Ice Queen

Today’s post was prompted by my habit of carrying a ridiculous amount of fodder while on my epic walks.  What type of fodder, you ask?  A cell phone so I can call my mom (we chat quite frequently), my iPod for when the call is over and I’m ready for the walk to be the same, the dog leash because Hutson comes with, and of course a water bottle large enough to satiate both me and my pup.  The problem is that I only have two hands and rarely large enough pockets to accommodate my supplies.  I’ve seen water bottle holders at the store that strap on, but I just couldn’t bring myself to pay almost $30 for something that seemed so superfluous.

Enter in my recent discovery of something called Freezer Paper stencils.  The whole concept is that Freezer Paper is a cheap alternative to something like screen painting as well as incredibly easy to use.  I was itching to give it a whirl and had the perfect material to test my stencils on: Aaron’s old pile of white t-shirts.  At first I just thought I’d practice, but then practicality introduced itself to my creative side and an idea was born: use a stencil to decorate a homemade water bottle holder!

First, I gathered my supplies; simply freezer paper, a cutting board (you could use cardboard instead), my handy dandy exacto knife, fabric paint, and a pencil.

Next step was to draw my design (you could always print one off the internet you like and trace it onto the freezer paper).

Then I cut out my design, which I soon realized was annoying due to all the intricate water bubbles, etc.  Once the design is cut out, it’s time to iron it on to your material SHINY MATERIAL DOWN.  If not, the material will stick to your iron and make a mess of it.

With your design ironed on, place another sheet of freezer paper on the inside of your material so your fabric paint doesn’t bleed
through.  When applying your fabric paint, you don’t need a lot; just lightly dab on until covered.

Pull off the freezer paper and, wah-lah!, you are done.

I took my design and cut it up to make my bag, sewing it up and adding an elastic band on top and a braided handle.

Here’s me about to take my new water bottle bag on its inaugural walk.  Goofy, I know, but Aaron insisted and I wanted to give a sense of perspective on its size.

So now that you’ve learned how easy it is to make your own Freezer Paper stencils, I hope you’ll give a try!  If you do, feel free to send me a photo of the result so I can post it, too.

We’ve Moved!

Well, we have not really physically moving (yet), more like moved all the posts we’ve shared on this site to another web address.  The reason for this move is because there is another blog that shares the name “Cultivating Home”.  As you can imagine, this caused a little confusion when people came looking for either or and did not find the one they wanted.  The good thing is that we are staying with WordPress so all of our past posts are still available at our new place.  I’m still working on the overall look of the other blog, but in time it will come together.  In the meantime, things might be a little wonky and change frequently.  Feel free to weigh-in with your opinions/comments/etc.!

So….follow us on over to the new spot: http://wearerandalls.com! If you have been kind enough to put us on your blogroll/favorite blogs list, please remember to update your link.

Mirror, Mirror

Hello and happy rainy Tuesday!  It’s taken me a while to get it together this week and my excuse is because we had a marvelous and busy weekend.  We were blessed with the presence of very good friends from Charleston, South Carolina for a few days.  We talked for hours catching up, went to the farmer’s market, and generally ate, drank, and were merry.  As part of our tour of High Point and Greensboro, we stopped by The Red Collection.

I was introduced to The Red Collection by my mother-in-law.  It is a warehouse full of quality consignment home goods.  There are tons of drapes, pillowse, couches, sconces, lamps, rugs, paintings, dressers, consoles, and every other imaginable and unique decorating item.  I love this place because everything is marked quite reasonably and the prices drop every 30 days an item goes unsold.  The only problems is is that things rarely go unsold.  As I told our friends before we entered, “If you like something, get it.  It won’t be here if you change your mind.”

With that advice, we wound our way through the maze of awesomeness with everyone finding something.  Even though Aaron and I had just gone a week prior (it’s an addiction), I ended up buying a few items that apparently had just come on the floor.  I had been needing a small mirro for this bathroom in the basement:

I had been looking for some time, but just could not find the right one.   That is until I spotted the perfect little beauty on Saturday for…are you ready for this?…$7.95!  An absolute steal if you ask me and it looks like it was made for this bathroom.

It looks relatively new and the price let’s me know that this isn’t necessarily a piece of value, but, again, it was just what I was looking for.  So not only was our weekend wonderful and well spent with good friends, but it was quite fruitful as well.  Cheers!

Run, run, as fast as you can!

Halloween is little over a week away and I am not nearly as prepared for this holiday as I’d like to be.  I’ve put out my pumpkins, my homemade festive garland, and even a witch in my front yard.  While the decorating is about as done as it’s going to get, I still haven’t completed the most important of tasks:  Little Man’s costume!

