While I am still working on the full tour/reveal post, I thought I would share one tiny little corner that was created for one specific part of me – my writer’s soul.

I really wanted to have an area in this room that I could look at and instantly remember some of the many reasons I call myself a writer. I have thought of myself as a writer since I was about 8 or 9 years old, but I don’t always feel like one. While this blog is a beautiful space for me to share stories of my family, reviews and social change, I don’t publish essay style posts nearly as often as I would like. I’m talking about the ones that really allow me to flex my writing muscles and leave me a little bit breathless at the end.

My goal for 2015 is to #ReclaimMyWritersSoul.

This corner of my little personal heaven is set up full of visual reminders to help me with that goal. From my half filled journals to my antique ink well. My Jo doll from Little Women (my favourite book), my gorgeous cast iron Underwood typerwriter and the motivational posters I made. I am a writer nerd and everything on this desk reflects that.

It screams nerd. And I love every. single. bit. of it.

If you are feeling a little blocked in the writing department and are looking for some motivation, I have the three posters I made available below as free downloads. Help yourself and enjoy. Click the link in the caption for the full size of each image and save from there. They are formatted to print out in an 8×10.

Click for full image & save.

Click for full image & save.

Click for full image & save.

Ideally speaking, I’ll make the time for my writing in this room…and maybe even get back to my novel for the first time in 4 years…

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The holiday season is right around the corner. As a busy mom of two now, and my return to work in just a few weeks, I wanted to get a head start on some of my Christmas crafting. We have a very large front entrance at our home. For the past two years we have been here, I have tried to think of more we can do to decorate out there for the holidays. I wanted something that greets the friends and family that visit. I figured a bit of candy could be just the thing.

I give you, the easy DIY Christmas candy holder!

Like every other pinning crafter on the planet, I LOVE mason jars. There is just something sweet and rustic about them and it lent the perfect amount of charm to this project. This Christmas candy holder took me only about an hour total to make and costs under $10 for the materials.

What you need:

• Plaque or large scrap piece of wood – Personally, if I’d had barn board, I think that would take this to a whole new level
• A couple mason jars – I went with two for this plaque size, but you could go larger with more jars
• Twine
• Spray Paint
• Paint Pen – I prefer to use paint pens for better precision when it’s for wording
• Pencil
• Drill
• Stickers or something similar for decoration if desired
• Holiday candy

I started out with painting the plaque. I used spray paint for the sake of time. Busy baby and all. I only did one coat so that some of the wood grain would show through. Once it had dried, I marked out where I wanted to hang the mason jars and drilled two holes. Make sure the holes are large enough to fit two pieces of twine through.

In order to really get the wording to look the way I wanted, I did it out using an app on my iPad first. That way I could use it as a guide on the actual plaque. I started by writing it out with pencil. I highly recommend having a light coloured eraser on hand, since you don’t want eraser marks left on the board.

I then used my paint pen, or in this case, nail art pen…it’s the only red I had on hand. I carefully went over my pencil writing. Depending on how thick you want the wording, you may have to go over it two or three times. I had some very pretty snowflake stickers left over from last year’s Christmas crafting and added a few to give it a little bling.

Next I moved onto the mason jars. I cut long pieces of twine and wrapped it around the top. I tied it on either side. Then added another piece and did the same, finishing the second tie on the opposite side. This gave me two pieces of twine on either side of the jars. I took the pieces of twine on the front of each side and pulled it through the holes. I then knotted those pieces to the remaining pieces of twine on either side at the back of the plaque.

Getting the jars to hang at the same height is the tricky part. Once I had the plaque up on the wall, I had to loosen or tighten the knots accordingly to get the jars hanging evenly on both sides and with each other.

All that’s left to do after that is add candy and enjoy! I added candy canes for now, but will switch it up with other holiday treats over the season.

Ideally speaking, I will be able to keep the four year old away from it before all the candy canes go missing…

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I decided to highlight some of the Christmas crafts I did as a special edition of the Pinterest House Project, since this fits the same theme as the rest of the series; bigger house, lots of space for decor, so many ideas on Pinterest!

I want to start with my favourite project. When I spotted this light-up Christmas canvas on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it. First off, it’s beautiful. Secondly, this is my all time favourite Christmas song. This craft was meant for me

I love the way it looks on my mantel. It’s the star attraction!

Once I realized how easy it is to write on a canvas (I used paint pens, by the way. So easy!) I went hunting for some other canvas ideas. That is when I spotted this very cute and simple Believe DIY canvas.

Next up was some plain old painted foam Christmas trees. I found so many beautiful DIY Christmas trees on Pinterest, but didn’t have time to make them all. This was a super easy craft that Lilly and I were able to do together. She did the first coat of paint on each one. I followed up with second coat and sparkles. That was it! Easiest craft of the season.

The next craft was also fairly easy, if you like to paint. I loved the idea of a mobile of clear, painted Christmas balls, hanging in front of a bright window. It took me a bit to find the clear ornaments, but finally spotted them at Walmart in packs of 4. I loved how this turned out. So pretty!

I had bought packages of styrofoam balls last year, with the intent that we would make some Christmas ornaments with them. Being a sewer who hoards fabric…these easy fabric covered Christmas balls seemed perfect. Lilly helped out again with this one. it was as simple as cut, wrap and tie.

We did a whole garland, highlighting these fabric Christmas ornaments from the main entrance way of the house.

I wanted to do a few crafts that were specifically on the cuter side for Lilly. This adorable DIY snowman scene was actually not an idea from Pinterest. This one came from my own flowing creative juices! You can read the full tutorial here.

I also wanted to make something that Lilly could keep in her room. My mom always had some decorations on hand for us to add a festive touch to our rooms. That is a tradition that I would like to pass on. I saw this DIY ribbon Christmas tree making the rounds on Pinterest last year and LOVED it. So very pretty! Given all of the crafts I have been doing for Lilly’s bedroom, I had a lot of ribbon on hand that would match her decor. Many of the tutorials online call for just pinning the ribbon or paper in place. I decided to use hot glue. It took a little longer, but I also feel it will last.

The last craft we pulled together was a DIY advent calendar. This is the first year we have had an advent calendar for Lilly at all. She is starting to understand time and old enough to really enjoy the countdown. With her Celiacs Disease, I always figured an advent calendar would be one of those things we make. I just never know if the chocolate in the store bought ones is truly gluten free. This is the one craft I made the hubby help out with. We used our existing weekly menu chalk/cork board. Lilly so was excited the first morning she saw it!

The last photo shows another idea I got from Pinterest, but it really wasn’t a craft at all. Like most homes, we have a ton of empty vases kicking around at any given time. I loved the idea of filling them with Christmas ornaments for a very quick and easy piece of festive decor. I’ll be doing a bit more of these for the dining room table before family dinner…since right now it is 95% covered in crafting supplies…

Now, while it looks like I got to a lot of crafts this year, we still didn’t even touch doing anything festive for the basement… I will be on maternity leave through most of the holiday season next year and will ideally get even more accomplished! *Crosses fingers for a good sleeper*

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