How To

Crafts | Make Decorative String Lights

Winter is the perfect season for completing indoor home projects.  If cabin fever is settling in for you, these string lights are a quick and easy project that can add charm and character to a room.  There are two reasons I love this project– you can custom design the color or theme of these lights to […]

How To

Make Festive Cocktail Swizzle Sticks

New Year’s Eve is upon us and it’s time to close the year with friends and festivities.  Cocktails (and “mocktails”– drinks without alcohol) are a popular addition to New Year’s Eve celebrations.  For those who celebrate with cocktails, swizzle sticks are a festive touch for the drinks you are serving. Cocktail swizzle sticks are used […]

How To

Handmade Ornaments | Make Peace and Joy Branches

Whether you celebrate winter holidays or not, the underlying theme of the season is love, peace and joy. You can easily create handmade ornaments based on these words using a small branch and basic craft supplies.  The branches can be hung directly on a wall or set on a shelf (which allows the words to […]

How To

Tree Trimming with Vintage Toys

I enjoy trimming a Christmas tree with our usual hodgepodge collection of ornaments but I also love themed trees.  Themed trees are based on a color, a style (i.e. Victorian), or another common thread (a cowboy/cowgirl theme, the 50’s, a tropical theme, etc.). Once every few years I like to decorate a themed tree in […]

How To

Holiday Crafts | Make an Envelope Advent Calendar

When you make your own advent calendars it can be challenging to remember to have them made before the first of December.   Therefore, this project comes in time for you to have a couple weeks to gather your materials together and make your own.   This particular calendar is made using “small coin” or […]

How To

Decorating with Layered Bean Jars

November is a time of year when I use more nature-based materials to decorate  our home because I enjoy the rustic appeal of legumes, gourds, seeds, acorns and dried grasses.  Decorations made from these materials are durable enough to last the month (and many times, much longer) which means you can keep them around for […]

How To

Paper Pumpkins Craft | Decorate for Fall

It’s pumpkin season!  These easy-to-make paper pumpkins can be hung as decoration for Halloween as well as Thanksgiving. The paper pumpkins are made from strips of orange paper that are attached with small metal brads.  You can tie string around the brads to hang the pumpkins wherever you like such as stair banisters, window frames, […]

How To

Halloween Crafts | Make Haunted Houses from Recycled Materials

If you celebrate Halloween, it’s time to start decorating!  These haunted houses can be made using mostly recycled materials and therefore are inexpensive to make.  They can also be combined with your existing Halloween decor  to create a table centerpiece, a mantel decoration, or a windowsill display. Materials to Make Haunted Houses: Recycled cardboard boxes […]

How To

Halloween Crafts | Make a Pumpkin Coach

Ever since I laid eyes on an actual pumpkin coach (a miniature version of course) I have wanted to create one for myself.  There are numerous possibilities for creating coaches and vehicles with pumpkins and gourds that I may have to make this a yearly tradition so I can experiment with different themes and characters. I will tell […]

How To

Make a Desktop Reminder Board

Desktop Reminder Boards are miniature bulletin boards designed for your own personal use.  They are small enough to be placed on your work desk, a countertop , or shelf.  Some people use Reminder Boards to remember certain tasks they need to get done that day– i.e. to complete an assignment, to remember a staff meeting, […]

How To

Make Butterfly Tea Bag Holders

The kids are back to school and there is a crisp chill in the air.  It’s the season for reuniting with warm drinks and comfort foods.  These Butterfly Tea Bags are a novel way of enjoying your tea, especially with a friend.  If you have young children in your life, these also make a fun […]

How To

Crafts | Create a Drawer Knob Shelf

As August comes to an end I realize I have spent the summer enjoying the beautiful weather and thus ignoring the state of our house (where did all this clutter come from?).   I am now slowly, but surely, coming back to reality that I need to get more organized.  Making a drawer knob shelf — […]