Roshambo Donates Prescription Glasses to Families in Need for Every Padres Home Run
By Stacy Brown
News: home
15 Creative Nursery Themes That Will Surround Your Baby With Dreams and Adventure
By Dallas Stevens
Expecting a baby comes with a lot of necessary forward-planning to make sure that you and your home are ready for the little one's arrival. While some of the planning is more on the logistical and practical side, it's also a chance to design and plan your baby's nursery. Creating a space where your baby feels warm, loved, and nurtured and which encourages their imagination as they grow is something that all parents strive for. If you're not sure where to start or just want some inspiration for your new baby's new space, check out some of these 15 creative and unique baby nursery themes ideas.
7 Mind-Blowing Ikea Pantry Hacks
By Gen Cohen
Pantries can be tricky spaces to decorate and use efficiently. Some of us are blessed with having a full-size pantry just off the kitchen, while others have to get creative, using a corner of the kitchen as a makeshift pantry. But whatever your pantry situation, creating a space that's organized, useful, and (of course) pretty, takes a bit of ingenuity and thinking outside the box. Try some of these great Ikea pantry hacks for upgrading your pantry!
Door Organizer
Knuff magazine holders are the perfect way to store those awkward items like freezer bags, cling wrap, and parchment paper. You can even mount them yourself to free up drawer space and keep everything you need close at hand.
Built-Ins
If you don't have very much storage in your pantry, these built-ins using Billy bookshelves are the perfect way to maximize your pantry space. They're not too deep, so they don't extend into too much of your space, but they make amazing use of an empty wall.
Spice Rack
Ikea products are perfect if you love that Scandinavian, minimalist, or modern style, but they don't always appeal to the modern-farmhouse aesthetic. But with a bit of elbow grease, you can turn simple Bekväm shelves into rustic spice racks.
Coffee Cart
The Förhöja kitchen cart is a staple in many kitchens and pantries, adding more drawer and shelving space without a huge footprint. With a few style upgrades, you can take the classic cart and turn it into a beautiful pantry cart for everyday items like coffee.
Food Bins
This Ikea hack really shows you what you can do with a simple piece of furniture and a lot of imagination. An Ikea Rast chest of drawers is transformed from a bedroom staple into the ideal storage solution for vegetables, potatoes, and other pantry essentials.
Labelled Jars
Give basic storage containers a bit of personality, all while keeping your dry-food goods neatly arranged, fresh, and protected from critters. This hack takes Korken jars and makes them look pretty while keeping your dry goods more identifiable.
Herb Containers
There's nothing better than using fresh herbs in your meals . . . except maybe having them so close at hand! Whip up this colorful herb container garden using an Ikea Socker plant stand and pots. Keep it in your pantry or on your kitchen counter, and fill it with all of your favorite herbs.
Doing This 1 Simple Thing Can Cut Your Air-Conditioning Bill up to 40%
By Gen Cohen
If you're seeking solace from the sweltering heat by camping out in your air-conditioned home, then your comfort might be short-lived and replaced by a different type of misery when the electric bill arrives. Luckily, we have a trick to keep the sweltering heat from withering your wallet this Summer: install a ceiling fan. That's right, a basic ceiling fan (like this $35 model at Home Depot) can decrease your air-conditioning bill by up to a whopping 40 percent. Mr. Handyman told POPSUGAR that ceiling fans help circulate the cool air more efficiently, allowing the air conditioner to do more with less energy.
"The use of a ceiling fan in an average-sized room can allow homeowners to raise the thermostat about four degrees without feeling any change in temperature," Mr. Handyman said. To amplify the cooling effects even more, one of the energy saving hacks he recommends is to switch the fan to a counterclockwise direction in the Summer, as this will push the air directly down. Now that's some cool knowledge!
Take the Heat Out of the Kitchen! 20 Summer Crockpot Recipes
By Gen Cohen
Crockpots are a cold-weather essential, but if you're accustomed to putting your slow cooker away from April to September, you may want to reconsider. These 20 easy summer crockpot recipes do what the grill cannot, allowing your dinner to cook itself while you head off to work, summer camp carpool duty, or whatever else the day has in store From pulled pork to vegetarian lasagna that lets you put all of that seasonal squash and zucchini to use, you're guaranteed to find a few great summer crockpot meals ideas to get your family through the second half of summer.