Last year I had made him an adorable pumpkin costume and we were smitten with his sweetness.  This year when I asked him what he wanted to be, he told me a Gingerbread Man.  I just about melted into a puddle when he said this.  The Gingerbread Man is one of his favorite stories we read at night and, he almost knows it by heart, hence the source of his request. It doesn’t hurt that over the big pond we call the Atlantic, little red heads are called “Gingers”, too, making his choice that much more perfect.

The shameful aspect of this story is that my son decided weeks ago what he wanted to be. I’ve had the brown felt and appliqes for weeks, too.  But is the costume finished?  That would be a negative.  I think I first got discouraged when it took all my bartering power to get Little Man to lay down so I could cut the felt to shape (supposedly the easiest method for making sure the costume will fit).  Instead of cooperating, he kept posing…like this.

Cute? Yes.  Conducive to creating a costume that fits? No.  By the time I was able to cut out his shape and sew it together, I again had to wrestle with him to try it on for good measure.  Again, no cooperation.

Not that he wasn’t funny.  He was.  Just not very helpful.  At this point, I have managed to add sleeves and do a little decorative work although it’s still a ways from being finished.  There’s always next week, right?

Comfort Food

We all have a certain, food, smell, or flavor that makes us feel safe and comfortable.  For some it’s chocolate, or chicken noodle soup, or even your mom’s meatloaf.  After a busy day a the office and at home, I was in dire need of my comfort food:  risotto.  I love it’s creaminess and fresh out of the pan warmth…it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

If you haven’t made risotto before, have no fear.  It is relatively easy, although it does need regular attention during its preparation.  The upside is that you can make an infinite number of variations on the basic recipe.  So gather your ingredients and let’s get started!  You’ll need olive oil, Arborio rice (2 cups), 6 cups chicken broth, and salt and pepper for the basic recipe.  For mine, I also used 1 cup sliced mushrooms, turmeric for color, Comte cheese (shredded), and a dash of heavy cream.

First step is making your broth.  I started by making a 6 cup batch of broth using three cubes of chicken bouillon.  After my broth was done, I set it aside. I then heated about tbsp. of olive oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium (I have gas so sometimes it’s hard to tell how hot I have it).  Once the oil was heated, I poured in my rice, stirring to coat for about 2 minutes.  Do not let the rice burn! 

 Next pour in one cup of broth.  Occasionally stir your rice.  Once the broth is absorbed, our in another cup. You continue to pour a cup at a time, letting the rice absorb the majority of the liquid until you add another cup. 

When I have two cups of broth remaining, I add in my mushrooms or whatever other veggies you want to add, along with my turmeric.  This particular spice lends a lovely color to the dish.

 

Once my broth is roughly 90% absorbed I throw in dash of heavy cream and ½ cup of shredded Comte cheese.  I turn my heat to low, stirring so all ingredients are melted, absorbed, and well-mixed.  Then I spoon in to a bowl, garnish with parsley sprigs and more shredded Comte, and eat! Total cook time is roughly 35-45 minutes.

 

Feel free to modify your risotto by tossing in a little prosciutto or salami, using different veggies, tossing in pine nuts, and/or substituting Comte for blue, brie, or whatever else you have on hand.  Enjoy!

Console-ation Prize

When people move, it seems they always leave something behind.  Whether that be a shoe, magazines, a chair, or something else, doesn’t really matter.  I just find it interesting that it’s rare to move into a previously owned home and not find some remnant of the prior owner.  Perhaps it’s a deep-seated unconscious desire to remain attached to a place that has been a part of our memory, even in a seemingly small, insignificant way.  What do you think Freud would say?  He’d probably say it’s that ole Oedipus complex rearing its ugly head again.

Okay, I’m am now off my soapbox and done waxing philosophical on you (applause).  Of course, by now, you should have deduced that today’s post is about a piece of furniture, you got it, left behind by our home’s previous owners.  This 70′s style hutch was stored away in the basement storage room and we immediately felt we could put it to use.  We had it sitting out, unchanged, in the basement for many months, just holding our record player and records.  Finally, I found inspiration to give it a more attractive look.  Sorry for not having a picture of the hutch before it was dismantled, but Aaron was very industrious before I got home to snap the shot.  
Here is the top part of the hutch now suspended in our laundry room (also in the basement) for additional storage.  It has already proved exceptionally useful.

Funny enough, it’s actually hung above another piece of furniture left behind by the previous owners.  This is the bottom piece of the hutch, ready for a little revamping and it’s new role as a entertainment console.

