Home Décor Candles Decorating Tips

Home décor candles are among the most common embellishments that we can find in most homes’ interiors.  They do not only brighten up a room but its wide array of colors and sizes make a great accent and complements the theme of the room adding a touch of class and sophistication. 

I love collecting scented home décor candles.  They are staples in my cart whenever there’s a home sale event or every time my favorite Bath and Body Works goes on sale.  There is something calming and soothing about the scented fumes of a candle flame that relaxes one and gives a heavenly and light feeling.

Here are ways on how to use or decorate the home with these candles:

Bathroom.  Convert your bathroom into a spa by decorating your bath tub’s ledges with tall and short pillar candles.  Votive candles or tea lights in holders may also be placed around the tub.

Living Room.  Add contrast to your living room by placing several pillar candles together in different diameters and heights.  Large candles specifically those from The White Company when grouped with smaller ones are pleasing to the eyes.  Make sure that the colors will complement the wall colors or any other detail of the living room like throw pillows, curtains, frames, etc.

Bedrooms.  Make the bedroom’s atmosphere more relaxing by accenting your dresser or bedside table with a pillar candle.  Lavender scented candles is thought to help aide in relaxation.

Smartphones: Staying in Touch With Your Loved Ones

Audiovox SMT5600 with the new Qtek Smartphone (Photo credit: Josh Bancroft)

We all know cell phones help us stay in touch with family during the day when we’re apart. Letting your spouse know you’re going to be late for dinner and checking up with your teenager who’s out with friends are the things the cell phone industry was built on. But there are even more ways that smartphones can help us stay in touch with our friends and family, even in an age where we’re often spread miles apart.

Contact Info at the Ready

You would call Uncle Harry about the new movie trailer you know he’d love, but you don’t have his number with you. Your old high school buddies would get a thrill out of knowing your score in the golf tournament you just played, but who keeps their numbers with them everywhere they go? Having all your family, friend and work names, cell numbers, home numbers, work numbers and email addresses with you at all times increases the chances you get to share your life with those you don’t see every day. Smartphones have high memory capacities that allow us to keep all of this information at our fingertips 24/7.

On the Go Photos

One parent might make it to the piano recital, but it’s hard for two parents to take off work. A few minutes of video allows both parents to share and enjoy the child’s recital, even if work and other responsibilities stand in the way of you both attending. The grandparents can’t drive 100 miles for every soccer game, but a video clip or some snapshots of the child in action mean they don’t have to miss anything. Life is full of photo and video opportunities, and smartphones keep us closer even when we’re apart.

Organize the Family Schedule

Mom has yoga Mondays and Thursdays. Wednesday is Dad’s turn to host the meeting. Sister has basketball practice Tuesday, and by Friday everyone has forgotten that brother needs a ride home after math club. The organizing tools of a smartphone help you keep the entire schedule at your fingertips, including special events, birthdays and work commitments. Remembering where everyone needs to be - and when they need a birthday card or get well wishes - keeps families closer and reduces everyone’s stress.

Where to Get One

Smartphones don’t have to break the family budget to keep everyone together. Smartphones available on MyCricket are affordable, and no-contract monthly plans start at less than half what other companies charge for monthly services.

5 Energy Saving Tips for Your Home

We are all aware that our energy resources our depleting and so we often here a lot of campaign to encourage the people to conserve energy. Aside from the fact that this will bring a lot of savings, conserving energy is also good for the environment as we are cutting down on the bad toxins that our electrical appliances are emitting.
Here are Top 5 tips that can be easily observed at home to conserve energy:

1. Choose Energy Efficient Lighting System. The type of light you use at home can significantly affect your energy consumption. Incandescent and florescent lights consumes more energy so switching to those energy efficient lights like LED lights that is readily available now in the market can bring a huge savings on your electricity bills. Aside from the fact that it last 10 times longer than regular incandescent bulb, LED lights are 80% more energy efficient.

2. Choose Energy Efficient Appliances. Because we live in a very modern world now, our house is full of electrical appliances that can make our life easy. We have washing machines, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave oven and more that make our lives convenient as it help us do household chores fast. While we can’t do away with these appliances, we can still conserve energy while using them by choosing energy efficient appliances. When shopping for appliances, check out the energy efficient labels that can help a user compare energy efficiency of different models. Choose also appliances with “Energy Star” label as this means that it meets the strict energy efficient criteria set by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The more energy efficient an appliance is, the less it will costs to run thus resulting to lower utility bills.

3. Observe regular maintenance of your appliances. Always make sure that all of your appliances are regularly maintained so they will always function at their 100%. The filters of air conditioner for example should be regularly cleaned, as it requires more power to cool a room if the filter is dirty, thus consuming more energy.

