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Attention home-made craft lovers!

Our children started their own business and it is really something! This past weekend they were able to participate in Omaha’s FIRST children’s business fair. They did so well that they even won a trophy for Most Original Business Idea in their age category! The idea behind their business was to combine two of their passions. Art and recycling. The construction world isn’t known for being great at recycling, so these kids decided to take the leftover materials from job sites and turn them into something beautiful and functional for the home.

They’ve created stunning platters, trivets, coasters and paper weights that sold like hot cakes at the fair this weekend. They had an absolute blast and more importantly, they learned so much through this amazing experience. Each piece is fully covered with cork on the bottom and glued with silicone. The top is sprayed with acrylic. Yes, it’s been a fun family project and the artwork is all the boys. Each piece is unique and beautiful.

They are looking forward to more craft fairs! The three year old got right back to work painting the next day. It’s been fun to watch them create beautiful pieces that people were stunned at this weekend. Children really are amazing. Look how happy they were with their trophy! The three year old stayed home during the fair for safety reasons. Ha! I’m sure you can only imagine why… 😉

If you are interested in buying their crafts, they would be thrilled. They do take custom orders and are looking to add new craft recycling ideas to their inventory.

I’m so glad our boys got to have their own “shop” experience like they have been dreaming of. It’s fun to see them learning and growing!

Oh! I didn’t share their business name…it’s Phillips Tile & Crafts. Cute, right?

From one proud little mama,

Michelle Phillips <3

It’s been two days since our 9th wedding anniversary. I never get tired of seeing others wedding pictures. Pictures are special and priceless! Here are a few of ours from our special day.

I’ll never tire of looking through our old wedding pictures. Such special memories! In the mean time, we’ve been busy wrapping up jobs, starting new ones and getting a few other projects completed before we ring in 2019!

Go love your tribe well and be sure to celebrate each and every milestone!

Michelle Phillips

Some of you might not know that we are a homeschooling family. We value that extra time and it just works for us in this season of life. With that little factoid off my chest, I have been dreaming up fun things to do this fall and wanted to share our Fall Bucket-list with you all. While we enjoy summer, fall is extra special to us with our upcoming anniversary and Husker football. We will be celebrating 9 years of marriage in October and I can’t believe how fast those years went! Here is my fall bucket-list!

1. bond-fire with smores
2. Vala’s Pumpkin Patch..you HAVE to get a fresh caramel apple while there! So good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
3. picnic and park by the lake
4. apple picking
5. pumpkin painting
6. attend a fall festival
7. bake a pie
8. try a new soup recipe
9. plant flower bulbs and prep for our spring garden
10. take fun fall family photos
11. rake the leaves the old fashioned way
12. Watch ALL the Husker games
13. try my hand at canning this year with veggies from our garden
14. make a charcuterie board
15. grill and invite friends over
16. put away all the summer toys
17. go to the farmers market ONE more time
18. try a new coffee shop with a friend
19. make chili, monkey bread and have a family movie date night at home
20. make and order our Christmas cards so I’m not doing anything last minute again

I’d love to hear some things you’d like to accomplish this fall! Tell me in the comments, it might encourage me to try it too.

Until next time,

Michelle Phillips

Most schools are in session and fall looks like it’s just around the corner. The weather today is cool and I’ve got candles burning while we do the inevitable Saturday chores. We’ve been a good kind of busy and this blog has been neglected. Today I’m sharing a few pictures from a house we just finished. This house is a modern traditional style and will please the homeowners for years to come. Who wouldn’t enjoy a nice soak in that tub after a long day of work? 

Here in Omaha, Nebraska, we get ALL four seasons. So an smart entryway is a must! Anytime you can mix function with beauty you are winning. And this entryway is just stunning!

It was an honor to work with these clients! Now,I’m going to get back to my weekend to-do list before the Husker game starts. Have a great weekend and Go Big Red!

As a business owner, do you want to know what the best compliment is?

Repeat customers!

In the field of construction, a repeat costumer might not return for a couple years but when they do…it is SWEET! Oh man, is it sweet!

To those who have used Phillips Tile & Stone for our tile and general contracting, thank you! We deeply appreciate YOU!

Summertime and the livin’ is easy, I once sang that soulful Ella Fitzgerald for an audition and a performance. How many of you are enjoying your summer? I hope you are taking it all in with BBQ’s, picnic’s, backyard games and beach views.

