Plan on entertaining outdoors.

The great outdoors adds an exciting element to any gathering. And we are blessed with wonderful weather and temperatures in the hill country. So here are a few tips that can help you pull off that outdoor party.

1) Descriptive invitations
When inviting your guests, be clear that the party will be held outdoors. It will assist your guests in what footwear and how to dress for the weather.

2) You have a plan A. Now be sure to have a plan B
If you don’t like the weather, wait 15 minutes. As we all know the weather can be unpredictable. Be prepared if rain threatens your party. Have some tents available or be prepared to move the party indoors.

3) What to serve on
For large parties serving on paper plates and plastic cups is a time saver and expected. However for smaller parties bring out your good china or crystal. Your guests will be pleasantly surprised. Besides, if you have to dust them off, you are not using them enough.

4) Ambient lighting
For your evening entertaining, be sure to supply some ambient lighting. Adding enough light will ensure that your guests will move about safely and allow them to see what they are eating or drinking. Avoid bright spotlights as this will take away from a pleasant relaxed mood.

5) Keeping cool
If having a party during the heat of the day, consider tents, or placing tables and chairs under trees or overhangs to provide plenty of shade. You might even consider fans and fans with misters to assist in cooling your guests.

6) Mingling
Encourage your guests to mingle by creating food stations in multiple locations. Set up your dinning tables in multiple groupings, and have your bar set up away from your dinning stations.

7) The unwanted pests
Mosquitoes, ants, and even rover can ruin a party rather quickly. You can spray for mosquitoes and ants a week prior to your gathering. Or you can try lighting citronella candles about an hour or more prior to the party. Even placing each leg of a table into a shallow container of water will help with ants. Nothing screams party foul louder than having rover helping himself to the food that was intended for your guests. And nobody wants to be bothered by relentless begging at their feet. If at all possible lock up your family pet for the duration of the party.

8) Be creative
Have fun creating your party atmosphere. Put floating candles in the pool. String party lights. Hang fun and bright decorations. Find fun ways to keep your beverages cold. Fill a wheelbarrow with ice and fill with your choice of beverage.

9) Plan your menu
If you are having a themed party, plan your menu around that theme. If you were hosting a BBQ, then brisket, sausage, coleslaw would be appropriate. If it’s a Luau then coconut shrimp, roast a pig etc. Menu shouldn’t stop at food. Your drink menu should compliment your food menu.

10) Trashcans
Don’t forget the trashcans. Place several trashcans in plain view but away from the bar and serving areas. You don’t want your guests standing around with used cups or plates in hand because they don’t know where to dispose of them. Even offer recycling options for those plastic or glass bottles and even those aluminum cans.

And have fun!

Easily re-key your locks. Get a text message on your phone when your kids get home from school.

Currently the only one on the market, Kwikset has introduced a SmartKey re-key technology that allows you to re-key your own locks in seconds without calling a locksmith or removing them from your door. You can re-key them as often as you like without compromising any security.

They look like any other lock that you would have on your home. They have multiple choices of styles and finishes in handle sets, knobs, and levers.

So why would you want SmartKey technology from Kwikset? Lets say that you are having your kitchen remodeled. You wont be home during the time that your contractor arrives or departs from your home, and you don’t want to leave your house unlocked all day. You can simply re-key and provide your contractor with a key. When your contractor has completed the work on your kitchen, you simply re-key back to your original key without having to replace the lock or calling a locksmith. This will give you the added security and peace of mind knowing that even if that contractor made duplicates of your key they will not be able to utilize that key to gain access to your home at a later date.

Another useful tool for those that own rent homes. A quick and easy solution for you to re-key when your tenants move out.

Another lock solution that Kwikset offers is the SmartCode touchpad. You can create temporary codes for your baby sitter, housekeeper, even contractors before you leave for work and disable them when you get home later that afternoon. These also incorporate the SmartKey re-key technology.

