How - and what - are you doing during this time of Staying Home? I know it’s not easy for many people. I hope you’re okay.

If you’re a person who loves to be home, like me, you’re probably doing fine. I work from home, so the changes in my life aren’t huge. However, there are challenges. Yes indeedy.

Could I complain for just a couple of seconds? I promise once I get this off my chest, I’ll go right back to being positive and productive:

my skinny jeans are no longer comfortable AT ALL
my gel manicure has gone to hell
I only own ONE pair of yoga pants (see #1)
I‘m cooking and meal planning way too much for my liking
I’m tired of graciously loaning MY office to my Hub and working on the kitchen table and LR coffee table - but I don’t want to hear his conference calls all day long
my cute short haircut is looking shaggy and I know it’s going to get much worse.

Thanks for letting me share that list. I do feel better. It’s a pitiful, self-indulgent list, I can see that now. But it’s mine. If you have a list, please feel free to put it in the comments and I’ll sympathize with you.

Sometimes it takes real effort to regain the right attitude. I’ve been messing around with a couple of activities and wanted to share them with you. My goal is that these will give you some ideas that keep your butt off the sofa and your brain chugging along:

#1 Basic Sewing

If you can sew, even just a little bit, you can make cloth napkins and even pillowcases. Napkins eliminate the need for paper ones (there are none of those in the grocery stores) and homemade pillowcases are great gifts OR just something new for your own home. I received an email today from Mill Outlet Village in Raleigh. They’re selling 100% cotton fabric bundles for an extremely good price and they’ll mail your bundle to you. Here’s a link to their website store. Another great source is Spoonflower. Here’s their link.

These cloth napkins were made 30+ YEARS ago, by my mom. We pull them out every now and then. You can make these yourself: cut big squares of cotton fabric, hem them on a sewing machine. They wash and dry like a breeze and last forever (obviously).

These are a couple examples of cotton pillowcases I made quite a few years ago - probably when Grandboy was very small and I needed a creative outlet. YouTube has lots of videos on how to make them. They’re very easy, fun and useful.

#2 Fun on the computer

Create a digital magazine. This one might not interest you, but I have always wanted to do this. Right now I’m waiting for a FB friend to finish the template she’s about to put up for sale on her website - she swears it will be ready any day (but she’s been saying this for a month - she’s busy). When it’s up and I use it, I’ll let you know! Is there some sort of project, completely outside of your wheelhouse, that you’ve always wanted to do? Do it!

Here’s a quick draft of my imaginary digital magazine. Pretty bad, but that means the only way to go is up!

#3 Basic Gardening

Plant something. Anything at all. And then commit to taking good care of it. Last week at Casa DeCocco we put in 2 very small gardens. This is not an easy project, nor a cheap one. But it feels really good to be outside, in the sunshine, getting dirty. Give it a try.

This is a peek at the garden we tucked into a sunny spot in our front yard. It’s (hopefully) going to give us herbs, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini this summer!

#4 Refresh your cooking skills while staying home

We’re getting 3 meals each week from Hello Fresh. They’re updating my tired cooking skills and introducing some ingredient combinations that I might never have tried. Hello Fresh gives you the ingredients and the step by step directions, but you’re doing all the chopping and cooking, so it’s from scratch. No shopping and no waste. I’ll show you what the recipe directions look like for a meal:

Pork Sausage Bolognese was quick and easy. Some recipes are more involved.

Below is the other side of the recipe sheet.

Every ingredient quantity and step is shown.

#4 Learn to play something

Pull out your kids’ musical instruments that they abandoned long ago and learn to play something yourself. Hub and I took Fender up on their offer of free online lessons and we’re learning to play the guitar! We sound awful, but we’re having fun together. It sure beats watching the news.

#5 Wallpaper - you know you’re dying to try it!

Well, I am. Let’s wallpaper the laundry Room or an accent wall with removable wallpaper. If I get a chunk of downtime, I just might do it. Graham & Brown is having a 25% off sale (here’s the link) and Tempaper is doing the same (link). However, every time I go back to those sites, the sales have changed. Whatever. Make it a small area and it won’t cost much.

Here’s some inspo for you:

is this a terrific idea (the wallpaper on the ceiling) or what? The Tempaper website has great inspiration photos!

I’ve got a wall in my Kitchen that would look terrific with this coral and gold paper by Graham and Brown.

This one, from Tempaper, would sparkle up our Laundry Room nicely!

About downtime: if I was stranded on a deserted island for a month before being rescued and you asked me how it was, I swear I would say “I’ve been busy!” I don’t seem to understand the concept of this “downtime.” Do you, really? But maybe the guitar lessons, gardening and swooning over wallpapers is downtime. I just never thought of it that way.

I hope you’re well and you stay that way.

With sparkle and texture,

Anne