KariAnne Wood

00:02 right so Kerry and wood so happy to have 00:06 you as one of our first guests on the 00:07 everyday enthusiast you are a published 00:09 author in a blogger or very happy to 00:12 have you so I was reading a little bit 00:14 about you and it seems like once you 00:16 move from the country let or one from 00:19 the city lives in the country life that 00:20 kind of inspired you to take on DIY is 00:23 that kind of how that's part for you I 00:25 definitely think that DIY is always been 00:28 a part of my journey 00:29 mostly because I live my life on a 00:31 budget and so when you're when you have 00:35 a budget DIY is literally your best 00:37 friend but I think that you're 00:39 correcting that the move to the country 00:41 100% 00:43 it gave me maybe new avenues to find 00:46 things to DIY and I had an entire house 00:49 to fill so I had for sure so like when 00:54 you walk around the house or a lot of 00:55 the items like items that you've created 00:57 yourself Oh 100% either I've created 01:01 them or I've shot the side of the road 01:04 and found them and gave them home or I 01:06 bought them at a yard sale 100% it must 01:10 be really gratifying to like you know 01:13 that's something that your family uses 01:15 every day your children use every day 01:17 and it's like I made that like that must 01:19 be one of the real satisfactions that 01:23 one gets when they do a DIY activity or 01:25 they build something from the ground up 01:27 it's like I'm using this thing that's 01:30 part of our lives and rather than you 01:31 know just built way you know buying 01:32 something it's a creation of your own 01:34 and it's a it's really sentimental do 01:37 you do you feel that when you like how 01:39 many items that you've created or used 01:41 by your loved ones 01:42 I agree one of probably the most pinned 01:46 DIYs from my blog is a chalkboard 01:49 calendar and I found a window that had 01:53 40 panes on it by the side of the road 01:56 and the owner was about to toss it and I 01:58 asked her hey you know instead of taking 02:00 this to them could I have it for my home 02:02 and I loved it home actually my husband 02:05 taught me lucky at home because it has 02:06 propane so it was pretty good 02:09 put in the back of the truck and we love 02:11 you home and 02:12 we actually took some of the pains off 02:15 on the side and use them for another DIY 02:17 project and but we kept 30 panes and we 02:21 made a calendar for the wall so it's a 02:23 huge family calendar that covers the 02:26 entire wall in our home and the kids 02:29 just add in on the chalkboard whenever 02:31 they have no cheerleading practice or 02:33 baseball practice or something like that 02:34 and so it literally was going to the 02:37 trash and now it is it's been in Better 02:40 Homes and Gardens magazine so it is 02:42 living the life living the life for sure 02:45 and that's funny like you must have a 02:48 very creative mind because you know it's 02:50 just something you saw on the road so 02:51 somebody else would just drive by and 02:52 not pay attention like like do you 02:54 salvage a lot of items in your DIY work 02:57 yes that's part of the fun of it I mean 03:00 and I'm always looking at like what else 03:02 could it be 03:03 what other life couldn't live so for 03:05 example another DIY is a giant abacus 03:09 that I built for the wall and I we were 03:11 actually at a friend's house and they 03:13 had these fishing floats that he's a 03:16 commercial fisherman and they attach the 03:19 floats to the edges of the net and I 03:20 looked at those floats and I was like oh 03:23 wait those would totally make like the 03:27 beads on an abacus and so we built an 03:30 entire abacus around these fishing 03:32 floats which had no idea that they were 03:34 about to be abacus beads they had no 03:36 that's so funny what is like the most 03:39 unusual item that you've like taken and 03:42 rebirthed if you will I think probably 03:45 the one of the more unusual items that 03:48 people comment on the blog well there's 03:50 two of them actually 03:51 I took a bicycle wheel like just an 03:53 abandoned bicycle wheel the middle part 03:56 not the rubber tire but the inside of 03:59 the wheel and we made a yardstick clock 04:01 out of it so we made hands out of your 04:04 dicks and attached a clock mechanism to 04:07 the back and so the bicycle real name 04:09 and now I see companies are actually 04:11 making bicycle wheel clocks now so if 04:15 someone else had the same brilliant 04:17 ideas me another fun thing that we did 04:21 is 04:22 we went on the hundred-mile yard sale in 04:25 Kentucky and started it starts at one 04:27 end of the state goes through the whole 04:29 state and we bought shutters along the 04:32 way like shutters that you see on 04:33 people's homes and we took them and made 04:36 an entire wall out of shutter so those 04:40 are probably two a little bit