Origami Trees Christmas Mantel Decor
A forest of origami trees has sprung up on my Christmas mantel. Teach me how to fold paper into origami trees and I won’t stop until I run out of paper or my mantel is all decorated for Christmas. I’m not even exaggerating. What else does one do with an ever-growing collection of origami trees besides decorate a Christmas mantel? Was there any other choice? I suppose… I know this might sound far out there but hear me out. I suppose I could have learned how to fold something other than trees. Nah. That’s crazy talk! I’m content to be the one hit wonder of origami. While I may only…
Happy List: #324
Hello! Welcome to the Happy List. I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t want to alarm you if you haven’t checked the date but it is December 1. Finally! It’s actually felt like December for a few weeks now. I’ve been checking the calendar for days now thinking it’s already December since the internet seems to have moved on to the Christmas but I was wrong every time. This week was all about ornaments on the blog. It’s the best time of year to be crafty! I shared my origami tree ornaments with the cutest wood star topper. I also shared the mini wood tree ornaments that I customized with…
The Cutest Painted Wood Tree Ornaments
No matter if you’ve been naughty or nice, I have tree-t for you today: painted wood tree ornaments made from mini unfinished wood trees. These are so satisfying to paint and customize. Without a doubt, the craftspeople who made these mini wood trees on their wood lathes so you and I could turn them into ornaments are on Santa’s nice list. No coal for them! Like all of my best crafty ideas, this one is quick, easy, and completely customizable to your color scheme. Let’s get started. Supplies needed to make these painted wood tree ornaments: mini wood trees (comes in a 30-pack) paint (craft paint or house paint works)…
Paper Tree Ornaments With Wood Star Topper
I love making Christmas ornaments and today I have a fun one for you – paper tree ornaments with a wood star topper. It is amazing what you can make from a humble piece of paper. Plus, it’s pretty satisfying to create one or fifty of these. Not that I got carried away or anything. The thing that really sets these ornaments over the top is the wood star topper. Every Christmas tree needs a topper and I found the perfect wood star beads for this task. What I really like about this craft is that it is completely customizable to your Christmas decor colors. You’ll notice from the pictures…
Grateful This Thanksgiving Week
Hello! This Thanksgiving week, as I reflect on the world around me, I realize I have so much to be grateful for. At a very basic level, all of my needs are truly met. I’m warm, safe, fed, and surrounded by the people dearest to me. Not everyone can say that right now and it reminds me to not take my present state for granted. I’m also thankful to every one of you. Your most precious resource is your time and the fact that you spend 2 minutes of your day here does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. I’m hoping I didn’t just make you reconsider how you spend your…
Happy List: #323
Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m so glad you could join me here. This week on the blog I shared gift ideas for anyone who loves to play chess. Chess is, for whatever reason, really popular with the middle school crowd right now. I also shared a blog post from the archive about a crafting fail of mine. I think this story is more of a comedy than a tragedy though and if you need a laugh, I hope you’ll read it. I say it every week and mean it. Thank you for reading this blog. It makes our day. If you want to share the blog or…
From The Archive: A Crafting Fail
This is, I hope, a humorous tale of a crafting fail regarding the time I tried to make a book page pumpkin. I wrote this story when we lived in Ireland and there are references to a backpack in this story. We did not have a car while we lived in Ireland and I often wore a backpack while running errands because that was the easiest way to get my purchases, even groceries, home. Enjoy! This is a cautionary tale should you fall down the Pinterest hole of comparison inspiration and decide you too need to join the throngs of DIYers making book page pumpkins. As I did. Please heed these…
Teenager-Approved Unique Chess Sets and Merch
Need gift ideas? I can help with these teenager-approved unique chess sets. Chess is very popular with my kids and their friends. I thought it was a passing fad during the pandemic, but it still seems very popular with the middle school crowd in particular. In fact, during carpool recently, one of the kids told me they were collecting chess sets and wanted another one for Christmas. Alrighty, then. Here are seven teenager-approved unique chess sets plus some bonus chess merch. (That’s how all the cool kids say merchandise these days. It should be noted that you can’t be a mom and a cool kid. That’s “cringe” as my kids…
Happy List: #322
Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m so glad you are here. This week on the blog I did a deep dive into the advent calendars that caught my eye this year. There’s really something for everyone these days…even your cat. I also shared pictures of how my home is looking all decorated for fall. I know the internet has moved ahead to Christmas already but I’m not quite there yet. We are so thankful to you for reading this blog. It makes our day. If you want to share the blog or an idea we post on social media, we would be very grateful. We also love talking…
Cozy Touches Of Fall In My Home
My home is feeling especially cozy right now, which is a good thing since we are racing as fast as an out-of-control sled down a steep, snow-covered hill toward winter. Am I ready? No. Funny thing, that march of time. It happens whether I’m ready or not. While I might not be ready for the upcoming winter, it’s fine. My home is cozy. I don’t need to leave it. I’ll just hunker down for the next…oh, shoot. I have to leave the house every day this week. Adulting is over-rated, folks. Over. Rated. We’ll revisit the hunkering down thing next week. In the meantime, the pool towels and the lawn games…
