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Melissa is passionate about living an authentic life. Living authentically gives her permission to do things differently than everyone else! She feels that life and design should go hand in hand and enjoys weaving the two together. Melissa likes to focus on designing her life first and then creates rooms that reflect, complement and inspire that life. Her motto for home decorating is “When life inspires our home, our home will inspire our life!” Creating a beautiful home isn’t about being a slave to trends or spending lots of money, it is about finding joy in living your own life and reflecting that joy in your surroundings. Melissa has an old 1930’s eclectic English style, 4300 square foot house that they bought “As Is,” which really means, “in need of dire assistance!” With next to no money to spend and numerous problems to address, they’ve learned the art of “creative concealment” among other inventive decorating techniques! This monthly column encourages women to use their homes to enrich their life while blessing family and friends. Melissa can be found writing and creating at her personal blog, The Inspired Room __________________________________________ Attitude of Gratitude “It was one of those perfect English autumnal days
1. Quiet dinners by the fire In the simple daily discipline of meditating on thankfulness, for even the tiniest details of God’s provision, we cultivate an “attitude of gratitude.” ©2008, Melissa Michaels
__________________________________________ Living an Authentic Life
The crisp air and falling leaves outside my window remind me of how fleeting life is. Days turn into nights and before I know it, another month has passed in the blink of an eye. My son in second grade, my daughter is now a married woman and my middle daughter will be applying to college soon. Where is the time going? One of the things I am so aware of as I watch my family grow and change is my need to remain committed to living a life of intent and purpose. It isn’t enough to let days slip through my fingers and hope for the best. I need to embrace each opportunity to build my home from the inside out. I really want our home to be a respite from the outside world. I like to set up comfy corners to sit down for quiet time, inviting rooms to dine together and welcoming places to play games as a family. Yet designing that environment and stating my intent isn’t enough. I feel God has called me to create a life that is more than a mirage. When you look inside the windows of our life, behind the curtains, there should be more than just a pretty room inside. That is the heart of authentic living for me. It is creating a life of purpose and living out what I believe. If I don’t commit myself to actually using those pretty rooms to play games with my children or sit down around our table for family dinners, life will pass on by in the chaos of lesser things. And I will miss the opportunities I say I hold the most dear. As the calendar turns once again, I need to peek inside the windows of my home and ask myself what I am seeing behind those curtains. Do I find evidence of my commitment to living an authentic life? Am I wholeheartedly pursuing the calling that God has placed on my life as the keeper of my home and mom to my children? Time will still fly by and obligations may grow, but living authentically day by day is one of the greatest challenges and privileges I have in life. I’m humbled by all God has entrusted to me. ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Celebrating the Seasons
I love fall! After a summer of keeping kids entertained and feeling hot and sticky in my own house, I look forward to the promise of cooler days and getting back into my routines. I begin to crave some personal time and a more scheduled life. Soon it will be time once again for fun holiday parties and cozy nights by the fire. September really is a good transitional month between seasons. It is still before the holidays but after the summer of vacations and laziness. It is the perfect month to re-establish household routines and make some creative plans for the holidays. Creatively celebrating each season can be a great exercise in gratitude for God’s continual provision and blessing throughout the year. Being creative doesn’t have to be complicated or require special talent, but it does involve a little forethought and planning. Now is a great time to gear up for the months ahead. Here are a few suggestions for making the most of September: ESTABLISH ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS & ROUTINES Seasonal tip: In order to be organized for each season, I like to set up a four-tiered shelving unit in a garage or attic for holiday and seasonal decorations. One shelf for fall decorations, one for winter, one for spring and one for summer. I keep a separate space for Christmas boxes. As I find seasonal decorations on sale, I have a place to put them and can easily retrieve them when I am ready. This makes decorating for each season much easier! Starting a seasonal/holiday notebook in September can be a great way to jump start organization and zero in on what our priorities will be. Being organized in a notebook can inspire us to try new things