holidays
Christmas Mantel with Copper Accents
Another day and a new Christmas mantel to show you! One old house perk is having multiple fireplaces to decorate for the holidays. Today’s Christmas mantel with copper accents is in our primary bedroom. It feels so indulgent having a bedroom with a fireplace, even a non-working fireplace like this one. It especially feels indulgent having this bedroom fireplace knowing that I’m not reliant on it to heat this part of the house. Although, I do think about the 100 plus years where someone had to shlep firewood up and down the stairs to fuel this fireplace. Can you imagine all the dirt that would track in? I’m sure putting…
12 Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas
I hear supply chains are constricted, so here are 12 handmade holiday gift ideas to consider making for your friends and family this year. The best part is some of these gift ideas are DIY cheats meaning not totally handmade from scratch. They just have a handmade, personal touch. That totally counts! Ready? Let the inspiration flow: Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas: Game Boards Board games are often popular gifts. How about making a handmade checkers board or chessboard? You could keep it a little easier and make a Tic Tac Toe board too. If you’re interested in vintage wood checkers to go with your game board, you can find them on…
Kraft Paper Snowflake Mantel for the Holidays
I hope you’re sitting in a warm, cozy place while you check out my Kraft Paper Snowflake Mantel! I had a jolly good time making all 33 snowflakes on this Kraft Paper Snowflake Mantel. Yes, I counted. “Jolly good time” makes it sound like it was a party. I haven’t been to one of those in…well, we don’t need to count everything in this blog post. That would be depressing. Perhaps it is better to say I was in the mood to create something with my hands, so spending several hours making 33 kraft paper snowflakes was satisfying. Plus, I enjoy making something that looks way more complicated than it…
Proud To Be Part of a Scandi-cool Halloween Trend
Last week I learned Living Etc. featured one of my photos in an article titled “These 5 Scandi-cool Halloween Trends Maintain Your Home’s Style This Spooky Season.” I’m not exactly sure what Scandi-cool means, but if you want to group me in with anything cool, I’m pretty sure I’m down with that. Maybe? I’m not sure. This coolness thing is an uncomfortable feeling. How do all of you cool people handle the pressure? This photo of my witch’s broom leaning next to my dining room mantel is the photo that was featured in the article along with photos from other contributors, including Studio McGee! Yep, THE Studio McGee with a decorating…
Halloween Mantel With a DIY Witch’s Broom
Hello you gorgeous ghouls and goblins! Let’s dish on all things Halloween mantel and DIY Witch’s Broom related. Do you have a mantel decorated for Halloween this year? I wasn’t going to do any Halloween decorating because I just wasn’t feeling it, but then Handy Husband tossed some proverbial inspiration in the wood chip pile and I dove in right after it. That sentence didn’t make any sense, did it? Let me back up my broomstick and let you hop on for a ride. A few weeks ago Handy Husband was trimming brush and tossed the coolest-looking stick in the pile to be woodchipped. Noooooo!!! I need that!!! It really…
How to Make a DIY Brass Pumpkin
I’ve found a gap in the decorative pumpkin market (gasp!), so today we are remedying that and I’ll show you how to create a DIY Brass Pumpkin. Move over, sweater pumpkins! This brass pumpkin is going to take over the world! What?!? It could happen. Here’s how to DIY a Brass Pumpkin: DIY Brass Pumpkin Step #1: Start with a rectangle of thin brass sheeting. Thin brass sheeting is available from Amazon. Once you buy a roll of this stuff, you’ll be hooked. It’s a gateway to all sorts of crafting shenanigans. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I purchased this particular roll of brass sheeting. It is 1000mm long,…
Patriotic Front Porch for our Colonial Farmhouse
If ever there was a home that needed a patriotic front porch, it is our Colonial Farmhouse. While this colonial farmhouse did not exist for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it was built shortly thereafter. That means it witnessed the growing pains of a newly formed nation and there were plenty! It bore witness to the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. Those are just the major wars of the 1800s. At the risk of stating the obvious, that’s a lot of bloodshed. I’m sure this Colonial Farmhouse has bore witness to the warm fuzzies in American history as well. Right?!?! While…
Happy Memorial Day 2021
Happy Memorial Day! Like many of you, I’m taking time off today to spend time with my family. As long as the weather holds we’ll be enjoying the sunshine with good food and lots of time in the pool. If you’d like something to read before I’m back on Wednesday, here are some posts you might enjoy related to Memorial Day. Our Memorial Day Cemetery Tradition A Cemetery Dating Back to 1774 Burlap Bag Flag Centerpiece Travel: Gettysburg National Military Park Please be good to yourself and others today. So many sacrificed so that we can enjoy a day of fun and frivolity. Happy Memorial Day. Share this:
Moms, When Was the Last Time You Felt Appreciated?
Moms, when was the last time you felt appreciated? Really appreciated? The other morning I was sitting in bed drinking coffee and reading a book. It’s my favorite any day weekend activity. I could hear the morning buzz around me of the kids playing Minecraft and Handy Husband grinding more beans for coffee. Next thing I know Handy Husband comes into the bedroom, gives me a big hug, and says, “You pre-sliced the bagels before you put them in the freezer! I thought I was going to have to try and cut through a frozen bagel.” I did do that. Honestly, I did it for the kids because I’ve heard…
St. Patrick’s Day and the Kindness of the Irish
You can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day from home today by joining Dublin’s virtual celebration. It might not be as exciting as celebrating St. Patrick’s Day along the banks of the River Liffey with hundreds of thousands of other people (did that twice!), but it will be safe! The best part of Ireland is, BY FAR, the Irish people. Since many of you were not blog readers when we moved to Ireland for Handy Husband’s work, I thought I’d re-share the dramatic and funny story of how I left the U.S. and flew to Dublin with the kids in tow. Here you go…Our first week in Ireland has been a WHIRLWIND. Apparently, the motto…
