My grandma had this special drawer in her house where she kept what she called 'odds and ends'. Sometimes, we would find the most unique things in her odds and ends drawer. I think it was her catch all for busy days. When she wasn't sure what to do with something...it found it's way into the odds and ends drawer. I swear she probably had 8,000 band-aids, an old packet of vintage kool aid, $1,000 in pennies, thread, shoe polish, pens, tape, cut out recipes, unidentified family photos, and probably the cure for the common cold stashed in her odds and ends drawer!

This is our odds and ends page. Things that we think are worthwhile, but they didn't make it into an article, so they're here...on the odds and ends page. Clearly unique to our online magazine, but we like to be different! We think they're things that might brighten your day, offer some encouragement, or give you one final creative idea before your leave this issue of 'For your Heart and Home'.

We hope this issue has touched your heart, and inspired you to create memories in your home. Please feel free to send us your comments, thoughts, and suggestions by clicking here. If you have an article your would like to submit for review for publication in 'For your Heart and Home', click here. Thank you for taking time to join us on these pages. 

See you in the May/June issue!

Shelly Thompson
Editor and Publisher, For your Heart and Home

For your Heart and Home 
A publication of The Notebook Cafe and Millie's Vintage and Home Decor
201 Antique City Drive
Walnut, Iowa 51577

Email thecafe@thenotebookcafe.com

Caring for your houseplants during winter 

  1. Keep your plants warm – but not too warm. Many plants are extremely sensitive to cold air.
  2. Reduce your watering for plants in winter.
  3. Increase your home's humidity. 
  4. Clean your plants. 
  5. Give them plenty of light.
Tip: Do not use cold water to water your houseplants. Use water that is about room temperature to avoid shocking the plant's roots. Tap water can get very cold in some winter climates, so let the water sit for several hours before watering your plants.

Click here for more tips from The Spruce!

​Overcoming the winter blues

Do the chilly, gloomy days of winter make you want to curl up under the covers and stay there until the sun shines again? You’re not alone.  What can you do to beat the blues when the short, dark days are getting you down? Here are 8 ideas to get past the winter blues recommended by Kaiser Permanente.

1. Exercise Bundle up for a walk, swim indoors, or head to the gym. Exercise can works well in fighting mild-to-moderate depression.
2. Check your vitamin D levels Sunlight is a source of vitamin D, a nutrient linked to sharper thinking and better emotional health. You may want to ask your Doctor if you need a Vitamin D supplement.
3. Get some light therapy. Give yourself every opportunity for daylight, placing exercise equipment or your work area near a window. Lamps that simulate natural light can also help.
4. Eat a healthy diet. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains can boost your energy and are vital year round. Fruits and veggies of deep green or orange, like broccoli, kale, and carrots, have nutrients that promote better mood and total health.
5. Stimulate your senses. Some people find that painting their walls a bright color — or even their nails — can improve their outlook. Scents can also add to your feeling of well-being; try peppermint essential oil or some other energizing scent.
6. Nurture your spirit. Slow down and curl up in a cozy chair with a good book or write in your journal.
7. Head to a sunnier climate. If time and budget allow, plan a midwinter visit to a warmer, sunnier climate.

If you feel more than just a little down each winter, with symptoms such as missing work or struggling with even simple day-to-day tasks, you may have seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression. If you’re trying to help yourself feel better but it isn’t working, you might want to see your doctor who could recommend other treatments.
​Amazing Cleaner! 
After you put all your Christmas decor away...and you feel like doing a little cleaning on these colder days, this is the perfect grout cleaner. It works great, it's inexpensive, and best of all...you'll love how your grout looks! 

You're Welcome...

If you have not tried making bacon in the oven...YOU ARE MISSING OUT! It is seriously easy and AMAZING! You'll never cook it on the stove again! Here's how...
  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Lay the bacon slices on the baking sheet.
  • Cook the bacon for 18-20 minutes or until it’s as crispy as you’d like.
  • Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
You're welcome! 

This will brighten your spirit and warm your heart...

Christmas is over, but there is a movie that will warm your heart during these cold winter months, The Christmas Candle by Max Lucado. It is a heart warming story and for the ending...you'll need Kleenex...lots of them. They're happy tears of joy at how God brings this whole story together. It's awesome to see this wonderful heartwarming movie, but it's even better to know that these are the stories that God writes in real life. ​
You can click here to watch the entire movie in high quality HD on youtube.  

You can also go to Amazon and purchase a copy.  

Winter Reading...we've got a suggestion

'Heart of a Warrior'
 A Forty-day Devotional sharing a Legacy of Faith
By Shelly Thompson

FREE SHIPPING THROUGH FEBRUARY
​
'Heart of a Warrior' is now in it's sicth printing and has received wonderful reviews. The pages of this book written by Shelly Thompson, Publisher of The Notebook Cafe, are real life devotions God wrote on her heart as a young girl growing up on 5th Street in an old neighborhood known as Highland Park...a miniature Mayberry...surrounded by her parents, grandparents, and a tribe of faithful widowed women (different shapes and sizes of Aunt Bee).

Readers are enchanted with this wonderful neighborhood as they journey up the hill to ‘God’s rock’, remember breathing in the smell of amazing stacks of books during Story Hour in the old library, discover the afternoon the neighbor 'Grace' received real Jesus grace, relive summer afternoons on the back porch with sweet tea and stories y'all, finding ‘buried treasure’ in the back alley that God used to demonstrate His restoration, walk through painful steps of saying a temporary farewell to the faith Warriors in this life as they pass the torch of faith to the next generation to carry forward...creating the ‘Heart of a Warrior’...for a time such as this.
 
This book is a forty-day legacy devotional with encouraging warrior journal notes, battle strategies, and real life devotions...for all seasons in life.
 
Your heart will be touched, changed, revived, restored...and prepared to leave a legacy of faith for the next generation.
     
Return with author Shelly Thompson for forty days to where her journey began...the old house on 5th Street at the bottom of the hill. A special place where God touched a little girl’s heart for a lifetime.

Click here and read what Karen Abercrombie (Miss Clara from the movie War Room has to say about 'Heart of a Warrior'.  You can also order the book here with free shipping through February.