Recipes, projects & products that don’t suck.

This week on Facebook, my mom posted a photo of her mother and wrote, “My mom may be a little crazy, but that’s what makes her the BEST MOM!!!” The same is true of my mother. She’s a little crazy (let’s be honest, sometimes she’s a LOT crazy), but she sure can be a lot of fun. Her name is Sherry, but her alias is “Sharia Shriver” (Maria’s Shriver’s long-lost cousin). It doesn’t matter what it is, Sharia can turn just about anything (and I mean ANYTHING) into a full-blown news story. Just give her a microphone (a water bottle, hairbrush, fork, spoon, tiki torch, etc. will do) and a camera man–and prepare for drama and laughs. To say she’s entertaining is an understatement. She’s…

When we purchased our home nearly nine years ago, almost every single wall in the house was off-white. At the time, I was into bold color. So I went nuts with color on the walls. Bright, sunny yellow in the living room. A cool medium blue in the kitchen/dining room. Warm mocha in the bedroom. Tuscany olive-green in the entry. You get the idea. While I didn’t put any red on the walls (except in the basement), I had touches of red everywhere – in accessories, furniture, artwork. In the kitchen, we had a red hutch and red bar stools. A couple of years ago, I was ready for change. I decided to go more neutral. After the walls were toned down, I slowly began…

Several months ago, I decided to paint our entryway. Guess what color? Yup. Valspar Summer Cottage. Same color as the front door, the back of the hutch shelves and the pop of color on the living room wall. Now the entryway is bright and cheery (unlike the former dark olive green color). The only problem was that our entry table (a light blue dry sink cabinet) now blended in with the wall. Oops. Didn’t really think that through. At first, I considered painting it white. But it had never been a perfect fit anyway. It was too deep and not long enough to make efficient use of the space. I had a vision for something better. So I measured the space and drew what I…

During our mission trip in the Dominican Republic, I had the opportunity to teach an art project to some of the school children. I knew I would be doing this before we left, but I wasn’t certain what ages I would be working with. So I scoured Pinterest for ideas that would be suitable for ages 3 to 9. I finally settled on two projects – paper bag animal puppets and paper plate butterflies. Then I loaded up on art supplies to take along (and leave with the teachers). As it turned out, we only had time for one project, so I chose the animal puppets. I may share tutorial photos of the other project with you another day, though. The original source for this…

I have never once decorated for Valentine’s Day – until now. But now I have this hutch, this chalkboard, this white wreath and this centerpiece that all beg for festive adornment. It’s just so easy to add a few simple touches that I couldn’t resist. Besides, winter here in Michigan is drab and gray and depressing – who couldn’t use a little Valentine cheer? If you’re thinking it’s a little early for Valentine decorations, you might be right. But here’s the thing – if you want to make this garland, you’ll need to go to Target NOW and pick up these paper lace hearts in the dollar bin. Another week and they’ll probably be gone. The other thing is Hubs and I will be gone…