Make and Do

A Give Away!

2012-01-18T21:43:00.009-05:00

Wouldn't it be fun to win a gorgeous linen tablecloth and napkins? Go to Chic Provence where you'll find all the details of how to enter this giveaway valued at $250. You just might win (but I hope I do!)

Sweetest Day Bunting

2012-01-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

Last week the thrift store had 75% off all their clothes. Since most clothes are priced at $1, that made them only 25c each. What a deal!

I can't seem to ever find clothes that I could wear at the thrift store, but I can find clothes that I could craft with. That day, I found 25 pieces of clothing in several color schemes, to cut up for strings of pennants (or bunting).

I planned out a patriotic theme with the red, white, and blue:

And a spring theme of greens and yellows:

Thirdly, I created a pink theme for Valentine's Day:The pink theme is the one I focused on finishing, since V-Day is just around the corner.

I was able to cut out all the pennant shapes from all the clothes. Most pieces of clothing gave me 8-10 pennant shapes. Some, being extra large, gave me up to 15 shapes!
I have more than enough for myself, and some to share too.

Frosted Trees

2012-01-14T21:25:00.005-05:00

Along with Heather and friend Christa, I made frosted branches to decorate the tables for an upcoming ladies event at church.

We started with looong branches pruned from my dormant crape myrtle tree. We snipped off the brittle seed pods on the ends, and any tiny twigs near the bottom of each branch.

Then we swiped on plain old Elmer's white glue with a snippet of sponge (an old one from the kitchen). We did sections at a time since doing the whole branch at once would take too long. The glue at one end would dry before we got to the other end.Next we rolled/sprinkled/smothered the glued area in a tray of Epsom salts. Repeat and repeat and repeat until the branch is covered almost to the bottom. To dry, we stood each completed branch in a vase filled with rocks. Soon my dining room was filled with sparkling trees!

Vitamix

2012-01-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

Just after Christmas we bought a new Vitamix blender.

I first saw the Vitamix while I was in high school many decades ago. We watched a demo at the county fair, and I was very impressed. What I remember most was that he threw in whole eggs, shell included. The Vitamix ground it up so finely that when he passed around samples of the smoothies, we couldn't detect even the tiniest bit of egg shell in there.

Ever since then, I have wanted my own machine, but the price always made it out of reach for us. I have been saving extra grocery money for a long time now, and when we saw them at Costco (the Costco discount makes it more affordable) just before Christmas, we knew the time had come.

I've been playing around with it for a week now and I love it!

Starry, Starry Walls

2012-01-06T22:14:00.006-05:00

I found a couple of tin stars at a garage sale in the fall, 50c each. After a spritz of ORB paint they looked soo much better. Then Greta found smaller tin stars at Dollar Tree, but they had very ugly snowmen painted on them. Fortunately, the paint surface was flat so they got a dose of ORB too.

Now they grace the wall above the kitchen table.

January List

2012-01-03T09:56:00.001-05:00

On my projects list for this cold and dreary month:

1. Cut up 25 thrifted garments into pennant shapes. Make three long strings of pennants to hang across the windows or above the porch: patriotic colors, Easter egg colors, and spring green and yellow.

2. Plan our office arrangement and buy and install two desktops.

3. Try a cook-for-the-freezer day (I never have done one).

4. Finish my three spray painting projects waiting for me in the garage.
5. Clean up the garage.

6. Gather a bunch of bare branches and coat them heavily with Epsom salts. Stand in a tall vase for winter decor.

7. Clean out my church binders and organize all three into one (new) one. Label (new) dividers, and make a pretty cover and spine. While I'm at it, make pretty covers and spines for my coupon binder and budget book too.

8. Use my Groupon for a portrait session for David.
9. Visit the Re-Store up the highway - first time ever!

10. Walk an hour a day, six days a week (off on Sundays).

11. Try out all the processes in my new Vitamix blender: juicing, blending, dry chopping, wet chopping, grinding, frozen mixtures, and hot mixtures.

Cookie Tree

2011-12-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

We celebrate the Professor's Swedish heritage every year at Christmastime by having a Santa Lucia dinner. This year we celebrated the feast on Christmas Eve. Our menu always includes Swedish meatballs, a seafood dish, lingonberries, and flatbread. The other many dishes vary from year to year. This year, I set out trays of assorted cookies for dessert, and the showpiece was a towering cookie tree.

Sometime during this past summer in my garage sale ramblings I had found a set of graduated cookie cutters for making the tree, and I thought Santa Lucia was a great time to try it out. It worked beautifully: the recipes for the sugar cookie dough and the glaze used for icing the layers were very tasty.

Christmas Morn

2011-12-25T07:46:00.001-05:00

Emmanuel, God is with us.

Christmas Decor: Finished

2011-12-21T22:31:00.004-05:00

The last bit of Christmas decorating is on the dining room buffet.

Altered Window

2011-12-12T01:04:00.005-05:00

A friend gave me two of her old windows when they had their old ones replaced with new, energy-efficient windows.

After removing the hardware, I primed and then painted one window black. I couldn't decide on white or black, but ultimately I went with black because I like the contrast with the soft yellow walls in my family room.

Once propped up on the mantel, I decorated around it with our Swedish Christmas items. I love how it turned out!

Yule Log Cake

2011-12-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

I have wanted to make one of these Yule Log Cakes for many years and finally, last night, I had the event to make it for. We were invited to a dinner party with a group of friends and I was asked to bring a dessert. What better time than this to try my hand at making the cake? It turned out well; I just forgot to take a photo after it was decorated. I simply poked silk poinsettias into the cake across the top.

My Brilliant Idea

2011-12-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

I had an "Ah-Ha!" moment today as I was making lunch. I wanted to grind up some chicken meat for a sandwich, but it's always such a chore to clean out the blender after doing a little blending job. I don't like digging the tiny bit out of the bottom. Then I noticed that the screw-on blender base looked very similar in size to the top of a canning jar. I wondered....

I grabbed an empty canning jar and set the blade unit on the mouth. It fit perfectly. Then I tried the base piece of the blender (the part that screws into the machine), and it screwed on smoothly. Perfect!

Next I set the jar into the blender and turned it on. It whirled away!

So I was in business. First I ground up that chicken meat in a quart size jar. That's the jar I grabbed in the beginning so I just went with it.

Then I moved on to nuts in a pint size jar. I like to store ground nuts in the freezer, and a pint size jar is just perfect. Now I can chop them up and stick them in the freezer, all in one container.

The Last of the Turkey

2011-12-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

Using up the last scraps of turkey, and assorted veggies, I made this turkey pot pie for supper tonight. Very comforting for a cold autumn night.

It Is Finished

2011-12-01T16:52:00.003-05:00

Finally, 6 months after I started, our house is painted. Complete. Done. (I'm not doing the laundry closet or the pantry. They can stay their existing color.)

I finished painting the kitchen this afternoon in the same soft yellow as the family room, living room, and dining room. The rooms all flow one into another so a cohesive color makes sense. And I like the cheery yellow, soft enough to be a neutral.

That's not to say that the kitchen is finished yet. It is not. We currently have no ceiling lights in the kitchen or over the table, and the ceiling has a large crack in it that needs repair. Oh, and then there's painting the cabinets, replacing the laminate counter tops, hanging some artwork, installing a towel rod or hooks, repairing the wood floor, and many other details I can't think of at the moment.

A Tablecloth That Goes Forever

2011-11-29T21:03:00.003-05:00

Today at the thrift I found a very l-o-n-g tablecloth in a cheery yellow daisy print. It's a nice weight with a nubby feel and it looks new. Even the label looks like it's never been washed. I snagged it for $3.88.

The thing is, it's incredibly long: it measures 57"x135". That's over eleven feet long! I have never seen a tablecloth for sale that's this long. It will easily cover my longest table with both leaves in, with room to spare. Here, it is folded in half to cover my five foot table.

We'll have to have a party soon!

Perhaps the Last of the Garage Sales

2011-11-15T00:00:00.006-05:00

On a recent Friday morning Heather and I met up for one of our favorite activities: hitting a few garage sales! Using Heather's handy I-Phone app that finds garage sales in our area, we found a neighborhood sale that turned out to be really good.

The best thing I found all day was a set of silverplate flatware, in a case, for $25. The 12 place settings had not only knives, forks, and spoons, but iced drink spoons, soup spoons, and dessert forks too. It also included about five serving spoons, a ladle, a meat fork, a pie server, and several other pieces. It doesn't match the set I bought earlier this summer, but it blends with it remarkably well. So now I have 20 nice place settings that I can use together.

Another good find was a pretty gold and white china teacup for $1. And nothing is wrong with it.

I admired an antique thread cabinet in one garage, but didn't buy because I can't just drop $150 without planning ahead. A few blocks away, her neighbor was selling an antique thread cabinet too, but this one was smaller, only two drawers instead of four drawers. It was only $50 - more affordable, but the trim around the bottom was splitting apart and I wasn't confident in my ability to fix it. So I sadly passed on both of them.

Homemade Applesauce

2011-11-14T23:53:00.003-05:00

It's been almost a month since I last posted; I guess I haven't been "making" or "doing" all that much recently. But today I broke that lazy streak - I made 6 pints of applesauce with the rest of our fall apples. They were getting rather mushy and not all that enjoyable to eat whole. I'm sure we will enjoy them now that they are sauced!