4. Unplug appliances when not in use. A big part of the utility bill comes from latent consumption which is the power used by electrical appliances when they remain plugged even if they are not in use. Putting appliances on standby mode still eats up power consumption so it is wise to unplug them to help conserve energy and save up on electricity bills.

5. Plan for the use of appliances that consume more power at quickest rates. Appliances such as iron, vacuum cleaner and the like are some of these home appliances so it is better to minimize the use of them or plan well when you are using these appliances. When ironing clothes for example, you will save on energy consumption if you will iron all clothes in one schedule rather than ironing clothes everyday, as you need them.

These are simple tips and some can be easily implemented without costing a penny. So start observing these tips so you can begin to see savings on your utility bills while doing your part in saving the environment as well.

Autho’s Bio: Abie is a freelance blogger and content writer for more than 5 years now. She writes about different topic including Parenting, Family, Health & Fitness, Technology, Travel and more. Her current project is for the site Personalisedtshirts.com, which makes kids personalised t shirts.

How to Find the Best Child-Friendly Apartment

Image via Wikipedia

Finding an apartment when you have children can present some special considerations and issues. You will need to make sure that the apartment you choose meets those requirements for the well-being of your entire family.
Perhaps you are searching for apartments in Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City or any number of areas. When you are looking for apartments that will suit your family, you will need to consider a number of things such as:

• Proximity to schools
• Available entertainment
• Complex safety
• Proximity to libraries and parks

Here are a few tips to help you with your search for child-friendly apartments.

Property Safety

The safety of your family is paramount in your mind. When viewing a possible apartment, make sure that the complex and the apartment are safe by examining things such as:

• Amenities safety features
• Safety construction of balconies and railings
• Proximity of the apartment to busy streets and intersections.

Location

You should look at the location of a particular apartment complex in relation to its proximity to schools, parks, libraries and so on. Can your children walk to school, or is the complex on a convenient bus line? If an apartment is too far away from schools, it may not be the best choice for you or your children.
Also, evaluate the neighborhood in which the apartment is located. If you are familiar with the town, you will probably already know which neighborhoods will be best for your family. However, if you are unfamiliar with the area you should do some research about such things as crime statistics and economic demographics. Check out online maps to see if the possible apartment is located near factories or other such facilities, which may not make it the best choice.
During this research, you’ll also want to make sure that desired amenities are close. This is especially important if you will be using public transportation to go to the grocery store and such. You would want to make sure that these are as close to your potential new home as possible.

Consider Your Child

Make sure that when you are looking at apartment options, that you keep your child in mind. Determine if the complex has child-friendly amenities such as a playground area or other such features. Also, see if there are other children in the complex. You probably should not consider a complex where there are very few children living there.
Simply take these considerations into mind when choosing your next apartment, and you and your family can live safely and happily.

Oh Happy Day Birth Photography

Giving birth is the most special moment in a mother’s life. This is the first ever moment when mom and baby meet and see each other up close.  This is when the first skin to skin contact and latching take place.  The time when the daddy and the older sibling first say hello to the new family addition.  The time when the first yawn, first crying fits, possibly first smile are seen.  All these firsts are cherished and treasured forever that’s why they have to be captured in photos or videos.    This explains why cameras and video cams are among the stuff that must be packed inside the hospital bag.  It doesn’t matter if it isn’t a high end camera.  Special effects, lights (led lights, spotlights, etc) aren’t also necessary.  What’s important is that you have something to photograph those treasured moments.

On both deliveries, I really made sure and was conscious that our camera was just an arm reach away.  I couldn’t miss these very special moments:

Asher (March 2008) and Ashley (October 2011)

If you are expecting or know someone who’s giving birth soon, read about Oh Happy Day around on The Day and get the chance to win a package from here:

Polly’s Pictures: Oh Happy Day Birth Photography (Giveaway Alert!)

Oh Happy Day Birth Photography is giving away one (1) Post-Delivery birth photography package worth P5,000.00! Here’s what a Post-Delivery package is all about:

• A 3-hour photo-documentation of your baby’s first moments after birth in the delivery room, nursery and/or private hospital room (does not include labor and delivery; the photo session must be within 24 hours of your child’s birth at the hospital, birthing center, or home, for home births)
• A CD containing a minimum of 50 processed hi-resolution digital images, for you to reproduce for personal use as often as you’d like
• A pre-designed email birth announcement incorporating a photo of your choice

Here’s a few notes for all who plan to enter:

1. Open to all readers in Metro Manila only.
2. The package may be used by the winner or given to a friend or relative. If the winner is not the one using the package, the voucher may only be transferred once.
3. The recipient of the package should have a due date no later than November 30, 2012.

**Yes, I’m joining this contest for a friend who’s giving birth in a few months time.