The Creative Corner 55

9 / 20 / 159 / 20 / 15

Y’all, the leaves are turning red and fall is here. Granted, it’s a random 80 degrees today (which I LOVE), but fall has definitely made an entrance. I’m not sure I’m totally ready for the cool weather, but I do love yummy pumpkin spice lattes, boots, and scarves. Is fall starting to show its colors where you are?

I’m so glad you’re here today so party with us! We can’t wait to see your new creations!

Here’s to another great week of inspiration and a wonderful week for everyone. Check out what my fellow bloggers have been up to and don’t forget to check out my features for this week as well!

DIY Industrial Hose Clamp Mirrors from Dwelling in Happiness.

Bath Tissue Organizer with Chalkboard Label from Southern Couture.

Girls Bedroom Furniture Reveal from Curly Crafty Mom.

Apple Cider Sangria from Making It In The Mitten.

Create A Trail Mix Bar from The Logbook.

What To Wear With Skinny Jeans This Fall + A Giveaway from The DIY Mommy.

Ready to share what has been motivating you this past week? Link up a recent post of yours that motivates you to create or just be awesome! Our goal is for this link up to focus on craft, DIY, & home posts so please try to remember that when linking up.

Limit three links per week and remember to link directly to your post, not your blog.
Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties.
Be sure to hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to.

Each week, your hosts will choose a post to feature from the previous week. If you want a chance at being featured, you must follow all of the hosts in someway. By linking up, you agree to let each host share your photo and link back to your site, as well as receive a weekly e-mail letting you know when the party is live. We will never give your e-mail or info to anyone, nor will we spam you!

The Creative Corner link party goes live Sunday 6pm PST and ends Thursday at 5pm PST. I’d love for you to grab The Creative Corner button in my sidebar to put on your own blog if you want to help spread the love!

I’m way behind and haven’t even decorated for fall yet, but this fall chalkboard and shelf vignette from Bless’er House sure is giving me lots of inspiration!! I love the saying on the board, and the fall decor is beautiful. Love!

I love these tips from This is our Bliss on how to style a nightstand. I always seem to struggle with ours, and these 6 tips will totally help!

This. Yellow. Door. Ahh!! I love it! Colour Saturated Life just did this front door makeover, and friends, it’s goooorrrgeous. Such a fun pop of color! And that wreath!

Now hop over to all the other cohost’s blogs and see what caught their eye this week. You just might be featured there too!

Don’t forget to grab a button on the sidebar if you were featured! ——>

Now it’s your turn to join in on the fun and link up your recent craft, DIY, or home posts so get ready to motivate others and be inspired! (Don’t forget, if you want a chance to be featured next week to follow all of the hosts above!)

Have a fabulous week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tidying up the Accessories: A Journey to Sparking Joy Week 3

9 / 20 / 159 / 19 / 15

We’re back with week 3 of our #SparkingJoy KonMari journey! If you’ve just started following along, here’s the scoop: some bloggy friends and I decided to get together and read the book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” by Marie Kondo.

A Journey to Sparking Joy:

Anderson & Grant
Making it in the Mountains
DIY Passion
Dwelling in Happiness
Zevy Joy
Cupcakes & Crinoline
Lost in the Found
The Happy Housie

Basically, each Sunday, we tackle a different part of our lives to declutter. In our first week of the series, we talked about our vision for our journey. Last week, we all went through our clothes and cleaned out our closets. This week, we are all sharing about our experiences tidying up the accessories in our lives. This is anything from makeup, to jewelry, to shoes.

If you’d like to jump in and join our journey, we’d love to support and encourage you, too! You can pick up Marie Kondo’s book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up on Amazon (affiliate link), and as you declutter your belongings, you’ll find so much more joy in your home!

Now on to the tidying up of the accessories! At first, I told myself this would be quick and easy. I’d go through my shoes, then sift through my jewelry. Boy, it took a lot longer than I thought! Doesn’t it always? 🙂

Marie’s book doesn’t touch directly on how to go through your accessories, but I applied the same principle as the clothing: touching every piece and seeing if it brings me joy.

Awhile back, our closet had the normal white wire shelving system. We had spots for our shoes, clothes, etc. However one night while we sat watching a movie, we heard a huge crash. We ran into our bedroom only to find our entire closet off the wall and all over the floor. We must have had too much stuff on the shelves, because they all literally ripped right off the wall. Argh! We didn’t have many options that fit our wall, so we ended up finding a little closet shelving unit that would fit and hold our things. Our shoes didn’t really have a spot though, so I turned old paper boxes into “baskets.” Not only were they free, but they fit perfectly into the shelving slots on either side of our clothes. I covered them in black fabric to keep it simple, and that’s where our shoes still live. I love that they are out of the way and contained in “baskets,” so we can’t see them. To find what we need, we just pull out the box and grab them. when I tackled my shoes for this project, I grabbed all my baskets and put them on the bed.

