Just thought of something else I do for kids....this is great for travleing...I make them up in the summer for our reunions too with different pix of course I am including a link of pix already doen.....all you have to do is size them however big you want(I made mine 4"square) print them out on cardstock paper......then put 2 together back to back(2 different pictures)when I made them last year, I made some with halloween on one side, and thanksgiving on the other side, or with christmas on one side and winter (snowmen, etc)on the other side. I glued them lightly back to back with a glue stick (cheap from dollar stores) just enough to hold together till I could laminate them.....bought laminate at Walmart cheap.....cut them out, stuck them in a bag with different colored flat marble stones from walmart, and the kids loved them....some adults too! I also took a bunch of recipes, halloween for halloween, and xmas for xmas, and using vintage graphics I found online, made everyone a nice cookbook(did this for reunion too using family recipes) I used the vintage graphics for the front & back cover of the book. When I made the halloween cookbook(small booklet), Have some for sale on Ebay right now, I printed out the recipes, then printed out the covers, cut them all out, punched a hole in the corner, tied it together with jute twine.....then I cut out a pumkin shape(2 sided) out of felt, sewed them together, crocheted a jute handle, embellished with silk leaves, and an acorn or pine cone, stuck the recipe book inside..made a nice gift and they can hang it inside the cupboard door for easy finding or even hang on the wall for the season. The xmas ones i am working on now for gifts...I am printing out the recipes, more vintage graphics from online, then will make mittens (make a big snoflake on the outside using glitter glue) or other shape from felt and will stick the recipe booklet inside with a candy cane or something.....if you have any questions, email me..I'll be glad to help... Here is a link that might be useful: tic tac toe boards

If you begin your kitchen transformation by painting the cabinets white (NOT antique white) and replace the handles/pulls with the old rubbed bronze ones that you mentioned, I think you would see a dramatic difference. Maybe even appreciate your counter tops and backsplash! Then for the second step, I would remove those corner cabinets and paint the walls a green color very similar to the color of the walls in the 7th photo that Jillius posted. FWIW, I don't care at all for the white subway tile backsplash. I would keep what you've got -- provided you paint the cabinets white. So that's paint (cabinets and walls) and removing the corner thingies, and I think it would make a h-u-g-e difference. Good luck!

Kat, glad to are OK now. That must have been an ordeal. Glad you posted because so many people think they can make it to the hospital, and cannot. I had that experience about 15 years ago and sure glad my family decided to call 911. The second time was last week - even after I was home recuperating from my thyroidectomy. I actually tried to drive myself to the hospital because I was having muscle spasms and shortness of breath. Turns out I was critically hypocalcemic. Luckily my neighbor saw me in the street and rushed me into his car to take me to the hospital, where I stayed for 3 days before being stabalized. Please everyone don't do it - don't be afaid to call for help. Glad you are OK Kat. Hang in there and take care of yourself. gneegirl

The first two KTer's I met were Pat Lavender and FranCes....and my sister embarrassed me. She insisted on going with me in case one of them was an axe murderer. But now I know Wildchild is really the axe murderer. The only reason I have survived our visits is because I take her to Jocko's for steak. I remember going to a get together at Joni's in Ventura long ago and then a couple of them in Bakersfield I have pictures from a Tehachapi trip. I got rescued by Flamingo from a shopping mall in Branson...I think it was Branson. It is really great meeting KTers and hope anyone who travels on the central coast of California will contact me.