Martin and I are fast approaching our wedding anniversary (I know - anniversaries are quickly coming for every couple married in the later part of the summer, right?).  We didn’t even live in the same town, let alone the same state for most of our engagement.  So while making a home involves so many things, the fundamental beginnings of our homes often begin with the people that we live with.  In fact, it’s the people that matter the most.  That’s why I’m excited to start sharing a different sort of post with you each Friday - posts about green weddings, international weddings, and most especially, a look at the things that really matter in our lives - each other.

I’ll wrap the whole series up in August on our anniversary.  Yes, Martin and I are really going to spill the beans on our little wedding - an experience that came far before we ever knew we’d live in Berlin or especially a house made of tires.  But like I said: it matters more who you’re with than where you are and what you have in your home.

The first new little family I want to introduce you to is Christine over at Simple Savvy and her new hubby.  They just got married last month with an oh-so-simple (and completely enviable!) green wedding.  She’s ready to share her little paradise.  But I have to be honest with you.  We’ve already hit the road (or should I say air?) for the 4th of July weekend.  So you’ll just have to hang on a little bit as we launch this series.   Will you do that for me?

To all our American friends and people in the US:  Happy Independence Day.

(Images taken from our wedding)

Are the chemicals slowly disappearing in your house, too?  One of the first to go around here was the stuff we were putting on our bodies like harsh soaps and nasty shampoos.  We were happy with Avalon Organics.  Then when I thought my skin couldn’t be happier and I would never truly be able to pronounce all the ingredients, Plain Jane Skin Care gracefully waltzed into our lives thanks to a fabulous friend.

I honestly didn’t know body products could work so well and have so few basic ingredients in them.  Love it!

And one lucky Making This Home reader is sure to fall in love, too.  Plain Jane is offering a fabulous gift package that I so desperately wish I could win.  Just look at all this simple, natural stuff:

The prize, valued at 30 smackaroos, includes:

Plain Jane is only available online unless you’re in the Atlanta area.  You’ve got to love the green, small business movement in action.  With soy candles, natural bug repellants, and products especially for babies and kids, you’ll just want to eat all the yumminess right up.  (Luckily you can thanks to the short sweet list of ingredients Plain Jane uses.)

The prize:

One winner in the United States or Canada will receive all of the Plain Jane products mentioned above valued at $30.

How to enter:

Leave a comment below (one entry per household) that describes the part of your morning routine that you struggle with most (or skip!), especially in the beauty department.

Deadline:

Entries must be received by Monday, July 6 at 8:00 pm EST.  The winner will be announced on Making this Home the following day.

How many of you have found yourselves completely hooked to those home remodeling shows on HGTV?  And how many of you cringe when the cast slips on the most basic construction vocabulary?  (Maybe that second one is just Martin and me, so maybe it really is a good thing we don’t have TV out here in the tire house).  

In any case - cringe or no cringe - here are two basic slip ups you’re guaranteed to hear.  Feel free to label yourself as an official know-it-all after this post.  Just don’t expect HGTV to come knocking, okay?

Slip up #1.  ”We’re installing hardwood floors in the kitchen.”  All wood floors are not hardwood floors.  We have different types of wood, just like we have different types of apples.  Just because I think gala apples are the best, it doesn’t mean all apples are gala.  It’s the same with wood floors.  

Yes, hard woods (like cherry, maple, and beech) are usually better for flooring materials than the competition, soft woods (like pine, cedar, and fir) because hardwoods tend to be denser and harder.  We need every ounce of strength we can get underfoot, but don’t be fooled by thinking all floors are hardwood.  Some softwoods are actually harder than some hardwoods.  So you just never know.  Well except you do know one thing:  all wood floors are not hardwood.

Slip up #2.  ”We’ve been using a table saw for that there job.”  I guess because we set this saw on a table, people on TV frequently call it a table saw:

Sorry folks.  No matter how much I correct the people on TV from my chair, they just don’t listen.  That quick guy is a chop saw.  It’s really good for cutting trim, crown molding, and 2×4s.  The blade gets great angles, but it can’t cover a lot of area like a table saw can.

Here’s a table saw.  Notice how it is the table:

A table saw has a blade coming out of the table itself, which is incredibly dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.  (The blade is covered by a clear plastic shield guard here.)  More people lose their fingers to table saws every year.  Martin and I cut all of our cabinet walls, doors, and shelves in our kitchen with a table saw because it’s really good for cutting large, long things like sheets of wood.  I often hung out the window to balance pieces of wood as Martin cut them on the table saw.

Know any other frequent slip-ups when it comes to tools and terms?  Or do we have any smarty pants in the house who already knew this stuff?  I don’t mind co-correcting people on TV if you want to get together.

Update:  It seems I just discovered how to get my husband talking on this site.  Martin brings up some fabulous points in the comments that you might want to check out.

(Images from Amazon.com)

You know that song, You Light up my Life?  Every time I saw all of your entries for the fab ceiling light from CSN Lighting, Whitney Houston began busting out in tune in my mind.  She’s got so much passion in that song, and it turns out you all have a lot of lovin’, too:  for your spouses, your kids, your pets…

Now before I announce the winner, that person is just going to have to promise right here to send us a picture of the light installed in its new place (or at least tell us what the plans are).  Promise?

Okay.  Just a refresher for the ceiling light you’re all competing for from CSN Lighting:  a $102 Kenroy Home’s Triomphe Semi Flush Mount series ceiling light with your choice of color among cocoa, oil rubbed bronze, and brushed steel.  The lucky winner brought to us thanks to random.org is…

…Erin D!  You know what lights up her life?  

What lights up my life is our family supper together - every night for 16 years now. We have our three children, the dog, and various extra children and life is always good!

Congrats Erin D.  Send me an email with your address and preferred light, and we’ll get it to you in a jiffy.

For all the rest of you, keep those fingers limber.  Move giveaways to come!

(Images from CSN Lighting)

You all remember how much we like to keep down the waste around here, especially when it comes to our mailbox.  We’ve brainstormed a whole slew of low-cost, green invitations and have even sent personalized digital thank you letters to our immediate family instead of just the traditional phone call at Christmas.

But what about all those other occasions when a thank you is in order?  What do you think a person should do when she gets something like a baby gift from a family friend or an unexpected package from a loved one?  

Today we have a fine line between being courteous and being green.  And for as much as I push repurposing and cutting back, I’m really struggling with this issue.  It seems I get more and more casual thank yous in emails.  Some are from people trying to be green; some are not.  So I thought we could have a little discussion in the comments today.

Please tell us your take on proper thank yous.  Do you send thank you letters or mention your thanks in an email?  Or do you pick up the phone?  Maybe do nothing?  Tell me, tell me.  Oh please, please, please.

(Hiking image of Martin and me - used in thank you cards for our wedding.  Taken at 14,000 feet.)

Our major repurposing project this week comes courtesy of Yankee Candle.  I found an old jar candle with a stubby wick and not much wax to boot in one of the boxes of stuff we grabbed to set up home while we’re away from Berlin.  Who knows where it came from.  A wedding present, maybe?  In any case, you know me:  time to repurpose.

Filling the jar with jewelry is such an easy way to see what I have… and actually remember to wear it.  Sure, drawers and jewelry boxes work just fine.  But a sleek, free display case - who can pass that up?

Old candle jars are such a tricky case for repurposing, anyway.  You can’t store food in them - the plastic ring has permanently absorbed the candle scent.  Plus the jars are short, wide, and un-stackable, which is super important in kitchens without much storage like ours.

Removing the excess wax was pretty simple.  I’ve heard about getting big pieces out by sticking the jar in the freezer, which didn’t seem entirely practical in this case (how would you get wax out of a small lip?).  So here’s what I did:

1. Boil hot water with candle sitting in pot, careful not to let water get in jar.
2. When the wax was melted, I poured it all into a smaller jar.  I had to reheat the wax a few times to get it all out.
3. The jar was still warm as I used a paper towel to wipe out the thin coat of wax and soot.
4. The smell was still pretty strong, so I threw it in the dishwasher.

Have any other ideas for reusing candle jars?  Makes me wish we had more candles floating around!  Don’t forget to send a few pictures our way if you do.