Saturday Garage Sales

2011-10-15T18:54:00.008-04:00

Heather and I, along with Heather's mom-in-law, chose a beautiful day to go garage saling. We really raked it in! I bought the least, but I still found a lot of goodies.

Here's my haul, with some photos:
11" tall aqua green tin pitcher, $2. This reminds me of the one Ikea sells, which is based on an antique design.

A green vintage apron with Ruth Ellen embroidered on the pocket, 50c (Ruth Ellen was The Professor's grandmother's name)

5-pc ceramic mixing bowl set, $212-speed Oster blender with glass jar, $6
Black and Decker iron, $1

10 white hangers, $1 (I like the type without the reinforcement piece on the bottom bar; it gives more space for my folded tablecloths)

Very Hungry Caterpillar, 50c
16 stainless steel napkin rings, $22 Pyrex refrigerator dishes with lids, $1

Fiskars 12" paper trimmer with travel case, $8
2 clear stamping blocks, 50c
50"x64" embroidered white tablecloth, 50c

57"x79" vintage barkcloth tablecloth, 50c

The mixing bowls, blender, and iron are for David. He asked me to look for things he'll need in his future apartment, once he graduates. Very slowly, I've found some useful things for him.

The kids' book is for church; the rest of the stuff is for me.

The embroidered tablecloth is stained and will need a long soak in an Oxi-clean bath. After that, I'm sure it will be white.

On a Rainy Day

2011-10-11T21:29:00.002-04:00

An afternoon spent making 48 heart pop-up cards for the Sunday School children to decorate and send as encouragement. A peaceful activity for a gloomy, rainy day.

Fall Decor

2011-10-10T20:16:00.000-04:00

I'm not much of a fan of fall, and especially, of Halloween. I don't like the scary, gory, ugly decor I see happily strewn across blogland. I just don't understand the desire to celebrate evil. I also am not a fan of orange. I guess that makes me a real Scrooge about Halloween!

Nevertheless, I did do a little decorating for fall, while trying to minimize the bright orange in my choices. Here is my mantle:
Very simple: books and pumpkins, browns, greens and just a touch of orange.
And from the opposite end. I used a few glass pieces to keep it light, and a few books for height and balance. The books also bring in the browns and greens.

And a few close-ups:A shabby iron pedestal topping two books, topped by a beaded pumpkin and glass cloche.

Another beaded pumpkin under glass, and a white ceramic one.

My tall apothecary jar with thrifted excelsior. I like the soft color the excelsior gives to the arrangement. I could have filled it with pumpkins or leaves, but I prefer the softness this gives.

I love these ceramic pumpkins in subtle colors. I found them at one local Dollar Tree this year. Our other stores didn't have them.

I also did a quick arrangement for the family room coffee table. It's almost pointless to put anything on this coffee table because the grandsons love to dig the marbles out of this glass hurricane. And we don't even have the proper furniture for this coffee table to sit in front of! But that's life. And we can decorate life the way it really is.

Thrifty Find

2011-10-03T17:38:00.006-04:00

Last week's Thrifty Find was on my "To Find" list for over 30 years!

I have wanted a pressure canner since I began canning early in our marriage, but they have always been too expensive. Off and on, I have looked on Craig's List and similar publications, but I was always too late the few times I saw one listed.

On Friday, while garage saling, there this was:Only $8.

It is quite heavy, and all the parts are accounted for.

It looks 1950's to me, but it may be earlier. I could almost write its biography from the pieces of information I have about it. The young man at the garage sale said it was his grandmother's, and then his mom got it. He remembers helping her can with it some years ago. Inside, the loose parts were wrapped in sections of newspaper, dated Oct 5, 1994, from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. That might be the last time the canner was used.

I have no idea if it's all in good working order, so I'll be taking it for a test drive very soon.

Apple Harvest

2011-09-30T14:49:00.002-04:00

The Professor and I shared a light lunch during apple harvest. We experimented with new cheeses: an unusual Brie, a German cheese, and Rosy Goat. (One of my favorites!)

At the front is pizza bread with thinly sliced cheese and olive tapanade. Yum.

Master Bedroom Update

2011-09-15T11:50:00.006-04:00

I've had several requests for updated photos "when the master bedroom is finished". Well, it's not finished yet, but it's close, so I thought I would post these pictures.What is new? The mahogany bed (mattress too!), bedspread, pillow shams and decorative pillow, aqua walls, ceiling fan, curtains and rods, and dresser. We still need new night stands, table lamps, and pleated shades. Oh, and carpet too, but that won't be for some years.

Here is the BEFORE, taken several years ago in roughly the same spot. What a difference!

Another view, showing the trey ceiling and fan. We're sooo glad the popcorn texture is gone!

Opposite the bed is our mahogany dresser I bid on at an estate sale this summer.

And lastly, here is my drop-leaf desk and curio shelf between the closet door and bathroom door. I've had this antique desk for some years; it is a perfect match to our other mahogany furniture.

I'm linking to Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

We're the "Church Ladies"

2011-09-12T18:16:00.000-04:00

When there's an urgent need for some kind of help at church, a group of ladies steps up to get done what needs to be done. Yesterday, a group of us prepared food for a reception following a memorial service. There's usually not much warning for something like that, but all these sweet ladies gave their Sunday afternoon to helping at a moment's notice.

I really enjoy working on projects like this; it was a joy to work with all of you, even though the circumstances weren't wonderful.

Desk Reveal

2011-09-08T08:07:00.003-04:00

This is a little desk I bought from my one-street-over neighbor when she had a garage sale. That was about four years ago. Here it has its shiny black glaze over the original orangey-brown factory finish; not much to recommend it. I bought it because it was only $10 and I figured I could refinish it someday. And we always seem to need another desk in this house, with so many computers and other electronic gadgets scattered about.

After redecorating the girls' old bedroom into a guest room, I decided to put the desk in there for both suitcase space and as a writing spot. And so the time had come to do the refinishing.

First I sanded it to bare wood using our new orbital sander. That only took eight hours or so.

Then I stained just the top with dark walnut stain, with two layers of urethane brushed on afterward.

Primer to the base came next.

Then beadboard wallpaper applied to the recessed panels on the sides. That includes the side panels in the knee hole area too.

That had to be caulked before I could proceed.

And finally, two coats of Behr's paint and primer in one.So here we go, awaiting new handles that I haven't begun looking for yet.

I'm joining the Met Monday party at Between Naps on the Porch.

Coca Cola Cake

2011-09-07T18:33:00.003-04:00

Having a partial bottle of classic Coke left over from our Labor Day family gathering, I decided to use it up by baking a Coca Cola Cake. Instead of baking it in the 9x13 pan the recipe calls for, I baked it in three 8" layers. And then I glazed and stacked and glazed and stacked. And topped it with the final thick layer of glaze. Freezing the cake between glazings helped it to stick instead of run.

Now, I wonder, who is going to eat this cake? Would you like a piece?

Birthday Dinner on the Patio

2011-08-31T21:41:00.014-04:00

Today I'm joining Tablescape Tuesday at BNOTP:

To celebrate the August birthdays in our family, we're having dinner on the patio tonight. We'll wait 'til evening when the breezes will cool down the air a bit, but I will show you our party all set up and ready to go in daylight.I've set the table with a white linen jacquard tablecloth since it's a special occasion. But to keep it more relaxed for the outdoor setting, I added woven straw placemats in yellow.

I set each place with a clear glass plate and topped it with a china salad plate in the "Trilby" pattern by Noritake. The china has a narrow band of tiny yellow and white daisies and a silver border.

Silverplate flatware is vintage (inherited), pattern unknown. White linen napkins are tri-folded on the diagonal, rolled a bit, and popped into the glass goblets.

Our centerpiece tonight is composed of two glass hurricane lanterns; one is bubble glass and the other is smooth glass. Inside each, a tall white pillar candle is protected from the breeze. Clear glass marbles bring a little subtle texture to the table. The leafy swag is handmade of two green fabrics cut in numerous leaf shapes, hot-glued to green garden twine. I found instructions for it on a blog, but I forgot to get the address. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit.

The yellow puff flowers are made of tissue paper; instructions are everywhere in blogland.

We'll be enjoying a seafood feast tonight, followed by miniature birthday desserts. Happy birthday, J, H and G!

Pillow - Finished

2011-08-27T17:50:00.005-04:00

As the guest room nears completion, I felt the bed needed a little extra something. I'm not much of a toss (or is it throw?) pillow person, but it seemed that that was just what the bed needed. I had several yards of fabric left over from making the curtains last year, and two old sofa pillows that had seen better days.

Fist off, I ripped open the old pillows to take out the pillow inserts. But they were only filled with layers and layers of batting, not true pillow inserts.

No problem, I thought, I will cover the stacks of batting with muslin and make my own inserts.It was quite easy.

Then I cut one end of the fabric on the diagonal to make bias strips for piping. I had extra fat cording for my piping; I've never made piping this fat before. It was harder to stitch.

I cut squares of fabric for the pillow front and back, and then I pinned the piping in place, rounding off the corners to made a more modern pillow. The big chore was to get my stitching close enough to the piping so that it didn't gap. It took something like three trips around the pillow to get it right.

Tada!

I'm linking to Met Monday at BNOTP.