Speaking of beach views, I thought I’d share some of our pictures! Trevor and I recently traveled to Hawaii for my husband to be in his good buddy’s wedding. We brought along our youngest babe and had the best time. This is the longest ‘vacation’ we’ve had since our honeymoon almost 9 years ago! It was so good to see old friends and make new ones as well.

Enjoy your summer spending time with friends and family! Before you know it, football season will be here. 😉

Until next time,

Michelle Phillips

8 years! Can you believe it? I sure can’t!

The way our business came about was totally something only the Lord would do. It wasn’t like we set out to start a business! Owning a business wasn’t ever on our radar. I remember when we were dating, Trevor wanted a job that was a 9-5, come home and forget about it. Owning a business isn’t that, but I’d love to share with you how this business came to be and why we believe, for now, why God has us here!

Trevor and I were married 10/10/09. While we were dating, he was working construction and I was working as an interior designer. I’d made a few comments how our lines of work seemed to compliment each other and how neat it would be to use those gifts to compliment each other. That was that. We got married and held on for the ride that would soon follow.

To give you a small glimpse of ‘the ride’…we closed on our house three days before our wedding. We had bought a HUGE junk house and had plans to renovate it. So now we owned a junk house that really wasn’t suitable for living. But we did! It was an adventure, to say the least. This was also around the time the economy crashed. Let that sink in. Six months into our marriage, Trevor was let go of his construction job. It went under. My interior design job wasn’t stable so we were both out looking for work in an economy that was floundering! It was HARD! Newly married, a junk house and no jobs.

Friends, if God brings you to it, He will SURELY bring you THROUGH it! My God is faithful. He supplied our every need. Trevor started work at a local flooring place and I started to work in a school as a para-professional. We had jobs! Thank the Lord! But Trevor, in a desire that could only be from God, decided to quit the flooring place and start his own company. So the day I was a Matron of Honor in a dear friend’s wedding was the day my husband, had his first job!  June 26, 2010 was the day Phillips Tile & Stone came to be and we’ve learned SO much in our 8 years of business owning and our almost 9 years of marriage. God has provided over and over again. He is faithful. God gives the best blessings. Five months after our business was born, we found out we were expecting our first baby blessing. Guess what. God provided! Word got out about Phillips Tile & Stone and my husbands EXCELLENT work and without hardly any marketing…jobs steadily came in.

We’ve learned to be with plenty and what it’s like to be in want. We’ve learned the importance of helping others as they get through difficult stages of life. We’ve learned to rely on each other and most importantly we’ve learned that our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. His plans are the best even if we don’t understand them at the moment.

So, since starting Phillips Tile & Stone 8 years ago, we’ve been blessed with 4 wonderful children. We are still in the same house, but I almost guarantee you wouldn’t recognize it from the renovations we’ve made…in our spare time. Ha.

Thank you Lord for the ministry opportunities you’ve given us within this construction realm. One day, I’d love to write a book about our life. I doubt anyone would read it but our story has been anything but bland.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Phillips Tile & Stone! We’ve learned a lot from you!

If you ever feel like life is too busy, I recommend using a clothesline. Recently, our dryer almost exploded on me. I don’t say that exaggerating too much either. Two weeks ago, I’d started our trusty dryer, just like any other day and was alarmed by a clicking noise. I quickly went to investigate and once entering the laundry room found our dryer exuding so much heat! I turned it off and opened the door and was greeted by hot air that just kept coming at me. I think had I not stopped it when I did, our dryer would have caught on fire. Thankfully, it didn’t!

I had been wanting to get a clothesline anyway, so this seemed like the perfect time to turn our cozy home into even more of a homestead. My husband bought the clothesline and installed it and away we went. It’s been two weeks fully drying our clothes on a clothesline and these are a few of the things I’ve learned.

