Cement and Concrete Projects

A couple weeks ago I did a post about This That and The Other Thing, which basically was a stall because I didn't have time to write a new post while we were working on outside projects.

Well guess what?  This is another stall, but with some photos of project progress.

Summer season doesn't really get started in Minnesota till June anyhow, and now that the wet leaves are cleaned up and winter washed away from everything, we can have at projects that seem to move from the to-do list year after year.

New Kitchen Hardware

Once upon a time there was this IKEA Rast hack contest.

Instructions; Hack a plain, unfinished pine IKEA dresser into something that could win votes, and if you placed in the top three you would receive a hardware makeover prize  for a room of your choice from Hickory Hardware.

Life's Ruff Dog Bed

It's a dogs life isn't it? 

Sleep when you want, someone brings you your food, and it's ok not to shave your legs.

Now I'm not claiming for one second I came up with the idea of turning a headboard into a dog bed.  If you look on Pinterest you can find a gazillion of 'em to use as inspiration.

Not only do I not claim stake to the idea, I didn't make this one either.

My ever increasingly talented #2 daughter got out the saws and used her skillz.

She trekked out for a day of garage sales with me and came home with this five dollar twin headboard, which was exactly what she was on the hunt for.

The Dirt On The Potting Bench Sign

If you go through our gate with the watch out for dog-doo sign hanging on it, walk straight toward a shed with a barn cupola on top, take a left, go past the patio with the rock pond, the play ground and the deck, across from the pool, on the far side of the yard at the edge of the woods, wedged between the empty squirrel feeder and some wood for the fire pit ....... you will arrive at the final resting place of my potting bench.

I can get dirty there and it doesn't matter.

This, That, and The Other Thing...

Inevitably when I don't have a DIY project to post for a week, emails start to arrive asking if everything is ok.

I happen to think it's really sweet that my readers, who don't even know me, take time out of their day to drop a note to check in on me.

Just so you know, if I have died, I won't answer the emails.

And I'm fine, but thanks for asking.

I could write a rambling post about nothing, but I've chosen to discuss this that and the other thing.  But really it's a rambling post about nothing.

This time of year we are just so happy for no snow and sunshine, we spend a lot of time doing yard work and removing the snow scum from everything.  Project #2. 

Smith-Victor Light Bar Box Thrift Store Decor May

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

These days with technology the computer holds the majority of photographs that have been downloaded to it, so are the days of sitting around the kitchen table thumbing through a shoe box filled with photos gone?

Not at my house.

How I Found My Style Sundays

Have you ever visited Pamela at the blog From My Front Porch To Yours?  Pamela is quite the popular gal, probably because she has quite the popular style sense, so if you have never stopped in to see what she is decorating in the Southern way, you should.

A couple of years ago when she asked me if I would like to share my style on her feature 'How I Found My Style Sundays', my first thought was "me... style"?. 

Then I thought about how it takes all sorts of tastes to make the decorating world go round and that somewhere there is probably someone who thinks this mismatched collage of stuff I've put together in my home, is stylish, and maybe I could inspire them. 

So I agreed to do a post about my style and today for Throw Back Thursday, while the grass is green and the trees start to bloom for Spring, I'm re-posting it here on my own blog.

Family Contributions to Filling #1 Sons Walls

I wasn't sure what to title this post.

First I had "My Art At #1 Sons House".  But I just make stuff, I wouldn't call it art.

So I changed the title to Stuff I've Made.  But I didn't like that either, it's not all about me.

So as I type this, I'm not sure what the post title will end up being.  Maybe I'll call it Purple Monkey Dishwasher.

It's a thing.  I didn't know that till writing this post.  I thought purple monkey dishwasher was just something my kids said when they were young, wrong again mom.

Ebook Review, Furniture Flipper

Recently I was offered the opportunity to review an ebook on starting a furniture flipping business written by Melanie Alexander from Lost & Found, titled Furniture Flipper.

Since I know many of my readers are curious about what it takes to dip their brush into the furniture flipping bucket I signed up to receive a copy for review.

It's an easy read, forty pages that focuses on the basics of what is needed to take on the task of flipping furniture for anyone who has painted a few pieces of furniture and would like to earn some cash from that hobby.

Dollhouse Move In Day

It's move in day, or what is suppose to be room reveal #1 of Dollhouse Therapy with Cassie from Primitive & Proper.

But just like in real life, moving into a new house doesn't always go as planned, and the dollhouse closing date got delayed.

That's code for the radio house conversion is having some trouble with contractors.

Concrete Sinks In A Slurry

What's shaking in my world of concrete sinks?

Well let me just tell you in this here 'Jack & Jill bathroom redo update #number# I don't know what anymore'......

We've had some exceptionally nice April weather so both sinks moved from the garage to the front yard where they were slurried and washed and left to dry in the sun, even though on the day I took these photos it wasn't sunny.

Clementine the Crapping Quacker supervised.  Seriously, she is a nosy duck.

Purse Door Wreath From Found Items

This is how the story goes ....

I was vacuuming up dead bugs in our three season porch, now that the snow has melted, and a round galvanized chalkboard thing I made from a broken clock fell off the wall.

