Children's Rocking Chair

Happy Friday! Remember that child's rocking chair that I got at the garage sale for $5 a few weeks back? Well I have been working on it for about a week and a half and I finally decided that it needed to be finished....TODAY! It had a little to do with all the painting troubles I had this past week. I'm not cut out to be a painter. I had no method whatsoever for this project. I just knew what I wanted and went with it. A white chair with a little bit of a vintage look to it.

Before:

Very cute as it was, but I wanted it to be a little more girl. Plus, all the furniture they have is white.

I started by sanding it...

I had a friend that kept me company every time I went out there to work on it.

And the sanding job I did was so pathetic. I just had no patience. I wanted to start painting! This was after I wiped it down after I sanded it....yeah, I know. It doesn't look much different. So you can see how bad I did. But in my defense, whoever stained the darn thing was a bit of an overachiever.

Then I painted and painted and painted...

I have no idea how many coats I did. Or if it was all even. There were so many nooks and crannies to get into and then once you painted the top, you had to make sure it wasn't dripping on the bottom. And then you had to do a whole bunch of coats on the bottom with it flipped upside down. UGH! Yeah.
And after many days of hard work, here is the finished product.

After:

After I was all done painting, I lightly sanded it again in spots to get the "Vintage" look I was going for. It helped to disguise the paint drips.

 And here is the child that is so spoiled she knew immediately it was hers when I brought it in the house. :)

Rocking away...

 Hopefully she will share it with her little sister sometimes.

 Peanut giving her big sister a push. SQUISH! Love her!

Enjoy the sunny weather this weekend!

Basil Pesto / Eggplant Sandwiches

Cooking. Something I KNOW I won't fail at. After all the painting trials that I went through this week, I decided to stick to something I know today. I love pesto. But I mean, real, homemade pesto. Store bought is fine, but it is expensive for one thing, and its not half as good as homemade. I could eat homemade pesto with a spoon.....ok, maybe they are small bites. But I love it. Tasting it to make sure its just right is my FAVORITE part of making it. This recipe is great, because it literally takes 5 minutes and you can use it on everything. Pasta, vegetables, chicken and my personal favorite, on a chicken sandwich with fresh mozzarella cheese. So yummy. I would eat those for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No really. Its that good. In fact I didn't even like pesto that much until I made it myself. Its that good. You're welcome.

I use the Food Network recipe for Basil Pesto but I use Parmesan cheese (because I always have that on hand) instead of pecorino and I don't usually use all that much oil.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 2/3 of olive oil (start with 1/2 cup and if you want more go for it)
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves of garlic
2 Cups of lightly packed basil (don't pack it too tightly....there is such a thing as too much basil)
1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 Cup pine nuts (but you can also substitute other nuts)
Food processor

Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese in the processor and pulse until blended well. Season with a little pinch of salt and pepper. With the food processor on, start to pour in the olive oil. I always start with 1/2 cup and add more if needed, but usually 1/2 is plenty. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and pulse again. Taste (my favorite part) and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. If it lasts that long. Makes about 2 cups.

So, as a bonus recipe I wanted to share with you what we have been doing with our pesto recently. My husband picked up a Fine Cooking Grilling magazine at the grocery store a few weeks ago and everything in it that we have made so far has been amazing. But this one....this one will change your life.

Eggplant Sandwiches
Ingredients:
2 small eggplant (trust me on this one)
Fresh mozzarella (drained on paper towels)
Pesto
Olive Oil

Slice up your eggplant so that you end up with about 24 round slices about 1/4 inch thick. Slice up your mozzarella so that you have about 12 slices. Lightly brush your eggplant with olive oil and grill 4-5 minutes per side on the grill; just enough to get some good grill marks. Then place them on the very top rack of your BBQ, let them sit for 15 minutes with the grill turned off. It just needs to be warm for them, this helps them cook a little more. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then spread on a good helping of pesto on each eggplant slice, then place one slice of mozzarella on half of the eggplant slices. Warm in the oven, just until the cheese is melted. About 4-5 minutes. Sandwich the tops (the sides with pesto) together with the bottoms (the side with cheese). Then enjoy the most delicious thing you. Have. Ever. Tasted.

Painted Vases

I am loving this Summery weather! Somehow Summer just brings on a more relaxed state of mind. The longer days, the BBQ's, the beautiful green that surrounds you. I like something about every season, but Summer is probably my favorite season. I was so busy yesterday, that I never got a chance to actually go out IN the sun. So when the hubby came home last night I insisted that we eat dinner outside. We set out the picnic blanket and laid in the grass while we watched Princess blow bubbles (one of her favorite outdoor activities and she is actually pretty good at it) while Peanut giggled at her big sister. I love those moments. They always seem to fly by though, which is the scary part. Princess had her hair in pigtails yesterday and for some reason it made her look so old! I said to my husband, "She looks like a GIRL now. She's not a baby anymore." Time flies too quickly. It so hard to believe (not to mention accept) that your baby will be a child and then an adult one day. One that you have the responsibility to nurture and protect and ensure that they grow into a truly GOOD person. Not sure how I got off on this direction....I guess what I am trying to say, is that Summer gives us a chance and maybe a little more time (because of the longer days) to soak it all in and appreciate our amazing little treasures. Our sweet, innocent little sparks of joy. They give us so much happiness and they don't even realize it. Our children.

So I have been working on this project for the last few days. I may have been a little paint crazy, and that may have caused one or two problems....but after giving it a few tries, I think I finally got it down. It looks so easy on the tutorials! I found this tutorial here. I love the colors she used on hers. The Micheal's I go to didn't have a very big selection of colors, but I did manage to get a couple that worked for me. I have been wanting a large white vase for a while now and I am super into Robin's Egg Blue lately.

A few things to keep in mind (that I learned this week through trials):
*You cannot use "flat" finish spray paint....it will not be shiny when it dries. You can use either "gloss", "high gloss" or even "satin", but NOT flat. Oops.
*Less is more. I was all finished with one of the vases and I decided to give it another quick coat, just to really make it perfect......then it started to wrinkle up and I think it was because I put too much paint on it. Oops again.
*Wear gloves. I did half the time and when I thought to myself, "I don't need to wear them this time, I will be careful", I would still get paint all over my hands. I still have white paint lingering on my fingernails and hands. Cute. Triple oops.

What you will need:
*Old vases that you don't care about or mason jars...any type of glass really. (I know its horribly un-green of me, but you know those cheap vases you get in floral arrangements sometimes? I usually throw them away.....gasp! I know, don't tell Sophie Uliano. But I thought this was a perfect way to re-use them and turn them into something new that you actually want to keep!)
*Spray paint in any color (Gold is cool, white, blue, green or coral)
*Gloves (very important)
*Newspaper (to line the space where you are painting)
*Clear shine finishing spray (it really gives it that extra shine)

1. Start by lining your painting area with lots of newspapers. We get ads in the mail every Tuesday. So I use those. You know the grocery store ones? Put the gloves ON!

2. Spray away, but not too much, or they will get wrinkly like mine. When its all covered. Stop! I did 2-3 coats. Make sure you dry between coats. Then, after it is DRY, you can do a quick coat with the finishing spray.

3. Then you're done! Place in fresh cut Summer flowers and enjoy!

Before:

After:

With our early Summer flower (or weed) finds:

And then Princess got some flowers for her room as well. :)

Lace Crowns

I saw these lace crowns on craftgawker.com (and we won't go into how long I spend on that site) and I knew I would be making them one day. They are so cute and so easy to do. Perfect for the dress up collection. I used this tutorial for help, although I didn't make mine quite as fancy as hers. I love glitter, but I'm not a big fan of how its gets everywhere. I have a feeling I'm gonna have a hard time escaping it though.... I have two girls. Princess is such a girlie girl. I thought I would never allow "Barbie Pink" in my house either, but it seems to be seeping in slowly...so gross.

You will need:
Lace (You can find it in white, silver and gold)
Fabric Stiffener
Gloves
A round mold
Embellishments if you want (if you want: glitter, flowers, ribbon)

1. Measure and cut your lace around the little ones head (although you can make these in all sizes)

2. Soak the lace in the fabric stiffener making sure to squeeze all the excess out.

3. Wrap the lace around your mold (a bowl, a coffee container, anything round that is generally the same size as you want the crown) but make sure you wrap the mold with plastic wrap first, so it doesn't get all gross. I held mine together with a rubber band, but you can also hold it together with a clothespin....which may be easier. Let dry. (And don't worry if it looks white, it will dry clear)

4. Lift off the crown and hot glue the edges together. Embellish if desired.

Fit for a Princess!!!

