It is that time of year again! When I look back and reflect on the year’s projects. This was a HUGE year for the blog, with multi-millions of page views, More than 2 million unique visitors and 140 new posts!  And that is just THIS BLOG!

In 2017 I spun off an entirely new blog (posts from that blog are not included here) and a couple of new Facebook and Instagram pages (here, here, here and here) as well as maintained all the social media channels for the original one (here, here, here, here and here.)

I focused a lot more on video (which is a huge learning curve) and tried to stay in regular contact with more than 20,000 emails subscribers.  I also started a new Facebook group to keep me in touch with other power tool toting DIY women!

I’m like a duck.. calm on the surface, but underneath I’m paddling my feet for dear life! 




So what resonated with all of my readers this year? It is always fun to find out!  So, let’s do the big countdown, starting at number ten!

In the kids’ advent calendars this year they each received 24 new TsumTsum figurines.  If you don’t know what they are consider yourself lucky. TsumTsums are made by Disney and feature all their characters from the movies and TV.  (The majority of the ones in the photo above came from this set or this one.)

If you haven’t figured it out yet, one of my biggest motivations for writing my blog is to inspire other women to pick up power tools for the first time and tackle DIY and building projects they have always been too intimidated to try.  It is definitely empowering to be able to tackle your own “honey do” projects around the house or even build your own furniture.

For a long time women have been treated with condescension on the male dominated DIY fields.  I am sure we all have a story of visiting the hardware store only to have the people working their address your spouse instead of you.  (When buying a saw recently the sales guy at the store actually told me "This is probably too much saw for you!" WHAT!?!?!)

Or we have had a male builder or woodworker mansplain something on social media, as if female builders were too busy baking cooking or getting their nails done to understand how how a tool worked.


That brilliant  design is actually custom hand lattered by my friend Jocie and I think it is AMAZING! 

I’m so stoked to be included in this year’s 12 Days of a DIY Christmas hosted by Sarah of The Creative Home. For the first 12 days of December we will be presenting a new building or DIY project every day! That is so much DIY goodness in one place!

All of these projects are coming to you from my fellow Girls With Power Tools (sorry.. no boys this year!)   Here is the fabulous line up:

12 Days of DIY: