First of Many Reveals - Guest Bedroom Bench

I've been promising to post some pictures showing what I've been up to for the last couple months and though I'm still smack dab in the middle of some small projects and ready to start a couple huge ones, it's time to start sharing a little at a time.

This is one of my favorite projects of all so far and I just love this bench. I made this bench for one of the guest bedrooms upstairs and now that this room is mostly finished it is probably my favorite room in the house right now.

This bench started out as three garage sale chairs that I bought for $1 apiece. They had ugly green burlap cushions which I removed. After fusing the chairs together, cutting a new seat and attaching that seat to the three chairs I had a bench. After a little paint, some brass tacks and add a cushion that I sewed, voila! Now I have a bench at the end of the bed and all for under $25 for the whole project!

Three Things I Can't Live Without ...Today

I was cleaning up today and thinking about a few things around the house that I have found by accident that I just can't live without around this house.

Gold Canyon Candles, Cozy Cabin is the most homey scent. To me it just smells like comfort. When I bought it I thought that it would smell like pine, but it's surprisingly different. It's kind of a combination of perfume, sandalwood, maybe a hint of pine and not sure what else but smells great. I burn mine daily and what I love the most about it is that it is so different from what you usually find in candle scents.

We have a kitchen full of stainless and black porcelain and I have found that though it looks trendy and modern, it is all a pain to keep looking clean. Both get fingerprints easily, especially the stainless. I have spent countless wasted dollars trying to find something that will clean the fingerprints quickly and easily from the appliances. This weekend I bought some Bar Keeper's Friend to polish the copper on the bottom of my stainless copper core pans. I discovered on the label that it works on porcelain, stainless and all kinds of surfaces. I tried it on my stove first which has both of course and it works great! Pretty awesome to have finally found something that works great! Trick is that you just use a tiny bit and then wipe residue with a clean wet sponge and then buff dry with a clean, dry towel. Kind of like waxing a car. Leaves a perfect shiny finish.

Lastly, Fabuloso in lavender scent is the best all purpose cleaner that I have found. Not only is it really cheap, but it smells wonderful. I dilute it slightly and keep it in a spray bottle under the sink for cleaning countertops and it makes the whole house smell great. I use it on my cabinets, kitchen table, porcelain cook top, appliances and for a cleaner in my mop water. It cleans as well as 409 or Cloroz cleanup really and isn't so harsh. It's of course not good for bleaching things, but otherwise is great. Betcha if you give it a try you'll be hooked too.