Hanukkah Martha Stewart style
I just picked up a sparkling holiday issue of Martha Stewart Living. With the season to be merry in full swing there are so many wonderful events and ideas to take part in. Martha Stewart is the master when it comes to decorating and events planning that is specifically themed for this time of the year. I love these ideas for Hanukkah that are featured on her website.
Paper Dreidels from Martha Stewart Living
Gingerbread Real Estate
If you have ever attempted to construct a gingerbread house, you know how daunting it can be.
This is a replica of the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto. It took three weeks to build this gingerbread version.
Most of us don’t have the ambition, “people” power or materials to construct these masterpieces. I explored other possibilities, history and finally our attempt.
Painting before and After
My kitchen cabinets are down-right ugly, poor, brown laminate that they are. I am researching ways to make them look better but that will have to wait. In the mean-time, I was able to make a small improvement from the inside out just by using paint and some elbow grease.
Here are the cabinets as they were when I moved in. Dark brown stained wood. The cabinets were custom made back in the day and are very sturdy but it was hard to see the dishes so I decided to paint the insides in a semi-gloss white. This small change has made a world of difference.
Before
Finally! A Place for Etsy’s Weird, Weirder & Weirdest.
Most of you who like to buy handcrafted things online are familiar with Etsy. While there are some really great things on Etsy, I must admit, I have stumbled upon some, how do I write this? – OK, I’ll come out and write it – really ugly and badly made items that leave me thinking, who the hell would buy THAT? Someone who is more gutsy and expressive than I am has started a blog called Regretsy which has the byline “Handmade? It looks like you made it with your feet”. And that, my friends, is just the beginning.
I have been laughing my pants off reading this blog all week and admittedly though things some people make are totally off the wall and make me wonder about the human race, Regretsy took it a step further and the best thing about this blog is the hysterically witty commentary, which encourages readers comments thereby multiplying the laughter and enjoyment factor.
Here are a few items that made me cry laughing and that are also reasonably safe to view with kids around. (I said reasonably)
I call this one Patriotic Rock: Maybe they could do one for Israel as well, though the political message may be a little controversial.
Instant furniture update, paint it!
Paint is a small miracle waiting to happen, one coat makes it cleaner, two coats give it personality and three coats do the trick for a full update to old furniture.
In the closet work space
More stuff to do with your closet…
This time the closet becomes a cozy work area. My sister Caryn is an expert when it comes to transforming small spaces with big ideas. This storage closet was a real dump before she got her hands on it and now it is a treasure.
Caryn’s Closet
DIY: my blue heaven
Heaven is different things to different people. My heaven is this stairway leading to my new basement, having a basement is simply heaven in my book!
My family and I recently moved into a home that has been in the family for 40 years. I can remember my grandmother making the trip up and down these steps well into her early nineties…
Steps Before
Closet art, literally
Moving can be exciting, exhausting and an opening for spectacular creations like these life size paintings that my daughter did on her closets in her room in our new “old” house.
She wanted something special in her new room, something that would make it stand apart from other 12 year olds rooms. The amazing artist that she is, she did these on her own in one evening. If she can do it, so can you!
Closet Girl One
Quick Fix: Easy Lamp Makeover
I’ll be the first to admit that I hardly did anything productive whatsoever over the Labor Day weekend. Even if it hadn’t been my birthday weekend, I still wouldn’t have done much. But the one thing I did manage to accomplish was making over this boring lamp my husband brought home from Target seven or eight years ago during our/my Arts & Crafts phase.
It’s a perfectly decent lamp, but with that whole “everything’s brown” issue I’ve been dealing with, it quickly became the first to fall victim to Mel and her trusty can of spray paint.
Inspiration for Homeless Drawers
On one of my afternoon walks, I found 3 wooden drawers that must have been part of a dining room cabinet. There are these really great labels on the front, in German.
I went to a German-English online dictionary to translate the labels for those who are curious:
Fischbestecke means Fish cutlery
Diverses means Miscellaneous
Theelöffel, Tischgabeln & Tischloffel mean Teaspoons, Forks & Tablespoons.
It saves time when you know what’s in the drawers, I guess.