It’s Time to Establish Sentimental Provenance for Family Keepsakes
What is sentimental provenance? It’s a term I coined to describe a historical record of an item’s origin and ownership for sentimental reasons, not monetary reasons. How many times have you bought something at a thrift store and wished you knew where that item had come from, in other words, its provenance? For me, it’s every single time! I wish I knew that table, painting, or bowl’s back story. Where did it come from and how did it end up on this dusty thrift store shelf? If that item could talk, what stories would it tell? What historical events did it witness? How much did it originally cost? I don’t…
Happy List: #227
Welcome to the Happy List! It’s the middle of September already! Wow! Time flies when we are having…something. Is it fun? Not sure! Hahahahahaha! How about time flies when we are busy living our lives? That works. This week on the blog I shared our DIY Kitchen Cabinet Feet that we made from scrap wood. I also wrote a blog post rounding up fresh ways you can repurpose a piano if you aren’t going to play the darn thing. Please just play the piano! If you aren’t following along with us on Instagram or Facebook stories, I invite you to hang out with us there. There’s usually something going on…
8 Fresh Ways to Repurpose a Piano
As a pianist, it pains me to say this, but it can be hard and expensive to get rid of an old piano and you might need fresh ways to repurpose a piano. I truly wish everyone had the space for a piano and wanted to learn to play, but I also understand why this instrument can be a burden to move, maintain, and learn to play. We own a baby grand piano that I hope to pass down to my kids one day, but we unexpectedly became the owners of an old upright piano too. When we purchased our current home, the previous owners left their piano in the…
DIY Kitchen Cabinet Feet from Scrap Wood
One of the easiest ways to make basic kitchen cabinets look custom is by adding feet to the base cabinets. Here’s how we made DIY Kitchen Cabinet Feet from scrap wood. This is probably the best use of scrap wood we’ve come up with yet! Lumber is especially expensive right now, so not only do we not want to waste any of it, but we want to make it count when we do use it. Our old (Seriously, they are really old!) kitchen cabinets were just screaming for the upgrade and added detail that cabinet feet could provide. There is really no limit on the style of kitchen cabinet feet…
Happy List: #226
Hello and welcome to the Happy List! How is September treating you? I hope it is off to a good start. My kids are back in in-person school and it has been weird not having them here since they’ve been remotely schooled for the past year and a half. My brain is like, “We can focus on one thing at a time now?” This week on the blog I shared my summer thrift store finds and the brass leg tips I made for our blanket ladder. I hope you enjoyed those posts! If you aren’t following along with us on Instagram or Facebook stories, I invite you to hang out…
Blanket Ladder With DIY Brass Leg Tips
I recently discovered you can buy thin sheets of brass and now I want to cover EVERYTHING in brass. My first project was jazzing up a blanket ladder with DIY brass leg tips. This DIY brass leg tips idea should be transferable to almost any blanket ladder style. You don’t need to have rescued a rotting wood ladder covered in dirt and spiders from under a deck in a house you were renting as I did. I wouldn’t blame you if you did though! Here’s how I made the brass leg tips for my blanket ladder: The thin brass rolls I ordered come in different sizes. My roll is about…
My Latest Thrift Store Finds: Part 3
Did you go thrifting this summer? I probably went a couple of times a month, but only found a handful of thrift store finds worth bringing home. I’ve been idly looking for some very specific thrift store finds, which means, of course, I won’t find them. I’ll find everything I won’t need instead. For instance, was I looking for a wood duck? Uh, no. But how could I turn down this $5 find? Look how pretty it is with its iridescent, shimmering feathers. Did I need another wood tray? Sometimes the lines between need and want are blurred, so let’s just go with yes. The answer is always yes. It…
Happy List: #225
Hello, hello! Welcome to today’s Happy List! This week on the blog I shared the charging bench we made to hold all of the phones and tablets that need to be charged around here. I also found and shared 13 gorgeous wreaths that give off all the best fall vibes. If you aren’t following along with us on Instagram or Facebook stories, I invite you to hang out with us there. There’s usually something going on around these parts! Also, if you create something I should see, please tag me! I love to see your ideas come to life! Now, here’s what you showed up for, the Happy List! GREEN THUMB…
13 Fall Wreaths Now That It is Finally September
It is finally September, which means it is now socially acceptable to slap pumpkins on everything, including your front door wreath, and celebrate fall! Never mind that it still feels like summer in my part of the world. The seasons don’t change of their own accord. We will them into existence, especially fall, with our pumpkin spice-flavored lattes, cereal, candles, muffins, coffee, milkshakes, and deodorant. Yes, pumpkin spice deodorant is a real thing. I swear. Not to mention all the effort that goes into placing mums and hay bales on suburban front porches and taking the family on weekend apple picking excursions. If all of that doesn’t make Mother Nature…
DIY Charging Bench for Electronic Devices
If charging all the electronic devices in your home has become a chaotic nightmare of jumbled cords, let me introduce you to my DIY charging bench for electronic devices. It’s a way to hide all of your charging cables and devices in plain sight. It’s my answer to the kitchen charging drawer because I’ve always wanted one of those, but we’ve never had a spare kitchen drawer with outlets in the back. I won’t promise this charging bench will eliminate all the cord chaos, but it can help you hide it. That’s half the battle! A charging bench can be made from any bench that has a hidden storage compartment. The…
