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Home Therapy That Can Help Your Mental Health

This article on Home Therapy is sponsored by Better Help. All opinions are my own. With that being said, I am not a medical professional and this article should not replace medical advice from a qualified professional.

You all know by now that I have struggled with depression for a fair portion of my adult life, and have had many family members throughout my entire life struggle with mental illness. What I’ve learned is that there is no one size fits all when it comes to therapy. Mental illness takes many forms, and therapy needs are very much individualized.

What may work for one person, may not work for you. What works for you, may not work for others. So I’ve decided to compile a list of ideas that I’ve seen work for others, and know have worked for me. I hope if you’re still searching for something to help lift you on your dark days, that one of these may be your key to a healthier mind.

Therapy: Treatment intended to relieve or heal a disorder.

Therapy Ideas to Try at Home

Talk to a therapist

Clinical therapy is where I found the best and most successful relieve from the hardest time of my life. Post-partum depression hit me bad, and without my therapist – well I choose not to dwell on what my life might look like now if I hadn’t taken that step to talk to someone. At Better Help you can find online therapy to get you started. I talk more about how online therapy can be a good thing, and my personal experience with it in this article When Counseling Sessions Don’t Fit In Your Schedule.

To learn more about online therapy visit betterhelp.com

Meditation

To think deeply and focus on one’s mind for a period of time is the simple definition of meditation. I honestly can’t think of a more perfect form of therapy for a suffering mind, than to focus our whole being on the mind. When I visited a therapist, the talking was good, but what ended up being the turning point for me was when we focused on guided meditation. As we dove into my mind, I found the “real me” locked behind a door – one I simply had to open and let myself out.

Exercise as Therapy

Anyone with a mental health disorder knows that it is a medical problem, not just something in our heads that we “can pull ourselves out of”. Often it’s an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. By getting daily exercise you help your brain create more endorphins, which happen to be happy chemicals. So whether you love exercising, or hate it – if you find yourself in a downward slump doing something as simple as a walk around the block can help bring a little balance.

Get more Sunlight

I have found that I need the sun. In fact, even my 10 year old just this week told me she really needed more sunlight. There are many proven benefits from the sun – it helps our circadian rhythm, boosts vitamin D3 levels, increases serotonin, and releases nitric oxide which in turns decreases blood pressure. So if exercise isn’t your thing, try just sitting for an hour or two in the sunlight. Some people have a hard time absorbing vitamin D. This is something to talk to your doctor about, to see what you can do to increase your intake. It might be taking a vitamin, or it might be vitamin D shots, but if sun therapy isn’t quite enough, there are alternatives to getting this vitamin.

Eat and Sleep Regularly

Making sure we take care of our physical needs, can go a long way in taking care of our mental needs. Try going to bed at the same time every night. Create a pattern, or schedule to stick to every day in order to help your circadian rhythm. On top of that, making sure you feed your body a balanced diet will also help your mental state. Binging on junk food, or always eating on the go adds stress and imbalance to our life. When our mind is unbalanced, finding balance elsewhere can help lessen the mental load being carried.

Holistic Therapy

While I’ve tried many of the therapies I’m sharing today, essential oils is not one I have ventured into. For many though, I’ve heard pretty amazing effects of better moods, more energy, and a calming peace over their minds through the use of oils. There are many oils that others have found to have a calming effect, or a boost of energy. Search these out and see what might benefit your mental health. Everything is worth a try.

Try Something New

Talk to anyone struggling with depression, and they will tell you they don’t enjoy the activities they normally do. Depression sucks the enjoyment out of the things closest to us. When an episode of depression hits, you may find yourself quitting your job, pushing family and friends away, and letting go of items you love. Before doing any of these, may I suggest trying a new hobby? Pick up a coloring book, attend a pottery class, grab a camera and see what beauty you can create, learn an instrument, or go dancing. You may have lost temporary interest in your favorite activities, so try and find something to bring back that interest and excitement. I do understand that this is much easier said than done, but many I have talked to, say having a creative outlet helps immensely.

Surround Yourself with Support

When we surround ourselves with those who love us, who understand us, and who we know will never judge us for our mental health, our moods can be lifted drastically. Surrounded by these people we don’t have to hide what we are feeling. When we don’t have to hide, we can find the help that we need. We all do better with a support system in place. Even if it’s just one person to start out. Someone you can turn to and say “I am depressed. This is how I feel. Thank you for listening.”

Be Around People

I debated sharing this idea, but who knows, it could be the one you need to hear. On questionairres for depression, one usually asks if you stop enjoying being around people, and find yourself isolating yourself more. What better way to combat this symptom of depression than to go out and be around people. It’s NOT easy when you’d much rather be alone, but if you make yourself be with people – even just for a little bit – you may find yourself happier. These people don’t even need to know that you aren’t 100% at the moment. Forcing ourselves to do things when our brain is telling us to go hide in a corner/sleep/mope/etc will not be easy, but for some this is exactly what they need. Staying away from people adds to their depression, instead of waging war against it.

Musical Therapy

What is good music? I will leave that to the individual tastes of each of you. However, I would classify good music as anything that makes you feel one of these – at peace, more love, and or increase your happiness. Case in point – when I was pregnant, we heard it was good for the baby to hear classical music. So I turned Chopin on one day as background music. It didn’t take long before I found myself slumped against a wall, feeling like my mind was going to burst. Chopin is classical but it actually sent me into what was probably my first real feeling of depression. So again, good music is up to you, but look for things that help uplift your mood, and turn off anything that feeds the depression. I still rarely listen to Chopin.

I’ve been so proud of my dear friend Laura for trying to take control of her depression and anxiety by doing something she once loved in so public a venue. She’s using her voice to talk about depression, and then singing some of her favorite songs. You can check out one of the videos here, but then definitely give her a thumbs up for being so brave.

I’m not saying these therapies will work for you, but I can only hope that if you haven’t found something to help yet, that you will give these a try. If anything, know that you are not alone. I was overwhelmed by the number of friends who responded to me when I asked them what helped lift their moods when going through a depression. We are many, and we are ready to start talking about mental health.

December 29, 2018
Kind Notes and Candy Canes to Light Your Community
It doesn’t take much to spread a little cheer around your community. This years Light the World campaign gave us a focus to “Light your community.”

You may also enjoy: Feed the Hungry this Christmas As You Light the World

The idea behind lighting the world is to do things our Savior, Jesus Christ, would have done – that is to serve others with joy. During a time we are celebrating His birth, I can think of no better gift to give.

This year, the campaign took on a new idea and broke it down into 3 areas.
1. Light the World
2. Light Your Community
3. Light Your Family
#3 was the easiest for our family to focus on. I actually got the idea from my sister in law, Renee. She began having her family all pick a name of someone in the family and then spend a week doing secret service for them. So we decided to do the same. It has been a joy watching the kids try to serve each other and us, and I’ve found myself focusing more on my children as individuals who need separate attention.

#2 also was an easy and fun experience for us. Again, Renee inspired and even led this particular experience for us on the Sunday before Christmas. After church we gathered together and with stacks of sticky notes, we wrote kind notes, inspiring messages, and I even made up some cute emoji’s on the bright yellow sticky’s. We then took the older kids and left the notes on cars at the grocery store, along with some candy canes hung on door handles – or given directly to those we found loading up groceries.

#1 however I admit was a bit more difficult, and I admit I didn’t find – or make – the time to do anything to light the world. Ideas encouraged us to learn about a different culture, or volunteer with the local refugee groups. Nothing stuck out as a way for me to truly help though. So I will continue to look throughout 2019 for ways to serve the world beyond my local community. If you have any ideas for me, please leave them in a comment.
December 28, 2018
When Counseling Sessions Don’t Fit In Your Schedule
When Counseling Sessions don’t fit in your schedule is sponsored by Better Help. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mental Health is a hot topic these days. At least to mention it, but are we really talking about it?

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Mental Health and Me

I’ve talked a fair amount about my mental health, mainly surrounding postpartum and perinatal depression. I don’t hide what I’ve gone through in hopes of being there for others.

What helped me the most through my first bout of true depression was counseling. I had hit a point in my life where no one could understand what I was going through, not even myself. That counselor changed me.

After I got “better” I stopped seeing him. He wanted to continue our sessions, but only if Mark could join us. He thought it would be good for the both of us. That wouldn’t work with Mark’s schedule, so I stopped going.

However, because of that experience, I always recommend counseling to those I encounter. I’ve actually been trying to get Mark to see a counselor for years to help with his anxiety (and yes, he gave me full permission to share his struggles with you). He always claimed to never have the time though. His excuses were almost always the same, “They can only see me during the day, and I can’t take work off for this.” “There’s just no time.”

