oak-trimmed laminate kitchens that for some inexplicable reason were so popular in the 1980s. When I finally bit the bullet and decided to re-do the kitchen, I wanted to create something that was appropriate to the house and found my inspiration in a 1959 ad for a Hotpoint kitchen. It was both practical (tiled walls) and handsome, with a great punch of color from a tiled accent wall containing the turquoise (!) wall oven. While I ultimately decided a wall oven wouldn't work for me, and I went for the durability of stainless (the salt in the air is tough on things here at the beach), I think I've ended up the with a kitchen that honors the inspiration, and my home's history.

it looked like on his side as it was for him out of site, but on our side of the fence it was in perfect view of anyone sitting on the deck. Very unsightly for myself and my guests. What to do? I couldn't paint my side of the fence, as there was a short chain link fence on my side. So I did this...very inexpensive

1. went rock hunting (it's what I call it) at a local construction site (free rocks)

2. Free mulch (at the local community tree branch drop off area)

3 Lattice Boards ($8-$10 at local home improvement center)

4.rolled wire

5 Weed control plastic ($5-$6) or use newspaper (free)

Directions:

1. Attach lattice board to back side of fence area with wire, or what ever works best, depending on the fence your covering.

2. Rock off area you want to cover using small to medium rocks ( I go rock hunting on Sat-Sun between 6-10am when the crews are not there, as some contractors collect the rocks to sell)

3.Loosen soil beforehand, so you can plants before or after you place the mulch.

4. Place weed control covering

5. Spread mulch over area

Note: you may add plants and shrubs before or after you spread mulch. I added after as I wasn't sure what I wanted. I also added an Arch the following year.

challenged for a blogger sewing competition to sew something with Emerald fabric I knew it was the time. I thought for sure it would be so easy to gather up old green ties no one was using. Boy was I wrong! I was only able to collect about 5 green ties from friends and family (apparently it isn't a popular tie color) and it took trips to 7 resale stores to find the rest. To make the sunburst I cut off the wide and skinny ends of each tie (20 in total) and came up with an arrangement that would form a circle. I used the wide ties to form the circle and the skinny ties were laid over top to join them all together. After coming up with the layout it was time to pin and sew! 1 clock kit, 2 wood clock faces, and 3 dowels later we have a new piece of functional art for our master bedroom wall!Stop over at my blog Dear Emmeline for the full tutorial.

{This project is part of the blogger sewing competition Sew-vivor. If you love it as much as I do I'd love your vote! The link to vote is in the blog post!}