kitchen storage solutions {hometalk curated board!}

Greetings!

My friend Danni at Silo Hill Farm posted a board on fairy gardens that Hometalk asked her to curate.  Danni also encouraged us to get involved with Hometalk if we weren't already.

Well heck, I always do as I'm told.  Like that time when I was little and my sister told me to go ahead and tinkle through my undies into the toilet.  And I did.  I have no idea why she thought that would be funny, or why I was stupid enough to do it, but I continue blindly following others' orders no I don't regardless of how they may affect my psyche.

This experience was much more fun.  And considerably drier.

Holy smokes.

I'd been on Hometalk less than a day, and they featured my Pot Farm! post on their Facebook page, and the results were nothing less than astonishing.

I nearly peed my pants.  Again.

Then Liz at Hometalk invited me to curate a clipboard on storage ideas.  I don't know what the heck curate means, so I look it up and now I have to assist a priest or something.

Maybe there's an old priest, a young priest, and a can of pea soup involved...but I digress.

I'm somewhat unsure about this exorcism, but...I soldiered on.

As it turns out, curating a board has nothing to do with anyone's immortal soul, which immediately put me at ease.  I had a fun time cruising through the site, coming up with some fun storage projects.  Naturally, I included my own.  I'm not above self-promotion.

see original post HERE

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me, myself, and chair

Me: Philly's out of town for a couple days.  Should we get ourselves into trouble like we always do?

Myself:  Ohhh....YES!  What sounds good?

Me: You want to reupholster that chair, don't you?

Chair (in the distance):  Oh, crap.

Myself: Yes, but I'm afraid.

Me: Me too.  We like the chair, right?  Just not the old-lady floral fabric (that YOU picked out, if I recall)?

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craigslist dresser makeover {a diabolical plan goes awry}

Remember this little mirror makeover?  If I were you, I'd be too lazy to click the link, so here's a quick before-and-after:

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one in a minion

Don't you just love Despicable Me?  Yeah, I don't get it either.

But my daughter loves it. 

No, she's not two.  She's 22.

Emma spends a lot of time out in the cold because I kicked her out.

Just kidding.

She's off at college and walks everywhere.  Baby needs a hat.  Or two.

Last year I made her this penguin hat.

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hey! you! get off of my chair!

My friend Pam gave me 2 of her ditch treasures.  A cute little pair of wooden chairs she was longing to get out of her basement.

Phil was ecstatic.

Originally I thought I'd sand and stain the seats and paint the frames, but upon inspection, Philly realized the "water damage" to one chair was really from cat pee.

Thanks Pam!  :)  I love cat pee.

He discovered this when taking the belt sander to the seat to remove the yuck.  It was evident in the smell.

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fall monogrammed frame wreath

THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER F

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blueberry banana parfait {the sloppy chef series}

I haven't blogged about food in a while which is is strange, because I eat food every single day.

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the night(mare) stand

I don't know why I didn't just leave this thing the way it was, since everyone seems to be distressing the heck out of all their furniture and making pieces look like if they weren't just run over by a lawn mower, they were missing a heck of an opportunity.

But I started this project long before I really knew what a blog was or that crappy chippy/shabby was the current trend.  I wanted it to be all sparkly and pretty and new.

Now I pretty much just want it to die.

This is another piece I got from my sister.  Thank goodness I've become her own personal dumping ground.  No, really...because how else could I have this much fun?

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80s and back again: a headboard's tale

This headboard hasn't been used in years.  In fact, it hasn't even been seen in years.  I believe it was held captive in the Mines of Moria and it had to fight a cave troll to return to its family. 

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cluck pot pie {the sloppy chef series}

My chicken pot pie recipe has evolved over the years, but I think I finally have it nailed. 

This recipe makes 2 pies.

I start with a roasted chicken from Sam's Club.  Yep, that's my secret.  But you can buy a roasted chicken pretty much anywhere... or...{should I even say it?} roast your own.  Nope, I won't say it. 

I highly recommend you do the following step a day in advance:

You'll need:
One dead, roasted chicken
32-oz container chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped
10 whole peppercorns
2 cups water
2 chicken cubes 
(any other veggies you like to add to make broth--carrots, celery, medical marijuana, etc.) 

This particular chicken seems to be missing a breast, and it appears one of its legs has been gnawed off.

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chocolate truffle dessert {the sloppy chef series}

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!  And I have to make something to bring in for my "food day" tomorrow at work.  I tend to try new things when I'm feeding the masses...that way I get lots of feedback (no pun intended).  (And if it bombs, at least I don't end up with a ton of leftovers at home.)

This is from Taste of Home's Holiday Cookbook 2002. My version is much more fun.  I promise.