Floral Head Wreath

Mondays are always so busy for me. I always feel like I am playing catch up after the weekend. And its not like I sit on my butt all weekend either. We ran errands, worked on the yard, weeded (practically took out a forest in our side yard) BBQ'd, went to a puppet show, watched Les Miserable (and that took a few hours, believe me). Anyway, I feel like Monday is the day that I am always taking care of what I didn't accomplish during the weekend or cleaning up FROM the weekend. Such is life right? A mother's work is never finished. All we can do is take a break once in a while with our glasses of wine (AKA The elixir of life....coffee is the other elixir of life. The 2 beverages I couldn't possibly live without). Among all those things I needed to catch up on today, I really wanted to get started on these head wreaths for Princess's party coming up next month.


Here is Princess's wreath that I made a few months ago.

Here is Peanut's wreath that I used for her birthday invites.

She didn't want to wear the wreath today, but at least she was smiley!

They are actually super easy to do. They maybe take 15 minutes tops (but as you know, I need to make several) And they are adorable. I wish my children would wear them every day. I have been promising this tutorial for a while too. I think I mentioned them in my very first post. I made one for Peanut to wear for the pictures in her birthday invitations. Such a cute thing to have for their dress up collection too. Anyway, here it is.

You will need:
Florist's tape (At any craft store)
Fake flowers and leaves
Green pipe cleaners

1. Gather and cut all the flowers and leaves you want to put on your head wreath. Leave a small part of the stems on because that is how you will attach them to the wreath. I usually break off what I want to use and then form a pattern with them, but you can put arrange them in any way you want.

2. Form 2 pipe cleaners in a circle that fits around your child's or your head (whomever the wreath is for) and twist the ends together. You can also make 2 circles with the pipe cleaners (meaning you would need 4 pipe cleaners, total) to make the wreath a little more sturdy. This time I just used 2.

3. Then taking a long piece of florist's tape, start twisting the tape around the first flower and the pipe cleaner circle. (The tape has one side that is a little bit stickier....and this should be used as the inside of the wrap)Twist and wrap, twist and wrap. The tape will stretch and that's good. If you don't keep it tightly wrapped, it won't stay together. Keep going around each and every flower or leaf until the entire circle is covered. You can space out the flowers a bit, or bunch them more so that the wreath is very thick. The one I used to Peanut was very thick with flowers, but this one I made for the party was a little more sparse.

4. Then when you reach the end cut or rip the tape and smoosh it into the circle. Or you can secure with a little clear glue if you are worried about it coming apart. Then you're done! See, an easy afternoon craft.

She's actually happier than she appears to be. There's candy in that mouth of hers.

There you have it. Floral head wreaths for the little pixie in your life.

Market Awning

So I wasn't going to post today. I usually don't on the weekends. But I wanted to show you all this cute little awning I made for my sister's school. She works at a daycare/ learning center and she needed this for a little mini market play area. I'm not sure where she got the frame for it, but it worked perfectly for this project. It made me want to make a little market for my girls. Such a cute idea. But now that I have made this, I know for the future that I can make it. So maybe an idea for a future Christmas present or something. I didn't take down the exact measurements, because I figured no one would have the same size frame. But I took pictures of the process and I included general instructions to give an idea of how to make it if anyone is so inclined!

She gave me about a yard of fabric to work with. Super cute with the polka dots.

First I finished off the long sides.

Then I cut a section off, so that I could create pleats for the part that would hang down.

It took forever to get the pleats all EXACTLY 5 inches apart.

Again, pins are your friend! I never used to like using pins cause it takes forever but now that I have started to use them, they really make a difference in keeping everything straight! I pinned down the pleats and sewed them together.

Then, I sewed the pleated side to the top.

I folded the sides until they fit perfectly around the corner, then sewed it down.

I added bows to tie down the top of the awning to the frame and velcro to wrap the sides around the corners. That way it wouldn't fall off.

There it is. A little market awning for a little farmer's market. Hmm, going to the farmer's market sounds like a perfect thing to do today...Have a beautiful weekend!