EASY and FREE change to BRIGHTEN UP YOUR KITCHEN

Do you want to brighten up your kitchen? Try removing the doors from one of your upper cabinets... I know the colors of the dishes I chose are a bit bright, but I am tired of winter, and want happy and bright colors in my kitchen for now.

I have ordered glass front doors, and am waiting for them to arrive, but I just couldn't wait to share how much better it looks with just having removed the doors!

Do you like the dishes? I am excited to change things out for different holidays in the future, but for now... I wanted everything bright and cheery! When I first decided to do this, I was worried about the inside being white... I thought it might look cheap. I thought about painting it, or putting fabric or wallpaper on the back, which I may do in the future. But for now, I am loving the white. And, the dishes are busy enough. I am thinking wallpaper would be more distracting, and even fight with what I have going on in there right now. I also thought about putting in glass shelves... Maybe in the future. I am happy with the white for now.

It makes me happy happy happy every time I look at it! I might put lights on each shelf for night time ambiance. What do you think?

Have a Happy & Creative Day!

Risa

Linking:

Tatertots and Jello

Designer Garden

UNDER CABINET TRASH CANS make me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

This is a sight that makes me HAPPY!!!

This garbage can hanging out in the middle of the room does NOT!
(See the bag of recycling on the floor next to the garbage can?)

Here is what was in the cabinet before the trash cans went in... Cookie cutters, clay, and an empty space where I used to have baskets for the kids school work, before I moved it into a drawer. Only problem... the shelf was in the way, and needed to be CUT out!

I got my husband this tool for Christmas, specifically for the job of taking out the shelf. Good thinking eigh? It's called an Oscilating Multi Function Power Tool, and you can get it at Harbor Freight for around $20 on sale, and $40 regularly. It was so LOUD! But, did the job very well.

We noticed a pipe after the fact, so we had to put a large single can on the right side, and two smaller cans on the left.

We got the kits at Home Depot. The quality is fair. The brackets snapped off during the last step.
We may replace them in the future if Costco gets more in stock.

I made sign for them, so no one forgets which side is which.

This sight makes me HAPPY also.

Thanks to the best husband in the whole world for helping clean up my kitchen! Love you honey!

Have a Happy and Clean Day!

Risa

Linking:

Tatertots and Jello

Designer Garden

April Fools 2011 Edition

April Fools 2010 was a HIT! The kids were so surprised, and I am thinking I want to do something fun again for dinner for the 2011 edition. Here is what I am looking at...

Grilled Cheese from Family Fun (pound cake and frosting)

Lasagna from Food Network (pound cake jam, pudding, cream)



With Beans from Family Fun (chewy jolly ranchers)

Pizza from Newsodrome (cake, coconut, jam, and fruit roll ups)

Chicken Pot Pie from Family Fun (pudding candy, and pie crust)

Last year, we had fish sticks (wafers, peanut butter and crushed corn flakes), potatoes and gravy (ice cream and caramel), and edamame (green runts). The kids were SO SHOCKED! You should have seen the looks on their faces! I had the real thing in the oven, so the smell was authentic (and so my husband and I had something to eat). Here is the photo:

I haven't decided for sure, but I am thinking I am leaning towards the Lasagna and beans this year. What do you think?

Have a Happy & Creative Day!

Risa

$3 Table

So, I got the metal base of this table at the DI (thrift store) for $3, months ago. It didn't have any shelves, just the metal around the edges. I thought about tiling a shelf, or just doing a wood shelf. I decided on just doing the wood. I didn't want to have to cut down any tile, and didn't want the expense and work associated with tiling it either. I am all about instant gratification! My hunky husband was home today, and agreed to cut out the wood for the shelves for me! Here is how it turned out!!!

Here is a pic of the unfinished wood.

I had planned to put this around the edges, and have used it and loved it on other projects. But again, instant gratification was the key today...

I sanded and sanded after I painted it. The bottom shelf is not yet sanded in the photo.

Again... I needed instant gratification today, so instead of going to the store to find the color I had in mind... I mixed my own out of these.

Here is the finished product. It makes my kitchen look so happy! I am ready for spring!

Not bad for $3 and some scrap wood...

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

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Patches Of Pink



Designer Garden

St. Patty's Day in my Formal Dining Room, & a peek at the Family Room

Can I say this again...? I love decorating my formal dining room for any holiday! St Patrick's Day is a little harder. I was sitting there last week, thinking how I could do it, and thought about leprechauns, and where they would live. (I like to bring a little magic into the holidays for my kids, and St. Patrick's day is no exception.)

So, I gathered up all the small potted greenery I have floating around my house, and put it on the table.

I wanted to make it look like a place where Leprechaun's would want to live.

Look under the cloche...

I happened to catch a few ;)

The table is scattered with river rock, and my lovely amethyst geode. My mom tells my kids the clear stones are fairy drops, and she has them, and blue ones, scattered throughout her flower beds outside, as do I ;) They are lovely when your eye catches a small glimpse of their color.

The kids were so excited when they got home from school!

A little peek at the Family Room.Ya, the Y is backwards on the banner. I noticed after it was all glued together, and I didn't have any more letters or paper... Maybe I should blame it on the leprechauns?

I got this lantern which I LOVE at Ben Franklin last year for about $8. I love it! Notice I have more leprechauns trapped in there?

Now, I leave you with an Irish Blessing...

Have a Happy and Lucky Day!

Risa

I am linking!

Table Top Tuesday

Have you seen these? CHEW BEADS

My mom e-mailed me info about these the other day, and I just had to share. It is a brilliant idea! These are chew beads. You can wear this necklace with your teething baby, and he or she has something to chew on. My baby is not there yet, but when he is... you can bet I am going to have at least one of these on hand. They offer a couple different styles, and the colors are so cute! The beads are 100% safe for baby to chew on. You can visit them on line, at chewbeads.com. Just thought I would share. Now, if I could just find individual chewbeads at the bead fair... I could make my own necklaces.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Why you should FOLLOW ME (pretty please) :)

I am about to share a little blog knowledge with you. I didn't know this when I started blogging, and I wish I had. I just thought "following" a blog meant basically that people thought your blog was cool, and were kind of voting for you in a sense. I would follow a blog if I liked the blog , and wanted to let the author know. Which is true... I felt and still feel SO HAPPY every time I get a follower. Thank you to all my followers :) That kind of is what it means, but it means SO MUCH MORE!!!

I used to have a list of blogs I would check every day. I bookmarked a few. I had a few in e-mails I sent myself. It took a long time, and meant opening up so many windows, and taking a ton of time to check blogs that may or may not have new posts. One day a few months ago, I stumbled upon my reader. The reader I use is the google reader. You probably have a reader as well, and (if you are like I was) don't know it. You choose how you want to follow the blog, when you press the follow button.

This is what a google reader screen looks like:

Photo courtesy of lifehacker.
It is the best! Yes, it is another thing to suck my time away, but it actually makes blog time so much more efficient! I check my reader every day, and it shows me only the blogs that have a new post, with pictures and words - everything! Now, I am not pulling up countless windows. I pull up one window, and all my blogs that I LOVE are there! I heart google reader. I know there are other readers out there, and when you follow a blog, it will ask you how you want to follow. I choose google, as that's what I know and prefer, but I am sure other sites work just as well.

You probably already know this, but I didn't know for a long time. I hope this post will help someone out there!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

Feeling FRUMPY after a baby!

Every time I look in the mirror lately, it is so depressing. My hair is falling out. (Including my eyelashes! At least they don't seem as full.) My skin needs some sun. My tummy is a, "bowl full of jelly," according to my kids, and I am nursing, which means my clothing needs to be very functional. I love my little guy, and wouldn't trade him for anything... not a tan, not lustrous hair and nails, and a flat tummy. But, I was feeling like I needed a small bit of style in my life. I was watching Studio 5 the other day, and they did a segment about hot nail trends. The segment is linked up below. I thought... "I can do that!" I can't fit into my jeans without a large muffin top, but I can paint my nails. They said the new trend is short nails. I can do that too! After having the baby, my nails seem to have stopped growing.

These aren't for everyone, but I thought it was a fun change.

It is by China Glaze, and it is called Crackle Nail Polish.

You paint the bottom coat whatever color you want, let it dry fully, and apply the crackle. I used Crackled Concrete. It is gray. It I was feeling extra crafty, I would have gone to the craft store, bought some crackle paint, and made my own! Maybe another day.

My thumb looks extra special ;)

Here are the other colors they have.

I also bought white, and my daughter was VERY excited!


Studio 5 Segment

About the muffin top... I know I shouldn't complain. I could be on the treadmill, but alas, I am blogging. Well, I am feeding the baby as I type! Multi-tasking at it's finest!

Have a Happy and Stylish Day!

Risa

Car Seat Cover

There are so many DARLING car seat covers out there right now, and I knew I wanted one for this baby... I just didn't want to pay the price. I looked online, and found a couple great tutorials, like this one on Make It, Do It. I didn't take the time to make my own tutorial, as there are so many out there in blog land already, but I thought I would at least share a photo of the one I made. I get stopped all the time, and people comment on it.


One of my cute followers sent me a message yesterday, and reminded me to post my pics (I had promised to do so in a post about burp cloths I made. One of the burp cloths matches this). Thank you! I feel like it's hard to remember anything these days :) Here is a view of the front:

The lady who cut the fabric for me thought it looked more like a girl, but it is blue and orange! Maybe it's the damask pattern? I don't know. I didn't want to do cars or dinosaurs or anything, as I am the one carrying it... not the baby. I wanted happy bright colors. I knew I would be carrying it a little in the winter, but mostly in the spring. I may have done different colors if I had the baby in late summer or fall. My favorite thing is the fat rickrack that separates the different fabrics. Here is a view of the back. You can see I did the damask section smaller for the back.

Here is a top view. See the fat rickrack on the straps? I love it!

This is the first baby I have had a car seat cover for, and I have absolutely LOVED it. I can protect him from germs, weather, and light... when I want him to sleep and not be distracted. This is an excellent project for a beginning seamstress. The only problem I had, was I put the straps in the wrong place, so mine was attached backwards, and I had to unpick it. But, if you were using just one piece of fabric, that wouldn't be a problem. Like I said... This is really a great project for someone who is just beginning to sew. The tutorial I listed above was great!
Good luck, and Happy Sewing!

UPDATE!!! I don't know why I didn't mention this when I originally made this post. Well, it was the middle of the night after feeding the baby. But... I wanted to tell all you out there who would rather just buy one of these... about my friend who has a store and sells car seat covers, neck ties, and hair clips. The Store is called Peanut Posh. She has kiosks in Utah Malls, and you can order on line as well. Check her store out. She has darling high quality things for boys and girls. Her car seat covers are super cute, and she has the rest of the car seat accessories to match!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

I am linking!

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