My first step was taking the doors off, filling the holes where the screws had been, and sanding them until smooth.  I was not planning on putting the doors back on (at least for now), so I had to ensure you couldn’t discern that had ever been there in the first place.  Then I primed.  Waited.  Did my first coat of paint using the Sherwin William’s paint leftover from the upstairs hallways.  Waited.  Did a second coat.  Waited. 

After all that waiting, I convinced Aaron to move our huge piece of granite downstairs (with my help of course).  It just so happened to be the perfect size to use as a top for our new console.   Here’s a close-up; isn’t it lovely? Did I mention it was free?!

A

After a little heave, ho’, we had everything in place.  Then I went to work with a little quick styling, using wine crates to hide our CD and game collection.  Without further ado, here she is!

I  love the Osage oranges against the red, although they are just temporary until I have time to find more permanent accessories.

And what did I listen to as I so lovingly photographed our new (and completely free) furniture?  Jonny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, of course

Here’s one more angle to give you a feel for the new piece.  It’s not a knee-shaking, wowzers, kind of piece, but it will proudly serve as loved record station for us. 

And last but not least, a little photo collage of our basement so you can sorta kind-of understand the layout of our basement and where exactly this console is situated (although I did not include photos of the laundry room or bathroom).  * Please note that I do not have Photoshop and hence did the best collage I could without. Clicking on the picture will give you a larger view.

Purposeful Repurposing

I mentioned two weeks ago that we put our house on the market. The main reason is because we want a more vibrant, robust location. Our neighborhood is great, the house is wonderful, but the location doesn’t offer the pedestrian friendly, young family composition we so desire at this point in our lives. We aren’t overly optimistic that selling is going to be easy, so we’re prepared for a bit of a wait. In the meantime, we’re going to continue to enjoy our home and dive into projects (although not any that are too involved).

As part of the selling process, the realty firm we’re working with scheduled a walk through to familiarize all the agents with our listing in hopes that it is what one of their current or future clients is looking for. We received a lot of nice, helpful comments that made us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Things like “great layout”, and “nice paint choices”, to “pretty backyard”, and “desirable location”. Of course, not everything was so glowing, particularly in regards to our fourth bedroom. Remember how we had had that yard sale a few weekends ago? Yea, well, we sold a lot of excess furniture in anticipation of downsizing if and when our house sells. This left that bedroom pretty sparse.

The realtors suggested that we stage it as a bedroom to help potential buyers visualize its purpose and potential. Since we didn’t exactly have a spare bed laying around and weren’t about to go purchase one just for this purpose, I decided to go a different route: turn this room back into my craft room/office space. This just so happens to be the same use we originally used this room for. Amazing how things come full circle, isn’t it?

 Anyhoo, I looked in our storage room and pulled out a small farm table, some random accessories, and paintings I had temporarily stored. Then I culled a club chair, a hutch, and other items from around the house to complete the look. This helped to 1) create a purpose for the spare room, and 2) de-cluttered the rest of the house. Gotta love the benefit of two for the price of one, right? So here’s the result.

I now have a comfy sitting area for practicing my banjo playing (seriously) and some quality book reading.

One of Little Man’s paintings on display.

An artwork my mother made for me using an old window (that I absolutely adore).

And of course all of Little Man’s and my own art supplies tucked away neatly for use on one of our many art projects.

Since this room has a closet, I thought I’d try to put that to good use as well.  I moved my magazine/idea reference rack into this space and even had room to hang my linens and draperies that are not currently in use.

Last but not least, and of course the center of attention, is the sewing area. 

I love how I now have plenty of room to spread my projects out instead of sharing work space with Aaron (he loves having a room/office all to himself now, too!).  He can now spread out all of his papers, work orders, computer equipment, etc., as much as he needs without worrying about infringing on “my side”.  All in all, I’ say this project was a win-win for everyone and didn’t cost anything accept a little time and effort.

Starting Off With A Bang (literally)

Yesterday was a bit of a bust….in every sense of the word.  I’ve been under the weather the last week, laden down with congestion, cough, and general malaise.  I was finally feeling better yesterday morning and actually managed to get myself and Little Man out the door by 6:30 am so we could go to work/daycare, respectively. 1 mile into our journey, I got t-boned.  Luckily, everyone is okay except for my stiff neck and shouulder this morning.  The car?  Not to so good.  We’re anxiously awaiting a call from our insurance adjuster to tell us it’s condition.

So how did this happen?  Well, it was raining for one.  And the elderly man neither saw or heard me as he swung out to cross my lane of traffic to go the opposite way.  I knew he was going to hit me as I saw him accelerate and braced myself for impact.  I remember slamming against the door and the car going up on two wheels, but I must have blacked out from the force of the airbags deploying.  The next thing I knew, I was smelling smoke and was desperate to check on Little Man.  Although I was hysterical, he was fine. 

