Last year at this time we were just about to start photographing our new book (out this year!) and life was CHAOTIC! The book had been something we had been planning for a number of months, years really, but even with planning, the load was much more intense than any of us could have been prepared for. And though the actual shoot was only two weeks (and many of those round the clock), it dipped into our February and March and April and…let’s just call it a very involved project. And then for some crazy reason we decided to take on another book project later in the year, which mostly finished up while I was on my trip to France in October, but is yes, still going on 😉 This is all to say that the tone of 2016 was set with chaos and it took awhile for me to get in the normal swing of things. Whatever normal means. 

GRATEFULLY, we have grown a great team with Mary on the business side of things along with Amy, Becca and Ashley on creating the awesome blog content and a few interns each semester to help. Believe me, I’m super grateful for a great team especially as I prepare for the arrival of Baby Jepsen in a couple of weeks (gah!). They were all instrumental with making it our best year yet! Thanks to Mary, we have a great organization and rhythm to the studio and a great way of working with our clients, who we love, and the quality of our content continues to rise. The confidence I feel in taking a bit of time to have a baby and get into a groove is enormous thanks to each one of these ladies. I mean, look at all these wonderful projects here!

So, without further ado, here are our top 10 posts of this year based on page views counting down from 10. They’re a mix of projects, costumes, book club, and personal stuff, which is tells me that you love seeing a little bit of everything. Of course, I always love hearing exactly what you’d like to see so if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.

Top 10 Posts of 2018

10. Strawberry surprise balls

I’m always surprised when our simple, easy projects do the best. But at this point I shouldn’t be because they are just that: simple and easy! We tried to focus a good portion of our content this year on creating simpler projects as they are the ones that you will actually make. That said, a lot of you go all out on some more intense projects as our number 1 project indicates. It’s always a mixed bag! 

9. Poppy backdrop wall

Yet another example of a project that is both simple yet impactful. These paper poppies are super simple to make and then make a number of them and they look stunning! And I’ve loved seeing the reader projects trickle in. You love these guys! 

8. The Ultimate bow making guide

This one was a slow climb to the top as it took awhile to get moving. Thanks to Pinterest it gathered momentum and became one of our top posts of the year. And if I do say so myself, with good reason. Everyone should know the basics of bow making. EVERYONE I tell you!

7. Paper chain wall hanging

This one took off from the moment we pressed publish. Why? You get a lot of the benefits of a fiber wall hanging with much simpler technique. Once again, simple reigns! That said, it is a time intensive process, but if you’re into a wow project for your home, this is it.

6. Mama and me Halloween costumes 

We worked with Solly to develop some adorable Halloween costumes for mama and baby using their iconic wraps. You went gaga for them!

5. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade table

I think if this one had more time on the 2017 calendar it would have come out on top, but alas, it had less than a month to avalanche and still somehow made it to #5! This was one of the most made projects of the year. Even The Today Show loved it so much that they featured it on their show for their Thanksgiving edition. Wahoo!

4. Our gender reveal

Ha! I’m glad our baby made it in there somewhere, though I’ve got to be honest and say that I’m shocked that it wasn’t our baby announcement video because MAN, that was so much more work to produce! Thanks for liking our baby’s sex 😉

3. DIY botanical staircase

Our friends at Old Home Love shared the tutorial for the botanical floral staircase as featured on the cover of their book, Old Home Love, and you loved it! I see why, it’s super rad. It makes me think that we should do more home DIYs. What do you think?

2. Book Club artwork 

I’m SO glad that one of our Book Club posts made it into the top 10! And this print from Libby VanderPloeg was far and away the winner. It’s so good that I want to blow it up and frame it in my studio and home.

and, drumroll please….

1.  Beaded chandelier

You fell for the beaded chandelier hard! It’s not one of the simpler project (see #10) but it’s pretty phenomenal and much cheaper than buying the real thing.

Thank you so much for reading and making and providing feedback. I value each one of you and consider it a high honor to have you spend time on our site and in our world.

What’s on tap for 2018

Our plans for 2018 are many and include a few highlights like the release of our book in April as well as the release of a few follow up books and journals in the fall. Along with the book release comes all the fun events planned for it like the parties and countdowns. We’ve got a number of ways to be involved with lots of fun goodies for you. If you’re a sponsor and looking to collaborate on the book launch, let us know! I’m sure there’s a way to work together.

Second, we have a secret project I won’t be divulging until March. Long-time readers will LOVE this one and you’ll see why as it’s one of the reasons that a number of you began following along in the first place. It’s gonna be GOOD!

One of our biggest goals for 2018 is to focus more on products as we’ve learned that there are a ton of crafty people out there, but there are also a lot of people who love looking at our stuff but would prefer to buy it. We hear you! And we want to take care of you too, so we’re actively working on releasing a number of products this year for our shop. Of course, we’d love to hear what YOU would like to see in our shop too, so if you have feedback, please email me at hello [at] thehousethatlarsbuilt [dot] com or dm me on Instagram.

Lastly, we’re constantly striving to create the superb content for you and consider it a unique challenge to be improving the service that we provide to you on a daily basis. Top-notch projects and inspiration is our goal and we are always setting out to raise the bar.

Happy 2018 everyone! Thank you for reading and for contributing to our community. We love having you!