*This post is sponsored by Kreg, all creative ideas and plans are my own
I am so excited to announce the launch of our "12 Projects Of Christmas" series in collaboration with KREG. In the weeks ahead, we will be releasing 12 easy to follow plans for DIY home decor as well as gifts to build for others this holiday season. Our goal was to create a holiday series that is for the DIY enthusiast, weather you are a beginner builder or a master, these plans are for all skill levels and will walk you through how to use each tool.
Kicking off the series, our first project we are sharing how to build is this:
Shiplap Advent Calendar
LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE: Beginner BUILD TIME: 1-2 hours
(faster if you are familiar with using the KREG JIG R3)
Here are the tools you will need before you get started
Tool List:
Optional:
Material List:
(2) 1" x 6" x 8' common boards
(2) 1" x 2" trim
Instructions:
Step 1: Cut down your 6" x 8' pine boards down to 47-1/16" each using your miter saw.
This will leave you with 4 separate boards.
Step 2: Cut your 1" x 2" trim pieces, (2) of them being 48-9/16" long and (2) being 21-7/8" long.
Step 3: Using a tape measure, mark out on your 6" boards where to drill your pocket holes. We recommend one pocket hole every 12".
Step 4: Start drilling your pocket holes. You will do this by first adjusting the setting on your Kreg Jig. You can easily determine which setting you will need by using KREG'S SCREW SELECTOR WHEEL. For this project we have set it at 3/4". You will then set your drilling depth using the drill bit and stop collar. You will find the directions how to this in the owners manual inside of your KREG JIG R3. You will only drill pocket holes on one side of 3 boards.
Step 5: Once you have all of your pocket holes drilled, take a moment to quickly sand all of the front facing edges with an electric sander.
Step 6: Now that your boards are drilled and sanded, you will line up your (4) 6" boards evenly and clamp them together using a 36 INCH CLAMP. Now you are ready to begin screwing your boards together using KREG 1-1/4" ZINC COARSE THREAD POCKET HOLE SCREWS.
Step 7: After your boards are securely together, you are ready for paint! You can use any white paint for this, I chose to go with my go-to paint for every indoor home decor project - Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure White. Two coats are all that were needed.
Step 8: Lastly, it's time for trim. Take your pre-cut trim pieces and stain them in your desired stain color first before attaching to the main boards. After they are dry, take your brad nailer loaded with 2" brad nails and nail in your trim.
Step 9: First off, give yourself a pat on the back, because your are almost at the finish line! The last step is to add the HOOKS to hang your daily advent cards/ bags. We alternated ours, having 7 hooks on one board, and 6 on the next, having 26 hooks in total. You may ask, why 26? Well, the perfectionist in me just wasn't okay with how an odd number looked spaced out, and secondly that 26th hook actually comes in handy! As you count down your days and complete your advent, you can stack up the past day's cards or bags on that extra hook. As far as how we spaced out the hooks, each one is approx placed 1" down from the top of the board and 6" apart from each other. To be completely honest, I laid them all out first and just eyeballed what looked best. If you are one that needs precise directions, start with your second row, measure 6" in from the trim and place your first hook. You screw these in by hand. You then can continue measuring 6" apart for each hook on that row, giving you a total of 6 hooks in all. Then head back up to your first row and place the hooks in the middle distance of what you did on the second row. Hopefully this is making sense...
Step 10: The very last step is to add the 20 LB. D RING HANGER to the back of your advent calendar, and you are finally finished!
For the advent days: Photographed here, I opted to use these CLOTH FAVOR BAGS from Amazon and hand letter the numbers by using a sharpie. My plan is to add a fun little surprise in them each day for my girls. Some days will be a small toy or piece of candy, others I have planned to add in a fun holiday activity we could do that day and even how we can give back to others. One of the most special ideas I have planned to incorproate into our advent this year, is having my husband, myself and some of our extended family members write notes to the girls of what they love most about them.
Optional Idea: If you are one for a simple and easy advent, Michaels this year has a ton of adorable numbered cards that are perfect for adding on these hooks, and taking it a step further, you can easily just write on the back of them.
I hope that you have enjoyed this first project, of 11 more to come in our "12 Projects Of Christmas" series to come! Stay tuned for more holiday home decor and easy DIY gifts! And if you are looking for great stocking stuffer ideas for the DIY lover in your life, check out:
Kreg's STOCKING STUFFER GIFT GUIDE.
Happy Halloween friends! Last post was all about the kiddos, and this one is all about the grown-up table... Here I have created a simple and affordable tablescape that is all about easy clean-up and is sure to wow your guests, or even just your kids, for Halloween dinner. As I have stated before, I am not one to splurge when it comes to Halloween decor and if I do purchase something new, I search for items that can be used year round. Let me take you through the steps of how I created this "spooky" tablescape:
1. I started off with a base, I used a painters dropcloth and placed it diagonally on the table.
2. I then layered a large piece of black cheesecloth over the drop cloth. I found mine at Michaels, but you can find these at any party, craft or fabric store around Halloween.
