Reflections On This 4th of July 2022
It’s the 4th of July, America. 2022 marks 246 years since the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the U.S. Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Our house did not exist in 1776, but we are pretty sure the original 2-room structure (our current dining room and office) existed in the 1780s. This means it is very likely that our house and its occupants witnessed history unfold when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788 and went into effect in 1789. I’ve studied history and know what happened, but I wonder how it FELT to be alive then? Victory must have been bittersweet. Lives were lost in the war.…
Happy List: #262
Hello! Welcome to the first Happy List of July! This week on the blog I shared a 4th of July craft. I made a cross-stitch American flag on a grain sifter as one does. It’s not the first thing I’ve made with that grain sifter. It probably won’t be the last. Send me your ideas on what I should make next! I also shared a very niche idea on how to hide cords on a standing desk. For all you work-from-home people, this post was for you. I think this idea would be adaptable even to a normal, stationary desk too. As always, thank you in advance for reading today’s…
How To Hide Cords On A Standing Desk
Standing desks are great for many things, but hiding cords is not one of them. A standing desk is required to move up and down with the push of a button. This means any cords associated with your computer setup have to move too. This makes hiding cords a little trickier than usual. So how do you hide cords on a standing desk? We built a box to hold the cords and the surge protector and attached it to the underside of the standing desk. The box allows the cords to move up and down as the desk moves up and down from the sitting to the standing position. This…
Cross-Stitch American Flag On a Grain Sifter
What happens when you combine cross-stitch, an American flag, and an antique grain sifter? Pure Americana magic. Or, in less flowery terms, you get a cross-stitch American flag on a grain sifter. I’ve always been intrigued by the grid pattern of grain sifters. It lends itself well to all sorts of crafty endeavors, but particularly cross-stitch. Cross-stitch in its most rudimentary sense is a series of x-shaped hand stitches. I won’t even pretend to know much more about cross-stitch beyond that completely lacking description. I do consider it to be an art form and skill that I am continually impressed by when I see what folks have created. If you…
Happy List: #261
Hi! Hello! Welcome to today’s Happy List. I’m glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared some festive 4th of July ideas from the archives. I’ll have a new 4th of July idea to share with you next week. I’m excited it worked out…I never know with some of my ideas. Ha! I also shared how the chainlink fence I painted a year ago is holding up. This is one of the projects where I wanted to see if it actually stood the test of time before I wrote about it. Thank you in advance for reading today’s blog post, sharing things you like, sending good vibes our…
Painted Chainlink Fence Hack
Need a painted chainlink fence hack? You’ve come to the right place. If you’re reading this blog post then it is probably because you have an ugly chainlink fence that is driving you batty. You’ve probably wondered a million times if you can paint that chainlink fence and how much of a pain in the paintbrush is it going to be? You can paint pretty much anything. The question is whether or not it will hold up. In a grand, tedious experiment, I painted our ugly chainlink fence one year ago and discovered a hack that might save your sanity and a whole bunch of wasted paint. Here’s the hack,…
Eight Fun 4th of July Ideas
Before you know it, the USA will be celebrating another birthday. It is turning the ripe old age of 246 in 2022! That calls for a celebration, don’t you think? Here are eight fun 4th of July ideas to make the holiday even more festive. Fun 4th of July Ideas: Make Faux Sparklers or Giant Frill Picks I had so much fun making these last year and plan to reuse them again this year. (Read how I made them here.) You can either use these faux sparklers or giant frill picks in the world’s largest sandwich, or you can do like I did and put them in my front porch…
Happy List: #260
Hello! Welcome to today’s Happy List. I’m glad you’re here. This week on the blog we celebrated 3 years of living in this Colonial Farmhouse. We’ve actually been in New Jersey for almost 4 years now. That’s getting close to a record for us! I also shared photos of our new flagstone path and our experience with setting flagstones directly on the ground. If nothing else, you can come here to learn from our DIY experiences – the good and the bad! Thank you in advance for reading today’s blog post, sharing things you like, sending good vibes our way, and even engaging with us on Instagram or Facebook. This is my happy…
What Happens When You Set Flagstones Directly On The Ground
What happens when you set flagstones directly on the ground? It depends. That’s such a terrible answer, right? We are not experts, but we do have experience setting flagstones directly on the ground when creating paths. I’m sharing what we’ve learned here – the good and the bad. Hopefully, our experience will help you make a more informed decision when deciding to DIY or hire a pro to build a flagstone path. Keep in mind that our experience is specific to soil and weather conditions in New Jersey. Where you live, conditions, and, therefore, your experience might be different when setting flagstones directly on the ground. Remember, this feedback is…
Colonial Farmhouse 3 Year Anniversary
It is our 3 year anniversary of living in this amazing Colonial Farmhouse. Woohoo! She’s a good one and we are so honored to be her current caretakers. Were you here when we bought this place? Can you believe 3 years have already passed? I can’t! As I reflect back on it, most of the last 3 years feel like a blur. I guess that’s what happens when your lives have forever been altered by a global pandemic, remote schooling, working from home, and all sorts of other “regular” life adjustments while working on a fixer-upper. It’s a good thing I took pictures of how this Colonial Farmhouse looked when…
