Creative Homemaking Blog

Thursday, October 28th

Writing Family Christmas Letters

I know it seems kind of early to be thinking about writing Christmas letters, but I am determined to get mine done early this year to free up more time closer to Christmas. Here are some ideas I came up with for getting started:

Writing the Perfect Christmas Letter
http://www.creativehomemaking.com/articles/102804a.shtml

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.28.04 @ 11:46 AM CST [link]

Wednesday, October 27th

College Preview Days

I can't believe our daughter is looking at colleges. We went for our first college visit last weekend, to see Seattle Pacific University. Besides being expensive, it looked like a really good school and one we would be happy to see her attend. She got the chance to spend the night in the dorms with a friend of hers who is a sophomore there.

Our daughter said that staying in the dorms was the best part about the visit, and a must when checking out a college. She learned more there than a whole day of seminars.

In a couple of weeks we will go check out George Fox University near Portland, OR. They have a preview day where prospective students spend a whole day and night there checking out the college and the parents can just drop them off. There is a breakfast for the parents who want to go ask questions. Looks like a pretty good deal...she should really be able to see what it's like there.

Our daughter's friends can't believe she's already visiting colleges when she's only a junior in high school. Not only is it okay, it is encouraged! The more time you have to check out colleges, the better. You can't start too soon.

All colleges have web sites now that have information about their preview days. Most you can sign up for online. Just search for the college in your favorite search engine.

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.27.04 @ 02:58 PM CST [link]

Light Bulb Christmas Ornaments

Someone emailed me today and asked me if I had any pictures of Santa light bulb ornaments. I remembered seeing one on another web site, and then found these other adorable light bulb Christmas ornaments too. Looks like a great holiday craft project!

Light Bulb Angel
http://www.familycorner.com/homegarden/crafts/lightbulb_angel.shtml

Light Bulb Santa
http://www.familycorner.com/homegarden/crafts/light_bulb_santa.shtml

Light Bulb Snowman
http://www.familycorner.com/homegarden/crafts/lightbulb_snowman.shtml

Light Bulb Penguin
http://www.familycorner.com/homegarden/crafts/lightbulb_penguin.shtml

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.27.04 @ 02:46 PM CST [link]

Tuesday, October 19th

Decorating a Black and White Themed Teen Bedroom

When we found out we are having twins, our teenage daughter volunteered to move into a smaller bedroom so that the twins could have the bigger one. It was definitely time to come up with a new room theme! We also didn't have much space to work with or a lot of money to spend. She decided to go with a black and white theme.

The walls were already white, so that part was easy.

As a school project, our daughter repainted an old cabinet that had been in her room for some time. She painted it white and then decoupaged black and white photos (mostly scenery she liked) from magazines and that she had printed from the Internet. She then printed some of her favorite Bible verses in fancy fonts and decoupaged them on the cabinet also. We found some black knobs to match. She was happy with how it turned out, and she got a good grade on the project!

She found some black and white posters for the walls that she liked. Because of the limited space we decided to put up shelves on the walls to replace her bookcase. My husband spray painted the metal runners that the shelves hang on black, and the shelves are white. It looks really nice and frees up a lot of room. We also found an inexpensive black TV stand at Walmart to put her stereo on since she had to give up the dresser it had been on before.

So that's how, on a very small budget, we decorated our teenage daughter's bedroom in black and white, and we were all very happy with the result!

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.19.04 @ 04:23 PM CST [link]

Twins Update -- 17 Week Appointment

Yesterday was my 17 week checkup. Last time we got to hear only one heartbeat and I was kind of disappointed. This time instead of a heartbeat we heard some strange noises instead. The doctor said it was one of the babies moving and kicking every time he moved the heart monitor. It was really funny. My mother-in-law said it could only be my husband's hyperactive son. The doctor said maybe the mother's curse? I didn't know that applied to dads also. I told them that my mother's curse had already been fulfilled so I'm off the hook this time! Then I had to explain that comment to my teenage daughter--that it's not necessarily a BAD thing! smile

Then on the other side we heard a softer mellow heartbeat from the other baby. Maybe our little girl?! The doctor knows we can't wait much longer to find out, and since we're so close he said we could come in in 3 weeks to do the ultrasound. It is on November 8. I hope the time goes by fast!

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com

Rachel on 10.19.04 @ 10:36 AM CST [link]

Thursday, October 7th

My Dog's First Chiropractor Visit

You have to know me pretty well to know that although I love my pets dearly, I am not one to rush them off to the vet unless they are in severe pain. Vet bills are not a part of our monthly budget.

I have a little long-haired chihuahua named Shadow, who is my favorite pet. The last couple of months Shadow has been having some kind of weird back pain, and the pains seemed to come and go. He is an older dog, so I figured it was just a sign of old age. After awhile he could hardly move because of it sometimes, so I broke down and took him to the vet. The doctor said that pinched nerves were common and gave him some kind of cortisone pills ($10) to see how that helped. The pills worked right away and he was fine for about a month. He then started having symptoms again.