FAT-BOTTOM BROWNIE:
1/4 cup butter (no substitutions, exchanges, or refunds), softened
1 cup sugar
2 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled
2 eggs (separated)
1/4 cup milk
1 t. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
TRUFFLE MOUSSE:
2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 T. instant coffee granules 
5 egg yolks, lightly beaten*
3 T. vanilla
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cold water
1 cup whipping cream, whipped (whip it...whip it good)
14-16 creme-filled Pirouette cookies, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

*Cook up leftover egg whites and feed to your favorite little buddy:

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nice rack!

I am SOOO glad I got the flu mist this year, because that meant MY flu was only 8 days of near-death with my temp reaching 103 and my feet barely reaching the floor.  Go prevention.

I guess we'll just call it the "epic fail mist." 

Oh, and I started putting this post together on my first fever-free day, so no guarantees here. 

I've had this quilt rack for quite some time...well, since whenever my sister gave it to me I guess.  I've been so bored for the past week and I didn't want to start in on anything that would require me to exert myself too much, or "strain my milk," as Philly would say.

(Yeah...those wells dried up a loooong time ago.) 

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epic fail day

Ever have one of those days where nothing goes the way you want and expect it to? Yep, this is my day.

I was attempting my first graphic transfer to fabric.  I've already done several transfers to furniture, including Pierre and his family, as well as Frédéric-Franz.

So, I was really wanting a new "dress" for my buffet (that I inherited from my grandmother), and it just so happened I had the PERFECT amount of drop cloth left over from making my DIY curtains.  Hoho!  A DIY table runner!

My buffet...ain't she gorgeous??  (And yes, I've thought about painting it, but I'm pretty sure my Gramma would haunt me if I did....)

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frédéric-franz

So, Penguin Girl has been away at college for 2 years now, and she's about to make the giant leap from dorm dwelling to apartmenthood.  I'd like to shove her out the door with a personalized piece of furniture.

Did I just type that out loud?

So I dragged (trust me on this folks...it IS dragged, not drug--your grammar tip for the week) this sad, old chest of drawers that has been housing funk, junk, and DVDs for the past 15 years.  (It's probably been in the family for 50 years or so...my Mom had it for-evah before she passed it to me.)

Anyway, Emma's a music major (remember the quilt?), so natch we had to do a music theme!

Here's how Frédéric-Franz started out:

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my very first feature(s)!

**Update**

I just found out I was featured on another blog for Pierre's wife and munchkin!

Suzanne at Pieced Pastimes featured Isabeau and Henri!

   

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groundhog day (am i the only one who gets this reference??)

Or...Déjà vu all over again.

I thought Groundhog Day was behind us, until these magically appeared in my basement (the French Provincial furniture...not mon chien):

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a certain je ne sais quoi...

Introducing Mon Cher Monsieur Pierre le Dres-sair:

Okay, "Dres-sair" isn't really a French word.  You caught me.  But it kinda rhymed with "Pierre."  Plus, it's actually more of a chest than a dresser.

Let's just say the love of my life doesn't exactly share my interest in taking old, ugly, cheap, discarded, unwanted, or full-of-potential items and turning them into something, well, better.

Simply put, he sees my "interest" as his "having to work on junk."

Buuuuuut....I scored another piece from the online classifieds at work: A reproduction French Provincial chest I bought for $25.

So, let's call this, "Annie Sloan Chalk Paint® Take 2" (which I purchased at Second Betty, if you recall).

And, fortunately, it required very little effort on Philly's part.

We got a sneak peak at Frenchy at the end of my Jewels post--my first trial piece with ASCP. 

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am i Blue? --- no i'm GRAY!!

I love my Mom.  I also love that she was impressed enough with my kitchen backsplash to trust me to do hers as well.

Unfortunately, I'm more of an earthy-tone-brownish kinda girl...whereas Mom is into cooler grays.

Gray is not my friend.  Whether we're talking about the hairs multiplying with increasing voracity atop my head.....or paint.  Grays like to turn blue.  (Again with the hair...You've seen how old-lady-gray hair can, indeed, turn blue, if not properly processed...)

And let's face it.  50 Shades was the WORST. BOOK. EVER.

But I digress.

Mom has a gray quartz countertop and blonde-colored maple cabinets.  Hmmmm...grays and creams living together in perfect harmony??  (I'd like to buy the world a Coke?)  Inconceivable!

But this is my Mom we're talking about, so instead I'm thinking, "As...You...Wish...!!"

After painting the gray tones on one wall THREE different times, they finally started looking less blue.  The tiles still appear somewhat blue in the photos, but in person, they actually do look gray.

Well, most do.

I'm rethinking wanting to do this as a side business.  It turns out I'm not much of a contortionist, and you really NEED to be one in order to properly mask everything off and paint in the corners.  I'm seriously considering looking up the local chiropractor after this one.  I could see any money this kind of work might generate would go straight to the Back Quack.  Well, the masseuse, anyway.

Blue or Gray, Union or Confederate, I still think the backsplash turned out okay. Was I successful in uniting the two different colors palettes?

Here are the before shots...ignore the miscellaneous crap lying around...that's mostly my mess.

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