and keep on task while helping us weed out unnecessary effort. The key to a successful notebook is to keep it VERY simple – anything complicated or too detailed and we can feel overwhelmed. As you look through magazines or websites for inspiration, save only the most do-able and realistic ideas in your notebook. Divide the notebook by season or holiday. Clip and save ideas such as: easy table arrangements, menu ideas, family activities and traditions, gifts and simple decorating tips that you might want to use. An organized notebook provides easy access to a few ideas that can make the season memorable. DEDICATE FOCUSED TIME FOR SEASONAL PREPARATIONS For instance, October 1st is a good day to declare the first day of the cozy season. Bring out blankets, candles, and warm autumn colors. To get your family really in the mood and indulge your senses, bake some pumpkin bread. Get out your calendar and select a day to visit the pumpkin patch, plan a costume if your kids dress up for harvest events, and plan a chili and corn bread night. Do similar routines on the first of each subsequent month. With holidays like Christmas, of course, you need to plan some of the preparations more than a month in advance. But the idea is to set aside a specific time each month to go through your notebook, look at your calendar realistically, and plan days to complete the ideas you are most looking forward to. Getting back into the routine of life is a great fall ritual. By being organized and planning ahead, we can enjoy celebrating each and every season to the fullest! Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. For more ideas on seasonal and everyday decorating, I invite you to visit my blog. The Inspired Room. ©2008, Melissa Michaels__________________________________________ Friendship Baskets As a young girl I had dreams of running a bed & breakfast. I dreamed up cozy little guest rooms stocked with every imaginable comfort for visitors. I decorated them in my mind with fluffy comforters, fine linens and piles of books on bedside tables. I am a detail girl so no effort was too small.
As with most things in life, hospitality means more when you put care into the process. While these baskets are easy to put together, they show that you took time to consider your recipient and what would bring a smile to their face. To get started, keep your eye out for baskets at garage sales. Find nice sturdy ones with handles. If you pick up some mismatched cloth napkins, old linens and tablecloths you’ll have a great assortment of coverings for your baskets. Whether you shop garage sales or discount stores, look for china teacups, plates, candleholders, paperback books, stationery items, vases and other fun things that could become part of your friendship baskets. While you can find generic items that would work for most people, you can also gather up gifts with specific friends in mind. Vintage aprons for a cook, favorite childhood toys for your sister, books your neighbor would love... In time, you’ll have a stash of things on hand ready and waiting to bless someone else at a moments notice. Here are some ideas I’ve gathered to inspire different types of friendship baskets and a few suggestions to get you started on filling them:
The ideas are endless! These are really fun to give and special to receive. If you like to bake, you can add a plate of homemade goodies to any of these baskets. All baskets can be personalized for each individual’s tastes and needs. Attach a homemade card with a ribbon and drop your friendship basket off to someone special. You’ll brighten their day! "A friend loves at all times…" Proverbs 17:17 ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Embracing Change
As we began the process of cleaning out her bedroom, it wasn’t without teary reminders of her childhood. Camp tee shirts, blue ribbons won in basketball and ragged teddy bears were among our findings. I’ll admit I got a bit choked up seeing those things leave her room headed for the moving boxes. Each time I packed something, I was letting go of what used to be. I felt a bit like George Banks in my favorite movie, Father of the Bride. It is hard to let your little girl grow up. As emotional as the process has been, I’m experiencing something quite unexpected. Relief. Each box I pack for her represents achievement for us as her parents. Being a parent is hard work. Late nights, tearful prayers and a small fortune later, our first-born has turned into the confident, beautiful, God-fearing young woman we anticipated all along. That is not to say I won’t sob my eyes out when she walks down the aisle in August, but it will be mixed emotion. I’ll be letting go of what was, finding satisfaction in a job well done and embracing what is ahead for all of us. Wandering through the rooms and halls of my home now, I see stacks of boxes ready to leave our nest. Soon couches and chairs and beds will be packed up and our house will become less and less crowded! I almost feel guilty for saying this, but while I dread the thought of seeing my daughter leave, the STUFF is another matter. It seems like my husband and I spent the first two decades of our family accumulating things as fast as we could and now I jump with glee at the thought of getting