Four boxes stuffed full of shoes. A couple of the boxes were literally overflowing with them. There were shoes I hadn’t worn in years, and probably never would. So, I started by taking each pair out and deciding if they brought me joy. It was SO liberating throwing half those shoes in a bag to be donated! I sorted them out by season and style, so they’re now easier to grab.

So much better! I stacked my shoes on top of each other so I could see them easier. For my sandals and flip flops, I put them side by side so I can easily grab them.

I then started on all my jewelry. I have my necklaces all hanging on hooks in the closet, and all my earrings I hang on a little organizer I made, as well as ones that don’t hang are in a jewelry box.

My necklaces were a mess! There were 3-4 necklaces hanging on each knob, and I could barely see half of them. I also rarely wear necklaces anymore since having Jade. She’d always pull on them and I was worried they’d break. I’d been wanting to go through them badly, but kept putting it off. Not anymore! I took each necklace off and held it. I decided which ones I wanted to keep, and the rest went in a box to be donated. After going through them all, I can now say each knob only has ONE necklace hanging from it!

It makes me happy looking at all the necklaces I love and will wear again now that I can see them!

Next up was the earrings.

Like my necklaces, I hardly wear earrings with having Jade pull on them, and even then I’d find myself only wearing the same few. There were even some I bought and had never worn! I took each pair off and out of my jewelry box, and put back only the pairs that brought me joy. Such a difference!

It’s truly amazing to see the things we keep when they don’t bring us joy or we don’t use them. I probably won’t even need this many earrings still, but I can always pare down again when they don’t bring me joy anymore. I think I also need to downsize my storage to something smaller, so I’m not tempted to buy more earrings to fill the space!

Phew! My closet is really looking So. Much. Better. I was hoping to get to my scarves this week, but that will have to wait. I probably have 50 scarves to wear during the winter, and I always find myself only wearing about 5!

I also don’t have much in the way of makeup, just a few things I wear daily and a few I wear for when we’re going out somewhere fun. One less thing to have to go through! 🙂

I’m so glad to have you following along and encouraging us as we declutter our homes. You’ll definitely want to hop around below and check out my bloggy friend’s progress, too!

Hope your week is fabulous!

(I link up at these fun parties!)

Summer Spotlight: Carrie from Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

9 / 18 / 159 / 17 / 15

Hey, friends! I’m so excited to share today’s Summer Spotlight with y’all. Kristi from Making it in the Mountains is sharing all about Carrie from Kenarry: Ideas for the Home!! I love all that Carrie and her hubby have to offer on their blog, and it’s an honor to share more about them today!

The Summer Spotlight is a collaborative effort to showcase great ideas from a different talented blogger each Friday throughout the summer months. Follow my co-hosts and I online to see the great ideas we share year-round:

Amanda of Dwelling in Happiness

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Carrie of Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Courtney of Crafts By Courtney

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Ashley of 3 Little Greenwoods

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Kristi of Making It In the Mountains

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Katie of View from the Fridge

Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Kristi here from Making it in the Mountains and I’m SO over the moon excited to give you a peek behind Kenarry: Ideas for the Home! So, grab yourself a cup of coffee and prepare to be inspired!

From the first moment I laid eyes on this incredible Castle Playroom, I’ve been in love with Kenarry: Ideas for the Home!

Seriously, what kid doesn’t dream of a fun playroom like that?!

Complete with Faux Stone Walls and Medieval Shields, Carrie definitely thought of everything!

Kenarry: Ideas for the Home is really a one stop shop for all things home! From kids, crafts, cooking and cleaning, Carrie is sharing everything you need to make your home a happy one!

I can’t wait to take you for a tour of some of my faves!

I’m absolutely dying to try each and every recipe she shares, especially this easy to make Crockpot Potato Soup!

And these Oreo Cookie Balls look much too yummy to resist!

And really, what parent doesn’t need to know how to remove marker from the wall, highlighter from fabric, or organize that inevitable chaos that toys create?

She’s also got an endless supply of craft and birthday ideas for the kiddos that you’re sure to love!

And, of course, there are tons of fun crafts for Mommy too! I’ll definitely be making some of these fun Hand-painted Wine Glasses!

And I love this sweet Burlap Wreath!

There’s also no shortage of home improvement and DIY ideas like this awesome DIY Backyard Playground!

Want to know the very best part of it all?

This Mama doesn’t do it alone! Her awesome hubby and sweet boys are always lending a hand! I absolutely love that this blog is really a family affair!
Now, I’m so excited to share a bit more about her story with a few Q & A’s:

One. 1. I’ve always wondered, but never asked: why Kenarry? Where did that name come from?

