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dianeanddean · 6 years ago

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Rustic Pendant Lighting To Swoon For

Where do you begin when you have finally decided on pendant lighting for over your bar, dining table or entry way? We have done some online shopping for you to narrow your search and help you get started. Here are 9 rustic pendant lighting to swoon for.

Indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures are an important piece to help define your home decor style whether your style is farmhouse, mid century modern or rustic industrial. Adding the perfect lighting that matches the look you are trying to achieve can add that element of completion to your decorating.

We love pendant lighting and have a rustic industrial fixture above our metal and wood dining table. We also installed 3 separate pendants with Edison bulbs above the snack bar in the kitchen at our rental property which is a 1935 bungalow. It truly does add character to a room when you have statement lighting.

We have plenty of areas in our home now that we would love to replace the light fixtures we have now for that more rustic industrial look. That’s what got us on a search for rustic pendant lighting so we thought we would share with you some of our favorites.

Even if you are just dreaming about new lighting right now and not in the place of purchasing, you can pin the images below to your Pinterest boards for future reference.

All the rustic pendant lighting below is from Amazon and to help narrow things down further for you, we included the features, descriptions and what customers said about their purchases. Most were good reviews but some were disappointed, mostly with packaging or parts.

Rustic Industrial Pendant Lighting

Features and Description:

STYLISH – Our farmhouse lighting features a cool twisted galvanized metal frame for a look all their own. Not your run of the mill pendant lights.

VERSATILE – Hardwire to the ceiling, over your island, sink, bar or dining room table for an industrial chic appeal. Use a regular light bulb for task lighting or an Edison bulb (not included) for ambiance

SPECIFICATIONS – Uses one regular based light bulb, 60 watts maximum – bulb not included in sale, includes silver ceiling canopy and necessary hardware for wiring to ceiling

What Customers Say:

“Quick shipping and easy to install. Seems to be well built.”

” love the design and shape of the light”

“the light is exactly as described”

“absolutely love!”

“Looks awesome however please be aware this product is galvanized metal and does not look like the color in the picture. If you leave it the original finish its bare metal and very silver”

Vintage Industrial Glass Pendant Ceiling Hanging Light

Features and Description:

Classic Design: Concise look, attractive and always in fashion,well suited for any decoration,perfect for your home.

Fixture Dimensions : pendant height (18.11″) x pendant width (5.91″) x Cord Length (39.37),COLOR:copper red

Bulb Requirements: 1x 40W max E26/27 bulb（Note：Bulb NOT Included）– uses a E26 / E27 light bulb of your choic(LED,CFL,Incandescent or halogen),looks great with antique edison bulbs

Easy To Install: includes all mounting hardware for quick and easy installation.

100% Brand New, 100% Refund/Replacement for quality problem.When you have any problem or query about the light,please don’t hesitate to contact us,we will reply you within 24 hours and get it resolved as soon as we can.

DURABLE PENDANT LIGHTING: steel construction

ADJUSTABLE: the cable can be shortened to adjust the height

EASY INSTALL: pendant light has all mounting hardware for quick and easy installation

Hardwired ceiling light for use in dry locations

BULB REQUIREMENTS: 1 x E26/medium base max 60W Bulb(Not Included)

What Customers Say:

“I was able to install myself but these are not do it yourself instructions.”

“We ordered these lights…yes the glass is difficult to put in, but once you get the trick it’s good. They are beautiful! We had an issue but the company took care of it right away…..great customer service.”

“Got 3 of these for over my kitchen island. They look AWESOME! Hint: unscrew the part where the light bulb screws in in order to get the glass in the frame. ”

Rustic Pendant Lighting Indoor Pendant

Features and Description:

A vintage and practical island fixture lighting,adding an industrial touch to your kitchen, dining room

Fixture Dimensions : 31.5″ L x 8“ W x 47.24″ H,Cord Adjustable

Bulb Requirements: 5x 40W max E26/27 bulb（Note：Bulb NOT Included）– uses a E26 / E27 light bulb of your choic(LED,CFL,Incandescent or halogen),looks great with antique edison bulbs

Easy To Install: includes all mounting hardware for quick and easy installation.

What Customers Say:

“Fabulous! Love the look. Easy to install”

“Bought these for my garage wife ended up keeping for the kitchen island”

“Love this light. Easy to install, gives off good light and goes perfect with our rustic decor.”

“Loving these in my new house! We have a copper sink and these go so well with it. We have been getting lots of compliments on them as well.”

“Beautiful light fixtures and look exactly as pictured. Easy to install. Gotten a lot of compliments on them. Plenty of cord length and packaged securely. I used Edison style bulbs with them and looked even better.”

“Just what I wanted for that industrial look!”

Linear Island Pendant Lighting

Features and Description:

A vintage and practical island fixture lighting,adding an industrial touch to your kitchen, dining room

Fixture Dimensions : 31.5″ L x 8“ W x 47.24″ H,Cord Adjustable

Bulb Requirements: 5x 40W max E26/27 bulb（Note：Bulb NOT Included）– uses a E26 / E27 light bulb of your choic(LED,CFL,Incandescent or halogen),looks great with antique edison bulbs

Easy To Install: includes all mounting hardware for quick and easy installation.

What Customers Say:

“This light is gorgeous, takes some time to install”

“You can adjust the length of the cord according to your need,the overall length of the cord is 6.56 feet,if you think it’s too long,you can cut it shorter.”

“The base of this light is a little over 30 inches long by 2 inches wide. This will not cover a typical electric box in the ceiling. ”

Rustic Antique Ceiling Pendant Light

Features and Description:

INDOOR LIGHTING APPLICATION- Cinema, School, Garage, Shopping Mall, Hotel, Meeting Room, Office, Bedroom, Restaurant. It is not only a lighting,but also a beautiful decoration for space.gives a fashion and romantic atmosphere.

ANTIQUE WOODEN AND METAL STYLE- This pendant lighting fixtures is made of high quality wood and metal,the vintage style can make your room a American rustic feeling.

VERSATILE CEILING LIGHTING FIXTURE- Can be applied in commercial and exhibition locations like restaurants and galleries. Good choice for kitchen, dining room, bar, office, schools to show vintage industrial style.

FAST SHIPPING TIME- Ship from The United State, 3 to 7 working days arrive on normal weather. Dont Need Long Shipping Time. We remove the risk to ensure your.

100% BACK GUARANTEE- If you��re not completely satisfied with our pendant light, we are always welcome to contact us by e-mail,we will answer you within 24 hours

What Customers Say:

“Great addition to my daughters room. I will get a fancier bulb to make it look even nicer.”

Metal Wood and Glass Chandelier Pendant Light

Features and Description:

MATERIAL: Wood, Iron and Glass with Strong Wires

STYLE: Traditional, Art Deco, Cottage, Rustic, Retro

SPEC: Fits E26 Edison Vintage bulbs (Bulbs not included), Hard Wired Corded Electric,110-220v, 60-watt Maximum Power

SUGGESTED SPACE: For House, Bedroom, Living Room, Dining Room, Foyers,Bar, Restaurants, Coffee Shop, Club Decoration

HIGH QUALITY: UL Listed, 2 Years Warranty

What Customers Say:

” I love the color of the wood, its a little more reddish than pictured so its a beautiful rich shade.”

“Absolutely beautiful, well designed. Match well with country wood table.”

“This light fixture is beautiful, we love the modern look. It makes a statement without overpowering our dining room”

“Exactly as described, very pleased.”

Metal and Wood Circular Chandelier Pendant

Features and Description:

HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE CORD MOUNTED: Includes Rubber insulated adjustable cord with a 63 inch max height.

18 INCH BIG WOOD FRAME: 18″ diameter x 11″ high, fashional Circular Wood. Perfect for kitchens, over counters and islands, Bar, Cafe and in hallways.

CANOPY: 5 ” round canopy with a 39″ rubber insulated cord gives maximum flexibility in hanging heights. Perfect for sloped ceilings and compatible with most junction boxes.

MEDIUM BASE SOCKET: Features an E26 socket that is compatible with a variety of incandescent, LED, CFL and halogen bulbs (60W max, not included).

