Make Your tiny Bathroom Appear Bigger

Sink Consoles

Replacing a traditional vanity cabinet with a console will help make a small bathroom appear larger. This Petaluma Single Sink from Pottery Barn features turned legs, a painted white finish, and Carrara marble top. At Pottery Barn; from $299.

 
 

 Racks

The Everett Towel Rack from Ballard Designs is the perfect small bathroom accessory. Finished in a mosture-resistant powder coat, it features multiple arms in graduating lengths that swing a full 180 degrees for convenience—and capacity. Ballard Designs; from $25

 

Storage Totes

Organization is a "must" in the small bathroom. These tapered totes of slatted bamboo from Crate and Barrel, are not only beautiful but practical, as each one comes with a fitted canvas liner. At Crate & Barrel; in sets of three ($104.85) or separately ($29.95-$39.95).

 

Wall Sconces

Lighting can make a big difference in a small bathroom. Consider wall sconces, like this Regency-inspired Pilmico design from Restoration Hardware, to provide soft, even and adjustable illumination. Made of brass with polished nickel finish, it features an adjustable swing-arm. At Restoration Hardware; $439.




 

Glass Bath Jars

These Apothecary Jars from Restoration Hardware, will look light and airy in a small bathroom. Featuring a cast-pewter base and lid, their snug-fitting tops will keep contents free of moisture and dust. At Restoration Hardware; $65-$79 each

 

 

Petite Vanity

Sometimes replacing a larger vanity with a smaller one can open the space in a small bathroom. This petite vanity from Fairmont Designs features bow-front doors, rich veneer wood grains and bead detailing. It also comes with a matching arch-top mirror. At homeandstone.com; $669.50.

Space-Saving Shelving

This over-the-toilet shelving unit from Organize.com is a great space-saver for any bath, but especially the small bathroom. The cabinets are made from dark brown wood, lined with canvas and finished with bronze grommets. At Organize.com; $189.99.

Shelf with Towel Bar

The Dottingham Double Glass Bathroom Shelf, shown here from Allied Brass, not only offers decorative shelf storage, but a towel rack, too—making it ideal for the small bathroom. Crafted of solid brass, it comes in standard or premium hand-polished finishes. At Kitchensource.com; from $172.22.

Storage Cubes

These steel cubes are Italian-designed and feature a rust-resistant, galvanized finish, making them ideal for use in humid environments like bathrooms. Mount them on the wall, as shown, or stack them to create a free-standing storage solution for a small bathroom. At Container Store; starting at $49.

Wall Cabinets

Bathrooms require cabinets that are compact, like this glass-fronted wall cabinet from Elegant Home Fashions' Madison Avenue collection. At only 7" deep it is the perfect wall-mounted cabinet for the small bathroom. At Bellacor.com; $91.95.

Shelf Units

The Ledberg steel shelf unit from Ikea takes up very little floor space, making it perfect for the small bathroom. Fill the shelves with towels, bathroom essentials and decorative storage baskets. Available in a dark grey or white finish. At Ikea; $14.99.

Glass Shower Doors

Replacing a shower curtain with sliding glass doors will help make a small bathroom look bigger. Kohler's Fluence frameless sliding shower door features 1/4-inch-thick glass and a center guide system for smooth, quiet sliding action. At Kohler.com; $498.15.

Fresh Paint

As you know, a coat of paint can transform a room—and can even make it appear larger. While you shouldn't be afraid to try dark hues, consider painting your bathroom a light, neutral color, especially if it lacks natural daylight. Lighter shades will make a small bathroom appear more spacious, and brighten things up a bit.



Easter Gift...Bunny Pot

Make some bunny pots for Easter Gifts  and fill them with chocolate eggs, dyed eggs,  cookies or whatever strikes your fancy. And make someone happy

 

 

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• 4" clay pot
• White acrylic paint
• White Foamie sheet
• Pink Foamie sheet
• Google eyes
• Pink acrylic paint
• Black sharpie pen
• Tacky glue
• Excelsior ( that shredded cellophane...comes in all colors)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Paint pot with white paint. Allow time to dry.
2. Paint circle cheeks.
3. Cut 2 bunny ears.
4. Cut 2 pink insides of ears & glue together.
5. Attach ears to inside front of pot.
6. Cut triangle for nose. Glue in place.
7. Attach google eyes.
8. Draw whiskers & mouth.

 

Stuff with excelsior and fill with yummy goodness and give it to a friend or loved one.

