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Jenni

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Jenni is a blogger and marketing professional in Portland, Oregon. A Well Crafted Party is a blog about all the little things to celebrate in life. Follow Jenni or A Well Crafted Party with BlogLovin, RSS feed, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Let’s caution this post with a big ole: I’m Not a Pro! Heck, I’m not even a home DIY blogger. I’m an entertaining, food, and lifestyle blogger. However, if you are wanting to read a true beginner experience of DIY flooring, then read on! I’ll share what I felt went well and where I will hopefully do better next time.

Our first foray into flooring was in our home gym space that resides in a mudroom area. The space measures 16X9 and houses our gym equipment, a secondary office space, and laundry area. We have not finished out the laundry area as of yet because there is a lot more work to do there. We did get the whole gym/mudroom space ready for use!

Looks pretty swell, right?

Our First Foray Into Flooring

Out of all the projects in our house flooring was the one I was the most scared of doing. After talking a bit with my friend Suzannah from Create/Enjoy, I decided to give DIY flooring a try. The mudroom worked perfectly for my first DIY flooring project because I didn’t want the same flooring throughout the rest of my house. That way, I didn’t need to buy more product than that was needed for this one project.

I went back and forth on what type of flooring to get but went with Luxury Vinyl Tile that was water-resistant and peel-and-stick. If you would have asked me a year ago I would have said that I’d never put that in my home. But, I’m really happy with the quality and felt like it was a good beginner flooring project.

Disclosure: The below links are affiliate links that will allow me to make a small amount of money with any purchase at no cost to the buyer. Thank you for helping to support this blog!

Removing the tacking strips was no fun and damaged part of the concrete.

Our DIY Flooring Experience

  • Prepping the floor: Pulling up our carpet was fairly straightforward. We just pulled it up and took out the tacking strips. The concrete got a little damaged as we were taking out the strips, so I had to fill those spots with a concrete patcher. We then prepped the flooring by sweeping well, washing it, and then put on a few coats of primer.
Primer helps with the stick!
  • Planning out the placement: I wasn’t entirely sure how I wanted the flooring to look in this space. Do I go horizontal, or would that make the space look cut off? Do I go verticle? Perhaps herringbone? I laid out my options and took photos of the space and walked around a lot to try to figure out what I liked. In the end, we decided on a herringbone pattern that was lined up with the walls rather than at an angle. This made cuts just a tad easier.
One of many placements I considered.
  • The Hardest Part: The most difficult part of this whole project (for me) was making sure that the placement was level in the room. I used a chalk line to try to find the center of the room and a spirit level to make sure that it was straight. I was not perfect in doing this, but I thankfully wasn’t too far off. We did end up getting chalk all over us!
  • Tile Choice & Supplies: We went with the LTV tile by Style Selections in Symphony Gray. It was 12X24 inch water-resistant, peel and stick tiles. We wanted to make sure the tiles stuck in place well so we purchased an extension handle roller and flooring adhesive.
The spacers really helped!
  • Laying the Tile: Setting the tile wasn’t super hard. The most difficult part was trying to make sure we got it spaced correctly with spacers. For the most part, the peel and stick had a GREAT hold. We know because we made a mistake after the first five tiles and had to pull them up. Let’s just say it was near impossible! We utilized the flooring adhesive in addition to the peel-and-stick adhesive in a few areas where the floor wasn’t as even. Big tip: Wear kneepads! This was killer on our backs and knees. Finally, apply a lot of pressure when pressing the tiles with the extension handle roller. This will get them good and stuck.
  • Edges: Cutting the tiles for the edges did not go super smoothly. If you were to look at our flooring job closely, you would see most of our beginner mistakes revolved around this task. We used an LTV tile knife to cut the tile, but if I ever do it again I’ll invest in a more robust tool.
Ready made grout was a huge timesaver.
  • Grouting: The tiles are able to be done with grout so we also purchased a grey ready-made grout. Grouting again was not hard, just time-consuming and hard on the body. Once it was complete though, it really made the floor look great!
While not perfect, this is 1000% better than the carpet that was here before!

How To Resources:

I hope my experience helped with sourcing products and potential pitfalls for a home DIY flooring project. Below are some of the resources I used while learning how to do this project in my own home.

