Category: My Handmade Home

Painting outdoor lights (the easiest way yet!)

Posted on August 12, 2019 by

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Most of the houses on our street started out with the same gross exterior lights: dull white lantern-style sconces with a flat finish — like maybe they had been primed, for some weird reason.

Category: DIY, Fusion Mineral Paint, My Handmade Home

DIYing while on vacation

Posted on July 22, 2019 by

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Our family recently spent eight sunny days in southern Ontario, visiting my dad and stepmom. While it was a vacation away from my writing, I apparently couldn’t last eight days without getting paint all over myself. I hadn’t planned on DIYing on vacation, but…

Category: Decor, DIY, My Handmade Home

DIY Adirondack Chair

Posted on July 15, 2019 by

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Since this is Nova Scotia and our summers can be very rainy — not to mention the Adirondack chair is likely going to sit outside year-round — we wanted to use pricier pressure-treated lumber.

Category: DIY, My Handmade Home, Woodworking

I’m Heather Laura Clarke. I’m journalist and blogger in beautiful Nova Scotia, I have an 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, I married my high school sweetheart, and this is the story of my handmade life.

I have depression and anxiety, and I fight like hell every day to keep it from taking over my life. Making things isn’t just a hobby — it’s part of what keeps me alive.

Whether I’m decorating a room, busting out my power tools to build furniture, getting muddy in the pottery studio, sewing clothes for my kids, or cross-stitching a swear word, I’m all about using my creativity to craft a life I love.

@HFXHeather on Instagram
I’m doing something I haven’t done in AGES! Any guesses? . . . #craftlife #papercrafting #glitter #sparkles #handmade #craftsupplies Every morning at 7:30 a.m. during Clarke Family Morning Announcements, our #Alexa reminds us of our family motto: Work hard and be nice to people. . . . #workhardandbenicetopeople #motto #handpainted #livingroom #gallerywall #homedecor #ourhome #modernfarmhouse #iphonexr It’s hard to believe this mini-mudroom used to be a basic closet with a hanging rod, two white bifold doors, and zero functionality. Removing the hanging bar, adding lots of hooks, adding built-in wire bins for the kids’ shoes, and converting the bifold doors to double doors that open FULLY has made all the difference. . . . #DIY #homedecor #organization #homehack #smallspaces #homesweethome #frontentry Minor project update! ☝️I finally painted the shed door. It *was* teal but that was the OLD front door colour and Michael refused to have his shed door coral (current front door colour) but it drove me nuts to have the shed door a random colour anddddd so now it’s black. 😂 It’s fine. Everybody wins. Marriage! . . . #backyard #summer #DIY It's August 1 which means I can officially break out our new @mabelslabels + new lunch containers for labeling because back-to-school prep season is upon us! Yaaaaaassss! . . . 34 days (835 hours) to go! . . . (Truth: I'm almost sad our kids' school provides all of their school supplies (for a very reasonable fee) because I would have a blast individually labeling pencils and glue sticks. LOL.) . . . #summer #backtoschool #hoorayforaugust #countdown#mostwonderfultimeoftheyear #mabelslabels #NOTsponsored #justlovethem Cleaning up the kitchen is so much easier with the #DIY garbage / compost / recycling centre we built earlier this year for @craftsmanca. Wrappers, napkins, food scraps, empty cans, etc. all get easily tossed into the right spots. Ahhhh. . . . For the full tutorial, check out the link in my bio (HeathersHandmadeLife.com) and search “recycling.” . . . #DIYfurniture #handmade #organization
@HFXHeather on Twitter
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© Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life, 2009-2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.