Tag Archives: diy

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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Happy Monday!

I’m back to blogging (hopefully much more regularly)!  I’ve had a very time consuming work-related project that has monopolized my time, but now that I’m done with that, I plan to get back to what I enjoy doing…Exploring Newness (and blogging about it)! 👍😊

While I was busy with my project, my awesome hubby was busy too…with our laundry room project! You know, I’m convinced that the law of attraction pays attention to blog posts!

“Huh, what?” you say?

Well, in February of 2018, I shared a photograph of some laundry hanging in an alleyway in Italy (in this post HERE), and I mentioned a few things from my laundry room wish list – and the law of attraction has granted my wishes (well, my hubby actually granted my wishes, but you get my point eh?) But blog about something and it usually does come to pass!

I wished for doors that would hide my washer and dryer:

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and I wished for pull-out shelves:

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I’m THRILLED with my NEW laundry center!

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I’m still trying to decide what I should store on the shelves above.  I can put ugly laundry supplies in the baskets, but should I go buy three more matching baskets for the top three shelves?  I can’t decide. Please chime in with any advice!

In other miscellany, I’m lovin’ the thought of using a digital planner, so I’ve been watching videos like THIS one, so I can make myself a NEW one! Yeah, I know I’m kinda late to that game!

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And lastly, I’m excited to use my NEW glass ball in my photography (that my good friend gave me for my b-day).  So cool!!!

 

And that’s it for this Monday!  Have a great week and go do or learn something NEW!

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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Happy Monday!

It’s been a while since I’ve randomly rambled off some miscellany on a Monday, so here’s what’s up:

I rented the macro lens from the library again, and this little bee posed for me this morning.  A macro lens for my Nikon is definitely going on my Christmas wish list!

I’m loving a gardening YouTube channel called Garden Answer.  This YouTuber is knowledgeable without being overly talkative (aka wasting my viewing time with a surfeit of blah blah blah). Laura just comes across very “real” – very genuine. She’s a sweet young gardener who has worked at her parent’s nursery for a lot of years and has picked up a lot of knowledge that she shares with her viewers. I like her a lot.

I sometimes listen to Gretchen Rubin’s podcast on my way to work.  I had to laugh at a recent episode, when Gretchen challenged her listeners to make something that they’d normally buy. I laughed because if my family would have been listening with me, they would have yelled “Don’t encourage her!!!”  I have family members that tease me about trying to DIY a lot more things than I probably should. Doing a lot of DIYs means having my fair share of FAILS – thus the teasing! Ultimately, I’m just a cheapskate and know I can make most things for a lot less than I can buy them.  The trick is balancing  time expended with how much you actually save, right? I enjoy this podcast and wish Gretchen would record more than one episode a week, but oh well – I’d probably get behind if they did.

I made this really, REALLY easy cookie recipe call Oreo Pan Sugar Cookies,  Did I mention they were quick and EASY to make? I took the entire batch to work on a day I only worked a couple of hours, so I’ll have to ask around and see how everyone liked them. Personally, they were a bit too sweet for me, but then when has “sweet” been a terrible thing? I have a son who loves Oreos, so I’ll have to make these again and get his review.

Lastly, we’ll be renting a camping trailer later this summer and camping at a lake, so I need to get to get planning.  I need fun activity ideas, good, but quick meal ideas, and generally NEW fun family together time ideas.  If any of you have some good ones for me, please chime in!

Have a fabulous Monday.  Do or learn something NEW!

 

 

The NEWness Explorer is BACK…

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HELLO again, Blogland!  I took an unplanned 9-month break from blogging, but I’m back!  Things have settled down (at least for the moment), and I’m excited to document the upcoming NEW things I plan to be doing or learning about!

I started this site on 5 September 2012, so I gave myself a deadline to ‘get-back-at-it’ as of TODAY, 5 September 2017!

The main reason I was MIA was because of a huge work-related project I had to work on, but “regular life” got in the way too.  Some fun stuff though…

We went on a trip of a life-time to Europe this summer (pic above of one of the hotel’s we stayed at).  We cruised around the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, France) and then hopped back over to England to visit our ancestral stomping grounds. The entire trip was fabulous! I’ll probably share some more pics from the trip in upcoming posts.

We worked on a couple of NEW house projects…we tore out a wall in our workout room and stuck a sauna in there so the door would face the bathroom (and therefore be accessible to the shower), and re-did the workout room including a ballet barre.  My hubby teases me and asks if I use the “bar-A” for my workouts.  Well, YES, today I did a HIP HOP BARRE WORKOUT! Thank you very much! :o)  The plan is to finish up the room with mirrors behind the ‘Bar-A’, …still need to get a bid for those.