Do you think you’ll be jumping into a DIY flooring project anytime soon? I’d love to see how you do! Share it with me on Instagram by tagging or messaging @JenniBost!

For someone who owns a blog about entertaining—someone who feels entertaining is an integral part of her identity—the restrictions that came with this past year have been difficult. My love for entertaining and my identity are not as important as the lives of those around me, so I happily followed regulations. Plus, to be honest, working in healthcare this year has made it impossible to really even think much about hosting parties. Over the past year, following CDC and state health guidelines, I was able to do some safe entertaining and look forward to doing more as things open up a bit!

Why I’m Sharing Safe Entertaining Options After a Year of Pandemic Life

I chose not to share my safe entertaining options over the past year, because:

  • Seeing people’s opinions on the internet made me want to keep my thoughts to myself because I didn’t want to be ridiculed for following guidelines.
  • I was afraid of being judged for following safety guidelines that were less strict than other parts of the country.
  • Finally, I was nervous about encouraging people to get together knowing that regulations varied from county to county, across the country, and throughout the world.

But, now… things are (happily) starting to look different!

Things are starting to open up as vaccines are getting into people’s arms, mitigation efforts are working, and the weather is getting nicer. This will mean that people are going to be able to slowly start getting together even while following all health guidelines! I’m SO ready for that time. Though, unless we continue to follow guidelines, we could easily be back to lockdown if things spike again. I thought I’d share some of the things I did to help make entertaining be safe for my family as well as those of my guests.

Please note: I am not a medical specialist. I am not an expert in CDC guidelines. I do not know the rules of your state, county, city. Please use your own discretion and local health guidelines to make decisions regarding entertaining during this time. Those searching for safer ways to continue/start entertaining will find this post useful. If that is not something you are looking for, please know that I do not need to know. I’m okay with you making your own decisions.

Treats to send out in the mail for a virtual event

Coming Out of the Pandemic: Safe Entertaining Tips & Ideas

In my day job I’ve been working with marketing teams on creating safe event options that still allow them to connect with new people and create value. We’ve done everything from Virtual Happy Hours to Drive-By events where guests drive through to pick up fun items. When thinking about home entertaining you have those options as well as the potential for small gatherings as guidelines are updated. Below are my favorite safe ways to entertain.

The most important part of keeping events safe right now is communication. Communicate expectations and your own mitigation efforts. Make it easy and open to allow guests to cancel if sick or exposed to something. This is one part of the pandemic that I hope moves forward. Open communication is so important! I hope that the “us” of the future continues to make it polite to not come to an event while under the weather rather than going in fear of being rude by missing an event.

Note: Links below marked with an asterisk are affiliate links. Items purchased from affiliate links provide a small income to this blog at no cost to the purchaser.

Keep parties small:

Yes, I am ready for large events with all my friends too. I really, truly am. Until our numbers are low enough and enough people are vaccinated… we still need to keep the parties small. Local health guidelines will help guide you in how large your event can be. When allowed, I limited our outdoor engagements to people from a couple of different households. This helps to limit exposure if someone were to find out they were exposed or sick.

Entertain outdoors:

I know that it isn’t possible right now to have outdoor events in some areas in the month of March. However, we do know that it is much safer to get together with people outdoors rather than indoors. Grab a pop-up tent*, outdoor heaters*, and blankets. Make sure your chairs are 6 feet apart and serve up some warm drinks! We’ve been lucky enough to be able to host a couple of friends for book club meetings around our fire pit and a ladies night on the porch.

Don’t Spread Germs:

The days of grazing tables are over. At least they are for me. I am not sure I’ll be bringing them back into my parties for years to come. For now, I’m making it easy on myself by purchasing single-serve items from foods to drinks. Canned wine or spritzers work great for this! This is not sustainable as it is terrible for the environment. However, it is an easy way to serve guests without sharing serving utensils. Other ideas for this would include individualizing that grazing table and turning it into a single-serve charcuterie plate!

