YES, I MESSED UP!

OKAY...THANKS TO LINDA AT: http://parkersparadise.blogspot.com/  SHE LED ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND IT'S FIXED....
But if you want to know what I messed up on I left it on!

I was putting a picture as a header for my list of BLOGS on my sidebar and thought I was deleting the 'words' that I had on there, I clicked 'delete' and WALLA....NO BLOG LIST!
I'm so sorry to everyone who might think I deleted you!
It was not intentional...just a huge OOPPSS!
Now it's going to take me a month of Sunday's to get them all back on.
It will be ongoing for a day or so. IF you see you are not on here let me know...I had probably 30 or more.
As long as I'm on here I might just add that we went to Madison to the Wholesale Market yesterday. It was nice but small. Seems the larger ones are in the east or Ohio even.
I did get to see RACHEL from TOO FAR GONE PRIMITIVES!
This was her first time at the Madison show - she has such wonderful Primitive goodies.
http://www.facebook.com/toofargoneprimitives#!/toofargoneprimitives
I bought some Easter Tin Chocolate Molds (Chick and a Bunny)  and a sheep picture along with a glass Chicken candy dish - the kind that the chicken is the top of the covered dish, Purple flowers, a hand painted Spring flower picture and lots of wonderful goodies for our website. It was a long 3-1/2 hours on our feet...guess we could have done it in less time but you always have to make that second trip through.
PICTURES LATER WHEN I BRING UP ALL MY SPRING/EASTER DECOR
I want to say how wonderfully my E-Patterns are selling...I'm in awe of how many have sold in just the short 12 days I've had them listed.
Don't forget you can order from me directly - just go to the tab at the top and see what's available at the moment...more are being worked on.
Enjoy your wonderful Spring like weather. It's 45 here right now and the sun is shining nicely. Doug is out raking and I'm inside and stumped at how silly I could be to delete all my favorite blogs!!!
Have a good one.
Karen

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A little something more...

I thought I was finished. I really did. But the more I looked at this red chest of drawers, the more I thought it needed a little something more...

Here is the before:

...and here's the after:

I think I like it!

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Seeds and Plants - Which Should You Buy

One classic gardening dilemma involves the amount of time work and money involved in getting plant stock. I don't know about you, but I always want everything. If the big thing this year is fingerling eggplant, I'm there. If a chubby and adorable round zucchini is the cover model for a seed catalog, I'm checking my planting budget to work it in. If the local nursery has a big, healthy catnip

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Ravishing Red Chest of Drawers

Will I ever get tired of red? I don't think so. (Remember this other chest?) I neglected to take a picture of this chest of drawers before I painted it, but it was dark blue and VERY beat-up! I used my free sample pot of paint from Valspar (Heirloom Red) and repainted....

I didn't even begin to try to sand down or cover up the dings, scratches, and nicks that come about over time. Instead, I glazed it all with black paint, and then....magically...the once-upon-a-time "defects" just add character!


I didn't even use craft paint for glazing this time....because I couldn't find it! (Hazards of a home with six children.) Instead I just used some watered down flat-black paint. It worked just great. As you may remember from my side table project, I am all about using what's on hand!

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Growing Herbs from Seed

I'm planting seeds this weekend -- corralling them from the garage, office drawers and the freezer. I'm watching the mail for a few new additions, too. It's sooo exciting!

If you're starting seeds this year, give them plenty of room to sprout. This is one of my many failings. I want lots of plants and always crowd my seeds, making it harder to transplant seedlings later. Don't make the

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How to Start an Herb Garden - More Tips

If this is your first season growing herbs, learning how to start an herb garden is simple. You really just need three things: good light, soil that drains well and a reliable watering schedule.

If your yard or garden is a mess, or almost nonexistent, there are also some handy cheats.

Tips for Starting an Herb Garden

You can plant a raised bed to circumvent tough soil preparation work.

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Pottery-Barn-esque Side Table

I picked up this little side table at Deseret Industries a couple of weeks ago. It is solid wood, but the details on the front and back are what really caught my eye.

See?

I put my right-hand-boy to work sanding the top down to bare wood. I like my children to be useful as well as ornamental!