Yard Sale Score

2011-08-26T21:25:00.003-04:00

This morning on the way to work I spied a yard sale sign, pointing down a little country lane (one of the few remaining in our area). I drove up to a huge brick mansion and looked over the goods spread across their expansive lawn. Not much caught my eye, but this bedspread/tablecloth or whatever it was. Turns out it was FREE because it had some big holes.

But the holes were off toward the ends and I could cut and sew.Cut, cut, cut the good part out. Sew, sew, sew the raw edges. And I end up with a nice, large throw for the chair or sofa. I may or may not add more fringe to the edges.

I gave it a long soak in Oxyclean before I threw it across the chair.

Drying Hydrangeas

2011-08-14T13:57:00.002-04:00

Hydrangeas are one of my most favorite flowers and it is so sad to me that they last such a short time. But one day I discovered that I could dry them and keep them for a long, long time.

I've since experimented with different methods of drying them, but I always come back to my original method because it works the best for me. Here is what I do:

I cut several blooms first thing in the morning and shake them upside down to get out as much yard crud as possible.

Then I pull off all the leaves except one nearest the blossom. The leaves aren't all that pretty when they dry, and they usually get in the way of bunching the dried blooms in a vase or pot. So they come off.

Next I clip them upside down to clothespins or bull clips. I have a magnetic knife strip behind the wood fascia trim over my kitchen sink. I keep bull clips on it, and this is my primary place to hang my hydrangea blossoms.

Or, I clip them to skirt hangers and hang them on the closet rod. They hang there about three days and then they are dry:

That's all there is to it! Now you can go arrange your dried blossoms in a lovely cluster.

Thrifty Finds

2011-08-13T22:57:00.003-04:00

On our weekend runnings-around today, The Professor and I spotted a church rummage sale on the main road. We took a quick peek and look what I found:

An old mahogany (I think) sewing or knitting table! It was originally $60, marked down to $40, and everything at half price on the last day. That brought it down to $20. Really.
See the two rounded areas, one on each side of the drawers? Those are deep pockets meant for storing a lady's hand sewing or knitting next to her chair. So clever!
Here is how they open:

I love the leg detail:

All it needed was a scrub with Murphy's Oil Soap, a few screws tightened, and three or so tiny nails hammered into the bottom of one of the rounded pockets. I can do all that. Easy.

It's now an end table in the living room.

Ignore the flowery furniture; it will be getting new slipcovers as soon as I get brave enough to tackle that project. (But window coverings come first.).

Old Canning Notes

2011-08-12T22:26:00.001-04:00

As I made my fourth batch of pickle relish this summer, I came across a thin binder pushed deeply back on my recipe book shelf. I vaguely remembered it; it's where I started keeping my canning information many years ago. I flipped through the pages and found this page:It's my hand written record of what I canned and froze every year, beginning in 1980. I read that in 1980, I canned 30 pounds of cherries that cost me 60 cents a pound!

In 1990, I canned approximately 220 pounds of fruit, plus 50 pounds of tomatoes. I wonder how I did that, since I had a 6 month old baby, a not-yet-two-year old, and a six-year old. And we started homeschooling. I must have been incredibly busy. Or dumb. For sure, I had more energy than I do now!

I skip a year here and there in the records, but for the most part, I canned at least something most years. And then there is a gap of 11 years. It looks like I canned nothing from 1999 to 2010. But I know that's not true; I still canned but I did less of it. In the busy-ness of life, I guess I forgot about keeping canning records, because in that 11-year spread, we lived overseas, we finished high school for all three children, they all started college, two graduated from college, and we had two weddings.

Now I'm happy to say that 2011 is filled in: I canned 6 half-pints of sweet pickle relish, 10 pints of dill relish, and 9 pints of bread and butter pickles. I also froze 9 pounds of blueberries that I picked. The pantry's looking good!

No Wreaths for Me

2011-08-05T14:30:00.004-04:00

Sometime back I came to the realization that our front porch is a very poor place to hang a wreath. At first, it seemed like a great place, with the solid roof overhang and the recessed door.

But I soon learned that birds are drawn to our porch for some reason, and they insist on building nests where ever they possibly can. If a wreath is hanging on the front door, then that's the favorite nesting spot. No wreath? Well then, light fixtures might hold a nest (wrong!). Or wall pockets sprouting fake leaves are probably ideal (wrong!).

I have had uncountable decorations pecked to shreds by the local bird population.

I was finally resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be able to have any welcoming porch decorations without having to be at war with the birds.

Then I found my old wrought iron plate hanger I had stashed in the attic - and inspiration struck. Birds can't damage it (any bird that tried would end up with a bent beak). Ironstone plates hanging on it couldn't be torn to shreds either. So I shopped the house and found three seasonally-appropriate plates that could accent the front porch. Currently, I'm using a subtle patriotic look.Now that I have a vision for the porch, I am keeping a look-out for other plates I could use here. I already have lots of Christmas plates and spring floral plates. I still need:
A patriotic flag or star plate
Autumn leaf designs or brown turkey designs
Perhaps Birthday designs
Easter designs
More reds, perhaps florals, for multiple uses

The red plate is from Pier One, this year.
The white plate is from TJ Maxx, this year.
The unfinished metal "Welcome" sign is from Pick Your Plum, this year.
The blue scenic plate is an antique, purchased years ago.

Chandeliers Galore

2011-08-01T22:09:00.009-04:00

I have been busy, busy, busy painting chandeliers this week: eight, to be exact. Our church sanctuary is being renovated this summer and some of us ladies decided it was high time for the bright brass chandeliers to go. But at $200 a pop, it just wasn't in the renovation budget to replace them.

So we proposed we spray paint them black, and those new to the idea of do-it-herself were horrified. You know, we might ruin church property or something. But we persevered and the final result looks fabulous.This is the before view; we were getting ready to begin renovations the next day. Two brass chandeliers are barely visible in the top right corner.
Day 1: The property manager borrowed a lift to take the chandeliers down from the ceiling. I washed them all and removed about 12,000 dead lady bugs. Ick! Then I covered the light sockets with aluminum foil and hung them outside.

We set up a hanging system using three ladders on the grass. The lawn badly needed mowing, but that is good, because once we finish painting, the lawn kid can just mow the paint overspray off.

It was 90-plus degrees outside that day and the humidity was close to that. All my helpers had backed out at the last minute so I went at it alone. After I had primed three chandeliers it started to rain, so I finally had to quit.

Day 2: I rounded up a couple of helpers. Here they are putting on the final primer coat. After the primer, we went at them with Krylon Black Satin paint. It took two of us to check and recheck for missed spots. Chandeliers can be complicated to paint!

A final coat of Crystal Clear by Krylon, and then a final drying. As each chandelier dried, we replaced the brass chain with new black chain, and our friend on the lift rehung them.

All eight are back up (only four are visible). They beautifully show in silhouette against the new gray paint of the walls. All the renovations are complete here too: new platform and carpet; new pillars and trim around windows; new wall paint.

My heartfelt thanks to friends Mary Jo and Kathy for your painting help, and thanks to Dennis for playing electrician/lift operator/engineer!

I'm linking to Met Monday over at BNOTP.

Garage Sales on a Summer Day

2011-07-29T22:24:00.006-04:00

I didn't plan to go out searching for garage sales, but I saw a few signs as I went about my day. Well of course, if I see a sign, I have to turn! I visited maybe five or six sales and I bought only one thing. But it's something I am very pleased with:

Six place settings (knife, fork, spoon) of this Wm. A. Rogers silverplate flatware. By pairing it with three other small sets already at home, I plan to get rid of my very old (but not old enough to be vintage or interesting in any way) set of stainless steel flatware.

My old stuff wasn't high quality to begin with. It was some of that stuff used as a grocery store promotional many years ago. "Spend $20 in groceries, get the teaspoon for $2 each". That sort of thing. Most of the pieces are turning blue because the outer layer has worn away. And I see many little rust speckles on most of the pieces. So out it goes!

Some months back I read on a blog (I'm guessing it was The Nester?) that she collects silverplate and uses it for every day. She even puts it in the dishwasher and it's been perfectly fine for years. So I've had that thought in mind for some time now, especially since I discovered that the stainless flatware I like would run me $600 for 12 place settings plus serving pieces. Uh, no. Not going to happen.

Already at home were these three silverplate patterns, collected from various sources. Left to right, I have: 1) six place settings consisting of knife, fork, teaspoon and soup spoon inherited from The Professor's uncle (we never figured out what "R" is for), 2) six teaspoons also inherited from the uncle, 3) six forks and 12 teaspoons purchased at an antique mall several years ago.

With my new purchase I have 12 full settings, six extra forks, and 18 extra teaspoons. That should be enough to get us through the day.

More Cucumbers

2011-07-27T23:25:00.005-04:00

Our prolific cucumber plants keep cranking out the fruit and I keep picking: 10 fat cucumbers yesterday and 11 more today. That's too many to eat fresh, so I made relish. Yesterday was dill relish, and today I decided on sweet pickle relish.

First, I cut the fruit into chunks and then cranked it through my grinder.

I picked up this "Universal" food mill at an antique mall some years ago and I have used it many times. Some people use a food processor because it's quick, but I don't like how a food processor mashes the food to pieces. I wanted tiny chunks.

After the cucumber, I ground up an onion and some bell peppers.

Into a bowl it all goes, along with salt. I covered it with water and left it to soak for two hours.

Rinse and drain several times, cook with sugar, spices and vinegar (sugar for sweet relish only), then ladle into clean, hot jars. I didn't photograph this part because I had sudden company.

Process in a water bath for 15 minutes, lift out, and cool the jars. There you have it! Seven jars of relish for the year to come.

I find that the recipes and instructions in The Ball Blue Book are consistently good. Walmart carries the book in housewares with the canning supplies.

Daisies

2011-07-22T18:15:00.003-04:00

For the third time this week the rabbits ate my daisies. So I cut them all off and I will enjoy them in the house. I added the vintage daisy tablecloth, embroidered by my great-grandmother, for fun

Cucumbers to Pickles

2011-07-19T22:22:00.003-04:00

Freshly-picked this afternoon, 14 cucumbers from our garden:
Lead to this tonight:6 pints home-canned bread and butter pickles. Yum!

Work on Kitchen Begins

2011-07-14T11:23:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I stopped procrastinating and started sanding the kitchen ceiling.

It's not a job I was looking forward to: 10 years ago when we scraped off the old popcorn texture from the kitchen, we had no idea what we were doing. We naively left some of the underlying bumpiness, not realizing that any ragged areas would show through the final paint. Since then, we have learned how to scrape correctly, and how to sand and patch to achieve that final smoothness we want.

So my procrastination. I dreaded having to go back and sand through the paint in some areas to get to the old bumpiness. Areas that need to be filled weren't an issue since spackle is easy to apply and sand for a smooth finish. But I had no idea how easy or how difficult the rough places might be.

I used our new palm sander and discovered how easy the job becomes with it. But it took a lot of overhead work and lots of inspecting to get it all smooth. I still have a bit more to work on today. My arms and shoulders sure ache!

Last night we discovered another problem. The Professor took down the old light fixtures in this area: one is an old box fluorescent fixture and the other is just a ceiling fixture. Underneath the fluorescent fixture we discovered that the ceiling had three cracks. One is quite large (see photo). We're not sure if this is a structural problem or simply cosmetic; we'll have to have someone look at it.

So my progress has come to a halt once again.

Peter Rabbit Visits

2011-07-13T14:36:00.004-04:00

One morning last week I walked into our backyard and saw this:It used to look more like this:Overnight, it was de-nuded except for little bits of green on some tips! (It has sent out new leaf shoots since). One quick look told me that the rabbit boom in our neighborhood was out of hand. Peter, his brothers and sisters, his parents and aunts and uncles, and his first, second, and eighth cousins must visit our yard every evening. They methodically nibbled away one plant per night, until I went to war with them. From Google I discovered a nasty recipe to spray on the plants; I call it "Bunny Burn". Let's see who wins.

My four forlorn Indian hawthorn plants hope to recover someday.

Cucumbers Everywhere

2011-07-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

We go out of town for four days and come back to an explosion of cucumbers. I picked 17 yesterday and 11 more today. What to do, what to do? I think I see a few batches of pickles coming on.

The cucumber plants don't really belong to me. Our next door neighbor had leftover seeds from last year, and he poked three of them into the bare soil on the side of our garage. (Yes, his seeds but our yard; some neighbors are like that.) I think he waters them because I don't. The plants are huge and happy and producing like crazy. I hope he picks his share too.

Little by Little

2011-06-24T06:33:00.000-04:00

Slowly, slowly the master bedroom comes together. Today it was the curtains and rods. The Professor, with trepidation, did a fine install: Sturdy, level, no extra holes in the walls. Thank you! (Curtains by Ikea; rods by Target.)

A new spread on the bed too. We are awaiting the "right" shams for a spark of color contrast. And then pleated shades need to be accounted for in the budget.

Open for Business

2011-06-23T09:27:00.001-04:00

Save hanging three pictures on the wall, our guest room is now complete. We await our first houseguests; do you want to be first?

Fans in Cool White

2011-06-22T21:30:00.002-04:00

Two ceiling fans installed today ~ one in each of the small bedrooms. Ah, sweet relief from stuffy air!

Studio Clean Up

2011-06-22T20:50:00.000-04:00

While the ceiling fans were being installed today, I took the time to do a thorough clean-out of my studio. 2 1/2 years of neglect was really showing!

Junk: out!
Items not pertaining to creative work: Put away elsewhere.
Shelves: Tidied.
Furniture: Rearranged.

And I find I have a spare sewing machine.

Painting the Details

2011-06-20T09:44:00.001-04:00

I paint a little here, a little there. The trim needs coats and coats to cover many years of neglect, all brushed on by hand. So I walk around dabbling first along this baseboard, next around that window grid. Eventually I will peel off all the blue painter's tape.

My Best Garage Sale Finds

2011-06-16T13:00:00.009-04:00

I've been a garage saler since the 80's; sometimes I'm more rabid about going out, and sometimes less. I'm in a "more" phase right now because I'm redecorating many rooms in our house. Back in the 80's and early 90's I was mainly looking for childrens' clothes and toys. Now and then I found some household item I needed, but I don't think I ever looked for furniture. Now furniture is what I mainly look for.

The Nester asked on her blog, "What is your best garage sale find EVER?" That is hard for me to answer: Just one item? I've found a number of great deals throughout the years. Here are a few of them. Cute cradle was a bit dirty, but only $5. We found it just in time for the arrival of grandson #2.

Cute all-wood high chair, very dirty but already painted white. It was the end of the day; I got it for $2.

Before I stripped it, this dresser had an ugly black glaze on it. I paid $10.

This cake dome and pedestal plate cost me only $1 for the two pieces.

There is quite a story behind it: I had really been wanting a cake dome (I already had a set of three pedestal plates, so I wasn't looking for that), and I found a nice heavy one for $5 at a garage sale early last year. I picked it up, and suddenly I realized that there was an emergency up the driveway by my car. Not wanting to run off with someone's merchandise, I quickly put it down and ran toward my car. But the seller stopped me and said it was ok; my car was fine. I turned back around and the dome was GONE. What happened to it? There was only one other customer there at the time and she was on the far side of the garage. I looked all over, then I saw that other customer had it in her hands. She had moved very quickly to grab it and then move back to her original position. Very sneaky. I lost out.

A month or so later I was at another garage sale with very poor directional signs. I saw an identical dome with a cake pedestal~ what did she want for it? She said $1 for the two pieces. I was amazed! I didn't mention that I didn't need the pedestal.

This year, at our annual garage sale, I sold the pedestal alone for $2. That makes the dome FREE! And I have the satisfaction of knowing that sometimes good things come to the kinder people.

This child's play table and chairs cost $13 last year. I have since painted all of it white and my grandsons have it in their bedroom.

None of the items in this photo cost me more than $1. The Chocolat sign, my favorite piece, was $1; the eight linen napkins were 50 c

A beach-theme quilt and two shams, $5

An authentic German dirndl, $15

Another favorite that I don't have a photo of is my chest freezer, which cost me $30.

Today I'm linking to The Nester's garage sale party!

Progress on Master Bedroom

2011-06-14T09:47:00.004-04:00

The story of a dresser

Last Friday Heather and I were out garage saling and we came upon an estate sale. We're not usually very interested in estate sales because they are pricey compared to garage sales. But this one was at an old house tucked back in the woods; the house itself looked interesting to tour at least, so we stopped. The house was quaint and old and quirky, rambling from one addition to the next. We spied several tables of glassware. And linens. And two vintage folkwear skirts. "Fun place", we thought. "Steep prices", we also thought.

Tucked in the corner of the only bedroom in the original section of the house, I saw this dresser, covered with doodads for sale. One really couldn't see the dresser at all, without looking for it on purpose. It wasn't priced. On asking, I heard that it was a solid mahogany antique. Price? $265. "Too much for me", I thought. But, they accept bids. Over 50% of asking price, and it's yours if unsold by the end of day 2. Under 50% of asking price, and it's yours if unsold at close of final day.

I called The Professor, who pointed out that $265 was an excellent price compared to antique shops. I remembered that Ikea's 8-drawer particle board dresser retails for $300. There's no comparison in quality: antique mahogany vs. Ikea particle board. Which would you choose?

But still, I wanted to at least try the bidding process. I've never done it before. So I bid just over 50%, at $135. And mid-afternoon on Saturday I got the call that it was mine.

We drove right over to pick it up, and the two of us really had to struggle to pick it up. It weighs a ton. Thankfully, a kind customer stopped and asked if we needed help loading it. It looks beautiful against the freshly-painted walls.

This weekend I also finished painting the master bedroom, just in time for our furniture delivery this morning. We bought a new bed, our very first real wood bed with headboard and footboard and side rails. It is also mahogany, with a cherry finish.

I love the dark wood against the aqua walls. I went out on a limb (for me) to go with aqua walls. I was certain that it would be too intense for me, but, with the dark furniture in place, I love the contrast.

After painting, we also re-configured the rods and shelves in our walk-in closet, to better suit our current needs. I was amazed that the pieces are so flexible. We need only to have one rod trimmed down a bit, otherwise, everything fits.
The cardboard boxes lining the floor are intended to be temporary. We decided to replace the old corner cabinet that was our only china cabinet. Until we find the china cabinet we want, all our china and most of our glassware will be stored in these boxes.

