How to Make Passion Flower Tea

Passion flower (Passiflora incarnate) is a very effective sleep aid. You can make a soothing, sedative passion flower tea in just a few minutes. You’ll be surprised at how well it works.

It can cause a different reactions in different people, but for me, it's a great mind and body relaxer.  I fall asleep more easily and am more likely to sleep through the night if I make an evening cup of

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More Sunshine!

I got to do a fun little project for a reader this week. Kara asked me to re-create my “You are my Sunshine” canvas for her little girls (you can see the original ones here and here). The previous two projects were made using a recycled canvas, and this one was made with a new canvas…may I just say that new canvas is SO much easier to work with??

Here it is displayed on the Gradient Dresser:

Hope your day is filled with sunshine!

I will make custom canvases! Click on the Available Items tab up top for more information.

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Linking up here!

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Gradient Dresser

There’s a trickle-down effect in blogland….and I’m the latest drip!

Cassie at Primitive and Proper showed this gorgeous dresser just about a week ago.

She was inspired by this dresser from Norske Interior (via Brooklyn Limestone):

And I….was utterly smitten.

I came across this dresser at Deseret Industries last week, and I wanted it. I knew it would be perfect for a similar treatment!

Unfortunately, it was priced out of my budget, so I waited patiently for a week (visiting it often, of course)…

… until I could ask them to mark the price down! It happily came home with me Tuesday, and I couldn’t wait to get to work on it. (You can tell because it’s now…Thursday.)

It turned out just like the picture in my head!

I painted the body of the dresser in a barely off-white paint I had on hand (Behr Ultra color-matched to Sherwin Williams Creamy), and I had fun choosing three colors for the three rows of drawers.

I bought a sample of Behr Ultra in each of these colors: Windwood Spring (top), Shallow Sea (middle), and Lagoon (bottom).

My teenage daughter graciously offered to help carry it up to her bedroom.

Too bad! She already has furniture. (I’m a mean mom.)

So there you have it…my version of the Gradient Dresser!

I do love these retro dressers. Two of my other favorites are Reverse Anthropologie and 38 Flowers !

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This project has been featured at Saved by Suzy, Day and Age Design, Mod Vintage Life, My Repurposed Life, and AtticMag.

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Linking up here and !

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Words to live by

Another cupboard door sign for you…

How about you??

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This project was featured at the Idea Cupboard and Domestically Speaking.

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Linking up here.

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How to Revive Wilted Greens and Herbs

If you've ever opened your refrigerator's vegetable crisper only to discover that "crisp" is a relative term, you can understand the value of being able to do a little quick first aid on your limp cilantro, parsley or dill. Even better, these strategies can also work on veggies like lettuce and celery.

Reviving Wilted Greens and Herbs

Vegetables have stems and veins designed to deliver moisture

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Black Coffee

Can you stand another French typography coffee table makeover? I hope so, because I’m not tired of them yet! I call this one “Black Coffee!”

Here’s how it started out. It was a good Basset coffee table, with two drawers. I loved the plank-style wood top.

I chose to only sand the center section of the top down to bare wood. The plan was to paint the base and the “frame” of the top. Then I chose my graphic and got painting! You can see that I didn’t worry about bits and pieces of the old stain being left behind. I think it adds to the character of the finished piece.

French ad from The Graphics Fairy.

After the lettering was painted and distressed, I stained the top with Minwax Antique Walnut, and painted the rest of the coffee table black (get it??), using Behr Ultra paint.

I kept the original hardware, including the decorative metal scrolls in the corners.

I like how the top looks like it was framed!

And of course I had to play with a couple of accessories…

So there you have it! If you want more information on how I create my tables, be sure to check out the French Chocolate table, Café table, French Twist, and the Postcard table!

This project has been featured at West Furniture Revival and Perfectly Imperfect.

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Linking up here!

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Late to my own party!

So here’s the deal.

Sometime within the last few weeks, I thought to myself, “Hey, I think it’s been a year since I started blogging!” I checked my handy-dandy blog dashboard, and sure enough, I started in July 2010. And I could swear that the first post was on July 25, so I decided that would be the day to start a giveaway. Well, guess what. Apparently I have been wordier than I thought, and there was another, older page of old posts! Huh. Apparently my “blogiversary” was on July 14! But…better late than never, right?

