• sunflowers in field on the happy list
    happy list

    Happy List: #316

    Hey, hey, hey! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m glad you’re here. First, fun news! My Halloween Duct Tape Decals were featured over at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Funky Junk Interiors, and Creatively Beth. It never gets old to have your work showcased on someone else’s website. This week on the blog I shared a flower arrangement I made using a vintage toolbox as the vase. I tend to make more flower arrangements in the fall than any other time. I’m not sure why but I’m not complaining about it. I also revealed the new rocking chairs on our front porch. Those have been a long time coming…

  • Annisa Olsson Jones sitting on the front porch of a colonial farmhouse in new jersey double rockers for our porch
    decorating,  gardening and landscape

    Why We Chose Double Rockers For Our Porch

    There is a new addition to our front porch. Double rockers! Double your fun. (I grew up watching Doublemint gum commercials. I was compelled to say that.)  Why did we choose double rockers over regular rocking chairs or a porch swing? Great question. I’d love to tell you. I have always wanted a big covered porch and this is the first house we’ve lived in that has a front porch big enough for porch sitting. Every romanticized image you can imagine of front porch sitting and front porch living has taken up residence in my brain for years and I have zero regrets about that. I knew I wanted 4…

  • fall flower ideas vintage toolbox flower arrangement for fall
    decorating

    Vintage Toolbox Flower Arrangement For Fall

    The only thing better than a vintage toolbox is a vintage toolbox with flowers in it! If you want a big bang for your flower arranging buck this fall then create a vintage toolbox flower arrangement. Let’s face it, we all want our buck to go a little farther these days. The rustic vibe of a vintage toolbox lends itself really well to this fall season where we are all about getting cozy. I’m sure fall can be fancy but, in my head, I associate fall with things that are a little more rustic and earthy like apple orchards, haybale rides, warming hands around a firepit, crunchy leaves on the…

  • diy brass pumpkin
    happy list

    Happy List: #315

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I hope you enjoy being here so much that you come back again. This week on the blog I shared our dining room mantel all decorated for fall with my leaf-stamped wood rounds. I love that this mantel will take me all the way through the end of November. I also wrote about our quest (dramatic much?) to find a new bluetooth speaker that looked good and sounded good. We only need our speaker to play music or podcasts. I don’t need it to run my life, so that’s why we don’t have a voice assistant like Alexa. Thank you for reading this…

  • marshall middleton bluetooth speaker via amazon in praise of pretty bluetooth speakers that look good in my home
    decorating

    In Praise Of: Pretty Bluetooth Speakers

    Pretty Bluetooth speakers. That’s what I want. I want to listen to my music and I want it to come from a Bluetooth speaker that looks good in my home. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Eh. Sometimes it feels that way, so I’m on a mission to dispel that myth. If you can design a speaker with killer sound quality, surely you can design a speaker that looks elegant, fun, sleek or any other adjective that fits the style of someone’s home. And I don’t want to use one that comes with a voice assistant like Alexa. No thank you. Just play my music. Don’t try to…

  • Fall Mantel With Leaf-Stamped Wood Rounds in a colonial era home with wood beams and original wood floors fall decorating ideas
    decorating

    Fall Mantel With Leaf-Stamped Wood Rounds

    Last week I shared how to leaf stamp on wood. You know I don’t make crafts unless I plan on using them, so let me show you my fall mantel featuring a grouping of leaf-stamped wood rounds. I do declare that it looks beautiFALL. That probably won’t be the last bad fall pun in this blog post as I’m feeling a bit acorn-y today. Our dining room fireplace is my favorite of our three fireplaces to decorate seasonally. It’s the only one that I change the decor on regularly even though spatially speaking it is the trickiest to decorate. The overmantel, the spot above the mantel where decor goes, is…

  • fall leaves new jersey october 2022
    happy list

    Happy List: #314

    Hi! Welcome to the Happy List. I’m so glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared how to leaf stamp on wood. I don’t make things just for the sake of making something. I have to use it! Next week I’ll share how I’m using these stamped wood rounds in my house. It looks so good and not at all like a preschool craft. (Pretty sure.) I also shared the happiest craft I’ve made in a good long while – Halloween decals with duct tape. This craft was pure joy and I’m going to love the heck out of my decals for the next two months as they…

  • diy halloween decals with duct tape make jack o'lantern faces with black duct tape to decorate your planters
    Crafts,  holidays

    DIY Halloween Decals With Duct Tape

    Oh yes, you can make your own Halloween decals with duct tape. Specifically, black duct tape. This is a super easy, smile-inducing craft that will make it look like you purchased some fancy vinyl decals online instead of using the roll of black duct tape that’s been jammed in the back of your junk drawer. Honestly, black duct tape has never looked better. The sky is the limit with this craft. I made jack o’lantern faces and bats. The jack o’lanterns were my favorite. However, you could make witch hats, cats, ghosts, or something I haven’t thought of. Let’s get started! Materials Needed To DIY Halloween Decals With Duct Tape:…

  • how to leaf stamp on wood using house paint or craft paint fresh leaves and a wood round
    Crafts

    How To Leaf Stamp On Wood

    Get ready because I’m going to show you how to leaf stamp on wood. It’s an easy craft that looks like a million bucks when you’re done. Plus, it’s a lot of fun! You really only need 3 basic things to leaf stamp on wood: paint, leaves, and a flat piece of wood. Two of those things you probably already have: leaves and paint. Let’s get started! Supplies Needed: Leaves (You’ll need freshly picked leaves that lie flat.) Wood rounds (Mine are 7-8 inches in diameter and come in an 8-pack.) Paint (I used house paint, but almost any type of paint like craft paint will work.) Ribbon Staple gun…

  • Labor Day 1956 stamp via Wikicommons Media Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Designed by Victor S. McCloskey, Jr., using as source material a photograph of a portion of the mural by Lumen M. Winter located in the AFL-CIO building in Washington, DC. - U.S. Postal Service; National Postal Museum:
    Uncategorized

    Labor Day 2023 and A Poem

    Happy Labor Day to those of you celebrating in the United States. I hope you’ve had a fun and relaxing weekend. I’m taking the rest of the week off of the blog to settle into September and this fall season. My kids will be back in school and I imagine my productivity will be off the charts this week. A girl can dream. Speaking of work and Labor Day, I thought I’d share the poem “Something Left Undone” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His poems always cut straight to my feelings. Something Left Undone by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Labor with what zeal we will, Something still remains undone, Something uncompleted still…