Seven Layered Desk

Over the holidays I finally found the time to paint my desk I purchased in what turned out to be the *wrong* color. The “walnut” stain really was orange-y, self-tanner walnut- why, oh why, didn’t I read the review? I had been trying to steer clear of the white desk “everyone” is doing, but immediately cursed myself when I saw it in person…. in my house.

Before….

Shopping for our home has really shown me just how much stores DO NOT carry in-house, but solely online- tons of furniture, bedding, curtains, you know, all the kinds of stuff you want to touch and see in person before forking over some big ones. Okay, vent over.

After taking apart the desk, I went over all the pieces with primer. Then a zillion times with milky white color in semi-gloss. Spent two days in painting clothes, coming back every 30 minutes for another layer here, a touch up there. Just about took my sanity.

I bought a custom vinyl decal from Empressive Designs (along with the one I used in the laundry room).

After……

Down below, I added some color by spray-painting some baskets and hot gluing ribbon around white storage containers. Glass storage jars are a mix of vintage and Ikea.

Oldest DIY Trick in the Book

I’ve been making some progress on my craft room / office this week to my artwork wall. I found the right assortment of frames from just a couple different thrift stores, spent a good hour playing around getting the right arrangement, then spent another hour probably deciding on which color each would be.

With this as my color guide:

I decided on mix of silver, dark brown, turquoise, which meant I only needed a can of the last color (the perks of a growing spray paint collection). I decided on “Mediterranean” by Valspar.

After a few rounds of paint and reassembly:

Still a couple empty frames that I slowly will fill as I find things.

Postcard of a Van Gough’s flowers and of Tiffany’s stained glass, souvenirs from the Met; a photo from our wedding.

A professional certificate; a vintage photo postcard; a peacock print over an antiqued book page, ordered from Black Baroque over on Etsy.
 

A photo art print from local art photographer from my San Juan Island vacation this summer; a square mirror.

A little spray paint goes a long way.

Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup

This winter I have been getting into making soups. It is quite  amazing to taste real, homemade tomato soup when you *think* you know exactly what it tastes like.

I made this today for dinner along with some flaky buttermilk biscuits. The tortellini definitely adds heartiness to an otherwise light soup.

1 small onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 carton chicken (or vegetable) broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt, pepper to taste
1 package cheese tortellini pasta
10 ounces fresh spinach, chopped

In a soup pot, sauté onions and garlic over medium heat with some olive oil for a few minutes.

[While the onions are sautéing, come up with crazy idea of having a fresh-out-of-the-oven baked accompaniment and feverishly pull out your trusty Good Housekeeping and flip to the quickest, easiest one you know, biscuits. Dump ingredients into KitchenAid, check onions. Mix ingredients, stir onions. Preheat oven.]

Add broth, tomatoes, and seasonings, turn heat up to high and bring to a boil.

[Roll out dough, dig out your round biscuit cutter… it’s around here somewhere… Cut biscuits. Dang is that the oven beeping already?]

Add the tortellini, cover, and turn down to a low boil.

[Slid biscuits into oven and set the timer like it’s no big thing.]

Cook for 12 to 15 minutes until tortellini is nearly done, add spinach for another few minutes.

[Clean kitchen, cuz now it’s really messy.]

Enjoy!

Recipe found here from Food.com. Made 3 main dish servings.

List Mania

I *love* lists. To-do lists. To-craft lists. Home-improvement projects lists. Christmas lists. Errand lists. Not much beats the satisfaction of crossing things (neatly with a highlighter so I can still see the item… don’t ask) off a list.

Years ago while visiting my husband’s aunt in Florida, we had stopped in at a Publix grocery store. There they were near the front doors- long narrow cardstock blank grocery lists, organized by departments. I did what I like to think any tourist without a Publix back home would do- I grabbed a stack. My favorite souvenir from the whole vacation. I kid you not, these have been a standing birthday present from his wonderful aunt ever since.

However, this tutorial from Beckie at Infarrantly Creative appeared in my Reader this week and I loved it.

 
Using her generic grocery list as a guide, I drafted up my own with the items we commonly buy and in the order I pick them up throughout the grocery store. I made a simple table in Word and copied enough off for a year- I figure I’ll want at least tweak it a year from now, plus highlighter smears printer ink, but not copy toner :) Conveniently, I had some cardboard in the recycle bin with a scored fold the exact depth I needed.

 

I Mod-Podged on some stripey paper and attached the whole thing using the same plastic posts that Beckie used from Ace Harware.

All I Need is Some Love

The local thrift store decided to open a temporary store for just Christmas decorations. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

One item I picked up was this wire card holder. Originally it was a dark green. A few coats of spray paint fixed that right up.

I have genuinely shocked myself that in the first week of December I had all my Christmas cards mailed out… now I am just patiently waiting for some Christmas love in return :)

(I pulled out some saved *pretty* ones from previous years for now).