Milk Paint Magic

Milk Paint......

This is a topic I have wanted to blog about for a long time! 

It's been at least a year, maybe more, that I discovered 

Milk Paint. 

I'm in love with stuff....

okay, not really..

but you know what I mean.  

I stumbled across 

Miss Mustard Seed.

Also known as Marian.

And I just had to learn more.

So I watched a few of her videos.

Bought me some 

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint.

And got busy. 

 

I started with a piece of furniture that I found in an old farmhouse we had purchased back in 1999.  I don't have a picture of it. But I did save this knob which has now been re-purposed on this coat rack.  

The coat rack itself is also re-purposed.

  It was a piece of trim from that same old farmhouse. 

Had I known that turquoise was going to make a comeback, I would have never touched it.  

But I didn't know that.

SO, I laboriously stripped, and re finished the cabinet. 

Painted the doors

and added some punched tin inserts.

 

Which brings us to today....

It was time for yet another makeover.

This time using 

Miss Mustard Seed's 

Milk Paint

Take a look...

Jazzed up the cabinet with some new knobs!

The color I chose is called 

Typewriter.

(I applied a coat of wax when it was finished)

I love it

And it was so easy.

I'm ready to Milk Paint anything that will sit still long enough to be painted!

If you want to give it try

Check out Miss Mustard Seed here.

Or watch her videos here.

Keepin' it Simple

Tammy

Gettin' my Craft on....Ad

 Happy Monday!  

 I've had time recently to get  my 

CRAFTY on~

So I thought I'd share just a few of the things I've been working on. 

Basically, I've been trying to make a variety of  cards to keep in my 

card cache.

I try to keep them fairly generic,

and then when a need arises

I can easily and quickly personalize the card.

Lately, I've been working my way through some card fold tutorials I've collected a long the way. 

One of my favorites has been the pop up card!  

Take a look and you'll see why.....

I feel sure these little 

Made from the Heart

boxes could brighten anyone's day!

If you think you would like to tackle one,

you can find the tutorial here.

Keepin' it simple

and creative....

Tammy

Linked to ...

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/inspiration-monday-linky-party-23/

The Season of Harvest

I love this picture....

Of course I love it because it's a picture of my 2 little darlings...

But that's not the only reason.

This is a picture that shows the grandkids enjoying summer....

and at the same time....

if you look closely....

you'll see hubby...

raisin' potatoes.

We're in the process of  transitioning from 

the season of 

SUMMER FUN

to the season of 

HARVEST.

Around here,

you can easily recognize 

Harvest Season.

For one, we're busier than a one armed paper hanger!

(It's been especially challenging this year since we are living in 2 locations.)

But also, our house begins to explode with food stores.  

Everywhere you look is a new cache of food

preserved by either canning, freezing, drying, or being ready to be stored in the root cellar.

Check it out.....

I know this looks like a lot of potatoes for 2 people....

but we'll share :)

This (picture below) is one of my secrets when I pickle beets.

 Using the (twice strained) beet juice in place of the water,

I  freeze extra pickled brine to use when making pickled eggs. 

Pickled eggs are super easy to make once you've pickled your beets.  You just add hard boiled eggs to a jar of beets.  However, more brine is always needed.  That's when I just pull out a jar of frozen brine.  Easy!

Here is my recipe for pickled beets.

(I cut back the sugar to about 3 cups or less to make the additional brine)

Pickled eggs are a staple around here.

I often have them for a fast breakfast!

frozen pickled beet juice

Two pantries are filled...

We ate all our homegrown onions.

Many of them ended up in our tomato sauce.

So we purchased some in bulk at a local farmers coop.  

These will last all winter...

Did I mention we like onions!!????

Do you dehydrate.....

My dehydrator seems to run non stop with veggies for soup as well as herbs, 

like oregano, cilantro, basil and more .....

We still have pumpkin and squash to harvest, 

as well as a few sweet potatoes.  

And hopefully....

I'll be able to get my hands on some apples for some homemade applesauce

and some

PIE!

So there you have it!

We're ready for winter....

How about you???

Trying to Keep it Simple..

Tammy

Celebrations and the Crafts that make them SPECIAL!

Happy Labor Day!

Are you celebrating this day like most Americans.....

Cook outs..

Parades....

Perhaps some other family gathering?...

Labor day is a celebration of  everyday 

hard working folks.

At our house....

well....

WE'RE CHILLAXIN'!!

We are at the homestead this week.  

We left city life behind for a few days.  

The first several days home were jam packed full of gardening duties and home preserving. 

So today, we're gonna relax!

Even though we aren't exactly celebrating today,

we have done our fair share of celebrating during the month of August.

My daughter had a

Ladybug themed birthday party for our little princesses 3rd birthday. 

I can't believe she's 

Photo from the internet

She loves the Ladybug Girl books!

And she LOVED her party too!

Big brother enjoyed it as well!

His face says it all!

Around here, no celebration would be complete without something crafty or homemade.  

We like (and appreciate)  homemade stuff. 

Anyone can go to the store and dole out cash for a gift (or unneeded toy),  

but handmade gifts....

gifts from the heart ....

are just extra special-don't ya think!

So grandma made the
Ladybug Girl some crafty stuff 

to make her day memorable.

A ladybug hair clip made from ribbon.
How to instructions can be found here.

An explosion box purse.
Instructions can be found here.

The purse opens up like this.  We tucked
some birthday cash inside for her college fund!

A Ladybug skirt made from tulle and pom poms.

My brother also had a birthday in August.

He turned 50! 

And I couldn't resist blessing him with a special 

Because You're 50

gift!

An adult diaper cake!

One more thing while we're talking celebrations.....

Eleven years ago this month I was diagnosed with 

Acute myeloid leukemia.  

Which means I have been Leukemia free for 10 1/2 years. 

Woo hooo!

Reason to celebrate-eh!?

September is Leukemia/ Lymphoma Awareness month. 

Many have won the battle....

But there are many who are currently fighting this battle.

And many more who have sadly succumb to some kind of blood cancer. 

One way you can help is to be a blood donor.

Blood donors literally saved my life.  

And for that I'm grateful. 

When you give blood,

you have the ability to save someone's 

LIFE!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings...

Have a great Labor Day,

whatever you may be doing,

where ever you may be.

Trying to keep it simple....

Tammy