Simply Spring #13: My Butterfly Kitchen

Welcome to my butterfly kitchen!

I've been decorating and organizing room by room this spring, and so far each one has a theme. The front hallway is Americana and the living room is birds.

I already had a few butterfly decorations in the kitchen, so I decided to expand on that. I'd like to give you a tour showing what I've been doing to make the kitchen prettier, cleaner, and more functional.

We'd had a big plain white calendar on the A/C access door, so I moved this one in from the bedroom.




I pulled all of the food out of the pantry cupboards, wiped them out, and reorganized.

I didn't realize how much pasta we had! I put it all on a cookie sheet that can be slid out to see what's in back.

This is part of my magnet collection on the refrigerator doors.

I didn't have time to thoroughly clean out the refrigerator, but I did at least take out the spoiled food and reorganize. It was better than nothing!

I bought a new brown Hefty trash can, and brought in another small trash basket for kitchen scraps to be taken out to the compost pile.

The green trash can at the right is for recyclables. The smaller one we were using before was always overflowing. I bought the white plastic basket to corral brooms and the long-handled dustpan. The tan trash can at the left is to hold wet kitchen linens waiting to be laundered.

This print hangs above the recycling bin. I got it for $5 at Deals. Pretty!

The kitchen window only had blinds on it for years. I bought a new tension rod for about $2 at Walmart, washed the old curtain that had been there before, and popped it back into place. Then I took a butterfly garland (made from feathers, a gift from my daughters), cut off four of the butterflies, and dangled them in front of the window.

I moved this little piece in from the living room.

I still have a lot of work to do. Some of the laminate came off the cabinet underneath the sink. I bought some stain to camouflage it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I also plan to touch up the walls with paint.

Our garbage disposer often stinks, so I bought these cleaning pellets.

Other sink purchases: fresh sponges and a caddy.

This corner between the sink and the microwave is one of my kitchen trouble spots. I tend to throw a lot of miscellaneous stuff back there when I unload the dishwasher, especially plastics that are still wet. What a mess!

I took EVERYTHING out of the corner.

Then I put back only what really belonged there. I bought a new dish drainer and aim to not let it pile up. The plastic canister has anti-bacterial wipes used to quickly clean the counter and sink. I love these! I peeled the label off of it since it looks better that way.

The microwave needed cleaning. It was a lot easier to see and reach the ceiling of it by tipping it backwards.

I keep several things on top of the microwave: baskets for hot pads and measuring cups, a small cup for twisty ties, and a little porcelain butterfly container for other tiny things.

My cooking utensils are to the left of the microwave. A large blue vase holds the tall ones, and two butterfly flower pots (from Dollar General) hold the smaller ones and my paring knives.

Some of my paring knives were misplaced (I found them while cleaning the big pile) and some needed to be replaced because the handles were disintegrating. I bought these two at IKEA, one on clearance. I had never been there before, and decided to drive down with my daughter and look for bedroom curtains. We stayed two hours and could have spent a few more if we'd had time!

I also bought the Popsicle molds at IKEA so we can make our own healthy frozen treats from juice.

A new butterfly hot pad over the stove, as well as a small heart chalkboard. I hope my children get the message: "Have a heart, do your part!" One thing I remembered to do is to clean the top part of the stove hood since it gets so grimy.

New cookie sheets from Walmart!

This is a low counter between the kitchen and dining room. The wire bin holds small appliances. The wicker basket has trivets. The green tin frilled-edge container is my junk basket. I always keep paper plates handy, and I couldn't resist the butterfly tissue box.

We've had this grocery bag dispenser up for years - and it already had butterflies on it!

Well, that's my butterfly kitchen! I hope you enjoyed the tour!

You might also like to see:

• My Golden Sunshine Garden
• Kitchen Organization Ideas from a Mom of 10

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

Simply Spring #12: Trades of Hope

Dear friends,

I had intended to write more about home decorating and organizing this week, specifically in the kitchen. However, as I began gathering my photos, I had a little change of heart. I'll save all of that for next week.

Instead, this week for my Simply Spring series, I'd like to share with you about Trades of Hope. We'll start with a little creative musing.

