The Spice Project......

Spices, Spices, Spices  they. drive. me. crazy.    Considering that when Mark and I got married 3 1/2 years ago we combined spice cabinets,  I Could never find what I needed and when I did I usually found there were two bottles because I would usually give up and think we didn't have "that spice" and go buy another one.  Plus there were spices that needed to be pitched, yes contrary to popular belief spices 20 years old lose their flavor ;-)

So I searched and searched Pinterest, Blogs etc. in search of  a solution.  Yes, we had an area in the cabinets that was ample space (a huge upper corner turnaround with 4 layers of lazy susan's )  BUT you could never find what you were looking for as many things would go flying into never land when you turned these turntables too quickly!

Since nothing I found on Pinterest or on any Blog seemed to fit what I wanted to do I set out for a solution and here is what I came up with!

I bought several cases of these cute little 4 oz jelly jars by Ball  from Walmart who seems to keep getting my money  which was the perfect size for the taller spice bottles....

 I spray painted the flat lids with chalkboard paint........

Spray painted the lids a light blue color.......

Lined the drawer with some cheery wrapping paper........

And wrote on each lid with a chalk board pin.......  after several hours and another mess in the kitchen this is what we have....

Now presenting my organized Spice Drawer where we actually know what we have!!!!!  It is in alphabetic order (it was the only way I could keep organized what I had already labeled since we had so many duplicate bottles of spices)!  This drawer is on the left of my stove so this should be quite handy!!!

And another picture just cause they are so stinking cute!!!

I still have one more set of cupboards to get organized.  The ones above the washer and dryer where I had crammed all of my can goods while awaiting the pantry to be finished!  Once again my kitchen is cleaned and organized!

Have an organizing weekend. you.can.do.it.... :)

Nancy

I partied @  Flaunt it Friday

and

If it Is not Baroque Weekend Party

Romantic Home

THE PANTRY PROJECT........

The Pantry Project oh my.......  can we just say this was a project I thought would never get started and once started I didn't think it would ever get finished.... nuf said here is what happened.

We had our kids coming last Christmas, (oh that would be 5 adult children and their spouses, and a total of 9 grandchildren under the age of 6 for a grand total of 19 extra people insert huge smile here)  and I thought it was a wise idea to clean out the pantry, like empty the whole thing and get it organized since I knew with everyone coming the weekend before Christmas I would have lots of groceries to buy.  So, I cleaned it out and upon doing so realized what a mess we had.  This old house is old, old, old like it was built in 1899..  a zillion years ago .  The back half which was added onto in the late 60's with a room in between an apartment which is my mother in laws quarters in the very back.  The newer half needed a new roof for a few years before it was actually done two years ago and there was some water damage between Our kitchen and the addition which was in the pantry area.  So back to my story about organizing for the Christmas Season.... Well when I emptied it out we realized just how bad the damage was and exactly where those stinking mice were coming into the house at.  So realizing how bad it was and discovering the whole pantry needed to be gutted some of the joists replaced and the outside wall replaced, we decided it needed to wait for warmer weather.

So........ I waited, and waited and waited some more. You'v got the picture I was a bit impatient!  We hired a local carpenter to come do the repairs late spring to early summer with us doing the finishing work on the inside to save some money.  We have house guests for the summer (Megan my stepdaughter and her hubby Kevin graduated with their Doctorate of Physical Therapy and moved back to the area, found jobs and are in the process of purchasing their first home) so Mark took advantage of Kevin who more than willingly lended a hand to help get the inside work finished.  They (Megan and Kevin) are quite handy to have around and to say the least we will miss them when they are out on their own although I am sure they are more than ready to start the beginning of the rest of their life in their own home although they won't be that far away just a few miles.  OK back to the story.....

I had gotten along without this pantry for 7 1/2 months and FINALLY the walls were finished, I got them painted, the floor laid, bought a zillion containers and it is done, finished.  I am sooooooo HAPPY!  The one thing I do know, is that down the road when we build a new home, it WILL. HAVE. A. PANTRY!!!! IT MUST!!!

So without further ado here is the before and after shots of our now awesome, beautiful, efficient, organized pantry!!!!!  It is so cute I want to have a pantry party!  We even had room in the corner to put a small fridge for those times which has been all summer that we needed extra room in the fridge!

I have reorganized my kitchen cabinets since I was able to get all of this stuff out of my cupboards!!!

I am doing the happy dance!

And here is my Hubby working diligently trying to get this project finished.....  Thank you Mark!!!!

Oh Yes, here is a BEFORE picture in all of its ummmm ugliness as Mark is tearing rotted wall board off and discovering all the damage...........

I cannot find my "in progress" pictures until we got to this point...... (trust me I am sparing you the details because the outside wall got torn out to the outside, yes folks you could feel the breeze!  :)

and the Pantry Door.....

And Mark added trim to the edge of the shelves to give it that special "look"!!! I love it!

Oh yes, I did stencil the walls also just to glam it up a bit.....

AND just to be REAL here.....  This is what my kitchen looked like in the process of organizing but it was SOOOOO worth the mess.... I worked an entire day just organizing the pantry and reorganizing my kitchen cabinets.....

As if organizing all of this wan't enough I got busy and made a "Grocery" sign!

I am in the process of making a zillion labels for all of the containers and jars.  I looked at many containers and loved the OXO brand of click clack or flip it, but they were really expensive!  I know it is surprising I went for a cheaper version which I had already been using for some time  What I went with fit the bill completely, I could see what is it in and how low it is, (whether I needed to purchase more)  I have labeled mostly all the container with my P-touch.  (I almost went with Chalkboard Labels)  So what I bought you can find at Walmart it is Better Homes and Garden Brand Flip Tite  No Walmart has not paid me to say how great they are (are you kidding me?)

On the bottom shelves are some baskets, one has baking mixes, one has tea, one has baking items so I can just grab that basket when I decide to bake and take it to the kitchen!!! LOVE IT!!!  The Baskets came from Dollar Tree (and you guessed it for just $1.00 each!)

I was hoping to have some room to store some of my decorating items and it looks like there may be some room to do so! :)

AND isn't this just the cutest?  A canister just for cupcake papers!!

The Fridge top gave me a good place to store my mixer!

*******Updated to add the inside of the Pantry Door*********

Here is the inside of the pantry door....  and yes those are screws you are seeing, but trust me they will be covered up and you will never see them!

So there you have the newly renovated pantry!  What a job it was and so glad it is finished!!!  It is so nice to walk in there and find what I am looking for!!  Talk about appreciating a "space"  well this is appreciated!!!! 

Nancy

**** I have linked up to the following:

If it's not Baroque Link Party

and

Flaunt it Friday

and

Metamorphis Monday

and

Ivy and Elephants

and

Chase the Stars

Here I Am.....

Sometimes you have to slow down and just enjoy life!  I did that yesterday, although it was nothing that I planned!  I thought it was Knitting Thursday at my church but had the wrong Thursday.... So what is a knitter to do, but to call other knitters?  I did just that and my friend Cindy said "come on over and sit on my porch and knit and visit" so I did that!  Our friend Gwen joined us and we had an awesome time!  I am sure we were a sight I was teaching Gwen to "Arm Knit a scarf".   I had thought well we will stay till lunch time and head out to have lunch somewhere and go my favorite Local Yarn Store.  Well Cindy wasn't going to have that, she fed us an awesome lunch as if getting to sit on her porch that overlooks the Mississippi wasn't enough!  I could do that just about any day!!! Thank you Cindy for your hospitality!

Thought I would share a few pictures with you of my kitchen!  I cleaned this afternoon and can I just say I love my kitchen?

I don't know if you can tell but I recently put in under cabinet lighting and I LOVE it!  I had them in my previous home and had always missed them here!

One of my favorite things is my little Coffee Bar area!

I bought the cute Jars at my favorite store TJ MAXX and used my Big Shot to cut the vinyl.

I have planted some herbs in the little "garden" tin in the window so I hope to harvest some fresh herbs!

Some of you remember that late last summer I did a paint technique on my kitchen counter tops and finished it off with EnviroTech Lite.... in case you are wondering how they are holding up.... well here is a picture taken today almost a year later.  There are a couple of minor scratches but they are doing amazing and I would not hesitate to do it again!  I love them!

So just in case you were wondering now you know!

I am still doing lots of different mason drinking jars and selling them on my Wrapped in Love page on Facebook.  So go take a look!

Happy Weekend to all of you!

Nancy

READY FOR FEBRUARY

I know it looks like I am trying to get through January quickly but I usually try to decorate for Valentine's Day beginning mid January..... I figure it will stay up till Valentine's Day and put away shortly after!

Valentine's Day has always been a favorite of mine!  My birthday is two days after Valentine's Day and my Mother ALWAYS made me a HEART cake for my Birthday!  I was ALWAYS told of how my mother went into labor with me from laughing so hard at a Valentine's Party at church!  Speaking of my Momma, I sure do miss her she had to be the best DIY'er I ever knew, and I learned from the best..... she could take nothing and make something!  She always had our homes looking so wonderful!  She always wanted to know what I was working on!  She cheered me on!

Then to top things off Mark and I were married on Valentine's Day 3 years ago!  I am so thankful God put Mark into my life....  After stopping by a widowed friends house one evening recently it reminded me of how incredibly lonely I was..... Mark was my knight in Shining Armor and I am so thankful of how our lives entwined!

Here are a few shots of the downstairs looking ready for the next holiday!

I loved making my cone trees, THANK YOU Pinterest (but here is the actual blog with a tutorial for the cone trees).... and I loved making the Valentine's Calendar that I found over on another blog.  Go check it out and download your own calendar over at  Me and My DIY.... all you have to do is punch out some hearts!  I have bookmarked her blog and will be following her!

The frame above came from Michaels unpainted, for around $9.00 I actually used it for Christmas also! The heart and words were cut out on my Cricut Machine.

The Bunting is from the Dollar Spot at Target, the Cone tree is a styrofoam cone covered with red yarn, the framed art was a download two years ago from a blog.

Whoever said that Candy Canes are just for Christmas???

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Nancy

Bedroom Redo

While I liked my bedroom, I had just been wanting to change it up a bit.... and after losing my dog, decided it was time to do it!  Dude slept on my bed most days, so my bedspread had been well washed!  I am blaming TJ MAXX for everything I did!  :)  First I bought this awesome Tahari Home bedspread and then it just exploded, you know how it is .... One Thing Leads To Another!  

You know how TJ MAXX is if you see it in the store you better get it right then because chances are when you go back it will be gone!  I was able to find two pillow shams to match so off I went!  I had been wanting to stencil one wall in our bedroom, so this was the push I needed!

I went back to TJ MAXX on another day looking for sheets, shower curtains anything that went with the bedspread to make drapes out of!    What I found was shower curtains, (found one at TJ MAXX and one at MARSHALLS)

One of my favorite things were the swing arm wall lamps from Lowes they were not expensive at all ($39.99), I LOVE THEM!  (and ladies if your hubby or you uses a sleep apnea machine the best thing you can do is to put a hook on the side of your head board for the hose to hang from!)  

 AND the best invention ever are these little dimmer switches from Lowes and around $15. each, we can now turn the lights out without knocking the lamps over!!!  

I used my sheer panels I had used before put them in the middle of the window and split the shower curtains in half lengthways and hemmed the one side.  I then used metal ring that you just hook onto your drapes without making any holes!  I am quite pleased how the drapes/curtains whatever you want to call them look!

So without further rambling, here is the finished product!  I guess I should do a tutorial on the Mr and Mrs signs I made ..... (one of my favorite things in the room)  I found the rugs at TJ Maxx also!  Hope you like it cause we love it!!!

In case you forgot what it looked like before here is a shot below.....  Two totally different looks.... I loved the first one below too.... but was ready for a change!  How about you?  What do you think??

Nancy

I have linked up to

 http://www.ifitsnotbaroquedesignblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/tuesday-link-party-2.html

Ifitsnotbaroquelinkpartybutton.jpg

The kitchen's pictures after finished!

Somehow I never posted the "after" (you know the ones that everything is clean and spiffy looking) pictures of the kitchen!  So here on this Friday afternoon, I took a break, snapped a couple of pictures and made a post!  Then I am off to clean some more in preparation for some weekend company!  Happy Labor Day Weekend!

And

if you are new here (or just want to peek again)  if you want to see what it looked like before you can go here or here! 

Lots of Work and a Little Relaxation!

So if you aren't bored with my kitchen pictures you will be!  ;~)  BUT it looks soooooo good!  I worked my hind end off last week, but it was so worth it although I was worn out when our company came and that wasn't good!  BUT we did have a great visit!!!  We went to the Zoo on Saturday and met some family for a get together!

But here is what we accomplished....

*  Painted and coated counter tops
*  Patiently waited 5 days before putting anything on top of the countertops  (with the second coat of
    Envirotex Lite it took a little longer)
*  Installed a new range hood (I love it)
*  Installed a new sink it is the coolest thing
*  Installed new faucets
*  Installed Ceiling Tin Backsplash from this place m-boss
*  Installed an  under the counter water filter
*  Installed a new garbage disposal

SEE I told you one thing leads to another!

I have purchased under the cabinet lighting and will soon get those put in also!  Oh and you will notice there are NO outlet covers on because why YES we are replacing the outlets too!

I love how this is looking!!!!!

Sink with the little sink and colander in place (it also has an awesome cutting board)

And a picture without the accessories that go in the sink!

Mark and his Mother feeding birds (he was a magnet to them)

Little Miss Smiley Pants!

We even got to feed the giraffes!  Would you look at that tongue?

And of course the dinosaur 

Papa Barr holding Caitlyn

Team effort up the hill

Caitlyn,  Jill and Mike

Christian and Mimi

Kevin and Megan

Mark and I (oh yeah I went and got my hair whacked off....it is spikey in the back... umm I cried... but getting used to it)

AND there you have it we had a busy week but yet a great weekend!  Nancy