Halloween 2014 (Costume and Edible Spider Eggs)

by Irene // November 2, 2014 // No Comments

Halloween was fun despite the wet, 38˚weather. I enjoy participating in the festivities at work by dressing in costume and bringing something festive for the shared potluck. It takes a long time to find a costume that is appropriate for my age. I have to sift through costumes for children, groups, and inappropriate costumes. So, after days of searching for the simplest and cutest costume, I decided on a beekeeper costume. I was guided by Martha Stewart’s instructions.

Finding the chenille bees was a bit of a challenge, but I finally found them at Amazon.com. They were pricey ($6.98 for a package of 5) and I probably wouldn’t have purchased if I had to pay shipping—thank you Amazon Prime! I found a perfect alternative with Jolee’s Boutique Dimensional Bee Stickers at Michael’s. With my 40% coupon, I paid about $5 for 50 stickers.

Next, on my lunch break, I visited my local Sherwin Williams and purchased a Tyvek coverall set for about $5 and a small metal pail for about $3.99. Total spent was about $28. I could have bought a costume for about $30, but I think there’s something charming about homemade costumes.

Items needed:

A brimmed straw hat (found in closet)

White spray paint (found in garage)

Tyvek coveralls (Sherwin Williams about $5.99)

Metal bucket (Sherwin Williams about $3.99)

2 (packages of 5) chenille bees (Amazon.com $6.98/package)

2 (packages of 25), Jolee’s Boutique Dimensional Bee Stickers (Michael’s Crafts 3.99/package)

1 yard black netting (Hancock Fabrics $1.06/yard)

Seam binding (found in sewing stash)

Glue gun (found in craft stash)

Instructions:

Note: Martha’s instructions included stenciling the word “Honey” onto the bucket. I, instead, printed the word “Honey” from a photo I downloaded via Google and taped it on to the bucket with packing tape.

1) Paint your hat (if you’d like it white) a couple of days before the party, so that it can dry completely.

2) Measure and cut the netting to 15” long and the circumference of the hat brim. Glue the seam binding to the netting and then hot glue the seam binding to the hat brim.

3) Straighten the wire on the chenille bees and push through spaces in the hat and twist the wires on inside of hat. (Placement should indicate bees flying around the hat).

4) Randomly hot glue the bee stickers on the netting.

And you’re done!

I’ve discovered if I do anything (even thinking about what I need to do), I feel like I’m ahead of the game (wrong!). Would you believe I was still surprised while assembling the costume the night before Halloween, that I ran out of time to make anything spectacular for the potluck.

Well, thank you Pinterest! I decided on Spider Eggs…powdered sugar donut holes with plastic spiders. A run to the grocery store for donut holes also resulted in claw tongs (bonus find). I printed a dish identifier using a cool spider web font. I used black ink, but an orange one is available as well, right here.

Saving Earth…one step at a time (Eliminate Junk Mail)

by Irene // October 13, 2014 // No Comments

I was around for the original Earth Day and the environmental movement of the 1970’s. So, while not being an expert, or OCD about it, I do participate…somewhat. I drink tap water, walk stairs, and recycle glass and metals. However, paper and cardboard come from a renewable resource, so I don’t mess with “recycling” paper (unless it’s for some random craft project).

In this post-modern-modern era, mail doesn’t consist of love letters, thank you notes, invitations or even bills. What comes is junk mail. So, even though I don’t recycle paper, junk mail just sucks my energy. It’s said that each of us receives about 41 lbs. of junk mail each year (although I think the phone books I receive are at least that heavy) or about 16 pieces each week. With that said, I found a free app that rids your mailbox of most junk mail and takes you off their distribution list. It’s called PaperKarma. They don’t share your information and it’s simple to use. You simply take a picture including both your address and the sender’s. Presto! You’re done! One caution: It’s a relatively new app so it works best with junk mail addressed to you (versus mail addressed to “Our Neighbors At”) and local mail doesn’t “opt out” requests.

Quick Kitchen Refresh (Low Cost)

by Sandy // October 10, 2014 // No Comments

My husband and I moved to the Kentucky house over 7 years ago. The house, built in 1901, needed a lot of attention. I had done a cheat fix on the kitchen, but it felt drab. It needed some attention badly. The problem? Little money.

I identified the things in the kitchen that bothered me the most and decided to tackle them using material I had laying around the house.

Number one on my list: KITCHEN CHAIRS.

