Kitchen Archives - Yearning to Create

Bottlecap Magnets

I needed some new magnets for my fridge – to hold up all those things I love to get like pictures, quotes, wedding and grad invitations, etc. So I was at The Craft Store spending the rest of my Christmas Gift Card. (I love it when my guy gives me things like this – and he likes it too! The gift card comes with him babysitting too so I can go shopping alone and find things I really want!!!) So I was looking at their cute little bottle caps, but they were pretty pricey and so I passed them by – but I really wanted them!!!

My next stop was to the thrift store when SCORE!!! I found bottle caps!!! Way more bottle caps and other do-dads my girls will enjoy for way less than they were at the other place.

So I hunkered down that evening to create my magnets in the blues, greens and brown I like.

They had a few colours in the kit that worked, but mostly I just punched out scrapbook paper. I added a few embellishments to some of them and then covered them in the glaze that came in the kit too. Mod Podge would have worked fine also. Glue magnets on the back and it’s done.

And now I have some darling new magnets that cost me pennies. And I still have ten more for some future time – like kids lockers? Words and pictures would be really cute too.

Still can’t decide which one I like the best!

Now comes the fun of arranging them . . .

. . . recognize anyone or anything?

The fridge already looks different from when I took the pictures!

I enjoy my fridge photo gallery. Soon it will be loaded with Grad Invites, and other times of the year it’s loaded with Wedding Invitations (and I keep them all in a box once the event has passed!).

What do you prefer – loaded fridge doors or the clean uncluttered look?

Dinner/Message Board Redo

I made these wonderful Dinner Menu and Message Boards a while ago – you can read all about that here! Anyway, the boards are working exactly as I hoped they would – meaning that we use them all the time and are all getting trained to check them for messages. And there are no more annoying little pieces of paper floating around with messages on them, or no messages scribbled on that important paper I needed.

However, the colours weren’t quite working for me yet – probably because I got a huge book of lovely new scrapbook papers. I figured out that it was the pale yellow I didn’t like – so it was time to rip it apart!!!

After much deliberating, I chose this pretty light teal colour and simply glued it on over the yellow. (Yes, that is my bed I’m working on, mostly because my baby hasn’t figured out how to climb up on it so I can work in peace, not like at the kitchen table!)

Yes, I’m loving these colours much more – not that I have anything against yellow (unless I’m supposed to wear it – then I look jaundice!).

That “I Love You Message” has been on there for months. I can’t bring myself to erase it!!!

Notice the little strip of new paper right below the green – that’s over yellow too, and just ties the boards in nicely to each other.

And there are the two boards side-by-side.

And here they sit in my temporary kitchen – very convenient right by the phone.

And to wrap it up, I really recommend these boards!!! The Dinner board makes me plan ahead somewhat! (I can do better – notice the empty, unplanned spaces! I just find that my days go so much smoother when the dinner menu is already planned.) And the Message Board . . . let me compare it to Pinterest – how did I ever live without it???

Towel Wraps

Aren’t these towel wraps the cutest things ever?

I saw them over at Sassy Sanctuary and knew immediately that I needed these . . . because . . .

. . . my towels are never where I need them to be!!! I need them to be hanging from my stove. And of course it’s not me that moves them!

I’m not showing too much on how to make these because Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary gives such a great tutorial with measurements and everything, that I really don’t need to!!! (That and the fact that I was so excited to make them that I forgot to take many pictures!)

Basically you’re sewing a tube and putting velcro on the ends. I wasn’t too careful about how I sewed my velcro because it’s on the back and no one sees it anyway! One piece is on the inside and one is on the outside so it wraps around and sticks nicely.

I love this blue plaid fabric! It speaks to the “country” in me!

I made two for variety, but I can see that I just might need to make some for all the holidays!!!

This one used the rows that I took off from my table runner because I sewed them smaller and the squares didn’t match up. (You can read about that here.) So now my towel and my table runner will match!

The cute little button was the perfect finishing touch for this wrap.

And there they both are – love them! Can’t wait to see if they’ll do their job and keep the towel in one place!!! And obviously I’ll only have one out at a time!

