Decorate - Color Crossroads

I'm at a decorating crossroads. It's time to plan the next layer of decorating in my living room. I have to recover a chair and some ottomans, paint a dresser, move a clock and put up some shelves or something on one wall and think about drapes and maybe make new throw pillows. 

Wow that makes it sound like nothing is done in the room, but that isn't the case. The walls are painted: chocolate (a transition wall into the dining room) and deep turquoise (3 walls). The rug is in place, art work is up on two walls (the other is a huge window) and I have my furniture laid out perfectly.  One chair is  bright olive green and the dining room  which is connected is the same bright olive green. I currently have some turquoise, bright olive, fuchsia and orange colored accents in art work and colored picture frames. (I'm definitely not afraid of color!) 

 My dilemma is do I finish decorating with a restrained use of color (light turquoise paint on the dresser and brown and turquoise print fabric for the upholstery) so the room only has a few bright color accents? Or should I run a muck with color and use fuchsia paint and orange, bright olive green, fuchsia, turquoise and brown print upholstery and a zebra print on the ottomans?

The problem is I enjoy both those decorating styles (more tailored and colorful). Sometimes I want one, other days the opposite. I can see it decorated both ways in my head. Today I'm all about the color. Thoughts?

Linked up to Serenity Now Decorating Dilemma Party.

Come join the fun!

Upcycled Felted Wool Obsession

OK, obsession is a pretty strong word. But I'm definitely enamored with upcycled felted wool. It's not my fault, it's my friend Alison's. She's a very talented quilter and wool rug hooker (you'll get to see some of her projects later). When we get together (she lives 200 miles away) we go thrift store hunting. Alison is always on the lookout for wool skirts so she can use the wool strips in her rugs. I've drooled over some of the beautiful wool we've been able to find. 

I wanted to play too! I've started to build my own little wool stash. For what purposes, you might ask, since I don't rug hook? Why for ... well darn, something will come to me. How about applique or felting with that little springy felting tool? Projects yet to be done. But the little wool stash grows. 

As I was doing laundry today, I washed two teeny tiny (size 4) gorgeous wool skirts (thrift store score)  in hot water and dried them to felt the wool. The tiny skirts would never work for rug hooking, there isn't enough fabric. However they were perfect for my crafty ways.

After the wool was felted I took apart the skirts. Cutting off the waist band and up the side seams gave me nice pieces of wool to work with. I had so much fun playing with the pretty wool that I had to make something immediately! Stay tuned for a cute felted wool flower pin project (say that fast 3 times).

In the Kitchen - Skippin Jenny and Creamy Corn Bread

I wanted to cook a tradition meal for my day after New Year's  day party and apparently "Hoppin John" is a New Year's Southern tradition. I wasn't happy with any of the recipes I read, so this one I made up of a combination of 8 or so different ones and the consensus was that it came out great.

A little background, Hoppin John served the day after New Year's is called Skippin Jenny (there was no good reference for why either name). Some lore: eating Hoppin’ John on New Years day is thought to bring prosperity for the New Year, if you leave coins under the plate or put one into the pot whoever gets it has prosperity for the New Year, the peas represent pennies and symbolize prosperity, kale is the color of money and brings prosperity, rice brings longevity, leave 3 peas on your plate for good luck, romance and prosperity in the coming year. (The South is big on prosperity I guess!)

1 red pepper diced

1 green pepper diced

1 large onion diced

4 ribs celery sliced thin

2 C carrots or so

4 tsp. minced canned jalapeno peppers (more to taste)

Oil to sauté in

2 lbs sausage

2 C left over ham or use a ham steak

3 tsp. minced garlic

1 scant tsp. sage

1 scant tsp. thyme

3 tsp. chili pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can corn, drained

1 can chicken broth, or as needed

3 cans black eyed peas rinsed and drained

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Tabasco sauce to taste

White Rice

Sauté red pepper, green pepper, onion, spicy peppers, celery, carrots in oil until softened. Add sausage cut in half and then in bit sized chunks and ham. Continue to sauté until sausage begins to brown. Add garlic, sage, thyme, chili pepper, 1 bay leaf. Continue to sauté. Add corn, 2 cans black eyed peas, one can smashed up black eyed peas, and chicken broth as needed for preferred “soupyness”. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes or longer. I had mine bubbling away on the stove for several hours and the house smelled fantastic! Remove bay leaf. Salt and pepper as needed.