I browsed though my “project” folders on my computer, and I’d thought I’d share a few of my favorites…most from before the days before I knew anything about picture editing or staging (and I still don’t know a lot)!

This may be the project that started it all. I wanted a wall unit for my front room, and this is the result. I have a nearly uncontrollable urge to re-paint them in a creamy white now…

A pink chandelier for my daughter’s bedroom…

Learning to use my secondhand Cricut (I’m a Silhouette girl now)!

A polka-dot headboard…

Learning that spray paint comes in such fun colors!

A bench makeover before I learned how to re-cane furniture…

I wanted to keep this library table so bad. My husband wanted to keep his IKEA desk. What’s up with that??

Recycling an old canvas…

Still in love with these schoolhouse chairs!

I’m a sucker for red (and more numbers)…

I love numbers on pretty much anything!

And not just numbers…I just love typography, as demonstrated by my French chocolate coffee table (my most popular project ever)!

Hope you enjoyed your trip down memory lane with me!

Most importantly, I want to say

to all of you who have taken the time to make kind comments, give advice, encouragement, and support. I love the “blog world,” and I’m happy I joined up!

Now, for the giveaway!

The winner will receive a beadboard sign of his/her choice!

If you have a particular saying, color, size, etc…I can work with that.

Here are a few ideas to get you going, but I’m open to all sorts of possibilities!

Here are a few ways to enter the giveaway. Please leave a comment for each one you choose to do!

1. Please be a follower of Red Hen Home (mandatory).
2. “Like” Red Hen Home on Facebook.
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog or Facebook page (please link back).
4. Leave a comment telling me one good thing that happened to you or for you today!

My dear friends, I am not going to even attempt to answer comments left for this particular post. Rest assured I will read and enjoy every one, however!

Good luck!

Random winner will be selected on Monday, August 1.

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Two New Tabs - George is on the wall!

Good afternoon on this AGAIN hot and humid day.

I turned off the air this morning but it only stayed off for a couple hours...the air coming in the windows was horrible so back on it went.  I was hoping for a reprieve today but guess not.

So I'm doing the best thing on a hot day...posting,

reading blogs and sewing on an order.

I POSTED THREE NEW TABS at the top of my blog.

COUNTRY FRECKLES...a fantastic Prim/Colonial shop in Wisconsin

~ Click the photo to be taken to the page ~

RT. 66 ANTIQUES...wonderful Prim Antiques in Missouri 

~ Click the photo to be taken to the page ~

AMANA COLONIES
~ Click on picture to be taken to the page ~

ENJOY!

I finally got my GEORGE picture up on a wall - not where it was

intended to go but will do for now - I actually like it here now

But in time it will go over the fireplace

Oh I have to say a huge THANK YOU to MAURINE from Stitchen House of Prims: http://stitchinsprims.blogspot.com/

She sent me a wonderful thank you package for some books I sent her...naturally I got the best of the bargain!

I now have one of her wonderful hand made bonnets - it's a wonderful rich Brown and those two Herb bags are awesome sizes - the Herbs are cross-stitched on.

And last for today my Penny Runner I'm partially finished with.

When we traveled last week it gave me something to do in the car.

I just have to back it now and it's good to go.

And a huge thank you for those who participated in my sale

It was more than a success...there are only a few items left.

I'll keep them up in the tab for a bit more but then will close it.

Maybe later I will have more things to sell when I unpack boxes.

Guess that's all I have for now 

Karen

http://mycolonialhome.blogspot.com/p/amana-colonies-pictures.html

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Packing Snacks for Trips or Get-Away

Tammy over at http://countrygirlathome.blogspot.com/ has posted a fun post. SNACKS FOR THE ROAD…she is asking “what do you take” and so I’m posting what gets packed in my ‘goodie bag’.  Go over and read her post – it’s fun!

We used to have a Suburban so just about everything we  I could think of went on trips with us but now it’s the Mini Van so we I have scaled back some although what I pack there is a lot that comes back home with us…it’s something about having the ‘familiar’ with you – maybe it’s a ‘comfort’ thing.

These are what I can’t do without on the road
 

 

And my husband always needs his

 

And for good measure I take



And this to put on the crackers…now I know some of you will go ICKKKKKK but I like it in small amounts – it can get kind of sickening eating too much
 

So what is it you take on your road trips/vacation get a-ways???? Let us know!

Thanks Tammy for starting this fun topic

Karen

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