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A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
    • Apparel and Shoes
    • Books
    • Crafts and Sewing
    • Decor
    • Furniture
    • Home Improvement
    • Kid Favorites
    • Kitchen
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
    • Apparel and Shoes
    • Books
    • Crafts and Sewing
    • Decor
    • Furniture
    • Home Improvement
    • Kid Favorites
    • Kitchen
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

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  • backyard of a colonial farmhouse clearing brush
    gardening and landscape

    3 Reasons We’re Clearing Brush On Our Property

    May 8, 2024 /

    We’ve been clearing brush on our property for five long, long years now for three important reasons. One of those reasons is not because we are gluttons for punishment. But sometimes I wonder. It’s also not because it is our idea of a good time. It isn’t. Here’s the view of our backyard in 2019. Looks like an idyllic scene, right? Many things can look idyllic in the right light and from a distance and with the sound turned off, including history. What that photo does not show is that twenty years ago, most of the trees and brush behind where the kids are playing did not exist. That’s approximately…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    The Surprising Way We Cleared 75 Feet of Bushes

    September 9, 2019

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    August 31, 2015
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    How Our Landscaping Survived A Dry Summer

    September 7, 2022
  • how to make curved wood refrigerator handles
    DIY

    DIY Curved Wood Refrigerator Handles

    May 6, 2024 /

    Let’s talk about Curved Wood Refrigerator Handles and how to make them. We have an old refrigerator. It’s probably over 30 years old. The thing runs like a champ. Makes ice faster than a snowman could, which means it’s probably not energy-efficient. It holds a ton of food because it’s as big as a Mac truck. It’s a creamy color, which I believe was referred to as “biscuit” back in the day. Basically, it’s in fine shape and I’ve loathed it since the moment we moved into this house. But then a funny thing started to happen. I realized a stainless steel refrigerator would be way too modern for our…

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    annisa 6 Comments

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    A Crate For My Crate – Because Why Not? ScrapMaster Project #2

    September 8, 2014
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    Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 1, The Plan

    August 13, 2025

    Kitchen Refresh Part 5: Backsplash Dilemma

    May 4, 2015
  • yellow tulips in milk bottle on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #343

    May 3, 2024 /

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It is SO good to have you here. If you missed any blog posts from this week, let me catch you up real quick. On Monday I reminisced about an old tradition of May Day baskets. I know some of you give flowers on May Day. Did anyone receive any flowers? Wednesday’s blog post was all about my favorite human, Handy Husband, who had a birthday this week. Let me tell you, he did milk that birthday week concept for all it was worth. Ha! As always, thank you for being here. It’s so rewarding to connect with each and every one of…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #153

    February 14, 2020
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    Happy List: #287

    February 3, 2023
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    Happy List: #178

    August 28, 2020
  • happy birthday cake happy birthday handy husband
    Family

    Happy Birthday, Handy Husband

    May 1, 2024 /

    My favorite human, Handy Husband, is having a birthday this week. I think most of us hope we get better with age, but Handy Husband truly has. He never stops learning. He’s endlessly curious and hardworking. He is more open-minded and giving. He works hard to bring all of my ideas to life and those ideas have not become less complicated over time. Quite the opposite. He’s always up for the challenge though. One specific thing I appreciate about Handy Husband is that he has become a better listener over the years. He has learned I don’t necessarily want him to always default to problem-solving mode when I tell him about…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    An April Fool’s Day Story

    April 1, 2019

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    May 1, 2015

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    August 16, 2017
  • may day basket idea with potted plant may day basket tradition
    gardening and landscape,  holidays

    May Day Basket Tradition – Did You Do This As A Kid?

    April 29, 2024 /

    Did you participate in the May Day Basket Tradition as a kid? I did! May Day is always May 1st. As a kid, I thought it was the best thing EVER to leave a small bouquet hanging on our neighbor’s door, knock, run away giggling, and try to hide before they answered the door. I can’t tell you what the flowers were but they could have been dandelions. I’m unsure if we always hung the bouquet on the door. My brother and I might have just left flowers on the front porch and then skedaddled out of there. It was the thrill of doing something nice but being sneaky that…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    winter yard clean up with gorilla cart

    Winter Yard Clean Up

    March 16, 2020
    Outdoor Dining Set Makeover

    $20 Outdoor Dining Set Makeover

    August 19, 2019
    colonial farmhouse landscaping stone path outdoor project progress