10 Nursery Storage Hacks to Help You Save Space
By Gen Cohen
Caring for your baby inevitably requires a whole bunch of stuff, and it isn't easy to fit all those necessities into a smaller nursery. Not to worry — if you're working with minimal space, there are some simple hacks and products to help you keep your baby's items organized. Keep reading for a look at 10 smart space saving nursery ideas for smaller spaces, and then get inspired by checking out kids' rooms you need to see to believe.
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Lisette Mejia
Whether you use them in a closet or put them on display with a hanging rod, these I Think I Canvas Hanging Organizers ($9-$19) are the perfect place to stow away clothes, toys, and products. They come in eight colors, and when they aren't in use, they fold flat — a win-win.
Image Source: Play Chic Interiors
Take a cue from Lisa Hershman of Play Chic Interiors, who installed hooks on the back of a door to hang embroidered totes. As she put it, "It's easy. Baby wants to play with something? Take down the bag. Baby is done playing with something? Load up the bag and hang it up. Simple as that." (Check out more pictures of this cute nursery.)
Sure, your changing table already has plenty of storage, but more is more! Deck yours out with a product like Pottery Barn's Harper Changing Table Runner ($39), which features three deep pockets on each end to store wipes, diapers, or blankets.
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Lisette Mejia
Hang clothes on a rod that's mounted on the wall for functional storage that doubles as a cute display.
Stylish, functional storage like Serena & Lily's La Jolla Baskets ($78-$168) offers a great way to keep things in place — and covered up. Even better? When you redo your child's bedroom, you can use the versatile baskets in another room.
For any furniture you buy, think tall and thin, like Land of Nod's Cubic Bookcase ($399).
Image Source: Tessa Neustadt
Get inspired by the stylish nursery of Brooke Mahan from What's Up Moms. By choosing bookshelves over a bookcase, she was able to keep her child's books up and out of the way without sacrificing floor space.
For clothes and products you need but rarely use, buy The Container Store's Thin Storage Boxes ($10-$13) that you can label and tuck beneath your bookcase, changing table, or dresser.
No more floor space? No problem. A product like Land of Nod's Hushaby Wall Hanger ($39) features six large pockets you can use to hold the odds and ends you'll need to grab regularly.
A crib with drawers? Genius! RH Baby and Child's Haven Storage Panel Crib ($1,199) features two built-in drawers for storage.
THE HAPPIEST BABY: DR. KARP'S 10 TIPS TO GET YOUR BABY TO SLEEP
By Gen Cohen
Image Source: Flickr user alphaone
There are few subjects that get new parents riled up as much as talking about their baby's sleep (OK, and maybe their poop). However much they're getting, it isn't enough and they're not sure how to get their tot to sleep more. "Sleep deprivation is the number one problem you face as the parent of a young child," says Dr. Harvey Karp, author of the wildly popular The Happiest Baby series of parenting guides, including his latest book, The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions For Kids From Birth to 5 Years ($16).
According to Dr. Karp, "Sleep deprivation is a horrible nuisance at best; at its worst it can lead to marital conflict and postpartum depression. It makes it hard for you to lose your baby weight because you're exhausted, so you're overeating and not exercising. It leads to breastfeeding failure because you're just so tired that you give up on it and even to unsafe sleep behavior because you get so tired, you just bring your baby in bed with you. You would never go to bed with your baby if you were drunk. But studies show when you're getting six hours of sleep a night or less, you're the equivalent of drunk. So all these moms are drunk parenting even though they don't know it."
So what's a new parent to do? Dr. Karp shared 10 tips from his book to get your baby to sleep. Keep scrolling and get ready for everyone in your home to start catching a few more Zs at night.
10 WTF Surprises of Being a New Mom That You'll Never Read in Any Book
By Gen Cohen
Image Source: Flickr user quinn.anya
Like most women, I was nervous about becoming a mom and worried a lot about what it would be like. I tried to prepare myself as best I could, and while I didn't read all the baby books, I definitely asked around. Before I gave birth, I knew I might be surprised by the challenges of breastfeeding and the weird noises my newborn would make in her sleep. I heard all about the squeeze bottle I'd soon keep by the toilet. And I was warned to get my sleep in now.
But there are some things I realized soon after becoming a mom that no one ever told me and I certainly didn't find while flipping through What to Expect When You're Expecting, or even when reading articles online chronicling the "37 Most Shocking Things You Never Knew About Motherhood." Here, 10 of the real WTF surprises and pieces of advice for first time moms.
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