How to Make a Travel Farkel Game

My dear friend sent me a game of pocket Farkel recently. I had visited her on summer vacation this summer, and she attempted to teach me to play.

I loved the compactness of the pocket game, but was concerned that the plastic zipper bag would not hold up to the chaos of my handbag -- you seriously never know what I might be carrying around... scissors... craft knives... who knows?

Our New Beach House Cats

We adopted two cats this summer. I was scrolling through our local Nextdoor forum, and noticed that someone was looking for a home for their cats, as they were soon to be moving. I was a little shocked, at first, after all, who leaves their cats when they move? When I clicked on the posting, I understood.

Syd and Leo each weigh over five hundred pounds. They are not easy to move. The owners had moved them several times, but they were getting older, and it was time to find the cats a new family. I called them and made an appointment to meet the cats in their Seattle courtyard.

Working on the Beach House Path

It's been quite a while since I posted any beach house updates. We continue to plug along with projects, but we try to balance work weekends with resting weekends and entertaining weekends.

Each year we improve the beach path a little bit more. When we first bought the house, the path was only inches wide, and full of holes and random hidden driftwood logs to trip us up. I think I spent as much time face down in the dune grass, as I did walking down the path!

Creating Art With Beach Treasures

If you drag home lots of shells and sand dollars from your beach vacations, here is a project that is fun for both kids or grownups.

We spend a lot of time at the beach on the Pacific Northwest coast, and have collected baskets and baskets of shells and sand dollars. I adore them in their natural state, but also love the idea of using them to create art.

The Blitsy Bandit Strikes

I love Blitsy. If you're not familiar with Blitsy, it's an online discount craft retailer. The website is full of helpful tutorials, and they offer daily sales. I spend the workweek in a very urban environment, which translates: craft supply desert, so being able to buy supplies online, from stores like Blitsy, is wonderful. Well, the other day, the Blitsy Bandit struck in my building!

Here's a picture that shows what I would rather be doing, instead of

 going through security cam footage, looking for the Blitsy Bandit.

Blitsy recently held an amazing warehouse sale, with items up to 70% off! They had stamps and dies and papers, and punches, being sold for a song. I ordered from their sale on multiple days. Imagine my dismay when a package I'd been excitedly awaiting, was stolen from our mail room. Heart. Breaking.

Creating an Art Index Card A Day!

Are you doing the Index Card a Day challenge? This is a challenge to create a small piece of art on an index card, every day, for the months of June and July.

This challenge is the brainchild of Tammy, over at Daisy Yellow Art. You can go to her website for challenge details.

DIY Patchwork Rugs for Cheap!

We own some boat slips in our condo marina. Along with the slips, there is a condominium clubhouse in the adjacent building that is jointly owned by all the moorage owners.

It's basically just a giant concrete room. A few years ago, a sump pump that serviced the residential portion of the building malfunctioned and flooded the entire space. The carpets and portions of the gypsum board needed to be removed. It was ugly.

Star Tutorials You Must Try for Fourth of July!

Are you ready for the Fourth of July?  It's always been one of my favorite holidays. In the sweet little Colorado town where we raised our kiddos, there was a kid's parade and an orchestra performance in a lovely old town park.  In the evening, families would grab their blankets and walk up the hill to the golf course for a great fireworks display. Here in Seattle, the best viewing is from a boat on Lake Union. Folks take their boats out early and anchor. They swim and cook on the grill during the day, then snuggle in for the fireworks at dusk.

If you've read my blog for long, you know I love stars!

Star Tutorials You Must Try for Fourth Of July!

Are you ready for the Fourth of July?  It's always been one of my favorite holidays. In the sweet little Colorado town where we raised our kiddos, there was a kid's parade and an orchestra performance in a lovely old town park.  In the evening, families would grab their blankets and walk up the hill to the golf course for a great fireworks display. Here in Seattle, the best viewing is from a boat on Lake Union. Folks take their boats out early and anchor. They swim and cook on the grill during the day, then snuggle in for the fireworks at dusk.

If you've read my blog for long, you know I love stars!

Make Your Own Pottery Barn Inspired Faux Coral

This tutorial originally appeared in House Revivals in the summer of 2012, and continues to be one of our most popular posts. Enjoy!

Are you still loving all the faux coral decor we've been seeing at places like Pottery Barn and Horchow?  I know I love it!

 Pottery Barn

By using faux coral, you can enjoy the casual beachy feeling of decorating with coral, without worrying about how the coral was harvested.  Sometimes that faux coral comes with a pretty steep price tag, so I've come up with a way to create beautiful faux coral using very inexpensive materials.