Happy List: #52

Merry (almost) Christmas!

How are you? I hope you are enjoying this season. Me? I am!

I just can’t believe 2017 is almost over. There were hours and days that seemed so. darn. long, but the year flew by.

On Monday, I wrote about how our Christmas tree went from bringing me no joy to all the joy. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I experienced mental drama over a tree though. Sheesh. On Wednesday, I shared some far less dramatic Christmas snapshots from around our home.

Here’s this week’s moment of distraction, aka The Happy List.

PLAYHOUSE DESIGN

Playhouse designs have really changed over the years, haven’t they?

What is a much more doable idea, for those of us who are not in the market for a playhouse, are those containers holding the trees. Stenciling something similar on a bucket would be pretty easy.

Lots of fun ideas at monikahibbs.com

(image: Monika Hibbs)

PIANO SIGN

See that piano sign? This is from Magnolia’s (aka Chip and Joanna Gaines) Hillcrest Estate.

I wonder how hard it would be to recreate the sign? If you decide to do it, I’ll be your first customer. Also, there are A LOT of people on Instagram who would buy that sign!

(image: Magnolia)

RAINBOW CUPCAKES

If you plan on making rainbow cupcakes soon (and why not?), then you definitely need to find yourself some colorful candy canes now.

Have you ever seen happier cupcakes?

(image: tea.kle)

HAND STAMPED TEA TOWEL

This idea – hand stamping tea towels – is something that I would like to try. Maybe not with a potato for a stamp though. That seems like an unnecessary waste of a potato complication.

No matter how the task is accomplished, I know it’s a gift I would enjoy receiving.

This picture is all dressed up for Christmas, but you could personalize the idea in countless ways for a friend’s birthday, a house-warming party, teacher gift, hostess gift, etc.

The tutorial is on Better Homes and Gardens‘ website and was written by the ladies at Alice and Lois.

(image: BHG.com and Alice and Lois)

HAND-CUT PAPER ART

I’ve been following Theresa from Linen and Cake on Instagram for a bit now. She’s located in Spokane, Washington, and makes flowers out of paper for wreaths, present toppers, etc.

Now she’s making art that looks like this and I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around the patience this must take! She’ll be launching these in her online shop in January.

Also, is it weird to be jealous of hair that’s made out of paper? Cute up-do!

(image: Linen and Cake)

RED VELVET WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I made these red velvet cookies again this week. Once for the neighbors. Once for Handy Husband’s coworkers. Once for me me me my family.

If you need a break from the traditional Christmas sugar cookie, MAKE THESE. If you want to win friends and influence enemies at work, be nice make these.

Here’s all the info you need to bake them! The only dry ingredients are a box of cake mix and white chocolate chips, so they are super easy to make! The rest is the best just cream cheese, butter, vanilla and an egg. Oh, and I roll them in powdered sugar.

P.S. In looking at this week’s picture and old pictures, I’ve come to the conclusion that a box of red velvet cake mix in Ireland is less red than a box of red velvet cake mix in the USA. Must be a difference in food colorings. Interesting.

FREE KNITTING PATTERNS

One of my aunts, bless her heart, taught me how to knit 5 or 6 years ago. I’m still slow-as-molasses at the task, but I do enjoy it when I make time.

I haven’t touched my knitting needles in awhile, but the free pattern for this blanket has me saying maybe I should? It’s a design that won’t go out of style if done in the right color. If I start now, I could probably finish it before my kids go to college.

More pictures of this checkerboard pattern and more free patterns at KnitPicks.

TASSELS ON STOCKINGS

This is just reaffirming my belief that tassels make everything better.

More pretty pictures are at Hunted Interior.

(image: Hunted Interior)

HEADBOARD

I found this picture on the homepage of Deny Designs. They seem to have bedding and other home goods available for sale. Their fabric designs are created by artists. So if there’s a particular person who’s work you like, they might have several different designs in a collection on the site.

What really caught my eye though was the headboard. It would take us forever and a day to build something like that, but it would be totally worth it! I also like the brass stud detailing on the lampshade.

In reference to my earlier statement about tassels, I’m going to walk back my opinion. I don’t think I could handle the dusting situation that would come with a tassel chandelier.

(image: Deny Designs)

I will be back on Monday with a special Christmas greeting and a family picture. It’s one of the few family pictures we got this year.

In the meantime, thank you for reading this blog and supporting my creative endeavors. I’ve said it before and I truly mean it – this blog is my happy place and you all make coming here even sweeter.

Happy Christmas.