Rice Neck Warmers

It's starting to get a little cold here and my daughter has a birthday coming up, so I decided to make some rice neck warmers.  I've been wanting to do this for a while now - like LAST year, lol.  Anyway, I researched Pinterest for some ideas and just chose bits and pieces of the ideas that seemed best for me.  I started out with a rectangle of scrap fabric.

I didn't really measure per se, just kind of wrapped it around my neck and guessed - it doesn't have to be exact or be any certain size.  Again, what works best for you.  Then I folded the rectangle in half and sewed two and half sides, leaving an opening at one of the short ends for filling.

Then I gathered my supplies.  I used white, long grain rice along with some cinnamon and cloves.  I used a 5 pound bag of rice, 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of ground cloves.  Mix this in a bowl. 

This made just short of two neck warmers for me.  Next, use a funnel and pour into the open end of your fabric.  Fill it about half way.  You want it to have enough space inside to conform to your neck and shoulders and not be too hard.  We are ultimately going for warm and comfy!  Then, that's it - just pop it in the microwave for 1.5 to 3 minutes, grab something warm to drink, and snuggle in.  It's a simple project that gets a lot of ooohs and aaahhs - plus it smells delicious!

Do you love neck warmers as much as I do?  Do you prefer the spicy ones like me or the lavender scented ones? 

Rustic House Number Sign

As I mentioned in this post, I have been giving the front of my house a little face lift.  I decided to move the house address numbers from beside the front door to over the garage.  I had a piece of pallet wood in my collection and it had a wonderful knot in it plus it was the perfect size for this project.

I then dry brushed some rustic red paint (Fireweed by Sherwin Williams) on top so that the house numbers would be more visible.

It turned out pretty well and matches my front door as well -

And here's a shot from the street:

A quick and easy update!

From Messy to Managed!

There are a few times of the year that I feel like organizing things.  One of them of course is in the Spring for traditional Spring Cleaning.  But, I also like organizing right before the holidays - kind of out with the old and in with the new - and also the feeling of starting fresh after the holiday decorations are boxed up and put away.  So today, I tacked this little red metal vintage cabinet in my kitchen.

Here's the mess that I started out with -- I hate that I ever let it get this bad.

I know - awful right?  So, my stategy was basically to take every single thing out - sort it - then put back only the things that I needed/wanted in this cabinet.  Here is the final result:

And the bottom half -

So much better.  I will be tweaking it a bit here and there as I go along, but it feels so much lighter.  Isn't it amazing how much better organizing a mess can make you feel?  And it doesn't even cost any money!  Even better.

How about you?  Do you just do Sping cleaning or do you have other times of the year that inspire you?

My Mom's Birthday Tradition!

Today would have been my mom's 80th. birthday.  After she passed away, I wanted to find a way to keep her memory alive.   I would have taken her out to lunch and given her a gift if she were here to celebrate - since she's not, I have gone out to lunch and bought a keepsake every year since she has been gone.  Today, I went to my favorite antique store and out to lunch.  This is what I came home with - a red iron horseshoe.

I love it's rough look and it's symbolism.  I am not superstitious, but just to be politically correct you should always have your horshoe facing upwards so the good luck fills up not spills out!  I put it in my china cabinet with my mom's china.

This way, I will have countless treasures and memories!  Do you have any traditions that you have made up?  Any creative ways to keep a loved one's memory alive?  It's very comforting.

House Face Lift Beginnings

I love my little brick bungalow house.  It is cozy and perfect for me.  However, I have been thinking lately of adding a little color to the exterior.  I've been thinking about it for a while actually - a long while.  I keep putting it off because I was kind of afraid of not liking the color and having to re-do it all.  That, and all the work that goes along with it.  I finally decided to take the plunge realizing that it is just paint.  Soooo, here is the garage before:

And here it is after - the color is Sherwin Williams Artifact.

I love it.  It adds depth and drama to the front of the house.  I added some painted trim around the front door as well in the same color.  Here is the before pic.

And the after:

A very productive day!  Next I want to paint the bay window and the window over the garage the same color.  I think it goes well with my red door too.  How about you?  Do you stick to neutrals for the exterior of your home or do you go for color?

Fall Craft Fair!

Today, the weather was wonderful and my youngest daughter and I decided to attend the Kimmswick Missouri Fall craft fair.  I hadn't been there in ages.

It was crazy crowded with lots of quaint little shops and more than enough booths with crafts and food!  I absolutely couldn't leave without a corn dog and a funnel cake, lol.

I found some wooden growth charts made out of wood that I loved -

It would be fun to put these in the playroom somewhere and mark each kids name down like in the olden days!  I also found these shabby looking boards with knobs for hanging whatever on and I loved them a lot.

I think I must make some!  We ended up coming home with some apple butter, pumpkin pecan butter, and some pumpkin potpourri that has little pumpkins in it that I couldn't resist!

Here's a closer picture to show the detail:

Love it! We had some great mother-daughter time!  Have you been to any Fall festivals?  Pumpkin butter or apple butter?  I'm a pumpkin fan myself.

Shabby Milk Bottles

My mother, who passed away over 6 years ago, used to work at Pevely Dairy.  Because of this, I like to collect Pevely memorabilia.  Some things were my mom's and some I purchased on-line.  I had a small collection of milk bottles and put them on a shelf.

It was nice, but it was kind of dark and I felt that the bottles were getting lost against the wood.  I had a shabby picket fence piece that I used to use outside.  It is worn in all the right places and in the perfect shape to fit on my shelf.  I had to cut the ends off because it was a tad too long, but it's exactly what this shelf needed!

I think my mom would like it!

Now you can actually notice the interesting bottles.  Always looking for new uses for things - who says you can't have a picket fence on your shelf, right?