I bought a package of cat grass a while back and finally got around to starting it last Saturday. (Yes, the picture above is of grass that was planted just six days earlier.) I found the seeds in the pet department at WalMart for a couple dollars. Inside the package is a small bag of …
Makeover | DIY mailbox update
My mailbox has been in a sorry state for quite a while. Paint was chipping off of both the metal mailbox and the wood post that it sits on. I finally did something about it this weekend, and I didn't have to spend a penny. I had all of the necessary supplies (half a can …
Makeover | Retooling a toolbox
I found this toolbox at Goodwill a couple weeks ago and thought it would be the perfect container to corral my scattered collection of craft paints. It was made of pine, nothing fancy, definitely not antique. But it did have one special embellishment, courtesy of the previous owner: a small verse hand carved into one …
Crafting | Cheesehead chicks
Happy Day Before The NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship Day! Just kidding. I know that's not a national holiday. What I meant was: "Happy Day After Frank Kaminsky's Birthday Day!" Sorry. I guess that's only a state holiday. But, as a lifelong resident and self-appointed representative of the Great State of Wisconsin, allow me to extend …
Collecting | Easter decorations
I used to go all out decorating for Easter, but, as I've gotten older and wiser, I've learned to say no to Pepto-Bismol pink plastic baskets and bears in rabbit ears. I haven't been able to kick the seasonal decorating habit altogether; but (I like to think) I'm a little more discerning in what I …
Collecting | Miniature watering cans
I have a somewhat crazy fascination/borderline obsession with unusually small things: Model trains, doll houses, hotel soap bars, single-serving boxes of cereal that look EXACTLY like the full-size box (just smaller), puppies, pencil sharpeners shaped like Lilliputian typewriters or cameras, travel-size bottles of shampoo, those little paper umbrellas that bartenders put in your pina coladas. …