Anyone who follows my Instagram page (@nbritsky), knows I am a big cocktail geek. I found these amazing stemmed tea cups on Etsy and fell in love. When trying to order them I discovered they didn’t ship to the U.S. I’m not one of those guys that finds something on Etsy and yells ‘I can make that’. You really should support the artists and reward them for their cool idea. But I made an exception because of the shipping rules. Here is my process. I’ve done it 10 times so far.

All photos courtesy of The Crafty Lumberjacks

The Crafty Lumberjacks are exactly the people we had in mind when the idea of the “Creative Genius” first floated around the DIY Network office. They are the friends you love to follow around the holidays because their home is filled with DIY touches that up the festive quotient of your Instagram feed. They aren’t just on Pinterest; they live Pinterest. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to interview this DIY duo.

Andrew and Dennis, both actors, met while traveling with the national tour of “Fiddler on the Roof.” They found themselves crafting in their off-hours, and making Valentines and goodie bags for all their cast mates. When the tour ended, the Crafty Lumberjacks blog was born for all those friends who wanted to keep up with the crafty pair’s latest projects. (One of their earliest projects that everyone loved was this Zombie Prom (Judy) Garland.) Three years later, they’re still getting crafty in their off hours. The blog is going strong, thousands follow their Instagram account, and you may recognize them from shout-outs on Sweet Paul and BuzzFeed among others.

Both guys have been DIY-ing since childhood: Dennis acted as his mom’s assistant during her craft shows on Long Island, and Andrew worked his way through vintage craft books at a young age. So it comes as no surprise that they share creative duties gathering ideas from everywhere – TV, Pinterest, even the Crate & Barrel bag used to wrapped boxes above. (Andrew’s idea: Genius.)

When I checked in with Andrew and Dennis, they were in their Queens apartment telling me about some of the holiday crafts they’ll be cooking up this season. Like most of the crafters I know, Halloween to Christmas is their favorite time of year! At that moment, they were thinking of ways to incorporate Lincoln Logs into some holiday decor, so I loved seeing this cute little cabin show up a few days later on Instagram.

The thing I dig most about this crafty pair is that their projects always get a lot of “Wow!” without a huge investment or twenty steps. They keep it simple. “We have no time for meticulous!” Their goal is simply to be creative, and they knock it out of the park. Most of their crafts can often be completed while sipping Old Fashioneds and Netflix-ing. In fact, they encourage it. (Click here to get their recipe for the perfect Old Fashioned.)

So if you’re looking to get your holiday crafting on this weekend, check out Dennis and Andrew’s blog for DIY ideas and even a few recipes. (Sriracha Maple Bacon Cheeseball, anyone?) Follow them on Instagram to see a little Christmas cheer in your stream each day. And if you love homemade gifts, but don’t necessarily want to make them yourself, click over to their new Instashop!

The Creative Genius series on Made + Remade features fabulous DIYers and makers who inspire us. Meet more Creative Geniuses and help us share the spirit of DIY!

Make a permanent place for your firewood

If you have a wooded backyard, you can likely relate to the constant upkeep involved with pruning branches and clearing fallen limbs. This outdoor firewood storage unit is the firewood management solution that I wish I had built 5 years ago. Its 3-sided construct is made from a single fence panel, and it sits atop two reused pallets. The top, a heavy-duty corrugated roof that matches my modern doghouse, is durable and will help keep the wood sheltered so that green branches can completely dry.

Plan for to your spring herb garden

If you’re cleaning up tree trunks this fall, keep in mind this easy upcycle: a log herb planter. Carve it out now, give it all winter to dry in a shed or garage, and it will be ready to plant within next spring.

Update your curb appeal

Any change in seasons is the perfect reason to update your outdoor decor. This year, I rid our entryway of a ragged out woven doormat and created a beautiful, cedar all-season doormat. It’ll serve us well this fall, and transition perfectly into the snowy winter months.

Make an easy update to your home with new house numbers. These numbers were cut from cement board which is extremely durable for outdoor decorating purposes, and also gives you the flexibility to create house numbers in any font and size that you wish.

Organize your outdoor accessories

Just like you swap the sandals for the sweaters in your closet, take a day to organize your shed. Move the winter accessories like the snowblower, shovels, and roof rake to the front, and the lawn and garden equipment to the back. Bonus points if you make extra floor space in your garage by getting your bicycles and children’s toys onto the wall.

Think energy efficiency

Take this as an opportunity to learn how to install solar panels. Fewer leaves on the trees may mean more sunlight on the roof of your house, garage, or shed. Do research to learn more about how fast you can recoup your investment in energy savings, and check with your local electric company too – in some areas, if you generate more solar energy than you use, you may be eligible to sell your overage for cash!

Looking ahead? Here are 5 projects to plan for next Spring:

• Boost your curb appeal in a weekend
• Don’t let stereotypes scare you, bats are extremely helpful creatures that help control the bug population, so why not build them a safe cedar bat house? Fewer bugs will translate to a more comfortable backyard, and fewer pests to disturb your garden can help to yield healthier plants and better crops. If you live in a warmer climate, you may be lucky enough to see bats roosting immediately. In colder regions, expect to be host to a new family come springtime.
  

• Plan for new transplants (and if you want to get a jump start now, Fall is one of the best times of year to transplant!)
• Springtime lawn and garden maintenance

Celebrate National Doughnut Day with fresh buttermilk doughnuts.

I love using “National Days” as an excuse for decadence. November 5th is a good one as we celebrate National Doughnut Day. But wait a second. Wasn’t National Donut Day back in June? I seem to remember Ellen making some super cool cactus donuts to celebrate. It’s true. National Donut Day is the first Friday in June to commemorate Salvation Army workers feeding the popular baked good to World War I soldiers (which spawned the nickname “doughboys” for infantrymen). November 5th is National Doughnut Day, which is a celebration of the tasty treat itself. Jelly donuts have a day of their own (June 8) and cream-filled are celebrated September 14. It’s possible I’m not the only one looking for an excuse to make doughnuts.

Use a doughnut cutter or biscuit cutters of two different sizes to create the familiar shape.

November is a pretty great time to celebrate the doughnut. Cool weather means I’m happy to spend time in a hot kitchen and warm, fresh doughnuts lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg are perfect for the season.

Deep fried in oil, doughnuts take about 2 minutes to cook.

This recipe for buttermilk doughnuts takes less than 45 minutes to prepare. Crisp on the outside, soft inside and delicious though and through, it’s a surprisingly easy recipe you’d be tempted to make more often if it wasn’t, you know, deep fried dough rolled in sugar. Did I mention an excuse for decadence? Besides, National Pizza with Everything Except Anchovies Day isn’t until next week. I’m not even kidding about that.

Don’t forget the doughnut holes!

Buttermilk Doughnuts

Yield: About 18 doughnuts (plus holes)

• Vegetable or peanut oil for frying
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Pour peanut or vegetable oil in a deep, heavy skillet to a depth of about an inch and heat on medium-high to a temperature of 370 degrees while preparing dough.

Whisk buttermilk, egg, sugar and butter together in mixer.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt and nutmeg and mix until a soft, sticky dough comes together.

Place dough on a floured work surface, flip over and roll to a thickness of about ½”

Use a doughnut cutter or a 3 inch biscuit cutter and 1 inch biscuit cutter to stamp doughnuts (save the holes).

Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and cinnamon  together in a bowl.

Fry doughnuts a few at a time for 60-90 seconds, use tongs to flip and fry for another minute until golden brown (doughnuts will expand while cooking, so take care to avoid overcrowding).

Using tongs, remove doughnuts from oil, roll in sugar/cinnamon to coat and place on paper towels on top of wire racks to cool.

Bonus: Fry doughnut holes for about a minute on each side, toss in sugar/cinnamon and cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Firewood
There’s nothing for autumnal than sipping hot cider by a crackling fire. Send that subliminal message by stacking some firewood near the hearth and your house will feel cozy and ready for cooler evenings and mugs of hot chocolate.

Image via HGTV

Looking for more subliminal fall decorating ideas? Take a peek at this article by Houzz.

Incorporate Warm Metallics
Copper is a perfect element for autumn decorating, since it’s both warm and rich. Copper candle holders add a cozy glow.

Image via HGTV

Not into copper? Gold is another perfect-for-fall metallic. Check out this article on Apartment Therapy for great ideas on how to incorporate gold into fall decorating. 

Nature’s Bounty: Leaves
In most parts of the country, autumn means brightly colored falling leaves. Scoop up a handful (or go snag some fake ones from a craft store!) and incorporate them into your outdoor decorating using a little burlap. Find the tutorial here.

Looking to bring the leaves indoors? How about a gorgeous suspended leaf chandelier? Tutorial here.

Luxe Rustic
I love the juxtaposition of rustic elements with luxe materials or textures. Acorns and pinecones are a quintessential part of autumn, so why not dress them up a little? Adding rich metallics to rougher, more natural decorations is the perfect blend. Make your own luxe rustic door wreath here.