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A LOT of time went into planning a summer camp for teenage girls from our church.  It was time-consuming, but also fun and rewarding…and the girls will probably always remember getting totally rained AND hailed on!

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And I FINALLY started on my “Secret Garden” that I posted plans about way back in May of 2014!   My hubby made this arbor that I LOVE, and little by little, I’m adding plants – but it still has a long, long, LONG way to go!

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So! That’s {some} of what I’ve been up to.  I’m looking forward to catching up with many of the blogs I follow as well as get great ideas for NEW things to do or learn from YOU!

Have a great day! Try to do or learn something NEW today!

a few NEW signs and sign holders

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Happy Wednesday!  I’ve been trying to whittle down my wedding preparation to-do list, and thought I’d share our latest NEW project.  For my son’s wedding luncheon, we’re having the main course catered, but I’m doing a dessert bar and an Italian Soda bar.  SO!  Look what my fabulous hubby made:  wooden sign holders!  I like them a LOT.  I may distress the corners a bit…then again, maybe not.  Whatdayathink?

I printed the signs from Our Best Bites.

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There’s a few more projects on the list, so I’ll be busy trying NEW things!  Have a great day!  Do or Learn something NEW!

Linking to:

Simply Sweet Home

NEW (DIY) Wedding Centerpieces

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Wow!  Where did the week go?  Seriously!…I just realized I really haven’t posted in quite a while.  So!…I want to show you my latest DIY project.  My son is getting married soon.  The grooms family is in charge of the wedding dinner, and the happy couple has decided on a BBQ theme.  You can visit my “BBQ Wedding Dinner Ideas” board on Pinterest and see all the cool things I’ve found!

So the candle centerpiece above will be on the tables….probably under a square of burlap on a white table-cloth.  My inspiration came from this burlap covered can from Red Chandelier,

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and this distress wooden box from Shanty 2 Chic

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The baby’s breath (gypsophila) is about two or three weeks old in this picture.  But you don’t mind, do you?  OH!…and the BEST part is these COOL candles!  (link to Amazon…No open flame!!)

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!  Do or learn something NEW!

a NEW DIY project – (second-hand table to subway art)

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Hi all!  Well, if you recall from my last diy furniture make-over post, I mentioned that I had leftover supplies.  So! here’s my latest endeavor.  I got this old table from a second-hand store and it sat in my basement for a few months while I decided what to do with it!  I kind of wanted something like this from The 36th AVENUE:

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…BUT nothing wonderfully creative came to me.  So I decided I’d just make some subway art out of it….some positive affirmations for my family (as they rest their feet on my table as they watch TV! :o)  It was more time-consuming than I thought it would be…but it’s something NEW and different!  Here are the process pics.

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Paint the top black as well as anywhere else you want the distressed black to show through.

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Draw LEVEL lines and start placing your vinyl lettering ‘affirmations’ wherever you want them (randomly organized)….is that an oxymoron???

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After the lettering is placed where you want it….paint over everything and while it’s still a bit tacky, pull off the vinyl to reveal the color underneath.  TIP:  The seam ripper (from your sewing kit) is a GREAT tool for this!

Try something NEW today!

Linking to:

Show & Tell Wednesday

The 36th AVENUE

a NEW sewing corner

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I’m SUPER excited about my NEW sewing corner. I don’t have an entire room to dedicate to sewing/crafting etc. But I am soooo excited to have all my sewing things organized and in their own little space in a corner of my laundry room – slash – mud room – slash – sewing room!

A few details….My little corner USED to look like this:

I painted the chair the same day I tried out the chalk paint method I previously posted about here.  The embroidery hoops in the left-side frame will soon look more like this:

There’s a great tutorial for making these at Yellow Spool….{I just need to  find make the time}.  The frame on the right-hand side of my sewing desk is a bulletin board for pinning up pattern instructions etc.

My hubby is THE BEST! He takes the visualized plans in my head and makes them a reality. I only wish I could afford to hire him out as my full-time carpenter!  He’s quite a busy guy and my little projects aren’t always top priority…but then, seriously, I wouldn’t want them to be! (Not always, anyway :o)

Linking to:

Creating my way to Success, Not Just a Housewife, Making the World Cuter

Sew Chatty, The 36th Avenue, Sew Many Ways