Imagine for a moment that you are a woman in a Third World country, living in utter poverty. You can't afford to feed your children, and you know that soon you will have to take them an orphanage. Education is out of the question. You don't have clean water, so your family is at risk for preventable water-borne diseases, some of them quite deadly. You may be trapped into the slavery of sex trafficking, or be a victim of domestic violence, or be HIV positive, or be at risk to other societal maladies. Violence is rampant. Natural disasters such as earthquakes often obliterate whatever shaky infrastructure already existed. Perhaps you live in Haiti, which has still not recovered from the devastating 2010 earthquake. Haiti has the highest infant and maternal mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere, and there are 500,000 orphans!  Let that sink in. Continue to imagine with me.

You are trapped into an endless cycle of despair.

You don't know where to turn.

You are without hope. And your children... What will become of your children?

Sure, if you're lucky there might be charitable organizations handing out temporary aid - food and clothes. But it's just that: temporary. You need sustainable income. You need to work. Your community's economy needs to be revitalized.

There is hope, and it comes in the form of a hand up, not a hand out.

One little piece of that hand up hope in ten countries around the globe (including the USA) is a faith-based Fair Trade company called Trades of Hope.

India

Trades of Hope assists artisans in setting up their own businesses which make fashion accessories and home decor from locally sourced raw or recycled materials. Trades of Hope imports these unique and lovely art pieces into the United States to a ready market of those who appreciate beauty and compassion. Artisans can earn three to six times as much for their families as they could otherwise. As the business grows and more artisans are hired, the whole community can begin to thrive. In the United States, Trades of Hope distributors - called Compassionate Entrepreneurs - can also earn income for their own families by sharing the artisans' products and stories at home parties, local events, or on-line.

One such artisan is Esther from Haiti. Here is her story:

"Esther has had a very hard life even though she is only 25. She was in an abusive relationship with her 5 year old daughter’s father. She stayed for a long time because it was all she knew, but unlike many Haitian women, she finally had the courage to leave. The artisan group she joined played a role in helping her leave this relationship and stand on her own two feet. She has a quiet strength and persistence and she brings that into her work as well. She started bringing ideas to this group and showing them her designs for new products. They were so impressed with her eye for design and her ability, and so they started collaborating with her for new products. She designed the Trades of Hope Esther bag. She is creative and smart and beautiful. She loves to cook and is also in charge of a cooking class where she is training others to cook. They hope to open a restaurant one day! She now lives in peace and pride and takes care of her little girl. Before coming to the program, Esther had gone to school, but could not find a job. She says she is thankful for the program because she is able to send her daughter to school and to put food on the table for her family!"

Trades of Hope also supports the Maternity Center in Port Au Prince, Haiti. There, women can find medical care and support, safe and sanitary conditions, education, and respect. 

Though I had briefly heard about Trades of Hope from an on-line friend, I didn't know much about it until I met Melissa at the Blueberry Festival in Mount Dora while I was at a ladies' retreat. I bought the lovely Haiti Signature bracelet, and was intrigued to hear that many of the beads in it are made from recycled cereal boxes!  

My other favorite piece is the Kala necklace from India. Black is such a versatile color, which might explain why I wear so much of it!  You can read more about the work of Trades of Hope in India.

Why am I writing to you about this?

I am now a Compassionate Entrepreneur with Trades of Hope. This is right in line with my 2015 goals of personal and professional development. Right now I'm still not able to do much, since I have a busy family and a lot of physical limitations. However, as Mother Teresa has said, we can "do small things with great love." So I'll do what I can with what I have. I still have much to learn!

Meanwhile, I'd like to invite you to explore the beautiful on-line Trades of Hope catalog. If you are reading this before June 8, 2015, here is the link to my current on-line party. If the party is already closed and you want to place an order, or if you would like to read or watch more of the story of Trades of Hope, here is my business link that is good any time: Virginia Knowles with Trades of Hope. You can also visit my Trades of Hope Facebook page for news and personal TOH updates from me!

If you're interested in hosting a Trades of Hope party in your home or on-line, or even become a Compassionate Entrepreneur, please contact me! I'd love to talk! 

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

www.ThisMomGrowsUp.blogspot.com

Simply Spring #11: Americana and Bird Decor

Hello friends!

Welcome back to my Simply Spring series, which as usual carries on my Pretty and Practical theme, too.

I've been meaning to redecorate my front hallway in a patriotic Americana theme for summer, and I figured Memorial Day was a great time to start the season.

My one big chalkboard was the obvious place to make a change. This is what it looked like until today.


I Googled "God Bless America chalkboard art" and came up with this from the StoneGable blog. Yvonne has quite lovely posts there, so check it out.

I obviously didn't include all of her embellishments or the words at the bottom. I made it my own. I may be a patriotic American, but at heart I am more of a global thinker. Hence, "and the rest of the world." I found the wood hearts on clearance at Target for about $2.

Another clearance item, this sign from Old Time Pottery, hangs above my hall closets directly across from the front door.

Underneath of that, I hung wooden hearts from my decorations storage bin. I generally don't prefer distressed furniture with purposely worn or scratched paint, but this is more primitive than distressed, and it's small enough to not be visually overpowering.

The little birds had been up on the cabinet with the chalkboard, along with others. I picked out the ones that looked sort of red, white, and blue and arranged them on the tea cart near the door. As you'll see later, the others moved into the living room.

On the other side of the door, my red and blue basket is filled with water bottles, easy to grab on the way out. At Jo-Ann Crafts today, they had a 60% sale on many items with an additional 20% coupon beyond that. They had a whole bunch of patriotic decor, but as I looked and looked I didn't see anything that really grabbed me, that I had to have. I did buy the blue star ribbon with wires and added a bow to two baskets and a cinnamon broom in the hallway.

While working in this area, I took the time to organize all of the shoes, make the kids take their backpacks to their rooms (only a couple of more days of this anyway as school lets out on Wednesday), shake out the hall rug, and sweep.

So that is my front entryway right now. Oh, and our front door. I took down my spring flower wreath and put this up instead, again from my decor bin.

How about an update on my living room, which I've been featuring in this series? (See here.) Last week I mentioned that I had bought lighter blue curtains to replace the darker sheer and silky ones I bought just before Easter. I moved that first set into the computer room to cover the sliding glass doors since we need extra privacy.  Well, as it turned out, the newer blue ones were too sheer for my purposes too, so I moved them to the dining room where we only had blinds. Then I started hunting for room darkening curtains for the living room. This limited my color options and I gave up on finding blue ones.

I finally found brown to match the couches, and had to travel to three different Target stores to get the 10 panels I needed for the two big windows. They still aren't quite as "room darkening" as I'd like - for that, I guess I would have had to buy blackout curtains. But I did figure out to put cardboard panels behind the curtains to cut more of the light. This will save on summer energy bills and reduces the glare on our TV screen. My curtain buying is not done, though, because I still need some for my bedroom to cover up my worn out blinds.

I moved the birdhouse picture and the ceramic birds in from the front hallway to complete my pastel bird and garden theme.









I found this sign at a church rummage sale. It's perched on top of our DVD rack. I love the words. We have a pretty crazy home.

I finally hung the last four curtain panels this evening. These don't have the cardboard behind them yet. I may leave it that way for now.  My oldest daughter, Mary, just gave me the big blue ceramic bird today. She's been rearranging her own house, and as she was thinking of my new decorating scheme, she realized she had something that would fit in just right! I needed something of that blue tone big enough to go on the piano, and it's also a similar style to my little ceramic birds. I love being able to wrap the same colors and theme all around the room.

These birds also remind me of freedom, and that in turn reminds me of the great blessings of liberty we have here in the United States of America.

I am grateful on this Memorial Day for the brave men and women who have given their lives to serve and protect to our country.

God bless America!
God bless you... and the rest of the world, too!

Virginia Knowles

Simply Spring #10: Pretty and Practical Continues

Welcome back to my Simply Spring series!

Wow! It's been another busy week! I don't even know where to start!

The most exciting event was my grandson's first birthday party on Saturday, with a very clever airplane theme. What I didn't know is that my daughter had also baked a "smash cake" for him, and the color of the cake (under the frosting) revealed the gender of his new sibling due this fall. You can see the pictures and find out whether it's a brother or sister here: An Airplane Birthday Party and New Baby Gender Reveal.

We also had an ROTC awards night at the high school, an 8th grade graduation, lots of medical appointments, a used curriculum sale, and so much more.

One trick I learned in preparing books to resell is how to remove permanent marker from a smooth cover. Just scribble dry erase marker liberally over it, then wipe with a tissue. You may need to repeat once or twice, but most or all of it will come off!  If you need to remove adhesive residue after taking a price sticker off, use a citrus based cleaner like Goo Gone or DeSolvIt. It would be better if people used removable stickers to avoid this, but this is the next best thing. Of course you can use these tricks on other surfaces as well, such as walls, windows, kitchen counters... Been there, done that.

I'm still trying to fit in time to beautify my home. Does this seem trivial when there is so much else to do? Maybe, but it's good for everyone's mental health. Beauty is restorative, bringing an essence of rightness, peace, calm, and loveliness to life. I am still thinking a lot about cozy, quaint, comfortable cottages as you might remember from my post My Cottage Dreams (Why Not Now?).

I like to visit vintage and antique stores as often as I can, even if I can't afford to buy much. I did find a used copy of Mary Emmerling's American Country Cottage book at Adjectives Market last week while I had an hour gap between other errands. I also found a book on country decorating at a thrift store recently. I like a more traditional English country cottage look rather than country cute. I despise wooden geese with ribbons around their necks.

When I get the chance, I sit down with my Home & Garden notebook and these two decorating books. I study each page spread carefully. I write down what I like, what I don't like, and what I could do with what I already own or what I could purchase inexpensively. Beyond the notes and ideas, this is an exercise in noticing beauty, in enriching my own soul. I may not ever have transom windows (sigh!) or pegged wood floors, but I can enjoy the pictures! I'm not so much into "how to" decorating books right now. I just go for the ideas and inspiration.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might know that I redecorated our living room last month in blues and browns. I tried to keep the cost low by shopping mainly at thrift stores and Walmart. I bought blue taffeta curtains for two large windows, but I'm not sure I like them there. They are a bit shiny for that room, and unfortunately too sheer. If anyone tries to watch TV or play video games during the day, there is too much glare from the window light. And like I said, with the kids home during summer days, that's going to be an issue. 

Anyway, I decided that I should move those curtains to the sliding glass door in another room. Then I found some other reasonably priced light blue curtains with a nubby woven texture. I'll have to get my teens to hang them soon after the rest of the panels arrive at the store. Meanwhile, here's a picture of one panel in its packaging. I think this is more the look and opacity that I want!

The newer curtains will also go better with the blue book bin and trash basket that I found at Target this week. I swapped out end tables. This mission style table, which I got at a church rummage sale for $1, is smaller and allows easier access to the adjacent book case than the previous one. The lace cover conceals a multitude of scratches. 

Another decorating idea that struck me today is that two of my adult daughters are in Europe right now taking exquisite photographs. I am utterly drooling over their dozens of pictures of their three days in Iceland. I think I'll get some of them enlarged to hang in our computer room.

Stunning, eh? Still SO jealous! At least I get to live vicariously thanks to digital cameras and the Internet!

Well, that's about it for this week. I'm tired and sore and need to go to bed. I will finally have an appointment with a spinal neurologist this week to consult about my joint damage, daily headaches, and facial numbness resulting from a traffic accident 11 weeks ago. I am hoping she can figure out what to do and get on with it!

Virginia Knowles
www.ThisMomGrowsUp.blogspot.com

Simply Spring #9: Mother's Day and Meltdowns

Dear friends,

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, I hope you've had one.

I had a meltdown this morning.

It was the Perfect Storm of fatigue, back pain, head ache, frustration, assorted mothering challenges, a messy-ish house, and at least one loudly disgruntled child.

We missed church. I retreated to my bedroom in tears.

My oldest daughter (a mommy of three) came over and listened to me moan and gripe, then gave me a neck and head massage, and then sent me back to bed for a nap while she had a "little lecture chat" with her younger siblings.

And somehow, we all managed to enjoy our traditional Mother's Day lunch. It helps that it wasn't at my house and I didn't have to do any of the cooking. We also got the all important family picture with the whole clan - two parents, seven daughters, three sons, two sons-in-law, four grandsons, and one unborn grandchild whose gender will soon be revealed.

Just know that there is much of our family story that this cheerful picture does not show. (If you want to see more of our pictures, including a college graduation and much more, click here: Images of My Month of May.)

So, for those of you who are having a tough time with motherhood right now, I present to you several links on this blog that may encourage you. After that, I'll share a poignant essay called "Motherhood" that I think was written in the 1950's. Enjoy!

• Melancholy
• Hypothetical
• Resilience
• Treasures in Jars of Clay
• My Glorious Dish Towel
• Hope and Glory
• Knowing That She Hath Wings
• The 12 P's of Stress Busting for Moms
• The Proper Pressure
• Image, Identity, Authenticity and Freedom
• Brain Boosting: The Physical Factors
• Sanctuary
• At Our Best Bravely
• Nurturing Naomi: How to Help Yourself or Someone Else Overcome Discouragement
• Disillusioned and Disappointed? Take It to Jesus!
• When Life is Not a Bowl of Cherries

And now the essay I promised.

My Aunt Nancy sent this vintage newspaper clipping to me several years ago, and it has always been a humorous encouragement. 

MOTHERHOOD, by Jeanne Merrihew Lofgren

“A Mother is a maker, a mender, a moderator, and a teacher.

She makes boxer pants and chocolate pudding, law and sometimes order, castles, threats, promises and rabbit suits. She makes horses’ heads from paper bags, little suits from big ones, new dresses from old ones, sunsuits from kitchen curtains, small balloons from popped ones, stew from nothing whatever. She makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and peace when possible.

A Mother is a maker and a mender.

A Mother mends broken dishes and broken hearts, trouser knees, hurt noses and hurt feelings, trouser knees, torn jackets and torn fingers, and trouser knees. She mends old sheets, old rosebushes, old baby dolls and brand new trouser knees.

A Mother is a maker, a mender and a moderator.

She is a moderator in times of war --- civil war, verbal war, insurrection, minor skirmishes, attacks from the enemy; in times of strife, in times of injustice, in times of temper, in times of hairpulling.

A Mother is a maker, a mender, a moderator and teacher.

She teaches how to button buttons and how to say a prayer. She teaches how to hold a knife and fork, how to hang up clothes so they sometimes stay hung, how to sit still in church. She can teach a love of books and of music --- she can even turn child hearts to God. But almost never can she teach how to close a door without a bang or how to come in without bringing in mud.

A Mother can count. She counts calories and blessings, pennies and children’s heads in the car. But she never counts sheep!

A Mother is immune to surprise --- whether it is a glass of water in her desk drawer, a cat sleeping on fresh sheets in the linen cupboard, worms in trouser pockets, good report cards, bad report cards, split foreheads, split infinitives. Nothing ever really surprises her.

But sometimes a Mother reaches despair. The dryer won’t dry when all the clothes are washed and wet. The baby bites the cat’s tail and is scratched for it. Three-year-old dumps the tinker toys by the front door when you expect the minister to call. The baby screams for attention - soothing medications must be halted while Mother sprints to a relentless doorbell. There stand two neighborhood children to report, “Your baby is crying.” Six-year-old after forty-five minutes cannot spell “what”.

Eight-year-old dashes in to say he forgot, but it is his turn to take cookies to his meeting today. Fingerprints all over the house loom suddenly vivid. The ragged edge of the rug seems suddenly dreadful. Three-year-old won’t go outside. The cat won’t come in. The gelatin won’t jell. The sun won’t shine. The stew sticks and the pudding boils over while the phone rings on and on and on. And with it and above it and through it all comes, “Mommy, come and see --- Mommy, come and see”, incessently, monotonously, unendingly from three-year-old.

Mother leans chin on broomhandle and mutters, “Next time I’ll raise chickens, Lord. Children are just too much.”

Then ten-year-old crashes in --- rough and ready, all boy --- to confide, “Mommy, at Cub Scout meeting we had to list the five things most precious to us, and I did: One, God; two, love; three, America; four, babies; and five, sunsets.”

Suddenly the baby’s eyes seem very blue, six-year-old recites from memory the entire 23rd Psalm, which is better than spelling “what”, fingerprints retreat again. Daddy walks in. Really life could not be richer. It is a glory never to be bartered.

Dear Lord, keep the chickens. I’ll carry on for now. And thank you --- from the bottom of my heart.”