Refreshing Ideas for Summer

July 11, 2017July 11, 2017 RefreshHer2 Comments

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My blog’s purpose is to refresh women in their hearts, homes, and lives. This week I want to focus my posts on specific ways to refresh you and your home this summer! Here are a list of ideas to get you started!

This wonderful warm weather and sunshine is a sweet reminder that summer is here! Woo-hoo! It’s time to add some summer charm to your home and your life. Here are a few suggestions to refresh you this summer!

Gather all the old issues of magazines from the summer months. Scour through them and get some fresh ideas for your yard, a summer wreath, refreshing and cool treats for the summer, and places to visit.
Plan to head to your Farmer’s market this weekend for fresh berries and see what other goodies they may have to offer!
Pick up some pieces of china at a yard sale. Fill a basket with mismatched china, vintage tablecloth and napkins and have it ready for an impromptu picnic.

If you have a clothesline, hang your sheets outside.
Fix up your back deck or patio so it’s inviting for summer breakfast, lunch and/or dinners! Set out some containers of flowers, add party lights, add pillows to your chairs and porch swing, add a blanket for an evening view of the summer sky!
Add some pretty ribbon or twine to your hand-held garden tools so you can hang them in a convenient place.
Put a cotton quilt on the grass in the shade and read to your children. Enjoy lunch out there too!

I hope one or more of these ideas will refresh these summer days for you! Which one spoke to you?

Denise Signature 150 px

home · Home decor · Home Landscaping · Outside decor · seasonal decor

Refresh Your Porches for Spring

March 29, 2017March 28, 2017 RefreshHer3 Comments

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It’s springtime!! Woo hoo!! It’s time to clean off the porches so they’re ready to greet your family and friends. After a long winter, they need some good overhaul to be fresh and inviting! Here’s what I do:

Sweep off the whole area – porch, steps, and driveway.
Dust the corners, and wipe down any furniture on the porch.
Clean the glass door with glass cleaner. Do it when the sun isn’t shining on it – that will help prevent streaks.
Look at your door mat. If it looks weary, tired and dirty, replace it with a fresh, spring-y rug.
Add a spring wreath.
Add a little touch of something green.
Add a garden flag or stepping stone

One thing I love to do in spring and summer is walk through the garden area at Lowe’s! I get so excited about adding flowers, herbs and all things green to my yard when it turns warm! Though it is the time to get the front porch in shape, NOW is NOT the time to add annuals because we’re still dealing with dipping temperatures.

Remember that even if you don’t come in your front door, that’s what your guests will see first, so let it give them a grand welcome!

What will you do to make your porch inviting?

Denise Signature 150 px

Home decor · seasonal decor

Pre-Spring Coffee Table Decor

February 21, 2017February 21, 2017 RefreshHer2 Comments

Just a few pictures for today’s post about Pre-spring decor…

How can you get your house a little ready for spring? It’s too early for tulips or bunny rabbits, but you have to change the decor from Valentine’s Day, right?

First, go through the house looking for all the traces of hearts (or evergreen still lingering from Christmas!). I used to leave my snowmen out for the winter months, but if you have any out they could be removed, if you’re wanting to prep your home for spring that will come!
Find any florals you have that are greens. These will work great!
Look for colorful additions you could put out in the form of vases, candles, or even magazines.

Here’s my attempt at a little pre-spring decoration for the coffee tables…

I love the colors of the jars, and they add enough touch of a spring colored sky!

Scrabble tiles are always a way to speak your heart! The little bird in its cage is a perfect addition to the phrase!

My family room coffee table – I like to add old magazines that I’ve saved. I can flip through and get inspiration for when it is time to get out all things spring!

A candle that has a spring fragrance makes the house *smell* like spring, even if you still have snow outside!

Silk herbs are a great in-between seasons floral!

There are a few ideas for you. I’m going to be adding a wreath on the front door soon that will help anticipate birds and daffodils! Is that a robin outside my window?! Woohoo!

Anyone else waiting for spring?

Denise

Christmas decor · Crafting · home · Home decor · seasonal decor

Simple Christmas Decor In My Kitchen

December 2, 2016December 1, 2016 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Happy December, y’all! I’m in full decorating mode and almost finished!!

I shared with a friend that I was decorating, and she lamented that she didn’t really have places to put decorations because their home is filled with people, rather than furniture (which is a really great thing!). As I thought about her statement, I thought that there are lots of ways to add Christmas decor or touches that don’t require lots of space. Let me show you a few pictures of my kitchen and I think you’ll see what I mean.

