Lilikoi Joy

"DIY" Fresh Baked Blueberry Streusel Muffins [Before and After]

2015-05-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Happy May! It's almost Mother's Day, do you have any plans for the special day? We have our whole family here for lunch with all the moms, it's always a nice gathering and the weather usually cooperates to have the shindig outdoors. It's supposed to be in the mid-70s on Sunday, so I'm happy about that!

This is one of the few years I'm not rushing to finish some kind of home DIY project right before the Mother's Day gathering, or at least trying to tidy up a mess mid-project. So far this year, I haven't really done any major home improvement projects around here. There are a few reasons for that - time, energy, budget, and time. Oh, and budget, did I mention that? ;) I must say that I miss being knee deep in some kind of home improvement update sometimes (crazy, right?!), so I'm pretending this post about blueberry muffins is a DIY project, because it is, right?! Homemade=DIY! It's like a mash-up of two of my favorite creative passions, baking and home improvement! If you think about it, baking isn't such a big leap from DIY home improvement and decorating. In both instances, you take a bunch of separate elements (ingredients), put them together in a pleasing palette (palate), and decorate (garnish) them to appeal to the recipient. Just go with me here.

I made these muffins for our neighbors who just had a baby. Hooray for sweet snuggly babies! I love the idea of new life coming into this world and all the possibilities that precious life brings. Babies are like THE ULTIMATE DIY PROJECT!!! (Too far with the DIY analogies? Haha, yes.) I also think new Moms deserve fresh baked somethings because they're sore and tired and their boobs really hurt, amIright?! Blueberry muffins seem cozy and homey for a family with a new baby.

Flower Wide Open (A Poem)

2015-05-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

You can see these same tulips in their heyday on my Instagram feed, but I think they look wonderfully interesting like this too, all wide open right before their petals fall.

Happy Lei Day (and May Day)! ♫ May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii...♪. According to Wikipedia, "May Day on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the celebrations that the day includes."

Did someone say cake?! I should really take this May Day more seriously.

Given that today is May Day/Lei Day, I thought I'd share a flowery poem with you. I wrote this little poem recently as I was returning these tulips from the photo above back to the earth (i.e. the compost pile) after they died. Okay, granted, May Day is more about celebrating spring and renewal and life and I'm sharing a poem that I thought of as these flowers were dying, but hey, it's the circle of life, right? Let's just call it my eulogy at a tulip funeral.

I call it...Flower Wide Open. A poem by me, Sharon B. *finger snaps all around*
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The Fresh Berries: DIY Wood Sign {how-to}

2015-04-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

I finally got myself a sign that's been on my mind for years! Weird, right, to have a sign in my head for years?! And such a specific sign too. Well, let me tell you a story about that.

♪ Now, this is a story all about how

My board got flipped from scrap to a sign

And I'd like to take a minute

Just sit right there

I'll tell you how I became the fresh Berry of a town called Bel Air...♪

I don't know where that came from. We don't even live in Bel Air.

Here's the actual story:
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How to Vacation with Your Parents Without Losing Your Mind: A Tour Around the Island of Oahu

2015-04-13T13:27:00.002-07:00

Last month I took a trip with my parents back to Oahu. Now to some people, spending 9 days and 8 nights together in close proximity with your parents may not be your idea of a vacation, but I've gotta say, it was a great time - it's ranked high up there as one of my favorite vacations. We've taken several trips together over the years and we really enjoy each other's company. I'm fortunate enough to have pretty fun and active parents who are game for trying new things, that definitely helps. When I try to explain to people that we were on vacation together, sometimes I get a strange look and some kind of mumbling that sounds like they'd rather spend time in a dentist chair having a tooth pulled than go on vacation with their parents. I have one simple tip on how to vacation with your parents without losing your mind. Ready for it? Here it is:
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Tiptoeing through the Tulips at Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2015

2015-04-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, two of my favorite galpals and I had a fun girls day visiting the Skagit Valley tulips in Mount Vernon, WA. I love making this trek to the tulip fields - the sea of bright colors is such a happy way to welcome Spring, so I thought I'd bring a little cheerfulness to the internet today with photos captured from our day.
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Grilled Island Jerk Shrimp and Sausage Skewers

2015-04-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Olá, amigos! Como você está?

