Hello hello, happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! There’s a lot going on this week around here. Wish I had a ‘finished’ project to reveal today, but nope, just a whole lotta ‘works in progress’. I have a fun craft to show you tomorrow, but today is a holiday, a slow Monday, a day to sit around in my pajamas with my kiddos. Here’s just a few tidbits, musings, and thoughts from the past weeks.
First, I must share, I’m really enjoying this book with my morning coffee. Don’t you love the cover? And the teaser? “An encyclopedia of forgotten yet delightful chic, useful, curious and otherwise commendable things from times gone by.”
It’s filled with all those nostalgic things we treasure from the good ol’ days and hunt for at flea markets, plus the novelties we spy in old movies and hear about from our grandparents.
Why yes think we should bring back braids, car tail fins, double features, kitten heels, pocket watches, and wicker baskets on bicycles !
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Next, the sad and happy news. A tragedy occurred in our household a few weeks ago. My Nikon D60 clicked its last. I was snapping away. Click! Click! Click! Then all of a sudden I heard this.
The three winners of the Cutting Edge Stencils Giveaway are: #199 Eliza Dougherty; #605 Nina English; and #1,411: Andrea H. Sending you all my email contact today! Yay, congratulations ladies !!
Are you in the mood for spring? Craving pops of fresh color all around you? Me too! I’m also in the mood for a beachy vacay, and missing Hawaii soooo much. This drizzle has me dreaming of soft sand and warm waves between my toes, and mai tais with pineapple and little pink umbrellas on top. See, I’m so easy to please.
How delighted am I to bring you something sparkly from the Aloha state today! I’d like to introduce you to Kahili Creations, an online store filled with handmade artisan jewelry from Hawaii’s Big Island.
This lovely Etsy shop is filled with the most colorful and delicate pieces, you’re sure to find something lovely for yourself. Perhaps one of your besties has a birthday coming up? There’s always Mother’s Day to think about too!!
Ooooh, sparklies !
Kahili Creations is offering two lucky winners a $75 shop credit, enough to pick out at least one of their pieces, perhaps two! Free shipping for the winners. Everyone loves a freebie, especially if it’s something sparkly!
Eligibility to win one of two $75 shop credits to Kahili Creations:
1) Hop on over to Kahili Creations and get lost among the gorgeous selections. Pick a favorite piece then name it in a comment.
2) For additional chances to win, link to this giveaway on Facebook and/or on Twitter, then leave a comment telling where you mentioned it!
Giveaway ends Monday February 21st at 8 p.m. PST. US and Canada only. Free shipping. Two winners chosen by Random.org.
It’s no secret I’ve been using Rust-Oleum paint products for years. I remember back in 2009 when I was spray painting everything that stood still ‘Heirloom White’. I went through my ‘Gloss White’ phase, then I dabbled in so many of their colorful and specialty spray paints. I truly believe they have the best quality spray paints and I appreciate the variety of their more modern colors. And as you know, I’ve always adored Zinsser primers.
Did you know both Zinsser and Varathane are part of the Rust-Oleum family? Yes indeedy!
Rust-Oleum’s motto is ‘a solution for every surface’ and they are serious! I thought I knew about most every product they had to offer, but I was delighted to discover at the two day event I attended last week that there are so many other specialty products they manufacture, and now am anxious to try several of them.
Last week, I had the opportunity to talk shop with the people at the helm of Rust-Oleum, plus I also got to try out their brand new Cabinet Transformations product, which is a completely new approach to refinishing your old kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
I’ve refinished kitchen, bath, and laundry room cabinets all the old school way which can often require stripping and sanding, but always requires a good coat of primer, plus two coats of paint and a protectant.
After much research and development, Rust-Oleum has recently introduced on the market a Cabinet Transformations kit for kitchen and bath. This refinishing kit eliminates the need to strip, sand, or prime. Shocking I know, and I admit I was skeptical. No primer at all? Seriously? It sounded too good to be true, and I was very concerned about durability.
I learned (and asked a lot of questions) about the formula for this new product, and based on the extensive testing in the lab and Rust-Oleum’s reputation for durability, I’m feeling pretty good about this new alternative. In fact, I plan to use it in my hall bathroom later this year.
