Shaklee's FREE, LIFETIME membership is almost over!

I have been MIA lately! Goodness, it has been busy over here! Working my amazing Shaklee which has kept me hoppin' (yay!), preparing for another garage sale from hell & then having said garage sale yesterday (our garage sales are HUGE & a lot of work!), preparing left over garage sale items to post on Facebook garage sale groups, focusing on finding our little Alpha female Yorkie a home (success! I found her the most perfect home!!), gathering toys to donate to a new playroom that is in need, planning for our upcoming vacation - whew! I'm a little pooped! :)

I wanted to pop in quickly & remind everyone that Shaklee's free membership special is almost over! Special ends July 31, 2013. I do not know if this special will be offered again, so I want everyone to take advantage! It's a $20 savings!! As of August 1, 2013, everyone will have to pay the $19.95 membership fee, in order to join & receive the 15% discount on all products. But for 3 more days - it's FREE!



You can join for FREE with ANY purchase! ANY! No minimum required! This is an awesome, awesome special!!

All you do is place the products you want in your shopping cart, & at check out, it will then ask if you want to join as a member, for free! Click YES, of course! That's it - done!

Click here to shop!

If you have any questions, please holler at me anytime! I'd love to help! adoringthesimple@gmail.com

Click here to see exactly how I work from home, doing what I do, LOVING what I do & who I do it with. I adore these girls!! So much fun! :)

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**As always, as a Shaklee member, there is NO monthly order required! You can order what you want, when you want it! Easy peasy & NO pressure!!

Decorating - from browns to blacks!

Oh I am loving this! I've finally made the decision to change my decorating colors from brown to black, I am ready to start painting & getting this gorgeous color scheme implemented, when it begins to rain. And rain. And rain. For days. Hasn't rained in months until now. Ha! Welcome to my world. Here are some colors I've gotten so far:



So pretty! Too bad I couldn't use them until today. But today, we have sunshine! We went to the park this morning, had lunch & then I repainted my Goodwill lamp! (Yes, again. This is going to end up being one expensive lamp!) Hello beautiful Metallic Black!



(I just noticed those two dark spots kind of on the right side, but they're in the photo only. I don't know why those are there. There are no dark spots on my lamp! :)

Kind of hard to tell the brown from the black, but it's black! This very well could be one of my favorite shades of black! It's just beautiful with a pretty shimmer. I like shimmer!

Here it is, side by side. Here you can tell the difference:



Tada! I know. The line in between the two photos is crooked. Don't ask.

Now, it's time to choose paint for the girls' room & then start spraying my blacks/silver/gray/white on candlesticks, a clock (or two) & whatever else isn't nailed down. Hope I don't spray the kids! :)

Bringing the Kardashian colors into my home!

I don't know what the technical term is, so that's what I'll call it. :)

This will be fun! I've finally made a decorating decision I've been contemplating now for over a year! This is an idea I have shared with my husband & family for over a year. They've always been on board. Now, I decided to put that idea into action!

I am going to decorate my home using the Kardashian colors! Yip!

I'm particularly fond of Kris Jenner's home. Images (& shots from their reality show) I've seen of it, anyway. I love the way it looks - the clean, crisp, sophisticated look. Her entire home's color palette is black, silver/gray & white = gorgeousness!







But wait! What's this? Brown? They have a brown den? And bathroom. And probably more. I noticed they still have black in those rooms, though.



Obviously, I am completely incorrect assuming Kris' entire house is done in the black/silver/gray/white palette. Personally, I don't like the mixture. The rooms are beautiful, of course, but I think I'm going to stick with her kitchen/bedroom colors. I have a lot of dark brown, because that was my base color. So this will be tricky! But I really don't want to flip flop back & forth.

One reason I love the black & silver palette is because silvers & grays are so versatile. There are so many amazing shades that can be incorporated into design & that fact alone has always intrigued me. Not to mention, I think this palette is so rich & expensive looking (remember my "Desiring: Beautiful" post?) without having to cost tons.

I will be making changes on a budget, of course! And slowly but surely. I'm in the process of planning/decorating my daughters' new room, too, so I'll just do what I can when I can do it.

I love decorating!

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Goodwill lamp makeover!

Remember my 'new' lamp I bought last week? Well now it's really new! I just love the end results!

Here it is after thrifting, nice & boring:



If you follow me on Facebook, I kinda mentioned last night that I'm contemplating decorating my house in Kardashian colors. Yes, I'm totally serious. It has been a thought I've had for over a year & it has been a discussion in our home numerous times. Anyway, I purchased both black & brown spray paint, not knowing which one I was going to use on my new lamp. Due to my 'Kardashian' decision not being final, I decided to use the brown - Rust-oleum's Flat Chestnut.



(Yep, that's my Maxi girl on my couch cushion in the background. She thinks she's entitled. :)

And here's my lamp, finished! It's so pretty! This isn't the shade style I want, but it was too hot to keep searching. :)



I love the brown. Although, I'm pretty certain it'll be painted a pretty shade of metallic black in the near future. :)

I'm not sure this ended up being such a good deal because the price(s) added up:

Lamp - $11.00 (remember, I thought it was $5 but that was the wrong sticker!)
Shade - $15.00
Paint - $7.00

Total: $33!

Could I have bought this lamp cheaper? I don't know. It's a solid, well-made lamp & probably would have cost relatively about the same. But this way, I did get the color I want. Winning! :)



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Shaklee FREE MEMBERSHIP special!

Shaklee is offering FREE membership, with ANY order, for the month of July! Yip! Click here to shop!! Special ends 7.31.13.