Let’s just say that this was one of the scariest moments of my entire life. Fortunately for me, a very kind and good samaratin was there to comfort and protect us.  I feel very grateful that no one sustained serious injury, particularly given the damage both cars sustained.  Obviously, it could have been much worse.  Now we have new problems with getting a rental sorted out, dealing with insurance companies, and figuring out how we are going to afford a new car…but we’re alive.  And healthy, although a little more emotionally battered. 

I tell you this because these events are a lesson to all of us how important our family, friends, and other loved ones are to our emotional, psychological, and even physical well-being.  I’m sad about the probably loss of our car, but it is an inconsequential concern when compared with the well-being of my son.  I feel truly blessed to have such a loving husband, son, and in-laws.  A special thanks to Marti and Brian for being there for us yesterday and doing everything possible to help.  Love you all!

A-’door’-able Revamp

A few days ago I shared our front door revamp.  A little paint, a little time and patience, and presto chango!, a much more inviting entry way.  I was so thrilled with the results, I wondered why not give the same treatment to the other two exterior doors?  They were definitely in dire need of a little pick-me-up.  Take for instance the door out of the kitchen to the screened-in porch. 

Between our pooch Hutson’s claws and the red clay mud he scraped all over it, this door was looking a little rough.

Yikes!  To prepare, the first things I did were to thoroughly clean the door to remove any dirt, pollen, and whatever else had adhered itself to this surface over time.  Then I sanded the rougher parts.  Do you know what I didn’t do?  Tape off the glass panes.  With so many individual panes, crooks, and crannies, I thought the best mode of attack was to paint everything and then use a laser blade to scrape off excess later.  And let me tell you,  it was sooo much easier than taping off!  I doubt I will ever tape off glass again.

With that little tip aside, let’s see the results of Door Project #1, shall we?

Besides the fact that I need a new mat (the one pictured came with the house), I think the new look looks awesome.  I absolutely love this shade of orange (Earthen Jug by Sherwin Williams) paired with the taupe painted brick.  Here’s the door in a broader shot so you can see the context of it’s surrounding.   Don’t you agree it’s much improved?

Now on to Door Project #2!  This door leads from the basement out to the backyard.  Drab and boring!

Not only did I paint this door the same shade of orange, I also painted a little of the trim work in SW’s Universal Khaki to give it a little more presence/dimension.

With the newly painted door, this entranceway looks so much more inviting.  I couldn’t be more pleased with how little effort it took to achieve these results. 

Taking a few steps back, you can really notice how desperately the back of our house needed a dose of color.

There is still a lot I want to do to improve the exterior of our house, but the few hours I spent on these doors is surely  a step in the right direction.

Wrapping the Grass

Your first impression reading today’s post title might conjure up thoughts of a special type of grass…the kind that is used to make rugs, of course.  And you know what?  You’d be right!  Several months ago I was lucky enough to score a huge remnant of wall-to-wall grass carpeting for $70.  I had heard about how a decorator, who’s a friend of a friend, was redoing a bedroom once where it had wall-to-wall grass carpet. (can you even really call it carpet?) He cut several pieces out of it, had them trimmed in fabric, and used them as area rugs in his own home.  Ingenious and thrifty!

So when I saw the pile of grass rug remnants at my local Habitat for Humanity, I knew exactly where they would go.  My living room!  The only problem was is that I wasn’t about to lug this to some professional carpet people so they could trim it out.  Oh no.  I figured if they can do it, so can I.  I hightailed it over to Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon in hand and bought a role of woven jute ribbon with just a touch of orange-red threaded through.

I bought the whole roll of 18 yards, originally priced at $.99/yard.  With my coupon however (and tax),  I paid less than $13 bucks for all of it.  There is no way that a professional could give me as good a price.  As soon as I had some free time (almost a week after I bought the jute ribbon), I went to work trying two different types of glue: small project liquid nail and no sew glue.  I wanted to have at least two different types on hand in case one didn’t work. 

I did a test section for each and, lo and behold, both held together like champs.  One thing that I believe really helped the adhesion process was waiting it down with books.  I loaded my freshly glued sections up with plenty of weight to 1) keep the jute edging in place and 2) ensure everything gripped together tightly.

This little project took most of the day, considering that I didn’t want to haul every book I owned in order to weight down all the edges (or put them all away again when I was done).  Despite the time absorption, I’m pretty happy with the end results.  It was just what our rug needed in order to look “finished”.  For a quick comparison, here’s a side by side for you to gauge the results for yourself. 

Considering that my total costs for this project came to $83 and the rug itself is about 12 x 15, I’d say I got myself a deal!