UL LISTED: This Anmytek product is UL listed, and is backed by a 2 years limited manufacturer’s warranty.

What Customers Say:

“Really really beautiful.”

“Beautiful, well designed and better actually than it look on photo”

“Easy to put together”

“Love it and so does everyone who walks through our front door!”

“Had difficulty with parts, but was promptly shipped new parts that worked. Customer services was amazing!”

Rectangle Wood and Metal Chandelier Pendant

Features and Description:

HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE CORD MOUNTED: Includes Rubber insulated adjustable cord with a 53 inch max height.

25.5 INCH BIG METAL CAGE: 25.5″ length * 9.25″ width * 11.5″ highth, strong iron wire cage. Perfect for kitchens, over counters and islands, Bar, Cafe and in hallways.

CANOPY: 10.25 ” * 4.75 ” square canopy with a 42″ rubber insulated cord gives maximum flexibility in hanging heights. Perfect for sloped ceilings and compatible with most junction boxes.

MEDIUM BASE SOCKET: Features an E26 socket that is compatible with a variety of incandescent, LED, CFL and halogen bulbs (60W max, not included).

UL LISTED: This Anmytek product is UL listed, and is backed by a 2 years limited manufacturer’s warranty.

What Customers Say:

“A good price for this light.”

“I get more compliments on it than anything else in the house I’ve recently made over”

“I love this light!”

Industrial Metal Spherical Pendant

Features and Description:

Vintage style metal globe pendant lighting;shade dimension: 11.81” in diameter,11.81” in height

Its open-air design showcases the illumination from the bulb, adding its trendy appeal

ETL listed, E26 based, bulb not included, oil rubbed bronze finish

Hardwired installation, this unique merging of both vintage craftsmanship and industrial design makes this piece a stunning addition to any room in your home

A special “feature” to this light: all the 4 rings an be spined around screws, so it can be showed multi displays according to your desired lighting look

What Customers Say:

“It was easy to install”

“Exceptional quality for an extraordinary price”

“This light looks amazing and we are receiving so many compliments”

“The functionality is exactly what you would expect it to be, which is wonderful. It puts out just enough light with the vintage style Edison bulb that we ordered separately.”

” I love the new, updated and modern look it gives my small foyer. I also like the shadows it casts on my walls.”

Hopefully this gave you some ideas to add a piece of rustic industrial element to your home decor. If you like this post, you may enjoy our Modern Farmhouse Lighting post as well.

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from Diane and Dean https://www.dianeanddean.com/rustic-pendant-lighting-to-swoon-for/

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dianeanddean · 6 years ago

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How To Clean Your Patio Screen Door Chemical Free

Tis’ the season of pollen. It is everywhere. It sticks to patio furniture, cushions and outdoor screens like a fly to a flystrip. Getting rid of this stubborn pollen isn’t the easiest but we found a chemical free solution that worked like a charm. Find out How To Clean Your Patio Screen Door Chemical Free. It’s easier than you think.

This post is sponsored by Homeright. However all our opinions are our own and we only recommend products that we believe in.

How To Clean Your Patio Screen Door Chemical Free

Does your patio screen door look like this?

Chances are if you live in a high pollen area and have an outdoor lanai or screened in porch, you are seeing some level of pollen residing on your screens. This year seemed to be one of the worst. Frustration began to take over whenever I would try to clean the patio screen door with soap and water and a bristle brush. It took a lot of elbow grease and I still wasn’t making much headway.

I’ve also tried pressure washing the screen with the lower pressure nozzle and that didn’t work well much to my surprise. I wouldn’t recommend this method if your screens are older as the pressure of the water can tear the screen around the edges.

We spend quite a bit of time on our lanai and entertain there often. Thinking of having company over with this frightful patio screen door was stressing me out.

Enter the portable steam cleaner machine by Homeright. The only experience I had with steam cleaners before is when I purchased one a few years ago to eliminate or cut down on ironing. It worked great for about two months then the steam machine all of a sudden stopped working.

One of the best tips, I can give when using a steam cleaner is to use distilled water. Don’t ignore this. It is in the directions of all steam cleaners.

Who always has a gallon of distilled water sitting around, right? When we have the great idea to steam clean something we want to do it right then and there and not have to run to the store to pick up distilled water. It’s just water, how different can it be from water in the kitchen sink? Distilled water is mineral free so the minerals can’t build up into the machine. I made the mistake of using regular tap water on my previous machine and I am convinced that is why it stopped working.

Most steam cleaners will come with a variety of attachments. For this project I used the fabric cleaner attachment and secured the microfiber cloth around the end.

Once I filled the steam cleaner with the distilled water, I turned it on and waited for the light to turn on to let me know it was ready. It took about 20-30 minutes for it to heat up.

I simply pulled the trigger so to speak and started steaming.

Having a bucket of water near by to rinse the microfiber cloth off was helpful as there was such a heavy build up of pollen, I was rinsing a lot. The combination of the steam, the flat surface of the attachment and the microfiber cloth to grab the pollen worked like a miracle. There was a dramatic difference that I hadn’t seen with any other of my prior cleaning methods.

What do you think? Looks so much better than the before picture, right?

We just wanted to share the success we had with cleaning our patio screen door with a steam cleaner but would love to hear how you have successfully cleaned heavy pollen laden patio screen doors at your home. Happy steaming and happy cleaning. For ways to automate your spring cleaning, visit this post here on Diane and Dean.

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dianeanddean · 6 years ago

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How To Make A Headboard In 15 Minutes

You are going to learn How To Make A Headboard in 15 Minutes with this easy tutorial that any DIYer can do! This is a sponsored post by Stikwood, however all statements and opinions are our own. Stikwood is a company that manufactures reclaimed peel and stick wood planks for home decor projects.

How To Make A Headboard In 15 Minutes

That’s not an eye catching headline just to grab your attention. You seriously can DIY this headboard in 15 minutes! If you have small children or grandchildren, it might be a great time to get them to help out with a fun project to build their confidence in DIY projects for the home.

Dean and I received this DIY queen size headboard Stikit from Stikwood because they knew we are DIY’ers that like to share projects with our audience. Honestly, we have had so much going on lately, the box remained unopened in our garage for weeks. We thought that this headboard project was going to require a lot of our time to construct, so we wanted to make sure we had an entire day cleared before we started.

I don’t know if it was part of my Mother’s Day gift or what but Dean decided to open the box this last weekend and he immediately came in the house to get me. He asked me to come right out and that I wasn’t going to believe what I was going to see.

We were both so surprised that not only was everything nicely organized and labeled for us, we immediately knew this wasn’t going to be another DIY project that would consume our entire day to build. Yay! I love projects like this! It almost looked too easy so I had to check myself to not get too excited.

Our Stikit came with these materials:

Queen Size headboard (35″ High x 64″ Wide)

Wood trim pieces

Peel and stick wood planks

2 mounting brackets with screws

Materials we needed:

Phillips screwdriver

Drill

The first thing we saw was the obvious headboard. To tell you the truth, when we first saw the reinforced cardboard, we were a little concerned about quality. After all, DIY’ers like us are used to working with a lot of sturdy and reliable wood, using hammers, nails and drills to construct and build projects. However, we were truly amazed how strong and firm the re-enforced cardboard was and thought “Why didn’t we think of that?”

The head board comes in Queen (35″H x 64″ W) and King sizes (35″ H x 80″ W). How much easier can they make this for us? There are 5 (marked A,B,C,D and E) different lengths of the planks and you can see exactly where they go.

STEP 1

Press on the the two pieces of wood trim that are provided in the kit. The side trim was already installed.

Step 2

Starting in top left corner, take the corresponding labeled reclaimed wood plank and peel off the 3 strips of paper.

Firmly place plank on the corresponding labeled letter on the headboard. We ended up laying the headboard on the ground to stick all the other planks on. This way we could put more weight on the planks to ensure that they adhered well. Although the reinforced cardboard is strong, we wouldn’t advise standing on or putting your entire body weight on it. Simply continue the process until all the planks have been applied.

