Larder Renovation

Okay, I call it a pantry - Mr. Brit calls it a larder. In either terminology it's an ill-designed storage facility and it's been that way since we moved in four years ago.  When I first started stocking it, I thought I could put up with it until we had the time to renovate it properly with full-length shelves and proper lighting.

Fast-forward four years - and those years have gone fast - I'm still storing tins here and there in no orderly manner on these shelves that are just can-width around the perimeter of this "closet." I added a clear-pocket shoe organizer on the inside of the door for soft packages, like rice, beans, nuts and dried-fruits. But as far as the dead space in the center - I tried various, shelf, cart and bin options in here and nothing has worked too well. Plain and simple, it always ends up a mess.

I have seen dreamy pantry renovations on Pinterest - dreams, just dreams. 

Each time I open my pantry to retrieve a tin of something - I just growl - sometimes aloud.

Overtime I have added two larger metal wire shelving units in the kitchen for storage of various things - large bowls to hold my potatoes and onions, cookbooks, baskets of fruit, a basket for napkins, etc. So, I started giving thought to buying one to fit inside the pantry. If I bought one the right size to fit inside the pantry that should take care of any actual construction. Mr. Brit isn't exactly into constructing - he's more into deconstructing.


One of the other issues with this ill-designed pantry - the lighting. There is a small table lamp, hung upside down on the ceiling with the electric cord hanging down - a couple of staples to hold the cord against the back wall.  A few occasions Mr. Brit has been searching for something inside the larder and forgotten to turn off the lamp.

As Mr. Brit began sizing up the deconstruction, he discovered that every bit of the shelving was constructed with nails - small thin silver nails, small finishing nails - larger finishing nails - a bazillion nails! Not a single wood screw was used in the construction of the mismatched wood shelving.

WHO designed this pantry?

I finally had enough with this pantry - it was becoming more and more useless.

I ordered a 24"x24" chrome wire shelving unit with 5 shelves from The Shelving Store. Mr. Brit and I assembled it and added some unused casters from a previous shelving unit. This would be beneficial for rolling the shelves in and out of the pantry for the occasional floor cleaning, etc.


My angst came with the placement of the first shelf - the bottom one - when Mr. Brit wanted to know how low I wanted it. I didn't want it close to the floor. I wanted a bit of space to allow storage of a box of ... something, a jug of ...something, a bin of  ...something. 

Once fully assembled, I thought to myself - hmmm - is this right? But, I didn't say a word. I figured I would make this work. Anything had to be better than before.

Next step, transfer all the canned goods from the pantry onto the shelf unit. hammered, sledged and pried those boards until they slowing started coming apart. Some of the boards looked like porcupines as he took them out one-by-one.

Mr. Brit thought perhaps, just perhaps, one section of the wooden shelving could remain - just for some additional storage along the wall. He attempted to roll the chrome wire shelving unit into the larder - but realized it wasn't going to work. 

That last remaining shelf unit would have to come out. And so it did.

In went the stocked chrome wire shelving unit with space to spare.

It's taking some adjustment - locating items in the newly organized areas, but it certainly is much tidier and looks so much better.

I may add some fold up shelves on the left to store a few things like my Dyson hand-held vac - the electrical outlet on the back wall is nice to keep it charged.

I'll have to figure out some lighting source - be it a new, more practical ceiling light, one with a clamp that clips onto the shelf or just those push-on LED lights.

Now onto the rest of the mess that seems to keep visiting my kitchen - even though I have made it clear it's not welcome.

Remember! Sunday's coming!

Christmas For My Gal Pals

I've spent the past few weeks prepping the Christmas gifts for three of my close girlfriends with whom I exchange gifts each year.



The four of us get together for a girls' night out dinner 3 or 4 times a month. Except this month it's been just too busy to pick a date night each week with all the hectic activities.



Two of the gals are retired (one is in her 80s the other 60) and the third gal pal is just a year older than me.



Typically, I do identical gifts for each of them. It's easier to do it that way - the gifts are nothing elaborate - more useful than trinket.

This year, I selected booklet-type calendars.  I find these to be nice for jotting down a few lines about what happened on a particular day - kind of like a journal/diary.  I use these each year and occasionally like to sit down and read back through certain years to keep perspective on my life.



