holidays
DIY Stained Wooden Easter Eggs
I’m on a quest to decorate faux Easter eggs that I will love so much I will want to decorate with them year after year. I’m sure there are far nobler quests out there, but since comparison is the thief of joy, let’s not compare how you are curing cancer and I’m…not. My last attempt at decorating faux Easter eggs was a comedy of errors and I still haven’t fully recovered from that episode. (If you want to get caught up, you can read all about how I painted a marbling effect on fake plastic Easter eggs here.) There was one aspect of that egg painting fiasco that I wanted to…
Marbled Faux Easter Eggs
Have you ever jumped off something high and the instant you jumped you regretted your decision? Sticking the landing might be the best outcome, but who are we kidding? You’re just trying not to go splat. That’s me and this marbled faux Easter egg project. And also me when I jump off anything. Which is why I don’t jump off anything. I started this project because I wanted to create a marbled paint effect on something. Anything. I had some fake Easter eggs sitting in the closet mocking me while I tried to come up with a way to decorate them, so I thought, “Why not try marbling those Easter eggs?”…
DIY Wooden Heart Magnets
Since February is LOVE month, I decided it was high time I showcased a sentimental DIY that I’ve been using most of my life – DIY Wooden Heart Magnets. You know I love magnets. I use them anywhere except on my refrigerator. Weird, I know. I just really like an uncluttered refrigerator door. Open the fridge up and all bets are off though! I’ve made matchbox car magnets, Santa belt magnets and souvenir penny magnets. I come about this magnet love naturally because my mom is the one who DIY’d these wooden heart magnets. I’m guessing 30 years ago? Yes, they’ve lasted THAT long. She made these magnets and other…
Presents My Kids Played With Longer Than 5 Minutes
I challenge you to find me one parent on the face of this planet that didn’t hear their children say at some point after Christmas, “I’m bored.” In certain dialects it could have also sounded like, “I’m booooored.” You find me that one parent and I’ll show you a person with their pants on fire. Or a parent who is wearing earplugs because they are so much smarter than me. Yes, yes. There were moments this holiday season that were magical. Joy-filled. Melt my heart. Worthy of a Hallmark card. Those are the moments I hold close to my heart while I let electronics babysit my kids because the week…
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Christmas Touches in the Kitchen and Living Room
For the first time in my life I have discovered the worst best feeling to have. Yes, I typed that sentence how I meant it. I am done shopping for Christmas. I’ve been done since December 12. I even wrapped all of the presents. WHO AM I?!?! I should feel amazing. I should be humble bragging right now. Maybe just flat out bragging, but I’m a mature adult, so I won’t do that. I’ll blog about it instead. Instead of relishing in the self-satisfaction that all of this forward-thinking and advanced prep work created, I. AM. FREAKING. OUT. Not on the outside, of course, because I don’t do that. On the…
Color Blocked Wood Ornaments – Tags and Balls
It wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t feel the need to make some ornaments. Someone check my temperature if I ever decide not to be crafty at Christmas, okay? This may turn out to be the longest running fever on record. Seriously though, making ornaments the last few years is something I oddly enjoy. Is that a hobby? Guys, did I finally find a hobby? Nah… This year I wizened up an created ornaments that can be made over when I change my mind on colors or styles in the coming years. There’s something very freeing in the idea that you can change your mind later. I highly recommend this…
Christmas Tree 2018: Blue, White and Natural Wood
Once upon a time a certain blogger became over-zealous in downsizing her possessions before moving back to the United States. She gave away her faux Christmas tree only to discover there WAS room in the shipping container. Alas, it was too late. The tree was gone and the ship was actually setting sail. Much to her husband’s dismay, her only choice was to buy a new tree to bring sparkle and magic to their new home at Christmas. Much to her husband’s delight, the new tree was found on deep discount at Michael’s because a certain blogger has the Michael’s phone app with all the coupons. The husband was so…
Peg Doll Place Cards
In November I gave my daughter a set of unfinished wooden peg dolls. My original request was that she paint our family on peg dolls as a Christmas present to me so I could put them in a shadowbox frame. She loved that idea. I loved that idea. The peg dolls arrived just as friends flew in to stay with us for Thanksgiving. That prompted an even better idea! Peg Doll Place Cards for Thanksgiving Dinner. I asked my daughter and her friend (they are both 11 years old) if they would paint peg dolls for every person joining us for Thanksgiving. Instead of place cards at each table setting,…
Chalkboard Globe Advent Calendar
If I’m being really honest, some of my creative ideas are the result of sheer panic or parental guilt. Case in point. My kids have been asking since Halloween if I had purchased chocolate advent calendars. It’s one of their favorite holiday traditions. “There’s plenty of time,” I said. No. No, there’s not plenty of time. In my defense, my grocery store does not sell advent calendars, so I haven’t been able to make an impulse buy that would avoid all this parental guilt regarding the holiday tradition I started. Last week I decided I needed to get serious about finding chocolate advent calendars because tick-tock goes the clock entire…
DIY Leather Christmas Trees
We had a very special visit from my dad and The Junk Whisperer this fall and they brought me presents. I LOVE PRESENTS! And by ‘presents’ I mean they cleaned out a drawer and brought me a treasure I would have coveted had I known it was in that drawer. I clearly need to do a better job of snooping when I go home for visits. Anyway, back to the gift! The Junk Whisperer brought me a whole stack of emu leather! She knew that I’ve been on a leather crafting kick lately. (See this map, this paperweight, these drawer pulls and this pumpkin.) And then because I’m a super grateful…
