It's the Small Things in Life.....Part 2

Last week I posted about my microwave and fridge updates in my kitchen.

This week I am posting about my bathroom cabinet.

When I bought the house, the bathroom cabinet had a built in hamper, but it was so small. I needed the storage space. I decided to make it a regular cabinet. Of course, I forgot the before pics, but I did get one mid construction!

As you can see I tore the back of the "hamper" off. I wanted to keep the door so I didn't have to buy another. I painted the inside of the cabinet a lovely shade of ORANGE! I think it adds a nice element of surprise!

Last weekend when mom was at my house to help paint the exterior, she helped me put the hinges and handle on. Here is the final result!

I LOVE how it turned out. It's a great space to store my extra t.p. and if you look closely, we purposely hung the door a little low so I could still keep my hair dryer and straightner plugged in, but keep them hidden in a basket in the cabinet.

ji

It's the simple things in life......

Most of the time I am not a hard person to please, but the lack of counterspace in my kitchen has been a problem since I moved into the house almost 2 years ago.

This is how my kitchen looked when I first looked at the house: white walls, tan carpet, lots of knick knacks, etc.

This is what it looked like after some renovations...new tile on the floor, a nice sage green paint with orange accents.

Notice there is very LITTLE counterspace. Just the space between the fridge and the sink, most of which was being used for the microwave. There is also a little space on top the dishwasher, but it is too far from the sink and fridge to be efficient. Earlier this summer, I got the bright idea to take the doors off above the oven and put the microwave in that space. This was a job I needed help, and it was mom to the rescue. There was one small problem....the nearest power outlet was behind the fridge. After a little discussion, we decided that was a relatively easy fix. I already had the microwave plugged in with a heavy guage extension cord. We ended up drilling a hole in between the cabinet and the pantry and another hole in between the pantry and the wall where the fridge is and running the extension cord through the pantry. Also, we put a couple 1x12 shelved above the microwave for a a little added storage. Here is the final result:

 

 



It isn't much, but I thought it turned out great!

 

 

And look at all the counterspace (sarcasm)!!!!! BUT is it more than I had when the microwave was there!

 

About a month after getting that done, I was cleaning behind my fridge and noticed my beast of an old fridge was leaking coolant and stained my grout. I started the search for a new fridge. I wanted a french door fridge with the drawer on the bottom. Boy was I in for a good lesson on wants vs need/afford. My first hurdle was finding a fridge that was skinny enough to fit in my opening. I found a few but not too many. My next hurdle was finding one that was not too tall. IMPOSSIBLE!!! I ended up having to bust out cabinet above for a new fridge to fit. I moved the new fridge in, but missed the storage above and the big gaping hole bugged me. I did some measuring and figured out if I cut about an inch off the bottom of the cabinet door, I could hang them back up :) Shout-out to Harold for helping me trim the doors! So the bf helped me install shelves like above the microwave and hang the doors. TADA! It looks like a normal cabinet again. Here is a shot of the kitchen as it is now!

 

 

 

 

 While this might not be the most exciting post I have ever written, it is the small things in life that make me happy!

 

Later Alligator!

ji

Personalized Wall Hangings

I have only a small addition to Pinterest.....maybe a little more than small, but that is beside the point :)

One day while scanning Pinterest, I found a cute wall hanging with vinyl that I thought would be a great gift idea.

Since pinning this, I have made 2 of these wall hangings. I created the image in Adobe Illustrator and cut them out on a vinyl machine.

This is the first one I made. I forgot to take pics of the final product so blame Moo for the bad photo quality!

 

Next, I made one for one of my all-time favorite people, Jennifer (and Doug, too!)

 

These are super fun to make and I'm sure I will make more of these in the future!

 

ji

 

I like a challenge!

I have been creating and making vinyl projects for some time now, and it is always fun when someone wants something created that I've never made before. Miss Metissa (sweetest girl ever!), a part-timer at work, had to buy an iPad for college. She wanted something pretty and to make hers stand out from the sea of other iPads on campus.

