I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more! | Tutorials, DIY, crafts, parenting tips, recipes, money saving tips, product reviews, local product features, New England living, intentional living, and more! |
As a native New Englander, I definitely have a soft spot for nautical decor. After all, when we redid our older daughter’s room a few years ago, we gave it a Cape Cod theme! And you can’t get much more nautical than a painted buoy - it just adds that quintessential New England touch. That’s why I was so excited to find The Lost Buoy on Instagram and give our space some nautical flair. | This post contains an honest review of product provided by The Lost Buoy |
The Lost Buoy was started by Katie, who grew up in coastal Massachusetts and has many fond memories of beaches, lobster shacks, and exploring in her grandparents old Ford woody station wagon (really, does it get more New England than that?). Katie has turned all these memories and charm into a great line of coastal-inspired decor, clothing, paper goods, and even wedding accents.
Katie was kind enough to send me one of her iconic Striped Lobster Buoys to add some nautical flair to our home. These lightweight, hand-painted buoys are cute in every room but I think I settled on having it add some coastal charm to our door for the holiday - there’s just something about Christmas greens and red lobsters - you can’t go wrong!
The Lost Buoy offers lots of great designs on their Decorative Buoys too - from different New England places, to nautical elements, and even custom color buoys to show your school spirit. And the wedding buoys would be perfect for anyone having a beachside ceremony.
The Lost Buoy definitely has something for everyone who loves nautical or preppy style!
Want a chance to win one of these beautiful buoys for yourself? Head on over to my Instagram for a chance to win a Decorative Buoy of your choice to compliment your home. Just look for this post and follow the directions to enter. Good luck!
Christmas is right around the corner and boy has it sneaked up fast! It’s always hard coming up with gift ideas for family and friends… but these days we’re personally trying to cut back on the amount of “stuff” we buy and give, and focus more on homemade items and experiences for gifts. What better gift than something made with love and the opportunity to create lasting memories? Read on for my tips to make the Perfect Christmas Cookies and then be sure to enter the amazing Boston Family Entertainment Giveaway at the end of the post for a chance to win some spectacular tickets to Boston-area events! | This post is sponsored and contains affiliate links |
5 Tips for Perfect Christmas Cookies
Sift
Make sure to sift all your dry ingredients. Doing this breaks up any clumps of flour or baking soda, combines everything evenly, and helps make your cookies light and fluffy.
Parchment Paper
Always line your cookie sheet with parchment paper, this is key to getting the cookie bottoms that perfect light golden brown. If you're planning on doing several batches of cookies make sure to round the corners of the parchment with some scissors first, as the sharp corners of the paper can start to burn after a few times in the oven.
Cookie Scoop
A cookie scoop is probably one of the best little investments you'll make in the kitchen and I don't know how I ever lived without mine. Using a cookie scoop ensures you get uniform-sized cookies every time and makes the whole process of getting your cookies ready for the oven go so much faster.
Time
Always bake your cookies for the lower suggested time. Cookies that are just cooked all the way through make for the softest, chewiest cookies. If they aren't cooked in the middle yet you can always put them back in for another minute or two, but it's best to start with the lowest time.
Your Secret Weapon - the "Bread Trick"
Accidentally over-cook the cookies? Forget to cover them on the counter? Believe it or not, the magical solution for over-cooked or stale cookies is just a slice of sandwich bread and a big ziplock. Put all the cookies in a gallon ziplock bag, throw in a slice of bread, seal, and leave for a few hours - the cookies will get softer as the bread gets staler. Magic!
There is so much to see and do for families visiting Boston. We have an amazing Boston Family Entertainment Package that will mean loads of family fun for one lucky winner!Get those Perfect Christmas Cookies Ready!
Today's giveaway has been brought to you by the following sponsors:
This holiday season, consider experience such as tickets to a show, museum passes or a gift certificate for other fun family entertainment. Experience gifts are a great way to help families create lasting memories.
Ultimate Boston Family Entertainment Package
One lucky winner is going to receive the Ultimate Boston Entertainment Giveaway Package that includes:
(4) tickets to Bricktacular at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Boston (every weekend in Dec.)
