July 2011 Focus: Guest Bath

I finally got tired of looking at the ship wallpaper border and the hideous green countertop in the guest bath.  Since neither one of us taught summer school this year, we had practically NO BUDGET to do this project. 

Remember what it looked like before
with the green countertop

I took a black sharpie and colored in the letters on the "Water Closet" sign.  (They were green.)  We hung the sign on the door so that there is a cute little entrance to the bath. 

I used some black Rustoleum enamel from the shed to coat over the vanity top.  It really makes the white sink and brass faucet pop. 

The water closet that Jesse built looks better with all the black & white enamelware scoops and chamberpot.  We also got new face towels and washcloths (they're really black & white dishtowels we found really cheap at Walmart).
 

Above the water closet I added a framed print of vintage barber items.  This cost NOTHING!  I already had the frame, so all I had to do was print some clipart of vintage objects to put in it.  Now the little toiletry bottles and stuff seem to stand out. 

We hung a razor strop that we got at auction next to the cast-iron "shaving" themed towel rack we had bought on a trip to Fredericksburg. 

I also spray-painted the shower curtain rings black and replaced the navy blue shower curtain with a fresh new white one and added some black and white gingham fabric along the rings as an accent.  I'm thinking about making bows like this idea from At Home With K's blog. 

http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/2010/07/labor-of-love.html

The wallpaper border is almost stripped off and we're on the lookout for some vintage newspaper ad wallpaper border. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

While weeding this morning we discovered that we have a baby watermelon!

Pot-ential

We had this little “boy” painted black holding garden tools in his bucket.  It had never occurred to me before that the spiky hair at the top was not hair but a TIARA!  It just needed to be painted.  So everything got repainted and the shades got the additional touch of rhinestones in the corners to bling along with the silver tiara before I added the blond rope/twine hair.  A little flamingo sticker on the t-shirt and now we have a cute little “autobiographical: planter.  

Carol's Carmel Corn

2 c brown sugar
2 sticks (1 c) butter
1/2 c Karo
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
8 - 9 c unsalted popped corn

Mix sugar, butter, Karo, cream of tartar, and salt in saucepan.  Bring to a boil while stirring.  Boil 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Add soda and stir. 

Prepare a cookie sheet with foil and spray foil with Pam or grease lightly with butter.  


Pour over popped corn and bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 - 20 minutes.  Cool before serving. 

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 package spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin pie filling
1/4 cup water
2 peeled, cored, diced apples or 1 c. raisins or craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare muffin pan.  Mix ingredients and spoon into pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Makes   2 dozen. 

April 2010 Focus: Guest Bath

The towels we got as a gift inspired us to go a bit of a different direction with this bath for now.  We had started collecting white and black enamelware and old barber / powder room / shaving stuff to make it primitivish but the towels had fisherman and fish on them.  Sooooooo, we went ahead and revamped the storage shelf into a "water closet" with a pull chain and brass pipe.  We moved the family heirloom tackle box from Landon's John Deere bath and put it on top of the water closet.  There is also a display of fishing flies.  We added a few fishing signs and got a new rug and stool/shelf.   On the stool/shelf we put an enamelware pan to hold magazines and an enamelware bedpan to hold the hand towels.  It's too funny!

By using the new towels, we can still use the navy blue shower curtain and keep the vanity top the same verdigris color for now.  We still have the Sears catalog page on display in here, though!  We'll try to get some more pics of the towels and enamelware on here soon.



 

Spring Break 2010 Mini-Focus: BBQ Patio

We took all the gray/black granite bricks (from the old Methodist Church that our neighbor recycled) - the ones that had lined the driveway in the front and had been part of the pond, and we created a little patio for Jesse's barbecue pit, smoker, etc.  He and the boys also retrieved a big slab of black and white granite that our neighbor had, and they put it on a metal tool cart/stand next to the new "patio" to make a cutting board/countertop  We enjoyed burgers and fajitas over Spring Break from this new outdoor kitchen! 

Nailed to the tree branches behind the grill is a sign made out of old barnwood that says "Grillin' Station"  with pegs for all of Jesse's barbecuing utensils.  We are also thinking about putting a smaller sign with it that says "Ribs Beans Gas."  :-)