I was able to try it out for myself, and I’m like a kid in a candy story when given the opportunity to try products that transform outdated cabinets.
The kits come in two sizes for smaller (100 square feet) and larger kitchens (up to 200 square feet). Rust-Oleum provides an online tool for measuring your kitchen for this DIY project. This Cabinet Transformations kit approaches refinishing differently than the traditional method of strip + sand + prime + paint + protect. It also works on surfaces beyond just wood, which includes laminates and melamine surfaces.
In the shop, we worked with a standard oak cabinet door and all the supplies that come in the kit.
It’s been raining off and on for days around here. That pitter patter on the roof every night puts me in the mood for tasty soups! Yesterday I made this delicious version of Wild Mushroom Bisque. In the past, I’ve called this Cream of Wild Mushroom soup, but since it’s puréed, I’m getting all fancy on ya and calling it a ‘Bisque’.
I’m one of those people who gets a craving, then has to run to the store just to grab the ingredients. It’s a bad habit, one I refuse to break. The other day, I was craving homemade creamy mushroom soup, so I whipped up a batch of this yumminess.
Wild Mushroom Bisque
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
2 medium shallots, thinly diced
20 oz. of a medley of cleaned, trimmed, and sliced mushrooms
(I used 8 oz. button mushrooms, 6 oz. portabella, 6 oz. shiitake mushrooms, but you can substitute oyster, crimini, porcini, whatever is available.)
1 cup dry sherry
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
½ tsp tarragon
2 ½ cups half and half
½ tsp white pepper
Salt to taste
Sauté diced shallots in butter and olive oil mixture over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, add sliced mushrooms and sauté 3-4 more minutes to soften, stirring frequently. Add dry sherry to mixture and bring to a low boil. Reduce liquid on low boil for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken (or vegetable) broth and tarragon, bring to low boil, then simmer on low another 8-10 minutes, reduce heat. Fully purée mixture in a blender, or with an immersion blender.
Return to soup pot, then add half and half, pepper, and salt to taste, reheat on stovetop on medium for 5 minutes, do not boil or burn. Serve hot with croutons & shaved parmesan, crackers or crunchy sourdough. Serves 6.
Today is just an ordinary Tuesday for most of you, but for me it marks the two year anniversary of my blog! Yay!
What a year! I never imagined so many opportunities would come my way and I am so grateful to all of you who visit now and then, thank you SO much!
I’m one of those many multitasking moms, but lucky enough to be able to work from home, blessed with good health, great kids, a supportive husband, and a plethora of power tools. Life is pretty good, and I’m thankful everyday.
I often get these questions: How do you balance it all and get so much done? How do you manage your time? How Do You Do It All?
My friends, let’s face the truth. No one can ever “do it all”. Not unless you’re Martha Omnimedia with unlimited resources and highly paid staff to cater to your every whim. Then yes you probably can do it all, I suppose.
There are plenty of things I don’t do, and for me, that’s the key to the ‘balance’ question. I’ve decided what I can accomplish in any given day or week, what I have to sacrifice to get it done, and the power of saying ‘No’ to the things that won’t work for me and my family.
Life (and blogging) is an ongoing treadmill, and Year Two taught me a few things. But like a runner who’s been running for awhile, most importantly it taught me to find my stride. The last two months have been extremely challenging. I flew to the east coast three times in six weeks, all the while doing all the other things I ordinarily do. I can’t believe I haven’t fallen down or gotten sick, which is nearly impossible when you’re on so many airplanes and picking up all those germs on every hotel doorknob and elevator button.
I absolutely could not have stayed afloat this past year without my eternally patient husband, daily devotions, the support of some ‘got your back’ moms in my community watching over my munchkins, and Dori’s ‘just keep swimming’ attitude!
I’m pretty disciplined with my time, but I’ve also learned to be forgiving of myself. My house is never perfectly straightened, dust free, and it is rarely ready for company. So what? Perfection is not my goal, contentment is my goal. Dishes and laundry and kid toys pile up, clutter creeps in, and to tackle it all I just keep swimming.
Hi, I'm Kate from Northern California. I'm a bargain hunter, design lover, and incurable DIYer. I'm on a quest for diamond style on a dime, and I'm out to make my world fabulous, for less, one do-it-yourself project at a time. Learn more.
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