Color Crush: Rust
Call it orange’s more sophisticated sister, rust is a great color to use in autumn decorating. And since it doesn’t scream Halloween the way orange does, you can use it all the way through to winter. The quilt and throw pillows shown here add the perfect touch of rust to an otherwise neutral room.

Image via HGTV

Cozy, Knitted Throws
Once the temperatures drop, an easy way to add an autumnal element to any room is to add soft, cozy throws for snuggling up.

Image via HGTV

Rich, textured textiles
Fall is a great time to bring back the heavier, richer textiles that seemed a little too much for summer. Add in darker colors, heavier fabrics, and more solid patterns.

Image via HGTV

For those who prefer to buy, and not DIY:
This article on Bustle has great links to pumpkin-free fall decorating elements that can all be purchased.

When you save wine corks for years you tend to create quite the collection. I’ve been collecting for so long that I’ve been able to give away the corks to fellow crafters for DIY projects and to wine bars to use as decorations. If you’re like me and tend to hold onto wine corks thinking you could use them for SOMETHING one day, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Now what the heck do I do with them?!” It’s not rocket science, but wine corks make great, simple stamps.

I’ve been working on some of my printing skills this fall thanks to a favorite new book of mine, Stamp Stencil Print by designer Anna Joyce. As I sat down with the book one night I looked over at the big vase my wine corks are housed in and knew I wanted to print with them just as they were. No carved designs, just a simple circular shape that has just enough quirky character when your favorite paint color is added to them.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it was time for my dining room table to get an autumn makeover. I picked up some harvest-colored paint colors to use on this stamping project. You can stamp plain placemats you find at the store, but it’s just as easy to make them yourself. Here’s how I made mine.

Five years ago I was in Austin for my first visit to SXSW and was meeting one of my best friends at this fabric store and workshop that fellow sewing pals had told me I simply could NOT miss during my visit to Texas. I found myself inside Stitch Lab and my jaw dropped the minute I walked through the door. The bungalow housed a delightful selection of fabrics and samples of work you could learn how to make in one of the studio’s many sewing classes. I love Detroit, my hometown, but as I wandered through Stitch Lab I found myself longing to live right next door owner Leslie Bonnell’s magical sewing haven.

It wasn’t a surprise at all this past winter to see that one of the long lines trying to get into a vendor booth at QuiltCon belonged to Stitch Lab. Their life-size sewing machine served as the funniest photo prop for QuiltCon attendees, as awkwardly shown here yours truly above.

There’s a lot going on with Stitch Lab these days, so I checked in with Leslie to see what’s new.

Who the heck are you?!
I’m a gal with a passion for turning people on to sewing and the needle arts.

For those who have never been to Stitch Lab before, what’s the studio all about?
Stitch Lab is a little slice of heaven, all about creativity, learning new things and helping students reach their creative goals. Stitch Lab is a fabric shop and sewing school, situated in two 1920’s houses—one for our fabric shop and the other for our classroom spaces and admin office. There are fab class project samples everywhere you look. You’ll find an inspiring selection of natural fiber fabrics, wool felt, buttons and other notions galore, and a friendly staff ready to answer all your questions.

Stitch Lab’s home is a charming bungalow. What kind of work did you have to do to turn it into a sewing studio and store? Oh man. Well, I loved the charm of the house, and loved that we were moving from my own home studio into another homey vibe. I wanted people to immediately feel at ease because learning new things as adults can sometime make you feel insecure and wonky. The space definitely had been “rode hard and put up wet”. I grew up with parents who loved antiquing and refinishing rough pieces to former glory. I grew up with that appreciation of old wood and craftsmanship. Now, when I think back to tackling the Lab building, I was a little nuts about it—I re-painted every room’s walls, doors, windows, baseboards, ceilings, and cleaned up all the wood trim. I even stripped paint from the built-in cabinets, which was crazy hard work, but I couldn’t stand that they had been painted. It all went down very quickly, and I think touching and getting to know each room helped me hone in on each room’s possibilities, make them bright and fresh, and infuse some creative juju all up in there.

Before opening Stitch Lab you worked as a costume designer. Tell us a little bit more about that!
I feel so grateful to have had creative work for most of my adult life. I loved designing shows, because I could take my sewing and design skills on a fabulous ride through fantasy, spectacle and historical detail. I experienced incredibly rich and rewarding creative collaborations with the production teams and performers. But, after 13 years, the hectic pace and the intense demands that making theater requires, eventually caught up with me. I wanted to find work that would give me more time to make my own art, and more importantly, give me more quality time with my husband and friends. And that’s how the idea of sharing my sewing knowledge was born.

