MORE FREEBIE LOVE ......

You know I really like when I can make something new for nothing.  I have had this idea in my head for awhile and decided today was a perfect day to put my plan into action.  I shared a few days ago about some mason jar storage for a bathroom and wanted to add more to the space.  I started with all of this

and finished with this

 

For this dispenser I simply made a hole in the lid of my jar, removed the pump from the store bought soap and used my hot glue gun to attach it to the jar lid. Then emptied the soap into my jar and screwed the new lid on and voila, a free new soap dispenser.

 

I liked this one so well, I headed to the kitchen, this time wanting something a little different, so I hit up my jar stash and came up with this

 

 

Now doesn't this look so much prettier than a store bought plastic bottle.

 

A few little secrets I have learned over the years, when re-using bottles or jars with labels that leave a glue residue after you  remove them, peanut butter is my go item to remove the sticky.  Most jars/bottles also have dates or numbers stamped on them, well a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will remove that ink with barely any scrubbing, and will remove whatever residue is left after you wash the peanut butter off, it really does work like "Magic". 

 

For my bathroom jar I had to cut down the pump, but that is easily accomplished with a sharp knife or razor blade.  The jar lids and pumps can be painted, I chose to go natural, just be certain when painting plastic you use a spray paint that is for plastic, otherwise you will get chipping.

 

Remember once you make your dispenser, you simply unscrew the lid and refill your jar with soap, should last for years or at least until I want something different.

GOOD MORNING !!!!!

This time of year I love to keep the window in my bedroom open at night while I sleep.  I love to listen to the sound of the water running and smell the fresh cool air.  Okay, an occasional skunk can bring me out of a deep sleep, but fortunately that doesn't happen often.  My bedroom window is pretty sheltered from the elements, but provides a beautiful morning view and since we no longer set alarm clocks in our house, mornings are some of my favorite times regardless of the time I start the day.  All of this has had me singing  one of my all time favorite songs so I thought I would put it on a sign to greet me each morning.




DO YOU KNOW THE SONG ????
 



WINDOW TO THE PAST........................

I have become the keeper of many generations of family pictures, some dating back to the 1800's and my great-great grandparents.  Fortunate for me my grandparents had the foresight to label and date many of them.  I have been wanting to display a few of them for some time, one that could tell yet another story for all my future generations, therefore, I have been contemplating and researching how to display them and have finally come up with a plan that I am very pleased with.

 

Going through my "junk" stash I came up with an old window.  Once I cleaned all the dirt and cobwebs off of it, I attached the old photos, using photo corners,  and hung it on the wall.  I really like the way it came out and it just seems appropriate for the "window to my past".......

TOYS AREN'T JUST FOR KIDS

You can find many things at auctions, yard sales and flea markets and I like to bring home any number of items, but some of my favorites are old toys.  Several years ago I was able to score not one, but three little red wagons.

 

They have been hanging out in my backyard for the last two years just developing more character, aka rust, waiting for something special to happen to them.  This weekend seemed like the time to bring a little summer inside and  one of these little wagons was going to help me with that.

 

I chose the smallest wagon, took the handle, wheels and all the dirt off of it.

 

 

I wanted to keep the rust, but I wanted to stop it from rusting further, so I put a thin coat of polyurethane on the entire wagon.

Painted some wooden balls and hot glued them to the bottom of the wagon

Used my leftover mason jars, added some flowers, raffia and charms and now I have a cute new summertime centerpiece for my table.

 

I just love it when I can use things for something other than their intended purpose and when I can have something new for very little money it makes me even happier.

WHAT I DON'T DO !!!!!!!

There are a few things that I don't normally do or have never enjoyed doing.  This weekend just felt like a time I should get out of my comfort zone and attempt some of those things "I don't do".

I don't garden, have never enjoyed playing in the dirt and really don't like all the worms and bugs that live in the ground, but I wanted flowers, so ........

 

I planted flowers.  A couple of years ago I took advantage of a promotion that Home Depot had and was able to score a lot of garden soil as well as three hanging planters for FREE and you know how I love cheap.  These things have been sitting in my garage stash until I dug them out and filled them with flowers, now I no longer have that clutter in my garage and (fingers crossed) I will be able to enjoy flowers all summer long.

 

I have told you I'm a seamstress not a quilter but I tackled a t-shirt quilt, well I'm also a cook, not a baker, but a few months ago I obtained a cookbook from two of my favorite cooks and it has been their inspiration and recipes that have made me feel like I can tackle some baking challenges.  I have been learning to make biscuits from scratch and am  becoming quite adept with them, but this morning I thought it was time  to take on a new recipe, so I made cinnamon rolls from scratch.

 

They turned out "to die for" !!!!

 

Hubby is very happy and I'm feeling inspired to do a little more baking, but probably not much more gardening.

FINALLY FINISHED !!!!

I've been quite busy the last few weeks wanting to finish started projects as well some new ones. 
Spring has sprung, trees have leafed out and lilacs are blooming and with that will come all the yard sales, craft fairs and festivals, summer visitors and road trips that will be planned.  My list of yard sales and the first festival of the year are planned for the weekend and I hope to get out and do a little yard work in the next few weeks.

I have spent years planning the shadowboxes I have recently been working on and even though I'm certain I could fill a large museum with all my husbands memorabilia I wanted to put some together to be able to display and tell a story and now I am finally finished.

I treasure what I have of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and great, great grandparents and it is with all of this in mind that I hope some of the stories we have to tell will survive us for generations to come.