So the vet then recommended taking him to a chiropractor! There is a chiropractor in our area who works both on people and animals. I'd never heard of such a thing. When I called to make an appointment, they said it was only $10 to bring him in and that they would donate the money to charity, so I figured it was worth a try. The chiropractor used some kind of tool to apply pressure to Shadow's neck and parts of his spine. She said his neck was really out of whack. That was 2 days ago, and Shadow has never felt better. He is his old self again. I have to take him in one more time just to make sure his back is still all in alignment, but he seems to have really responded to the treatment. Who would have known?

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com

Rachel on 10.07.04 @ 08:22 AM CST [link]

Body Pillows

I recently discovered body pillows. They're great! I picked one up at Walmart for about $8. They're extra long to fit to your body shape. They're great to snuggle up to, especially if you have a hard time getting comfortable at night due to pregnancy or other physical problems. If your lower back or hips bother you, if you wedge one end of the pillow between your knees while you're laying on your side, it really helps keep your body stable and comfortable.

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.07.04 @ 08:05 AM CST [link]

Wednesday, October 6th

Books on Twins Pregnancy

After I found out I am having twins, I started looking around for some good reading material on twins pregnancy.

I found a number of good inexpensive books at http://www.half.com . These are the ones I picked up:

Having Twins, by Elizabeth Noble (1991) (Price = .75)
The Joy of Twins and Other Multiple Births, by Pamela Patrick Novotny (1994) (Price = .75)
Two at a Time, by Jane Seymour (2001) (Price = .75)

The total for the three books came to $11.08, including shipping. Not bad!!

The first two books have a lot of medical and scientific information and are very thorough. If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely pick The Joy of Twins. I didn't really need to buy both. There are a lot of pictures...I like that! Neat, and scary at the same time. Can people really get that big??? There are cute baby and toddler pictures also.

The Jane Seymour book was great because it chronicles her pregnancy from beginning to end, and also includes a lot of photos. You will notice there are not many pictures of her at the end of her pregnancy!! She has a lot of great advice from her personal experience, however, and her situation was similar to mine in that she had two teenagers at the time her babies were born. I wonder if Julia Roberts will write her own twins book. That would be pretty interesting.

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.06.04 @ 09:37 AM CST [link]

Crockpot Hamburger and Bean Recipe

I received this recipe from my cousin, who made it for a recent family get together. This is really good and easy to make:

Crockpot Hamburger and Bean Recipe

1/2 lb. bacon browned-drained-crumbled
1 1/2 lb. hamburger browned-drained
2 lg. onions chopped
2 - 1 lb. (14 oz.) Pork & Beans drained
1 - green pepper chopped
1 sm. can stewed tomatoes
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. Chili powder
dash Celery salt

Bake 2 hours at 300 or in crockpot 3-4 hours covered on high to bubbling then on low. Make sure you drain hamburger, bacon, and beans well!!

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.06.04 @ 10:00 AM CST [link]

Tuesday, October 5th

Decorating with Wallies

My husband and I have been trying to decide how to decorate our nursery. We've been shopping a lot on Ebay. I wanted to decorate with a Peter Rabbit / Beatrix Potter theme, and while searching for related items on Ebay, I ran across these Wallies:

http://stores.ebay.com/WALLIES-AND-MORE

Wallies are cutouts made of pre-pasted, vinyl coated, strippable wallpaper and are easily applied to most smooth surfaces. They are great for wall borders or decorating furniture and other accessories. I plan to do a Peter Rabbit border around the center of the nursery wall, and I'm going to paint several older dressers white or pale yellow and decorate them with Beatrix Potter characters.

There are several hundred different wallies to choose from, for any decorating scheme! I purchased four sets: two Peter Rabbit, and two Beatrix Potter.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com

Rachel on 10.05.04 @ 09:26 PM CST [link]

Welcome!

Last Updated August 2007

Train Ride (11k image) I hope to use this blog so that you can get to know me better and know what's going on around my home and on my web sites. To start off, I'd like to introduce you to myself and my family.

My name is Rachel, and I am 37 years old. I have been married to Dave (38) for 11 years. We have a 19-yr-old daughter (Amanda), a 18-yr-old step-daughter (Keisha), and twin 2-yr-old sons Zachary and Christian.

I have been writing and publishing for about 10 years now. CreativeHomemaking.com has been online in some form since 1996, and Crafty-Moms.com, Frugal-Home-Decor.com, and Christian-Parent.com were "born" in the years since then, as CreativeHomemaking.com outgrew itself and needed to expand to more dedicated web sites.

My hobbies include scrapbooking, reading, writing, church activities, and spending time with family (and someday soon, I hope, homeschooling!).

Blessings,
Rachel Paxton
Editor/Publisher
CreativeHomemaking.com
Rachel on 10.05.04 @ 05:19 PM CST [link]