That is the extent of my Portuguese, and Google Translate had to help me with part of it. Seems random, right, to greet you in Portuguese? It'll all make sense in a moment...

There's nothing like the enticing smell of food sizzling away on an outdoor BBQ grill, would you agree? We are huge fans of outdoor grilling - we'll grill just about anything, at any time of year. We cooked up these skewers on the grill the other night and each time we make something with this jerk marinade, I loudly announce throughout the meal, "Mmm!!" and "This is soo good!" - I figure if I like it that much, some of you will too.
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Live Aloha ~ Recycled Goodwill Painting Gets Two New Looks

2015-03-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

We have had a pretty mild winter in the Pacific Northwest and even saw quite a few beautiful sunny days here in the past couple weeks. I am very grateful for that considering that so much of the country has had severe winter conditions that would challenge the sunniest of dispositions. It is still cold here though, so about this time of year I'm ready for some warmer weather.

I'm talking REALLY ready.

Tropical getaways.

Sitting on a lanai somewhere listening to island music.

Mai tais. Or pina coladas. Both.

Swaying palm trees.

Sunshine.

Sand between my toes.

Ocean waves.

Who's with me, people?!

I try to keep the Aloha spirit in my heart and my mind all year 'round, but living in a state of Aloha is just not the same as being in the state of Hawaii and sometimes I really miss being there. Coming up with fun ways to bring more Aloha into our lives helps, like making a "Live Aloha" canvas sign for a friend who reminds me of this message every time I see her. So here's how this sweet little sign came to be...

Decorating for the Japanese Gulch Dinner & Auction 2015

2015-02-23T04:30:00.000-08:00

Well hello, friends! It's been awhile since I last posted - early January was the last time! Things are fine here and we are all well. Life has been moving along as it does - things to do, places to see - you know the drill. But mostly I haven't been blogging because I didn't think I had much to write about lately. Well, I do have things I'd love to chat with you about, but I just haven't been able to hold a thought long enough to actually formulate those thoughts into complete sentences that turn into paragraphs that somehow manage to turn into a finished blog post. Ha!

I thought I'd jump back into the blog by sharing one of those "things to do" things that I recently did, decorating for the Japanese Gulch Dinner & Auction. This auction is an annual community fundraising event that was held at the beautiful Rosehill Community Center a couple weeks ago. For those that don't know about the Japanese Gulch, it is a 144-acre urban forest in our little city that is home to a variety of pacific northwest wildlife such as bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers, blue heron, barred owls, coyote, deer, mountain beavers, and more. The Japanese Gulch Preservation Group has worked hard over the years to save and secure this land's future as a permanent greenspace for outdoor recreation and ecological preservation. The group continues to serve as an advocate for this outdoor space to be cared for and maintained for future generations.
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18 Adorable Mason Jar Ideas for Drinking {Hometalk Curated Board}

2015-01-06T04:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! It's been dark and rainy here non-stop in the Seattle area for the past few days and I'm taking advantage of being stuck indoors by catching up on some online blogs and websites I like to follow, like Hometalk. If you've followed along with this blog for awhile, you might already know that I'm an active member of Hometalk. It's been really fun to be a part of this community of home enthusiasts and professionals and to actually get to collaborate with Hometalk on several projects over the past couple of years. I've curated several feature boards for them and also got to participate in the Hometalk & Michaels Pinterest party last February with 99 other bloggers at Michaels stores across the country. That was so fun, and I met several blogging friends out of that. :) For that event, we had to come up with a craft project to share and show how we made it, so I made the XO mason jar drinking glasses you see below (it was near Valentines day; x's and o's were on my mind!), which then led to curating a feature board for Hometalk this week filled with 17 other fun mason jar ideas for drinking. I'm sharing it here on the blog today as well!