PRINCE HARRY'S BUCKET LIST : If Prince Harry Had a Bucket List Part 3

                      PARTY AT A ROYAL JUBILEE
Feelin' irie, mon! Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee could have been a stodgy affair, but Prince Harry livened up the worldwide celebrations by personally bringing the festivities to the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica as a fun-loving stand-in for his 86-year-old grandmother. But helping make the queen's 60th anniversary a global party is only one thing the wild child of the British royal family has done in what we imagine is an amazing bucket list.

              BEAT THE WORLD'S FASTEST MAN
That's right – Harry once beat the fastest man in the world, Jamaican gold medalist Usain Bolt, at a March 2012 race in Kingston. Of course, the prince got a not-quite-legit head start, but Bolt didn't seem to mind. "He cheated. I said we would have a rematch in London 2012 and Harry said, 'I'm busy,'" Bolt .

PRACTICE DIPLOMACY WITH (BEAUTY) QUEENSFor someone who literally rubs elbows with queens all the time, Harry could have treated his March 2012 diplomatic mission with two young queens in the Bahamas as another tedious state function. Instead, the handsome prince chivalrously lavished his foreign counterparts with the attention he bestows on foreign dignitaries. Oh, did we mention that they were beauty queens?

                                     SERVE MY NATIONPatriotism isn't just a word to pad out speeches for Harry, who attended Britain's most prestigious military academy, is a highly trained Apache helicopter pilot, and has served on the front lines in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He called his 2008 Afghan tour "the chance to do the soldiering I wanted to do from ever since I joined."

After a November 2011 stint training with the U.S. military in Arizona, Harry fulfilled the dreams of any Sons of Anarchy or Easy Rider fan by hopping on a hog and riding off like a true bad--- into the desert. Where did he end up? Why, Las Vegas, of course.

                             BE AN OLYMPIC MASCOT
Forget Wenlock and Mandeville – the the most beloved cheerleaders of the London Olympics were Prince Harry and his brother and sister-in-law. Not only was it seemingly impossible to pry the photogenic trio away from the Games, it was obvious they weren't faking their enthusiasm.

                         SERVE AS MY BRO'S BEST MANThough murderous sibling rivalries may have been par for the course for British royals centuries ago, no one doubts that Harry and William are more than just brothers – they're also each other's best friends. So it was touching on many levels to see Harry step up as William's best man on his wedding day.

              BE THE BEST DANCER IN THE FAMILY
Okay, the bar is set low, but when it comes to cutting a rug on the dance floor, Harry's the one to watch. From grooving at a 2010 Haiti-relief concert in Barbados to moving and shaking during his 2012 Jubilee tour of Belize and Jamaica, he's the blue blood with the smooth moves – and he knows it. "I'm just glad my brother isn't here, because he might do it, and that would not be cool," he joked during a stopover in Rio de Janeiro .

                                         START A CHARITYLots of people talk about improving the world, but Harry actually does it, from helping to better the lives of the world's young people to conserving the Earth's natural resources to to providing for veterans. And the philanthropy doesn't stop there: In 2009, Harry set up Sentebale, a foundation he helped build in memory of his mother, to look after children orphaned by AIDS. Harry "has inherited his mother's extraordinary empathy," a senior Palace official said.

                          THROW OUT A FIRST PITCHNever mind that he's probably more comfortable on a cricket pitch than a pitcher's mound – when Harry threw out the first ball at a July 2010 baseball game between the Mets and the Twins in New York, the crowd ate it up. Harry shouldn't expect to be called up to the majors anytime soon, though: The ball crossed the plate a bit too high.

                                   HAVE AN ENTOURAGE
Prince Harry and William traded in their palace handlers for hip-hop moguls in 2007, when they mingled with Kayne West and Diddy backstage at the Concert for Diana in London. West reportedly tried to get Harry to try on his signature Venetian-blind shades, but the prince politely declined – after all, who's in charge of this entourage?

                               GO NAKED IN SIN CITY
When Prince Harry partys, he doesn't just let his hair down. Back in what seems to be one of his favorite cities, Las Vegas, Harry was the life of a hotel-room bash, where he played strip billiards (and evidently lost). Buckingham Palace confirmed that leaked photos of the fun were indeed of the third in line to the throne, but said only that he is "on a private holiday and due back in the UK soon." In other words, it's just one more thing to check off Harry's would-be bucket list.

Charles & Camilla : Royals Cut-Ups Part 2

 

Now we know where Harry gets it! See the future king of England and his wife goof off on their travels

                  GOING FOR A SPINIt wasn't too long ago that the British royal family wouldn't have been caught goofing off in public, but the future king of England seems intent on giving his image a serious overhaul. With three cheerleaders rallying him on, the Prince of Wales tries his hand at the ancient art of spinning plates in the Channel Islands on July 17.

