Best of Making Joy and Pretty Things 2016

It’s that time of the year – here are the top 5 posts from Making Joy and Pretty Things in 2016.

Hello, sweet friends!!  I hope ya didn’t forget about me during my prolonged absence here on the blog.

A huge thank you to my 3 wonderful blog friends for sharing some amazing DIY ideas.  Did you enjoy their ideas??  If you missed their posts, you can read more about them here.

I hope you and your family had the most wonderful, peaceful and joy-filled holiday break!

I took some time off to really focus on spending time with my little family.  Christmas and the subsequent days until New Year seemed like the perfect time to take a step back.  After all, we only have a few months left as a family of 4 (eek!!).

It also was a time for me to reflect on the ole’ blog here.  I am in the middle of completely redesigning my blog’s look.  I’m looking for a more simple yet sophisticated look.  Do those two styles actually mix?  I can’t say I’m 100% sure.  It’s definitely a work in progress, so I apologize if there’s a broken link here or there.  Let’s just say, I’m basically computer illiterate.  It’s been quite the challenge!

While thinking about the blog, I decided to do a reader survey to see what you, my readers, want to see from me.  I have a few ideas, a few new directions/posts I want to try out.

But, I want to see what YOU want from me.  What works, what doesn’t.  Do I ramble too much or do you want to hear more about my family?  Do you like my tutorials or do I need better/more concise directions?  Be honest.

PLUS, I’ll be selecting one reader to receive a $50 Amazon gift card!  Woo!  I think I bought 95% of my Christmas gifts from Amazon.  Ridiculous haha.

You can access the reader survey here.  Thank you SO much for your input and for taking the time to read Making Joy and Pretty Things.

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Anyway…back to the best of Making Joy and Pretty Things 2016.  See how I ramble??  Maybe I do need to address that…. 😉

This was my first year of blogging and I have to say, I LOVE it.  I never knew I had this hidden passion for design, decor and DIY.  It’s my happy place.

It was absolutely no surprise to me that all of my top 5 posts were farmhouse-style related.  So, without further adieu, let’s countdown my top 5 posts (number 1 is most viewed post on my blog).

5.  One Room Challenge Week 4: How to Install Cement Tile

This may be my favorite project of the entire year.  It completely surpassed my expectations and the response from readers and other bloggers was SO overwhelming.

 

 

4.  Simple Farmhouse Wreath

I was actually kind of surprised by this one.  It didn’t see very much traffic at first, but, it’s been a slow and steady post that brings in a decent amount of views every day.  This post is special to me because it was the first guest post I did on Making it in the Mountains!

3.  How to Style Open Shelves in 5 Easy Steps

Ahh this post.  This post was SERIOUS work.  But, I felt like it was really informative and helpful.  Styling open shelves is tough work!  I’m thrilled you all loved this post!

2.  How to Clean and Refinish Barnwood in 3 Easy Steps

So surprised by this one!!  I know barnwood is popular but I am consistently blown away by the number of views this post gets daily.  I wasn’t even going to write this post but thought it might be useful.  So glad I did!

1.  DIY Farmhouse Shelves

Well, it comes as no surprise to me that this was BY FAR my most popular post of the year.  It’s one of my absolute favorite posts and you guys I seriously love these shelves.  They’re coming with us when we move again someday.  I’m SO happy you loved them as much as I do!

 

 

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Well, my friends, what did you think?  Did your favorite post make the list?

I can’t thank you enough for stopping by my little corner of the blog.  I’m consistently humbled by your support.

Next week, I’m going to share what I have in store for Making Joy and Pretty Things in 2017 and the results of my reader survey (remember to click toward the top of the post to complete it!!).

Wishing you a joyful day!