Fall "Salt Dough"...

Salt Dough... a fun, easy and inexpensive lil' craft project.  These pictures are from 4 years ago but I pulled them back out to share  with you.  I still get lots of e-mails about my salt dough ornaments so here goes the "how to".

 

 

2 c. All Purpose Flour

1 c. Salt

1 c. Water

 

Mix the salt and flour then add water.

Add a lil' flour if sticky, a lil' extra water if to dry.

 

 

Shape using your hands or cookie cutters - these are all free form.

 

 

Add details with toothpicks and insert wire at this time.

 

 

Bake at 325 degrees for 1.5 hours.  Adjust if necessary depending on thickness.

 

 

Paint to your liking...

 

 

Then glaze for a "not so harsh" look.  Spray with polyurethane to seal.

 

 

 

Ta Da - that's it!  Great bowl fillers, ornaments, package tie-ons, gifts  - well, the list goes on and on!

 

Salt dough is great fun for kids as well as us "Big" kids too.

 

Have Fun and Happy Fall!

 

 

My "New/Old Kitchen Hutch...

Well, I've been in another project - a "new to me" kitchen hutch.

 

 

When I found her - she looked like this - kinda dirty, kinda dreary, well, just kinda UGLY.

 

 

What I loved most about the cabinet was the wide boards in the back - that is why I had to buy it!

 

So I started out by painting the back with Miss Mustard's Seed Milk Paint in the color "Kitchen Scale".

 

 

I suppose I missed the... painting the outside in "Ironstone" picture.

 

Anyway, as you can see - that is what I did.

 

 

I just love all the "chippy goodness" that milk paint allows to happen - it is instant age, instant beauty!

 

 

 

I'm loving my new jars from Burke's Outlet - just 10.00 each!  My plan is to fill them with white beans and some candles - but I gotta get to the grocery first ;-)

 

 

A close up of the drawers - love how they turned out.

 

 

I think this hutch fits in my kitchen perfectly - at least for now.  This area seems to be my "rotating cabinet" area.  I buy them, paint them, love them for a while and then sell them.  It's fun to be able to change it out!

 

 

I can't wait to decorate it for Christmas!

 

 

Linking up to Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Feature Friday!

 

Happy beautiful weekend!

 

It's A Fall Front Door...

I think I've wrapped up my fall decorating - and the last thing I finished was our front door.  I just used things I already had plus a couple of mums and some pumpkins purchased from local growers.  As many of you know, I grew thousands of mums for 12 years - so it is still a bit odd to purchase them elsewhere, however, we are blessed to have a local farmer who grows some of the biggest and prettiest mums you will find anywhere in the country - I guarantee it!

 
Welcome to the Murray's...

 

 

On the right side, I have a wooden "Welcome" pumpkin sign I've had for years.  It simply rests against the door that is surrounded by some leaves that are also.. YEARS old.  I do love fresh garlands much better - BUT - I like for my decorations to last a long time, hence the artificial leaves. 

 

 

In my planter box - I just wasn't ready to part with my asparagus fern - so I simply placed a mum right in the middle and added a few dried gourds.

 

 

On the left, I added a fodder shock to a tall basket and filled the voided space with dried gourds and Indian corn.   A Harmony Bronze mum along with my dried African Kettle Gourd and other pumpkins, gourds, and cushaws fill the space.  Nothing fancy, just simple.

 

 

I was able to purchase this lil' banner from sweet Dailey for a school fundraiser.  Her precious mom and grandmother made them to order and I just love the way mine turned out!  Thank you Dailey!

 

 

So, that's it - our fall front door.

 

 

I would hope if you visited - that you'd feel happy and welcome!

 

 

 

 

Linking up with Rhoda

 @  Southern Hospitality 

 

 

Happy Fall Friends!

 

Behold the Apple Peeler...

For the last two years my Dad has gifted me with beautiful apples from a nearby orchard...

 

 

...yummy Johnathan apples...

 

 

...two bags full waiting to be peeled (honestly - I've always dreaded that part - I mean... like I get serious hand cramps after a while - you know what I'm talking about?

 

 

So I'm having this discussion at work about not liking to peel apples - and my friend, Nick says "Debbie and I have an apple peeler, let me bring it to you and you can try it out."  Sounded like a great idea to me and the next day - SHE arrived on my desk!

