The Chickens & a How to Make a Chicken Feeder

If you think raising chickens is going to be a piece of cake.....think again.

I thought it would be a walk in the park- get a cute coop, feed them, water them, no big deal.

Wrong!

However, high maintenance isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Chickens are actually very fun.  

They each have a personality and we tend to get sucked outside for hours just watching them.

They are hilarious cheap entertainment. 

Man alive are they fun to watch.

I have found that I love to be outside working in the garden, watching the chickens and finding new ways to improve "Chick-Inn".  Our newest addition is the chickens feeder made out of PVC pipe.  Home Depot  and I have become very close friends these past few weeks while I make improvements to the yard and coop.

How to Make a Chicken Feeder:

All we did is buy one piece of 4" PVC and a PVC elbow.  We cut them to size and fit the two 4" pieces in between the elbow piece.  I have to admit that I didn't come up with this idea.  There are a lot of great ideas on Pinterest and YouTube to help you out.  We then added a cap to the top so water couldn't get in, cut out some holes with my husbands rotozip and tada!  Chicken feeder!
 I of course had to paint it red to match the steps and door. 

We let the chickens out early in the morning for about an hour and then again about 3pm.  (after school)
Chickens are easy in the fact that they do put them selves to bed.  At dusk they automatically march right into the coop and up the steps to their roost.  They snuggle in tight and go to sleep.  More pics to come of that phenomenon.
 

 Here is the feeder being put to good use by one of "the Dolly's". 

When planning a location for the feeder make sure it is away from sprinklers or that it might get rained on.  If the food gets wet it will turn into a rock and the chicks won't eat it.  Plus it might spoil and you don't want chickens eating rotten food.

**Update** We did end up cutting the PVC feeder so it only has two feeding holes.  There wasn't enough gravity to push the food all the way down the length of the pipe.  It is working much better now that it is shorter.**

Dot, our Barred Rock might be the Queen of the Coop.  We are watching her to make sure she doesn't turn into a meanie.  She's the only Barred Rock so it could be a possibility.  She has the softest feathers out of all of them and loves to be held and carried around by the kids.  I think chickens are like any type of pet or even a garden.  "You Have to Pay Attention" for them to survive.  Feed, water, protect and you should be just fine.♥

Chick Inn - Our Chicken Coop

Our chicken coop is all done!  The chicks are in and loving their new home. 

The steps can be moved to either the inside of the coop or the outside (as seen here).  

Chickens are so funny, as soon as the sun starts setting, in they go.  

They go right upstairs and go to bed.  

Easiest animals we have ever had.

 This is Dolly. 

 We have five Ameraucana's and one Barred Rock.

The B&W one is named Dot.

I couldn't tell the Ameraucana's apart so we named them all Dolly.

 I'm all about easy.

I had a little contest on Instagram to name the Coop.

I mean, if my house has a name then why not the coop?

Boy howdy were there some great names!

Here are a few:

Un Peu Mignonne (cute & little)

Gardenview Coop

Maison Poulailler

The Breakfast Club (this was the 2nd place winner)

Meet the Flockers (3rd place winner)

Little Deuce Coop

Hen pen

Fowl Territory

Chick Filet

Clubhouse - Chicks only

Little Red Hen House

Coop D Vil

Sunny Side Up Shack

Omelet Oasis

Over Easy Hotel

Gardenviewcoopage

Chicks Rule

Les Coop

Les Edibles

Les Poulailler

And the winner is......

Chick-Inn

Now to have a cute little sign made and it will be perfect!

How to Make an Ottoman

The Girls over at LollyJane came over the other day and next thing I knew 

their camera was out and they were taking pictures of my house!  

Good thing it was clean. (eeek)

It's OK because I have known then since they were teenagers.

 (gasp! Does that make me old?)

Thanks Kelli & Kristi & Sandee for the fun day. 

Because of you and all the requests on your blog here is my Ottoman Tutorial for you to share.

To see their post click HERE

Ottoman Tutorial

 I needed an ottoman in my sitting room to go with my room re-do. 

 I wanted an updated "Cottage" look that wasn't shabby chic.  

I was soooo over shabby chic.  

Originally I bough a beautiful solid pink and a floral to do the pillows and ottoman. 

 I promise it wasn't shabby chic more cottage chic.  The picture below was my inspiration page.

