Sunday 1 December 2013

Ironing Board Advent Tree

I had this idea to turn an antique ironing board into my advent calander this year.  
First I gave the old ironing board a coat of ebony stain.  
Then I added the envelopes.  
I am very happy with how it turned out.  
I used my Cricut Bags, Tags & Boxes cartridge 
to make the scalloped envelopes with some antique looking Christmas paper.
I also added some burlap, & stamped the numbers.




Filled them with small gift cards, jewellery, candy, & things like little post it notes & pens.  
Whatever I could find that was small enough to fit into the envelopes.

Linking up with my friends here:
Mod Vintage Life

Friday 1 November 2013

4 Quick Round Greeting Cards


I used the "Tags, Bags, Boxes & More" Cricut cartridge, & the "Talking in Circles" stamp set by Stampology. Inky edges & they are good to go!

"Its a Wonderful World" Turtle Card

Its a wonderful world....Because you are in it.


I used the "Pet Shop" Cricut cartridge, The "Because of You" stamp set from CTMH for the sentiment, & "Dog & Pony Show" stamp set by Technique Tuesday, for the turtle.

Wednesday 30 October 2013

"Lucky" Pom Card

I made this for my SIL, who has 2 Poms, 1 white & 1 brown.  How cute is this??

I used the Cricut Lite "Pet Shop" cartridge.  She is going to love this! (One of her dogs is named "Lucky")

Sunday 27 October 2013

Doxy Birthday Card

Here is an adorable card I made today:



I used my Cricut Lite "Pet Shop" cartridge.  Enjoy :)

Friday 27 September 2013

Butcher Block Table Island ReDo

$5.00 Yard Sale find!  It is now my kitchen island :)






Before

Before



After paint & "FAT" dark wax



Some antique bowls.  The one with the handle is a berry bowl.  

Added some western iron hooks & a towel bar

Antique ironstone bowl with vintage utensils


Sunday 22 September 2013

Vintage Picnic Basket Tin

Today was "freecycle" day.  Anything at the curb that has a sign that says "free" is fair game.  
I found this awesome picnic basket tin.  
SCORE!

I am pretty sure this will be in my future vintage travel trailer.
I do not own one yet, but I am hoping by spring!

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Party Bunting

I have made several buntings recently.  I always use a painters dropcloth for the main part, and stamp the letters on with "Stayz On" ink.

1 for my Brothers wedding:
This was made with 2 colors of ribbon

1 for my Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary
This had lace & gold material cut in strips


& this was my cousins, for her wedding.  She requested it after she saw my parents & my brothers
This had 2 colors of ribbon


Thursday 13 June 2013

Junque Art...on my back verandah



Just a collection of stuff gathered over the years.  Some have sentimental value...but mostly it is "junque"!





Wednesday 5 June 2013

Wedding Signs

Just a quick post of some signs I made for a wedding.  It is a pallet upcycle :)



Enjoy

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Little Chalkboards

These old cupboard doors were painted & converted into little chalkboards.  They will make GREAT gifts!


Friday 26 April 2013

Shabby Chic Vinyl Floor


Look at this cool sheet vinyl floor!  Not sure if I have the "right" place for it, but I think it is pretty cool
....& daring!


Thursday 4 April 2013

Skor Trifle


 
Ingredients:
 
(Note:  I like to use name brands to ensure it will NEVER fail)
 
 
 
 
1 Box of Devils Food Cake, baked as per directions & cubed
 
 
 
2 Boxes of Instant Butterscotch Pudding, prepared as per directions
 
 

500 ml (2 cups) of real whipping cream, Plus:
 
1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners)
 
Whipped together until stiff
 
 
 
1 Pkg toffee bits


1 Pkg of Skor minis, or 4 large candy bars, broken into pieces.
 
 
Directions: 
Layer in trifle bowl or large glass bowl, using 1/2 of each ingredient for each layer.
cake>pudding>whipped cream>toffee bits>candy bar chunks>
cake>pudding>whipped cream>toffee bits>candy bar chunks>

Enjoy :)


 


Monday 1 April 2013

Ham & Cheese Cornbread Muffins

These are GREAT in the freezer, and just take one out for a quick breakfast on-the-go!




Ingredients

3 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Yellow Cornmeal
2 Tbsp Sugar
2 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

2 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
4 Eggs
1/4 Cup Canola Oil

1 1/2 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shreaded
1 Cup Chopped Green Onion
2/3 Cup Diced Smoked Ham
1/2 Cup Diced Red Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Measure all dry ingredients together, and stir with a whisk. 

Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just moist.

Reserving 1/2 cup of cheese, fold in the rest of the cheese, the onion, ham, & red pepper.  

