Favorite Pins of the Week, vol. 2

Max has been sick for 2 weeks and on 2 different antibiotics.  I didn't know antibiotics could turn some small children into satan's spon?   Why did no one (ahem......Urgent Care Pediatrician, 24-hour pharmacist, regular pediatrician, regular pharmacist) mention this to me in passing?  

Guess I'll chalk it up to THING #51,466 that no one ever tells you about being a parent.  Not sure what's worse....not knowing why your child is suddenly throwing epic temper tantrums OR knowing that you are purposefully giving them something that could cause epic temper tantrums.  Good Times.

When all else fails, Pinterest always makes me smile....so I hope this week's pins bring you a moment of happiness:

(I would give a kidney for this island.  So if anyone needs Christmas gift ideas for me....)

do I note a hint of skepticism?

Source:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

oh, oh, oh...and I also wanted to suggest a Pinner you might want to check out....Jen of Rambling Renovators.  (she isn't paying me, she doesn't even know me...I just like her taste) 

and, if you have anyone you'd like to suggest to me, I'd appreciate it! 

It's unlikely that anyone who's in the projected path of the storm on the East Coast is web surfing - but I just want to put it out there that you're being thought for and cared about.  I hope and pray that you, your families, your friends...everyone...are safe and unaffected by the hurricane and its aftermath. 

take care -
 



Favorite Pins This Week....

enjoy!

have an inspired week.

Sources: pin 1, pin 2, pin 3, pin 4, pin 5. pin 6, pin 7, pin 8

take care -
 



Kitchen Remodel - Part 1: The Farm Sink

WARNING:  The following pictures are intended for adult, colorblind highly imaginative audiences only.  If you are primarily a "left brainer," you may want to shield your eyes, as your creative spirit may be forever damaged.

Hopefully, the sight of this horrid kitchen doesn't result in vivid nightmares for any of you. 

This was my kitchen.

(By the way, the  mesmerizing red-orange tea kettle came with the home - it's really what sealed the deal for us.)

Thankfully, everything in the picture except the stove is now GONE.

Quickly moving on to the new love in my life, my new, old sink....but first, a couple obligatory inspiration photos:

source

source

As much as I wish I could reveal the entire kitchen to you, it's not finished. Not even close. 

(hey, it's only been 2....months....ugh)

But I would like to share my very tasty Craigslist score with you...my new, old sink, complete with faucet:

Directly out of a REAL farmhouse on a REAL farm in the REAL country.

$50.

I thought I was going to have to refinish the porcelain, so add another $40 for that, but still less than the cost of a new kitchen sink.

But, after scrubbing the sink, what I thought were "rust" stains, were really lime scale (I think?? Please correct me if I'm wrong).

It was A LOT of work to clean it. First, I soaked it in vinegar (according to Pinterest, this stuff can do everything from cleaning showers to refinish wood?), which helped considerably: 

The sink in the "soaking" process.  I thought we'd have to throw away the faucet, but it turned out looking brand new.

I'm not a patient person, so I took my vinegar-smelling self to Lowes and bought some CLR.  

I chose it because it looked the most lethal. (In my war on lime) 

Nice, right?

The drain is brass - I love it, but we had to remove it to make way for the garbage disposal...blah!

Okay, moment of truth, check out my baby now...

It's not actually installed here...there's a outlet on the left that had to be moved, but it gives you an idea of my new sink in all of it's $50 wonderfulness!

Like my backer board counter tops?  

Please excuse the mess, but I wanted to show you how it looks with the new (non-orange-red) porcelain tile countertops.  (I promise, more on that later).  

If you squint, you may notice my bead board back splash?

We had been given some remnant granite to use, but when preparing to cut it, we realized that it was stained beyond repair....so we had to make a quick (and inexpensive) decision.

My plan is to get the cabinets painted this week...we'll see if management (my toddlers) allows this to take place.

So, fingers crossed, there will be yet another "How to paint your kitchen cabinets like a professional" pin on Pinterest very soon!

Have you ever re-used an old porcelain sink?  How did you seal it?  I don't want to refinish it, as I like the old, slightly dull look. But it stains really easily. My dad suggested car wax?  Has anyone tried this?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by!

take care -



The Abandoned Blog

Do you ever come across a blog that just stops one day, without warning?

One day, there's a tutorial about DIY kitchen cabinets made from old diaper boxes and Mod Podge, and then........
(cue deserted ghost town music)
....nothing.

It just stops.

What happened? 

Did she enter an intensive Pinterest addiction program?

source

Maybe she threw away her glue gun in a fit of crafting rage?

Or maybe, she dropped her digital camera in a quart of chalk paint while creating her newest DIY tutorial?

I wish I had a good reason for my sudden departure from blogland this summer, but it was just a matter of life taking over.

I've mentioned before how difficult it is to focus on writing posts with my 2 toddlers constantly vying to destroy our house, dogs, and each other.  A post that should take an hour to write becomes a full-time job.

But, when I took a large order (20 wreaths and 100+ flower stems) for a wedding in Colorado -

 in combination with keeping up my Etsy shop, and making wreaths for Sobo Style, that's when my blog really took the back seat.

I finally dug my way out of the coffee filters this week, but then I faced the pressure of writing the perfect come-back post.  

Unfortunately, it's impossible to maintain a train of thought for longer than 2 minutes before someone needs to go potty, is biting someone / something, wants juice....so I nixed the notion of trying to write a perfect post.

...deep breath...I'm so glad to be back in Blogland, and I plan on hanging out more often.

I have all kinds of wonderful things to share like my salvaged farm sink, my 1st trip to the Country Living Fair, our kitchen remodel, some new wreaths....oh, and I know there's more...

(By the way, if you are here looking for the Mod Podged diaper box cabinet tutorial, I was joking, sorry)

take care -