Easy Fast Fix for a Common Eyesore {Sneak Peek}

This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

Drilled wellheads are a common eyesore in yards these days. Often installed in a convenient location for maintenance, but definitely not appealing. Take our wellhead for example - it's smack dab in the middle of our front lawn and sticks out like a sore thumb. Thankfully with the help of a Dekorra Rock Enclosure from the Home Depot, I was able to easily and quickly hide this eyesore in just one afternon!
You can check out the full how-to on "How to Hide a Drilled Wellhead" on The Home Depot Blog.

BEFORE

I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the program described above (the “Program”). As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

Welcoming Spring with Maine Rope Mats + GIVEAWAY!

Despite what the three feet of snow in our yard says right now, Spring will be here soon! And Spring in New England means… Mud Season. You know, those weeks when everything is wet and muddy and you can’t get in your house without tracking buckets of mud and sand in. Thankfully Maine Rope Mats has us covered and was kind enough to send us one of their lobster rope doormats and give one away to a lucky follower too!
| This post contains affiliate links and an honest review of product provided by Maine Rope Mats |

Trust us, you need a durable doormat year-round and especially during Mud Season - so why not make it fun and functional? Maine Rope Mats are all handmade in Waldoboro, Maine with colorful lobster fishing ropes in seemingly endless color combinations and designs to choose from; including flags, stripes, and the beautiful double-weave design we chose for our mat here.

These mats are made to last and will not rot, mildew, or fade and can easily be cleaned out with a garden hose (a must after the muddy season!). Maine Rope Mats also offers a line exclusively of recycled rope-only, which is a great way to re-use and recycle the lines that lobstermen can no longer use for their traps.

Maine Rope Mats also has lots of other great products made with lobster trap rope including dog leashes, baskets, bracelets, key chains, and dog toys - so many fun products to choose from!

We’re in love with our new Maine Rope Mat and are looking forward to using it and enjoying it for many years to come!

SHOP:

| Maine Rope Mat in Small Double Weave (Navy/Silver shown in this post) | L.L. Bean Boots |

---

GIVEAWAY!

Head on over to our Instagram (@birchlandinghome) for details and to enter to win one of these amazing durable mats for yourself!

Giveaway ends 4/2/19 at 5PM EST.

Keep Up with Maine Rope Mats:

| Website | Instagram |

- I received this mat from Maine Rope Mats but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information - 

---

One year update…

Just wanted to hop on here real quick and add that we are still loving our Maine Rope Mat! In fact, we love it so much that I bought a second one in a different pattern for our back door too.

---

"Mom is My Anchor" with Beechnut Foods

So excited to partner with our favorite baby food brand, Beech-Nut to give away three of our Pink Anchor Bracelets to some lucky followers! 40% of sales of our Pink Anchor Bracelet is donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure at year-end for breast cancer research.

Please go check out Beech-Nut’s Instagram (@beechnutfoods) for details and to enter this fun giveaway! | Partner |

How to Install New Cabinet Hardware + GIVEAWAY!

Our home came with a classic late 90’s “builder’s grade kitchen” - you know the type: honey-colored basic cabinets with no hardware and laminate counters. Someday we’d love to totally overhaul the space and paint the cupboards, trim them out, and install granite countertops - however all those things involve a lot of work and money and just aren’t in the budget right now. In the meantime we’re working on making small upgrades ourselves that will make the space look more finished. And what’s the easiest, budget-friendly way to update the look of your cabinets? Replace or install new hardware! If you’re installing new hardware on blank cabinets it can be a bit intimidating, so read on for my tips on installing for the first time. And don’t forget to enter our GIVEAWAY over on Instagram for a $50 Credit to Cosmas Hardware!
| This post is sponsored by Cosmas Hardware and affiliate links |

Cosmas Hardware is an online company that provides an amazing selection of quality hardware at great prices. Cosmas Hardware was kind enough to provide me with the hardware for this post - the knobs and drawer pulls I used are: Cosmas 5560FB Flat Black Cabinet Knob and Cosmas 783FB Flat Black Cabinet Cup Pull.

