Category: Winter

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Health Healthy Living Winter

Winter Skin Care: 4 Tips To Keep Your Skin In Top Shape

Winter Skin Care

Let’s face it: winter is here – you need to take good care of your skin. Know that winters can cause severe damage to your skin. Cold air, dry indoors, low humidity levels, and harsh winter wind can make your skin dry and stressed. Winter doesn’t only affect your face, but also your hands, feet, and other areas.

Symptoms of a winter rash include:

  • Redness
  • Itching
  • Rough or scaly patches
  • Bumps or blisters
  • Flaking
  • Inflammation

Also, cold weather can cause skin conditions, such as psoriasis, rosacea, dermatitis, and cold urticaria. For my kiddos, it exacerbates their eczema.

Fortunately, there are some ways to fight the causes of dry skin and other conditions. Curious to know what these are? Let’s get going:

Winter Skin Care

Winter Skin Care

Stay Hydrated

During winters, the weather becomes drier and dehydrating. Drinking lots of water should be your priority. Consider drinking two large glasses in the morning and having at least two liters the rest of the day.

Besides drinking water, there are several foods you can eat to keep yourself hydrated. These foods include:

  • Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes
  • Apples
  • Sprouts
  • Oranges
  • Spinach
  • Mushrooms
  • Blueberries

Know that these foods are rich in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. Also, it will ensure that you are getting the components you need to keep cell function healthy, which in turn improves the skin’s elasticity.

Opt For A Botox Treatment

Winter winds can make your skin dry, leading to fine lines and wrinkles. However, to treat these winter effects, it is wise to undergo a Botox treatment – a non-invasive cosmetic surgery procedure.

Botox injections work by preventing muscles from contracting. It prevents nerves from transmitting the signals that cause muscles to contract.

However, if you plan to get botox injections, it is wise to read through resources like Botox by Dr. Sepehr Egrari. It will give you a deep insight into how it’s done and which areas it covers.

Eat A Healthy Diet

Say goodbye to fine lines and wrinkles by making a few dietary changes. Know that sugars and carbohydrates can promote reactions in the skin that may lead to acne, fine lines, and wrinkles. Instead, eat foods that will make your skin healthy and glowing during winters, such as:

  • Carrots: It is rich in vitamin C, helping maintain your skin’s elasticity.
  • Berries: They are powerful antioxidants that help fight free radicals, which can cause wrinkles and fine lines.
  • Beetroot: Consider drinking a glass of beetroot juice daily to eliminate toxins and make your skin healthy and glowing.

These healthy foods can do wonders for your skin during winter.

Wear SPF

During winters, snow reflects the sun’s rays, which may expose you to harmful UV rays. After all, these UV rays can damage your skin with wrinkles, leathery skin, dark spots, etc.

For that reason, medical experts recommend wearing sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher to all exposed areas of your body.

Winter Skin Care Tips

The winter months can be challenging for so many reasons. It can interfere with your mood and make it harder for you to take care of yourself. However, following the tips mentioned above may help you become much better than you can expect.

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Adulting For the Home Home How To Winter

Winterize Your Home with These 3 Easy Steps

It’s that time of year again! The leaves are falling, and the air is getting colder. Some people don’t bother to care for their home during the wintertime, but it makes a difference if you do some preparation now. Learning how to winterize your home ensures that you’re not caught off guard when those first few snowflakes start to fall.

Winterize Your Home
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How to Winterize Your Home

1. Make Insulation a Priority

The first step to getting your home ready for the winter is ensuring you have insulation. If you don’t have any or want it replaced, get in touch with a professional who can assess the situation. They can give you all the details on how much this will cost and when they can do it. Additionally, check for drafts around windows and doors so that cold air doesn’t seep through them during those colder months.

You might also want to look at items such as baseboards which may need replacing if there’s damage from water leakage. Not sure where these spots are? No problem – experts recommend hiring an energy auditor to take care of things like this once a year because not only would they know where to look, they’d also know how much the temperature change would affect your bill.

