DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG: July 2015

I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot

George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Friday, July 24, 2015

New Heights for Solar Lights

First , I want to Thank Jillian , over at Bella Rose Antiques, for featuring my post, My Creative Space, Part 2, from last week's Let's Talk Vintage Party!!

Thanks so much , Jillian!!

And I also want to Thank Jody and Stan, over at Rooted in Thyme, for featuring post, My Creative Space, Part 1, from last week's Simple and Sweet Friday's party!!

Thanks so much , Jody and Stan!!

Please take some time to visit and link up to these great parties!!

I want to thank everyone who visited and commented on my Creative Space!!

I have been working off and on in my Craft Room since the beginning of the year, weeding out things, organizing and labels what i have and then re-arranging the room.

If you missed my 4 posts on my Creative Space, including my Summer Tree, you can find links to all 4 posts over on my side bar.......

I am still making my rounds to all the links over at the Where Bloggers Create party, hosted by Karen, over at My Desert Cottage!!

So please be patient with me and I will soon be around to visit everyone who linked up!!

Please check out this awesome party and all the fabulous links to Creative Spaces!!

I know you will be inspired!!

Now , if you are like me and have plants that have grown quite tall during the Summer, most Solar Lights seem to get lost in amongst these taller plants.

I thought of an idea on how to add a bit of height to your Solar Lights in your garden!!

First ,we found spikes at Lowes.....

Pound them into the ground where you want to place a Solar Light.......

Now I had 4 pieces of PVC stakes left over from my arbor. They were to go into the ground and anchor the arbor but we chose to anchor it a different way.

So I decided to use these stakes....

Simply pop them over the Spike in the ground......

Next take the Lantern part of your Solar Light off the original stake that it came with and just pop the Solar Light over the PVC stake!!

You can also use round PVC piping for this and cut the pipe to the height that you want your Solar Lights to be !!

I am going to do just that with more of my larger Solar Lights......

You can see how tall my Asters have gotten but you can now see the Solar Light over the Asters!!

Look at the difference in height here......

See how close to the ground the other Solar Light is?????

Here are the 3 more places in my Cottage Garden where I added a bit of height to the Solar Lights..........

This one is in the back of the yard near the fence.......

This one is over near the left corner of the yard.......

And this one is on the right side of the yard not far from the Shed and is a dark corner of the yard.....

And of course, this one that I showed you before.....

I can't wait to go and get a few more spikes and some PVC piping to add a bit more height to a few more Solar Lights in the back yard.....

Now what did I do with the stakes that they came with........

These small Solar Lights are from Wegman's and were in Clearance last year for $1.00!!

You can see the difference in height in the stakes......

So I decided to take the black spike off the bottom of the Solar Light......

And simply dropped the whole thing into the larger silver stake!!

It added a bit more height to these smaller ones!!!

Here is where I used these with the 4 stakes from the other Solar Lights.......

Here in the pot filled with wave petunias under the arbor.......

Here in my little Gnome Garden in a Whiskey Barrel!!

And here in 2 pots on one side of the patio......

Soon, in another post, I will share how my little Cottage Garden looks at night.......

I think these Solar Lights will now be shining a bit more light on my garden.......

We have had a lot of rain and then a week of temps. in the 90's here.

A cool front has come through and this week are high's are near 80 and the lows are in the 50's!!

This beautiful weather has allowed me to get a lot of work done in the Garden.......

I will be sharing how my Cottage Garden is growing in a future post.......

On Sunday, July 26th, I start my Part Time Schedule!!!!

So I will be off 3 days in a row.....

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!!!!

I can not wait..........

WHOA!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

I hope you will come by and visit again!!

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

Hugs,
Debbie

I am linking up to these weekly parties:

SATURDAY
Pink Saturday
Party Junk
The Creative Collection Link Party
Saturday Sparks
Say G' Day Saturday

SUNDAY
Share It One More Time Sundays
DIY SHowcase
Silver Pennies Sunday
Snickerdoodle Sunday
Sundays at Home
Share It Sunday
Bouquet of Talent Linky Party
Sundays Down Under

MONDAY
Inspiration Mondays
Busy Monday

Amaze Me Mondays
Creative Mondays

Metamorphosis Monday
Something to Talk About Link Party
The Art of Making Home- Making Mondays

What'd You Do This Weekend?
Make It Pretty Monday
Merry Monday Linky Party
Cooking and Crafting with J & J
Mod Vintage Mix Monday

TUESDAY

Show and Share Party
Tuesdays At Our Home
Tweak It Tuesdays
The Scoop

Inspire Me Tuesdays

You're Gonna Love It Tuesdays

Lou Lou Girl's Linky Party

Tuesdays with a Twist
Let's Talk Vintage

Roses of Inspiration Party

Brag About It Tuesday Linky Party
Tips and Tricks Linky Party
Tuesday Garden Party

WEDNESDAY

Fluster's Creative Muster Wednesday's

Wake Up Wednesdays
Ducks in a Row Wonderful Wednesdays Blog Hop
Wow Us Wednesday
Sizzle into Summer Party
Vintage Inspiration Party
Party in Your PJ's
Dream Create Inspire Link
What's It Wednesday
Before and After Party

THURSDAY
Homemaking Weekend Link Up Party
It's a Party
Share Your Style Thursday Link Up Party

Treasure Hunt Thursdays

Home and Garden Party Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Inspired Creations Linky Party
My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday
Grace at Home Party
Idea Box- Thursday Linky Party

FRIDAY
Simple and Sweet Fridays
The Creative Exchange
Home Sweet Home Friday
Friday Features Linky Party
Show and Tell Friday
Home Matters Linky Party
Welcome to the Weekend Blog Hop
Flaunt It Fridays
What To Do Weekends
Friday's Five Features Party
Fabulous Fridays - every 2 weeks

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Storage and Organizational Ideas from My Creative Space 2015, Part 4

Welcome to the Part 4, the final part, of my Tour of my newly re-arranged and re-organized Creative Space!!!