 I brought the plain pink and floral fabric home and showed the Hubs. 

 Bad. Idea.  

He was not thrilled with having a PINK room especially right when you walk in the front door.  

I can understand.  He is the only guy in this house filled with girls. 

 I don't blame him.  I went back to Pinterest to find new inspiration.  

This is what I found on Boxwood Terrace .

After deciding on yellow I saw it everywhere.  

It was really easy to come up with ideas.

Then I found this ottoman on Dear Lilly

which was perfect!

I'm a really good copier that puts my own style on things.

Anyhoo, that is how I came up with my ottoman idea. 

 Now to implement. 

 I couldn't find an ottoman that I liked so I got creative. 

I measured the area I needed the ottoman to be.

I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of plywood for me.

Did you know they can do that?  

Love it and have used them many, many times.

Then I had the Hubs put feet onto the piece of plywood.

He used wood glue and some nails.

 Daughter #1 wasn't helping her Dad any by being obnoxious.

 Do you love that the Hubs is in his suit?

  That's normal around here.

 After the feet were on and the wood glue was dry (about 24 hours) I used spray adhesive to attach a thick piece of foam that I had cut to the exact measurements at a local fabric/flooring store.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the foam.  I covered it up too quick before snapping a shot of it.

I then used a white piece of sturdy fabric ($.99 a yard at the $5 fabric store) to cover and attach the foam to the board.  A few staples later and the ottoman was almost done.

There is no right or wrong way to attach the fabric.  i wasn't worried about making it look nice because I knew I was going to be covering it up with my slipcover.

It's functional - not perfect.  That's how I roll over here.

The slipcover was made by my friends mom Michelle.  

She was here visiting her daughter and took pity on us after seeing that we were in no way 

going to be able to figure out how to make the slipcover work.  

She put her mad sewing skills to work and whipped up this little beauty for me. 

 Believe me when I say I am so thankful for her.  

If I would have finished making this slipcover it would not have turned out this good. 

 I mean, I can sew but...........not that good!

The best part about the ottoman, it's soft when you sit or rest your feet on it 

and the slipcover comes off easily to wash it.  

Same with the couch. 

 It may be a white couch but it's so easy to throw in the washer to keep it clean. 

So there you have it.  Kelli & Kristi - Hope you liked the little how to. ♥

Click HERE - Living Room Re-Do and 

HERE Finishing Touches 

to see more pictures of the before and after of this room.

And to visit LollyJane and see a Home tour of my home click:
 HERE - Turning a Standard House into a Custom Home

More info from their post:
How to Make a Dutch Door

Finnishing Touches

 I love old books.  I have an old book obsession.  These two pictures have some of my books but not the "old" ones.  When my Dad's Aunt Deedee passed away he was able to inherit some of her amazing things.  My favorites are the 110 year old wicker furniture set (that now sits on my back porch) and her book collection.  I love these old books and have tried to use as many as I can throughout the house.  Sadly I don't have room for them all and half of the collection is up in the attic. 

Yes, I know "the work and the glory" isn't old but it's colorful and I love color.

 Tom got me this clock for my birthday this year.  

I have several throughout the house (most don't work) but this one is perfect for over the piano.♥

 These are some of my favorite pictures in the whole house.  

The frames I got at Kirkland Home for $11., took the art out that they had in them, spray painted them and added our family pictures. 

 My Dad had an apple collection that my brother got.  So I started my own apple collection.  I haven't added to it because I think more than three would be a little much. (wink) The red apple was my Great Grandma's and has a hidden surprise inside.  I'll do a post on that later.

 I remember my Mom making these frames when I was in Jr. High.  She searched for just the right picture of my brothers and I for each frame.  When she passed away I just has to have them.  Whenever I see these it reminds me of her and how much she loved each one of us.

 Here's a great idea!  Bronze a child's shoe with.....bronze spray paint!  This is Cassidy's 3 yr old shoe that her pre-school teacher "bronzed" for a Mother's Day gift.  She then had the kids plant a flower in a plastic cup and stick in the shoe.  So Cute!  I have this on the little white desk as a memento.

I have to have a "spot" for the "stuff".  Backpacks, shoes, jackets, random toys I find on the floor.  I fully believe in corralling the "stuff" in one spot so it can be easily picked up and put away by the small ones (kids).
Plus, it's a lot easier to say to the small ones "GO LOOK ON THE HOOK!"when they say "where is my backpack/jacket/shoes/purse?"

