Buchanan’s Nursery

My wonderful friend and next-door neighbor had a beautiful baby boy recently.  Today I thought I’d share the beautiful nursery she created for him.  We had lots of fun running back and forth sharing opinions and ideas for this fun room in the months before he was born!  <sigh>  Helping on a dedicated nursery like this makes me feel cheated that I didn’t get to do this for any of my six children!

The nursery walls were painted a soft gray, and she chose to use aqua and red for the main accent colors.

We spent probably two hours arranging and rearranging the elements for the gallery wall.  The two gears are not “real”—I think she got them at Hobby Lobby, but they’re much lighter than the real thing!  The rusty lock and key is a real railroad heirloom, though.

This was my main contribution to the nursery!  She wanted a sign reminiscent of an old-time train logo, and this is what we came up with.  The cupboard door I used had already been painted aqua, so I used the vaseline trick before the coat of red paint so you could see the aqua underneath.

The old train on the shelf is a family treasure, as are the wonderful old lanterns.  The old fan was a “treasure” un-earthed from my garage!

My friend has a very talented seamstress aunt who made a new cover for the glider rocker.  I need an aunt like that!

And this is baby Buchanan.  I like to cuddle him under my chin and revel in that fuzzy baby head!

This project featured at The DIY Show Off.

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
No Minimalist Here
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Stone Gable
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

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Back in Step

What a summer that was.........blazing hot, drought induced and madly busy!

I was unprepared for the spate of business for both interiors and gardens with never enough time to spare. Good and bad, don't you think? I have missed my readers, and actually my friends and family. But with all that madness I knew that my annual jaunt to Europe to guide a tour and to REST was in sight. Just arriving home, Autumn brings hopes of a return to normality, however Christmas retail lurks nearby.

So what has been going on besides gardens & interiors?

 THIS! Discovered this wine in France and about to begin the hunt for it here and this vineyard in particular. Like Pinot? This will ruin you forever. This strictly red wine girl is hooked on Sancerre!

 Have always liked Dash and Albert rugs, I jumped in and am carrying the whole line. As an introduction to my readers, enjoy free shipping and a 20% off first order discount. (good until 11/28)

 NEST candles, ahhhh, our favorite scents and a top seller in the shop. As a good client, we were invited to a private party at Laura Slatkins home on the upper east side of NYC, her 8 story private home! OH MY, OH MY! I fear I did not make any friends. Upon entering her massive dining room, the period empire table (seating 20) was surrounded with her new fragrances. Picking up a bottle by it's lid which was my first mistake as the bottle departed it's lid and landed with a massive thud on the said period table, after silencing the room and much visible heart clutching later, the hostess managed to avoid eye contact with me the remainder of the evening. (nothing like getting noticed in a crowd)

Oh and this "star" was there with an entourage (for the uninitiated, this is Dina of the Jersey 

housewife fame)

ANY free time was spent here, gathering gorgeous inspiration, fab recipes and interesting D-I-Y projects........I am sadly addicted

Found a new blog I like, 'The Caledonian Mining Expedition'. Take a peak

Discovered this stunning perennial, Gentiana. The most vivid blue flower that blooms nearly all summer. Great for the front of the border. Mr. 5th has joined my business and reluctantly taken on the ordering. I was siting nearby when he was reading my handwriting and placing the order. Gentiana was  ordered like this......."I would like 24 genitalia!" i over heard and matched the roar of laughter from the other end of the line. "If you tell anyone this, I will never order again!" shhhhhh 

Never would have guessed my "dream" vehicle would be a 1935 Ford pick-up truck. 

Purchased from a friend, I thought with the proper signage it would make a nice vehicle marketing my landscape business, don't you think? Only problem is the learning curve, so far I cannot get the double clutching down. Beware if you see me on the road!

We recently completed our group tour to Dordogne France and to Paris, will share in the next post. 

Then it was four glorious weeks in England, scouting for next year's English tour, catching up on sleep and rest. Oh and shopping, wait until you see what I found!

 Thank you to my dear friends and hosts Sylvia and Joe for housing me, feeding me and loving me in the magical town of Sherborne, England

Let's catch up, I miss you all

Debra

PS:  working on a new look for my blog, not there yet. What do you think so far?

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Say prayers for my Niece and family

Sorry to put this on my blog but I'm asking for prayers for my Niece Tina and her family.  She's my brother's daughter.