The calendars have a beach scene on the cover and have monthly divider pages with additional beach scenes. I decided to add a personal touch by adding their name on the front cover and made each of them (identical) bookmarks with a beach theme. I used vintage beach images from Bumble Button Antique & Vintage Graphics. She shares some pretty amazing images. I used these cute girls, the sea shells and the lady lounging on a sand bank.


I read a magazine article recently that said if you write down three good, positive things that happened to you each day, it helps with depression. Even if it is just something you smiled about, or some kind gesture you do, or someone does for you.



So I added the phrase "3 Good Thoughts Today" on one side of the bookmark . . . just for incentive.   I just used chipboard and applied the printed graphics with a thin coat of Mod Podge.  I thought about coating the bookmarks with Mod Podge but after trying it on a spare bookmark I found it wrinkled up too much and looked horrible. I was in a hurry to get these done so left as is.



I punched a hole in the top and tied a piece of blue and green ribbon - beach colors - to the bookmark and to the spiral spine of the calendar.

The girls will also each be getting a Belgium chocolate bar - wrapped up in a piece of white photo paper with my artwork added.



They'll also be getting a small LED flashlight for bedside storage - I have one in my bedside drawer and it comes in handy more times than I can count. And if they happen to already have a bedside flashlight ... hmmm, you can never have too many flashlights WITH BATTERIES!






The flashlight package I bought for each of them also came with a headlamp - with 4 settings! It will be a bit of a laugh I'm sure, but each of these ladies is single and I know when I was single and in need of a third hand to hold a flashlight for some project it would have been nice to have one of these.  Instead I had a "Snake-Light" that I'd wrap around my neck, or contort in some way to shine the light where I needed it. Trust me, they'll thank me later.



So, there we go, all their little gifts all boxed up in a pretty, reusable storage box with a bow.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

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Our Delightful Home

Today's Creative Blog

For Unto Us . . .

I like coming up with decorating ideas that serve a dual purpose. Things that are representative of Christmas yet, something that can remain on display without stirring up thoughts of Christmas lights on a house all year. To each his own.

With my limited home time, I've got a lot of house to clean - especially when I'd rather be crafting, painting or reading. Putting up Christmas decorations, only for a few weeks of display, seems to be an inefficient use of my time. But with Christmas I also want to make sure I pay tribute to the birth of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior - the one my God sent to die on the cross for my sins.

For months been thinking about making some of the Bible scripture wall art, Bible scripture subway art - ideas I've seen on many blogs and Pinterest.

This inspiration came from the super talents of Kiki Creates.

I created my version with a brown-black background and white lettering. It's fun to create something like this using so many fonts. It can be displayed year-round as well. I'm even thinking about using a red and white version of this for my Christmas cards this year.

This past weekend I purchased a very nice 11x14 brown wooden frame at a thrift store, complete with a white mat - I'll use it to frame my new art. The 8.5x11 print needs to be reduced in size a tad bit to get the edges inside the mat a bit more, but it turned out great.

Now the recurring problem - to decide on which wall to hang it.


UPDATE: Oye! I've been infatuated with these Bible verse creations. I have now designed my Christmas card (the red version) and another wall art piece. Still my favorite so far, is my first one.








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This Little Light of Mine...

In November 2011, my husband and I traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC for the Thanksgiving holiday week. We had a nice time traveling around nearby cities and not so nearby cities (Charleston) to check out the area.

I enjoyed visiting South Carolina. I loved being near the ocean and hearing the rhythm of the waves each morning and night. All the sights, all the seafood ... love, love, love!

When I go someplace I've never been before, my shopping interests aren't for the touristy shops for souvenirs. I like going to the local thrifts stores - Goodwill is a fairly easy find. 

We went to a few Goodwill stores just outside of Myrtle Beach. The only thing I came away with was this black metal lamp. It appeared someone spray painted it black because they didn't bother to cover the electrical cord or the brass fitting at the top. I paid $3.93 + tax.

Lamp Before

I liked the height of the lamp and figured it would work well on my desk at work. It sat in the trunk of our car the remainder of the week we were on vacation. Traveled home with us and sat in the garage a few weeks. I brought it in the house and took some not-so-good pictures for the before look.

It ended up back in the garage because I wasn't sure when I would have time to get to it.

