I love the tool box, desk and enamel pan...but that's because I LOVE Prims :) I have an old toolbox with the name of one of the local hardware stores on it that has since closed up! I bought it for like $5 at an antique store and it sits on my kitchen counter and holds blue Mason jars that I use for canisters! The enamel pan would be a lot more than $5 around here. The yellow and green stuff is more expensive because it's harder to find! I LOVE collecting that stuff. I have a good collection of red and white pans and some other stuff. I also have an old desk but it's the old kind where the guy in front of you has the desk attached to his bench. I bought that this winter and it is my endtable in the corner. I just love old stuff! I can't imagine putting it in the dump! Freecycle it nice....if it works for you. I have yet to get anything but I did get rid of about 6 things last week :)

I'll add my name to the list of people who hate the silicone bakeware. I had better luck with the muffin pan, which was smaller, than I did with the bundt pan, which always stuck, never stayed in the right shape, spilled when I tried to move it. No matter how much it was greased or floured or sprayed, it stuck and everything came out in many pieces, never all in one piece. I hated that pan, as well as the round layer cake pans which performed approximately as poorly. They were such carp that I put it all in the "free" box when I had a yard sale but no one took it because when they asked how it worked, I told them. I do have Silpats, which I tried to use for rolling out pie crust and it worked horribly for that too, but it's pretty good for fondant if you dust with powdered sugar and they work for baking cookies. Dave does like the silicone pot holders for removing hot radiator caps and such in the garage, so I gave those to him, LOL. It might have worked OK for an ice mold, or maybe jello, but I don't make either of those things, so into the trash went the silicone. My favorite pans are my old uncoated aluminum Bake King pans, probably the things are as old as I am. I have some nice new non-stick KitchenAid loaf pans and they've held up, not lost their coating, work well, don't stick, etc. However, they are 9x5 and they're just too big, so I always revert back to the smaller 8 inch Bake King pans. I have old Bake King round cake pans too, they work well as long as they are well greased and floured. My old glass pyrex also works as well as anything I own, but I don't have any ceramic bakeware other than pie pans. I try to stay away from glass/ceramic bakeware because I'm clumsy and when my carpal tunnel is giving me fits I drop everything. Metal can take the abuse. (grin) Annie

Oh, my favorite topic and I love the projects pictured here -- nice work all of you! Legacybuilder, for me it's either I have something and want to re-purpose it, or I want something and can't afford it so I fake it. Sistersunnie, I would hardly recognize that 'throne' -- you did a great transformation. Alison, all of your projects are just yummy and you have such wonderful taste. I remember when you did that door. I love what you did with that computer desk - totally unrecognizable. Justgotabeme, I clicked on each of your pics and I marvel at your creativity. I never would have looked at a door and seen a corner cabinet - very clever. Franksmom, great lamp find. That little table came out so nice, the finish looks perfect. Amity, from microwave cart to vanity, who'd a thunk it? Good going, and it looks great. I hope you'll post more pics when it's finished. Inspiredisabel, nice job on the little dresser. Free is my favorite price too. lol Les, that sounds great. I was just thinking about you last night. You've helped so many of us and I was wishing to see pictures of your house and the things you've done. Could we talk you into starting a thread on that with pix? Zipdee, what to say? I love all of your projects. I have saved so many pictures of your work you wouldn't believe it. You are so clever. That turquoise dresser/pillows and the polka dots are SO cute. Did you sew the duvets at the foot of the beds? Did you paint the lampshades, or find the right fabric to cover them? Just wow. Nicole, wow on that lamp, it looks great. Your slip cover fits like a glove and is so pretty. Good sewing. I tend not to take before pictures (I'll try to be better in the future). This little bookshelf was a thrift store find many years ago. It was painted white and green and in my kid's room. I needed something for this spot and found this in the lawnmower shed. Sanded, primed, painted black, and bought the black baskets for it. The lion head handles were salvaged from the guest bath in my old house. They were rusted, so I wire brushed, primed and painted them. Sorry this pic isn't great: This was an old thrift store find, pretty dinged up and scratched, and the base was rusty. I fixed it up: The lampshade I made from a wire frame and a pile of fabric: I made this part of the beaded ringe myself (there are 3 of these on the lamp): When I found these two pieces in the deep dark basement of an antique store among things they had not fixed up yet, they were covered in the ugliest fabric imaginable and were FILTHY. They must have come out of someone's barn. I stripped them down and reupholstered them in this (which you see worn out in these pics): The sofa cushiones were covered w a flannel sheet and old crocheted afghan because the dogs had chewed off the piping. Here they are redone. I found the mohair velvet cheap on eBay (it normally goes in the hundreds per yard). This time I had them professionally redone because both pieces had serious structural breaks/problems that needed things like 7' clamps I didn't have. I got this piece through the Little Nickel years ago. It was covered in something that fought with the tones in the wood. I redid it in this: Last year it also needed structural help so went in for a pro reupholstery job because it clashed with my "new" sofa, and I picked this: There is more around here, but that's enough for now.

I love bundt cakes and I'm eager to try the Sour Cream Lemon cake. I make rum cake with a bundt pan. Yesterday, I made a dozen mini-bundt rum cakes for my dentist and his staff. I made one cake without nuts and he thanked me graciously as he thought I knew he had an allergy--I was just being cautious. Nothing new here but it is one of my favorites. Golden Rum Cake An easy way to glaze the cake is to pour half of the glaze into Bundt pan, reinsert cake, then pour the rest of glaze over the bottom of the cake. Let absorb well then invert back onto platter. 1 cup chopped pecans 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding 4 eggs 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup walnut or vegetable oil 1/2 cup dark rum 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup water 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup dark rum (Appleton Estates is a recommended brand) 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan. 2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup water, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan. 3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto serving plate. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze and repeat until all glaze is used. 4. To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum. Double the glaze and while the cake was still hot and in the pan, took a skewer and make little holes all over the cake. Poured half of the glaze in the holes while it cooled a bit in the pan. Inverted the cake and pour the rest of the glaze over it.