kitchen Archives - Page 2 of 2 - The Sparrow's Home

The Lazy Person’s Guide to Canning Tomatoes

August 30, 2016 by Susan 28 Comments

I admire people who put up summer produce by the bushel, stocking their pantry shelves with row upon row of the good stuff. I’ve tried that. My dad does pickles and relish each summer, and I’ve helped out. One time I did get a giant box of tomatoes and canned spaghetti sauce myself. It was delicious and wonderful, but it was an awful lot of work and mess for the amount I got.

I wouldn’t rule out doing a mega canning session again but it’s not really my style.

Here’s my style: I take out my canning pot mid-August and leave it in my kitchen until mid-October. I can two or three or six jars of excess produce as I have it. It’s the same with freezing. As I have extra peppers or corn or whatever, I fill Ziploc bags and stash them in the freezer.

Window Light Fixture

May 17, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

I’m an idea person…big picture all the way. My dad is an engineer, and can figure out a way to do just about anything. We make a great team when it comes to my home decorating projects!

The hutch that I made into an island was pretty cut and dry. My husband, who is talented in many ways but not especially handy, and I were able to complete it all on our own.

The Light Fixture

When I had the brainstorm that a window would make a great light fixture, it was dad who got the call.

Upcycled Kitchen Island

May 10, 2016 by Susan 5 Comments

I love using things in ways they weren’t intended for. Besides being conversation pieces, it makes your home personal to you. It adds character. And it can save you a lot of money!

You don’t have to be a designer or skilled in construction to create something unique.

I assure you, I am neither.

It does help that I am not a perfectionist, I will admit.

When we moved into our current house, the previous owners had begun a number of remodels that they hadn’t finished. One was tearing out a peninsula counter/cabinets in the kitchen. We loved how open it made the kitchen, but it left me with very little counter and cabinet space, and just one cabinet drawer.

I began looking at islands. Did you know that

Kitchen islands are really expensive!

Also, I saw that they all kind of look the same, and I wanted something a bit more unique. So I thought about trying to re-purpose something to create my own island. I looked at workbenches, dressers, and other furniture before finding a hutch that would work.

In short, we used the bottom of the hutch as the actual island and turned the shelves that sat on top of the original hutch upside down to use as storage. I’ll walk you through how we did it.