Haiku Saturday

few blog posts this week

my boring days occupied

tasks nearly complete

a milestone was passed

a special surprise for you

stay tuned for details

Desperately seeking ....

Ever have a home improvement project but just can't find the right materials? I'm desperately seeking white 2"x2" ceramic wall tiles. Nothing fancy. You know the standard 4" white bathroom tile? Just that except 2". You would think it would be easy enough to find since its so plain. Nope. I've tried all the big box stores and 6 or so tile stores and nobody has it or can special order it. I have no tile cutting tools or experience, so I can't just cut the 4" down to 2" easily.

I'm off to a high-end specialty store (Ann Sacks Tile) on Friday to have a look-see. Their website has the tile - in 12 different shades of white - but no prices listed. It always scares me when no prices are listed! I only need 1.5 sq. feet so hopefully I can either purchase a small quantity or buy enough sample tiles for my project.

And what is the project you ask? A little back splash behind my bathroom pedestal sink. Wish me luck that I can purchase a small quantity and it won't cost me my first born!

Shopping at Home Goods

I was shopping at Home Goods a couple weeks ago and took pictures of some fabulous decorating items for your viewing pleasure. I felt a little weird pulling my camera out in the store to take pictures. Do other people do that?

Cute little pillow that I thought, "I could so make that!"

Beautiful knobs! 

Cool textured tissue holder. I think I could make something like this also.

Colorful artwork

 White erase board with design

This art would fit in great in my condo. Another piece I thought I could totally make on my own.

The most adorable little faux snakeskin table with silver nailhead trim!

 Coral picture frame

Don't you just love shopping?!

It's Craft Time - Kitchen Erase Board

I've been wanting either a chalkboard or a white erase board in my kitchen. I thought the chalkboard would be dusty and worried about grease and I thought standard white erase boards are ugly. What to do, what to do. Why I made my own dry erase board, of course! It was easy peasy and pretty thrifty.

I started with a beautiful picture in a gorgeous frame that for some unexplained reason was drastically clearanced at Joann Fabrics to the princely sum of $9.99 (and of course I then used my 40% off coupon). It was very pretty with multiple levels of mat adding a lot of depth and a fantastic gold and silver with a little black flecked wide frame. For my purposes I only cared about the frame, and it was nice and big and just the perfect size for my 24 inches of  free wall space in my kitchen. I was a little worried. I had seen similar projects in blogland and they always use frames with glass and mine was plastic. Turned out my dry erase markers work just fine on plastic. (Yes, you just write on the glass/plastic. Like magic - it's a dry erase board!)

I picked out some great fabric at a quilt store. I wanted something with a subtle pattern but was still neutral enough to fit into my kitchen. Most importantly it had to be easy to read what was written on the front. I thought about burlap, but wanted something different. I bought more fabric than I needed for the project (hmmm.... Freudian slip?) and don't remember what the fabric cost - but lets just call it $4 for the fabric. It's in the ballpark. Oh! Don't forget to iron your fabric.

So now the easy part. I took the paper on the back of the frame off and pried up the little tabs that held the one piece picture and mat in. I then wrapped the cardboard back of the picture with fabric. Except like a dork I first wrapped the picture side and couldn't figure out how I would stop the pictures from showing through the fabric. Just a little brain fog. I flipped the picture over and wrapped the BACK cardboard side with fabric and taped it on the FRONT of the picture. Much better. I used just regular packing tape, but duct tape would also work if it was handy. You just need it to hold until you get the frame reassembled.

We're now on the kitchen floor. I move around a lot when crafting since space is limited. Wash the plastic (or glass) and put the picture back together.

Ta-da! The fabric print is really subtle in these pictures. It shows up a bit more in person. It looks beautiful with my milk chocolate walls, stainless steel appliances and cherry and black cabinets. Too bad I can't get that into the picture. My kitchen is small and my back was up against the opposite wall as I took this picture.

Total cost $10-ish (I'm getting better at remembering to take pictures. Now I need to remember to save my receipts). Except for the fabric shopping (which was really fun) I think it took me longer to iron the fabric the it did to make the project -- 15 minutes tops even with my little taping mix-up.