The kitchen set was given to me by a family friend. She died about 12 years ago at the age of 100 or so. She was old school. Never threw anything away; repaired and recycled before it was fashionable. These chairs were painted with an odd paint (Mac-o-lac? Enamel?) that felt sticky and looked dirty no matter how hard I scrubbed or what I used on them. The original owner wasn’t much on looks so painted the entire chair, including the seat cushions.

I liked the basic colour, but hated the finish and feel. I decide to do a rough sand on the entire chair. Rough sanding involves using coarse or medium grit sandpaper, and simply sanding with the grain. You can do this by hand, or with an electric sander (I love the Mouse by Black and Decker). Rough sanding removed the top finish, and in a lot of areas it also removed one or more layers of paint. Apparently, the chairs were painted a gold at some time because gold paint started to show through. Other areas, we removed the paint to expose the bare wood.

We finished the chairs by dusting them off and rubbing wax on them, then recovered the seats using burlap feed sacks I had stored in the shed. I am totally pleased with the result.

They look good, but more importantly, they feel great and cost nothing but a few hours of my time!

Next on the list: KITCHEN CABINETS.

I think these were installed in the early 60s…. the wood was sturdy enough, but…. well, they used that pine that was common and varnished them.

I decided the cabinets needed to ‘pop’. What better way then to paint them? I had left over off-white paint that would do the trick.

Next, add a surprise colour inside the cabinets. I had done this at the Michigan house with lime green and loved it. I would have loved to use orange or red in these cabinets, but at almost $30 a gallon, I opted to use paint I already had. Left over from a previous project, I had 3/4 of a gallon of bright sea blue.

The end result achieved the effect I was looking for. It is so much brighter and comfortable in the kitchen, and it was basically free and took little time or work.

Bar in a Crock! (Creative storage idea)

by Sandy // October 7, 2014 // No Comments

The house in Michigan has 14 closets. 14 LARGE closets…. I can put a twin bed and dresser in one, have kitchen tables or hutches set up in some of the others. It has a full, very large basement, 2 1/2 car garage and 2 – count them – 2 full attics. You could say storage is not my problem.

The house in Kentucky, where we live now, has no useable basement (floods constantly), no garage, no useable attic (no floor. yet.) and a total of 3 1/2 of the smallest closets you have ever seen! You could say storage is a huge issue for me!

I have to get creative. I have to find places for things that never needed consideration. Hangers on the insides of doors for foil paper, cleaning products and ironing boards. Decorative baskets for DVDs and sewing paraphernalia. Shelves just below the ceiling for my pottery collection.

Recently, I noticed the crocks under the dining room side table. The crocks belonged to my parents and are used annually to make pickles and sauer kraut, a practice my husband and I continue. We do not make as much as my parents did. So, only 2 of the crocks are used. The rest of the crocks sit empty all year long. For someone that needs creative storage, I thought — What a waste of space!!!!

I decided to put it to use. Unlike Irene, I do not have an entire room dedicated to my bar. She is lucky enough to have a full, carved-wood bar, complete with bar stools, TV and every type of alcohol imaginable. I, on the other had, have a few bottles of bourbon tucked here and there throughout the house. A few mint julep cups, a couple of shot glasses and 4 pieces of stemware. When guests stop by, I have to wash and dry the glasses since they collect dust all month on the shelves. I have to forage for the right bottle. (Honey bourbon is behind the guest room door, Woodford Reserve is under the library table…. you get the picture.)

I decided to turn my crocks into my bar.

It makes perfect sense. If you drink too much, you get crocked. LOL

In the large, 8-gallon crock, I dropped a Kentucky Woods Bourbon Barrel Cake Box (wood). Perfectly sized for my crock.

It lifts the bottles to the correct height and cushions the bottom of the bottles from hitting the crock. It prevents them from being “dropped” into the crock. I added a wooden lid to complete it.

In the smaller 2-gallon crock, I simply cut a piece of felt and dropped it into the bottom of the crock. I added my small amount of mixers, pouring spouts, and wrapped glasses and shot glasses.

I happen to have wooden covers on these crocks, so put them back on and Voila! Bar in a Crock!

Now when guests visit, we simply walk to the crocks, select a glass and bottle and enjoy!

Be creative with your space when you are limited. You don’t need piles and things tucked in boxes. If you use them (and at this stage of life, you should be using and enjoying almost everything!), keep them creatively on hand.

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Sister's Folly

How to be a fabulous, middle-aged+ woman in the 21st Century….

Halloween 2014 (Costume and Edible Spider Eggs)

Saving Earth…one step at a time (Eliminate Junk Mail)

Quick Kitchen Refresh (Low Cost)

Bar in a Crock! (Creative storage idea)