(4) tickets to Blue Man Group (to be used after Jan. 1st)
(4) tickets to American Girl LIVE, a new musical featuring the iconic American Girl characters playing at the Boch Center, Feb. 22-24 (for Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 pm)
(4) tickets to Archery Games Boston (can be used anytime)
Dinner for 4 at South Street Diner (can be used anytime)
Boston Entertainment Giveaway
Official Rules and Conditions:One winner will receive the Ultimate Boston Entertainment Prize Package. No cash value. Open worldwide to adults 18+. One (1) winner will be chosen. Prize must be claimed within 48 hours of announcement or a new winner will be drawn. Prize will be delivered electronically. All entries will be verified. This giveaway is in no way associated with Amazon, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Rafflecopter, or any other entity unless otherwise specified. Giveaway ends 12/16/2018. Enter using the widget below.a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to check out all the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!
As you know by now, I love sharing about companies and products we love on the blog and our Instagram - and most especially those made right here in New England. Next in our series of interviews from New England Makers, we have Glenna Oliver of Away Up North! | This post contains affiliate links |
Tell me a little bit about yourself and your business.
My name is Glenna Oliver and I am married with two grown children, living in the western mountains of Maine. I am the owner and creator of Away up North and enjoy hiking, skiing, camping, and many other outdoor activities that Maine has to offer! At Away Up North I create handmade wool fabric Christmas stockings, decorative pillows, and balsam pillows.
How did you start Away Up North? Had you been making stockings and pillows for awhile or was this a new leap for you?
To me it seems I have always known how to sew and create. When I had children, I made clothes, doll clothing, and quilts. Christmas has always been my favorite time of year to make gifts for family and friends, including Christmas stockings for my family and then stockings for a friend’s antique shop where she started to sell them. After being a stay-at-home Mom for twenty-plus years, I was looking for work when my daughter suggested making and selling Christmas stockings on Etsy - that was seven years ago.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I am an early riser and do have an exercise routine that helps me keep up with all my outdoor interests and also helps me mentally jumpstart my day. I begin with my work day about 9AM and depending on the time of year, I am either prepping and preparing for my busy season (September through early January) or sewing and making inventory. During the busy holiday season I am personalizing and completing stockings as the orders come in. Many days you can also find me working on orders well into the evening hours. During the slower times of the year for my business you can find me enjoying the outdoors where I find the inspiration for so many of my designs.
What is your favorite part about owning your own company? And least favorite part?
I enjoy the flexibility it gives me - I enjoy using my passion to create and also to spend time pursuing my outdoor passions. An unexpected pleasure I have found with the business is watching families grow as returning customers request new stockings to celebrate the new additions in their families (babies, adult children getting married, grandchildren). My least favorite part is the administrative side of the business - keeping the books and keeping track of numbers. I much prefer creating over numbers!
What has been the most exciting moment for Away Up North since you started?
In 2013 I was asked to submit a stocking to Downeast Magazine for their Maine Made Gift Guide. When I received the magazine, I saw my Woodland Bear Christmas Stocking on the front cover! I had no idea it would be on the cover! It was a very exciting moment for me. Since then Away Up North has been in other publications and newspapers, but the Downeast Magazine feature was definitely a highlight for me.
What advice do you have for people just starting out?
Do your research before your begin, but don’t hesitate to take the leap. Surround yourself with resources, not only reading information but good people resources. And always be ready for the “big moment!” No matter how slow it’s going, always create product, always be prepared with photos, samples, and new ideas because you never know when your “big moment” is going to happen.
What is your long-term goal? Where do you see yourself in five years?
To develop year-round pillow designs and possibly DIY kits for the stockings. Eventually I would also like to develop patterns for all my stocking designs.
Who’s one of your favorite New England Makers?
Alana from
A&E Stoneworks! She and her husband Evan make a great product. They make stone cheese boards, coasters, and other products from stone. I love her cheeseboards and her energy! I personally love prodcuts made from stone and natural materials, they compliment the outdoor environment I love and how I enjoy deocrating my own home.
A note from Away Up North: Items ordered after November 29th will ship in early January, 2019 - but there are currently three designs ready-to-ship available on Amazon with Prime Shipping:
Woodland Bear, Woodland Bunny, and
Wolf in the Pines.
DO YOU OWN A NEW ENGLAND-BASED BUSINESS AND WOULD LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN AN UPCOMING INTERVIEW? OR WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN HAVING ME STYLE, REVIEW, AND FEATURE ONE OF YOUR PRODUCTS? Please drop me a note.
Looking for a super easy way to dress up your budget Christmas cards? Emboss the envelopes! We bought this Embosser on Amazon years ago for our wedding and it’s definitely earned it’s keep.
This would make a great wedding or engagement gift too. We use ours yearly for Christmas cards and throughout the year dressing up otherwise boring stationery.
