by Wendy Scheel | Sep 26, 2015 | Quick Thoughts, Sidenote Saturday
Wade and I went to yet another Estate Sale. I like to go on the last day when they typically list everything at 50% off.
Estate Sale + 50% off = things I never knew I needed. 🙂
So I made a change. A décor change within 24 hours of Spencer taking The House Tour 2015 photos.
This….
Now looks like this….
With this right around the corner….
Luuuv it!
I will have Spencer take better pictures next time he comes to the house, but I was so excited to share.
So I did!
Have a great weekend! See you on Monday. 🙂
by Wendy Scheel | Sep 25, 2015 | DIY
Years ago when our children were little, I worked nights and weekends as a cook and caterer at a quaint little restaurant in Lake Geneva, WI. The owner/chef was John and he loved to try new recipes. The menu was always changing. John would share his recipes with anyone that asked.
That always confused me.
Why would he give away his recipes? People could just make these dishes themselves and he would lose customers. In his gentle manner, he explained that you can give someone a recipe down to the tsp. but they will always, always substitute at least one of the ingredients so it will never be exactly the same. They will come back.
And they did. 🙂
I am finding this same principle to be true when I am attempting something from Pinterest.
My friend Karianne from Thistlewood Farms posted this blog earlier this week about how to DIY Pinecone Acorns.
What a great idea to add to my White Sweater Pumpkin décor!
Problem was that I changed the ingredients. My acorns don’t look like Kariannes.
Karianne used wooden eggs, I used paper mache eggs.
She stained her eggs, I spray painted and spray-glittered mine.
BUT, we both got our supplies from Hobby Lobby. 🙂
Here’s what I did.
I bought the paper mache eggs and pine cones from Hobby Lobby. The black spray paint and glitter spray paint came from an estate sale and I think the skewers came from IKEA. All very inexpensive items.
I then stabbed the eggs with the skewers and stuck them into the ground in the backyard to spray paint them.
(Can I let you in on a secret? My husband proof reads my blogs before I post them. He is going to sigh and roll his eyes when he sees the grass. Heehee, love you honey!)
After the paint had dried, I cut off the top of the pinecone and cut off the wider end of the egg. The egg was plastic on the inside. I was surprised by that. I thought paper mache meant it was paper all the way through. Obvi, not. ;(
Anyway, cutting off the top of the egg created more of a flat section to hot glue gun the pinecone top onto.
Then I simply added the acorns to my fall décor.
Thank you Karianne for the great idea even if I did change your recipe. 😉
Stop in tomorrow for a quick SideNote Saturday!
by Wendy Scheel | Sep 16, 2015 | DIY
As the saying goes, If you don’t like the weather, just give it a few minutes.
The weather here in Minnesota is starting to change. Some mornings we are still grabbing shorts to wear and then by late afternoon a change to a sweater and jeans is needed.
On Sunday I pulled out my sweaters and selected my favorite white cable knit to wear.
I am a wash and wear kind of gal, but doing laundry is not a strong suit for me.
Case in point, I put this sweater on and saw this lovely spot.
If I was to venture a guess, last winter I slopped spaghetti sauce on myself and then failed with my attempt to spot clean. I guess packing it away for 6 months didn’t do the trick either. 🙂 The spot may not look too bad, but it was and it was perfectly placed in the wrong spot in the chestorial area. You know what I’m saying. 🙂
So let’s make some lemonade out of this lemon color spotted sweater. 🙂
Enter Pinterest.
I found this pin tutorial titled, Warm and Toasty Pumpkins. Jill Ruskamp created this tutorial about making fall pumpkin décor from a cable knit sweater.
Since Jill did such a great job of explaining each step, I will give you the CliffsNotes.
Sweater. Sleeves cut off. Sleeves cut to different lengths.
Turn one of the sleeve sections inside out and sew it shut. I used cotton twine and a gathering stitch, an in-out, in-out stitch, to sew the bottom shut.
After it is sewn, turn the sleeve right side out. This is what the bottom of the pumpkin will look like.
Per the instructions, I stuffed the sleeve with poly fiber fill and wound some twine around the “stem”.
I don’t know if I really love these, but they were super simple to make. Making three of them took me about one and a half shows of Family Feud with Steve Harvey. All three pumpkins took about 45 minutes which may or may not have included me stopping to watch the Fast Money portion of the show. 🙂
Side note: As promised, The 2015 House Tour starts on Friday!
by Wendy Scheel | Aug 17, 2015 | New Products
I shared with you in the recent past that I bought a drill press! Well, I have been putting that drill press and miter saw to work again. And this time, I have to say that I have totally outdone myself. How could that possibly have happened you wonder? Hold on.
Our neighbor Jimmy works at the local tree farm. His wife Nikki wanted some new pillows. I needed some trees. So just like an old fashioned trading post, we traded some white birch trees for some red geometric patterned pillow covers. Win-Win.
At the tree farm, they periodically thin sections of trees to encourage the best and strongest trees to thrive. These reduced trees are then recycled into mulch and used at the farm greenhouse. Jimmy rescued these trees so I could repurpose them into candle holders. He dropped them off the other day. He even cut off the twiggy branches that I don’t need. What a guy!
Each tree was between 2-3 inches in diameter. A few in the 3 1/2 to 4 inch range. My next step was to simply cut them into 2, 4 and 6 inch heights and set them aside to dry.
My drying time frame wasn’t exactly scientific. I moved on to other projects and when those were completed, maybe two weeks?, I returned to the drill press to complete the candle holders.
Each birch holder has a spot drilled in big enough to insert a tea size candle. They fit snuggly down into the wood, and are replaceable.
Each and every candle holder is unique to the section of branch it came from. No two sets are alike. They are not polished or disturbed in any way, giving them a true rustic appearance.
Fall decorating anyone?
Winter decorating?
I could go on and on….one simple set of candle holders and so many options.
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