Shed Building Plans: love

Showing posts with label love. Show all posts

I Love My Chickens but

I absolutely love my chickens! They are amusing to watch and greet me with total enthusiasm as long as I dont try to touch most of them. Some breeds are friendlier than others but hey, I am not complaining. They like to be invited to a picnic. We learned this while having a bbq party when my best friend and her little boys were here visiting. They love macaroni salad and um, chicken. I know its wrong but they were stealing it off of plates of very small children. Canibals. I actually felt guilty cooking whole chickens I raised for that purpose on the grill where my little ladies could see them until they ravaged the little people.

But then they did this to my whole entire porch and I dont feel nearly as bad. They now take their afternoon siesta on my porch with the cats. They had a little hawk scare last week when a hawk was on the porch trying to take a bird with her. I scared it away but the chicken gals now love the porch. They also like the dog house in the dog run. My dogs have never used it. They also love the area around the lawnmower in the wood shed. They sleep on the lawnmower, John Deer and chicken poop. Nice combo.

We just unblocked the nest boxes, filled them with straw and fake eggs. Now we wait. I sure hope they start to lay soon. They are almost 17 weeks so they should start soon. I check every day. So far they arent earning their keep but I am rooting for them.

On a florally note, I still have some things in bloom. My coneflower is still looking pretty good. These were purple magnus but they really arent that tall. Maybe next year.

And here is the only butterfly bush I did not kill this past winter. It is called a Honeycomb and it is really a pretty bush. I am very happy to have this one make it and hope it will be here next year too!

I Love My Chickens but

Open Shelving LOVE! Project complete!

I just wanted to share my completed open shelving project! A few weeks ago, my large cabinet started to pull away from the wall. So I removed the cabinet to repair it. But once the cabinet was down, I really liked the way the counter space opened up. So I began to research the idea of open shelving. I must say, I absolutely love it! It adds a bit of pop to the kitchen and pop is always a good thing. ;-)

The process of how this open shelving was installed can be seen here.

As a true Disney fan at heart, I like to add smatterings of Mickey Mouse or Disney magic in my projects. Nothing major, just subtle nuances usually known only to me. This time, I chose to cover the dividers in the glass jar cubby cabinets in vintage Mickey Mouse cartoon scrapbook paper. You cant see it from looking head on to the cabinet but I like that it is somewhat hidden.

Here are my shelves decorated for Valentines Day. That chocolate cake is from Hobby Lobby. It is spectacular and looks SO real. It was $30 but came down to $18 with the coupon. LOVE!

The cubby cabinet has worked out wonderfully. I found these chalkboard tags at JoAnn fabrics! I also found a thin tip chalk pen that works like a marker but can be erased at any time. Its very cool.

I like the way it opened up this space in the kitchen and gave me more counter space for tasks.

This space has gone through quite a few evolutions to get to where it is now...

When I first started to redo my kitchen, I was dealing with brass knobs, hunter green formica and honey pine trim!

I painted the cabinet trim white, changed out the hardware and painted the counters to look like granite. For details on that process, please click here.

Next, I painted the kitchen grey blue and added a ledger stone backsplash.

And here is the current and final result. I really love the way this looks in my kitchen.

Open Shelving LOVE! Project complete!

I LOVE glass milk bottles!

I love milk. I always have. I love milk with cookies and cereal but Im also quirky in that I love milk with pizza, spaghetti, even a burger. :-) But I am not thrilled with the plastic milk containers. They take up so much room in the fridge and are heavy to pour when it is a fresh gallon.

Recently, on a trip to HomeGoods, I saw this little beauty. It is a bluish clear glass with a sealed top and has the image of a cow being milked on the front. It was only $4.99 and so I couldnt pass it up. A few days later I saw this smaller bottle at the Christmas Tree Shops and it was only $1.99.

Now, when I bring home milk, I pour it into the bottles, rinse out the plastic gallon and recycle it. Did you know, according to the EPA, only 29% of the plastic milk containers get recycled. The rest end up in the landfills.

That is awful when so many amazing things are made out recycled milk cartons. Like an igloo. :-)

It may just be my imagination but the milk seems colder and tastes better coming out of a glass bottle. And it looks so much cuter on the kitchen table at meal time. Give it a try! Once you go glass, youll never go back!

I LOVE glass milk bottles!

National Beach Hut Competition Love Your Hut of the Year

The lucky winner of ‘Love Your Hut of the Year’, which claims to be Britain’s biggest national beach hut competition, can win a £500 shopping spree at Cath Kidston to lavish on their hut.

The owner of the hut crowned as the Best in Britain will be awarded £500 to spend exclusively at Cath Kidston (either in-store or online) or, if they like their hut just the way it is, a rather decadent ‘ultimate’ picnic hamper and four-person dining set. Picnic hampers will also be awarded to the second and third placed huts, and all winners will get a bespoke, weatherproof plaque to proudly show off to their neighbours.

‘Love Your Hut of the Year’ launched back in April and the team at Love Your Hut, beach hut and garden office insurance specialist, emphasise that the ‘best’ hut might not be the biggest, most expensive or lavish, it’s what it means to the owner that counts. For example, there’s often a strong emotional attachment, with some huts staying in the same family for several generations.

Owners are invited to enter their hut or chalet in the competition, submitting at least one picture and a few words, exclusively via www.loveyourhut.co.uk. Submissions can be viewed on a dedicated Instagram page: @loveyourhutoftheyear. The competition is open until midnight 21August, with the winners being announced the following week.

