Solar String Lights to Transform Your Firepit

We were looking for a quick and easy way to transform our little fire pit and some some poles and sting lights did just the trick! Read on to see what we used to update this space on a budget and fast. | This post contains affiliate links |

This fire pit area came with our house. We love it but it needs work… we’d love to replace the stacked brick pit with a granite surround one, and the bench has seen better days for sure. Nevertheless we wanted a quick and easy update for this area and decided adding string lights was a quick fix!

I found these light poles on Amazon that go together super easy - add some solar string lights and the space is transformed! We’re really happy with how it turned out and are looking forward to continuing to update it. Bring on the s’mores!

SHOP | Light Poles | Solar String Lights | Similar Firewood Holder | Benches we would love to get someday |

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Picking out Makeup for your Tween or Teen

When our daughter started middle school it was like a switch flipped and she was instantly interested in wearing makeup. It’s a totally normal part of growing up and I remember first getting into makeup in middle school as well - nevertheless, it’s still so bittersweet watching them grow up so quick. I told her she could wear makeup as long as I helped pick it out because if it’s something she wants to wear all day and everyday it’s important to wear safe products. | This post is not sponsored and contains my personal opinion as well as affiliate links |

Disclaimer: This post contains my personal opinion based on what I’ve learned - please do your own research on the matter and choose what make up is right for your daughter.

In the past I’ve let our kids wear cheap drugstore-brand makeup for things like dance recitals and plays, after all it’s just for a short time a few times a year and the bold colors are important to show up on stage - I wasn’t really concerned about chemical exposure or anything. But now that my daughter wants to wear make up daily I think it’s important to pick products that are considered safer and don’t have chemicals or additives that could affect long-term health.

After reading around, I found EWG’s Skin Deep website, where you can look up products and see what they rate. EWG Verified or a low number implies that it’s safer, while a higher number means that it contains ingredients that are considered less-safe. It’s my understanding that these ratings are to be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s a great starting point when consciously trying to choose safer products.

The basics.

What we Chose for Makeup

For us, we wanted to choose natural-looking makeup that was very well ranked through EWG. After consulting the list and comparing prices we chose:

• Well People Expressionist Pro Mascara in Brown - this was ranked very well on EWG and priced so much more affordably than most other brands. We chose the brown color over the black for a more natural look.
• Well People Supernatural Stick Multi-Use Blush in Peach - again, this was ranked very well on EWG and priced so much more affordably than most other brands. We chose Peach because it complimented our daughter's skin tone the best. This product can also be used as a lip color as well so it does double-duty!
• Blending Brush for blending cream blush - this brush was not certified or anything but I have this brush myself and love it! It feels great, helps blend cream blush perfectly, and you can't beat the price point!

I think this is the perfect starting point for natural looking, safer makeup for a tween or teen. I know we will build on this over time and eventually add concealer, eye shadow, etc but this is a great introduction to makeup and skincare. After all, makeup looks best on well taken care of skin and it’s important to remind your daughter to remove her makeup every night and go to bed with a clean face. Enjoy this milestone of growing up!

Side note: If your tween or teen wants to wear makeup, consider having them pay for it themselves instead of you buying it for them. They are growing up and having them pay for it is a great lesson in responsibility and being mindful on how much things cost. Since my daughter had to purchase these products herself she’s been very good about not wasting them or losing them.

Shop some of our Picks for Tweens + Teens:

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Delicious Food Delivered New England Advent Calendar

You all know by now that I LOVE showcasing small businesses on my blog, so a small business that features many local small businesses is just right up my alley! Delicious Food Delivered was kind enough to send me their New England Advent Calendar to try and I’m so excited to share about this company with you all. | This post contains affiliate links and a review of a gifted product, though all opinions expressed are my own |

Delicious Food Delivered is a small business that offers carefully curated advent calendars for 42 states and 5 regions of the United States. They even have fun themed boxes like Route 66! They were kind enough to send me their New England Advent Calendar and the first thing that grabbed my attention when I received it was how HUGE it was - seriously, it is SO BIG.

Each little numbered door for the New England Advent Calendar contains a carefully chosen treat from the New England area. I am so excited to open this with my family each night and see what local treat we get to enjoy! And I am especially looking forward to discovering new-to-us small businesses and trying what they have to offer.

These advent calendars would be the perfect gift for any family or hard-to-buy for person. It would also be a great gift for a kid away at college or a friend that moved out of the area - you could give them one for where they’re from, or one for where they are now so they can learn more about their new location!

