, they start warming up around 4am. Not that I’m always up at 4am, but occasionally, I roll over & become startled just enough to catch the beginnings of what promises to be a day filled with inspirational song.

I think you would love a canary of your own, who was always there to sing for you!

Having raised parrots & different types of birds for several years myself, I can speak first hand of the joys of having an avian friend in your home.

Not only are canaries easy to care for, but their beauty is unmatched, both in appearance & song! They come in all shades of white, brown, red, and of course yellow.

Each type of canary has it’s own unique singing style, so it would be best for you to listen to a few different types of birds sing, before you decide which one you would like to call your own.

Beautiful Cages

If you know me at all, you already know how much I love bird cages! There’s just something about them, that is so wonderfully heartwarming to me. I never seem to tire of seeing a beautiful cage. Perhaps it reminds me of the joys of raising birds that my family shared together. In any case, to me…nothing speaks “elegant” more than a beautiful bird cage in your home! And what better use of a beautiful cage, than to be a home for a beautiful singer!

Cost

You can find canaries for $35-$100. The price depends on the area in which you live, as well as the type of canary that you ultimately decide to purchase.

Having a singing canary in your home means… never again will you have to wait for spring to enjoy the joyful songs in your home!

I thought you might enjoy hearing a few different canaries perform. I’m sorry ahead of time, because I know you wont be able to resist after hearing them

I’ve heard people say things like… “if we just wait to shop until after Christmas, we can get everything so much cheaper, when it goes on sale!”

Well… I have a secret!

I know how you can shop, and still get the sale price… even if it doesn’t go on sale for another month!

Here’s a scenario that I know you have all been through at least once… and I know that you hate it as much as I used to!

- You go out shopping for a particular item

- You go from store to store trying to find the best deal

- You finally make a decision to buy thinking you’ve done your best in making the choice

- A week later, you are in the same store and notice that the item you bought last week now has a sale tag on it for $20 less than you paid!

UGH!!!

Well, when I learned this little secret, I didn’t have to worry about that scenario anymore!

When you’re used to being the person who does the shopping in your household, you learn lots of little tips to try to save a few dollars here and there.

Most of us know about money savers such as; shopping with coupons, finding clearance items, and price matching. But until now, maybe you’ve never heard of the “price guarantee”?

After you learn this method, here’s how your new shopping scenario unfolds!

- You go out shopping for a particular item

- You go from store to store trying to find the best deal

- You finally make a decision to buy thinking you’ve done your best in making the choice

- A week later, you are in the same store and notice that the item you bought last week now has a sale tag on it for $20 less than you paid!

- You take your receipt up to customer service & tell them you want a price guarantee for an item, and they scan the receipt. If you paid $40, but it is now on sale for $20… they hand you $20 back in CASH!

Did you catch that?

You don’t have to bring the actual item back in – you just hand them the receipt!

What does this mean for you?

If you bought aunt Mary a pair of gloves for Christmas for $40, and now they went on sale for $20, you can simply take in your receipt and get $20 cash back… and aunt Mary is none the wiser

Think… holiday decorations, seasonal clothes, seasonal gifts, etc. – you know… the items that always tend to go on sale soon after the holiday. But don’t limit yourself to seasonal items! This method works for anything!

Here is the step by step process for making this work for you:

Step #1: When you are shopping, always keep a little ziplock bag, pen, & piece of paper with you

Step #2: Put your receipts in the ziplock bag

Step #3: While in the store check outline, look for the time frame for the price guarantee in the store policies. Some stores have a limit of 1 week, while others have up to 3 months! Their policies are usually posted at the checkout area, if not just ask. Jot down the store name & time limit for price guarantee on the piece of paper that you keep in the ziplock bag with your receipts. That way you’ll have it for future reference.

* Different stores have their own name for this service, and might be called something such as price match, price satisfaction, etc.

