stuff i’ve made

how i hacked an Ikea Tarva dresser :: tutorial

i’ll always have fond memories of Ikea.  i used to bring my kids there when they had trouble sleeping…. it always went something like this: “they’ll fall asleep in the stroller while i shop.” yup, i’m THAT mom with stuff stacked in the stroller, balanced on the kids’ heads, crammed into the small storage bin […]

cook. shoot. paint. eat. june 2013.

now i’ve done it. all this blogging about painting free furniture found on curbs or via craigslist curb alerts has created a few monsters within my circle of friends. so the time had come to bring a few of us together for the next installment of cook. shoot. eat. this time, we added some paint. […]

Old Glory – wooden American flag

we’ve been testing ways to make big wood walls that aren’t as heavy as Noah’s arc. 🙂 so we built this prototype and i was inspired to paint Old Glory. this is a 4′ x 5′ piece that i hand-painted with a custom blue blend of Annie Sloan graphite + napoleonic and Gilbertson’s chalk paint […]

How to paint wood to look like weathered Restoration Hardware wood

hi friends! i’m back with another furniture painting tutorial on how to use chalk paint to get a weathered wood Restoration Hardware finish. here’s my inspiration. a wonderful wood pier that we visited on our summer road trip. the irony is that the piece i was painting, was in fact, a real Restoration Hardware dresser….from the early […]

garden love

Transplanting potted plants to Kratky hydroponics

My new greenhouse is in full operation and I couldn't be more excited! I've been stalking MHP Gardener on YouTube, and he has this incredible … [more...]

spring has sprung. hyacinths are popping already!

the first signs on spring are here...trouble is, we haven't really had winter.  and as i write this, the temperature is dropping to the high 30s here … [more...]

summer hydrangea tablescape

i love hydrangeas. i had the luxury of spending a few hours in the garden today and cut a bunch of hydrangea as they're starting to look a … [more...]

teeny, tiny peaches!

i love spring. the flowers are blooming, and you find cool stuff in the garden you've never seen before! like this one here...i've no clue what … [more...]

Hello, ladybugs!

I released 1500 ladybugs into the garden this morning. I have no idea how many have survived, but while they were alive, I snapped a few pix. They're … [more...]

harvesting potatoes grown in coffee sacks

howdy!  several months ago, i stalked a bunch of gardening blogs to learn how to grow potatoes. while spring isn't the ideal time to grow … [more...]

summer flowers :: hydrangea, roses and lavender

i LOVE my garden, and particularly love the flower arrangements that come directly from the garden.   the hydrangea is quite … [more...]

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