                                      SEE CHARLES RUNHere, he and wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, duck out for some fun that same day as part of a youth rally on the Channel Islands to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

                             TREASURED CHESTTalk about a breath of fresh air! The Duchess of Cornwall brings a practice doll back to life as she demonstrates resuscitation techniques during the same event.

                             UPWARD MOBILITY
Socially speaking, Prince Charles is already on the top of the heap, but he proves you can't keep a good royal down as he scales a climbing wall at a secondary-school gym on the Channel Islands on July 18.

                                       FROG, PRINCE
What, no kiss? A playful fan turns the fairy-tale cliché on its head as Charles visits with school children in Gloucestershire, England, to honor the World Wildlife Fund UK in early July, where the eco-friendly prince had a rare Ecuadorian stream frog named after him – Hyloscirtus princecharlesi.

                                   RAIN MAKERGuess what? It's raiing in Scotland. But Camilla still puts on a brave face while trying her hand at the weather report during the local news segment in Glasgow, Scotland, on May 10.

                           DJ CHUCKY WALES
Play that funky music: Prince Charles turns the tables May 22 at a scratch-and-fade lesson at a youth mission in Toronto, Canada, as part of his Jubilee tour.

                                       HEIR BALLPrince Charles shoots and he ... well, he's going to be king someday! The prince shows off his Air Jordan technique at a youth center in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 22, during his tour of Scandinavia.

                                      KILLING GAMES
Ready, aim… duck! Camilla has a little fun with a Fake gun on the set of the TV drama The Killing in Copenhagen as Crown Princess Mary of Denmark plays along on March 27.

                               SMOOTH AS SILK
Why do we get the impression Duchess Catherine's laundry comes out less wrinkly than her father-in-law's? The royals get creative as they iron artwork onto silk for an event promoting Prince Charles's Foundation for Children and the Arts at a London gallery on March 15.

                               GAME OF THRONESPrince Charles finds a recliner truly fit for a king at the Ideal Home Show in London in mid-March.

British Royal Maternity Fashions : A Look Back Part # 1

From Queen Elizabeth II to Princess Di, see the stylish (and not-so-stylish) ways these mums-to-be handled pregnancy.

                                            

                                                  PRINCESS CHARLOTTEThe first British royal to have her maternity style immortalized in a formal portrait, Princess Charlotte of Wales ditched the uncomfortable corsets of her day in favor of an empire-line, puff-sleeve maternity gown in 1817.

 

                                         

                                                           THE QUEEN MOTHER

Simple tunic-style flapper dresses were all the rage in 1926, when the Duchess of York – wife of the future King George VI – gave birth to the little girl who would become Queen Elizabeth II. Busy prints and a loose-fitting cut made the simple flapper dress the perfect maternity and postpartum cover-up.

 

                                 

                                                       QUEEN ELIZABETH II It was business as usual for Queen Elizabeth II during her fourth pregnancy (with Prince Edward) in 1964. Keen to maintain her official royal duties and disguise her eight-month baby bump, the Queen looked ladylike in a discreet bracelet-sleeve cocoon-style topcoat.

 

                                            

                                                                PRINCESS ANNE

The Queen's only daughter, Princess Anne, rocked a seriously '70s floral frock, complete with a prim pussy-bow collar, for a public appearance in 1977 while five months pregnant with her first child, Peter Philips. For her second pregnancy (with daughter Zara) four years later, the princess upped the style ante in an elegant a cream cape and eye-catching print blouse with a matching head scarf.

                                                   

                                                                   PRINCESS DIANA

Less than a year after marrying Prince Charles, the 21-year-old princess was still finding her fashion footing, stepping out in a loose-fitting scarlet empire-waist evening gown and a billowing polka-dot smock while pregnant with her firstborn, Prince William, in 1982.

 

                                           

                                                          SARAH FERGUSON

Pregnant with Princess Beatrice in June 1988, the Duchess of York took her maternity style cue from her royal sister-in-law, Princess Diana, when she attended a ballet in a puff-sleeve scarlet gown, which gave the unfortunate impression she was more than seven months pregnant at the time. By 1990, the Duchess, pregnant with Princess Eugenie, added the era's ubiquitous pinstripe power suit to her formal maternity wardrobe.

                                                       

                                                           DUCHESS CATHERINE

Days after debuting a new look at the Nov. 27 opening of the Treasures at the Natural History Museum in London, the stylish Duchess shares even bigger news: She and husband Prince William are expecting their first child ! "Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," read a statement released Monday from the Palace.

