Friday, May 31, 2013

My Beachy Bathroom Makeover for under $30

This is going to be a picture rich post. 
Just a forewarning.  

I'm so excited to have this latest project done.  
I'm so in love with it, and super proud of myself for doing it for under $30.  
My upstairs bathroom has been plain and boring since we moved in, 
about 2 years ago.  
Plus we have had a tote full of shells collected from our many beach outings just sitting in the garage.  
We have some really great pieces and no one could see them stuck in the garage.  
I've been thinking about ways to display them.  
I even considered a glass coffee table filled with sand and shells, 
but since my carpentry skills are lacking, that one got pushed out of the relm of possbilities.  

I also searched google and pinterest for ideas and didn't find a lot that I liked or could afford to do.  
I do have a huge stack of pallet wood and crate wood from my scouring construction sites and Craigslist.  
All for free.  
So I didn't spend any money on the wood I used.  

So what did I spend money on you might ask?  
Well here's the breakdown:

$14 on Chalkboard paint
(I didn't have some already and only used 1/10 of what was there.  Plenty more for more projects)  

I spent $6 on sheets for the shower curtains.  
$5 for the lime green sheet at Walmart, and $1 for the white one from dollar days at Goodwill. 

Finally I needed hanging hardware, 
so I bought a pack of d-ring hooks at Home Depot for about $7.  

The grand Total: $27.  
That's it!  Awesome!

So you want to see.  Let's take a tour.


First the before's.  
Plain.  Standard.  Boring.
I did take the shower curtain down before the pics to wash it, but it was just a plain white one.  
Uber-Boring!




The first to go up was the wood valance over the window.



It was actually a left-over piece of pallet that we cut down for the Garden box.  
The slats were already attached to the cross piece.  
I just added wooden knobs from my stash, painted, waxed, and hung it up. 



Next were my surf, sand, and sun boards.
Each was a cut down piece of pallet wood, painted, waxed, and hung.


My favorite piece is the surf board.
Also made of pallet wood.
I will share the how-to in a future post.

Very simple and very beachy.
A must have in my opinion.


Here's the collection all together.









Now for the other wall.  
I made these shelves with crate wood.  
They got a light whitewash, waxed, and hung.
They were perfect to display our our beach treasures.  
Some came from Hawaii, some from California, and some from Washington.



The shower curtain was 2 twin sheets, ripped up and sewn together in wide horizontal stripes.  
Button holes at the top finished it off.


There's the collection.




I had more sand dollars than would fit on the shelves and I needed something for the wall above the shower.
So I came up with this sand dollar garland.
They are just tied together with jute.
Simple.




Last, the sink side.
There are a few fun elements here.
I google-mapped how far we are from a beach.
The closest one is in San Diego.
393 miles.  
That's a long way, but the sign was necessary for a beach themed bath.


I had an old cupboard door that I got from my sister.  
It got a coat of red for the frame and the inside got 2 coats of chalkboard paint. 
I still want to play with some chalkboard art, but for now, high tide works for me.


The hand towel holder was another piece of the towel rack cut down to size. 
I added some shells to the top of the shelf.


The counter vingette was a collection of glassware, a metal bucket, sand, and shells.  
I made the large jute wrapped jar myself.  
Super easy.



A few more pics.








Of course the before and afters.
It's amazing what a few dollars, some time, and creativity can do.




Have a fun Beachy kind of day!
I'm linking up over at Remodelaholic and Domestically Speaking today!
And I was featured here over at SheKnows.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Last Minute Teacher Gift with Free Printable

Last day of School!
Last day of School!
Last day of School!

Echoing through my house, you can hear the giddy-ness for school to be out and summer break to begin.
I totally muffed it up for Teacher Appreciation week so I quickly put together this little package for the kid's teachers. 

Here's the free printable. 
It fits an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper.  
I printed mine on cardstock.

Cut. Staple. Done.


 I included a little cup of our family Secret Savory Spice blend, but really you could put anything in.





Happy Last Day of School!
and a huge Thank You to all you Teachers out there.
You really make everything better!




Tuesday, May 21, 2013

A Summer Full of Canning

Is summer really upon us already?  How did the school year fly by so fast?  It's definitely hot here already. We've seen 100 degree temps. Ugh! But with the heat comes the fabulous deals on fruit.  Mine usually comes from Utah or Washington.  And when the deals come, it's time to preserve all the glorious bounty so we can enjoy it all year long.  So I decided to put together a list of my favorite canning recipes.  They are tried and true.  Plus my family loves them... well they better! ;)

Anyway let's get started.

1.  First a recipe that needs no special equipment.  No canner, just a stock pot and a blender.
  
Jalepeno Jelly

2. Now for some jams.  My absolute favorite is the newest to the jam family.  
Wa.S.P Jam or Watermelon Strawberry, Pineapple Jam.

3.  The next two are in no particular order.  Both are fabulous!
  
Raspberry Pear Jam

4. This is another Pear favorite.  Definitely appropriately named.
  
Pear Honey Heaven

5. More pears.  So yummy!
  
Pear Butter

6. Let's move on to apples.  Really who couldn't use some Apple Pie in a jar?

Apple Pie Filling

7.  This jar doesn't last long on my shelf, meaning we eat it up so fast, I'm always having to make more!

Fabulous Applesauce

8.  Apricots just scream summer to me.  It brings back visions of my childhood sitting in my Aunt's apricot tree, eating the summer ripened balls of heaven and spitting the pits on the ground.  Not the perfect visual, but you get the idea.  This recipe is good for Peaches too, only you'll have to slip the skins off before canning them.















Apricots


9.  Did you know you can preserve juice too?  I did.  Grapefruit are abundant here in Arizona and most people just don't eat them that much.  So I totally scored a ton of Grapefruit for free and saved it.  Ready at a moments notice.
  
Grapefruit Juice

10.  Time for Tomatoes.  So easy, and so versatile.

Rosemary Garlic Tomato Sauce

11.  Of course we have to make salsa.  Isn't that what tomatoes were made for?

Homemade Salsa

12.  Before we leave the steam/water bath canning, one last favorite.  Pickles.
  
Bread and Butter Pickles

13.  Ok.  Time for some pressuring.  The pressure canner is necessary for most vegetables, minus pickles and tomatoes, and always for meat.  I have a few favorites.
  
Chicken

14.  How about some vegetable stew in a jar?  Quick & easy to use when you need dinner in a minute.
  
Vegetable Barley Stew

15. Vegetable Stock is another favorite that I use all the time.  In breads, soups, and in place of water for rice or pasta.
  
Vegetable Stock

16.  Sweet Potatoes are a lovely addition to my pantry.  Ready in a pinch.
  
Sweet Potatoes

I hope you find something you'd like to try from my list.  If you do please let me know.  I'd love to hear about it.

Happy Summer!


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