Ivy

Just picked up these mini pots of ivy today and tucked one into my mini watering can and the other inside my mini solarium!   Both pieces were found at the Goodwill a while ago.  That geometric glass piece in the back is new and also from Goodwill.  It is a hurricane for a candle.  You can still see the orange Goodwill price tag peeking out from the back of it.  I need to remember to pick up a pillar candle for it.  Just thought I would post a photo of some greenery as we look forward to Spring.   The wind yesterday was unbelievable!  I was getting my hair cut and the wind knocked out the power to the hair salon.  So I was unable to have my usual blow dry and had to leave the salon with a wet head and walk to my car with 50 MPH winds and a chill factor of 6 degrees.  It wasn’t pretty.  And I’m talking about my head.  “What happened to you???” was the first thing I heard when I walked in the door.  Hurry Spring.  I can’t take much more.  It’s been a long winter!

Pot of Lavender and It’s Free!

Keep yours eyes open for this freebie from American Greetings.   You can get this Lavender Grow Kit complete with this stone pot, the soil, and the Lavender seeds for free when you purchase 4 cards with a price of at least $2.99.  No problem!  I picked up my set today.  If you live in the North Carolina area, I found mine at Harris Teeter.  A little bit of Spring…a little bit early.

Soap

I have been on the hunt for soap.  Safegard.  It’s the only soap my husband likes to use and so we have been buying and using Safegard soap since the day we were married.  And now after all these years, for some unknown reason, it’s getting hard to find.  Costco no longer carries it.  I can’t find it in my regular grocery store and and it vanished from the local Target.  Today I stopped on the way home from work and found an 8 pack of Safegard at the Food Lion.  I bought three of them for a total of 24 bars of soap.  I have to resort to hoarding I guess. 

I also stopped at TJ Maxx and found this great oversized Apothecary Jar for $9.99.  I brought it home and unwrapped each bar of soap and placed them in the jar. Smells fresh and clean.  I saw someone else do this somewhere once upon a time either in a catalog or on a blog.  So thank you to whomever for the idea.  It suits the bathroom just fine. 

Pottery Barn Inspired Roman Numeral Clock

 

Yes, the new Pottery Barn Catalog has some beautiful things in it this month.  See that Roman Numeral Clock Piece hanging on the wall?

I have been plotting and planning how I was going to make it for my own.  It’s not for sale in the catalog. (But even if it was, I am sure the price tag on it would be $249.00 like all of the other pieces in their catalog that I love.)

I was happy to see that I am not the only one who was coveting that piece.  As I was browsing blogs just the other day I came across Alchemy Junk and there it was…..Stephanie’s version of the Pottery Barn Roman Numeral Clock! If you want to see how she made her version, pop on over to her blog where she gives some great tips on how she was able to get such a vintage look.  I love her blog.  Lot’s of other projects can be found there.  I can tell that the wheels are always turning as she figures out how to make just about anything!  

 

Here is Stephanie’s clock.  It is aged to perfection!  Check out her blog post for tips on how she made her piece look old as dirt!!

So here is how I made mine.  The first thing I did was find myself  a piece of wood.  I found a 24 inch X 24 inch piece of pre-cut wood board at Home Depot for $5.84. If you decide to make this project….your wood needs to be a square with equal sized sides.  That way your clock circle with fit perfectly in the square.  Rectangles will not work! I was lucky and found a piece that was already a square.  If you want something larger or smaller have them cut you a piece right there in the store. 

I followed Stephanie’s directions and I drew out my circle using a pencil tied to a string.  After marking the center point on the wood, secure the string in the middle and run you pencil in a circle outlining the perimeter and coming as close to the edges as you can and keeping the string taught for a perfect circle.  See…you really are using something you learned in Geometry class all those years ago!

I also used some white paint and some glaze. Mixing the glaze with the white paint lets you white wash the board for that aged look.  You can also dilute your white paint with some water.  I did all kinds of things trying to make my piece of wood look old and distressed.  Stephanie offered up the great tip to rub some barn red paint with some yellow on a rag and dab on some of the holes to make them look like rusty nail marks.  I also smeared some black paint with some glaze and very carefully “smudged” up parts of the surface and quickly wiped off to give it an old look.  (Glaze helps dilute your paint…make it thinner…and keep it wet longer so that you are able to move it around and wipe off most of it with a rag when you want to.)  Stephanie at Alchemy Junk used black paint mixed with glaze for her numbers.  I simply used pencil lead.

I used a knife and a pair if scissors to gouge up and distress the wood to make it look old.  Have at it!  Get your frustrations out and beat up your piece of wood as best you can!   Sandpaper can help here too.  And don’t forget to gouge out a center hole where the hands of the clock once lived. :)

First, I tried stamping my Roman Numerals on the board which was easy but the numbers were too chunky for the look I wanted so I ended up flipping the board over and re-doing it. 

This is a photo of my first attempt.

This is sooooo not the look that I was going for.  The stamps that I used were way too big and chunky.  Learn from my mistakes people!!!

After I flipped the board over and re-outlined my circle and gouged up the wood again……I looked on line for some “thin” Roman Numerals that I liked and found them at Martha Stewart where I was able to print them out.   Remember, you only need the letters “V”, “I”, and “X” and you will have what you need to make all of the numbers.  I had to play with the size of the letter/numbers till I got the size that looked right on my clock.   There are a couple of ways to go with transferring the printouts of the numbers to your board.  You can use an “Exacto”  knife and cut out your own stencils or your can do what I did.

I used a lead pencil to color in the number printout that I was using.  After I completely filled it in with pencil lead, I placed it on my clock board upside down and used a flat nosed screw driver and rubbed the back to transfer the pencil lead to my clock face.  Then I was able to fill in my number with the pencil instead of paining them on.  I had a steadier hand using the pencil which was the faded black color I wanted and I knew I was going to white wash over it anyhow.  So feel free to simply color them in with your pencil like I did.  Looks just like I painted them on. 

To help in placing the numbers, I used a yard stick to divide the board in half vertically and horizontally and make marks with my pencil and that is where I place the numbers 12, 6, 3 and 9 on the clock.  Then I use the yard stick and mark a line diagonally from corner to corner to help me with my placement of the numbers 1 and 2, 4 and 5, 7 and 8, and 10 and 11.   After all the numbers were done, then I white washed it and “smushed” on smears of white paint with my fingers and a paint brush till it looked the way I wanted. 

And here she is!  I have it hanging on the wall in our sunroom.

I screwed a couple of eye hooks to the back with some picture hanging wire to hang it securely on the wall. 

My son thinks it need hands.  I will consider turning it into a real clock but for right now I am going to enjoy it’s Vintage-Broken Clock look.

Oakley likes it.  And really, that is all that matters! :)

 

I am linking this post up to MAKE YOUR MONDAY over at the Twice Remembered Cottage. And I am linking up to Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.  Lot’s of projects to investigate this week!! 

Super Bowl Sunday ~Are You Ready For Some Football???

To tell you the truth, I don’t really pay attention to pro football.  (I like College Football much more.)  It’s a miracle that I even know who is playing this year.  New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts right???!  Actually, the only reason I know who is playing is because we were invited to a Super Bowl party and I didn’t want to look like an idiot so I brushed up on my knowledge.  I like the the Super Bowl more for the commercials and the food than I do for the actual game.  My favorites are those E-Trade Talking Baby commercials.  How funny is that baby who spits up or calls the golfer a “shank-a-potamous”???!!  And who stays up till the end of the game anyway????  And while I am at it…..if you ask me…why is it played on a Sunday when everyone has to get up early the next day to go to work and school anyway?  Kind of takes all the fun out of it forcing everyone to behave so that they can be functional the next day.  The “powers that be” need to change the game to a Saturday night and then I might pay attention to the whole thing!

So the big and more important question is WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE FOR THE PARTY?????

Beer Cheese Spread is always a good option but I need something new and more exciting……

Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon in a brown sugar and ketchup sauce in the crock pot is a possibility…although it’s been done before, it is always well received.   (Will post this recipe on another day when I can find it)

Well…I thought about it long enough and I decided that to bring a platter of Bruschetta. 

When I started blogging back in June of last summer, my first post was this recipe for Bruschetta.  It’s delicious and easy and I think it tastes like summer and I could use a little summer after all this cold, snow, and rain.  Here you you…and have fun at your Superbowl festivities and may the best team win…whoever that might be! 

Bruschetta 
1 package of french bread toast rounds. (or you can get a skinny french baugette, slice into mini round, and toast them in the oven. I have to be careful when I do this not to burn them!  The plain french bread toasts if you can get them are so much easier!)
6 plum tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
4 or 5 fresh basil leaves, roll up and slice into ribbons
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated (the stuff in the green can is okay too :) )

Mix the all the ingredients except the Pamesan cheese together in a bowl. Then take the Microplane Grater and run it over the Parmesan cheese and add to the bowl. If you don't have a Microplane grater a regular one is fine. (And actually, the Pamesan in the tall green can is fine and I have used it in a pinch.) You will add approximately 1/4 cup of fluffy cheese. Mix it in. Set the french bread toasts on a platter. Spoon a bit of the tomato mixture on to each toast. Take the Microplane Grater once again and grate the Parmesan over the entire platter. Buon Appetito :)

Southwest Chicken Soup

It’s cold here.  It snowed again last night.  It was sleeting while I was drinking my pot of coffee this morning.  (Yes, I did say “pot”.)  Right now, we are experiencing freezing rain.  And I live in North Carolina.  This is not supposed to happen here… at least not two weeks in a row! My son went to school only 1 day this week and that day had a 2 hour delay….all because of the weather. The roads are not safe.  My husband is working out of the house today.  The local news reported that a salt truck (and probably the only one in the county) is in a ditch!!

I have no alternative but to stay home, read blogs, drink coffee, bake cookies, and make a big pot of soup!  One of my blog friends, Melanie, at Southern Comfort in a Northern Life,  blogs about her move from sunny Florida to the Kentucky/Ohio area where the snow has been a relentless and much worse that what we have had.   She and her family did the opposite of what we did….she moved from the South to the North and we moved from the North to the South…..I can so relate to that experience!!  It’s not easy!  Anyway, we both like to spend the snow days cooking and baking.  How about you?  Do you hunker down and break out the flour and sugar or the soup and stew pot??:)

Today is good day for another pot of soup.  I made a big pot last Saturday when we were snowed in and we worked on it most of the week.  We are having a Deja Vu kind of weekend so I am pulling out the soup pot one more time.

This one is tasty and it’s good for you! 

Southwest Chicken Soup

1 medium onion, diced

1 small red pepper or half of a large red pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cooked chicken breasts, pulled into pieces ( I use leftovers or Rotisserie chicken from the market)

2  32 oz. containers of chicken stock

1 can of navy beans or great northern beans, rinsed

1 can pinto or light red kidney beans

1 can of black beans, rinsed

1 can of corn

1 can or bottle of beer

4 squirts of Worcestershire sauce

1 packet of Taco Seasoning Mix

Black pepper

 

(And don’t forget the chicken…like I did when I took this photo.) :)

Saute onion and red pepper in the olive oil till soft.  Add the beans, corn, and chicken, black pepper and garlic to the pot.  Add the chicken stock, the beer, Worcestershire Sauce, and the Taco Seasoning mix and stir all together.   Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer for about an hour.  (This can also be done in the crock pot.)   This is a very forgiving recipe.  If you like corn, add another can of corn and  maybe another can of beans.  If you like, add some green pepper.

To serve, add some crumbled up corn chips to your bowl and place some shredded cheddar cheese on top.  I also like to serve this with Cheddar Corn bread.  Enjoy! 

(I just love playing around with Picassa’s Collage application!)  I am adding this post to Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum.  Lot’s of great recipes…Stop by!

TV Tray Tables Paint By Number

Remember these???? I found them at Good Will this past summer. There were a set of four, made out of wood, and they came on a rack for storage. I cleaned them up, primed them with some Kilz spray paint, and then painted all of them black. At the time, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with the tops of the tables. I thought about decoupaging them but decided against it. I also thought about putting the letter “L” in the middle for our family initial but wasn’t sure that was the way I wanted to go. So I thought about it. For many, many, months, I thought about it…..

(And sipped on one of my favorite wines… Coastline Cabernet Sauvingon while doing all that thinking.) :)

And then it came to me. More numbers!! I still love them. How easy. I already have the stencils. (If you need a source for some great stencils, check out Maison de Stencils on Etsy….that is where I found mine.)

And here they are. I love how this little number tweaking project turned out. You know I swore at one point I would never own a set of these….I thought they were tacky. Tacky? What was I thinking?! These little tables have been so handy and I can store them in the coat closet when they are not in use. They are great for parties, and for doing little projects in front of the TV. I am a TV Tray Table convert!

And FYI: I saw some individual wood tables just like these for sale at Walmart for $8.99 each. If you don’t need a whole set of four….this is a good way to go…and then you can decorate it anyway you want. So handy!

I am linking this post up to Thrifty Thursday over at Tales from Bloggeritaville...stop by for more ideas!!

AND I am linking this post up to Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage....more goodness to see there too! Stop by!