Enjoying The Last Bit of Autumn
Autumn is flying by! I swear the calendar flipped to October and we still felt like it was barely September. That’s how quickly these last few months have gone by for us. Now that we are smack dab in the middle of November, we are enjoying the last bit of autumn before the holiday season starts. Has it been the same for you? Or has time moved by slowly this fall? I’m sitting here sipping my apple cider and noticing that our trees are almost done dropping their leaves, but our neighbors still have a tree that is showing off its glorious fall colors. I hate to see those leaves…
New Art For Our Navy Sunporch
I finally found art for our navy sunporch. Guess where I found it? In our attic. Hahahaha. I could have saved myself two trips to my creepy attic if I had just moved this art from where it was originally hanging straight to the sunporch. But, alas, I do not decorate this house the easy way. Instead, I take a circuitous route that is often filled with unfortunate mistakes but I usually end up with decorating that makes me happy. This “new” art for our navy sunporch definitely makes me happy. This art print is very large and in charge. The art itself is 2 ft x 4 ft. Add…
Fall Wreath Using a Concrete Form Tube
Have you heard of a concrete form tube or a building form tube? It is a super rigid, hollow cardboard-ish cylinder. It keeps its shape when concrete is poured into it. We used them to pour deck footings and had a few pieces left over, so let’s talk about my creative use for a concrete form tube. A concrete form tube with a diameter of 12 inches looks an awful lot like a wreath form to me. Can you squint and see it? It’s going to turn out amazing, I promise. If you want to use one of these tubes to make a wreath, here’s the process and what I…
My Latest Thrift Store Finds: Part 4
An infrequent, but delightful blog post series I like to call “My Latest Thrift Store Finds” is back today. I suppose it’s a good thing that this series doesn’t occur more frequently because then I’d have to wonder if I have a thrift store shopping problem. Not possible, right? Right?!? In no particular order because I don’t play favorites, here are some recent thrift store finds. Green Glass Trinket Dish I found the neatest green glass trinket dish that gave off solid ashtray vibes. Classy, I know. The only reason I’ve convinced myself it isn’t an ashtray is because it’s large and doesn’t have the divots to hold a cancer…
6 Ways To Decorate With Wheat
I looked around our dining room earlier this month and realized it was full of wheat decor, which is definitely better than it being full of…other things. So let’s talk about 6 ways to decorate with wheat this fall. First things first. You can buy dried wheat at many different places such as your local craft store, a floral shop, or online. I’ve even seen dried wheat at farmer’s markets. I have one bunch of wheat from a florist in Ireland. Yes, that wheat came home with me when we moved back to the U.S. How’s that for priorities? I also bought a bunch of wheat stalks on Amazon. Also,…
How To Remove The Engraving On Slate Coasters
Slate coasters are popular gifts because they can be engraved with a personal or promotional message. But what if you want to remove the engraving on slate coasters? I can help with that. Our family recently completed a “fun” run together. If you have to put “fun” in the title of the event then it probably isn’t fun, but I digress. For completing the fun run we each received a promotional slate coaster with the name of the fun run engraved into the slate. I now had a set of 4 fun run slate coasters. They were a cool promotional gift, but not something I’d want to use in my…
Kitchen Peg Rail Adds So Much Functionality
We recently added a small kitchen peg rail to the end of our cabinets and I swear angels sang the Hallelujah Chorus when we finished installing it. This kitchen peg rail added a surprising amount of functionality and, dare I say, style to our kitchen. I didn’t take a true “before” picture of the peg rail, but I found it at the thrift store for $2. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that we live in a time and age where $2 doesn’t even buy you a cup of coffee in most places. I could not buy the materials to make a small kitchen peg rail for $2,…
Fun Fall Finds That Will Last Through Thanksgiving
I went online shopping for a friend’s birthday and ended up seeing a bunch of Fun Fall Finds that I liked for me instead. Gosh, I’m easily distracted. And now I’m about to distract you! You’re welcome. Here are the Fun Fall Finds that inspired me this month and really got my creative wheels turning for this fall season. Fun Fall Finds: Neutral Wreath I’m a sucker for things made out of wheat stalks. I wonder how hard it was to make this wreath? It’s gorgeous with all the varied textures. The other thing that would look pretty in a wreath like this is feathers! (image: Hearts Desire Floral via…
In Praise of Patchwork Quilts
Suddenly, I’m seeing patchwork quilts everywhere. Have you noticed this trend too? If nothing else, we can always count on everything old eventually becoming new again. Well, everything except us. I am not a quilting expert, but I do know that the patchwork part of a patchwork quilt simply refers to pieces of fabric that are stitched together in a pattern. This can also be called piecing. Quilting refers to the process of stitching a top layer, batting, and backing together to make a bedcovering. You could have a quilt that’s not patchworked or pieced. For instance, some coverlets that are solid colored are technically quilted because they have a top…
DIY Rustic Towel Bar From An Antique Harness
Who needs a rustic towel bar? Me, apparently. And maybe one of you. One of the things we found on our property was an antique harness that would have been part of the connection between a horse and a buggy or horse and a farm implement. At least, that’s what I think it is, but I could be wrong. From what I can tell, these harnesses go by different names: Singletree harness, Whiffletree harness, Whippletree harness, and leader-bars. Ours seems to be missing the center connection though. It looks like it could have been there and broken off, but that’s the only thing that makes me question whether or not…