Mason jars are everywhere. People love them because they are so versatile. I have a bunch of them lying around because I make jam every year, but instead of just stashing them away in a cabinet when they are not in jam use, I try to find other ways to use them. Grabbing one from the cabinet and drinking from them is so easy just on their own, but when you take a crafter and give them a mason jar, fun things happen. :) Hope you find as much inspiration with these as I did!

DIY Decorative Storage Boxes (Plus 10 MORE Great Organization Storage Ideas!)

2015-01-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Storage boxes are a practical and pretty way to get organized and hide away all those little things that need to have a home but don't need to be out in the open. Our master closet makeover has quite a few storage boxes for things like old letters and cards, mementos, manicure supplies, extra scarves, hats, and other paraphernalia. I bought basic inexpensive white storage boxes from Ikea and Hobby Lobby and I'm finally sharing how I personalized each of them just by adding a few embellishments. I started this post about 10 months ago and I'm finally getting it done! Maybe it's the whole new year-organizing thing that made me remember I had this sitting in draft mode. Well no matter, now is as good a time as any to finally finish this, plus I'm sharing 10 more great DIY storage box ideas that I've found from around the web. Let's get organized!

MONOGRAM STORAGE BOXES:

Lilikoi Joy's Top 10 Posts of 2014

2014-12-29T04:30:00.000-08:00

The new year is almost here, and the end of a year is as good a time as any to reflect back on the year and all the things that happened. Some things were fantastic, others we're relieved to put behind us. As we get ready to head into 2015, I thought it would be fun to have a look back on 2014 and see what posts you all enjoyed the most around here at Lilikoi Joy in the past year. So let's start the countdown and find out what posts of 2014 were the most viewed on this blog, shall we?
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Happy Day After Christmas!

2014-12-26T04:30:00.000-08:00

Well hello, and Happy Day After Christmas! How was your time with your family and friends? Did Santa bring you what you wanted? The best gift by far was that my sister, who had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix a few days ago, was able to come home the night of Christmas Eve and spend Christmas Day with us. Even though she was in full-on recovery mode, she still looked beautiful and was so happy to be here. She was so strong and such a trooper through this whole thing. We were joking around that she is one of the few people I know who can make friends with her roommate in the hospital and turn it into something that resembled a slumber party. :) Our family has celebrated almost every Christmas together that I can think of for the past 19 years and even if she was still in the hospital, well, we'd just have to move venues to be together, right? I'm really grateful that she is feeling a little better and that we had her with us to celebrate Christmas. Once the appendix ruptures, it makes the whole treatment and recovery time more complicated, but she is well on her way!
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Smoked Salmon Canapés

2014-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Today I'd like to share a story with you.

A story of male bonding.

An epic bromance so big, it makes grown men cry.

It's a beautiful story of love and friendship, filled with beer and grilled meats.
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Christmas Home 2014

2014-12-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well hello, friends! Happy Holidays! It's been fun visiting other blogger friends' holiday home tours this season and I thought I'd finally join in on the fun. It's like a neighborhood holiday open house or one of those progressive dinner parties (do people do those any more?) where you get to go around to other people's homes, but you can do it from the comfort of your own home in your sweatpants and not have to bring a hostess gift! But please do grab a cup of hot chocolate, come inside and we'll take a little tour of my family's eclectic home in all its holiday glory.
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Nature Inspired Christmas Fireplace Mantel

2014-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

I so appreciate living in the Pacific Northwest. It's naturally beautiful and evergreen around here with all the trees and the mountains and water - salt water, fresh water, AND rain water - lots and lots of rain right now. Maybe that part I don't like so much, but I'll try to be appreciative of it since I like what it does to keep things green around here! Inspired by our surroundings, I finally put the finishing touches on decorating our fireplace and family room for the holidays today. Come on in and let me show you how I put this together easily and inexpensively by mostly using things from the great outdoors and re-using what we already had.

(We should have some kind of hot toddy or hot buttered rum or something while we chat, don't you think?)

