Month: April 2023

My Container Garden Plans for 2023

On April 29, 2023

Not having the land to do a traditional garden shouldn’t stop you from enjoying beautiful, fresh produce. Starting a container garden is a great way to get many of the benefits of a garden without the space requirements. There is really a lot you can do with just a few pots and a sunny balcony, porch, or window.

For our family, the next few months have a lot of uncertainty about where we will be living. It might still be with my parents, or in an apartment, or in our own home. I am so excited to get our own home, but I don’t want to miss out on this year’s gardening season waiting to see if it will happen. So the plan this year is to make a mobile, container garden that can move along with us wherever we go. The assumption I am making is that we will have enough room for 2 large pots, 4 medium pots, and 3 small pots. Given our previous apartment experience, this should be doable with a small porch or balcony.

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What we are planting

The plan at the moment is to try out a few things that we would plant more of next year if we have a traditional garden. But we also have to keep in mind what kinds of things work well in containers and what don’t. So even though I want to try out companion planting the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) I know that that will have to wait for another year when we can have a traditional garden. Here is what we have decided on for our 2023 container garden.

In the large pots

We are planting one normal tomato plant and one sweet cherry tomato plant in each of the large pots. This should supply us with some beautiful tomatoes to eat fresh or use in recipes throughout the summer even though it will not be enough to can any. My husband absolutely LOVES eating fresh tomatoes so he is pretty excited for this. The specific varieties we decided on are Marglobe for normal tomatoes and Isis Candy for sweet cherry tomatoes. Both of these kinds are heirloom which is a priority for us as we would like to collect seeds year to year.

In the medium pots

Along with our tomatoes, we also love to have fresh peppers. So we are trying out one each of three different kinds this year. One Big Red Bell Pepper, one Sunset Italian sweet pepper, and one Cayenne pepper to add the heat. These will be planted in 3 out of the 4 of the medium pots.

For the 4th, we are going to do a strawberry pot. I am still looking for the right pot but am hopeful to find it soon. For the plants, I chose Ozark Beauty strawberries because of their size, hardiness, and length of production. It wasn’t a priority for the strawberry plants to be an heirloom variety because they propagate themselves if we ever want to have more of them.

In the small pots

The small pots are for our favorite and most used herbs. These are basil, cilantro, and rosemary. There is really nothing like having fresh herbs to use when cooking and I feel like the freshness of basil and cilantro is especially important. And rosemary is just my favorite herb so I use it a lot.

Where we got our seeds / plants

This year I wanted to try out starting some plants from seed. And since I am only doing a few plants, this has been super easy. The only ones that I bought as plants were the strawberries. This is just because I wanted quite a few strawberry plants and want them to produce this year. I bought the strawberry plants from my local greenhouse, The GreenHouse. I got my seeds from True Leaf Market and would highly recommend them. Their germination rate has been great and they are a good, reputable company for seeds.

Our seed starting experience

I have started all of the tomato and pepper plants inside already and they are growing great! I planted 2-3 seeds per hole for each of these and have had all but 2 seeds sprout so I am very happy with the results. Our setup has been as simple as possible. I used a small glass terrarium to start these seeds inside then will harden them off and transfer them outside when they get a little bigger.

I am so excited for our container garden this year. It will be the perfect way for our family to enjoy fresh produce throughout the summer no matter where we live. I hope that this gives you inspiration and ideas to start your own container garden!

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

By calicohearthome

On April 28, 2023

In Family

Mother’s Day is a beautiful day to honor all the wonderful mothers and mother figures in our lives. The spirit of being a mother is such a powerful one. Filled with love, protection, and joy. They deserve to be celebrated. Here are some gift ideas for mother’s day.

Bath Products

There are so many mother’s day gift options in this category alone! They help encourage the mother’s in our lives to take care of themselves. Bath salts are definitely one of the top options because they are so nice for relaxation. My favorite are these. They aren’t strongly scented and are very mild and relaxing. Alternatively you could go with unscented Epsom salts and add in your own mix of essential oils.

Bath bombs can also be a really fun gift. You can get pretty creative making your own. Savvy Homemade has a good starting tutorial here. It might even be fun to have a bath bomb making session with mom!

Candles

Candles are a nice gift for mother’s day because every time she lights it, she will be reminded of you. And of how much you love her. Candles also help to promote relaxation and can be used in conjunction with the bath products as mentioned above. The kind of candle will depend greatly on what kinds of things your mom likes but there are so many options. If you aren’t sure what kind to get, sets like this come with several different scents which can be really nice.