She found an image of a skyline on etsy that she loved and asked if I could make her something similar for cheaper than the $35 online price. Seeing how I tend to work for free, it was definitely cheaper! It seemed easy enough! Boy was I wrong!!! I naively thought getting the correct dimensions and navigating around the speakers and earphone plugin would be the hardest. Little did I know there are VERY few hi res images of sylines out on the net. I finally found something I could work with and started cleaning up the image and shaping it so it would go around the speakers and such. Here is what I came up with:

 

Luckily, she loved it!! Here is the final product, I even included free installation!

 

Seeing how I don't have an iPad, I would have never gotten the opportunity to create one of these myself. I loved the challenge and know that doing unique projects, such as this one, just strengthen my graphic design skills!

 

Later,

ji

Happy Birthday B! (Or shall I say BELATED birthday?)

Miss B's birthday was in July. I asked and asked and asked what she wanted :) I was happy to hear she wanted me to do a crafty project. She texted me this:

And THIS is what I created. Selfishly, I thought mine was cuter :)

Even more exciting was that I put everything together on a removeable metal plate so she can change out the flowers for the seasons. A shout out to my daddy for helping me cut and drill holes in the metal plate.

It was only a month late, but happy belated birthday B!

Hasta luego,
ji

Flashback

Sorry for the long absence, but work has been keeping me on my toes.

Remember this? http://oklahomacountrygirl.blogspot.com/2011/12/dedicated-to-jennifer-co-worker.html I made this for my co-worker Jennifer a couple months back.

Another one of my co-workers saw it and requested one for her nephew's wedding gift. It turned out just as cute!

We originally wanted "holding hands, but because I had to etch it, it just looked like a big blob. I thought this was a nice alternative.

Ive got a lot more exciting projects coming up! Stay tuned.

ji

Once Upon a Time.....

there were two cousins, Moo and Jelly Bean. Moo had lots of ideas, but Jelly Bean was the creative crafter.

One early winter morning, Moo emailed Jelly Bean a photo of a craft she wanted for her office desk.

Being the crafty person she is, Jelly Bean was intrigued by the prospect of handpainting. Her previous attempts at handpainting hadn't gone so well. But that didn't deter her one bit. A coworker generously supplied Jelly Bean with a Starbucks Frapaccino botttle. After spray painting the bottle white, it was days and days before Jelly Bean got the nerve to start handpainting the zebra stripes. She was suprised to find out that it was rather simple.

Here is her creation:

Now that Jelly Bean earned her confidence, Moo has requested a Giraffe print with orange flowers.

And as soon as Moo has her giraffe and orange creation, they will live happily ever after......until the next project.

ji

New Addition

Back in early December, it was just a normal day at the office. That is until this little girl came along.....

The boss and his executive secretary found her wondering around on a COLD day in our parking lot. She almost got hit by a car. Somehow, (still really not sure how) I got talked into taking her home for the weekend so she didn't have to go to the pound.

I ended up taking her out to the bf's farm (he honestly had said that he would like a dog!!) and the rest is history. Her name is Izzy and she LOOOOOVE'S her Freddy (and he LOOOVE's her)!

She is a great dog, but has one really BAD habit. She chases tumbleweeds.....and ends up miles away. Last time it took Freddy 6 days to find her. We sure thought she was a goner.



Decisions, Decisions!

I need some help!

When I moved into my house, I had my living room arranged "the perfect way"......or so I thought! At Christmas, I had to rearrange the living room to accomodate the large tree in front of the picture window. I found I rather liked the new furniture arrangement. Soooo. I am posting a Pre-Christmas and a Post Christmas furniture arrangement and I would like everyone's opinions on which way they like it!

Pre-Christmas

Post-Christmas

What do you think? What should I do?

HELP!

ji

Naked

When I bought my house back in October of 2010, there was A LOT that I wanted to change. I very much focused on the inside and getting it up to where I wanted it to be. I definitely had ideas for the front and back yards, but I wanted to wait a year to see what plants and flowers were already exisiting. But ONE thing that bothered me most about my house were these three UGLY pine bushes right in front of the house.

Photo taken in Nov 2010

I would have removed them instantly, but there were other things more important on my to-do list. We had an absolutely beautiful weekend last weekend, so Fred decided it was time to get started on those bushes.....much to my delight :)

I snapped a before photo right before we started. If you noticed, last fall I trimmed the bush on the left. But the others have't been touched since I bought the house.