Which of your classes are most popular with your students?
We have over 100 different sewing classes at the Lab. For real. Beginning sewing is the cornerstone of Stitch Lab. Getting people started off on solid ground is our privilege and our specialty. There is nothing like the energy and glee of someone learning new skills and exceeding their own expectations! The reason we have so many different classes, is to support the many paths of interest that sewing can take. Apparel, practical skills like hemming and mending, making useful accessories, quilting, sewing for babies and children, fashion design, surface design, the zen of hand embroidery and knitting. The variety underscores what a valuable life skill and creative outlet sewing truly is.

You’ve got a pretty great team working with you at Stitch Lab. What’s it like working with such a talented group of instructors offering such diverse skill sets?
Well, it’s incredible! I could not be more grateful for, inspired by, and proud of the Stitch Lab staff and instructors! This is an extraordinary group of creative dynamos, who also have the incredible experience, patience and kindness it takes to be great instructors. The shop and admin staff are every bit as creative and inspiring as the instructors. Everyone shares what they are working on and the environment is delightfully supportive and fun-loving. Any given day, someone is rocking a new dress, creating something special for someone special, sharing a new idea for a class, and thrilling over student work. We reserve the Lab at least once per month all to ourselves so that we can all stitch and enjoy the space together.

I LOVE that students get to learn from our different teachers, because they all have their own brand of expertise and perspective. In sewing, you never stop learning new things, even if you’ve been at it as long as we have.

What kind of trends are you seeing in the sewing world today?
Clearly, modern quilting is huge right now. The national Modern Quilt Guild and QuiltCon have brought quilters from all over the world together in a movement toward modern design.

I’m also seeing way more people interested in tackling apparel sewing. I credit some fantastic modern pattern design lines from Made By Rae, Colette, Bluegingerdoll and Victory Patterns for creating appealing, inspiring and chic designs.

For someone who never sewn a stitch before, what’s a good way to get started?
Experiment, learn from friends and family, take advantage of free online tutorials and, of course, take classes. There’s no substitute for learning from an enthusiastic, experienced instructor, who can cheer you on, answer all your questions, and provide a ton of tips & tricks to make it fun and successful. Get a copy of Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, our go-to handbook.

The Creative Genius series on Made + Remade features fabulous DIYers and makers who inspire us. Meet more Creative Geniuses and help us share the spirit of DIY!

Even without knowing exactly how Blog Cabin was going to turn out, I think it’s really fun to watch the construction process unfold and this beautiful house take form.

Anytime I see an abandoned or dilapidated house, I dream of buying it (for $1) and pouring my heart into it. (This fantasy happens a lot when I’m on lovely vacations, scouring my mind for ways to relocate my family to remote islands). It would definitely be an adventure above and beyond my own DIY abilities, but the idea of facilitating such a home transformation really gets the gears turning.

You might know by now that I have a love of all things home improvement. I loved watching my parents reconstruct and extend their house in every direction, and what they achieved for our family is my inspiration. While those renovations included lots of DIY projects, they also spanned beyond and involved lofting ceilings, adding dreamy skylights, gutting rooms, and designing additions.

As someone who really enjoys doing as much home improvement as I can by myself, it’s easy to forget how easy it can be to go big with the help of contractors to make your home anything you want it to be. Do you sometime wish for more bedrooms? A luxury kitchen? Dreamy skylights? I like to imagine having all of those big ticket projects, so when we bought the house, my husband and I committed to a 5-year plan for making some of them happen with the help of skilled planners and contractors.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to have my hands in it along the way to help with demo and select finishes. At the moment, I’m learning as much as I can by studying the ultimate guide to planning a home addition, filling an entire sketchbook with hand-drawn floor plans, and learning more about managing construction of a future home renovation. Next up will be choosing the right contractors and assembling the perfect team, and after that, hopefully all of the planning will pay off and we’ll have a home that matches our needs for the next 50 years.

Check out this gallery to see all of the before photos of the Blog Cabin renovation, and take tours of the rooms in the finished house on the main Blog Cabin page.

If you’re looking to learn more about renovation and home improvement, here are some related articles that you’ll find interesting:

• An energy efficient home addition
• A spin on the modern home addition (basically, a perfect treehouse for adults)
• Not sure whether you should build up or out?
• What are the alternatives to an addition?
• How much solar energy can my home generate? (And how do solar panels work?)
• And ever-important tips for how to survive a home addition

Luckily, a solid idea formed pretty quickly and it only required materials I had on hand or could grab with one 20 minute run to JoAnn Fabric.  You can’t get more Halloween than candy corn, and I knew I could stencil on a few sweets in no time flat. In less than 20 minutes and for $5, our daughter now has a custom made candy carrier.