Moss Filled Urns

What to do when your summer plants are dying and the urns are starting to look awful?  Well, sometimes I love putting fall plants in the Urn, like mums or a mixture of cabbages.  The trouble is they dye so darn fast I really don't like spending the money and have to change them out in a month or less.  These days most of use are looking for something that stays looking nice for awhile and doesn't dye within one month...who has time.  So here is something that has worked for me and I'm not running to the store to change it out every month.

Here is one of Urns

You can use a roll of moss, but my personal opinion is to find individual bags of moss, because you get more texture.

Use foam balls in the Urn and a glue gun to get the height you want.

Now you can see the texture of the moss I used.  It looks much better.

Here is one I made before moving 2 years ago and you can't tell its 2 years old.

This is another option for inside an urn

See the different heights you can go!

"ONE OF A KIND SIGN'S"...Decorative!

 Being a Swedish gal I decided that I wanted to put a few Decorative Sign's up around the house but, I didn't want them to just be the usual signs that you find at Hobby Lobby, or any other craft store.  I wanted them to really "MEAN" something to me.  So, I decided to find signs that were on major clearance and repaint them, making them "ONE OF A KIND"!
 My first sign I made, I took the wall paint color and painted over the existing discounted sign (I paid $5.00 for)!  I then took a little of the wall paint and mixed in a little white and black paint to streak it across the sign.  I then purchased Wood Letters and painted them red!  I glued them on the sign and VOILA... a sign that has meaning:)

SIGN #1

VOILA

This one Fit's PERFECTLY over the sliding glass door!

I like the three dimensional look this gives the sign...VERY CUSTOM!

Kinda hard to see in this picture because of the sun coming in the window!

 SIGN #2

The Next, sign I made I decided to GO BIG OR GO HOME...lol!  I purchased a $10.00 piece of wood from Home Depot.  In this one I decided to go a little more wild with the paint.  I first did a base coat using the wall paint again.  Then I took a damp paper towel and a little black paint and streaked that in.  Next, I took a crackle spray paint and sprayed the corners.  I let this dry.  Once dry, I sprayed some of the letters on the board and the others I used wood letters that I sprayed black outside, (These I glued on).  This sign is what my Grandmother used to say and I LOVE IT!  It reminds me of her.

This Sign puts a smile on my face:)

Here is a close up to see dimension!

On this Picture, I was trying to showing you the crackle paint!

HAVE FUN CREATING SOMETHING THAT IS YOU!

Organizational Queen...Kitchen Essential

Yep...I'm an organizational queen!  I really can't stand disorder...I can't think straight!  I've been seeing organizational posts all over, but have never seen one to "FIT" an area.  This was when I decided to make an Herb Magnet board on the side of a cabinet that would open up space in a kitchen cabinet.  So, when I was doing the kitchen I contacted a Sheet Metal Worker in my area until I found someone who would take a piece of sheet metal and clamp the sides over (So they weren't sharp), then I could make a magnet board for herbs.  This cost me $38.00 to get done, once I gave him the exact size of the side of the cabinet (make sure its a perfect rectangle or square and not different sizes on the top and bottom), then you'll just needed to pick it up, bring it home and hang it.  I then attached magnet herb containers I got at World Market (They even come in colors...I just got stainless)!  I will tell you that they sell the same ones at Bed Bath and Beyond, but they are $2.99 a piece and at World Market they are only $1.99.   I then found these mesh magnet holders at T.J. Maxx ($4.99), they are great but only came in ugly colors, so I bought 4 of them anyhow...even thou they were ugly and spray painted them in a stainless steel paint and ...VOILA...FANCY PANTS MESH HOLDERS!
 

Here it is...Very hard to take a picture of!

I put mine on the side of the cabinet that holds the oven...It's convenient while cooking to have it here!

I made the HERB sign by getting metal letters at a craft store and using a glue gun to attach magnets to the back!

Here are the little metal Herb containers from World Market, I took a label maker and printed out the names of the herbs for each one!  Then I put the herbs alphabetical on the magnet board for easy access!

These are the mesh magnet containers I found at T.J. MAXX... I had to paint them thou.

These things are heavy duty and don't come off once on the board so don;t worry about them not being able to hold your junk...lol!

