Since I have some time until my next decor switch and it is really too hot to do a lot of the things on my to-do list, I have started looking for other ways to keep me busy but also fulfill the need for some new ideas in my decor. Yesterday I posted the witch's stocking...and wait until the end of this post and I will show you what has happened since then. But, also, I told you I was going to start on Christmas and here is where it all began.
I actually didn't but either the faux tiles or the mop pads for this project. I bought the tiles just because I finally saw them and there are so many things you can do with them. And I think I bought the mop heads to use as a Santa beard but I have no idea on what Santa. I'm pretty sure I have it in my Pinterest pins but apparently it wasn't a priority because here they are still unused.
So, on I went to the Santa stocking. I cut two of the tiles into what I thought kind of looked like a stocking while trying to use as much of the height of the tile as I could.
I used my hot glue gun set on the "cool" setting so I didn't melt the very thin plastic of these tiles and glued the two together. Then, I painted it red with chalk paint. I tried to leave a bit of the silver peeking through but for some reason, that was harder than I thought, Then I came back in a few areas with my favorite, the Waverly antique wax to grunge it up a bit.
While those were drying, I moved on to the "fur". I cut one mop head in half lengthwise and it is pretty easy if you cut it the way you cut faux fur fabric-fold it back and try to just cut the backing fabric leaving the nap in tact as much as you can. As pretty as the stark white looked, I prefer a bit of a vintage feel so I took to the coffee staining. I only put a very small amount of instant coffee into water, very quickly immersed the fabric and then squeezed it out. Once I squeezed out the excess coffee, the color was much more subtle. Then came the hardest part of the project-waiting for these things to dry. I tried the dryer for a few minutes and then even the heat gun but I finally had to resort to patience-not necessarily my strong suit when it comes to crafting-and let them hang to dry overnight.
I used some of my rusty wire to make a hanger and then used lots of hot glue to adhere the fur to the cuff of the stocking.
And, here again is where I will have to ask your forgiveness...or your imagination. Imagine this stocking full of beautiful Christmas pine greenery and then maybe a red timer taper or a few cloth candy canes or...??? I have TONS of Christmas greenery and picks but, unfortunately the are packed way up high and behind many other Christmas things. It is not difficult to get to when I am taking down everything Christmas but certainly would be today just for a few picks. And so, once again, I won't be able to give you a totally accurate picture of how this will look come December but, hopefully you get the idea. I have some "pine" pipe cleaners so I stuck them in there along with a few sprigs of mini-pinecones and then some rusty bells...just for the photo shoot until I can get to HL. It's actually bigger than I thought so I have no idea where it will go but it will be fun trying to decide.
And now, back to the witch's stocking. I told you I thought about adding some drawn-on spider webs so I thought this would be as good a time as any. What do you think? I like it...might be done, might not...we shall see. And do you notice that I'm not showing you the whole thing? As promised, the Spanish moss is already in the trash. I'll share the whole thing after my shopping trip.
And, one closing tidbit. I think I've told you that I enjoy playing a "game" where I find decor things I already have and may have forgotten about and try to find new ways/places to use them. Well, of late, I have been doing something similar with food. Since the prices of food have gotten so high, I can no longer stand to waste anything. But, being a single person, a lot of fresh produce that I buy begins to go bad before I can eat it all. If it is veggies, I usually cook them up in some way as I did this past week with all of the stuff my son-in-law got me. I roasted some, made salads with some and put some into sauces.
I usually have no trouble using up veggies. Fruit is a different story for me. I am not much of a sweet eater-just don't care for it. And, although I do enjoy fruit, I am truly fussy about its timeline. I usually want it the minute before or after it ripens. I will NOT eat it if it has even the slightest hint of soft or worse yet, mushy.
And so, after giving away a whole watermelon and a pint of strawberries, I was still left with a large bag of fresh cherries-which are still pretty hard so they will be eaten-and another pint of strawberries-way past their prime in my eyes. Since we have started going down to Sorrento and picking way too many berries every year, I have been on the hunt for a good way to use them. And so, off to my Pinterest board I went to find yet another recipe to try still trying to find something not real sweet but that still tastes like fresh strawberries. And, I think I have finally found it. I made this pretty late last night so it isn't displayed in any fancy way but it is really good. It is not sweet but the strawberry flavor really does come through. It was easy to make but, it uses Canola oil as many quick breads do and I am kind of missing a butter flavor. I am so NOT a baker so I really don't know anything about changing up recipes but I think the next time I try this, I might substitute melted butter-or at least a part of it-and see what happens. In any case, I'm finally enjoying a strawberry bread so I think I'll hang on to this recipe.
There is actually 2 cups of diced berries in the cake and 1/3 cup of finely diced berries in the glaze so it used just exactly a pint of berries...and NO waste! Yay me! Lol
So it's Friday. I'm thinking Hazel and I will do a few more small chores today-plus clean up our mess from the last two days-and then call it quits and maybe watch a movie. Stay safe and stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment