The above picture is our Sunday breakfast: homemade bacon, fresh-baked buttermilk biscuits, and scrambled eggs from our own chickens.

Having chickens is great, so far. The eggs are smaller than the ones you get at the grocery store, but it’s not exaggeration to say that they are the best eggs I’ve ever eaten. I don’t even have to add salt when I cook them. I like to fry them over-medium and eat them with toast, or poach them for a bistro salad. I haven’t tried baking with them yet, but I’ll be making ice cream with them in the near future.

Having my own eggs has coincided with the 550 million egg recall. As you probably know, these eggs had to be taken off the market because they could be contaminated with salmonella. That is pretty scary. Even scarier are the filthy conditions of the chicken farms that produced these eggs, which according to the above article include:

•Barns with dozens of holes chewed by rodents that mice, insects and wild birds used to enter and live inside the barns;

•Flies on and around the egg belts and hen feeders;

•Manure built up in 4- to 8-foot-tall piles in pits below the hen houses, in such quantities that it pushed pit doors open, allowing rodents and other wild animals access to hen houses;

•Dozens of hens, which had escaped their cages, roaming freely, tracking manure from the pit to other caged parts of the barns;

•Hen houses with significant structural damage and improper air ventilation systems.

This is on top of the questionable practices of many egg operations, which some people consider animal abuse. Chickens are shoved together in cages so small, they sometimes can’t stand up or move their wings. On top of that, they are often shot with antibiotics, hormones, and other drugs that you and I then ingest.

Contrast that to my hens, which are totally pampered–a real farmer would find it ridiculous how pampered my hens are. They have giant cages, they get to roam around the yard, and they get tons of treats and attention. They are my pets as well as my little egg machines.

The point is, I haven’t had to worry about the egg recall at all. And I’m starting to see another benefit to growing your own food, besides increased quality and saving money. It reminds me of the e. coli outbreak in Spinach that happened in 2006. Everyone was upset because they couldn’t eat spinach, but I grew my own, so I didn’t have to go without spinach and I didn’t have to worry about e. coli, either. Earlier this year, there was a basil shortage, but I grow my own, so I have more than I know what to do with. The price of beer is going up like crazy, but my husband makes excellent beer that costs under $1 a bottle.

Sometimes our food system seems rather unstable, which is why it’s great to have your own source of food. I am not that extreme about it. I’m not about to, say, grow my own wheat for my buttermilk biscuits. But it’s still nice to have the peace of mind when you sit down to breakfast that you know exactly where your food came from, and what went into it.

Awhile back, my beloved wallet finally fell apart. I started looking around for a new one, but have found none that I particularly care for. The only one that has come close was $70, which is… yikes. Maybe instead, I should make my own wallet for free.

In looking around, I came upon this tutorial from Refabulous, where you make a wallet out of a paperback book. This is right up my alley.

Refabulous says her wallet has lasted 1 1/2 years so far. The design is pretty good looking too.

There are lots of creative possibilities here. For example, here’s a wallet made out of a romance book:

I just may have to try this.

I have had a project in mind that requires appliqué, which I have never done before. From this site, “Appliqué comes from the French appliquer which means to “put on.” In appliqué, one layer of fabric is places over another layer of fabric and is sewn in place.” For example, these letters are appliquéd onto this pillow from Beford Designs:

I was going to appliqué with a needle and thread, but in looking around the web I learned that there is an easier method. You can use special paper to fuse the appliqué to the fabric. This video shows how it is done.

Somehow, this seems like cheating. But since this is my first time, maybe I should get myself some Bondaweb, or whatever the American equivalent is, and go with that. Thoughts?

Awhile back, I posted a pattern for making your own Roman Shades, and then it turned out that while the site that I linked to acted like it was free, it actually charged you money for the pattern for the shade. I linked to another site that talked about making Roman shades, but I wasn’t as happy with their instructions.

Well now, ever-trusty Martha Stewart has come to the rescue with a handy how-to on making Roman shades. She points out three styles:

Classic

Formal

Casual

I like the classic style.

Making window treatments yourself is a huge money saver, so click here to see how to make your own Roman shades.

I like this Danish Modern computer case mentioned on engadget. I’m not clear if this is a new piece of furniture or a modification of something old, but either way, it’s a very stylish.

A Merry Mishap decided to spruce up some plain white dishes using a porcelain paint pen.

(Image courtesy Dick Blick)

Apparently, you can get the paint pens at most craft stores. All you do is draw a design on the dishes and then bake them in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Instant face lift.

This idea makes me want to get a lot of old plates from the thrift store and experiment. (Via style files)

We have begun the remodel of our bathroom. I have possibly one of the stupidest bathrooms in the world. The worst part was the original door. Instead of putting the door in the hallway and making the bathroom one big room, the original builder decided to put the door inside the room so that the bathroom was divided into two spaces, the laundry/linen closet area and the bathroom area.

I suppose he thought that by doing that, he was adding a room to the house, but what it actually did was create a very awkward, cramped bathroom with a weird door that swings and hits you in the butt when you are washing your face in the sink.

So last month, my father and husband moved the door. They took the original out and framed a new door in the hallway where doors are supposed to be. Then, this weekend, my husband took out the old door frame and wall. The change is dramatic.

Before:

After:

The picture doesn’t do it justice. I am amazed by how big our bathroom actually is. It is quite luxurious, actually. Or it will be once we re-do everything–obviously old linoleum from the 1970s isn’t luxurious. But now the room is full of light and space, where before it was cramped and ugly. It’s amazing what taking out a wall can do.

Next step: replacing the stupidest linen closet in the world with a nice one. But more on that later.

Check out this walkway made out of wood slices. It is something Katy Elliott saw at the Portland Flower Show last year.

The wood is sliced the same thickness and laid in sand. It would be a great lead-in to a shade garden. (Via Re-nest)

The other day, I was in a furniture store and looked up to see giant lamp shades extended from lights on the ceiling to make a rad light fixture. I thought two things:

One: Hey, that looks pretty good. It might go great in a dining room.

And two: That would be so simple to install yourself. All you would need to do is get a lampshade and find a way to extend it from the ceiling. Especially since these light fixture are … $500? Wow that is a lot for that.

Well, here is someone who thought along similar lines. Sherry from Young House Love replaced this light in her bedroom:

With a giant lampshade. Not bad! Here it is with the light off:

The best part here? Sherry’s version cost her $32 compared to the $412 version of the light fixture she was eyeing. Nicely done.

There is a how-to on the sight if you want to learn more. (Via Apartment Therapy)

Ashley Ann photography liked the above $148 beacon pendant lights from Anthropologie, but she wanted a bigger version, and one that wasn’t so expensive. So she took a wire basket from her daughter’s room, spray painted it, and glued an outlet onto it to make her own version of the light:

It just goes to show, sometimes DIY improves on an idea. I like Ashley Ann’s version better than Anthropologie’s.