Step #4: If you see an item that is now on sale while you are out shopping – take out your little ziplock bag – check the store policy – look for the receipt with this item on it… then go get yourself some cash!

I hope this little tip comes in handy, and helps you save even more money while shopping!

Pearl

I wanted wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and share a wonderful letter of encouragement that was written to a dear friend back in 1513.

Although it was written so long ago, the words still ring true for us today.

“I salute you. I am your friend and my love for you goes deep.

There is nothing I can give you which you have not got. But there is much, very much, that while I cannot give it, you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven!

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instance. Take peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy!

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty . . . that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage then to claim it, that is all!

And so I greet you, with profound esteem and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.”

“Fra Giovanni, 1513

I want to encourage you today….
Take Peace
Take Joy
and Take Heaven

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Three months later…

From front to back: blue salvia, knock out carpet roses, gaura/chiffon cloud

I wanted to share a pictorial update on one of the brand new cottage gardens, that we created this year.

This coming Spring, we will also add a front cottage courtyard, and a side garden filled with fruit trees and ornamental fragrant shrubs.

For this new cottage/rose garden, what I thought might take three years, has happened in only three months!

Here is the cottage garden just after we built the stacked stone walls & the cobblestone paths this June. It was quite a large task… but oh so worth it!

And as you know… I love to use creative ideas to achieve the look & feel that I want, but for much cheaper than what “normal” people might pay for the same thing! So as you can guess, almost every plant in our garden was purchased at a VERY nice discount price, or given to us by friends!

*** Also…be on the lookout for the next post, as I am excited to share my “top tips for getting your garden filled with plants for pennies on the dollar” with you! These are very easy things things that you can start doing right now to fill your garden with luscious beauty!

My Cottage Garden… at only 3 months old!

to the left: boxwood, wooly thyme, gaura/chiffon cloud, knock out carpet roses

left to right: boxwood, wooly thyme, knock out carpet roses, gaura/chiffon cloud, foxgloves

foxgloves, knock out carpet roses

knock out carpet roses

iris, knock out carpet roses

left to right: boxwood, White dwarf phlox, sedum, touran rockfoil saxifraga, knock out carpet roses, iberis – tahoe, iris, ajuga

lobelia, ajuga, armeria, sedum

carpet roses

left to right: wooly thyme between rocks, boxwood, knock out carpet roses, gaura, foxglove

gaura surrounded by boxwood & knock out carpet roses

left to right: boxwood, gaura, foxglove, knock out carpet roses, dwarf phlox, iris, blue salvia

lobelia backed up by armeria

hardy hibiscus

** Share your thoughts in the comment section below… I look forward to hearing from you!

Recently, I had a reader ask me this question:

“We are a bit short of money, but I am tired of looking at the same old boring walls. I can’t really afford to buy anything (I’d feel too guilty even if I did). Is there anyway of making decorations at home?”

There are times in all of our lives, when money is tight & we are more conscious of what we spend. But, I am here to tell you… the amount of money that you have or don’t have never has to stop your creativity when it comes to decorating your home!

To be honest with you, when this question was asked, I had a flood of ideas that came to mind right away!

But, I know our minds tend work! We go into “decision mode” where we question everything so much, that we tend to just not make a decision at all! We start thinking thoughts like…

- I don’t know which is the “right” one to pick

- I don’t know if this is really a good idea

- What will my friends think of my choice

- Can I really make something look nice enough with little or no money

So… to help simplify things, and make sure that you act on your creative ideas, I wanted to pass along a few “proven ideas” that you can go create RIGHT NOW! That way, you & your family can enjoy them right away… and you won’t get trapped by overcomplicating the decision making process!

3 Simple Rules to Creating a Beautifully Decorated Wall

When decorating a wall, there are only 3 easy Steps to follow! It’s not rocket science, and you CAN do it… and do it beautifully!