Great question! It’s a name my husband, Kent, and I created several years before we ever started a blog. It’s honestly a silly combination of our names KEnt and cARRie Ypma. We first used the name Kenarry for some freelance web design/development work Kent did years ago so when we started the blog in November 2013, we just went with it. In hindsight, we probably should have put more thought into a blog name that made more sense! Every few months we think about rebranding, but then we remind ourselves there are a lot of brands and businesses whose names didn’t make sense when they started either and now they’re household names (Hello, Kleenex and Google!). We try to always use the name Kenarry in conjunction with our tagline to at least give it some meaning and context — Kenarry: Ideas for the Home.

Two. You blog about everything really and have become a valuable resource for anything & everything home and family related. With that seemingly endless list of talents, what is your very favorite topic to work on/ write about?

Awwww, thanks! We’re honored you think so. That’s really our goal – to create and curate great ideas for the home and give families useful or inspiring ideas and tips to make their home a warm and inviting place to be. My very favorite projects to write about are those that directly involve our boys, like fun food and kid stuff. I actually have an old camera my five year old will sometimes use to take photos right along side me of recipes and crafts. It makes him feel like he’s part of the process and that Kenarry: Ideas for the Home is a family business. You’ll often catch him talking like a blogger over lunch, “Mommy, how are our page views doing today. Do you need any help pinning stuff on Pinterest?” He cracks me up!
Three. I am head over heels in love with that Castle Playroom you created for the boys! I know my little guy would be over the moon in a playroom like that!!! What are some of your favorite projects in the space?

The castle playroom is actually one of the reasons I created Kenarry: Ideas for the Home to begin with, so I’m thrilled you love it. Friends saw it and said over and over again that I should share it online. My absolute favorite project in that space are the medieval shields I made for the walls. I spent some time researching our family crests online and was able to find one to represent each of the boys’ grandparents. It’s a special way to tie our family heritage into the castle playroom and surround them with a little grandparent love every time they play.
Four. I could get lost in your yummy recipes for hours Carrie! What are some of your very favorites?

I’m a huge fan of chocolate so I love the S’mores Chocolate Fudge Cake and the Peanut Butter Fudge Cake recipes. Both are super easy to make, but look impressive if you’re serving them at a dinner party! My all-time favorite recipes though are the ones that have been passed down to me by my parents, like the Grilled Meatloaf Burgers or my Mom’s Homemade Meatballs. Those meatballs are hands-down the BEST on the planet, if you ask me. That is THE one dinner I request every year for my birthday if I’m celebrating with my mom.
Five. How do you manage to balance being a wife, mommy to two busy boys, a volunteer and a blogger?

Like most bloggers and working moms, I’m constantly trying to find the right balance between all the hats I wear. I definitely don’t have it all figured out, but by the grace of God and a lot of great scheduling tools I manage to keep it all together (most days!). I’m a planner through and through and find I need to be intentional about my time if I want to get things done and have quality time with my boys. On Friday afternoons I usually plan out my activities for the following week across all aspects of my life using Wunderlist and my Google Calendar. I’m also a HUGE fan of CoSchedule for managing and tracking blog posts for the coming weeks and months as well as tools for scheduling social media. Thankfully both of my boys still have a rest time in the afternoons so that’s when I’m able to schedule most of my writing, photography and creative project time. After they go to bed at night, I’m usually curled up on the couch with the laptop scheduling social media, reviewing Creative Team posts, responding to e-mails or working on organizing our upcoming Women’s Service Day.

I will confess that once or twice a week, I also work a little on the computer in the mornings while they’re playing together. I figure it doesn’t hurt for them to learn to play independently or with each other and to see firsthand that mommy works too. This summer though, the boys and I decided to be intentional about scheduling a weekly “park and picnic” date. My five year old and I researched area parks online and made a list based on which ones had playgrounds. Each week we chose a different one to try and then he gave them scores to determine which ones we’ll go back to next summer. The boys loved it and it gave us a focus to make sure we got outside to enjoy the nice weather rather than getting caught up in my “to do” list, making meals, doing laundry and all the other stuff that goes on in our day.

It’s incredibly helpful too that Kent is so supportive of the blog and a true partner in the effort. Though you may not see him pop up on the forefront of the blog that often, he’s often at work behind-the-scenes editing my blog posts, managing the tech updates, working on DIY projects and keeping things running smoothly. This year we’ve started having a quarterly date night (or “business meeting”) just to talk about our goals and next steps for Kenarry: Ideas for the Home. It’s been really special to make Kenarry: Ideas for the Home a fun family project and not just something I do on my own apart from my family.
Now, tell me you aren’t dying to see more! You can follow along with Carrie and her family as they share their creativity here:

Blog // Facebook // Pinterest // Instagram // Twitter

If you enjoyed this feature, you may want to check out the other bloggers we’ve featured in the Summer Spotlight. You can also visit our Summer Spotlight Pinterest board to view all the great ideas we’ve shared in this series.

DIY Industrial Hose Clamp Mirrors

9 / 15 / 159 / 14 / 15

How in the world is it September 15th already?! Didn’t this month just start? Regardless, it’s the 15th again which can only mean one thing: The Home Depot Gift Challenge! We took last month off due to crazy busy summer shenanigans, but we are back this month with a new item and recipient (AND, a little giveaway for you down at the bottom of this post; don’t forget to enter!).

If you’re new to this series or to Dwelling in Happiness, once a month some fabulous bloggers and myself get together and make a gift using one chosen item from Home Depot (you can see our last several months items: copper tee, wooden dowel, pegboard, a 2×4, and concrete). A gift recipient is also chosen, and then we let our creativity spill as we get working coming up with a clever gift. This month, the chosen item were hose clamps, and the gift recipient was ourselves. Possibilities were endless!

(We are in no way associated with Home Depot; we just love their stuff!)

I didn’t have as much trouble with this month as I have in past. I have a little wall between our kitchen and living room that needed something, so mirrors instantly came to mind. I love seeing those round mirrors made from trays and other things, so I knew some industrial looking mirrors was just what I wanted for this wall.

To make these DIY industrial hose clamp mirrors, you’ll need:

One 7″ Everbilt Hose clamp
Two 4″ Everbilt Hose Clamps
One 6″ round mirror
Two 3″ round mirrors
Old Chain/necklace
Flathead Screwdriver
Pliers/wire cutters

This little craft was incredibly easy to do, just took a little time and patience. To start, I made sure my hose clamps were open as far as they could go, using a screwdriver to open them as necessary. Then, I placed a corresponding-sized mirror inside of the hose clamp. I found these mirrors at Joann’s, which were really inexpensive.

I wanted my mirrors to sit as far back as possible so you can see a little ‘lip” from the hose clamp. This part was a little tricky, but I just held my mirror where I wanted it with one hand, and slowly tightened the clamp using my screwdriver in the other. As it got almost tight around the mirror to hold it in place, I made sure the mirror was even and flush with the back edge of the clamps. I kept tightening until the mirror was staying put without moving. Be careful not to tighten it too much or you’ll chip/break the mirror!

I did the same with the other two clamps and mirrors. To hang, I wanted to keep the industrial feel so I used an old chain from a necklace I had but didn’t wear anymore. It was a little tarnished, but I like the contrast it had against the sterling silver clamps. Using my small pliers, I pulled apart one of the small round metal links in the necklace shown below.

I did this twice, removing two round links to use on either side of the clamp for hanging. I kept them open so I could easily slip them on the clamp.

I took one round link and put it around the very outer edge of the clamp’s “tightened” end. This little “tail” is the excess metal as I tightened my clamp around the mirror. After my link was placed in the slit of the clamp, I carefully put the end of my chain on and used pliers to close it up tight so the chain wouldn’t come off.

For the other side, I wanted to make sure they were evenly spaced when hung. To do this, I counted the little slits on the “tail” side that started from the top, and counted down the same number of slits down the other side so the tightener piece would be in the very middle when hung.

Once I found where my link needed to go, I slipped it up through the inside of the clamp so the opening was facing up (shown in the picture below). Then I put on the other side of my chain, and closed up the ends tight with my pliers. This side was a little trickier to work with, as the other link was attached to the very “tail” end, making it easier to work with. It might take a little finagling with your pliers, but once on, make sure the link is closed tight so the chain can’t fall off.

That’s it! It may seem a little tedious, but I had these three mirrors done in under an hour. I hung them off centered on the wall, and they add the perfect industrial touch!

I’m tempted to make even more on a bigger scale! I love how simple they are, and how inexpensive. Yay for craft gifts for myself! 😉

If you want to see some more incredible hose-clamp gift ideas, head on over to my bloggy friend’s pages by clicking the photos below!

AND, we have something else fun for you, too. We are giving away a $75 Home Depot gift card to one lucky winner!! Just fill out the rafflecopter below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a great week, friends!

(I link up at these fun parties!)

The Creative Corner 54

9 / 13 / 159 / 13 / 15

Happy Sunday! Have you adjusted to the “back to school” schedule yet? I remember when I was kid how hard it was to adjust back to going to bed early and have to get up early. No fun! I hope your week goes smoothly, for you and your kiddos!

We’re so happy you’re here, and are so excited to see what you’ve created! I saw so many fun and yummy fall creations last week, and it was hard to choose features. Y’all are just amazing!

Before we get to the party, I just wanted to share this fun little article that Terry’s Fabric published in their Designer Insights. You can click the picture to see more!

Courtesy of: Terrys Fabrics

Let’s party!

Here’s to another great week of inspiration and a wonderful week for everyone. Check out what my fellow bloggers have been up to and don’t forget to check out my features for this week as well!

DIY Towel Rack with Shelf from Dwelling in Happiness.

Sentimental Gallery Wall for Girl’s Room from Curly Crafty Mom.

Smokin’ Buffalo Burger from The Southern Couture.

Rustic Burlap and Twine Wrapped Decorative Balls from Making It In The Mitten.

Vintage Industrial Fall Mantle from The DIY Mommy.

Camping Themed Birthday Party from The Logbook.

Limit three links per week and remember to link directly to your post, not your blog.
Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties.
Be sure to hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to.

These updated wood pallet pumpkins from Little House of Four are just the cutest rustic pumpkins ever!! I love that little orange one!

I’m totally jelly of this lovely mudroom refresh from Home Happy Home! If I had a mudroom, I’d pretty much be copying everything she’s made in here. I love all the organization!

Isn’t this romantic industrial shelving just gorgeous?! Pocketful of Posies scored this old shelving for free, and gave it new life. It’s the perfect industrial and rustic mix!

Now hop over to all the other cohost’s blogs and see what caught their eye this week. You just might be featured there too!

Don’t forget to grab a button on the sidebar if you were featured! ——>

Have an amazing week, friends!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tidying up the Clothes: A Journey to Sparking Joy Week 2

9 / 13 / 159 / 13 / 15

Happy Sunday, friends! Last Sunday, some of my bloggy friends and I started a new series following Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” where we shared our visions for this process and what our plans were.

A Journey to Sparking Joy:

Anderson & Grant
Making it in the Mountains
DIY Passion
Dwelling in Happiness
Zevy Joy
Cupcakes & Crinoline
Lost in the Found
The Happy Housie

Today, we are sharing all about our tidying up the clothes from this past week.

Y’all, I’ve got a LOT of clothes. A lot. I didn’t even realize I had so many clothes until 2/3 of them were on the bed in donation piles! Yikes. But I gotta say, it felt good to get rid of so many of them. The process wasn’t fun while having clothes strewn about eeeeeeverywhere, but the end result brings me joy. And for that, I succeeded!

This is a peak at one of my dresser drawers before I went through it all. Every single drawer was bursting at the seams, and I literally would have to push the clothes in every time I closed them. And folding? Pshh, there was no folding. I mostly stuffed them in where they’d fit! Not pretty (or practical) at all.

Let’s start with my process. Marie suggests taking ALL your clothes and throwing them in one big pile. She then suggest tackling categories, such as pants first, then jackets, then shirts, etc. I sort of followed this principle, however instead of taking all my clothes out at once, I took out categories. My bed just isn’t big enough to hold that many clothes!! So for example, I took out all my “bottom” clothing; pants, shorts, skirts, etc, and threw them on the bed. I held every piece as Marie suggests, thinking whether or not it brought me joy. In some cases, it wasn’t even a matter of whether or not it brought me joy, it just either didn’t fit or was holy/stained. After I had tackled just a couple of clothing categories, I already had several piles of rapidly growing clothes.

Just after I went through the above piles, My donation pile (below on the right) far exceeded the pile I was keeping (on the left.)

I continued bringing out different categories until everything had been gone through. This was no quick process, it took at least 2 hours to go through everything.

Then came the task of putting everything away. This was the hard part! In Marie’s book, she suggests not folding and stacking clothes one on top of each other, because you’re unable to see what you’ve got. Makes sense, right? She tells us to fold them and stand them up, so you can see every shirt that you have when you open your drawer. She’s totally right, it makes it so much easier when searching for a certain shirt! The method worked great for my tank tops.

However, I wasn’t able to get my dressier shirts folded and standing in a way that they’d stay. That might take some more practice. To get my tank tops to fit like this, I folded them in half lengthwise (hot dog style, if you’re a teacher!) and then folded each end inwards in thirds so the straps wouldn’t be hanging out. I can’t promise they will stay this way all the time. But I’ll do my best! 🙂

My closet is now three times as empty as it was before. I maybe have 15 items hanging verses the 45+ pieces of clothing as I did before. It’s amazing!! I didn’t take an “after” shot, because I still have some purging to do of my accessories and shoes (which will be next week), but I’ll share one in the weeks to come. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw a picture like this I posted during my purge last week:

Can you believe all the hangers we had leftover?! Some of these were from my hubby’s purge as well; he jumped at the chance to declutter! Ah, I sure love a man who likes to clean!

I’m not gonna lie, the crazy OCD in me had all of these color coordinated into piles shortly after I took this picture. I couldn’t help it! 😉

My donation pile was insanely huge by the time I was all done, as you can see.

If you can’t tell, that’s about 12 piles of clothes stacked up high on the bed. Guys, that’s probably more than 2/3 of my clothing right there. AHHH!!

What did I learn during this process?

That I have a LOT. OF. CLOTHES. Obviously I knew that, but I didn’t realize the magnitude of such. I probably only wore like 20% of this whole lot. That’s 80% of my clothes that sat in drawers or in the closet for at least the last year, totally unused or unworn. This baffles me! It really made me reflect on why we feel the need to buy clothes when the majority of them probably never get worn. I don’t know how many times I bought a shirt just because it happened to be 70% off. I’m realizing I don’t actually buy clothing that bring me joy, I buy clothing mostly because they’re on sale or clearance. I love finding good deals! But, good deals don’t equal joy in the long run. From now on, I’m going to be so much more intentional about my clothing. When I buy clothing, I’m going to make sure they actually make my happy and that I like how I look in them, rather than worrying about if they’re on clearance.

I really feel so much lighter after just the clothing purge. I love going into my closet and only seeing sweaters and jeans I absolutely love and feel good in, rather than clothes I feel guilty about not wearing. It’s even boosted my confidence! Who would have thought a mega-purge could do such a thing?

So friends, I encourage you; if you aren’t joining us or following along in this journey, you really should be! It’s truly life changing, as Marie Kondo says it is. If you’d like to join our journey to spark joy in your life, you can get Marie’s book on Amazon (affiliate link), and use the hashtag #sparkingjoy on social media.

Don’t forget to visit my bloggy friend’s pages, and see how their clothing purge went this week! Be sure to come back next week, as we tackle all our accessories!

Have a fabulous week, sweet friends!

(I link up at these fun parties!)

Summer Spotlight: Kristi from Making it in the Mountains

9 / 11 / 159 / 13 / 15

Happy Friday! For this second week of our Summer Spotlight on our hosts, Ashley from 3 Little Greenwoods is sharing alllllll about the fabulous Kristi from Making it in the Mountains! She’s one of my favorite bloggers, and you’ll see why below!

Amanda of Dwelling in Happiness

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Carrie of Kenarry: Ideas for the Home

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Courtney of Crafts By Courtney

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Ashley of 3 Little Greenwoods

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Kristi of Making It In the Mountains

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Katie of View from the Fridge

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Hey everyone! It’s Ashley from 3 Little Greenwoods, and I’m so excited to be able to feature one of our co-hosts today! I have the honor of spotlighting Kristi Mercer and her blog Making It In The Mountains.

Let’s begin the blog tour with this amazing Rustic Boy’s Bedroom Reveal. It may have been a journey of epic proportions but from the fabulous wood plank wall to the painted DIY Crate Table is room is a perfect little cabin in the woods for a little boy.

With all this rustic charm a plain old IKEA shelf for a bedside table would never do!

Check out how Kristi gave this simple white shelf the ultimate rustic makeover. I love this Ikea Shelf Wrapped with Wood! It is the perfect bedside table for the space.

Kristi’s DIY genius doesn’t stop at her son’s bedroom door. She has fill her home with lovely pieces she has created herself.

One of her favorite projects is this gorgeous DIY Trumeau Mirror. Instead of paying an outrageous price to purchase one she made one on her own. I love all the details on the mirror and it’s aged antique look!

Window boxes add instant charm to any home. Kristi teamed up with her husband to build this DIY Vintage Window Flower Box to add to a fab vintage window she snagged for just $30. Not only is it the perfect way to balance out an offset front window but the rustic charm it adds to the space is adorable!

Here’s a ton of other Fall Front Porch projects that are sure to inspire you too!

I’m a sucker for wreaths and can’t wait to make my own DIY Boxwood Wreath. It’s a simple project that can be created in an afternoon. Plus it’s incredibly inexpensive to make. Just my kind of project!

How to Cozy Your House Up for Fall is a fabulous roundup that is just in time for the changing of the season. My favorite are the Shabby Chic Pumpkins Kristi made with different materials. You must to click on the post to see all her wonderful ideas!

Alright. Now that you have been inspired to spruce up your home for fall let’s talk about refreshments, shall we?

With our crisp & cool mornings, trees overflowing with apples and who could forget back-to-school shopping, there’s no mistaking that Fall is on it’s way. This recipe for the Most Perfect Apple Sangria is a wonderful way to end a Fall day.

Or to celebrate the arrival of back to school for all the little ones! Can I get an Amen?

But if you are like me and still trying to hold on to the last little bit of summer take a few minutes to read through Kristi’s list of 12 Binge Worthy Summer Reads for 2015. Book #5 is an all time favorite of mine!

Before we go let’s take a few minutes to find out a little bit more about Kristi.

Where are you from and where do you currently reside?

Hubs and I are both from the same small town in Northern AB, Canada where we were both born and raised. Like most kids that spend their entire lives in the same small town, we couldn’t wait to fly the coop and took off to the mountains in Southern BC the first chance we got.

We absolutely loved living in the mountains and having all of the things we love to do right in our backyard, but we missed our families terribly, especially since our son Carson was born. So, last Christmas, we made the very difficult decision to move back “home” to AB, leaving our life in the mountains that we loved so much behind.

Thankfully we are still just 3 hours away from Jasper National Park (one of our favourite places in the world!), so we haven’t been missing the mountains as much as we thought we might! When we really thought about, it occurred to us that we’d rather travel to hang out in the mountains than travel to see our family and honestly, it’s been AMAZING to be surrounded by our family and friends again! It makes us SO happy to know that Carson will grow up around so much love and support.

How’s school going and are you happy to be back into the classroom? (Kristi is a teacher like me so I just had to ask about her about teaching.)

Being back in the classroom has been great, though after teaching full time through the end of last year, I quickly realized that my life is more suited to the part time work of subbing for now. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teaching, but the incredible amount of work and responsibility (particularly outside of school hours) was just too much for me to balance while raising my son. Substitute teaching just 2-3 days a week allows me to maintain a better balance between working, raising my son, keeping up with housework and of course, blogging.

What’s your favorite thing to do when not blogging or teaching?

This is an easy one … there’s nothing I love more than travelling!

From quick little weekend trips to weeks far away from home, we love to explore new places and can’t wait to show our little man the world! Next on our list is heading back down to my Father-in-law’s place in Guayabitos, Mexico – it’s always fun to have that break from our cold Canadian winter and it’s really a neat experience to see “real Mexico” as we like to call it! I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll finally book that trip to Europe in 2016 as well!

Tell me about your favorite post of all time (even if it’s not a super popular one).

It’s incredibly difficult to choose just one favourite post, but I’d have to say that this glimpse into our life behind the blog holds a special place in my heart simply because it’s literally a snapshot of our daily life, which will be fun to look back on as the years pass by!

If you want to see more from Kristi, you can find her here:

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Instragram

If you enjoyed this feature about Kristi at making it in the mountains, you may want to check out the other bloggers we’ve featured in the Summer Spotlight. You can also visit our Summer Spotlight Pinterest board to view all the great ideas we’ve shared in this series.

DIY Towel Rack with a Shelf

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When I was planning our guest bathroom makeover, I knew I had to get rid of the boring builder grade towel bar that hung on the wall. There was nothing wrong with it, but I just wanted a prettier place to hang towels. So, I went to my scrap wood pile and found a few pieces that I could put together to make my own!

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to spruce up your bathroom, then this DIY towel rack with a shelf is the perfect project!

I really didn’t have a plan of what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted something simple and with a shelf. I had a bunch of 1×3’s and 1×4’s laying around, so I cut one 1×4 and three 1×3’s to be 16 inches long. I sanded the edges down so they were smooth, and gently sanded over the top of each board, too.

My 1×4 was going to be my shelf, so I used some wood glue and glued my 1×3’s together and used clamps to hold them in place while they dried.

Once dry, I sanded down any extra dried glue, and painted the 1×3’s and the 1×4 with white paint. I realized as I was putting it together that since my shelf would be shallow, I’d need something to hold pictures or knick-knacks on without them falling off. I ended up using a 1/4inch balsa wood stick, and cut it to 16 inches as well. This would act as a “ledge” to keep things from falling off. I also painted it white to match the rest of the wood.

After the paint dried, my hubby helped me put the shelf all together. Using a few long nails, we nailed down the 1×4 to the top of the 1×3’s.

We used more wood glue to attach the balsa wood stick to the edge of the shelf, and clamped it while it dried.

After the glue dried, my hubby drilled on some hardware. We used these gorgeous ball end two prong oil rubbed bronze hooks from D. Lawless hardware. Not only are they beautiful and perfect for hanging towels, but each hook is only $1.97 right now on sale!! They’re a steal!

My hubby really wanted to make sure this was sturdy and stayed put on the wall, so he opted to use a couple of long wood screws to attach the whole shelf to the wall. Worked perfectly, and I just painted over the screw heads with white paint to help it blend in!

And that’s it! Soooo much better than the boring towel bar. This has so much more character, and how it acts as a little shelf, too!

I just love the finished product with decor on the shelf and towels hung and ready for guests.

I love that the shelf is shallow, but deep enough to hold a little faux succulent and some art!

Seriously, these hooks are just so pretty! I love how they contrast with the white.

How do you prefer to hang your towels in your bathroom?

Have a fabulous week!

(I link up at these fun parties!)

The Creative Corner 53

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Friends, I just have to say HOW much I appreciate you all. I’m so thrilled you come by our party each week, and we really wouldn’t even have this party if it weren’t for your support. So, thank you!

And now, let’s see what you’ve been working on last week!

Here’s to another great week of inspiration and a wonderful week for everyone. Check out what my fellow bloggers have been up to and don’t forget to check out my features for this week as well!

Limit three links per week and remember to link directly to your post, not your blog.
Do not link stores, giveaways, or other link parties.
Be sure to hop around some of the other posts that have been linked up to share the love and get motivated by what others have been up to.

This is such an adorable table makeover from 2 Bees in a Pod! They even made their own wood stain, and it turned out perfect.

This Master Bedroom Wallpaper from Love Creative Celebrate is just lovely! I love the subtle pattern, and, it only took them under 2 hours to complete!

She sheds are totally all the rage now, but this one from Ella Claire is to DIE for!!! Can I just live in there?! It’s so adorable!

Now hop over to all the other cohost’s blogs and see what caught their eye this week. You just might be featured there too!

Don’t forget to grab a button on the sidebar if you were featured! ——>

Have a lovely week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tidying up the KonMari Way: A Journey to Sparking Joy

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Have you ever cleaned out your closet or tidied up your house only to find a few weeks later it’s back to being a mess again? Me too! And as much as I love to clean (yes, I said love), I really hate how quickly my house gets messy again, no matter what I do.

I’ll let you in on a little secret though; there IS a way to get your house decluttered for GOOD. Intrigued? It all starts with this little book:

Marie Kondo wrote this book all about her efforts growing up to tidy and declutter her house. She talks through her struggles figuring out how to keep her room neat, without it getting messy again a short time later. She finally came up with the KonMari method, and this book was born!

Seven amazing bloggers and myself have joined together in “a journey to sparking joy,” where we will share our triumphs and struggles as we use this book s a guide to declutter our own homes and spark joy in our lives. Each Sunday we will share a part of the book and our progress, showing how we are succeeding and probably failing in some areas. I’m SO ready to get decluttering and getting my house in order for good!

If you haven’t read this book, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy (I got this copy through Amazon – affiliate link) and you can follow along with us as we change our lives. You’ll be so glad you did!

Marie Kondo’s philosophy is to get rid of everything that doesn’t spark joy in your life. Sounds crazy, right? Basically, by touching each and every object, you will know if it brings you joy. If not, you are to donate or throw it away. She suggests going through specific categories rather than going room by room. For example, instead of starting in your closet and cleaning everything out and then going to the next room, she says to go through ALL of your clothing. Grab every single piece of clothing you own and throw it on your bed, gathering clothes from other rooms or closets that you may have. Though it sounds like a lot of work, in the long run, it will be so helpful. You’ll only own things that truly bring you joy!

My vision in this whole process is to have a clean, organized, joyful home where we aren’t surrounded by things that we don’t need or absolutely love. It’s easy to collect stuff, but soon enough, it overtakes your home and you’re left with things that you realize you don’t even enjoy. I want our home to be filled with happiness, and I think that starts with our environment!

To start our journey, next week will be our first week tidying up the KonMari way. We will start with clothing as Marie Kondo suggests, and share how it went as we sought only those clothes that brought us joy. I gotta say, I’m so incredibly excited to get all my clothes out and just go for it! Like, I’ve been having dreams about it at night. That’s not weird, right? 😉

Here’s our closet as it is right now:

It’s not terribly unorganized, but it isn’t pretty, either. We just have a lot of stuff. And, I have a lot of jewelry! I can’t wait to go through my accessories and declutter those, too.

We would love it if you joined us for this journey! If you do, use the hashtag #sparkingjoy on social media, and tag us so we can all hold each other accountable and support one another!

Don’t forget to stop by my bloggy friend’s pages below too, and see how they are preparing for this decluttering journey. And, be sure to come back next Sunday to see how we all tackle our clothes! 🙂

A Journey to Sparking Joy:

Anderson & Grant
Making it in the Mountains
DIY Passion
Dwelling in Happiness
Zevy Joy
Cupcakes & Crinoline
Lost in the Found
The Happy Housie

I hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend, friends!

(I link up at these fun parties!)