Better For You Gingerbread House Alternative

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HoneyMaidHouse #CollectiveBias
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This holiday season brings many firsts for me. A and I purchased our first real tree and this is our first Christmas in Maryland. We also hosted our first gathering in our new house to celebrate both the holiday season and my birthday. And another first for me is decorating a gingerbread house, but not just any gingerbread house - a better for you graham cracker holiday house. 

My body is in dire need of a sugar break from all the sweets at Halloween, Thanksgiving day pies, and Christmas cookies (I believe Christmas cookies are best enjoyed at the beginning of December) so I opted to make a better for you gingerbread house. I swapped the gingerbread for Honey Maid graham crackers and replaced all the decorations with a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, cereal, and other health concious food items. 

Click to tweet: Check out this better-for-you gingerbread house. 

However, you really can't make a sturdy gingerbread house or holiday house without the use of the very famous glue - royal icing. Yeah sure, it's filled with loads of sugar but I'd like to know who actually eats their holiday house after it has been sitting out for weeks? It's really all about the snacking as you decorate! All you have to do is avoid the icing and stick to munching on those nuts, fruit, and other delicious items. 

Royal Icing Recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 egg white
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixture, beat egg white until frothy white bubbles form
- Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time) and beat until peaks have formed and icing is thick
- Spoon into icing bag or plastic sandwich bag for piping

Now that your icing is made, let's talk about the structure of your holiday house. It's all about setting up the foundation to allow your roof to be sturdy. Using lots of royal icing, patience and supports, your house will hold up long past the celebrations of Christmas. Follow the pictures below for how I built my very first 'gingerbread' house. 

1. Taking two full pieces of graham cracker, diagnally cut peaks for the front and back of your house. 
2. Using royal icing, glue the two pieces together and place in the freezer to set. *I recommend adding a support piece to the back of these walls by using the cut triangular piece.
3. Glue two full pieces of graham cracker using royal icing to form one side of the roof. Add a support by gluing a square of graham cracker to the middle. You will need to do this two times to form both pieces of roofing. Place in freezer to set.
4. Take two full pieces of graham cracker to build your base. Use the royal icing to glue all four sides together. Again, adding supports to the inner walls to hold everything together. Place in freezer to set.
5. Glue your roof pieces to the holiday house. Place in freezer to set. 
6. Decorate!

Click to tweet: Nix the sugar and try this alternative to a gingerbread house.

There are so many options to decorate your house with style all while sticking with better for you options. You can find some ideas for decorations below. The wonderful thing, they all can be purchased at Walmart, along with the Honey Maid graham crackers. 

- pretzel sticks
- freeze dried strawberries
- freeze dried pineapple
- apple rings
- raisins
- dried cranberries
- sliced almonds
- slivered almonds
- toasted whole grain cereal
- powdered sugar for snow dusting
*Tip: Place all ingredients into a muffin tray to have them all organized within arms reach.

Let your imagination go wild and enjoy snacking on these delicious decorations as you go. The freeze dried strawberries and pineapple pieces were my favorite. I'm surprised I had any left to decorate my holiday house. 

Click to tweet: It's not too late to make your gingerbread house. 

Have you ever made a 'gingerbread' house or any alternatives for holiday houses?
What are your favorite decorations to use on holiday houses?
If you need more better-for-you gingerbread house ideas, you can find so many here. 

DIY No-Sew Pillow Wrap

This DIY No-Sew Pillow Wrap is brought to you with the help of Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser by compensating this shop. All opinions are mine alone. #RinseMadeRad #CollectiveBias
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When you think of fall, what comes to mind first? My mind instantly drifts to pumpkins, falling leaves, cooler temperatures, apples, mums, and candles. But fall wouldn't really be fall without some plaid.

I used to think of plaid as simply a fashion item only. Who knew that Target would blow my mind and carry all the things plaid. I highly suggest blocking 1 hour from your schedule to go peruse all the plaid items. You will not regret it!

One of the coolest plaid items I have seen is the LISTERINE® plaid wrap. Cheers to better oral care because you cannot help but grab this adorable bottle twice a day. And because of this fabulous packaging, I have been inspired to incorporate more plaid into my house. I mean, it's a great way to prepare for the upcoming holidays. 

Since I joined Pinterest, I have seen all of these pillow covers but never got the courage to try them out. One of my biggest fears is that I don't have a sewing machine and please help me if I ever decide to hand stitch one by hand. I have worked through those fears and I want to share with you the easiest way to create a pillow wrap - all without having to sew. It's beyond simple. 

