Lime Mortar Pointing on Brick Stairs
It took two years, but I finally finished the lime mortar pointing on our brick stair risers in the basement. *takes a bow in an empty room* The stair treads are flagstone, but the risers are brick. Someone had a “one and done” approach to building these basement stairs, and I wish I could throw them a ticker tape parade for their decision because they will never rot or need to be rebuilt. Repointing is another issue. That needs to be done every one hundred years or so. I’m just the lucky homeowner whose game piece landed on the “must repoint” square on this board game called “Money Pit.” We…
Birch in the Wind – Thrifted Fiber Art
Have you ever thrifted fiber art? Last year, I stumbled upon a large piece of fiber art at my favorite thrift store. Yes, I have a favorite. It was $10. Ten. Diez. Dix. Tio. Deich.* I will go to my grave not understanding thrift store pricing. My working theory is that it’s at the whim and bias of whoever is doing the pricing that particular day. In this case, I surmise that whoever priced this art did not care for fiber art or didn’t think anyone else would either. Thank goodness. If that person could also price all the marble-topped tables, I’d be forever grateful. Now, if this art looks…
Happy List: #419
Hi! Welcome to the Happy List and happy New Year. I’m delighted to see you here. This week on the blog, the first post of 2026 was a more introspective one. I hope you had time to read it. If not, I’ll wait. Then on Wednesday, I shared a fun decorating and crafting idea for Valentine’s Day, a grapevine heart garland. I do love celebrating love. Thank you for choosing to spend a few minutes of your day here. I hope you have fun, learn something new, and leave feeling inspired. It truly makes my day to connect with you. If you want to reach out, please comment on this…
DIY Grapevine Heart Garland
Anthropologie is currently selling a grapevine heart garland for Valentine’s Day, and I thought I could make one for cheaper and put my own spin on the craft. I was right, for once, about the cheaper part. And I love putting my own spin on a craft, so this one was right up my alley. I did not consult the Crafting Constitution to determine if there is a rule decreeing that a garland must be composed of like-sized items. As you can see, the hearts on my garland are different sizes and don’t connect at the same point, but they are all strung together. I could hang it below the…
Off To a Rough Start
“I’m off to a rough start,” said Handy Husband. It was Christmas Eve, and we were in the gym doing our arm workout. (Dedicated, I know.) After more than a year of lifting weights together, we have a routine. Handy Husband starts loading up the weights while I record what exercises we are going to do in our weightlifting journal. I typically call out, as a reminder, the weights that each of us is using for the first exercise. I’ll say something like “You’re doing 72.5, and I’m at 37.5 on each side.” We don’t go up in weights super frequently, so it’s not necessarily new information. Except, on this…
Happy List: #418 Happy Christmas and New Year
Happy early Christmas! This is the last Happy List and blog post of 2025. Yes, it’s coming to you early in the week because I’ll be taking the rest of the year off from the blog to enjoy the holidays. It has been an absolute delight to share our projects and crafts with you this year. I say it often: we would do what we do even if no one was watching, but it is more fun to share it with friends. Thank you for being one of those friends and choosing to spend a few minutes of your day here. I hope you have fun, learn something new, and…
Happy List: #417
Ho, ho, ho! Welcome to the Happy List. It’s the last weekend before Christmas. I’m sure you’re busy, so thank you for taking a break to hang out with me. This week on the blog, I shared the giant paper angel I made for our living room mantel. She’s pretty, and I’m biased. I also shared some candid shots from around our house this month. Our house does feel very festive right now. Thank you so much for choosing to spend a few minutes of your day here with me. I hope you have fun, learn something new, and leave feeling inspired. It truly makes my day to connect with…
Christmas Around Our Home 2025
It’s almost Christmas! Today, I thought we’d relax a bit, and I’d show you what Christmas around our home looks like right now. I walked around the house and snapped photos over the course of ten minutes, so most of what you’ll see today are those candid photos. We’ll start in the music room. Perhaps my most creative craft ever, in terms of upcycling, is the piano hammer Christmas tree sitting on our antique radio. It’s subtly festive, and most people probably wouldn’t realize what it is made from. If you’re my piano tuner, though, this is the sort of decor that tickles your ivories. He probably does think we’re…
Giant Paper Angel – Christmas Mantel Decor
I’ve watched creators making paper angel ornaments for a few years, and I wondered if the idea would scale. Could I make a giant paper angel using brown kraft paper? Spoiler alert. I could, and I did. Here she is in all of her glory. No word on if the heavens declare her amazing, but I do! For reference, our mantel is 7 feet across. The angel is just shy of 4 feet tall. As you can see, I couldn’t leave well enough alone with just the angel. Not me. My holiday fireplace decorating always escalates. (See here and here for evidence.) The paper angel looked lonely up there. She…
Happy List: #416
Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I am delighted you are here. This week on the blog, I talked about nuts. That was a first. I had fun decorating with in-shell nuts this year and shared five ways you can decorate with nuts for the holidays. I also shared pictures of our 2025 Christmas tree. I’m calling it the blue and metallic tree for lack of a better name. It is full of handmade ornaments and clippings from our property. Thank you so much for choosing to spend a few minutes of your day here with me. I hope you have fun and leave feeling inspired. It makes my…
