A quick and lovely fall project: Starting with a thrifted candy dish, I hot-glued candle wicks to the basin, melted beeswax using the double boiler method, and added tiny pinecones, allspice, dried orange slices, a cinnamon stick, and pine needles -- keeping well away from the wicks. Watch more on Instagram.
10/21/2023
04/27/2023
A Vintage, Naturalist-Inspired Room for Our Five-Year-Old
I wish I could hug a wall. If I could, I would hug this one all day!
The buffalo plaid accent wall in Miles's newly updated room is my new favorite, and guess what – that's not wallpaper, we painted it!
(Yes, paint! It's true!)
Keep reading for details and more photos. Links to (nearly) everything are at the bottom of the post.
My favorite big kid is now five-and-a-half! We go outside a lot as a family, and usually end up with pockets full of rocks, feathers, and pinecones. One of his most loved TV shows is "Wild Kratts" (we got tickets to go see them live in Worcester in October; he doesn't know yet!), and he loves to read and learn about animals, nature, and wildlife.
We've been living in our new home for two years, and I thought it would be fun to give his room a little update that celebrates those interests. I started a Pinterest board and began collecting treasures from thrift stores. Early on in the process I texted my wife Kristie that I wanted the room to have "vintage naturalist vibes with a little mythology and a lot of texture." It could still use a few more mythological touches, but other than that, it came out just how I imagined it!
(Those of you who have been around for awhile might recognize a few items from Miles's nursery in our old house – boy, does that feel like a long time ago!)
Miles is pumped about the new bed! We ordered it a few weeks ago and kept it on the porch in the box until the day we put the whole room together (including doing the painting) while Miles was at school. My parents came up thankfully and helped with it all! We couldn't have done it without them – nor would it have been as much fun.
Oh this wall. I can't believe how it turned out! While my dad and Kristie put the bed together, my mom and I followed this tutorial. (A few notes about that: We didn't do the white base coat since the wall was already white; the paint person at Lowe's had no idea what I was talking about when I asked the paint to be mixed to 25%, etc., so I simply chose colors I thought were in the same family; and our squares are 8" as opposed to the tutorial's 4".)
I didn't trust the ceiling, floor, or other walls in the room to be perfectly level, so we started by measuring down and marking 8" from the ceiling, then using a laser level to get the tape just right. Of course, the level's battery died, so we ended up doing some shrewd eyeballing as well. I was actually doubtful while we worked as to whether the colors were right or whether we were even measuring correctly. It wasn't until we peeled the last round of tape off the wall that it was clear that it had worked, and had worked so well. It's not perfect, of course, especially with having to rush against the clock, but wow, do I ever love this wall!
This little stool was $3.99 at the thrift store. I ripped the dirty shearling fabric off and replaced it with a polka dot print from Joann Fabrics. Doesn't it look like a little toadstool mushroom?
This trinket shelf was another thrift store find. I gathered up some nature items from around the house to display here. I'm sure over time Miles will add more treasures. (Oh, and I used a little museum wax to help some of the more unyieldy items stay put.)
This needlepoint was made by my grandmother – Miles's great-grandmother. His middle name is her maiden name, so it feels really special to have this piece of art hanging in his room.
Miles calls the loft bed his "upstairs bed" and the mattress on the floor his "downstairs bed."
This paint-by-number was a lucky flea market score and only $12!
There's a shelf next to Miles's "upstairs bed" so he can easily put away books after reading at night. Kristie attached that touch light to the wall with stick-on Velcro so he can turn it on and off without having to get out of bed.
Miles picked out this painting himself from the thrift store!
The desk is so so lovely. It was $10 at the flea market, and the chair fits perfectly. I can't believe what great condition it was in for that price! It opens so he can store paper, markers, etc. inside. When he first sat down at the desk, he said, "Mom, I look like a big kid doing my homework!"
A few treasures on top of his dresser: feathers, a thrifted lantern, and a coconut he brought back from Florida.
LINKS
Dresser / Amazon (affiliate link)
Drawer knobs / local hardware store
Floor lamp / Target, then spray painted (affiliate link)
Desk and chair / thrifted
Footstool / thrifted
Footstool fabric / Joann Fabrics
Vintage lantern / thrifted
Trinket shelf / thrifted
Hello Sunshine pennant / Three Potato Four
Loft bed with slide / Amazon (affiliate link)
Paint-by-number / thrifted
Bug sheets / Target (affiliate link)
Floral pillowcases / thrifted
Green cozy blanket / Target (affiliate link)
Star sheets / Target (affiliate link)
Wall bookshelf / IKEA (discontinued)
Cat touch light / IKEA
Acadia National Park tile / thrifted
Teddy bear jar / thrifted
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03/21/2023
Florida in film
I brought my Holga 120 [affiliate link] with us to Florida last month, and just got the scans back. Here are a few!
