...while the blender was out

I had some broccoli languishing in my refrigerator this week-end and it inspired me to make some cream of broccoli soup. I don’t use my blender very often so I keep it in a box in the basement. This helps free up valuable space in my kitchen. My basement…well on occasion it does become a dumping ground for “stuff”. Long story short, I headed down to excavate it to cream up my soup.

While I was moving things around to uncover the blender, I came across a huge bag of paper scraps and my paper making supplies. I was reminded of a project on my list that I hadn’t gotten to yet: paper bowls. So, while the blender was out, I decided to make one. I started by tearing little scraps of blue paper and placing them in the blender with some water to make a pulp.

I decided to use a pan bottom as my mold and sprayed it with cooking spray in lieu of official mold release which I haven’t been able to find. I used a too much water to make my pulp and had to wring it out a bit before applying it to the pan bottom. The pulp went on fairly easily and before long I had a nice even base. Now it was time to dry it all out. I set the oven on low and put the pan with its paper hat in to dry. I was a little worried about starting a fire so I only left the oven on for about a half hour. By morning, the bowl was dry enough to remove from the mold, which it did beautifully.

Hmmm, the bowl was papery and weak and not good for any purpose as far as I could tell. It held its form well but was very fragile and had to be handled with extreme care or it would tear apart. While gazing at the bowl, I began to envision the sky blue bowl as a base for another paper project I had hanging around. Out came the mulberry paper and water color paints.
This technique is called washi chigiri-e. Paper shapes are torn from the mulberry paper and sprayed with a little water. A brush dipped in water color paint is then touched to the edge of the shape and the paint seeps into the paper. I chose to create a sunflower to place in the bowl.

I thought it only fair to showcase a failure as well as my successes. So here it is in all its lame glory, a stupid paper bowl serving no purpose whatsoever. I’m not sure what I ever thought I would do with a paper bowl but at least it’s off my list of things to do. I’ll keep thinking on it but for now I’m putting it back in my bag of scrap paper to recycle into some other project someday. By the way, the soup was delicious!

Yard Sale Finds

We all know and love yard sales. Some of us make a day of it and shop at as many as we can. Often buying things that only end up in our own yard sales a year or so later. Lesson learned I have tried to stay away from yard sales for the past few years. I really have enough stuff. But I have to admit, it’s hard to resist the lure of poking through all the treasures that are left out in the yard for sale. As I pass yard sales I can almost hear those treasures calling me to stop and take them home. It makes me crazy!

This past summer I was driving home from work on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I passed one yard sale after another. I was trying so hard to resist the call. Finally, I just couldn’t stand it any longer and I pulled over at the next sale that came into sight. Darn, I wish I had picked another sale. It was so disappointing to finally stop and find mostly junk. I always try to buy something but I was having a hard time finding anything of interest. The only thing that attracted my attention was a chest. It was looking a little rough but interesting. Someone had tried to strip the paint from it and the feet were missing. It looked like it had been hanging around for a while.

Knowing that I really didn’t have any real use for the chest, I started walking back to my car. The homeowners called after me asking me to please take something home. Wasn’t there anything I might be interested in? I mentioned the chest and before I knew it, the thing was in my car and I was on my way home. By the way, they reduced the price to $10!

So, the chest has been sitting in my basement every since. Added to the treasures from the attic, it has been difficult to navigate through the basement and it was almost impossible to get to my treadmill. As much as I hate the treadmill, it was time to come up with a plan so this chest could move on.

The first step was to come up with some feet. My clever husband quickly crafted some wooden feet that I felt fit the style of the chest. After exploring my furniture finishing options, I decided to go with a natural Tung oil finish for the chest. I felt I would be able to get a warm consistent finish with this product. I had to chuckle to myself as I rubbed the oil over a surface that still had some leftover bits and pieces of paint deep in the crevices. If I had started to strip the chest myself, I would never have let this go. But because it wasn’t my work, I considered it a nice rustic look. Maybe there’s a lesson there. Anyway, I was right about the finish. The oil added just the right luster and the result was rich and warm.

Now I needed to tackle the feet. I dragged out my variety of stains and finishes. I could not get anything to match or even coordinate. I don’t know what kind of wood it is, but the tone is rust colored. Not being able to find the right color, I combed the hardware store looking for a creative solution. I even checked out the second hand stores looking for odds and ends of old feet that might have been left behind. I had an elderly salesman tell me I could take his old feet but I decided against that option. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t come up with anything. Back to the stains I went. It really is hard to look at that little sample and just “see” how it will look. I had to decide so I took a chance and I think I got it right!

With the feet stained and attached to the chest, I am very pleased with the result.
It’s an interesting piece that looks like it has a story to tell. The chest ha
s taken up residence in my daughter’s room for the time being but I’m hoping that it goes home with someone one of these days. Another project finished and crossed off the list. Maybe I’ll be able to find my treadmill again soon.

Bottle Cap Coasters

While perusing the craft section at the Waterfront Arts Festival a few years ago, I spotted some coasters that featured beer bottle caps. They just screamed fun and good times. But it was such a hot day that it was all I could do just to keep walking let alone make a decision to buy anything. Of course once I got home and refreshed, I wished I’d taken the time to buy a few. Once a festival closes, you have no idea where to buy the wonderful things you passed by. Fortunately, I live in an area where there are LOTS of festivals and the hunt was on. From festival to festival we went in search of the coasters until I finally found them a year later at Canal Days in Fairport (a really nice festival if you are ever in the area!). Even though the selection was low by the time I found them, I did buy a few.