Serve over rice with Tabasco sauce to taste with cornbread and kale. This makes a big pot full (I fed 8 adults dinner and had leftovers) and it tastes great the next day. You should be able to freeze leftovers.

Creamy Corn Bread

2 pkgs. "JIFFY" Corn Muffin Mix

2 eggs

1 can (12 oz.) cream style corn

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375 and grease the muffin tin. Mix all ingredients together. Pour into prepared muffin pans, filling about 1/2 full. Bake 22-28 minutes. Let cool before removing from pan. Makes 18 muffins.

Enjoy!

Countdown to Christmas - 320 days left

I love giving homemade Christmas gifts. I love  the planning, shopping for the supplies and making them. I really love when my family is just as excited about the gifts as I am. I'm going to brag a little: I already know what everyone is getting for next year! I even have most of the supplies for the gift for the girls (Sister-in-laws and Step Mother). Some are silver and shiny and personalized .... oh I wish I could give you a peek! But my family reads my blog so I don't want to spoil their surprise. 

You only have 320 days left, do you know what you are making for Christmas?

It's Craft Time - Valentine's Day

I don't decorate for Valentine's day or have a Valentine  :( but I'm crazy in love with some of the cute ideas out in the blogosphere. I thought I'd share some of my favorite with you. If you make one, send me a picture and tell me how it turned out!

This one is from Martha Stewart. I heart the decorated soaps and could see myself making these. The lettering is such a cool idea. I've always wanted to try making soap! 

 

These filled tarts look yummy and are from The Farm Chicks.

I think the texture of the fabric wreath from Design-Aholic is great! Scroll to the bottom of the link for the tutorial.

These aren't necessarily "Valentine's Day" specific, but they are awfully cute. I'm too old to wear these hair barrettes, but I know a couple of  little girls in my extended family who would be very happy to get them as a gift. These are from The Purl Bee.

Hope you enjoyed a quick tour of some of the things that I'm loving.

Decorate - Master Plan

Do you have a master plan? Having one lets you focus and accomplish more. A master plan is a room by room list of ALL you want done in that room. You try to get as much done or as much as you can afford done in that room during a month. Then the next month you move onto another room and list of projects.

I keep my list on my computer and strikeout each item as it is finished. This way I can see my progress. I think I accomplish more because I don't have to think about what I want to do on a weekend. I have a list of items to choose from, some big and some small.  I can see all the items to do and set some priorities.That list helps me focus because I'm not thinking about the entire condo's work that needs to be done, just one room, so I don't feel overwhelmed. Having big and small tasks let me choose what I want to do based on my mood, energy level and budget. Having the Master Plan helps me budget for items coming up for the next month. 

To keep me on track I have my Master Decorating Plan (which is updated as I think of new things) and a 2010 schedule which shows each room per month. On the 2010 schedule I also have one sewing project (outside any on the master decorating list, so like a quilting project) and one "extra" project (such as selling an item on Craig's List or working on a new plant bed).

The goal isn't to get everything done on the list (although that would be spectacular, but very improbable at least for me). The goal is to keep plugging away on a room at a time, accomplishing what you can. Life gets in the way some months and very little gets accomplished, except maybe the small things. But some is better than none. By the time you get around to the room again, you will probably have an updated Master Decorating Plan and new tasks to complete. Because if you are like me, your decorating plan is evolving all the time. 


Do you have a Master Plan for your decorating ideas or are they worked on as they are thought of?

In the Kitchen - Spicy Brownies

These brownies are easy, moist and yummy. They have two secret ingredients which make for a subtlety unique, yet still chocolaty taste sensation. The recipe makes 9 good-sized, cake like brownies. Give them a try and let me know how you like them!

2 C. Sugar

1 C. Butter Softened (2 sticks)

2 teasp. Vanilla

3 Eggs

3/4 C. Unsweetened Coco Powder

1 C. Flour

1/2 teasp. Baking Powder

1/2 teasp. Salt

1/2 teasp. Cinnamon

1/2 teasp. Cayenne Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Beat the sugar and butter. Add the vanilla and eggs and continue beating until  thoroughly mixed. Add coco, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper and mix until all incorporated, scraping the sides of bowl. Grease a 8" x 8" pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool prior to devouring. 

Enjoy!