It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! This blog hop opens up every Sunday at 6 Central time! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly ... read more
How To Have A Block Party
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in a neighborhood that had legendary block parties every Fourth of July. Some of my best childhood memories come from those parties. These block parties were so much fun because: All the kids dressed up in costumes We had our own three block long parade Our street was closed down so we could roam around carefree Everyone in the neighborhood was there There were games for everyone from toddlers to adults Fabulous food Seriously.Good.Times. Fast forward many years later. Now that I live in my own neighborhood I want to get to know my neighbors better. More than just waving at them as they drive by. I'd love to throw ... read more
Spend A Little & Invest In Yourself
We are a one income family of four. We're used to finding ways to save money. We try not to buy things if we really don't "need" them. We've been in this position for a long time & that's okay. God has provided what we've needed over & over again and we're so thankful. I'm a stay at home mom that can easily get lost in the mix of diapers, cleaning up messes, making time to play with the kids all while trying to get stuff done on the to-do list. I can get burned out pretty easy if I'm not taking a little time to take care of myself. One thing that really rejuvenates me is having time to myself in the morning before my family wakes up. Starting the day off with a ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 28
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
Creamy Pancakes
I just discovered the secret to making super creamy pancakes! Well...it wasn't really me that discovered it. My hubby did. So before we go on, I'll make an official announcement that the full credit goes to the hubby for this great idea! One morning the hubby was making pancakes & got a brilliant idea. As an experiment (he is a science teacher after all) he added a little french vanilla coffee creamer to the pancake batter. The results were awesome. Like this-will-get-me-out-of-the-bed-no-matter-how-tired-I-am awesome. The creamer adds a creamy flavor {obviously} as well as some sweetness (who doesn't want more sweetness, right?) Here's what you ... read more
How To Repurpose A Frame
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! I've been getting really in to frames and wall art lately. {Can you tell?} I almost threw these frames out. The style is a country chic--I used to be into that style years ago but now I'm moving on. I'm wanting a more modern look for our master bedroom. I took a look at the frames and realized the picture could be taken out and replaced. The frames could also be painted! So on I went to the garage and low and behold there was ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 27
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this ... read more
The Crazy Month of May
I'm so glad the month of May is over. Why? For our family, May is CRAZY busy. There's lots of great events going on but they're all jam packed into the same month. Just look at my calendar: We had so much going on last month and that meant me taking a TON of pictures. Today I'm going to share the lows and highs of our busiest month of the year {plus sharing some exciting projects coming up on Carrie This Home!} My poor son literally spent half the month sick with gastroenteritis. This meant we were taking care of a very sad and unhappy baby while doing LOTS of extra laundry (for obvious reasons) I'll spare you most of the details but I will say that I've never been ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 26
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
DIY Chalkboard Family Rules
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey’s awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! I LOVE all the chalkboard family rule signs I see on Pinterest and in the stores. But there's always a problem. They are too expensive. Some of them weren't the right size. Others didn't say exactly what I wanted. So I decided to make my own & here it is! I absolutely LOVED making this. It says exactly what I want and it has the right look I was going for. I made the picture on PicMonkey.com and had it printed off as an 11 x 14 ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 25
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
Quick Teacher Gift Idea
My daughter's last day of school was this week. She has two AMAZING teachers. They are kind, caring, patient, and have made her first experience with school a true blessing. They both love their students and their jobs. They made the transition to school so easy and fun. I wanted to get each of my daughter's teachers something to help kick off the summer. If I had the money, I would have bought them a day at the spa {since they completely deserve it} Since I can't afford that I decided to make something simple, practical, and sweet for them. Get Ready For Summer Teacher Gift! What's In It: Straw waterbottle Bag of M&Ms Small bottle of hand ... read more
Rainy Day Activities
What am I going to do with the kids today? I pose this question to myself all the time. If we can go outside and play we have plenty of options. If it's raining or too cold to go outside, I suddenly feel very limited. Today I'm going to share some of my favorite rainy day activities. None of them involve sitting in front of the TV, either! Bake Together Baking is a great activity because it will help teach children how to measure, follow directions, and we all get a sweet treat at the end! Here's a couple of my favorite baking projects to do with the kids. These recipes don't require a lot of ingredients {cheap} they taste good and aren't super messy! Orange Creamsicle ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 24
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
Finding Nemo Birthday Party
I can't believe it. My daughter is turning four. This year she chose to have a Finding Nemo birthday party. We ended up having a fun, low-key party at our house and she had a blast. I wanted to do the normal kid birthday stuff; get Nemo table cloths, napkins, plates, party favors, etc. But I also wanted to do something a little more creative and fun. I searched Pinterest for some fun party ideas and got really inspired by what I found. {See the inspiration on my Pinterest Party Ideas Board} I had so much fun putting the party together & today I'll show you how to do it! Photo Booth Since I'm a wanna-be photographer the thought of a ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 23
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
My Favorite Easy Crock Pot Recipes
My hubby is an assistant track and field coach at a local high school. So that makes me a coach's wife. The highlight of this role is getting to see my hubby invest in the lives of young men as they learn how to train, compete, and work towards athletic goals. The downside is some nights the track meets can keep him out until well after the kids are in bed. That means I'm doing dinnertime alone. On nights like this I tend to make easy crock pot meals. I need lots of super easy ideas for dinner. And by super easy I mean throw a couple things in the crock pot, several hours later, viola! Dinner's ready! Today I thought I'd share some of my ... read more