Pictured above is Bertie on Mersea Island, Essex, owned by Jayne Eyers. "When I first saw Bertie he looked very unloved and sad amongst all the other brightly coloured huts on Mersea beach, being one of the oldest huts, now 60 years old," she said. "So I decided to buy him and rescue him. He is now a very much loved little hideaway, cosy, handsome and stands out from the crowd. Many a family can now visit him with his character and warmth as he is now part of The Little Beach Hut Company and feels he has been given a new lease of life for all to enjoy. A happy ending for Bertie."
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National Beach Hut Competition Love Your Hut of the Year

Decorating Procrastinating LOVE this term!

As you know, I have joined the 30 Day Room Makeover Challenge to try and combat the dreaded DECORATING PROCRASTINATING. You know what this is - you have a project you need to do but you just dont want to even think about let alone DO it.

The above photo is the vent and lighting over the stove and I added corners, bead board and decorative molding to fancy it up a bit. I had to repaint the old black and white harlequin blue grey and white to match the new color scheme. As you can see, all I have to do is add the corner molding around the bottom, paint it, and paint the recessed lighting ring. If I put my mind to it, it would take the the better part of about 2 hours. Alas, here it sits. Unfinished and mocking me every time I walk into the kitchen.

Instead, I have been doing fun stuff. Summer stuff. Here I am with Mary Poppins carpet bag from the film. WAIT, what??? Yep - I was tickled to death to see this in person being the Disneyphile that I am. It was one of the exhibits in the Museum of Science and Industrys exhibit, Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives. It was a spectacular day! Much more fun than emptying a mammoth amount of Christmas decorations, WDW souvenirs and Halloween stuff out of the guest bedroom. Clutter galore.

I first saw the term in late July on Serenas blog Thrift Diving. She is the blogger hosting the 30 day challenge in which you have to finish one space by August 31! I chose the dreaded guest bedroom and I am so excited to finish it - I just dont want to do the work. LOL

Here are the before and current pictures of my guest bedroom makeover....

That is all I have done and it is AUGUST 10TH!!!!!!! Like we are in double digits. And, yet, this morning I went to mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. One of my most favorite places in the world.

Maybe I will have to stop at the Grotto one more time and pray for motivation. Enjoy your Sunday!

Decorating Procrastinating LOVE this term!

Broken China Jewelry Use Low Temp Soldering Techniques to Make Jewelry with Laura Beth Love

Tammy Jones, the editor of Jewelry Making Daily recently reviewed my new jewelry instruction DVD, Make Vintage and Upcycled Jewelry: Dishfunctional Plate Necklace. Check out what she had to say!

Broken China Jewelry: Use Low-Temp Soldering Techniques to Make Jewelry with Laura Beth Love

What do you think?

Enjoy your weekend!
Love,
Laura

Check out my new DIY jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Broken China Jewelry Use Low Temp Soldering Techniques to Make Jewelry with Laura Beth Love

Foyer Makeover Painted Hardwood Floors I love them!

Here is the finished product with the high gloss varnish for floors. Wow - it really made them POP when I put it on. Just when I thought they couldnt look any better... I love this! It actually kind of makes me laugh - when I came up with the crazy idea, I had no idea they would turn out this realistic looking. So much better than the white ceramic tile... I wasnt a fan. :-)

Ok this is a work in progress but I am so excited that I had to share before they are completely done! How funny is this? This is my underlayment after tearing up tile! I totally love it so far....

I love the deep brown color against the bright white baseboard and baby yellow walls.

Here is more of a close up picture - I know they are EXACTLY like hardwood floors but for the price - which was about $50 including a can of poly for $40, I think they look pretty cool! .

Jumping off point - lovely underlayment flooring complete with staples and paints stains. :-)

This is the typical floor I started with. Big gaps, staples, nail holes, etc. I didnt fix everything because would have taken so much time and it wasnt important to me that they be perfect. As long as they looked great, the holes, scraped and such add character and they look "hand scraped" like in an old Irish tavern.

This type of can opener is my secret weapon for removing staples. It works WONDERFULLY! You put the bent point under the staple and push down. The pointy part can even be used to pry them up. I bought one at GoodWill for a quarter. Try it - you will be so happy they come up so easy will virtually no damage to the floor.

Any of the large gaps and staple holes, I did fill in with DAP latex wood filler. I used a lot of this stuff along with a putty scraper to make sure the surface was as smooth and level as possible.

After it was all filled in, it looked like this. Then I primed right over it for a smooth surface.

This is where I left off on day one when I got to this point. Fixed and primed with white primer - a smooth surface just waiting for something....

So I found brown Porch and Floor paint on clearance at Wal-Mart for $5.00 a gallon - YUP - only $5 bucks so I bought two gallons. It helped but still wasnt what I was looking for.

So I bought a pack of thick Sharpies and proceeded to add "plank lines" to see if that would give it a more realistic look. Well it helped but it was still so BROWN.

Enter the faux woodgraining kit. I have seen everyone use this on doors and tables but never on floors but I figured why not - if it as disaster, I can always paint over it. I made a black glaze out of black paint and a touch of water and started to experiment.

I brushed the glaze on and then used the woodworking tool to make knots and lines. It was actually fun! And when I stood up and looked at the progress - R U KIDDING ME? They looked Sweet!

This is the result I came up with. The floors are dark, the holes and dings and other imperfections make them look like they are "hand scraped" how funny is that?

I still have to touch them up and add a few coats of poly but I think they are awesome! Someday I will be able to afford real wood floors but until then, these will do just fine.

I absolutely love the result and will probably continue it into my living room and dining room as well.

Linking up:

Blissful and Domestic

Foyer Makeover Painted Hardwood Floors I love them!