Recently I mentioned that the new TV for the living room
threw the whole house out of whack...
After hard wiring the new flat screen to the wall,
we (I) decided that it would look 1000 times better on the opposite wall....
Insert stony silence, then a defeated sigh...
The TV is now temporarily on said opposite wall,
waiting to be properly wired...
I have no idea how to make the surrounding wall space look good,
but suggestions are coming in...
Anyway, the big ole yellow TV cabinet no longer had a useful life
housing the old boob tube,
and I jumped at the chance to repurpose it into a craft cabinet...
Pinterest offered loads of lovely ideas for containing
all the crafting crap I have acquired over the years...
Man, do I have a lot of stuff that has
been squirreled away
in various crannies of the house....
textured scissors, colored pencils, stickers,
glues, glitter (see last post), patterned papers,
punches, brushes, paints, etc...
Inspired to create a crafting haven,
I set to work, designing the interior of the cabinet...
is that you need great tools to make the job quick and easy...
where Norm Abrams created his own six panel doors
in thirty minutes with $60,000.00 worth of tools...
my dad...
gadgets and routers to build a Taj Mahal in ten days...
My personal handyman at home is awesome, too... wink wink! ;)
I needed a shelf and some panels cut to my specifications...
Here's hoping my measurments were accurate...
One quick trip to the 'burbs
and I had my new pieces, STAT...
I asked and it was built, solid as a brick S@&$ house, too.
Oh, how I LOVE a handyman!
and covered the door panels with fabric remnants.
They peek through the rungs of the cabinet and look pretty...
with pegboard to add some utility...
Next stop, Ikea, for the cool containers
and receptacles for the crafting items...
Ikea is great if you have a list to fulfill...
Otherwise it's an overwhelming maze of similarly dazed customers
and their crabby kids...
The kitchen resembled an episode of "Hoarders"
as I sorted and tossed the years of accumulated crafting things...
Tom came home from work,
took one look at the kitchen and walked out of the room...
Couldn't blame him...
Finally, it all came together...
I still need to fine tune the peg board panels,
but I am thrilled with the overall results...
The lazy susans work well to store the glues and buckets
of pencils, tools and pens...
The small shelves adhered to the top back of the cabinet
are great additional storage...
I love how the baskets underneath offer
quick and easy access for Kate's art supplies...
Outside the cabinet, I installed a knife magnet for the scissors,
which are used constantly...
The cork board is a perfect gallery for Kate's daily masterpieces...
The cabinet is even roomy enough to house my sewing machine...
Some day, when we are able to gut this old house,
I hope to have a crafting room of my dreams, just like Martha's,
complete with her crafting furniture from Home Decorator's Collection...
Maybe even Norm will stop by and offer some construction assistance...
Until then, my cabinet will have to suffice...
Good enough for me!
What's for dinner tonight?
It's cccccold here, so we will be warming up to some
Chicken Vesuvio, asparagus and garlic breadsticks...
We are almost halfway through February,
spring is on its way!
Chicken Vesuvio
Recipe courtesy Giada De LaurentiisIngredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 chicken thighs with skin and bones
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, halved
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 ounces frozen artichoke hearts or 1 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Heat the oil in large ovenproof pot over high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Working in 2 batches if necessary, cook the chicken in the pot until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl. Carefully add the potatoes to the same pot and cook until they are golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the broth, oregano, and thyme. Return the chicken to the pot. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.Cover and bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Arrange the potatoes around chicken. Add the artichoke hearts to the sauce in the pot. Cover and simmer over high heat until the artichokes are tender, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Turn heat to low. Stir in the butter. Pour the sauce over chicken and potatoes, and serve.
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