Making Time for Counseling

Well, not quite 2 years ago I had a bout of severe depression and anxiety. I was 7 months pregnant, going to school full time, trying to keep the blog up and doing my best to be a good mother, and wife. Then Mark lost his job.

Our paycheck was gone. Our insurance was gone. And my mental health plummeted. Luckily the online school I was going to offered free mental health services for students and their families.

So one day, when I just couldn’t do it anymore, when I needed to talk to someone that wouldn’t judge me, judge my husband, or tell me to buck up and get on with life, I sat in the car and called the counseling hotline.

I cried and vented, and just let this complete stranger know everything that was going on, and how angry and scared I was. I couldn’t tell you what she told me, because I don’t remember. What I do remember, is how I felt afterwards.

Benefits of Counseling
- I felt validated in my feelings
- I felt stronger for letting someone in
- I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, at least part way.
- I knew I could always call back
See, I didn’t have time to go in to counseling. I had piles of paperwork to fill out to get on insurance before the baby came (plus hello, no insurance to cover the costs of counseling!). Phone calls to make that sent me in crazy circles. And job hunting for both Mark and myself in case he was unable to find employment. Oh and 1 kid still at home, and 3 others that needed me to be there before and after school.

Tele-counseling was the only way I could get the relief I needed. If you are effected by mental health issues, but can’t find time to go see a counselor, it is no longer an excuse. My phone call with that counselor lasted about 15-20 minutes, while I sat in my car between running errands.

Mark has since started school at the same online university I just graduated from, and has also found benefits from their counseling services. They helped him make the time needed for his mental health.

Counseling for Everyone

Since this particular counseling service is only available to current students and their families,you may be thinking your stuck with the same problem – no time to get the help you need. That’s where you are wrong.

Turns out there’s some great counseling you can get online, via text, or video chat. Betterhelp.com wants you to take care of you, as do I, so they’ve put together a resource to help you find the online counseling that’s right for you. Check it out, and please, take care of yourself.
December 12, 2018
Emergency Preparedness Date Night Challenge
Today I have a guest blogger sharing a fantastic date night with you! This emergency preparedness date night challenge will be both productive and bring you and your spouse closer. Enjoy!

Hi there!
I’m Melanie from PlanForAwesome.com and I am so excited to share these FREE PRINTABLES with all of Home Maid Simple’s readers today!

First, you need to know that I am passionate about Emergency Preparedness. It is SO IMPORTANT no matter who you are!!

Second, you should know that I am a big-time fan of multi-tasking, multi-using, pretty much multi-anythinging.

Third, Christmas is just around the corner.

Combine those three things, and you’ve got this post right here.

I am here to share a set of FREE PRINTABLE Emergency Preparedness Date Nights, along with a Family Emergency Preparedness Night. What better time to give the gift of spending time with your spouse creating a safer, more secure home for your family, than Christmas? Talk about multi-tasking! I thought these date nights were the ultimate multi-tasking idea…but giving them as a Christmas gift to your spouse just took multi-tasking to a whole new level, because it can count as a Christmas gift too!

About the Emergency Preparedness Date Nights

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I created this bundle because I have found that the topic of Emergency Preparedness is just too big and scary for most people to even think about. I set out on this blogging adventure thinking I would burn through Emergency Preparedness information like nobody’s business, and get tons of traffic on my new blog because everyone needs this information.

But the truth is, whether they need it or not, they don’t want it. It’s too overwhelming.

And so…the Date Night idea was born.

What if I could create a printable date night that would guide couples through smaller, easy-to-accomplish tasks in a 2-hour chunk of time? Would they do it? I gave it a try, and the response has been overwhelmingly encouraging. These date nights have provided step-by-step instructions to get them going on preparing themselves, their homes, and their children for unexpected emergencies.

I think the coolest thing about them is that you know you will actually have accomplished something within two hours. Each date night is designed so that the tasks listed can be checked off and completed two hours after you start. THIS IS SO WORTHWHILE AND SO IMPORTANT!

The Details…
- Each date night is designed to be able to be completed in a 2-hour uninterrupted block of time.
- You will want to be AT YOUR HOUSE for these date nights.
- If you cannot find a sitter, this is totally doable with kids – it just might take a little longer. Or you could always wait until they’re in bed. My favorite option would be to arrange a date night swap with a friend who wants to do these too. Tell them about the date nights and then offer to watch their kids one night, and then have them watch your kids another night. That way neither one of you is paying for a sitter, you get your house to yourself to really focus on this, and you motivate a friend to also take steps toward protecting and preparing their family. There’s pretty much no downside to the date night swap idea.
To give you a taste of the date nights, we are putting the first one up for grabs right here. Go ahead and download it and print it out right now!