STORAGE OR ART ????

I love to attend craft fairs, junk markets and anywhere that the items sold are handmade.  I love making things myself  but am also a huge fan of those that enjoy the "making" process and selling to those who don't share their love of hands on.  There are some things that I know I should just let those that do the making do the making and I should just do the buying.  Well today almost turned into one of those days, but I persevered and accomplished something gorgeous that provides another piece of artwork and also serves as storage.

My first yard sale of the season I was able to score a roll of chicken wire for just a buck and was so excited because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  I dug into my "stash" of collected picture frames and got out a can of spray paint for it.  Then it was time to unroll that chicken wire and get out the wire cutters.

Once I had my piece of wire cut, it was time to attach it to my painted frame and during the process I thought of all those pieces I had seen that someone else had so painstakingly made and thought this is one of those things I should have just bought when I saw it.  But since I wanted one, had my electric staple gun and wire cutter outs I decided to go ahead and finish.  This is what my new bathroom "art" now looks like and I am very pleased.

Of course I can't use plain clothespins, so another project to ponder !!!!

NEVER ENOUGH STORAGE

One of the things I have been trying to accomplish in recent years is having enough storage for all my treasures.  With the help of auctions, flea markets and yard sales I have been very successful at little to no cost.  My favorite storage pieces are dressers, you can turn an ugly unloved piece into something beautiful with a little paint and some new knobs and/or drawer pulls.  That is what I have been able to do with these pieces.

 

I shared awhile back that I paid $7.00 for all four of these pieces at an auction last fall.  The desk and two small dressers have been given a wonderful makeover and now make their home in my back bedroom.  The five drawer chest has been sitting in my garage stash until this past week when I got out my tape measure and realized I could utilize the storage in my bathroom. 

 

 

I found some brown paint that matched the existing vanity and set to work first sanding the piece then painting it.  I didn't do any "aging" or waxing on the piece instead used a latex paint since this is in a bathroom.  I wanted to replace the drawer pulls to match the vanity as well and that proved a little challenging but after a long search I was able to come up with something that works well in the space and on the piece.  So basically for the price of some new drawer pulls I have much needed additional storage and again this piece has gone from "ugly" to "lovely".

TABLE AND/OR STORAGE

I recently inherited this blue trunk and I wasn't sure what I should do with it but I knew I wanted it to be versatile as I am known for changing things up on occasion.
 

 

I thought it would make a cool table so I went to Home Depot and bought some legs

 

 
Gave them a paint/wax treatment

 

Attached them to the trunk.  I had also purchased metal plates, which were screwed into the trunk, then the legs screw into the plates.  The cost was just under $20 for the 4 legs and 4 plates.

 

 

What an awesome coffee table this would make but right now I had a need to corral some boots and this trunk seemed perfect for the job.

 

 

 

Although this little trunk is currently being used for boot storage it is ready to serve a number of purposes.

 

IF IT'S ON PINTEREST......WELL.....

I love to spend time perusing Pinterest and although I "pin" a lot of someday projects there are a few ideas that I must do right away and this little project was one of them.  I started with all of this:

I dug into my wood stash for a board, ignored my cache of jars and bought some just because I wanted the green and of course rooted in my husbands garage junk for some unused clamps, painted the board, drilled some holes in the clamps and when all was done I ended up with some new bathroom storage.

I am quite pleased with how simple this little project was and am extremely happy with the outcome.

ADDING TO THE FAMILY !!!!!!

My husband has a way of bringing "me" things when we both know it's not for "me".  Somehow I think he believes if it's a gift for me I have to accept it.  Now maybe he told me about this latest acquisition, maybe he didn't, but I just found a spot in the living room to go with all the others.

This is one from this past years hunt and I can only hope there are no more "surprises" coming my way !!!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO !!!!!!

It's already May 5th and we are in the middle of spring and Cinco De Mayo is a good day for a celebration.

 

So I made good use of some of my latest yard sale finds.

 

 

Finally managed to complete a couple of the shadowboxes I've been working on.

 

 

Was getting excited to get outdoors and work some magic outside when I was watching our weather report this evening and my weather guy actually used that dreaded four letter "S" word in my forecast.  Don't know if we will see any of that white stuff in the next couple of days in my town but he does say there is a possibility because of a cold front coming down from Canada.  All of this has me thinking that if I need a passport to get into Canada shouldn't Mother Nature need a passport to cross the border.  It would be my wish that Mother Nature would bring me weather from Mexico, after all I did celebrate Cinco De Mayo !!!!!!!

 

YARD SALE SEASON ..... YEA !!!!

Yard sale season isn't in full swing up here yet, but I did manage to find one last Thursday, on a day when the weather was perfect and to top it off it was a moving sale.  I have missed several auctions this year intentionally because I have so many projects to complete and I just don't want to tempt myself with any new ones.  Went to a yard sale 40 miles away mostly to take advantage of a beautiful dry spring day but when I got there I had to really restrain myself and only pick up items I had an immediate need or use for.

 

New furniture for the patio, a beautiful old rustic bench for the front porch, a box full of wreath forms, some chicken wire and an old cart.  The wreath forms will go in my sewing/craft room stash for future use as will the chicken wire.  The bench and patio furniture have already taken their places outside, but that old three tiered metal cart will get a marvelous make-over, one I'm excited about, but a spring rain storm will keep me from getting started for a few days.  I spent $40 on my new treasures most of it going for the patio furniture and now I know when the rain stops I will have plenty of options for outdoor seating.