From Pink to White: Tool Box Revamp

I picked up this lovely little wooden vintage-inspired tool box (I call it a tool box) from Michael's for 70% off.  Only problem was, it was pink.  And it said "Spring" on the side of it. It was screaming out to me, "Love me, take me home."  So I did.

Since I was going for more of a farmhouse feel, I decided to paint it ~ wait for it~ you guessed it, white.  (I know, not a lot of surprises there.)

I also even distressed it a bit but you can't really tell from the photos.

I do love being able to fill it with jelly jars, cutlery and flowers from the yard.

Well worth the $2.00 plus paint, don't you think?

xoxo

I'll be linking up here

Faded Charm

No Minimalist Here

My Romantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Finding Fabulous

Pottery Barn Winner and Thank You Hometalk!

You all know that I'm just about the biggest Club G.W. fan there is....but when life gives you a $100.00 Pottery Barn gift card you just have to SHOP THERE!  Little did I know when I entered Hometalk's generous giveaway over at Home Stories A 2 Z that I would actually be a winner. Yay me, as the saying goes! I've always been a Pottery Barn fan. Now I'm a Hometalk fan, too. So what's Hometalk?

Hometalk is a community of regular folks and home improvement pros who love to talk about home improvement. The site exists for one simple reason: to make home improvement easier and better for you.

Whether you are a homeowner, a renter or a contractor, you need a place to talk about your home improvement projects. Hometalk has created a network where you can get all the information you need to do a home project, right down to the nitty gritty. 

On Hometalk you can:

Get (almost) instant answers to questions about your home & garden.


Search photos and tips for inspiration and information.


Post photos and grow a fan base for your very own house.


Once and for all, get real & reliable reviews of local contractors.


See tips from local businesses.


It's 100%  free and they host regular giveaways to places like (uh, Pottery Barn), West Elm, Home Depot, Z Gallerie and Organize (dot) com! 

I hope you'll check them out soon.  I know I'm glad I did!  Now, what to buy from Pottery Barn....

...the possibilities are endless!  Thanks, Home Stories A 2 Z and thanks Hometalk!

And don't forget to join in my Club G.W. Party going on right now!  I can't wait to see your Club G.W. finds! 

xoxo

Tuesday's Club G.W. with Charm Bracelet Diva No. 5

Hello, friends.  It's been a crazy week since last posting, what with a heat wave and a 10-year-old's slumber party!  But I've lived to tell the tale.  Thank you all for linking up to last week's party. 

Now, without further ado, here are a few features from last week's Club G.W.

Amanda @ Reloved Rubbish

Patti and Paula @  Ivy and Elephants

Sharon @ Elizabeth and Co.

Everyone's entries were awesome, I really did love seeing them all. 

Now if you've been featured, grab a FEATURED button from my top right sidebar!

Before I start Club G.W. Party No. 5 I'd like to thank all of you who commented on my G.W. treasure from last week.  You know, the I-really-love-this-table-even-though-it-needs a heck-of-a-lotta-work table.  I weighed the pros and cons of what to do with it, i.e., strip, glue, sand, paint, wax.....and a little lazy angelic voice inside my head said "Leave it just like it is!"  And you know what?  That's exactly what I'm going to do.

I thought it looked pretty much at home here, so for now it'll stay chippy-shabby.  Whaddya think?

As for the party, if you're new, here's them pesky rules:

  PARTY RULES:

Link up any post, past or present, related to any Goodwill, thrift store, flea market, estate sale, barn sale, YOU NAME IT, find you would like to share. This includes any posts featuring thrifty find re-dos!

Be sure to link your thumbnail back to your original post’s URL and not just to your blog’s main address. (If you don't do this InLinkz will redirect you to correct it.)

Please either post the party’s button (grab it from my top right side bar) OR link back to the party somewhere in your post.

I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO BECOME A FOLLOWER

but it's not mandatory.

And try to visit other party guests, that’s what this is all about!

Ready, set, go!

Tuesday's Club G.W. Party No. 4, Features and a Plea for Help!

