A Music Room

Did I not mention before that my daughter Mika had shown her love for music at an early age?  When she was in grade 3, she started joining the school band and she was assigned to do the keyboards. Of course, since she did not actually have a formal training and was just being trained by her class adviser, it was not very easy for her to learn.  She could just play a couple of piece that time but she had shown eagerness to develop her talent more. However, due to her busy schedule at school trying to maintain her class standing, she didn't push through anymore.  At home, she would just play her guitar and watch tutorials from You Tube.  I remembered being entertained by her whenever I was on vacation at home.  She plays quite well despite of not having a sophisticated guitar.   Her kind of music would had been better if she's equipped with quality instruments like ampeg micro-vr at guitar center.  

I once dreamt of having a music room at home where we could gather together various kinds of musical instruments and probably a drum set for my son.  That thing did not materialize though as I later realized that there are better priorities than having a music room at home as this will not really be functional unless one of the family members will be using it as part of his profession.  I mean practicality wise, it would be better to come up with a room that will be used and enjoyed by all members of the family.

Freshen Up Your Homes With Fabrics

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Fabric says it all! Whether you want to burst out with colors or create a relaxing mood, upholstery, pillows, curtains and table cloth can always soften the look of your homes.  In fact, fabrics are the easiest way to decorate with and beautify your homes. 

I remembered that I was once a fan of curtains and laces and in fact, even up to now, I am still very much fascinated with cute and elegant curtains.  The thing is I just momentarily stopped buying as I think that we still have enough in our storage closet.  Buying more will just push me into another problem...storage!

But, I am still considering to buy when really needed. :)

One thing good about fabrics is that it can also suit the season. You can choose materials depending on the weather like choosing linens and cottons during summer.  Experimenting with fabrics can help you liven up a boring room and do an instant make over during special occasions.

   

Home Renovation Tips For 2014

A new year often invokes feelings of fresh starts and clean breaks. It’s also an exciting time to start work on those plans for giving your home a much needed face lift. There are an endless number of upgrades that you can embark on to turn your home into that unique place of comfort and refuge that both you and your family can be proud of. Whatever renovation plans you have in mind for the new year, it helps to have a general strategy in place to better help turn your initial idea into a reality. Here are some helpful suggestions on how you can kick-start your new renovation project, and come closer to the home you desire.

Prepare a budget

If you’re concerned about running your account dry from a home renovation project, a great preventative measure is to create a budget. A budget will help you decide how much you can afford to spend right at the beginning. With this figure in mind, you’ll be able to quickly narrow in on the types of resources that can be used in your remodeling plans. A budget can also help you decide on what part of your house to begin work on. You can do this by performing a simple costing estimate for each room under consideration. Another factor that’s useful when making the decision for where to begin is wear and tear; the bathroom and kitchen are two areas of the house where you and your family spend a lot of time, and are therefore good candidates for a potential renovation.

Consult with professionals

There’s no shame in consulting with the experts when it comes to your home renovation(s). Not only will it give you the peace of mind you need that you’re on the right track, but it can save you money in costly mistakes down the line. Whether you need help choosing the right equipment (e.g., a STIHL chain saw versus a power drill) or getting the actual job done, consulting with the professionals can give you ideas on how to better proceed with the project to suit your design tastes.

Schedule Your Project

Finally, creating a schedule for the completion of your project will guarantee that work gets done the right way, and on time. Spend some moments figuring out the best time to start your project (e.g. during the summer or winter), and estimate how long roughly it’d take to complete the project. Sure, you’ll probably need to tweak the schedule as you go along, but having a plan (as tentative as it is) is better than no plan at all.

Making upgrades to your home is a great way of creating an ideal living space for you and your family, while increasing the resale value of your home in the long run. The above suggestions can help you get off to an ideal start in recreating the home of your dreams.

Chinese New Year

I've been watching TV programs like Kris TV and Rated K featuring home decors that could bring prosperity when conspicuously positioned in  your homes.  They featured different kinds of lucky charms that could be bought in local shops while others can be made by ourselves right in our own homes using ordinary materials like paper bills and coins. 

