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…

Sorry for the inactivity here on the blog over the past week and a half. We were in the Dominican Republic for a mission trip with a group from our church. Two days before our trip was over, I started to get a sore throat and ears. Sure enough, it turned into a full-blown (pun not intended) sinus infection when I got home. Today, I’m finally starting to feel better. And so I post! Several years ago, Hubs and I took a vacation with friends to Puerto Plata in the DR. I’ll never forget our shuttle ride from the airport to our resort. Never before had I seen such impoverished conditions. Living quarters made of cardboard and scraps. Naked, barefoot, dirty children urinating in the…

I weeded through hundreds of fall decor projects to find these ten chic ideas for you. They made my list because these are projects I would actually make myself and display in my own home. No crap here, remember? ;) BOOK PAGE PUMPKIN tutorial here Last time I made a book page project, I was on my way to a Pinterest Party and forgot to bring my book. I had to stop and get gas and what do ya know, there was a free Trucker’s Bible (only it wasn’t called that – it had some other unassuming title) right by the checkout. It wasn’t until I started ripping the book apart that I realized it was a BIBLE!!!!!!! Yeah. So I have a book page…