We’re nearly a week into December, which makes looking back at the start of October feel a little odd, but a few book tour stops disrupted our usual rhythm this month. That pushed our October roundup — the yearbook-style superlatives we like to share — a bit later than normal. As always, if you want to read through past monthly recaps, you can browse back to January 2011 in a compact series of posts instead of wading through hundreds. Also: we tucked a hint about Monday’s giveaway at the bottom, so keep reading. Hope you’re enjoying a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends.
Most Adventurous: Sherry, who climbed into an overgrown butterfly bush to capture photos before we started cutting it back. You might think that’s not particularly daring, but later we discovered a snake living in the tangle — so bravery was definitely involved.
Simplest: A quick, charming key-art project Sherry put together that represents our little family: John, Sherry, Clara, and Burger. It’s an easy, personal piece that proves small DIYs can be meaningful.
Biggest Eyesore: The Bagster full of trash that sat at the end of our driveway for a couple of days while we prepared for some basement updates. It was temporarily ugly, but it helped clear out space to create something long-lasting and much more pleasant downstairs — totally worth the short-term mess.
Hottest Trend: A mood board Sherry assembled highlighting School Nostalgia. It was our first attempt at a roundup-style mood board and it resonated with readers; we’ll likely make more of these for future themed inspiration posts.
The Hand-Me-Down / Hang-Me-Up Award: Our old bedroom sconces, which never found a place here in the new house. We passed them on to cousins and even helped hang them during a visit to their home outside Washington, DC — they finally got a second life.
Most Asked Question: “How do you decide when to tackle a project yourself versus hiring a pro?” That was a huge topic of conversation, so we finally wrote a post laying out our thinking, using our non-DIY french door situation as an example to explain the trade-offs.
Most Coveted: A few great finds from a Target run featured in one of our Window Shopping posts — small, affordable items that caught our eye and seemed to spark a lot of reader interest.
Most Open: The wide, welcoming access to our deck after installing french doors. The “after” photo shows how dramatically a doorway can change how a space feels and functions.
Fastest: Sherry’s fall mantel decorating, which we sped up with a simple time-lapse to keep the process fun to watch without making you sit through the entire setup.
Most Satisfying: Hosting a low-key yard sale to clear out years of accumulated overflow — items from the last house, pieces we no longer needed, and contributions from family. It felt great to declutter and give things new homes.
Most Satisfying (Runner-Up): Clearing away an out-of-control stand of liriope from the backyard and realizing the brick pathways we uncovered are wider and more charming than we remembered. Big impact from some elbow grease.
Oddest: A moose lamp discovered at a moving sale that we spray-painted white and styled (digitally, for a secret project reveal) into something surprisingly cool. Sometimes a strange find turns into a favorite conversation piece.
Most Nerve-Wracking: The birth of our book. Sherry shared the anxieties and excitement in a post about how nerve-wracking that launch process felt, and Burger’s skittish expressions captured our urge to sometimes hide under the covers.
Cuddliest: A baby squirrel we spotted while tackling more backyard cleanup. We admired it from a distance and carried on with our bushwhacking, thankful it scampered away safely.
Most Unusual Project: Drilling holes into pumpkins for a Halloween display. It was strangely satisfying to bore into them and create a unique, slightly spooky look that also let Sherry weave decorative elements through the shells.
Most Practical for Guys: A roundup of guy-friendly fabric choices that included tips for selecting patterns and textures that lean less floral — useful advice for anyone trying to make a traditionally feminine fabric aesthetic feel more gender-neutral.
Most Historic: Items uncovered while cleaning out my basement workshop, including an old fire extinguisher last inspected when we were about the same age as Clara. It felt like a small time capsule of past projects and memories.
Creepiest Throwback: A Halloween photo of Sherry from 1994 she shared as part of a Pinterest Challenge announcement. For context, the costume was meant to be something specific, but the childhood photo had a delightfully eerie vibe.
Most Polarizing: A quick, inexpensive duck makeover that some readers loved and others found a bit odd. It was a quirky, low-risk project that lived happily in our house even if it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Nerdiest: Both of us — especially Sherry — at our first book tour stop in Cincinnati. We got to see stacks of the book for the first time, gush over babies, dive into local chili, and enjoy meeting readers and fellow creatives.
Most Improved: Our backyard, which looks dramatically better after removing overgrown shrubs and creating grassy open areas. Several rounds of digging, leveling, and seeding turned it into a space we actually enjoy using.
Most Obsessed: Sherry’s fascination with new pieces from Nate Berkus’ collection. She visited multiple Targets to track down items she loved, proving that good design finds are worth the hunt.
Spottiest: A kid-friendly pumpkin craft we made with Clara using tissue paper polka dots — simple, non-carving fun that’s perfect for little hands and sticker lovers.
Biggest Flirt: Me, around my basement pegboard. Seeing tools neatly organized gives me an enthusiastic, slightly goofy thrill — a proper-tool-geek moment if ever there was one.
Most Pinterest-Worthy: Our oversized rustic chalkboard made from scrap plywood, inexpensive framing lumber, stain, and chalkboard paint. We also added some magnetic paint we already had on hand to make it multifunctional for the living room.
Most Pencil-Tastic: A shadowbox we created to commemorate meaningful items from the book-writing process — including the many pencils we wore down during multiple rounds of editing. It’s a small, tangible reminder of the work behind the pages.
Most Adorable: Clara (aka Jessie) in her homemade Toy Story-inspired Halloween costume Sherry crafted. Burger’s Slinky Dog costume also earned a special mention for being delightfully confusing without context.
Most Likely To Give You $200: Monday’s giveaway from one of our favorite stores. To make figuring it out a little fun, we included an anagram for readers to solve — rearrange the letters to find the store name. Hint: the answer won’t follow the original word spacing.
So how was your October? Did you complete big projects or little tasks? Can you still remember it now that December is almost here?