Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas we host our annual "Thanksmas Party" to  give our employees, trade partners and families we have built for the opportunity to give back to The Salvation Army of Cleveland County.  This organization is very dear to our hearts.  Santa always comes to make sure everyone has been good and we get the opportunity to have our pictures taken with the Big Man!

Our team also takes a day and Rings the Bell!  This is such a staple of the holiday season as much as the BC Clark jingle!  If you have never volunteerd, you are missing out!  It is such a great way to spread some holiday cheer.  When they say, every penny counts, it truly does! We had fun this year and tried to put a really LARGE check into the kettle.  Needless to say, it didn't work!  Click on the picture and you can check out the video we did!

Our focus on giving back and The Salvation Army is not limited to Christmas Time.  We had the opportunity to build The Judy McKown Children's Activity center that opened last year.  This beautiful building gives families a safe warm place to go to and be mentored by those in our community.

If  you are looking for somewhere to give- check out The Salvation Army!

Are you ready?

Winter is right around the corner as temperatures continue to drop!  Now is the time to take care of a few maintenance issues around your home to make sure you are ready!

• Be sure and disconnect all outside hoses.  If you forget the outside water faucet can freeze and burst pipes inside the walls.
• If this is the first time to you have turned on your heater you may experience a burning smell.  This is completely normal.  There might also be some smoke that could set off your smoke detector.  The smoke will usually clear away quickly.  Opening a door or window will usually help.
• A good rule of thumb is to change out your batteries on your smoke alarm at the same time you change your clocks.  It is not too late!  Make sure those batteries are good.

What are other things you do around your house as the temperatures drop?

Have you ever walked into someone’s home or business and wondered what were they thinking when they decorated their bookshelves?  A well-decorated shelf is like the perfect icing on the perfect cake.  These are some things we like to consider when decorating our bookshelves:

• Set your shelves at different heights so it doesn’t look too uniform.  Remove a shelf entirely if needed.
• Use several pieces of greenery, but be sure not to overuse the greenery (always try and place the greenery on different shelves.  If you have a bookshelf with corresponding sides then try not to use greenery on both shelves that are at the same level or on a shelf that is above or below the shelf that has greenery already.
• Use family pictures in frames.  5X7 and 8X10 work the best.
• Use books.  I love using old looking leather-bound books the best.  I have found these at garage sales and library sales.  It is a good idea to not put them all on one shelf.  Place them in groups of 3-5 in all different varieties.  Stand them on their ends, lay them down etc.
• Use fabric if you can.  Choose one with a complimenting color to your décor and scrunch it up under some books or a picture.  This adds a perfect pop of color.
• Don’t be afraid to lay things on their sides.  You can do this with metal and wooden candle holders, decorative boxes or chests and baskets. This is what we did at one of our model homes in Carrington Lakes.
•  If you want a warm and cozy feeling then use warm tones when choosing your décor.  If you want a clean look, then use the cool tones with straight edges.  Mixing the two can look nice too, but I would be careful when doing so.