DIY soap making recipe box from Simply Earth

There is a pretty good chance that you have run across handmade DIY soaps before.We have seen them pretty frequently at craft shows and small gift shops. I even recall seeing them in many Christmas giftboxes growing up. The way they smelled and the cute little molded shapes they came in were always fun to explore. I mean who can forget the tiny rose-shaped soaps in your grandma’s bathroom? Making homemade soap seemed like the perfect addition to our try something new series so I jumped at the chance when Simply Earth offered to send me one of their recipe boxes and give it aRead More →

Tips for Sculpting with Ar Dry Clay, Octopus lightswitch

Sculpting is an art form that has intrigued me since I was a little kid. There is something pretty awesome about taking a lump of nothing and turning it into something artistic. As kids, we explore this with play dough but as adults, a lot of us forget to keep our creativity alive. I hope these tips for sculpting with air dry clay will persuade you to keep your’s flowing! I feel like following creative pursuits is a big part of living a positive and happy life. Trying new things, working with my hands and constantly coming up with ideas keeps my mind sharp andRead More →

DIY Mosaic Projects, Dolphin wall hanging

It’s easy to admire mosaics! The bright colors and fun designs are perfect for bringing cheer to a room or admiring on a bright summer day. I have always loved looking at them and in the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to try making one! DIY mosaic projects are very popular and if you have any old chipped plates laying around they can be a great way to reuse some old materials too! I don’t know why I’ve never tried making a mosaic before – I think I was always a little bit intimidated by the idea of grouting. Thankfully this process turnedRead More →

Hanging Herb Garden a simple DIY project that can breath life into your home!

Growing an herb garden has been a project I’ve wanted to take on for a very long time! Having fresh herbs available for cooking or drying has become something I’ve thought about even more since starting Keto. I’ve had to spend a lot more time learning to season meat and vegetables as well as bake from scratch. I’ve found that fresh herbs are decidedly better than older dried ones but they can be expensive to buy. The idea for this hanging herb garden came from numerous inspiration photos on Pinterest. Not only does this design fulfill my desire for fresh herbs but it also takesRead More →

DIY Rag Rug A fun and simple project for your home

About a year ago we decided to rip the carpet out of our house. It’s probably the best decision we have made!  I hated the carpet in our house for so long! It was always dirty, no matter how much I vacuumed, and carpet with kids and a dog is basically a recipe for stains. It looked terrible and I was reasonably sure that it wasn’t so great for our health either. Replacing the carpet with laminate means I also got the chance to dabble in rugs. I actually love rugs, the ability to swap them out seasonally is highly appealing. Sometimes I want aRead More →

Gift Wrapping tips for terrible wrappers. A pleated and ribbon wrapped gift

I don’t like to admit it but I have never been very good at wrapping gifts. Most of the time, you could count yourself lucky if your gift was wrapped in one continuous piece of paper rather then a patchwork collection because I sized things wrong. Yes, I was that terrible at it. If I did size things properly then the corners always ended up bunched and bulky looking. Enough was enough! This year I sat down and studied some gift wrapping tips with the intent of attempting to learn how to gift wrap properly. Was I successful?  To some degree! It turns out that giftRead More →

the benefits of starting a gratitude journal or jar

We all know the benefits that come from keeping a journal or following a planner when it comes to achieving goals. Writing things down truly has the power to influence our likelihood when it comes to getting things done! Part of it is the satisfaction that we get when we mark things off as completed and part of it is just the way our brains work. By writing things down we are telling ourselves that this is important and we want to remember it! This keeps our goals at the forefront of our minds throughout the day. But what if we want to remember more thenRead More →

face painting tips for halloween

It’s no secret that I love working on art projects! Oil painting has been a love of mine for a while and my foray into pour painting was great fun as well! It seemed only natural that I have some face painting fun come Halloween and while I have done some face painting in the past I have gone out of my way this year to try a different type of paint and some new techniques! This makes it worthy of a Learn Something New article for face painting tips in my opinion! My kids love going out on Halloween with face paint. Not onlyRead More →

A set of plaques for hanging medals done using my pyrography tips for beginners

Pyrography is one of those hobbies that I have watched others try with a wistful expression. I wanted to create beautiful signs and fill my house with rustic wood-burned images. I don’t know exactly why, but its also something that I never got around to trying. Instagram and Pinterest are loaded with beautiful creations made by artists who swear it’s not as hard as it looks and yet here I was. A Wood burning virgin. Terrible right? I thought so and if this blog has been good for anything it’s pretty great for pushing me to try new things. This month I finally took theRead More →

should runners be strength training? #running #weights #exercise #fitness #healthy #healthylife #activelife

Strength training is something that I have been neglecting but as I progress with running it’s also something that has started entering my mind more and more. Should runners be strength training? Honestly, after doing some research it seems like we should be. Although some runners shy away from the prospect of strength training, afraid that too much bulky muscle might slow them down this is probably more of a myth than reality. It would be extremely difficult for a long distance runner to become muscle bound enough that it affected their running. I admit that I have always been slightly against the idea ofRead More →