We just hooked a chain around the base of the bush, and put the pick-up in drive. I guess this is the redneck way :) Surprisingly, they came out rather easily.

The it took longer to haul the bushes to the dump than it did to remove them!

TADA! All done. I know it looks bare, but I have BIG plans for the front of the house. It shall look much better than those ungly A** bushes :)

And as to the title of my post, leave it to my lovely 5 year old neighbor Dominic. "Jerri's house suuuuurre looks naked"

Good day!
ji

From a Farm Shed to My New House: A Trash to Treasure Story

I found a dresser in my mom's junk shed on the farm....in the very back. If you know my mother (and her hoarding tendencies) you would know the challenge it was to get it out. At first glance, it looked ok. We figured could use a little wood glue and it would be good to go. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Taking it out of the shed, it starting falling apart, by the time we got it to the front porch, I was regretting ever even mentioning taking the dresser and fixing it up. There were only 2 of the 5 drawers that even stayed together, and even then, I don't think I could put anything in it without it falling apart. The frame was disenigrating and leaned to the back really bad. It was WAYYY past my abilities.

Before:

According to mom, this dresser was my Great Great Great Great Aunt Fannie's. In one of the drawer bottom we discovered that it was bought in March of 1916 for $8 in Chigaco at Freese and Son's Furniture. If you look closely, you can read the faint writing on the old drawer bottom.

I found a local man who was willing to take on the enormous task of putting the dresser back together. And it turned out great, if I say so!

Final product:

One of the things that really made me want to fix up this dresser what the very ornate carvings on every drawer, something you just don't find anymore in modern furniture:

I really loved how it turned out and I will treasure it forever.

The New Favorite Child (i.e. NOT me)

My brother and I got the bright idea to get my parents a puppy for Christmas. It's all Kayla's fault. She was getting a puppy and asked if we wanted one.

Who could turn down this little face...... Meet Jake!

We gave him to my parents over Thanksgiving, and to say it was a hit is putting it mildly. He has grown so much over the past couple of months, but here are some photos of the ornery little s&%t.

Love at first sight!

Yep...definitely dad's dog, he fell asleep behind the shi$$er!

Beccccccca.....I'm sleeeeeeeepy, leave me alone!

Sleepyhead

Nap time with dad

Poor cat....he didn't have a chance from day one.

So Grandma spoils me? So what?

Where is that sweet little darling puppy? He is no more!

I hope you enjoyed your introduction to Jake. I guess I don't have to fight Wilton for the role of "favorite" since neither one of us has a chance in He$$ since the puppy entered the picture.

Have a great day!
ji

My first Christmas......Sort of....

This year was my first Christmas in my new house. I think I went  a little overboard (so my checkbook tells me anyway). I bought a tree, tree decorations, craft items, garland, etc.

My first craft project (or should I say, MOM's project) was a tree skirt. I found a super cute burlap tree skirt on Etsy, but it was $125 dollars. WOW! So I promply emailed mom the photo and put in my request for assistance :) She spent $10 on burlap fabric and hours of cussing at the thickness and raveling. We now know why it was $125, but it turned out amazing!

This was my living room looking from the dining room. I decorated in red and gold. Notice the pretty tree skirt. I changed out the photos on the wall for xmas themed photos and hung garland and a wreath on the barnwood wall.

On the tv wall, I deocrated with a simple poinsetta plant and the handmade ceramic Santa Claus's that I inherited from my dear friend, Floretta, when she died. I smile every time I see them and remember the days when I used to help her decorate her house for Christmas.

In the entry way, I made some handmade decorations. In the corner I used 3 huge bulbs and ribbon to hang the bulbs from the ceiling. In the entry I used foam board, fabric and painted letters from Hobby Lobby to create the JOY artwork. I was impressed with how it turned out. It definitely filled up that empty space.

I put my tree directly in front of the picture window so you can even see it from the street. I wanted to do outdoor lights, but my budget did not allow, plus I am too dang picky and couldn't get what I wanted!!

This completes my wrap up of Christmas decorations!

ji