Furniture revolution!

Well, now that another busy weekend has come and gone, I have a few project pictures to share. I did a lot of painting/sanding/staining this weekend, working on some furniture I picked up at various garage sales last summer. My first project was to paint a wooden folding chair that I’m calling my garden chair. It went from a sad peeling white to a bright, vibrant green that matches my mosaic table.

In other chair news, Noah and I bought a new recliner at the Berkshire Hathaway weekend extravaganza. It is here pictured in our family room. Note the glass of wine and book sitting directly to its left. This is the kind of activity I most enjoy in my new chair :o)

I also began work on an old victrola cabinet that has been sitting in our basement for almost a year now. I only paid $10 for the thing, so I figured I couldn’t mess it up too badly and therefore decided to try my hand at veneer. It came out ok, although there are a few bubbles. It seems no matter how many heavy computer books or how many times I went over it with a rolling pin, the bubbles remained. They’ll just have to add character. All in all, I think it will make a good entryway catch all.

Finally, I wanted to share 2 more pictures. One is of a spring wreath I put together over the weekend while waiting for the hardware stores to open so I could purchase the previously mentioned veneer The other is a picture of my parents standing in front of their latest project - the house they are building. Don’t they look obsessed happy!

As a last note, I’d like to wish my parents a happy anniversary, today. Also, I’d like to thank Noah for the 4 wonderful years we’ve been married. I love you, sweetie. Happy anniversary :o)

Some gifts

Now that these gifts have all reached their appropriate recipients, I can post some pictures! Ali recently celebrated her birthday and her graduation. As a gift, Noah and I got her an r4 chip for her Nintendo DS. If you have a DS and no r4 chip, you are missing out! I am sincerely grateful to Andrew for introducing me to mine As a bonus, I decided to follow Ali’s instruction and make the meringue cookies that she demanded…I mean requested. I covered some old tins in felt and gave them to her. Some people have asked for the recipe, so I’ll include that here, too.

Tasty Meringue Cookies

---

1. Mix 2/3 C sugar and 2 T cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper so these are ready to go. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Beat 2 egg whites, 1/8 t cream of tartar and 1/2 t vanilla (or other extract, not peppermint) in a non-plastic bowl (plastic will keep peaks from forming, thanks to Alton Brown for this tidbit!) The bowl must be completely dry. Beat egg mixture until soft peaks form.
3. Add sugar mixture 1 T at a time. Beat until all sugar is incorporated and stiff glossy peaks appear. Be careful not to over beat.
4. Put meringue in a pastry bag (or plastic bag with corner cut out) and squeeze onto parchment paper. I have the best luck with blobs that are smaller than 2 inches in diameter. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies.
5. Bake for 20 at 300 degrees. Cool on wire rack. Store in air tight container.

Noah’s Grandmother, Ione, also celebrated her birthday recently. Unfortunately she was/is still recovering from a broken hip, so I made her a little lapghan that will hopefully keep her warm, but not too warm, without the bulk of a full blanket to take up extra space in her chair and get tangled up in feet and such. I hope that she is back to herself soon and that the silly broken hip didn’t dampen her birthday spirits too much.

Finally, I made some penguins out of olives to take to a neighborhood bbq and I simply had to put up a picture of them :o)

I did add a couple of reviews to the bookshelf a week or so back and I’ll be adding another one here soon, so be sure to check it out. Hope everyone has a great week!

Crafty goodness

I know that some of you are dying to know what craftiness has been in my life lately. And if you aren’t that’s too bad, because I’m going to tell you anyways

I’ve done some crochet work lately. I made a purse for a good friend of mine. I knew that she likes blue - so when I saw some jiffy lion brand on deep discount - I knew of just the project! I was very pleased with the way the large cable came out. For the sides and bottom I used a felted sweater. A new technique for me. I also finished a couple smaller projects. The throw pillow (which Gizmo so thoroughly enjoys) is for our bedroom. You can see the shams I’m working on as the background of the picture - maybe I’ll put up a final picture when its all done. The other loopy creation is a little stuffed dog I made for the new baby across the street. I hope she can enjoy it, although I think big sister already laid claim

In the background of the above puppy you can see a bit of tabletop that belongs to the mosaic table I worked on last fall. Mysteriously, it seemed to escape blogish documentation entirely - which simply can go on no longer as I am entirely too proud of it to let such anonymity continue. That being said - here are some pictures of the finished piece. I bought a table at a garage sale ($4!), painted some glass bead thingies in the colors I wanted, glued them to the table in the desired pattern and then grouted/sealed. All in all not a bad little table, if I do say so myself

I’ve also busied myself with a bit of cookery. It seems that presentation is everything. If you serve people marshmallows wrapped in fruit by the foot and call it “dessert sushi” they gooble it up. Additionally, 2 pans of rice krispy treats cut and arranged into a checkerboard keeps them guessing as to how you managed to frost them so neatly!

Finally, I fiddled around with my sewing machine and came up with this trash bag for the car. I figured it would be a good thing to have on our trip this summer…which I am so completely excited about I will make anything remotely related!!!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the fruits of my crafty labors and that everyone has a safe and happy Easter!

Baby shower and a review

Recently I had a baby shower for my good friend Rachel. She is due March 6 - but she looks as though she might pop any day now. As an extra incentive, I planned to have lots of snacks in order to help Rachel (and the little sprout) to grow even larger.

Several babies came to the shower to help convince their soon-to-be-newest-friend that things really are quite nice out here in the world. Below we have Katie (always napping), Lady Della (being held by Anne Marie), and Miss. McKenzie.

It was a book shower, so everyone had to bring at least one book to share with Rachel and her baby. There were some excellent books and it was wonderful to have everyone come out to share in the excitement.

Once the night was winding down a bit, one of the group’s older “babies” stopped by to check in on us. He and his cohort were impressed to see Rockband in residence and decided to give the equipment a soundcheck before heading out.

In other news, I’ve added a new review to My Bookshelf. Check it out! Otherwise, I should have some crafty goodness to share before too long.

My bookshelf

Hey gang, I added a new page up at the top (it looks like a little tab) called My Bookshelf.  Take a look!  It contains a couple of book reveiws that I’ve written.  I’ve set a goal for myself to write at least one of these each month.  If you have any suggestions at how I can improve my review abilities, please let me know.  I’m thinking about trying to get onto Library Journal or Booklist as a reviewer - so I need all the help I can get!