rid of it all! While we have two more kids at home, the youngest being just eight, I have many more years of living with children’s stuff. Yet, our second daughter will leave for college next year and times will change again. In my quest to live authentically, I am reevaluating what we really need for this next phase of life. We have a 4,300 square foot house full of things. Do we need that much stuff? Do we need this much space? We have cars to maintain, furniture to dust, rugs to vacuum and of course, a never-ending list of remodeling projects to get to. Somehow the feelings of excitement I used to experience over those things has faded into fantasizing about throwing it all into the garbage can and moving to a deserted island with only a backpack and my sunscreen. Ah, the freedom! Life marches on, circumstances change and priorities adjust. Letting go of the past is an emotional process, but there is a freedom in living authentically in the present. Evaluating what we really need, and what we can do without, frees us to clear away the clutter of life. Clinging to the past keeps us from embracing all that God wants us to experience in the here and now. God has big plans for us and I am ready to step forward with anticipation of our next season in life. I wish I could tuck my little girl under my wing once again, but it is time to let her fly. And by watching her fly out of the nest, I feel a new sense of freedom. I can look forward to our next assignment in life. And two more little birds learning to spread their wings. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…" ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Garden of Eating In our home, the month of June brings visions of outdoor family fun. Through the years our kids would high five each other on the last day of school as we anticipated the lazy days of summer ahead. Sometime around Father’s Day my husband would put on his manly We really did dream of lazy summer days, but I have to confess many of our summers turned into what we not so affectionately called “project vacations.” In other words, we did yard work. Not just planting simple gardens—grueling, backbreaking, hard labor kind of yard work. We dug meandering pathways in hard clay soil, pulled weeds, hauled tons of gravel and flagstones, trimmed massive laurel hedges, planted lovely flower gardens and mowed great expanses of lawn. Those lazy days of summer were hard work. While we dreamed of enjoying our summer vacation, we also dreamed of the perfect yard to complement our perfect house. We didn’t have a landscaper or full time staff to achieve our vision while we played in the sun, so we had to enlist someone to make things happen. “Someone” was my husband and his trusty assistant—me. Times have changed since those days of hard summer labor. We don’t do summer project vacations anymore. Not because we finished our landscape and have gone off to play (although we did finish it and it was a beautiful sight to behold). We did all of that hard work so another family could enjoy the fruit of our labour. We moved from that house just after the landscape was completed four years ago. (I do see the irony in that, believe me.) By the look of things in our current backyard, you’d think we would be reliving the good old days and planning an extensive project vacation this summer. But instead of wearing out another set of leather gardening gloves, we have learned to live with a bit less perfection. The trade off for skipping those project vacations is that when we grab those burgers and sip our lemonade in the backyard, we are not sitting in the next Garden of Eden. With this property, we have settled for what might appear to be a forlorn barren look. It is a sacrifice we had to make when we bought this house. Our back yard fell into the “we’ll get to it in about the year 2030” category of home improvement priorities. Luckily, I have a vivid imagination. When we gather around outside with burgers in buns and cold drinks in hand, I imagine I am sitting in my own little English Garden. Minus the garden. You can’t have everything, and sometimes that can be a blessing in disguise. I do miss our old yard. There is nothing like sitting on your patio and smelling the sweetness of the jasmine and lavender you planted yourself. And someday, if we have more time or money, I hope to create another garden our family can enjoy. I might even plant a few containers with my kids this summer to add a little more beauty to our summer barbeques. But I have learned to be patient and content with where we are in life right now. I don’t need to rush things. I am happy to simply have a “Garden of Eating,” a humble place where we can gather together for a family picnic after a long afternoon of playing in grass we didn’t have to mow, swimming in a pool we didn’t have to maintain, and smelling flowers in a garden we didn’t have to weed. My husband now wears his manly barbeque apron more often than his leather work gloves. Life is good – we feel blessed. All I have to do is shut my eyes and I can almost picture the Garden of Eden instead of our pile of dirt and weeds. And I’m OK with that. Ecclesiastes 4:6, "Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ The Art of Memory Making
One of the most significant things we can do for our families (and ourselves) is to create positive and happy memories. I’m not talking about Disneyland experiences—I'm talking about the simple every day joys that form lasting impressions in our minds. Through our homes, we have an opportunity to design an environment that connects us to the blessings of life and provides positive reminders of special moments. We are building memories, not just homes. Home design takes on new meaning when we realize the potential of the process! Colors, furnishings and lighting are significant to creating beauty, but designing a home that will enhance who we are is about creating connections between what we see or do in our home and what we want our brain to remember. Stick with me here, it is not as complicated as it sounds! Meaningless decorations are simply pretty to look at. Decorations or objects that have significance or are connected to an experience become portals to happy memories, create a sense of contentment in life and even shape our character. So, how do we create a lifetime of memories? Here are just a few of the ways: LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE CREATE TRADITIONS
ENGAGE YOUR SENSES Scents are powerful reminders of special times and places. Plant lilacs in your backyard where your kids play, or burn a favorite candle to establish your home’s scent. UTILIZE MEANINGFUL DÉCOR Creating a memorable life doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. The art of memory making is the process of living in the moment, finding joy in the ordinary, and savoring precious blessings. ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Fluffing the Nest
There is just something about the arrival of spring that makes most of us want to fluff our nests! We’ve been sitting inside all winter feeling snug as a bug, when suddenly the sun shines through our dirty windows to reveal dust we didn’t even know we had! Yikes! Our little nests need some attention. Yes, my friends, it is time to start fluffing, so let’s get to it! Here are ten creative ways that you can start fluffing your nest this Spring:
God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ God's Beautiful Gifts Life is beautiful... Stop and smell the roses... Life is a bowl of cherries... Those are easy things to say when life is going your way. But what about when you are feeling the pressures or dark days of life? I’ve spoken to a few people recently that were going through really difficult times. Illnesses, relational strains, financial struggles, sorrows and other situations were weighing them down. Uncertainty and disappointments were taking the place of joy and creativity. Life in times of pain doesn’t look so beautiful. When the clouds are looming and the pressures are mounting, the happy days you dream about and the reality of life seem worlds apart. It can seem futile to try to find beauty in the rubble of life’s hurt. We often can be tempted to drown our sorrows in denial, destructive habits and negative thinking. It can seem like God has forsaken us. One of the tender things God has done for us is to give us beauty amidst the storms of life. Recognizing beauty in our surroundings can work like a balm to soothe the pain of life and keep our focus on God’s love and care for us. I think of the rainbow, colors streaming through the dark sky as a glorious reminder of the promises of God. It is a beautiful symbol that can help us visualize God’s presence and grace in times of darkness and difficulty. If we accept beauty as a gift from God, we can take part in the mysterious connection between seeing beauty and sensing God’s love for us. Here is a wonderful quote: "In all ranks of life the human heart yearns When I was going through a dark period in my own life, I felt that small inner yearning for beauty. Yet, beauty felt distant. All around me I felt darkness, sadness and disappointment. But instead of running to numb my wounds in a destructive way, I grabbed a hold of that small yearning as something God placed in me for a reason. I took a step of faith toward connecting to God through the beauty in life. I headed out to the garden center and bought spring flowers to brighten my dark and It was a small step, planting those spring flowers, but an important one. With a beautiful front walkway, my focus started to change. I swept the front porch and stepped back to take a look. God was right there saying, “See? I made these flowers for your enjoyment! Don’t you see that I am caring for you even in the small details of life?” With the outside of my home more colorful and cheery, my world felt a little brighter. I knew God was with me, encouraging me to trust Him in spite of how bleak things had looked the day before. After admiring the work that God and I had accomplished in the yard, I walked in the house. I turned back to look at the view from my window. The beauty was still there. Finding beauty that day didn’t change my outward circumstances, but it changed my inner world and perspective. That small dose of beauty, God’s gift to me, reminded me that God was bigger than my circumstances. He knew exactly what I needed and made me flowers to soothe my heartache. I just had to reach out and take them and see them as God’s gift.
With the bouquet of beauty from God I took a deep breath and started to put my world back in order. The connection between finding beauty in the outer world and the connection to God in my inner world was profound. Suddenly I realized I could choose to have a life marked by order and beauty rather than chaos and hurt. Still unable to change the original circumstances, I felt empowered to look at my world through God’s eyes. God wanted me to see beauty in the process of refining my life. I disciplined myself to trust in God’s plan by surrounding myself with daily reminders of the God I wanted to serve—the God who created the Heavens and the Earth in perfect order, the God who made colors and scents and textures for our enjoyment, who made birds to sing and a brilliant sun to shine through the clouds and rain, and the God who made a bouquet of flowers just for me. James 1:17 ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Homemade Romance
I’ve always been a romantic at heart. Many years ago, with two young girls under foot, no money to spend and Valentine’s Day looming, I had to get creative in order to have my heart-shaped cake and eat it too. There would be no date night with my beloved out on the town—that was quite evident. So, being a determined young woman with a fanciful imagination, I rummaged around the house gathering up anything I could find that said ROMANCE. Picture the ambience I whipped up that night: Twinkling lights. Votive candles. Soft music. A small round table Who says a date night has to involve consuming big bucks in a crowded restaurant? Why do we torture ourselves into thinking romance has to include over-priced handpicked chocolates, $100 worth of roses or glittering heart-shaped diamonds? Why not make the best of what we have--a roof over our head and a little ingenuity--to create a memorable evening for any occasion. A home shouldn’t just be a place to store our things. Our homes provide an opportunity to create the life we really want. Everyday life might not seem romantic, but it is all in the perspective. Life doesn’t always hand us our dreams on a silver platter, but with a little creative energy we can imagine life to be just about anything we want it to be. Work with what you have to create your dreams under your own roof. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing: Craving a vacation? How about a little Parisian rendezvous after the kids go to bed? The library has wonderful travel CDs you can check out to see the Need a day at the spa? While your girlfriend’s husband might plunk down a fortune for her to be pampered on Valentine’s Day, you can feel like a queen in your own home. Gather up a fluffy towel, a good book, bubble bath and a cup of tea, lock the kids out of the bathroom, dim the lights (so you won’t notice the dingy tile!) and fill up that bathtub to soothe your cares away. Want a little adventure in dining? How about a progressive dinner in your own home? Try some new recipes (or order takeout!) and create a different restaurant in several rooms of your house! Have appetizers in the living room, dinner in the bedroom and dessert in the den. Play different kinds of music in each room to create the perfect ambience! Dreaming of a night at a quaint bed and breakfast inn? Set the stage for an overnight getaway in your own private B&B! It’s the little details that will Need a little sunshine to escape a cloudy day? How about wearing sunglasses in your bathing suit sipping tropical punch through a tiny straw in a glass with paper umbrellas? Ok, well, maybe I am getting a little carried away here, but you get the idea. This is all about creating an experience, and sometimes you just have to use your imagination! Creating and using your imagination is half the fun of life. We just forget to try it sometimes.
Song of Solomon 2:10, "My lover spoke and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.'” ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Creating Visual Serenity
It is that time of year again! Time for making those New Year’s Resolutions! I recently read that two of the top resolutions people make include reducing stress and starting to enjoy life. Because I am a big believer in our homes facilitating the life we really want to live, I think it is a perfect time to evaluate how well our homes are meeting our needs. Changing our behavior, attitude and habits sometimes begins with changing our environment. I think we are all yearning for a little more peace and a little less chaos. The world outside bombards us with the latter, so we turn inside our homes to create the relaxing environment we crave. The more you have going on in your life, the more this will resonate with you. Do you find yourself repeating “Serenity, now! Serenity, now!” a few times a day? Ok, then, my point exactly. You could benefit from a simple home makeover! Having a home that reflects serenity can actually give you a sense of peace and a healthy perspective on your life. A serene home can rekindle your ability to enjoy life. It is a cycle. First you determine you need to experience more peace and quiet, and then you create the environment that meets that need. Lastly, you must set aside time to fully appreciate and utilize the space you’ve created. Having a tranquil home doesn’t mean it has to be decorated with neutrals, or that everyone has to speak in hushed voices! Serenity doesn’t necessarily have to do with colors or decorating style. Everyone has different preferences. But there are a few common tricks we can all use to create a more peaceful life through our home. Let’s look at a few of them!