If you missed Part 1 , the first half of the Tour, please click HERE

If you missed Part 2, the second half of the tour, please click HERE

If you missed Part 3, where I shared how I decorated my Summer Tree. please click HERE

Today, I am going to share some of the organizational and storage ideas with you that I used in my Craft Room.......

Use small containers to store items.........

Use what you have or shop Thrift Stores, Flea Markets or yard sales looking for jars , salt and pepper shakers, etc. that are cheaply priced.......

I picked up most of these apothecary type jars at Thrift Stores for 99 cents each!!

I also used vintage canning jars.....

Salt and pepper shakers for glitter......

These came from Dollar Tree and I painted the lids.....

Vanity jars.......

These are display cases that I bought for 25 cents each at a Church Flea Market......

I have also used this beautiful vintage canister set for storage........

Look for wood pieces that could be used both for display and storage......

I bought this shelf at Salvation Army......

The cubby holes store a lot of things......

I spray painted these pieces ......

This was hunter green originally and bought for $1.00 at a yard sale!!

Old Sewing Machine drawers work well for holding a lot of things too!!

And I painted this drawer from a nightstand that was broken and used it to store my Glues in......

I bought this wood shelf at a flea market for $5.00 and it was already painted this way!!!

This desk organizer was bought at Salvation Army and is used for storing patterns.....

This wooden piece is perfect for these jars............

And this piece was bought on Clearance at Ross for Less for $4.00 and I did not even have to paint it!!

This waste basket that I embellished holds Pattern and Craft Books.....

Use what you have......

I use a lot of tubs for storage......

And this vintage hamper holds fabric.......

I use the drawers of my hubby's Paternal Grandmother's Vintage Singer Sewing Machine to store sewing supplies.......

Re-purpose ordinary everyday things.......

My Work Space is an old computer desk that I enlarged by placing a bigger piece of lumber on top of it.

I wanted to use the sliding drawer that was originally intended for a keyboard as a desk drawer so I used double sided tape to adhere Take Out Food Containers and a desk Organizer bought at Dollar Tree to the drawer, creating storage for desk supplies......

These containers are what held Herb Ox Chicken Broth Cubes and I dabbled with them a bit!!

And I embellished ordinary Cans from food items for Storage.....

I created a place for hanging wreaths by simply hanging them on shelf hooks.......

My Hubby also created more storage for wreaths by simply adhering a piece of PVC pipe to a piece of lumber. I then covered both with contact paper. This allows me stack all kinds of wreaths on it!!

I bought this at Sam's Club.......

I have it on my Work Space , storing supplies.....

I do have to add a roll of paper towels to the handle to clean up any messes or mishaps!!

I bought inexpensive shelving units at Walmart to hold tubs and boxes , stores a wealth of crafting items......

I bought all kinds of plastic storage containers and boxes ........

Using all these organizational and storage ideas, I have been able to fit a LOT OF STUFF into a small 8' by 10" back bedroom, creating my Creative Space!!!

And this concludes my Tour of my "new" Creative Space!!

To see some truly amazing Creative Spaces and be inspiring by more Organizing and Storage Ideas, please stop by the Annual Where Bloggers Create Party hosted by Karen over at My Desert Cottage!!!

Please be sure to check out this wonderful party showcasing all types and sorts of Creative Spaces!!

I KNOW you will be inspired!!

I am still making my rounds visiting all the link ups and I know it will take me some time as I want to savor each one!!!

Thanks so much for Karen for hosting this fantastic party!!!

The Count Down continues........

I change to Part Time status with the Pay Period starting July 26th!!!!

That means that I will be working 7 days out of a 14 Day Pay Period but more importantly, I will be sleeping normally half the amount of time which will definitely help with my Shift Work Sleep Deprivation Problem.

I have worked as a Staff RN in a Hospital for almost 37 years.

I was part time for only 10 months of that time.

I did do a Weekender Program where I worked EVERY weekend doing an 8 hour shift on Friday and 12 hour shifts on Saturday and Sundays. 32 hours in 3 days but that gave me the entire week between off and I was still paid 80 hours a pay with my full time benefits because I worked EVERY weekend!!

Then they abolished that position on my Department and I accepted a position of working 9 days in a 2 week Pay Period. Anything over 70 hours a pay is considered Full Time in the Health System that I work for.

I have worked Night Shift , yes the grave yard shift, for 32+ years..............

I had to at first because I had no baby sitters for my 2 sons and this enabled either myself or Joe to always be with our sons.......

Why have I stayed on Night Shift this long when i clearly did not have to??????

TOO MANY CHIEFS AND NOT ENOUGH INDIANS ON DAY SHIFT!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!!

On July 26th, a whole new chapter in my Life starts.......

PART TIME!!!

I hope you will continue to stop by to see what I will do with that extra time and honor My One Little Word for 2015.........

LIVE!!!!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE do not be a No-Reply Blogger and give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

Hugs,
Debbie

I am linking up to these parties:

MONDAY
Inspiration Mondays
Busy Monday