Drawer. Noun: a sliding, lidless, horizontal compartment, as in a piece of furniture, that may be drawn out in order to gain access to it. Origin & History of “drawers”: A drawer is literally something that is ‘drawn’ or ‘pulled’ out. The coinage was perhaps based on French tiroir ‘drawer’, which was similarly derived from […]
How To Turn A TV Stand Into Cute Wooden Easels
Creativity is always a leap of faith. You’re faced with a blank page, a blank easel, or an empty stage. – Julia Cameron I enjoy my vision boards. I keep them simple using foam core boards from Dollar Tree. However, I grew tired of them sitting on the floor and falling over in the corner […]
Delightful Treasures Out Of Old And New
“Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” Matthew 13:52 (KJV) Blending the old and new into attractive functional spaces can be a challenge, but when done […]
What To Do With Leftover Treasures Rescued From An Attic Renovation
The story behind a certain activity and/or objects serves to document steps in a project, especially one of long duration. These may not be as personal as other forms of story but have value nonetheless. Following is an example of such a piece. What do we plant when we plant the tree? We plant the houses […]
How To Celebrate Forty-Two Years Together?
Forty-Two years of marriage is big deal, but not in terms of milestones. There is no special gift or stone. It’s not rubies, emeralds, silver or gold. It’s simply forty-two years. So what does one do to celebrate? In our house, we chose to take a ride on a carousel. Yep, you read that right-a […]
How To Repurpose Cute Knob And Tube Components
“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook I re-purpose stuff. I primarily use materials left from rehabbing our 120+ year old houses. There are oodles of vintage wood many rehab-ers toss out as scrap, especially the raw stuff from the plaster walls: lath. I […]
Searching Frantically! Help! What Is A Dixie Maid?
What Is A Dixie Maid? I thought I would write a bit of history and back story about the “Dixie Maid” label I used to make this cute decorative coat hanger. What I found was not at all satisfying, so I need help. First, here is what I found. The term “Dixie Maid” seems to […]
If It Is The Joyland Carousel Then It Is Wonderful Wichita!
My husband and I recently visited Botanica, The Wichita Gardens. This is the new home for the Joyland Carousel scheduled to be open to the public fall of 2019. I have know this was coming, seen pictures and layouts, but it was not until this visit and seeing the building site, did I truly […]
What Screams, Snores And Thumps? Buck The Cat!
At Maison Steinbuchel, we have cats. Over the years, the number has varied from two to seven at a time. I know the latter puts us dangerously close to the crazy cat people category and to be frank, seven was a lot. We have a big house, so we have had upstairs cats, downstairs cats […]