Delicious Food Delivered Advent Calendars are amazing and sell out quick every year - most varieties sell out by the first week in November so if you‘d like to get one don’t delay. (And if the one you had your eye on is already sold out this year make sure to put a reminder on your calendar for next year to buy early!)

Want to see what’s inside the New England Advent Calendar? You’re in luck - I’ll be opening mine early (wooo!) every night on my Stories on Instagram. Just follow @birchlandinghome to get a sneak peak of all the amazing things included in this year’s calendar!

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Don't forget to check out Delicious Food Delivered to see all the incredible Advent Calendars they have to offer!
| Delicious Food Delivered Website | Instagram | Facebook |

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I received this item for review from Delicious Food Delivered but all opinions expressed are my own.  This post contains affiliate links. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information.

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.

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.

PERFECT FIT Oval Frames for Disney World Silhouettes - on Amazon!

We recently came back from the most amazing and magical trip to Disney World! It was our family’s first trip and we had such a wonderful time and learned so much along the way (separate blog post coming soon to share more on all that we learned). One of my top must-dos for the trip was to get a silhouette portrait of our girls done as a souvenir. | This post contains affiliate links |

At the time of writing this post, they currently have Silhouette Artists at Magic Kingdom and at Disney Springs. We tried twice at Magic Kingdom to get them done but the first time we went was towards the end of the day and the line was long and our kids were tuckered out so we had to skip that day. The second time we went to Magic Kingdom during the middle of the day and it was a success - a short line that moved fast and it was so amazing to watch the Silhouette Artist work! The subject sits in a chair across from the artist (many artists can also work from a side view picture if it’s a good one - they can even do pet portraits this way), and then they get to work snipping the paper with sharp little scissors. They cut two sheets of paper at once and you end up with two sets of portraits (mirror imaged). The artist did both our kids within minutes and it’s a perfect likeness to them, I was so impressed!

Afterwards when it's time to pay you have the option to buy the frames there if you would like. I had every intention of buying oval frames there but at the time they were sold out of ovals and only had rectangular frames which I just wasn't interested in. So we got our silhouettes to-go in a little gift bag (tip: it would be a good idea to bring a large ziplock bag to protect the silhouettes a little more).

When it came time to pack up and go home at the end of the week I was actually very thankful we didn't buy the frames in Disney - we traveled with carry-ons only and there was no way we would have had room for the frames in our carry-ons.

| Oval Frames that fit Disney World Silhouettes (they also come in other colors too!) |

Once we got home I shopped around online to find oval frames that fit the silhouettes. After reading a lot of mixed reviews I ordered several different frames to find the one that fit best. After some trial and error I found the PERFECT FIT oval frames for the Disney World Silhouettes right on Amazon - and they come as a set of two! It was meant to be ;)

I recommend taking out the plexiglass piece and using that as a guide to trace and cut out your silhouette to fit in the frame (I did not use the oval mat that came with the frame - and don’t forget to remove the protective plastic film from both sides of the plexiglass). It worked perfectly for us! We kept one portrait for ourselves and gave the other one to the grandparents as a thank you for house sitting for us. It’s such a special souvenir that we’ll treasure!

Disclaimer: I found that these frames fit the Silhouettes we got this year (Fall, 2024) at Disney World perfectly. I would think they should also fit the Silhouettes from Disneyland and Disney Springs too, but I cannot confirm that because I haven’t tried it yet myself.

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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.

Getting Christmas Ready with Island Wrapping Co.

As you know I love to share about local, New England-based makers and companies on my blog and today is no different! Bryn from Island Wrapping Co. reached out to me and asked if I’d like to check out her printed North Pole Newspaper wrapping paper and I just couldn’t resist! | This post contains affiliate links and an honest review of product provided by Island Wrapping Co. |

I hate to admit it, but I’m always a procrastinator when it comes to wrapping gifts… I’m always a wait-until-Christmas-Eve wrapper. But this year I’m getting a little jump start with this cute “The North Pole Sun” wrapping paper from Island Wrapping Co, a Massachusetts-based small business on Etsy. These Christmas-themed newspapers are double-sided and contain fun pretend stories, advertisements, a sports section, headlines, birth announcements, etc all Christmas/North Pole themed! These will make wrapping our gifts more fun this year for sure.

If you're looking for some unique and festive wrapping paper this year - or a newspaper for Santa to leave behind ;) - I reccomend checking out Island Wrapping Co. on Etsy.

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- I received this item for review from Island Wrapping Co. but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information -