{Party is at bottom of post!}

Hello!  I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for another Club G.W.!  I'm going to start off by sharing my Features from Club G.W. No. 3.

Betsy @ My Salvaged Treasures

She does the most amazing things with found treasures of all kinds.  Can you believe this gorgeous necklace was made from vintage sewing machine parts?

Kim @ Cheap Chic Home

Cloche envy, anyone?  She made this from scratch!  (And I'd like some of those chocolates, too!)

Susan @ homeroad

Can you say curb appeal?

Theresa @ 612 Riverside

What a Club G.W. Diva, she made this great bag out of a Club G.W. skirt!

If you've been featured, grab a Featured button and share the love!

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Now, on to some serious business ~ I finally found it !  The Holy Grail of found furniture (at least for me)!  But you gotta help me out because I'm paralyzed with fear as to what I'm going to do with her. 

I present my biggest "Pitter-patter" thus far:

 Is she beautiful, or what?

I was so excited to find her at good old Mr. Thrifty ~ I almost couldn't believe she was right there in front of me.  The good ones always seem to be spoken for, you know?  Anyway, I knew I had to have her but, alas, she's got a few problems.  Nothing that can't be remedied, I'm sure, but novice that I am I just don't know where to start! 

The detail is amazing. 

I'm not sure if you can tell but there's quite a bit going on here.  The top is almost laminate-like (is that even a word?), while there's also gold paint on the ridges going around the top of the table and yellow paint everywhere else!  Then there's the real damage.

 Not sure if you can tell but there are some "slivers" of wood that are loose and are coming up.

You can see it here where I've pulled it up a bit with my finger.  What am I supposed to do with this?  Do I glue it back down where possible?  Do I "strip" the whole thing of it's original paint, and if so, HOW?  Part of me just wants to leave it "as is."

I mean, look at the detail.  I love this "crown."

And here the paint is literally falling off the legs. 

 What would you do?  I would love to hear what you think.

Now let's take a peek at the Rules and get this party started!

 

PARTY RULES:

Link up any post, past or present, related to any Goodwill, thrift store, flea market, estate sale, barn sale, YOU NAME IT, find you would like to share. This includes any posts featuring thrifty find re-dos!

Be sure to link your thumbnail back to your original post’s URL and not just to your blog’s main address. (If you don't do this InLinkz will redirect you to correct it.)

Please either post the party’s button (grab it from my top right side bar) OR link back to the party somewhere in your post.

I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO BECOME A FOLLOWER

but it's not mandatory.

And try to visit other party guests, that’s what this is all about!

Enough of the rules! Link up, leave a comment and puhleeze let me know what I should do with this gorgeous table! 

xoxo

Starbucks Redux and Coffee Sack Reveal!

Okay.  So I wanted to reveal my mystery Club G.W. project at the party here.  But the power went out, and we had no Internet for 30 hours, so I couldn't.  But now I can!  Remember, here was the teaser.

Now I'll show you more of that bad boy.

I picked up this burlap coffee sack at a local flea market, not quite sure what I was going to do with it, but I bought it anyway. Sound familiar?  It really did smell like coffee beans.....but the vendor who sold it to me said to just rinse it with the hose and let it dry outside.  I did.  And to my amazement, it worked!  Size-wise it's 2 1/2' by 3 1/2', affording quite a bit of "fabric" to create with (think two times the fun since it's a SACK so you have both a front and back panel). 

When I got it home I decided I'd use it to cover an old stool that was left in our house by the prior owners.  I was going to use the front of the bag, with the great stenciled letters and graphics.  But then I got to thinking........and I came up with another use for the front (to be announced at a later date).  So I cut the sack into two separate panels using my good old pinking shears to try and minimize the fraying.  {NOTE: the bottom of the sack was tightly sewn together with blue thread, about an inch above the natural seam of the sack.  To maximize my usable material, I used a seam ripper to rip out the blue seam before I cut the sack in two.}

Here's the stool before.

Pretty bad, I know.  It's been sitting in our basement for the past seven years, what can I say?