House Plants

One of the classic mother’s day gifts is a bouquet of flowers. But they are gone so soon! So if you know mom has a green thumb then get her a house plant instead. It will (hopefully) last so much longer and can bring joy all over again when it blooms.

Photo Book

Nothing brings the happy tears of a mother’s love like looking through old photographs. Putting together a photo book for your mom so she can look at these old pictures can be really meaningful. You can buy a book like this and then print out the photos to go inside and it makes a beautiful mother’s day gift.

Meaningful Jewelry

Jewelry is something that can be worn basically any day as a reminder of love and connection. There are lots of options for mother’s day but I feel like the best are ones that are made to be meaningful instead of generic. Some of these include personalization where you can include the names of children but some of them like this beautiful bird one, are more themed instead of personalized.

Heartfelt Decorations

I know my mom absolutely loves decorations that remind her of family and the love that we have for one another. Willow Tree figures are one of the best for this. If you haven’t heard of them they are figures that are beautifully carved out of wood and symbolize important things in life. For mother’s day, Close to Me is perfect. Other options include music boxes like this one that plays you are my sunshine and family tree carvings like this one.

I hope this gives you some ideas for simple but meaningful gifts for mother’s day this year!

My Top Homemaking Distractions and How I Overcome Them

By calicohearthome

On April 27, 2023

In Homemaking

Working from home always comes with an extra share of distractions. When your job is to take care of the home, they can be even harder to resist. But we still have so many responsibilities that we need to take care of! From cooking dinner, to keeping the garden under control, we have things we need to prioritize over distractions. It is easier said than done though. Here are my top 8 homemaking distractions and tricks I have found for overcoming them.

The quest for perfection

I chose this one to be first because for me it is truly the biggest of my homemaking distractions. Suppose on my list for the day is to clean our bedroom, bathroom, and do laundry. Sometimes I get caught up making our bedroom PERFECT. Then I spend way more time on little things in our room that won’t make a difference. By the time I have meticulously cleaned our closet, desk, and my craft cubby, as well as wiped down every conceivable surface, I may not have enough time left to adequately clean the bathroom and do the laundry.

How I overcome it: There are deep cleaning days where you totally should focus on getting on area fully clean. If you’ve got other tasks for the day though, don’t let a quest for perfection on one task keep you from doing the others. Embrace the saying “Done is better than perfect”. And let go emotionally of the idea that you have to do everything 100%. Break down a big task into smaller ones and only do the smaller tasks that you really need to do.

Looking through old things

Similarly, if I try to go through our storage closet in the morning then have other plans for the afternoon, I could come across some little box with trinkets from my past that I had forgotten about. I could spend way too much time going through that box and fiddling with all the stuff. And then sometimes I just end up keeping all of it anyways! So no progress was actually made. I have again been derailed by one of my homemaking distractions.

How I overcome it: If I come across a memento or box of mementos when my goal is decluttering or cleaning, I decide first if this is something I want to go through right now, with the goal of getting rid of stuff. If it is, I try to go with my first gut feeling on each item on whether I want to keep it (it makes me happy) or I want to get rid of it (it doesn’t make me happy). By focusing on my gut feeling with each item, it helps to make the process quicker. If I find stuff that I can’t make these quick decisions on, I put them to the side for now. I can come back to them a day when I have more time and emotional energy.

TV

It is easy to say that you are just going to take a quick break and watch a few minutes of a show. But it is so easy to just finish the episode… or just one more episode. How can they expect you to leave without knowing what happens to so and so? Before you know it you could have wasted multiple hours in front of the TV.

How I overcome it: If I feel like I need a break and am tempted to use that time to watch TV, I try and use that time instead to do something that will help me feel better than TV would. So things like doing a bit of yoga or deep breathing, going for a walk or even just stepping outside for a few minutes. All of these things help more to give your mind and body a break than zoning out in front of the TV would. And you can get back to work easier when you are done with these activities.

Social media

This one is similar to TV, but it is even easier to say you’ll just spend a couple of minutes. And if you keep your phone in your pocket all day long, that distraction is always there. It is so easy to give in to and becomes a big part of homemaking distractions. If wasting your time wasn’t bad enough, a scrolling session on social media may be enough to make you feel discouraged and decide to take a longer break, maybe with some ice cream.

How I overcome it: Put your phone away while you are doing things around the house. If you are worried about people being able to get a hold of you if they need you, put your ringer on loud enough that you can still hear it from the other room. There are also focus apps that you can install to help you focus and avoid getting on your phone.