This afternoon a pickup truck pulled out in front of Tina and Mark and Mark died instantly. Tina was flown by Flight For Life to Froedert Hospital with broken pelvis, broken ribs and many scrapes and stitches on her face and many bruises.

They are a farm family - from a large family and will get much support from them as well as their 'farm families' in the area...they will not go unhelped in that sense - but they will need prayers for Tina.

Mark on the left in Orange shirt, Krista in front, Angie in wheelchair (Krista and Angie are twins...just turned 25 on Monday), Jessica, Alex in back and Tina.
Know what else is sad...he finally has beaten Hodgkin Lymphoma...so sad.

Thank you everyone...this family is dear to me and so I ask for your prayers.

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Moving On

I have finally showed off my laundry room…

…and the living room…

…and the workshop.

Is there a reason for this sudden burst of sharing, you ask?

Well, yes, there is.

Remember when we were trying to sell our home last fall?  And then in the spring we decided it was not the right time?

Everything happens for a reason.

You see, my husband was recently offered his dream job in Seattle.

So we’re moving.

For real this time!

So if I’m a little MIA, you’ll understand.  I’ve been spending a lot of time getting our home ready to sell.  Is it breaking my heart to leave, after all the improvements we’ve made this year…especially my beautiful workshop? 

Yes!

But is it exciting to think of a new adventure, a new home, new projects, and most importantly…a happy husband??

Yes, to that as well!

Wish us luck!

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How to Make Sage Butter

There are a couple of ways to make sage butter. One is actually a melted sage butter (brown) sauce that's pretty delicious with chicken (we'll get to that before Thanksgiving). The other is a flavored butter you can use as an ingredient in cooking or to serve on a buffet or at the table. It will keep for weeks in the fridge and for months in the freezer. (Yes, you can freezer butter without it

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The Workshop, Part 5

In case you missed the previous entries:

• Workshop, Part 1
• Workshop, Part 2
• Workshop, Part 3
• Workshop, Part 4

It’s been a long, long time since I posted anything about the workshop.  I have been enjoying it, though! 

When last I left you, I showed the freshly painted interior…next step was to fill it up!

And fill it up…we did!

My good friend and neighbor Michael J., who is often my co-conspirator in the big projects, reached an agreement with me.  I had space and no tools.  He had tools and no space.  So we decided to combine forces and make the workshop “ours!”   Between the two of us, this is what we came up with.

See all these great tools on this wall??  Yeah, none of them are mine!   OK, the air compressor is…but I have certainly enjoyed using them!  (In the corner is a dust collector, with my air compressor in front of it.  On the left of that is a band saw, and left of that is the most awesome table saw.)

Next we come to my paint corner, with eleventy-twelve cans of paint!  There are shelves sized to hold spray paint, sample pots, quarts, and gallons.  They go up so high I have to use the ladder to get to the top shelves!  Oh, it just makes me giddy!  And underneath, there is a rolling cart with a scroll saw on it.  That is mine (I bought it from Michael J.), but I’ve never used it.   But I can start anytime I want to!!

See those two big sheets of peg board?  They make me giddy too!  For you see…

You can open one side…

…or both, and access tons of hide-away storage!  Isn’t it beautiful??

This is one of Michael’s brain-children.  He built a unit like this in his garage, and I fell in love with it!

Moving on, we have a lathe, which I have used once and can’t wait to try again sometime.  Then there’s a nice big workbench, which we literally rolled down the middle of the street on casters (from Michael’s garage to my workshop) to get here.  I’m sure it was a funny sight!

I love all the pegboad for holding small tools, and there’s a magnet board just above the lathe.  I store stains on the shelf up-top, as you aren’t supposed to store paint and stain too near each other.

I have a utility sink in here, although it’s never been hooked up properly.  When Michael hooked it up, it leaked a little.  After I tried to fix it, it leaked A LOT!  And we’ve never gotten back to it since.  The drill press in the corner?  Yeah, it’s not mine!

You may be able to see out the open garage door that the concrete apron has finally been poured!  It only took three months, but it’s gorgeous now.

The only thing left to do to the exterior is to paint it, but I honestly don’t know that that will happen this fall.  It’s not the painting that intimidates me…it’s all the caulking! 

Anybody wanna come help??

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This project has been featured at the All-Star Block Party.

 

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Linking up here:

	Elizabeth & Co.
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence
	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design

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How to Make Sage Oil

Making sage oil is easier than you think. If you start now, you'll have some on hand in two to three weeks. With the holidays coming, sage oil, sage honey and sage vinegar are nice additions to your culinary arsenal, too. They all add a savory kick to your recipes with a minimum of fuss, and they make very nice gifts. This is a sage oil "infusion" rather than an essential oil that's distilled

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My Living Room

I am giving up! 

