Spring is here

Ready for spring? Do what I did... go get yourself a vintage patio set. It can be dirty and rusty and ugly, like the one in my before picture. I picked it up at a garage sale for 20.00. They are usually easy to find at thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales. I then unscrewed the seats, and set aside. I hosed off the furniture and let it dry. Then I picked out a fun color spray paint. I used Krylon because it dries in an instant, and it has a wide flat spray.  I put 2-3 light coats of paint on. Then I upholstered the seats in cute outdoor fabric (I used vintage of course!).  That's it baby! A couple of hours over the weekend, and I have an adorable, fun patio set!!!!!

Garden explosion Rings

I stayed up late last night and came up with these creations. I buy the base ring from Fire Mountain Gems online, and I buy most of my beads from Ebay and Etsy. I just wired on these czech glass flower and leaf beads onto the ring base. Bam! Pow! Boom! A garden explosion ring!

Goobies!

I call these "Goobies." I hand craft each one with felt and embroidery thread. I also throw in the occasional pom pom and googly eye.

Holy Hollywood Regency

My totally awesome table I found at an estate sale. It was 50 bucks, but I talked her down to 30.00. It has abalone shells, sand and marble chunks inlaid in clear resin. So tacky, it's cool. Perfect for my ocean themed bedroom.

"Wallpaper" your walls with collections

After finding two beautiful tile plates at a thrift store, I decided I wanted to collect them. Soon I realized I wanted to look at them all the time, so I am "wallpapering" my wall with them. This is my huge collection 3 years later. My goal is to cover the wall from floor to ceiling eventually.

I also have a collection of mini mirrors.

The last photo I took at an antique mall in Littleton Colorado called Colorado Antique Gallery. This vendor decorated a wall with vintage straw trivets. What a great idea!

Trash to Treasure

 

 I picked up this hanging rack at an estate sale. But originally it was a child's toy! It was a "put the donuts over the peg" type of toddler toy. The donuts were missing... the toy was useless... but I saw a treasure. I love red and white, and my kitchen is retro red and white... so I screwed it into the wall... and oila`... cute rack to hang keys and stuff on!

Estate sale score

I picked up these amazing framed Bargello pieces at an estate sale (Run by the Denver Gypsy Boys, www.denvergypsyboys.com). The frames are bright orange, perfect for my retro mid century vibe. Once I hung them in my living room, I realized the zig zag pattern on the bottom piece picked up the same pattern in my lamp! A happy accident!!

My best Sugar Cookie Recipe and tips

Everyone loves my sugar cookies, so time to share.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened (use unsalted)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream


In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.  In separate bowl, Sift together flour and baking powder: stir into creamed mixture, alternating with the heavy cream. Cover dough and chill for 2-3 hours until firm. (Leave it overnight if ya want to wait until the next day to make them)
Preheat oven to 350 F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness.
*Tip: use pieces of 1/4" balsa wood, or chopsticks, or anything you have around the house that is 1/4" thick. Place on both sides of dough and use as little platforms for the edge of your roller. All your dough will come out at the same thickness. 1/4" is thicker than you think!
Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters
*Tip: dip your cookie cutter in flour before each cut, it wont stick to the dough
Place cookies 1" apart on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.
*Tip: Use parchment paper!! It is the best investment you will ever make for cookies! Buy it in the tin foil, saran wrap section of your grocery store. You can reuse pieces more than once.
*Tip: If you put more than one tray of cookies in the oven, make sure they match. Do not use one dark non stick tray, and one shiny silver tray. They will cook at different rates.
*IMPORTANT TIP: For perfectly shaped cookies, place tray with cut cookies in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This will "set" the shape and usually prevents the shapes from melting into big blobs in the oven. Since the tray is cold, you may need to add a minute or two to the cooking time.
Bake for 12-14 minutes in preheated oven until bottoms and edges are BARELY BARELY getting brown. Leave on tray for one minute. Then place on wire cooling rack.
*Tip: Every oven is different, and the type of tray you use affects timing. Sometimes I will experiment with a small batch for the perfect time... take out a few cookies at 12 minutes, then a few more at 13, then a few more at 14.... see which ones are perfectly soft, not undercooked, and not too crunchy once they cool. Once you figure it out once, write it down. If you always use the same oven, and same cookie sheets with parchment paper, you will now now the perfect time for all future cookies!
*Tip: Let tray cool (or run under cold water) before adding the next batch of cookies. If you put cut cookies on a warm tray, it will affect their shape and cooking time. You can also rinse off parchment paper and reuse.
If you like, frost with premade cake frosting, or make your own for that Martha Stewart cookie look! Buy a box of powdered sugar. The recipe for frosting is on the box.