Completed

2011-06-08T17:02:00.002-04:00

Tonight is move-in night! The living room and dining room painting is complete. Clean ceilings! Fresh walls! Sparkling trim!

I'm anxious to move the furniture and furnishings back into place. Filling the four bookcases and the china cabinet will take several hours, I'm sure, but I don't mind because I'm so ready to have these rooms back to functioning use.

Tomorrow I begin painting the master suite a light aqua.

Ceilings and More

2011-05-26T14:57:00.007-04:00

I have lost count of the number of days I've been working on the ceilings. Really, not only the ceilings, but also walls and trim. My goal was to completely remove all the popcorn texture from our ceilings. I'm very close to accomplishing that goal: just two rooms to go.

Both of those rooms, the living room and the dining room, will be difficult to prep, so I'm putting it off as long as I can. I have to get myself mentally prepared!

In the living room, I will need to box up all 800-plus books in these bookcases. I don't look forward to it.In the dining room, I will need to box up all the fragile goodies in this china cabinet:After scraping all the popcorn off, I have had to patch and sand the poorly taped drywall underneath, then prime and paint. I have completed all that in the master bedroom, bath and closet, the hallway and linen closet, and the little back hall.When the ceilings are done, I get to treat myself to painting the walls in fresh, new paint. I went ahead and got the hall and linen closet painted because the linens were getting in my way on the floor. Now they are back home in the closet (minus the door). Picture-rehanging in the hall still to come.

I also plan to repaint the family room and kitchen walls and ceilings. They are looking dingy, even though the ceiling popcorn was scraped off some years ago. As I have little dribbles of ceiling paint left over in the paint tray, I use it up on the family room ceiling. It's looking quite patchy right now.

Meanwhile, I'm experimenting with new paint colors.

Garage Sale Finds

2011-05-16T19:33:00.003-04:00

On Friday I went garage saling with Susan, a new friend who blogs at Between Naps on the Porch, and a near neighbor (near in blogging terms!). I have enjoyed reading her blog for a year or two, and last month we discovered that we live only a couple of miles from each other. We hit all the local sales we could find, which turned out to be rather meager for this time of year. But we both eventually found something we needed, or perhaps really wanted.

My find: Two china tea cups, both marked Royal Albert bone china, England. The blue one also says "Starlight"; I assume that's the name of the pattern.

Popcorn Log

2011-05-13T18:35:00.002-04:00

Three days of scraping popcorn from the ceiling, and one day of patching the joints and dings brings me to this:Next up: sanding the patched areas. That will leave me looking like a snowman.

Choosing Paint

2011-05-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

I'm jumping ahead here, but I was inspired to go out and find paint chips for the bedroom walls. Aqua is my current thought.

Popcorn Elimination Treatment

2011-05-02T21:43:00.004-04:00

Today is the big day: I began the Popcorn Elimination on All the Remaining Ceilings. ("Popcorn" is a euphemism for that ugly bumpy ceiling texture in most tract homes.) This is a huge task since I haven't yet removed it from the master bedroom and bathroom, the bedroom hallway, the entry, living room, and dining room, and the back hallway.

Today I began on the master bathroom. Small room=simple task, right? Wrong. The obstacles I ran into were the tub, the toilet, and the tiny linen closet. It was a challenge to get the ladder in or around all of them in order to reach the ceiling. The closet was the worst; at one point I thought I might be wedged in so tightly that I would need help to get out. My shoulders really took a beating.

I persevered and the popcorn is now gone from the bathroom.After the texture is removed, I will need to do some patching to cover my mistakes, and then sand. Primer and paint are the final steps. After that I'll be able to go have fun with the redecorating.

Wire Basket Redo

2011-04-18T13:10:00.004-04:00

The wire basket I found at a garage sale last Friday has a new jacket. I gave it a triple coat of my fave spray paint, Oil Rubbed Bronze. Now it's ready to hold the gardening gloves in the garden closet. But maybe its too pretty for such a mundane task now.

Garage Sale Season

2011-04-16T07:54:00.006-04:00

One of my favorite annual neighborhood sales began yesterday. It's a large, upscale neighborhood with beautifully mature trees and gorgeous landscaping. It is a true pleasure to drive through the neighborhood in search of garage sales: lots of quality merchandise, often (but not always) low-end prices, pleasant people. I love it when the husband is given charge of the sale and he takes just about any price offered.

What did I find?A wire basket for my garden gloves in the garden cupboard: 50 c
A toy drum for the Grandma box: $1
2 antique kitchen gadgets: 50 c each
A large French chocolate sign: $1 (thanks to the husband left in charge!)
8 Irish linen napkins, one never used: 50 c for all

The label on the new linen napkin

And one utilitarian item~a rice cooker: $5

I have never owned a rice cooker. And until 2 1/2 years ago, I had never really noticed that they exist. When Heather and Jared moved in, Heather wanted to keep her rice cooker in my kitchen because Jared loves rice. I thought such an appliance was a space-waster: after all, a saucepan cooks rice just as well. And then I ate rice cooked in one. It is far superior in flavor and texture; I was hooked. They moved into an apartment last week and there went the rice cooker. So all is well now that Heather found me my own at a garage sale yesterday.

I'm linking to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures party.

A Little Sizzix Action

2011-04-15T16:08:00.001-04:00

Table numbers for the upcoming Seder at church.

A Quick Project

2011-04-07T22:27:00.005-04:00

Heather needed some canisters for her new kitchen.

A friend had four empty coffee cans she didn't want.

After cleaning them out, I used a few sheets of 12"x12" scrapbook paper to cover the sides. Each can took two sheets ~ the cans are 6 5/8" tall and 19" around. Double-stick tape holds the paper in place.White cardstock labels printed on the computer: 60 pt font; Harrington Bold.

Guest Room Update

2011-03-22T17:34:00.001-04:00

An update from last summer on decorating the guest room. What's new since the last post:

Queen bed, Haverty's (I love the position of the drawers)
2 brushed nickel adjustable-arm lamps, Home Depot
Top down-bottom up pleated shade, Levolor
2 yellow pillow shams, Kohl's

Still left to do:
Find new nightstands (with drawers!), white or black
Refinish an old desk for the opposite wall

Existing items:
Duvet cover, purchased in Paris years ago
Mattress, IKEA
Bed slats, IKEA
Wall color, Behr "moonlit yellow"

The opposite wall with our current dressers is just temporary. This is the feminine side: my Paris tea set, and a shadowbox I made of our time in France. The handmade lace runner is from Bruges.

I'm joining Met Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.

Lovely Wrap Skirt

2011-03-21T16:54:00.002-04:00

I found this skirt pattern in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts. I think the pattern looks very flattering, and I really love this fabric. The book says it is a Liberty of London print. I have checked every website I can find, but I can't find this particular fabric. Does anyone know where I can find it?

The Chair

2011-03-18T14:58:00.004-04:00

The Chair is my next big project, and I'm afraid that it is a true BIG PROJECT.

My goal is to strip all the paint off, down to bare wood. Here you can see the folly of that idea: there are at least eleven layers of paint on the chair. In order, as far as I can make out, starting from the outside and working in, we have:

bright blue
red
orange
lime green
cream
mint green
black
bright yellow
emerald green
mint green again
pale yellow

The black may have had thick white splotches all over it; perhaps an animal print look? Anyway, there are thick white splotches embedded in there too.

I began the stripping process with my little Ryobi detail sander. That was getting me nowhere fast. Next I went to gel stripper in a can. That took off one, and sometimes three, layers at a time. It worked best on the seat of the chair; it didn't seem to affect the spindles. When I emptied the can, I reverted back to the electric sander. Then I tried coarse steel wool, first with mineral spirits, and second with chemical stripper. My second can of stripper is more powerful, so it seems to take off more layers more quickly.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

French Flower Buckets Meet Oil-Rubbed Bronze

2011-03-15T22:55:00.006-04:00

I love browsing my favorite thrift stores ~ I never know what treasures I might find.

A year or so ago I found a cute galvanized French flower bucket for pennies, and I have enjoyed decorating with it after I painted it a nice bronzy black. But I realized that I would prefer to have two of them when I decorate my mantel; I like a little symmetry up there.

So, guess what I found on my last visit to the thrift store? A French flower bucket! But instead of galvanized metal, it was painted with folksy flowers and a red interior. Fffft. Off to the store I went to replenish my supply of oil-rubbed bronze paint before this spraying session began:

I got over-anxious to paint and forgot to take a before photo until I had this much paint on the bucket.

Here it is, all finished:

And here is the first one I found ~ it is a little shorter than the new one:

After: the symmetry I wanted.

I also picked up this rather flimsy metal pot at the same time:

It got its own coat of oil-rubbed bronze paint, and now it looks like this:

Scruffy Frame Renewed

2011-03-06T13:36:00.003-05:00

I bought the world's ugliest framed print at the thrift, with plans to renew the frame with paint and a new mat. The old matted print is trash now. Here's the before:I'm showing the frame in portrait mode because I plan to hang it that way, even though the original print is in landscape mode.

I'm handy with a spray can so I won't have trouble painting the frame. But cutting a new mat is a different story. I hope to ~~convince~~ ~~cajole~~ sweet-talk Art Lady Greta into cutting what I need. Update: When I bought the mat board at Dick Blick they cut the exterior to size and cut the four openings in each mat ~ for only $4. That kind of deal is worth it to me.

