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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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happy list

Happy List: #116

Happy Good Friday and early Easter to you! Do you celebrate Easter? We do, but we will be by ourselves this year. On the plus side, more ham for me!…

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April 19, 2019
happy list

Happy List: #329

Hi! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. I’m absolutely delighted that you are here and hope this will be just one of many bright spots in your week. This week…

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January 19, 2024
DIY

Wait! There Can Be Wood In a Stone Wall?

Yes, there can be wood in a stone wall. Go figure. We’re turning our 250-year-old carriage house with stone walls into a gym. The stone needs to be repointed (outer…

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August 28, 2024
  • clearing the bushes
    colonial farmhouse,  gardening and landscape

    The Surprising Way We Cleared 75 Feet of Bushes

    September 9, 2019 /

    When we bought the Colonial Farmhouse it wasn’t visible from the road. This is saying a lot about the amount of overgrowth happening on the front of our property because the Colonial Farmhouse sits only 20-feet from the road. It should be visible to the naked eye. To further illustrate how overgrown the bushes had become, we didn’t need window treatments. No one driving by at night could peer in the front windows – at least not on the main level. I don’t even have a good picture of the overgrowth because there was nothing photogenic about the situation. Here’s this one though… Can you see the road? Or the…

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    annisa 4 Comments

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    August 12, 2019
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    I Refinished Our Tongue and Groove Closet Doors and It Could Have Gone Worse

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    back porch shelves for drink storage

    Back Porch Shelves for Drink Storage

    August 31, 2020
  • happy list

    Happy List: #133

    September 6, 2019 /

    Hello, everyone! I hope September is treating you well! We’ve survived school thus far. There’s only been one forgotten snack, one forgotten Chromebook, one forgotten Chromebook charger, and one lost form, so I think we’ve really got this school thing nailed. Ha! This week on the blog I shared my trip to Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut. I also shared the 1971 MLS Listing for our Colonial Farmhouse. Here’s the Happy List! UNDERWATER DANCING I was mesmerized by this synchronized swimmer’s underwater dance to Chopin. She can hold her breath for 4 minutes! https://www.instagram.com/p/B1tjrjwHAhE/ LEATHER WREATH You know I love a good leather project! Go check out this neat…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #355

    August 16, 2024
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    Happy List: 338

    March 22, 2024
    great falls paterson nj

    Happy List: #169

    June 12, 2020
  • The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse
    colonial farmhouse,  decorating

    The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse

    September 4, 2019 /

    I rarely answer my phone for numbers I don’t recognize. Half the time I don’t answer my phone for numbers I DO recognize. Therefore, it must have been fate calling one sweltering summer night when my phone rang and I decided to answer. After all, every once in awhile I do need to make sure I remember how. The person who sold us our home was on the other end of the line. He had found the 1971 MLS Listing for our Colonial Farmhouse in some papers he was sorting through and called to see if I wanted it. Do I need air to breathe? Do I need shoes that are…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Kitchen Mini Makeover Progress

    February 10, 2020

    All About Rim Locks (Vintage Door Hardware)

    September 14, 2020
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    How to Fill Gaps in Wood Floors with Oakum

    May 10, 2021
  • elephants trunk flea market
    thrifting

    Happy Thrifting: Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market

    September 2, 2019 /

    Have you ever seen a faraway place on TV or in a magazine and thought that it would be a cool place to visit someday? That’s what I’ve always thought about Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in Connecticut. It is often the backdrop for the HGTV show Flea Market Flip. It has also been mentioned in magazines the likes of Architectural Digest and by interior designers like Emily Henderson. As it turns out, I can now drive to Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market in about two hours. I’ve been stuck in traffic jams in Atlanta for longer than two hours, so driving this long to potentially score some unique treasures at a…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Happy Thrifting: Antiques on Broadway

    October 10, 2018
    thrifted finds copper tray

    My Latest Thrift Store Finds

    June 3, 2019
    living room vignette focusing on a vintage paragon needlecraft called birch in the wind hanging on the wall. There's a low blue chair sitting in front of the needlepoint. There's also a pothos plant sitting on a wood and brass plant stand in front of the needlepoint, which was thrifted fiber art.

    Birch in the Wind – Thrifted Fiber Art

    January 19, 2026
  • middle school lockers
    Family

    Last Week Before School

    August 26, 2019 /

    My kids start school at the end of this week! I can’t decide if this summer flew by or was unbearably slow. Maybe a little of both. I’ve decided that in a mother’s mind, these two realities can exist at once. And that’s okay…as long as it doesn’t drive her completely batty. And look how little my son used to be. Time really must be flying because I swear he was just 4-years-old and now he’s going into 4th grade! AGH! To that end, I’m taking this week off to spend time with the kids, so that I will really, really miss them when they head back to school. Plus, I…

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    annisa 1 Comment

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    Our Weekday Quarantine Schedule

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    February 20, 2017
  • happy list

    Happy List: #132

    August 23, 2019 /

    Hello! Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on our front porch and dining room this week. I hear from folks in a variety of ways and it really does make my day when you take the time to comment or like something I’ve shared. When someone does that for me, I know it didn’t cost them anything, but it did take a second of their time and that’s worth something! So, thank you. Here’s the Happy List! WOODEN SPOONS Well, this is a fun use for a collection of wooden spoons! Photo by Chris Snook – Search home design design ideas COLLEGE This is originally from 2014, but someone…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #327

    December 22, 2023
    pink blossoms on the sidewalk in spring may 2024 clinton nj on the happy list

    Happy List: #345

    May 17, 2024
    yellow tulips in milk bottle on the happy list

    Happy List: #241

    January 14, 2022
  • colonial farmhouse dining room
    decorating

    Our Colonial Farmhouse Dining Room

    August 21, 2019 /

    Today is an exciting day. You get to see where I eat breakfast! And lunch. And dinner. Sometimes a snack or…three. That’s right, it is Colonial Farmhouse Dining Room Day. If you are new here, two months ago we bought a really, really old house. Old houses are quirky. Ours is no exception. This house has no formal or informal foyer space, which would drive me nuts if I didn’t have a thousand other things that were already doing that. When you walk through the front door of our Colonial Farmhouse, you are walking into the original room of this house (circa late 1700s). The previous owners used it as…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    11 Things to Know Before Hiring a Piano Moving and Storage Company

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    February 20, 2019
  • Outdoor Dining Set Makeover
    decorating,  DIY,  gardening and landscape

    $20 Outdoor Dining Set Makeover

    August 19, 2019 /

    One of the things I was really glad the seller of our home left when he moved out was all the outdoor furniture. Most of it was dirty and gross and not my style, but we would definitely use the furniture until I found something better…after I cleaned it all up. Okay, fine. We sat in it before too. It was an immunity-building experience. Of the three outdoor dining sets (yes, three!) that were left here, the one I liked the most was the one that was in the worst shape. Of course. It is a classic metal outdoor dining set and you really can’t go wrong with those. This…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    8 Decorating Ideas From A Music Room

    November 19, 2025
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    Cardboard Gingerbread House Christmas Mantel

    December 2, 2024
    christmas garland with greenery and it is wrapped with a handmade nut garland of in-shell walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts. the garland is draped over a white fireplace with brick surround and is featured on the blog post five ways to decorate with nuts for christmas

    Five Ways to Decorate With Nuts for Christmas

    December 8, 2025
  • happy list

    Happy List: #131

    August 16, 2019 /

    Hey, hey! All my friends in the Southeast have sent their kids back to school and I love those pictures! We still have a couple of weeks before school starts, so plenty of time to procrastinate on getting school supplies. Right?! This week I shared the new and improved pictures of our backyard. I do not miss the fence we took down one bit. I just need to try to sell or giveaway the fencing material now, since Handy Husband was very careful about how he took it apart. I also shared a neat place you need to shop at if you live in or are visiting New Jersey. It…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Happy List: #271

    September 16, 2022
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    Happy List: #237

    December 10, 2021
    riveter flower pot on the happy list

    Happy List: #167

    May 29, 2020
  • happy thrifting smalltown antiques
    thrifting

    Happy Thrifting: Smalltown Antiques

    August 14, 2019 /

    I’ll happily admit I’m the type of shopper that judges an antique or thrift store by the stuff they have outside. If it looks like “good” stuff – whatever that means – I’m more likely to want to stop. Do you do that too? Smalltown Antiques in Flanders, New Jersey, had all sorts of good stuff outside its front door when I visited. I’m guessing thieves don’t steal old crocks? Not only was the outside packed, but Smalltown Antiques the kind of shop that is brimming with interesting finds inside too. It’s not big space-wise, but there’s a lot to take in. I loved the bookends on this table and…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Four Recent Thrift Store Finds

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    Happy Thrifting: Antiques on Broadway

    October 10, 2018
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Hi! I'm Annisa.

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