Ready for Sandy...

Of course for me that meant a different kind of preparation than running to the grocery store because I had 2 dressers sitting on my front porch. Hubby is convinced we are going to have to open a furniture store soon. We'll see.

I showed you my rescue from last week.

So a small update for you-I have finished the curved drawer as much as I could.

('Scuse my toes! Taking pictures was difficult since our foyer is jammed with stuff. We did prep for the storm by bringing stuff inside.) On this side of the drawer the veneer was more badly cracked than anywhere else on the drawers. I had to glue some of it just so it wouldn't come off. I was afraid to sand it any further because I didn't want that whole side to come up. Since it's in the curve the color difference isn't as noticeable in person as it is in this picture. I am making progress though! Wood putty and I have bonded(ha!) over this dresser. I don't want to show you too much because I want you all to be pleasantly surprised when I am done!

The other dresser we picked up for just $35 off of craigslist. I have a plan for this one and I can show you what I got done but I am telling you now this is NOT the final reveal. So some befores (or after some sanding actually)-

That one knob would not budge. That is one of the original knobs although I have something else in mind for the final reveal of this dresser. I will show you my midway point.

Not too bad for an afternoon's work. Right? This dresser was in fairly decent shape but (again) it was old and the finish was not in the greatest of condition. I will tell you that this dresser is part of my plan for the babies room. Before it got hauled up the steps I wanted to sand it but I didn't want to leave the wood unprotected. So this paint is Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Grain Sack. The awesome thing about milk paint is that it is layer friendly. So really where I would like to end up is more around here.

This is of course from here. Funniest thing I picked this color without looking at this picture since MMS posted it back in July. How weird that it is almost the identical dresser??? I will not be painting flowers on mine but I was going to put some pretty glass knobs on it. So this is a REALLY good idea of how my dresser will look when it's done! I cannot wait!

The dresser is going on hold for a couple reasons- I have to buy the paint -have to save my pennies BECAUSE our kitchen cabinets are supposed to be ready at the end of next week!! Matthew is hoping to get some time off this week so we can start working on it. this will mean NO KITCHEN until we get the new cabinets installed. Should be interesting to say the least. I see lots of sandwiches and cereal in our future. I cannot wait until I have pictures to show you! 

Everyone on the East Coast stay safe and stay dry. We will catch you later!

~R

I Had No Idea...

how much our week would be affected by having Aleena in school 2 days a week. She only goes about 3 hours each day but we are still playing catch up most of the time. Well she didn't have school on Thursday because of an in-service day so I was able to get a couple projects started.

If you are wondering about the kitchen- we still are waiting on the cabinets. I had hoped to start some of the prep work by now since the cabinets are *supposed* to be ready this week but Matthew is covering for someone on vacation and is working without days off for 2 weeks. Not fun. When the other guy gets back Matthew should be able to get off 5 days in a row and we should get the progress in the kitchen moving.

One project that I want to share with you is not one I have finished yet. I am not sure when it will be done but I am really excited about it. I rescued an empire dresser this weekend. It is in pretty sad shape.

The drawers had to come out so we could get it out of the car and since they are a little tricky to get in and out with one of the legs missing (just for now- it's actually sitting on top of the dresser in the picture) I didn't put them back in but here is  a before shot of one.

There is a ton of potential there. I started working on the drawers yesterday. I figured I would sand them to get a smoother surface and then paint them but after the icky old varnish was gone the veneer was still in decent shape and pretty darn lovely.

This one is just sanded.

Then I added the acrylacq.

I am going to show you one more that really shows the grain of the wood. It just has a flash glare on it. Whoops.

I am going to try and finish sanding out the curved drawer today- the hand sander can't really do it so I will get an arm work out today. It's current state is a great example to show the before and after difference.

I am going to have to paint the body of the dresser. I am going to have to fill a lot of cracks and the veneer is just going to come off in a lot of places so I am using Marian's (Miss Mustard Seed) Typewriter Dresser as an inspiration.

Isn't it lovely? I am using her milk paint in the same color so I am excited to see how it tuns out. I am not attempting any decorative painting on my dresser but if I get the urge I guess the option will be open. It's good to have an example of my plan! I will keep you updated!

~R

Rainy Fall Days and Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

I will take a rainy fall day over a 100 degree scorcher every time. While the kids aren't appreciating the rain I took the time inside to try a new recipe. It's fall related so I thought it would make a great post!

Cute right? I found it on Pinterest (who's surprised?) and I haven't had the time to make it until this week. This is the original recipe and I haven't changed anything but I do have a few words of wisdom advice after actually making them.

I tried to double the recipe because I wanted to be able to share the cookies. I have a 6qt Kitchen Aid mixer and it could barely handle mixing double the recipe. If you want to make a lot- and honestly one batch probably made about 7 dozen SMALL cookies- but if you need more than that make the dough separately. If I was going to make them again I would probably triple the recipe- each made separately and do one batch in each color and then separate it to make the candy corn layers.

Be prepared for orange hands or wear gloves. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I could have mixed the food coloring in the mixer (totally why I would do separate batches of colors) but my hands were orange for most of the day. 

It will take a while to figure out your cuts. Kathie has a great picture on her blog on how to cut them but it took me until the second batch to really get a more consistent shape.

I think that is all of my helpful hints for today. They really are a yummy lemon sugar cookie and so fun for fall!

Here is the recipe- which you can find on the Kathie Cooks Blog.

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

2 Sticks Butter, softened
1 c. Sugar
1 Egg
2 T. Lemon Juice
2 t. Lemon Zest
1/8 t. Salt
3 c. Flour
1/2 t. Baking Soda
Red Food Dye
Yellow Food Dye
1/2 c. Granulated Sugar (for dusting)




Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking soda, beat until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of the white dough evenly into the bottom of a loaf pan that you have lined with foil, wax, or parchment paper. Place another one-third of the dough into a bowl and add yellow and red food dye to make orange (refer to the chart on the back of your box). Once it is mixed evenly, press orange dough evenly over white dough. In another bowl, add the final amount of dough and dye yellow. Press that evenly over the orange dough. Cover and refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight is best). Once chilled, invert your loaf pan and unwrap your dough. Flip it back over and place it on a cutting board. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using a sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary. Cut each slice into 6 wedges.

Place 1-inch apart onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. Place cookies straight into a bowl with sugar and coat. Place coated cookies on a baking rack to cool.



Here is a cute picture from Kathie's blog since I couldn't get my lighting to cooperate yesterday!

~R