100 Happy Days

Hey! Have you heard about 100 Happy Days?

I discovered this via A Beautiful Mess, and started my challenge today! If you're not already participating, you should think about joining too.

You can follow along with me on Instagram, where I'll be using this hashtag:

Corners of My Home 5

Last week I shared my stairway with you. This is at the bottom of the stairs (you can see the risers now!) - a glimpse into the laundry room.

This is also where I store all my canning. :)

Sources: the print is of a painting at the MIA (Temptation, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau); shelving and baskets.

See all the corners of my home here!

Corners of My Home 4

This is the stairway down to the basement.

The ceiling is low, so when I first moved in my mom stenciled this on the wall for me! (My parents found the pig head at an antique store in northern MN and gifted it to me. I love pigs!).

The painting is by my great uncle, who was an artist.

I had the carpet ripped up from the stairs and then I painted them myself. The tread is red, as you can see, and the risers are white (but not visible in these photos).

See my other corners here.

Corners of My Home 3

I decided, after my last 'corners' post, that maybe the next corner to share would be what was in the background behind my garland. So here it is!

This bookshelf is in a corner of the dining room and shelves most (but not all!) of my cookbook collection.

I was inspired to make the bird tree after seeing Abbey's version on A Beautiful Mess.
The branches are dead ones from the oak tree in the front yard, the moss is from this Etsy shop, and I have been collecting feathery birds at antique stores. It's a work in progress...

Sources: metal bird found at an Italian flea market; oil lamp, feather birds, and teacups are all vintage from various antique stores; candle holder (no longer available); curtains; book print.

See all my corners here.

Corners of My Home 2

Welcome to part 2 of Corners of My Home! (First installment here).

This is a little paper garland that hangs in the doorway that leads upstairs from the dining room.  I used a square punch and several different colors of card stock (and vellum), and then sewed the whole thing together with my sewing machine. Really fast and easy!

Want to show me a corner of your home? Leave a link in the comments!

Corners of My Home 1

Hello again!

I love home tours and before-and-afters, and I have both in the works here, but just haven't had the time to finish them up and post them.  I decided that in the meantime, I would start a new feature on my blog - Corners of My Home. Each Sunday, I will post a photo (or several) of a little part of my house that I find beautiful, inspiring, or is just making me happy.

If there is anyone still reading this blog, feel free to join in! In the comments section, leave a link to your corner. I would love a peek into your home!

Above is a shot in my kitchen by the sink. The planter on the left was made by a local ceramics artist, and I got it at a craft fair a few years ago. If I find a link for it online, I'll add it here. The second planter I spray painted red (there's a lot of red going on in my kitchen). And finally, the dish soap is in a Ball jar, with a lid and soap dispenser that I purchased from Midwest Finds on Etsy. I actually have three of them throughout the house - two are just the lid and pump that I put on jars I already had, but one is a vintage jar I purchased from them. I really love Midwest Finds! The whole kitchen looks prettier now that I'm not using a plastic dispenser that the soap came in. :)

Goals for 2014

Hello, and happy 2014! I cannot believe that it has been close to a year and a half since the last time I blogged here. I will be back to explain that absence soon - it involves starting two(!) of my own businesses - but in the meantime I wanted to share this simple craft project with you.
Make your own book of goals for 2014!  You will need:

• a sketchbook
• kraft paper
• scissors
• paper cutter (optional)
• adhesive
• washi tape
• pen
• pencil
• eraser (not shown)

1. Trace the cover of your sketchbook.
2. Cut around your tracing.
3. Cut exactly on your line with a paper cutter (if you're not using one, skip this step and just cut carefully with scissors).  
4. Adhere the paper to the cover of your sketchbook.

     5. Draw your design and words, first with pencil, then trace with your pen.

6. Add tabs with washi tape. I have four categories that I wanted to use, so I counted the pages     equally and cut four long strips of washi tape.  I folded each piece of washi tape in half, around the first page in each section. 

7. Label your tabs, and the inside pages if you'd like to. I divided my goals into four categories: home, bookstore, photography, and personal.

8. Start listing your goals!

The first goal that I wrote down under "Personal" is to blog more here. That should be easy - with this post I've already blogged more than I did in 2013!  ;)

I love having my goals written out like this, especially for the bigger things. I can get bogged down in the day-to-day to-do lists, and not make enough time for some of the other things I want to accomplish. Having those goals written down makes me more likely to spend time on them.  I made this book on Sunday, and have already started on a number of my "Home" goals!

Do you have new year's goals or resolutions?  How do you keep track of them?

All photos taken with my iPhone and edited with A Beautiful Mess App.