I'm not really strict when it comes to following traditions but I believe that there's no harm in trying.  While we make these rituals and decors that could promise a healthy life and prosperous new year to everyone , I still believe that we have to work hard in everything that we wish to achieve in life.  Faith and hard work is normally the winning combination.  But as I said, following these traditions make our lives more fun and exciting so I sometimes follow traditions especially if it's doable.   They said red and gold are the lucky colors that should be found in your homes if you wish to attract fortune and good life this 2014.  The usual tradition of welcoming the new year with a big bang has been a normal practice for everyone.  When we welcome the new year on the eve of December 31, we created sounds using aluminum pots and horns as we didn't buy any fire crackers.  Well, I guess if you have Stagg cymbals, so much the better. :)     

I don't normally celebrate Chinese New Year but I am sometimes tempted to put some decors in the house especially those that were believed to bring luck and prosperity.  Well, for this year maybe I would just buy some foods and fruits that are believed to bring luck and prosperity.  

Decorating Using Recycable Materials

This curtain rod is so cool!

Love this lamp shade.  It's unique and very easy to do.

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Have you tried making home decors using materials that can be found in your backyards?  I do! I used to recycle empty Coke bottles and other stuff that I can find from my house.  Normally, I would love to make planters and desk organizers.  I chanced upon these photos online and it really excites me because apart from empty plastic bottles, the next thing that I would love to use for home decors are twigs, bamboo sticks and drift woods.  I like that it has a natural effect on the overall view of the house.  It's nature inspired and it gives you a perception of calmness and peacefulness. 

I am currently preparing a list for my weekend projects and I hope that i would still be able to make it despite my very busy schedule.  Stay tune!

Household Inventory

Just yesterday, I was doing a quick check of all the appliances and furniture in the house.  I was trying to determine which items need maintenance and repair.  I was away from home for almost seven years having only about a month vacation twice a year so I did not really get the chance to examine everything in the house.  Now that I'm already a WAHM, I am taking the opportunity to manage my household well. Checking what's inside the house and which one needs repair should be a primary consideration.  I am glad that even we were affected by typhoon "Habagat" which brought about a great flood in our city, my appliances are still in running condition.  Some were repaired and some were not totally affected.  Thanks God that all our TV units and home theater were not affected at all. That home theater is really important in the house.  We love having movie marathon and we also love listening to music. This is also being used at home during small gatherings and it is serving us quite well.  I don't need to buy a sophisticated pignose hog 30 amp  just to keep the party going.  Hubby bought our home theater abroad and i think he successfully got a durable one.  So far, so good.  I am done with the maintenance and repair of all the household appliances including our AC unit in the room. Everything is now in good running condition.  I think, it's time to set aside an envelope to separate some funds for the repairs and maintenance.  It pays to be prepared during unforeseen circumstances especially that our country has been suffering from typhoons and other forms of calamities.

That's the dilemma of being a home maker. :)

The Benefits of Forex Trading

When it comes to benefits, business is always the best stuff to have. Aside from the fact that you are the one who run for its success, it also provides you your own source of income. You get what you need and you get what you expect. Hence, it’s really an advantage to have business with you.

Starting up a business is not that easy especially to big industries. However, there are certain businesses that are easily invested right after technology became more convenient to everyone. Eventually, it became more interesting to everyone as it does not just offer easy investment processing but convenience on how to manage it as well. Hence, it is no wonder why a lot of people are getting more interested in the business industry particularly in forex trading.

Benefits that can be earned at forex trading are more convenient than other businesses have to offer to their investors. Some of its benefits are the following:

·         The convenience of the technology

-          Perhaps, a lot of businesses are using technology nowadays. However, unlike to other businesses, forex has more convenience to give to their investors with this feature. It gives their investors access to the market anywhere and anytime they want.

·         The business works for 24 hours a day

-          Since there are different time zones around the world, the market has this feature that enables everyone to have their trading anytime of the day, especially those who are making the business as their part time jobs.

·         Start your trading business for as low as $100

-          If you are urged to earn more than you expect for your $100, have it invested in forex instead. With forex easy way of earning, one can really say that money is worth invested for it. You can invest more than $100 and expect more return too.

