I have a few tips to help you set a beautiful dinner table for your holiday feast. Whether you are preparing a meal for two or for twenty you can create a festive setting for your meal. It doesn’t matter if all of your place settings match, work with what you have.
First, make sure to created a welcoming table. You can use candles to do that. They don’t have to be twenty dollar pillar candles, use what you can afford. Make up a placecard for each guest and a napkin holder. I have the information for both placecard and napkin …read more

I was thinking about baking soda today and how often the words, “Just use baking soda on that,” leave my lips when I am talking to someone. Partly it is because I am really allergic to bleach and some of the other strong chemicals in traditional cleaners and partly it is because baking soda just works so well. (If you want to make me look really puffy and red faced, put me into a room with a pool in it. I didn’t even have to get in the gym pool when I was in high school to end up nauseated …read more

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and since it’s the time of year to celebrate our blessings, why not kick it up a notch? Here are some ways to truly show your gratefulness.

Honor Those Working to Protect Us
Make extra food and give to the local police station or fire department. Call ahead to see what these folks might accept, but offering a home-cooked meal to people who are working on Thanksgiving is a wonderful gesture.
Honor Those Serving Our Country
Say a prayer for the men and women serving in our armed forces. Send cards, books, and thank you …read more

Earlier this month, Blisstree reader Andrea requested the recipe for the Porcini Mushroom Bisque at Sierra Mar in the Post Ranch Inn on the cliffs of Big Sur, California.
Andrea had just eaten it for lunch and wanted to try it out at home. So, for Andrea, and anyone else who wants to make a good mushroom bisque, keep reading! If you missed it, go back to the Chestnut Soup recipe from Chef Craig von Foerster of Sierra Mar.

Porcini Mushroom Bisque
(Recipe courtesy Asa Kesner, who cooks with Chef Craig von Foerster at the Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar)
Ingredients:

1 cup …read more

When they buy a home, most people think walls and doorways are there to stay. They’ll spend years griping about how much better it would be if that door was just over two more feet or if the wall between two rooms was moved just a little. But, even if the wall in question isn’t a load bearing wall, they’d never dream of actually moving it. That’s because they never worked on a university campus. Sometimes, I thought people made up walls and doorways that needed moving just to amuse themselves. They’d say they wanted a window where a door …read more

Many of you commented on how much you’d like to win the giveaway for Think Confident, Be Confident. It seems that no matter where we are in life, we can always use a bit of a boost to help us along when things get us down. I wish I could have given away a copy to each and every one of you!

Alas, we can only have one winner. I used random.org to select our winner, and that person is our 22nd commenter:
Aisling!
The comment this person left was:
I’d love to read this and share with several family members. …read more

Christmas, despite being one of the most important Christian holidays, often gets a bad rap for making people stressed out. We bring it on ourselves, don’t we? We just seem to want to do everything: buy the perfect gifts, make homemade cookies, and send cards to everyone on our mailing list. The problem, of course, is that we run out of time.

Perhaps the following tips will help you save time for one of those busy Christmas items, and that’s is the sending of cards. How to cut back? Read on.
Send Only to …read more

Are you under the impression that a 24 foot by 24 foot room is actually going to be 24 foot by 24 foot? Do you think a square or rectangular room that’s ten feet across on one side will be ten feet across on the other side? Would you be surprised if a wall that went straight up actually was an inch further in near the top than it was at the bottom? If you think everything is straight, you are in for a surprise when you begin to install your new cabinets or lay your nice square tiles.

Before you …read more

I am an avid reader and that includes magazines. My problem is that I don’t like to store my unread magazines with those that I have already finished reading. It was becoming a problem until I found this project that I am going to share with you today.  It is a plain old magazine holder that I dressed up a little bit to make it look pretty.
Here is what you will need to start:

A light blue, or any color of paint for use on wood (I used  black)
Envirotex Spray Sealer
A can of gloss spray, any brand
A flat ¾ inch brush
A …read more

One of the things I hope to do in the near future is to invest in solar energy or wind energy to take care of all or part of my current electricity usage. You’re thinking I’m hoping to save money on utilities, right? Nope! Unless the price of solar or wind energy equipment goes way down and the price of electricity in my area goes way up, it would take the rest of my life and then some to pay for an alternative energy system big enough to power the whole house!

So why on earth do I want to use …read more