Typically I am such a procrastinator when it comes to ordering our Christmas cards. I always have good intentions on getting a jump start on them but things always get busier and busier as November comes along. — But not this year! This year I’m happy to say I got them done early - and perfectly - with some help from Basic Invite. | This is a sponsored post with my honest feedback of Basic Invite |
This was my first time using Basic Invite and I can honestly say that I was very impressed! Basic Invite has tons (over 500 actually) of Christmas and holiday card designs to choose from so the hardest part was picking my favorite design! I decided to go with a cute elf design for our
unique holiday photo cards
to compliment our own little elves.
But what really blew me away with Basic Invite’s designs? You can customize just about every single detail! Want to make the elves’ shoes purple? You can do that, and choose from many shades of purple to boot. The ability to change all the colors on their card designs - from the background, to the text, to the details - is just incredible with over 180 color options to choose from. This feature is incredibly useful, especially for something like wedding invitations since you can customize all the colors to your exact theme. They also offer over 40 colors of self-seal envelopes to choose from too, so even your envelopes can be on-point.
Basic Invite is also one of the few websites that gives customers the ability to order a printed sample of their actual invitation - that way you can see exactly how it will print as well as feel the paper quality before placing your final order. And when it comes time to place your final order, you can order exactly how many you need - that way you don’t get stuck purchasing card sets in wasteful large lots (a huge pet peeve of mine).
Basic Invite also offers lots of great holiday cards buisness to choose from too! Sending out cards from your business is a smart marketing move and can help boost sales and repeat business in the coming year.
Right now Basic Invite is offering 30% off with the coupon code “HOLI30” - order now and get ahead on your Holiday cards too!
Here are some great holiday card examples from Basic Invite:
Every Halloween we participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project to promote awareness and inclusion of all trick-or-treaters, no matter their dietary restrictions. Unfortunately a lot of kids have food allergies, ranging from mild to potentially very dangerous. These allergies can include dairy, chocolate, nuts, soy, gluten, artificial dyes, and more. These kids either can't participate in trick-or-treat or have to throw out most of what they get - and when you're a kid that's really rough. | This post contains affiliate links |
By having a teal pumpkin out, you're letting kids and their parents know that your house is a safe place to trick-or-treat and you have non-food items available. These can be things like novelty pencils, erasers, stickers, bubbles, crayons, small toys, etc. You can still give out the usual candy, but it's a good idea to keep the non-food items separate. This is a great project to allow all kids a chance to feel included in trick-or-treat on Halloween.
We usually paint a real pumpkin teal each year, but this year the squirrels and chipmunks have been eating all the decorations we put out on our porch (*shakes fist*). So yesterday afternoon during nap time I whipped up a Wooden Teal Pumpkin that can be used for many years to come. And the best part? It cost me NOTHING! I made it all with scraps from our wood bin and paint we already had.
Materials:
Scrap wood for pumpkin (you can use any sizes or shapes of wood you have around)
1. Cut your wood scraps down to size if necessary. You need one larger piece for the face, one small piece for the stem, and a piece for the support at the back (the support piece does not have to be triangular, that’s what I happened to have though).
2. Next attach the support piece of wood to the back of the large piece with a screw or nail.
3. After that, give it at least two coats of teal paint. Paint it all over, including the sides and back.
4. Once that’s dry, use black paint to paint a jack-o-lantern face on it and paint the stem piece black as well.
5. Once everything is dry use wood glue to attach the stem to the top of the pumpkin and give a good spray of clear sealer if you’ll be putting it out not under the cover of a porch, etc.
And that’s it! Now you’re ready to put your teal pumpkin out to welcome all kids for Halloween. Happy Halloween!
FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) has some wonderful resources on their website - including crowdsourcing maps to identify participating houses, printables you can use to proudly show your support and educate others, and fundraising opportunities to help fund food allergy research and awareness.
Christmas in July Sale! Everything in the Etsy shop (except signs) is 15% off through August 1st. Get a jump start on your Christmas shopping and stock up on ornaments now!
Just use the Coupon Code "JULY2018" to get 15% off!
A week ago our youngest got Baptized. She wore the same Baptism Dress I did and big sister did, which is so special! ...However I did have to cut a slit in the slip to get it over her head that morning (she's a big baby!). So now I’m hemming that, and the dress will be cleaned and put away for their own kids someday.
Do you have any heirloom clothing in your family? We also have my Grandmother's wedding veil/crown from the 1940's that both my sister and I wore for our First Communions - so very special.
