Thought for the Day (T4D) - Laughter

"Wholehearted, ready laughter heals, encourages, relaxes anyone within hearing distance. The laughter that springs from love makes wide the space around it—gives room for the loved one to enter in. Real laughter welcomes, and never shuts out."

~ Eugenia Price

Thought for the Day (T4D) - Stubborn Joy

This quote was on my thought-of-the-day calendar, and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it.

"Jesus embodied a stubborn joy. A joy that refused to bend in the wind of hard times. A joy that held its ground against pain. A joy whose roots extended deep into the bedrock of eternity." ~ Max Lucado

"A stubborn joy." I love that thought. Some people seem determined to be unhappy no matter what, so why can't there also be people determined to be happy, in spite of what may be going on around them? Hope you find a little joy in your day today! :)

Scuff Marks on Patent Leather Shoes

You don't have to know me for long to know that I'm a shoe girl. I love, love, love shoes and I try to take good care of them, so I don't get scuff marks very often. Recently, though, I noticed scuffs on a pair of pink patent leather shoes. Eeek! What to do?

I wasn't sure if they needed to be handled in a special way because of the patent leather, so after a bit of research, I decided to try a little hand sanitizer and a Kleenex. Voila! It worked like a charm and the shoes looked as good as new! I didn't even need to give it any elbow grease! Yayayay! That made me happy! :) They say you can also use rubbing alcohol or non-acetone fingernail polish remover. So there ya go. A quick tip to make your patent leather shoes scuff-free!

Friday Five - October 12

1. Miss Manners Meets the Internet

I read this post over at Less Cake More Frosting over a week ago, and since I'm still thinking about it, I thought I would pass along Ellie's good advice. She makes a very interesting point about giving credit to the blogger who had the idea rather than saying, "Thank you, Pinterest!" It also never hurts to have the reminder to embrace Thumper's (okay, Thumper's dad's) philosophy:

2. 24 Grooms Blown Away By Their Beautiful Brides

Real, spontaneous emotion from the first time a groom sees his bride on their wedding day. Love, love, love this!

Source: joeelariophotography.com

3. Witch Hat Cookies

Check out this idea from the Explore, Dream, Discover blog. Keebler Fudge stripe cookies (turned upside down), and Hershey Kisses attached with orange Wilton tube icing. Brilliant! 

4. DIY Felt Pumpkins

Adorable idea from Clean & Scentsible!

5. Random Things I Learned About Marriage the Hard Way

Great thoughts from Rivera Douthit at Grace[full] Conversations.

Happy Friday!

I Heart Macro - Summer Meets Fall

As I've mentioned before, photography is not my gift, but I love this time of year when there's still a little bit of summer hanging on, but fall is bursting forth everywhere at the same time. Here is my humble attempt to capture one representation of each. You can join the macro fun by clicking the button at the bottom! :)

Little Touches of Fall 2012

It's week two of celebrating fall at The Inspired Room. This week is about fall around the house. I haven't changed things much from last year so far, but I've been making lots of little tweaks and edits and my mind is constantly thinking of things that could be done, so who knows what it will look like in another week? :) (All photos enlarge when clicked.)

Once again, the Happy Harvest sign is near the front door to greet visitors.

A little fall touch on the fireplace.

A simple fall tablescape.

Mmm, candy corn!

What's fall without yummy candles? Love this copperish holder from Bath & Body Works!

Leaf-shaped tealight holders from PartyLite ages ago.

Happy fall y'all!

The Inspired Room Fall Decorating Party

Mountain Jewelry

My husband and I have spent the last two weekends in the mountains enjoying the beautiful fall scenery. I was mesmerized by how the aspen leaves shimmer in the breeze and remarked that they look almost like nature's bling. That's when my husband said that his grandpa always called the changing aspens mountain jewelry. I can totally see why. I wish a camera could capture that shimmer, but photography is not my talent, so I would not be the one to even attempt it. Nevertheless, here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure. :)

I played with the photo below in Picasa and sort of stumbled across a couple of settings that gave it this glowy effect. I kind of like it, though. It gives it almost a dreamy look.

 Have a wonderful day!

20 Things I Love About Fall

Melissa at The Inspired Room did a post about embracing fall and making a list of the things we love about fall. Fall is my favorite season in the part of the country that I call home, so I decided to jump in and not only think up a list of my favorite things about the season, but also tackle making my very first printable. This was a new creative outlet for me and I thought it was pretty fun! :) What are your favorite things about fall?

Smile Today!

"They might not need me, but they might.
I'll let my head be just in sight;
A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity."

~ Emily Dickinson

Stop a Pot of Water From Over-Boiling!

Good morning to you! This is just a quick tip about something I read online and tried that actually worked! Woot woot! I don't know about you, but sometimes I've had trouble with, say, cooking pasta and having the water boil over. Eeeek! When I saw a tip on Pinterest that said to lay a wooden spoon over the pot and it would prevent that from happening, I just had to try it! Sure enough, it works! I'm not exactly certain why it works, but so far, it has been successful. Yay! It probably is one of those things that doesn't work 100% of the time, but it's still a pretty high success rate, and I'll take it! :)

Being the curious sort, though, I did a search to see what I could find about why or how this works. According to several sites, the wooden spoon breaks up the bubbles as they near the surface, which prevents a boil over (over-boil?). A few other sites say the spoon prevents heat build-up in the center of the pot. Whatever the reason, I'm just a happy camper to find something so simple that helps! :)

Have a fabulous Monday!