Emails and texting

Especially if you work or run a shop or other business, it can be tempting to check your emails constantly. And sometimes you don’t even respond to emails immediately when they do come in. The same goes for texting. Especially if you have friends that want to text back and forth about everything that happens in each other’s lives.

How I overcome it: I recommend setting 1-3 specific times of the day where you can check your emails and texts and respond to the ones that need attention. For me, since I run an Etsy shop and want to provide quick shipping to my customers, I check my emails once first thing in the morning, once at lunch, and once at the end of the work day. This helps me to package and send off items quickly without the emails derailing my focus for the day.

The news and google

So you heard someone mention this big new thing that happened. And you decide it can’t hurt to do a quick google and just read an article or two about it. Or your mind was wandering and you want to know the answer to a quick but random question. I have been there a lot. And by there I mean 10 articles deep into something that doesn’t actual matter at all.

How I overcome it: Although it may seem like you are obligated to know about every event going on it the world, know that you aren’t, especially trivial events that don’t really matter. Don’t get me wrong, people should be educated on societal and political events that are important and will influence the decisions they make (like voting and activism decisions). But most of the stuff we google really isn’t the important stuff. And remember that reading this stuff isn’t work, so give it the proper time and place in your life. If this is something important to you, make room for it in your free time. Just don’t use it to procrastinate the things that you need to do.

Snacking

For me this tends to go hand in hand with spending time in front of the TV. I’ll thing “I can just grab a snack and watch my show and then I’ll get back to work”. But am I actually hungry? Definitely not every time. Most of the time it is just another one of my homemaking distractions.

How I overcome it: Having healthy snacks throughout the day is important for taking care of yourself. However, make sure that you are eating them because you are actually hungry. Don’t eat because you are bored, sad, or procrastinating something. It helps me to pause for a minute before going to get a snack to check in with myself. I check if I am actually hungry or if it is motivated by something else. And when I am hungry, I can take a small break where I can truly enjoy my snack, without the TV being a distraction to that.

Talking

In this one I’m not meaning talking with your children. Ultimately a huge part of homemaking is taking care of your children and spending time with them. I’m meaning talking with other adults being a distraction while you are trying to do your work or spend time with your children. Whether it is on the phone or in person, stopping to chat with someone can really derail you from what you need to do. This doesn’t mean to just ignore people when you are busy, but there are ways to prevent it from causing problems.

How I overcome it: First off, if you would prefer some time where you don’t have to talk to anyone, there is no reason you can’t set that boundary to give yourself some space. That is perfectly valid. But if you do want the company, my favorite solution to this one is to invite them to join you in your task. And then you can keep going, while having the company of a loved one. If they called, maybe you can put them on speaker phone and enjoy your conversation as you fold laundry or weed the garden.

So there ya have it, my top 8 homemaking distractions and how I overcome them. Us homemakers have a lot to do every single day and getting past our distractions is so important. Ultimately it it a process learning how to do this. And it will take time. But it will get easier and easier to overcome the things that distract us on our homemaking journey. I hope you found these tips helpful and can apply some of them to your everyday life.

Peach Nectar Iced Tea Summer Drink Recipe

By calicohearthome

On April 22, 2023

In Recipes

Peach Nectar Sweet Iced Tea

This peach nectar iced tea is one of my favorite summertime drinks. It is sweet, peachy, and is a great pick me up with a little bit of caffeine. For the peaches you can either use home canned peaches or store bought peaches.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Chill Time 1

Total Time 1 10

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Equipment

Pitcher to mix and serve the drink in
Blender to puree peaches
Sifter or Cheesecloth to strain out large pieces of peach pulp
Mug or Jar to brew 2 cups of tea in

Ingredients

2 bags black tea
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
15 oz canned peaches
4-5 cups water

Instructions

Brew 2 cups of strong black tea using the 2 tea bags and 2 cups of water.
While the tea is brewing add lemon juice and brown sugar to a large drink pitcher.
Add the can of peaches (including the juice) to a blender, puree well, then press the puree through a sifter or cheesecloth to filter out any large pieces of pulp. Add the juice /fine pulp to the pitcher. If you don't like any pulp in your drinks you can just use the juice from the canned peaches (it won't have as much peach flavor).
Add in the strong black tea and stir until sugar is well dissolved. The slight heat from they tea will help the sugar to dissolve.
Fill the rest of the pitcher full of water (2-3 more cups depending on how strongly flavored you want the drink) and chill for at least one hour.
Stir well and serve cold on a hot summer day or whenever sounds good to you!