1. I pay more attention to the weather now! I was already starting to get better at this with having a garden this summer but as much as I want the rain for our garden, I don’t want rain on our clean clothes. I’m just inching my way to becoming my childhood hero, Laura Ingalls. 🙂
2. Towels feel better when dried in a dryer where sheets and comforters are better dried under warm sunshine.
3. Slowing down the pace of life is fun and it becomes a fun family activity of sorts. It is a lot of extra work to take clothes outside to dry! My husband and kids have risen to the challenge and I think we all sort of enjoy this old-fashioned way of living.
4. I think we were already trying to find ways to live a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Gardening was one of the activities we started enjoying, cloth diapers and now knowing we are conserving energy and possibly lowering our energy bill a bit, that’s fun to think about.
5. Looking for ways to improve your home environment is and always will be fun. Our family changes a little bit each season. Our home changes with us. Right now, we have three tree swings in our sturdy, front yard tree. Those swings get used and we now picnic under that tree where just last summer, the space wasn’t being used at all! That small change has made our home seem bigger, by just utilizing the space better.  We have plans to turn the side yard of our house into a secret garden vibe next spring and summer. It’s fun to dream and plan even if it’s the same home you’ve been in for years!

I hope we all continue to love the space we’re in. Make it uniquely yours and be proud of it! It’s one of the best feelings ever to love your home.

Until next time.

Michelle Phillips

Disclaimer:: I’ll still get another drier….there’s just no rush. 😉

Can you feel it? The shift? The shift from school schedules to pool schedules. The shift to where your evening walk sends you  whiffs of BBQ and you smile at the children playing in the front yard.

Whatever your summer plans, whether it’s camping in the backyard, traveling to visit family or a luxurious overseas trip. We hope you slow down and enjoy the people in your life. Make this summer one for the books just because you simply stopped to enjoy what you do have. 

Who else is in full Summer mode? Before I sat down to type this out, I cut up a cucumber and poured a generous side of ranch on my plate. Brain food! I’m SO excited for summer. Our garden is planted. The bulbs I planted last fall are growing up strong and I can’t wait to eat some good watermelon! Sweet Summertime. How I adore you.

Some of you might have voted for this blog topic on our Facebook page! If you didn’t, that’s quite alright. Jump on in and let’s explore the top FIVE TILE TRENDS we are seeing! In no particular order, either.

Herringbone tile pattern- Fun fact. This tile pattern is named after resembling the herring fish bones. That might gross some out or make others hungry. It’s mainly an arrangement of rectangles used for floor tiles and road pavements. It’s been used as a decorative back-splash behind a stove. Herringbone Tile has a stunning and unique twist to the classic Subway Tile trend. This particular tile pattern is beautifully versatile and classic, all at the same time. It’s clear why this timeless and unique tile pattern is admired by so many!

herringbone

herringbone

Subway tile pattern- This tile pattern had me curious. So I went ahead and did a little research on this classic tile pattern. Get ready to learn the story behind America’s most loved and popular tile pattern.

Designers George C. Heins and Christopher Grant La Farge created the distinctive 3″ x 6″ rectangles for the very first station of New York’s then brand-new subway in 1904! During the Victorian Era, the people were obsessed with cleanliness and hygiene. One advantage seen during these times was subway tiles were easy to clean and the tiles didn’t stain easily. To New Yorkers, this shiny white tile was excellent at brightening the dark subways and making underground transportation slick and neat. These clean lines then made their way into bathrooms, kitchens, butcher shops and so on. This tile pattern has been around for 114 years! Crazy! It’s a classic that has been around the block a few times and isn’t going anywhere.

Large Format- If you are looking for clean lines, easy to clean and not many grout lines. If you have high traffic areas and want to make a dramatic statement in your floor design. If you want to make your space feel bigger. Large format tiles might be for you! This tile pattern has become more popular because of all the reasons I listed. We recently remodeled our tiny master bathroom with this tile pattern and it was amazing how spacious it made our quaint space feel. You can see in the picture below, the shower is small, but the larger tiles give it a streamlined look. Less for the eye to take in. This tile pattern has an agenda a mile long!

Glass- If color and options are your jam. Glass tile might be right up your alley. Glass tiles can be patterned or plain. Really, the world is your oyster when it comes to glass tile. This tile can make your place unique by simply installing a new backsplash. It won’t take much as it’s a showstopper in every sense of the word.

And, last but definitely not least.

Wood look- this tile is amazing. It’s durable. Its natural looking. It’s elegant. You just can’t go wrong with a wood look! Tile has come so far and it’s only getting better. These pictures speak for themselves. We will always love a beautiful wood floor, but we also know pets, kids, high traffic areas and life interrupt the best interior designs.

tile that looks like wood

There you have it. Five of our most installed tile trends. Which is YOUR favorite? We’d love to hear from you!

Until next time,

Michelle Phillips