Here is the freshly-painted after:
And here it is in the hallway next to another frame I revived with black spray paint also:

Ultimately, I will have a third frame too, for portraits of David.

A New Project

2011-02-21T23:11:00.003-05:00

A BIG mess in the craft room right now: I'm working on a journal of our past vacations. Inspiration was the black spiral journal shown in a previous post.

For years, I've kept daily notes, as well as little paper ephemera, when we go on vacation. I've never known what to do with it all, until now. Hoping a finished book will emerge from that room in the next few weeks.

Dreaming

2011-02-15T11:37:00.005-05:00

I just discovered the dining room hutch I want. By IKEA:I picture three of these side-by-side along the one very long and high wall in our dining room (it's supposed to be the living room really). Three will take up over nine feet of wall. Just think of the adorable vignettes I could arrange behind those glass doors! The seasonal displays! The teacups! The pitchers!

I'm saving my pennies.

Love Letters

2011-02-14T21:53:00.004-05:00

The Professor and I decided not to give each other special occasion cards anymore ~ instead, we are writing a "love letter" for the other in a blank journal on each special occasion. We have matching journals that the Professor picked up at the book store. I like to decorate the page besides writing. So far: our anniversary and Valentine's Day.

Over the coming years, we will be able to go back and read the thoughts of previous years. And they will be all bound up neatly. For good.

Birthday Dessert

2011-02-06T00:16:00.006-05:00

I created this chocolate mousse tort out of my desire to use up some of my freezer stash. I had an angel food cake loaf, purchased on clearance last fall, that really needed to be used up. With a birthday party tonight, I thought it was a perfect time.

I used my old stand-by chocolate mousse recipe and spread it between thin layers of cake. More mousse slathered on the sides and top, and it was done. The cake softened a bit in the refrigerator.

I always have trouble getting the melted chocolate to be smooth once I mix it with the beaten egg whites. That's what the dark lumps are in the mousse. But it still tastes good!

I'm Published

2011-01-28T10:45:00.004-05:00

I'm published on Money Saving Mom! It's part of her series on paying cash, in which I tell the story of our daughter's wedding. You can go here to see it.

Black Trug

2011-01-27T22:30:00.003-05:00

I found this interesting box at the thrift store last week. It started life as a bright red child's art tote, complete with personalization and cute little art-related decorations. I sanded and scrubbed, then spray painted with black. It is now a table decoration, useful for very many things.Right now my thrifted hydrangeas pop out of the top, held in place with three old milk bottles. In the summer it could hold cans of flatware for a patio party, no?

Sorry I forgot to take a "before" photo. Apparently I was overly excited to get started on its remake.

A Tiny Re-org Project

2011-01-15T22:37:00.006-05:00

It wasn't much, but it made a big difference in this kitchen cupboard: I added an adjustable wire shelf above the plates to store all the brightly-colored toddler dishes. To fit it in, I had to first move the second shelf up a notch. That was the most difficult part of the project. It really was a challenge to pop all six locking shelf brackets out of their holes, all at the same time, without one or more relocking themselves. But I conquered it.

Silly me, I forgot to take a before shot so you could compare. Instead, you'll just have to imagine the jumbled mess it was before the wire shelf install. Note: the adjustable wire shelf is from Wally World.

Snow Days

2011-01-13T16:41:00.005-05:00

Not much "making" or "doing" since the first of the year, what with undecorating the house and getting life back to normal, and then illness and snow. But today, feeling a tad better, I decided to enjoy our unusually deep snow.

Let me introduce Snow Nana! With her very own (borrowed) accessories! Sadly, she lasted only a few hours before she fell over.

Wrapping

2010-12-24T12:11:00.002-05:00

All done.
I had fun with bows this year.

Candied Citrus Peel

2010-12-20T19:16:00.003-05:00

I squeezed a few pieces of citrus fruit this morning, then I suddenly decided to candy the peels. This is a recipe I used for Greta's wedding cupcakes, and it turns out tender and delicious. It uses lots of sugar!

More Christmas Decorating

2010-12-16T17:21:00.004-05:00

Last night we threw a graduation party for Greta, and I finished decorating for Christmas just in time. This is a display of glass and gold and green in the dining room.

Stars and snow in an apothecary jar.

Gold birds under glass, with touches of red beyond.

Swedish Vignette

2010-12-03T21:57:00.008-05:00

In honor of the Professor's roots, I create a Swedish Christmas display every December. Recently, I have been building it on top of a fairly high glass door cabinet in our dining room. This year, we had to turn the cabinet around, with the glass against the wall, to keep little hands from banging on (and breaking) the glass.

I start with a base of greens: usually a pine garland swirled around the top of the cabinet. Then I add a holly garland, twisting it in and out of the pine. Next I poke in a few picks with berries or apples, and a few small red ornaments. What I'm aiming for is bits of bright red to add color contrast.

Then I add my painted Swedish wood pieces which I have been collecting for 30 years. The most important piece is the red Dala horse. Some of my small pieces are a Santa Lucia girl, a lady in traditional Swedish costume, and little tomten.

In the back I stand my large Advent candelabra as well as my set of his and her costumed candelabras.The two stacked wood apples are part of a set of five nesting apples. They are not Swedish - they are Chinese! But they fit perfectly in color and style with the Swedish things. I got them many years ago in San Francisco's China Town, before I was even old enough to go to school.

Oh, I almost forgot: underneath it all is a Swedish runner with a tomten design.

I'm linking to Rhoda's vignette party. Go join the fun!

Decorating for Christmas

2010-12-01T22:09:00.007-05:00

I somehow ended up on the church decorations committee this year. With our music director AND our decorations gal leaving this year, everyone was at a loss as to how to go about decorating the church. One brave elder stepped forward to sort of direct things, and two other ladies and I stepped forward to actually do the work.

First we spent several hours digging through the attic to find what was available. Then we spent another afternoon evaluating all the bits and pieces and deciding what we could use and what we wouldn't use. Then we gave ourselves the day last Saturday to get it all out and up.

Here are some of the decorations we did.

The atrium wall

The Narthex table:

In the sanctuary:

8 arched windows:

Between the windows:

In front:

A hard-to-decorate side wall:

It only took 11 hours to finish the job.

Free in November

2010-11-30T16:42:00.025-05:00

Here is what we were able to get free this month. Listed next to each item is the retail price:
9 spools Reach dental floss: $17.31
2 flu vaccines: $60
14 cans Carnation evap milk: $16.66
6 bags Vigo rice: $7.74
8 bags Mahatma rice: $9.52
Birds Eye veggies: $2.27
8 boxes Muellers pasta: $10.32
Levolor top down/bottom up pleated shade: $985
46" Samsung LCD hi def TV: $1300
19" round glass table topper: $30
Haircut for the Professor: $18
Martha Stewart Living subscription: $59.88
2 little gold birds (Hallmark): $10
2 rolls gift wrap: $6
2 gift decorations: $4

Total: $2,536.70

A Late Season Estate Sale

2010-11-15T22:34:00.006-05:00

We hit an Estate Sale on Friday and I got this pan half off since they were getting ready to close for the day.

Then I found it listed on the Nordicware site: it's a $36 pan!

Homemade Doughnuts

2010-11-13T22:20:00.003-05:00

These are yummy! (Even though they aren't doughnuts.)

We started out with doughnuts today, but we gobbled them up before I could get a picture. That was at 5:00 this afternoon, right before dinner. You can't believe it? Neither can I; we NEVER do something like that. But there's a story behind it...

This afternoon I was in a baking mood so I decided to make doughnuts. I mixed the dough and put it aside to raise. But it just sat there doing nothing for, like, an hour and a half. I thought maybe the yeast had gone bad, so I mixed a little in some water to see if it would bubble.

Meantime, we had assorted messes made all over the kitchen. I cleaned and mopped and then I saw my yeast bubbling away. I was about to mix that yeast into my stubborn dough, but it had cheered up when I wasn't looking and the dough was puffing up just fine all on its own. So I proceeded with the doughnuts. After I finished frying them and shaking them in cinnamon sugar, I called the family to come and eat hot doughnuts (wishing we had cider too). Then I noticed the time - oh well, dessert before dinner isn't going to kill anyone.

After the dinner dishes were done, I saw my cup of yeast again. I didn't want to waste it, so I added flour and all that stuff to it. It got puffy really fast so I had to quickly decide what to do with it. Browsing my bread cookbook, I saw a recipe for "Lemon Puff Pillow Buns". Odd name but yummy ingredients: they are filled with a sweetened cream cheese filling.

The fam wasn't too excited about the PINK sugar sprinkled on top. I wanted yellow, but there is no yellow in my pantry.

Work in Progress

2010-11-05T13:35:00.008-04:00

Finally, finally! We are getting concrete poured along the side of the house today. This is a concrete pad inside our little utility yard, and a sidewalk connecting that to the driveway.

I have wanted this done for something like 17 1/2 years. That's all. The pour date was set back two days because of rain, then finally they came today. Soon after they poured and smoothed the pad, it started to rain, and then to hail! They quickly pulled plastic sheeting over all the wet stuff, but they weren't quick enough because we have dings in the surface in several places.

