DIY recycled denim patches

I’ve discovered a new project, a way to use all of the scraps of denim that I’ve been saving! If you remember these cute denim bags that I made, you may remember that I made my own patches to sew onto their flaps. This made me think…couldn’t I create my own patches for (and of) anything with this same method??

The answer, of course, is yes.

And after seeing a few inspirational photos on Pinterest, I had a ✨vision✨

BUGS.

(because I’m clearly still firmly in my bug era)

I thought it was kind of a nice synchronicity that I made these right around the time that Noah Kahn came out with his new album The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs. I really think some Noah fans should find and appreciate my work

These came out exactly how I imagined, but better.

If you don’t know how to sew, you can now buy these in my Etsy shop!

If you do know how to sew, and you’re interested in making some of your own, here’s how I did it.

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pear blossoms

(a series of spring self portraits)

_{april 21, 2026}

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a busy spring

April and May have been a blur of flowers, birds, hard work, and poison ivy.

As mentioned in a previous post, we’ve been doing some pretty extreme work on our property, so here’s a collection of photos from the last two months.

Mom finally brought the poetry magnets back out, so our fridge is currently full of them

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the peace of wild things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

_{Wendell Berry}

April 4, 2026

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3 diy easter projects

If you found yourself wondering if I’d skipped Easter, the answer is yes, and also no.

I didn’t do anything to celebrate (if I remember correctly, my family and I didn’t even wish each other a happy Easter on the actual day), which is a very common occurrence for holidays these days, but it’s also kinda weird when I think about it, because Easter used to be a really big holiday in our family.

Not because we’ve ever been religious (we have not), but it was always a day that my family and extended family celebrated together.

7-year-old Jordan Rae searching out chocolate in my Disney princess pajamas

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march wrap

Living in New England, I think that March might be the most dramatic month of the whole year.

On the third of March we went “hiking” and ended up clumsily tripping through three feet of snow, but by the end of the month the ground was clear, and flowers were blooming.

You can watch my 60-second March wrap here!

A girl holding a large camera looks out of a car window.

March 3rd, we definitely underestimated how much snow would still be at our local park; watch my spring vlog here!

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my 28th birthday

This birthday photoshoot was the last straw for my trusty, twelve-year-old Canon Rebel.

Sure, it was definitely showing signs of its age, and the auto focus no longer worked, but I didn’t know that this would be it!

My camera’s final project 🕊

Let’s rewind for a minute.

A girl sits at a table with a floral backdrop behind her, and bowls of fruit in front of her.

I reused my Christmas dress, because 1. I have a washing machine, 2. it looked like the perfect fruity picnic dress, and 3. it’s so cute and I haven’t had a chance to actually wear it anywhere yet

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upcycled denim book bags

One of my YouTube subscribers (and repeat customer) threw out the idea for me to design a bag that he could toss a few books into; something simple to throw over his shoulder, made from upcycled denim, with a touch of birds (yes, this subscriber found me through Riley Mae’s beloved bird channel).

At this suggestion, my brain instantly went 💡

A handmade denim bag sitting on a dresser

these bags look small and compact, but are big enough to comfortable fit an 11″x9″ notebook into, as well as a few books!

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5 diy valentine’s day projects

I hope that you all had a cozy Valentine’s Day; I certainly did, which means that I spent the day at home celebrating the completion of my Valentine’s to-do list (and starting on my next projects!).

Now I shall dump an excessive amount of red-pink-and-white photos into this post, please enjoy my 5 DIY Valentine’s Day Projects 😌🎀

just look how cute this is; the perfect backdrop for all my videos!

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january

I can’t believe that January is already over. I know it drags on endlessly for a lot of people (and I’m often one of those people), but it really seems like it was here and gone this year.

And not only did I succeed in making all twelve monthly wraps last year (you can find the whole playlist of them here), I started all over again for 2026. It’s too much fun to watch the changing year through them all!

I’m happy to report that winter has been very wintery here in New England. Multiple winter storms have arrived, and the last storm we got (Storm Fern) dropped a good 16″ inches on top of us. We now have snow-blown paths winding through the yard leading to all of our important destinations (the barn, the wood shed, the compost, the birdfeeders…).