Hi! I’m Carrie Miller, and I’m so glad you’re here. I’m a wife, mom to three incredible kids—two wonderful boys and one sweet little girl.

When I was a year old, my biological mother was incarcerated for murder. My grandparents took guardianship of me, rescuing me from entering foster care. I had a humble upbringing. Growing up with limited resources wasn’t easy, but it instilled in me resilience, grit, and a determination to create a better life for myself and my own family.

My grandmother (who I called mom) was a painter, gardener, seamstress, baker. A maker. A creator. I remember watching her simultaneously baking bread and canning tomatoes that she grew in her garden. I learned so much from her and I am so grateful. Watching my mom be so resourceful with so little taught me resilience and the value of hard work, fueling me to create the life I have now.

This is one of the last photos taken with my mom. She passed in 2023.

Professionally, I’m a Senior IT Consultant in the Financial sector, and I’ve dedicated more than a decade to the same company. I’m a certified black belt in Lean Six Sigma, which reflects my love for efficiency, quality, and finding better ways to do things. My career is something I’m incredibly proud of. 

When I’m not working or spending time with my family, you’ll find me diving into my creative passions. I created my Instagram account @acarriedaffairdesigns in 2016 and my blog, acarriedaffairblog.com with the goal of them being my creative outlet. In the beginning I shared some DIY, but mostly baking. Specifically my detailed pies.

After years of sharing my baking creations on Instagram, a media company offered me an opportunity to compete on Food Network, where I participated in a pie contest. That competition later inspired me to publish my own book, The Detailed Pie.

The cover of my book is shown below. For more information CLICK HERE.

Self publishing my pie book was one of the most difficult, yet rewarding experiences of my life.

But as I evolved so did my account. I started to dabble in woodworking, big DIY projects, gardening, fashion, and home design. I realized I just truly find happiness in creating things with my hands. Below is an image of peonies I grew in my garden. Definitely not as good as my mom, but I’m getting better with practice.

On my blog you will find all the things I am passionate about. Whether I’m building or baking, I bring my heart and my drive to everything I do. I hope you enjoy my tutorials and find inspiration in my posts. Thanks for taking a moment to get to know me and my story.

For more DIY, baking, gardening, home decor inspiration, and everything else in between, follow me on Instagram at @acarriedaffairdesigns.

13 Comments

  • Jaclyn

    May 11, 2017 at 12:31 pm Reply

    Hi! Where did you buy the hardware for your floating shelves? We’ve been looking but nothing holds a lot of weight. Seeing your baking items on yours I know they will hold our dishes. Thanks!!!! If you could provide a link that’d be amazing.

  • Carrie

    May 27, 2017 at 3:38 pm Reply

    Hi! Sorry I’m just now seeing this. I need to be better at looking. I purchased them from Lowe’s. I’ve had a couple people use my tutorial and I would recommend to use a thicker steel bracket if you intend to put a lot of weight on them. You can buy the thicker ones at lowes as well that look exactly like mine. Hope that helps!

  • Susan

    July 15, 2017 at 5:20 pm Reply

    Hi Carrie- somehow I found you on Instagram and love your things-so I would love to subscribe to your blog-how could I accomplish that?

    SSSKILTON@gmail.com

    Thank you! I would love to get your posts, including the one where he and you tell exactly how to make the beautiful balloon garland that is on your Instagram today. Good luck in getting it hung! I suggest command hooks 😬😊
    Thanks, Susan in charlotte

    • Carrie

      July 30, 2017 at 5:49 am Reply

      Hi Susan! If you scroll all the way to the bottom of my blog from the home page you’ll see the subscribe to my blog option. Just enter your email address and you will get an email every time I post. Hope that helps. Thanks so much!

  • Ginny

    October 15, 2018 at 11:25 am Reply

    You have made a beautiful Christmas pie with the snowflakes and the reindeer pulling the sleigh, can you please tell me where you got the cookie cutters or presses you used?

  • Jennie Lyon

    February 5, 2020 at 12:46 pm Reply

    Hi Carrie,

    My name is Jennie from Dave’s Signs. I really enjoy your DIY content and am impressed by how well you’ve done with A Carried Affair.
    I’m reaching out to you because I have a product that I know your audience would appreciate. Would you be willing to test and review our acrylic router base that we designed for a palm router?

    I can provide a free sample for you to review in exchange for a video on Instagram we will share with our audience.

    We will be sharing your content on our YouTube (OldDave100) where we have over 1,000 videos and over 35,0000 SUBSCRIBERS! https://www.youtube.com/user/oldave100/featured

    We can also share on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeawoodsign/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/makeawoodsign/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARAuUpXhdbySIMwkDUVqG8xZknE1P-Wn4wH1AS-esJAiDbnQIDasUUhexr9Ue4s8qahzHN8alktNBCkh

    You can check out testimonials from our fans here: https://www.makeawoodsign.com/?page_id=518

    Please let me know if you are interested or have further questions.
    Thanks for your time,

    • Carrie

      March 24, 2020 at 8:40 pm Reply

      Hi Jennie! So sorry for the delayed response. I would love to partner. I was actually just talking to my husband about buying a router table. Perfect timing! Please send me a DM on my Instagram and I’ll send you my contact info. Thanks!

  • Anna Gibson

    May 9, 2020 at 7:21 pm Reply

    I love your blog and I can’t wait to build the outdoor table. You are so talented. Could you please email me your house paint color
    And trim color please…I’ve been searching for the right color and I love the colors you have chosen.
    Thank you.

    • Carrie

      November 20, 2020 at 1:42 pm Reply

      Hi Alyssa! When you go to my blog you should see a place that says “let’s be friends” if you out your email in there you will receive a notification and link to every blog post. ❤️

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