A Well Stocked Pantry

I love Christmas. I'm not ashamed. I know lots of people hate the holidays and can't wait to get it over with. I must be an odd duck because I just can't seem to outgrow it. I was hoping to get into the basement this afternoon to pull out some lights, but I have a thing about decorating. The house has to be spotless. I started cleaning in the morning and by the time I was satisfied it was well into the afternoon and a little too late. So this weekend I will go nuts. In the meantime I'll share what I finished today.

Look at our pantry!

Completely organized! I couldn't even fit it all in the photo without tripping down the stairs into the basement. Not bad for a first year canner.

And I finally got the cupboard door up. Its just a quick sketch, but at least its right-side up this time.

I still need to paint the inside of the upper cabinet, but I think its looking pretty good. I'm hoping if I get it cleared out most of my canning supplies will fit up there.

I was planning on making cookies too, but the day just got away from me. The husband and I finished our night with a caramel apple instead.

I've gone with my husband's mom and aunt for the past three years to the Custer's Christmas Arts and Crafts show. It features all kinds of local artists, crafters, and treat makers. I always bring home a caramel apple for me and my husband. This year I had to work but my mom-in-law got us an apple anyways We're so lucky! These are made by Big Bear Chocolates, here in Spokane.

 Nom!

Apple Peel Jelly and More Chalkboard

Despite being incredibly busy and working way more hours than I ever would want to at work, I've been able to get a few small projects done this past week.

We have two buckets full of apples left. At this point I'm pretty sure they're McIntosh, but thats just a guess based on the color and how sweet they are. They will probably only be good for another week so we've been in a hurry to use them all up.

I had Monday off, so  I spent the day canning applesauce and a jelly that was made from the peels and cores. I really cannot praise this jelly recipe enough. Not only did I get use out of the cores and peels that I would normally throw away, but it tastes amazing. More like an apple infused honey than a jelly.

 Here are the jars cooling. As always I was a little concerned about the jelly setting up, but it turned out fine. This was my first time using a recipe that called for pectin, so I was nervous that the taste might be off, but I really can't stress how awesome this jelly is. Recipes! :  Applesauce and Apple Peel Jelly.

I also tested out my new chalkboard cupboard door. It works well. I'm really into faux bois (French for false wood, cool huh?) right now, but this rough design didn't seem to work all that well with the pig that would be below. Plus I drew it on upside-down. Oops.

I guess its back to the drawing-board. Haha. Okay, I'll stop.

This little piggy went to market...

The new chalkboard door will open up just above this larger one.

Lastly, my crowning achievement of the week, I woke up super early Thanksgiving morning to clean out the fridge! Some of you may remember how my attempt last week somehow turned into cleaning behind the fridge and then painting back there and then painting the trim above the cabinets, etc...

I was going to post pictures of the inside but then I realized how pathetic it was for a married couple to have their fridge stocked like a bachelor. Soda, beer, condiments and eggs. Done and Done.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. The holiday season is officially upon us. I will start working on making labels for all my canning projects in the next few weeks. :)

Painting the Kitchen

I finished painting the kitchen yesterday. My plan for the day was to clean out the refrigerator. My husband helped out by moving it away from the wall and when I saw all the dust and grime behind it I got completely sidetracked. I cleaned and painted the bit of wall behind the fridge as well as the ledges that had been blocked by our cabinet doors.

Don't judge me by the insides of my cabinets.

I went around and touched up spots from the last time I painted as well. I even brought out the chalkboard paint to finish the second door of my built-in cabinet. I'll post pictures later this week when its safe to write on.

I really scrubbed behind the refrigerator. Its a very serene feeling knowing that the backside of you fridge is spotless.

Much better. All that is left to paint is the trim and ceiling! I never got around to cleaning the inside of the fridge. No wonder I never get anything done. I get distracted way too easily. Oh, well. Next weekend.

How to Clean Chalkboard Paint

Several months ago I decided to be bold and use chalkboard paint for the inside door of my kitchen cupboard. I had been wanting to give this a try for a while, but was a little nervous about how it would turn out. I decided to pick a spot that was easy to hide in case it turned out poorly. The results weren't terrible, but it never wiped away as cleanly as I had hoped it would.

While researching the paint ahead of time, I found a lot of people had this issue. Despite the warnings, I just couldn't resist. I just love how chalkboards look in the kitchen. After painting, however, I quickly found many of the complaints about messy smudges to be true. Over the past couple of months, I had tried everything from traditional erasers, to household cleaners, and everything in between. Every time, the cupboard would dry only to look like a smeared mess.

The other day while playing around on StumbleUpon (My new favorite internet distraction) I came across the suggestion to use Coke as a chalkboard cleaning agent. At first glance this seemed like a terrible and sticky idea, but since nothing else had worked so far, I was willing to give it a try.

I poured about a half cup of Coke into a shallow saucer. Using a dampened cloth I dabbed at the the soda and wiped it along the chalkboard. To my absolute amazement, this worked like a charm. The Coke dried clean without leaving chalk dust or sticky residue, with the exceptions of a few spots where I went a little overboard (you only need enough soda to wipe away the Chalk - there shouldn't be any dripping). This was simple enough to fix with a bit of water.

