Fresh Take On A Rattan Swivel Chair
I’m sure like many people, I lay in bed at night and scroll through Facebook Marketplace searching for unique finds, diamonds-in-the-rough, pieces with potential and other such items. Wait. You guys do this too, right?! Never mind. Let me have this moment. I do this Facebook Marketplace scrolling late at night because I don’t want to be tempted to jump in my car right that second to go retrieve an item I don’t need. I also like to overthink my purchases and this tactic enables that behavior. Wait. You guys overthink your purchases too, right?!?! Never mind. Of course you do. One night as I was scrolling I saw this…
Happy List: #89
Hello! On Monday I shared some tips on visiting Valley Forge. I like to include just a teensy bit of history in these posts as a refresher course on why you should add these places to your must-visit list. On Wednesday I told a tale about my recent garbage and thrift store finds. I’m having a lot of fun right now creating a home that is not cookie-cutter. Apparently, digging in the garbage for home decor helps with that mission. Go figure! Now, speaking of cookie-cutters cookies! Here’s the Happy List. NO BAKE SALTED CARAMEL MACAROONS I’m a rebel because at the height of apple and pumpkin season, I’m sharing a…
3 Thrift Store Finds and 1 Garbage Find
A couple of weeks ago, I was on a thrifting roll. Six new-to-me items came into our home. SIX! I don’t usually have that much luck on a regular shopping trip, let alone while thrifting. That is why I will never make it as a fashion blogger. Here are the items that caused me to open my wallet and one that was garbage and I had to spray with bleach. First up is this brass mantel clock made by Bombay Company. The angels started singing when I saw this beauty, but I walked away from it. I did. I was so strong. I made a loop around the store and…
Travel: Valley Forge National Historical Park
We travel for pleasure and entertainment, sure. But we also travel to learn. I grew up in a rural area of the West Coast and didn’t travel much as a kid. I learned about history from school textbooks. It was a good foundation, but there is nothing, short of being there for the event itself, like seeing a historical site in person. Last month we visited Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania. It’s not far from our house and made a great day trip. If you decide to go, here are some tips I picked up to help you plan your trip. WHAT IS VALLEY FORGE AND WHY IS…
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Happy List: #88
Hello! Do you know what I’m feeling happy about today? Routines. I’ll be over them by Christmas, but right now it feels good. A lot of newness all at one time is stressful – for all of us. It feels good for the kids to go to school each day knowing what to expect. It feels good for me to know that they are doing okay in their new schools. I hope to be able to volunteer at school soon to see the kids in their natural habitats, but I have to wait for my fingerprinting appointment! In the meantime, routines for the win! This week I shared my piano room…
DIY Leather Pumpkin
Last year I made a trio of denim pumpkins out of a pair of my husband’s old jeans. I had so much fun cutting up those jeans creating those pumpkins that I decided I had one more (at least for now) pumpkin craft in me. In the spirt of reduce, reuse, repurpose and pumpkin-fy everything, I decided to DIY a leather pumpkin. Yes, leather! Everything else has been used to decorate faux pumpkins. Why not leather too? If you’ve been following this blog for a hot minute then it won’t surprise you that the leather for this pumpkin project came from a pair of old boots that I cut apart.…
Wood Paneled Piano Room
I was messing around with my camera because I need to improve my skills and I happened to shoot a few sort of not blurry photos in the darkest room in our house – the wood paneled piano room. It’s actually the living room, but when you have a ball and chain baby grand piano, you sometimes have to get creative with your living space. I didn’t intend to show you these photos because this room isn’t “done” and I really was just messing around with camera settings. Also, I didn’t dust. Or wipe my children’s fingerprints off the piano. Or remove the crumpled kleenex. Or tidy my piano books.…
Happy List: #87
Hello, everyone! This has been an interesting week for us. My children were off school on Wednesday for Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. This is our first time living in a part of the country with a strong concentration of Jewish people, so it was a good opportunity to learn more about Judaism. On Monday I wrote about Maple Glazed Apple Pull Apart Bread. You should really try it. If I’m not feeling lazy, you can come over and I’ll bake it for you. On Wednesday I shared my latest DIY project: leather drawer pulls! I do hope…
Easy DIY Leather Drawer Pulls
I don’t throw the word ‘easy’ around willy nilly. So if I say it is easy to DIY your own leather drawer pulls without fancy tools, then trust me, it is. Here’s what I used…(I’ll link the relevant things at the end.) I’m of absolute certainty that there are more proper ways to make leather drawer pulls, but I’m all about using the tools I have on hand. Call it a creative problem-solving challenge. If I was going to go into the leather pull business, then I’d invest in leather tools, but for a one-time project, this is how I made it work. And it was actually easy! I purchased…
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Would I Make It Again: Maple Glazed Apple Pull-Apart Bread
I’m becoming predictable with these “Would I Make It Again” posts for two reasons. First, I don’t want to be mean. This is a happy place, after all. I’m not going to rip apart a recipe just because I didn’t enjoy a particular food. Chicken feet aren’t my thing, but millions of people seem to eat them quite regularly. Who’s to say they are wrong? Not me. Second, I have eaten enough food in my life except chicken feet that I have a strong hunch of what I will enjoy or not when selecting a recipe. While all the recipes I’ve featured in this series are pretty tasty, I’m on the…
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