Barbeque Apron And Matching Hat

 

 



 

 

 

Materials List:

• Thread
• Sewing machine
• 1 - 1 1/2 Yard of 45" wide fabric

Cutting Directions:

• Lay the fabric flat and fold the right sides together, overlapping approximately 13". Mark as shown in the diagram.
• Use the remainder of the fabric to make bias tape and an optional pocket.
• Cut 2" wide Bias Strips of the fabric to have approximately 5 yards if 1/2" wide double folded bias tape. This gives you ample back ties for people who like to wrap the ties around and tie them in the front.
• Join the bias strips and press.

 

Top Edge 

Turn under 1/4" of the top edge (wrong sides together).

Press the facing towards the body of the apron (wrong sides together).

Top stitch the facing to the body of the apron. I used thread to compliment the bias tape and a stretch stitch to accentuate the stitches.

Optional Pocket

Hem one 25" edge of the pocket by pressing under 1/4" (wrong sides together) and pressing under again. You may want to cover the raw edge with contrasting bias tape as shown in the finished apron.

Place the raw 25" edge of the pocket on the hem of the apron with right side of the pocket against the wrong side of the apron. Use a 1/2" seam to join the pocket and the body of the apron.

Press the pocket up on to the front side of the body of the apron.

Use a row of top stitching up the center of the pocket to create two pockets.

Work the sides of the apron as one piece of fabric following the regular directions.

 

Side Hems and Simple Neckline

 

Side Hems:

• Turn the straight sides of the apron under 1/4" and 1/4" again to enclose the raw edge.
• Top stitch the side hems.
•  

Simple Neckline

• Find the center of your pressed bias tape.
• Measure 11" down from the center and place the slanted, arm area of the apron inside the bias tape. Pin into place. Repeat for the other side.
• Optional Adjustable Neckline Instructions

 

 

 

Note: Rings in the photo are not actual D rings. I used rings that were on an old pocketbook.

• Starting 6" from the end of the bias tape, attach the bias tape to the arm area, enclosing the raw edge in the bias tape. Attach two D rings to the neckline end of the bias tape by simply zigzagging the raw end to the bias tape enclosing the D rings in the loop of bias tape.
• On the other arm area, measure, 14" down from the end of the bias tape and enclose the raw edge of the apron. Turn the ends of the bias tape in to enclose the raw ends or zig zag the end.

Bias Tape Edges & Ties

Stitch the bias tape closed and enclose the raw edges of the apron with the bias tape.

Continue sewing the bias tape alone to make the ties.

If you have not added the optional pocket, press under 1/4" on the bottom of the apron (wrong    sides together). Press up 1" for the hem and stitch in to place.

DONE

 

Matching Chef's Hat

 

 

Materials List:

• 3/4 Yard of 44-45" wide fabric - white or an appropriate novelty print. Hot chili pepper print comes to my mind.
• Thread
• Interfacing
• 4" of 1" wide hook and loop tape
• Sewing Machine

Cutting Directions:

• 22" circle with 3 1/2" slit towards the middle from one edge
• 8" by 25 1/2" band on straight of grain of fabric and of interfacing - Cut the interfacing to match this band. Baste or fuse the interfacing and work them as one piece through the rest of the directions.
• 7" strip of bias double folded tape (3/8" wide when folded)

Attach Bias Tape

Apply bias tape to the slit in the circle

 

 

Gather & Attach the Circle to the Band

Run gathering stitches (2 to 3 rows of basting stitch) on the edge of the circle. Set aside.Place wrong sides of the band together folding the band in half on the 25 1/2" length. Use a 1/2" seam on each end of the strip. Turn right sides out and press so that the raw edges are together.Find the 1/4 marks of the circle, using the slit for one mark, by folding the circle in quarters.Fold the band in quarters and mark the quarter points.Gather the circle to fit the band, matching bias tape edges to the ends of the band and the quarter marks that you made on the band and the circle.

 

 

Sew the Circle to the Band

Use a 1/2" seam to attach the circle to the band. Serge or zigzag the seam allowance.

Top Stitch the Band

 

Top stitch the edges of the band, using the top stitching to tack the seam allowance to the band

 

 

Attaching the Hook & Loop Tape

Fold the band in half up towards the hat.

Finger press this crease. Line the hook and loop up along this crease as shown in the photo. Make sure you have the hook and loop on opposite sides of the band so they will overlap to close the hat. Top stitch the hook and loop tape in to place

 

 

DONE...Go Grill Something