Dollhouse Practice Chandelier

#5 in the dollhouse journal is something I never would have considered making had I not seen photos on line.

Dollhouse chandelier's are a thing, and the ones I saw on Pinterest were made out of bead supplies.

If it's one thing we have around here, it's beading supplies, so I thought I'd make a couple practice ones.

My samples are not so amazing as the ones I saw online.

Bathroom Plank Floor Tile, Petrified Coast

I think I have mentioned a hundred times or so by now, we are in the midst of a bathroom redo, but it's really two bathrooms so takes twice as long.

It's a Jack and Jill bath, but not the typical kind where two doors enter one main area.

Ours has two bedroom doors that enter two bathroom areas; the toilet and a vanity in one and a tub and vanity in the other.  So two Jills could get ready for school in the mornings by staggering their shower time by just a couple minutes.

One could do hair in one room, the other makeup, without getting in each others way.

Vintage Shoe Lasts Thrift Store Decor April

April showers bring May flowers, or at my house April brought shoe lasts.

A gloomy day seemed like a good time for a project to rain down, so I made something I could use for the Thrift Store Decor Challenge this month.

Dollhouse Furniture #4 Clock Upcycle

This week in the dollhouse renovation project I'm going to share the redo of this ugly Goodwill clock.

What caught my eye was the fact that the bottom of the clock had little drawers, so I took it outside and cut it's top off with the saw.

Beware Of Dog Sign With A Surprise Ending

At the beginning of the week I told you what happens in early spring with the winter thaw, but you might have missed that tidbit of information because it was hidden in a post about #1 son's awesome guest bathroom vanity.

However the tidbit from that post ties in with this one, so click the link above if you didn't catch the info about the "thaw".

We live rural.

That means we're not on a natural gas line and our gas is delivered via truck to a tank in our back yard that looks like a grounded Goodyear blimp.

The gas is called LP - liquid propane.

The LP guy arrives, pulls the long hose through our backyard, fills the tank, and we are able to cook and stay warm - two things we like.

Quityerbellyaching Sign, Reader Copy

Last month I wrote a post on a wash stand that I made-over from orange oak to a combination of dark wood with some painted white areas.

A pretty cute little combo if I do say so myself.

But what seemed to have caught peoples attention was the little sign I hung above it.

QUITYERBELLYACHING

Rustic and Calm Guest Bathroom

For those of you in sunny early spring locations, I remember well what that means.

In warm Southern California it meant beach weather would soon be heating up and a wardrobe change will take place away from fashionable sweaters that we didn't really need to wear due to cold weather anyway.

But in the Midwest the arrival of spring means different things.

Subway Shower Tile

My fingers are pretty excited as I pound out this post.

Why?  Because the pace has picked up on the bathroom remodel, thanks to the arrival of the shower tile and flooring tile from South Cypress.

{To refresh your memory; this is a redo of a Jack & Jill bath, {here} & {here} which was really a Jill & Jill bath, and is now becoming a Jack & Jack bath while disposing of all the pink and updating the 20 year old fixtures. 

Cat Photos Turned Wall Art

A certain five year old princess has moved into her new bedroom and it's full of things that hold memories.

Her bedroom set was given to her by her maternal grandmother, furniture that had stood in her own daughters room.

Above the princesses bed is a positive message sign painted for her and signed on the back by her paternal grandmother with the hope that as she grows up she will take those words to heart.

And then there is the life of the party that lives in her new home..... the orange tiger kitten she named Whiskers.

Dollhouse Duck Shelf Week 3

I'm putting numbers on these dollhouse titles so I can keep track of what week I am at in the vintage radio-to-dollhouse conversion, so here I am at week 3.

For the past couple weeks I have been making mini furniture and wall art, and some of it is so darn cute I can't stand it!

I'll probably save many of the furniture redo's for the room reveals as I participate in the Dollhouse Therapy Challenge, but from time to time as I move through the weeks I'll show you a few of the makeovers on the Goodwill junk I picked up.

Like this little duck sided display shelf.......

Dollhouse Duck Shelf Before

Zuppa Toscana Soup

So you know those time lapse videos of food that are everywhere online?

It can be a video of a speedy dessert, an appetizer, full 8 course meal, doesn't matter - the time lapse videos not only make it look fast and easy, but of course it always looks delish.

And I'm a sucker for them.

I've lost count how many of those videos I have prepared after seeing them on Facebook, no doubt posted by someone purposely tempting me.

I'll just say Hummingbird cake right here and now.

Of course I must also mention my disclaimer now before I go any further, which I write on.every.food.post....... I'm not a food blogger, (recite it with me) I'm a food eater.

Barn Wood Entry Way Shelves

We're busy around here waiting for cement to cure.

That's the equivalent of watching paint dry, only it takes longer.

So while we wait for the cement to cure and the new bathroom flooring to arrive, I decided it was a good time to actually paint a wall and have Brawn make some shelves that he's been meaning to make for the last 20 years.

I can't say for sure its shelves he's been meaning to make for 20 years, but I know he's been meaning to make something for an awkward entry way corner.