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Category Archives: Projects
Caring for Wood Cutting Boards
There are some things you learn when you’re young and other things that you don’t figure out until you’re much older.
The latter is my story with caring for wood cutting boards.
For years, I cleaned my cutting boards with dish soap and water and pretty much left it at that.
The problem was, my boards got dry, some cracked and warped and then there were the lingering scents of garlic and onions that didn’t go away with regular washing.
A few weeks ago, I received the most beautiful cutting board in the mail from a sweet blogging friend (more on that later). It got me thinking about how I care for my boards to keep them looking and functioning best. So I decided it might be useful to share what I have learned.
Here are my best tips for keeping your cutting boards in tip top shape:
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How to Create a Family Command Center in a Small Space
One of the challenging things about having a family is keeping up with all the various schedules and paper that comes in to the house daily.
Even though the school sends a lot of its communication via email and teacher web sites, we still get several papers that we need to keep around. The difficulty comes in trying to figure out where to put it all.
Until this week, I kept everything in a fairly organized manner near my desk in a spare room that we use for practically everything…exercising, guests, blogging, crafts, watching TV…you name it. It seems to be the most used room in our home besides the kitchen. Except now it’s undergoing a big change (I’ll be sharing more on that soon) so that meant I needed to find a new home for the family calendar and the kids important papers. I had no idea how I was going to accomplish this until I took a closer look at a very small wall between the kitchen and our “everything” room.
When I thought about it, I realized I didn’t need a huge wall to accommodate my needs. All I wanted was a place to hang the family calendar and keep the kids papers. I wanted it to be close to the kitchen, easy to reach and easy to use.
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2014 Year in Review
Here we are at the end of another year and I can hardly believe it will be 2015!
I don’t feel like I got as many projects done as I had wanted but when I look back I guess I accomplished more than I thought. I’m going to highlight just a few of them here for my 2014 Year in Review.
By far the biggest project in our home this year was our kitchen remodel.
Even though this was not a DIY project for us — it was just too big an undertaking for us to do it ourselves — it pretty much took over our lives for a few months.
It was not a complete gut job, but we did get a few cabinets re-configured to make the space more functional. We painted the cabinetry and walls, added lighting over the island, replaced the counter tops and back splash, added a pot filler over the stove and put in a new sink.
Whether you do it yourself or hire it out, it is a very big job with lots of decisions. Not to mention the fact that construction in the kitchen is a major disruption!
I am so glad it’s over, however due to a few hiccups during the renovation I have some updates to share. When I wrote about living with marble, I briefly touched on the fact that we had some issues but didn’t go in to detail. I’ll be explaining more about our problems shortly after the new year.
Our kitchen remodel took place during the summer, but my first project of the year was painting my little 1/2 bath off of our foyer.
I never seemed to be able to get the color right in that little room with no light, so this time I tried Galveston Gray by Benjamin Moore and I think it’s a keeper.
I spent a lot of time out in our backyard this spring. We had a lot of over grown areas and we added some new drip irrigation so I worked and worked outside to get things in better shape. I made a couple of very simple raised garden beds, some easy chalkboard markers, added loads and loads of mulch to my beds, installed a tree swing and made a fun and funky little potting table out of an old sewing table.
This summer, my daughter and I made some cute little flip flops and we shared the best glue to use so the fun embellishments don’t pop off.
This fall, my blog friend Kelly and I gathered together a fantastic group of bloggers to share why we’re Thankful at Home — it was our second annual that has quickly become my favorite blogger tour. Everyone shares beautiful pictures, decor and memories — each post is so heartfelt and honest. I just love sharing our gratitude and our hearts!
Of course at Thanksgiving time, I always refer back to my favorite pecan pie recipe and I share my Thanksgiving table and fall home tour.
Then, the Christmas decorating begins with lots of crafts and baking. My favorite projects this Christmas season were my DIY Advent calendar and my faux grain sack ornaments.
And, of course, no Christmas season would be complete without a holiday home tour which you can see here and here.
I’m sharing my 2014 year-end round up with a few of my very creative and talented blogging friends:
You can see their best projects by clicking the links below. Enjoy!
Happy New Year!
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19 Chalk Paint Projects
If I had more storage space and room to work, I would buy lots old furniture in need of some love and restore it.
I have a semi-secret love of painting furniture.
My china hutch painted in ASCP Old Violet
My coffee table painted in ASCP Aubusson Blue
I love taking something that is looking neglected and unloved and making it new again. It’s so much fun!
