Featured Slider

DIY Giant Teak Cutting Board

 If you have hopped on the bread making bandwagon, or if you like to make roll out cookies, you are going to LOVE just how easy it is to make your own giant teak cutting board... for around $50!! Yep, you read that right, 50 big ones!

I love to make bread. I love being able to control what does (and does not) go into my bread. I love the smell of homemade bread when it's baking. I love that my kids are willing to try new flavors if I sneak it into a loaf of bread, ha!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today is national chocolate chip cookie day and I decided it was the perfect day to share my go to cookie recipe! But first ... a brief history lesson... you can use this to impress all your friends at parties. 


Did you know that the first chocolate chip cookie recipe was created way back in the late 1930s? We have a woman by the name of Ruth Wakefield who worked for Tollhouse to thank for this deliciousness. They were originally intended to be served with ice cream but has become an American staple when it was shared on Betty Crockers radio program. In 1939 Ruth sold her recipe and the Tollhouse company to Nestle. The original recipe can still be found on most bags of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips. 

3 Ways to Easily Update Your Home for the Holidays

Want to spruce up your home for the holidays without breaking the bank? Decorating doesn't have to be expensive or over the top, it just needs to be YOU! 


It's hard to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram after Halloween without being bombarded with photos of beautiful Christmas trees perfectly adorned with ribbons, ornaments, and lights. Open Pinterest and your screen is instantly flooded with holiday recipes, crafts, and ornately decorated tables and mantels. As much as I want to have a Pinterest and Insta worthy home for Christmas, I tend to stick to a few simply basics to give my home a holiday feel. Here are my top 3 ways to get your home ready for the holidays.



1. Trees. While I am dreaming of the day when I can afford a King of Christmas or Balsam Hill Christmas tree, I have settled on a simple  6.5 ft tree that I bought on Black Friday 10 years ago from Michaels. It makes me itch when I connect the pieces, and half the lights don't work... but I just love the way that added a tree (any tree) to a space instantly makes it feel more cozy! Over the years I have added some mini trees in varying sizes to my Christmas decor. Smaller trees are great for shelves, bookcases, table tops, and centerpieces. Green and flocked trees are my favorite, but there are also trees made of yarn, wood, cork, glitter, brushes, and more. 

When we lived in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment, we didn't have space for a regular sized Christmas tree. Instead we had three small trees that I would place on the back of our upright piano and decorate them with teeny tiny ornaments and lights. It was all we could do, but it made a huge difference in the way our small apartment felt. 



2. Lights. The yearly debate over colored vs white vs warm white lights happens every year. Personally, I love the simple look of white and warm white lights both inside and outside of our home. It allows me to change up the other decor without having to buy new lights to fit my color scheme. With the right lights, you don't have to add much else to create a wintry look and feel in your home. There is something magical about snuggling on the couch with a soft blanket, and your family to watch a Christmas movie, that is made even more fun by only have a few strands of Christmas lights to add a warm glow to your home. 



3. Textiles. Not only can they add texture to any space, but it's a way to have fun with patterns, styles, and colors. You can add bold, colorful throw blankets and pillows to bring in a cheery design palette. If you like to keep things neutral, consider the look above by my friend Tammy Kate on Instagram @paisleypearhome She used a simple worded pillow along with a fun ticking stripe (from my Etsy shop) to create a cozy corner in her home using simple neutral colors. 

The thing I love most about adding textiles to a space, is that you can instantly change the entire look and feel of your home by adding a few simple items. Pillow covers are an easy way to get a whole new look for less than buying an entirely new set of pillows. Neutral throw blankets can be used year round too! 


You can always do more, but these easy 3 updates will get your home ready for the holidays in a flash!

5 Tips to Complete Your Unfinished Projects

 When my now 8 year old was born, my husband took two weeks off of work to help out with our older two children and to give me some much needed time to rest and look after our new bundle of joy. On his last day home from work, he decided to tackle a small bathroom renovation that I'd been begging for (and had actually started on my own a few weeks prior to baby's arrival -- thanks to some nesting urges). 

The project? Adding some bead board paneling to the bottom half of the walls in our tiny bathroom. Could it have been completed on the 3-day weekend? Of course it could... it's a tiny bathroom. Did it get done? Nope. That bathroom project drug out for the next 5 years! All the paneling was up, but the nails hadn't been hammered in completely and the patching, caulking, and painting needed to be finished. I had finally had enough and one day just worked on all those little things and got it done. 

Why is it so hard to finish projects that we start? Maybe it's that we lose interest in the project. Maybe it gets to a point where we can no longer tackle it alone. Maybe it's because something more pressing comes up and the last project is put on the back burner. Today's blog post is all about how to finish those kinds of projects. 


Pillow Insert Basics

 First of all, let's start by explaining what a pillow insert is. I posted a poll on my Instagram feed a while back and was shocked to find out that so many of you didn't know what I was talking about when I say "pillow insert".