Craft for a Cause

February 3, 2010 at 10:02 am, by Brenda, BHG Editor

February is American Heart Month!

Knit or crochet a scarf and give support and encouragement to women with heart disease.

The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, and WomenHeart, have joined forces with RedHeart Yarns to create the HeartScarves Kits featuring everything you need to knit or crochet a red scarf.

HeartScarves provides handmade red scarves to members of the WomenHeart Support Networks, and to women undergoing cardiac procedures. The red scarves offer comfort, support, and encouragement for a woman with heart disease and become a part of her healing journey.

WomenHeart Support Network Coordinators, the only national network of trained volunteers providing support to women with heart disease.

Each red scarf is accompanied by a personal, heartfelt note of support, love and encouragement from the creator. WomenHeart Support Network Coordinators deliver the scarves to women heart patients in hospitals and cardiac rehabilitation centers.

Find more crafts to make that say “I Love You.”

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5 Feel-Good Ways to Boost Your Heart Health

January 28, 2010 at 4:25 pm, by Rachel, BHG editor

Love your heart! With Heart Month just a few days away, take a minute (or two, or three) for yourself and boost your health at the same time. Here are five feel-good ways to improve your heart health:

1. Cuddle your pet. Research shows that pet owners have lower blood pressure and cholesterol. But that’s not all, pets help your heart in other ways as well.
2. Laugh … a lot. Whether you giggle, chuckle, chortle, or snort those peals of laughter keep your blood vessels healthy no matter what sound you make. Want to laugh more? Try Laughter Yoga (yes, it’s a real thing).
3. Say “thank you.” Showing gratitude and appreciation actually reduces stress—always a good thing for your heart. Enhance your gratitude quotient with these tips.
4. Connect with a friend. Scientists have found that people with friends they can talk to have healthier hearts. Need a friend fix? These girlfriend getaways are packed with fun ideas for a group of friends.
5. Escape into a book. Leave behind the stresses of your day and jump into a book. Better yet, run a bubble bath and read while you soak. Here are our 4 favorite bubble bath/book pairings from sister pub Heart-Healthy Living magazine.

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Personalized Products with Your Photos

January 28, 2010 at 11:21 am, by Brenda, BHG Editor

I have tons and tons of photos, I can only scrapbook so many of them. Better Homes and Gardens has this awesome service where you can make personalized photo books, cards, posters, invites and more.
I made a book about our vacation to Minnesota last year. I think I’ll make one for every vacation from now on.
I can’t wait to make one of the fabric posters. They are made of removable fabric that won’t rip or wrinkle! They can be moved any where and won’t damage walls either.

My favorite though has got to be these calendars, I can’t wait to make a couple for gifts.

If you need an easy, personalized gift, check out Better Homes and Gardens site, bhglifeinphotos.com. Be sure to share what you make in the idea gallery!

P.S.: Get 12 Free Valentine’s Day Cards through February 10th! Enter coupon code: VDAY2010.

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Must-Read: Design Rules by Elaine Griffin

January 27, 2010 at 4:42 pm, by Veronica, BHG Editor

If you’ve ever wished you could have Better Homes and Garden’s contributor Elaine Griffin pick the perfect color palette for your living room like she did for the New York state home featured in the February issue (on newsstands now) or give your home a festive holiday makeover similar to the Blair House, pick up Design Rules: The Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator.  ($25, penguin.com)

Griffin describes Design Rules as “…shamelessly simply and packed…with the information that knowledge-seeking-do-it-yourself designers of both sexes shouldn’t live without….” This information includes: design “rules of thumb” (The top of the coffee table should always be lower than that of the sofa.), standard furniture measurements, definitions of design terms, designer trade secrets (A yellow throw pillow will look good in almost any room.), budget ideas, color tips, and room arrangement diagrams for large and small spaces.

Design Rules is a book you can use at any step in your decorating process. Read it all at once to get you started. Take it to store for a reference guide when buying furniture, lighting, cabinetry, or window treatments. Or, use it as a room-by-room guide for each project you tackle.

Do you have a design guide you love? Tell us about it!

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Crafty Stuff I’ve Made

January 22, 2010 at 12:39 pm, by Brenda, BHG Editor

One of my favorite things to make are projects for my home. I absolutely love to decorate, paint and style the rooms in my home. I’ve painted my kids’ rooms about 3 or 4 times. Because I like to redecorate so much I usually make my own artwork. One simple and easily changeable artwork project that I make is taking a canvas frame and covering it with my favorite fabric. Due to my need to redecorate so often this makes it very easy to change out the fabric as I change paint colors or other parts of my rooms.

Here’s another easy artwork idea that hangs in my bedroom. I took pieces of plywood, painted them black, and printed out a few black and white pictures. Then I used silver tacks to hold the photos in place. Again, this is super simple and very easy to change out as you like.

What types of artwork projects do you have in your home? Please share your ideas in our gallery.

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