Friday, September 30, 2011

Dozenth day, yea that's a word


The Artsy Girl Connection

12 days have never been this fun... come on you know it's true.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

11th day


The Artsy Girl Connection

Check out today's latest creative fun!

Mirror mirror, not on the wall?

Do you ever see something and think... I'm not sure if I can do something with that?  Yea, that's me... pretty much all of the time but I figure I can't make it worse and I'm ok with that.  There is no measuring, there is nothing exact about it and since I know that I'm totally ok with pretty much any result.  And this is coming from a person with a pretty severe OCD's... but in my own little messed up world if I don't try and make it perfect it is ok.

So step one: I picked up this mirror in a throw away pile





Next I put a glaze on the frame,  it is a simple clear mixing glaze.  This allows for top coat of paint to be easier to see through and wipe away before it dries.


Let it dry fully before putting on the next coat



Then I put an antique white on top of the glaze and used a rag to wipe up areas to make it look more worn and faded.




What do you think? 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Easy as 1,2,3

Here's another random project that I took on.  I got this cork board for free and thought.... hmmm, who can't use a cork board?

Step one was to wash and pull off all the stickers that were on it and then to paint it!



Another coat...


Let it dry fully


Then comes the "Crackle Glaze".  The instructions are on the container but it is super easy.  Paint, glaze (put it on smooth, not thick or thin), and then a matte paint.



Then after you do those steps, you get the finished product!


On the 9th day of blog crawl my blogger gave to me...


The Artsy Girl Connection

... A creative and awesome treat!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Relax and Chill

"Family Room" makes me automatically think of a musky basement that is only partially finished, just enough that were children to jump around and fall there would be no maiming.  That could be do to my parents "family room"  when I was really little was pretty much that to a tee.  Now, if I were to have a "family room" it would look a bit different.  I would be more of a "den" situation.  I would want couches that are comfy enough to take naps in and be a lot more relaxed "in case".  Have my "entertainment stuff" in there.  It would be wide open enough to play "twister" and work on projects!  It is a room of life and fun... it is chill and relaxed.


This was brought to you by deep thoughts inspired by Gussy Sews!

22nd but only day 4 of the crawl


The Artsy Girl Connection

Today
 http://www.readingconfetti.blogspot.com/

Shows us a thing or two...

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 2 of the fall blog crawl


The Artsy Girl Connection

Today on the blog crawl:  Check out

http://happybabychronicles.com/

Bistro my bistro!

Do you remember the porch post a while back?  Well, I finally got my bistro set thanks to an 3rd anniversary gift from my parents, grandmother and Aunt (I also got a kickin' knife set I wanted for a long time from my husbands generous parents!).

So with excitement not to be deterred, we ripped apart the box... well as much as you can rip thick card board.  
  

Wrapped and wrapped again. I feel like a spoiled child at Christmas, a desire to throw packing material in all directions!


I few minutes later we put all the pieces together and we were set!


With a set!



Thursday, September 15, 2011

Manic or Bi-polar

Do you ever feel like you are a split personality?  I do more often then not.  At this moment I ponder over the prompt provided by Gussy sews: Favorite Shop.  This is what causes my trepidation today.  I sit pondering my favorite store.  Other than the obvious, "free" store, too many names pull to the front of my mind.  And the split personality doesn't come into deciding which is my favorite, indecision isn't split in my mind it is the barbarian that forged it's way to control, how it managed to make enough decisions to do that I don't know... maybe it's indecision bored everyone to death.  No, the split comes in the joy and pain that I have at the idea of any store.  The joy of the idea of new things, shoes, baskets, glasses you name it, the idea of simply walking the aisles and envisioning the world where it all these pieces would fit.  The pain comes washing over me at even the whim of an idea to purchase anything.  You see as I have mentioned before I am super... tight.  I'd like to use the frugal but it isn't even close to how I feel about money.  It causes me actual pain to swipe my card, write a check or hand over cash.  When I look around my house I see dollar signs instead of flatware and savings account instead of china.  So the idea of choosing a favorite store... I feel like a manic depressive, washed over with joy only to have a wave of pain. 



By: RachelGussy Sews Inspiration Workshop!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Best part of the summer

So my husband and I love myself so ice cream under normal circumstances but we now make homemade... and it is amazing, no fantastic!  So here is our process:

We make the base in bulk.

Consists of whipping cream, milk, sugar and eggs.



This particular time I made coffee.  We have a french press, with that we make it strong (you can do the same thing with a regular coffee pot but you'd need to simmer it down a bit to make it stronger).


You mix all the ingredients together and whisk them together as much as possible, prior to heating.  Then put the pot on very low heat for as small of time as possible till it coats the back of a metal spoon.


It should look a bit like this


Here is the metal spoon coated.

I put it all in a large tupperware and put it back in the fridge overnight.

The next day we put it in out Cuisinart ICE 20


It takes about 20 min and "look mom, no hands"


Then pull it out ice cream, put it in a tupperware and let it freeze harder for a couple hours!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Inspiration by any other name



Inspiration, such an odd word.  It can mean music that references God, it can mean movies that make you cry, it means muse to others.  To me the idea of inspiration in the sense that Gussy: inspirational books.  To me that makes me think of children... not in the sense of having my own but the joy, ease, energy, and imagination!  I miss my imagination!  It could turn a table and chairs into a pirate ship or a cave on a lost island.  Now it is just a place to eat dinner... When was the last time you brought out blankets and sheets to make a secret tent?  When was the last time you wanted a secret tent.  Childhood is an amazing thing because not even if you were locked in at age 8 would you keep the childish joy you have life experience would get in your way.  Thus Peter Pan is my ultimate inspiring book.  I place where a child can live on as a child... what a great thought.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Chicken Parm on a whim

So my husband and I were out after a long day and we wanted to eat quick... so we made Chicken parm?

Yes, that is actually true.  How we made it was pretty quick.  I got some fresh chicken (it was buy1 get 1, actually the reason we chose to eat Chicken Parm), pounded it out flat (I put it inside wax paper so that it doesn't splash)...


Ready for the El Cheapo version right here: crushed Ritz crackers

 Dip the chicken in milk and then into the ritz crackers 
 Then on to the frying, I used a bit of butter and olive oil
Then topped it with premade tomato sauce... wonderful and hit the spot in less then 15 min.  My favorite part of this meal: I could just leave it be frying and come back every 7 min or so to flip it!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Coveting: appreciating someone else's stuff and desiring it for your own




There is something awesome about "Vintage", just typing it gets me excited as to all the possibilities.  Just a few minutes from my house there is an awesome vintage store filled with amazing household items and a small section of eclectic clothes.  Every time I push through those doors it is as if there are endless possibilities... Well almost, if  I had endless funds ;P.  One of my favorite things to find vintage is clothes.  Due to my proportions the cut of clothes from the 50's and early 60's I have found to be the most flattering... but the price is not usually.  Maybe it is the history, maybe it is because it is in limited supply, maybe it is because they really are awesome... I don't know but oh man do I like them!