Old Crate Turned Flower Box / Hose Holder

I am not sure where May went, but time is flying by. Several weeks ago I did manage to plant all my flowers and the garden. Last year I made my Flower Towers. The 3 Pot one is in use again this year, but the Topsy Turvy one had to be disassembled, as the support pole didn't make it through the winter :( . Still using the pots. They are just sitting on the sides of the steps to the front door. This year I was inspired to come up with another new planter too.

This one was super simple and I used stuff that I already had. The only items that I had to purchase were the potting soil and flowers. Here is my Old Crate Flower Box / Hose Holder.

We had this old crate in our garage, it came with the house, and it wasn't being used for anything. It has a lid with broken hinges, so I just left it on there and leave it open, but I could close the top when summer is over.

Now, I didn't want to fill the entire thing with potting soil. First of all, it would be super heavy and I wouldn't be able to move it on my own if needed. Second, I didn't want to use that much potting soil. And lastly, I didn't think I had enough flowers left to fill the entire thing. So, I found an empty plastic container. Actually it is an old kitty litter box that someone gave us. I put the tray that a flat of flowers comes in underneath it so that it would sit up higher. With the empty space leftover, I coiled up the hose and put it in there to keep that out of the way. Really simple and easy. 

Side Entrance / Mudroom / Porch Redo

Getting a room redone seems to take me months, or years. At the rate that I am going our house will be completely redone about the same time we pay off our mortgage. The first room that I managed to finish was the bathroom. Now I have worked on other rooms and other stuff in the mean time. Such as the dining room, it may be my thorn in my side. I will greatly rejoice when that room is finished. Back to the porch / side entrance / mudroom, because it is actually finished. :) Now, I'm not completely sure what to call this room. You see it is an enclosed porch, which happens to also be the entrance that we mainly use, and we use it as a mudroom. We usually refer to it as the porch though, so that it what I will call it here.

Here are the before shots.

 As you can see, the porch was a catch-all for lots of stuff. I showed Gerrit these pictures and his response was, "Is that really what it looked like?" Uh, yeah.

The porch was a pretty easy makeover really. It took me a total of two or three days to get it done. Those days just happened to be seven months apart. I did the bulk of the work on this room way back at the end of September. It all started with a little inspiration. I had a larger antique American flag that I wanted to hang somewhere and leftover yellow paint from painting the bathroom. Thus my inspiration picture. 

I found this picture on This Old House. I used my flag, which happens to be an antique 48 star flag (sorry Alaska and Hawaii, no offense to you) that I purchased at an auction for $20. I actually got it for Gerrit a while back, but we hadn't done anything with it yet. It now covers that top of the window which connects to the bathroom.  

Next, came painting. Removed the wallpaper border and added a couple layers of paint to the wall under the windows. Left the old siding walls as they were. Just cleaned them up a little. I actually like the old siding just the way it is. 

Then I added some little touches to the room:

1. A simple string of lights about the ceiling on one side. This adds a little extra light when needed. The porch area only has one other light for the whole area. Originally I had a more elaborate plan to make some hanging lights, but Gerrit suggested just using Christmas lights that we already had. Sometimes simpler is better. 
2. Put a wooden drying rack against the wall for any wet clothes. 
3. Added a metal tub ($5 at a second hand store) for shoe storage and a tray with rocks for wet shoes. Need to add more shoe storage though, cause this doesn't contain them all.  
   
4. Spray painted the base of the wall light. From shiny silver to oil rubbed bronze. 
   
5. Put up new coat hooks, a decorative hook for leashes, and a basket to hold miscellaneous items. This may be my favorite part of the the room. I also found this second hand for like $1 and spray painted it red. This basket is actually for Gerrit to put keys, wallet, and such in. Just trying to avoid playing the where is my ................. (fill in the blank) game. He says that I can't change his ways though. Let me also add that the owl hook is actually made from re-purposed materials found after Hurricane Katrina. Gerrit bought it while he was in New Orleans last year. 
   
6. Hung a welcome sign that I made and some patriotic plates. 
   
   
   
   
7. Hung our "Animal Rescue" sign. Let me note that we don't actually have an animal rescue in our house, it just feels that way sometimes with two cats and two dogs that are all rescue animals. Actually, my brother made this for us as a Christmas gift. I don't dare hang it outside, we could end up with more pets. 
   
8. I also changed out the knobs on the cabinets and added a few decorative pieces to the window ledge. Side note, this window is one of the things that I loved about the house when we first looked at it. I like those old details. 
   
9. And lastly was the bench. I actually finished everything else on the porch in two days. Then several months later I finished the bench, which was the finishing touch. This was actually a side table thing that I got at an auction for $5! I painted it with the same yellow as the walls. Spray painted the hardware and bottom of it with an oil rubbed bronze. Added some legs that I made from scraps of wood that I spray painted the same oil rubbed bronze. Made a simple cushion for it, and that was it. It is cat approved! They actually think it is a new bed for them. I've already cleaned a good deal of hair off of it, and that is why I made it so that it could be removed and washed. 
   