As you can see, the fabric was a bit worn and outdated, and the dark wood just isn't my style.  So I went to work to change things up a bit.  So after a coat of primer and two coats of Valspar "Vintage Map," (and a wee bit of distressing) voila.

I do like how it turned out. My kids were all like "It's nice Mom, but it'll be so scratchy!"

 Surprisingly, it's not!  Lovin' it!

Hope you're all having a great week!  And if you haven't linked up yet, there's still time.  Hope to see you at Club G.W. No. 3!  

<br /> <a href="http://charmbraceletdiva.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac135/kmoms3/clubgwbutton1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />

xoxo

I'm linking up here:

Perfectly Imperfect Blog

No Minimalist Here

The Shabby Chic Cottage

The Charm of Home

504 Main

Miss Mustard Seed

The Answer is Chocolate

My Romantic Home

French Country Cottage 

Alchemy Fine Living

Restore Interiors

Tuesday's Club G.W. with Charm Bracelet Diva Party No. 3: Features and a Request

Okay, first off I'd like to say thank you to all of last week's participants.  You rock my world, really!

H-o-w-e-v-e-r..........I have to say that I'm bummed by the relatively low turnout.  When I first mentioned to you guys that I was thinking of hosting Club G.W your response was VERY positive, with promises all around to join in the fun.  I really enjoy hosting it, and meeting new friends and finding new blogs, but I think I'll be waiting to see how this thing plays out....hopefully my bloggy friends out there will tell their friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on and so on....because I'd really like to keep this thing going.  I mean, as I've said before, we're all in the same Club {G.W.}, right?  Okay, enough blabbing.  On to my features from Party No. 2!  (Wish I could feature you ALL!)  Let's see who's a Club G.W. Diva!

First off, you have GOT to check out this old-door-turned-table (bestill my heart!) by Stacey over at  Embracing Change.

Okay, don't you just love old doors?  I do!  And this door-turned table redo is fabulous, right down to the fun stenciled words on it!  And the blue and red color combo ~ genius! 

Hold yourself back if you're one for French flair.  Lina over at Fancy Frugal Life created a lovely Frenchie end table using the pencil transfer method. 

You've gotta see how she turned an old Target end table into a unique, pretty piece of furniture!

And Carol over at The Polka Dot Closet's been a busy bee.  She altered a vintage suitcase with travel stickers and it's truly a one-of-a-kind treasure!

She even tells you where she got the stickers.  Thanks, Carol.

If you made the Club. G.W. Diva list, well, go on and grab yourself a Featured Button from my sidebar!

I know I gave you a sneak peek of my project for the party.  And I was going to do the reveal here, BUT our power went out this morning and it's still out, so I'm sitting in a Panera Bread with a laptop and no pictures to share. SO I guess the reveal will have to wait until the power decides to come on!

Now, on to today's party!

Remember, it can be a new or old post.  Just please, link back to me so that others can find out about the party and join in the fun! 

          

xoxo

Kathleen

Take That, Starbucks and a Robyn Story Chalk Paint Giveaway!

I'm excitedly working on a project I'll be revealing at this Tuesday's Club G.W. Party and I'm so excited about it that I wanted to give you a sneak peek.  Can you guess?

I'll never tell!  Tune in on Tuesday and find out for yourself.  I think you'll like it....

Now for the fabulous giveaway!

Robyn Story Designs is hosting a

 MOUNTAIN OF ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT GIVEAWAY!  

I've been dying to try this paint and I know you have, too!  There are 10 cans of paint, yes, I said 10 cans of paint up for grabs!  Plus 6 more home decor goodies!  So stop on over there right now and get all the details on how to enter!

See you at Tuesday's Club G.W.

xoxo

Homemade Marshmallows Parisienne Style

Source

The other day my husband pointed out to me an article in our local newspaper he thought I might be interested in.  It's entitled "Don't harsh your homemade mallow."  It's actually a book review of a recently-released book entitled "Sugar Baby" by Gesine Bullock-Prado.  Just take a look at this.

Yum.

