Throughout the winter I love our house to smell good. Subtle orange or apple, clove and cinnamon wafting through the rooms evokes a warm cozy feel. Some people love to use candles, melting wax and plug-in room fresheners. Not only do I get sick from perfumed things like that, but have you read any of those articles out there stating that the perfumes and soot released from candles and room fresheners can actually cause unhealthy pollution in your own house! Yikes! Truth be told, after being perfume and fragrance free in our house for so many years, ... Keep Reading...
Cabinet Door Gallery
I'm not sure, but I may have just created the term 'Cabinet Door Gallery'?? I did for sure create one in real life though! Here's why I came up with the idea in the first place with a few simple tips for creating your own cabinet door gallery. We have spent the past couple years renovating our home. It was built in the 1970's, a little late for the charming 'MCM' personality so frequently associated with a mid-century house. Instead this house we bought a few years ago, was pretty basic, (in other words 'boring'!). The house situated on a knoll overlooking ... Keep Reading...
Autumn Mantel
Up here in NW Wisconsin the changing seasons are real. The hot humid summer is rapidly transforming to cooler days and crisp nights. The pumpkins and squash are ripe and being stocked at the local farmer's stands. I can't wait to get out to the apple orchards where they are boasting their fall harvests too. What's not to Iove about autumn? My husband and I were just stating how it's our favorite season. Unlike spring, where the earth is still cold as it melts the winter ice off... in the autumn, the earth is holding on to the summer warmth, but the air is ... Keep Reading...
DIY Self-Stick Tile
Hey! Hi! I hope you had a great summer. With this pandemic and social distancing in place, it's been a very different time. Some good news, we've been blessed with our 7th grandchild this summer. A beautiful baby girl! Where normally we'd be rushing down to meet her and celebrate her birth with her parents, the pandemic put a huge damper on that. Not gonna lie, that's hard. We did visit over one weekend, but the entire time that I wanted to be feeling pure joy, it was replaced with a knot in my stomach worried I may have picked up some germs traveling ... Keep Reading...
DIY Compost Bin
I recently read an article stating the two most important things you can do for your garden is mulch and compost. Up until last week my gardens were void of both! I'm happy to report now with our DIY compost bin one of the two have been addressed. I had a compost pile several years ago when we lived in the country and it attracted a bear... Scared me so I quit composting for a while! Since then, I've been reading a lot about composting and feel compelled to get back at it. I think it'll be good for both our organic veggies in the raised containers we have, ... Keep Reading...
How to Age Galvanized Metal
Finding vintage age galvanized metal stock tanks, washtubs and the like are a little hard to find. But did you know new galvanized ones are still made and a little more readily available? And... did you know that there is a pretty easy way to age galvanized metal finishes? I bet you'll never guess what the secret 'age galvanized metal chemical' is either! I have purchased a few new galvanized metal pieces in the past week. I bought a pair of new galvanized washtubs, (here are a few choices of round washtubs too!), The washtubs are inside the potting ... Keep Reading...
How to Install a Floating Shelf
To install a floating shelf using a floating shelf kit is actually super easy and I'm going to show you how I mounted this simple weathered looking one and the fun display I put on it. I think I'll be unpacking boxes forever! Seriously! I'm slowly getting through them, but it'll be so long until I'm done. As I go through each box of treasures, I'm either using the stuff as is, or repurposing, (so that means time for a craft) or selling it, (which is time involved as well). My dad taught me a life long lesson when I was a little girl hoeing the ... Keep Reading...
Mount Door Knocker in a Hollow Steel Door
This charming cast iron door knocker didn't come with mounting hardware. I learned through this process how to mount a door knocker in a hollow steel door. BTW: Here is where I found this cute vintage style cast iron door knocker. Gotta say, going into the project, I didn't know much!! When the door knocker arrived and I saw it didn't have any mounting hardware with it, I was really racking my brain to figure out the right way to mount it in a hollow steel door. Screws, that would work great in a solid wood door, wouldn't hold in the thin steel ... Keep Reading...
The Potting Shed
I asked my husband for a garden shed and this is what he gave me. Okay, well, that's sorta how it went. Since last fall I decided that I really needed to get my gardening stuff out of the space my husband and I were sharing. His way of 'organizing' is very different than mine and I couldn't seem to find my tools when I needed them. Instead of nagging that he should organize my way, I thought it'd be healthier to part ways, (in the garden tool storage sort of way). A friend of ours was selling his small log cabin bunkie with accoutrements, (can you say ... Keep Reading...
DIY Vintage Window Shadow Box
Happy May Day! (a little late) Did you get any special flowers for May Day? Several years ago, one of my daughters-in-law found a beautiful way to preserve some very special flowers she received. She created a vintage window shadow box! This daughter-in-law, Melissa, before she was my daughter-in-law, preserved many flowers. This isn’t about the drying process though, (I think she just hung them upside down and they dried). This post is showing the creative way she displayed these preserved flowers in a DIY vintage window shadow box. These ... Keep Reading...