   
   
   

And there it is, the made-over porch. A little cleaning, paint, and decorative touches make a big difference.

Spring Wreaths

It is Spring. It doesn't feel like Spring here yet. Easter is one week away and we may all be wearing winter coats while hunting for eggs. I want it to be Spring feeling right now! I have noticed some cute Spring and Easter wreaths springing up (excuse the pun) on doors lately. I love the look of a wreath on a door. It makes the home look a little more put together, lived in, and welcoming. I didn't have any Spring wreaths for my doors. In fact all I have is Fall and Christmas.

Last night I decided to solve this problem and put together some Spring wreaths. Gerrit was gone and I had drank a big mug of coffee too late in the day, so I had plenty of energy and would be up for a while. I did a quick perusal of Pinterest for some inspiration. There are a ton of great ideas for wreaths on there. Then I pulled out my craft suicase. Yes, I have an old suitcase that is full of my crafty type stuff. I would prefer a sewing / craft room, but not sure where to fit that in my house. After looking through my stuff I just started putting together some wreaths.

The first one turned out really cute.

First, I took a thin old plastic wreath frame that I had and covered it with strips of paper from a brown paper bag. I just cut off the bottom of the bag and cut it into strips. Crinkled those strips up and then flattened them out and wrapped them around the wreath frame, gluing them down as I went. Then, I added some big flowers. It is was cute and simple as it was, but need something more. I think that garland pennant look that is popular right now is cute. So, I made some with ribbon and scrap paper. Glued that onto the wreath, added a bit of ribbon and a small bow to the top, and that was it. 

I have two entrance doors, so I needed two wreaths. Thus, the second wreath.

I need a base for the wreath, so I searched around and came up with a piece of cardboard. Cut it into an oval, could have made it round, but wanted something a little different. Covered it with some white felt. Then glued on some leaves, flowers, a bow, and ribbon to hang it. That was it. Pretty simple if you ask me. Funny side note, when I look at a picture of this wreath it sort of reminds me of a toilet seat with flowers on it. Oh well, it is staying on my door for now. 

 After making these wreaths I have come to this conclusion; you can make a wreath or door decoration out of all kinds of stuff. Just take a look around your house and see what you can find to use. Browse the internet for some inspiration, and get crafty. I think I will now challenge myself to make door decor for each season simply from stuff that I find around my house. These wreaths were basically FREE because that it what I did. I didn't buy any extra supplies. It was a fun, quick, and free project.

The Holy Land Key -- book review

In the HolyLand Key, Ray Bentley takes you on a journey into the lives, history, and significance of Israel and the Jewish people. Bentley has a great love for the nation of Israel. He also has made deep and lasting connections with many Jews and non-Jews who reside both in Israel and outside Israel, but who share a deep love for this nation. Bentley is an American who would be considered a Gentile, but he has spent many years studying Jewish culture, history, and significance. His love, respect, and value for this nation and its people is obvious.

In this book, Bentley tries to bring together a lot of information about Israel and the Jewish people, personal stories of people whom he has made connections with concerning the Holy Land, and the role that it plays in prophecy. He does a good job with first two fore mentioned items, the third seems to be lacking a little in my opinion. This is a bit strange considering that the subtitle for the book is, “Unlocking End-Times Prophecy Though the Lives of God’s People in Israel.” Initially reading this led me to believe this book would be more of a look at the prophecy that is seen in the book of Revelations, and how the Jews and Israel are a part of all that. Now, that is included in the book, particularly about the last third of the book. The beginning of the book is more of a look at the significance of Israel and the Jews. So, with that said, the subtitle for the book can be a bit misleading if you are expecting a book focused on prophecy as a look at the End-Times and the events that will take place during that time.

Now even though this book wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, it was still a solid read. Bentley has done his research and it shows. In fact there are many sources listed in the back of the book to back up his writing. I found The Holy Land Key to be very interesting. I feel as though I learned a lot of new information from it and gained some new perspective as well. This isn’t the type of book that I would generally read, but I am glad that I did.   

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Bake

There is a snow storm coming, which means I want warm, yummy food. I also have some milk that needs used up before it goes bad. So, with those two motivators combined, I came up with this recipe. It doesn't take a lot to get me thinking about food or what I could cook. Since it is also the weekend, this is great cause we can just warm it up the next day for breakfast. It is quick and easy to throw together, and makes a good nutritious breakfast, or lunch, or dinner if you want.

Step by step instructions with pictures.

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 2.5 quart baking dish. 
2. Whisk 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring together.
    
   Then whisk in 4 cups milk (I used skim) until all is combined.
   It should look nice and frothy.
3. Add 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 2 Tbs. honey. Whisk together with milk mixture. 
   
4. Add 2 cups of old fashioned oats.
   
   Give it a quick stir. Pour all of the mixture into the greased baking dish. All the oats will sort of pile up where you pour it in, just make sure they get spread out and evenly distributed.
5. Sprinkle 1 cup of blueberries and 1/4 cup slivered almonds over the top of the oatmeal mixture. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. I used frozen cause that is what I had on hand.
   
   
6. This step is completely optional, but I also sprinkled 3 Tbs. of honey crunch wheat germ on top of everything. Just to give it a touch more of goodness. 
   
7. Pop it in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or so. When it is done most of the liquid should be absorbed and the oats should be cooked completely. if there is still a little liquid that is ok, it will absorb while it cools.
   
   Let it cool for a few minutes and enjoy. Store any leftovers in the fridge to eat later.
   
   
   Here is the recipe all nice and neat. 

The Kitchn Cookbook -- book review

My latest cookbook to take a look through, and actually read thoroughly is The Kitchen Cookbook. This cookbook is by Sara KateGillingham and Faith Durand. These ladies run a popular website with the same name, The Kitchn. The Kitchn website is a sister site to the popular all things home site Apartment Therapy. You may be familiar with both of these sites from their ever popular pins on Pinterest.

The Kitchn Cookbook isn’t just a cookbook though. Actually only a little less than half of the book is comprised of recipes. The rest of the book is comprised of all things kitchen relates; how to organize, helpful food prep tips, guide on basic cooking terms and how to do them, tours of several real kitchens, and much more. So, if you are looking for a good, lot of recipes cookbook this may not be quite what you are looking for. Now, if you love cooking, the kitchen is a central part of your home, or you love all things kitchen related, then this book you would probably enjoy. This would also may a good gift book for someone just starting out on their own in their own place, just getting married, graduating college, or buying their first home.

For me personally, this isn’t a cookbook that I think I would turn to often to find a recipe or get some food inspiration. I might also mention that many of the recipes in the book can also be found on Pinterest. With that said though, The Kitchn is an interesting read with a lot of good information in it. Also a plus is that all the kitchen tours featured in the book are of real kitchens that people really use, not just staged kitchens that aren’t even used. Thus said, the pictures in the book look real, not staged. This is a nice touch that makes this book a little different from a lot of other cookbooks. One of the things that I also liked about the book was these little sections called Dana’s Meditation. Dana’s Meditations are little beautifully written bits about the kitchen or cooking. One last note, the recipes are simple and truly easy to follow. In fact all of the book is simply written and quiet readable.   

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Deborah & Jael

Since both Deborah and Jael are mighty warrior women of the Bible and their stories are part of the same larger story, might as well study them together. Their story begins something like this. The Israelites were ruled by a series of Judges for many years. The Israelites also kept repeating the same cycle of doing well with God and then “the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 4:1, and many other places in Judges.) It was a vicious sin cycle that they were caught in. Deborah was ruling as judge of the land at one of those times when the people had turned away from God. Deborah herself was a righteous, Godly woman. The Israelites, because of their wickedness, had been oppressed by a king of Canaan for something like twenty years. They were especially afraid of the commander of the king’s army, Sisera.

So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help. Judges 4:2, 3

The Israelites had good reason to be afraid of Sisera, he was a bad dude.

Deborah knew that it was time to take on Sisera. To do this, she enlisted a man by the name of Barak. She gave him the message that God had given to her for what to do.

“The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”  Judges 4:6, 7

Barak said that he would go, but only if Deborah would go with him. Now when I read this it seems a bit strange. Why would Barak need Deborah, a woman, to go with him into battle? It wasn’t common practice at that time for woman to fight in battles alongside the men. I read a few commentaries on this and they seemed to reference the fact that since at the time Deborah was the Judge and leader of the land, Barak would want her with him. Another commentary put it sort of in this way; Barak didn’t want to go where Deborah was not willing to go herself. It would be like when a friend dares you to do something, and you say, “Ok, I’ll do it if you do it with me.” Deborah agreed to go with Barak into battle. She warned him that it would cost him the honor of victory, instead that would go to a woman (Judges 4:9.)

During the battle, Sisera managed to escape by foot. He ran right into the tent of Jael. She welcomed him in.

Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. Judges 4:17, 18

Sisera was tired and thirsty from having been on the run. Jael took him in, gave him a place to lay down to rest, and a drink of milk. This would be when Jael steps into the role of a mighty warrior woman.

But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. Judges 4:21

Jael was a woman not to be messed with. I bet her husband didn’t want to get on her bad side after this incident. I can only imagine the amount of force it would take to put a peg through someone’s head. Because of what Jael did, the words of Deborah came to pass in that Barak wasn’t the one to get the credit for conquering Sisera.

Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple – dead. Judges 4:22

The death of Sisera was also a key in the Israelites becoming stronger over the Canaanites. Without Deborah and Jael this may not have happened. They were both honored in Judges 5 in the Song of Deborah. Both of these women were honored in their land for their heroic deeds and Godly character.