Creative Do-It-Yourself Ideas and Inspiration for Your House and Family. Currently making _______________.
Ahh, it seems like only yesterday we were two youngsters on a mission to renovate our basement bathroom, knocking out walls and digging plumbing. Almost two years ago already. Joe is reliving the good ol’ days, using his experience to help a friend with a similar shower. I guess you know who to call for any shower projects from now on!
Well, our fourth annual Friendsgiving was a great success. I’ve been full for three days straight. And there’s still a week of great eats ahead of us! If you’re looking for a unique and creative tablescape idea, here’s a good one. If you’ve got some basic tools, 10 minutes and a few candles at home, you’ll be set. And it won’t cost a penny.
Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving! We had a lot of fun doing our annual Turkey Trot, even though it was a little wet and wild outside. We got two rounds of turkey, visiting family all around the metro. And we still have a Friendsgiving to look forward to. Bring on the leftovers!
If you got a little burnt out on Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, it’s ok. I actually swore off Black Friday shopping a few years ago. It was after heading out in very icy conditions… I think I was looking for a crock pot or something petty. Long story short, I ended up rear-ending someone because my brakes couldn’t handle a fresh ice patch, and that was a very short-lived little shopping trip. I decided all the madness of consumerism and downright danger were just not worth saving a few bucks. I took a step back and thought about how silly the whole thing is. Thanksgiving is about friends, family and togetherness. Where’s the gratitude in a $19.99 crockpot and fender bender? So that was the end of my Black Fridays. I went cold turkey. (Thanks for noticing the pun.)
But I’m all for Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday. I fully support the notion of using our cash to support local shops rather than big box stores. We vote with our dollars, you know? I’m guilty of deal hunting at chain stores, but I really want to try to support more small businesses. It just feels good. While I’m trying to cut back on holiday shopping in general, I think at least being mindful of where I’m using my money is a step in the right direction. That said, I’m hoping to do a lot more Christmas crafts this year! And please, before you throw something away consider first donating it, recycling it or upcycling it. Organize a clothing swap, have a DIY-off with friends, make mittens, sew a quilt, make shop rags or give it to someone in need instead.
Our friends at Cotopaxi have some ideas for recycling and repurposing as well, and have a promo code for you at the bottom of this post if you’d like to check out their website.
What we really love about Cotopaxi is that all the backpacks are handmade by someone who otherwise may not have a job. The person gets to personally design the bag with colors and fabrics that inspire them. No two bags are alike. And all the fabric is repurposed, fabric that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. It’s a win-win. I’m impressed with their commitment to impact sourcing – the people who make these bags earn a decent wage to actually improve their quality of life.
If you have a certain someone on your shopping list who’d like a unique, socially responsible, durable and useful gift, we’d highly recommend checking them out! There’s a promo code just below. Watch this video for their inspiring story:
Cotopaxi did not sponsor this post. We just think they have a great business model and mission worth sharing and we hope you will too!
This has been a long time coming. When we moved in, we discovered this incredible secret storage area know as the crawlspace. After moving from a slightly larger house, we needed a place to put boxes and miscellaneous things that either didn’t fit, or we didn’t have a place for right away. So into the crawlspace they went. And the garage. But that’s a whole other story… It was finally time to tackle our storage area and get things to their homes. We spent our staycation working on this, and a few other big projects.
No, not tinsel. (Although it’s almost tinsel season too!)TENSILE. That’s my new word of the week. It’s a measurement of how tense or resistant to stretching a thing is.
We needed some high-tensile sheathing tape for last weekend’s project. It’s basically really strong tape that can hold a lot of weight before breaking. This particular tape can withstand 28.3 pounds per inch. Pretty impressive for tape! It must have went to the gym. If you want to get all sciency, read more about it.
The Olympics are over. Sniffle Sniffle. It seems like just yesterday we were watching the closing ceremonies. Oh, yea that was yesterday. We didn’t get to watch too much of the games, but we’ve definitely been making winter memories of our own. I wanted to showcase some of our winter highlights before it’s gone. It’ll be spring before we even know it. This past weekend I went to the RedBull downhill skating event, fondly called Crashed Ice. It’s becoming a Minnesotan tradition! Joe spent his weekend swimming with manatees and baking in the sun. But we’ll save that story for later…
Thanksgiving has come and gone! Although only one day of the year is officially sanctioned as “Thanksgiving,” we believe in gratitude all year ’round. We’re blessed to have amazing family which we see on a regular basis. Not just once or twice a year.
We started the day bright ‘n’ early with a 5k run. The Run for Raz shirts are in honor of Joe’s aunt who lost her battle with cancer a few years ago. She was a high school track coach, so this year everyone decided to do a 5k on Thanksgiving morning.
It’s almost Thanksgiving, and I’m happy to report that it’s looking fall festive in here. Does that shade of orange energize you? Agitate you? Make your insides scream?
All of the above?
We have been elected to host Joe’s family Thanksgiving this year! Very exciting! And a bit overwhelming, when I think about 50+ guests, but mostly exciting. Joe and I decided to start getting the house in shape for this first ever Thanksgiving feast, so we tackled a few little projects that were on the back burner.
Here’s our short list: