Holidays

Hello 2016

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We hope you are enjoying the holidays and are looking forward to a great 2016. I’m definitely enjoying some down time – keeping all the Christmas lights on for a few more days and polishing off a few leftover cookies.

A Year in Reflection

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my 2016 goals/resolutions will be, and I keep coming back to one word: Abundance. I like to choose a theme or word instead of a traditional resolution to focus on throughout the year, and this year I want to embrace the abundance that comes my way. Remembering that there will always be enough time, always be enough money; the things I sometimes feel lacking in. Shifting a scarcity mindset to one of abundance, trusting in myself and God’s provision and plans. This can be hard and scary, but I’m so excited to see where 2016 takes us and the gifts it brings into our lives!

It’s been a great year for us with many firsts, new traditions, new memories, new friends, old friends, family, and lots of love. And of course, challenges too. But I think I really did my word from last year justice: Celebrate. We’re so grateful for the blessings this year has brought. Now, on to a year of abundance.

Fun Stats

These site stats are super interesting to me, and I thought you might like them too. If there’s anything you would like to see more of next year, please let us know! It’s really nice to hear from people and which types of projects are most inspirational/helpful to you. We have a boatload of projects backlogged that I’ll be posting, and some new construction sites in the house as well. It’s hard to keep up with Joe!

 

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,500 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 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?

Engineering, Home Entertainment, Ongoing Projects, Organization, Space Efficiency, Storage

Garage “Mud Room”

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garage entry

Maxing out Garage Storage

Ideally, we’d love to have an actual mudroom or entryway some day, but for now, we are making do with the space we have. If you know us, you know we I have a lot of shoes. There’s really not a great space in our house for our shoes to live, so we’ve been keeping them in the garage.

Well, we’ve engineered a somewhat functional solution that we hope to keep improving. It’s a big improvement actually. With winter on the way, this will give us a central location for all the snow pants, jackets, hats and everything else. And it’s a step up from keeping them all in bins!

 

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Cooking, Crafts, Detailing, DIY

Bonfire Cupcakes

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fire

If you have a summer/fall party to go to, or just can’t resist baking something, this easy campfire cupcake recipe is really fun. It takes about an hour and gets 10 points for the cuteness factor. Plus, my sweet tooth just can’t say no to those chocolate creme filled wafers. Yum!

 

DSC03287

Here’s the backstory. 

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Landscaping, Outdoors

Ring of Fire: Building a Bonfire Pit

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how to build a bonfire pit

 

How to Build a Bonfire Pit

One of the second things Joe wanted to do after moving in was build a backyard fire pit. It was one of the easiest projects to date, and took less than a day! We love the bonfire pit kits – I know it’s not 100% DIY, but there is still plenty of elbow grease that goes into this.

Here were the steps:

  1. Collect the materials
  2. Build a perimeter around the area to fill with sand
  3. Build a fire pit in the middle
  4. Fill the area with sand
  5. Enjoy bonfires

Simple enough, right?

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Bathroom, Paint, Uncategorized

Guest Bathroom: Paint Job

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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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Bathroom, Paint

Guest Bathroom: From Popcorn to Knockdown

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knocking out popcorn

Popcorn vs Knockdown

Are you like Joe and hate popcorn ceiling with a passion? It never bothered me much, until I realized how many alternatives are out there! Joe has always wanted to try doing a knockdown ceiling treatment, so we decided to pick a sample room and try our hand. Since Steve’s bathroom is basically unoccupied now, we figured it was the perfect small space for a test run!

The Supplies

You’ll need to buy a few things before attempting this yourself.

how to DIY knockdown ceiling supplies

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Holidays

Happy New Year!

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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?

Décor, Food, Holidays, Just for fun, Leah

Gingerbread House

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pretzel gingerbread house header

I absolutely love making gingerbread houses and try to build one every year! Last year I bought a kit, but after seeing this log cabin, I decided I should try making one myself! So I found a handy contractor and hired him and his cousin to help me out 🙂

At first, they were acting way too cool for such childish activities, but once I got started they kind of took over! The outcome wasn’t as picturesque as this, but there was joy in the process. And isn’t that what matters?

The Tools

I rounded up all the graham crackers, gumdrops, peppermint candies, hard candy, frosting, pretzel rods, and sprinkles I could find.

how to make a gingerbread house tools

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Engineering, Joe, Just for fun, Life Hack

Doggy Training

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Doggy Duty header

Well now that Joe is recovering from his triple wisdom tooth extraction surgery, (Oh you, didn’t hear about that? Yeah he was pretty miserable) he’s ready for a bunch of projects. Those are his words, not mine. Most people would be thrilled at the chance to take three days off work, lay on the couch and watch movies while eating ice cream. Ok, maybe not thrilled. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he’s been going crazy not being able to do anything.

Here’s one of his ideas from last weekend: The Puppy Trainer 3000™

How to Train your Dragon Pooch

Shila is the best puppy ever, but she has a slight problem letting us know when she needs to go outside to do her business. So he thought that if she had some sort of bell system, she could let us know what she needs. She doesn’t really bark, so there’s no vocal cue. The ideas is, she rings the bell and we take her out.

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Crafts, Food, Holidays, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving header

Giving Thanks

It’s that time of year again. The turkey, the touchdowns, the togetherness. Can you wait?! Well this year is probably not as crazy as last year, but I’m definitely looking forward to whatever tomorrow brings.

Got the urge to bake some cookies for the big T-Day tomorrow? I’ve got two super simple styles for you. They’re both sugar cookies so you don’t even need to use two bowls. How great is that?

owl and pumpkin pie cookie

Pumpkin Pies

A simple bowl will work for cutting out circles. Or if you own a triangle cookie cutter, even better for you! I just have a pizza cutter. And hey, you could even make Santa hats out of some of them!

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