Joy to the World Shadow Box

2014-12-08T04:30:00.000-08:00

Last year, my son's girlfriend Kelsey made me this sweet shadow box for Christmas. Isn't it pretty? We've known Kelsey for a couple years now. She's funny and sweet and caring, and she makes crafty things like this (and cupcakes, she makes those too. A girl after my own heart!). She was really thoughtful about this shadow box, using one of my favorite words in the English vocabulary (JOY!) and one of my favorite colors with the turquoise-y blue accents, the same color that was all around us when we were all in Hawaii together last year.
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Dad's Birthday=Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting

2014-12-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

It was my Dad's birthday yesterday - Happy Birthday, dear Dad! I say this every year around his birthday about how lucky we are to have him in our lives, but I really do feel blessed and grateful to celebrate each and every one of his birthdays with him. At one point in his life between heart attacks, two major heart surgeries, and cancer, we were all just hoping and praying he'd make it to 60. He has blown that benchmark out of the water! Overachiever! :)

For years now, we have celebrated Dad's birthday at our house with a family dinner and I make him the same birthday dinner, linguine with creamy clam sauce:
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November Gratitude30 Photo Challenge: Final Recap

2014-11-30T23:13:00.000-08:00

Happy first day of December! The holiday season is here, are you ready for it? When do you decorate for Christmas? We don't usually decorate until around the first weekend in December, so we'll probably start in the next week or so, which makes me a bad blogger if you're here looking for holiday decorating ideas. Maybe check out previous years' posts until I get around to decorating for this season. :)

I'm still wrapping up the month long gratitude photo challenge hosted by Positively Present that I've been participating in, which has put me in a good mood to start the holidays off right. Here's a quick recap of the challenge - each day in November, participants post a challenge-related photo on Instagram and Twitter (or whatever social media they want) with the hashtag #gratitude30. I've written a blog post about it each Monday with a photo summary of the week here on the blog. Here's a reminder of the topics that we posted about for each day in November:

4th and Final Week on

November Gratitude30 Photo Challenge: Week 3 Recap + A Thanksgiving Message to You

2014-11-24T14:55:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Week! The holidays are upon us and I for one am so looking forward to Thursday and spending time with my family on Thanksgiving. It's been fun planning the big day with all of them. I really do love spending time with them and it's always a fun time when we all get together.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I've been participating in Positively Present's Gratitude30 Photo Challenge all month long. It's been a fun way to reflect on gratitude about a variety of daily topics, things I don't always think to be thankful for, so I've enjoyed this challenge quite a bit since it's made me really think about gratitude in a different way. In case you missed the first post, here's what I'm challenging myself to do this month - each day in November, I'll post a challenge-related photo on Instagram and Twitter. Each Monday, I'll write a blog post about it here (like this one) with a summary of the week and post it on Facebook. Here's a reminder of the topics for each day in November:

Here's How Week 3 Looked on

November Gratitude30 Photo Challenge: Week 2 Recap

2014-11-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hope you are well. The weather here has been just beautiful, but very cold. I much prefer when the sun is out, even if it means it's chilly around here. The low last night was 27 degrees. Brrrr!!

I can't believe we're already halfway through November! If you follow along, you already know I've been participating in Positively Present's Gratitude30 Photo Challenge this month, a fun way to reflect on gratitude about a variety of daily topics. In case you missed the first post, here's what I'm challenging myself to do this month - each day in November, I'll post a challenge-related photo on Instagram and Twitter. Each Monday, I'll write a blog post about it here (like this one) with a summary of the week and post it on Facebook. Here's a reminder of the topics for each day in November:

Here's How Week 2 Looked on

The $5 Table Challenge + DIY Wedding Centerpiece Tips & Ideas on a Dime

2014-11-13T04:30:00.000-08:00

I love love. I love weddings. What can I say? I'm a hope~~less~~ful romantic! Last weekend, I attended a wedding for a wonderful person who found love and happiness again with a kind, spiritual, and loving man. Barbara and I met about 5 years ago in a Zumba class and have been friends ever since. We bond over R&B music and song lyrics, ha! That's for her - say that then! ;) When I got her and Greg's wedding invitation, I reached out to see if she needed any help, and she asked if I'd like to be to be in charge of the table centerpieces. Of course I would!