Notes

This recipe uses canned peaches but could be made using fresh peaches in the summer by preparing them how you would before canning and then measuring out about 15 oz.

Keyword Drink, Lemon, Nectar, Peaches, Summer, Sweet, Tea

My Favorite Ways to Save Money

By calicohearthome

On April 21, 2023

In Frugal Living

Saving money can be hard, but there are some easy tricks and habits that you can use to make it a little easier and save a little more. Below are 10 of my favorite ways to save money.

Stay busy

This is the single biggest piece of advice I have for saving money. Most people have spent a ton of money on things that they didn’t really need, just because they were bored. Sometimes we think we’ll just go shopping because we don’t have any other plans for the afternoon. Or we scroll through shopping apps on our phone when we are bored and buy the things we like when we see them. So to save money, instead of filling your down time with shopping, fill it with other activities that you enjoy. This could be reading, hiking, or having friends over for a game night. My favorite swap has been to read a book on my phone when I would have opened a shopping app. By spending more time on things other than shopping, you will not only save money, but also add extra experiences to your life.

Go to your library and download their app if they have one

I did this about 6 months ago for the first time since I was a child… And I have been loving it! My local library has physical books as well as an app called Libby that allows you to access thousands of digital books and audio books. I like to use a mix of physical books, digital books, and audio books personally. There is something comforting about a physical book that can’t be beat online, but having the digital items allows you amazing portability. The point of this tip is again to keep you busy, and to give you access to many reading materials without having to pay anything for them.

Limit streaming services

We have a rule in our house, one streaming service at a time. If you have multiple streaming services, it can cost you a ton per month. Many families opt to not have any streaming services at all but we like the convenience of it around here. So what we do it have one at a time. And when we decide the things we want are on a different streaming service, we cancel our current subscription (finishing out the month), and then when that is complete we start up the streaming service that we do want.

Take care of the items you own

The better you take care of the items you own, the longer they will last. So you spend less money replacing things if you take care of them. This includes laundry, dishes, and especially cars. One of my family members is notorious for not taking care of their car. No oil changes or anything. And they have had to spend a lot more because their cars give out. Ultimately spending a little more taking care of an item will be worth it in the long run when they last much longer.

Use the one out, then one in rule

Similar to the one in, one out rule but the difference is that one thing has to need replacing and “go out” before you bring another thing in to replace it. This is challenging but works especially well for your closet and for beauty products. The idea is to only buy new products when one of your old ones needs to be retired or is used up. So if one of your shirts gets a hole in it or becomes too small, replace it with a new one. But don’t buy more than what would replace what you had. I have been following this for the past 8 months or so and have really noticed a difference in how much I spend on these kinds of products. And when you do buy something, having this rule in place greatly reduces guilt you may feel over spending money on something.

Use the 48 hour rule

You can use this either in place of the previous tip, along side it, or on different kinds of items. The idea for this one is that when you want to buy something, put in on a list for a set amount of time before buying it. When that time is up you can decide if you really do want to buy it. Some people prefer 24 hours, but for me 48 has been more helpful because it has allowed me more time for perspective to enter in and help me decide if I really do need / want it.

Track your spending

Ultimately you won’t know where your money is going if you don’t keep track of your spending. So taking the time to write down every purchase you make over one month can be really enlightening and help you to know where to focus on your money saving journey.

Use a grocery list

This one has helped us to save both a lot of money and a lot of time. Even just sitting down for 10 minutes before your shopping trip to list all of the items you need at the store before you go can make a big difference. This allows you to go directly to each item you need without having to brose through the whole store. Skipping the sections you don’t need to be in helps to prevent you from making impulse purchases because you don’t see the other items. Also, having a list makes it much less likely that you will forget something that would have otherwise required a whole other trip to the store later in the week.

Make freezer meals

Sometimes life gets busy and cooking a full dinner is just not in the cards. When this happens it is natural to turn to takeout just to feed your family and enjoy the convenience. But this can add up super fast if it happens a lot. As an alternative you can cook large dinners at home some nights, and then freeze half of it to use for a different night when you will be too tired or busy to cook.

Do more outdoorsy and at home activities and dates

People can spend a lot of money on activities and dates. Sometimes it is nice to treat yourself and your significant other with a big night out at a movie, restaurant, or other more expensive activity. But it is good also to mix it up with some fun outdoorsy and at home dates. Some of our favorites are hiking, picnics, and ice cream and movie nights. These are generally much less expensive but can be just as enjoyable. Dating is generally more fun when you have a large variety of experiences together anyways.

