Happy List: #383 – A Pretty Happy Home

Hello! Welcome all of you lovers of Spring! It’s is so good to see you here. We made it through winter and I don’t know about you, but I am definitely looking forward to the warmer and more colorful days of spring.

This week on the blog I dusted off a post from the archive and shared my experiences visiting hardware stores in Ireland.

I also shared the fun and maybe temporary addition to our sunporch. It has spring vibes, for sure, and I made it with my own two hands. I do enjoy making things!

A special shout out and thank you to Diane from In My Own Style for sharing a link to our peg rail on her weekly Style Scouting blog post. Fun Fact: Diane and I have the same wood music stand. Hers was passed down through her family, I believe. I found mine at an antique shop. It is such a small world!

Speaking of a small world, we are all connected in some way, shape, or form. I purposefully keep the Happy List focused on the lighter side of life in the hopes that this is a soft place for you to land when the news can be overwhelming. I also welcome the opportunity to connect with you and hear what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. If you want to reach out, you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Enjoy the Happy List!

FORMER BOY SCOUT CAMP

I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this home used to be a Boy Scout Camp. I spent way too long looking at all the details incorporated into this home by Bruce Fox Design.

See all the photos at 1st Dibbs.

(image: Bruce Fox Design via 1st Dibbs)

BARBIE DREAM HOUSE BY STATE

Some brilliant person used AI to create Barbie’s Dreamhouse in every U.S. state.

I would happily live in Barbie’s stereotypical Jersey Shore house (below), but the Georgia and Rhode Island homes were my favorites. Oregon’s cracked me up!

See them all here. Let me know if you think AI got it right this time!

(image: Sarah Aspler / Midjourney via Buzzfeed)

OCEAN’S CURRENTS

If you want to know how we’re all connected by the ocean’s currents, how water moves from the top of the ocean to the bottom, and more, this video by NASA is for you.

It’s about 5 minutes long, the narrator has a GREAT voice, it’s kind of soothing to watch, and I learned so much. That’s a lot of winning for one video.

I am so thankful for our scientists, their work, and their willingness to educate us on all the wonders of this world.

If the video doesn’t load, watch it here directly on YouTube.

PLANTER ON WHEELS

Putting galvanized planters on wheels is a great idea if you build a container garden on a hard surface. If you wanted to move the containers inside for the winter or if you need flexibility in how you use your space for gatherings, you’d just have to wheel them away.

I also like how these particular containers are positioned to make a seating area feel special.

More small garden ideas can be found at Garden Crossings.

(image: Proven Winners via Garden Crossings)

BATHROOM STORAGE IDEAS

Kris from Driven by Decor has a blog post with clever bathroom storage ideas. For instance, I didn’t know you could buy a shelf that connects to a door. It attaches to the hinges of your door and there’s a magnet that holds it shut when the door is swinging. That’s so clever.

Check out all her ideas here.

(image: Driven by Decor)

WIN A PIECE OF NOTRE DAME

This is not a drill!

50 people will win a stone from the original Notre Dame Cathedral. Some of the stones from the cathedral’s facade were deemed too damaged to be used in the rebuilding efforts after the 2019 fire. These stones are being used to fundraise money for the restoration of other religious heritage sites in France.

You have to donate 40 euros to be eligible to win one of the stones. I do not see a country restriction on the rules. If the link doesn’t automatically translate the website from French to the language of your preference, you can usually click on the address bar and Google will tell you if translation is available.

Enter here.

STONE BATH MAT

We’ve had this stone bath mat for 9 months now and it has been a game changer. It dries in SECONDS. Even if I scrub it in the shower, it still dries in seconds. Watching water dry (or be absorbed) is actually fascinating. If something happens to it that doesn’t scrub off, you can use a little sandpaper on the stone.

If you’ve had problems with bath mats getting gross, this might be a solution for you.

(image: Amazon)

P.S. I’ve considered putting one of these by our sliding glass door during the winter to absorb water people track in. The only reason I haven’t is that our current door mat also captures dirt really well.

PLANTING CALENDAR

Are you planting a garden this year?

The Farmer’s Almanac (I think they just go by Almanac now) has an online planting calendar that’s super helpful if you’re planning a garden. You can put in your zip code and it will tell you by plant when to plants seeds inside, generally when to move plants outside, the last day to plant, etc.

Check it out here. I bookmarked their entire website because I didn’t realize how helpful it was until now.

We’re not planting a big garden because it would fall to me to take care of it. Ask me how I know.

We do usually grow a few vegetables on pots on the deck. That’s about all I have the bandwidth to take care of. Keeping them on the deck keeps them away from animals that like to snack on them.

PANCAKES LIKE BLINTZES

Speaking of tasty snacks, Catherine Newman shared her recipe for pancakes that taste like blintzes on A Cup of Jo recently.

I bought cottage cheese so I can try the recipe this weekend. It’s mainly cottage cheese and eggs with a scant amount of flour.