Barbara loves color, so I wasn't surprised when she told me her wedding colors were orange and eggplant purple. She pretty much gave me full reign over the centerpieces with only one request - to keep it as inexpensive as possible. I took that as a personal mission and set a goal to decorate 18 round tables for $5 or less per table. That's $90 total, and I wanted to try to do it for even less. Did I mention that the wedding was also in 2 weeks? Could I do this?! Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to let something as trivial as a little budget and a short time frame get in the way of true love, so yeah, I was doing this! Barbara so deserved a beautiful wedding day and I was going to do what I could to contribute to that. Ooh, I love a challenge in the name of love!
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November Gratitude30 Photo Challenge: Week 1 Recap

2014-11-10T04:30:00.000-08:00

Well hello! Hope you all have had a good week. I'm working on a few projects that I will share here soon enough, but I seem to be in super slow-mo with projects lately. Lots of exciting things are happening around here but I seem to have adult ADD about it all (no really, I think I might. That. or I've reached my maximum brain cell capacity so my brain has to empty things out to fit new things in). My goal is to get a bit more organized about all of it so I can share projects here a bit more regularly again.

In the mean time, I'm happy to have Positively Present's Gratitude30 Photo Challenge to reflect on gratitude about a variety of things, plus it gets me writing a bit each day. In case you missed the last post, here's what I'm challenging myself to do this month - each day in November, I'll post a challenge-related photo on my Instagram page and sharie it on Twitter. Each Monday, I'll write a blog post about it here (like this one) with a summary of the week and I'll share that post on Facebook.

Here's How Week 1 looked on

30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge

2014-11-03T09:59:00.004-08:00

Happy November! For many people, November has come to mean more than blustery fall weather and Thanksgiving. Over the past few years, new traditions like Movember and 30 Days of Gratitude have become mainstream thanks to social media. If you've followed along with me all this time, I've participated too (in the 30 days of gratitude series, not Movember - I can't get my moustache to grow well at all, HA!) in 2011, 2012, and 2013. I try to do something different each year to keep it fun and interesting for both myself and those of you that follow along. I really enjoy doing it because even though I try to be a grateful person every day, challenging myself to consciously write and articulate gratitude for 30 days straight takes it to a higher level of consciousness, plus it just feels good!

This year, I found Positively Present's 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge. For the past few years, Dani has hosted this little shindig on her blog and social media each November. Obviously I'm late to the party, but I'm glad to have found it this year! I really like the idea of this because I know for me, my 30 days of gratitude tends to look the same each year. Not that there's anything wrong with it because, well, just like many of you, I'm grateful for the core things in my life every day - my family, my friends, my job, etc. Dani's challenge provides daily prompts that make you really think about gratitude in a more detailed way on a variety of topics. I love that idea!
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10 Favorite Chocolate Recipes to Celebrate NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY!

2014-10-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Happy National Chocolate Day! I will look for any reason to celebrate a day, but CHOCOLATE?!? That is such a great reason, right?!? Yes. Chocolate is definitely celebration-worthy. It doesn't matter if I'm being careful about carbs and watching what I'm eating, a little chocolate is something I enjoy regularly. In honor of today, I've rounded up 10 of my favorite chocolate recipes that would make any day a little more special. Several of the recipes are right from this blog -- what can I say? I LOVE CHOCOLATE! Bon Appetit!
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Family Room Fireplace Makeover: Before & After

2014-10-12T13:23:00.001-07:00

Hello, friends! We have been rockin' and rollin' around here as we get the family room makeover moving again 4 months laterrr, and I'm SO happy to say that the fireplace is finally finished! We just got done with it so we're giving it some time for the grout and mortar to really set and cure (and seal!) before putting the mirror back up and finishing accessorizing this area to add in more layers of interest, but it's done, it's done! Hooray!!

BEFORE: Here's a reminder of where we started with our family room fireplace: