Easter Eggs & Thrifty Elevated Bowl

Oh boy I had a sinful amount of fun today. Have I mentioned how much I love Free Free Cheap Cheap projects? ;-) I've been rediscovering the stash I have in the basement! My last few trips (several months ago) to Goodwill were VERY fruitful. But the things I found were pieces....pieces that needed partners. So......we'll get to that in a moment.

The other day I found a FABULOUS blog....the Crafty Sisters. Their Easter egg creations are A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.!!!!! I needed to try my hand at the Easter eggs!! Please visit the Crafty Sisters for the full run down....but basically you spray primer plastic eggs, paint, speckle, voila!!

Primered eggs.

Painted eggs, prespeckling. Do the full three coats of paint...even if you're tempted to stop and start speckling....they really do look beautiful after three coats.

Or just get the REAL thing from Miss Effie! Aren't these beautiful! And they're real...from real chickens...laid on a real farm. AHhhhh, I love Iowa.

Now to the project that I have now walked past about 7000 times sitting on the mantel because I'm SOOOOOO in love with it. The glass thingy came from Goodwill...a whopping $1.38. I'll admit I almost put it back on the shelf. It has a rounded bottom...so I wasn't sure how to use it....as a cloche? As a bowl that bobbled around on the table? Hmmm.......it sat in the basement for a good 4 months. The candle stick came from Hancock Fabric. Did you know they have a clearance section with stuff that is seriously criminally marked down. This thingy was $25 originally....I bought it for $2!!!!!



My weird glass thingy has found it's candlestick thingy partner!!!

Oooohhh...and I get to use EPOXY! :-)




Mix the epoxy, slather a little on the candlestick and a little on the glass thingy....
squish the two together and look what I got!!! :-)



Before epoxying the two together I gave the candlestick a pretty coat of creamy white paint. Oh ,I'm so in love with this thing. I can picture it with glass ornaments at Christmas, leaves and pinecones in the fall.....





What else do you think I could put in my fancy bowl?



Linking up to:
Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Get Your Craft On at Life as Lori
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

The Creation

Mommy blog this blog this blog this.

Sure thing kiddo.

Chicken Alphabet Soup

Today was one of those days...one of those perfect days where everything goes the way it's supposed to...I got TONS of stuff done at home...the kids are happy.....AND, my two year old told me THANK YOU for running his bath water. Yep, it was that perfect. :-) So in homage to the perfect day, I'm going to share our supper recipe....it was such a great day I made homemade chicken alphabet soup....and Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Bars (with M&M's instead....my little guy was such an angel today he deserved to be rewarded).

I LOVE it when a recipe starts by looking like that up there....a PILE of veggies!!! My kids L.O.V.E. this soup...yours will too, I promise. Pinky swear. If you want to make it even better, make it souper easy (aren't I funny? he he) Boil a big ole chicken on the weekend when you have a little time. (For super duper chickens get a hold of Aprons N Overalls in Manson, IA.These little chickies get to ACTUALLY RUN AROUND and eat wholesome feed...no yucky weirdo stuff...all natural!!) Pick all the meat off, separate into individual freezer bags, throw in the freezer for later. Put the pot of chicken water into the fridge, wait overnight, skim off all the gross fat, divide the liquid into freezer bags, throw these in the freezer too! NOW, grow a bunch of carrots and parsley, put them up in the freezer too.

Oh, I almost forgot! Visit Stringtown Grocery and snatch up some of these adorable alphabet noodles!!

When you're all ready with your ingredients throw them together into this yummy soup!

Chicken Alphabet Soup

3 medium carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

3/4 cup sweet onion, chop

1 T. olive oil

2 qt. chicken broth

3 cup cubed chicken

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 c. uncooked alphabet pasta

3 T. minced fresh parsley

In a dutch over, saute carrots, celery, and onion in oil til tender. Stir in broth, chicken and thyme. Bring to boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in parsley.

Easy Peasy!!! Enjoy!!!

How was your day today?

Free Cupboard Makeover!

It's finished! In an amazingly short amount of time for me. Ordinarily at least two seasons have passed before I complete a big project. ;-) Now, to begin, this cupboard has sat in our basement for the entire 6 years we've lived here....and probably 50 years before that. Here was the little teaser I gave just a short bit ago. At some point someone decided to give the cupboard some love....by painting it silver. I will say that at that time it probably looked nice....now, it just looked like an orphan left behind from the mission to the moon.

