About

Arts and Crafts. Craft Cocktails. Cats.

Hi there! My name Eileen (McKeown) Federline. Yes, I do know the song Come On Eileen. No, that’s not where I got my name. Yes, I just married a Federline. No, it’s not K-Fed and I’m not related to him by marriage either. For the first three decades of my life, the first question people asked me was: do you know the song by Dexy’s Midnight Runners? (Yes, I do and I most definitely do not consider it a pickup line). Entering the third decade of my life, I married my main squeeze with the last name Federline and people have a new question: What’s your relation to K-Fed? At least we’re getting some diversity in the post-introduction jokes these days.

Jokes aside, I’m a scrappy Philadelphian at heart who now lives in Alexandria VA with my amazing husband (who is unfortunately funnier than me) and our two cats (who I am unfortunately too obsessed with). I work on powerpoints by day but I do arts and crafts by night (and basically any time I possibly can). I’m a lover of west coast rap (I once met Snoop in person) and anything and everything by Missy Elliott. I am obsessed with iced tea – if I’m cranky, please send help in the form of Dunkin Donuts iced tea. My friends describe me as authentic/sincere, crafty and lots of terms that somehow are related to being a busy bee (energizer bunny, busy, diligent, driven). My husband would tell you I have two speeds: awake which means I’m moving and asleep. My husband would like me to also indicate that he describes me as thoughtful, caring, affable (I had to look this up because at first I thought he was insulting me), and a great cat mom. Career wise, originally, I wanted to be a trash woman so I could ride on the back of the truck, which later transitioned to wanting to be a pastry chef – ultimately, I’m a consultant and love my job even if I’m not able to do arts and crafts all day.

Beyond the superficial stuff, I’ve dedicated a lot of my free time to becoming a joyful and fulfilled person and I like to think that it has worked. That said, my life isn’t all delicious whiskey cocktails, fabulous meals cooked by my husband, and cozy cat cuddles. In fact, the last decade for me has been also full of a lot of sad stuff and anxiety too. Part of why I want to start this blog is to share how I have personally navigated grief, life getting messy, and some of my personal darkest days by doing little projects that help me put one foot in front of the other. The “little projects” have been my personal tool to try to “make each day a great day” (quote credit my BFF/dad/bowling extraordinaire: Mike McKeown).

On the blog, I’ll share the messy, the cozy, and the 100 little projects I have done/am doing over time to find joy and fulfillment. I hope you enjoy!