 

Is SHE ever the trick...well let me tell you!

 

 

This thing peels....

 

 

....slices....

 

 

...and cores in about 3 seconds flat!

 

 

My son thought it was the coolest thing ever!

 

 

I couldn't hardly get him to quit - he said, "Momma, you gotta get one of these - and I want my own too....and we need to get Nana and Papaw one and Meme and Mamaw Ruby and...."  well, you get the picture.

 

 

We had these beautiful lil' apples all stacked up...

 

 

...just cut once down the middle...

 

 

...into the freezer bags they went...

 

 

...22 bags later - they are tucked neatly in the freezer.

 

 

As for all the peelings, well they went to the cows and they were loving that!

 

 

 

I can't tell you how much time this lil' gadget saved me.  I know apple peelers have been around for years but I had never personally used one - well, I'm sold.  Mrs. Evelyn ordered us some at work and I'll be the first in line to purchase one.  Thanks so much Nick and Debbie for sharing with me.

 

 

Now it's time for some fried apples...MMMMMMmmmmmmm good.

 

 

My "Fall" Kitchen Mantel...

Happy Fall Friends! 

 

It's finally here - I'm soooo excited!

 

This is my most favorite time of the year!

From the crisp cool air to wearing sweatshirts, from putting up apples to hauling pumpkins, from planting mums to well, the list goes on and on and on.

 

Oh yeah, I love a lil' fall decorating too, don't you? So this is my mantel in the kitchen - there is no fireplace of course, but I just loved this mantel when I found it and the kitchen is where it has made its home.

It's a great place for some seasonal sprucing up.

 

Now, it is decorated similar to last year with a few tweeks.

 

I placed a bench in front of it..

 

...added a beautiful orange mum and my lil' glass greenhouse - I filled that with a pumpkin in a pot and some flowers.

(NOTE* I do keep my mums outdoors most of the time - they do not thrive inside)

My simple "fall" banner made of drop cloth along with a white platter and some fall leaves.

 

An old wreath I spray painted orange along with my wheat bundles and some of my pitchers.

This week, I'm working on my front door and I've just about finished all my plantings.  That's what is up next!

 

Happy Fall Friends - I can't wait to see what everybody else has been up to!

Linking up to
Fall Mantel Decorating @

Thrifty Decor Chick 

"Fresh Flower Friday"

Hi friends - it has been an incredibly beautiful week here in KY.  In the mid 70's - absolutely perfect - nothing like what August is normally.  Like the "mickey d's" commercial says - .....I'm luving it!

 

I thought I'd share with you something I use to do when I had my business - it was what I called "Fresh Flower Friday".  Having my business at home allowed me to do lots of things and growing flowers both in the greenhouse as well as in the garden was simply something I loved to do.  Of course this was an extension of my shoppe BUT there is no reason why you couldn't do this at your own home, either for fun or a few extra pennies.

 

I sat up my cart every Friday morning... nothing fancy - a few small arrangements, some garden flags, some veggies - just whatever was blooming or in season.

 

 

I simply left a jar out on the honor system...

 

 

...and I made it easy to understand.  People came by and picked up a jar or two of flowers whether I was there or not - it didn't matter.

 

 

I also took many calls for fresh flower arrangements to be delivered daily.

 

 

It was always so much fun delivering beautiful flowers and watching people smile, or cry, or jump up and down - I loved being able to share something I had grown with other people.

 

 

Even now, I still have to plant a row or two of my favorites in my garden.  I love to cut them for myself, to share with others and of course I still get calls from time to time.

 

 

Zinnias - my Most Favorite!

 

 

 

 

Love my cosmos... for the blooms as well as the airy, delicate greenery.

 

 

 

And who can resist - happy sunflowers - in all colors.

 

 

They just make people and ME... smile.

 

 

My two rows of pretty flowers actually kind of "hide" the garden that is terribly overgrown behind them.  The watermelons are hidden amongst the weeds, the stinkbugs have withered the squash and the tomatoes have tumbled to the ground.  It is time to mow the garden down.

 

 

But as for the flowers - well, I'll hang on to them as long as I possibly can. 

 

Happy Friday Friends!