new antique fireplace tools
The first thing I bought specifically for our house was a pair of antique “cannonball” andirons. My mom and I went to an antique store as a diversion from a tense period of waiting for our offer to be accepted and I received a call from our realtor on the way that the deal was […]
making & using paint sample boards to select colors
Yesterday, I worked on making some paint sample boards to nail down the colors I’ve been mulling over for the main living areas of our house. Usually, I would just slap a swatch on the wall, but this house has slowed down my typical go-for-it approach. The biggest obstacle has been all of the wallpaper […]
kitchen cabinet shopping & selections | 1970s home renovation
This is the year of the kitchen makeover and I am so, so excited about it. Every house we have lived in has had a kitchen that was too good to completely redo. We’ve always been fortunate to have solid cabinets, a great layout, and good bones, so I have always focused my attention on […]
Christmas Break 2022 Recap
Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful and fulfilling Christmas and New Year that was everything you needed it to be. Ours was a bit of a mixed bag, but it will definitely be memorable! Our Christmas break started with picking up a dining room set I found on Facebook Marketplace for $40. […]
Christmas decorating favorites from the past
Well, I played hooky from writing on the blog yesterday. I felt lazy, tired, and really ready for my own Christmas break to start (the boys are already on break from school.) So, I took a slow morning to cuddle with the kitties and rewatch some of Portrait Artist of the Year. I gave myself […]
baby shoes, sepia portraits, & vials of color
“Well, you definitely got into the right business.” My mom has said this to me many times over my 13+ years of writing this blog. She knows I love happy surprises, mail, and gifts and, in this weird little line of work, I get some of the best mail. It started with rolls of tape, […]
little studio tree
When I plunked the little artificial tree on a stool in my art studio, I figured it would just be there temporarily. It was more about putting it in a semi-finished place and less about feeling like that was the best spot for it. But, as I got distracted by other things, the little tree […]
salt dough ornaments 2022 | Christmas crafts
This salt dough ornament-making is going to be an annual thing, I think. They are just so fun, easy, personal, and pretty. I made them last year, both traditional salt dough and cinnamon “gingerbread” salt dough, and I enjoyed it immensely. I always thought of salt dough as sort of a kindergarten craft material, but […]