DIY Tea Canister

Tags

DIY, home decor, kitchen, kitchen decor, tea, tea party, tea time

I’m lucky enough to have my teabags imported from Scotland (Thanks, Riotflower!) Besides the oversized plastic bags, I needed somewhere a little more posh to store them.

DIY Tea Canister ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Bon Appetit – Custom Utensil Canister

Tags

customize, decal, DIY, home decor, kitchen, kitchen decor, personalize, utensil caddy, vinyl decal

With an inexpensive custom decal and a few minutes, you can add a little more flair to your kitchen.

Bon Appetit – Custom Utensil Canister ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

XOXO, Young Wifey

Disarrono Soap Dispenser

Tags

bath, DIY, home decor, kitchen, soap, soap dispenser, soap pump

I detest plastic bottles of dish soap at the sink. Even though I try to put them under the sink, they end up back above the sink. I love the Chambord soap dispensers that I made for my master bath & powder rooms (I recently switched the pumps from silver to bronze to match the new decor). Why not make one for the kitchen?

Disaronno Soap Dispenser

Selecting the bottle was more of a challenge this time. The newer Chambord bottles are cheaper and not as elegant.  Besides, I like more of an Italian atmosphere to my kitchen, instead of the French theme in those two baths. A Disarrono bottle was the answer, but I only had the larger bottles in my home. After a quick trip to the liquor store, I had a smaller bottle which was perfect for my kitchen. I poured the new liquor into the dwindling supply of my larger bottle (after pouring some into my glass). Then, I quickly removed the labels and plastic ring from the neck, and rinsed the bottle.

Previously I had bought pumps from BB&B and didn’t want to make a special trip. I took a bronze pump from a disposable soap dispenser and replaced the tub with a longer one (which I actually did ex post facto). It screwed on perfectly to my new dispenser.  While this one is perfect for dish soap, I’d like to find a slightly smaller bottle for the kitchen hand soap

Next time, I’ll make sure that color of the dish soap actually matches my kitchen decor.

Coffee Anyone?

Tags

coffee, craft, crafting, etched glass, etching, gift, gift giving, gift idea, glass jar, home, house, kitchen, postaday2011, storage

Etched Glass Coffee Jar
After using it once for a Christmas ornament, I’ve always wanted to play around a little more with etching cream. The stuff is so expensive, I wouldn’t purchase it at the craft store without a 50% coupon. Recently, I actually got my hands on a 60% coupon and knew it was time to move.

I love using glass jars for kitchen storage, but I wanted to pretty up the coffee jar or two. Since I’m not a coffee drinker, that was the best place to start. Our realtor gave us some really great locally fresh ground coffee and Hubster and our guests have enjoyed our coffee maker…

Etched Glass Coffee Jar

Difficult to photograph, easy to create. I prepped the jar with glass cleaner then added a reusable stencil. Next I added a thick layer of etching cream and left it on longer than what the jar said. I actually got sidetracked and forgot all about it, it probably sat for 30 minutes opposed to the suggested 5 mins. I carefully rinsed the jar and stencils clean and then wiped the surface with glass cleaner.

Now with an etched jar, Hubster won’t mix up the coffee with my loose tea.

This would make a great gift for the coffee drinker…

What is your must have morning drink?

Earth Day 2011

Tags

craft, Earth Day, garden, kitchen, postaday2011, recycle, reduce, repurposing, reuse, seasonal, Spring, upcycled

Spring. As the earth awakens and rejuvenates, mother nature reminds us of all the life teeming around us. What better season to celebrate Earth Day (that is, if you’re in the same hemisphere as me)?

Beside the obvious “plant a tree” or “pick up litter”, how do you honor our planet on Earth Day? Thankfully many people have already been making changes like switching to low-flow faucets or giving away old items on Freecycle. Last year, I shared a few ideas for green crafts (from reusable shopping bags to wine bottle torches) that were on my to-do list.. Yesterday Hubster and I took a long walk to enjoy the cool spring air, as I pondered what ideas to share this year… I decided to touch upon my three personalities, the outdoors woman/gardener, the crafter/clothing girl and the chef/homemaker…

Blue Butterfly Bliss

For the garden:
First of all, go organic, no pesticides or fertilizers, especially if it’s an edible garden. Do not make raised beds out of treated wood, the chemicals will leach out into the soil. If you don’t already own one, build a compost tumbler for quicker and easier compost. Create & attach a rain barrel to a downspout to help with water conservation. If you haven’t already, start your seedlings by nesting them in newspaper cups.