Fall Floral Mantel Arrangements...$12.99

Well, this morning I woke up to snow on the ground...burrr! I wasn't ready for that one.  I decided I should put up a little fall decor so I can "get in the mood" and stay positive that summer is over...BOO!  I do however love the snow on the ground and a good warm fire so I say "Bring It On"!  The one thing I didn't want to do is spend any money on decorating so I went down into my storage area and pulled out my bin of floral stuff to see what I had.  I then ran over to Hobby Lobby and picked up a package of Preserved Willow.  One thing I learned while doing floral arrangements for Hotels in Minnesota was to always use a base ingredient that was a preserved "REAL" plant/floral item.  The reason for this is it makes the arrangement to "appear" REAL and not fake.  Below is what I ended up with.  Not bad for a total of $12.99!

I used 2 urns I already had in storage!

At Hobby Lobby I purchased 1 package of preserved willow and these grapevine pumpkins!

Then because the Grapevine pumpkins had short stems I attached each one to a curly willow stick by using floral wire.  You'll never be able to tell after I put this in the arrangement. 

Next, I added flowers and wired pine cones on some sticks and even added feathers I got from a hunting friend.

This should get me thru fall...Woohoo!

Backyard Clean-up

Sometimes, just a little elbow grease goes a long way in making things look and feel done.  The Colorado house is no exception. For starters, every piece of the exterior had not been maintained when we bought this a few years ago.  But, with a lot....and I mean a lot, of elbow grease and dirty laundry I was able to bring this yard back to life.  This is the backyard and I really didn't want to spend a ton.  I thought just cutting some of the scrub oak out and cleaning up the base of the trees would really make the backyard more inviting.  Our neighbor behind us was going to cut down some of her pine trees.  I asked her if I could have them and she responded, "Go ahead if you want to dig them up"!  Ha, Ha I bet she thought I wouldn't do it.  But, I did!  Three 6-8 foot pines trees got dug up and pulled over into place.  I watered them a ton and gave them some B Vitamins and they seem to be happy:)  I know I will enjoy them as they grow:).

The trees were a mess but I weeded them out!

Now the area is open a bit and the yard is...OH SO CLEAN:)

I was sure to lay down the weed guard so I wouldn't have to weed for awhile:)

Master Bath Redo...What's Next?

I had started a Master Bathroom project awhile ago and then got stuck!  Not with what to do next, but rather I just can't make up my mind on the flooring.  I go back and forth from the tile wood floor look to just normal tile.  I want a classic look that I won't get tired of in a few years, or more importantly, at this point, just a classic look for resale.  I keep gravitating toward the tiled wood floor look.  Thinking it's different but yet still is a classic.  Below is some pictures I have taken of the project and at what point I'm at now.  Do any of you lean toward a certain wood floor tile?  Which one do you like more?  I look forward to the emails!

This was a picture I took before I ripped out cabinets!

In this photo I had already changed out all the door handles and hinges.  Now it was time to take out tile and re-stain cabinets.

Here is both sides of the Master bathroom, I'm needing to tile floors first.

In progress

I did videos of the process but because we are just picking out flooring at this point I'll only do the pictures portion and save you watching me remove tile (Boring)!  At this point you can see I have removed the green tile and sinks, removed the medicine cabinet out of the wall, built a new base for the old oak cabinets, Stained the cabinets using the Java Stain from General Finishes, cut new holes for the water supply lines.  WOW, I'm tired just typing it...Just Joking!

  Next, I dry-walled the hole where the old medicine cabinet was and decided to build a new open cabinet between the mirrors.  I've added the decorative molding and stained this to match the oak cabinets that have I have up-cycled.  I also replaced the brass faucets with nickle.  I have not added the counter tops because I want the floors to be decided on first.

So here we are ready for the tile to be chosen!

 Here is what I would love help with!  Should I do the barn wood tile on the left or the Walnut tile on the right??? Totally two different looks. I love the barn wood tile because each tile is SO different! But, then I think for resale maybe the walnut wood floor tile would be safer.  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  You can email me, leave a response on this blog or leave a response on Home Talk blog network.

Roasting Hatch Peppers... The Easy Way

Today I went to Whole Foods and noticed a guy roasting the Hatch Peppers out front.  It was pretty early in the AM so I was the only one around.  I decided to stop and ask him how hard this would be to do on my own.  He told me it wasn't hard at all and I could do it in my home oven if I wanted to.  So, I went home to give this a try with his directions etched in my brain.  I wish he would have told me to wear gloves.  That would be the only thing he forgot to mention.

4 Heat types: NM 6-4: Mild, Big Jim: Medium, Sandia: Hot, & Lumbia: Extra Hot

When they roast outside Whole Foods this is what they use to blacken the peppers

I placed my peppers on a piece of foil and put in 500 degree oven

DIRECTIONS:

(These are from the Whole Foods Rep.)

