Category Archives: Favorites

Christmas Gifts for Guys

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Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week already?  Ridiculous!  What’s even worse is we’ve already started decorating for Christmas.  Yikes.  It feels like it was Labor day just a couple of weeks ago!  We have a lot of fun Christmas activities planned per our usual holiday traditions.  There’s a ton to look forward to.  There is, however, one thing I dread every year and that is Christmas shopping.  I’m not a fan.  I never know what to buy Lisa.  It’s easier if she just tells me.  I can only imagine at least some of you suffer from the same ineptitude when it comes to buying gifts for your loved ones.  To help you out, Lisa and I are going to do back to back posts on what gifts we recommend this holiday season.  Yay!  I’ve written a post picking a bunch of gifts for the men in your life and Lisa will recommend gifts for the ladies.  We’re just trying to make life easier for everyone.  Plus, it’s fun to write lists.

Christmas Gifts for Guys 2012

1.  Black Ops 2.  Of course!  It’s the most exciting violent video game release since Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 1.  I’m all-in on this game.  This is literally at the top of my personal Christmas 2012 wish list.  Last year I made the switch from the COD franchise to Battlefield 3.  This year, I’m looking forward to getting back to Black Ops.  Is this an annoying gift to give your boyfriend or husband?  Maybe.  Does it beat watching golf and college football all day.  Yep.
2.  A Cordless Drill.  If he doesn’t already have one of these, get him one.  These drills are a thing of beauty.  I use one on nearly every DIY project I attempt.  Porter Cable also has a great 2 for 1 deal.  You can get a cordless impact driver and cordless drill for a pretty reasonable price.  Once my cordless DeWalt dies (if that ever happens in my lifetime), I’m going to grab a cordless impact driver.

3.  A Miter Saw.  These saws rule.  We have a sliding compound miter saw and I can’t live without it.  This Hitachi is a pretty basic unit, it’s just a compound miter, but it’s a great entry model.  If you’re up for something with a little more versatility, a sliding compound miter saw gets the job done.

4.  Beer of the Month Club.  This is a great gift.  If the beer is delivered right to your door, you don’t even have to stop playing Black Ops 2 to go out and buy some.  It’s a perfect.  Plus, guys are usually parched after using their cordless drill and miter saw all day.  For real though, a relative gave me a beer of the month club membership for Christmas a couple years ago and it was sweet.  There are 3 month, 6 month and 9 month options depending upon your budget.

5.  North Face Etip Gloves.    What a clever idea.  You don’t need to take your gloves off to use your touch screen smart phone or iPad.  Ingenious!  This is a great idea for regular skiers or anybody who spends a lot of time outdoors.

 

6.  A Kreg Pocket Hole Jig Kit.  This is a DIY blog.  We’re going to recommend a lot of home improvement products.  This may be my favorite.  We’ve built a ton of stuff using pocket holes… our first home’s kitchen cabinets, our garage shoe organizer, the dining room, on and on.  This is such a smart and easy to use system.  Great buy for any guy, but really anyone at all interested in DIYing.

Honorable Mention
Neck ties.  Lots of neck ties.

I’m pretty sure the guys on your shopping list won’t complain about any of the items above.  Unless they hate DIYing, video games, outdoors and have a gluten allergy.  Then it’s pretty much a bust.

***Full disclosure:  Lisa and I are members of Amazon.com associates.  If you purchase any of the items above, we get a small kickback.  If you’re interested in joining Amazon Associates, go to Affiliate-Program.Amazon.com ***

Our Favorite Fall TV Shows

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Hey everybody!  If you can’t tell, we’re pretty much on coast around here until the weekend.  We’re soaking up the calm before the storm since we knocked out some big projects.  Lisa and I are super excited about the return of some of our favorite television shows.  In reality, we’re watching all of these on Hulu+ and not actually on our TV.  Same thing though, right?

1.  30 Rock.  We started watching this show while Lisa was on her maternity leave.  About five years late to the party, we really took to this show.  Liz Lemon gets quoted a lot around here. What the what?  She’s also originally from the Philly area and has dropped some Flyers and Bobby Clarke references on the show before.  Really looking forward to this one.

2.  Community.   We started watching this show while waiting for 30 Rock to resume and I was shocked at how funny it is.  I personally think Community is actually funnier than 30 Rock.  The humor is a little less subtle, but very clever.   Every character on this show brings a unique comedic flavor that usually leaves Lisa and I in stitches.  The cast is brilliant.   This is another show we started watching late.  We picked it up on Hulu after season three and quickly blew through every episode.  The school dean is a riot and we pretty much quote him all day long.  “Sweet Deans.”

