Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 9, The Reveal
Today is the big TADA! This is the finale of our Basement Workshop Repointing Project series and the grand reveal of how the finished space turned out! I’m using a lot of exclamation points because I’m very happy that we’ve checked another project off the list. Sure, I added ten more projects to the list in the time it took us to finish this one, but that’s the “perk” of homeownership! Why We Were Repointing Our Stone Foundation If you’re new here (welcome!), we’ve been repointing the stone foundation in our basement workshop, which is the oldest section of our house dating back to the 1780s. If you’re keeping track,…
Happy List: #432
Why, hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. What a pleasure it is to see you here. This week on the blog, I shared that we finished something! It was a big milestone to finish repointing the stone foundation walls (finally!) in our basement workshop. Stay tuned for the finale of that series. There’s still one thing left to do. I also shared 10 Fun and Thoughtful Graduation Gift Ideas in case you’re shopping for a graduate like we are. Our kids are not in a graduation year, but there are others in our orbit that have reached this milestone. It’s so exciting for them. As always, thank you for…
10 Fun and Thoughtful Graduation Gift Ideas
Graduation season is just around the corner. I was shopping for a graduation gift last night, and thought you might like to see the fun and thoughtful gift ideas I found for graduates. Now, let’s keep it real. I have had one child who has graduated from high school, and I can tell you, cash is the item kids need and want the most. Truly. However, my daughter did receive some jewelry to commemorate the accomplishment, and she wears that jewelry almost daily. It’s something she can keep forever, and a sweet memento of that snapshot in time. There’s a time and place for cash, gift cards, and physical gifts.…
Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 8, Walls Are Done
Welcome back to the second-to-last post of our Basement Workshop Repointing series. Ready the confetti cannon! Today, I am happy to share that all four walls in this room are done being repointed and repaired. I repeat, the walls are done!! Finally. Repointing the walls on this 16×16-foot space took way longer than we anticipated. This is partly because there ended up being more rebuilding than we anticipated, and partly because these sorts of tasks just take time if it’s mainly one person chipping away at it (sometimes literally), a few hours at a time. Hauling rocks, mortar debris, and bags of sand is a good workout, but the muscle…
Happy List: #431
Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I am thrilled you are here. This week on the blog, I shared a surprise update to our colorful attic stairwell. I only say it’s a surprise because I didn’t say one word about it before posting it on the blog. Wild of me not to overshare on social media first. Hahaha! I also shared the finished stone doorway I reconstructed in our basement. There’s only one more masonry-related thing to do in that room! Thank you for spending a moment of your day here. The Happy List is purposefully light and filled with things that caught my eye this week or inspired…
Basement Workshop Repointing: Part 7, Stone Doorway
Our Basement Workshop Repointing Series continues today with a drastic before and after. We took a poorly constructed doorway that had been heavily patched with concrete and turned it into a stone doorway that steals the show. Here’s how the doorway looked before we got our hands on it, and before we realized just how bad a shape it was in. That’s not so bad, you say. You’re right. It was worse. And not just because it looked like a toddler had fingerpainted mortar on the wall. That concrete, which was used to secure the opening in the wall when a new addition was added, was hiding missing rocks and…
Colorful Attic Stairwell
Last year, I gave a much-needed makeover to our attic stairwell. It went from looking like the backdrop of a horror movie to a bright, colorful attic stairwell that could be the setting of a meet-cute in a delightfully witty romcom. Or so I imagine. It took six years to get around to making over this tiny space, but not because we didn’t care. We did! Cross my heart, and hope to DIY. But you know how it goes. When you beg a bank to give you money to buy a fixer-upper with a leaky roof and rotting siding, the attic stairwell that’s hidden behind a door bumps to the…
3 Crafts to Try Over Spring Break
I’m Spring Breaking with the family this week, which I know might feel like a late Spring Break for many of you. Better late than never! Our Spring Break here on the East Coast of the U.S. always coincides with Easter. Anyway, if you’re feeling crafty this week, here are 3 crafts to try over Spring Break. I promise they are easy ones. 1) Paper Flowers | Details Are you hosting an event this spring, such as a baby or wedding shower? These paper flowers look hard to make, but it’s really just cutting out petal shapes and gluing them together. You can also string them together to make a…
Happy List: #430
Hi! Happy Good Friday. I’m delighted to see you here. This week on the blog, I shared how I’m using gingham to decorate our home. It’s such a fun, playful print. I also shared a cute April Fool’s Day story. Did any pranks happen at your house on April 1? Thank you for spending part of your day here, especially on Easter weekend. The Happy List is purposefully light and filled with things that caught my eye this week or inspired me in some way. I hope they do the same for you. If you’d like to reach out, and I hope you do, please comment on this blog post…
The Cutest April Fool’s Day Story
Editor’s Note: This post was originally shared in 2018. Since April 1 falls on a normal blog posting day this year, and it really is THE cutest April Fool’s Day story, I’m sharing it again. I hope it brightens your day. Around the first of February, my son spent quite a few days home from school with some sort of virus that the rest of us did not contract. It’s the first time in all my years of parenting that the school nurse called to have me pick my child up from school, not once, but twice…in one week! When I break a streak, I really break it. And, yes.…
