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A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

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decorating

In Praise Of: Unusual Stained Glass Art

Let’s talk unusual stained glass art. Normally, when I think of stained glass I think of church windows or sun catchers that people hang in their windows. It’s all pretty…

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June 19, 2024
Family

What I’m Thankful For Ain’t On No List

First of all, apologies to my Grandma Olsson for using the word ain’t in the title of this post. I’m fairly certain if she could reprimand me from heaven she…

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November 20, 2017
Food

Slovenian Braided Bread

Here’s the cool thing about going to school in Europe. You get to learn about European countries and history in great detail and so do your parents. Your parents get to…

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May 15, 2017
  • decorating

    Dining Room Built-In Shelves

    June 5, 2015 /

    Today I thought I’d show you how I’ve styled our dining room built-in shelves. I love the fact that our home has these built-ins, even though I struggle with what to do with them. Oh, the irony. Using what I had on hand, I currently have this neutral and blue scheme going on. It’s not very dining-room-ish, but I think the table in the middle of the room kind of gives people a clue that this is where the meal consumption occurs. Uh, oh. There goes my sarcasm again. Moving on… So, you see all of those pretty blue, cream and polka-dotted books? Those would be all of my husband’s unattractive computer books…

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    annisa 5 Comments

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  • learning

    Kindergarten Sight Word Flash Cards – Free Printable

    June 3, 2015 /

    I’m a mean mom. I make my kids do reading, writing and arithmetic during their summer break. My son just finished up Pre-K and earlier this year I noticed he was starting to put sounds together and showing interest in learning how to read. So, we dipped our foot in that water and lo and behold, the little stinker knew more than he was letting on! He’s started reading the Bob Books, but I asked his Pre-K teacher about what sight words he would need to know or would learn next year in kindergarten. For some reason, I imagined she would give me a handy deck of flash cards to…

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    annisa 7 Comments

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  • decorating,  DIY,  Makeover,  Paint

    Repairing Nicks and Scratches in Linoleum or Vinyl Flooring

    June 1, 2015 /

    If you were to play that game “which of these things don’t belong,” well, the flooring in our kitchen would definitely win the prize. It does not fit in with the gorgeous wood floors throughout the rest of the house. It is a big sheet of chipped, scratched, dinged and maybe-burned linoleum. I really have no idea what could have caused so much damage to one section of flooring. While this was not the overall ugliest linoleum I had ever lived with, it was certainly the most damaged. I couldn’t wait to tear it out. But then I couldn’t decide what to replace it with. So, I sat there staring at…

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    annisa 6 Comments

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    In Praise of Basket Walls

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    In Praise Of: Pretty Pepper Mills

    May 15, 2024

    Christmas Entry

    December 23, 2015
  • travel

    Travel: Fort Walton Beach and Destin, Florida with Kids

    May 29, 2015 /

    School is out for the summer in Georgia! Thank goodness. I don’t know who was more tired of homework, me or the kids. Who are we kidding? It was totally me. I documented the occasion by taking a picture at the last bus stop of the year. I’m sure my daughter loves me taking pictures while an entire bus load of kids looks on. So, how did we kick off summer? By going to the BEACH! We have spent the first full week of summer break soaking up the sunshine in Fort Walton Beach and Destin, Florida. We built epic sand forts with help from Daddy. Mommy left this task…

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    annisa 1 Comment

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  • DIY

    Kitchen Refresh Part 7: The Reveal

    May 27, 2015 /

    Have I kept you waiting long enough to see how our kitchen refresh turned out? I’ve been living with it in a final-for-now state for a little more than 2 weeks. Remember how it looked before? I know, I know. Try and contain your jealousy. Not everyone can have sticky, puke green-colored cabinets. Ready for the after? Here’s that same corner now. Much better, right? I’m so glad this house presented the opportunity to paint the bottom cabinets black because that might not happen again. It’s my favorite part about this little refresh. The black paint works like magic and almost makes my black appliances disappear! The other thing I’m so…

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    annisa 11 Comments

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  • Uncategorized

    Technical Difficulties

    May 26, 2015 /

    Of course the day I am away from the computer ALL DAY LONG is the day that the website goes down for who knows what reason. Thanks for hanging in there with me. After duking it out with our hosting provider, everything is back up and running now. I think. Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with my regularly scheduled post because IT’S A GOOD ONE! I’m happily uploading photos now! Share this:

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    holidays

    Memorial Day

    May 25, 2015 /

    To all who have served our country far and wide. To those who have stood by their side. To the souls who have ultimately died. Your sacrifice is held with great national pride. Let’s all take a moment on this Memorial Day to remember the happiness and freedoms we enjoy in the United States of America came at a great cost – one we should never take for granted. Share this:

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    annisa 0 Comments

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  • Family,  holidays

    A Simple, Yet Fun Birthday Tradition

    May 22, 2015 /

    My children are 3 years and 23 hours apart. One day I was at Chuck E. Cheese celebrating my daughter turning 3 and the next day I was told if I left the doctor’s office to go home, I needed to carry blankets in the car. Since they were being all melodramatic about it, I decided to go to the hospital. Turns out I really was having a baby that day. We’re long past the diaper and pacifier stage. This week, these two turned 5 and 8. Photo Credit: Meg Davidson Photography I haven’t quite figured out the “best” way to celebrate birthdays that are one day apart.  It seems we just go…

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    annisa 3 Comments

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  • decorating

    Joanna Gaines Made Me Do It – Wire Baskets

    May 20, 2015 /

    Have you guys seen HGTV’s Fixer Upper show? It’s my favorite. I truly hope Chip and Joanna Gaines are as kind, funny and down-to-earth in real life as they appear to be on the show. I was binge-watching Fixer Upper episodes on the HGTV site while painting my kitchen cabinets when I saw Joanna hang some wire baskets on a wall. I know that, in and of itself, is not revolutionary. However, it inspired an “aha” moment. Or maybe that was the paint fumes… Anyway, I couldn’t find a picture of the actual image that got me motivated, but Joanna uses wire baskets often, so this is another instance of how she attached…

    read more
    annisa 0 Comments

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  • Food

    4-Banana Banana Bread

    May 18, 2015 /

    Here’s the deal. I think I’ve said this before. Pardon the repeat. My family doesn’t tell me when they suddenly no longer like a certain food. All anyone will eat for breakfast for weeks is Rice Krispies. Then when I go and stockpile a bunch of Rice Krispies to prevent someone from snap, crackle and popping when we run out, of course, they decide they don’t like Rice Krispies any longer and only like Raisin Bran Crunch. This story could be told over and over in our household, just change the name of the characters for different foods. Apparently, I’m the only one who hasn’t caught on to the rules…

    read more
    annisa 2 Comments

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Hi! I'm Annisa.

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