* I used a tablecloth in this tutorial, but you can purchase fabric of your choosing. If you opt to purchase by the yard, you will likely have 4 unfinished edges rather than one - just keep that in mind.

What you will need:
- Fabric or tablecloth that is roughly 3 times larger than your pillow
- scissors
- throw pillows
- fabric glue

I am wrapping two pillows that are 16 x16 so I will need two pieces of fabric that are at least 48 x 48 inches. I used a tablecloth that measured 60 x 102 and folded it in half to cut into two pieces that measured 60 x 51 inches. It's not perfectly square but will work all the same. 

I glued the unfinished edge of the fabric on both pieces. The glue will likely need 24 hours to dry completely so the fabric is no longer tacky. 

Now the fun part begins - wrapping your pillow.

How to wrap a throw pillow:
1. Place your fabric in a diamond shape with your pillow directly in the middle. 
2. Fold the bottom half up onto the pillow, tucking the top corner under the pillow.
3. Fold the top half down, tucking the corner under the pillow.
4. Fold the top half down so that it meets half way on the pillow - just like wrapping a present.
5. Fold all four corners down slightly - just like wrapping a present again. This will give a clean face to the pillow.
6. Tie off your wrapping. I used the left-over-right then right-over-left knot - also known as the square knot.

Click to tweet: Who else is mad for plaid? Try this DIY no-sew pillow wrap

Now that the throw pillows have been updated, you can display them with the knot side facing out or the flat surface, or a few in multiple directions. Have fun with it and get to wrapping.

Now I know you want to run out to recreate your own wrap pillow, but don't forget the LISTERINE® plaid bottle is only available at Target until October 31st. There is also a Cartwheel offer to get 10% off LISTERINE® products. As you can see, the plaid was a very popular item.

What's your favorite way to incorporate plaid into your every day life?
What's your favorite thing about fall?

Two Steps For Organizing Your Workshop or Garage

Thanks for making my house feel like a home. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Feelinvigorated #FeelGlade #CollectiveBias

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Well this is embarrassing. And to be honest, I can't believe I am even considering sharing this with you all. But this, this is my house.

We moved into our new house in April and if you are familiar with moving or visiting new places, they never smell like home. All of the familiar and welcoming scents are not there.

It's a strange feeling to me when I walk into my new home and it smells like a stranger's house. We have moved a lot and it's already a struggle to figure out which light switch turns on which light and where to hang this or that, so the first thing I always do is try to make my new house feel comforting. I light my favorite candles and arrange the furniture so it functions with our needs.

Click to Tweet: It's easy to make any new space feel like home http://bit.ly/1K43S6S [ad] via @atravelingwife #FeelInvigorated @glade

Now you would think three months would be long enough to really have my new house feel like home. For the most part it does, but there is one room in the basement that I dread - the workshop. It's dingy, dirty, smelly, and all around ugly. Workshops don't have to be glamorous but I believe they should be functional and well organized.

A keeps his hockey equipment and his tools in the workshop. Because of this, it smells like a boy's locker room mixed with a car repair shop - it's just not a pleasant room for me to be in. I would have kept avoiding this room if it wasn't for the Glade® Blue Odyssey™  Large Candle. The invigorating scent lit a fire under me to really get this room under control.

I believe there are two simple steps to creating an efficient workshop - storage bins and a peg board. That's it! And can you believe that I was able to create a functional space with less than $50?! Here's how.

I started with 4 plastic storage bins. You can find a variety of sizes, prices, and colors from Walmart. I opted for a standard black and spray painted them to give them a metal look.

 

Next I purchased a standard brown peg board and gave it a more industrial look by spray painting it. Don't tell A that I am having an affair with spray paint. I also needed to purchase some 1 x 2's because I wanted to place the peg board on a finished wall. If you fail to bump the peg board off the wall, you will not be able to hang anything using hooks. This I did not know until A said it wouldn't work without the 1 x 2's. What would I do without him? The 1 x 2's were also painted so they blended in well with the preexisting wall color.

A helped me hang the peg board. He started by drilling three pilot holes on each 1 x 2 so that the drywall screws did not split the wood. We used 2 inch coarse thread drywall screws to attach the 1 x 2's to the studs. Then we used 1/8 inch fine thread drywall screws to attach the peg board to the 1 x 2's. It was beyond easy! It almost sounds like I know what I am doing.

Now the fun part - the before and after. I didn't want to dump a lot of money into this room because, let's face it, it's really just a workshop. I opted to not paint the walls or update the flooring even though they are terrible. Just by sprucing up the space and bringing in scents from the Glade® Blue Odyssey ™ Large Candle, it now feels like home!