Voila! You have now learned how to make a headboard in 15 minutes! Now, all we need to do is hang it on the wall.

Step 3

Attach the mounting bracket to the back of the headboard using supplied screws. There is a thin metal stripping that was already attached with the trim pieces on the top of the headboard. This will give more stability when hanging on the wall. For best results, drill pilot holes first.

Step 4

Measure where you want the headboard to hang and attach wall bracket (included in kit) to the wall using a Phillips screwdriver and supplied screws. Stikwood even supplies you with a tiny individual level bubble to make sure everything is level. (Dean used his own level below). Once it is installed, hang the headboard by interlocking the brackets.

You’re done!

The weathered white wood design fits perfectly in our coastal guest bedroom. I haven’t had a headboard in that room forever and it finally has the finished look I’ve been waiting for.

This is real reclaimed wood, ya’ll! You can add a rustic, authentic and satisfying element to your bedroom in the same time that it took you to crawl out of bed, do your morning stretches, have a cup of coffee and check your email!

These kits come in weathered wood, white wood, gray and Sierra Silver. They will even send you samples if you can’t decide.

Now, our coastal guest room is finally complete and we love it!

Click here for $50 off your Stikwood project!

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from Diane and Dean https://www.dianeanddean.com/how-to-make-a-headboard-in-15-minutes/

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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Fathead Pizza

If you are low carb or following the ketogenic (keto or LCHF) lifestyle then most likely you’ve heard of Fathead pizza. Fathead pizza originated from Tom Naughton’s nephew and their Fathead documentary movie declares that sugar, grains, processed vegetable oils and starches cause heart disease not saturated fat. You can watch the documentary and decide for yourself.

Meanwhile, we are believers in low carb eating and continue to expose ourselves to more research and proven outcomes for maintaining or losing weight and for long term health reasons.

The fact is no matter where carbs come from, 4 grams of carbs equals 1 tablespoon of sugar. Would you rather eat 1-2 slices of low carb pizza with 4-8 grams of carbs (1-2 tablespoon of sugar) or 2-3 slices (less filling) of pizza with 27 grams of carbs per slice? That is anywhere from 14-28 tablespoons of sugar in one meal! Of course those numbers can vary depending on the size of the slice. Most of the time our low carb pizza slices are about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of a regular delivery pizza and we can only eat 2 slices most of the time before we are full. Just something to think about.

Today’s fathead pizza recipe is a chicken barbecue pizza. Barbecue and chicken on a pizza reminds me of my college years ordering Domino’s in the dorm. Whatever type of pizza you like, you can add your favorite ingredients. Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple or chicken, spinach and white sauce might be my next!

Fathead Pizza (Chicken Barbecue)

Ingredients for Fathead Pizza dough:

1 3/4 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

3/4 cup almond flour (blanched or unblanched) Almond meal can be used as well.

2 Tablespoons cream cheese

1 egg

salt

1 t. Italian seasoning

Toppings:

3/4 cup G Hughes Sugar Free Hickory Barbecue sauce (2 grams of carbs 0 sugar)

2 cups Tyson Grill Ready pulled chicken breast

2 T. red onion

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 T. G Hughes Sugar Free Hickory BBQ sauce (to spread on top of baked pizza crust)

Making the Fathead Pizza dough

Step 1:

In a small microwaveable mixing bowl, add 3/4 c. almond meal or flour, 1 3/4 c. mozzarella cheese and 2 T. cream cheese. Microwave for 1 minute and let cool down. You can stick it in the refrigerator for a few minutes if you like. The point is not to have it too hot when you add your egg or you will end up with scrambled eggs with your flour mixture! After it has cooled, add your egg and mix well.

Tip: Rub olive oil on your hands and mix dough with your hands to make sure all ingredients are blended well.

Step 2:

Tear 2 sheets of parchment paper and place ball of dough on one. Place the other piece of parchment paper on top of dough and roll out to a circle or rectangle to fit your pizza stone.

Step 3:

Remove the top layer of parchment paper after the Fathead Pizza dough is rolled out. Transfer the dough (with the bottom layer of parchment paper) to your pizza stone. Poke the dough with a fork all around the edges and through out the middle so that it doesn’t puff up when baking.

Bake at 425 degree Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes. Remove when it is a golden brown.

Chicken Barbecue Toppings

Step 1:

While the dough is baking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add 3-4 tablespoons of red onion (remember, even though onions are a healthy natural vegetable, it does come packed with natural sugars and carbs so use sparingly or not at all).

Step 2:

Add 2 cups of frozen pulled chicken and cook until light golden brown.

Step 3:

Pour in 3/4 of a cup of sugar free barbecue sauce into the chicken and onion mixture.

Step 4:

Spread 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce on baked dough then spoon the chicken mixture on top. Top with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.

Step 5:

Bake for another 5-7 minutes until cheese melts.

Let rest for 5 minutes then serve warm.

My favorite pizza of all time is Pizza King pizza in Indiana. We went to Indiana last weekend to see our daughter graduate from our alma mater with her Master’s and yes, I 100 percent carb loaded on Pizza King pizza. I didn’t feel one bit guilty either.

This fathead pizza looks like the real Pizza King pizza but I’m not going to pretend, it is no Pizza King pizza ( nothing can compare). However, if you love pizza as much as I do, this fathead pizza recipe will definitely cure any cravings you get. And if you ��carb up’ on your favorite pizza once or twice a year for a special occasion, do it and enjoy!

We have made the cauliflower crust pizza and like it as well but I personally like this fathead pizza dough much better. Dean likes both pizza crusts and doesn’t really have a preference. Keto crackers have very similar ingredients and are just as easy to make as this Fathead pizza crust.

You’ve got to try this recipe and let us know what you think. Remember, we only share tried and true recipes that we like and are proud to share with our readers.

Fathead Pizza

Chicken Barbecue Style

1 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup almond meal

2 tbsp cream cheese

1 egg

2 cups chicken breast

3/4 cup G Hughes BBQ sauce (2 T = 2 grams of carbs/0 sugar)

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoon red onion

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 tbsp olive oil (to cook onions and chicken)

2 tbsp G Hughes BBQ sauce (Hickory flavored)

Pre heat oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit

In microwaveable bowl, add 3/4 c. almond flour, 1 and 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese plus 2 T. cream cheese. Microwave for 1 minute and let cool for 5 minutes.

Add 1 egg and mix thoroughly. You may want to rub your hands with olive oil then mix by hand to ensure egg is fully incorporated into the flour and cheese mixture.

Put the ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper large enough to roll out into a circle. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and press down with your hands.

Take a rolling pin to roll out to a size to fit your pizza stone. The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. you can pinch up the outer edges of the dough to form a crust so the toppings and sauce stay on better.

Remove the top layer of parchment paper and transfer dough to pizza stone. Leave the bottom layer of parchment paper on while baking.

Take a fork and make fork holes throughout the pizza dough so that the dough doesn’t bubble up.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden.

While the dough is baking. Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to skillet and cook onion (onion is optional) and 2 cups pulled chicken until chicken is light golden brown. Add 3/4 cup of G Hughes Sugar Free BBQ sauce to chicken mixture and stir.

When dough is done cooking, add 2 Tablespoons of BBQ sauce on top then add chicken, onion and BBQ mixture. Top off with 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and bake 5 more minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve warm and enjoy!

*Nutrition facts can vary based on serving size and ingredients. These pizza slices were cut into 12 small squares. Please note that the sugar free BBQ sauce was not pulling up in the ingredients list of my recipe maker. There were 2 grams of carbs per 2 T. serving size. There were 0 sugars in the BBQ sauce. There are 12 Tablespoons in 3/4 cup.

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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29 Pink Mother’s Day Gifts Under $100

Have you noticed lately that every where you shop the color pink is showing up? I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday and they had an entire section of pink home decor. Wall art, organizers, baking dishes, lamps, pillows and more are around every corner in stores. After not finding what I was looking for at Hobby Lobby, I went to Michael’s craft store and I noticed the same thing. There were cute mini ceramic loaf pans on sale for 60 percent off. I was proud of myself for not buying them but they were adorable. Just about every aisle I went down, I saw pink.

Maybe I’m late to the game again and this has been trending for awhile now but honestly, I haven’t been out browsing or shopping lately so it’s all new to me.

It’s not a pastel pink or a hot pink, it’s a light and subtle pink that it is calming and pretty. It’s perfect for interior design, fashion or art. I think it’s my new color, for now anyway. Well, Gulf Coast aqua blue (totally made up that color) will always be my favorite color but this pink hue can be my second.

Recently we painted one wall in the guest bedroom Ella Rose color by Magnolia Paints. That’s Chip and Joanna’s paint line from the HGTV Fixer Upper show if you didn’t know. I just realized that this is the color I’ve been trying to describe to you!

Photos courtesy of Magnolia

Pink is usually associated with sweetness, love, tenderness, romance and feminine. How can you not love this color that emanates joy?

So with this pretty color of pink so popular right now, I’ve put together 29 Pink Mother’s Day Gifts under $100. Several of these gifts are under $50 too! These Mother’s Day gift ideas should appeal to new moms to moms that are now watching their daughters be moms and want to add a little femininity back into their lives with the color pink.

29 Pink Mother’s Day Gifts Under $100

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Hope you find something that appeals to you!

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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3 Reasons To Use Outdoor Solar Lighting For Your Home

This is a sponsored post by Wayfair, however all opinions for 3 reasons to use outdoor solar lighting for your home are our own.

3 Reasons To Use Outdoor Solar Lighting For Your Home

We all want to do our part on Earth Day and everyday for that matter. Even little things like recycling or reusing items can make a big impact if everybody participates. Being a responsible homeowner or DIYer doesn’t require a huge investment in time or money and here is a great small way to get started!

1. Outdoor solar lighting won’t increase your electric bill

Providing outdoor lighting without using electricity sounds really good, doesn’t it? Innovation in home solar products has come a long way in the last couple of years and it is a really great time to start looking at how solar lighting can be incorporated in unique ways for your home and landscape.

2. Outdoor solar lighting is virtually maintenance free

For outdoor solar lighting to work well, it has to be exposed to sunlight for a certain period of time. Depending on where you place the lighting fixture or solar collector, if separate from the product, and the product you choose will determine the efficiency. Each manufacturer has recommended sunlight hours for their products so be sure to do your research before you invest.

Outdoor solar lighting uses the sunlight to convert solar cells into electricity. When the panels are exposed to the sunlight during the day the electricity is stored in the batteries so that at night the lights will come on.

This solar panel is the top of our outdoor umbrella which is exposed to the sun all day long.

3. Solar lights are easy to install

Outdoor solar lighting comes with the panels already manufactured into the product so most of the time you are either placing your solar product in the ground whether it be a string of pathway lights, free standing lamp posts or if you have a product like an outdoor solar powered umbrella, it may have a simple on and off button.

When we received our outdoor solar powered umbrella, all we had to do was expose the solar panel to sunlight, crank open the umbrella and turn on the switch and voila, we magically had 20 solar powered white LED lights providing energy efficient lighting. No assembly required.

To give you an example of how outdoor solar lighting can be beneficial, we have the area around our fire pit that we could use more night time lighting, especially when we didn’t want to build a campfire.

We added a solar powered umbrella over the DIY seating area for additional lighting at night and shading for the day.

Besides loving the solar lighting, we love that the umbrella rotates 360 degrees and can tilt with a simple push button. This particular umbrella did not come with a stand so we had to provide a way to hold the 2 inch aluminum pole by drilling a hole in the arm of the seating area. If you need a stand we recommend a stand like this.

These solar powered umbrella lights help to illuminate the seating area and also make the stairs more visible at night, increasing the safety of the tiered fire pit area. The umbrella is well made, sturdy and comes with a simple hand crank that is used to open and close the canvas top. During the day, the umbrella adds an attractive element that provides shade and at night, it provides enough lighting to enjoy a good book or dining al fresco with family or friends.

To see our green wall for outdoor landscaping, please visit our HERE.

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13 Florida Flowering Plants To Add Color To Your Landscape

Bringing vibrant colors into your landscape will create a more beautiful setting to enjoy. Here are 13 Florida flowering plants to add color to your landscape.

13 Florida Flowering Plants To Add Color To Your Landscape

Ahhh…color in the garden! As landscape designers and DIY gardeners, this is what we ultimately aim to achieve, right? If designed and considered properly, there could potentially be a sequence of blooming plants during the entire growing season. Adding color to the landscape doesn’t have to start and stop with just bloom color and we should always remember to include the seasonality of foliage color, fruit production and bark coloration.

There are so many options to consider that it can sometimes be overwhelming, but is sure is a lot of fun experimenting with plants to find out what the best combinations are. To provide a little inspiration, here are just a few of our Central Florida spring favorites and you might be surprised to find out that they can work in other climates outside of Florida.

Before we head down the plant rabbit hole, it has always been a personal goal to include as many regionally native plants into our landscape. Native plants have certain benefits that introduced plants do not and are incredibly simple to use! Native plants have become more commercially available than in the past and there are local nurseries that carry or specialize in native plants that are appropriate for your area. If you haven’t already, please take some time to learn about using native plants. We promise that you won’t regret it!

All the flowering plants below are actual photos we took of our backyard paradise and for your convenience we added Amazon links to order seeds, plants or bulbs if you can’t find them at your local nursery.

Central Florida Native Spring Flowering Plants

Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica)

OK, leading off is a beautiful Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica) that just happens to be native to Central Florida. Everyone is familiar with the bearded and Japanese Iris varieties, but this show off is great for wet areas and we have ours in the Rain Garden. DIYers at little further north can also look for Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor). They love to have moist soil or even constantly wet feet and work wonderfully in combination with softer textured plants like the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) in this photo. When in bloom, this plant will absolutely stop you on your tracks!

Black Eyed Susans

Ah…Rudbeckias! Oops, sorry, Black Eyed Susans! When Dean first came to Central Florida, he swore that Black Eyed Susans would not be a part of his southern gardens because they are so common everywhere else. Then he came across the Florida native Rudbeckia hirta and he hasn’t been the same since!

These little rays of sunshine are different from the northern Goldstrum Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldstrum’) since it is considered an annual even in the south. If you let this plant go fully to seed, new plants will come back every year and this grouping in the Upland Garden started out as just 5 plants a couple of years ago, so hold on tight!

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohioensis)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohioensis) is a staple of the native, wildflower garden and provides a bulletproof color display in the Spring. It loves moist to wet soil and is the first plant to emerge in our Rain Garden. Spiderwort, like all flowers in the dayflower family, are considered ephemeral since the blooms/flowers only stay open one day, but there are so many of them that you may never notice!

They are also edible, but we haven’t tried munching any yet. Some varieties of Spiderwort are considered invasive, so please make sure to consult your local lists to make sure that you are picking plants appropriately.

Trumpet or Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

With one of the most prolific blooms of any native vine, Trumpet or Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is a great addition to any trellis/green wall, pergola or even chain link fence. This spring bloomer will require some support and there are a couple of different varieties available, but we like to stick to the true native since it has an amazing, red tubular bloom that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.

Trumpet Honeysuckle has a natural range all along the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Massachusetts and extends westward into Texas. This is a great vine for full sun and dry or mesic soils.

Canna (Canna sp.)

Grandma loves Canna and we know why! As one of the most versatile plants with a seemingly unending choice of varieties Canna (Canna sp.) is one of those spring blooming plants that you notice from 1/2 a mile away! We have a bed down by the fire pit that is dedicated entirely to Canna with a native Redbud tree (cercis canadensis) for accent.

These red Cannas were rescued from a neighbor that had bug up the rhizomes and put them at the curb. We also have native Cannas (Canna flaccida) planted down by the edge of our wet woodland that will bloom later on in the season in combination with Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata) for a more naturalized look.

Canna ‘Tropicanna‘ is also featured in a container planter that greets you when you come to the front door, so as you can see there are numerous opportunities to incorporate this blooming beacon into your landscape!