Spray muffin cups with cooking spray, and fill with batter.  Top each muffin with a few "sprigs" of cheese.

Bake 23 minutes.  Makes 24 "hearty" muffins.



Tuesday 12 February 2013

We need new floors!!

Well, as I may have mentioned a hundred times before, we live in an old house. Over 100 years old. The floors are uneven, and on the main floor of the house we have some nice pine floors which are original to the house.
 
  The floors may look nice in the photo, but this was taken about 5 years ago when we had just refinished them. They were refinished with about 6 coats of Diamond Finish Clear Poly.
CONS:
~When we refinished them we sanded, and the nail heads were starting to protrude above the wood. This means no more sanding! 
  After several years I have some annoyances: (is that a word??) anywho...
~this floor is dry, & brittle. Under the desk area, where the chair moves in & out the floor has literally deteriorated & large chunks of wood have just broken off!
~Also there are large gaps in between the planks. This means in the kitchen area I can not even sweep! I have to vacuum. The inconvenience of taking out the vacuum 3 times a day (not that I ever do..shhhhhh)  is wearing on me.
~From a design point of view, I don't like the brown cupboards, brown wood floor & brown counter top (which was supposed to be black) - going on here.  Too much "matchy matchy"!

PROS:
~When we renovated the kitchen, it saved us thousands to NOT have to purchase new floors. :)
~Crumb catchers are handy. (big gaps between boards)
~The natural ambered natural color is GREAT for hiding dirt...seriously if it were not for the big gaps filled with crumbs, it would never look dirty!


I do work in a flooring speciality store, so I have a couple of products in mind:

 http://www.gerflorcanada.com/canada-en/floors-for-the-home/product-page/texline-bois,277.html
GERFLOR
I like this for a few reasons.
~it has that 100 year old house feel,
~it will brighten the kitchen & not be so "matchy-matchy",
~it is a ply able vinyl product so it will go over our EXTREMELY uneven floors without much prep,
~it is textured,and has a "feel real" wood vibe
~1 solid piece means no place for crumbs to hide & easily sweepable
~It has an anti-mildew layer, which means it is great for wet areas - & will not grow mold
~It is softer & warmer & more comfortable than hardwood
~The backing has a fibreglass layer, which prevents it from curling up on the edges 
~Pricewise it runs about $3.67/sf for this particular series

 


OK, so next is MARMOLEUM (no photo available..just the link)
 
Marmoleum has been around for 100 ++ years!  It is a completely natural product!  Interestingly enough it is made from some basic ingredients:
  • linseed oil
  • sawdust (tree flour)
  • tree gum (tree resin)
  • jute backing
  • natural pigments
Cool eh? 
 
It comes in a click floor (which has a natural cork backing),
a tile form & a sheet form
(here is the link)
 
PROS
~They offer matching cool borders too!  (for the tile & sheet product).   
~All 3 types of marmoleum is refurbish able!  They can be polished up like new over & over again. 
~Environmentally friendly - biodegradable
~It is considered a "breathe easy" flooring product
 
CONS:
The only disadvantages of this product were hard to think of, but here are a few downfalls:
~I guess just the price.  This stuff goes for $6-$7ish per square foot in Canada.  That can add up if you have a large area, but seriously it will last forever. 
~The only downfall of that is if you ever remodel, you have no excuse to get a new floor!!
~The sheets MUST be installed by professionals, due to the weld-rod they use to seam it together. This weld rod requires a special machine. It is a 6 foot wide roll.
 
So which do you prefer?
 
 

 

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Word verification, or no word verification?

I have just changed my settings to only allow comments with word verification. This is due to a high volume of spam recently. Although I love comments, and get excited when just 1 person comments on one of my posts, it is so annoying to get these comments that have nothing to do with my post. I was always annoyed when I had a word verification to comment on other blog posts, but now I must apologize to you, and I now GET it! Sorry people, but word verification is sometimes a good thing.

Saturday 12 January 2013

The "Becki"

I am so excited about this one!!  This China cupboard was destined to be mine.  There was an ad poster for tile at my place of work, that I had always admired.  Not only for the tile, but the cupboard in the picture. 
 

 

One of my favourite places to get projects is a local Facebook auction site.  When I saw this on the site, I HAD to bid on it.


Needs some TLC...but that is OK with me!
 
I ended up paying $120 for it, but I think it was totally worth it!
 


I love the after.  The inside & the fretwork is an awesome green  The outside is homemade white chalk paint & slightly distressed.  I left the shelves original but restained them walnut to just clean them up.  I was planning on using it in my new bathroom for linens when it is done, but at the moment it is my craft cupboard in a corner of my dining room.