family fun

For those who have been asking where our annual Christmas picture is your wait is over.  With all the projects,travel and parties I'm just getting around to putting this out.  I do have a wonderful and beautiful family.  In case you are wondering the boy on the left is Eric, our honorary grand kid this year, Ronnie and Sara's foreign exchange student from Germany.

Ronnie's family

Nathan's family

Rich's family

The old people that started it all.

trunk redo

This trunk has a long a checkered past in our family.  First it was my Moms, I think she bought it at a thrift shop.  When they moved they gave it to me and I passed it on to my son.  It languished in his garage holding junk for several years.  My aunt was looking for a trunk so he gave it back to me to give to her.  Aunt changed her mind, deciding it was too much work, so it sat in my sun room and kitchen for a few months until I began to tackle it.  The first job was sanding it down, the paint was rough and cracked.  Two coats of chalk paint on the body and a stained wood top made it much prettier.  I used Rub and Buff in a pewter for the hardware.  I then lined the inside with old pattern pieces using Mod Podge.  A light antiquing stain came next.  The top shows off a laurel leaf transfer print to add a little interest.  To make the transfer I found a wreath I liked on the internet, enlarged it then printed it on wax paper I spray glued onto card stock.  This is a big wreath so it took 4 sheets of 81/2X11 sheets to hold it.  After the paper is printed you carefully remove the card stock and tape the wax paper pieces together.  Very gently you place the transfer upside down on your piece where you want it, tape it securely and rub with a credit card or back of a spoon to transfer the ink.  If you smear it you have to sand it down and redo the whole thing over.  That's the reason for all the taping and I know because I messed up the first one.  It did help to make pencil marks where the corners of the pages going to help align them correctly.  If my transfer had contained words I would have printed it in reverse.  A coat of wax and the new trunk was ready for resale at $165.

before

bad finish

laurel leaf transfer, i wanted an old faded look

old patterns line the inside

finished 

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table redo

This little enamel top kitchen table was a curb side find.  It sat on my patio all last summer next to my swing.  The paint was peeling and the top was covered in what I thought was old contact paper.  I brought it inside, cleaned, sanded and tightened the base.  Since I thought the top was contact paper over enamel I tried the heat gun but that was going to damage the enamel.  After some searching I found a simple and safe solution.  Water, yep plain old hot water.  I laid thick bath towels on the top and poured hot water on until the towels were sopping wet.  I left it on for 3-4 hours and took a peek.  The paint came right off with a dull scraper and some steel wool.  I always try to look for the most natural way to do projects so not having to use caustic strippers made me very happy.  Sorry no after pics.  I took it to the consignment shop where my free find is now marked $150.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas time again, that most beautiful time of the year.  I hope this season brings you good health, time spent with family and plenty of cheer.  As you eat, drink and celebrate please remember  the real reason we celebrate.  May the spirit of Jesus and all he gave for us be a constant reminder to give back.  Give to your community, the poor, food pantries or charities.  Most Americans have so much it's important to remember those who have much less or nothing at all.  I'll be taking a break to spend time with family and friends, see you in 2015.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas kitty

A friend made this beautiful quilted table pad for the holidays.  I love it, apparently Dusty loves it too.  I can't keep her off.  She really thinks she is the main star of the centerpiece.  For my more particular friends and family I do wipe down tables or counters the cats have been on before you come.  We consider them part of the family but they don't mind worth a darn.The critters are less full of germ than us, but some people are more fussy about that kind of thing than others.

how to paint a window

People love painted windows.  When I have my winter windows out or they see the one on my patio, I always get compliments and questions.  You don't need special paint or equipment to make a painted window for your home.  First step find a window, maybe you or a friend have one in the basement or go to a Habitat or salvage store, they usually have a stack.  Be sure it is a wood frame, unless you like the aluminum look.  Clean up the window with soap and water, rinse let dry.  Sand down any splinters or rough spots on the frame and make sure the caulking is mostly there.  I left this window frame as it was, I liked the chipped, peeling paint look. I found something similar to this snowman on Pinterest but you can find ideas any where.   I usually print out and words on the computer and hand draw the outline and big features on news paper.  On this one that was the face and nose with just marks where the eyes, cheeks and smile would be.  I lay the widow down over the paper, you can also tape it to the back, and painted in the head with two coats of white acrylic paint, letting it dry between coats.  Then I added the carrot nose, 3 coats of orange, ovals for eyes and a circle of pink for the cheek.  When that was dry I came back and added shading to the nose, high lights to the eyes and cheeks. The snow flakes and dots were also added.   When that was completely dry I taped the letters to the back of the window, being extra careful with the spacing, then painted over them.  For the back I used a dark blue and black paint poured on a paper plate and the brush dipped in both colors at the same time.  The background took three coats of paint.  The next day I added a heavy coat of Mod Podge to the  picture.  If it hadn't been 15 and windy I could have taken it out side for a couple coats of clear sealer.  This sealing is the key to keeping the paint from scratching off or peeling, but you do need to be careful with it.  I hung this guy above our corn stove in the kitchen and added 3 whiskey decanters filled with greenery.  It will stay there until spring.

This is a lot of words to explain something that is really very simple.  Total painting time was about an hour and a half.  I did it over a two day period but most of that was drying time.

cranberry goodness

I try to find a couple of different things to make for the holidays each year.  When I saw this cranberry liqueur I though of a few friends that would love it.  It can be sipped straight, mixed with orange juice and champagne for a mimosas, and  poured over pound cake, fruit or ice cream.
Here's what you need:
3 bags fresh cranberries
3C sugar
3C water
zest of 1 orange
Mix all together and cook on med until the berries are soft, remove from heat and let cool
Pour into a glass gallon jar and cover with 8C of vodka, cover.  You can divide this into smaller jars if you need to, leave out part of the vodka if you don't have enough room in the jar.  Be sure to use glass not plastic.  Let it sit for 4-5 days shaking 1-2 times a day.  When the liqueur is done, strain through a fine mesh strainer or a regular strainer with a coffee filter added.  Add in the extra vodka if you didn't have room for it before.  Decant into 1 liter bottles.  I used these cute bottles I found on clearance but you could also use wine bottles.  Keep well chilled.  I don't know how long this will keep, it has enough alcohol in it that it should be fine, but just in case you might want to use it quickly.  if your'e giving it away add a cute tag with serving suggestions.