Baking Center From An Old Desk...

When my parents moved in with us 7 years ago, we added a second story to our house. The new stair case created this odd area at the bottom of the stairs in the kitchen.

I've had lots of things there, but I think this may be a keeper.

I had this bookcase storage unit there in the past...good for storage, but try to give it more height with the clock and lamps.

This is how I tried out the new change.

• brought up an old desk from the basement
• swapped out the larger bookcase (from the above picture) for this top of a hutch
• put my baking stuff in there and lived with it for a week before committing to painting

Let the painting begin.

I left the top of the desk natural, so I don't have to be careful about chipping the paint when working on the desk. Breaks up the black too.

I have a tutorial coming up on how to make this BAKING sign. Easy peasy! Click HERE for sign tutorial

Simple cardboard boxes covered with fabric. I just wrapped the box like a gift and hot glued the edges down. I bought the boxes in the mailing office supply section in Walmart. They were the perfect square size and only 50 cents.

Pipe straps found in hardware stores for the handles...these are always my cheap "go to" handles. I think $2.00 for a bag of 10-12.

Key chain tags to tell whats inside.

Store all your baking items in there.

I've had these glass canister jars for years...they are only $10.00 in Walmart. I just saw them this week, so I know they still carry them. Smaller sizes are about $7.00

The computer key board drawer pulls out and holds my cookie sheets and baking racks.

The drawers hold bowls...

cake pans...

mixers...

and a file for recipes...

When you find a recipe on line, you print it out on an 8x10 piece of paper. In the past, I folded them up and stored them away.

Hard to find when they are all folded up.

Now they are easy to read.

Little jar for small baking tools...

and don't forget the kitchen mouse.

Just need to put drawer pulls on and it will be all set.

I love what paint can do. Look around your house and see what you can transform!

Take care,
~Karen~

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Mantel...Yes, No, Maybe So

Mantel question for you,

I took this mantel down to...

1. paint it
2. fix it, because it was loose
3. and to also see if I even wanted it up any more

This was the mantel at Christmas last year.

and a little autumn a few years ago.

This is the support board that was loose. To remove this mantel, all you do is unscrew 2 screws on the top that screw into this board.

The mantel itself has a hollow back, so it slides over this board.

This was the loose screw. It needed a new sinker in the brick.

Tah Dah!!! I loved it as soon as it came off.

The pros of having it off...

• I like the clean look ( well not clean as in there isn't a boat load of soot all over it lol)
• I don't have to think about how to decorate it
• I don't have to paint it or fix it now!

The cons of having it off...

• no Christmas decorations up there any more
• the 2 candle stick lamps I always have up there gave a little light to that side of the room
• I need to find something each season to put up there

Here is an autumn wreath I just put up.

Here's the question...

• do I center the wreath over the fire place opening (like it is here) or center it across the whole width of the brick area. There is another chimney off to the right that juts out about 18 inches creating a definite end. 

I also painted one of those large cardboard letters you buy in a craft store. Kind of looks like wrought iron up against the fireplace screen. This may be my go to decoration when I don't have a wreath!

The only thing is, it looks empty off to the right over the basket of wood.

What would you do?

1. mantel off or mantel on
2. if it is off...center over opening or center in the whole brick area

Thanks so much for your help,
~Karen~

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The First Day Of Fall...I Smell Apples and Cinnamon

Happy first day of Fall! However, here in southern New England it's raining, sticky and humid. Last week it was cool, in the low 60's and felt like autumn...not so much for the next week or so here.

Well, the temperature may not be fall, but I'm going to make it smell like autumn in my house. I posted this idea before, but wanted to share it again.

When I think of Fall, I think apples and cinnamon. Use your crock pot to slowly simmer apples, cinnamon, and a few whole cloves to fill your home with the greatest smell ever!!

For this batch, I saved the cores and peels from a recipe I had made earlier. I think you could probably freeze them until you need them.

Add a little water and simmer away.

A wonderful smell from something you were going to throw away.

You could also use the apple part and find a great recipe for apple sauce and then at the end, you'll have a yummy treat to eat too along with filling up your home with the smell of autumn.

Don't forget to look in on all the great ideas on this week's Sew Darn Crafty and you still have time to add a link of your own. Click here to go take a peek!

Happy Fall,
~Karen~

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Colleen's Corner...Make A Quick Kitchen Island

Here's a long story for a kitchen island.

Colleen is my sister and partner in crime helping me with my dad. Many of you know, from past posts, that my dad lives with us. He has his own separate living area just down the hallway in our home, including his own kitchen. He is 86 years old and he is dangerous! LOL !! You know floods, fire, and uses more electricity and heat to power New York City.

For obvious reasons, he can't be left alone for long periods of time. When hubby and I took the girls to Disney World over Christmas vacation, I had to arrange for someone to stay with him every minute. Two of my brothers and my nephew would come from out of state to be with him for the beginning of the week and my sister would have the last 2 days. However, mother nature kicked in and a whopping blizzard hit New England. My sister was with him the whole week all by herself...a few days at her house and the rest at mine.

Needless to say, she tried to keep busy at my house to avoid going stir crazy. She rearranged my refrigerator, played in my sewing room, cleaned dad's house, hung out with our cat Hallie upstairs for some quiet time...dad talks non stop about absolutely anything LOL!

and she built this island for my dad's kitchen.

Digging through old furniture in our basement, she found 2 side tables that are the same size and our old square coffee table.

One cabinet has doors with storage on shelves and the other has drawers.

