Hold Your Horses: Bringing Back the Original “Parking Spot”
The only thing related to transportation that has not changed since our home was built in the 1780s is probably a kid asking, “Are we there yet?” Everything else, of course, from how we get places to where we park, has. A 1780s “parking spot” would have been a hitching post to tie up a horse. The hitching posts and the horses are long gone from here, but we decided to pay homage to this home’s original parking spot and install an antique cast-iron hitching post next to our Carriage House. Specifically, we chose an antique hitching post with a horse head. These were popular in the 1800s, and I…
My Favorite Solar Lights
If I must leave my house and return to it in the dark – shudders – then I want to come home to the cozy, welcoming glow of my favorite solar lights. Outdoor solar lights are inviting, practical, and don’t impact my electric bill. Do not get me started on the electric bill. Ugh. Here are my favorites: The Workhorse Solar Light | Amazon My go-to, all-around MVP for a solar light is this up-light disc. They come with a stake, but I also have them sitting directly on the ground without being secured by the stake in most places. Surprisingly, they have rarely blown away. Hope I didn’t just…
Everything But a Drink Table
Last year, I bought a drink table (a tiny side table big enough for a drink) to sit next to the bench in our kitchen. There was no place to set a drink if my family wanted to hang out on that bench with a beverage while I cooked dinner. Slap a cape on me because I was sure I was the hero for solving that problem. However, much to my chagrin, my family uses that table for everything but a drink table. Here’s how I envisioned the drink table being used: A quiet, serene place to enjoy a warm or cold beverage. Peaceful, right? I’ve been married and a…
Functional and Pretty Utility Room Organization
Raise your hand if you have enough closets and storage in your house. You can’t see me, but I’m NOT raising my hand. If you’re in a similar situation, this means we get to activate creative mode to solve this problem! There’s no button to activate creative mode (I checked), but I can open the creaky door to our utility room to share some functional and pretty utility room organization ideas with you. If you’ve been reading this website for a long time, thank you! But you might be wondering where our utility room is since I’ve never once uttered those words. It’s our back porch. In a recent moment…
How to Make Beautiful Pebble Flower Art (Easy DIY Pebble Art Flower Tutorial)
Empty those pebbles from your pockets! Today, I’m going to show you how to DIY Pebble Flower Art. This is so easy to make, and no two will look the same. That’s the beauty of this craft. Someone has to state the obvious, so it might as well be me… Pebbles can be used to make various shapes. In the case of this art, the shape is a flower, but you can make animals, people, words, etc. The only limit is your patience and imagination. You’re seeing the limit of both of mine in this craft! That’s okay, though, because I’m smitten with how it turned out. What you need…
12 Stone Gift and Craft Ideas
Art takes on many forms, and it will not surprise you, given our recent stone masonry work, that we find stones and rocks make for fantastic gift and craft ideas. Paintings, jewelry, and home decor – these are just the tip of the boulder when it comes to all of the artful stone gift and craft ideas that now exist. People are so creative, and I’m here for it. If you’re looking for a gift or for your next craft, check out these 12 stone and gift craft ideas. Custom Painted Rock | Etsy I can think of a few pictures I’d love to see translated into paint on stone.…
What Jollifiers Do You Have In Your Home?
“What jollifiers do you have in your home?” Joanna Goddard recently asked on her site, A Cup of Jo. Oh, my heart! That word! Jollifiers. It’s so fun, and should definitely be added to our daily lexicon. Jollifiers, as defined by Goddard, are small objects around your home that bring you joy or make you smile when you see them. I’ve been thinking about what jollifiers I have around my home. I’m at the stage of life where I’m getting pickier and pickier about what I bring into my home, so I have a baseline affection for almost everything here. Ha! However, if you forced me to choose, here are…
Colorful Attic Stairwell
Last year, I gave a much-needed makeover to our attic stairwell. It went from looking like the backdrop of a horror movie to a bright, colorful attic stairwell that could be the setting of a meet-cute in a delightfully witty romcom. Or so I imagine. It took six years to get around to making over this tiny space, but not because we didn’t care. We did! Cross my heart, and hope to DIY. But you know how it goes. When you beg a bank to give you money to buy a fixer-upper with a leaky roof and rotting siding, the attic stairwell that’s hidden behind a door bumps to the…
DIY Wood Pedestal With Mini Egg Trim
Did you know mini wood eggs for Easter are a thing? Dare I say, the greatest thing? Well, you do now! Today’s project, a DIY Wood Pedestal With Mini Egg Trim, was a thrifted find that I made over for Easter, using mini wood eggs for a festive trim detail. Click here to jump to the supply list. Click here to jump to the project directions. There was nothing wrong with the wood pedestal when I spotted it on the ubiquitous dusty thrift store shelf, especially not for the price. It was $6. But I had a makeover idea hatching in my brain, and I couldn’t rest until I knew…
7 Lucky Horseshoe Decor Ideas for Your Home
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, which means symbols of good luck are top-of-mind right now. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take all the good luck I can muster these days, so I’ve rounded up 7 lucky horseshoe decor ideas for your home. This isn’t a new theme for me. I decorated a good luck horseshoe ten years ago that I still love and hang in our house. You can get the easy directions for that here. Here are the 7 lucky horseshoe decor ideas for your home. You can buy these, of course, but some of them would be easy enough to replicate on your own! My…
