Propane Tank Monsters

 My daughter and I were headed out for a coffee and a day of shopping. When I turned down the next street from my house heading out to the highway, I noticed two tanks someone had thrown to the side of the road. One was an old propane tank and the other was a helium tank. My mind instantly went into craft mode and knew I had to have them. I told my daughter that if they were still there when we get home, I was going to get them. 

We visited a little coffee shop in the small town of Belmont and walk around town as we sipped our caffeine filled cups of goodness. I ordered the Maple bacon Latte. It was good. 

Before heading home we visited a thrift shop and scored a few good deals.

I hadn’t forgot about the tanks. As were turning into the neighborhood, the tanks were still on the side of the road so I pulled over. We jumped out, grabbed them, threw them in the hatch and headed one home. We giggled because It looked like we were stealing something as we grabbed them so fast not wanting anyone to see us. 

I gave them a little wipe down, grabbed some paint and brushes and we headed out to the porch to turn this trash into another Halloween project. I painted the white one and my daughter painted the green one. 

This was just as fun as painting or carving pumpkins but less mess and a lot cheaper!

They now sit on my front porch steps and I will dispose of them somehow after Halloween. 

Repurposed Home Keys

Do you have a drawer of keys? Or do you have key rings laying around full of keys that no longer belong anywhere? Well, I do.

Why is it that we keep keys? When we move away or our locks are changed, people tend to keep the keys. I even have old car keys from when I was a teenager. They are no longer any good. 

Or are they?

Nick and I got a little crafty last week when my daughter said she was looking for a small key hanger for her new little 400 sq ft studio apartment. She loves to throw her keys up on a hook when she comes in. She has always shared an apartment with her Kappa Delta sister but has now decided to try things on her own. Her apartment is adorable and we can’t wait to see how she decorates it. 

We looked around for some ideas to make her a key hanger. Hooks can be expensive, so we found a cool way to make some hooks using old keys. Nick carefully bent the keys into hooks. With a little cutting, sanding and painting, we created her the perfect key hanger. This key hanger will also have some sentimental value as each key is from a family home. 

There is a key from both her grandparents homes.

One key is from the first house she grew up in and our first home.

And one key is from our current home she continued to grow up in until she moved out on her own.

The wooden part of the key hanger is a piece of the molding from our house. 

Nick did the sanding and I did the painting and writing. 

We decided to give it a distressed look by sanding down and scuffing some areas. 

We had fun making this together and all it costed us was a dollar paint brush and a Sharpie. 

Now let’s hope the area where she wants to put it will be big enough in that tiny little uptown apartment. 

Do you have old keys laying around? I think one of these days people will no longer need keys as everything is touch or speech activated. 

Even cars nowadays are cranking up by themselves. 

Bracelet Stand Updo

I'm a little behind on my blog post lately. I try to keep them flowing but sometimes I fall behind. When this happens, It's usually because of an unexpected happening or simply writers bloggers block. I know there are not rules but I still like to stay active for your reading pleasure. ha ha.

If you follow me, you know I am also a brand rep for PuraVida bracelets. With that comes a lot bracelets that are gifted for promotions or purchased myself. I needed a place to put them all. I was keeping them in a small drawer but they were not fun to get too. I was also finding them scattered throughout the house where I would take them off and lay them down.

I told my husband to be on the lookout for a bracelet stand. I have other bracelets too and it would be nice to have a place to keep them organized. We searched a few stores around here and the only one I could find was at a TJmaxx store and it was over priced and looked no more than a covered toilet paper roll on a stick.

Last week he found a bracelet stand at a local thrift store and picked it up for only five dollars. It was not the prettiest thing as it had a cardboard base with a missing drawer. He also grabbed a small cutting block for a dollar.

He replaced the base using the small cutting block and it looks much better to me. I was going to change the crystal knobs with more of a rustic look to match the base but I think I will just leave it as it is for now.

A few screws and six dollars later, I now can display my bracelets and easily choose what to wear with my outfit for the day.

Shop: Puravidabracelets.com
Use code: LISADIMEO20 to get 20% off.

Clovers

I’m trying to get my thoughts together so I can be ready to celebrate St.Patricks Day. This is when we usually take our first beach trip of the season but with all the rain we have been having, we decided to wait a week.

I had my nails painted green for St.Patricks Day and now Im looking for a green shirt. This is the only time of the year you will see me wearing green. For some reason, when I wear green, I am grumpy and hateful all day. I just do not know what it is that does that. I can wear an olive or army green and I’m fine but I have to avoid the greeny greens. 

March is when we see most of the weeds taking over the yard letting us know its time to start the lawn mowing. 

Speaking of weeds, our yard is full of clovers. This brings back memories of when I was young. All the girl friends would sit for hours combing through clover patches trying to find a four leaf clover. If we were lucky we would find a few. The odd to finding one is 10,000 to 1. 

It was always fun. Even now, when we go out for a walk, sometimes I get left behind while I squat down to a patch of big fat clovers. I have not had much luck latley finding one. I read over at Andreas blog that her grandmother left behind 238 four leaf clovers she had found during her life. 133 of those were found pressed in her Bible. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? She has a cute little post about it HERE. 

I made some green eggs and ham muffins this morning for breakfast and will have my traditional bowl of Lucky Charms Cereal on St. Patricks Morning. 

For the muffins, I place deli ham inside muffin cups, filled with egg and cheese and baked for 20 minutes. The topping is smashed avocado. This was so delicious. Each cup is about 80 calories and has 9 grams of protein. 

My daughter and her boyfriend will be coming over for dinner on Sunday. We will be having Cornbeef Brisket, Cabbage Steaks and Taters. I still have to decide on a little dessert. I may just pick up some cupcakes from a deli. 

What are your plans for St. Patricks Day?

(Pictured above)Recycled Burlap Rice Bag and more can be found Ricelove.org.

Use Code: LILIDI_MEO and get 20% off any item.

Rice Love Bags

I have been searching of a cute bag to carry on day trips or beach trips. I like the Bohemian look sometimes especially in the summer. There is Just something about the mix of colors and fun natural feel this style has to offer, so when I came across RiceLoveBags I immediately fell in love with the look of these back packs.

I’m a little skeptical about things I find online or social media. When I see something I like, I will dig into it to make sure it’s legit. I want to know where my money is going and what companies I shop from support. RiceLoveBags caught my attention first with the look of the bags and then their cause.

For every bag purchased through RiceLoveBags, a family is fed. How cool is that? 

In India, 37% are below the poverty line and living on just 1.25 a day.  For a low income family, rice is the primary source of calories. 

These bags are made in India by using real recycled rice bags. Every bag they make, 1 kilo of rice goes toward a family. Once they have 20 bags, 20 kilos are then given to a hungry family. 

Once the bags are made, they are shipped to a warehouse in United States. So by the time you get your bag, a family has been fed. Each bag is one of a kind and has a tag attached with a special code to go online and look up the family you fed. You can read their story along with a photo. Though RiceLoveBags focuses on feeding families, they also feed older women, widows, and single mothers. 

When I received my backpack bag, I was amazed at how well it was made and how big it actually was. It was soft, the colors were vibrant and it was lined with a soft cotton fabric. I also worried my bag would have a burlap smell, but it didn’t. I love my bag and it makes me feel good that I was able to put food on the table of a hungary family. Every time I use my bag it remindes me how fortunate I am to be able to purchase this bag while others feel fortunate to just be be fed. 

“Buy a bag. Feed a family”

Shop RiceLoveBags.com.

Use coupon code: LILIDI_MEO at checkout and get 20% off.