Such an amazing Spring!

Good Morning.  What a remarkable spring season we have had this year. When its good - its GREAT, but when its bad it is TERRIBLE.  I want to open this morning with my deepest sympathies going out to all of the families who have lost loved ones and who have experienced the complete destruction of their whole life due to recent storms across our country.  I know how much I treasure my family and my home and the thought of waking up to the loss of all of that is just tremendously sad.  I will be keeping all of those families in my thoughts as the rebuilding and recovery begins and continues.

I haven't written for a couple of months. What have I been up to?  Well I've been having a wonderful time working at the garden center (Rountree Plantation) and I have had a hand in creating some really fun stuff around there.  One of my recent items was an old wooden nursery flat that I turned into a serving tray.

I stained the exterior, hand painted on the lettering, distressed it, waxed it, added some hand made rope handles and set that little darlin' out to sell.  I'll be sad to see her go.  That is the only downside to making stuff for Rountree. I often don't want to sell the stuff I make. I want to bring it all home.  

I'll show you some pictures of some of the other projects I've worked up.

I took these galvanized buckets and turned them into chalkboard planters. 

 I grouped them all in a wall hanging once they were filled with herbs.  I wanted to show that your potting bench can work double duty as a serving station/ grilling center.  The photo below refuses to rotate around for some reason so you'll just have to look sideways. Sorry.

I made the limewash terra cotta pots too.  These are super simple to make and I think its a nice looking alternative to the plain clay pots.

I'll try to post more frequently so they don't all arrive in a jumble next time!

Have a great day!

I'm pretty sure our house needs a Lysol bomb dropped on it.

Hi there... What have I been up to?  Well I'll tell you

We officially have the funk.  My son tested negative for flu, however my mommy PhD tells me that we have some variation of the flu. Sudden onset of raw sore throat, cruddy noses, miserable cough, relentless fever (sometimes really high), need I go on?  I even think the Dr. thinks its the flu - nevertheless we left the Urgent Care with antibiotics to hopefully war against potential strep and impending pneumonia! :P Great.  I'll tell you that anytime my kids are put on antibiotics I use probiotic supplements in fruit and yogurt smoothies to help protect their little guts. I guess it could be worse. It could be puke/diarrhea too. Poor little ones feel so rotten. They have watched more TV this past week than they did in the past 6 months.  Yesterday our big "activity" was to get them in their bathing suits and let them "swim" in the big bathtub.  I simultaneously ran the shower on the hottest hot until it was so steamy in there you could barely see.  It helped their coughing alot, but you can't keep them in the bath forever.  Oh, well. Hopefully they'll turn the corner soon.


I'm going to go explore at the Metrolina today and I'll hopefully have some cool stuff to show you if I manage to beat the rain.

Wish me luck! 

Update on an old post and a new project - just in time for spring!

Hi there!
To kick off today I thought I'd post some pictures of the vintage boxes I've been working on planted for you to see. The first picture shows a box planted with succulents which are nice because they don't require a lot of depth (or water- perfect for those of us the forget that sort of thing!).  I think it looks great, but I prefer the ones potted with more traditional "southern" plants like fern, mosses and ivy. Being a Southern gal and all thats not too surprising I suppose.   



Project of the Day!

I made this gardening pail and thought I'd share the super simple way to whip one up. I love it because all of  your stuff is in one place and it's cute.  Never underestimate the importance of cuteness.
I've got other "stuff" on the inside right now, however the idea is that the tools all stay secured on the outside and you can put all of your bulbs, lime, fertilizer -whatever - on the inside.



I started off with a plain ol' galvanized bucket that I purchased at the hardware store for about $7.50.

I selected the tools I planned to use and figured out exactly how many spaces I'd need to allow for. For  this one I included a spade, pruning shears, scissors, bulb planter and I feel like I'm forgetting something else, but everyone has different favorite tools so that can be up to you to decide.

Next I chose the rope I was going to use. I used skinny rope so I braided the strands together to increase strength and durability.  If  you use a thick piece you can skip that step. 

Next I used a sharpie pen to mark out the spots I wanted to drill through the bucket.  A tip I would suggest is when drilling use a sharp drill bit so that you don't have to press super hard on the bucket. You don't want to bend it. (then it's not so cute! no one likes a wonky bucket)  The next tip I figured out is to use a bit of masking tape or painters tape (I used the blue kind) and mask off the little areas where you plan to drill and then drill right through the tape.  I found the bit wanted to slip slide around a lot on the metal and the tape helped hold it in place (generally) until I could get a little depressed area started while drilling into the metal.

wear protective goggles!!! 
drilling - metal shards --- need I say more!

Weave your handy dandy rope through the holes and knot on the inside.  Test out each tool in the place you want it to fit to be sure you leave enough slack.  Then you are all ready to load it up and ENJOY! 

I had a stubborn sticker on the front of my bucket and try as I might I couldn't get it all off so I painted a little design over it quick and easy to hide its non-cute residue (then I distressed it of course).   The entire project took about an hour and will keep your potting bench or garage (its a bucket, not a miracle worker!) neat and tidy. Its nice to have everything in one place when you need it and a nice little bucket like this will do the trick.

Maybe I'm more of a once a weeker...

Again Friday is here. Where does the time go?  This is what my day "off from work" would look like in beverage speak. I had so much catching up to do today. Whew!

I have gotten SO much done this week, however very little of it is what I used to rank as important.  I went all week with very little laundry up keep and due to that I am willing to disclose (with a hint of shame) that I sent my son to school at least one day this week in semis.  (Pronounced like semi's) As in semi-clean and semi-dirty ... get it.

I am a big fan of semis for myself (sometimes I only wore something to drive the kids to school...THAT is not a laundry worthy article of clothing) however I do feel conflicted about the kids wearing them out and about. But, lets face it, sometimes something has to give. Sometimes more than ONE something has to give.This week my kid managed to still learn, grow, and continue eating me out of house and home wearing perfectly good semi clean/ semi dirty jeans. So my new plan will be - If the knees look good and there are no food drippings or other obvious dirt I'm gonna be open to letting it ride on the jeans for a second day.  Underware still gets changed daily and yes, you have to take a shower even if you didn't go on the playground if for no other reason than thats when Mommy starts dinner. mmmkay.

This jar has been sitting in our kitchen and I just love these pretty candies and the way Routh's little letter necklace looks hanging there.  It makes me smile every morning so I've left it there.

Started off Monday with this totally spontaneous love note from my 9 year old son. Those of you that are parents of 9 year old boys can appreciate how totally great it is to get something so sweet. Really it was the baggie with the note and a Kit Kat bar, but I ate the candy almost immediately. The heart valentine came home with him from school. The note however was all him and I will keep it as long as I live and I may wear it on my forehead during his teen years.

Onward --- projects of the week.  I've been good at doing them and less good at documenting them which makes for a pitiful blog.  I'll show you what I've been up best that I can.

This is a really cute bench, but if you ask me it looks like it needs a little something more.  So I decided I would make an upholstered bench cushion and a couple of pillows to dress it up a bit.

To begin measure the seat so you know how big it needs to be...duh!

 Then cut a piece of MDF to fit inside the space (you could also use wood, but I would use MDF -No one is ever going to see it and its cheaper). It needs to be just a smidge smaller than the seat itself.

Next you are going to cut your foam cushion to fit the dimensions of the bench.  You can purchase this in a roll at Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics.  It cuts easily with scissors, but I find an exacto knife to be the best tool for the job.  Love it. Take my advice and just use an exacto or other razor. Its fast and gives you a straighter cut.




 I prefer to use at least 2" foam, but they sold out right before my eyes. (Literally- the lady in front of me at the check out had the last 2" rolls in stock in her cart. I thought I may wrestle her for it, but decided it may not be very lady like.)  I had to purchase the 1" and double it up. I decided to use spray adhesive in between the two layers of foam to discourage slippage.

Once everything is cut and all lined up on top of one another I wrapped some upholstery weight fabric around trimming the corners so they didn't look bulky and gross. I wrapped the short sides first and the long most exposed sides last to cover the edges most visible. I used a staple gun to tack everything in place and then I finished off the underside with (drum roll please) Burlap! Of Course.

That looks a little better. Right? 

Okay - I have two more projects to share, BUT  I have a ton to do to prepare for my very exciting weekend and I've got to go get some beauty sleep and batteries for my external flash so I'll leave you a little picture of another project that turned out SO cute and I'll tell you all about it next time.

I'm off to Elizabeth City tomorrow bright and early and I'll hopefully have something beautiful to share from that trip. Wish me luck! 
 

I sure hope you all enjoy your day!

Nana Pat's Yummy Banana Bread

Good Morning All!

I've got something yummy to share with you.

I love this recipe because its reliable, delish, and it requires very few super common ingredients so I can usually make it at any time and succeed in using up those bananas that didn't get eaten during the week.

I call this Nana Pat's Banana Bread because my dear friend Pat gave me the recipe. She was really supposed to be related to me, but it took us until adulthood to meet... crazy huh?  Must be some sort of snaffoo. We've known each other for about 15 years and how ever long it took us to meet is worth it because she is like family and I love her to pieces. She is one of the kindest most selfless people I know and I know God put her in my path because she is so remarkable and he knew I would need a Nana Pat.  Once I had kids, my kids began calling her Nana Pat and so thats who she is to us - Nana Pat. I think about her every time I make this bread- and lots of other times too!

We Love you Nana Pat!!!

Step one - Make some coffee for goodness sake!
a.) you'll want some with your yummy bread
b.) your bread will likely turn out best if you are thinking straight which happens post coffee in our house



Now the recipe - The measurements I'm giving you are for a single batch but I have 6 bananas that I need to use up so I'm doubling everything as I make it and the photos reflect the quantities of a double batch.  So if you make this bread and it looks like less thats fine - it should be.

3 ripe bananas - I use very ripe - as in tomorrow they hit the trash can ripe.  They are super sweet and best for the bread.

1/2 cup room temperature Butter   also called 1 stick of butter - I'm a big advocate for  butter -In fact if you work for the butter industry and would like a spokes person, I'm available... AS IF butter needs an advocate!!
I digress- skip the fake stuff and bake with real BUTTER!

1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs

(disclaimer - the next 3 ingredients are how the recipe is written however not how I made it... I had begun making this recipe that's so great because I always have these simple ingredients on hand and only after cracking the eggs and creaming the butter and sugar did I realize that I was OUT of  All Purpose flour! ugh! I'm giving you the right recipe and the way I made it so as long as you have flour of either variety you can still make this bread)

oops!

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour

you can add nuts if you like - I don't bother.  Thats it. 
Pretty simple huh? 
Since I was out of AP Flour I skipped all three of the above ingredients and used Self Rising Flour.  Self Rising has the salt and soda already incorporated so if you use Self Rising flour leave out the salt and soda and the conversion is equal to what is called for in All purpose. mmmkay.



So then  I got to thinking that since one of the reasons I love this recipe is its simplicity maybe I should just make it this way all the time.  That reduces the ingredients list to

3 bananas
1 stick butter
1 cup Sugar
2 eggs
2 cups Self Rising Flour (and I like to add a touch of vanilla, but its optional)

Mash up your bananas - They look pretty gross from here on.





Cream your soft butter and sugar together and then add eggs one at a time

Stir in Bananas and then add your dry ingredients and mix well.

Put all of this in a pan that has been sprayed or greased with oil and then dusted in flour.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 60 min.

My double batch yielded 1 large loaf, 1 medium loaf, and 12 muffins. I like to do it this way because the loaf takes an hour to cook and I'M HUNGRY! So the muffins are done in about 17 min. and we can all chow down and enjoy the loaves over the week as a quick bite before work and school. If I were making a single batch I would do a small loaf and muffins for the same reason.  

 Near Instant Gratification.

Tip for the loaf- when you have about 20 min left put a piece of tin foil over the pan (don't wrap it just use it as a sheild) to keep the top and edges from getting too dark. The 40 min mark is the magic  number.

Voila'

ENJOY your bread and your day!



Boxed In

I hope everyone has had an awesome week. We managed to stay pretty much snow free this week which is nice because we are running short on make up days at school right about now. 

I am not doing such a great job of posting daily. Please forgive me - I haven't worked out my blogging time management yet with my regular resposibilities. 

And honestly -- I've totally been really busy. I've made custom cushions and pillows for some assorted outdoor furniture for the garden center. (I'll post pics once I've got everything pulled together. I want to offer you the ta-da! moment and since I've been doing all the sewing at home and the furniture pieces are at the shop thats not currently do-able.)
I've been going to my handy dandy new job that I'm so loving. I've painted a new table for my home office (which I scored on Craigs list WITH 2 chairs for $10.00 total - don't hate!) I'm going to do a whole post on my office re-do at some point. I'm pulling bits and pieces together. I also have selected and purchased paint for the walls AND I made a Valentines Day music mix! I Love that!
(So see I haven't been slackin' off.)

Don't be fooled by all of this initiative the truth is I think I'm procrastinating on recovering THE chair.
I know ... I'm a looooo-zer! 

What can I say. 
I even put it up on the blog to hold myself accountable.

I'm going to do it.
I am.
no kidding.


For all of you people that are living under a rock (and that are reading THIS blog.... its like all 12 of you)I'm thankful for all 12 of you btw! 

anyway - THIS MONDAY is Valentines Day! Just so I know I offered up a reminder - don't say you didn't know. Hurry it up and whip out your red and pink construction paper and make something sweet for all those people that ya love. They'll love ya even more for making something so nice for them.

I wanted to post some photos showing you the boxes I've been working on at the garden center.  They are really lookin' cute (if I do say so myself) and they are going to look spectacular once they have plants in them.

Above is before I had a chance to work my magic... or damage depending on how you choose to look at it.

Step one was a little gravel love to rough them up even more and a couple of coats of avocado paint.

over the green went a little more paint. something in the turquoise family

I'll admit that I thought these boxes were great to begin with, however I was inspired to work up some painted boxes like these while in Asheville at the Antiques Barn. 
I saw an old box that had so much character and the paint on it was an off color that only comes from layers of other colors under the top coat. 



This is one color scheme I used.  Its several (at least 4-5) different layers of paint and then I glazed it with a dark finish (I removed most of the glaze).  Picture this finished off this upcoming week with some hand painted typography. Its gonna rock!




A couple of others. I'm also doing red and a drabware/putty color that I seriously
L-O-V-E.



Here are some other pictures of all my little boxes.

Won't they be so great all planted with herbs for window sill/counter top herb gardens.  They will make an awesome hostess gift-- hint hint. I know where you'll be able to pick these little beauties up pretty soon. I'm shameless huh? wink wink.

If you like them- Thanks!
If you love them pick one or two up at Rountree Plantation! Once they've worked their plant magic it will be so much more than just an old box!

By the way here is a picture of my new desk pre-paint. More to come!

Enjoy your day!