Another way to create visual serenity is through what I call “creative concealment.” This is a technique you can use to hide unpleasant features of a room that are structural or otherwise unmovable. Poorly placed or unattractive windows, too many doors, or ugly heating units are common problems that can benefit from creative concealment. Paint is the perfect concealer, it can be used to blank out a multitude of problems! Decorative screens, curtains, plants and furniture placement can also disguise problem areas that jar your vision as your eye roams a room. If something in your room bothers your eyes or is less than pleasant, fix it, remove it or conceal it! Closed storage is another great way to create a sense of order and peace in your home. If you do have open storage, make sure it is used for attractive items only. It is best to group collections on open shelves by a common theme or color. A mish-mash of magazines, knick-knacks, and random items will always look chaotic. Open storage can be an invitation to clutter, so make sure it has a decorative purpose and don’t allow anything else to land there! Lighting is another important element in how we feel in a room. Having lamps or lighting you can change depending on your mood or activity level can dramatically affect your feelings at any given time in your home. You need good overhead and task lighting to be able to perform tasks without frustration and variable lighting from three way bulbs and dimmer-switches to keep yourself feeling calm when you are trying to unwind. Lastly, I encourage you to find a corner in your home where you can fully experience solitude. We all need a place to go to escape or refocus our priorities. Having a comfortable spot that invites you to read, study, pray, or reflect in silence will set the tone each day for what is really important. Choose a chair you love, place it in a corner next to an end table with a pretty lamp and a few well chosen accessories. Then make sure you schedule time to sink into that chair and experience what you intended. Even just seeing your chair ready and waiting for you will bring serenity and perspective in the chaotic moments of life. Design your home for the life you want, and it will repay you with what you need to make that life happen.
"Now may the Lord of peace himself ©2008, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ 10 Tips for
From the gifts to the décor to the food to the mood, the pressure of holiday hospitality can be nerve-wracking. The expectations and obstacles can be enough to make us want to lock our doors and shut the front porch light off for good. We worry about our furniture, our housekeeping, our holiday decorations, our cooking, and all the flaws that keep us from feeling like our home is ready to welcome guests. Even grand plans for holiday entertaining often fall apart somewhere along the way between our visit to Starbucks for a triple Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha and our fifteenth trip to the mall! Flat tires, burnt roasts, head colds, plumbing disasters and the aroma of dead rodents wafting through the air as your guests arrive can nearly ruin your mood for a holiday party! Trust me, I’ve seen all these things. Life happens, and it isn’t usually in our plans. So should we start panicking or pull the blinds and pretend no one is home? Before you say “YES!” let me share with you some simple and foolproof things anyone can do to create a beautiful and memorable gathering, even at the eleventh hour. Ambience is one of the secrets to a warm and welcoming home. It tells your guests you care about them and thought of their enjoyment as you prepared your home for their arrival. Simple ambience will help distract from a multitude of flaws and shortcomings so you can focus on what hospitality is all about, serving others. By doing just 10 simple things before opening your doors for a party, you can create a welcoming and festive mood no matter what other obstacles stand in your way!
Now you can open the door with a smile and say, “Come on in!” knowing your guests will have a delightful time in your home, in spite of the inevitable disaster or two! 1 Peter 4:9-10 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully, administering God’s grace in its various forms." ©2007, Melissa Michaels __________________________________________ Martha, Martha Let’s just get this out in the open right now. I am no Martha Stewart. That fact becomes woefully obvious to me around the holidays! Everywhere I look I see a dozen new ways to create something fabulous for the season. Gifts, packaging, elaborate decorations, and gourmet I realized early in my domestic life I would have to find my own simple style for the holidays and go with it. There was no hope of hand carved holiday ice sculptures; it just wasn’t going to happen! The times I have attempted a Martha Stewart holiday have been enough to cure any aspirations of achieving Martha status. While I am all for creating a festive atmosphere, I have to accomplish it in such a way as to maintain my holiday cheer and keep the birth of Christ in focus. I want it all, like many women. I want the Martha Stewart holiday ambience AND the energy to remember the reason for the season. So, how can we have it all during the holidays? First of all, we really don’t need to pull out all 231 boxes of red and green decorations to start our Christmas decorating. Really! Let’s simplify things. Martha wouldn’t use those dusty old relics anyways, so I think we can safely leave those in the attic this year! But don’t worry, you don’t have to whip out your glue gun, sewing machine, or carving tools either. We can do this an easier way. For starters, get yourself a roll of ribbon. Ribbon can make anything festive. Then start looking around your home for items that are already pretty! Repurposing things is a great way to get that homemade charm without the crafty frustration or time commitment. For instance, you can take a set of silver spoons or cookie cutters, hang them on a ribbon from your cabinets, chandelier, or stairway and voila, you have charming décor! How simple is that? Anyone can do this, crafty or not! Crafty folks can still hand-embroider their stockings if they need more to do. Ribbon works for everyone. No fuss, no expensive investment, just an old-fashioned holiday.