Both my parents are photographers, my dad working professionally as a photographer at a local college when we were little. We all spent a lot of time with him in the dark room growing up! I remember getting my first film camera for Christmas and going through roll after roll of film. Later I took a film photography class in college. It's been a long time now since I shot with film, and this has me wanting to do it more!
(I used Memphis Film Lab to have the photos developed.)
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03/08/2023
Ways to Repurpose Old Children's Books
FOUR friends of mine are currently expecting little ones, and I've been keeping an eye out for gifts to celebrate the new babies. While exploring a boutique in Florida last month, I came across these letters that had been cut from covers and pages of old children's books. I think I'll always advocate first for these books to be read and loved if possible of course, but this was such a creative way to reuse them! (I thought of a few books I'd thrifted without realizing some had pages missing.) Here are a few ideas I like to repurpose children's books when they can no longer be read.
Frame an illustration
Make a bunting banner
Cut out cupcake toppers [affiliate link]
Build a birdhouse
Make a scrap notebook
Use larger pages to wrap gifts
Make pinwheels
Decoupage illustrations onto wooden blocks [affiliate link]
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02/24/2023
February in the Florida Keys
We just got back from a week with my family on Islamorada, an island of the Florida Keys!
This was our first big vacation in more than three years, and our first multi-night trip with the boys. We drove to NYC in October for one night for my sister's engagement party, and while it felt brave and we had so much fun, it didn't feel quite as big a venture as this. Scroll for a few photos and details about what we did and where we stayed...
We flew into Fort Lauderdale, then rented a car and drove down to the Keys. (The kids did great on the plane; Logan even took an hour-long nap!)
My parents booked a rental that had enough room for all of us, and it was truly the perfect place for our group! We occupied two rooms on the first floor. Miles slept with Kristie and I in one, and we tucked Logan into the other.
We arranged ahead of time to rent all the gear we'd need, like a crib, rocking chair, baby monitor, and even toys that both kids loved.
The rental has a deep dock right in the backyard (along with a heated pool and kayaks) and wild manatees visited us EVERY DAY!! They were so so sweet.
Miles and Logan are the only grandchildren in my family (so far!) and it was such a treat to vacation with eight adults. Not only do I really adore my parents, siblings, and their partners, but the extra hands were so helpful. I actually managed to take a nap a few times, and lie in the sun by myself one afternoon for half an hour! Plus no one can make me laugh like this group can.
On Valentine's Day, Kristie and I ditched the kids with my folks and went to explore Village Square right down the street from our rental. The coffee was amazing, the shopping was great, the whole vibe felt like California.
One afternoon my mom and Miles and I went to the Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary, which we all loved. It's very very low key and easy to just wander in and explore at your own speed. We saw some beauties.
So much swimming! Oh, did we swim! Miles loved it, though still was loathe to go under, and Logan liked it too, preferring to be held by someone rather than in this floaty I got from Facebook marketplace before we left, but he did tolerate it.
We chartered two boats one afternoon: the "grown-ups" went scuba diving, while the rest of us (me, Kristie, the kids) met up with them at a sand bar in the middle of the ocean for an hour of splashing around with a few drinks. This was very, very cool, made tolerable for me thanks to anti-motion sickness glasses (affiliate link). For someone who can conjure nausea just by thinking about being on a boat, these silly things were a game-changer! They really did work, and were funny too.
As we were about to leave the sand bar, a beautiful big nurse shark swam by the boats, right where we'd been standing moments before. The wildlife really was just amazing the whole trip. In addition to the manatees (never getting over that by the way), we saw egrets, iguanas, pelicans, and geckos right outside our door. Add in two nurse shark sightings, barracuda, tarpons, rainbow parrot fish, and so much more -- Miles is on a big wildlife kick. I hope he remembers this trip for a long time.
I can't imagine a more perfect trip, really, or a better crew to travel with.
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12/13/2022
Handmade winter gift ideas for your neighbors
We've been living in our new house for almost two years! And we're lucky – the neighbors are so lovely. Everyone is kind and friendly. There's even a crew of little boys with whom Miles and Logan have merrily joined up, ranging in ages from (nearly) 8 months to 6 years. The kids are wonderful, and so are their parents. Again: such luck!
