July Mug Shots

July is all about red, white and blue.

It's a very patriotic month, even after the 4th.

 A low basket holds 2 large Longaberger
travel mugs in red and ivory. 

An old mason jar holds my oatmeal topping,
oatmeal cookie sugar mixture  

An assortment of tea bags are stored
 in an old clamp lid jar.

 I found the vintage pastry cutter with a red handle
 in a thrift store and added that just for the color.

 Cobalt glass mugs from Walmart.

I found the perfect patriotic glass cutting board 

on sale at Marshalls a few years ago for $3.00.

A patriotic basket filled with Raisin Bran Muffins.
We call them~
Better Than Bran Muffins Bran Muffins.

 reminder

Change of heart, gets the flag charm for July.
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Oatmeal Cookie Flavor Sugar Mixture

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

1 t cinnamon

Combine and store in a jar.

Sprinkle some on your morning oatmeal.

CHEERS !

Rita

Links: Between Naps On The Porch,

Somewhat Simple, Savvy Southern Style,

A Stroll Thru Life

Coffee Table Cloches for Summer

(I now return you back to summer after
 accidentally reposting ~ Christmas Counters)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm displaying a few of my shell-finds under 

large cloches on the coffee table in the family room.

I'm using the straw plate chargers as the base.

 I'm thinking Tommy Bahama. 

I found these large conch shells on beach vacations.

I displayed one shell on a votive stand.  

I saved the stand after I broke the votive.

I found the shell ball at Marshalls.

A pillar candle is nestled in shells in a

 glass hurricane. 

That's the only kind of hurricane we like here in

 South Florida!

It gives a nice glow in the evening while we watch  TV.

Cheers!

Rita

Links: A Stroll Thru Life

Salvaged Kitchen Cabinet Remodel

Here's what we did with the old kitchen cabinets 

that we got from my niece Chris's kitchen remodel.

Here's what we started with.

 We used the upper cabinets because they are
only 12 inches deep.

 We were lucky to have enough to fill the space
 under the bar counter. It's 9 feet 4 inches long.

 We removed the fabric liner.

 We removed the doors to paint.

They had chicken wire. How lucky was that? 

We have used chicken wire in the
 kitchen dish pantry (HERE).

Larry built a base to match the one under the cabinets in the kitchen. 

That left an odd space between the
cabinets and the counter.

I sketched out cubbies and Larry built three boxes.

We needed to finish the sides.

I wanted beadboard to match what we did on the 

kitchen island remodel (HERE).

Beadboard installed and wood trim added.

That led to adding the same beadboard/trim treatment

 to the end of the adjacent lower kitchen cabinet too.

The cubbies are in and everything gets another coat of Cloud White paint.

I couldn't wait and started to load one of the cabinets.

Larry said that he hasn't issued my 

certificate of occupancy yet!

Finally finished and loaded!

It's great to have more of my dishes close to the breakfast table.

I think I'll add fabric liners to the doors. 

Larry thought I could even change it with the

 seasons or for Christmas.

Whoa! He's been living with me too long!

You can see the chicken wire on the 

dish pantry in the kitchen.

I think the kitchen has gone to the chickens!

Here's the view to the breakfast area and
 out to the patio.

View from the breakfast table into the kitchen.

We thought we were done when I thought
 that the legs we had recently added to the
kitchen island (HERE) 

would look good under the cabinets. 

So Larry cut a few legs, painted and installed them. 

I think it grounds the cabinets and makes it look more like built-ins.

 Here's the space before the cabinets.

We rarely used the bar stools. 

We sold them on Craig's List.

It more than paid for the wood and paint we used

making this another no cost project we MAY'd!

Cheers!

We had another cabinet we repurposed for our van (HERE).

Links: Dittle Dattle, It's So Very Cheri,

Southern Hospitality, Between Naps On The Porch,

A Beach Cottage, Savvy Southern Style,

Domestically Speaking, No Minimalist Here,

The Shabby Creek Cottage, French Country Cottage,

Common Ground, The Charm Of Home,

Remodelaholic, My Romantic Home

Summer Pie And The Pie Crust Is Easy

Fresh strawberry pie for a Sunday

 summer afternoon coffee.

When I want a pie fast and don't feel like making

 my regular pie crust, I make  my,

Lazy Pie Crust 

1-1/2 C flour

2 t sugar

1 t salt

1/3-1/2 C oil

Mix with a fork adding enough oil just to make a dough.

Pat out into pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 

until golden. Let cool and fill.  

No cutting in and no rolling! Easy!

It's not as pretty as the regular crust,

 but it's fast and easy.

For the  Strawberry Pie recipe click HERE. 

Here's To Summer!

Rita

Summer afternoon ~~to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.~~~Henry James

Blog Navigation 101

Here are some simple tips for finding just what you're

 looking for on my (or any) blog.

On the upper left bar there is a Blogger search box.

Just type in a word that you remember from a 

past post. Then click on the search icon. 

(magnifying glass).

Like Bruce Willis, for example. 

Was there ever a post with his name referenced? 

 Yup! Here it is

You can do the same thing in the search box

 on my sidebar.

Are you looking for posts that show
 how I used chicken wire?

 Yup! There are several.
 Just click on any of the post titles.

You can also click on the pictures at the bottom
 of each post for a variety of past features.

Easy to follow directions if you want to be a follower. 

You need to have or set up a free Google account.

I  (((love))) my followers!

Translate my blog to any language with a click!

hallo Deutschland!

 If you don't like today's song selection, just scroll
 down and pick something you like better.
 Or, just turn off the music.

Then there's Pinterest.

Clicking here will take you to my Pinterest site.

It's where I virtual-file all the things I find on the www

that I want to save.

I can create as many category boards as I need.

It's free and you can make your own. 

*****
I hope this answers some of your questions.
I know these are all very basic tips,
but I didn't know any of this when I first started looking at blogs.

Thanks for stopping by
MAY DAYS
Cheers!
Rita

Links: Just A Girl, Michella Marie