There are my towels – I just bought plain bathroom hand towels. And now the towels and wraps are packed away, waiting for their new place of honor on the stove we purchased last weekend, that will be in the house that we’ll be moving into at the end of July (well, we might be living in the camper for awhile!). And that will be a new adventure!!!

Menu Board/Message Board

In searching for ideas for our RS Super Saturday about two years ago, I found a menu board idea at Melanie’s Musings that I just had to copy. It seemed like such a great idea – and it is!!! And let me tell you, on days that I menu plan and write the meals on the board, life is so much easier!

We colour photocopied the inside page that I made, for ladies at the Super Saturday. Then they just had to take care of the framing. On the right is a list of possible menu ideas. I usually have that in a pocket glued on the back of the frame, and the clothes peg holds my shopping list.

Anyway, I love the Menu Board so much and it’s working so well, I decided to make something similar to become our family message board. I thought it would be very handy to have all the messages in one spot and not be losing little papers with phone messages written on them! And it is!!!

First item was to find a matching frame – thanks Walmart! I like the document size frame as it is slightly larger than an 8 x 10.

Then I centered the stickers saying Message Board. To do this, I marked the center of the glass (see my little black dot) and then worked from the center out to the edges. And I wrote out the words I was spelling so I wouldn’t mess it up!!!

Now, I used to have a burgundy and maple kitchen and this Menu Board matched it wonderfully. But, in the new house we’re building, I’m not going to have any burgundy on the main floor, so I needed to redo the colours of my board.

Pretty cute eh? By the oven mitt it says Quality Time. I really feel that supper is an important family bonding time. I believe that what our children really want for supper is us!

The next task was to design the Message Board to match the Menu Board because they will be side by side in my new house.

This is what I came up with . . .

It says “Family” there on the green paper.

I made five of these little message slots, and the long one across the bottom says “Notes”. The only rule we have is that the message can only be erased by the person who it’s for. And it’s so easy to erase – just a swipe of your finger across the glass (or you could use a kleenex!).

And there’s my two boards! I only attached a dry-erase marker to one of them because they are so close they can share. But I’ll probably add a clothes peg to the Message Board to hold things like birthday party invitations.

It’s working great – the family have all learned to look to that one spot for their messages!!! Wish I’d done this years ago!

Easter Treats

This is how Easter treats happen at my house: I provide ingredients and a recipe and inform my girls that they get to make Easter treats for the family! Isn’t that great?

And they get all excited!!!

Okay, I’m not completely lazy – I did have an important thing to do:

I was over at the new house, drawing my kitchen cabinets on the plywood, to see if what I’d designed on paper would actually fit in the space my guy provided for the kitchen.

Here’s my design on paper. It was out by about two inches on one wall. See, that’s what I needed to know before I start getting quotes! So my time was well spent!

As I walked in the door, the girls said “We just finished the nests! Come and see them!”

Great work girls – they look delicious!!!

I’m happy, they’re happy, and we have some yummy treats, so dad is definitely happy!!!

And if you want to make your own, bring the syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and then the rice krispies. Form into nests and decorate with jellybeans.

And that’s how Easter treats are made at my house!!!

Napkin Holder

I made myself an apple napkin holder quite a few years back – it’s just two pieces of wood cut the same, with another small rectangular piece nailed between – you can see the three nail holes at the base of the apple.

It’s a very handy apple to have around – just holding those napkins for whenever you need them.

But alas, the red apple just didn’t look right in my new house. I was still using it because I still needed napkins, but it was bugging me!

Until one day, I had a light bulb moment! I realized that apples can be green too! And since I originally painted the red one, I could repaint it green!

And so I did!

Did a little sanding of the edges to shabby it up a little.

And then rubbed on some Burnt Umber Oil Paint to antique it a little.

And there it is – a very useful apple in colours that work with my kitchen (or at least it will someday when my kitchen is finished!).

I love giving things a new look!

How to Decorate with Food Storage

A few weeks ago I had to give a little talk about Family Home Storage (because I’m such an expert!). My information mostly came from the March 2009 Ensign – you can read that by clicking here.

In a nutshell, we are counselled to:

1) Have a three month food supply (and that would include all consumables like toilet paper, shampoo and deodorant – anything you wouldn’t want to be without!).
2) Store drinking water.
3) Establish a financial reserve.
When the first three objectives have been met, then we are counselled to:
4) Gather a supply of long term basic food items that would sustain life (grains, legumes, milk, honey, salt, etc.)