unusual 04:41 things that other people might not have 04:43 in their homes 04:44 I would imagine but now you're giving me 04:47 ideas next time we'll talk you'll have 04:50 an entire shutter back I need to 04:53 redecorate this place so like did you 04:57 start blogging once you move to the 04:59 country home or was that existing 05:01 beforehand or like that it all coincide 05:03 together yes my husband and I we have 05:05 four kids to get four kids and we took 05:08 our kids and we jumped from Dallas Texas 05:11 where you know they have things like 05:13 stoplights and go through the drive-thru 05:17 people have you like a drink out the 05:18 window to the middle of the country 05:22 where in the entire county that we lived 05:26 in there were no stoplights there were a 05:29 couple of blinking lights but no real 05:31 like red green yellow lights and there 05:37 were no drive throughs in the entire 05:38 county and so I was all by myself with 05:41 these kids you know and my husband was 05:43 running a business and I was by myself 05:44 and just between us I was lonely I was 05:47 like what can I do and so I got online 05:49 at them an entire amazing community of 05:52 people that do DIYs and that's really 05:55 what helped me start the blog and you've 05:57 really built up a very dedicated fan 06:00 base how would you say like it took you 06:03 like how long did it take you to really 06:04 build up that fan base from when you 06:06 started as a blogger I say probably it 06:09 was a couple years before you know it 06:11 was really really going strong I mean I 06:14 think a long way there were always 06:16 people that from the very first post I 06:18 put on there and there were people that 06:20 were always invested in it and I think 06:23 because we have together we have the 06:27 love of DIY and we love that kind of you 06:30 know it's like a it's like a bonding 06:32 when someone else likes to shop 06:33 the road and you like to shop the side 06:35 road it's like friendship and I think 06:38 that so for the very beginning I think 06:40 they were bearing best of people but I 06:41 think it really grew do you know well 06:45 into like half a million people reading 06:47 it within only by two to three years Wow 06:51 is there a particular project that like 06:53 kicked you off that really like where 06:55 you made a name for yourself like was 06:56 there a moment where everything kind of 06:58 started to snowball I think that really 07:01 the chalkboard calendar that you're 07:02 talking I think that's got a my claim to 07:04 fame at least initially at least 07:06 initially and so I think that it was 07:09 just an unusual thing at the time 07:11 because it was so big I think that was 07:13 the thing it was just such a big 07:15 calendar that people really responded to 07:18 it what's very creative it's very 07:20 creative and I know this when we've 07:23 talked to a lot of DIY vloggers it seems 07:25 like collaboration is really big 07:27 especially for like growing your brand 07:29 in this audience and also standing out 07:31 amongst the crowd of other DIY bloggers 07:34 would you say like the community has 07:36 been really really helpful for you 07:38 getting your name out there Oh 100% if 07:41 anyone is thinking about starting a DIY 07:44 blog I think I always tell them people 07:46 say well how do I do it or what are some 07:48 tips and I would say you need peeps have 07:52 other DIY bloggers to encourage you 07:54 along the way and you know you share 07:56 their ideas they share your ideas which 07:58 is one of the reasons why I left hundred 08:00 because everybody is sharing each 08:02 other's ideas and we're all commenting I 08:04 mean if you go to my page you can see 08:07 people just commenting and giving tips 08:09 and ideas and advice and that's one of 08:11 my favorite things about it it's just a 08:12 sense of community and like when you 08:16 have you ever like collaborated with 08:18 another DIY or on a project together 08:20 like is that something that you guys do 08:22 together yes so actually one thing that 08:25 we did that was amazing 08:27 is we all said we did a seriously either 08:30 called what would I do with this and you 08:32 were supposed to send the most random 08:34 thing that you could to another DIY and 08:38 then they said something back to you so 08:40 everybody was exchanging these totally 08:42 random things and we all had 08:44 what we could do with them and create a 08:46 project and then I'm the same baby all 08:48 posted it together on on our blogs and 08:51 kind of link to each other that's really 08:54 great and encouraging because it's like 08:56 I think maybe sometimes people will 08:57 think like well I'm trying to you know 08:59 make my name for myself but you know 09:01 scenes in the DIY community it's really 09:03 important like you know that you 09:05 collaborate and people really respect 09:07 that like that and it's like I when I go 09:09 to your blog I can see you're sharing 09:10 you know and it's not even just DIY 09:12 stuff it's recipes decor it's really 09:14 everything it's almost just lifestyle 09:16 recommendations that you will and so 09:19 would you say like that's good advice 09:21 for somebody who's starting up like - 09:23 don't be afraid to collaborate and to 09:25 reach out no I would encourage them to 09:28 collaborate because the amazing thing 09:31 about DIY blogs and I think this is true 09:33 in life itself when one person Rises we 09:35 all rise together and so I think that's 09:38 really important you know even as my 09:41 blog has continued to grow in my social 09:44 platforms have continued to grow I still 09:46 every Saturday I shout out other amazing 09:50 DIY projects that I've found just 09:51 because to me I'm so inspired so I want 09:54 to make sure that my readers are 09:55 inspired as well and you're also a 09:59 published author I mean that's that's a 10:02 no easy task 10:03 so like when you started that like like 10:06 what inspired you to start writing a 10:08 book well okay so I actually have five 10:11 published books oh wow so yeah I just 10:14 finished the last one and it just it was 10:16 published in March and I think that I 10:20 just I don't know I think I just was 10:23 telling stories and sharing DIYs and 10:25 people kept asking me even people that 10:29 you know for example use the chalkboard 10:31 calendar it had been around for awhile 10:32 and people kept referencing it over and 10:35 over again they would go back in the 10:36 pages of the blog and I thought there's 10:38 something here like I want to share 10:40 these projects with other people and 10:42 share what I've learned along the way 10:44 with other people so so books were just 10:46 a natural fit the last book that I 10:49 actually published is it's called where 10:52 it's called but where do I put the couch 10:54 and it's a hundred and one 10:56 decorating questions that the readers 10:59 actually ask so I put out the all call 11:02 like hey anyone who has questions let me 11:05 know and the readers literally send in 11:07 all these questions and then the book 11:09 answers them I'm glad I have a digital 11:11 background background right now because 11:13 if you saw my apartment you probably 11:14 give me a lot of day corner well I like 11:22 the logo the logo that works for me it's 11:25 the perfect date yes exactly 11:29 so I mean your your blog it's not just 11:32 DIY stuff it's also like recipes decor 11:35 is there any facet of DIY life that 11:40 maybe you were daunted by or maybe too 11:42 scared to try like we've talked to 11:44 woodworkers and people who do sewing and 11:46 everything is there a particular task 11:48 we're like you know what I could never 11:50 pick that one up no matter how hard I 11:51 tried I think that now this is its kind 11:55 of DIY but not I'm just between Iceland 11:58 like don't don't tell anyone okay well 12:01 don't let anyone else know but I'm 12:02 actually not that great at sewing oh 12:06 it's alright I tried to follow pack I 12:09 think it's just something I think when 12:12 you're a DIY person you're just 12:13 naturally maybe not a rule follower a 12:15 little bit and with patterns and sewing 12:17 you kind of have to be a rule follower 12:20 because that's why the patterns are 12:21 there to guide you and I just so I sew 12:25 things but I kind of invent things along 12:28 the way so for example the curtains I 12:30 don't know if you can tell the curtains 12:31 directly behind me right there people 12:34 asked about them all the time they're 12:35 like well how did you saw them I was 12:36 like well I just kind of invented it and 12:37 they're actually lined with sheets so 12:40 those are still lined with sheets just 12:42 like sheets you'd buy at the store it's 12:44 such a simple tip and somebody goes well 12:46 how do you think it up I was like well I 12:47 didn't really know how to sew a liner so 12:49 I love how you said I love you said I'm 12:53 not good at sewing and then you show me 12:54 these beautiful sewn curtains right 12:56 behind you I think I think you might 12:58 know little fingers they look good they 13:02 look good so here my questions here um 13:08 so Ramon 13:10 this house like what was the first test 13:14 that you did when you moved into this 13:15 place we're like alright this needs to 13:17 get done so actually this house that I'm 13:21 sitting in right now is the house I grew 13:23 up in oh I know it's amazing story so 13:27 when we left the country they actually 13:29 jump back to Dallas and came back here 13:31 and my mom had sold the house that I 13:35 lived this house my whole life so right 13:37 where I'm sitting right now I have sat 13:39 here for so many Thanksgiving dinners I 13:42 can't even tell you I'm in the dining 13:44 room facing the living room and so I 13:46 literally in this room