She placed the 2 storage units back to back.

and then placed the square coffee table on top. The legs of the coffee table just unscrew to remove.

She didn't have to secure the table on top because there isn't much over hang on the sides, but you could always add "L" brackets to secure it.

There is the seam of the 2 cabinets, but it looks fine. If you were doing this for yourself, you could always cover it with bead board or wains coating to hide the seam.

What a great island...I'm sure with all that snow piling up outside, she was wishing she was on an island far, far away!

Can't thank my sister enough for all she did that week! I owe her BIG time.

space

~Karen~

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Christmas Home Tour 2010...

I have been collecting Christmas decorations for over 25 years. I add a little bit each year with after Christmas sales. I use the same decorations over and over, but in a different way each year, so it looks like something new.

We have several trees in the house...7 right now, 2 more to go which I'll share later on. I had a ladies dessert party last weekend, so I started decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving. My family is coming here for Christmas this Saturday the 18th, so I'm all set.

Here is a picture heavy post of this year's decorations...Enjoy!

When I was putting this tree together, I knew I wanted to use the big green balls and red. I kept adding and adding the more things I found in boxes. The only thing I added that was new this year are the sprigs of green fuzzy flowers I found in the floral department of Walmart...only $2.00 a bunch! I knew when I was finished this would be the Cindy Lou Who Tree from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Here's the matching mantel next to the tree.

The red glitter sign says...Believe!

This is a woodsy pine cone tree in the family computer room.

Covered with berries, pine cones, red cardinals, birds nests, old fashioned candles clipped to the branches, apples...

This is my new Charlie Brown Tree my mother in law just gave me last night. Isn't it just the cutest!! It came with Linus' blanket! I put it on the small table where I serve the egg nog.

The china cabinet becomes The Dickens Village.

All the greenery on the stairways, windows, mantels etc are branches from our old 12 foot Christmas tree. We replaced it 2 years ago, but I kept all the branches and use them all around the house.

Sugared fruit that I use every year in different place. Here's a tip...if you have artificial fruit, keep it out of the attic or your basement. The change in temperature will crack the fruit.

Here's a picture of the hook that would go into the trunk of the artificial tree. A perfectly placed bow hides all that!

Here is a tip to hide art work that might not match your holiday decor. Use a 3M Command strip to hold a wreath. I used a burlap theme in the family room, so I used chair strapping for bows. I searched every where for this and thankfully my sister had some!!

For this, I used heavy duty wire to shape the letters and then covered it with garland.

Here are 2 branches from the old tree with the hooks facing inward...instant window swag.

Along with the burlap, I used all galvanized things in this room. Those bells are from the dollar store.

A galvanized bird cage...

with a touch of Christmas!

Punch bowl all set to be filled.

I had a snowflake tree one year and now I'm using them to decorate all the burlap tablecloths

This is the wine station on top of the bar. Believe it or not we don't drink wine...just never acquired a taste for it, but I love all the pretty glasses.

Galvanized buckets hold the white wine...just waiting for all the ice.

Here's another use for that circle cutter that I've been addicted to lately.

Name markers to keep track of your glass.

I cut the larger circle, punched smaller holes with a regular hole punch and then cut a slit so it can wrap around the glass stem.

The wine glasses are all set with their little tags.

Another table is set up for all the other drinks. Say hi to Annie back there in the picture. She wants to come to the party too.

Bottled water in an old bucket.

Rein-Beer...I saw this idea some where in blog land...too cute! Hot glued eyes, red nose and then brown pipe cleaner for the antlers.

Soda bottles in a large galvanized tub from Home Depot. I bought these a few years ago for $13.00 for our summer parties. For Christmas, I used the other 2 for the buckets under the trees.

Table all set for the desserts.

More of those $1.00 sleigh bells on the lamps.

A little snowflake added to the point of the table runner.

Aren't these little buffet plates adorable? A rectangle plate and small cup completes the set.

I found them in a consignment shop. They are from the 1950's and are made by Anchor Hocking. I keep searching for more.

This is our family room tree...12 feet high! This is filled with every ornament we buy for the girls each year, all the ones we receive as gifts, the ones we buy on vacations or special trips and all the creations the girls made when they were little. This is my favorite tree.

Every inch is jam packed...3 large Rubbermaid containers full of ornaments.

Each and every one has a special meaning.

This tree is in our bedroom. It is our original tree from when we were first married 23 years ago. All the ornaments are my mom's. She had a large collection of Steinbach ornaments...the little people with wonderful little costumes on. I put this tree up every year in memory of her.

I used my $2.50 tree skirt and stocking tutorial in here. The green matches perfectly.

This tree is in my husband's office. It's a replica of the tree he had growing up. Large colored lights, silver garland, colored glass ornaments and tinsel...always his favorite.

This is Courtney's silver tree. The color of her wall is coming across peach in the picture, but they are as hot pink as her curtains. The pink looks great with the silver.

Silver balls, my mom's silver angel collection, silver garland and white/silver glitter curly springy things popping out all over.

Kelsie has the purple room and a sweet tooth!

Her's is covered with purple balls, springy things and artificial gum drops and candy all over the tree. Plus a real popcorn garland.

and lastly the girl's bathroom...just a couple silver trees that were on clearance a few years ago at Walmart.

They are super shiny in person...a little dark in this picture.

Silver ornaments added to each hook of the shower curtain for a special added touch.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. If I finish the other 2 trees, I'll be sure to share them with you.
spaceBig Holiday Hugs,

~Karen~

 

6:19 PM | 0 comments | Read More