Happy List: #315
Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I hope you enjoy being here so much that you come back again. This week on the blog I shared our dining room mantel all decorated for fall with my leaf-stamped wood rounds. I love that this mantel will take me all the way through the end of November. I also wrote about our quest (dramatic much?) to find a new bluetooth speaker that looked good and sounded good. We only need our speaker to play music or podcasts. I don’t need it to run my life, so that’s why we don’t have a voice assistant like Alexa. Thank you for reading this…
In Praise Of: Pretty Bluetooth Speakers
Pretty Bluetooth speakers. That’s what I want. I want to listen to my music and I want it to come from a Bluetooth speaker that looks good in my home. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Eh. Sometimes it feels that way, so I’m on a mission to dispel that myth. If you can design a speaker with killer sound quality, surely you can design a speaker that looks elegant, fun, sleek or any other adjective that fits the style of someone’s home. And I don’t want to use one that comes with a voice assistant like Alexa. No thank you. Just play my music. Don’t try to…
Fall Mantel With Leaf-Stamped Wood Rounds
Last week I shared how to leaf stamp on wood. You know I don’t make crafts unless I plan on using them, so let me show you my fall mantel featuring a grouping of leaf-stamped wood rounds. I do declare that it looks beautiFALL. That probably won’t be the last bad fall pun in this blog post as I’m feeling a bit acorn-y today. Our dining room fireplace is my favorite of our three fireplaces to decorate seasonally. It’s the only one that I change the decor on regularly even though spatially speaking it is the trickiest to decorate. The overmantel, the spot above the mantel where decor goes, is…
Happy List: #314
Hi! Welcome to the Happy List. I’m so glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared how to leaf stamp on wood. I don’t make things just for the sake of making something. I have to use it! Next week I’ll share how I’m using these stamped wood rounds in my house. It looks so good and not at all like a preschool craft. (Pretty sure.) I also shared the happiest craft I’ve made in a good long while – Halloween decals with duct tape. This craft was pure joy and I’m going to love the heck out of my decals for the next two months as they…
DIY Halloween Decals With Duct Tape
Oh yes, you can make your own Halloween decals with duct tape. Specifically, black duct tape. This is a super easy, smile-inducing craft that will make it look like you purchased some fancy vinyl decals online instead of using the roll of black duct tape that’s been jammed in the back of your junk drawer. Honestly, black duct tape has never looked better. The sky is the limit with this craft. I made jack o’lantern faces and bats. The jack o’lanterns were my favorite. However, you could make witch hats, cats, ghosts, or something I haven’t thought of. Let’s get started! Materials Needed To DIY Halloween Decals With Duct Tape:…
How To Leaf Stamp On Wood
Get ready because I’m going to show you how to leaf stamp on wood. It’s an easy craft that looks like a million bucks when you’re done. Plus, it’s a lot of fun! You really only need 3 basic things to leaf stamp on wood: paint, leaves, and a flat piece of wood. Two of those things you probably already have: leaves and paint. Let’s get started! Supplies Needed: Leaves (You’ll need freshly picked leaves that lie flat.) Wood rounds (Mine are 7-8 inches in diameter and come in an 8-pack.) Paint (I used house paint, but almost any type of paint like craft paint will work.) Ribbon Staple gun…
Labor Day 2023 and A Poem
Happy Labor Day to those of you celebrating in the United States. I hope you’ve had a fun and relaxing weekend. I’m taking the rest of the week off of the blog to settle into September and this fall season. My kids will be back in school and I imagine my productivity will be off the charts this week. A girl can dream. Speaking of work and Labor Day, I thought I’d share the poem “Something Left Undone” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His poems always cut straight to my feelings. Something Left Undone by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Labor with what zeal we will, Something still remains undone, Something uncompleted still…
Happy List: #313
Happy first day of September and welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m glad you’re here. This week on the blog I shared some tips for helping your child transition to a new school. I’m not a psychology or education expert. I’m just a mom who has learned a few things after our kids have transitioned to new schools many times. I also wrote about when, how, and why to match your picture frames to your wall color. Hint: DRAMA! Or, maybe, like me, you just rant out of other color options that looked good. Ha! Thank you for reading this blog. I don’t take your time here for granted.…
When To Match Picture Frames To Wall Color
Selecting frames for artwork can be tricky as frames totally change the look and feel of artwork. So, is there a time and place to match your picture frames to your wall color? The short answer is yes! It’s your house. Do what makes you happy. The short answer doesn’t make a good blog post though, so let me briefly elaborate. Match picture frames to wall color when the frame is too distracting. If the frame is distracting from the real start of the show, the artwork, paint the frame the same color as the wall so that the artwork pops. That’s what I did on our blue sunporch. I…
From The Archive: 5 Ways To Help Transition Kids To A New School
Editor’s Note: It is back-to-school season and I thought it would be a good time to reshare this classic post from the blog archive. I hope it helps any parents who have children starting a new school this year. I wish you and your children all the best. Need ideas on how to help transition kids to a new school? You’ve come to the right place. The start of a new school year is always full of promise. There’s always a chance that we’ll never be late for school. That no lunches will be forgotten. That no parent will lose their ever-loving mind no one will get frustrated during homework time…