Anyway . . . here are some other uses I’ve found for long term food storage items!

A large vase looks lovely filled with split green peas – nice and springy!

A mason jar looks lovely filled with beans!

Pinto beans to be exact!

Wheat and rice work great for decorating too. I’ve often had fancy jars filled with wheat sitting on a shelf. Have you ever just chewed on grains of wheat? It’s what the pioneers used as gum! And I must say that freshly sprouted wheat is simply delicious and so full of vitamins.

So rather than simply storing your stuff away in a cold dark spot, try decorating with it!

How to Give Old Frames a New Use

I got these picture frames at a garage sale. I really liked the teal colour, but the gold wasn’t working for me. I didn’t know how I could keep the teal and hide the gold, so I decided it was all going to change via spraypaint.

We’ll come back to the frames in a minute – let me show you one of my pet peeves . . .

. . . crumbs from the toaster all over the counter!!!

When I was designing my new kitchen, I planned a nice little cupboard on the counter to house messy things like toasters. Imagine my dismay when the electrician said that he can’t put an electrical outlet in the cupboard – it’s against code to have an outlet in a closed space. And I can appreciate that – I’d rather have my house not burn down. But it means the ugly toaster and crumbs still get to dominate my countertop.

(I love to look at these beautiful kitchens on display in blogworld, but where do they keep things like toasters? Do they hide them away and bring them out when needed? We use our toaster way too much to not keep it on the counter! Oh, wait! Maybe those spectacular kitchens are just set up for photo shoots and don’t usually look that way! Now I feel better!)

So . . . I decided to fix my crumb problem!

I spray painted my frames Oil Rubbed Bronze. And then I chose fabric to go under the glass. I also glued a little square of felt in each corner on the bottom of the frame so it wouldn’t scratch the surface I put it on.

And there we have it . . .

. . . a crumb catcher for the toaster!!!

Once in a while, a stray crumb dares to escape outside it’s boundary, but that’s easy enough to wipe up. I love how it’s kept my counters crumb free in that area.

(Someday my kitchen will be finished – there will be subway tile covering all these primed walls, and the switch plates will be on, and crown molding, etc. And then I will post a picture of my finished kitchen – and it will have toasters and knives and cutting boards on the counter, because . . . we live in this kitchen!)

And this is how I decorate cookies for my kids . . .

. . . I take them to Storyhour and let them do it themselves! They love to create too! (I did the one with the green eyes on the top plate!)

So, what did I do with the other frame?

It got a piece of burlap under the glass and sits on an end table in the living room. It makes a nice anchor for table displays.

As I snapped the photo, my two-year-old popped into it, pointing at the picture and excitedly saying . . .

“It’s you, Mommy! It’s you!”

And as she pointed to the youngest girl in the picture saying “It’s me!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she wasn’t actually in the picture – she hadn’t blessed our family with her arrival yet.

Love it!!!

(And the candlesticks came from the same garage sale! When are you having another one Mary?)

Edited much later to add:

Look!!! The kitchen did eventually get finished! And the toaster looks great still sitting there with its crumb catcher under it!

My Kitchen Hours

It’s no secret that I really don’t like to cook or spend time in the kitchen. However, I do love to eat!!! If it weren’t for that love of eating, and the fact that my family needs to eat to survive, I’d probably never enter the kitchen! So when my daughter Elle gave me this plaque for Christmas, I was thrilled!!! Now I had an excuse if there was no supper prepared!!! “Oh, sorry, the kitchen was closed today!”

Isn’t that perfect for me? And I especially love the words she wrote on the back: The rest of the box was filled with chocolate covered almonds – yup, she knows me well!!!

So I love the words, but the colours were not going to match the kitchen in the new house we’re building. And I needed to make it a little more “me”. My problem was, all my craft paints were packed in a box somewhere and I didn’t want to buy new paints when I already have a million colours. So finally, I bought a little palette of about 12 colours – you know, the kind you would get if you bought a paint-by-number kit. And I set to work painting. Some things took a couple coats, like covering the red tomatoes.

Ready to see the after picture?