Access to the rest of the FREE date nights, along with the FREE printable Family Emergency Preparedness Night, is available for free on my blog HERE.

The Gift

I’ve seen several ideas on Pinterest and other social platforms lately, focused on gifting experiences this year for Christmas. I have always loved the idea of giving my husband a stack of date nights ready to go for the year. Equally as important and meaningful as a stack of date nights, is a calendar that shows you are committed to actually doing these dates.

So I whipped up this little printable note for you to give your spouse for Christmas. Block out 4 Emergency Preparedness Date Nights on your calendar with the promise that you will take care of finding the sitter and arranging whatever needs to be arranged. And then don’t think about it again, because you will have everything you need when you print out the date nights!

That’s It!

It’s free, it’s easy, and it is quite possibly the most important gift you will ever give your spouse (and yourself). Ever.

Here is everything you need.
- FREE Printable Christmas Note (there is one that briefly explains the gift, as well as a blank one if you’d prefer to write your own note)
- FREE First Date Night
- Link to get the rest of the FREE Date Nights and Family Emergency Preparedness Night
Have a very Merry Christmas!

I would love for you to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest! See you soon ♥

Melanie is the blogger of PlanForAwesome.com, a blog about being prepared for any and everything. While she focuses largely on Emergency Preparedness, she also writes a lot about Organization and Kids. She is a mom of 4, stepmom of 3, and is married to the handiest guy she knows. In her spare time, she teaches piano and tutors math.
December 11, 2018
Take the Family Out to Zaxby’s on Me – WIN A Zaxby’s Gift Card
It’s not often we go out as a whole family. For one, it gets expensive feeding 7 of us at a restaurant, and I’m just too frugal for that. Also, there’s 7 of us. I think that speaks for itself.

If you follow over on Instagram, though, you’ll know we took the family out to Zaxby’s, a new to Indy restaurant last week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqyTp16gqgQ/

This fast casual dining experience was a blast. I mean, yeah we were there with a bunch of other bloggers, but we were also out as a family in an environment that caters to families like ours.

The kids were bouncy in their seats, running back and forth to the soda machine that lets them pick their own soda, and even flavor it different! It’s the never ending choices of carbonation, right at their fingertips.

We started with an appetizer sampler while Jeff Furlin, one of the local owners, shared the Zaxby’s mission with us.

Fried White Cheddar Bites, Onions Rings, Spicy Fried Mushrooms, and Tater Chips. The Mushrooms were ah-maze-ing! You guys, my kids hate mushrooms. They even pick them out of spaghetti sauce when they’re diced too small for the naked eye to see.

But at Zaxby’s? My 12 year old tried them, and turned to me “Mom, these mushrooms are amazing!” She hardly ate anything else the rest of the night, and I’m thinking I might buy some stock in Zaxby’s mushrooms.

Look at the size of that sandwich! I was impressed with the portion sizes for each meal. Chloe always has a big appetite and thought this was the best sandwich ever. Watching her try and take a bite was entertainment for everyone.

I had a difficult time choosing, as everything looked good. With a goal of my own to eat more veggies though, I went for the Cobb Zalad with Honey French dressing and grilled instead of fried chicken.

It was everything a cobb salad should be, and again, the portion size was humongous. I ended up taking it home to eat for lunch the next day, because it was definitely 2 meals in one.

Zaxby’s Giveaway

With the opening of the new Indianapolis Zaxby’s, I was given the opportunity to share this good chicken with my lovely readers. So just in time for the holidays, I’m going to send your family to a local Zaxby’s. Along with a $25 gift card for food, I’ll also be sending you a cool Zaxby’s coozie and phone wallet!

Giveaway is open to US age 18+, residing near a Zaxby’s. Check your nearest Zaxby’s location.
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December 7, 2018
Celebrate Fall with Service

The coupons for product redemption, information, and gift card have been provided by Entenmann’s® Little Bites® so that I could try the product and share my thoughts and information about Entenmann’s® Little Bites®. The opinions expressed in this post “Celebrate Fall with Service” are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Entenmann’s® Little Bites®.

