Little Chalkboards

These old cupboard doors were painted & converted into little chalkboards.  They will make GREAT gifts!

Shabby Chic Vinyl Floor

Look at this cool sheet vinyl floor!  Not sure if I have the "right" place for it, but I think it is pretty cool

....& daring!

Skor Trifle

 

Ingredients:

 

(Note:  I like to use name brands to ensure it will NEVER fail)

 

 

 

 

1 Box of Devils Food Cake, baked as per directions & cubed

 

 

 

2 Boxes of Instant Butterscotch Pudding, prepared as per directions

 

 

500 ml (2 cups) of real whipping cream, Plus:

 

1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners)

 

Whipped together until stiff

 

 

 

1 Pkg toffee bits

1 Pkg of Skor minis, or 4 large candy bars, broken into pieces.

 

 

Directions: 

Layer in trifle bowl or large glass bowl, using 1/2 of each ingredient for each layer.

cake>pudding>whipped cream>toffee bits>candy bar chunks>

cake>pudding>whipped cream>toffee bits>candy bar chunks>

Enjoy :)





 



Ham & Cheese Cornbread Muffins

These are GREAT in the freezer, and just take one out for a quick breakfast on-the-go!

Ingredients

3 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Cups Yellow Cornmeal

2 Tbsp Sugar

2 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

2 1/2 Cups Buttermilk

4 Eggs

1/4 Cup Canola Oil

1 1/2 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shreaded

1 Cup Chopped Green Onion

2/3 Cup Diced Smoked Ham

1/2 Cup Diced Red Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Measure all dry ingredients together, and stir with a whisk. 

Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just moist.

Reserving 1/2 cup of cheese, fold in the rest of the cheese, the onion, ham, & red pepper.  

Spray muffin cups with cooking spray, and fill with batter.  Top each muffin with a few "sprigs" of cheese.

Bake 23 minutes.  Makes 24 "hearty" muffins.

We need new floors!!

Well, as I may have mentioned a hundred times before, we live in an old house. Over 100 years old. The floors are uneven, and on the main floor of the house we have some nice pine floors which are original to the house.

 

  The floors may look nice in the photo, but this was taken about 5 years ago when we had just refinished them. They were refinished with about 6 coats of Diamond Finish Clear Poly.
CONS:
~When we refinished them we sanded, and the nail heads were starting to protrude above the wood. This means no more sanding! 
  After several years I have some annoyances: (is that a word??) anywho...
~this floor is dry, & brittle. Under the desk area, where the chair moves in & out the floor has literally deteriorated & large chunks of wood have just broken off!
~Also there are large gaps in between the planks. This means in the kitchen area I can not even sweep! I have to vacuum. The inconvenience of taking out the vacuum 3 times a day (not that I ever do..shhhhhh)  is wearing on me.
~From a design point of view, I don't like the brown cupboards, brown wood floor & brown counter top (which was supposed to be black) - going on here.  Too much "matchy matchy"!

PROS:

~When we renovated the kitchen, it saved us thousands to NOT have to purchase new floors. :)
~Crumb catchers are handy. (big gaps between boards)
~The natural ambered natural color is GREAT for hiding dirt...seriously if it were not for the big gaps filled with crumbs, it would never look dirty!


I do work in a flooring speciality store, so I have a couple of products in mind:

 http://www.gerflorcanada.com/canada-en/floors-for-the-home/product-page/texline-bois,277.html

GERFLOR

I like this for a few reasons.
~it has that 100 year old house feel,
~it will brighten the kitchen & not be so "matchy-matchy",
~it is a ply able vinyl product so it will go over our EXTREMELY uneven floors without much prep,
~it is textured,and has a "feel real" wood vibe
~1 solid piece means no place for crumbs to hide & easily sweepable
~It has an anti-mildew layer, which means it is great for wet areas - & will not grow mold
~It is softer & warmer & more comfortable than hardwood
~The backing has a fibreglass layer, which prevents it from curling up on the edges 
~Pricewise it runs about $3.67/sf for this particular series

 

OK, so next is MARMOLEUM (no photo available..just the link)

 

Marmoleum has been around for 100 ++ years!  It is a completely natural product!  Interestingly enough it is made from some basic ingredients:

• linseed oil
• sawdust (tree flour)
• tree gum (tree resin)
• jute backing
• natural pigments

Cool eh? 

 

It comes in a click floor (which has a natural cork backing),

a tile form & a sheet form

(here is the link)

http://www.forbo-flooring.us/Residential-Flooring/Products/

 

PROS: 

~They offer matching cool borders too!  (for the tile & sheet product).   

~All 3 types of marmoleum is refurbish able!  They can be polished up like new over & over again. 

~Environmentally friendly - biodegradable

~It is considered a "breathe easy" flooring product

 

CONS:

The only disadvantages of this product were hard to think of, but here are a few downfalls:

~I guess just the price.  This stuff goes for $6-$7ish per square foot in Canada.  That can add up if you have a large area, but seriously it will last forever. 

~The only downfall of that is if you ever remodel, you have no excuse to get a new floor!!

~The sheets MUST be installed by professionals, due to the weld-rod they use to seam it together. This weld rod requires a special machine. It is a 6 foot wide roll.

 

So which do you prefer?

 

 



 

Word verification, or no word verification?

I have just changed my settings to only allow comments with word verification. This is due to a high volume of spam recently. Although I love comments, and get excited when just 1 person comments on one of my posts, it is so annoying to get these comments that have nothing to do with my post. I was always annoyed when I had a word verification to comment on other blog posts, but now I must apologize to you, and I now GET it! Sorry people, but word verification is sometimes a good thing.

The "Becki"

I am so excited about this one!!  This China cupboard was destined to be mine.  There was an ad poster for tile at my place of work, that I had always admired.  Not only for the tile, but the cupboard in the picture. 

 

 

One of my favourite places to get projects is a local Facebook auction site.  When I saw this on the site, I HAD to bid on it.

Needs some TLC...but that is OK with me!

 

I ended up paying $120 for it, but I think it was totally worth it!

 

I love the after.  The inside & the fretwork is an awesome green  The outside is homemade white chalk paint & slightly distressed.  I left the shelves original but restained them walnut to just clean them up.  I was planning on using it in my new bathroom for linens when it is done, but at the moment it is my craft cupboard in a corner of my dining room.