The keeper of time...

Like  a lot of bloggers, I have an obsession with clock faces.

Can you tell?

When I was in my local Homegoods looking for book ends and I saw some huge broken clocks marked down to way under $10, I knew I had to have them (Never one to pass up a good bargain or opportunity.) . And since I didn't need them to work, it was even better (F.Y.I. if you ever do find a broken clock you want to work, the mechanical clock parts are at Michael's for under $10.) Even though I am beginning to feel a bit like this guy from the 1960 movie The Time Machine....

I took them out of their cases and put them over my couch in a vignette with the little alarm clock I found at Farm Chicks.

And since this is the couch I read on, it's a perfect spot to let time pass me by. :)

Jen

P.S. Thank you all for your encouraging words! It's like lemons; but I hope to make lemonade!

Those darn cabinets....

I need to vent.

I have the paint and everything.

There's nothing like  a good old fashioned monkey wrench in the works to mess up a  perfectly good make-over,

Or even worse, a drain pipe bursting under the sink in the middle of your daughter's birthday party.

$1000 later, there a new pipe running through your crawl space and a funky odor coming from under the cabinets.

Long story short, we have some big repairs to do. And they have to replacing the subfloor under our cabinets. So pretty things have to wait for now until the big necessary job is done. 

But I will not let that deter me.

I promise you.

I have the paint. Really.

Sooooooo close.......

Jen

Step two...

Lookee, Lookee what I found at Homegoods!!!!

They are bookends, but I am hoping to use them in my kitchen cabinet redo. I had to go to 2 stores to get what I needed and I think I am going to have to go to a third this week...

How cool are they???

As for my cabinet color.. I am still not dishing..  :) 

Jen

seeking kitchen inspiration....

I am looking at inspiration ideas as I work on updating mine....

I love the open and airiness of this kitchen. I would love to do glass fronts, but alas, I have too much junque...

This ceiling is gorgeous with the chandie...

I've already chalkboarded one thing.. so there's a start.

And I adore the rusticness...

I already have this faucet, so one thing down...

There is something about the mixture of these textures and colors I really like.

And this kitchen is a dream kitchen, cubbies and all..

Have an inspired weekend!

Jen

images from Country Living and House Beautiful

I know how he feels...

Today I had inspiration from an ant. Of all things. I hate ants.

I came across this little guy floating in our kiddie pool while I was out taking garden pics. I watched him run around and around on the leaf trying to figure out a way off. For him there was no land in sight, just  a whole lot of aqua as his raft just kind of floated around aimlessly not really taking him anywhere.

I really empathized with the poor, little dude.

There are days I think, when we feel stuck, and that vastness of what lies ahead of us is overwhelming, and rescue seems very unattainable.

I know I have times like that.

But this little guy reminded me as I snapped the picture and then gently lifted him to drier ground, that even though we don't always know what is going to happen, and things seem bleak; we have to have faith that once in a while there is something greater out there watching, ready to give us a lift when we need it.

Jen

Garden surprises...

 Lately I have a few things in my garden that keep me guessing...

These are my compost pumpkins.Well, I think they are pumpkins. They look pumpkin-y. One day a small trailing vine started and I thought, let's see what happens. The next thing I knew, my poor compost pile was buried.

What's interesting is while I may have put a jack-o-lantern or two in the compost last fall, I did not put any on the other side of the yard where I have another gourd-like thing growing....

I may be doing pumpkin giveaways this fall...

And these guys.. Japanese beetles. Gah.

I sprayed my yard last year with a "very green" beneficial nematode for grubs, which worked, the grubs were gone. Grubs are what Japanese beetles come from. What I  didn't count on was my neighbors beetles deciding my yard was yummier. I am actually considering getting one of those traps, some people say it actually attracts them, but how many more can it possibly attract? I'm already"dispatching"30-50 a night in what we refer to as "the cup of death". It involves dish soap, a lot of swimming  and finally a watery grave. It's totally crazy. It's a regular beetle love shack in my backyard. I'll knock piles of 5 and 6 having "a party" at one time with each other at all hours. I have to say, they are very non-discriminating; it's all 1960's free-love in the Rizzo's yard, until I come along of course and stop those shenanigans.

It's a good lesson to learn, though.

Note to self: reaction times are slower when fornicating.

Though they might not be too happy with me for ruining their fun. They've actually started buzzing me when I approach.

And there's my lemon balm, I've heard it referred to as Lemon BOMB. Now I know why. Unlike me, it loves to run ( it is in the mint family, you'd think I would know better.) and is quickly taking over everything including my poor Golden Oregano. I've had it in it's neat little spot for the last 5 years, it smelled so nice when I walked past it  and this year... Kaboom! I swear it's in cahoots with the pumpkins. And the beetles.

And finally, there's been another surprise paparazzi attempt, but ironically enough, it's me explaining to my girl's how to do the beetle control. They were very enthralled until they realized the little suckers don't go down without a fight and will hang onto your fingers for dear life  if you're not quick enough.

It was not a pretty sight.

There was a lot of screaming involved.

  But life's full of surprises, isn't it? :)

Jen

Relish, jam and salsa....using recycled jars as vases.....

Call me way too cheap; but sometimes I find the prettiest vases are the ones that come for free straight from my fridge, just before they hit the recycling bin. Plus they are a great way to take flowers to the neighbors or a party and not worry you aren't going to get you vase back.

This is a pickle relish jar, or piccalilly as we also like to call it. Is that just a midwest thing?

Is it relish or piccalilly? And on the subject of relish.. sweet or dill? 

These are jelly, salsa, and my favorite; a vintage milk bottle. I am using them to root my coleus cuttings.

I love that coleus roots easily in water.

I love this petite dairy bottle. It is near and dear to my heart because it's from a long gone place in the town I was a firefighter in. When I came across it for $5 I knew I had to have it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jen

Rub 'n buff giveaway...

Head on over to my giveaway page to enter!

Jen

Coming up..

Mark your calenders for later this week, because I have a giveaway and some projects to show you  on Thursday that will "rub" you the right way!

Jen

Playing upcycled..

Earlier this year at the Nada Farm sale, I sold upcycled/ re-made clothing. I've always loved to sew and was so happy when most of it sold! 

I've been able to start playing and piecing elements together when the kids are playing in the

backyard.

The nice things about piecing before sewing is that you can try some really wild combinations and if it's not right or just weird, there's no risk in trying! You can just start over!

Jen

How to Faux panel a door...deux...

I thought I would dig deep into the archives for this one. One of the most requested questions I receive  about a post I did on how I faux paneled my door. I thought this would be a good repost for anyone needing a good summer project. :)

On Saturday, my wonderful hubby took all the kids out for the day so I could have a free day to myself... do you think with all of that time I sat on the couch with bon-bon's and a trashy romance novel? Oh no.. I finally decided to tackled a project that I had been dying to do for ages... a faux panel door.

For 8 year, I looked at this ugly door, not sure what to do with it... I finally decided a paneled door would be nice. Plus I had nightmares of this mirror falling off and reducing our income tax deductions by one...

After removing the mirror and filling the holes, I marked out where my panels would go.

I then cut my molding. I would recommend if you only have a regular miter box like I do, go with pine molding. Oak is impossible to cut and I would be lying if I didn't tell you after cutting these 8 pieces, my arms was tired and I was sweating... I am so out of shape. After you measure and cut you pieces lay them out. I found the trick to cutting the right length is to make sure that I am measuring from longest part of my 45 degree angle.

Lay them out on the floor to make sure you have the right size pieces. I only mis-cut one piece. Using a molding that had a certain direction to it made it a little harder to. I actually had to back cut one side all of the time to make sure I had the right direction and angle.

I then.. glued them to the door with a mixture of wood glue and..um... yes, hot glue. I am sure it's not a carpenter's dream; but it's a hollow door so I didn't think nails would really help. And I'll tell you, that hot glue sticks fast and I couldn't pull it off, so I don't think it's going any where.

I used a level to make sure they were on right as I put them on. After putting them on, I also put a wood embellishment at the top.

And then I wood puttied any spot I had a huge gap like here (Let it dry and sand it smooth.).

Once it was up, I let it dry for a day so the wood glue could cure.

And then I painted!~

For fun, I added an antique brass door tag I got in Kentucky.. It says "law offices". I thought that would be kind of funny for a bathroom. I wish I had found one that said "library."

The project including trim and paint cost under $30.00 if you have none of the supplies(Not including a miter box, but they aren't that much). I already had the paint and wood filler so all I needed was the trim.

To figure out how much trim you need, pre-measure your panels. My panels were 37 x 17 1/2 and 23 x 17 1/2 and it took about 3 hours to measure, cut the trim and glue.

 But it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I would just recommend buying a little extra molding for mistakes and not doing it in the middle of your kitchen floor like I did. It makes a little bit of a saw dust mess . ;)

Other repost projects I thought you might like are:


How to decoupage fabric on a table top


putting an end to those useless ceramic tile holders in bathrooms


Making a painted pattern 101

~Jen

Jammin'...

Can you tell I am totally hooked on making freezer jam?

Jen

Step one....

The paint came for my cabinets! Yay  (After all of those amazing colors you guys picked, I hope you're not going to be disappointed!) !

Guess what I have none of this summer? Time!

I watch my nieces so there are six, count 'em.. six kids at my house every day this summer.

I am drinking as I speak.

But never fear, I am going to continue, it will just be in real-time "baby steps."

So this weekend was step one.

Can you see that tiny overhang above my sink? It has a piece of decorative molding on it? It makes the kitchen waaay too dark and obscures the light. It's only 6 inches tall, but blocks out a lot.

It's gottta go.

I had to do it NOW, so instead of doing the right thing and using a ladder, I did the  I'm too impatient "Jen" method  of removal (which I wouldn't recommend for any one else): barefoot on the edge of sink with a drill and screw driver. The only thing that would have made it even better is if it were a sink full of  old rusty knives and broken glass.

As my Dad used to say, "The project isn't finished unless it includes 3 trips to the hardware store and one to the emergency room.".

No ER trip this time, but some pesky screws that didn't want to come out at first. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact I was precariously balanced on a 4 inch edge like a do-do head or anything.

The finally 4 screw later, it was out! And so much brighter. I should have done it 10 years ago! I am going to have  a piece of wood cut to fill the space and trim added to the cabinets before they are painted.

I can at least check one thing off of the list!

Jen

A sink full of serendipity....

Normally I'd be upset when I have to spend unplanned money, but when it involves a new kitchen faucet because the old handle casing disintegrates and no replacement part is to be found, well... I try not to be too upset!

And see those old oak cabinets...? The paint is ordered! hopefully on it's way, and guess what... it's not white. Can you guess what color I am going to do? :)

Jen