2. Have your Furnace Inspected

An essential part of getting your home ready for the winter is ensuring your furnace won’t give out on you. Since this system works hard all year long and has a high chance of malfunctioning when it’s least expected (like during the winter), make sure to get an inspection.

You don’t want to be stuck in freezing temperatures with no heat because your furnace won’t start, then you will need new insulation and a whole new heating unit altogether. Both can cost quite a bit and might leave you wondering what happened to your cash. But, of course, it doesn’t hurt either way so take care of these things now instead of later.

3. Clean the Gutters

One of the most common issues during wintertime is ice forming in your gutters. When ice forms, two things can happen. Either they break completely, or their shape gets warped from all the weight. In any case, both situations aren’t great for your home so do yourself a favor by checking up on those gutters.

Winterize Your Home

Getting your home ready for the winter isn’t just a good idea; it’s also something that can save you quite a bit of money. Follow these three steps now to winterize your home.

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Adulting For the Home How To Winter

3 Important Tips for Preparing Your Family Home For The Winter

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Although it may seem like time is passing by in a blur, winter will soon be here, meaning you have many household chores. Keeping your home safe and cozy during the winter months can be a tiresome task, so you must get started preparing your home before it feels like it’s the right time. Waiting until the time feels right will likely leave you scrambling at the last minute. The kids go back to school, then Halloween happens, and suddenly, it is Thanksgiving, and you wonder how you even got here. We’ve all been there, parents. So how can you start preparing your family home for winter?

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Tip for Preparing Your Family Home For Winter

Structural Security

First, let’s get the boring stuff out of the way. Your home can fall prey to frozen pipes, water damage, and drafts during the winter. So, now is the time to take a look over your home’s outer structures.

Are any repairs needed before the cold comes? To keep the place free of cold drafts or worse water damage that requires extensive refurbishments, make sure you undergo any repairs before the winter. Not only will keeping your home maintained help keep the heating bills down, but it will also increase safety and spare you expense down the line.

Preventing water damage in the winter can be done in a few ways. First, check your pipes for any cracks that can leak and cause damage. Second, make sure any flood risks are minimized by installing high-quality drainage in your home’s foundations. Third, say a little prayer to the home maintenance gods for guidance.

Keeping It Cozy

One lovely thing about the winter months is that they give us the opportunity to snuggle up and get cozy. Ensure you are prepared for this by pulling out your old throws and blankets from the attic.

Similarly, one way to cozy up your home for the winter is wintery scented candles. These don’t have to be overpowering or intense but can be subtle mood-setters that light up dark corners of your home in the evenings while giving a gorgeous aroma too.

Maximizing Your Heat When Preparing Your Family Home

Lord knows the heat bills can be off the charts in the winter. If you want to save money this year while also doing your part for the environment, make sure you do everything possible to keep the heat inside your home.

How can you maximize the heat in the winter? Well, it all starts with identifying the weak points – the windows and doors, of course!

Are your windows double-glazed? If not, time to invest. Investing in double-glazed windows will change your life and give you amazing heat-sealing for years to come. In addition, never underestimate the value of high-quality curtains or blinds which are thick enough to block the draft.

No matter what kind of home you live in, there are easy ways to prepare it for the wintertime. Start preparing your home for winter now, and save yourself the headache later in the year.

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Categories
crafts Decor Gifts Holiday Winter

Easy DIY Snowman Christmas Tree Ornament for Kids Are Great for Gifting

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There is nothing more special than a homemade Christmas tree ornament, especially when the ornaments are made by kids. A few years ago, my dad said that he wanted Christmas tree ornaments made by all of his grandkids, so these are the ones the kids made for him! The DIY snowman handprint ornament was a hit because not only did Papa love his handmade gifts, the kids also loved making them!

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How to Make a DIY Snowman Handprint Ornament

Materials:

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Directions:

For the jar lids, I used lids of spaghetti and Alfredo sauce jars and painted them red with acrylic paint. I had to do several coats of red paint to cover up the words on the lids completely because I didn’t want to see anything through the paint.

