decorating
Leather Map From Old Boots
There are a great number of things to be sad about in this world. Your favorite pair of boots falling apart at the seams is not one of the things that should make you sad. Don’t worry. If it did devastate make me sad I wouldn’t do anything immature like text my bestie a million crying face emojis when I realized the boots were not repairable. Of course not. Instead, I decided my heart would go on to save the leather from the boots. Perhaps I could use it for a crafty project in the future. That’s where the idea for a leather map from my old boots originated. Here’s how…
Personalized Wood Hangers
Hangers are that one useful tool in my house that no one wants to use. This is particularly true when it comes to our coat closet. Coats will find their way to a hook, the back of the chair, on a bench, on the floor, and my least favorite place, hanging on the closet door knobs. But not ON a hanger IN the closet. I’m living with a house full of rebels. I tell you this so there’s no doubt that this crafty project – personalized wood hangers – was just for my pleasure. In this house, it seems, I’m the only one who thinks hangers are useful AND can…
Denim Pennant Gift Toppers
My stack of ripped denim jeans is piling up, folks. At this point, I’m just shaking my head like, “REALLY?!?” But ripped jeans are in style, you say! Perhaps. However, these jeans of Handy Husband’s are ripped in a rather unfortunate location. Do you get what I’m saying? The jeans aren’t really fixable in any way that says you should be wearing them to work for Casual Fridays. It’s not THAT casual! I need to throw them away or repurpose them. The repurposing issue is a challenge because most denim projects seem very dated or way too country western for me. I’ve lived long enough to know that if I…
What Should I Do With This Junky Treasure?
If you’ve been following along on this blog – and thank you for doing that – you’ll remember I talked about our sidewalks being torn up and the amazing memento I now have from the tree that was cut down during the process. I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but our driveway apron was torn up too. A few weeks after the new concrete was poured, I cleaned out the flowerbeds next to the driveway. Yes, I occasionally do tend to my flowerbeds. I swear! Do you know what I found when I was weeding that day? A glorious junky treasure! Talk about chippy perfection! It’s a piece of gate…
Christmas Around Our Home 2017
While my kids would have loved for us to truly douse the house in Christmas everything, I prefer a lighter touch when it comes to Christmas decorating. In fact, I’ve already donated 5 bags of stuff this month because all the extra decor out for Christmas is making me twitchy. My closets are looking nice and tidy though! The mantel in the living room we never use is decorated with some greenery, ceramic trees and one of my favorite projects of all time – a DIY wood dove. I can see the mantel from the doorway though, so it’s not a complete waste. I made a wreath from yard clippings for…
Christmas Tree 2017
I was gung-ho to decorate for Christmas this year. Then I opened the Christmas boxes stuffed with holiday decor. I looked at all the glitz and glitter and did not feel that burst of fa-la-la-magic. Instead, I felt like a tall, curly-haired grinch. Minus the green complexion. However, the kids were excited to douse the house in Christmas everything! Even though I FELT like a grinch, I didn’t want to BE a grinch. So we blasted Christmas music and got to work spreading holiday cheer around the house. I set the Christmas tree up in the living room in front of the big window. Then I just looked at it…
Turn Building Blocks Into Christmas Ornaments
Some people do crossword puzzles to keep their brain sharp. I constantly thinking of ways to repurpose items in our home. Totally the same, right? Hmm. The latest idea was to turn my kids’ natural wood building blocks into Christmas ornaments. Why?? Let me explain… One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the artwork my kids bring home from school. I’ve saved some of it and every year when I open the holiday boxes and see something they made with their cute little toddler (now big kid) hands, I melt into a pile of mom goo. This is one of my favorite pieces of foot-made handmade artwork. If…
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Editor’s Note: Hurricane Ophelia is expected to hit Ireland today. A ‘red weather warning’ has been issued for the entire country as this could be the worst storm to hit the island in 50 years. The west coast of Ireland is expected to take the brunt of the storm. The Dublin area, on the east coast where we live, will be impacted as well. As of 11 a.m. local time there is no rain, but wind gusts have started and it is unusually warm. Buses and trains are running this morning in the city, but schools and government offices are closed and people are advised to stay home. Thanks to…
5 Easy, (mostly) Recyclable Halloween Decorating Ideas
My interest in holiday decorating comes and goes. I’m not sure why. Different seasons of life, perhaps? My interest or lack thereof in storing A TON of holiday decor is more steady. I like to keep some Christmas and autumn decor, but I don’t have space or the desire to store items for all the other holidays. If I can make it and recycle the decor when I’m finished, I consider that a holiday decorating win. Here are 5 easy Halloween decorating projects that are low-on-cost, high-on-impact and (mostly) recyclable. I should note that after I wrote this post, I was doing a little fact checking. Yes, I do aim…
MultiTasking Fail and a Rope Planter
Moms of the world, I hope I’m not the only one think you can relate to this scenario. One simple thing you have to do. That’s it. One. simple. thing. And you pick a time to sneak away to do the one simple thing when both kids are entertaining themselves. They are old enough to do that now – thank goodness. My one simple thing was to do something with this planter. It was pink and I started to paint it, which I realized was not going to help. This needed to be a complete cover up job if I wanted to keep the planter. But the project goes sideways…
