We hope you had a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday and you were showered with love and flowers. Unless you received paper ones, those flowers won’t last forever. Here are some creative tips to keep old flowers around forever.
1. Preserve flowers by pressing. You can press old flower petals in a book.
2. Scrapbooking. Once that flower has been preserved in a book, you can use it to scrapbook.
3. Framing. Glue that preserved flower to a piece of fabric, and hang it in a frame.
4. Take a photo. You can always preserve them by taking their photo.
5. Make potpourri. You can combine dried flowers with a jar of fragrant oil. Allow them to dry and place them on a sheet of wax paper. Once dry, your home will smell wonderful!
6. Make Candles. Add the dried flowers to candle wax when making your own candles.
7. Make a wreath. Utilize the dried flowers to make a wreath for your front door. You can find supplies at your local craft store.
8. Decorate the edges of a picture frame. Use the dried flowers to decorate and spruce up a photo frame.
9. Hang dry and use as decorating baskets. Instead of pressing them, you can hang dry your flowers. Once they are dry, you can use them to decorate baskets around your home.
10. Add to your bath water for a touch of romance. Light candles and throw in the petals from your old flowers to make for a romantic evening.

This article was inspired by another blog post from Financial Interactive

Who has a mother, grandmother, husband, aunt, sister, or brother (the list could go on) that makes the “best” (insert soul food word here)?! I venture to say that everyone has someone that makes the BEST something…right? I thought so.
Well I have a hankering for some comfort food and want to include the whole nation of Gables Residents to help me out. Send in your BEST known recipe for something that goes in a cast iron SKILLET! Post it, just tell us what it is, post a picture and hide the recipe to make me jealous…whatever you want!
While you are at it, check out these skillets in the shape of each state! FeLion Designs was on today’s Thrillist for the Nation, and well, it prompted this blog. Plus I thought it could be a cool gift idea for somebody. There is a state for everyone!
Made in America cast iron skillets and photo : http://felionstudios.com/
“The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports”
What do you get more excited for…Mint Juleps or Fun Hats? Both or neither are also acceptable answers, but if you say neither, you have to tell us what is your FAVE at the Kentucky Derby!

Apartment Living = Happiness! I know what you are thinking, there are a lot of other things that make you happy, but given that we specialize in apartments, we thought we would share! The benefits of living as an “apartmentite” as they put it, are six fold in this particular article, but we know there are more and would love to hear what you think!
Tell us what makes you happy living at your property!!
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Apartment-Living-Is-Your-Recipe-For-Happiness&id=800720