Hello! Welcome to the Happy List. I’m glad you are here.
Congratulations are in order. We made it to the end of January, the seemingly longest month of the year. Go us! We may or may not be crushing 2025, but we’re still here!
HOUSE KEEPING NOTE: If you tried to comment on the blog this week and received a recaptcha error, I apologize. It should be fixed now. (crosses fingers) In fact, if you want to try to comment on this post to help me out, that would be great. Thank you to the person who reached out to me on social media to let me know. It takes a village to run this blog!
Speaking of the blog, it was copper tile week. I love a theme. On Monday, I shared what I learned about the copper tiles I found hiding behind the drywall in our kitchen. The most shocking part was how much those tiles would cost now. PHEW!
I also shared what we did with the five tiles we found. Let’s just say, while it was free to make, it’s the most valuable tray we’ve ever made.
As always, I am so thankful you chose to spend a few minutes here. I enjoy sharing what creatively inspires me and I love connecting with you and hearing what you’re up to. If you want to reach out, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.
Here’s the Happy List!
FEATURED
Special thanks to Rent.com for including a picture of our home and a quote from yours truly in a recent article all about gallery walls. You know I have a handful of those around here!
You can check out the article here. I’m quoted in Tip #9.
You might be surprised by the photo they chose to use. It’s a space you haven’t seen on the blog in quite a while! No, it was not this wall, which doesn’t even look like this right now. Perhaps I need to take new photos. Ha!
FEELING BLUE
You know I’m a sucker for a room saturated in blue. Love the color of this porch.
More photos of this Long Island home can be found in this Domino article. I especially liked the outdoor patio and I’m wondering if their pool fence would be to code in our area. Would love something that simple at our house.
(image: Kate Jordan for Domino)
If you want to see my all-blue room, check out this blog post.
SMALL OPENING, BIG FUN
My kids would have LOVED to have a special entrance into a play area like this one in Trina McNeilly’s home. In fact, they might like it now. Ha!
When I was a kid, a friend’s house had an opening like this at the back of a coat closet. It opened into this small, carpeted area that we made into a fort. It was the BEST. THING. EVER.
(image: Design Mom)
P.S. Most spaces like this usually have a separate entrance for adults and furniture to pass through.
HEART BRACELET
Like a friendship bracelet but better! I thought this heart macrame bracelet was so cute.
If the video doesn’t load, watch it here on YouTube.
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS?
I read that you can use Dawn dish soap to deice your steps and sidewalks. Is this accurate? Someone let me know.
According to One Good Thing By Jillee, the formula is mixing 1 teaspoon of Dawn dish soap, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 gallon hot/warm water then pour over sidewalks and steps.
More ideas on how to use Dawn soap for unclogging toilets, getting rid of fleas, softening cuticles, and more can be found in this article.
(image: Amazon)
P.S. I’m curious what the equivalent to Dawn is in other countries. There must be something. Anyone know?
INTERIOR WINDOWS
I am a big fan of using interior windows to define a space. It looks rad, lets light in, and still gives that semi-open feeling. More photos of this home can be found at The Nordroom.
I also love the use of dark green. You don’t see that often enough. I’m not sure how I feel about the stainless steel cabinets other than it definitely works in this space.
(image: The Nordroom)
VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT
I bought this olive snack pack to give to Handy Husband for Valentine’s Day. The logo even has a heart! I’ll probably pair it with some of his favorite “fancy” cheese.
We love olives and these little snack packs in different flavors are right up our alley. This is a new brand we are trying, but my experience with this olive snack pack that we’ve bought multiple times is that they aren’t packed in juice, so it’s not messy to eat if you’re on the go.
(image: Valesco O’Live via Amazon)
FOOTBALL FOOD
Speaking of food, if you plan on watching a big football game in the U.S. soon, TUMS sponsored a survey asking Americans what food was necessary to eat while attending one of these viewing parties.
First of all, it cracks me up that TUMS sponsored this survey. Well played. Second, their research shows that Americans care more about food than football. This surprises zero percent of us. Haha!
So, if you’re planning on hosting folks to watch the Super Bowl, here are some foods that could make or break your party. No pressure.
NECESSARY FOODS FOR THE BIG GAME
- Buffalo and/or hot wings — 49%
- Barbecue — 37%
- 7-layer dip — 36%
- Pizza — 30%
- Chicken tenders and/or nuggets — 30%
You can read the rest of the survey results conducted by Talker Research here.
If you want to know how to get CRISPY BAKED buffalo wings, Recipe Tin Eats says the secret is baking powder. Who knew? Get the recipe here.
I’ve never made a bad recipe from Recipe Tin Eats, so I’d trust what she says. I used her directions to learn how to “velvet” chicken to make it tender like how it tastes when you get it from a Chinese restaurant.
(image: Recipe Tin Eats)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“To see ourselves in the light of history is to restore our connection to the consolations of our ancestors and to discover our kinship with their experience… Consolation is an act of solidarity in space — keeping company with the bereaved, helping a friend through a difficult moment; but it is also an act of solidarity in time — reaching back to the dead and drawing meaning from the words they left behind… These works help us find words for what is wordless, for experiences of isolation that imprison us in silence.”
[…]
“The essential element of consolation is hope: the belief that we can recover from loss, defeat, and disappointment, and that the time that remains to us, however short, offers us possibilities to start again, failing perhaps, but as Beckett said, failing better. It is this hope that allows us, even in the face of tragedy, to remain unbowed.”
– Michael Ignatieff via The Marginalian
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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