We Interrupt This Program...

Pictures often speak louder than words.

Yes, that's my kitchen floor.

Oh the mess.

Oh the smell.

It's kinda like buried treasure.

Except it's not at all like that.

We have rotten drain pipes in our kitchen.

Under the concrete.

Do wish us luck.

And if you play the lottery then please stop so I can win.

Heh-heh.

DIY Magnetic Chalkboard

This project falls into the "Could be Cheesy" category.

Lets be honest with each other though...

Some of us blogger people sometimes do cheesy projects.

Can I get an Amen?

 

Okay, so let me preface this all by saying, I hate stuff hanging on my fridge.

I have stuff hanging (on the sides) of my fridge.

AndIHateIt

 

I love my kids sweet (if many) little drawings they make me though.

I like for them to see them hanging proudly.

Then there's that dentist appointment card reminder thingy.

The count down till vacation.

And so on and so forth.

These things need there own places in the circle of life.

 

So I actually didn't use a cookie sheet cause I already had this sheet of metal stuff that a friend of mine gave me.

She thought I could use it for something.

She was right.

I like the kind of friends that gift me with random sheet metal.

 

So I took my gifted metal and I:

Took a hammer and nail and punched two holes in the top for my twine to go through.

I then decided that there had to be an easier way to punch holes that didn't involve my ears bleeding.

Enter the Dremel Tool.

I used it to drill my other two holes for the upside down wood desk pull.

Now you could stay primitive and stick with the hammer and nail.

But.

If you have the dremel, use the dremel.

You could also just glue the handle to the metal.

I guess.

 

 

I would strongly suggest using the Spray Chalk Paint because it will adhere to the metal much better than brushing it on.

After it dries then thread your twine in.

Screw your handle (pull) on.

Plop on your magnetics.

 

Now wait for your life to be transformed and automatically organized.

 

Or not.

I (and "I" use "I" loosely since it was actually the husband) picked up the magnetic hooks at the Wal-Mart.

You don't have to go the magnetic route if you don't want.

Dremel some more holes.

Go for real hooks.

 

If you want.

 

 



 

By the way...

I am going to Florida.

But it's not in 40 days.

I'm excited.

Another Table Redo

So today I don't have many words.

Shocker I know.

I traded tables with a friend quite a few months back.

This one works much better with the small area we dine in.

I just now got around to redoing it.

Shocker again.

It was an easy redo consisting of:

Casters for the feet.

Sanding the top and giving it a sunbleached look.

Dry brushing Alabaster paint on the bottom.

I am happy to say that I've finished up a few projects lately.

I'll be sharing them with you soon.

 

Don't snort like that.

It's unlady like.

 

I really will share them.

Soon.

 

Gli Speciali di Casa Chic Feature

A few months back I was very honored and excited to be contacted from the Italian Magazine

 Gli Speciali di Casa Chic.

I got to work with a lovely lady there by the name of Annarita who did an amazing job of making our house look magazine worthy.

 

I did copy and paste everything into Google so that I could translate to english and see what was said.

It was all good stuff:-)

Annarita tried to send me a few copies through the mail so that I could have them as souvenir's.

Alas...

I received an empty envelope instead since fedex couldn't see to it that they arrived safely.

If any of you over in Europe ever see a copy then email me and I would LOVE to reimburse you any expense to have it shipped over!

Anyway it was a fun experience and I thank Annarita for her patience and her immense talent!

Thank you!

P.S. I also saw this little shout out over on Apartment Therapy that I thought was cool! 

Introducing J.T. Wilton {or rather, a new sign}

When I was in Virginia last time I took some time to dig around at my parents house for anything they would be willing to part with.

Haha.

My mom is one of those women that has done a little of everything, does do a little of everything and will do a little of everything in her lifetime.
(I am will be just like her when I grow up)

One of those "things" she picks up is some cool pieces of furniture and such at local places and auctions.

You can see a few treasures in her Etsy store.
(Keep checking her store cause she's holding out on you people. She has some AWESOME old stuff to sell!)

Anyway, to make a long story even longer...

I dug around outside and I found this old table top laying under some leaves.

I grabbed it with haste.

It's taken me a few months but J.T. Wilton is ready to shine.

In an old and weathered kind of way that is.

Will I keep J.T?

No, I will not.

Email me if you're interested in him.

***

Big stuff is getting ready to happen around here.

We are having our pool redone starting this week!

Do we want to do this?

No.

It just so happens that we have to do this though and it goes hand in hand with fixing our family room flooding problem.

I will keep you posted with pictures.
(as well as the photos of us eating beans and Ramen noodles.heh)

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this lovely new back splash.

I put the rest of the leftover cuts from planking our living room to good use too.

Will reveal that soon!



Updates

So these days my living room is looking more like this...

My kitchen looks more like this...

(ugh, I try not to look)

And our bedroom is getting a tweaking...

(our bedroom gets tweaked quite frequently)

I bought some furniture that is getting redone so I look like a one armed paper hanger running around painting this and that and the other.

Got to admit that it is HARD to paint while holding an eight month old in one arm!

If you have put in a sign order then be assured I'm working on that too:-)

***

Speaking of sign (custom) orders...

I have come to the conclusion that I am not a miracle worker.

Hmmm, I may have already known that a long time ago.

Anyhoo...

I will only be taking custom orders on a very limited basis from now on.

You are always welcome to ask, but be prepared for a no or a "it will be about 6 months" ;-)

More updates soon with some pretty cool before and after photos!

My Kitchen Is Almost Famous! Check Her Out!

Hi friends, family and perhaps not so friendly people.
(I have no idea)

You may remember a few months back when I posted this little teaser post?

Perhaps you don't.

Either way...

I can now tell you that I have been prepping, coaching, pushing my kitchen into stardom!

I shined her surfaces and liberally applied mounds of makeup.

When all was said and done I gave her a shove and let her spread her wings and fly!

Where did she fly you ask?

Into the current issue of This Old House!

Hooray for my little gal!

Now I must gripe.

(there is a gripe with everything)

I took the photo's myself.

They are horrible.

The look even worse in the magazine.

Enough of that.

I am proud of my lady for (almost) completing her makeover on a strict, as-we-could-do-it budget.

Thank you This Old House for showing her off!

Shoot'n Stuff

I swept the clutter off the counters in my kitchen the other day

(for real, just ask my big sister)

for a photo shoot.

"What", you ask, "am I shooting my kitchen for?"

I reply, "I like to shoot stuff."

Okay, perhaps that's not a good reason or a good answer.

You'll have to wait and see...

Catch that Clutter

One little corner of our kitchen counter is the catch all of clutter.

Mail, coupons, cell phones and chargers just sort of migrate here.

I had actually emptied the basket here.

It drives me crazy to say the least and the little basket there wasn't doing his job.

In comes this little wood caddy from Hobby Lobby (it was around $2-$3 dollars).

I think I had picked it up for some random project that never happened.

At some point I had let my 4 year old "paint" it for me.

It has not been a miracle cure, but it's doing its part to save my sanity, one piece of clutter at a time.

Light My World You Little Used To Be Basket!

Some have suggested that we shed a little light on our kitchen sink.

Good idea.

Bad thing is, running electrical is a pain in the proverbial backside and the nearest and bestest place to run it happens to be an exterior wall.
A brick exterior wall.

The next best thing to do would be a lot of things that I didn't feel like doing, so as normal, I did the easiest thing.

One Ikea plug-in pendant light + one former black little basket from Hobby Lobby
= One new light above my kitchen sink.

I picked this basket up for $4.99 and used the spray paint below to change it to silver.

Of course I didn't want it so bright and shiny so I alternated with black and white spray paint. Standing back so that it barely misted over the basket.

Ahhh, nicely aged.

I like that it makes little chicken wire shadows dance on my walls in the evening.

I spent about 72 hours wrapping twine around and around the cord to hide the ugly blackness.

Now I can see exactly how dirty my dishes and sink are.

Yeaaahhh...

My "Accidental" Ebay Buy

Okay, don't tell me you've never done it too. It wasn't so much an accident as it was not thinking through the whole currency differences. Yup, this little puppy came from the United Kingdom.

Yup, they use a different currency there.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad deal, just more than I normally "on a whim" place a bid.

I love to gaze at and think about how it must have sat on some stogy old aristocrats stoop in years gone by, or perhaps a harried milkman delivered it to a harried mother of three boys...in years gone by...

So anyway, I like my new/old milk basket. I plan on adding some old, miss-matched silverware to it instead of my everyday stuff.
Someday.
 (Yes sister Abby, they say imitation is the highest form of flattery)

Tally-ho,

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