The temperatures have dropped and with it many of the leaves off our trees. Fall is here, and I’m feeling a renewal of good things in my life. I love to celebrate fall. It is one of my favorite things to do, and every year I do it a little differently. This year it’s with a crisp outlook on our home life and how we can better ourselves.

This past week the kids had a 4 day weekend for their fall break. It wasn’t much considering the school districts around us all had a full week off, but I’ll take any days I can get. We started the break with a day of serious house cleaning. After watching The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints General Conference the weekend before, I knew our house needed to be made a priority again.

So I promised the kids that if they were diligent and really helped out around the house, we would celebrate fall break with some bowling. Sadly we had a day of semi-helping hands, and this mom totally lost her cool. Bowling night would have to be earned another day.

Give Service!

Friday morning we woke up, and after packing a quick breakfast into the kids, I loaded them up for a day of service away from home. Maybe if they helped someone else, they’d be more helpful at home too. I’d recently had the opportunity to meet Dawn from the Society of Saint Andrews on Indy-Do Day as we helped cut and tie mesh bags for the gleaners. It turned out, I could volunteer to help glean some local farms and the food would be taken to the local food pantry’s and distributed to the hungry in my own community.

I almost didn’t sign up what with it being fall break and all but decided that No this would be a great opportunity to lead by example. It was incredibly chilly Friday morning, but we dressed warmly in our winter hats and gloves. Then we headed to the orchard to sift through fallen apples and pack up the good ones for food pantries.

My kids were amazing!! Even Harold at 19 months, helped load the rotten apples into crates headed for the apple cannon. When he got bored of that the older kids took turns watching him. With our help, 750 lbs of apples were gleaned and are now in the homes of hungry Hoosiers.

The kids definitely felt good about the work they did, and have been talking about it ever since. Even asking me when we can do it again, and do they glean other things besides apples? I promised that if they served with good attitudes then I’d have a treat for them on the way home. Everyone was excited when I pulled out the Little Bites® Pumpkin Muffins. Have you tried the pumpkin flavor yet? It’s a limited edition so don’t miss out!

We headed home, to finish our house cleaning, and hopefully still earn a family night out of bowling. I was hopeful, but also knew after their work in the cold morning, they may go right back to ignoring me and refusing to clean up our home. They made this momma so proud. I’ve never seen all 5 kids of mine get along so amazingly well for a whole day. Sure we get some moments here and there, but this was literally the rest of the day.

I attribute it all to going out and giving a little bit of our time in service. It’s a lesson I hope to remember the next time the kids make me want to pull my hair out. They earned their bowling, and our house is looking pretty dang amazing.

Right now Entenmann’s® Little Bites® and TerraCycle are running a Small Bites, Big Collections contest. Service never has to be big, even the smallest things for others and our planet can make a difference in our kid’s attitudes. If you eat a lot of Little Bites® it might be time to start a collection bin and turn your trash into service.

The top collector between now and December 31st will win 50,000 bonus TerraCycle points, a Little Bites prize pack, custom collection boxes, and 50 boxes of Little Bites! For more contest rules and to get in on this act of service with your kids visit TerraCycle. When you earn TerraCycle points you turn them in for donations to a variety of causes, thus turning your trash into service! It’s a win-win for everyone and really helps change kids attitudes to an outward instead of an inward perspective.

Will you celebrate fall by giving some service with us? Let me know your favorite way to serve others.

October 15, 2018
2 Player Games to Encourage Sibling Bonding

Sibling bonding time has been provided by Pressman® Toy. All opinions are my own.

You may also enjoy: Encouraging a Natural Sibling Bond with a New Baby

Ah siblings. I grew up loving spending every minute of my free time with my siblings because we loved each other so much!

That is until we didn’t. We had a lot of great moments, but we also had a lot of fights and bad attitudes at times too. That’s perfectly normal for every family. I try to remind myself of that when my kids are fighting.

Thankfully, there are some fun ways to encourage sibling bonding. Recently we’ve found that having a few 2-player games has helped the kids bond one-on-one with each other. They aren’t games I particularly enjoy playing with them, which is perfect because then they must play with a sibling.

The first one I’d like to share with you is called MasterMind. I had never heard of this game until Mark picked it up at a yard sale one day. Apparently, it was his favorite childhood game and he was stoked to find it again. Now the kids love challenging each other to break their color codes.

I love this game because it teaches them how to analytical thinking. Each move reveals some piece of a code the other player has created in secret. It takes careful thought on both sides of this game because one wrong answer could throw the whole round out.

The next game the kids have recently come to enjoy is Hydrostrike. It reminds me of air hockey and pinball. The goal is to hit the ball just right in the other players home to make the lever spray them with water.

My kids have been all over this game. Some of them think it’s so fun to get wet, that they will intentionally make the water go off on their own side.

What I love about this game is the immense amount of laughter I consistently hear when this one is pulled out. I think instead of those extra large “get along shirts” when my kids are fighting, I’ll insist they challenge each other to a game of Hydrostrike. There’s just no way they could still be fighting at the end of it.

What are your favorite 2 player games? I’d love to have more resources to encourage the sibling bonding!

October 9, 2018
DIY Optimus Prime Transforming Costume

This post is sponsored by Red Baron but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

It’s October!!! That means lots of DIY costumes being put together, and often some last minute changes to what everyone wants to be. This DIY Optimus Prime Transforming Costume is sure to be on any transformer loving little boy’s list of costumes.

You know in the past I’ve loved doing a family theme, but this year the kids didn’t want to get on board with that. So we’re all doing something a little different, but I still got to be creative!

Inside Out Family Costume
Despicable Me Family Costume

While some of the kids are going to go through the dress ups we own and create their costumes out of that, I convinced Lincoln to be Optimus Prime for Halloween. It really didn’t take much convincing though. I mean he already has the Autobot costume, but wouldn’t it be more fun if he could actually transform into a truck? Thus, I got the opportunity to build an Optimus Prime Transforming Costume!

Oh yes I did! I know there may be a lot of Mom’s out there wondering why I would go to such lengths, but you also all must think I’m pretty cool now too….right? Well, my kids think I’m cool at least.

Here’s the thing though, I love Halloween. I love coming up with unique costumes that will really wow, if only for one day of the year. However, my artistic side is a bit lacking. So I called up my sister in law who is better with the art side of things.

It may have helped that I told her I would bring dinner if she would provide her creative skills. I knew I could do the engineering part, and Red Baron Pizza would take care of dinner, so I just needed her eye for detail.

We did this yesterday. I had my kids ride the bus to her house, where we attempted to have everyone do homework while we worked on the Optimus Prime Transforming costume.

While Renee and I worked, we sort of lost track of time. It’s easy to do when you’re spray painting boxes and mulling over the best way to add cardboard pipes. The time slipped past, and before I knew it we had definitely missed dinner time. It was OK though because Red Baron pizza cooks in under 20 minutes – one of the reason’s it’s what I brought for dinner.

I ran inside and got the pizza’s in the oven, checked on all the kids, and then while dinner cooked worked a bit more on Optimus Prime. When dinner was ready, the paint was all dry, so we brought it inside while we enjoyed our dinner.

Similar to our different approach to costume, we all have a different approach to pizza too! I had requests for square cut and triangle. So I did a bit of each, and everyone was pleased. Red Baron’s Brick Oven Pizza has the perfect golden crust for cutting however you please.

After dinner, we finished up, then tried it on before heading home for the night. Yes, it took a full day to create, but it was so very worth it! We got to hang out with family, enjoy some good pizza, and we may have convinced my nephew to go as Starscream – which means another day of DIY transformers building before Halloween hits!

Optimus Prime Transforming Costume

Supplies:

1 large box
2 medium boxes
2 paper towel tubes
1 large packing tube
1 Oatmeal container
Red, Blue, and Silver spray paint
Gorilla Tape
Elastic
Exacto Knife
Hot Glue

Instructions: These are just general instructions. If you have any specific questions feel free to reach out via comment, email, or facebook!

Use the large box to create the cab. Fit around your child, cut head holes and armholes.
Use 1 medium box to create the hood. Cut one side off and the flaps. Attach over the head hole on the large box with gorilla tape, so that it can flip up when the child stands.
Using the other medium box cut a piece to create the front grill.
Measure your child’s legs and cut pieces to cover the back of the legs, creating a flatbed look. Score down the sides, so the cardboard wraps around the side of the legs.
Cut the oatmeal container into 6 circles. Spray paint these black for the tires.
Cut the packing tube in half. Spray paint the packing tube, paper towel tubes, and grill silver.
Spray paint the cab and hood blue and red to look like Optimus Prime. Add in some silver or black for the windows.
Detail the hood with blue flames.
Attach the tubes and tires with hot glue.
Create an Autobot stencil, and spray paint on the front chest.
Using elastic and gorilla tape, create attachments for the leg pieces to attach to your child. We put one under the knee and one above the knee.

