Category: Parties

Cake pops are surprisingly easy

Posted on June 19, 2018 by

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Cake pops are surprisingly easy to make {Heather's Handmade Life}

I always admired parents who made cake pops. They seemed so fancy and I’d imagined they’d spent hours in the kitchen, perfecting each little ball of cakey goodness before dipping it and decorating it. While I’m definitely better at baking than cooking (which isn’t…

Category: Cooking, Parties, Recipes

The not-a-party birthday party

Posted on May 8, 2018 by

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The not-a-party birthday party: How to SAVE MONEY by hosting a birthday “outing” instead of a full-blown party where you rent a venue. {Heather’s Handmade Life}

Category: Birthday, Parties, The Mom Scene

Birthday party smackdown: big parties vs. small parties

Posted on May 9, 2017 by

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After last year’s huge birthday bash for our daughter, I swore that we were finished with big birthday parties. I don’t know what pushed me over the edge, whether it was the prep work, the money, the 50-odd people in the venue or the…

Category: Birthday, Friends, Holidays, Milestones, Our Daughter, Parties, The Mom Scene

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
Weird confession: I love DIY and decorating, but I HATE “tablescapes” and table decorating of any kind. It just seems annoying and pointless to me. IDK. I’d just rather a nice plain wood table with plates and cutlery? 🙊 . . . Hosting a small Thanksgiving today and here’s my best effort. I ironed a plain white tablecloth. I stuck two fall-like pillow covers in the middle like a fake runner. I stuck my favourite fake plant in the middle of the pillow covers. Whatever. Lol. 🤷🏻‍♀️ . . . #thanksgiving #tablescape #notreally I took these photos this afternoon, five minutes apart, for #worldmentalhealthday. . . . On the left, I had just completely melted down worrying about how I'm going to handle everything today (including dragging my children along to three different places I need to go, since my husband will be working). Life felt overwhelming. My calendar felt disastrous. I was angry and sad and defeated. I was sitting on the basement stairs (go-to mope spot) and wondering if going off my antidepressants last week was actually the worst idea I'd ever had. I could almost feel a tinge of tears, and I haven't had the ability to cry in years thanks to the meds. . . . On the right, the plan was to show how happy I *could* look and remind you that not everybody SHOWS their dark moments and a smile doesn't mean someone is actually happy. I was going to write something about how you never know how a person really feels, and some people hide their pain. But after messing around with Instagram filters for a few minutes, I actually *was* feeling a little better. Not a lot, but a smidgen. Enough that I was able to pick myself off the stairs, shake out the wobbly foot that had gone to sleep while I moped, and return to my desk to get stuff done. . . . It's still a bad day. . It's still a crummy schedule. . I still have #anxiety. . I still have #depression. . I still wish I could fast-forward to tomorrow. . But I'm trying. Slogging. Pushing through. . I'm always, always fighting. #sicknotweak . . #worldmentalhealthday The prettiest sewing kit ever!🧵✂️ . This is actually a @betseyjohnson LUNCH BAG, but when I saw it at @winners I knew I had to have it. The sparkles! The jewels! The gold! The sequins! The cupcake shape! 🧁 . Since I work from home and have NO use for a lunch bag, I had to come up with a reason to buy it. Hmm. Makeup bag? Nail polish storage? SEWING KIT! . I loaded it up with thread, needles, scissors, and a current hand-sewing project, and suddenly an hour in a loud taekwando gym didn’t seem so bad. (It comes with a detachable shoulder strap that I wound up using around my neck so the bag didn’t slip off my lap. Worked perfectly!) . #sewing #sewinglife #betseyjohnson #betseyjohnsonbag #multipurpose #sewonthego #handsewing #cupcakes #sparkles #sequins Today on the blog: how we taught our kids to pack their own school lunches (!!!) using a handy printable for the fridge. . Grab three FREE printables at the bottom of the post so you can customize one for your own fam. . GAME 🙌 CHANGER 🙌 . #linkinbio #parenting #kids #school #schoollunch #printable #freeprintable #momlife #dadlife #elementaryschool I LOVE the look of an impasto painting — the texture of the swirls, brush strokes, and thick dabs of paint gets me every time. 😍 . While I’m still working on my painting skillz and hope to create a “real” impasto painting soon, I’ve discovered a trick that amateur painters can use to make FAUX IMPASTO paintings using a medium that’s unexpected, cheap, and available just about everywhere. . Full details today on the blog! . #painting #impasto #impastopainting #handmade #create #creativelife #makesomething #paint #minipainting #paintingtips #linkinbio My stepmom was visiting this week which meant our tiny-but-efficient guest room was actually looking cute ... instead of heaped with tax papers and half-finished projects as is often the case. 🙈 . This is the Anne of Green Gables quilt I made for the double bed we built. I love the colours + the abundance of FLORALS (florals are everything for this flower-name lady, despite a terrible allergy to actual flowers). . Full tutorial for the quilt is on the blog and gets a LOT of love on the regular from my fellow kindred spirits. Just hit the #linkinbio and search “Anne” to find it. . #quilting #handmade #quilt #patchwork #quilts #anneofgreengables #annewithane #kindredspirits #sewing #guestroom
@HFXHeather on Twitter
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