I saw this article the other day, “15 undeniable signs that you grew up in a Martha Stewart home”, I snickered, giggled a little and wondered….Just what does a Martha Steward home look like? One click and I got a little surprise, I fell right in place with item #1. I was curious….are there more? Wanna see how I ranked? Here they are, along with a few ways I can relate or not to dear Martha.
1. Your family vacations are hard-bound for posterity – Check! Family vacations, birthdays, holidays and many everyday moments are preserved in albums. More than 20 in all. They’ve evolved over the years from this, 
to this.

But, they are in an album! And, in case you are wondering, no I’m not going to redo those old albums to make them better! No matter how hard my girls laugh now. That’s history, the evolution of scrapbooking!
2. You spent your Saturdays antiquing. And you liked it. – Check! Kinda. Weekends are for shopping! The youngest and I shop often, sometimes we buy, sometimes we don’t, sometimes at thrift type stores and lots of time at home stores. Doesn’t matter where there’s always something. I love to shop for thrift store furniture to revamp. One of the interesting things we do is find items that we think we can recreate on a budget.
3. Your school lunches looked like this. – Um…not so much. I did make lunch for my girls, however, they were not cute, cutout and especially not color coordinated! They did have a healthy lunch made by mom, with a cute note once in a while. It always surprised me how many young kids made their own lunch. It was usually pretty evident by the contents.
4. And your birthday cakes looked like this. – Check! – I learned about decorating cakes and cupcakes from my mom. Somewhere in a scrapbook there’s a picture from around 12 years ago of a teapot cake she created for Posey’s birthday party. Seriously, a round 3D teapot. It was great. A long time ago, when cake decorating wasn’t a popular pastime, she made some great cakes! But…no cakes for me, cupcakes is all I’m willing to tackle.
5. You laugh in the face of white carpet/clothing/furniture – Nope! White carpet is dangerously, dangerous around kids. I love white clothing but always and I mean ALWAYS get something on it! My girls are getting older white furniture/carpet is more and more attractive. Maybe one day. . . Probably not, since we now have a dog to contend with but…Maybe.
6. But if things get messy, you know just what to do. – Check! I know many tricks for removing stains, (unless it’s laundry, I hate laundry stains)I learned many from my mom (who in fact has many Martha Stewart tendencies) and Pinterest has a plethora of ideas for just about anything. Even with this category being a “check”, I’m still not going for the white carpet!
7. The J in your PB and J sandwich was always homemade — from batches you canned at the end of the growing season – Check! – There is absolutely nothing like good homemade jam/jelly. My family’s favorite is plum. We had a plum tree and I made it every year, up until we took the tree out and put a pool in…sometimes, I think that was just wrong, giving up the plum tree for a pool.
8. And, let’s be honest, the PB was homemade too. – Fail! – Not that I haven’t made peanut butter before (at mom’s prompting of course) but I didn’t think the work was worth it!
9. You had a “craft room.” And it looked like this. – Check! – I have a craft room! It sure isn’t organized like this one but I’m working on that, you know,… so I can find things!
10. A torn shirt wasn’t a disaster — it was an opportunity. – Kinda Check – A torn shirt would definitely not be a disaster because I grew up in a time where mom’s taught daughters to sew and home economics classes like cooking and sewing were a part of school curriculum. BUT…I absolutely dislike sewing. Every time I think “Oh it’s not that big of a deal” and decide to tackle a sewing project, I realize that I seriously should have thought longer and harder and made a different choice. When will I ever learn?
11. You never had hip, sugary cereals … but there were always fresh muffins on the counter-Almost a check – My kids (and hubby too) always wanted those fun sugary cereals. They rarely and I mean rarely got them. When choosing cereal from the cabinet for weekend breakfast, healthy choices were what you found. During the week, before school, there was always something hot, oatmeal, eggs, breakfast burritos….even today as a working mom I do my best to have something for breakfast other than cold cereal…don’t ask why, it’s a mental thing for me…good breakfast equals good mom. I know, I’m warped, I know that’s not true, but just can’t shake it.
12. You didn’t realize you could actually buy toys ready-made. – Fail – enough said….who makes toys….my daughter that’s who…but not her mother!
13. I mean, why wouldn’t you fold your laundry immediately?! – Major Fail – I remember mom folding clothes right out of the dryer. But why? Especially when you can let them sit around on the loveseat for a week or in baskets until they drive you crazy! That’s definitely more me! and my girls! Hate to admit that but…there you go! No matter how I want to change that, it hasn’t happened, so I doubt it will.
14. The real gift of Christmas was getting to make cookies. – Check! – I have a love hate relationship with this Christmas tradition. I love the memories that I have making cookies with my siblings and mom but they were so much work! We gave them as gifts and mom had to hide them so there would actually be some left for the neighbors. Due to the hate I feel for this chore task, you wouldn’t think that I would not continue this tradition ….wrong! I still have the love hate relationship, but every year, there we are, the girls and I, hour upon hour, in the kitchen making goodies (I say goodies because we don’t just limit ourselves to cookies) and of course…right on point…I have to hide them from the hubby every year!
15. “First, make the bed” wasn’t a house rule. It was a way of life — and still is. – Check! – Enough said! It’s a house rule…but those dang daughters of mine do their best to break it, and often I might add!
Results:
- Check! – 7
- Almost a Check – 3
- Not so Much – 1
- Umm, No!/Fail – 4
Even though some of my friends have said at one time or another. “you’re like a freaking Martha Sewart”, I would never have considered that I live in a “Martha Stewart Home”. But, according to these results…I’m closer to Martha than I thought…now if I could only find someone to pay me for doing this stuff that would be a blessing!