Now I can finish our guest bathroom remodel before family comes to town in 10 days. Plus the new larger Glade® Blue Odyssey™  Large Candle burns up to 60 hours. I guess I need to get to working on some more projects.

Click to Tweet: See how @atravelingwife remodeled her workshop with 2 easy steps and the help of @glade. [ad] http://bit.ly/1K43S6S #FeelInvigorated 

How do you make your house feel like home? How do you organize your garage or workshop?

Finally, do yourself a favor and enter below - treat yourself. 

Glade Blue Odyssey Candle

Backyard BBQ, New Home, Wedding Flowers and more

Today is a very exciting day! All of our belongings have been delivered to the new house and now it really feels like we moved. Let me tell you how weird it is to own two houses (one in Indiana and one in Maryland) and be stuck in a hotel for several days because all of your belongings are en route.

I posted this lovely photo on Instagram the other day and I really just can't believe this is my backyard. I see many drinks, gatherings, coffees in pajamas, blog writing, puppy lounging, and relaxing times spent on this deck. It's perfect and huge, and I already have a lot planned for it.

Pillow - Hayneedle // Drop leaf table - Ikea // Bench - Ikea

Luminary - Home Depot // Chiminea - Lowe's // Conversation set - Walmart

What I am most excited for is dressing the table with fresh flowers. I have never really had a knack for putting together flower or is it floral arrangements and typically just purchase bouquets from the grocery store - gasp! Occasionally I will order an arrangement from a florist if I need the flowers for a special occasion. 

I was contacted by Bloominous to compose a post that was wedding focused to showcase their DIY flower kits. Well sometimes we all need to break the rules!! After I browsed their website and social media accounts for oh, an hour or so, I realized their flower kits aren't only for weddings but they would work for any occasion. Okay sure, you might not need a boutonniere for your backyard BBQ, but a beautiful centerpiece would be lovely. 

  

Richard founded Bloominous after being shocked with the florists' prices for his 2012 wedding. Richard was not naive or uneducated about the floral industry because he held a General Manager position with a large floral company. I can definitely relate to Richard, but I am the naive one. When A and I were planning our 2011 wedding, I was dead set that our floral arrangements would be around $750 - when in reality, we paid around $2500 (I had to look up the invoice to find that price)! I just threw up a bit knowing that we paid that price.

Now back to my screened porch decor. I could do something like this, this, or this for all under $50 a centerpiece. My favorite thing is that they offer a paid trial kit prior to purchasing your final order. I think this one would totally match the above deck decor board. Plus, add in a few of these succulents and my table would be completely dressed.

If you have made it to this part of the post - high five you made it to the best part!! Remember when I said that I don't know how to put together floral arrangements? Bloominous has you covered with some YouTube videos that give you step-by-step instructions for their kits. Of course I watched a few of them and I feel like I can conquer the world... or put together a killer centerpiece.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

Be sure to check out Bloominous and go say 'hi' on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Better yet, check out their lovely Pinterest boards - they make me want to renew my vows.

Have you ever put together a DIY floral kit? 
How much money did you spend on your wedding flowers?

*I was compensated by Bloominous for this post. There are NO affiliate links within this post. Thank you Bloominous!

Backyard Decor - Globe String Lights

I would like to think that I am great at decorating my house. In reality, I watch HGTV and DIY network for decorating ideas. The inside of my home is coming along one room at a time, but the outside is definitely lacking.

I have always wanted to have some fun globe lighting draped throughout my backyard since we have six trees back there (like this or this). Yes, six trees. That's a lot of leaves to bag in the fall time. But, that also means a lot of shade in the summer time. 

I think the look of globe lights would be dramatic and add just the perfect amount of light in the evening to not be offensive. We currently have two flood lights out back and those things are blinding. Well dreams do come true.

Viola! I know, I know. The lights are not draped dramatically throughout the yard, but it was raining, snowing, and freezing cold temperatures for multiple days. I knew I wanted to get the Brillante Globe String Lights up as soon as they offered to send me a strand. I couldn't let another day pass with those beautiful globes sitting in the box. 

So A and I sheltered ourselves underneath the shed's overhang and got to work. The 25 ft strand of globe lights fit perfectly at the overhang. The bulbs are incandescent so be careful if you decide to plug the stand in before stringing them up. I might have burned my hand just a little bit.

Now I need to go buy a few more strands of the globe lights so I can get working on the rest of the backyard. 

How do you decorate your backyard to have perfect lighting in the evening hours? Have you ever decorated with globe lighting before?

*I received the globe lighting from BrillanteTM on Tomoson for review. All opinions are my own. See disclaimer at bottom of page.*