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Home Decorating: 5 Green Ideas on a Budget

ecorating your home to be environmentally friendly shouldn’t be expensive. And it shouldn’t just be for the environmental activists either; we all have a responsibility to our communities, and to our families. There are many ways you can decorate “green” for a lot less “green”! Here are The Budget Decorator’s top 5 ways to green up your home, on a budget!

Diary of a New Homemaker
for Friday, October 16, 2009

The Year of Breaking Things

It's only October and I'm already waiting happily for 2010, not because this year's been so horrible, but because it's been so up-in-the-air. I've decided 2009 is the Year of Breaking Things.

My brain broke in February (well, it'd been broken for years, we just figured it out then). It's repairing itself fairly well. I still have ups and downs but they're not nearly as ^UP and _DOWN as they used to be.

My uterus broke in April, and I discover I didn't write about it here! I've been so distracted. I nearly bled to death in April, from a regular old period. I ended up in the hospital for two days for a near-emergency ablation and two units of blood. Who knew you could bleed to death THAT way!

Our kitchen ceiling broke in August. The upstairs toilet plugged and ran at the same time, and there was nowhere for the water to go but out. The upstairs bath flooded for about 30-45 minutes. We discovered it when water came pouring out of the walls in the pantry hallway and basement staircase--it had come through the bathroom's pocket door into, rather than down, the walls. And we saw a little bit of water coming out of a light fixture. Long story short, the next morning we woke to a crash and discovered the kitchen ceiling on the kitchen floor.

A Seasonal Taste:

Make a Mantle Quilt

saw one of these in an expensive little boutique. I have heard of them, but had never seen one up close before. A mantle quilt is a row of quilt blocks that hang over your fireplace mantle or shelf; choose any quilt block you like that doesn't have to be set diagonally. Nine patch, log cabin, rail fence, attic window would all work fine with their straight side blocks. Maybe red and green for Christmas. Let your imagination go!

A Taste of the Clean and Organized Section:

Takeout Menu Organizer

ey, it's been the new millennium for years! You're no longer expected to have a pie in the oven when your daughter's soccer team clumps in uninvited. And instead of demanding a slaved-over meal, your guy just wants to cuddle with you and watch a movie. Great, right? Yes, but today we're all in need of a new must-have companion -- the take-out menu, of course! But are they all scattered here and there, in this drawer and that, on top of your fridge and under your silverware tray? Thankfully this new take-out menu organizer makes it easy to keep track of places you like or want to try.