Thursday, January 28, 2010

Not Just Another Dresser....

Although, at first glance you may say,
"What's different about it?"
And I would have to say....

~it's Metal~
All but the mirror!
And it's chippy....
it's naturally crackeled....
it's been used and possibly abused....
although, not by me!


I purchased this about 5 yrs ago....or so
at a Garage Sale for about $45, I believe.
It's now in my youngest daughter's "old" room.
Sitting unused and quite unloved looking.
With many little flower stickers stuck on the mirror....

Mallory, how about you helping to get those off!

But soon, my plan is to re-do this room, into something more
relaxing, cozy and inviting! And I do believe this little
metal dresser will fit in just fine!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What's Out Your Window Today....

We have dropping temperatures, light snow, lots of wind and occasional sunshine! Another good day to stay inside and nest!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

It's Cold and Snowy Outside....

~So I'm Nesting!~
Found these birds yesterday....
at Dollar Tree!

I seem to have a few....
could be considered a collection!
I think these must be Hummingbird nests....
they're very small!


This space is in my bathroom....
work in progress. How do you like my Valentine Tree?


~A little bling for my cupboard~


~Peanut Butter Chocolates~
Yummy bling!


Thanks for stopping by!
What are you doing today?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Look What I Found Yesterday....

~Pink Tulips~
It brightens up my kitchen counter
along with my Hazelnut Creme scented candle.
Ahhh....nice!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A Little Project....

I wanted mats for my new sink. It is a mirrored finish stainless sink and the wire protectors that can be order for it cost as much as the sink. So, having waited so long just to get a new sink I want to keep it looking as new as possible for as long as I can.
I told you that I was EXCITED about this sink!!
Problem being is I wanted black....I thought it would look best. But do you think I could find black? Well, I could...but, the drain hole opening was in the middle and my drain holes are in the back. So I decided to make my own....


Afterall, I only want it to protect the bottom from pans scraping around and stuff.

So I traced where I needed it cut and ....
VOILA!!

~one for the larger side of the sink~

~and one for the smaller side~
Where there's a will there's a way!
Now we'll see how it works, LOL!

UPDATE: While this looks good and sounded great....
This stuff FLOATS unless you have stuff in the sink to hold it down!
LOL....who'da thunk!
Apparently not me, ha,ha! OH Well, I tried!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Going For Gold & A Thorn In MY Side....

Okay, in yesterday's post I mentioned wanting to paint my kitchen. It has been this color for about 7 years and although I do really like it....I need a change!

You know how that is right?

So this is the current wall color thru out our kitchen. It is a red color with a wash technique that I did all by myself! Can you tell I am proud? LOL



But my cabinets are a boring wood (at least I think they're boring) and my husband WILL NOT let me paint them. So I want to try and warm up the room and compliment the wood, so I am going for GOLD!





~I like AF-350~

It's called tumeric!

It will be a couple weeks before I get to that project, but I wanted to share my plan!


Now onto something I CANNOT believe I am SHARING!!!!!!

We have two counters meant for eating at....notice I said meant!
This one is THE THORN IN MY SIDE!!!

And I am OPEN for any and all suggestions! I have tried EVERY POSSIBLE THING I can think of to make this one counter as organized and de-cluttered looking as I possibly can and so far

NOTHING has worked. No pretty basket, no container, no putting it in a cupboard....okay, nothing! So If I am missing something.....DO TELL!

Just be the nice blogger friends I know you are and understand, that I believe, we all have or had an area in our HOME that probably looks like this!

Okay, here goes....my eyes are shut but I am peeking out for your reaction!





Worst end of the counter, where DH drops ALL (if I am lucky)!



Clear container holds whatever meds he NEEDS everyday so it's right there and he won't forget.

Pile of papers on corner....mail he needs to do something with that I can not take care of on my own....but somehow gets left there FOREVER, until I get so frustrated with it I do whatever with it!


Kids end of counter....stuff from the day ends up here!

bobby pins, half eaten candy, crayons from a project, charging cords etc.


PLEASE tell me we all have an area like this!!

And if you CONQUERED it....

Let me in on your secret!

And then FORGET I ever showed you this!

Sinks, Faucets and Budgets Oh My....

Who knew you could be so EXCITED about getting a new kitchen sink? Well, I was....really, that's all I have wanted, basically, in my kitchen since we have moved here back in 2000! You see the people we purchased our HOME from had rented it out to a couple with two children. The kitchen itself was remodeled within the last two years at that time. So the sink itself wasn't old....BUT, someone must have cleaned it with something very caustic because the finish, it was a white acrylic sink, was totally gone on the bottom of the garbage disposal side of the sink. And the other side was somewhat damaged. At the beginning I could kinda, sorta bleach it and make it look decent....but then that didn't work anymore. And living in a HOME that was built in 1879 and being on a budget, cuz ya never know what may need fixin' in an older HOME, replacing the sink was not at the Top of our "priority list". You may remember me posting about my husband single handedly re-siding our HOME basically with no help.....except for myself, when I could be of any help at all. ANYWAY......I am so excited that the day finally came over the weekend to install, not only my new sink, which has been on my list of wants, but also a new faucet.


~Before~
This is a distant shot of the OLD sink...and broken faucet.
I refuse to SHARE a picture close-up because of embarrassment.
The faucet handle for the cold was broken about 4 yrs ago by my MIL.
She was about 76 yrs old at the time, but she has always had very strong hands!!
Had the sink & faucet NOT had it's problems, of course I would have kept it. I had the stuff behind the sink, neatly displayed on a towel, because I was forever wiping up water and the towel soaked it up, for whatever reason, not installed correctly or what, I don't know. Anyhoo.......
This is the faucet I really wanted. But, when we held it up to our new stainless sink at the store, it just didn't look right to either of us.