How to lubricate a wooden cutting board!

I love wooden cutting boards. I've used them for the last 25 years. My brother owns his own cabinet business & made my cutting boards for me for many years. Now I just buy them at store. I do not like butcher block, Bamboo or plastic. Just the simple, wooden boards.

Wooden cutting boards must be lubricated to prevent splitting, cracking, drying & breaking. Kind of like our feet. :)

I use Mineral Oil to treat my board, because it's safe to ingest & doesn't develop an odor over time. I recommend not using vegetable, canola or like oils because they are apt to become rancid & stain. I used to use vegetable oil before switching to mineral. I have used mineral oil for several years now & I love it. I think it keeps the board lubricated longer. I also love how my board sheens after treated! Pretty is so important, you know. :)



Application can vary & really, you can use any technique you want. I use use paper towels. The mineral oil really saturates the paper towels, making application coat really well.

(The above photo was taken right before I lubricated my board. It was on my island, under the light. My board looks really dry in the two photos below because when I moved my board to the sink, I forgot to turn the sink light on. I turned the light on as soon as I noticed. It actually looked like the photo above - I keep my board lubricated at all times.)



The first thing I do is pour a very generous amount of mineral oil onto my board. I like it good & thick for good coverage.



Then, I take my paper towel & just start rubbing & coating the board. (This task can get messy! Wear gloves if you deem necessary. After so long, the paper towel begins to disintegrate but it's ok, application still works & I wash off any paper towel residue when done.)



I make sure all areas are covered & because mineral oil is nice & shiny, I can see any areas that I missed. I even do the edges & sides of the board. When the front is done, I flip to the back & repeat.



After I'm done, I let it sit & absorb, for about 10 minutes or so. Then, I wash it with hot water & soap.



I am a hot water & soap kind of girl & almost everything I have & own gets washed that way, including my cutting board. By doing so, I know it's nice & clean. I do not put it in the dishwasher - I hand wash it. If over time the board begins to wear, I buy a new one. Easy peasy. I always stand my cutting board up to dry. After I wash it, I stand it up & lean it against my faucet in the sink. This board is on the large size, so it's a booger to wash, but I can still stand it up to dry. Forgot to take that photo - oops.

Here's my board, after completing all above steps! I treat my board about every 6 weeks, sooner if need be. My cutting board looks like this all the time! Nice & moisturized & pretty!





Happy lubing! Heehee. :)

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Linking up with: Uncommon Designs, Huckleberry Love, Home stories A to Z, Between Naps on the Porch, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Not Just a Housewife

Another thrift!

I love to blog hop! I love to look at other people's stuff. :) Browsing fun posts on other blogs relaxes me. It allows me time to just sit, chill out, get ideas & relax. There's nothing stressful, there's nothing negative, there's nothing hateful or ugly. It's just nice. And that's what I want my weekly blog hops to be about. And I gotta say, people's creativity blows me away. I love seeing what other people do!

We've had a crazy week here at our home due to all sorts of things, so this week, I'm sharing my thrifting finds. I love thrifting! I love thrifting for the very same reasons I love blog hopping - it relaxes me. It's fun. It allows me to unfocus & just be. I browse & see if I can find a good deal. And I love a good deal!



I fell in love with this lamp! Even more, I fell in love with the price tag - $5! Awesomeness! Only to find out once I got home, the $5 sticker was an old garage sale sticker & the actual price, & what I paid, was $10.75. lol Next time I'll pay attention. *Can't wait to paint this puppy! I've already looked at colors at Lowe's, but I think Home Depot has a much better spray paint selection, so I need to go there to purchase.

The white glass vases, I probably shouldn't have bought. But I'm so into clean, white right now, so I grabbed them.

I bought the lamp light for my son & paid $3.15. It's well made, so I thought that was a good price. But I did see a brand new one at Lowe's for a little over $4.

Thrift shops have become quite the obsession lately & I do believe they are capitalizing on that fact! Their prices really do need to be less expensive. I pass on a lot of items due to price.

Here's the breakdown:

lamp - $10.75
glass vase - $5.95
glass vase - $5.95
desk lamp - $3.15

Total w/ tax: $27.93

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Shaklee FREE MEMBERSHIP!!!!

HOLY COW Y'ALL!!! Shaklee just announced they are running a FREE MEMBERSHIP with purchase!! Any purchase!! If you have EVER wanted to JOIN & order, DO IT RIGHT NOW!!! This is a $20 savings!! Yes I am typing in CAPS because I am SO excited!! I had no idea this was coming - take advantage NOW! Order those cleaning kits! Order those vitamins! Get those beauty products & Shaklee 180 supplies! Join as a member for FREE (lifetime membership!!!) & get the discount!! You can order as often as you want - you do NOT have to order monthly! Get what you need/want when you need/want it! Shaklee products are AMAZING!

Here is what you'll get with your free membership:

You get to join our online, private community of like minded people (over 600 members in our community!!).
Get discounts (save 15% on all products and 25% on some).
Get a free product.
Ask unlimited health questions.
Communicate with other members for stories & advice.
Get shipping specials.
Get the latest specials, news & health facts.
24/7 access to community.
Your own secure ordering website with loads of health info just for you.
100% money back guarantee on all products – no questions asked - ever!

Click here to get your free LIFETIME membership & to SHOP!!

(Go to my site, put the items you want in your shopping cart & then check out. At check out, it will ask you if you want to join & you can fill out the form. Easy peasy! Welcome to Shaklee!!)

Tell EVERYONE!! This is open to ANYONE!

I LOVE it!! Thanks Shaklee!! :)