Once the lids were completely covered and dried, I used white paint on the kids’ hands to make the snowmen. I painted their fingers (3 fingers for Sylas and Peyton, 4 fingers for Josie and Liam) to create the snowmen. I also painted the top of their palm to make a snowy hill underneath the snowmen.

Peyton’s hands were too big for this (he was 10-years-old), so I had him do the top half of his fingers and use a paintbrush to create the snowy hill. Once the white paint dried completely, I added the scarves with green paint, hats, eyes, buttons, and mouths with a black sharpie and the noses with orange paint. Peyton did his own, but I did this part for the babies.

Once everything is dried and ready to go, you will spray one coat of clear spray paint over the front and back of the ornament. This ensures that the paint doesn’t flake off.

Finally, you will use a hot glue gun to glue the string or ribbon in a loop at the top of the ornament. Make sure you put the glue on the back so that it is hidden from sight.

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Final Thoughts On DIY Snowman Handprint Ornaments

I love the finished product SO MUCH that I wanted to keep them for myself. My dad loved them, and the kids really enjoyed making them and giving them as a gift.

I’d love to see the Christmas crafts you’ve done or are planning to do with your kiddos this season!! Please share them in the comments. 🙂

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Family Activities For the Home Holiday How To Winter

8 Ways to Get Your Fireplace Ready For Winter

8 Ways to Get Your Fireplace Ready for Winter

With cold weather coming, you are probably ready to warm up in front of your fireplace. Not only will you stay warm, but your house will also heat up without raising your electricity bill. Before you start a fire, however, you must get your fireplace ready for winter. Doing so will protect your home from a house fire.

Whether this is your first time ever using the fireplace or if you use it every single year, you should complete the process before using it for the season.

***This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.***

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How to Get Your Fireplace Ready For Winter

Clean and Inspect the Firebox

You only have to clean it if it wasn’t cleaned out the year before. Any soot or old wood in the firebox should be removed. When you’re removing soot, you should wet it down before removing it to avoid having the ash go into the air.

Once the firebox is cleaned, you should look for any cracks or areas that are missing mortar. Make note of those areas so you can have them repaired.

Inspect the Fue and Damper

The flue and damper regulate the airflow inside the chimney. If they are dirty, they may not open and close properly. You should clean them, and then make sure they are working properly.

Inspect the Gasket

The gasket seals the door and should be inspected every year before the fireplace is used. The door should also be checked for damage. Damaged or missing gaskets can cause too much oxygen to reach the fire, which may cause a house fire.

Clean the Blower

Some fireplaces have a blower, so if yours has one, it needs to be cleaned every year. If you don’t, buildup can occur.

Have your Chimney Swept

Once a year, you should call a professional to sweep your chimney. Oftentimes, soot and debris are left in the chimney from the previous winter. When this happens, it can cause a house fire if it isn’t cleaned out before being used the following year. A professional should always do the chimney sweeping because they have the necessary equipment and expertise.

Inspect the Outside of the Chimney

Check for cracks, loose bricks, or missing mortar in the structure of the chimney and the lining. Make a note of anything you see that may be an issue.

Have any Damages Repaired When You Get Your Fireplace Ready For Winter

A professional should handle all of the repairs. Professionals have the proper materials to fix both the inside and the outside of the fireplace. Plus, a reliable professional (read reviews before hiring anyone!!) knows for certain what they are doing. If the repairs are done incorrectly, it could cause a house fire.

Make Sure the Fireplace Has a Cap

Having a cap on your chimney prevents birds, rain, leaves, small animals, and other debris from going into the chimney. You will want to make sure yours is still there and that it doesn’t need to be repaired or replaced.

What to do When Your Fireplace is Ready

Before you light the first fire of the season, make sure your smoke detectors are working properly. If they aren’t, replace the batteries or install new detectors.

Get Your Fireplace Ready For Winter

After that, you can sit back, read a book, and get cozy in front of your fireplace.