About four years ago I had a heck of a time finding drapes to coordinate with my jade sectional couch. I looked in every store within two counties and checked more websites than I can count. Had I known about FabricWorkroom.com back then my search for the perfect window treatments could have been solved in a day instead of taking more than a month.

You see, FabricWorkroom.com lets visitors shop the site’s designer fabrics and then have products custom made according to their requirements. Some of the products they can make include curtains, drapes, valances, swags, shower curtains, pillows and bedding. Now anyone can have a home that looks like it was done by an interior decorator without the high price of hiring one. Concerned about ordering fabric over the internet? FabricWorkroom.com has an online fabric library and will gladly mail you sample swatches of many of their products.

To order your custom home decorations just select the the product you’re interested in customizing. Then select the fabric that you’ve chosen. Then consult the toolbox, which contains information on measurin, width, care and cleaning. Order the item and check out. That’s it. After you place your order your customized product will be made in a state of the art workroom here in the United States and shipped directly to you. There is no sales tax on US orders shipped to states other than CT. Most finished products shipped within the continental United States are shipped with no charge.

If you’re having a hard time finding just the right things for your home or if you enjoy creating a look, check out FabricWorkshop.com. There’s a fabric there for every taste. Happy window shopping!

Are your closets a mess? GoodHousekeeping.com is having a contest called the Febreze Closet Renewables Sweepstakes. Five winners will each receive a Febreze prize package. The prize package includes a full set of Febreze closet organizers and one year’s worth of Febreze refill inserts, value $300. To enter just complete and submit the contest entry form. Contest ends 09/30/08.

Living at the shore I see things that I might not see if I lived elsewhere. Many of these things are related to the beach, the boardwalk and the ocean. While making a trip to Windward Beach last month I saw a beach bicycle. They looked similar to bikes that were out when I was younger, in that they had a big seat and big tires. I used to have a beige Huffy way back when, the big padded seat on that bike was much more comfortable than the hard seats on bikes these days. Wanting to learn more, I hit the internet looking for more information.

One of the places I landed is Beach-Bikes-Shop, a website that carries a number of beach bikes and related products. The site is neatly organized and easy to navigate. The different styles of beach cruisers are separated into different categories so things are easy to find. They also carry accessories such as locks, bells, baskets, pumps and fenders. Electric scooters are also available. All products are accompanied by a brief description and clear, colorful pictures. Easy to understand assembly instructions are available on the site with step by step pictures, so you’ll be able to assemble and enjoy your new bike right away.

Beach-Bikes-Shop carries beach cruisers for women, men and kids, as well as chopper, military and multi-speed beach cruisers. Bicycling is a great way to stay fit and for families to spend time together. They can be ridden at home around town and they can be fun to bring on vacations too. If you’re considering getting a bike to ride in your leisure time, check out Beach-Bikes-Shop.

Don’t underfill or overfill the washing machine. Make your loads of wash close to machine weight capacity, which you can find either on your machine or in it’s documentation.

Separate colors before washing. Wash like colors together.

One half cup of baking soda added in with your detergent will help boost cleaning power and will neutralize odors.

One quarter cup of white vinegar added during the rinse cycle will reduce static cling, removing the need for dryer sheets.

Wash clothes in cold water wash unless they are heavily soiled. All detergents work in cold water.

With the hot days of summer upon us I’m sure we’ll start hearing the annual reminders about water conservation soon enough. Here are some tips I’ve collected on outdoor water conservation.

• Sweep your walks and driveways rather than hose them off.
• Water your lawn only if it needs it.
• Water your lawn during the coolest part of the day.
• Don’t water on a very windy day.
• If you have an automatic sprinkler system make sure the sprinklers are only watering the lawn and not the walks, driveway or street.
• If you have an automatic sprinkler system make sure sprinkler heads are clean and clear.
• Space lawn mowing a little further apart. Longer grass provides natural shade and holds moisture in the soil.
• Don’t overwater. If water is puddling you’ve used too much.
• Use a hose with a nozzle.
• Mulch around plants to hold in moisture.
• Aerate your lawn to help it retain moisture.
• Don’t use sprinklers for playing in.

If you don’t know how to prepare yourself and your home for the first 72 hours after a disaster, you should visit 72hours.org. 72 Hours is a website run by the City of San Francisco but offers valuable planning tips that would be useful to anyone.

There are two main areas to the site.  The first area is How To Prepare. This area teaches you to create an emergency plan, and what you’ll need ready and waiting for you to get through the first 72 hours after the disaster strikes. For each of the different topics discussed there are helpful tips included on how to help make your home safer on a day to day basis. The different topics include home safety, children, seniors & the disabled,  pets, utilities, food, water, first aid, go bag, phone, volunteer, training and community. I never realized how helpful it could be to have an out of state emergency contact in case of a natural disaster. The suggestion there that I want to do in our home is to create a “go bag” for all of the members of our home.

The second area of the site is the What To Do If section. This area instructs you on what to do in certain types of potentially disastrous situations.  The different topics included here are earthquake, storm/flooding, terror, contagious disease, transit safety, evacuation, fire, no power, tsunamis, sirens and shelter in place. I found the evacuation tips very helpful.

I found this site to be a very valuable resource that anyone could benefit from visiting. Are you and your home ready if a natural disaster strikes? Would you be able to get through the first 72 hours? Check out 72Hours.org and see if you’re ready. Let me know which idea you found most helpful.

Contest 4 Moms!

Contest 4 Moms has won the February contest on Home and Vacation.

Each contestant’s entries were placed into the list randomizer on random.org and Contests 4 Moms was drawn as the winner by random selection. I’m posting a picture of the screenshot that shows then entries, and of course the winner is on the top of the list.

The prize is credit to purchase one of ten downloadable games sold by Big Fish Games. The game titles are related to the theme of home or vacation. The game will be your choice of the following:
Big City Adventure Sydney Australia
Around the World in Eighty Days
Dream Day First Home
Mystery in London
Big City Adventure San Francisco
Dream Day Honeymoon
Hawaiian Explorer Pearl Harbor
Rome Curse of the Necklace
Build A Lot
Venice Mystery

Congratulations! You didn’t leave an email address so you could be contacted. Please email me your email address so I can send you your free game coupon code. If I don’t hear back with 72 hours I’ll need to award the prize to the #2 spot. Thanks to all who participated.

I’m having a little contest to celebrate the holidays! This one has sort of a travel theme.

Since the holidays are a hectic time, I’m keeping things simple. Earn one entry by commenting on this blog. You’re also able to earn a second entry by blogging about the contest, just leave the link mentioning the contest in your comment here.

The prize is a new and unused two year planner for 2008-09 with a lighthouse on it, a new and unused 80 page magnetic shopping list with a starfish and shells on it, and a new copy of the book “Minibar Mixology - 233 Drinks & Games To Turn Your Hotel Room Into A Party”.

The contest deadline is 11:59pm est Sunday 12/30/07. The winner will be selected at random and announced on Monday 12/31/07. The prize will be sent by US Mail.

Good luck!

Laura Williams of Laura Williams Musings has also been kind enough to list this contest in her Sunday edition of Contests Galore. Wow, she must spend hours finding and listing those, there’s a lot of them that she writes about all in one day!

THIS POST WILL REMAIN STICKY UNTIL THE CONTEST IS OVER.
REGULAR POSTS WILL APPEAR AFTER THIS ONE.

More in my own little home improvement series. Once again, I’ve included before and after pictures. Today you’re in the small bathroom again, and you’re looking at the medicine cabinet over the sink. As with the other cabinet, I kept stuffing things in there. When I ran out of room on the cabinets, stuff started accumulating on the counter. When I couldn’t locate my eye liner I decided it was time to go through it and neaten it. The left and center picture above are of the cabinet before organizing it. As with the last cabinet, I threw some stuff out and I tried to organize the rest. The picture on the right is after organizing the cabinet. Don’t you think it looks better too?

This a continuation of my own little home improvement series. I’ve included a before and after picture. The small bathroom is attached to the master bedroom. It’s a newer bathroom, but quite small. I never considered organization, I just kept stuffing things in there. It got to a point where last week I realized not one more thing would fit in there. The left and center picture above are of the cabinet before organizing it. I organized some stuff and I threw some stuff away. I got rid of some things that were in there for three years and never used. I just neatened stuff that is used. The picture on the right is after organizing the cabinet. It’s much neater now, don’t you think?