The Ask Anna Blog

Holiday Table Setting Ideas

One of my favorite things about Fall and Winter are all the dinner parties we host. During the summer we host a lot of outdoor parties but there’s just something about gathering everyone around a beautiful table, with delicious food, that makes my heart pitter patter. When we moved into our house last year I bought an extra large dining room table so that I could gather as many people as possible around it. Last year for Thanksgiving there were 12 of us sitting around, eating amazing food and laughing at my father-in-law for starting with dessert instead of turkey…. Read More

DIY Xylophone made with Paint Sticks – sneak peek

Today I’m over at Somewhat Simple sharing this fun and easy project for how to build a DIY xylophone out of paint sticks! The best part about this project is that you probably have everything you need lying around your garage/workshop. This project was totally free for me, the only thing I had to pick up were a few extra paint stir sticks. So grab your supplies and head over to follow along with my tutorial! Here’s what you’ll need: 10- paint stir sticks 2- 1″x1″ boards about 21″ long 8- paint colors 16- Finish nails 4- wood screws 4-… Read More

How to Plan for your Other Children when you Deliver

Wendy here, from Pretty Well Organized with another tip on Baby Preparation! Baby on board? Know someone who does? One of the hardest decisions we have made in preparation for our new baby is “What do I do with my other child(ren) when I deliver?” For us, there was no easy one-size-fits-all solution. We knew we wanted Miss O to be involved in our hospital stay; meaning: We wanted her to meet her new baby brother. However, change for children is hard. Having surprised us with a fantastic transition to a new school about a month ago, we are feeling… Read More

5 Ways to Get Your Home Ready for Fall

Fall is just around the corner and the cooler evenings have got me thinking that it’s time to start getting ready for it! Today I’m going to share a checklist of things that are important to do for getting your home ready for fall and winter. #1 Change your air filters If you’re like our family, you probably use your air conditioner a lot during the summer months. It gets up to 100+ degrees here so our air is always on. This means that our air filters get full of gunk and restrict air flow if they don’t get changed… Read More

10 Amazing Pumpkin Recipes

One of my favorite things about this time of year are all the flavors of Fall. Cooler weather calls for warm soups and delicious desserts filled with nutmeg, ginger and pumpkin! Today I’m sharing 10 amazing pumpkin recipes to inspire you and to get your Fall baking started off right! Pumpkin Brownie Sundae Salted Carmel Pumpkin Parfait Pumpkin Cheesecake Milkshake Pumpkin Apple Bread Peanut Butter Pumpkins Pumpkin Snickerdoodles (Gluten Free) Chocolate Dipped Pumpkin Poptarts Pumpkin Apple Cider Donuts Pumpkin Spice Krispie Cups Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches (Gluten free & Vegan) Is your mouth watering? I know mine is! I can’t… Read More

Simple Organization Tips using a Silverware Tray

Personally I think bathroom drawers are one of the worst/messiest drawers in the house. There are so many things that need to be kept in the bathroom that stuff quickly takes over and ends up looking messy and unorganized. So today I’m showing you how I organized the drawers in two of our bathrooms using silverware trays. Yep, that’s right, I said silverware trays. They are great for storing and organizing silverware but they can also be very useful in the bathrooms! So the first thing you need is a messy drawer, then you’ll need a silverware tray. I purchased… Read More