This is what the poor old girl looked like to begin with...in the last room of the basement, stuff leaned up against it, on top of it, underneath it. SUCH a mess. And...well....I've had it with messes. It just shouted P.O.T.E.N.T.I.A.L. Isn't it funny how you can look at something OVER, and OVER, and OVER, and never see it for what it is, then one day WHAMO!

If you decide to undertake a project like this I definitely advise hiring this guy. He's funny, a hard worker and those Sponge Bob jammies and dinosaur boots make me grin everytime I look at him. :-) Great for morale!

We discovered (thankfully) that the top of the cupboard and base were in no way connected. This was VERY good news for me because let me just say I may have broken in half trying to lift it otherwise. I broke in half a little just lifting the top...so yeah, definitely I'd have perished by lifting the whole thing. This is the base in it's new home, next to the freezer, prior to a shiny new paint job.

This looks like something out of a horror movie, you can say it, you won't hurt my feelings. These were the old knobs...and scary dirty cupboard doors.

Aren't these pretty? I don't know where I got them from...they were in my stash, but NOW they're the stars of the cupboard rehab! Perfect use for them I think! And they, in no way, should have a starring role with Norman Bates, Freddy Krueger or the like. They are beautiful and make a pretty little juxtaposition to the rough cabinet.

Once the cabinet was on top of the base (that was painful, and hard, and heavy and...well that's when I broke in half a little, I cleaned it thoroughly (it was REALLY dirty) and then painted, painted and painted some more. Silver paint takes A LOT to cover. Ah, it looks so pretty now. I could barely wait for the last coat to dry before I started loading it up. I sorted through all my canned goods....some were from the first garden I planted...yeah, that would be six years ago. Botchulism, um, no thanks. That's okay, it made more space for this year's harvest. :-) I now ALSO have space to stock up on things when they are on sale! My paper towels now have a pretty little home on the bottom shelf with my stock pots.

I've had these little pretties for several years...old canning jars are so charming. They've had several different jobs over the years, but I like this job the best!!! They now hold my cupcake liners....if there's one thing I enjoy it's a pretty cupcake liner....and sprinkles...I L.O.V.E. sprinkles. Stringtown sprinkles to be exact. (If you've never been...and you live in Iowa, you MUST visit the Stringtown Grocery north of Kalona.)
I digress. Back to the project!

If you've read my blog...ever....you probably know that i love to paint signs...signs about pretty much anything. Well I certainly couldn't leave my new little beauty without some decoration! So, into the cupboard door stash I go (thanks again ReStore). Actually this one was a big drawer front. (Broke the bank at 25 cents)
Add a little ReStore paint, drill a few holes for the top, add a cute little rope and we have signage!




Eat Local! Doesn't get much more local than 40 feet from the garden to the cupboard!
Oh I can't wait to get my hands dirty this spring!



Please excuse the dark photos....the sun has decided to forget how to shine in Iowa this week.
And this whole show lives in the basement.

My little beauty! Pretty, organized and functional! AND I didn't use a single thing I didn't already have on hand! Oh how I love the free free cheap cheap projects!!!

Linking up to:

Shop the House Sunday at Finesse Your Nest

Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
It's So Very Creative at It's So Very Cheri
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Trash to Treasure at Reinvented

Beautiful Sweety Pies

We are so lucky. Who needs a leprechaun or a four leaf clover? ;-)

Look What I Found!!

Looky looky what I found yesterday!!!! IT'S SPRING!!!! The sedum is pushing it's little head out of the ground. Thank the heavens...spring is here!!

Do you know what this is? Crickets chirping....silence....Bueller. Bueller. Not even a guess?

It's RHUBARB!!! Oh I can taste it now...rhubard crisp, rhubard bread, rhubarb muffins, rhubarb jam....

oh thank goodness Spring is here.

And then there was the sweetest gift of all. The tulips are peaking. Tulips are my F.A.V.O.R.I.T.E. Love them, love them, love them. I'll share when they peak their pretty colored heads out!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...or Branchy Tail Maybe?

I have to admit I'm kind of skipping over St. Patrick's Day this year. The kiddos have been sick, I've been pooped and frankly it's already coming up next week....and I try to spend my time on things that can be on display for a while....I'm just lazy like that. ( I love all the St. Pat's projects out there in bloggy world).

So....bring on Easter!

This little guy has hip hopped around our house...right out of the yard....literally. He's made from apple tree twigs! Easy easy....and free!! His little "fishing" pole is made from a scrap of copper wire, the carrot is a branch, whittled down and painted with craft paint! Same with the carrot hanging from the pole. The acorns came from...well...outside. That's where acorns come from. AND, he has little leather ears. :-)

Snip, drill, glue....there you have it.