Craftgawker love

I love anything related to house, decor, crafts, food, and pretty things. And since we are saving money, I need me some fresh and cheap inexpensive ideas to make my humble abode a bit brighter and fun.

One of my main inspirations lately has been Craftgawker. First, I love the format. It's like a Pinterest without the make-me-feel-bad pictures of 15 year olds working out or tons of pictures of chicken recipes that make me sad for the little birds.

 And the best thing about it is the constant source of stuff. Check out some of my fave projects just from this week:

Legos join the terrarium fun. Why didn't I think of that?

Hardwood floors are officially boring in my book from now on.

A wreath out of old book pages. Whaaaa???

 

Martha's colors

We all know Martha Stewart knows a tad bit about home decor. And although she may have an army of minions and probably gets little done herself, she certainly has good taste.

Because of that, I was very inspired by this pin I found from Martha's site.

According to Martha, these are colors that:

1- Are neutral enough to be used with any other accent colors.
2- Great colors for people who are afraid of colors, as they are a first step out of the white and beige world.

I can visualize my living room with #4, a #9 kitchen, a lovely master bedroom with #5, and #12 is just so lovable I don't even know which room I'd pick to paint. Oh, and let's not forget #1, which I can see as a nursery for a boy or a girl, with the right accent colors!

I thought you all would like this decor hint. Specially my husband-hint hint! If you liked them, hop onto Martha's site for the details on each one.

Currently loving it!

It’s been a while since I last posted some links that I enjoyed, so I figured I should share some of my current blogging favorites with y’all! And thanks to Bloglovin, I have a one-stop shop when it comes to reading them.

Food

Could this Root Pizza look any more delicious? Click here for the recipe!

I actually met Cami at SCAD, so I don’t feel so stalker-ish about reading her blog. She has awesome vegan, gluten free and all around healthy recipes in her blog como.come.cami always written both in English and Spanish, for all food lover’s delight!

House

I am so excited that Amanda got herself a new house. No, I’m not her friend, and actually she doesn’t even know I exist, so technically that probably means I am a stalker. Well, if loving Our Humble A(Bowe)d is wrong, I don’t want to be right….and the fact that she got a new house means we’ll get to see all sort of fun projects again- at last I hope so!

Inspirational

It’s a tough choice, but lately I’ve been able to relate to Giving Up On Perfect. Yesterday’s post on McDonald’s was actually the reason I wanted to share my current blog love with you!

Thursdays: my do-over days

I love Thursdays, they are my do-over days. Today I left the house a mess. Didn’t make the bed. A pile of dishes in the sink. A ton of laundry to be ironed. Messy rooms and dusty surfaces. Yet, when I get home, everything will be perfectly neat and tidy. The dishes and ironing will be done. Even my floors will be sparkling. Through the miracle that is called a cleaning lady.

In Brazil its common to have someone help you out at least one day a week. Honestly, one day a week is all I can afford. But its sooo worth it. I am all about cleaning, I find it highly therapeutic and enjoy the satisfaction of getting the house ‘done’. However, with a full time job, sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming to keep up. That is why Thursdays are my do-over days. No matter how messy I leave my house, I know I’ll come back to a clean one. And as our friend Martha would say, that is a good thing.

My good friend Karol and I proving we can keep a house sparkling clean!

People's basic needs

Yesterday I mentioned some of dogs’ basic needs, so I figured it would be suiting to mention people’s needs when they live with dogs. Because it’s fun and games, but its not all happy smiles at times.

If you are like me, when you’ve watched The Dog Whisperer you’ve noticed dogs have very little part of the blame, and poor Cesar Millan is stuck dealing with people’s issues that affects dogs. So here are some ideas to help if you have dogs around the house and is about to go insane.

Know what your dog needs. If you have a puppy, he will have tons of energy. If your dog is alone at home all day, he will be quite bored. If your dog is old, he’ll need to exercise but won’t want to. It’s not smart to leave your dog unattended all day, avoid walking him in the evening and still get mad if he chews through your shoes.

Delta

Be prepared. When my husband and I adopted our first dog, Jack, we figured we could do it. We both had had dogs in the past, and it would be easy-peasy. Not so much. We had  a major potty training issue. People told us to use a rolled up newspaper to threaten him, put his nose right up to the pee and say a firm ‘NO’, and even hit him, which we weren’t willing to do. Nothing worked. In fact, it made it worse! Jack started going out of his way to hide where he peed. Finally we broke down and hired an online dog trainer, and in two days (I’m not joking!) he had learned where to go.

Dog-proof your house. Whether you buy a doggie gate, place sheets on your furniture or get all your knick-knacks out of their reach, do what you need to adapt it to your dog. I know many Americans who leave their dogs in cages the whole day and claim they love it. I’m not judging, but I don’t find it cool at all. So my couch has a permanent bed sheet on top, which only comes out when visitors come to our house.

It’s a dog, not a baby. I’m guilty of this one. I want to cuddle, hug and pet my dogs all the time. But I restrain myself. When they tried to climb onto the couch or my lap uninvited, I made a point of moving them down, even if I wanted them there. I saw through the puppy eyes at the dinner table and now they don’t even care for our meals. The firmer you are, the easier it will be latter on.