How to level a shed

Leveling the Shed

Leveling the Shed

Concrete elephant feet and HiLo Jacks

We undertook the biggest challenge on our shed-o-vation yet- Leveling the Shed. The concrete below the shed has severely cracked and is sunk in, thus resulting in the shed being wayyyy out of level. Tom decided the best plan of action would be to use hiLo jacks to lift it, and then concrete elephant feet and half lap joints. He took his time to carefully cut all of the joints and boards by hand. Tom has been studying hand woodworking for a while now. We joke around that he is becoming a ninja elf since he likes the Japanese art of woodworking best. He sure was earning his elf ears that weekend! (read more)

MelindaLeveling the Shed
She Shed in painting in progress

She Shed!

This is the front and main entry to the shed, IT was a sad little shed before…

For the entire year of 2016 you may have noticed I have been MIA! haha! Mia as in missing in action. There are many reasons I took some time off from the blog and the development of the business aspect of Bohemian Cottage. After my mom died in January of 2015, I had a really hard time focusing. I struggled with depression and and grief and that lack of focus eventually lead to less and less time devoted to the things I love, like cooking and sharing recipes, gardening, writing…Then my Dad announced in the fall of 2015 that he was going to move in with us! I had encouraged him to move to Colorado for many years, and he finally came to a place where the timing was right for him. Well, as you can ascertain from the pictures of some of my decor projects and parties the cottage was very small for 5 people! My Dad was shortly after his announcement of moving in with us, in a pretty severe motorcycle accident. He ended up in the hospital with a fractured skull, broken collar bone and lots of cuts and bruises.  He also sold his house to someone he knew, so he had to be moved out within a month! Smash cut to a few weeks later, Tom and I are there helping to pack up all of his belongings and driving him out here. He had to sleep on an air mattress for 5 months poor guy! (read more)

MelindaShe Shed!
Gift Wrapping with recycled Christmas cards.

Gift Wrap with Recycled Christmas Cards

Gift Wrapping

This handmade card is so perfect for adorning a small gift.

Gift bags are so easy and convenient to throw a gift into with a little tissue paper and instantly without much effort you have a pretty gift ready to give. The only thing missing is the satisfaction of tearing into that beautiful gift wrap and discovering the very present you were wishing for under that lovely wrapping paper. It seems that everyone has there style of opening gifts. Some love to carefully open the box from the ends, making sure not to tear anything, while others rip open the wrapping so fast you end up with shreds of paper everywhere. I am somewhere in between.With the popularity of gift bags, the wrapped gift is not as popular it seems. Don’t get me wrong, I love an easy and beautiful gift bag! This year I had started saving boxes for wrapping some gifts in, and bought some new paper, and we had a ton of left over ribbon from last year just waiting to adorn a pretty wrapped box. The girls love to wrap presents, so they were a big help this year with that process. I came across a big stack of Christmas cards from years past, too pretty to throw away, but not really having a use anymore. I thought it would be a great idea to use them to trim our packages. (read more)

MelindaGift Wrap with Recycled Christmas Cards

Magical Samhain Night

Enchanted Floating Candles

We made these enchanted candles to give a magical touch to our festivities.

One of our favorite holidays to celebrate is Halloween or Samhain. Sometimes we get a little carried away with decorations and treats, but it sure is fun! More is more! We had fun making some crafts, spooky flying fairy skeletons, enchanted candles like in Harry Potter and ribbon garlands to hang over doorways in Halloween colors and patterns. Food. We also made lots of tasty food. Spooky food. Ok, maybe not so spooky, but creative and festive for the occasion. I got lots of ideas from magazines and pinterest. Check out my Halloween board to see some of the inspiration. I discovered ways to take the inspiration and make it my own, and in some cases improving on the ideas. (read more)

MelindaMagical Samhain Night
Fleur De Lis 8 Symbols of Happiness

8 Symbols of Happiness

My good friend Arianna has recently launched her blog, seekingabetterlife.com,  that explores her journey in uncovering the truth about nutrition and health. She recently shared her 8 symbols of happiness and challenged her readers to come up with theirs. The concept is based on her favorite writer, blogger and podcaster, Gretchen Rubin’s The 8 symbols of happiness which was inspired by the 8 Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism.

My 8 symbols of happiness are…

Heart. I think without love there would be little that would make me happy. Romantic love, parental love, love for kindred souls, friends and my family… (read more)

Melinda8 Symbols of Happiness
How to make Candy Sushi

Candy Sushi!

Candy Sushi

Candy Sushi made with Rice Crispy Treats, Fruit Roll Ups and other candy.

I have a friend I work with who is leaving for greener pastures, and I wanted to make her something special as a goodbye gift. She loves candy and sushi, so I thought the perfect thing would be Candy Sushi! I saw various versions of it on Pinterest, and it looked easy and adorable. It is a sweet treat and a crafty no bake one at that. They would be really fun for a Japanese themed party or even as dessert for a real sushi dinner.

They are easy to make with some assembly. There is a lot of candy involved and it made my grocery cart look like I had a serious sugar addiction! It turned out to be fun for Coda and I as an after school activity to do together. We did end up eating way more candy than is usual in our house for sure. (read more)

MelindaCandy Sushi!