Spring, As They Say, Has Sprung

Spring Home Makeover Ideas to Inspire

As the signs of spring make their first appearances in nature, it’s time to wake up your home design, as well. From fashionable new window treatments to freshening up the home décor that you already have, we have tips to help you bring in Spring with style!


1. Brighten Your View: The Value of Updated Window Treatments
New, updated window treatments can make one of the most profound changes to the look and feel of a room. With spring in the air, you want to maximize the natural light that flows into your rooms. Choose something light and airy, like a soft drapery or a sheer window shading. There are many options to choose from, for a variety of sizes, from a single window to wide sliding glass doors.

Worried about privacy? Many sheer window treatments offer optional room-darkening vanes that you can adjust for a look and feel that is tailored to your unique needs.

Sunscreen window shades are also especially popular options that will prepare your home for the glare of the sun and the heat of the upcoming summer.

2. Get organized!
Did you know that extra clutter and crowding in your home décor can drain your energy? So, in the spirit of Spring’s renewal and rebirth, start organizing all the clutter that has accumulated throughout the winter. Overwhelming? Take it room by room, one week at a time. Slowly but surely, your cupboards, medicine cabinets, and even closets will bring feelings of peace and calm.

Your newfound organization will save you time (you won’t spend extra time searching for things!), and it will do wonders for lifting your mood, as well.

3. A Change Will Do You Good: Rearranging Furniture and Home Accessories
Okay, so you’ve purchased the latest in closet organization products and you’ve updated your home’s window treatments. Your next steps don’t have to require purchases at all. Look around you– most of your furniture has probably had the same position for years. Change it! Simply switching the placement of a couch, or repositioning the TV can make you feel like you have a whole new room.

Not much room for movement? Change and update the smaller things, like pillows, throws, and lamps.

4. Color Me Beautiful: The Power of Paint
You’ll find that I mention the power of fresh paint in almost every home decorating article. It’s really that important - and valuable. Adding a new color, brightening up the existing one, or changing the texture can give the room a completely new feel.

5. Think Outside the Home
After winter has left its cold, often dingy mark, the outside of your home needs some extra TLC. Be sure to wash the doors (especially your front door) and windows, and touch up the paint if necessary. Hang a wreath of silk spring flowers, or place pots of the real thing on your porch!

Don’t forget the garage, the driveway, tool sheds, and any other areas that may be less visible in winter, but when left to the bright lights of Spring, can sully the look of your fashion-forward home.

6. Cleaning
You can’t have a Spring Home Makeover without it – cleaning. But it doesn’t have to be something you dread. Start by making a “to-do” list for each room - everything needs sprucing up this time of year. Clean or replace shelf liners, and dust everything from the countertops to the dresser drawer handles. And don’t forget to clean your window treatments! Check the instructions first, but most window treatments need little more than a light feather dusting or a low level dust buster to freshen them up.

Once you have your “to-do” list, set the cleaning mood: play your favorite music, light some candles or spray some room spray, and enjoy the prospect of a fresh start for Spring! 

No Such Things As A "Little" Lie

We're all conditioned to believe that some lies are acceptable. But, in reality, there are costs and consequences to our lives whenever we lie, including stress, low self-esteem and even disease.

Seventy-eight percent of the 6.5 billion people on the planet operate under the conscious level of integrity, as reported in a recent article featuring Gary King and The Power of Truth™  in Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine.

This week, we want to challenge you to take the 24 hour truth challenge.

Here's how it works: Starting right now, and for the next 24 hours, you decide to be honest and authentic in everything you do. You don’t lie to yourself and you don’t lie to anyone else on any level of your life. You will start to become acutely aware of your thoughts and words about everything you say and do.

Once you get past the initial discomfort of being completely honest, you start to feel a sensation of strength. A lightness and energy and freedom arise. You’ll notice a difference in your courage, the way you walk, the way you stand, the tone of your voice, the communication you have with people you love, the depth of connection with those close to you and with people you don’t even know.

When you speak the truth, feelings might get hurt. That is okay, humans are not weak. You do people no favors by trying to protect them from the truth. If you honor the people around you, be honest with them. You are beginning to shift your consciousness; you are now paying attention.

We offer this challenge as a gift to your inner self. After the first 24 hours, take another, then another. Your life, health, and peace of mind will never be the same.

Challenge people you know to do the same…it will change their lives.

March Is Already Here.. How Crazy Is That??

TO REALIZE...

• To realize the value of one year:
  Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
• To realize the value of one month:
  Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
• To realize the value of one week:
  Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
• To realize the value of one hour:
  Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
• To realize the value of one minute:
  Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
• To realize the value of one second:
  Ask a person who has survived an accident.
• To realize the value of one millisecond:
  Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Author Unknown

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

Meet This Kid of The Year!!!

Here’s the link.

Enjoy!

Holiday Funnies...

As promised, here are a couple more holiday funnies:

Chrismukkah

Continuing the current trend of large-scale mergers and acquisitions, it was announced today at a press conference that Christmas and Hanukkah will merge. An industry source said that the deal had been in the works for about 1300 years.

While details were not available at press time, it is believed that the overhead cost of having twelve days of Christmas and eight days of Hanukkah was becoming prohibitive for both sides. By combining forces, we're told, the world will be able to enjoy consistently high-quality service during the Fifteen Days of Chrismukkah, as the new holiday is being called.

Massive layoffs are expected, with lords a-leaping and maids a-milking being the hardest hit. As part of the conditions of the agreement, the letters on the dreydl, currently in Hebrew, will be replaced by Latin, thus becoming unintelligible to a wider audience.

One of the sticking points holding up the agreement for at least three hundred years was the question of whether Jewish children could leave milk and cookies for Santa even after having eaten meat for dinner. A breakthrough came last year, when Oreos were finally declared to be Kosher. All sides appeared happy about this.

A spokesman for Christmas, Inc., declined to say whether a takeover of Kwanzaa might not be in the works as well. He merely pointed out that, were it not for the independent existence of Kwanzaa, the merger between Christmas and Chanukah might indeed be seen as an unfair cornering of the holiday market. Fortunately for all concerned, he said, Kwanzaa will help to maintain the competitive balance. He then closed the press conference by leading all present in a rousing rendition of "Oy Vey, All Ye Faithful."

What to give an optimist and a pessimist

A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom and gloom pessimist.

Just to see what would happen, at Christmas time their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.

That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.

"Why are you crying?" the father asked.

"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin.

Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked.

To which his optimist twin replied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Time For Some Family Fun

Fun family night ideas are something all ages can cherish. A study by the Nielsen Company shows the average parent spends 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with his or her children. From a cozy evening with board games to do-it-yourself candied apples, you can plan a great family night, too!
Quality time needs to be fun … but with today’s busy schedules, planned. Work family night into your calendar just like you would plan dinner with your girlfriends, or happy hour. After that, the options are as wide as your family’s imagination. Here are a few ideas to inspire your next evening.

Fun family meal ideas

Great family meals start with a big dose of fun. Try the following next time:

• Have breakfast for dinner (in your PJs).
• Make-your-own pizza night (followed by make-your-own sundae, of course!).
• Flash back to the ’70s with fondue night, serving an array of savory foods for the cheese fondue or strawberries and marshmallows for the chocolate version.
• Kids Cook Night is a good way to get your kids in on the action (but be prepared to eat unlikely combinations like blueberry pancakes with mashed potatoes).

Game night

Kids have their usual favorite game du jour. Mix it up by playing Mancala, an African marble game, poker (you can bet with pennies or candy), dominoes, Battleship, or charades.

Movie night

Even the busiest week can be tamed by a stress-free family movie night with a warm fire, thrown-together dinner buffet on the coffee table, and hot cocoa with homemade whipped cream.

Take it outside

A family football game is always a good time, but for something a little different, arm everyone with a flashlight for a game of flashlight tag. For retro family fun, try pingpong or croquet. A fire pit also opens up an array of chilly weather options, from hot dogs and s’mores to ghost stories and stargazing.
With these ideas, you can even pack a cool-weather picnic. With the family at your side, good times are ahead!

Excerpted from Entertaining at www.AssocialLiving.com