my whole life and 13:48 my mom had sold it to a couple I'm an 13:52 amazing family and I just called him up 13:54 and said hey suddenly we're moving back 13:57 to the area is there any way consider 13:58 selling us the house and they sold us 14:01 the house back so amazing which in 14:04 itself is a little you know you talked 14:06 about daunting because when you live in 14:09 a house your whole life and it's always 14:10 look like that like for you to decorate 14:13 you can have to almost step outside of 14:15 yourself and recognize okay it doesn't 14:18 always have to look like how it's look 14:20 like your whole life oh yeah you're 14:22 afraid of erasing the memories kind of 14:24 yeah yeah and so so the first thing that 14:29 we really tackled was the exterior paint 14:32 color so my whole life the house had 14:35 been creeks kind of a creamy white and I 14:39 remember I told her not a real follow 14:46 renegade ish I guess hated it great I 14:50 like that I like that that's so 14:53 beautiful that you got to move back into 14:55 your childhood home that's really great 14:57 and like and also got to make it your 14:59 own 15:00 - and speaking on that like as you were 15:06 child and I know you mentioned earlier 15:08 that DIY is kind of always been a part 15:10 of your life was there like a relative 15:12 that also like when you were a kid do 15:15 you have any memories of like oh man 15:16 that's probably the moment when that 15:18 sparked my interest in DIY was there a 15:20 family member or maybe a teacher or 15:22 somebody that got you into it well 15:24 my parents my mom and dad both of them 15:28 were a big believer in just letting us 15:31 be as creative as we want 15:32 so it's what's interesting is one of the 15:35 upstairs bedrooms here my sister's 15:37 bedroom and my parent I can't believe I 15:40 would not let my kids do this but they 15:42 like them just right people's names on 15:44 the floor so like when you came into her 15:45 room you're like she's like sign my 15:47 floor encouraging of people riding on 15:57 floors but it was a great way to grow up 16:00 so at any given moment in this house 16:03 like the walls directly behind me my 16:05 sister did this wall treatment it's kind 16:08 of a like a mud she she used a comb and 16:11 scraped through mud and still on the 16:12 walls and like somebody was always 16:14 either creating something or making 16:17 something or and I thought it actually 16:20 just I had this exact thought yesterday 16:22 because my kids literally I they were 16:25 like one kid was painting something and 16:27 somebody else was outside making 16:28 cornhole boards and somebody else was 16:30 doing like a dramatic reading to me and 16:33 somebody else wrote a song and I thought 16:35 I guess the house is just we're just 16:37 continuing the tradition of being 16:40 creative yet no pool or writing well 16:44 that must be very gratifying you know 16:46 passing it on to your children you got 16:48 very creative children and you can see 16:50 that does that make you I mean it must 16:52 make you feel very good to know that 16:54 like you're obviously inspiring your 16:55 children and passing on that creativity 16:58 yeah it actually in I am so I have two 17:01 boys and then I have twin daughters and 17:03 they are actually are authors as well so 17:04 they have their first book came out this 17:08 past year and it's called fifty-two a 17:11 DIY craft for girls so they're 17:14 continuing the exact tradition of DIY 17:17 and sharing you know what they love to 17:19 do with other girls their age that is so 17:22 great do they also have a blog as well 17:24 no they have a blog they're way cooler 17:30 than me 17:31 and they have Instagram accounts and all 17:33 that stuff but and they've been on my 17:35 YouTube channel a couple 17:36 doing crafts with me so yeah they're 17:39 really they're very very crafty but they 17:42 don't like it like sometimes I have an 17:44 opinion on share crafts they are not for 17:46 that they can play of their own way of 17:47 doing things which you know more power 17:49 to yesh 17:50 the one from DIY er to another 17:52 everybody's got their way of doing stats 17:55 them right on and well obviously you 17:59 know what's going on right now 18:00 everybody's having to stay inside 18:02 DIY it's kind of exploding like I've 18:04 seen so many new bloggers of emerge and 18:07 also like many articles you know 18:09 suggesting do people are doing making 18:11 bread at home if there's so many things 18:13 you know that are under the DIY umbrella 18:15 that are kind of exploding right now 18:17 have you noticed an uptick in and you 18:20 know people check it out your stuff Oh 18:22 100% 18:23 I think this past April it was the most 18:26 pages I've ever had on the blog as 18:28 people were just going in there 18:30 researching and looking for things and 18:32 and people are using this type home to 18:34 