juju hat diy

I know I'm a little late on sharing and starting my New Year's resolutions, but it's better late than never, right? Along with changing careers and gardening, I plan to take more time for DIY projects. In December I officially quit my job, and this week is my last week teaching. I'm sad to leave because I will miss my co-workers and students dearly, but I know this is the right decision for me. Now I will have much more time, and I intend to take advantage of it!
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I know that juju hats are old news in the interior design world, but after a couple of years I think they're finally starting to grow on me. 
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I have been so incredibly stumped for the past three years trying to figure out what to put above the very blank space above our T.V. in the living room, and then one day it hit me - juju hat!
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Now that I'm officially jobless, I figured it wouldn't be very wise to spend $500+ on one of these babies, but every DIY I found used a material other than feathers and didn't look authentic. I had given up looking when I recently ran across this tutorial on Pinterest. It seems easy enough, and could actually pass for the real thing.
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It has been added to my craft to-do list, and I'll post pictures if it turns out!

container gardening

One of my New Year's resolutions is to learn how to grow some of my own food. This summer we bought a lime tree and fully expected to kill it, but we not only kept it alive, we got a ton of fruit! This gave me the confidence to start my own little mini garden on our balcony and in our kitchen. I plan to put Charlie to work to make these mason jar herb containers asap. We don't have much extra space inside, so I feel like this is a good solution that won't take up space, and it will keep them high enough that our curious pup can't mess with them.
via Not Just a Housewife
I plan to add a lemon tree,
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and if I can find one, an orange tree to our balcony.
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I'm also going to try my hand at vegetables and grow zucchini, peppers, and garlic in a container garden. These are on my grocery list every time I visit the store, so I thought it would make the most sense to start with these.
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Wish me luck!