Warm your house up this winter and add a little rustic charm with a DIY garland for your fireplace mantel, bookcase or stairway. Just choose a cookie cutter and grab the air dry clay to whip up this adorable decor. Every house has something special. It's that one feature that really tugs at your heartstrings as soon as you walk through the door. In our first home, it was all the sunlight. A southern exposure and huge windows lit up every inch of that 900 square foot cottage. Dreamy. In this house, a mere hundred or so feet from that darling cottage, it was the fireplace . Floor to ceiling stones that were met with strong wooden beams on the ceiling. And a rustic wooden mantel that was just begging to be decorated.

Happy New Year, Friends! And welcome 2025! I know it sounds like a cliche, but boy oh boy, that happened fast. One minute I was packing for our Thanksgiving trip and the next thing I knew, the ball was dropping a mere 45 minutes from my home. In the middle of a crazy thunderstorm. Poof. Where did the time go?

Today, as I started to compile my annual list of the year's most popular posts, I found myself lost in nostalgic thoughts about how this Exquisitely Unremarkable journey began. It was a cold and dreary March morning, way back in 2013. I was in the middle of some tough times  and my nephew suggested I share some of my DIYs and decorating projects with the world to cultivate a little joy inside my own. Of course, I had no idea what a blog was at that time. I wasn't on Facebook or any social media platforms, and while I shopped online, I didn't spend much time clicking around. And I certainly knew nothing about coding.

This year, I purchased a couple of paper Christmas trees and covered them with a lacy fabric from an old skirt. It was a quick and easy holiday DIY that took just minutes to create. And it added a whole lot of festive, handmade holiday charm to my Christmas cottage. The holidays are always super busy and this year has been no exception. While I've had enough time to visit with friends, celebrate with family, shop, wrap, listen, watch and craft, I didn't have time to share everything I made. So today, I'm playing catch up. By the warmth of the fire and the light of the tree.

I used a couple of old ceiling fan glass globe shades to make a pair of darling upcycled angels. I was able to create them with supplies I had around the house in minutes. Check out the full, quick and easy DIY. I love browsing around thrift stores. In recent years, it's become one of my favorite pastimes. There's something about the thrill of the hunt that excites me, way more than shopping retail. Perhaps, it's because I like unique decor, vintage treasures, nostalgic pieces and best of all, items I can makeover. Or maybe it's because I love a bargain.

This year I decided to lighten up my Christmas decor. Since the kids weren't around to tell me we had to put out every last piece of holiday fare that had been tucked away in the basement bins for the better part of the year, I didn't. Instead I chose to decorate with only my most treasured items and a few new inexpensive items. But that's not really the whole story. You see, Christmas crafting is my favorite kind of DIY. And home decor is my craft specialty . So naturally, by default, the decorating doesn't actually end around here, until the last Christmas craft is complete. And I'm not there yet.

Decorating my cottage for Christmas has always been one of the great highlights of my year. Let's just say that for someone who loves decor, Christmas is basically the superbowl of of decorating. The opportunity to dress the house in lights and color and totally transform it for a few precious weeks, to celebrate the magic of the season, is magic in and of itself. There are stockings to hang and trees...so many trees...to fill and lights to string. Every room truly becomes a wonderland. Most years, I couldn't wait to pull out the buckets, unpack the ornaments and put up the big tree. Christmas 2014 - Simple And Rustic And while the overall design and plan of attack was basically up to me, the process had always been a full on family affair. Sure, it made things messier. There were more cooks in my decorating kitchen, so to speak, but there was also a level of excitement and wonder that made the whole operation so much more enjoyable. Well, this year, for the first time in alm...