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I added a small basket of ornaments on my cookbooks that I use as a platform for my lamp. Just a simple ornament tied to a lamp, doorknob, or coat hook adds a touch of Christmas! That picture has a sheet of metal in the frame so I can use it as a magnetic board. I change out the picture with the seasons, using an old Susan Branch calendar.

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If you have open cabinetry, it’s the perfect home for Christmas decor! I don’t have a lot above my cabinets, but every Christmas I put these blocks up on top. I made mine at our church’s Pinterest party a few years ago by simply free-handing the letters and Christmas tree on the blocks.

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The wreath above is hanging on my pantry door. I added fruits, pine cones and a cookie cutter. You could add a wreath to any room or door inside or outside without taking up one inch of needed space!

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This table is in my dining room. I’m still working on this space, but as seen in the things I edited onto my photo,like a little greenery, or seasonal cups and saucers, the room looks ready for Christmas!

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Lastly, making your home smell like Christmas is another way to create the holiday atmosphere in your home without taking up much space at all. A plug-in fragrance, a candle, potpourri or simmering pot of citrus and cinnamon would all be great. My sweet neighbor brought me this Yankee candle, and if you want your house to smell amazing, you need one of these! This is Iced Gingerbread. (Right now you can buy one large candle and get one FREE!)

All of my decor are just simple touches – nothing elaborate at all. Refreshing your home for Christmas can be minimal, yet make your home special for your family.

If you need some other ideas for decorations that don’t require much space, here are a few more ideas…

Candy canes in your current decor – baskets floral containers, or a glass jar.
Holiday linens – Place mats, tablecloths, napkins, dish towels
Slipcover couch pillows with Christmas/winter slipcovers.

Make a pinecone garland to hang anywhere – you don’t have to have a mantle!
Print off free printables. Frame and hang!

25 free Christmas printable:

Have you started your decorating for Christmas? What’s your favorite way to add a touch of Christmas to your kitchen?

Each week in December I’ll be posting ideas to help you simplify Christmas. The next post will be on Wednesday in the form of a video. I hope you’ll stop in to hear the six ideas I’ll be sharing!

Stay refreshed,

Denise Signature 150 px

Fall · Home decor · seasonal decor

Hand-Sewn Fabric Pumpkin Tutorial

October 23, 2015November 3, 2015 RefreshHer5 Comments

When I attended the Ladies’ retreat at Wolf Mountain camp this month, I got to participate in their fun Craft time! Woo-Hoo! They were making a couple crafts, one being the adorable fabric pumpkin pictured here. It was made in about 30 minutes and was super easy to do. I chose a paisley fabric for mine, which I thought was so cute. A soft velour would be nice, too. Let me walk you through the simple steps.

You’ll need:

A rectangular piece of fabric
Thread and needle
Twine
Pillow Stuffing
Paper bag for stem

Instructions:

Turn right sides of the fabric together and stitch up the side seams. I’ve drawn it on white paper to give you an example. The right side is the folded edge, the left is open.
Turn fabric right side out and make long basting stitch all the way around the top, leaving a long thread in which to pull and gather the top of the pumpkin closed in a minute. (You’re not sewing the two pieces shut, you’re sewing on one piece of fabric all the way around your circle, so you can gather it and stuff the inside.)
Pull the thread a little to cause the fabric to gather and make an opening. Fill the pumpkin as full as you possibly can with the filling.
Pull the threads around the top to close the pumpkin. Gather the fabric at the top and leave as little bit of the fabric on top as possible – about 1/2 inch. Sew or tie the top closed. You could even close it with a rubberband; it will be covered.
Using the paper bag, cut off a piece, about 4′ x 8-10″ and twist into pumpkin stem shape. Using hot glue, attach to the top of the pumpkin.
Take a long string of twine and starting at the top, leave about two inches, then wrap it vertically around the pumpkin to give it its shape, ending at the top. Wrap pieces of twine around the paper stem. Attach with hot glue, or tie off.
I added extra twine around the whole stem, as you can see in the picture below. You can cut out a leaf shape from a contrasting fabric and attach it with hot glue as well.

I also added little “tendrils” of twine to the top. You could add a little Spanish moss instead. Just be creative and use what you have. Raffia is another possibility.

Wouldn’t it be cute to have several sizes and coordinating fabrics? I’ll add to my collection, I’m sure. I hope you’ll making one of these – they’re so easy and lots of fun!

One another note – We’re having a Men’s Conference at our church starting tonight. You can go here and see times of the services. We’d love to have your husband, sons, brothers or friends if you live in our area! It’s going to be a wonderful time in God’s Word where men will be challenged to be mighty men of God! What woman wouldn’t want her husband to attend that? Let’s be praying for them as they attend!

Stay refreshed,

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