This is DH assessing the work site....
Hmmmm, may need some adjusting....


Yep, had to bring out a power tool or so to make this new sink fit.
Isn't that the way it always goes?


Okay, the sink looks like it will fit now, so we try out the new faucet....
choice number two. We like the high-arc stainless steel faucet, but....

It didn't quite fit over to the "other side" far enough. We would forever be wiping up water or splashing all over the counter.
So back it goes!


And this is the finished project!
It took what seemed like all day to install, because of having to re-cut the opening and running back to the store and trying to pick out a faucet we both liked. But we ended up getting a higher end faucet, clearanced, then we normally would have picked. Neither of us "thought" we wanted
a faucet with a handle like this....but, after using it for a couple days now, I REALLY like it!
And I really like not having all the "stuff" behind my sink. Now it can be used for what it was meant for....an eating area. There are stools under that side and there was never space before.
Now I need to paint my kitchen a new color and new counters are in the works too!
All in time, because after all we are on a budget!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Fresh from the Oven....



~Banana Bread & a Latte~

It smells wonderful and it's hard to wait for it to cool!

~so I won't~

shhhh!

~with or without alittle butter?~
Won't you join me?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

OOPS, Almost Forgot....

I did alittle project post back in November. And with the holidays and such, I forgot to share the completed project. Some of you asked to see it when done, so here is a before, little reminder....


and the after....


I really liked how it turned out. I think it is visually pleasing, especially at night with the dimly lit lamp beneath it. It is the first thing you notice when you turn to go into the room. Still tweaking the whole room. Trying to make it still feel like my daughter's room when she comes home from college and yet comfortable for guests if need be!
Hopefully it fits with my outcome from the quiz on Tracey's blog, Notes from A Cottage Industry, because it said I am Country Classic. I'm sure it fits!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Finally....

Okay, so I bought this Amaryllis somewhere around Halloween. The box said: Blooms in 8-10 weeks. I wanted it bloomed by Christmas, so I had plenty of time. Well, at Christmas it was about 3 or 4 inches above the bulb, only! I was keeping it watered. It was in a relatively "warm" place. It had sufficient light. I was doing everything right, I thought. But still no flower was appearing. Until I put it on a radiator. By a doorway. With a lamp on all day long right next to it. And just in the last 7-10 days I got this.



Posted by Picasa (various stages of bloom, pictures taken daily)

As, you can see there is another bloom waiting in the wings, so to speak. It is very pretty, although there is no leafy matter (it's still just coming out of the bulb portion). I think I have figured out that these bulbs do best pretty much soaking in water. It seemed to love that when I "over-watered" and grew the quickest. I have never had one of these before, last year I tried paperwhites. I had basically the same results with those, but those were fragrant, where this has no scent.

All in all, not bad for $3.96!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A Resolution Of Sorts....

I don't know about all of you, but I have a ton of lotions. Some not so full anymore that need to be used up. Of course, I love to buy a new scent or just a new bottle of lotion. But, I really need to use what I have already! So before I let myself buy anymore....I will use what I have already!!
Even if I have to cut the bottle open to get that last drop....which I have done on the squeeze bottle types and actually got ALOT of lotion. So then I bought one of those travel type plastic jars and scooped it all into that and it worked wonders! My husband thinks this is a GREAT idea!
What Resolutions do you have?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Something Wasn't Right....

as the day progressed yesterday,
our Home got chillier and chillier!
And colder and colder overnight....
Thank goodness for heating blankets!
You see this Old Home heats with radiators. Usually, we are plenty warm and I love having radiators to heat with because they hold their heat. Makes for great sitting spots to take the chill off and also they are great for drying things like wet mittens, hats and scarves.

~ours are similiar to these~
I REALLY like this idea! I wonder where I can buy one of these....I'll have to research that!

Anyway, I knew something wasn't right around 2:00 a.m. But, I sure wasn't going to go down to the basement to check things out. We still had hot water from the faucets, but it seems the system was confused on which to heat things up for and decided we didn't need warm air. So, as soon as the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. I told my DH that he needed to go to the basement. He did and made a few adjustments to the system and we are now getting the house warmed up again. Seems the computerized furnace truly was confused....hopefully it's back on track!
The weather gal said we are supposed to get 4-6 inches today, that means cold temps too!
Bring on the heat!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

It's Cold Outside....

so I'm staying warm with a cuppa hot coffee
and a good book! How about you?

Monday, January 4, 2010

I Tried....

In our small town on New Years Eve they set off fireworks. My husband and I were the only ones home and at about 8:30 p.m.(why they didn't do them at midnight is beyond me) we heard, what we thought were test fireworks going off. But they kept on so he ran outside and called me. Then I thought, I should try and get pictures to blog! So here are a few of my attempt to get a decent picture of the fireworks out in 19 degree weather, with wind....Brrrr!







Luckily all we had to do was stand out on our back deck to see them. I tried to make them into a slideshow and for the life of me I cannot get it to happen. Then I thought mosaic....but too lazy to do that. So I just picked a few of what I though were "decent" shots and thought I would share them with you. Too bad we were about the only people in town to witness them, lol. We did hear a few whoo hooo's in the distance. Brad thinks it was just ours echoing back, ha,ha!
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