For clothing or scrap fabrics:
Preused or preloved clothing boutiques are becoming more popular. Many will resell your clothing, offering you a certain percentage towards store credit. Of course you could also donate it to Salvation Army, Purple Heart or another other charity shop.  Only donate clothing if it’s in good condition. If not, refashion it into something new, cut t-shirts into cleaning rags, or get creative and make something with your new fabric scraps. I like ow; softie, bean bags, dog chew toys, ruffle hedgehog softie… Possibilities are endless.

For the kitchen:
Reuse large mason jars to organize kitchen utensils and smaller ones to organize the dry pasta, rice, beans in the pantry. Use wine corks to make the trivet I mentioned in last year’s post. You can make recycled napkin rings out of scrap fabric, yarn, paper towel tubes and any embellishments you’d choose. Use old scraps of ribbon to weave placemats or sew scrap placemats. Or refashion a dress into an apron.

These are just as few ideas, but possibilities are endless. I hope you feel inspired in some way to go a little greener… Happy Earth Day everyone!

What is your favorite repurposing project?

Bring Back the Kitchen Challenge

Tags

Baking, bring back the kitchen, control, cooking, cooking challenge, feminism, kitchen, recipe, take back the kitchen

There are many reasons why people today do not cook and bake.  Some feminist think they’re making a point by refusing to cook, some people claim they have no time, some say they were never taught (their mothers were liberating themselves from the kitchen, seriously, giving up control make you stronger?). Whatever the reason, it’s time for you to take the challenge. You need to eat to live, why not eat something that tastes good? Please do not tell me McDonald’s cheeseburgers or a frozen dinner actually satisfy your taste buds.

In college I was shocked  at how few of my girlfriends knew how to cook. Growing up, my mother always made new and exciting things (and sometimes “interesting” things). I got to help her, so it instilled the passion for food. It wasn’t a chore, or a hassle; it was creative, an art form. It didn’t feel like we were perpetuating the stereotypical rolls, afterall we were cooking for us.

Play With Garnishes: Carrot Flower & Orange/Celery Butterfly

YoungWifey’s Challenge: Cook one new recipe a week (this works for new cooks as well as old)! If you think you don’t have time, you can make an entire meal in 30 minutes (Thanks Rachel Ray!). Use a recipe on a food package, from a friend or relative, a cookbook, a television show or online. It could be a meal, a side dish, dessert or candy! If it turned out well, take a picture and save the recipe. If it didn’t turn out, blame the recipe.  Let me know what recipes you’ve tried by posting a comment here or on my Facebook page!

What did you make and how did it turn out? Where did you get your recipe? Will you make it again?

Tuscan Vineyard in my Kitchen

Tags

destress, fine art, kitchen, landscape, painting, relax, relaxation, Tuscan, Tuscany, vineyard, wine

It’s a rainy Saturday morning and I finally had a moment to relax. No students, no rehearsal, no Hubster and no Pumpkin, just me in my quiet house…
Ahh… Then Hubster calls to see how my morning is going (2nd time today), and proceeds to give me a list of chorus he wants me to do today. Seriously? I ended the call and turned off my phone, I just need some time for me.

I pulled out a few canvases, my paints and brushes and began to relax. So I decided to paint a Tuscan Vineyard for my kitchen. We’ve been looking for paintings to go into the kitchen but haven’t exactly the right fit (with the large price tags, why would you settle?). We want our  kitchen to give a Tuscan feel, yet that’s hard to accomplish without rust colors in your palette. Our kitchen has shades of brown, tan, blue and green. I didn’t have canvas that fits the space, so I made my painting on two panels. To keep it cohesive, I used packing tape to tape the frames together in the back of the frames. Two hours later, I’m not stressed (phone’s still off)… and I’m ready for a glass of wine.

 

My Tuscan Vineyard

 

 

Detail of my Tuscan Vineyard

 

I couldn’t get a good photo due to lack of natural sunlight today, but I just wanted to share it with you anyway.

How do you like my painting?