I put together a few jars of stovetop potpourri – or "simmer pot" – ingredients to sneak into mailboxes this week. Their construction was imprecise but lovely. I sliced and dried a bag of oranges (200 degrees F for about 6 hours, followed by 300 degrees for maybe 30 minutes) and added cinnamon sticks, star anise (my recommendation is: just one!), whole allspice, whole cloves, and a sprig of a coniferous tree for greenery. I think pine would smell good, but we don't have any nearby. I had a few jars in the basement which found new life in this project, and picked up more through our local Buy Nothing group on Facebook. (And a tip: I found star anise and allspice not in the baking section of the grocery store, but in the international foods aisle.)
Here are a few more things I thought could make simple, charming, useful gifts for those who live close by.
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Homemade jam, jelly, or salsa
A loaf of bread
Compound butter
Infused olive oil
Homemade marshmallows
Homemade vanilla extract
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11/29/2022
Tiny embroidered felt dinosaurs
I like to make my children one of their birthday gifts each year. Last year I knitted Frog & Toad for Miles's 4th! I truly don't know how that one'll ever be topped. But this time around he's in the middle of a dinosaur phase – I knew I'd saved this pattern [affiliate link] for a reason.
I used scrap felt and embroidery thread from my stash, and cut out the pieces using my Cricut Maker (my own birthday gift this year; affiliate link). I've made little felt toys before (including a tiny bunny, a unicorn-themed quiet book, a little Mae Jemison doll and accompanying rocketship). Let me tell you, I was enjoying the Cricut prior to using it in this project, but once I did – wow! This was a game-changer. I used to spend so much time snipping out fiddly little felt pieces, my hands cramping from the tiny curves and cuts. This as a change was quite frankly amazing. The machine did the work for me, and I finished the whole project in record time (for me) and with so much more joy! Highly recommend. (If you have a Cricut and want to try cutting felt too, I used the rotary blade, the felt setting, and the purple mat.)
Side note: Oh, how can we have a five-year-old? Wasn't it just yesterday we were holding our first baby in our arms, worrying and wondering over him? I love being Miles's mother. Every day I get to laugh, snuggle, argue, learn, wrestle, and play with one of the most special people I'll ever know. He has a fierce, sensitive, funny spirit and I love him endlessly.
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11/22/2022
Keepsake Baby Christmas Ornaments
Growing up, my brother, sister and I each had our own special Christmas ornaments. They're tiny silver cradles engraved with our name and birth date, hanging from a red satin ribbon. Every year we were diligent about each hanging our own cradle on the tree – even today, my parents set them aside while decorating so that we can be the one to add it to a bough whenever we finally arrive at their house to celebrate.
We have a few ornaments for Miles that celebrate his first Christmas (2017) or feature his name, gifted by sweet friends. I love them (I love him!). Since Logan arrived this year, I'm sure we'll add a few for him as well. I'd also like to get the boys keepsake ornaments from us that they can hang on the tree themselves each year as they get older – and I think it will be the wire baby carriage one! It's so darling!
Wooden block | Custom (!) footprints
Rocking horse | Embroidered star
Teddy (name & year can be added on the back) | Wire carriage
*These are all affiliate links.
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11/17/2022
Christmas Projects From the Archives
This is my favorite time of year! (I've said that before here, haven't I?) A lot of the projects I'm working on now are ones that I can't share yet, since they're destined for people's stockings or under the tree. So here are some of my favorite Christmas projects from the past few years...
(But first, that beautiful doll above is one I bought for Miles's advent calendar last year from Craftydoll. Christie will be at this weekend's Makers Market at the Parlor Room in Northampton!)
How to sew dala horse Christmas ornaments
Peppermint hot chocolate French macarons recipe
DIY photobooth Christmas ornament
Free knitting pattern for a baby Santa hat
DIY wood photo transfer Christmas ornaments
Three-ingredient candy cane chocolate bark recipe
How to make an ornament filled with tiny gifts
DIY Scandinavian-inspired tree skirt (with a no-sew option)
Indie holiday songs playlist (I'm listening to this right now!)
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09/22/2022
4 DIY Projects for Baby
A little roundup of four projects I made for Logan before he was born! A crib blanket, a punch needle pillow, a stuffed whale, and a pair of booties. Although the whale has since been "adopted" by Miles.
(All the patterns I used are free; the rainbow pillow was my own design.)
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Hi, I'm Hannah (she/her): Wife to a wife, mama to two little boys, feminist, hobby knitter/DIYer, learning to be antiracist.
