DIY Hopscotch Court with Pavers + How to Play Hopscotch

For years I’ve had the idea of making a permanent hopscotch court in our lawn using pavers but never got around to making it. Our kids are getting older, and I figured it’s now or never! We had some extra pavers and bricks from an old project laying around so I decided to go for it and finally make our hopscotch court and teach our kids this classic recess game. | This post contains affiliate links |

Materials:

• 10 paving stones
• acrylic paint + paintbrush
• carbon transfer paper
• shovel
• rubber mallet (optional)

How-To:

1. Print out numbers 1-10 on computer paper at the size you want your numbers to be - I used Canva, but you could use Word or Pages too. (Alternatively, you could buy stencils or freehand it.)

2. Center the numbers on the bricks and tape in place.

3. If using printed out numbers, put the carbon paper face down between the printed number and the paver and trace with a pencil.

4. Hand paint the numbers within the outline and allow to dry.

5. Lay out how you want the Hopscotch Court to be. There are several different ways you can layout the spaces, but I went with what is probably the most traditional layout. (Optional: Use extra pavers to outline the 10 space to make it larger, or use a larger paver for the 10 space.)

6. Now that you have it laid out, dig out the soil to the depth of the pavers. I find it easier to to lay one paver at a time and level it with the surrounding ground. (Optional: You can use the rubber mallet to help set the pavers into place.)
   Pro Tip: Use a little stool to sit on to save your back!

7. Play and enjoy!

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How to Play Hopscotch

There are some variations on how to play Hopscotch, but I’ll share how I learned growing up - and all you need is a Hopscotch Court and a small rock! Yes, a rock!

Start facing spot #1 and toss the small rock onto the court. Hop on one foot towards the rock. If there are two number squares next to each other you can land with both feet, one in each square.

When you get to the spot with the rock, skip that spot and continue to the end of the court.

When you get to the #10 spot, turn around and repeat the process heading back towards #1, but pick up the rock on your way back.

Once you get back to the beginning it’s the next person’s turn. If you fall, or land where you’re not supposed to, you’re out.

Don't want to commit to building a permanent Hopscotch Court in your yard? Just draw a temporary one on your driveway or sidewalk with chalk!

DIY Stock Tank Garden Planter

Our house came with some old whiskey barrel planters that were used for tomatoes and herbs, however 15 years later they were literally falling apart and it was time for something new. Originally I was going to build a cedar raised garden planter but after pricing out the cost of cedar (yikes!) and the time it would take to make it I decided to look into other options. In the end I opted for repurposing a stock tank into a garden planter and it was such an easy and quick project to do. Read on for my tips and advice on how to prep and create your own. | This post contains affiliate links |

Materials:

• Paving stones for the base
• Stock Tank - we used a 2'x6'x2' tank here but they come in other sizes as well. (If your local store doesn't have the one you want, you can order it online and have it shipped to store or maybe even your house depending on where you're located.)
• Drill & drill bits
• Weed supressant fabric
• Gravel
• Dirt
• Good quality soil to top it off (this Coast of Maine Raised Bed Garden Soil is AMAZING!)
• Cedar wood chips (optional)
• Seedlings or seeds

How-To:

Even though this photo doesn’t look it, these pavers are perfectly level.

First, it’s a good idea to prep the base of where you are going to put your stock tank planter. You can use pavers or gravel, but you want something that will keep the base of the planter from sitting directly against the ground.

Next you want to flip the tank over and drill a considerable amount of drainage holes across the bottom of it because as a planter, you don’t want it to hold water. In order to keep the galvanized steel from tearing, start with a small diameter drill bit and work your way up in sizes. (I concentrated some of my drainage holes along where the joints of my paver base will be since I know the water will drain better in those areas.)

Then line the bottom of the stock tank with weed suppressant fabric to keep soil and sand from filling the holes, and lay down a layer of stones and gravel to help with drainage.
Optional: I also built a little “bridge” around the main drain of the tank and put gravel around it to help optimize drainage, just in case we ever need to use it.

Next, it’s time to fill the tank with dirt. We had a lot of old “exhausted” dirt from the previous planters and this was perfect to use to fill in the bulk of the planter.

Once we were about two thirds full, I topped it off with compost and great quality garden soil. (I LOVE this Coast of Maine Raised Bed Garden Soil. It's seriously amazing and my little seedlings got huge and produced so much in just a few weeks.)

Now it’s time to fill with seedlings or plant your seeds! I decided to section off one end with some bricks to make a little herb garden. (Check out our old blog post on how to make these DIY Slate Garden Markers.) I also added a thin layer of cedar mulch to help with water retention.

Enjoy your raised stock tank garden planter!

Feel free to add a little whimsy…

I also added a shepard's hook and this beautiful Copper Kinetic Wind Sculpture I purchased on Etsy. We love watching it spin from the deck and it's a fun way to add some whimsy to this raised planter.

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Some of our Garden + Patio Picks:

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Create an "Analog" Bag or Basket for You and Your Family

It’s more important than ever to incorporate screen-free time for yourself and your family into our daily lives. Most of us spend too much time on our phones or watching TV that we’ve forgotten how to entertain ourselves without a screen. Probably the biggest red flag is kids out and about (especially in restaurants or in the car) always need a tablet to keep them occupied - they don’t know how to sit and enjoy others’ company anymore or entertain themselves. Teens and adults are often guilty of it as well, we keep our noses in our phones and ignore who we’re with.
One easy solution is to create an “analog bag” - a bag that has screen-free activities in it. It can be travel games, puzzles, books or magazines, knitting, small toys, coloring, word searches, etc. You can make it for on-the-go or something to keep in your living room for designated screen-free time. Read on for more ideas on how to incorporate this easy modification into your lives.…
| This post contains affiliate links |

An Analog Bag is something you can make for yourself, your young or older kids, or the whole family! You can also tailor it to things to use on-the-go or something that you keep at home for quiet evenings. Whatever it is you can make it yours and change it up as much as you want! Here are some ideas:

Analog Bag Basics:

• a sturdy tote bag (this "Analog" embroidered L.L. Bean Bag is PERFECT!)
• something to help organize your things, such as a small canvas pouch or a tote bag organizer
• Now for the fun part - filling it with what interests you or your family! I've broken it down with ideas for different age groups below.

Ideas for Adults & the Whole Family:

• a beautiful coloring book
• colored pencils
• Sudoku book
• knitting kit
• mini watercolor travel set
• deck of cards
• magazines or your current library books

Ideas for Teens & Tweens:

• you may want to consider a different bag, like a trendy rubber tote
• a fun card game like UNO or Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
• a travel puzzle game (like Kanoodle)
• a cute crochet kit (my daugther LOVES this brand - they have great tutorials and are easy to make)
• a journal
• Rubik's Cube

Ideas for Young Children:

• you may want to consider a different bag, like a cute animal alphabet themed one
• Water Wow books (these were such a hit when my kids were little - a lot of fun and zero mess!)
• Paint by Sticker books
• Spirograph
• fun activity book
• activity dice (these Bluey themed ones are really fun!)

Analog “Basket” Ideas for Home:

The Analog Basket is something that would stay in your living room or family room and your family can use everyday! The following ideas are for a mix of age groups.

• sturdy basket that will look nice in your room
• puzzle the family can do together
• games such as Jenga, Chutes & Ladders, or Chess (Chess is making a comeback!)
• a tabletop activity like wooden balancing "stones" (irregular-shaped wooden "rocks" that you can stack and balance)
• nice LEGO kit to make with the family

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Shop some of our Analog Bag picks here:

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Reducing Plastics and Microplastics in our Kitchen

After reading some articles about the amount of microplastics the average person gets exposed to and consumes I knew we had to make some changes in our household. Here are some easy and simple swaps and replacements we made in the kitchen to try to reduce our exposure to plastics. | This post contains affiliate links |

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, just sharing some swaps and changes we made to try to be more intentional and reduce plastic exposure in our home. Please make sure to do your own research on this matter.

Get Rid of All the Plastic Cooking Utensils

The first step was getting rid of ALL the plastic cooking utensils we had in our home (I just recycled or tossed them all to make sure I wouldn't continue to reach for them). These utensils are constantly getting heated and scraped on pans, contributing microplastics. I thoughtfully replaced all the plastic utensils with a combination of bamboo, wood, silicone, and stainless steel cooking utensils.

Replace Plastic Cutting Boards

This is supposedly one of the biggest sources of microplastics in the kitchen - a plastic cutting board! If you think about it, every time you cut with a knife you’re cutting and scraping the plastic board, adding microscopic (and not so microscopic) plastic shavings to your food. We replaced our cutting board with a quality hardwood one made by a local craftsman, but you could also use a bamboo cutting board.

Get Rid of Non-Stick Cookware

This is a big change we made several years ago - we got rid of all of our non-stick cookware in order to reduce microplastics and PFOAs exposures. Instead of using non-stick pans, we switched to quality stainless-steel cookware and have never looked back!

Never Heat Plastic

Make sure to never reheat food in plastic containers - always use glass!

Never Cut on Plastic Dishes

This goes right along with never using plastic cutting boards - but to take it a step further, don’t cut on plastic dishware (like kids’ dishes) either - and for the same reasons. Always make sure to cut on a cutting board or glass plate before transferring the food to your kids’ dishes.

Use More Glass and Stainless Steel Dishware

This one is pretty self-explanatory - use glass or stainless steel dishware more and try to phase out your plastic ones. We have been working towards slowly replacing our plastic Tupperware with glass and stainless steel varieties.

When You Must Use Plastic, Use High Quality

When you must use plastic dishware in your kitchen (like for kids’ dishes), always use high quality ones. Avoid cheap plastic dishes, especially if you don’t know if they’re BPA-free or lead-free, etc. And if they seem to be breaking down with just normal use (fading, scratching easily, discolor easily, etc) definitely get rid of them.

Silicone Food Covers

Rather than use plastic wrap for leftovers we switched to silicone food covers years ago. We love that they’re reusable (better for the environment!) and not plastic.

Air Purifier

To take it a step further for general home health we also added several air purifiers in our home. This helps reduce dust and allergens we breathe in and we feel better knowing the air in our home is being filtered.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, just sharing some swaps and changes we made to try to be more intentional and reduce plastic exposure in our home. Please make sure to do your own research on this matter.

Simple Soap Saving Hack

Does your family waste SO much liquid soap at the bathroom or kitchen sink? I know mine sure does. Here is a quick, easy, and CHEAP tip to save soap (and money) big time! | This post contains affiliate links |

The cover photo for this post shows the bottle of soap “before” - but I’m going to show you a quick and easy way to modify the pump so that it uses less soap with every pump! To do this you only need 3 simple items you probably have on-hand already.

Materials

• Liquid Soap - you can use any liquid soap pump (even refillable ones) but personally we love Mrs. Meyer's handsoap (usually we use Oat Blossom but we're still using up one of the holiday scents here)
• Small Zip Ties (we used black here because the pump is black, but you could use white or another color zip tie if it matches better)
• Scissors

How To

Seriously this couldn’t be much easier!

Simply put the zip tie around the soap pump where it goes down, tighten (but not too tight), and then trim off the extra. Ta-da, it’s done!

This “ring” made by the zip tie will prevent the pump from going down all the way. This way you get like a “half-pump” of soap rather than a whole pump (personally I feel like a whole pump tends to dispense far too much soap).

Now it dispenses far less soap = less waste!

Once the zip tie has been trimmed it’s barely noticeable. This little hack has saved SO much soap in our family - I really notice us going through the hand soap much slower. I hope this little trick will save you soap and money too!

PS - if you buy the same brand soap over and over you can reuse the pump top from bottle to bottle so you can keep reusing the same zip tie modified top if you don’t want to keep using up zip ties.

Disclaimer: Use at own risk.

Two Minute Garage Door Makeover - No Tools Needed!

A few years ago we built a detached garage on our property which we nicknamed “the barn.” We were on a tight budget when we had it built so we kept everything very basic - basic windows, basic doors, etc. Now that we’ve lived with it for a few years we’re slowly upgrading what we can with easy and cheap DIYs, like this two minute garage door makeover - no tools needed! | This post contains affiliate links |

The front of our barn just looked so plain and boring... it definitely needed "something" to give it more character and the basic builder-grade garage door just wasn't cutting it. One day while I was on Amazon I came across these magnetic faux hinges and handles with amazing reviews and thought that was perfect!

To install them I wiped down the garage door real quick first to remove any dirt and then just stuck the hinges to the door right from the box. There are several magnets on the back of each item so they’re easy to stick on and reposition as needed.

| Magnetic Faux Hinges and Handles for Garage Doors |

The faux hinges and handles are made from thick plastic so they won’t rust - but they certainly don’t look plastic! Even up close they have a lot of texture and really look like forged metal. The handles even fooled my kids and they totally thought they were real! And if you want to keep your doors more simple you could easily just put the hinges up or just the handles and leave it at that.

This quick addition to our plain garage door really has made a difference in making our “barn” look more finished and giving it better curb appeal. Hopefully next year we’ll get the driveway paved up to it and add some landscaping and then it really will be done.

Looking for more cheap and easy DIY’s? See our previous Blog Post on how I added “window panes” to our basic builder-grade windows and it’s made such a difference. They’re still up years later and look as good as the day I first put them up.

Garage Locker Power Tool Organizer - Fits Between Garage Doors!

Lately our garage has been kind of a mess - my husband has been rebuilding our rotting deck and the power tools he has have multiplied with no good place to store them. I was getting tired of tripping over sanders and planers so I thought I’d come up with a way to get all the small power tools easily accessible and organized for his project. In my search I came across the perfect locker solution! | This post contains affiliate links |

I realized the space between our garage doors was vastly underutilized. It’s a skinny spot but tall - with a lot of potential for easily-accessible storage. I thought about building shelves there but then it would be open and kind of messy. I tried finding a cabinet that would fit but they were all too wide. Then I realized a locker would fit!

I searched for single-width lockers and found many options and considered doing a single tall locker or a double locker. But then I came across this amazing single-width locker with six doors/tiers! It was perfect for my needs - it fit right in between the garage doors and each tool could have it’s own cubby. This locker fit perfectly in our garage but make sure to measure your space first as you may have a narrower (or wider) space to work with. There was assembly required for the locker but it went together easily and then it was ready to use!

One important thing to consider before you put a locker in your garage is how you will contend with wet floors. We live in New England and in the winters especially our garage floors get quite wet when the snow melts off our cars… in order to protect the bottom of your locker from rusting you probably want to raise it up off the floor. For us we used a thick paving stone that fit well under the locker - though we did have to level it some with composite shims (similar ones linked) because our garage floors are slightly uneven. (Just slide the shim under the paver and break off when it's the right height - so easy!) You may also want to consider attaching your locker to the wall in some way if you’re concerned about it tipping.

| 6 Door Metal Locker |

Once we had our locker level and secured I labeled each cubby with what it contained (“Drills & Bits”, “Orbital Sander”, etc). To make the labels I just typed them up on my computer, printed them out on a sheet of cardstock, and cut them out.

This was an awesome and very easy project to do in our garage. We love how organized and accessible the tools are while still keeping them out of sight.

No Soliciting or Political Canvassing Sign - Free Printable

It’s that season again… Election Season. And it doesn’t matter what party you’re registered for, there’s a good chance you’ll have door-to-door canvassers knocking on your door at some point to try to persuade you to vote for their favorite candidate or for themselves if it’s a local election. I don’t know about you, but we do not appreciate our day getting interrupted by solicitors or canvassers. We do our own research and make up our minds on our own. Not to mention, having a stranger knock on our door or ring our doorbell sends the dogs into a tizzy and interrupts my husband’s phone calls and remote meetings since he works from home. (And if you have a baby sleeping you know how frustrating it is to have someone ring your doorbell during that precious nap time!)

We already have a "No Soliciting" Sign (affiliate link) over our doorbell but it's always hit-or-miss whether the Political Canvassers respect it.. in order to make it very clear we aren't interested in political solicitation either I made this sign for our door.

This file is a PDF and sized for 4”x6” - I printed mine directly on a plain 4”x6” index card on my printer. If your printer doesn’t print on small formats like that you could just print on a regular sheet of computer paper and cut it down. We taped our sign inside the window of our storm door, so it can’t be missed. We’ve used this sign for the last few election seasons and it’s made a big difference! I think we’ve only had one person ignore it, everyone else has read it and then left - I’ll consider that a success!