Don’t forget to save those pizza boxes for your DIY costume build! They are great for cutting into details like the grill, leg attachments, and back flap!

October 5, 2018
Beautifully Said: Quotes by Remarkable Women and Girls

Beautifully Said is full of Quotes by Remarkable Women and Girls Designed to Make You Think.

When Venice started middle school this year, I was nervous and also so excited! Middle school is a great time in our lives to really find out who we are. There’s of course the hormonal changes, but it’s also a time to try out new things and really find out what we enjoy doing.

I started really running in middle school, and I’ve never stopped (well at least not permanently). It was a time in my life where I was never afraid to just be me, no matter what anyone else said. I can only hope that will be how my own children feel.

Unfortunately middle school is also a time where many kids feel the peer pressure of others to do or try things that go against who they are. They still have that childhood inclination to please those around them, and seek the approval of not just the adults but now their peers.

In Beautifully Said, the quotes are separated into 21 different sections to inspire based on different areas in our lives, as well as speak to our different interests. Sections like “She Believes”, “She Explores”, and “She Invents” can speak to girls and women of every background and with every interest.

As I read through many of the different quotes, I marked a few that I especially wanted to share with Venice. These are words I want her to carry throughout her days, to help build her up. So of course, I made them into cute printables so she could hang them in her locker.

Aren’t these quotes the greatest? Beautifully Said is chalk full of so many more. While I marked these and many more for Venice to read and ponder on, there was one that I marked just for me.

While I like to browse the book by theme, it is also set up so you can search quotes by who said it. If you or your daughter have a role model, you can see if they are listed and turn straight to their quote. With over 100 quotes, and none by a repeat person, there are plenty of role models for us to all find.

October 2, 2018
Lighting A Sitting Area with Brightech

Lighting is crucial to the atmosphere of any home. Create a welcoming sitting area with gorgeous lamps from Brightech. I received a lamp from Brightech in exchange for my honest thoughts.

You may also enjoy: Light Up Your Look and Your Home

One of the first things I noticed when moving into our current home was the lack of overhead lighting. The only rooms with wired lighting were those rooms you can’t feasibly put a lamp in. Every other room was wired so that lamps could be turned on and off with a light switch – we just needed some lamps.

I’ve spent the last 3 years trying to find the perfect lamps for the different rooms, but have finally found what I wanted for a little sitting area from Brightech. The Trilage Floor Lamp in bronze complimented our red couch and was a perfect accent to the red chairs I recently picked up.

Aren’t those chairs pretty? I snatched them up at a local store for overstock and slightly damaged items for a whopping $10. They needed a little TLC on the seats. That in itself was a headache, but I’m loving the results, and so are the kids.

They use to come home and crowd each other on the couch, now they fight over these chairs. The best part about this, is that the chairs do not face the TV, so they are just hanging out, talking, or reading books over there.

Speaking of books, you know how much I love to read! I pulled this copper basket out from it’s hiding spot under my sink and gave it a featured spot in this sitting area. A few of our favorite soft blankets, and a couple of books I’ve been meaning to get to are stacked inside making.

I’m just loving all the earthy tones going on in this corner!

The Trilage lamp has proved to be exactly what I wanted. See, besides all the reading I do, I also cross stitch. Our old lamps were absolutely atrocious for this activity. When I went looking for lamps I specifically wanted something that hung down, directing light onto my work, but that could also light up the whole room.

The three hanging lights on the Trilage proved perfect. The directed light from the bottoms of the shades eases my eye strain, but the soft shades allow for the light to reach across the whole room. For days when no one else is home, I can turn off 2 of the lights, and just use one for my sewing.

Brightech has some gorgeous lamps on their site, that choosing one was actually quite difficult at first. I wasn’t sure where I wanted it exactly, just what I wanted it to do. You can browse their floor lamps, table lamps, string lamps, and even magnifying lamps! I admit, the magnifying lamps were tempting as my eyes are getting older.

The initial lamp I received had been manufactured wrong, so I reached out to the company to double check if what was going on was correct, and if so offered some suggestions on how to fix it before selling more like it. The company was great and got a new lamp – same style – out to me asap. This time the problem area was resolved, and we could begin using the lamp without fear it would fall on one of the kids. I highly recommend working with them for the perfect lighting in your home.

September 24, 2018