I’ll confess, I get most of my lampshades from thrift stores or secondhand shops. With patience, it’s easy to find just about any shape or style of lampshade that I need. What’s harder to find at secondhand sources are clean lampshades. Often, lampshades I pick up from these sources are brand new but have…
In today’s post, I’ll be showing you how I made a project that I recently completed for my community garden. Check out the video below for a preview, or keep scrolling for a depth tutorial and supply list. One of the hardest parts about moving to urban Seattle was losing my farm…
By some measures, chalk might be the ultimate art supply. It’s affordable, erasable, non-toxic, and it’s easy to use. While many art supplies require technique, prep, training, or required supplies, chalk is easy and versatile –a fun and approachable art project for children and adults. Indoor chalkboard walls are a fun way to have an…
One of my most popular posts is my tutorial on making your own tumbled sea glass using a rock tumbler. I love seeing the projects people are creating using the glass produced with the described in the tutorial. From vase filler to aquarium decoration and all kinds of beach-inspired crafts, it’s fun to follow…
When I started website-building in the pre-blog era of 2005, I found an article titled “26 steps to $26k in One Year.” Although by 2020 standards that advice would be terribly outdated, in 2005 those 26 steps were my gameplan and helped me create several thriving e-commerce companies and blogs, and over time informed…
In a Hurry? Click Here to Skip to the Video Tutorial In today’s post, we’re talking about the quintessential taco dinner ingredient: taco meat! Spicy, salty, and even a little greasy, this classic ground beef preparation is essential for any American-style taco dinner. We’ll be reproducing it from soft brown acrylic felt. Getting…
Whether you’re in the investigation/planning stage of installing a doggie door or if you’ve already installed one and discovered the freedom a doggie door gives owners and pets, this article is for you! I love pet doors. The confidence that pups get from having their own freedom to go outside when needed is…
First, pick the litter. Then, pick from the litter. You’ve considered the options and chosen to get a dog through a breeder. Now what? No matter what breed of dog you’ve chosen, it cannot be stressed enough that picking the litter is more important than picking a puppy. Although we’ve got some tips here for…
If you have more than a handful of chickens, and maybe even if you only have a few, you likely know that one of the challenges of maintaining a flock of laying hens is that they always seem to nest practically on top of each other! In this article, I’ll talk about the method…
This is a little outside of my typical wheelhouse, as this blog is more about crafts, DIY, and occasional travel post than it is about scrapbooking and genealogy research. But I love old photographs and I am excited to share a new way I discovered to more meaningfully organize mine. Initially, I discovered this application…
One of the most frequently asked questions I am asked about my above ground pond is how it is cleaned out. This is often framed as negative feedback- which kind of confuses me because, having had both styles of garden pond, my above ground pond is much easier to clean than the in-ground…
Did you know that wool makes an exceptional diffuser for essential oils? Wool felt is a highly porous natural fiber, allowing air to pass through rather than around it. Because of this, wool felt can be used as an eco-friendly portable diffuser for your favorite scents. You may have seen diffuser necklaces that use…
Perhaps one of the hardest parts of long-term travel is the care and feeding of my own body. What’s familiar and second-nature back home, takes energy- and often creativity- when traveling. When I settle into a work-friendly AirBnB for a few days to catch up on business (Usually about 5 to 7 days) I find…
When I lived in downtown Seattle my 35-unit building shared a total of two basement washers, two dryers, and zero elevators. This, combined with living on the third floor of a very high-ceilinged 19th-century building made laundry day a dreaded task. Laundry day meant lugging laundry down several floors only to find the washroom busy…
The Internet is filled with tutorials for fixing scratches on leather chairs and sofas- I know because I read at least a half-dozen of them when I adopted my leather Broyhill armchair from Craigslist. In excellent condition other than surface scratches, this find from the free section of Craigslist was well worth the short drive…
Classy floor lamps are expensive –like, very expensive. As I priced sturdy lamps for my new Seattle apartment, I couldn’t find a single sturdy tripod-style adjustable lamp for under $250. Target and World Market had non-adjustable options in the $80-$120 range, but I’d been tricked into buying cute-but-fragile lamps there before and always ended up…
This post updated: One of my most-read posts – and the post that really got me taking my blog more seriously- is my tutorial on how to convert a light fixture to a plug-in style lamp, but for some of the applications where a portable-chandelier lamp comes in handy, it can be easier and safer…