Tools You’ll Need:

• ruler/tape measure

• pencil or fine tip marker

• electric drill with different sized drill bits

• screwdriver

• new hardware

• construction paper (optional)

• cabinet hardware template (optional)

BEFORE

How to Install:

If you’re installing new hardware on a blank cabinet door, the first step is deciding hardware placement. I’m a very visual person so to help me decide on where things would go I first traced the hardware on a piece of black construction paper, cut it out, and taped them to the door and drawer fronts. This way I could step back and play around with the placement before I finalized it.

For our cabinets, we decided we liked the knobs two inches from the edge of the cabinet (not including the beveled edge). Once we decided on this placement, it was just a matter of measuring it out on all the cabinet doors so they were centered side-to-side on the trim piece as well as two inches in. Consistency is key to having uniform placement - and I made sure to measure multiple times in both directions before marking it with a pen

Alternatively, you can also use a Cabinet Hardware Template to help get consistent placement.

It’s important to measure the knobs on each door independently - if the doors aren’t hung evenly, it may look off initially but the hinges can be adjusted later so everything (the doors themselves as well as the hardware) will line up visually.

When it comes time to drill the holes, it’s important to make a small pilot (starter) hole before you drill the full size hole. There’s several reasons for this, but the two most important ones being that larger drill bits tend to “walk” when you drill on a smooth surface, and without drilling a pilot hole first you might end up off your mark. The other important reason is that pre-drilling the hole smaller first will help lessen the chance of the wood splitting. Be aware of what’s behind the cabinet front when you drill! Make sure you aren’t drilling into the cabinet frame or dishes that may be in the cabinet behind the door. For the larger hole you’ll want the drill bit diameter to be just barely bigger than the diameter of the screws that come with the hardware.

Once the larger hole is drilled, slide the screw in from the back and use a screwdriver to hold it in place while you thread the knob on snuggly.

Deciding on drawer pull placement. (Note that while the lower cabinet knobs are each in the correct place, they look off since the cabinet doors are uneven - this can be fixed by adjusting the cabinet door hinges, which I did once I was finished installing all the hardware.)

For the drawer pulls I followed a similar procedure as I did for the door fronts. One thing I had to keep in mind though is the drawer pulls I chose aren’t symmetrical top-to-bottom - the mounting screws are towards the bottom of of the pulls. Therefore, playing around with the placement of the drawer pulls was very important - the drawer pulls needed to look centered visually from top to bottom on the drawer fronts, even though that made for the screw placement to be slightly below center.

Once I liked the visual placement of the paper templates I carefully measured out the spacing on each side as well as down from the screw holes to make sure everything was accurate and even. These particular drawer pulls have screws 3” apart so I made sure that the spacing between the screw markings was accurate as well. (Once you get an idea of placement, you could also use a Cabinet Hardware Template here to help mark everything out.) In our kitchen the drawers are three different sizes, so this process needed to be repeated several times - on the shorter drawers I used one pull, and on the longer drawer I used two pulls.

After the hole placements were marked, I remeasured the spacings several times before drilling the pilot holes and then the screw holes. Then it’s simply a matter of screwing the screws in from the backside of the drawers with a screwdriver into the drawer pulls.

AFTER

And that’s it - the whole project took less than an afternoon to do and it really helps our kitchen look more finished. I just love how it came out! Once we replace our countertops with a more modern granite counter the space will really look sharp and the hardware will compliment it beautifully.

---

GIVEAWAY!

Head on over to our Instagram for details and to enter our Giveaway with Cosmas Hardware for a $50 shop credit so you can update the look of your kitchen too with the hardware of your choice!

Giveaway ends 3/11/19 at 5PM EST.

---

- I received these items from Cosmas Hardware but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information - 

Disclaimer: Installing new cabinet hardware from scratch is something that most people can very easily do on their own and here I’ve shared my tips on the easiest way I’ve personally found to measure and install them. However, use your best judgement when installing your hardware - if you’re in doubt of your measuring or drilling skills, there’s no harm in consulting a professional before you tackle this or any project.

---

Check out our Related Posts:

Sampling “New England’s Finest”

I know I’m not the only one that has family and friends that are hard to shop for… but a gift box from New England’s Finest is always a great idea! New England’s Finest offers curated themed gift boxes to bring a taste of New England’s Finest to their door (or your own door if you’d like to enjoy these goodies for yourself). New England’s Finest was kind enough to send me their Ultimate New England Sampler box to enjoy with my family and I’m excited to share what’s inside!
| This post contains affiliate links as well as an honest review of products provided by New England’s Finest |

The Ultimate New England Sampler Box is PACKED full of delicious New England-made goodies! In fact, I couldn’t quite get the box closed again after I looked through it, it was that full. All of their gift boxes offer free shipping and this particular box is currently on sale at the moment too, which makes it even more of an amazing deal!

