Road Trip - Key West

Living in south Florida means we are only

 a few hours drive to the Keys. It's a nice

getaway for the weekend. This time we 

added a day to go all the way down to

 Key West.

Driving on the Overseas Highway you can
 feel the vacation mood coming on.

 Captain Lawrence and I enjoyed walking
along Duval Street, the main drag in town.
It's loaded with shops, restaurants and
 plenty of places to get a great margarita
and of course some real Key Lime pie.

I love white picket fences and this quaint 

old Florida town has plenty of them.

 Bougainvillea and picket fences...

does it get better than this?

 I had to do one in my Waterlogue app.

 The architecture is amazing. Each house is 

prettier than the next. I wanted to check
out as many as we could.

 We walked, lunched, walked, coffee &
pie break, and walked some more. We also
visited a few museums to learn more about
 the rich history of this town.

 It's a very bike friendly town and there are 

lots of places to rent bikes and scooters. 

They even decorate the bikes with flowers!

We didn't bring our bikes on this trip.

This is the view form our bed. It's our own

"Beach Cottage" / "Bed & Breakfast"

AKA our Roadtrek van. 

Cheers!

                                                          
Links: Between Naps On The Porch

Tips for Storing Small Appliances

Here's my solution for "finding" more space to 

store all my small appliances. Plus, a great tip

on managing those loose dangly cords. 

I'll share that at the end

The top shelf in a kitchen cabinet is where I

 store all my small appliances: 2 waffle irons, 

regular and heart shaped, a George Forman 

small grill, a crepe pan (the kind you dip

 into the batter), a knife sharpener, and 

a sandwich maker.  I like that I can see 

them all and therefore use them. 

Notice the cord problem. 

I'm going to fix that too. 

The stuff was just stacked up there willy-nilly.

I do not do willy-nilly well, so what I decided 

was needed was another shelf.

As you can see I'm obsessed with turntables. 

I found this one at Walmart and it expands

to fit perfectly. Sofie thought that was a 

genius idea. 

 Everything off the top shelf. 

I keep an IKEA 2-step stool in the kitchen. 

It gets me to any shelf. 

 Now my little BIG tip! Here's my immersion 

hand blender. Notice the cord is out of control.

Also notice the tiny butterfly clips. I get those

whoever I buy orchids and naturally I save 

them. And naturally I keep those saved clips

 in one of my tennis cans. 

Well, they came in handy. 

Viola! Yes, just clip the cord onto

itself. it's fast, easy, and holds

the cord in place.

 I have enough of those little clips for all 

the appliances. 

 Secure the cords.

 When I unwind I just keep the clip on the cord

 so it doesn't get lost. Use and just

clip it together again. So easy! 

 If you have little girls, or little doggies, you 

probably have these clips already. I'm sure 

you can buy a bag at a dollar store or Walmart.

 or steal one off your orchid plant. 

 I put everything back in the cabinet, 

and had no dangling messy cords. 

Now I even have extra room. 

They are so much easier to get out and

the chance of getting bonked on the head

has been greatly reduced. 

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

DIY Twig Frame Wreath for Fall

This fall wreath came together in no time

using things I had on hand. 

First I went into the yard with my garden 

loper and cut a good bunch of branches. 

I laid them out to the size I wanted that 

would fit on my front door's glass. I used

 4 twigs for each side. They don't need to 

 be straight. 

 Bundle them together at the ends with wire.

 Next attach the corners with more wire. 

 I used raffia to cover the wire.

 I left some of the raffia strands long for 

that 'harvest look'. 

 Next I hung a few pinecones from the top.
 I added small screw eyes on the ends of
the pine cones to string in the twine.

I topped it all off with some 

fall ribbon I found in my ribbon jar.  

 I used a large suction hook to attach 

the wreath to my glass door.

 Hang by one of the twigs from the hook

on the from door. 

I think this twig wreath can be a nice base

for other season too. Using decorations 

for Christmas, spring, winter, gives it a 

variety of looks. 

Cheers!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch

SaveSave

My Easiest DIY Fall Centerpiece

Still a favorite way to add instant Fall 

to my house. 

You'll need 5  minutes and:

1 - a bowl, basket, or crate

2 - a glass hurricane 

3 - a pillar candle

4 - pinecones

I started with my large antique bowl. 

Next I added a glass hurricane in the center. 

I raised the hurricane on a cleaned tuna can 

or sour cream tub. Add a pillar candle. 

 Fill all around the hurricane with pine cones. 

I collect them everywhere I go.

That's it!  Five minutes later it's Welcome Fall. 

Cheers!

What To Do With A Wine Crate

I've been picking up these wood wine crates 

whenever a store manager is willing to 

give them away. 

Here's one way I use them. Just pile in all

 my silver trays for a rustic/elegant display.

 First I wanted it to look older, so I wiped on
some leftover wood stain. Any stain will do. I
 had a bit saved in a jar in the garage from
some other project. It was just enough.

 Do this outside because it stinks. 

 I stained the inside too.

 I added felt stick-on disks to the  bottom so
that I could put it anywhere without worrying
 about it scratching a table top.

Here it is on the dining room buffet.

It's the thrifted buffet I painted using
my homemade chalk paint formula.
You can see that post HERE.

My $39 buffet.

 Apparently (according to blogland) it's now
OK not to polish your silver. That worked
 for me because I couldn't wait to empty the
silver cabinet in the buffet and fill this crate.
 I know I'll want to polish it all and get it
nice and shiny very soon. I may even poke in
some evergreens and little white lights
for the holidays. (glee!).

 If you can find a wine crate that has your
name on it or is a special memento of an
 event or trip, that would be too fabulous!

I've been looking for a Santa Rita crate
 for some time. 

Cheers!

Follow me on Facebook!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch