Welcome back to another Why Don’t You! Inspired by one of my favorite blogs Brocante Home (who was in turn inspired by a feature in Harper’s Bazaar written by Diana Vreeland), Why Don’t You is a week’s worth of ideas for adding a little something special to your life. Simple ideas for lovely days!
Pick and choose what sparks your interest and fits into your schedule. Or use these simple ideas for special days as inspiration for coming up with your own ideas. Seasonally appropriate (at least for most people in the western hemisphere), these are ways to bring more joy and organization into your life.
Disclosure: This Why Don’t You post may contain affiliate links. What this means is that if you click over to one of the provided links and purchase something, I get a small commission at no added cost to you. Thank you for helping to support Creative Cynchronicity!
WHY DON’T YOU? – SIMPLE IDEAS FOR LOVELY DAYS
Set aside some time for family fun.
Here in Ontario, we’re kicking the week off with Family Day! Even if you don’t have a formal holiday celebrating family togetherness, why not set aside some time to do something fun together? I’ve got lots of simple ideas for family fun, even if you only have 15 minutes, to share with you.
Use your creativity for good.
Recently, I’ve been creating items to send over to Australia to help animals injured by the fires. Although the wildfires have (finally) been put out and the needs have been met there, there are still animals all over the world in need of help because of injuries and natural disasters.
This post about sewing, knitting, and crocheting items for animals in need may seem “out of date” now because it’s especially geared to those in Australia, the dedicated crafters who were making these items are now making them for animal rescues in their local areas.
This is a great way to use your creativity and give back to your community. Remember that there are lots of other ways to help too – make walker bags, lap quilts, or other items for those in nursing homes; create duffle bags, teddy bears, and other needed items for those living in shelters and foster care; sew feminine hygiene products for girls living in areas where such items aren’t readily available.
There are many, many more possibilities out there. Do a Google search or ask around and you’ll be sure to find something that resonates with you!
Whip up some comfort food for a cold February!
February where I live is often the coldest month of the year. We don’t always get more snow, but the temperatures frequently do a nosedive and it turns that bitter cold that just seems to seep right into your bones. It’s a great time to hibernate away with a good book (see below) and make some warm, delicious comfort food.
This chicken spinach lasagna is a longtime family favorite. I’ve been making it for over 30 years now! It’s a lovely change from the typical tomato-based lasagna (not that there’s anything wrong with that yummy dish!) and is a great way to incorporate some veggies – spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots are all delicious options.
The Curious Charms of Arthur PepperThe Chelsea Girls: A Novel
Snuggle in with a good book.
This is the perfect time of year to huddle up a cozy throw and start reading a good book. I just finished reading The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. It was SUCH a good book – a feel good book too! It shows you that there are more to people than you might see on the surface and gives hope that it’s never too late to embrace the life you really want. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. (It’s being made into a movie too!)
My current read is Chelsea Girls. I adore Fiona Davis so I had high hopes for this novel and so far, she isn’t disappointing. As always, it’s an engaging story that draws you in quickly and I never want to put her books down. Davis’ books are usually written in parallel timelines – you learn about a place or an item and its meaning in current day life and then go back to find out more about its importance in history too.
That sounds a bit dry, but I can assure you it’s not. In Chelsea Girls, we start learning about two women who meet while performing in USO shows during World War II. The two women are quite different from each other and yet they share a bond that brings them together in friendship. Both tug at the reader’s heartstrings and inspire you to keep reading!
Show your plants some love.
It’s winter and that means your houseplants might be looking a little sad. Here are some great winter plant care tips that will help keep them thriving all through this time of year. (Mine have amazing new growth on them so clearly these tips are working!)
Start planning ahead for Lent.
If you celebrate Lent in your family as we do in mine, remember that Ash Wednesday is coming up next week. I have some great ideas for celebrating Lent with your children – they make this time of year meaningful and can bring you closer together as a family.
Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many plans – this isn’t meant to make things stressful! You might want to take a look now though, and plan to add a few simple items to your calendar!
If you don’t celebrate Lent in your family and aren’t sure what it’s all about, you can read my 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Lent here. Even if you do celebrate it, you might learn something new.
Embrace winter.
Is winter starting to get to you? I find that mid-February to mid-March is the hardest time for me. The lack of sunny days, the bitter cold, and the knowledge that spring is right there around the corner (but still out of reach) starts wearing on me.
That’s where these ideas for winter hygge come in. Embracing the coziness of winter through the concepts of hygge can make it far more bearable. Spring will be here before you know it!
What will you do this week to make your days lovely and more joy-filled? Find more Why Don’t You? posts here.
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