Questions:
Do you have a "spot" for all the STUFF?
What's your favorite heirloom thing to collect?
Have you ever really bronzed a child's shoe?

Living Room Re-Do

 

I don't know if I ever posted my before pictures of my living room.  This is actually the "after the grand piano moved to my brothers" before.  The before "when I had the grand piano" looked a lot better, not perfect but at least it flowed.  These before pictures are beyond hideous!

 After my brother took my Dad's grand piano to his house I was in a panic.  Miss Amberly had started taking piano lessons and was in love with playing the piano and practicing.  We needed a piano and fast.  Craig's list to the rescue and I now have my dream piano.  An old upright in perfect condition that has dreamy detail and sounds like my Dad's grand piano.

 The couch......well, that is another story.  My SIL sold me this down sectional when we moved in for a steal.  It had a shabby chic floral slipcover on it and I was a happy camper.  It fit the room with the grand piano and all was right in the world.  Until.........the beginning of the year when I started to hate that floral grandma slipcover.  It was by then 10 years old and had seen better days and lets face it...pink and green floral is out!  So I took the slipcover off and WHA_LA!  a white couch....for free!  I had every intention of just ordering a new slipcover because this couch was in great condition, it just needed a makeover.  What I didn't know was that a new slipcover would cost.....$1000.  Ummmmm I don't think so.  So back to Craig's List where I sold that couch to two young collage girls who adored it and gave it a new home.  

 I then took my earnings and headed over to IKEA and bought that white slip-covered couch for next to nothing and haven't missed the old couch one BIT!  

 I needed a ottoman and the IKEA one wasn't doing it for me so I made one.  Plywood, foam, staple gun and
some fabulous fabric from the $5 fabric store.  My friend Chelsa helped me sew the slipcover and when my sewing machine broke she took it home and had her sweet Mom finish it.  My friends Brooke and Paige helped me hang curtains, rearrange the furniture and hang pictures.  They were just what I needed to help get this room exactly how I imagined it.  Thanks girls!  I owe you BIG♥

 The framed art I got at a garage sale for a total of $10.  I tried to go lower but the guy wasn't having it so I gave him a $10 and never looked back.  That pediment is one of my all time favorite things.

 The chair was $20 from another garage sale that Chelsa bought for her house but stored at my house and when we re-did the living room I told her she couldn't have it back (wink).  Good thing she loves me.  The desk was my Dad's that has been in my house since before I was born.  He knew I wanted to paint it (it had seen better days) but told me "you have to wait until I'm gone before you can paint that.  When we were painting it last year Tom reminded me of Dad's statement and I couldn't help but grin.  He knew me so well.

The piano sits front an center and is Miss Amberly's place of refuge.  She seems to spend more time at that piano than anywhere else.  In fact she spends more time in this room than anyone else.  I think she has claimed it for her own and I hope she makes special memories here.  

 I love this room now and the bright yellow makes me smile every time I walk in the room. I love the peace and calm feeling I get when we walk in the front door and I'm not embarrassed anymore when people come over.  Oh what a little update can do to lift your spirits!

** tomorrow I'll post more pictures of the room**

Old Kitchen / New Kitchen

This is my kitchen. Are you loving the forest green laminate counter tops? Well, I wasn't. It's one of the things in this house that needed a change. (there aren't many things I would like to change but this was the big one!)
And before you say anything - no - my counter tops are NOT usually this clean. See 3rd picture as to why the counters were cleared off. This is the Buffet (or crap counter as I now lovingly call it thanks to Crystal ) Notice all the "crap" on the counter (and this is a good day!)
Now here is a picture of my nice NEW kitchen. Well maybe not everything is new but notice the ugly forest green laminate counter tops are now gone and in it's place is my new granite counter tops. I think they look sooooooo much better and I have to say it is now a joy to be in here. I don't mind dishes, cooking or cleaning. (I'm sure this will wear off but for now it's bliss!) sorry I didn't take a picture of the buffet (crap counter) it looks great now too AND it's still cleaned off!
I am now in search of new lighting. Yes, once one project is done you realize that you have to change this and that and this and that. For now it's going to be lighting. Any great ideas?