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A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

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DIY

One Thing That Will Wreck Lime Mortar

One thing that will wreck lime mortar on a fieldstone wall are ice melt products, specifically salt. Learn from our mistake this winter. We have a concrete porch wrapped on…

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May 21, 2025
decorating, DIY

Coatrack from a Wine Bar

Before we had kids we spent money on things like furniture instead of nerf guns and Pokemon. It was so long ago, I barely remember. At least we purchased some…

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April 15, 2015
DIY

Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 6, A New Wall

Welcome to another installment in our riveting Basement Workshop Repointing series. This is part 6, where we leave repointing in the mortar tub and move straight into building a new…

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March 25, 2026
  • happy list

    Happy List: #447

    August 21, 2026 /

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. You sure are a sight for sore eyes. I’m glad you are here. This week on the blog, I shared the dice bag charm that I made using wooden dice. If you watched my Instagram stories this week (It’s always a good time there!), you’ll know that the bag charm lasted approximately five minutes before I put it to use as a key chain for our tiny barn key. Reality, you know? I also shared, like the proud plant mama I am, the geraniums on our front porch and what I plan to do with them the rest of the year. The Happy…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #182

    September 25, 2020
  • red geranium blooming on a front porch with white rockers, white siding, and a light blue ceiling
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    A Hot Geranium Summer

    August 19, 2026 /

    In recent culture, we’ve had Hot Girl Summer, Hot Vax Summer, and now I give you Hot Geranium Summer. Catchy, right? No? Well, I admit it could use a little finessing. I’ll work on. It has been the summer of the geranium on my front porch, though. There are geraniums as far as the porch is long. How many geraniums are too many geraniums for one house? Is it five? I hope it’s not five because I now have five planters filled with geraniums. I’m not talking about a cute little planter you can fit in your windowsill. I’m talking about the type of planter that is so big it…

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    annisa 4 Comments

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    Out With the Sad Mailbox In With the New Mailbox

    July 29, 2026
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    How I’m Connecting Two Decks With Landscaping

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  • bag charm hanging from a tan leather bag that is made of round wood beads in a mahogany color and two wood dice also in a mahogany color
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    How to Make a Dice Bag Charm

    August 17, 2026 /

    Bag charms seem to be everywhere these days. One version I have not seen, until now, is a dice bag charm. If I’m going to jump on a craft trend, I’m at least going to give it my own spin roll of the dice. I used wooden dice to make my bag charm, but the beauty of this craft is that dice beads come in a rainbow of colors. Let’s get into how to make a dice bag charm. What you need to make a dice bag charm: dice beads (like these or these) round beads (I used these and colored them with a permanent marker.) optional: drill and tiny…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Painted Pine Cones

    November 7, 2014
  • tac colored lighthouse sitting on the edge of the hudson river in kingston, new york. The sky is partly cloudy and the river is very muddy after a recent storm.
    happy list

    Happy List: #446

    August 14, 2026 /

    Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It makes my day to have you visit. This week on the blog, I shared the new “parking spot” we installed at our house. It’s for horse parking only. Check it out here. I also revealed my first fall craft of the season. To be fair, it might be my only fall craft. You can take a peek at my creation here. The Happy List is meant to be a good time for all and is filled with things that inspired me or piqued my curiosity this week. As always, if you’d like to reach out, and I hope you do, please comment…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Happy List: #206

    March 26, 2021
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    Happy List: #277

    November 4, 2022
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    Happy List: #443

    July 17, 2026
  • Fall-Themed Resin Tray With Wood Leaf Cutouts the tray is wood and lighter colored wood leaf cutouts line the bottom of the tray and look like they are floating in the resin. A tiny glass vase with orange flowers sits on the tray.
    Crafts

    How To: Fall-Themed Resin Tray With Wood Leaf Cutouts

    August 12, 2026 /

    If you have a tray you’d like to fall-ify to make it festive for the autumn season, you’ve come to the right place. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a fall-themed resin tray using wood leaf cutouts. It sounds way harder than it is to make. This was my first time using resin, so if I can branch out into new craft mediums, you can too! Let’s get fall into it. Items You’ll Need: resin epoxy kit for crafts tray with a lip or sides mini wood leaf cutouts permanent markers in colors of your choice glue stick mixing container for the resin Directions: Assemble your supplies…