Preheat oven to 500

place Sliced peppers, seeds removed on foil

Put in oven for 7-15 minutes, tossing them every minute or so

Once they have browned wrap them up in the foil immediately and put them in a plastic bag, close the bag and allow to cool like this.

Storage and Use of Peppers:

  At this point you can do two things

1) Peel the peppers and use within 1 day.  Don't allow peppers to sit longer they can get moldy.

2) Place the peppers with skins on in a plastic bag and place in the freezer.  The peppers last a while this way.  Just take out of the freezer and you can remove the skin and use them once they have defrosted.

My Peppers are almost complete

  

Easter Egg Topiaries

I got an email today from a follower who was interested in making the Egg Topiary's I had posted on the blog sometime ago.  I think with moving I have lost all of the "How to" direction pictures, but found pictures of the actual Topiary's in some of my picture files.  I hope seeing the picture's help with anyone wanting to make them.  They are great to have around at Easter and I have used them for years now.   I have to say going thru the pictures makes me miss Minnesota even more.  Have a great day!

 Directions:

Find bases you like

Add a foam cylinder (purchased at Craft Store)

Use hot glue gun to glue into place

Find packages of different sized plastic eggs and feathers from (Craft Store)

Hot glue the Eggs on then Hot glue the feathers on in between the spaces !

There you have it!

As Easy As (Salt and Pepper)...Ha, Ha, Ha

 

   

DIY Bedroom Office Desk...Rustic Ralph Lauren Style!

I've been wanting to redo the little nook in my bedroom for sometime.  It seems I'm always last in this house.  Well...now when I blog or do any work up in my room I'm not sitting on the bed, but rather I'm sitting at my NEW DESK....WOOHOO!  I designed this desk from scratch wanting to try a Rustic Ralph Lauren Style.   I'm REALLY happy with the outcome.  I think you will like it too!  I started this project yesterday around 2:30 and had it complete by today around 12:00 (and YES...I slept)!  So about, 1 1/2 days.

New Desk Hand Built for only $53.00 with Tax

Before...I had just put these old chairs just to get me by until I had time to fix the area!

The Process

First, I measured the area to get a ruff idea of how big I wanted the desk to be!  Then off to Home Depot to find the wood I had in mind.  After I found what I was looking for I started to compare cost and wood type to be sure I kept this desk under $50.00!  I unfortunately went over my limit by $3.00.  Oh well... I could have done worse.

The Wood I bought!

 I purchased:

 2 ~ 4X4's

1 piece ~  Birch 2X4X1

I had nails, table saw and sander at home, last minute I added birch around the sides (but, I had this in my scrape pile)!

I did find the decorative bolts 4 for $1.97 at Lowe's

 

Started building the legs!

   Next, I started building the legs!  At first I was going to try this fancy crisscross design, but then decided I didn't want the desk not to have leg room so I went with the standard leg design.  This does look different thou because the wood I used was 4X4's and they really have an impact.  I wanted a modern Ralph Lauren Design that was timeless.  I really think this was achieved.

 I bolted the legs together from the top down so no screws are visible anywhere on the piece, except for the bolts I added for "THE LOOK"!  Otherwise, this piece has clean lines!

Lilly is always the helper...NOT!

 Next, I added the top Birch piece and screwed this in from underneath as well.  Lilly thought she was helping me make this level.  I assure you she was NOT HELPFUL:)

At, this point I stood back and decided to add a 4" skirt around the tabletop to balance the ultra thick legs. After I finished the skirt, I distressed the top of the!  I took chains and a saw and "Beat" the desk up until I got the desired look I wanted.  Then I sanded the top, lightly so it blended well.

The stains I used!

I decided to get the "LOOK" I wanted I needed to mix a few stains together.  I LOVE the General Finishes Stain because the product is the easiest stain I have ever worked with.  I started with a Walnut water based stain, while the table was still wet I added the Rust-oleum Weathered Grey stain, then added the Burnt Umber Glaze effect over that and touched up with the Walnut stain again.   This seems like a lot but, I assure you it went quick.  After I let the piece dry for 4 hours I added a General Finishes Polyurethane!  Then, let it dry a bit again.  After it was dry to the touch I added the decorative bolts.   And YIPPEE... I have myself a Ralph Lauren Desk.

Here is  close-up

Here is another!

In these pictures below you can see the desk in the bedroom space.  I might add a rug at some point! But, for now I'm ONE HAPPY GIRL!  

I tried shutting the blinds for the picture but this is a hard one to get.

Ahhh. I can work at a desk in my bedroom now!  LOVE IT!

Blog away!

No desk of mine wouldn't be complete without a Tiffany & Co. BOX...lol!

Hope this gives you an idea!