Suzannah Hamlin Stanley's Blog, page 78

Bare minimum Thanksgiving & Black Friday sales 2015 - keep it simple with these few online deals!

You guys. It's a conflict every year. This year in particular (I think), I really want to get my holiday shopping done early, and of course I appreciate discounts like Black Friday sales. But I get so stressed around big crowds! But I'd really like to buy a few things for myself (this year: new slippers) and also get gift-shopping done. So I've identified a few key online Black Friday sales for

Special for my readers! DIY Wardrobe Makeovers personalized gifts

I hope you guys are as excited about this as I am! I really want to share DIY Wardrobe Makeovers with as many people as are interested this holiday season, so if you like to sew and share your love of sewing with others... please consider giving a copy ofDIY Wardrobe Makeoversto friends and family, and/or putting it on your wishlist! As an added incentive... I'm going to write personalized

Winter weekend travel: Smith Rock!

The other weekend we took an impromptu trip toSmith Rockin Central Oregon! We had started planning for a road trip to four or five of theSeven Wonders of Oregonin June but then we started talking about selling the house and had too much going on. But Central Oregon is usually pretty sunny even in the fall/winter, so it was a great trip for us to do in November for a weekend getaway! We

DIY mini canvas Christmas ornaments tutorial

I'm ready for Christmas DIYs already! My mother-in-law has a tradition of a new type of ornament crafting project every holiday season. They've done the glass globes, some great spiraly wooden trees, little t-shirt-shaped ornaments... usually painting, but not always, always something creative and new. That inspired me to do my own painted ornament project - actual tiny canvases! This tutorial

6 tips for a low-key holiday dinner party!

Before we bought our townhome we never did it, but in the past few years we've learned a few things about having friends over for dinner and having holiday parties! It's so out of the ordinary for us that it's a little emotionally taxing just to think about it... but this year, while planning a dinner party we're having with a few friends, I realized I've identified a few key tips and steps for

Grain-Free Cranberry Apple Tart Recipe - great for Friendsgiving!

This recipe received some of the best reviews from my food critic (dear husband) than anything in my recent memory. He loves cranberries, so that's a big part of it, but I agree that this (pretty experimental) grain-free crust and cinnamon-ey apple creation turned out fabulous. Excited to share it with you! Keep it in mind for holiday parties this season - or if you're tired of all the classic

DIY Thanksgiving tea towel Silhouette stencil tutorial! & discount code

I love learning new things!! And crafty skills. This time, I put my SilhouetteFabric Ink Starter Kitto use finally, with a new kind of project on mySilhouette Cameomachine. So far I've done a lot of my own lettering/designs with iron-on vinyl, which has worked out great (see allmy Silhouette projects here), but this little machine can do SO much and I wanted to start learning a few other

Confidence, curly hair, and learning to work with what you've got

I've learned a lot about confidence, self love, and acceptance over the past few years. Thanks in large part to some great role models from the smart fitness and Paleo communities - like Molly Galbraith(like her 28-Day Love Your Body Challengelast year - some really emotional days in there for me!), who says things like "You can love your body right now, while wanting it to look or perform

DIY pumpkin pie spice blend - great gift idea!

Pumpkin spice season is in full swing. One day it was 80 degrees and two weekends later it was cold with mild flooding! It's almost time for the holidays and I'm already thinking about it! And, I decided this year to finally make my own pumpkin pie spice--and I've been putting it in my coffee every. single. day. since. I was so surprised to learn, when I looked up recipes, that there are 50

If you redo a DIY, does it cancel it out? Or - repainting my stencil wall

It's been a long time since I painted a room or made major decor changes in our townhouse. It was a huge accomplishment to decorate it the way I wanted it, and it felt like a complete project... so I've been just living in it for a couple years! But, I have the bug for a new project and since our moving plans didn't work out this summerand I don't have the perfect "cosmetic fixer" and spare cash