Coreopsis

We have a winner! Did you know that Coreopsis is the state wildflower of Florida? Yep, and we are happy to include this fine textured cutie in our landscape. Our northern friends are probably familiar with the varieties of Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’, Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ or even pink variety, Coreopsis rosea, but the native for us is Leavenworth’s Coreopsis (Coreopsis ‘Leavenworthii)

Also known commonly as Tickseed, Coreopsis in Florida is considered a short lived perennial that lasts about 3-4 seasons, but is happy to provide new plants for you by re-seeding. These low maintenance plants are happy in just about any soil and soak up all the sun can give them. They will grow between 1′-3’, so using them as a border or edging is a great spot for them in your garden!

Indian blanket flower, also known as Gaillardia pulchella

Indian Blanket flower, also known as Gaillardia pulchella, is a sturdy Central Florida native that has incredibly attractive blooms that scream “FOOD” to many different types of butterflies. Much to Diane’s disdain (she thinks they look weedy before they bloom, but that is a different story), these plants re-seed themselves prolifically and are a great ground cover for sunny areas.

Besides being another Florida flowering plant to add color to your landscape they also make a great cut flower to bring in and enjoy in colorful arrangements. Tough and rugged, you can pretty much plant them anywhere in full sun and they have a great salt tolerance so they are ideal for coastal plantings.

Scarlet or Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea)

Scarlet or Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea) is another Central Florida native that is considered annual, but re-seeds at an incredible rate! Make sure to give these plants plenty of room to grow and you will be rewarded with continuous red blooms that attract numerous pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds, nut-hatches, warblers and bumblebees.

We cut these back all the way to the ground during December and January after blooming just to keep them tidy and they are a great addition to the Wildflower Garden!

Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)

Are you looking for something that is a little unusual or not well known? Well, Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) may be the plant just for you! This native vine is a prolific grower and spring bloomer that will quickly cover a trellis, pergola or fence. It loves full sun and grows in soils ranging from wet to dry and might be a little of a challenge to source, but check with native plant nurseries or a variety known as ‘Tangerine Beauty’ Crossvine.

The native range is as far north as Kentucky and covers almost all of the Southeast. It is an early nectar source for hummingbirds and can grow as tall as 50′, so give this puppy something to grow on and plenty of room!

Non-Native Flowering Plants

Shasta Daisy

Come on, you aren’t really a daisy, are you? Actually, the Shasta Daisy is part of the Chrysanthemum family (Chrysanthemum maximum or Chrysanthemum x superba)! Up north, this show off is considered a perennial, but in Central Florida we don’t expect it to get past the heat and humidity of July! We have included it as an annual in the Coneflower Garden in combination with Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea) and Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia). We’ll let it go to seed and see what happens next year, but appreciate it’s contribution to brightening up our springtime!

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) is probably one of the most distinctive plants in the garden. This is what we would consider a strong architectural plant and the showy blooms actually consist of blue petals, orange sepals that emerge from a modified leaf. In the southern garden, this plant will grow between 3′-5′ and our northern friends should consider growing this as a container plant to be able to bring it inside during cold periods or winter. If nothing else, go to the florist and grab an arrangement of freshly cut blooms to create some “wow” factor!

You might be wondering why we keep including the Botanical or Latin names of plants instead of just the Common name? Well, this plant is a great example of why. If you walk into a garden center and ask for a Bird of Paradise, you might find yourself with a Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelitizia nicoloia) which can grow over 20′ tall! Not what you expected or wanted! You don’t have to get a Master of Latin Studies to speak fluently, but you should at least write down the correct Botanical name to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.

Wax Begonias (Begonia spp.)

Yorkies planted in the garden can be great for bringing a little color to shady areas! They can whine constantly and be a little fixated, but the effort is worth it! Especially when you combine them with the versatile Wax Begonias (Begonia spp.).

If you don’t like the combination of Yorkies and Red Leaf Begonias, try Green or Bronze Leaf Wax Begonias, Dusty Millers or Impatiens (yes, not Impatients)! New varieties of Begonias can take full sun and there is even a Begonia that can grow to 3′ tall! Plant these en masse to create dramatic color displays and if you buy them in the 24 pack trays at the garden center, place two small plants in each hole to get more instant bang.

Confederate or Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)

The fragrance of Confederate or Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is unmistakable and unforgettable! As we walk the dogs throughout the neighborhood in the spring, we are greeted often by the fragrance of these incredible blooms! We feature Confederate Jasmine on a green wall/trellis on the west elevation of our house. Combined with Red Mandevilla (Mandevilla x.) on the green wall. Confederate Jasmine is the true harbinger of springtime and the fragrance drifts into the house and is even stronger when sitting on the lanai!

We hope you enjoyed our backyard tour of 13 Florida flowering plants to add color to your landscape. If you haven’t visited our blog post on 4 steps to successful planting or need gardening gifts ideas we hope you find these helpful too.

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Keto Lasagna

This is one of the best keto lasagna recipes we’ve made and tasted. Perfect to add to your low carb recipe meals.

How To Make A Low Carb And Keto Lasagna Using Zucchini

Ingredients:

3 zucchini

low carb spaghetti or marina sauce. We like this brand.

grated parmesan

1 egg

Italian seasoning

cottage cheese or ricotta cheese

shredded mozzerella

ground Italian sausage, ground beef or ground turkey

fresh spinach

onion (optional-adds carbs)

Directions:

Step 1

Peel zucchini. It’s okay to leave some of the skin on.

Step 2

Using a knife or mandolin slicer, slice the zucchini into thin slices.

Important Tip:

Layer paper towel or absorbing dish towel in the bottom of a colander and put zucchini slices on top. Sprinkle with salt. Let sit for about 30 minutes while you prepare other ingredients. Zucchini is about 95% water so this will help drain some of the water out so that the lasagna will not be so runny. After the 30 minutes, pat all slices dry with a paper towel. This is an important step.

Step 3

While the zucchini is draining, start cooking your Italian sausage in a skillet on medium heat. We like using hot Italian sausage for a little zing but you can use mild sausage, ground beef or ground turkey. Onion and garlic are optional. They both add a few extra carbs so if you are doing strict keto, you may want to skip adding one or both.

Once the sausage is fully cooked, add your spaghetti sauce. Remember to look at your labels for the lowest sugar and lowest carbs. I was shopping at Wal-Mart on this day and found this Victoria brand which had 6 grams of carbs, 1 gram Dietary Fiber and 4 grams of sugar (5 net grams of carbs total). We like RAO’s brand the best with 3 net grams of carbs and 3 grams of sugar but it is usually the priciest on the shelf.

Step 4

While your sausage is cooking, mix the cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese), egg, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and grated Parmesan cheese into a small mixing bowl.

Step 5

Now everything should be ready to start layering the keto lasagna. The zucchini noodles are drained, the meat and sauce is ready and the cottage cheese mixture is ready. First, put a little of the meat/sauce mixture in bottom of the baking dish. I used a square 9 x 9 stoneware baking dish. Put your first layer of zucchini slices on top of sauce.

Step 6

Spread about a third of the cottage cheese mixture on top of zucchini slices.

Step 7

Next, put a handful of fresh spinach on top of the cottage cheese mixture.

Step 8

Sprinkle about three quarters of a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of spinach then top off with meat and sauce mixture.

Step 9

Start with another layer of zucchini slices on top of meat mixture and repeat steps 6-8. Your last layer of zucchini slices will be your 3rd layer. Top off with the rest of meat mixture and shredded mozzarella cheese.

Step 10

Cover with foil and place on baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. After 45 minutes, you can take the foil off and bake another 10 minutes. When done, let lasagna rest for about 15-20 minutes.

Pair this keto lasagna with your favorite salad and you have a wonderful meal that you will most likely have left overs the next day. I put together a quick caprese salad using spinach, tomato and freshly sliced mozzarella cheese.

We hope you enjoy!

Keto Lasagna

A low carb and keto friendly lasagna

3 zucchini

1 egg

1 16 ounce cottage cheese

1 pound italian sausage

3 cups spinach

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

24 ounce spaghetti sauce

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Peel zucchinis.

Thinly slice zucchini with a knife or mandolin.

Line a colander with a few layers of paper towels and place slice zucchini on top. Sprinkle with salt and let rest for 30 minutes. Pat dry after.

Cook sausage in skillet on medium heat until browned. Pour in spaghetti sauce and stir.

In small mixing bowl, add cottage cheese, egg, italian seasoning, grated parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Put a thin layer of meat mixture in bottom of baking dish and add first layer of zucchini slices.

Add about 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture, fresh spinach and mozzarella cheese. Add meat mixture on top.

Start with another layer of zucchini slices over the meat mixture and repeat the step above.

Add your last layer(third) of zucchini slices and top off with meat mixture and mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and place on baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes then remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. After removing lasagna from oven, let it rest for 15-20 minutes then serve warm.

*Nutrition label will vary depending on ingredients/brands you use. This is a general idea. Also, remember on the keto diet, you can subtract your fiber from carbs to give you your “net carbs”.

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Make Your Own Designer Wooden Drawer Knobs

In less than 10 minutes, you can make your own designer wooden drawer knobs. Here’s the materials you need and the step by step instructions.

Make Your Own Designer Wooden Drawer Knobs

Materials List:

Mod Podge

Sponge brush

napkins or tissue wrapping paper with a design you like. Browse here and here for ideas.

ink pen or marker

scissors

1 and 1/2 inch unfinished wooden drawer knobs with screws

Step 1

Select your beautiful print napkin or tissue paper.

Step 2

Lay your knob so the top is facing down and with your pen or marker, draw a circle around the knob. Then cut out the circle. Try to cut on the inside of your pen marking so that you don’t get any of the ink markings onto your circle. It will show.

Most napkins will have 2, sometime 3 layers. Now is a good time to separate the layers until you have just the top printed layer. This is much easier to do once you cut the shape rather than trying to peel the layers before you cut.

Step 3

Take your sponge brush and dip it into the mod podge. Apply to the top of the knob.

Step 4

Place the napkin or tissue paper that you just cut on top of the knob and apply another layer of mod podge. Let dry.

If you want to be more creative or if you are making knobs for other pieces of furniture, you can paint the drawer knobs before you mod podge. I painted a couple with some white craft paint I had on hand then I used gold and white tissue wrapping paper I found in my craft supply at home.

That’s it! How easy peasy was that? Can you imagine the endless possibilities you can do with this one simple idea? In less than 10 minutes you can create designer wooden drawer knobs that no one else will have.

Here are the wooden drawer knobs I painted with white craft paint first then used tissue wrapping paper for the design.

Hopefully, this served your creative juices today. Now it’s your turn to get creative. You can get more ideas of how to dress up drawer knobs and pulls here at the Diy Idea Center.

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The Easiest Keto Friendly Snack You Can Make Less Than A Minute

These pepperoni chips are The Easiest Keto Friendly Snack You Can Make Less Than A Minute. Snack on them by themselves or they are perfect for dipping.

The Easiest Keto Friendly Snack You Can Make Less Than A Minute

I did love me some potato chips and french onion dip before our low carb lifestyle but I didn’t like how I felt after over indulging on them. That’s the thing with high carb chips is that you don’t feel full and satisfied until you eat half the bag! Then you feel miserable and guilty. With low carb snacks and higher fat, you may only want a few and you feel totally satisfied. Remember the low carb parmesan crisp recipe and the keto cracker recipe? Same thing, after eating a few of these you will most likely be moving on to your healthy kale and berry smoothie.

Pepperoni Chips

You need only one ingredient for this snack so for all you peeps that don’t like cooking, there are no excuses. Your microwave will be your new best friend. Pepperoni chips are pepperoni slices that are baked or microwaved until crispy. That’s it. You literally could stop reading right now and pop some slices in the microwave and be done but I hope you stick around to the end because you have to see what we dip them in. Yum.

Not always do we use uncured meats but we try to whenever possible.

BUY uncured pepperoni

Uncured meat is processed naturally without the unhealthy preservatives. You usually will see the label stating no nitrates or nitrites added. That’s a good thing. There are plenty of studies and controversies over the damage nitrates do to your body, but usually in massive doses. We won’t go down that road now, but educate yourself on the differences if you have concerns or want to learn more.

Microwave Directions

I feel silly telling you how to make these because it is so simple but here we go. For the microwave, ready in less than a minute directions, grab a paper plate and lay a paper towel on it. Place as many pepperoni slices that will fit on the paper plate.

Place the paper plate in the microwave and cook for 45 seconds. Some microwaves may need an extra 15 seconds to make them firm and crispy.

Let them cool.

Repeat the process if you are having company and want to serve a small bowl of pepperoni chips.

Oven Directions

To bake pepperoni chips in the oven, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place slices on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until firm and crispy like a chip. Sometimes you can find larger pepperoni slices if you want bigger pepperoni chips. Look in the deli section of your grocery store.

I’m glad you stuck around to the end to see what we dip our pepperoni chips in. I love to make dips and eat dips so there will be more dip recipes coming soon. Thank goodness, cheese is still on the low carb and keto diet!

Try dipping your pepperoni chips in crack dip or a Reuben dip recipe and you will never know you aren’t eating a carb loaded potato chip or tortilla chip again.

Approximately 16 slices of pepperoni chips equals 1 gram of carbs (some pepperoni brands have 0 carbs) vs. 12 regular Ruffles potato chips equals 15 grams of carbs. If you are trying to burn fat, which one would you choose? Remember, your body has to burn carbs before it gets to the fat so less carbs you have to burn the quicker it gets to the fat!

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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Corten Steel Planters For Modern Outdoor Landscaping

Here’s how we are using corten steel planters for modern outdoor landscaping at our home.

When your husband has CSPD it’s really a life adjustment. I’ll catch him wondering outdoors for hours trying to spot a new area where he can put another one, scrolling page after page on the internet trying to find the best price and then going store to store attempting to find just the perfect plant! I finally had to have a heart to heart with him yesterday, “you’ve got to stop this obsession, things are only going to get worse”.

CSPD is a current real “thing” in our household. What is it? Corten Steel Planter Disorder! Dean has the worse case I’ve ever seen. Okay, maybe I’ve never seen anyone with that disorder since I just made it up but, whoa, if it was a real thing, he’s got it!

So now that we’ve got your attention and since we have incorporated so many corten steel planters in our landscaping, we thought we would write a blog post and share a video how we use them for modern landscaping statement pieces.

Check out Green Dean in action and watch his little assistant that has to get in on the action too.

youtube

Corten Steel Planters For Modern Outdoor Landscaping

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There’s a lot of different planters out there. Ceramic planters, terracotta, metal and clay are just a few options. We (yes, I like them a lot too!) really enjoy the architectural style of the corten steel.

Corten steel known for it’s weathered look has been favored by architects and landscape designers for many years. Cor-Ten is actually a trademark for the US Steel Corporation. The attraction to using this type of material for sculptures, planters and even some building designs is that it will naturally form a rust when it gets wet and ideally this will protect the steel underneath from deteriorating. There is no need to paint this material either. The jury is still out how long this steel will last before it begins to perforate, especially in climates where there is a lot of humidity. I guess we will conduct our own case study here in Florida!

Here are a few ways we have incorporated corten steel planters in our outdoor landscaping.

Planter

This autograph plant with Mexican Beach rocks really makes this an architectural statement piece. Did you know that it is called the autograph plant because you can scratch your initials on the leaves? We have this down near our fire pit to enjoy.

Planter

This is a fishtail palm with Mexican Beach rocks. I love sitting our here in the mornings.

Dean has this planter setting on a piece of wood so that the rusty orange color doesn’t stain the porch when it gets wet. I love the horsetail plant in this planter. It gives it a very modern style. Would you look at who is trying to get in the shot again?

Buy from Amazon

And finally our latest ‘baby’! Dean looked everywhere for a blue agave plant but couldn’t find it so he ended up transplanting this beautiful Australian tree fern. We literally have had this two days and just after getting hit by the sprinklers one day, it has started forming a patina.

If you were wondering what the big tank is in the video, you can read about how we water our garden for free.

*Please know if you purchase these planters from links in our blog posts that you do not pay any additional fees. Clicking on any link only gives us a small commission if you purchase. That helps us keep providing you our reader with free up to date content. Thank you!

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21 Best Gardening Gifts And Inspiration

21 Best Gardening Gifts

If you have a gardener on your shopping list for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, kids birthdays or just because, we have suggested gardening gifts for her and him that will be sure to lift their spirits.

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If you are thinking of a beginner gardener, a novice or maybe you see something you would like for yourself, we hope this gave you ideas and inspiration. If you want to order one of these 21 gardening gifts just click on the image and it will take you straight to check out.

Now, we need to get our hands back in the soil in our own garden but before we go, here’s some eye candy for the garden. Let us know which one is your favorite!

Inspiration

Source

Check out these 4 tips for planting

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11 Backyard Shed Ideas For Additional Space

Backyard shed ideas for additional space is crazy trendy right now. Dean and I met up with the good people of Studio Shed at the Orlando International Builders Association which inspired us to write this post. It is not sponsored, it is just pure inspiration. Check out these 11 backyard shed ideas for additional space.

11 Backyard Shed Ideas For Additional Space

Have you ever considered adding on to your home but then get discouraged because the price for an addition can be overwhelmingly high? Some homeowners now are turning all types of sheds into practical and usable space.

Source

This modern shed has been turned into a comfortable living space in the backyard. The additional room can provide a place for teenagers to hang out or can be used as peaceful reading room. The built on deck gives that extra outdoor environment to have your morning coffee while listening to the birds chirping.

Source

This is one of my favorites and only if we didn’t have HOA rules to follow in our neighborhood, we would definitely consider turning a modern shed into this extra guest room in our backyard. Our daughter and husband, who have been living in China for 3 years, are coming back to the States to hopefully stay this summer and I keep imagining having this for them to stay in on our property while they figure out what there next venture will be. They are more than welcome to stay in one of indoor guest rooms however, our daughter is highly allergic to dogs so this would be ideal. We will have to double check those HOA guidelines again on dimensions;)

Source

How adorable is this? It’s hard to believe this is an actual shed turned into a tiny home. Could you live there?

Perhaps you could hold cooking classes or art workshops in a backyard shed.

Source

Dean and I have had several conversations about building an affordable tiny home community for young adults just graduating from university, helping the homeless or just buying a piece of land on the water somewhere and having 2-3 of these sheds turned guest rooms on the property when family comes to visit. Everyone could have their own private suite and we could all meet and hangout around the fire pit roasting marshmallows and playing the guitar. If we won the lottery, we would definitely do this!

Source

Now,this is modern sheds on steroids. Actually, this is a prefab modular home addition that may be more affordable than you think.

Source

Design your own backyard shed here.

What would you use a shed for? Storage, garage, guest room or art studio?

Source

Would you make this a garage or a yoga studio?

Source

Is this your new office space?

Whether you have one built for you or you build your own backyard shed, it will take a fraction of time compared to having a contractor build an addition to your home and you may be surprised of how affordable it is. If you are looking for ways to save money on other DIY home improvement projects, please see our post here.

Interested in building your own backyard shed? The different plans and kits below may interest you!

6′ x 16′ Deluxe Storage Shed (Modern Roof)

8′ x 8′ Deluxe Shed (Modern Roof)

Wooden Garden Shed

Barn Kit

30′ Pole Barn Plans

Workshop and Pole Barn Our favorite!

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7 Ways Of Growing Tomatoes Successfully

Delicious and juicy homegrown tomatoes or store bought bland tomatoes? Every now and then you get lucky with a juicy red tomato from the grocery store but more times than not, they turn out to be tasteless and bland. That’s why we choose to grow our own tomatoes in our backyard! We’ve had some fails for sure but we have learned these 7 ways of growing tomatoes successfully and want to share the tips with you.

1. Prepare Your Garden Soil

Pull any weeds in your garden bed. Then, we take a shovel to dig down below the surface of the soil to turn over the soil the length of the garden bed. Take a rake to smooth out the top.

We add manure compost or an organic fertilizer to our soil to start out the planting season. You can also use a soil meter to test PH, moisture and light.

2. Plant Tomatoes Deep

Tomato plants need a stable root system so plant tomatoes deep into the ground. I felt like this was our problem in growing tomatoes successfully initially. I was used to planting flowers so that the root system was above the soil about an inch to prevent smothering the plant.

Two thirds of the tomato plants should be buried into the ground as some of the roots will sprout along the buried stem and strengthen the plant. Better roots equal better tomatoes! For example: if you have a 10 inch tall plant, bury it so that only 3 inches are above soil. Imagine a lot of tomatoes growing on one plant, it needs a good sturdy root system to support the weight.

3. Protect Tomatoes From Cold and Frost

We learned our lesson this year when Florida had a few frosts. We lost two very healthy tomato plants by not covering them up. Weather in all planting seasons can be unpredictable. You can use old sheets to cover the plants when the temperatures are supposed to fall to freezing or purchase plant protectors.

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4. Water Your Tomato Plants Regularly

Water the base of the plant only. If you water the leaves you will be increasing the chance of fungal infection so try to keep the leaves dry. It’s recommended to water your plants once a week and to give them about an inch of water. You may have to experiment with this depending on your climate and conditions of where you live. I can tell you that I definitely water more than once a week living in Florida and it seems to be working out great.

We use water from our rainwater harvesting system that Dean built. The giant barrel collects rain water then is filtered down to our garden. We just flip a switch and have running water from the hose to water plants. It has been a cost saver on our water bill and the convenience of having the hose next to the garden has been great. You can use a hose or hose wand to water but again, be sure to just water the base of the plant only.

We do have a drip irrigation system in the garden but rarely use it. Spending the time watering each plant and checking on their growth each day provides a little breather from sitting at my desk in front of a computer. However, using a drip irrigation system will assure you of watering just the base of the plants and not the leaves. Using a timer will help from over watering using a drip irrigation.

5. Place Plant Supports Around Your Tomato Plants

There are a variety of tomato cages and support systems. They are necessary in keeping your stems from falling over on the ground from the weight of the tomatoes. If the stems fall on the ground with the tomatoes on them, there will be more chance of rot on your fruit.

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6. Fertilize

Once your tomato plants are well established in the ground and you start seeing tomatoes form, add vegetable fertilizer around the base. You can find several different types of fertilizers at your local nursery or home improvement store. I had picked up this brand and oh my gosh, our tomato plants took off. We couldn’t believe it. It seemed as if we could stand there and watch them grow. They produced big juicy tomatoes and the stalk grew so tall that we had to add additional support. I added the fertilizer around every 2-3 weeks but read the label, every fertilizer could be different. I’ve always heard tomatoes are kind of hard to grow and we haven’t had that much luck in the past so imagine how excited we were when we saw these beauties. They tasted as good as they looked.

TIP: There are determinate and indeterminate types of tomato plants which can determine how many tomatoes a plant usually produces and how tall the plant grows. You can read more about the differences here.

7. Prune

“Suckers” on tomato plants are the little stems that grow between the main central stem and other branches. They can literally suck the energy from the rest of the plant making the plant top-heavy when it bears fruit. Pinching the suckers is a continuous experiment for me. Removing suckers can lead to fewer, but larger tomatoes which has happened with a few of our plants. Our goal is to get as many tomatoes from one plant as possible so I try not to get carried away. With the heat and humidity in Florida we want to keep enough stems with leaves on the plant to prevent sun damage which helps with producing a flavorful tomato.

When your tomatoes turn a solid color all over, you can start harvesting them. If you love fried green tomatoes like we do, then pick your tomato when it is still solid green. The green tomato is firmer and and better to fry.

Enjoy your very own homegrown and delicious tomatoes!

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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Delicious Reuben Dip Recipe

It has been so chilly here in Florida this past week, all I am craving is warm comfy foods so we are making a lot of low carb soups and warm dips. Of course with a low carb lifestyle, we aren’t dipping potato chips or Ritz crackers in our savory dips but rather our low carb Parmesan crisps or keto-friendly crackers. They taste just as good, I promise! We hope you don’t miss the bread with this delicious Reuben Dip recipe. We didn’t!