So there ya go, 10 of my personal favorite easy ways to save money. Even just picking one or two to focus on can help you save a significant amount of money over time, it’s all about finding what works for you.

Welcoming Springtime Energy into the Home

By calicohearthome

On April 19, 2023

In Homemaking

Ah Springtime, one of my favorite times of the year. Unfortunately, where I live there are literally 8 inches of snow on the ground and it is STILL snowing. It’s truly crazy. But that makes it even more important for our mental health to find ways to bring springtime energy into our homes. Here are some of my favorite ways to do that.

Put out flowers

Ideally, this would be bright, freshly cut flowers right from your own backyard. As mine are currently still covered in snow, this isn’t really an option. Earlier this spring, my husband surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of light pink roses and baby’s breath. It was my absolute favorite. After those were gone, we opted for our bright yellow and orange bouquet of silk flowers. And even though they aren’t real or fresh, they add a very nice touch of springtime to our home and make me smile every time I see them. So if you don’t have access to fresh flowers, don’t let that stop you! You can spend around $5 at Hobby Lobby or even Walmart and get a nice little bouquet that will do the trick.

Put on some happy music

Think the Hobbit and Shire music. This is what I am currently listening to. Honestly, I could easily be a Hobbit and have their simple beautiful life. Anyways, their light and happy music gives a nice atmosphere to your home that always reminds me of spring. Other options that give this effect are Irish music and some softer Scottish music. If these aren’t your thing, really any music that is upbeat and happy can help with the springtime energy.

Add fresh and light foods to your menu

When you are ready, start to move on from the heavy, crockpot meals of winter. Or at least add in some more light and refreshing foods to your home’s menu. Things like salads and sandwiches can help brighten things up and give your body some of the energy typically associated with spring.

Make bright fruity desserts and drinks

Along the same lines, making some bright and fruity desserts and drinks can help create a springtime feeling. I absolutely love strawberry lemon cake and lemon bars. Their color as well as their taste fit perfectly for spring and especially for around Easter. One of my favorite drinks that is great now as well as in the summer is Peach Iced Tea and Lemonade which I will be sharing my recipe for soon.

Clean up the house

There is a reason spring cleaning is a thing. Having a clean house helps to brush out the dense, heavy, energy that comes with winter and invite in the bright, happy springtime energy. It also helps to make room both physically and emotionally for all that will come in the new year.

And use a lemon cleaner

While you’re at it, use a lemon-based cleaner to make your house smell amazing and fresh. A super easy way to DIY a lemon cleaner is to let lemon peels soak in vinegar for around 2 weeks, then get rid of the peels and dilute the vinegar with water. This can be used on most surfaces but there are some that it would damage so it’s best to do your research before giving this one a try. I will be posting details in another post shortly.

Dress brightly

As you are the Ambassador for your home, how you look can really affect how your home feels. Now is the time to bust out those soft, flowy, floral dresses like this one. Something about wearing dresses like this makes me feel more energetic and happy about life which is a very classical springtime feeling. If dresses aren’t your thing, any more brightly colored clothing is sure to bring in a more optimistic attitude and help welcome in the spring.

Open your windows when the weather permits

This one might take some time for us, but when you can open up your windows. Your home needs to breathe after being sealed off all winter long. This can help get rid of any stuffy feelings and goes right along with spring cleaning. And if you have birds where you live, there is really nothing that makes you feel spring more than listening to birds singing out your window.

Embrace spring crafts

Think pastel sewing projects and dying Easter eggs. These are even more fun when you have kiddos who can share in the fun with you! Having this time to make memories with them is so valuable. I know I have many happy memories as a child dying Easter eggs with my family and finger painting spring flowers. As I don’t have children of my own yet, I have been crocheting some pastel colored baby blankets to donate to families in need and doing some drawings just for fun.

Put up some decorations

Once you complete the spring crafts, be sure to display them or use them! Just seeing them on a regular basis can help you feel that spring is truly here. If you want to keep your Easter eggs after dying them one option is to blow them out before you dye them. There are quite a few tutorials online but the main concept is to poke a hole in both the top and bottom of the egg and then blow out the insides. If this sounds too gross for you you can always use a medication syringe (the kind without the needle) to blow it out for you. This one can be a fun, albeit messy activity that you can do with older kids.

I hope these tips help you to embrace the energy of springtime and welcome it into your home!