As an upgrade to the SmartCode touchpad lock, you can integrate it with Home Connect Technology that is a wireless way to lock or unlock doors with your cell phone or an Internet connection. Can’t remember if you locked the door? Check the lock status. When did your child get home from school? Receive text messages or even video of who enters your home. (Including contractors) All this and more can be achieved with the Control4 Solution.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Control4Fans#p/u/4/431gl0q84Jg

Watch a quick video on the lock and Control4 solution
http://www.youtube.com/user/Control4Fans#p/u/4/431gl0q84Jg

Kwikset SmartKey re-key technology
http://www.kwikset.com/smartseries/SmartKey.aspx

Just for fun: A Fruit Dip Recipe

Spring is here. Time to start planning your back yard parties, BBQ’s and more. And who doesn’t like fresh fruit?

This is especially good with fresh strawberries, although any fruit will do:

1 8oz. package cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1 tbsp. orange liquor (optional)

1 tbsp. lemon juice

pineapple juice


Soften cream cheese, then whip with powdered sugar. Add the whipping cream, lemon juice and orange liquor (if desired). Continue to beat, adding just enough pineapple juice to achieve desired consistency. Serve with fresh fruit(s) of your choice.

The Strawberry

One of the most sought after and delicious foods in the world – the strawberry - can be successfully grown in the Austin area. And luckily for us, they are quite easy to grow. You have two types to choose from: the junebearer and the everbearer.

Junebearer strawberries are usually planted in the fall and winter, and produce fruit throughout the spring.  As the days lengthen, they will send out runners (stolons) that will produce new plants. These will begin to flower when the days get short again.

Everbearing strawberries bloom more in the summer when the days are long. Our summers are usually a little too hot for great success with this type of berry.

First important tip:
Strawberries must have well-drained soil. A good garden mixture would include about 50% sand mixed with rich compost and topsoil.

Also you can grow your berries in containers such as hanging baskets and strawberry pots. When growing strawberries in pots, use a good soil-less potting mix such as Metro, Sunshine or Miracle –Gro. These will provide nutrients and drainage, so you wont have to mix amendments into the soil.

The second important tip:
Mulching. If you mulch around the plants, you will keep those roots warm in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Adding value to your home

One of the best ways to add value to your home is to increase the square footage. What is important to know is that when you increase the square footage, homebuyers will find your home more appealing thus be more tempted to buy your property.

Here are two examples of how to increase your square footage:

1) Increase square footage by adding a deck.

Potential buyers will love having the ability to host parties out on a deck. Even have a hot tub on it. Add interest and architectural detail with a pergola. Just be sure that the deck is appropriately proportionate to your yard.

2) Add an outdoor kitchen.

Becoming more and more popular, adding an outdoor kitchen is a great way to add square footage to your home. It’s a great way to entertain friends and family. A grill and counter space for preparing food are essential, a refrigerator and sink aren't. However, including them can boost the value of your home by helping your outdoor kitchen qualify as a second kitchen.

Can you get a discount from Home Depot?

The answer is yes.


Discounts are available for contractors and consumers alike at the contractor’s desk. Here is how it works:

You are the weekend warrior and are inspired to tackle a home project. Lets say that you want to tile your foyer, a bathroom, and lay down some wood flooring in your formal dinning room.

Once you have made the list of items that you will need for your project, head over to the contractors desk and let them know that you want to create a long ticket. Once the long ticket has been created, check the total cost of your project. If the total cost is $2,500.00 or more, you can request special pricing. Ask them to send that long ticket to the bid desk.

Once the long ticket returns from the bid desk, they will contact you, and all of the adjustments will be represented with an asterisk next to the dollar amount.

Planning a project? Should you pull a permit?

We encourage the homeowner to be responsible for pulling the permits for the project. This does a few of things. First, the permit would be in the homeowner’s name. This provides empowerment to the homeowner. Second, it can save the customer money. And third, if a contractor pulls the permits, it’s all in that contractor’s name. If for whatever reason the homeowner has to dismiss a contractor from the project, and that contractor had pulled permits for the job, new permits would have to be pulled in order to complete the project. This will delay the project and cost more to the customer. When the permits are in the customer’s name, no major delays or additional costs will be endured. Project can proceed with a slight delay in locating a new contractor.