"Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest."
~ Henry Van Dyke

Monday, May 30, 2011

Make do and mend Mondays

The point of making do is not to spend money or very little. I felt I was in need of a make do makeover in my kitchen.

I love the stove top wooden covers you see online. Have you seen them? They do not sell them, that I know of, here in Europe. I had bought a wooden tray back in February (you can see it here) and found it was a good size to use on top of my own stove. We do not like this stove top but this disguises it a little. With just my teakettle and a teabag holder on the tray, it was looking very boring. I was thinking this weekend that I need to create a seasonal touch to the tray. It would be fun to change things on it regularly to give a nice touch to our little kitchen.

It is just about summer. What do I want to use to say almost summer? I went outside for one of my empty old terracotta pots. I got an artificial ivy plant, a porcelain chicken and some eggs...all of which I have already. I was thinking of the old Dutch saying 'In mei leggen alle vogels en ei...' which translates 'In May, all the birds lay eggs' although it rhymes in Dutch. *grins*

The ivy is in the terracotta pot with three eggs in the top and three on the trailing ivy. The chicken stands in front of my teakettle. I need to keep it on the tray since I want easy access to it for my daily cups of tea. It was not quite enough so I added a little tea mug with chickens on it from my collection of Brixton Pottery mugs. Cost of this makeover $0 but great value to the May touch to the kitchen.


Recently, I discovered Esther's blog when she became a follower of my own. I asked her if I could share a makeover she did on an old wicker sewing basket. It is so fabulous and you can see it here. This is what is wonderful about making do and mending...finding unique and inspiring ideas like this! Thanks for letting me share it Esther.

Is there something you can make over in your home with the things you already have? Try it as it makes it feel like things are new again.

11 comments:

Me, still said...

You are most welcome Heidi! It's an honor to be here!

Elizabethd said...

What a transformation! What one can do with a pair of jeans!
Your tray looks very pretty Heidi, well done. Just a few things moved around can make such a difference.

Anonymous said...

Hi Heidi, Love the look your tray gives, I have had a forimac sheet on the top of my cooker for over 25 years mainly to keep it clean, never thought about dressing it up thou. Brilliant idea will see what I can do, going to have a look at Ester's blog now.
Hope all is well and has Jos been lucky with a job yet?
Love Hazel

Susan in SC said...

I am linking to you again this week with handmade bookmarks.

Celestial Charms said...

Hi Heidi,
Such a wonderful idea. Who doesn't love not spending money!
Looks great.
Maureen

DonnaTN said...

It little touches like this make a home warm and inviting. Thanks for sharing your idea and Esther's basket.

Rhonda said...

both of these projects are so pretty! I posted another one today
but you know, I think almost everything I do is make do and mend :)

Muggensteekjes said...

Hoi Heidi,
wat een geweldige make-over in je keuken, echt supergezellig zo.
Fijne dag,liefs Ingrid.

Used-to-Bees said...

Your stove top decoration looks lovely! I didn't manage anything crafty yesterday (yet again!) as it was a Bank Holiday and I had my parents, brother, sister and two friends over for lunch. But I tried to do the lunch by 'making do' - without doing a special shop, with things I already had in the fridge, cupboard and freezer. And mostly it worked - a great saving!

Sonja said...

Leuk idee om zelfs de bovenkant van het gasfornuis mooi te maken. En een goed idee om anders naar je eigen spullen te kijken en ze gewoon te 'her'gebruiken.
Tot morgen! (want de lamp hangt nu goed, toch?) (LOL)

Littlebit said...

Love your tray, Heidi. Looks like you could tuck a homespun napkin in there and take it right to the chair to sit for a nice hot drink...and a book, of course. :) Hope you are having a nice week!