I Know I'm Not Practical

I'm reminded of that fact daily by either my husband or my children.

I did a little cleaning Sunday afternoon...

For me, cleaning is when I make things pretty,

and most of the time,

the end product is completely impractical, but usually free.

For me, personal touches and happiness trumps practicality.

Case in point, my new and improved sweets and hot drinks cabinet.

Our kitchen cabinets are original to 1968.

They insides have been painted several times.

I attached pages of a 1975 church cookbook to the inside.

The names are dear to me, as many of the ladies have passed away.

I seldom make these recipes, so found it more useful to have it here,

where I could enjoy it...

A little cocoa and cream station.

The kids are digging the keurig hot water dispenser...and cocoa is flowing.

The "0" container is from Anthropologie.

Inside is my zero calorie sugar. :)

Coffee pods for the coffee maker...

Labelled containers and reorganized...

Vintage ric-rac that I had attached to the shelves with a glue gun...
"New" basket from a dear friend holding baking supplies.

Old wooden spoon and gingerbread man from my Grandma Izzy.

I wish I had taken a before.

It was a disaster.

Feels good to have something in the kitchen that makes my heart sing a bit!

-julie

Eating Well

This was a quick addition to the kitchen paint job. Letters are from Hobby Lobby and were $1.99 each. Two coats of black paint, and some old family silverware attached with strong bond adhesive. Done.

It's been a year since I was back on the vegetarian route...and vegan since May. Now to cut out the sugar ....and get back to running more on my treadmill. It's still colder than I'd like here in IL, and I miss my daily runs by the river.

So, this is a little reminder to me to do some healthy eating and sit down with some silverware. :)

Any good recipes or snack ideas??

Who's On Duty?

In our house it's a big deal to lose a tooth. Here is Sofi, wiggling away.

Izzy is contemplating being a dentist, and has already lost two teeth. Here she is giving Sofi some assistance.

A little floss did the trick, and here she is clutching her tooth while calling Papa. Notice she dressed up a bit to talk on the phone? This is a big deal...because Papa knows which tooth fairy is on duty each night. For the first tooth, it's usually Matilda. One never knows quite what the tooth fairy may need, or what the tooth fairy will do while she visits. She may string up your room, or put your toys in bed with you, or write a secret message with toothpaste or anything else she can find. Only Papa really knows, and that's pretty cool.

To quote Izzy, "We are lucky because we have a Grandpa who knows the tooth fairy. Here's our board in the kitchen for all of those special quotes.

Forks and Spoons Above

Making a chandelier for your kitchen...

1. Find an antique broom holder.

2. Go outside to umbrella stand. Remove candleholder and bring inside. Turn it upside down and secure in place.

3. Purchase silverware from Goodwill. Persuade husband to drummel holes in ends of forks and spoons. Secure with wire and pretty little crystals.

4. Be amused months later upon seeing this....retail $4800 at Anthropologie.

Still Climbing Up

We bought this house from my parents in 2000. Some treasures were left behind, and in my mind this is one of them. It's Swedish, and if you look closely, you'll see the numbers 10, 20, 30, etc. Dad wasn't too excited that he had reached the peak at 50 years and was on the decline.

It was in perfect condition, and stretched on a wood frame. One day I realized that it fit perfectly on the etched glass doors that I wasn't fond of. I bought some spray adhesive, cut it into 4 sections, and here it is. I need to have the top translated again.

At 38 I'm apparently still climbing and will likely leave this on the office doors until I am 50.

Bleek is Better Than Blue

Now & Then

After 8 years of French Blue, our kitchen is now Bleeker Beige (HC-80 Benjamin Moore) and I'm loving it! Thank you Beth for the recommendation! The old pic is before I painted the island black and Mark extended the top of it. We're in the midst of putting things back together. More pics & stories to come of the little things that I love in our kitchen.