Happy List: #315

Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I hope you enjoy being here so much that you come back again.

This week on the blog I shared our dining room mantel all decorated for fall with my leaf-stamped wood rounds. I love that this mantel will take me all the way through the end of November.

I also wrote about our quest (dramatic much?) to find a new bluetooth speaker that looked good and sounded good. We only need our speaker to play music or podcasts. I don’t need it to run my life, so that’s why we don’t have a voice assistant like Alexa.

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Here’s the Happy List!

FABRIC ACORNS

These fabric acorns by DIY Beautify are the best looking acorns using plastic eggs that I’ve seen in a long time. I think the fabric choice really makes this craft.

Get the tutorial here.

(image: DIY Beautify)

P.S. I found this craft over at Funky Junk Interior’s weekly feature of upcycled ideas. You should check it out.

P.P.S. You could turn these acorns into place cards for Thanksgiving or a fall event by attaching a strip of paper to the stem with the person’s name.

ITALIAN COUNTRY HOME

Setting aside the lack of handrail, I love the photo of this Italian home. You should check out the rest of the pictures. All the stone walls are amazing.

(image: Photo by Женя Жданова via Town and Country Living)

CUTE

Walmart has really upped their decor game, don’t you think? These ceramic canisters are cute and only $12.

(image: Walmart)

“BLADEBRIDGES”

In Ireland, two foot bridges have been built using decommissioned wind turbine blades. A third is being built in Atlanta, Georgia.

Decommissioned wind turbines are non-recyclable waste and risk ending up in landfills. A transatlantic research network headed up by Queen’s University Belfast was created to find ways to reuse turbine blades. “Bladebridges” are the result. Isn’t that neat?

Learn more about this effort here and here. The engineering that went into this to make sure it was a strong design is really interesting.

(image: via New Civil Engineer)

DIY GHOST CANDLESTICK HOLDERS

I love the colorful, happy style of The Handmade Home. I’ve read their blog for years because the ideas are fun and they always make me laugh.

This idea for ghost candlestick holders is so cute and something you could do with kids. Get the tutorial here.

(image: The Handmade Home)

I JUST LEARNED

I just learned we don’t breathe out of our nostrils equally and that’s on purpose. There’s a nasal cycle, which means your body switches which nostril is dominant throughout the day. For example, you might be breathing 75% out of one nostril and 25% out of the other at any given time.

According to Live Science and BBC Science Focus the reason the body does this is not entirely clear but it could be so that we don’t get too dried up.

(image: Scientific Animations via Wikimedia Commons)

TOFFEE APPLE DIP

My family would LOVE this Toffee Apple Dip make with Heath Toffee Bits. Get the recipe over at I Heart Naptime.

(image: I Heart Naptime)

P.S. We really do like Heath Toffee Bits in desserts. Handy Husband and I almost always order the Heath Blizzard at Dairy Queen when we go there for ice cream.

I’ve also published (a long time ago) an anise biscotti recipe that includes Heath bits and that recipe would probably win you awards. I’ve never NOT received compliments when I make the recipe. Just don’t bake it until it’s hard. It’s way better softer like a cookie.

PUFFER JACKET

My son has, by his own choice, worn the same puffer jacket brand for 3 years now. I have to get him a new one each year because he grows out of it but it’s the same brand.

It’s the lightweight one from Amazon Essentials and it’s around $30 – $35. He’s now in the men sizes but they make them for kids and they are really well reviewed. They come in a lot of fun colors but my son always picks black.

He likes it because it’s “not too hot.” So, if you know someone who has that same concern, here’s your jacket. Haha.

(image: Amazon)

BOO

This craft made me smile with its whimsy. Jennifer Rizzo shares on her site how to paint a ghost into a cheap thrift store painting.

Get the directions here.

(image: Jennifer Rizzo)

ENCOURAGEMENT

I loved the blog post from A Cup of Jo written by Joanna Goddard titled “Bad Cook, Great Mom.” Read it if you need some encouragement. Here are a couple of excerpts.

“When I think about my children leaving the nest and looking back on their childhoods, I know they won’t picture epic homemade meals because I did not serve many. We eat simply, and pizza is regularly ordered. But there are SO MANY BEAUTIFUL THINGS they will remember:…”

“It makes zero difference if you’re a good or terrible cook, if you’re crafty or handy or athletic, if your house is neat or messy, if you are *fill in the blank*… who cares? If you love your child, you are doing a great job. FEELING LOVED is what matters. That’s all.”

Amen, Joanna. Amen.

Thank you for reading today’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday.

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