New Use For An Old Jelly Cabinet

We were in desperate need of storage in the extended bathroom since the hall linen closet was sacrificed for bedroom space.

A dear friend of mine had bought a home and in the basement the previous owners had left this antique jelly cabinet.

She offered it to me, I with enthusiasm said yes!

Fast forward some years and I have a new purpose for this cabinet!

However, after scrubbing the inside, I felt the need for a bit of color!

And out came the turquoise paint which I paled a bit with a few splashes of white.

Loved it, but felt it needed to be "antiqued" a smidge.

Walnut stain to the rescue!

Paper toweling and a light hand does the trick!

Simply rub the stain (in the direction of the longest area of the boards) onto the fully dried paint and then wipe off immediately, leaving the level of "antiquing" you desire!

The above photo shows well the stain.

And yes I do have a chandelier in my bathroom

Doesn't everyone?

No? 

Seriously????

I love my new storage cabinet and I am sure that it will very quickly fill up!

My Lamp Story

I bought the most amazing lamp two months ago.

It was originally $58 but I got it for the price of $14!!

The lamp base was made of "bubble glass", you know, that luscious glass with small bubbles in it that makes it look old and possibly nautical? 

Yes, that glass.

It was oblong with an oval shaped shade and was stunning.

Why am I speaking in past tense?

Because while I was working on my closet organizer, screwing in more shelving

It Fell.

To it's death.

Shattering into hundreds of pieces of glittering shards of bubble glass.

I cleaned it up and saved the electrical parts of it along with the shade.

Then I cried at the burial.

I was not really sure why I saved the parts, probably because I have been married for so many years and it is what my Hubby would do, so I did.

Wandering through our second home, Menards I spotted a large metal vase and of course it was on clearance so I snapped it up because it was the right size for a new lamp!

Oh yes, I did!

And this is how I did it.

Drilling a hole in the vase, not on the bottom as that would make the lamp unstable from the cord coming out of it.

I threaded the wiring through the newly drilled hole and up into the body of the vase.

Next some way to affix the "lamp" part of the old lamp to the new vase had to be figured out.

My husband decided that the only way to stabilize the top would be to drill through the neck of the vase and bolt it together.

I had a light bulb moment and thought of using rivets! 

I know, I am impressed too!

My hubby riveted it together.

I wired it, you know, electrical....yes I did!

And it works...without sparks or smoke!

And this is the masterpiece....not as pretty as the original...

However, it is large enough to work where I intend for it to go and

it is still a lamp worth having!
   

  

Clothes Pins

While shopping in Green Bay, we ran across these super cute extra wide clothes pins that were all painted in beautiful colors that reminded me of bright beach homes in Jamaica. It was, after all, a global market we were in so finding these did not surprise me....but they did inspire me!

Those extra wide beauties were for using at your desk, to clip important papers together....you know, all those wonderful love notes you get from your hunny!

Well, I use clothes pins for "bag clips", and pretty ones would be even better!!

 I gathered 4 of my not in use clothes pins (I know, these are not extra wide, but they are free to me, so I jumped!!) and found paint, brushes, & my table top.

Not an easy task at this time to find un-used space on my table!

I took the clothes pins apart, meaning that I removed the springs from the two pieces of wood to make painting a breeze! 

I love paisley, plaid and bright colors mixed with pastels.

So that is the painting that I chose to do......

Let your mind go wild and your hands do the task!

Have a great day, and make your chip clips look amazing!!!!

Have You Ever.........

Have you ever been in a boutique and your eyes met a certain something

That made your heart flutter a bit or alot

And that certain something was nothing you needed or had any reason to get,

Or is even anything that you would have ever bought before for any reason?

I know I'm not alone here, you know you have!

But did you pass by it... our pick it up into your hands, 

Turn it over and over in your hands,

Think in your head "What would I even do with this?"

And you just could not put it back down.

And did your youngest child look at you and say, "what on earth Mom, why are you even looking at that!"

I did.

This past weekend while in Green Bay WI with my daughters, we wandered into a small boutique called Francesca's.....such a treat! I have been in a Francesca's before in New Orleans and LOVED it so of course I would wander into another!

I had already picked up a few things, but then my eyes fell upon this beauty!

I mean, it made me put jewelry back on the rack so I could justify buying this!!

That does not happen ever! Especially if the necklace is huge, sparkly and on clearance! Nope, I have never put jewelry back before once the decision was made.

But for this, I did.

My daughter's confused negativity did not sway me!