There are other sorts of things that one can benefit out from investing forex. And those mentioned above are just some of the things that one could earn out of investing. If you are one of those people who would like to earn without getting hassle of, it’s not the time to start making your money grow with forex trading!

Read more about forex trading at https://www.varengoldbankfx.com/en/. 

Space Saving Bedside Storage

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I have a limited space in my bedroom as I've chosen to have a large closet to accommodate my things.  That, plus a large bed and a small TV rack to hold a component, DVD players, speakers and a LED TV hung on the wall is enough to fill my room.  I've already get rid of my mini dresser as I don't really find it functional.  I already have a mirror attached to the wall which is enough for me to fix myself when dressing up.  I didn't install any desk as I'm using my laptop on top of my bed using the laptop desk given to me by my daughter last Christmas.

What I think that I need though is a bedside table to hold my drink whenever I'm watching TV in the room or to hold a book, a bottle of medicines or my eyeglasses.  The problem is, I don't the luxury of space for this.  I still have a space for that beside my bed but I don't want to use the floor space anymore.  

Looking at the photo above, I've finally found an idea, a hanging bedside table!   But since, there's already a mirror attached to the wall where I intend to install the hanging bedside table, probably, I'm getting away with the magnetic board.  I already have it on another place anyway.  Also, I guess, I would have my bedside table foldable as I only intend to use it when required.  So, I can flip it up and down whenever I want.

Smart idea! 

DIY Cup Cake Tower

I had the chance to make my own cup cake tower during the holidays and this enabled me to save much as compared to buying a ready made one from the shop.  I just bought some card boards used as cake stands from the shop selling baking supplies and it doesn't even cost me a hundred pesos.  Next, I purchased some nice gift wrapping papers and blue ribbon to cover the card boards.

For the stand, I just fabricate mine using recycled materials such as Coke plastic bottles, I cut the upper portion of the bottle and filled it with some newspapers and a little bit of sand to make it strong.

Next, I covered all the coke plastic bottles and card boards with the gift wrapping paper.

This is how it would look like after covering all the materials used.

Here is the outcome after I connect the empty Coke bottles with the card boards. After this, I attached a blue ribbon around the card boards to make it more attractive.

I know that this cannot be compared to the ones being sold at the shops but it also looked nice after I placed and arranged the cup cakes around the tower.  It is reusable too as you can make use of the same materials on your next party at home.  All you have to do is to change the cover with another gift wrapping paper to suit your party theme.  :)

Water Supply

It's already the first month of the year and I guess we are all waiting for the summer fun!  Summer is the best time for family bonding activities.  Picnics, out of town trips, malling, strolling, doing some outdoor games and hosting BBQ parties are only few of the many activities that we could do this summer but is our house ready for the summer?  

In some areas in our city, water supply has been a major problem especially for those who are situated on elevated areas. If your house is on the same location, you might want to find a high pressure pump.  I know how inconvenient it is to have a very low water supply especially on summer where you need to take shower more often, and if you have a garden or having lots of potted plants around the house, you also need water to keep them alive.  It's very frustrating to open the faucet early in the morning only to find out that you have  a very low water pressure and you can't hardly collect enough water for your early morning bath. 

As for my case, I am not so much affected by this as we are situated in a low lying area where the flow of water supply has never really been a problem.  Despite of this, I am also thinking of purchasing a medium sized water tank to have a water reserve in case there will be an interruption in our water supply system in the city.  It pays to be ready to avoid difficulties. :) 

Baking Tools Organizer

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Last year, I have already started organizing our baking tools and equipment.  We have designated a pantry cabinet for our baking supplies but it seemed that the space cannot accommodate the growing number of our baking tools and in fact, we are still planning to purchase more since we are using this for our cup cake business.

I've seen this DIY kitchen organizer and I found it really helpful to organize kitchen stuff especially those small baking tools.  My usual problem when I start baking is to look for the small fondant cutters, measuring spoons and cups as these were very small pieces of tools tucked somewhere in the baking pantry cabinet, so I guess organizing it this way will help me save a lot of time looking for things.

I'm really excited to have this done. This is actually a shoe organizer which can be used for other purposes such as the one mentioned above.  A proper labeling is all you need to have your kitchen tools really organized.

Awesome! :)