House Warming

in , , ,

Welcome the cold winter days and nights with warming items to create Hygge in your home. Hygge is a Danish term meaning to create coziness in life through spending quality time with loved ones while sipping on warm drinks by a fire under a giant blanket. Hygge can also be used to create a moment of self care away from others to recharge the mind and body. It’s more of an essence and a feeling that when created regularly becomes a lifestyle.

HYGGE PRODUCTS

Here are a few essential items to bring into your home that exemplify what hygge represents. These items are special yet they should be used often. Every day of life should be appreciated and celebrated in some way so avoid saving things that make you feel great for a “special occasion.” Get started with these great finds…

Candles: Skeem

Blankets: Magaschoni Home

Handmade Mugs: Nicole-Rhea

Natural Spices

promote healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and are anti-inflammatory.

HYGGE SOUP RECEIPE

Garlic + Onion + Cinnamon + Cardamom + Clove + Turmeric + Cumin + Black Pepper + Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 cup of Nutritional Yeast

Add spices & Nutritional Yeast to water and bring to a boil

Together these spices create a broth

Next, add Shirataki noodles (follow instructions for rinsing Shirataki noodles)

Allow the broth and noodles to simmer for 5 min

Serve and enjoy with 647 Italian bread (low carb) and Miyokos vegan butter (*warning: nut allergy)

December Decor

in ,

Tis The Season To Warm The Heart & Home

Photo by: Sixteen Miles Out @sixteenmilesout

The holiday season is an opportunity to change the feeling in a home through decor, textures, scents, food and elements found in nature. This time of year also allows for time and attention to be spent on preparation, planning, arranging, rearranging with plenty of forgetting and last minute-ing. There are some benefits to the pressures of the holiday season which are self-reflection, sharing and slowing down. Even the scrooggiest of scrooges can find something enjoyable about the holiday season.

Here are some ways to simplify the endless holiday season to-do list. Choose…

  1. Three Main Food Items

  2. Three Decorative Elements

  3. Three Seasonal Activities or Experiences

The goal of this list is to minimize the amount of chaos that clutters up already full schedules and to prioritize what is most important to you and your family. Spread these tasks throughout the month of December to relieve some of the time and financial pressures. As far as gifts go, that will be a topic covered later this week.

On a not-so-bright side, the holiday season comes with challenges for those who wear many hats in their lives. Scheduling conflicts, financial issues along with mental and emotional health, put enormous additional weight on a lot of people during this time of year. With all of the pretty distractions of the holidays, it can be quite lonely for some who are celebrating the first holiday after losing loved ones, a job loss or choosing to separate from emotionally abusive loved ones. Please go into this holiday season with patience and kindness for yourself and others and remember, everyone is going through something.

Back to the brighter side of the season…those twinkly, blinkly lights ain’t gonna put themselves up so hop to it!

Natural Fall Decor

in , ,

Cinnamon Pine Cone Recipe

Photo by: Clever Visuals @clever_visuals

Photo by: Clever Visuals @clever_visuals

Here is a simple and inexpensive way to make natural cinnamon scented pine cones for the fall and winter seasons. There are two natural ways to add scents for pine cones, with eatable cinnamon spice or cinnamon essential oil.

After collecting pine cones from your yard or a park, rinse them well to remove any insects and for extra precaution place them in the oven on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Once the pine cones have cooled from the oven, brush on the cinnamon essential oil with a small paint or foam. Place the pine cones in a zip lock bag for up to one week.

If you’ve chosen to use cinnamon spice instead, brush on a thin layer of craft glue to each pine cone then, sprinkle on the cinnamon spice. Allow the cones to dry completely before decorating with them.

Enjoy your naturally scented and homemade seasonal home decor!

Weekend Design & Wellness Project

in , , ,
Photo by: Sarah Dorweiler @sarahdorweiler

Photo by: Sarah Dorweiler @sarahdorweiler

This weekend, choose a favorite home decor piece and create a table setting inspired by that item. Consider the colors that you’d like to bring out or support the main piece. Look for fabric around the house that could coordinate as a table runner with the centerpiece. Now, add some dinnerware and cloth napkins if they are accessible. If paper napkins are more convenient, then have some fun folding and making sculptural shapes that will compliment the centerpiece. This exercise is for your eyes only so listen to your instincts and create like a child, then take some pictures, change it around and take more pictures. The more playing and experimenting you do with centerpiece arrangements, the more comfortable and confident you’ll become.

For guidance, refer to Monday’s post “Choosing Tasteful Holiday Decor.”