My Blogging Goals

I must admit I've been caught up with "blog fever" since I started 3 1/2 months ago. My number of followers, my subscriptions, my statistics and top referral sites, features, link parties, daily posting, weekly projects and recipes OH MY.

When I first started I found myself censoring my posts because of what I thought my family would think (there she goes, dithering about colors again; off on a lamp goose chase - why does she need new lamps?; why does she think she knows anything and can tell other people about it (OK, that last one might be mine)). I'm pretty much over that now, kinda sorta.

But lately I've found myself censoring and changing my posts because of what you might think.  Organizing posts don't receive comments so you must not like them and I shouldn't write them (although I adore organizing things). Burlap, twine, ruffles and shirts with flowers are really big right now in blogland. I should think of  posts and projects with these items to increase traffic to my site. Really, crazy thoughts because my site is for fun not profit. Increase traffic. I just am happy some people seem to like what I have to say.

Prior to this I found myself writing around the difficult bits of my life, showing only the good "perfect" stuff. I'm tired of writing around the messy bits. From now on you get to read uncensored Kathleen (yep, Kat is just a nickname - shocker).

My goals in blogging are: to have fun! pressure to produce projects or certain blog posts is now gone (yeah right - I'm a perfectionist. I'll work on it); give me some structure to my day; give me a creative outlet that is immediate; practice expressing and sharing what I'm thinking and feeling (I tend to bottle things up in an unhealthy way. Did you read my Passion post? I really shared there and was scared to do so. Ah - sharing again). And show what I'm working on and maybe get a kick in the pants to finish things. All with like minded people (that would be you)

So be prepared for the new, uncensored Kathleen. Raw, edgy with the messy bits exposed while still focusing on Decorating, Organizing and Creating for Less - I'm not changing the focus of the blog. Only that you'll "see" more of the real me (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...). And I will write about what I want to and not be a lemming (she said as the cliff loomed near).

I hope you enjoy the subtle change.

Passion

What are you passionate about? This has been a topic in the chain of friendships I have and got me thinking.

I used to know what I was passionate about: my son, my job, and a couple relationships. Some stuff you don't know about me: I've have a major illness. Several years ago my job was eliminated in a merger and now my illness prevents me from getting another like it so there went the money and the self identity tied up in my work (not necessarily healthy, but still). My standard of living sharply decreased. My romantic relationship ended and I moved away. Long distance old friendships are harder to maintain and new ones seem difficult to make. I am lost and have lost track of who I am.

I've been working on redefining (or finally discovering) myself, my values, my goals, my talents, my passions. What I really want in life and not what I think I should want or what I think other people think I should want (if that was confusing to you just think about how I feel living it). It's HARD work. And there are no right answers, which I hate. I want to get to a point where a bell rings and a voice calls down "ahh... finally. Your answer is correct" which I really don't think will happen (darn it). Art titled Passion Lotus.

So enough about me. How about you? What are your passions? How do you know?

In the Kitchen - Grandma's Pancakes

This is my favorite pancake recipe. It supposedly makes 16 servings. Obviously they haven't fed a teenage boy, but the recipe does make a lot. The recipe has extra sugar in it so syrup isn't needed. We just pick them up and eat them like a piece of toast (how uncouth). The extra are great the next day for breakfast or a midnight snack. My son eats them cold, but I've had good luck toasting them in the toaster. Just watch so they don't burn until you see how long it takes in your toaster, as each are different. Wooden tongs are great for getting them out.

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons white sugar
2 1/2  Cups of Milk *
2 eggs
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 Tablespoon cinnamon (we like lots so I use 2 Tablespoons)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla; mix until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle (I use a non-stick with no oil) over medium heat. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto the griddle. Brown on both sides.

* My good friend Bruce tells me you can use slightly sour or expired milk in the pancakes with good results. They bake up really light and fluffy. Now if the milk has chunks, it's obviously too far gone. But a few days past the expiration is fine for cooking in pancakes, biscuits and the like. Anything you'd use buttermilk in is fair game. Bruce says its also good in chocolate cream pies. Ummmm..... pie.

Enjoy!