Lamp After

At one point when I was out and about running errands, I came across a package of acrylic paints I thought would work for painting the lamp.

A few weeks ago on a rainy Saturday afternoon I brought the lamp back inside, cleaned it up and started painting. The acrylic paints weren't covering the metal like I wanted and the dried paint appeared dull and chalky. I wasn't happy with it.

More recently, I decided I would try the bright nail enamel I had purchased for my little key painting project. I loved the shiny metallic sheen the nail enamel left. I dug through my bathroom closet and found some old nail enamel I had for eons - bright red, orange and a copper metallic (what was I thinking at the time?).

I proceeded to use all the colors to paint the lamp, even using the French manicure white to add some polka-dots.

I added a lampshade with chubby little cherubs - and it now sits on the corner of my desk at the office.


My South Carolina Goodwill lamp is bright (and not just from the light bulb), cheery and whimsical - just what I was going for.

Find My Key

BLUE KEY - GREEN KEY

I have two keys on my key ring that are nearly identical.

SCHLAGE keys...spare keys cut at the local hardware store. Both are gold in color. One is my house key, the other my mom's house key.

I kind of know where my house key is on the placement of my key ring. Sometimes, though, when I am in a hurry and select the wrong key - it fits into the key hole, but doesn't turn - it tends to get a bit frustrating. You know...the times when my hands are pretty full, the load is heavy or I need to dash to the bathroom.

Then there are the occasional times when my husband has my keys and can't tell which key to use.

I had some spare time on a recent Saturday and decided I should try the painted key idea. This would give me a chance to try out some cheap, bright nail polish I bought specifically for craft projects.

My mom's house is green, so that's the color her key would be.

My house is brick, so blue would be the color of my key - absolutely nothing to relate the two really, I just like the color blue.

I removed the keys from my key ring, stuck the smaller end into a block of foam and painted - painted - painted (that's three coats). I could have probably gone with two coats, but did one extra coat for durability sake. I topped it off with a clear coat of nail polish.

I thought the color might scrape off as I put the keys back on my key ring, but I was very careful as I slid the keys around the ring. It all worked out well and now I can tell at a glance which key I'm selecting from my key ring.

In between drying of the color applications, I played around with the blue nail polish. I'm not one for painted nails; one, because I keep my nails fairly short and two, bright colors aren't my thing.

I have seen a lot of advertisements for decorated nails. I decorated my thumb nail, left it this way for half the day.

I panicked a bit when I thought I might not have any nail polish remover and I would have to have my nail this way for church on Sunday. Luckily, I found the polish remover and all was well.

Growing Out of Ugliness

We have a Robin's nest in the tree my husband butchered ...I mean pruned last fall.  It's near enough to our dining room window we can see the momma bringing worms throughout the day and early evening - poppa Robin mostly just stands guard nearby.

It's amazing every season I watch the development  of these scrawny, naked, ugly babies.

They are beginning to stand up in the nest, stretch their wings and flap!

It will be interesting to watch their first flights if we are home at the time it happens.

I think this makes us grandparents!

Another Retirement ...

A peek inside

Another co-worker in my department at work is retiring. Her retirement date is March 19, 2012.

A card idea popped into my head ... something about a bucket list booklet and since the woman is a smoker, a cigar box for an envelope.

I remember as a kid I thought cigar boxes were neat. Partly for their looks, but because they can hold "things" ... like pretty rocks, doo-dads - stuff I found appealing.

Front of envelope

Using free graphics from The Graphics Fairy and inspired by several graphics from Just Something I Made websites, I came up with a card that resembles a book and the dimensional box envelope.

Shallow depth envelope

Backside of envelope

I needed the envelope to be a shallow box, since it was made from the cigar box graphics. I only needed a very shallow depth though. I was worried it would be a bust, but with a little Mod Podge to secure the corners and a thin coat on the bottom of the "box" - it holds it shape well enough.

The card has some silly photos of things - a plump male ballerina in a pink tutu, some vintage looking photos of women with tennis racquets and women holding trophies from perhaps a beauty contest ... you know, things you might have on your bucket list.

Inside of envelope

Inside card

This is the second retirement card I've made in as many months. It makes me wonder how nice it would be to retire and spend my time doing all the things I WANT to do rather than doing what someone else wants from me.