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    Using Contact Paper to Make a Deer Silhouette

    December 12, 2014

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    December 19, 2016

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    October 4, 2017
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    colonial farmhouse,  decorating,  gardening and landscape

    Hold Your Horses: Bringing Back the Original “Parking Spot”

    August 10, 2026 /

    The only thing related to transportation that has not changed since our home was built in the 1780s is probably a kid asking, “Are we there yet?” Everything else, of course, from how we get places to where we park, has. A 1780s “parking spot” would have been a hitching post to tie up a horse. The hitching posts and the horses are long gone from here, but we decided to pay homage to this home’s original parking spot and install an antique cast-iron hitching post next to our Carriage House. Specifically, we chose an antique hitching post with a horse head. These were popular in the 1800s, and I…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Happy List: #445

    July 31, 2026 /

    Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. If it’s your first time here or if you’re a regular reader, I’m glad to see you! This week on the blog, we got stuff done! We replaced some rotten trim on our Carriage House and installed a new mailbox. That much productivity means I’m taking next week off from the blog to sleep in and laze around.   However, I didn’t laze around when it comes to this week’s Happy List. It is meant to be a good time for all and is filled with things that inspired me or piqued my curiosity this week. As always, if you’d like to reach…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #404

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    Happy List: #246

    February 18, 2022
  • fancy looking oil rubbed bronze mailbox standing in front of a stone wall under construction
    colonial farmhouse,  gardening and landscape

    Out With the Sad Mailbox In With the New Mailbox

    July 29, 2026 /

    Goodbye, sad mailbox. Hello, new mailbox that is the best-looking one on the block. Not that it’s a competition. It’s not. But if it were… Our old mailbox was competing for the worst one on the block. Here it is after it made its acquaintance with a snowplow. There was no coming back from this. That door never opened or closed well after that unfortunate encounter. Who needs dry junk mail anyway? We’ve been working on reducing our curb appall and maximizing our curb appeal by restoring the low stone walls that run along the front of our property facing the road. It seemed natural to include a new mailbox…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    I Refinished Our Tongue and Groove Closet Doors and It Could Have Gone Worse

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    Colonial Farmhouse Six Year Anniversary

    July 16, 2025
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    Colonial Farmhouse Two Year Anniversary

    June 14, 2021
  • man standing on a ladder to repair window trim on a carriage house building with white masonry render and a black metal roof
    DIY,  Stone Masonry

    Finally Fixed the Carriage House Rotten Window Trim

    July 27, 2026 /

    Ready your party horns because we finally fixed the rotten window trim on one of our most prominent Carriage House windows. One of the three windows we see every single day. It only took us seven years. What DO we do with our time? Here is the window in question. You can see the rotten trim on the bottom left-hand corner of the window. The window trim also doesn’t match the trim on this side of this building, and was likely installed when the storm window was added. So, this task should be pretty straightforward, right? Take off the old trim. Cut, nail, and paint the new trim. Bada-bing, bada-boom.…

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    Happy List: #444

    July 24, 2026 /

    Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It is a pleasure to see you here. This week on the blog, I shared the solar lights that are lighting up my nights. They bring me year-round joy. Most of them are also linked in one place on our Amazon Storefront. I also shared the most important post of the year, so far, Lemon Curd S’mores. Do not miss out on trying this delectable creation. Roast a marshmallow over your stove burner if you have to. You won’t regret it. The Happy List is meant to be a good time filled with things that inspired me this week. As always, if you’d…

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Hi! I'm Annisa.

Recent Posts

  • Happy List: #447
  • A Hot Geranium Summer
  • How to Make a Dice Bag Charm
  • Happy List: #446
  • How To: Fall-Themed Resin Tray With Wood Leaf Cutouts

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