Despite my best intentions, I don’t think there is ever going to be a time when I manage to show my living room projects piece-by-piece with a grand reveal at the end.  I am just not that blogger.

So here it is, folks.  My living room, dressed up for fall.

If you don’t like orange, it may not be your cup of tea…but I love it.

This is what my living room looked like just before Christmas last year.  We previously owned a sectional, but I sold it so the French Chocolate coffee table would fit in the room!  Pretty much the only seating we had at this point was the couch and my husband’s recliner, though, and there are eight of us!  And…it was too dark for me.  That’s what led to the grand living room re-design of 2012!

…and yes, it actually happened in about…May.  I’m a little behind in posting 

I lightened up the wall color with SW Nantucket Dune.  I tried out…no kidding…12 different paint colors before settling on this one.  My walls were very colorful for a while.

I was fortunate to sell our leather couch for exactly what I had paid for it a year ago.  The proceeds from that, our Costco rebate card, and  a little tax refund money allowed me to order the new couch, loveseat, ottoman and chair from Rowe furniture.  I am very happy with them…they are pretty AND comfortable!

I found a telescope at our local thrift store, and turned it into a lamp for the corner of the room.  I love it!  Just wish I could figure out how to hide the cord…

My map chest gets to stay in the room.  It’s still one of my favorite pieces.

I love the look of some colorful pumpkins and gourds on the mirrored tray.

I found this great ceiling tile when we were in Montana for Christmas.  I tacked it to a frame of 1x2’s so I could hang it on the wall.  I also “embellished” the coloring a little to give it some highlights and interest.

My little hand-knit pumpkins make an appearance every year.  They were one of my first learn-to-knit projects a few years ago.  And don’t worry—the French chocolate coffee table just moved downstairs to the family room!

I made several of the pillows in the room…the medallion one on the left, the green one on the chair, and the Hungarian grain sack ones in the basket, plus a couple of others you can’t see right here.  I am becoming a pillow nut!  I wish I could change them out monthly!

You saw my shutters last time.  The room started out with the flea market and farmers market canvases hanging on either side of the shutters, but for fall I switched them out for the sunrise “We can do no great things” canvas and this one…

…which I painted just for fall!  Yeah, it’s not great art, but I like it.

Thanks for visiting with me!

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
No Minimalist Here	Thrifty Decor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off Stone Gable
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

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The Many Uses for Sage (salvia officinalis)

If you're into Thanksgiving stuffing, you probably enjoy adding a bit of sage flavor to your holiday table.  Sage is one of the most popular but misunderstood herbs around.  It can have an overpowering flavor if you use too much of it, but in moderation it can improve the savor of a wide variety of ingredients.

It can bring out the mild sweetness (and creamy texture) of eggs, wake up mild

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Shutters

Serendipity was with me one day when I visited a local thrift shop, and I came across a set of three shutters.

They had obviously been painted before, as I could see a little bit of yellow underneath a dirty green color.  As I was on the hunt for something to fill a little wall space in my living room, I decided to take them home with me.

Luckily I always have a little paint on hand  ;-)

I used some sample pots of some other greens to give them a little more color.  (Yes I know it’s hard to tell the difference, but it’s there.)

Then I slapped on some orange acrylic paint…

I used vaseline on some of the colored areas, also concentrating on the edges.  It makes the funny little patches you see in the next coat of black (and for the black I used spray paint—I am an equal-opportunity painter).

With your bare hands, you can simply rub the paint off wherever the vaseline was to show the colors underneath.

      

Next I used more vaseline, then a coating of creamy white paint—plus a few splashes of some more green and even a little gray.  I think all together I used about 7 different colors of paint on these shutters! 

And this, my lovelies, is the finished product.  I love how it turned out!  I adore the chippy-ness of the finish and the layers of color. 

These hang above my couch…in my living room that has been completed for months…that I have never show you…

…I’m going to try to resolve that this week!

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Linking up here:

Domestically Speaking	Elizabeth & Co.
Primitive & Proper	Thrifty Décor Chick
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Beyond the Picket Fence	Someday Crafts
Knick of Time Mod Vintage Life	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
Common Ground	My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours	All Star Block Party A Little Knick Knack
Cowgirl Up!	{aka} design Coastal Charm

[ Read More ]