Keep supplies handy:

When we have people over outdoors we know that they may need to use our restroom. We ask that guests wear a mask inside our house, especially if someone is indoors while they go in. In case needed, we make sure we have extra masks*, plenty of sanitizers, and wipes placed in areas that are easy to grab without drawing attention. Even if no one uses them, I feel more comfortable knowing that if they wanted them they wouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable by asking.

When hosting activities, set up the supplies socially-distanced:

Hosting an outdoor baby shower or ladies’ craft night? Set up tables where guests can sit six-feet apart and have all of their supplies in front of them. I think having guests create DIY terrariums would be a perfect way to spend time with friends while safely engaged in an activity.

Go virtual!

Everyone and I mean everyone, is tired of zoom these days. I get it! However, one of the highlights of a really hard year was the fact that the few times that I did host virtual events I got to host them with some people that it would have been really hard to see in person even had there been no pandemic. My birthday party this year included my sister from Oklahoma, family from Texas, and friends living in Idaho, Portland, Spokane, and even across the street. I would have never have been able to get these people together in a non-virtual zone. Even after Covid is gone and we are back to hosting regular parties, I believe I will try to do at least one or two virtual events a year so I can keep connected to those friends that may have just been a text or Facebook message pre-pandemic.

Some specific safe-entertaining party ideas, shopping lists, and free invitations are coming to the blog over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’d love to know how you’ve been able to keep connected over this past year. What type of entertaining were you able to do? What are you looking forward to as things open up? Share in the comments or message me on Instagram!

Listening to an audiobook counts as reading. I stand by that statement 1000%. Audiobooks have gotten me through the last few years when too busy to be able to sit down and devote myself to a written book. After asking friends on Instagram for suggestions I landed on listening to Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds.

Read on for my thoughts on The Four Winds and for the other suggested titles shared by my friends on Instagram!

About The Four Winds Audiobook

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a historical fiction novel (not usually my style) that centers around Elsa Martinelli, a Texan woman living through, “hard times.” Set in the time of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, The Four Winds certainly puts into perspective the hard we are living through right now. It highlights many of the same plights that we are facing, but all without the advantage of internet, electricity, and running water.

The audio version is narrated beautifully by Julia Whelan.

Two different people suggested this audiobook so I had to give it a shot. I didn’t even look up the summary before purchasing—gotta love having extra Audible credits to burn. I needed a good “read” for a long car ride by myself and thought that two recommendations would seal the deal.

The Four Winds Audiobook on ipad with earbuds

The Four Winds: Heartbreaking, Inspiring Look at Female Amecianism

First, I really was engaged by the book. Second, it was NOT the audiobook for a long car ride alone. SO MANY TEARS. It is also not a book for young ears.

I really felt drawn by Elsa’s no-nonsense manner, her desire to be loved, her hard-working heart, and the sacrifices she made as a mother. I was moved by the parallels painted between some of the frustrations of now and those of back when.

It was hard not to think of recent events when listening to the characters repeat the phrase, “this is not America.” Anyone looking to escape from the politics of today may want to hold off for a bit on this audiobook. However, if you want a good kick in the pants of “it could be worse” then listen as soon as possible.

The story alternates, and not exactly deftly, between Elsa’s character and that of her daughter as the story moves on. I wasn’t a huge fan of this. In general, I’m not a fan of changing between characters unless it is very pronounced– for instance as a chapter changes. I admit that this transition possibly happened, but I didn’t know as a listener instead of a reader.

In the end, the daughter’s perspective was needed and a vital part of the story. Her experience gave a depth that the story couldn’t have had otherwise.

Last Words

In the author’s note at the end of the novel, Kristen Hannah writes about this time we are in.

“As we know, there are lessons to be learned from history, hope to be derived by hardships faced by others. We’ve gone through bad times before and survived, even thrived. History has shown us the strength and durability of the human spirit. In the end, it is our idealism, and our courage, and our commitment to one another—what we have in common—that will save us.”

Kristen Hannah

That stayed with me long after I was done listening. If you like historical fiction or stories about strong women I recommend this book.

Audiobook Recommendations

Need more recommendations? Try one of these audiobooks that were suggested by friends on Instagram. Many of them have made my list!

(Note: The below links are affiliate links)

Featured photo is from my new home gym! If you haven’t seen the DIY home gym yet, check it out!