3. I then took a single panel sheer white curtain and puddled it down the center of the table. Yes, a curtain! I did this for my last tablescape as well which you can see HERE.
4. Now it's time to build up the centerpiece:
To ground the center of the table, I used craft store brown moss and a styrofoam skull and placed them on a wooden plate under a glass cloche. On either side of that, I stacked some of my favorite old books in black and brown colors. Once I had the overall layout of my centerpiece, I stuck glittery twigs and flow-y greenery underneath and in between the books. Lastly, I staged the brass vintage candle sticks throughout and placed black candles in them.
5. For the place settings, I used the same plaid plates (out of stock) from PIER1 that I used for my early fall tablescape, but this time used them as a charger plate. I had found these cute PAPER SKULL PLATES (now on sale for $1.49 a pack!) at Michaels and they fit perfectly over the plaid ones, making an easy clean up come after dinner! You could take this a step further if you wanted and even layer a charger plate underneath the plaid plate. For mine, I just used these black and white striped napkins from the Magnolia Hearth & Hand line at Target for some additional pattern. Once the place settings were complete, I flanked one side with these beautiful printed cloth menus from PORTER LANE HOME use code SIMPLYCIANI20 for 20% off of your order. She does custom orders and can print any menu that you have in mind for your next event! I think it is such a special added touch when having guests over. The other side has my grandmother's silverware which I break out for every special occasion.
I hope this goes to show you how you can easily create a fun and elaborate tablescape by using just the items around your home, or using the same items from previous table set ups but just in different ways! Below I have linked a few of my favorites for easy shopping:
*This post contains affiliate links, this in no way affects the total price that you pay, it simply is a way for bloggers to make a small commission from the linked brand for the time we put in sourcing items to make shopping easier for our readers.
*This post contains affiliate links, this in no way affects the total price that you pay, it simply is a way for bloggers to make a small commission from the linked brand for the time we put in sourcing items to make shopping easier for our readers.
In all honesty, Halloween is one of my least favorite holidays to decorate for... but my oldest loves it! This mama does what she can to make any holiday feel special, and Halloween is no exception. Preferably I like to skip the overly-spooky and lean more towards the kid-friendly side of decor. This year I went for simple and easy, really just sticking to decorating one area other than having the kids decorate their windows and doors with dollar store Halloween cheapies just for fun.
Most everything that I used this year were things that I already had, such as these trick & treat banners that I made 6 years ago now! You can find the tutorial on them HERE.
The cute little paper bats were from Michaels, along with the black & white cheesecloth fabric. The adorable runner was a Target dollar spot find from last year. The spider web place mats and little black trees were dollar spot finds from this year. My favorite part of the whole set up are the Halloween plates from PIER1. While most of this decor is now out of stock, I will let you in on a little secret of mine... I almost always plan my seasonal decor a year ahead and buy everything as soon as it hits the clearance section or after holiday sales. And one last tip: when shopping seasonally, I also search for items that I can use year round. Below I have linked some of my favorites for creating a perfect Halloween table for kids, and all of it is on SALE, so stock up before it disappears!
*This post contains affiliate links, this in no way affects the total price that you pay, it simply is a way for bloggers to make a small commission from the linked brand for the time we put in sourcing items to make shopping easier for our readers.
*This post contains affiliate links, this in no way affects the total price that you pay, it simply is a way for bloggers to make a small commission from the linked brand for the time we put in sourcing items to make shopping easier for our readers.
Being a military wife comes with a whole set of sacrifices and challenges but most of all, pride. Being a wife of a veteran doesn't mean that we leave that military life behind us, the pride just takes on a new form. I love a man who served our country in the Marine Corps for 10 years before putting his boots to rest. He now wears a new uniform on a daily basis, protecting our community as a police officer. To use the word proud can't even convey how I truly feel about this man. When Veteran's Day rolls around each year, I like to take it back to our military days and remind him of those special moments we had early on in our marriage. While we weren't able to be together much in those days, we always tried to make the best of the distance. I would send him cute little themed care packages when he was away, letting him know that he was thought of and loved. I did it all in hopes that it provided him a smile on his dirty and tired face, even for just a few seconds. Those little pieces of home mean the most to these guys when they're so far away from all the comforts of home.
After he would return, you know what he told me was his favorite part of those packages? The handwritten notes from home. In this day, deployments have changed a lot since the ones our grandparents or even parents had to endure. We can video chat daily in most cases, along with emailing, and even still communicate via Facebook while half a world apart! But one thing remains the same: those handwritten letters and cards from the ones we love. Nothing compares to that. With each care package, I would send a specially chosen card. Now, creating Veteran's Day care packages for him, the tradition is the same.
The rest of his care package is filled with all of his favorites and decorated with scrapbooking paper and stickers purchased from my local craft stores. So if you have a veteran in your life, take some time to create a little package of love to honor them.
Now that we have made our official announcement, it's time to get down to business and prepare for this cross country move! What you may not know about me, is that this will be my 9th move in less than 10 years, and is my 5th long distance move. I would say I could crown myself with the title "moving expert", or something along those lines.
With each of those moves, the majority of them have been PCS moves, and for those of you reading this and thinking "speak English please!", that's basically just military terms for you have no choice in where you are moving, have weeks to prepare to uproot your life and find a house. While I have done moves of all kinds in the past 10 years, this will be my first civilian cross country move. In the coming weeks, I plan to share all about our military moves and tips and lessons I have learned along the way. And oh have I learned a lot of lessons when it comes to moving!
One of the biggest things I have learned, is that long distance moving (or moving of any kind) doesn't have to be complicated. If you search Pinterest at any given point for moving binder printables or moving checklists, you will find pages and pages. You can easily be overwhelmed with what seems like the never ending to do lists when it comes to preparing for or being in the process of moving, but trust me, it really can be made simple.
*This post is sponsored in collaboration with Homes.com - all thoughts and ideas are my own.
I am a planner and a worrier. I plan and plan and then worry, until the plan is carried out perfectly. I have spent years (basically my entire life) making to-do lists. I even schedule when I need to relax. Yep, I'm that kind of crazy. On top of that, I hate change. Say what? Someone who has moved 8 times hates change? Yes, it stresses me out beyond words. But here is what I have learned; I have learned that moving can be exciting, and not stressful. It is all in your outlook, no matter how much time ahead of time you have to prepare. Our last cross country move, I had just 2 weeks to prepare! So having anything more than that is a luxury in my book!
Moving made simple:
Below I have created a series of printables for you to create your own moving binder. These printables will help to keep all of your moving information organized in one space, and includes all of the basics that you need. I spent time compiling all of the things that I really utilized in our past moves and only included those, leaving out all of the extra, overwhelming tasks, that in my opinion, really don't need to be done.
Each month I will release a new monthly moving countdown checklist for you to print and add to your moving binder. This month, as we prepare for our own move, I have included the 4 to 6 month checklist. If you have longer than 4 months to prepare for a move, this checklist will be so helpful in setting the foundation for your move.
(click on photos to save images)
Moving: 4 to 6 months out
It is now that you can start to really prepare for what is to come. Being able to plan for a move further in advance is extremely helpful in an organized move. This allows you the chance to take your time and prepare little by little each month leading up to moving day.
1. Start by emptying out the junk drawers. Go through and really purge all of the unwanted/ trash and try to pair down to only what you use on a daily basis.
2. Take a look at your closet. Do you have clothing items you haven't worn in months? Maybe years? Take inventory of what you have and think about what you could maybe let go of, sell, or donate.
3. Start a KEEP - SELL - DONATE pile in your garage (or in a corner if you don't have extra space). Use large boxes and title each of them. Daily, as you open drawers, closets, cabinets, as you notice things that may be trash, or things you can sell it donate, place them in the boxes. As the SELL box gets full, start a new box. As the DONATE box gets full, take the box and donate at the end of each week. As far as the KEEP box, this is for those items that you may not need or use on a daily basis, but want to take with you to your new home. Place them in the KEEP box until full then start a new box. This allows you to pack over time, without all of the stress. Designate a corner or a room to start stacking the keep boxes in. If you do this, the only things you should have to pack on the week of your move date, are the things you use daily! How easy does that sound? I plan to do an entire blog post just designated to making packing easy.
4. Start your research. Start taking a look at desired neighborhoods, school districts, home styles you are drawn to. Start looking into moving companies for quotes and give yourself time to compare and make your finial decision.
Searching for a home: 4 to 6 months out
Right now, is the perfect time to start dreaming of your desired neighborhood & style of home. I have been using Homes.com for our home search and utilizing their website and app tools to narrow down our search for our perfect rental. I have loved how user friendly their app is, being able to search for and save my favorite homes. So far we have narrowed down our desired area and have saved a handful of homes. As far as rentals, the market is scarce lately, so finding a home this far out is difficult. A home saved today could be gone tomorrow. My advice, start your home search as early as possible and get a good feel for your budget and home availability in your desired area. Homes.com makes it so easy to find exactly what you are looking for.
Keep an eye out (or subscribe to our email list) because I will be sharing a new monthly printable to add into this collection!
And if you didnt catch our moving announcement, [CLICK HERE]
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