Before

After

October Freebies

2010-11-02T20:59:00.001-04:00

Here's what I got FREE in October:
3 pair socks: $7
Neilmed nasal dock: $9.99
Sucrets: $4.99
8 rolls Bounty paper towels: $9.99
2 bottles Gain laundry detergent: $29.98
candy corn: 99 c
single serve Simply Lemonade: $1.02
2 toothbrushes: $2
Schick Hydro 5 razor: $10.47
All Small and Mighty: $7.49
Chestal: $6.29
Cold Buster warming syrup: $8.99
4 ct Bodi Heat: $3.99
3 ct Oscillococcinum: $6.99
4 pk Bath tissue: $2.49
Taco Bell Orange Swirl Fruitista: $2.29
5 Athenos Hummus: $14.95
2 Dannon Greek yogurt: $2.38

Total $132.29

Fall Decor

2010-10-31T23:53:00.007-04:00

The mantel in the family room

I finally got around to doing a little fall decorating in the house. It was hard to find inspiration this year with all the HOT weather until just a week or so ago. But fall is finally here, so I pulled out the colorful leaves. The fireplace now looks cheery dressed in the season's colors.

Last Garage Sale of the Year?

2010-10-28T11:16:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Heather and I went out garage saling. It looks like this was the last day for sales this year; we found very few that day. I found one thing only:This cute table and chairs set for the little boys. I plan to repaint it for Christmas. Other than graffiti on the tabletop, there is nothing wrong with it. Price? I got her down to $13.

Apple Picking

2010-10-06T14:25:00.009-04:00

The Professor and I drove up to the mountains on Saturday to check out the "Apple Highway", and perhaps buy a bag of apples. We hadn't been up there for over 10 years, so we really didn't know what to expect.

It was a beautiful, warm and sunny fall day. At the first orchard, we bought a half-bushel of Rome Beauty apples so I could make applesauce. At the second orchard we bought a bag of Stayman Winesap apples, just for eating. After that, we decided to stop at every orchard along the highway, and buy something different at each one. Soon we had tried apple cider doughnuts, fried apple pies, dried cinnamon apples, and many varieties of fresh pressed cider.

At BJ Reece Orchards we saw a sign for picking apples. How fun! Soon we were roaming the hillsides, picking a few of one variety here and a few of another variety there, until we had our full weight of 10 pounds.On Sunday I baked an apple pie, and on Monday I turned the Rome Beauty apples into 10 pints of unsweetened applesauce.

September Freebies

2010-09-30T14:08:00.009-04:00

Here's what I got FREE in September, from couponing and sales, special deals, give-aways, and rejects from other people:
Tortilla chips: $2.58
2 pkg Sara Lee hot dog buns: $5
2 pkg Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies: $3.98
Milky Way bar: 89 cents
Candy corn: 99 cents
Publix coffee: $1.89
Martha White muffin mix: $1.29
2 Old El Paso taco seasoning: $2.18
Nivea body wash: $5.99
Alive! Women's vitamins: $10.99
Skintimate shave gel: $3.99
CVS 12-roll paper towels: 5.99
Rita's Italian Ice: $2.49

Total: $48.25

Garage Sale Again

2010-09-19T19:30:00.005-04:00

Today: a quiet day of rest after a very tiring week of preparing for a garage sale all week, and holding the sale on Friday and Saturday. We sold lots and lots and lots of little stuff, but very little in the way of pricier items such as furniture. We actually sold none of our furniture. That was disappointing, but I was pleased with my final income.

Getting Things Done, Part II

2010-09-04T00:32:00.008-04:00

After reading the book I mentioned below, and writing down every project and To-Do I could think of, I have really gone wild with Getting Things Done around here. So many of the little nagging projects are done now and it feels terrific. Just a few minutes ago I wrote two notes that have been hanging over me for months. They are now stamped and ready for the mailbox. Whew!

Saturday evening: Today we also CONQUERED one little, tiny project that was HUGE in our minds. It's been hangin' around for 2 1/2 years: get two pieces of concrete retaining wall toppers trimmed down to size. It really shouldn't have taken so long to do, but we couldn't find anyone to do it. Finally, a stone yard suggested we try buying a concrete-cutting blade for our circular saw and trim it ourselves. Surprise! It worked! And the wall was finished in about two minutes.

Without working all that hard or steadily, here's what I accomplished from my lists in the last few days:

Wrote two notes and mailed them
Finished retaining wall
Organized several files on computer
Worked on notes for classes I'm teaching
Cleaned out 7-10 file folders
Created two binders of crafts instructions
Emailed a recipe to a friend, who had requested it three months ago
Printed off a monogram for a photo album
Began making a "Legacy Box" as discussed on Dave Ramsey's website
Responded to three emails
Hemmed one pair of pants
Cleaned out a file box
Typed and printed three recipes

Free in August

2010-08-31T20:39:00.014-04:00

Here's what I got FREE in August, from couponing and sales, special deals, give-aways, and rejects from other people:

5 lb chicken: $10
3 Hershey's candy bars: $2.67
1/2 gallon iced tea: $1.50
2 boxes Minute Maid soft lemonade: $3.58

2 first aid kits: $9.38
Dulcolax Balance: $12.99
Schick Hydro razor: $9.99
Blink tears: $9.99
Crest Pro Health Clinical: $4.99
emery boards: $1

Publix jumbo roll paper towels: $1.32
backpack: $6.99

kielbasa with chips, drink, cookie: $5
Capozzi's pizza slice: $2.25
Rita's Ice: $2
2 steak dinners at Longhorn Steaks: $43
2 Taco Bell sparkling limeade: $3.38

Total: $118.04

Getting Things Done

2010-08-18T23:26:00.005-04:00

I spent the last three days reading this book, cover to cover, and then digging right in to begin implementing his ideas.

Basically, he says that everyone needs a place to dump all their mental to-do lists, plans, cogitations, wishes and dreams, out of their head and into the written word. That will free up a lot of time and mental energy for creativity.

I had to hack through quantities of rather boring info meant for the business world, but what remained was very helpful to me in my home world. I'm still working on emptying all my ideas, plans and thoughts into list form; more keep coming back to me as I work. But when I am finished I expect to have a binder full of my future. And I won't be worrying that anything is falling through the cracks!

Free in July

2010-07-31T22:57:00.022-04:00

Here is my list of what I got FREE during the month of July.
Publix tortilla chips: $2.58
6 Kraft Sandwich Shop mayo: $11.94
4 half-gallons Smart Balance milk: $14.36
French's mustard: $1.87
2 12-pk Coke: $9.98
3 jars Musselman's applesauce: $7.17
2 cans Lindsay olives: $4.38
Mayfield ice cream: $5.29
Milky Way candy bar: 89 cents
4 jars spices: $4
5 blocks Philly cream cheese: $7.56
Publix hot dogs: $2.19
Crest toothpaste: $4.79
3 soap pumps: $ 5.37
Gillette Fusion ProGlide razor: $10.99
2 Olay Gentle Foaming face wash: $11.98
2 Neutrogena spray sunscreen: $19.98
10-pack pencils: $1.99
Taco Bell Sparkling Limeade: $1.69
McDonald's smoothie: $2.29
Einstein's bagel with shmear: $2.49
2 Einstein's bagels: $2
4 5x7 prints: $4

Total: $134.31

Easy Dill Pickles

2010-07-17T21:32:00.001-04:00

We have a bumper crop of cucumbers this year, all from three little seeds my neighbor gave me a few months ago. I poked them into the soil at my feet when he gave them to me, and then I forgot all about them. They were truly ignored. I was busy with a wedding and guests and renovating two bedrooms. I didn't have time to think about struggling little cucumber seeds by the garage.

Then one day I happened to see a large jumble of leaves crawling across the remains of the woodpile. Weeds...big weeds. I need to pull them, I thought. Was I ever surprised to see little cucumbers peaking through the leaves! Soon they ripened, and their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and 12th cousins have been ripening ever since. We have too many!

Last week I tried making refrigerator dill pickles. That used up a tiny portion of our supply, which was a good thing. We allowed them to marinade for a week, then we tasted them. They are good, but the spices need a bit of adjusting. Today I made more. They are sitting in a crock until tomorrow, when I will get them into jars and in the refrigerator. Refrigerator dill pickles are very simple to make and a good way to use up lots of cucumbers.

Thrifty Finds

2010-07-16T22:34:00.007-04:00

It's almost too hot for garage saling now. Almost, I said, but not quite. Heather and I hit the road early this time, and stopped at Einstein's Bagels for our free treat. We had to do a bit more driving than usual, but we found enough sales to keep us happy.

My haul:
A third pizza stone, this one includes the rack. New, never opened box, until we used it tonight for veggie pizza; $2. I have enough pizza stones now to keep the pizza coming for my crew.

A blue metal wastebasket with lighthouse design for our hall bath. 50 cents. Price tag on the bottom says $30! Who would pay $30 for a trash receptacle? Only someone who lives on a street called Highborn, I think.

A cute little apothecary jar, 50 cents.

A blonde wood desk organizer. I envision painting it white to go with the desk we don't have, and finally being able to organize The Professor's desk clutter.

That was it for me, a small haul, but it makes me happy.