    2021 Outdoor Project Progress

    August 4, 2021
  • orange tulips in ireland
    happy list

    Happy List: #342

    April 26, 2024 /

    Hello, hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m so glad you are here. This week on the blog I shared some tips, six to be exact, on how to install a split ceiling medallion. It’s pretty niche advice for a project most people will skip over and install a regular ceiling medallion instead. Niche advice is my forte. Ha! I also wrote about the six things (an inadvertent number theme) we found inside the stone walls of our basement. I’d like to think we’re done finding things in the walls. As long as we don’t open up anymore walls, that will be a true statement. As always, thank you…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #276

    October 28, 2022
    red mill museum clinton nj on july 4 2025 with kayakers on the happy list

    Happy List: #396

    July 11, 2025
    lifeguard tower on sandy beach easton's beach newport rhode island on the happy list

    Happy List: #309

    August 4, 2023
  • what we didn't anticipate when repointing our stone walls in the basement ourselves repointing stone walls takes a lot of time
    DIY

    6 Things We Found Inside Our Stone Walls

    April 24, 2024 /

    Oh, the interesting and downright horrifying things we’ve found INSIDE our stone walls will not be easily purged from my memory. Why would we be looking for things inside our stone walls? And why do we even have stone walls? These stone walls are, in essence, our foundation walls. The oldest part of our home dates back to the 1780s. The home was added onto a few more times and all of our foundation walls are built with field stone and lime mortar as shown in the photo below. We’ve been repointing the stone walls in our basement. Repointing means chipping out an inch or so of the surface layer…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    October 1, 2025
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    The Most Satisfying Staircase Makeover You’ve Seen Today

    March 7, 2022
    sunroom door hardware after removing paint from door hardware with a slow cooker

    Old House Essential: Slower Cooker For Paint Removal

    May 1, 2023
  • 6 split ceiling medallion installation tips
    decorating,  DIY

    6 Split Ceiling Medallion Installation Tips

    April 22, 2024 /

    If you’re considering installing a split ceiling medallion, I  have six split ceiling medallion installation tips for you! (Say that six times fast! Haha!) A ceiling medallion is that decorative circular ring on the ceiling above a light fixture. They used to have a practical use of helping to conceal the ring of soot put off by lighting that involved a flame, but today are mainly decorative. If you’re considering installing a split ceiling medallion (two half circles you put together) over a regular ceiling medallion, you probably have a very good reason for not wanting to take your light down to install a ceiling medallion. I had my reasons…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Antique Grate Wall Art

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    December 11, 2015

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    February 6, 2019
  • daffodils in an irish garden on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #341

    April 19, 2024 /

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It’s so fun to have you here. This week on the blog I shared the few regrets we have about our laundry room makeover. It’s a bit of a “wish we would have done this” list. I also wrote about 10 items we received as wedding gifts that we still use 25 years later. I’ve since thought of more things to add to that list. Don’t tell anyone that a few of those items I can’t remember who gifted them to us! As always, thank you for being here. It’s so rewarding to connect with each and every one of you. I’ve made…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    pear on pear tree on the happy list

    Happy List: #356

    August 23, 2024
    fall leaves in dublin

    Happy List: #319

    October 20, 2023
    colonial farmhouse exterior april 2021

    Happy List: #209

    April 23, 2021
  • daffodils in a crystal vase in a living room 10 wedding gifts I still use 25 years later
    decorating

    10 Wedding Gifts We Still Use 25 Years Later

    April 17, 2024 /

    Every time I pull out our popcorn maker I think to myself, “We got this for our wedding.” Well, I’ve now been saying that for 25 years. Twenty. Five. That’s a lot of popcorn! It’s hard to believe we reached that anniversary milestone earlier this year. It doesn’t feel like we’ve been married that long. But it did get me thinking. What other wedding gifts do we still use 25 years later? I’m going to share mine and I thought it would be fun, no matter how long you’ve been married, to see if you have and use some of the same things. Or maybe you have different wedding gifts…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Trash to Treasure: Art for Boys Room

    March 30, 2016
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    Bedroom Gallery Wall of Nature Paintings

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    Lettered Wall – Work in Progress

    October 6, 2014
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Hi! I'm Annisa.

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  • Happy List: #407
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