My Pig Planter has finally made it outside! Loveeeee 😉
May31
Pig Planter Update
Category Archives: A Bit About Me
May24
Oklahoma or Bust – Pioneer Woman
I flew to Texas last week to spend some time with my Texas Bestie – Robin. We took a road trip to Pahuska, Oklahoma to visit “The Mercantile”!
4 1/2 hours later we made it!
Love the marquee sign!
The food was amazing! It was fun to see the transformation of this building in person. Following Ree’s blog and all the decisions they made along the way was pretty neat, but in person – wow. The building is beautiful and the transformation is truly phenomenal.
Everything was so colorful. Some neat stuff but have to say that we were super disappointed that there wasn’t more stuff with her logo on it. And I didn’t want to spend money of stuff I could just buy somewhere else. They’ve been open less than a year so maybe the logo stuff will be added in time.
Overall it was a great road trip! Thanks for a great adventure Robin!
I realized that in a matter of 48 hours I had slept in 3 different states, lol.
May16
DIY Knob Hanger
I’ve been wanting some knobs in my closet to hang clothes on. I had some pink crystally knobs I found clearanced at Hobbs a couple years ago. Had a couple knobs left over from the shelf I hung in my bathroom and bought a few more at Hobbs last week when they were 50% off (Hobbs = Hobby Lobby). Also found this pre-made wood slat hanger for $18 (using my 40% off coupon, of course, lol). It was worth $18 to me NOT to have to go buy the wood, chop the wood and sand the wood.
I painted every other slat with simple craft paint.
Then Modge-Podge’d scrapbook paper onto the other slats. Just squirted the Modge Podge on and smoothed it out with a sponge brush. Once the paper was down I added a Modge Podge coat to the top and also a coat to the painted slats so they all had the same matte finish. FYI – printed cardstock was a bit better to use verses regular scrapbook paper. The paper worked just fine but if you’re a picky – the paper can wrinkle (i thought it added more character) but the cardstock is thicker so it didn’t wrinkle.
Then I took it outside to my work table, better known as my picnic table and sanded off the edges and a bit off the top of the boards.
I wanted them to look a little aged so I added some “Burnt Umber” paint (it’s outdoor paint but I already had it). I watered it down a bit but that wasn’t enough. So . . .
I sponge brushed it on the edges (red board) and then used a wet paper towel to wipe it off – wiping over the whole board. The floral on right is already done.
These boards are brown washed. It’s kind of like scrapbooking when you rub the edges of your paper with a brown ink pad. The sheen is still on the boards from the Matte Modge Podge but the edges look a little worn with the brown paint.
Got my drill & paddle bit out and added my knobs! LOVE IT!!!!
Here are some close up pics . . . It’s a very easy, fun and not expensive project to do! This pre-made wood slat is about 30″ long but Hobbs has a great variety of pre-made wood projects. I want to make more!!!
May12
Home Goods – Score!
I know I keep saying that I’m NOT a pig collector . . . and I’m NOT! But sometimes I come across a cute little pig that just says “take me home”! How cute is this guy?!
May11
Bottling My Wine – Finished!
Well here is my first attempt to adding a video clip! Hope it works, lol.
I have to say that putting the caps on the bottles is truly MY MOST FAVORITE part!!! They’re starting to look like real wine bottles! LOL
I ended up with 29+ bottles. My last bottle was about 3/4 full – perfect for cooking! I mean if I cook, it will be perfect.
I designed my labels on my computer using Printshop. And cut them out with my handy dandy scrapbook paper cutter.
Love them! It’s so cool that you can make whatever you want!
Peel & stick!
Ta daaaa! Now time to let them set a bit longer . . . for the record it was pretty darn good at this stage!
May10
Bottling My Wine – Stage 2
That’s the “carboy” on top of the dryer. It’s been about 30 days since we last added the clarifying stuff and the degasser. Time to bottle. I didn’t get a picture this time but we transferred the wine from the carboy into the bottles with a siphon tube. The dark blue thing in the foreground of this pic is the Italian Floor Corker.
You drop the cork into the opening and press that round circle base down to insert your bottle.
You put your foot on the base to hold it steady . . . hold the bottle . . . . then as you press down on the lever/handle the brass compression fittings squeeze the cork to half it’s size in order to press it into the bottle. It’s a super cool tool! So far my favorite step in wine making. LOL
And there you go . . . . ! Tomorrow is Stage 3 – Wine Caps & Labels!
May9
Bottling My Wine – Stage 1
If you want to try making your own wine – start saving your bottles now. Why buy bottles when you can just reuse them! First stage of bottling was to wash the bottles – all 30 of them.
Then time to sanitize them. Throughout the process of making wine it was always necessary to sanitize everything. We had Maurene’s mudroom sink full of sanitized water at every step.
This is Maurene’s bottle tree. This thing was very cool. Just load them up to drip dry.
These will sit overnight and then corking tomorrow!!
May8
2017 Pumpkin Crop Begins
Apr26
Ryobi Level & My Closet
Amie & Matthew bought this for me for Christmas. I love it!! It makes my life so much easier when I’m trying to hang something on my wall that requires level nail holes. Because my house was built in 1958 there is no texture on the walls which is good and bad. Good = easier for painting & Bad = shows every imperfection. However, this “Ryobi Airgrip Laser Level” works perfectly on my non-textured walls! It works on a couple of AA batteries and you just put it up against the wall & turn it on . . . it has an electric suction thing that sucks it right to the wall. The laser then shoots across the wall making every nail hole perfectly level with the other. Love this thing! http://tinyurl.com/mahqbjm
I found this mirror clearanced at Hobby Lobby for $25 and it hung on one nail. The shelf, however, required two nails so my Ryobi level to the rescue! I also found the shelf at Hobby Lobby it was $10 which was 50% off – always wait for the sale, lol. I actually spray painted it – it was brown metal before.
Love my little mirror & jewelry corner.
It’s perfect for holding my everyday stuff.
Sweet little plant (fake) I found at “The Barn” in Castle Rock.
Sweet little “Willow Tree” figure my mom gave me when I had breast cancer surgery 5 years ago. Thanks mom!
Apr18
Finished Floor & Easter Decor
I finished my flooring & step on Friday!! Just need to add the baseboards.
Stair came out pretty good. The other step up is into the kitchen – no updates there yet.
I bought this 3 tier iron shelf thing a couple years ago at Home Goods, specifically for the dinning room. It’s been in my front room & now finally in the dinning room.
And my little piggies finally have a home . . . .
and my cute little rooster plates!
Some Easter decor . . .
more cute Easter decor.
Table set for Easter Brunch!
Country Girl 