I have at least two more projects waiting to be painted with my favorite — chalk paint. I love working with it. I wrote a post about it here.
(I have only used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint but I know there are other chalky-type paint mediums out there — including making your own.)
During this busy holiday season I’m hoping to squeeze both of my painting projects in before I host family for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In the meantime, I’m gathering some chalk paint inspiration in one of my favorite places to be inspired – Hometalk.
What I love about this clip board is that I’ve included chalk paint projects that even include fabric! Yes, fabric! One of these days I’m going to tackle painting fabric with chalk paint.
Are you familiar with Hometalk? It’s a great social media site where you can post your own projects, browse others, comment and get feedback. It’s a place for home enthusiasts just like me.
You can create clip boards of the favorite things you find while browsing on Hometalk.
My latest clipboard…Chalk Paint Projects, of course!
Do you have any projects in your home you’re planning to get done before guests arrive this holiday season?
Or am I a little crazy trying to get it all done?
On a different note, I’m sharing my pecan pie recipe over at All Things Heart and Home today.
I hope you’ll pay Robin a visit at her beautiful blog. She is the sweetest person and I adore her and her home and blog.
Wishing you a beautiful day,
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Decorating with Pillows & A Giveaway
When my husband and I announced our engagement to my parents over 15 years ago, my dad said to my husband, “Congratulations! Now, get ready for the explosion of pillows you’ll have everywhere in your home. Whenever you want to sit or lie down, there will be a mountain of pillows you’ll have to move first.”
Haha! Yes, my dad knows me well. After all, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. My mom is a pillow lover too.
Like her, I’m very much a believer in the saying, “Pillows are like jewelry for your home.” That’s why I jumped at the chance to be a part of this wonderful “Fun with Fabric” tour that includes 19 creative and talented bloggers who will be showing you 19 different decorator pillows.
The tour is sponsored by Online Fabric Store who provided us with pillow forms and one yard of fabric so we could create beautiful decorator pillows of our own. Even better, OFS is giving away TWO $100 gift cards to OFS. (Entry details are below.)
I chose this gorgeous toile fabric by Covington called, “Vauxhall” in java.
I love a good toile and this one is so vibrant and beautiful. I thought it would be a good fit in my living room.
I love how it turned out and I think it looks great against my blue and white ticking pillow and neutral fabric chair.
Yes, I used my sewing machine to make this pillow. And, I plan to give you a basic pillow tutorial one day very soon for those of you interested in learning how to make your own. I didn’t do it today, because I decided to get a little “fancy” with this one by making my own cording and I don’t consider it a “starter” pillow project.
However, you need to know two very important things:
- Sewing simple pillows is super, duper easy. Really! I think every home decor lover should know how to sew their own because it’s such as easy way to add some pretty “jewelery” to your home. Yes, you can buy inexpensive pillows at big box and discount stores, but sewing your own gives your home a custom look for a fraction of the price. I will be back to share my easy “how to sew a pillow tutorial” at the end of the week. In addition, I know some of the lovely ladies on this tour will be sharing pillow tutorials with you as well so please be sure to check them out (the list is at the end of this post).
- If you have no interest in learning to sew and you don’t own a machine, Online Fabric Store has ready-made pillows you can order here.
This one caught my eye:
Leeton Citron Floral pillow Online Fabric Store
Isn’t it pretty? They have a lot of other decorator pillows to choose from and there is no sewing required!
The Online Fabric store has a huge selection of high-quality decorator fabrics as well a lot of trims, pillow inserts and other sewing supplies. And, I just have to gush a little about the pillow form I received. It. Is. Fabulous.
You see, I requested a feather insert because this is the room my family lives in. And, instead of simply removing a pillow from a chair or couch, my kids just sit on top of it. They squish it down and scrunch it into shapes that are unrecognizable. The wonderful thing about a feather pillow is that no matter how mis-shapen it becomes, you can just fluff it back up and, voila, it looks like new!
This is the form I received from OFS and not only is it wonderfully soft and luxurious feeling, it is very well priced!
Feather pillow form from Online Fabric Store
I am really impressed!
I have another pillow project on deck, so I will be back later in the week with my simple pillow-sewing tutorial. Until then, I hope you’ll enjoy seeing what the other ladies on the tour made. Every fabric is different and each pillow will be styled differently, so if you’re a pillow lover like me, you’ll want to visit each blog!
Also don’t forget to enter for a chance to win one of two $100 gift cards to Online Fabric Store!
*I was provided fabric and a pillow insert to complete this post but all opinions are my own.
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