I wanted to keep my original drawing at the top, so I carefully touched up the design with cotton swabs. Paint brushes would probably have worked just as well, and even now I'm imagining some really cool painterly effects that could be achieved with this technique.

Like Night and Day

 

The Coke worked so nicely I decided to use it on our kitchen sign as well. I was a bit more hesitant about cleaning this one. I didn't want it to look too polished as it wouldn't be getting used in the same way as the cupboard door. I still wanted to maintain a bit of a rough hand-drawn look.

I started again by wiping way the larger negative spaces within the design with a dab of Coke. About halfway through, I noticed something pretty interesting. Next to the newly cleaned areas, the dusty areas surrounding the letters almost seemed as though they were painted in a watercolor grey scale.

I might be letting my creative side get the best of me,  but I think this looks really cool. I decided to keep some of the haze around the letters showing. Again, I did some really quick and loose detailing with the cotton swab and dabbed away any remaining Coke residue with water.

I'm really happy about this working out so well. We use the cupboard door for groceries all the time. I just snap a picture with my phone before I leave for the store and I never forget a thing.

Chalkboard paint

After a three day wait, I've finally gotten to test out the chalkboard paint I used last weekend on the inside of the kitchen cupboard. The paint I used for this project was Rust-oleum Chalkboard paint, and I have to say I'm really pleased with the product. It was easy to mix and went on very easily. The chalk doesn't wipe away from the surface as cleanly as I had hoped, but I think this is mostly due to the fact that the particle board wasn't completely smooth even after a layer of primer.

Its always a good idea to test out products before using them on the intended space, so several weeks ago I tried the paint out on an old dry erase board that would no longer erased without the use of alcohol and some serious scrubbing. Using a paintbrush to apply the product left a streaky texture, and although it didn't affect how the chalk looked all that much, I found that using a foam brush on the kitchen cupboard worked out much better. Here's the finished practice piece.

Working on the cupboard door was just as easy. Instructions on the paint can recommend conditioning the surface by rubbing a piece of chalk length wise throughout to help get a cleaner board when erasing. The Dogs were pretty curious about this whole process, and our big guy even felt like helping out.

Heart shaped nose print left by Sarge

Sarge

So here are the results. This way we can write down what we need as soon as we use up the last of something. Hopefully I'll never get blamed for letting the milk run dry again.

Reading my handwriting might be an issue

Pigs are cute and bacon is yummy

The beauty of this paint is that I can change up the look whenever I want. I have a quite a bit left so I'll have to think of some more creative projects to use it on.

Weekend Projects 6/8-6/10

What a busy weekend! I was hoping to get some things done outside but the weather decided not to cooperate until late Sunday. Anyways, I was able to tie up some loose ends and finish a few projects that had been lingering around the house.

Winning the award for least interesting...

I put in a sliding shelf under the kitchen sink! Its not nearly big enough, but its a pretty good start. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more cheap under the sink organizers. Very convenient for the things I use most. Okay, moving on...

Kitchen Cabinet

This one has been in progress since I started working on the kitchen a few months ago. The interior is painted the same Chinchilla Grey as the west side of the kitchen but the exterior still needs a fresh coat of white paint. I lined the shelves with an adhesive black and white toile patterned liner, and just today finished painting the inside of the door. I'm really happy with how crisp the edges came out. I must be getting better at using painters tape. The black is done in a matte chalkboard finish, which in three days I will be able to test out. I'm thinking for grocery or to-do lists. Overall, it looks much better than it did before, but the mismatched hodgepodge of dishware inside kind of spoils it. Oh well, another project for another day.

Mounted Antlers

I found this beauty at Orphaned Decor a few weeks back and just had to have it because of the red plaque. originally the plaque was a duller, burnt red and the deer's fur was still showing. After asking around and doing some research, I decided it would be a lot simpler and much less disgusting to hide the fur rather than try and remove it. Twine really is just about the best crafting material ever.Taxidermy? Why not. I used a thick hemp twine to wrap around the skull, gluing just in key areas. I repainted the plaque a more vibrant red and then finished it off with some furniture brads around the edge and on the front to cover some old screw holes. It looks a little lonely on the wall right now, but it'll liven up once I freshen the wall paint and add some more stuff around it.

Silver Plated Recipe Holder

Last but not least, I picked up this gem at Farm Chicks last weekend. I had been looking for one of these antique silver plated trays for the past few months, and although I was hoping to find more of an oval or rectangular shape to fit above the stove, I couldn't help but fall for the intricate details all along the edge of this one. I attached a heavy duty flat magnet to the back (unfortunately magnets don't stick to these plates, so a heavy duty magnet on the back is necessary if you want to have any magnets stick to the front) and then used double sided adhesive to attach this to the back splash behind our stove. I am really hoping to avoid using any nails, so with a little luck, the adhesive I used should be able to withstand a bit of heat and humidity, otherwise I may have to look into more traditional mounting methods. For now its still standing. 

Happy to have gotten all that finished. Lets see what this next week brings.