And the most exciting thing? None of these concepts cost any extra money

Rule #1 – Size

When you are considering ideas for decorating a “whole wall” remember that in order to get a pleasant visual balance, a larger item or collection of items is always better than one small item.

Reason? If you plop one small item in the middle of a large wall, your eye is drawn right to the small item, and your brain automatically says “wow that picture (or whatever is hanging there) is small”! Your wall is also left with a “never go around to finishing it” look.

Rule #2 – Family

Think about your family. Even though each person is different, there is still something that holds you all together and makes you a unit. This is the idea that I want you to remember when you are making your decorating choices. So with that in mind, when deciding which items will have the honor of hanging on your wall for all to see, they don’t have to all be the same (although they could be if that’s the look that you are going for), but they need to still be related in some way… even if they are distant cousins twice removed

Use items that are related in either of these 3 ways:

- Color

- Style

- Theme

Rule #3 – Balance

Your goal is to try to achieve some sort of balance, so that your wall decor will be pleasing to the eye. This simply means, that instead of randomly placing things here or there, try to think of how that item looks in perspective to the other items around it, as well as in relation to the whole wall.

And that’s it as far as “how to” decorate my walls, and now it’s on to the “what to” decorate my walls with!

I want you to clear your mind of the limiting thoughts such as… “what’s allowed to be used as wall decor”!

Why? Because when it comes to “what” is allowed to be used to decorate your own walls… there are no rules!

When trying to decorate with a limited budget, we need to think differently than the “spend to decorate” mindset.

What I want you to do is:

1. Take out a piece of paper & write down the things that you LOVE!

2. Take a walk around your house/attic/basement/garage and look at the items that you already have – jot down your favs

3. If there are things on your “love list” that you don’t have, is there a way to get/make those without spending?

Now lets go through those one at a time

1. What is it that you love?

- What are your eyes automatically drawn to when looking through magazines

- Collections

- Items that belonged to loved ones

- Childhood toys

- Animals

- Gardening

Just fill in the blank & really think about what it is that makes your heart smile when you look at it.

2. After you took a walk around your house & all the nooks & crannies… what did you find?

- Maybe grandma’s collection of aprons or hankies?

- Your childhood collection of baseball cards or sports items?

- A collection of small chairs that you really didn’t know what to do with, but you kept them because you loved them?

- Some pretty scraps of fabric that you planned to make into a quilt someday?

- Some old doors / windows that you found on the side of the road – had no idea what to do with them – but they are still with you?

You see, as you go through your own home, and ask yourself these types of questions, you will start to see a common thread. You will find some things that you hang onto just because you love them. They may be tucked away in a box, stashed in a drawer, or stored in the basement. You have no idea what to do with them, you just know that you keep them because they mean something to you.

3. There might be some things that are on your “love list” that you don’t currently have. Try to think of a creative way to possibly get a few of those things to use in our project.

- Could you make it from other items that you do already have?

- Maybe a friend has one & doesn’t use it anymore?

- Could it be found curbside on trash day?

- Maybe it’s listed in the free section of Craigslist?

- After sale giveaway (when a yard sale is over, most people want to find someone to come get all the leftovers!)

- $1 box at an estate auction (I have found LOTS of treasures this way!

- I bet you could barter either an item – or a skill/talent in exchange for it!

Look at these creative ideas to help get your ideas rolling!

All of these mirrors are different, yet they are “related” by color

These vintage hand mirrors are related by theme & color

This setting is not only related by theme, but by color as well.

I love this display idea, because you could change up the purses each season if you’d like!

Just a simple shelf filled with some of your favorite bowls makes a beautiful display!

Use bits of paper & cover a wall like Pam did here – beautiful!

Here the objects are both pictures and landscapes.

This beautiful wall speaks of size (scale).

This wall will give you an idea of how to balance the display.

How about displaying your garden tools – or other similar items?

I hope these ideas have helped stir your imagination & give you a new perspective of what is possible when you open up your mind to new creative ideas!

Pearl