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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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  • collage of last minute father's day gift ideas from amazon including gifts for the car and board games
    gift and learning

    Last Minute Father’s Day Gift Ideas – No Clothes On This List

    June 15, 2026 /

    Father’s Day is less than a week away. If you need a last-minute Father’s Day gift for the dad or father figures in your life, I’ve got you covered. These are Handy Husband-approved items, so that means there are no clothes on this list. No neckties. No BBQ grilling items. No golf-related items. What’s left that a dad could want? I’m so glad you asked. Check these out… Rechargeable Jumper Cables | Walmart / Amazon These rechargeable jumper cables that allow you to jump your car battery without needing another car have 127,000 reviews! We’ve owned these jumper cables for two years and have used them recently (yikes!) to get…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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  • DIY wood pedestal or cake stand trimmed for Easter with mini wood eggs that are glued around the edge of the stand
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    DIY Wood Pedestal With Mini Egg Trim

    March 16, 2026 /

    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…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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  • a no sew denim heart bunting banner hanging above a monitor on a wood desk. The hearts on the bunting are made from denim and are 4 inches wide. They are hung on a red cord. There's a second denim heart bunting that has red pom poms in between each heart and hanging on the wall.
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    No Sew Denim Heart Bunting

    January 28, 2026 /

    A denim heart bunting is a little bit country and a whole lot of cute! If you have a pair of jeans to cut up, you can make one, too. I used my husband’s jeans. An old pair. Not his favorite pair. I’m not a monster. The jeans that are past the point of no return and ripped out in not-safe-for-work places. How does that even happen? Anyway, let’s not get distracted. Here’s What You Need to Make a Denim Heart Bunting: denim fabric pen or marker ruler or other straight edge fabric scissors craft knife cord, string, yarn, or embroidery thread yarn needle/large eye needle optional: pom poms or other…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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  • image showing a white fireplace with a grapevine heart garland hanging above the fireplace. The grapevines are a variety of sizes. In the foreground is a wood dining room table with a red vase holding red and white alstroemerias. There are also four brass candle holders on the table with red and pink candles. The picture is showcasing how to DIY a grapevine heart garland.
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    DIY Grapevine Heart Garland

    January 14, 2026 /

    Anthropologie is currently selling a grapevine heart garland for Valentine’s Day, and I thought I could make one for cheaper and put my own spin on the craft. I was right, for once, about the cheaper part. And I love putting my own spin on a craft, so this one was right up my alley. I did not consult the Crafting Constitution to determine if there is a rule decreeing that a garland must be composed of like-sized items. As you can see, the hearts on my garland are different sizes and don’t connect at the same point, but they are all strung together. I could hang it below the…

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    annisa 6 Comments

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  • Front porch of white house with black front door. There is a green wreath with a plaid bow hanging on the front door. There are four trees of varying sized made out of plywood and painted green on either side of the door. The steps leading up to the porch are covered in snow.
    holidays

    Christmas Around Our Home 2025

    December 17, 2025 /

    It’s almost Christmas! Today, I thought we’d relax a bit, and I’d show you what Christmas around our home looks like right now. I walked around the house and snapped photos over the course of ten minutes, so most of what you’ll see today are those candid photos. We’ll start in the music room. Perhaps my most creative craft ever, in terms of upcycling, is the piano hammer Christmas tree sitting on our antique radio. It’s subtly festive, and most people probably wouldn’t realize what it is made from. If you’re my piano tuner, though, this is the sort of decor that tickles your ivories. He probably does think we’re…

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  • white fireplace with black brick surround decorated for christmas with a 4 foot tall folded giant paper angel made of brown kraft paper. Along the bottom of the angel and fanning out on the sides of her dress are fifty paper snowflakes made from white paper and brown kraft paper. Hanging under the mantel are two white and blue christmas stockings. There's a brass ash bucket in front of the fireplace and a brass fire tool set on the right hand side in front of the fireplace.
    holidays

    Giant Paper Angel – Christmas Mantel Decor

    December 15, 2025 /

    I’ve watched creators making paper angel ornaments for a few years, and I wondered if the idea would scale. Could I make a giant paper angel using brown kraft paper? Spoiler alert. I could, and I did. Here she is in all of her glory. No word on if the heavens declare her amazing, but I do! For reference, our mantel is 7 feet across. The angel is just shy of 4 feet tall. As you can see, I couldn’t leave well enough alone with just the angel. Not me. My holiday fireplace decorating always escalates. (See here and here for evidence.) The paper angel looked lonely up there. She…

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  • blue and metallic christmas tree decorated with small blue paper tree ornaments, faux velvet baubles in blue and green, small faux velvet tree ornaments in blue and green, pampas grass, blue and tan ribbon, kimekori ornaments, and a wood star topper. The tree is in front of an ornate oval mirror and stained glass french doors.
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    Blue and Metallic Christmas Tree

    December 10, 2025 /

    Welcome! Come, join me in my living room. I’d love to show you my blue and metallic Christmas tree. It’s a little bit rustic, a little bit glam. We’ll call it an opposites attract situation. This year, pretty much all of the ornaments on the tree are handmade or semi-handmade, meaning I put my own spin on an existing ornament. Truth be told, it’s more fun for me to make Christmas ornaments than to decorate with the things I make. However, decorating a Christmas tree isn’t exactly a chore. This blue and metallic Christmas tree is decorated with all sorts of fun ornaments, most of which are reused from prior…

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    March 16, 2026
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  • 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
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    Five Ways to Decorate With Nuts for Christmas

    December 8, 2025 /

    Decorating for the holidays with natural ingredients is a hoot! This year, I have come up with five ways to decorate with nuts this Christmas. Three of these ideas are mine. Two are not. I consider the two ideas that are not mine to be crafts-in-waiting. There’s only so much time in a day. I can either buy something another maker has made if I really want it now, which is okay!  I can also save the idea to make it another year. At my current rate of idea saving, I have enough crafts to keep me busy for the next 1,413 years, give or take a decade. Can you…

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  • large fireplace in an old house decorated for christmas with seven nutcrackers of varying sizes on the mantel and an off centered green garland with red berries. Layered on the mantel is a handmade nut garland comprised of walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds. Sitting in front of the fireplace is a skinny christmas tree with a tree collar that looks like a red drum. The tree is decorated with faux red and white berries and ornaments fashioned out of nuts.
    decorating,  holidays

    Nutcracker Holiday Mantel Decor

    December 3, 2025 /

    Fair warning. Your jaw may drop after viewing my Nutcracker holiday mantel decor. (There also may be a pun or two in this blog post.) You know I love a theme, so I chose nutcrackers as this year’s holiday decor theme for our dining room fireplace. This theme has been a long time coming, as I have been in possession of my mother’s nutcrackers for years. Decades, actually, but who’s counting? I don’t always decorate with the nutcrackers because they don’t match anything that I own. I also can’t seem to get rid of them for sentimental reasons. I’m sure you have your own version of this in your house.…

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  • rustic carriage house christmas rustic stone fireplace decorated for christmas
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    A Rustic Carriage House Christmas

    December 1, 2025 /

    It’s beginning to look like a rustic Carriage House Christmas! Or, as rustic as it can get with four faux Christmas trees. Just roll with it, folks. That’s what I do. Speaking of rolling with things, please go along with me for a minute as I set up this story. A year and a half ago, we repointed this fireplace in our Carriage House. I’d venture a guess that it had been covered for well over 100 years. Then we immediately covered it, so to speak, with a weight machine because we use this part of the Carriage House as a gym. Not too long after that, we went to…

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Hi! I'm Annisa.

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