Thursday, August 30, 2012

Trip to local Lowe's

Lowe's has great selection of  perrennials and annuals around the 200 corridor in Ocala.   I love visiting Lowe's and finding the next edition to my garden.














Trip to local Lowe's

Lowe's has great selection of  perrennials and annuals around the 200 corridor in Ocala.   I love visiting Lowe's and finding the next edition to my garden.




Shabby Chic recycled non working water fountain

This table top water fountain was generic nice gift I had gotten from a Neighbor in NYC about 10 years ago.  The water fountain stopped working so since I do not have any garden statues or sculptures outside, I decided to recycle this item by jazzing it up a bit and making it into a funky piece of art for my outside garden bed.



I painted it, glued some broken jewelry parts to it and added polished glass stones on  them. Now its a funky piece of art and not a contender for the land fills.

































































Shabby Chic recycled non working water fountain

This table top water fountain was generic nice gift I had gotten from a Neighbor in NYC about 10 years ago.  The water fountain stopped working so since I do not have any garden statues or sculptures outside, I decided to recycle this item by jazzing it up a bit and making it into a funky piece of art for my outside garden bed.

I painted it, glued some broken jewelry parts to it and added polished glass stones on  them. Now its a funky piece of art and not a contender for the land fills.
















Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Free ideas on decorating

There are many creative ways to save money by getting good ideas from home decorating sites and magazines.  House Beautiful, HGTV and BHG are sites that show rooms as galleries. By viewing the decorating sites, the photos of these rooms can inspire the user to create similar room with less expensive items. 



Many room styles repeat or come back in fashion by having some of those elements crossover into this modern day style.  An example: During the 1980's, many elements of the 1960's came back in fashion and in home decorating. 



Today, in modern decor, some elements of the 1950's fit in today's decor because 50's elements have a lot of clean lines, chrome, steel, teak woods.  Danish 50's furniture is very collectible and functional in modern decor.



Finding inspiration for decorating ideas, then locating similar furniture and accessories at Thrift Stores, outlet stores, liquidation sales. 



Have your dream home or room on your budget and don't have to purchase any magazines to do it.  Be Creative and yourself in your decorating, can't go wrong.





Free ideas on decorating

There are many creative ways to save money by getting good ideas from home decorating sites and magazines.  House Beautiful, HGTV and BHG are sites that show rooms as galleries. By viewing the decorating sites, the photos of these rooms can inspire the user to create similar room with less expensive items. 

Many room styles repeat or come back in fashion by having some of those elements crossover into this modern day style.  An example: During the 1980's, many elements of the 1960's came back in fashion and in home decorating. 

Today, in modern decor, some elements of the 1950's fit in today's decor because 50's elements have a lot of clean lines, chrome, steel, teak woods.  Danish 50's furniture is very collectible and functional in modern decor.

Finding inspiration for decorating ideas, then locating similar furniture and accessories at Thrift Stores, outlet stores, liquidation sales. 

Have your dream home or room on your budget and don't have to purchase any magazines to do it.  Be Creative and yourself in your decorating, can't go wrong.



Home made cleaning agents





Home made cleaning agents with common pantry items




Vinyl floors can be cleaned with a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to 1 gallon of warm water. Wood floors should be damp mopped with a mild liquid soap. Use mineral oil and a damp cloth as a furniture polish. To remove mildew scrub area with baking soda, if its sttubborn with TSP. To make your own oven cleaner mix 2 tbsp. of baking soda or Tsp in 1 gallon of warm water and scrub with a very fine steel wool pad; and use gloves when using mixture.



Use a 2-3 cup spray bottle with 1/2 tsp of liquid soap, 3 Tbsp of white vinegar and two cups of water to make glass cleaner. If windows are very dirty, use liquid soap. To clean toilet bowl use stiff brush to remove ring stain around toilet. Hard water deposits can be removed by pouring white vinegar or citric acid bowl cleaner by leaving it overnight before scrubbing. To remove stain ring around toilet use a dry pumice stone, moisten it with water and lightly scrub ring with the pumice stone. This really works with hard water stains, rust, and urine stains on porcelain; this works on bath tubs too. Save yourself the paint job if restoring old tub or toilet.

Home made cleaning agents





Home made cleaning agents with common pantry items


Vinyl floors can be cleaned with a 1/2 cup of white vinegar to 1 gallon of warm water. Wood floors should be damp mopped with a mild liquid soap. Use mineral oil and a damp cloth as a furniture polish. To remove mildew scrub area with baking soda, if its sttubborn with TSP. To make your own oven cleaner mix 2 tbsp. of baking soda or Tsp in 1 gallon of warm water and scrub with a very fine steel wool pad; and use gloves when using mixture.

Use a 2-3 cup spray bottle with 1/2 tsp of liquid soap, 3 Tbsp of white vinegar and two cups of water to make glass cleaner. If windows are very dirty, use liquid soap. To clean toilet bowl use stiff brush to remove ring stain around toilet. Hard water deposits can be removed by pouring white vinegar or citric acid bowl cleaner by leaving it overnight before scrubbing. To remove stain ring around toilet use a dry pumice stone, moisten it with water and lightly scrub ring with the pumice stone. This really works with hard water stains, rust, and urine stains on porcelain; this works on bath tubs too. Save yourself the paint job if restoring old tub or toilet.

Home made Chocolate recipe

Home made Chocolate recipe



1 Cup of Cocoa Powder

1 Cup of Confectioners sugar

1 Cup of dry milk

1 pinch of salt

1 Cup of melted vegetable shortening, or coconut oil.

Optional 1 tsp of mint, orange, raspberry or hazelnut flavor extract.



Add dry ingredients together in a bowl than use a sieve to mix all dry ingredients together by shaking into another bowl.  If not mixed through sieve, the chocolate will have a grainy feel to it.  Slowly mix in either melted vegetable shortening or coconut oil until the chocolate is liquid in consistency. Add extract(optionally) to add specific flavor to chocolate. Use parchment cooking paper to line a flat cooking sheet pan, than add liquid chocolate to the pan. Place pan in refrigerator for 24 hours and a solid thin chocolate will form on the pan. Use the paper to break the chocolate into pieces. The chocolate recipe works with plastic candy molds too. I am not sure how the chocolate forms with metal molds.

Note:  The chocolate melts quickly, if left out of the refrigerator for longer than 30 minutes.

Here is the photos of the chocolate I made last month. I got this recipe from a youtube chef and modified recipe slightly with the flavor extract addition.





















































 

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