Painted Pedestal Bowl

2010-07-13T13:36:00.008-04:00

I finished a quick little project, except it wasn't all that quick. I found this lathe-turned wood bowl at an estate sale a month or so ago. In the before picture you can see that the finish is in really bad shape. The wood has a number of cracks in it, and, except for the pretty silhouette, there isn't much to recommend it.

After sanding, filling in the cracks with wood filler, and sanding again, I primed it, then spray painted it black. It took me forever to get it painted because I did it in the HOT garage, where, between coats, I kept forgetting about it. But it's finally finished and I'm very pleased with it.

July 4th

2010-07-06T23:34:00.008-04:00

One of our family traditions has become a patio party for friends on or near July 4th. This year we decided to have a backyard BBQ, or perhaps I should say a backyard "cookout", on July 3rd. We have plenty of room on our patio, so we invited lots of friends. We had 27 attend. We grilled burgers and dogs, and baked a pork roast. Our friends brought various side dishes.The patio from above, before our guests arrived. I didn't get any photos after guests arrived; I was too busy!

The welcome wall pocket on the front porch.

Heather found a cute vintage patriotic print for the table by the front door. She also made all the pleated fan shapes we used in our centerpieces. To trim them, she created folded stars and added more vintage prints and star garland. They turned out so cute!

I made the red, white and blue table runners for our party last year.

River rocks and clear glass marbles anchor the fans. Heather glued the fans to painted paint stirring sticks.

Thrifted votive holders tied with polka dot ribbons.

I made patriotic cupcakes using an old jello cake recipe. When I discovered I didn't have white cake mix, I used coconut cake with raspberry jello. They were very good, except to the coconut-haters in the family.

Free in June

2010-06-30T15:01:00.023-04:00

Here's my list of all the stuff I got free in June:
4 heads Romaine: $8
2 eggplants: $3
5 cucumbers: $2.50
4 mangoes: $4
1 lb green beans: $1.49
Smart Balance sour cream: $2.79
Aunt Jemima syrup: $3.69
2 Publix apple juice: $3.98
5 Mahatma rice: $4.95
6 1/2-gallons Smart balance milk: $21.74
8 oz blueberries; $1.49
4 Taco Bell sparkling limeades: $6.76
2 Einstein's bagels: $2
Schick Hydro 5 razor: $ 9.99
2 Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors: $21.98
Nivea body wash: $5.99
2 Old Spice body wash: $9.98
2 Schick shaving cream: $6.98
Ibuprofen: $4.49
Colgate Total: $3.89
bath tissue: $3.49
4-roll pkg bath tissue: $2.49
2 pkg Angel Soft bath tissue: $8
Airplus moisturizing socks: $4.49
nail polish: $2.49
Preen: $10
SLAH Signature Flowerpot: $ 14.96

Total: $177.10

David's Room

2010-06-28T16:37:00.006-04:00

I finished repainting David's room last week.We had three false starts on the color before we settled on this pale gray one. It's Behr "Gentle Rain", color # 790-E; David declared it perfect.

End-of-June Garage Saling

2010-06-26T12:09:00.010-04:00

This weekend was very, very hot but Heather and I bit the bullet and went out Friday and Saturday mornings anyway. We were surprised at how many garage sales we found, considering that people have to sit out in their non-ac garages all day long. I found:

A very tiny cast iron skillet in need of seasoning (50 cents) and a mini muffin pan (25 cents). That brings my mini muffin tin count up to six, just right for a batch of cupcakes from a cake mix.

12 clear glass plates ($3) photo to come. I almost didn't buy them because I have so many kinds of plates, but Heather reminded me that several times in the past few weeks I have wished aloud that I had some for group gatherings. Then I remembered that I really want to use clear glass when we have a themed party, such as the one-year-old birthday last week. Our standard floral plates just didn't go with the nautical theme of the birthday party.

A pizza stone and a Sil-Pat mat ($1 each)
Three vintage fingertip towels with embroidery (25 cents each)
A cute wooden couple from Sweden (25 cents)

Garage Sale Finds

2010-06-21T15:52:00.002-04:00

Heather and I went garage saling again on Friday; she found lots of stuff while I found very little. But that's ok because I found some really great things earlier this spring.First I found a third glass cake plate very similar to two I already have. This one was $1. I love the three little feet on the bottom of this style of plate. I looked online and discovered that my other two plates are circa 1930, while this one is circa 1970. It is slightly lighter in weight.

More nice wood blocks for Patrick's birthday; this set was also $3. These look really fun because there are castle pieces. (There are many, many more blocks in this set; I just didn't feel like spreading them all out. This is a good representative sample of what came in the set.)

A partial box of Preen isn't very exciting, but it was FREE! I couldn't go wrong for that price.

Garage Sale Finds

2010-06-12T14:02:00.009-04:00

I didn't get a chance to post last week's garage sale finds, so I'm posting two weeks in one.

A week ago Friday Heather and I hit a number of sales on our way north to make a delivery. We were in very rural areas and we were surprised at how many garage sales we found. I found this wall pocket (it was silver; I'm painting it black) for my back porch, $2. At the same sale I also bought a scrolly black curtain rod and tie-backs for the bedroom redo, $4 each.

At an estate sale I bought this blue chair for the front porch, $5. I already disinfected it and I plan to paint it black, but it needs some heavy sanding done to it first.
I also found this wood pedestal bowl, $1. It was filthy dirty and I plan to prime it and paint it too.

One annoying thing happened last week while we were shopping. At one sale we walked down the driveway and saw another customer browsing. I spied a cake dome priced at $5, something I have been wanting/needing. I whipped out my handy purse measuring tape to check it's diameter. Just then it looked like there might be an emergency by my car, so I started to run up the driveway. I realized I couldn't carry the owner's goods with me, so I quickly set down the dome. Then the owner assured me that everything was fine, I didn't need to go to my car. I turned back to the cake dome, and it was gone. What happened? I looked around, and there was that other customer, browsing the table right where she had been, except she had the cake dome in her hand. I couldn't believe it! She had to have dashed over behind my back and grabbed it in the two moments that I was worried about my car. And then she had the gall to offer $2.50 for it and the owner accepted her offer. It really burned me up.

Today we went out again, even though it was extremely hot. We didn't think there would be many sales because who wants to sit in the garage when it's over 90 degrees? But we found plenty of sales to keep us busy all morning. Here's my haul:
two white cotton tablecloths, NIP, $1 eachone linen/cotton blend tablecloth (spread on table), $1

4 vintage hankies, $1 all

4 tiny scrolly iron chairs, $1 for all

A set of blocks for one of the little guys, $3

And - can you believe it? -a clear glass cake pedestal and dome, $1 for the two pieces.Ha! I did better than that rude customer last week. I got the cake dome plus a pedestal for only one dollar.

Bedroom Redo

2010-06-11T00:07:00.016-04:00

Greta's bedroom before

As soon as Greta's wedding was over and the happy couple left for their Savannah honeymoon, we got busy on her bedroom redo. First we scraped all the icky old popcorn texture off the ceiling. Many dusty hours later after sanding and patching and sanding some more, we primed and painted the ceiling, and painted some more and more. Yep, three coats.

The busy crew at work

Next, we flung the old aluminum mini blinds from the windows and started in on the trim. I realized the trim had never been repainted since we moved here 17 years ago! It was a new house then, so it should have been freshly painted at that time, but as I painted, I decided that it must have only been primed originally. So this was the first-ever paint job it had. It took three coats before it looked right. I don't much enjoy crawling on my belly, paint brush in hand, to paint the little tippy tops of the baseboards. All the way around the room, and then into the closet. But it was finally done. Then we (by this time I had lost my helpers, so it was I) moved on to the walls. After all that detail work I really enjoyed the speediness of rolling. The edging? Not so much. Edging always takes more coats than rolling.

While the paint dried, we went shopping. We ordered white pleated honeycomb shades for the windows. Then, while we were just browsing for ideas, we bought a bed. It's a real wood bed with headboard and footboard and side rails and two storage drawers. And it's the first real bed we have ever had in 31 years of marriage. It should arrive in about 6 weeks.

Lastly, we bought a Martha Stewart white quilted coverlet to top it all off.

Finally, here is the new room, all yellow and white and sunny. The Professor and I are quite happy to move out of the closet and into this room. At last we can walk around the bed! Put our clothes in drawers! Hide them in a real closet! Look out a window!

After; same view as before seen above

I haven't hung anything on the walls yet because it was a lot of work to patch the twelve million holes left by the previous resident. I don't want to ruin all my hard work just yet.

Since we presently have no blinds on the windows (that's the street outside), I pulled out a bolt of fabric I've had in my stash for a couple of years. Originally it was to reupholster a chair, but I decided it was too thin for that. The yellow in the fabric perfectly matches the new yellow walls! I simply cut eight or so feet off the bolt for each side of the window, folded down the top edge, and used little clips on rings (I'm sure they have a name) to hang them on the rod. I found the black rod at a garage sale last week for $4. I got the curtain rings on clearance, $2 a package.

The fabric still needs to be lined and the edges all finished. Later. Later.

Lovely fan decoration. I see The Professor needs a valet or box to hide his ~~junk~~ valuables on his dresser.

The outdated nightstands are headed to the next garage sale. I'm on the lookout for something to replace them.

One summery decoration hangs on the closet door: my white eyelet sundress.

One more before view of the window wall. Please ignore the lovely "high fashion" on the model.

I'm linking to Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage. and
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home