create new things and you know grow new 18:37 things I myself taught myself some new 18:40 skills I learned a little bit more about 18:42 video editing and some other stuff that 18:44 I you know was working on at home and I 18:48 think you just had the time at home and 18:50 so it kind of brings out the creative 18:52 and the DIY er and all of us exactly uh 18:56 what would you suggest to somebody who's 18:58 at home and they're trying they're you 19:00 know nervous about maybe starting a 19:02 project like what would you say to them 19:03 to just you know dive in I would say you 19:07 know what one of the things that I 19:08 learned from you know staying at home is 19:11 I I planned out for example let's just 19:14 use the content on the blog I planned 19:16 out my DIY content on the blog and then 19:18 I ordered the supplies online and all 19:21 the craft stores and home improvement 19:23 stores and they have they'll ship it 19:25 anything to your house so just as one 19:27 example we have some planters in the 19:30 front of our house and I wanted an 19:32 obelisk you know a kind of a cage that 19:35 goes over top of the planters to train 19:37 them and I made two Bs outside and I 19:39 thought I'm just gonna make my own and 19:41 you can order the supplies so I ordered 19:43 embroidery hoops so I made an entire 19:45 obelisk out of embroidery 19:49 you know but you can order those 19:50 supplies and home and have them shipped 19:53 to your house if you're nervous about 19:54 going out I completely understand and 19:56 respect um you don't have to be worried 19:58 you can just order and have it delivered 19:59 a lot of places are no contact delivery 20:02 and then you can still be creative at 20:04 your in your home yeah I just say do it 20:07 I remember when I was a kid my parents 20:09 constantly talked about renovating the 20:12 home and everything and then one day my 20:13 dad literally just got an axe and took 20:16 to the wall is pretty peeling off the 20:18 wood tiles and everything and then we 20:20 had so much to my parable sometimes I 20:32 feel like but it is good when it comes 20:33 to DIY because sometimes I don't think 20:37 do I know this or not know that 20:38 sometimes I just dive in and I just 20:40 teach myself along the way and for me 20:43 that's part of it but not it's not for 20:44 everybody but for me that really is part 20:46 of the fun all right on and uh you know 20:49 you mentioned that you know you moved 20:51 back into your childhood home my parents 20:52 that my great grandfather built the home 20:55 that they live in right now they no 20:57 longer own it but gosh one day I hope 20:59 that we can buy back that poverty you 21:01 know I'd be like because you know he 21:03 actually built four houses on a lot and 21:05 just be so amazing to be like I'm living 21:07 in a house that my great grandfather 21:08 built you know it's just I'm jealous I'm 21:12 jealous I hope that one day I get to do 21:14 the same I'm sure you will I'm sure you 21:17 will it is I mean somebody said well how 21:20 did you how did you luck into that I 21:22 said I just I just asked them asking say 21:26 hey are you up for this and and I just 21:28 think they and it all ended up being 21:30 very fortuitous because the people that 21:32 were living here had a job offer and 21:33 they were gonna put it on the market so 21:35 it just it just was you know really good 21:37 timing for the whole thing but you are 21:39 gonna do this I feel positive we're 21:40 going to talk later you'd be like I'm 21:42 living in this house of my grandfather 21:44 built yes I hope one day one day alright 21:47 well just to wrap things up carry on do 21:49 you have anything else you'd like to 21:50 share with our audience we're gonna put 21:51 all your info down below and everything 21:53 everybody can find you and obviously the 21:54 link to your tundra group as well but I 21:57 have anything else you'd like to share I 21:58 just invite everybody to join me over 22:01 my group we love anybody DIY we left 22:04 anything DIY and if you even have 22:06 questions a lot of people upload home 22:08 decor and design questions and we'd love 22:11 to help if you are working on your 22:13 kitchen or your bathroom and you are 22:14 looking especially paint colors if you 22:17 need help with paint colors I'm your 22:18 girl because I never met a pink color I 22:21 didn't like and so I would be more than 22:24 happy and the people that are in my firm 22:26 Asian community they would be more than 22:28 happy to help you out in any way because 22:30 we all the DIY are in us we all have to 22:33 stick together for sure I've got a 22:36 unleash my inner DIY I'm gonna start 22:37 posting there too and get some advice 22:40 alright awesome and again everything 22:43 will be down below thank you so much 22:44 Carrie Anne this has been a pleasure 22:46 thank you thank you for having me this 22:48 was so much fun