Big News Tues

Dear Friends we are moving

 

Yep. We are dreaming big and relocating. The idea has been brewing for a year or so, and the planning has happened behind the scenes. But everything kind of came together in the last few days, so no matter how much planning you do, you can never be 100% ready for any big decision in life. That’s what I’m telling myself at least!  We put in an offer. And they accepted. Contingent upon Joe’s current house selling. Cross your fingers!

 

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela

 

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Making a Customized Picture Frame

how to make a personalized picture frame

Most people, like it or not, will get a homemade craft from me at some point. I love giving birthday presents! If you’re in a pinch to make a friend a fun birthday gift too, this might be a neat idea for you.

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Making: Healthy Truffles

healthy truffles recipe

 

Guilty Little Pleasures

I sincerely hope you didn’t give up sweets for Lent, because I have a bunch of chocolate recipes to share. There’s an amazing new truffle place in the skyway where I work called Legacy Chocolates. Ah.Maz.Ing. At $3 a piece, they are worth every cent. They make 99% dark cocoa truffles, and experiment with new flavors each week. What’s not to love, right? The trouble is, I was becoming a regular. For a couple months, I would get a truffle every week. So I thought, hmmm I could totally make something like this.

I found this recipe for truffles on Pinterest, and it spoke to me:

Guilt-free chocolate truffles: “Greek yogurt chocolate truffles. Great recipes for fitness lovers with a sweet tooth.” From MayIHaveThisRecipe.com.

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Vday 2015

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy (Belated) Valentine’s Day

While we’re not huge fans of Hallmark holidays, we do like to celebrate special occasions in our own way. I’m big on spending quality time together, so I figured there was no better time to sign Joe up for some volunteer activities. Hey, that was my Valentine’s Day wish.

Leah and Joe volunteering Cheerful Givers

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Guest Bathroom: Paint Job

New Paint Smell header

Painting

There’s just nothing like that new paint smell. Ahhhh. I hate the new car smell, but paint I can handle. We painted the main-level bathroom. We felt like this was just the thing the room needed. Something inside me said, “Silver.” And so it was. I have an unusual infatuation with the color gray. I wanted to find just the right one and ended on this Pittsburg version called “Antique Silver.” Come have a look!

Paint Swatch Sample gray

Much deliberation took place. Actually, we just looked at the options and went with our gut. Joe was worried that it wouldn’t match the brown hardware and counter, but this particular shade of silver had some brown tones to it.

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Winter Fun 2015

winter st. paul Minnesota

All things considered, I think it’s been a pretty fun and eventful winter so far! I’m 100% happy with being in MN for the season. (I’ll get back to you around March). I’m equally thankful we don’t live on the east coast right now! So Minnesota isn’t really so bad. In fact, MN is the best kept secret in the US. This article pretty much sums up what we already know.

Anyway, we’ve been out and about these last couple weekends exploring MN and WI and have many adventures to share.

Fishing

Joe won an all-inclusive, luxury one night stay at his company fish house on Lake Mille Lacs last Friday, so we figured we better use it or lose it 🙂

ice fishing Minnesota

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Storage Alert

bonus storage header

Bookshelf Hack

Not exactly a hack, but I’m using a bookshelf as shelving for pants. I have a bad habit of over-stuffing drawers full of my clothes, so I needed a remedy. Bingo – used bookshelf! It’s now an extension of my closet and dresser space. I swung by the Goodwill and snatched this up for the cool price of $3.99! I was hoping to find an old dresser that I could gut and refinish, but this thing is the perfect size and needs no work at all. Practically new. And for the price, I couldn’t say no.

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Happy New Year!

3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope you truly have a blessed year in 2015 and beyond. And a very fun and safe night tonight. Joe and I are still deciding how we want to ring in the new year, but I’m sure we’ll make it a memorable one 🙂 We hope you’ll hang around next year for some new adventures. Many surprises to come.

Here are some fun highlights from our blog. Click below if you’re curious and want to see the full infographic.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

What are YOU doing for New Year’s? And what are your resolutions?

It’s Gonna be a Crafty Christmas

it's gonna be a crafty Christmas header

Crafty Christmas

Looking for Christmas crafts this year? I’ve got some super simple ideas that you can whip up. Honestly, if I can make them, so can you. It’s always fun to give/receive a personalized gift. Bonus points if you make it. If that’s not your style, no big deal. But this post is for all the Christmas DIY’ers.

Coasters

I made coaters again, this time for my coworkers. I had to reference my tutorial from last year just to remember how. But they’re just like riding a bike – pretty simple to pick up again. I found these funny napkins at World Market last year.

Christmas crafts coasters

DIY coasters mod podge

Candles

I bought a few little candles and peeled the labels from them. I took some music paper and stamped the names of my friends on the paper, then cut them to the size of the labels. The jars were still sticky, so it was easy to stick the new labels on. The candles were less than $1 each. Then just added some twine bows!

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Spare Room Conversion

spare room redo

Brown or Purple?

You be the judge. We really love this paint color, but everyone seems to have a different take on it. Depending on the lighting and time of day, it looks either brown or purple. Or both! For the record, it was in the brown section of Pittsburg Paint, but it must have some purple undertones.

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