Friday, July 29, 2016

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Bloomin' Tuesday...


I hope you're having a nice day. The last few weeks have been busy ones for me. First, a daughter and her little family visited for a week. Then, most of the rest of the kids and their families came for a reunion, and last week I went to Indiana to help my son's family with their new little one. It's been busy and fun. I'm back to my "usual" (whatever that is) routine, so I thought I'd share some pictures of the garden today. The relentless heat and sun of this time of year always creates a challenge in my garden. No matter how much water I pour on my plants, it just doesn't compensate for the high temps and the scorching sun. In about a month, the plants will get a break in the hot weather and they will perk back up.

We have a bumper crop of lettuce this year. It's shaded throughout the day, so the sun doesn't bother it too much...



Many plants in my containers are struggling, but the geraniums love the heat.



My morning glory are beginning to bloom. I love going out early in the morning and seeing their beautiful deep purple faces!


Luscious impatiens have completely filled the planter boxes we made last spring.


Wishing you a nice Bloomin' Tuesday.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Monday, July 11, 2016

Children's Ice Cream Shop... the big reveal!


A few weeks ago on a blog post I mentioned that I had bought a used TV stand to repurpose into an ice cream shop for children. I finished it shortly after that post and it's time for the reveal. You might remember that I talked the cashier at the thrift store down to $5 for this "beauty." {I'm embarrassingly cheap when it come to repurposing items.}


Here are the steps it took to repupose this TV stand into a fun treat shop for the grandkids...

1. I disassembled it -- the top, kick plate, knobs, and cupboard doors all came off.


At this point, the back of the TV stand became the front of the ice cream shop, so when I refer to the "front" and "back" I am referring to the front and back of the new ice cream shop.

2. I applied a coat of Kilz Original Oil-Based Primer on all the pieces.  I also bought a piece of hard board and cut it to size for the front of the ice cream shop. {There was no "back" on the TV stand before.}

3. I used Behr "One to Remember" and Behr "Misty Isle" to paint the shop. These are beautiful colors reminiscent of peach and mint chocolate chip ice cream -- perfect for the little shop.


4. When the pieces were painted, I reassembled the stand -- turning the top around to the (now) front of the ice cream shop and placing the kick plate on the front of the shop. The hard board was also put on the front of the shop. New knobs were placed on the cupboard doors.



5. I bought two 1-1/4" x 48" round dowels at Home Depot. Two round holes were drilled in the top of the shop. I also cut two 2-1/2" cubes and drilled a hole through both of those. They were glued to the inside of the shop to help secure the bottom of the dowels. {See below.}



6. Strips of cotton were cut 1-1/2" x 16" to make the fabric banner. It was strung across the dowels.


7. A cute ice cream sign was purchased from Amazon to add to the front of the shop.


8. Two "Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Scoop Sets" were purchased. This magnetic play set makes it easy for little ones to scoop up the ice cream and place it on the cones!


The result was more than I'd hoped for... 


The ice cream shop was revealed at our family reunion. It was my hope the little ones would enjoy playing with something new. It did not disappoint...




It was especially fun when the adults got into it and ordered real ice cream from the kiddos. 


From a junkie old TV stand to a fresh new children's ice cream shop, this repurposed item was one of my favorites of all time!


My thanks to Mindi, at My Love 2 Create, for inspiring this project with her Frozen Treat Stand!

And one more thing... aren't my grandkids adorable!?!