The Ask Anna Blog

Entryway Board and Batten Tutorial

The other day I posted the reveal of my entryway but today I want to give you a quick tutorial of how we got the the board and batten look. I’ll tell you a little secret… we actually didn’t use batten, I just faked it with a lot of Valspar paint+primer. We set out intending to purchase batten {“a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal“} but when we went to purchase our supplies I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to fake it. Here’s what we purchased:* 2×2 board*… Read More

Gluten Free Caramel Apple Cake Recipe

It’s beginning to feel a lot like FALL! The rain is falling down. The scarves and boots are coming out. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg are in the air. It really is the coziest time of the year! One way to keep your house cozy, is to bake, bake, bake. I love to bake in the fall. So many holidays on the way so it’s a great time to try new recipes and bring out the old family favorites. Whether you’re invited to a dinner party with friends or you’re in charge of bringing dessert on Thanksgiving…there is always… Read More

Board and Batten Entryway Makeover

I am SO excited to show you my entryway makeover! I was sad to see the stripes go, but it needed to happen. The stripes were just too dark for our tiny entryway and they made the room feel even smaller than it really is. Also the shoe situation was making me crazy!!! You can see how I solved that here. So are you ready for the reveal??? First here is a before picture: And here’s what it looks like now… {Insert squeal!!!} I love it! The room feels so much brighter and so much bigger but all I did… Read More

Cleaning Paint off Skin

I don’t know about you but when I do painting projects I usually end up with paint all over my hands, and sometimes even my arms and legs! Cleaning paint off your skin can be tough when you don’t have the right product but recently I was re-introduced to Fast Orange, a product I remember my dad using as a kid. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before, but Fast Orange is by far the best way to get paint off your skin. While your hands are dry, place a small amount of Fast Orange in your… Read More

How to Remove Soap Scum & Prevent it in the Future

People ask me all the time, how to remove soap scum from their shower doors. They literally stop me while I’m shopping, or call me, just to ask me this question, so apparently it’s a bit of a problem! I wrote a post about this last year but it was a “reverse Ask Anna” post and I was asking for help from you! So now when I get asked the question “how do I get rid of my soap scum” I tell people, “Go to the post I wrote and read all the comments, my readers had some great tips!” … Read More

Fall Rosette Wreath

Last year I found this wreath on Pinterest and fell in love with it. So when Fall came around this year I knew exactly which wreath I wanted to make for my front door. We live in town so there aren’t a lot of twigs laying around, but luckily I had some tall, decorative twigs that I had purchased from IKEA a few years ago. I wasn’t using them for anything so I broke them up into smaller pieces for my wreath. Next I made a bunch of fabric rosettes with some pretty Fall fabric that I had purchased at… Read More