joy to the world {simple Christmas wreath}

By Karah | November 30, 2012 - 7:08 am | crafty, diy, free, holiday, home decor, it's a cinch, nature, paint, reinvent something old, signs, spray paint, stencil, upcycle, wreath

30 Comments

This time of year really is the best, isn’t it?!?! The holiday spirit is in the air, holiday decor is strewn about and holiday cheer is abundant. :) I practically hear carolers singing “Joy to the World” right now. I love that first delve into the Christmas decor and crafting. I like to see what we’ve got from year’s past that still inspires me and try to come up with a few new ideas at the same time. All while I watch my husband roll his eyes at me as I pace to and fro between him and his football, or futball, or whatever sport he’s watching at the time. Hey, this decor thing takes time. You gotta step back, look at it from all angles, scootch it around a bit and then step back for another look … am I right!?! On my decor day we even had the island equivalent of what could be considered a winter storm. Brrrrr! Just kidding I think it did get down to 79 degrees though … which is close to a record low. And the perfect day for dilly dallying around with some Christmas decor I say. So I made a few new driftwood Christmas trees and gave our fall leaf wreath a winter makeover.

10 home made gift ideas

By Karah | November 28, 2012 - 7:08 am | crafty, gift ideas, holiday

29 Comments

Are you a home made gift giver? I was trying to come up with a few sentimental, but not too expensive ideas to give this year and found some great inspiration in my own archives. Here is my list of 10 thrifty yet meaningful home made gift ideas.

mentally preparing for home improvement

By Karah | November 26, 2012 - 7:08 am | life

29 Comments

Well, the shift from vacation mode and acting like I’m on vacation when we have house guests to full-steam-ahead-project-mode has happened. Now … there was a time, not too long ago, where for about 4 years Joel and I both worked full-time jobs and then worked on house projects in the evening. Pretty much every evening … and every weekend day and evening … and any hours in between. We really loved it for a while. We would call a Friday night in the crawl space installing new HVAC ductwork ”date night”. And we did so much drywall sanding at one house that we dubbed the after affect “Choptank nose”. *goggles and a mask are always a good idea when doing any kind of sanding

thankful

By Karah | November 23, 2012 - 7:08 am | life

15 Comments

Here’s wishing each and every last one of you had the best day ever yesterday. Honestly, I feel like I have been having the best day ever day after day for the last month or so. Well, maybe not so much yesterday … which started with a sunrise ride to the airport to drop off my in-laws and basically consisted of laundry, cleaning the bathroom, a little vacuuming and a lot of serious pondering about how much longer I can go without buying groceries, and football. :) Yesterday for me was more of an aftershock of a 10 day vacation followed by two weeks of house guests. More of a day to remind me that it’s not really about any one specific day. More of a day to reflect on so many things that I am so extraordinarily thankful for. I’m thankful for being able to let the blog take a backseat to so many incredible moments that have happened in the last month. Sunrise moments in Costa Rica, where we actually compiled our list of 8 must have items for budget travel. Moments with cousins that had us rolling on the floor laughing, and possibly snorting awkwardly. Moments when the guy we asked to take our picture turned right around to his buddy after he took it and said “those girls are reading those dirty books”. hahaha I’m thankful for a week with cousins that generated inside jokes that seemed to multiply exponentially by the minute. A week with cousins that was followed by a week with in-laws that flew by a little too fast. But at least I got to cradle my brother-in-law like a baby … I think I’m thankful for that. ;) I know for sure I’m thankful for making some great memories with the whole … continue reading →

the budget traveler’s survival kit

By Karah | November 16, 2012 - 7:08 am | life, quick tip, vacation

41 Comments

So, you’re going on a trip. Woo Hoo!! You’re flights are booked, you’re bags are packed and you’re even a savvy enough traveler that you’ve got your expired passport or a copy of your ID stashed in the bottom of your bag in case your current ID gets stolen. Go you. :) Now, I can attest to the fact that our tastes and tendencies have definitely evolved over the years as it comes to travel. But old, frugal habits die hard and after multiple international trips and even more road trips around the USA here is our budget traveler’s survival kit. 8 little things we’ve found over the years that have helped us save money on many a vacation. And you know how I heart saving money. :) #1 – corkscrew (or something like this) Now, it’s no secret we like a beverage or two in this space, and it’s definitely not any different on vacation. But one thing we have realized over the years is that we’d much rather sit with a bottle of wine in a park or on a bench by the sea than in a restaurant. Or even on the ground while watching the row of street vendors set up for the evening just outside of old town Cartagena, Colombia. And it just so happens that wine, or any beverage of choice, is much more economical at the grocery store than at a restaurant anyway. And it always tastes just a little better when you’re exactly where you want to be with exactly who you want to be with. Am I right?!? Better views + lower prices = happy vacationers. :) #2 – zip lock bags Now, if you’re going to want to have lunch while you sit atop a cliff near La Manga, Spain, you’re going … continue reading →

countdown to Christmas {random acts of kindness advent tree}

By Karah | November 12, 2012 - 7:08 am | crafty, diy, free, holiday, nature, spray paint, tutorial, upcycle

52 Comments

Too soon? Did my post on Friday, the little recap of all of the Christmas crafts we did last year, not imply that I had already started the countdown to Christmas? It was supposed to. ;) And, by countdown to Christmas I actually mean countdown to Christmas crafting. And that countdown to Christmas crafting actually came to zero about a week ago. Would that make it T plus 7 days? I don’t know. I’m actually teaming up with a few other incredible bloggers and we’re banding together to bring you 4 creative ways to countdown to Christmas. We’re talkin’ about advent calendars and in my case, an advent tree!

11 homemade Christmas ornament ideas

By Karah | November 9, 2012 - 7:08 am | crafty, diy, driftwood, free, holiday, home decor, nature, nearly free

29 Comments

‘Tis the season. The season to get ready for the holiday season. The one where we start to think about how we decorated for the holidays last year … and how we’ll do it this year. I actually started this blog on November 1st last year and pretty quickly joined a crafting competition at Mega Crafty. The challenge was to decorate a tree for under $20. I came up with some pretty fun homemade Christmas ornament ideas that hardly cost me anything. Since there were about 3 of you reading last holiday season, I’ve rounded up what we made to show off our 11 DIY Christmas Ornament Ideas.