I pulled out the spray paint for this project...it was just handier. The bottom got coated in Rustoleum's Heirloom White. The top got multiple coats of stain and sealer...first I used Minwax English Chestnut, because although I wanted a darker top, I think walnut on pine wood goes kind of....flat. It's just bleeaaaahhhh! But if I use the English Chestnut first, it seems to warm up the color a little...then I put on a coat of walnut stain. For good measure, I then sealed it with Minwax Polyshades, also in Antique Walnut. It's still not my most-favorite product, but it has its uses, like on this table.

So it's better, right? But obviously it needs a little sumpin' to make those details pop...

...So I glazed it with the Polyshades. Never tried that before, but it worked great!

Look at me now!

Love how the top turned out!

I think it looks very Pottery-Barn-esque...what do you think?

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Starting an Herb Garden

My last post was getting long so this is a two parter. If you missed the previous information on starting an herb garden, you can find it here: Your First Herb Garden

When you install an herb garden in your landscape, these things are important:

If you're buying plants as opposed to seeds, larger is typically better. The one exception is if the roots are so crowded that they're dangling out

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Your First Herb Garden

I planted my first herb garden (with mom's help) when the wooden rake handle was still taller than I was. My brother built a mock wishing well out of wood slats that year, and the base was recessed so we could plant annuals in the depression. My herbs would have worked great in that modified planter, but I could barely see over the top, so a slightly raised bed ended up being my first herb garden

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Cute skirts...with a "whoops!"

Someone posted a link to this Quick & Easy No-Hem Skirt a while back...and I knew I had to make some. I love looking at pretty fabrics, but I don't have the $60+++ to spend on a quilt! I figured this was a good way to get my "cute fabric fix" without breaking the bank!

Shopping at Hobby Lobby, I have been able to make two skirts for about $8. Can't beat that! These are the second set I have made, and I got a little creative and added the tulle ruffle at the bottom.

Here's my cute 3-year-old. She would wear skirts every day if she could!

She tells us her skirt is "dirty"--because it has cupcakes on it! Gotta love a toddler's sense of humor.

Yes, I know she's wearing shoes that don't fit. She calls them her "ballet shoes."

My 7-year-old also got a skirt. I saw a lady in the check-out line carrying this black owl fabric, and although I hadn't planned on shopping for fabric that day, my feet inexplicably led me in that direction...



Are you noticing my "whoops" yet? Well, I thought the owls were in a random, all-over type pattern.

They're not.

See it now?

Yep. The owls are all upside-down! Gah! Well, at least they're right-side up to my little girl when she sits down!

Yes, I could take it all apart and try again...but that seems to be too much work for a $4 skirt!

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I Finally Did It!!!

Yes…I finally got my patterns going…and they are being sold on THE PATTERN CUPBOARD.

I’m so happy that Terri accepted me and so yesterday I spent quite a bit of time getting them drawn up and scanned and then turned into PDF files…lots of work but so worth it.

So please go on over to The Pattern Cupboard:  http://www.thepatterncupboard.com/shop/index.php 

OR….you can go to the top of my post here in the ‘tabs’ and click on E-Patterns and order from there.

I have just 7 going right now…but many others are waiting for me to have time to sit at the printer and computer.

So that is what has been taking my time the last few days

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Two weeks ago we went to one of our cousin’s birthday party – it was a 50’s theme as well….so there were a few of us who dressed – others chickened out. Here’s the few that did dress.

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Then on Wednesday night there were 9 of us at a Corned Beef &  Cabbage dinner at our cousin Gail’s house (the girl next to me in the photo above – she has her arm around me…it was her house).
My goodness she had so much food it was incredible.
A roaster full of potatoes, carrots and cabbage. I think she said she had 15 lbs. of red potatoes, 5 bags of carrots, 4 heads of cabbage and 3 large Corned Beef. Yummmm.

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And  a lonely little Red Cardinal sitting in our Service Berry bush Thursday morning…how pretty!

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My water classes at the Fitness Center are doing good for me…I think I’m strengthening my lower back some…seems to feel some better so I’m glad I’m sticking with it….and who wouldn’t want to be in 85 degree water on a cold morning just floating and moving free. I love it.

I had to buy a new swim suit today because the chlorine has ruined my suit(s). So we drove down to Zion, IL to Kiefer’s Swim Wear and I must say if you can’t find a suit or any kind of water wear then they just don’t make it.
http://www.kiefer.com/Default.aspx?

This is the one I ended up with but it’s showing it blue and it’s actually 3 different shades of Aqua.

So that’s my week!

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Karen

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