Announcing the winners of the midweek Picnik giveaway.  Chosen at random, the winners are:

#19: Nearly Dawn

“You inspired me to put some new herbs in my kitchen window! Doing so required that I finally quit stalling re-pot the bigger plants that previously lived there. It is now my win-win window full of seedlings and more healthy mature plants”

#43 Amber P

“I only grow flowers – never have had a vegetable garden. My favorite flowers are two rosebushes that were my mom’s. I salvaged them before her house sold after she passed away. Now they will be in my garden.”

#129  Jess at Frugal with a Flourish

“So since your last Picnik giveaway I have very quickly become “obsessed” with it! My favorite thing to grow are veggies – cause I love to be able to walk out to the garden before dinner and just pick something to eat!”

Congrats to the three winners – please email me for your codes for an upgraded membership to PIcnik !

Also, please let me take a moment to welcome three more sponsors to this site.

Have you heard of Scentsy ?  It’s a company all about Decorative Aromatic Warmers designed to fill you home with amazing scents, without the worry of a lighted candle.  Emma Rae is my rep (and yours too!) for making your purchase of any of these Scentsy Warmers.  I’ve got a white one, and I carry it back and forth from my office to my bedroom !  There are dozens and dozens of scents that accompany, my current favorite is ‘Perfectly Pomegranate’. 

Here’s a few examples of my other favorites, the Riviera, the Classic in cream, and the Torino.

Please also welcome Lynn of For Love or Funny, a blog all about how laughter is the best medicine !  I tune in daily for Lynn’s real life glimpses at the lighter side of family life – we all need a dose of that !  Hop on over and visit with Lynn – she’ll be your best friend in no time !

Finally, please welcome Color Incorporated, your online one-stop-shop full service digital photography lab, for standard photo printing as well as:

Spiral Bound Photo Books

Gallery Wrapped Canvases

. . . also greeting cards, banners, proof magazines, sports cards, magazine covers and much more !  For a full list of their products, click here. 

All Centsational Girl readers are given this promotion:  25 free 4 x 6 prints with the promotion code: cen10

A big congratulations to the winners of the Picnik giveaway, and a big thank you and welcome to my newest sponsors !

Stay tuned for more great features this week, with a focus on the color green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day – after all, I am Irish !   The series is called “These Are a Few of My Favorite Greens” and some of my favorite bloggers have been invited to participate in the lineup – can’t wait ! 

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I cannot keep track of all of the school calendars, memos, and tiny pieces of paper that bombard me on a daily basis.  I live for memo boards as a place to display all those reminders of things I need to do or people I need to call.  If it’s not staring me in the face, I’ll just forget about it.  Memo boards help to keep me sane organized. 

Back in January, I mentioned the need for more organization in my mud room.  Actually it’s not really a mud room, just a wee hallway and closet back by the garage door.  I like to pretend it’s loftier space than it is and call it a ‘mud room’. 

The easiest way to make a memo board is to find a bulletin board in the size you want and cover it with fabric.  Well I’m a troublesome creature and after a search, I couldn’t find a frame in the exact size I wanted, so I decided to just build a tall narrow memo board to fit the hall space. 

Supplies:

2’ x 4’ thin plywood from Lowes or home improvement store

Fabric and batting to size

Ribbon

Trim molding

Caulk or spackle

‘D’ Ring hooks

Nail heads

Finish nails

Tools:

SkilSaw

Mallet

Staple gun

Pliers

Hammer

Sawhorses (optional)

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The Special Interest Publications by Better Homes & Gardens are one of my all time favorite go to resources for DIY ideas.  Today, I thought I’d pass along some of the ideas from my inspiration files that I think are completely fabulous. 

Enjoy ! 

How cool is this idea to wallpaper the drawers of a dresser with a little decoupage ?

Sew a half dozen sheer napkins together for a cafe curtain, and add charm with mismatched flatware as curtain hooks !

Add a pop of color to your pantry by sewing kitchen towels into basket liners. 

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A few weeks ago you all saw the new color I painted in the refreshed kitchen !  Every morning it’s like a breath of fresh air walking into this space, and I’m so glad  I took the time to add new paint and accessories.  So I thought I’d break down the step-by-step on how I painted the kitchen cabinetry, specifically the island, and wrap up a few other details as well. 

Here’s a quick reminder of the island, Before and After:

Here are the steps I followed for refinishing my kitchen cabinetry in oil with a brush technique.   For projects larger than this, consider renting a professional paint sprayer for quicker and smoother application.

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I have a really hard time staying focused at Lowes, or any home improvement store for that matter.  Asking me to go into a home improvement store and pick up only one particular thing is pretty much like asking a kid to ignore the cookie jar on the counter.  It ain’t happening.   I start meandering down aisles, dreaming up projects, then all of a sudden I’ve disappeared into a vortex.  I’ve forgotten why I was there in the first place, daylight has disappeared, and they’ve sent out a search party.   

Such is the story of this little purchase two weeks ago.  I was at Lowes to purchase something simple like sanding pads, then before I knew it I was in the garden department again.  It was there that a ‘Jiffy’ Greenhouse stared me down and beckoned me toward him.  He somehow convinced me with his $6 dollar price tag and numbered tutorial that he needed  me.  Or I needed him.   Apparently, I didn’t need to use the egg cartons I’ve used in the past to start my sprouts.  This year, I needed  a ‘Jiffy’ Greenhouse.  

Tomatoes, basil, and delphinium are three of my favorite things to grow.   So I thought I’d get a head start on a few of my garden essentials.  

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