  I can tell you that my kids are not the only ones in our house who like sweet confections, including marshmallows.  Yours truly loves them.  And I couldn't help but laugh when Marialisa Calta, who wrote the review, pointed out that once you master the making of these beauties you can "dazzle everyone you know by presenting them with their French name, "guimauve" (ghee-MOHV)."   How delightful!  Here's the recipe for those of you who dare to enter the world of serious homemade confectionery.

Marshmallows

From: "Sugar Baby" by Gesine Bullock-Prado (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011)

Yield: About 40 marshmallows

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup room-temperature water
2 cups sugar
½ cup corn syrup
½ cup hot water
2 egg whites (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
½ cup cornstarch, plus more for dredging

Procedure:

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the gelatin and pour the 1/3 cup water over it. Let it rest in the stand mixer (with the whisk in mixing position) until the sugar syrup is ready. Make sure the gelatin is completely saturated with water before you add your sugar syrup.


In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup and hot water. Melt the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved. Raise the heat to medium-high and allow the mixture to boil. With a damp pastry brush, wipe down the sides of the pan to prevent stray sugar crystals from forming. Clip on a candy thermometer and heat to 250 degrees F.


Meanwhile, if using egg whites, beat them with the salt until they hold a stiff peak. Because the stand mixer has the gelatin and whisk in it, you will have to beat the egg whites in a separate bowl; a copper bowl and whisk work well, or a stainless steel bowl and whisk, eggbeater or hand mixer. Caution: Any traces of fat in the bowl will deflate the whites, as will using a plastic bowl.


Bring the pot with the hot sugar mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer. Set the mixer speed to medium-low and slowly add the hot sugar mixture, carefully and gently pouring it down the side of the bowl to avoid both splashing and scorching the gelatin (if you heat gelatin at too high a temperature, it loses its efficacy).


Raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the mixture has started to stiffen and has doubled in volume. Add the egg whites, if using, the vanilla and, if you haven't used the egg whites, the salt. Mix until light, white and fluffy.


Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil and sprinkle with the ½ cup cornstarch, making sure to cover every inch.


For plain, square marshmallows: Spray a plastic spatula with nonstick spray and scoop the entire marshmallow mixture onto the pan. Using an offset spatula, also sprayed, smooth the marshmallow out into an even layer. Work fast — this stuff stiffens up quickly. Let the marshmallow dry for at least four hours or overnight. Using very sharp knife, a pizza cutter or scissors (each sprayed with nonstick spray), cut the marshmallows into bite-sized pieces. Dredge each piece in cornstarch, making sure each cut edge is covered, otherwise the pieces will stick to anything and everything. You can also use a sharp cookie cutter (sprayed) to make shapes. Dredge in cornstarch.


For curvy marshmallows, use a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip to pipe shapes onto the prepared pan. Dredge in cornstarch.


Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Marshmallows made without egg whites will last up to several months.

So, is your mouth watering yet?  Mine is! (and it has been the entire time I've been writing this!)  While I don't think the recipe is for the faint of heart, I do think it might just be worth the extra effort.  And ~ sshhhhhh~ I also think the final product will have to be hidden from the kids.

I can't close without sharing the ending of Ms. Calta's article:

Note: 

If you combine a toasted "guimauve"

 with chocolate and graham crackers,

you have a "smor-ay." 

That's French for s'more.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. You can read more about the author and buy the book here.

xoxo

   I'll be linking up here:

French Inspiration Friday at The French Cupboard



Christmas in July

Christmas in July?  Not really.  But these beautiful white blooms do make me think of snowballs!

This is my favorite time of year when pretty much all of our flora is blooming.

I call this one the Amazing Elephant Ear ~ it's grown to almost gargantuan proportions!

Today was the perfect summer day to spend by the pool with the chickadees.  I hope yours was a good one!

And don't forget to join in Tuesday's Club G.W. Party with Charm Bracelet Diva ~ it's going on right now and I'd love to see you there! Just scroll on down for party No. 2's post.  Better yet, grab yourself a button!




<br /> <a href="http://charmbraceletdiva.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac135/kmoms3/clubgwbutton1-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />

xoxo

I'll be linking up here:

Faded Charm