Happy Together

A DIY craft blog

Entryway Update: Before and After

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These past few months have been full of home projects and at times it has been a little overwhelming. I am no stranger to all of this, so I knew it would take time, but that still doesn’t mean I wish it could go faster (and easier!) at times. Looking back over these entryway update photos helps me realize I really have done a lot and it will all get there before I know it.

This is what our entryway looked like before we moved in. Not horrible, but very plain and really lived in. All the trim and doors were beat up and needed repainting (still need to repaint the doors though hahaha), there were remnants from wallpaper still from a previous removal attempt, and all the outlets/switches were almond colored and really dirty. The previous owner had put in new light fixtures, but they still felt kind of outdated and dark.

As you can see above, I started in the dining room and worked my way to the entryway. I scraped off wallpaper goo, replaced light switches, and then added faux board and batten wainscoting using 1×4’s. I had really wanted to add some wallpaper, but my husband was not on board with that at all so I stuck with paint. The blue color is Valspar Northern Sky (5001-3B) and I used Behr Ultra Pure White on the trim. It works out for now because there would have been so many interesting cuts to make if I did install wallpaper. But, I would love to try it one day. You know, the stick and peel wallpaper that can come back off easily.

I took a while to decide upon a light fixture. At first I was determined to find a vintage style with crystals, but then I decided upon a flush mount style and came upon this pretty light. It is sold on a few different sites, so I looked around and found the best price on Wayfair at the time. This can change, so always look around and find the best deal when buying light fixtures. I love love love the shadows that it casts when the light is on. I feel that adds to the character of this little area even more.

It’s nice to have the first room people see pretty much done. My last two items for here are to paint the doors, like I said before, and then at some point we are getting the floors redone. They are wood and have just taken a lot of abuse over the years and it’s time they got some love too.

Mother’s Day Brunch

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This past Mother’s Day weekend marked a whole year of us living back here in Virginia and it was a pleasure to spend it with our moms. One of the events we had originally planned on was meeting at the beach for lunch on Sunday, but sadly rain was in the forecast. We made a last minute change and decided to just go ahead and host a Mother’s Day brunch at our home. I was inspired and went out early Sunday morning to grab some fresh flowers and greenery and set up a nice spread to celebrate the moms in our family. Paper plates and plastic champagne flutes never looked so nice (in my humble opinion hahaha).

I decided not to get stressed about all the details and just use simple things and what we had and also not to worry about all the unfinished projects around the house. We got this home to be able to do life in it, messy/unfinished or what ever, so we continue to do life even in the midst of it all. I knew a great centerpiece would really make for the tablescape, so I started by layering greenery on the bottom and then added some beautiful peonies on top. I printed out black and white photos of the moms with their kids and placed them on brown cardstock. Then I spread them out among the greenery. As I said before, I have no fancy glassware or plain plates, so those were just simple paper plates and plastic cups. I did have gold eating utensils, although I found I am missing two spoons from my set! I think they must have gotten misplaced during the move. I got them from Target, where you can just buy one at a time, so they will be easy to replace.

One of the best parts was all the yummy food. I enjoyed putting together a brunch spread. We had egg, cheese, and ham croissants, mimosas, donuts, french toast sticks with syrup, an egg casserole from my sister in law, and then I made these two really delicious desserts. The above one was the indulgent one. It’s the strawberry cream cheese coffeecake from oh My Goodness Chocolate Desserts. We had been strawberry picking previously that week and I wanted to find a dessert to use them in. This was the one I decided upon. I had never made it before so I was a little nervous, but it turned out great! It was all gone by the end of the day.

I also wanted to make a healthier “dessert” choice, so I was excited to try this healthy fruit pizza from Life Made Sweeter. I used almond flour instead of Oat Flour and it turned out great! It’s very filling and all the flavors go oh so well together. This went real quick too and my daughter requested another one yesterday. I baked the base and then let her decorate it however she wanted. It’s great to keep in the fridge for breakfast and snacks and looks real pretty too.

I had a busy week making some presents too and was able to finish two items for my mom. I made her this “perfect grandma” shirt using the free svg from Love SVG because that is what she is. Not in the sense that she “is” literally perfect, because no one is, but that she’s the perfect grandma for my girls. I also made her a bead bar necklace which I plan to get the tutorial up for soon. I was so shocked at how easy it was to make. I don’t have many jewelry making skills, so if I can do it, you can too!

A Mardi Gras Birthday Party

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Hello there 🙂 I’m still here. STILL working on house projects on our new home in Virginia. It’s taking me a lot longer than I thought, which is typically how these type of projects go. But I have some things to share and I am ready to do so starting with this nod to Louisiana. I’m not one that feels every party needs some big fabulous decor and such, but I will get inspired at times and I do love adding special touches to someones special day. This past January (so long ago!) we hosted a get together for my mother in law. Now, we had lived in Louisiana for six years and my in-laws actually lived there for a while as well and they appreciate all the Louisiana things so I decided to throw her a Mardi Gras birthday party. It was a lot of fun to put together! My main goal was for it to be sophisticated and I felt I was able to do that using different shades of the typical purple, green, and gold.

I have a basket full of all kinds of different size balloons and I used them to create a balloon garland for one of the decor pieces. I strung in garland and ribbon to make it a little more festive too. I was really pleased with how it ended up turning out.

Of course I wanted to add some beads, but I was initially having a hard time finding Mardi Gras party things even though it was near that time. I should have had some foresight and had my LA friends ship me some stuff, but it all worked out. I found these beads at Hobby Lobby and loved the muted colors which went with what I was going for. I hung them from the chandelier which reminded me of how you would see these hanging from trees, light posts, etc. after all the parades. My kids would always have a large collection every year from all the parades they would have in Lake Charles, LA. I didn’t realize how family friendly a lot of these events were until we lived there, so I appreciate the new perspective on how that community really knows how to have a good time all together.

I baked a simple cake using this coconut bundt cake recipe from Five Boys Baker, which I have made a few times before. It’s really yummy. I added some Mardi Gras color flowers and a simple gold mask I found at Party City. It was simple but sweet.

Now, you can’t do Mardi Gras without some King Cake! I didn’t find any locally at the time and wasn’t convinced I could pull off making a legit one so I made these King Cake Bites using this recipe from Plain Chicken. They were easy to make and really yummy. As you can see on the bottom layer, I kind of messed up my cutting initially but quickly saw my wrong and fixed that lol.

But before we got to all that dessert we did eat some chicken and sausage gumbo. It took us a while to find a good comparable sausage to what we would use in LA, but a local butcher had some that worked. We went everywhere and were so glad to have found him! It’s such a good winter dish and my husband knows how to make it just the way I like it best.

We were thankful to be able to host this Mardi Gras birthday party and look forward to all the family events we now get to be a consistent part of now. (And yes, I totally found an image from Pinterest to do that chalkboard because I have no skills in that area hahahaha). So put on some zydeco music and “Laissez  les bons temps rouler!” Let the good times roll……

PS: We didn’t do this, but I thought it would have been cute to do this Cajun Name game 🙂

Nutcracker Party Shirt

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This Christmas was such a fun one! My girls had a blast really being able to enjoy time with so much family. I wanted to do some special things and one thing I did was create this nutcracker party shirt for all the littles on my husband’s side. We are starting to do a Christmas movie theme each year and went with The Nutcracker since the new movie had just come out. Time didn’t allow us to actually go see the movie, but it’s on our list. I created this design using the design feature for my Cricut Explore. It was really easy to create and now they have a one of a kind shirt just for them.


It had been a while since I had created a shirt using iron on vinyl. I didn’t realize some of the new products that are now more easily available. I gave the Siser Easywood HTV in green a try (I found it at Michael’s). It was my best experience with heat transfer vinyl yet! It went on so easy and smooth. I was impressed. I guess I’m a little behind on the new and amazing things as usual hahaha. If you want to make your own and have a Cricut cutting machine, you can find the graphic I made here. You will need to log into your account to see it. Just resize according to your needs.


My two girls are already talking about what next year’s theme might be… I’m thinking maybe a Rudolph one…. Although I might have to persuade miss J into doing this again as she’s hitting an age where she’s not necessarily into wearing matching shirts with her cousins 🙂 lol

Paper Ball Ornament DIY

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Last Christmas I made a whole bunch of these paper ball ornaments to add some cheerful color to the trees in our church foyer. We didn’t have much to decorate the trees with, so I wanted to make something and this is what I came up with. It cost hardly anything since I had most of the cardstock already and they really make such a fun impact. I also saved time by using my Cricut cutting machine, but it’s totally doable without one.


The paper ball ornaments also hold up well for being made of cardstock. I saved a handful of these to take pictures of and they have been in a moving box inside a storage unit that was not air conditioned for six months. They were still fantastic! So if you store them loosely in a box I bet they can last a few years. Also, a tip for anyone looking for some large scale decor… I noticed all of these present boxes and those large snowflakes at a local clothing store (Gap). I asked the store managers if they saved these or threw them away and that if they just got rid of them I would happily take them and reuse them. They called me at the end of the season and said I could come get it all. How awesome is that? They were so excited it would be used again and we used them for quite a few years.

To make your own paper ball ornament you will need:

  • Cardstock (I used an 8.5″ x 11″ piece per ball and made extra smaller circles with the extra for garland)
  • Ornament Hangers or String
  • Scissors or Cutting Machine (you can find the 8.5″ x 11″ template I made for my Cricut here)
  • Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks


Start by cutting out four circles that are 4″ in size. You can increase or decrease the size depending on your preference. If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use a round cup for a template to trace on the paper.


Then you will need to fold each one in half.


Run a bead of hot glue done the center of one of the folded pieces.


Place another folded circle on the glue and hold in place until it is cooled down.


Then put glue on one of the other folded circles and place on the seam of the two already glued together. Hold in place until cooled.


Turn the three glued ones over and add glue to the last folded circle to go on the other side (See picture above on how it should look all glued together).


You can then add your choice of hanging option and then fluff out the circles so it looks full. Above is a picture of using an ornament hanger. You can straighten out one end of an ornament hook and glue it down one of the seams.


Or you can use string, fishing line, or yarn to hang it. For those options I suggest glueing one end on one seam and then the other end in the opposite seam so it hangs evenly.



If you happen to have 12″ x 12″ pieces of cardstock, you can get quite a lot of circles out of it. I used the extra space on the paper to make smaller circles which I sewed together to make a garland.


It was a great addition to this backdrop I made and allowed it to fit in perfectly with the trees.


Make sure to share if you create any. I would love to see 🙂

Jess