I even paid full price for this!!!

And this is where it landed.....in our bedroom next to the antique mirror that I got for 5 bucks! (yep, deal of the year!)

Now every day that I walk by this treasure, my heart flutters....and I smile.

Sigh. 
 

Blogging In 2015

I am going back to blogging....so sorry for the absence.

Well, not so sorry

Because I have been over the top busy.

Life gets that way sometimes and we all know about that.

So, to catch up and fill you in I will do a question and answer time!

Sounds so much more fun than just typing!

Q: How is the addition coming along?

A: Quite well, thank you for asking! (I crack myself up!!!)
 
      Now that I am over myself, the real answer is, we are seeing the end coming near! Paint is going on the walls and flooring is being nailed down! Our bedroom and bathroom are construction wise done with still a bit of finishing work to be done, like caulk and baseboard installation. Mom's bathroom, bedroom and main living area still need flooring and some paint, then on to the trim work and plumbing.

Q: How was your Christmas?

A: Time spent with family is always what makes me feel special. Even tho there was a huge mess in the house, we had a great Christmas full of good food, laughter and love. Nothing better than that!

Q: How did you spend your New Years?

A: Dry-walling. Not kidding. New Years Eve and New Years Day my husband and I were finishing dry-wall. It was a real party!!!!!!!

Q: Are you excited about the decorating part of the work?

A: Ummmmmm YES! But I have to say that the thing I am most excited about is having the rest of the house "normal" again. Taking up the construction paper from the floors, no longer having towels on the dining table, you know, normal.

Q: Have you taken any pictures of the work done?

A: No. Ok, I know you don't believe that, so I will assure you that pictures are to come very soon.

Q: How will blogging look for you this year?

A: I want to blog two or three times a week. I am not even going to try to blog daily as that is just to much to ask of myself.
I really desire to get back to more DIY and cooking projects and less of "look, we have siding!" type of blogging.

Q: What if you cannot blog 2 or 3 times a week?

A: That's ok with me! Really, it is. I am not going to chain myself to blogging because if I do, the joy of blogging will be gone and it will simply become a chore and that is not what I desire. If it becomes a frustration or chore, then I will make the choice to stop.

Q: Is there anything you want to do just for yourself this year?

A: Yes! I want to make time for Personal Joy Time. I see that as those moments or days (wouldn't that be nice!) that are just for me. A time when I choose to do something that simply brings me joy.

Q: What will that look like?

A: It will likely look different all the time. It will be unscripted but planned. Sometimes it will be taking 10 minutes to just relax. Other times it will be taking a couple of hours to wander through an antique mall or play with photography or go out to eat with my husband.
This week it will be going to Green Bay for my annual Mother / Daughter weekend and spend time laughing and shopping and eating with my daughters.

Q: How has 2015 been so far?

A: CRAZY! Already? Yep! Our youngest found herself in the E.R. and is scheduled for gallbladder surgery this week.
Our Daughter-In-Law was the "New Years Baby" the year she was born and I got her card in the mail to late to have it there before the big day....booooo! She is very forgiving tho and we love her dearly!
My Father-In Law has a birthday tomorrow!! We will actually make it on time for his birthday as they live just a few miles away!
Our Son has a birthday this coming Sunday! Better get that card in the mail!!!!

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start and I pray that life can be filled with joy for all of you!! 

Flakey Cookies!

I saw a picture of cookies on Pinterest.

I am not a big pinterest girl, shameful, I know.

I visit it about once a month or so.

Don't hate me...

Last week I saw the above mentioned cookie picture and thought,

"I can make those! And sugar free to boot!"

 

I really like having conversations with myself....I can be quite pleasant!

OK, back to the cookies.

I bought a package of rolled out pie crust (the bottom of the picture said they used pie crust with a very big exclamation point)

and I also bought a bag of sugar free Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

I left the pie dough out to get to room temp. I then cut it in strips and made 14 squares with opposite cuts.

 

Well, ok, 10 squares and 4 triangles.....blast those round pie shapes!

I next "squashed" the pie dough all around the naked PB cups.

I made them naked by taking off their little brown skirts.

Placed the balls on a parchment lined bake sheet and baked them at 350* until lightly browned on top.

After they cooled, I rolled them all in powdered "sugar" which was of course powdered xyltol which is an all natural sugar sub, a ground up plant.

The crispy crust on the bottom was wonderful!! I personally am not a peanut butter person but I liked these. I think it was that crisply crust!