Encouragement For Worn Out Moms: Part Two
If you missed my last post, I shared some encouraging words for moms like me who get worn out. To see the whole post CLICK HERE. Here's an excerpt to get you up to speed: The past couple weeks I have been worn out. After a hard week, I went to church stuck in a pity party. Yes I slapped on a smile, but underneath it all I was struggling. Then my pastor said a few precious words that hit me like a ton of bricks. He was talking about this verse from 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." He then gave modern day examples of what it looks like ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 22
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Your link will appear on all four blogs giving your posts more exposure! Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts ... read more
Encouragement For Worn Out Moms
The past couple weeks I have been worn out. My son started waking up screaming an hour earlier than his normal wake up time. For two weeks straight. He didn't get the memo that he was ruining my quiet time. I use the time before my kids wake up to work out, pray, read, or just enjoy the quiet moments. For me, getting a little time to gather myself up before my crazy day starts really makes a difference. After a hard week, I went to church stuck in a pity party. Yes I slapped on a smile, but underneath it all I was struggling. Then my pastor said a few precious words that hit me like a ton of bricks. He was talking about this verse from 1 ... read more
Spanish Rice
Today I'm sharing one of our dinner staples. My hubby has been working on this recipe for years and finally feels it's worthy enough to put on the blog. We love this meal because it's: Delicious Healthy Loaded with vegetables (great vegetarian option) Makes a big amount of food at a low cost The hubby and I have very different methods of cooking. My version of cooking is throwing a couple things in the crock pot, and he'd rather take some time to perfect a creation. He's adventurous enough to experiment while I'd rather know exactly what do to. Here's the great thing--99% of his cooking experiments turn out fantastic. This one takes the cake. Spanish ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 21
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! Posts on crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking are welcome to link up. Link up directly to the specific post. Link back to this post. Posts that link back to Carrie This Home are more likely to get featured next ... read more
How To Put Song Lyrics Over A Photo
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you sign up for PicMonkey's awesome Royale version, I will earn a small commission & you will be supporting Carrie This Home at no extra cost to you! One of my favorite things to do is surf on Pinterest for easy & inexpensive decoration ideas. A couple months ago I saw this cute project from Jenna at Rain On A Tin Roof. She took lyrics from one of her favorite songs and made artwork out of it. Cute, right? Then one day I thought "why not put one of my favorite song lyrics over a picture and use that as an easy DIY decoration?" So I did! This project was easy, fun, and ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 20
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the link at the bottom of this post. Link up (directly to the specific post) of your crafts, frugal finds, recipes, DIY projects, clothing, happenings around the house, homemaking…etc! Link back to ... read more
When The DVD Player Breaks…
One day last week we caught my daughter trying to put a movie into the DVD player. Bless her heart; she was trying but not successful. We heard a lot of crunching going on. It's that sound that makes every parent's stomach turn--the something's-going-to-break sound. I think we both let out a big sigh before trying to give our daughter a lesson on why we should be gentle with things like the DVD player. Fast forward to the next day. Forgetting what happened the day before, I put in a video for my kiddos to watch while I planned on getting some stuff done. My daughter shouts out "The movie has sparkles on it!" and then laughs hysterically. I walked in and this is what I ... read more
Crock Pot Berry Pork
Let me introduce you to one of my favorite recipes: Crock Pot Berry Pork. You'll be glad you met. Trust me. I love making this dinner because it's super easy, moist, sweet, and delicious! The house smells wonderful as it's cooking. This recipe was adapted from Robin Miller's Pork Roast with Cumin-Spiked Mixed Berry Sauce. I've made Robin's version of many times and it's really good. Her method involves cooking it in the oven. Then one day my hubby had a great idea--try cooking it in the crock pot! We thought cooking the pork in the crock pot would make the meat turn out more tender. And it did! The pork comes out of the crock pot so ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 19
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. We’re all here to share and support each other so please note a new link up rule: Please visit and comment on the two links before yours in addition to any other links that you’re excited about. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the ... read more
8 Quick Tips For New Blogs
Carrie This Home is 6 months old and over these past months I've learned a lot about the blogging world. Today I'm going to share 8 quick tips for new blogs including the best pieces of advice and some valuable resources for people who are thinking about starting or have recently started a blog. Things to think about BEFORE starting a blog: Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle. This is by far the best blogging advice I've received and it came from my friend Mandy from House of Rose. When you're first starting out, don't expect your blog or posts to be as good as someone who's been at it much longer than you. This gave me the freedom to ... read more
Patience is a Virtue…That I Don’t Have!
I have a confession to make. The biggest issue I've struggled with lately is patience. Better yet, my lack of patience. Most people that know me probably think I'm a pretty patient person {which is sometimes true}. When out in public, I can usually keep my cool and deal a little more patiently when things don't go my way. When it comes to my family, the ones I love the most, sometimes it seems like I have ZERO patience at all. What usually happens is I go through the day caring for my family while trying to keep my emotions under control during the stressful parts. The problem is I quickly accelerate to my "limit" and sometimes lose my patience before I can catch myself. So ... read more
Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop 18
It’s time to Blog Hop! Thanks for joining me and Jordan from Lily White. Designs, and Sara from Sneaky Spoons, and Amy From A Blossoming Life. Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop is a great place to check out every Sunday night to get great ideas for crafts, activities, home projects and ways to save money. You can come just to check out the links at the bottom of the post or you can share some of your own. We're all here to share and support each other so please note a new link up rule: Please visit and comment on the two links before yours in addition to any other links that you're excited about. Link up! If you have a post, project, or story you’d like to share, click the ... read more