Here is another idea that looks like you slaved over it for hours, but can be whipped together in nothing flat. Look in your craft box for some beads or fuzzy pom-poms. String them on some wire and you’ve got yourself some garland! It will be far more charming than that gold glittery stuff, and it will only take you a matter of minutes. You can do this while you are watching a holiday movie and make enough to hang all over the house if you want. You could even make them for gifts! Your friends will be amazed at your talent and you will smile every time you see your handiwork.
Want something really easy and environmentally chic? Grab some fruit and vegetables! Toss your artichokes or apples in the center of a holiday wreath placed on your table, or fill an apothecary jar with red and green apples for an instant organic display. That’s it! Having a centerpiece you can eat is VERY Martha. She is always multi-tasking.
You can even use your favorite traditional decorations in fresh ways. Do you have a gravy boat or glass sugar bowl collecting dust? Just rinse it out and fill it with jingle bells or small glass ornaments. Put your holiday salt and pepper shakers up on a footed cake stand to decorate your sideboard. Hang your wreaths from ribbons on bed frames or windows instead of on the front door. Hang small ornaments on your swags. You can do this!
Simple creativity gives you the satisfaction of a Martha Stewart moment without overshadowing the joy of celebrating Christ’s birth. And that is a very good thing! "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” Luke 10:41 NIV ©2007, Melissa Michaels
__________________________________________ Magazine Cover-itis
Decorating books and magazines feed my obsession. Double page spreads of homes that photograph beautifully, or that are staged to appear picture perfect, inspire readers to buy the latest must-haves, redecorate, or experiment with this season’s colors and fabrics. Magazines are a feast for the eye and offer a wealth of knowledge! I love them! However, while I think my affliction is incurable, I am learning to use it for good. I believe God created beautiful things for our enjoyment, so I feel blessed to be able to appreciate and use His gifts every day. Beautiful surroundings make me happy. They inspire me. While I still enjoy lovely things, and spend much of my time trying to inspire others to find beauty in their lives, I now find true contentment in what I call authentic living. Authentic living, for most people, does not always look like a magazine cover. But there is something especially endearing and unmistakably charming about an authentic home. It is a place where children can run through the halls with messy shirts and dads can take naps in the living room. Moms can bake cookies and yummy things in an apron that doesn’t match her outfit, while dirty bowls pile up on the counters. Friends can come for a chat and they don’t care if there is laundry being folded on the footstool. Toys are scattered about and teenagers can do homework on the dining room table. Babies and dogs drool on things. Things get sticky and in a scramble, faster than you can clean them up. This is life. Not a staged version where the mom is “cooking” in a size-two cocktail dress and three-inch heels, and there is not a dirty dish or dust bunny to be found. Real life isn’t always picture perfect in every way, and yet, there is a lived in beauty there! We are drawn to the indescribable warmth and humanity of a home that has history, life, happiness, spirituality and love within its walls. That should be our ultimate goal, the life behind the beauty. You can have all the latest and greatest designer styles, find yourself on the cover of a magazine, and miss the most important things of all. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment...instead, it should be that of your inner self." 1 Peter 3:3,4 ©2007, Melissa Michaels
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CWO Cover
Bonnie 
Oh, may it not be so!
As the likelihood of running a B&B became less of a reality, I still was intrigued with ways of showing care and friendship in the details of hospitality. Sometimes hospitality is hosting overnight guests or having neighbors over for dinner, sometimes it is having a friend over for coffee. But one fun way to show love or meet needs any time is to create a friendship basket. A gift in a basket is a simple but creative gesture that overflows with thoughtfulness.
Our oldest daughter is a packrat. She always has been. When she was little she would line up her used paper drinking cups and chewing gum on her windowsill. The very thought of throwing anything away was extremely traumatic for her. Fortunately she has mellowed out a bit over the years and become more reasonable about what she must keep. Good thing, too, because later this summer she will become a married woman. And the thought of packing up boxes of used bits of chewing gum and moldy Dixie cups would’ve been painful for all of us, her fiancé included. 
apron and fire up the backyard barbeque. The burgers would start flying and the pink lemonade would begin flowing through our multi-colored straws. Life was good. At least that is how summer started out. 
Put away wintry throw blankets and dark heavy pillows. Accent pillows can be an excellent way change the look of your furnishings for the seasons. You can find pillow covers to slip right over the winter versions, so there's no need to buy entirely new pillows! You can also use square scarves to fold over and tie around a pillow to create your own custom cover. 