The Ultimate New England Sampler Gift Box includes goodies such as: Goodnow Farms’ Almendra Blanca Dark Chocolate Bar, Untapped’s Chai Waffle, Homefree’s Vanilla Mini Cookies, Lucy’s Really Nutty Pecan Granola, Pork Beach Sauce Co’s Maple Blueberry BBQ Sauce, Port City Tasty Ranch Dill Pretzels, Cold Hollow’s Maple Vinaigrette, Jack’s Maple Apple Crackers, Coastal Maine Popcorn Co,’s Chocolate Covered Strawberry Popcorn, Potlicker Kitchen’s Beer Jelly, Bixby & Co’s Sea-Salted Caramels, and Homefree’s Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies. (You can check out the unboxing of this amazing gift box over on my Instastories today!)

One thing I particularly love about NEF as a company is that for every 10 gift boxes purchased they donate a gift box to a family receiving care at Boston Children's Hospital as a way to give back to the community.  So if you're looking for that perfect gift for someone (or yourself!) who loves New England or is a New Englander at heart, be sure to check out New England's Finest and get "a little flavor and charm from the Northeast."  

Follow New England's Finest on Facebook and Instagram to see their latest promotions and boxes.

- I received this item for review from New England's Finest but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information - 

Sneak Peek with Cosmas Hardware

Just wanted to share a quick sneak peek of the beautiful knobs and drawer pulls from Cosmas Hardware I’ll be using in an upcoming blog post on how to install cupboard hardware yourself.  We’ll also be giving away a credit to Cosmas Hardware too - so stay tuned!

Making Mealtime Fun with Nûby + GIVEAWAY!

Our young toddler has been behind on eating for awhile now. We’ve been working with a feeding therapist to get her more interested in self-feeding and used to textures, but we’re always looking for new ways to get her excited for mealtime. When Nûby offered to send some of their dishware we were excited to try them and give a lucky follower a chance to win all of these for their family! | This post contains affiliate links and an honest review on products provided by Nûby |

The Sure Grip Miracle Mat Section Plate has been a great addition to working on our little one’s self-feeding skills - it lays out the food in front of her, keeps it contained, and the best part is that it suctions to her tray - no more thrown or tipped over plates! With Nûby’s Stainless Steel Utensils with Easy Grip Handles, it gives her a great opportunity to feed herself like a big girl.

The Sure Grip Feeding Bowl also helps keep her food on the tray and off the floor! I love how these silicone dishes are BPA & PVC Phthalate Free, microwave/dishwasher safe, and one piece so they’re super easy to clean. The Sure Grip Feeding Bowl is a favorite to bring to restaurants since it fits easily in her diaper bag or lunch box and helps keep mealtime mess-free by staying put on the high chair tray or table.

Nûby’s Flower Child Snack Keeper is a great way to bring snacks on the go. Whether we’re at the park, playdate, or at home it keeps our little one’s snack within reach without spilling everywhere.

Nûby’s Storage Bowls with Feeding Spoon has been a huge help for us on the go! With our little one’s restricted diet, we always have to bring her food with us whenever we leave the house. These handy storage bowls are just the right size to portion out meals and snacks for her. They are also BPA-free, dishwasher, microwave, and freezer safe.

---

GIVEAWAY!

Giveaway ends 2/14/19 at 5PM EST.

Would you like a chance to win ALL the great Nûby products I shared about in this post? Head on over to my Instagram (@birchlandinghome) and look for this photo for details and to enter! Good luck!

---

- I received these item for review from Nûby but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please read our full Disclosure Policy for more information - 

Nûby's products can be found at many retailers including Wal-Mart, Amazon, TJ Maxx, and Nuby.com.

---

Tips for Perfect Christmas Cookies + Boston Family Entertainment Giveaway!

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:

• LEGOLAND Discovery Center Boston Bricktacular
• Blue Man Group Boston
• American Girl LIVE! at the Boch Center Shubert Theatre
• Archery Games Boston
• South Street Diner

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!