Ingredients plus Russian or Thousand Island dressing

I cheated a little on this Reuben dip recipe that was inspired by yummy Reuben sandwiches. Real Reubens use corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and traditionally Russian dressing. I substituted the corned beef with pastrami and the Russian dressing with my homemade Thousand Island dressing.

Corned beef and pastrami are difficult to distinguish for most. Corned beef and Pastrami can both be considered the brisket but the pastrami is cut from the navel area, near the brisket. They are both brined in a salt water solution, however the cooking of the two meats are different as corned beef is boiled and pastrami is smoked.

I used the uncured pastrami already prepared and packaged from the deli. The slices of meat were nice and thick. You can also go straight to your deli at the grocery store and ask for pastrami or corned beef cut to whatever thickness you like.

Dean had picked up some Swiss and Gruyere shredded cheese at his last visit to the store so I just used that instead of running back to the store to get plain Swiss cheese.

Since I didn’t have Russian dressing on hand I made my own homemade version of Thousand Island dressing instead. Most Russian and Thousand Island dressings are very similar in that they both use ketchup and mayonnaise as their base. The difference is that in homemade Russian dressing, you can add a bit of Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and/or horseradish sauce. With Thousand Island dressing, you are adding a pickle relish, chopped onion and peppers. Both dressings can be modified however you like. Sometimes, you just go with what you have on hand, like I did.

Mix your softened cream cheese (8 ounces), 8 ounces Pastrami or corned beef, 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese and 1/2 cup sauerkraut in a mixing bowl or right in your small baking dish to save on clean up.

Use your store bought Russian or Thousand Island dressing and pour 1/2 cup into your mixture. Mix until well blended. My recipe for the Thousand Island dressing I made is 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 5 tablespoons ketchup, 3 tablespoons pickle relish and a teaspoon of white vinegar. I did not add chopped onions or peppers.

Since we aren’t having bread for a hot and melty Reuben sandwich, we are substituting using Parmesan Crisps. Simply put shredded Parmesan with your favorite seasoning into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. These are perfect no carb snacks for dipping or all by themselves. If you want to turn your round crisps into chips, click here.

I used Italian seasoning for the parmesan crisps but you can use whatever you like. Chili powder, garlic and onion, dill, the list goes on.

Two or three of these Parmesan crisps really fills you up but it is hard to stop dipping! This is so delicious and an interesting spin on the traditional Reuben sandwich.

Bake the Reuben dip for 30 minutes at 350 degree Fahrenheit or until it is golden brown, hot and bubbly.

I think this sounds like a perfect dip for St. Patty’s Day, don’t you?

Delicious Reuben Dip Recipe

Low Carb and Keto Friendly

8 ounces Corned beef or Pastrami

8 ounces Regular cream cheese

1/2 cup Sauerkraut

1 cup Shredded Swiss Cheese or (Swiss and Gruyere)

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

4-5 tablespoons Ketchup

1 teaspoon white vinegar

3 tablespoons Pickle Relish

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Add meat, cheeses, sauerkraut and dressing in small baking dish or mixing bowl and mix well.

Bake 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Simple Thousand Island Dressing

Mix Mayonnaise, Ketchup, pickle relish and vinegar together until well blended.

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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7 Vertical Garden Ideas

Vertical gardens are beneficial for many reasons. Not only do they save on space but think about how much less you have to weed, less back pain from bending over, less soil needed and they also give a unique visual appeal. We have a 3 dimensional trellis that we grow plants on the side of our house and we also have one more panel in our garden that we are hoping to try some new plants on very soon. These 7 vertical garden ideas we are sharing with you today are not only sparking creativity but action to get started designing our own vertical garden.

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This was designed and also built by Barry Harrison, a partner at Art-Harrison Design Studio. Vertical gardens can be used as a fence or to help hide unsightly views. Growing up and not out gives much more space to plant a variety of vegetables and plants.

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Incorporating self watering hoses in a vertical garden design such as this will help keep soil properly moistened and avoid mess. This would give an empty wall on a lanai or patio some character.

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This trellis system is perfect for vining plants such as beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes. These plants need support as they grow. Years ago corn stalks and sturdy sunflower plants were used to support these vegetables.

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This edible garden is a great example of a DIY vertical garden made easy. Even if you use 10 boxes for a design, you will still have a great vertical wall to grow plants on. I like that it is the perfect height for the ‘littles’ so they can plant their own little box garden.

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I’ve never seen Dean so giddy when we stopped by a nursery at the Leu Gardens plant sale last weekend and he found Hops plants. We don’t know a lot about growing Hops but I’m sure we will be learning very quickly. Apparently, they say you can sit and watch Hops grow because they grow so rapidly. We are running out of room in our garden but we think we found a corner at the very end where we can construct something like the picture above. This will be another “weekend project” on the to do list.

Source and Tutorial

This is a more modern take on vertical gardening and you can get the full step by step tutorial in the link above. Make it in 2 hours for $30 and you will impress your friends, for sure.

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Shoe organizer? Yep, that’s right. Perfect to grow small herbs. Shoe organizers are affordable and come in the canvas material like above photo. You can also find clear vinyl shoe organizers but if you use them, be sure to poke a few holes in the bottom of each pouch for drainage. There is no need to do that with the canvas. You can place the plants with the plastic pot that it comes with directly in the pouches or plant each plant with fresh soil in each pouch. If you are looking for wider pockets and a wider design, this eco-friendly wall planter is another choice you have.

Hope you’ve gotten some great ideas for saving space and growing vegetables using vertical gardens.

Shop this page to get started on your own vertical garden.

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dianeanddean · 7 years ago

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5 Tips For Preparing Your Home For Spring

5 Tips for Preparing Your Home for Spring

Spring time is coming! With the spring season on its way, it’s time for preparing your home and garden for the warmer weather and new start. Getting ready for spring can be a bit hectic and hard to handle, but don’t worry. Here are 5 tips for preparing your home for Spring and the warmer season.

1. Cleaning outdoor items

When cleaning, you might happen to forget the outside of your home. Clean the outside of your windows, remove debris and dirt from gutters, clean your grill, and get out your outdoor decorations clean and ready. Getting the outside of your home and your yard ready for spring helps prevent any rush for preparing when you have a cookout or issues from your grill and gutters not being clean.

2. Indoor cleaning and refreshing

Spring cleaning is a well-known item on the list for preparing your home for the warmer weather to come. However some things are often overlooked. You can clean your walls and detach outlet covers to clean. Always make sure the covers are dry before returning them to their outlets. Cleaning walls and wall trims help a lot with a spring refresher. Another thing to clean is to detach shower heads and/or any sink sprayers or faucet ends and soak them in a solution of equal parts vinegar and water. This can go a long way in keeping your water clean and faucets unclogged when warmer weather arrives.

Soak faucet heads in a bowl of equal parts white vinegar and water for about an hour then scrub debris off with an old toothbrush. If faucet heads are too difficult to detach, fill a quart size baggie with solution and secure with rubber bands.

3. Prepare your garden

Springtime means planting can begin again! Cleaning out your garden(s) or greenhouse is a must if you want to start planting when warmer weather comes around. Make sure your soil and planting area is ready for springtime. You can also start growing seedlings indoors in small containers while waiting for the frost to end. Here are some tips for planting.

4. Motivational help

A good way to remodel your work or living space is to provide some ways to help you stay motivated throughout the spring and summer seasons. Cork boards, white boards, magnetic plaques, and calendars can go a long way when properly placed. Maybe try cutting out some inspirational pictures or quotes from magazines and making a picture board for motivation and inspiration this season. The possibilities with this are quite long.

5. Décor

Decorating for spring is something plenty of people move on to after cleaning is done. There are so many options with this and it’s really more personal than anything else. Whether making some cute DIY spring themed projects to put in the house or buying some inexpensive décor from an online shop or your local dollar store; decorating your home for spring really depends on how you want your theme to look.

SHOP SPRING DECOR

(click on photos to order)

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