3.  The New Girl.  This was one of those shows that Lisa checked out.  She was hooked after the first episode.  Halfway through the first season I started watching it with her.  Very good show.  The cast has great chemistry and the episodes are always fun stories.  The characters are all in their mid to late twenties, are approaching the “you should be married by now” age and are dealing with their respective places in life.  After a couple episodes you’ll get attached to the cast and start rooting for them.  We recommend it.

4. The Mindy Project.  Not going to lie.  I’ve only seen one episode.  Lisa’s watched two so far.  It’s hugely funny.  Mindy Kaling has a sharp biting wit that’s refreshing and most definitely worth watching.  I think it’s brand new.  Check it out.

Honestly, we don’t watch a ton of TV.  We’ve mainly watching a show here and there before bed with an iPad.  These four shows will definitely be on our radar though this fall along with the occasional Modern Family and Happy Endings now and then.

Are you looking forward to any shows this fall??

Favorite Things Friday #2

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Happy Friday!  The theme for this week’s fave post is ice cream! I cannot contain myself. I love ice cream but then again who doesn’t?  Over the past few days weeks I’ve been lucky enough to try some new flavors and some classics.  These are my favorites!

1. My favorite sundae is at Dairy Queen.  I order a small hot fudge sundae and add Spanish peanuts. It’s essentially a Peanut Buster Parfait, but half the size. Nom nom nom.

(via)

2. Blueberry crumble by Haagen Dazs. Have you ever had fresh blueberry ice cream?  If not, it’s a must.  But if it’s not in your immediate future may I suggest this frozen concoction?  It’s super creamy and the blueberries are soo good!

3. Trader Joe’s Mint Chocolate Chip.  I have just tried this flavor this year and it’s delicious! There are chunks of chocolate and a lot of them, too. The mint is very mint-y and creamy as well.

(via)

4. Snickers ice cream bars. Do you like snickers? Of course you do! Then run out to the store and buy an ice cream snickers now.  My suggestion is to buy a single bar at a time, because of you buy a multi-pack you may eat more than one.

(via)

5. Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked. What happens when you mix brownies and cookie dough and ice cream? This tasty treat from B&J!  If your watching your calories, they make a frozen yogurt version, too.

That’s it! What a better way to celebrate August than to go out and eat some ice cream with family or friends?

What’s your favorite flavor? 

Btw, in case you were wondering what’s the latest with our wainscoting project, John and I should be close to finishing it this weekend.  It looks pretty sharp and we’ll probably have something to show for you next week!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Favorite Things Friday #1

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Hey kids! So I am hoping to start a new tradition over here at Our Home From Scratch (dot com) and am planning on sharing some of my favorite things with all of you… on a weekly basis. Most of my inspiration will come from, of course, Pinterest, since it just has a plethora of good things.

This week’s theme is Martha Stewart. Martha is the ultimate inspiration for all good things. She bakes, she cooks, she cleans, she organizes, she decorates – she does it all. Best of all she shares all of her amazing ideas with us!!

So in her honor, I share (some) of my favorites, Martha Stewart style!

1. Baking Handbook – This is a great cookbook for cakes, pies, cookies, and cupcakes AND it also give us a lot of information regarding techniques and tools to use.

(via Amazon.com)

2. Cheesy Snowman – yes folks, it’s cheese shaped like a snowman, and yes I’ve made it and it is delicious!! This is a great idea for your holiday parties.

(via MarthaStewart.com)

3. Cupcake Cake Pops – these are so adorable. I have already done the cupcake-themed party and made cake pops, but these would have been a great addition. The instructions seems pretty simple, but I just wasn’t up for the challenge.

(via MarthaStewart.com)

4. Linen Closet Organization - I love all of Martha’s organization tips. I love her linen closets with the shelves marked with each item listed. She has some great videos on her site as well. Btw, how in the world do you fold the fitted mattress sheet? I can never get that to look good folded.

(via MarthaStewart.com)

5. Pom Poms – I am pretty sure Martha invented these. They are great and look perfect for weddings or parties. She has instructions for big and small pom poms. We actually had pink pom poms hanging from the ceiling fan at our daughter’s birthday party.
(via MarthaStewart.com)
Well there you have it! What are your favorite Martha Stewart recipes, ideas, or crafts? I would love to hear from you.

 

Friday Podcast: Movies We Haven’t Seen

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Happy Friday everyone! We survived another work week. For today’s post we’re trying something different… an audio podcast. Lisa and I were too beat to work on any projects or type out a long post and we were a little delirious quite frankly. Consequently, this podcast may be a little disheveled, but that’s okay.

The topic of our conversation is principally about the movies we haven’t seen. I think it’s around 8 minutes or so. For the first half I have my chin resting on my hand and sound like a weirdo. So, enjoy!

[audio http://www.ourhomefromscratch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/movies.mp3]

If you don’t see the play button, click this link: Movies We Haven’t Seen

Thanks for tuning in! Enjoy your weekend!!