As I used the coasters I started to really look at how they were made and decided I wanted to try to recreate them. There were only three materials needed: resin, bottle caps and the container to act as the coaster itself. How hard could it be? It was much harder than I thought and the search took me several months. The resin was readily available at Michael’s and with my 40% off coupon was affordable. Because I wanted a real variety of bottle caps, I enlisted the help of my craft beer drinking friends. They really took my request to heart and always checked the bottle caps to make sure they were “cool” before making their purchase. Thanks, guys!

The real trick was finding the container. What was it? I searched on-line for petri dishes and that wasn’t it. I searched for stainless steel jar covers, no luck. I was thinking of giving up when I walked passed a display of jar candles at Big Lots. That was it! The covers on the jars were exactly what I was looking for. Now that I knew what I was looking for, I needed to find the source. Back to the internet I went. It took some doing, but I finally found a source and placed my order.

The process was very simple, mix up the resin, pour a small layer, and arrange the caps, let dry for 24 hours. This step is crucial because the bottle caps have a
tendency to float if the resin is poured to fill the entire form. Once dry, the bottle caps are adhered to the bottom of the coaster and another batch of resin can be poured to cover the bottle caps. I don’t think there is any way to avoid the little bubbles in the resin that are created from stirring. I used my hair dryer on a low temp to bring the bubbles to the surface so they could pop. Dry for another 24hours before using.

Mission accomplished! I think these little guys are adorable and make great party favors for a fun-loving group. I did puzzle over this project for quite some time. Could my brain power have been used to solve a larger problem than making beer coasters? Sure, but what fun would that be!

...more from the attic

In my last post I mentioned that we had dragged some odds and ends from Tom’s family garage attic. Among the treasures was an adorable chrome and red Formica table but no chairs. We pulled out two formal dining room chairs that were covered with goop and grime. My mother thought she could revitalize the chairs to match the table until we found the appropriate chairs to complete the set. She took the chairs home and scrubbed them up and painted them red so they would match the table. Before we could pick them up, I rescued some chrome chairs from the dumpster at work that I knew would match the table. The result? Two red dining room chairs with no purpose.

Unable to sentence them to the landfill, the red chairs ended up in my basement which is getting extremely crowded with all my treasures. As I walked on my treadmill, I would look at the chairs and wonder what to do with them. They have good lines and are very sturdy. Hmm, being in the Adirondack frame of mind, birch bark came to mind. My thought was to do a faux birch bark finish and pull the chairs up to the table in our new camp. I had an idea but not the experience to pull it off. I looked through some faux painting books from the library but there were no birch bark examples for me to follow. What to do? I called my mom who has been painting furniture for years. Even though she hasn’t done anything lately, I was confident she could help with my project.

I was fortunate enough to have my mother come and spend the week-end with me. I’m happy to say she was eager to help me with my project. It took a little bit of explaining to convey my thoughts to her, but once she got it, we were off and running. We started in the morning with two coats of white ceiling paint as a primer. By the time we got home later in the afternoon, we were eager to start the. faux painting part of the project and turn the chairs into birch trees. We worked together pretty well, me trying to explain my vision and her trying to teach me the technical aspects of the job. I worked on one chair and Mom on the other. Our styles are a little different but in the end, the chairs look pretty similar.

I’m not sure if the chairs are quite done yet, they may need a little detail here and there but I’m pretty pleased with them so far. Another victory for old furniture! The chairs are truly unique and will certainly add a little whimsy to our décor. I haven’t worked on a project with my mother for quite a while now and I have to say, it was a real pleasure. Thanks, Mom!

Kale Chips

Kale seems to be one of the must have vegetables lately. Every time I get a food magazine, kale is a featured ingredient. And no wonder. It is a super nutritious vegetable and an excellent source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K. I also learned that it is a part of the cabbage family. I decided to give kale a try. My first recipe was a butternut squash and kale risotto. What I discovered is that kale has a very strong, overpowering flavor and I decided it was not for me. But, hey, at least I tried.

Recipes for kale chips seem to be popping up everywhere. All the reviews are just stellar. Everyone seems to just love them and they sound easy to prepare. All summer I kept telling myself I would give them a try but when I stopped at the farm stand each day on my way home from work, I just couldn’t bring myself to buy the kale. The flavor of the previous recipe would come to mind and I would shudder. Just when I had finally convinced myself to try again, the stand was closed for the season. I was saved!

Still, the thought of those kale chips was haunting me. I spotted kale in the grocery store this week-end, took a big breath and threw a bunch in my cart. Once
home, I cut out the stem, broke the leaves into two-inch pieces tossed it in olive oil and put it all into the oven to crisp up. Wow! I was more than pleasantly surprised. The little crisps just seemed to melt in my mouth. With a little salt and garlic powder, they were very tasty. I ate up a good handful and put the rest in a plastic bag for another time.

And now here I am thinking about a little snack. What will it be, kale chips or Tostidos? Hmmm, I wonder.