Bring in the outdoors! Spring foliage cut from your yard, branches, potted flowers, nests, seashells, moss, faux birds, garden gates and birdcages can all bring the warmth of spring inside. Using picnic baskets for storage can evoke the feeling of a sunny day. Make sure you edit out any winter decorations before bringing the outdoors in! 
Throw perfection out of your freshly cleaned windows. If you labor too long on each detail, you’ll miss out on experiencing the beauty of spring. Things don’t have to be perfect—just pleasant! The objective here is to enjoy your home, not to have the most perfectly decorated and organized house in the neighborhood! It just takes a little bit of fluffing to give your nest a sunny new look for the brighter days ahead! 
dreary front walkway. I felt such spiritual symbolism in taking that step towards something beautiful. I was reaching out to God and He met me right there amidst the petunias! Those flowers were His gift to me. Beauty was reassurance in visual form that He was in control and would carry me right through the darkest hours.
covered in lace pulled up to the fireplace and two chairs nestled side by side, draped with tulle and ribbon. I put the kids to bed, added a package of pudding, some pound cake, fruit and whipped cream to a fancy bowl and voila! I had a romantic date!
splendor of just about any travel destination. Dim the lights, butter up some croissants, whip up some instant cappuccino and you’ll never know you didn’t spend the night in Paris. Well, at least it will be a close second to the real thing! 
make this special. Write out a description of your charming hotel, where it is located and its amenities. This will really set the stage for picturing your ultimate getaway. Give the B&B a name, label the bedroom door, wrap up some chocolates for the bed, put a small bouquet in the bathroom and have a tray set up with tasty delicacies for nibbling. If you really want to feel like you got away for the night, set up a guest room somewhere else in the house! Don’t forget to be prepared for the morning breakfast -- cinnamon rolls and coffee at a quaint corner table! 
Unrealistic expectations of what holidays, dates, birthdays and even everyday life should look like can leave us feeling deprived or lacking. Even our own friends’ ability to live the high life while we are just struggling to get by can be a bit depressing. But with a change in attitude and mindset, a focus on the blessings that God has given us, and a dose of creativity and fun, our lives can be every bit as rich and fulfilling as our neighbors’ who can just hop on a plane to spend Valentine’s Day in a romantic restaurant 3,000 miles away. Create a place that nurtures your spirit, rekindles your love, and renews your energy right under your own roof. That is a fairytale life! I can’t think of anything more romantic than that.
The best way to create a sense of serenity is to clear the clutter and visual chaos. If your home is filled with stuff--be it clutter, piles of papers, dirty dishes, too many accessories or an over-abundance of furnishings--you have visual chaos. When every square inch of space is filled up, we become easily overwhelmed--feeling anxious and unsettled. By having some empty space in corners, surfaces and on the wall you allow your eyes to rest. Those moments of calm as you look around a room actually help you to fully appreciate the beauty of a space. Breathing room is so important to our feeling of peace. Make sure you have places for your eyes to relax in each room. 
your party in simple but festive style. Fill Mason jars about ¼ full with Epsom salts and add votive candles. Line your walkway and/or front porch with these little candles and your guests will feel they are walking into a warm and inviting place.
Have an inviting and sparkling clean powder room stocked with clean hand towels, extra toilet paper, empty wastebasket and a good smelling candle ready to light before guests arrive. Make sure the candle is in a safe place away from little hands and fire hazards.
feasts, you name it, the holidays cry out for a homemade touch. It is enough to have me crying out for more hours in my day! The main problem is not my lack of inspiration or desire to have everything just so. I have limitations! I have no staff. No holiday decorating budget. And I value my sanity. And honestly, I am just not that crafty. I’ll admit it. 
I suffer from Magazine Cover-itis. Have you heard of it? Maybe I have made up my own name for what I have! It is a disease, that I think affects many creative people. Our thoughts tend to center around creating the perfect cover shot existence. For me, being an interior design consultant, I love to create beautiful surroundings, and help others do the same. In fact, I can become quite obsessive about it--rearranging this or that in my house until it looks like the cover of a magazine. On the other hand, some people I know are quite concerned about their appearance, needing to have the perfect body, latest fashions or super chic handbags. They aspire to that cover girl look.
