Mercury Glass Craft Project - Grace Grits and Gardening

Have you tried Krylon's Looking-Glass spray paint? It's an easy way to make faux-mercury glass decorations for the holidays using inexpensive pressed glass. 

Although I had lofty ideas of painting plastic pumpkins, for successful results the paint should only be used on clear glass objects like bowls, vases, picture frames and candlesticks. When sprayed on the reverse side of an object, the paint dries to a dull finish then reflects a mirrored-like shine on the opposite side. (This product is for decorative use only and should not come into contact with food.)

Pictures of my before objects...nondescript pressed glass, rarely if ever used...

before - pressed glass bowl

before - basic candle coaster

Spray five light coats, allowing the paint to set one minute between coats. The picture below is after the first thin coat.

first coat

The next picture was taken after five coats. 

after fifth coat

According to the instructions, let set one hour before handling. I recommend even longer as the paint rubbed off a bit on my fingertips after an hour. (The Dallas heat and humidity may have added to the smudging...)

This was a fun and easy project and a great way to dress-up unused glassware or mismatched flea market pieces.

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

How to Banish Piles of Laundry Forever - A Few Miner Adjustments

   Things to Do... 

                 

Have you ever hiked up a mountain? 

I’ll admit, it isn't my favorite activity, 

but when I get to the summit there is a sense of accomplishment like no other.

At the beginning of summer vacation I looked around my laundry room and I noticed something.

It was like the Mount Everest of dirty laundry in there.

The end of the school year had gotten too busy even for me…

the gal who doesn't schedule much of anything.

So I hiked up this mountain and finished all of the laundry before we packed for Disney. 

That was not fun and after that hike I was definitely in need of a vacation.

When we got home, with the laundry mostly clean because we had a washer and dryer at our rental, 

I made a few miner adjustments to not get behind on the laundry again. 

And I haven’t. 

All summer long the laundry baskets were empty. 

It was an accomplishment of great proportions around here.

Want to know the secret that has changed my life, as far as chores go?

Do one load of laundry from start to finish everyday.

I know what you are thinking...

         

“I can’t mix my colors with my whites." 

{Disclaimer...if your colors are new, don't mix them with whites. No one wants pink undies.}

"Towels need to be done separately.”

Listen, if you can get passed that way of thinking, then you too can change your life.

There are 4 of us in the house, 3 of which are dirty, stinky boys. We have a lot of laundry.

So I am OK with mixing towels with the clothes. There hasn't been any fuzz. And I do throw whites in with the colors.

If I have a sweater or shirt that needs to be washed on delicate, I'll just do 2 loads that night.

The key to success is to develop the routine that will work for you.

First, make sure all the laundry is completely finished....climb Everest.

Before dinner, put a load in the washer.

After dinner, move that load to the dryer. 

If some of the clothes need to hang to dry, just put them away with tomorrow's load.

While the kids are in the bath or when you are watching your favorite TV show {Glee, anyone?} fold and put away the laundry.

One load to wash, fold, and put away is so much easier than staring up at the Mount Everest of dirty laundry.

I have things to do and, hooray, laundry isn't one of them anymore!

~Trina

DREAMING IN COLOR....FURNITURE FASHIONISTAS SERIES

Hi Everyone! I am so happy that Danni has invited me to share so of my furniture transformations with you. My name is Deneen and my blog is Dreamingincolor. I paint furniture but I also design, paint, craft and have recipes. I have even been telling about my recent trip to Italy too.

First let me say that I had the pleasure of meeting Danni and she is as sweet and spunky in person as she is on her blog. She has become a special friend. She even helped me out by guest posting when I was in Italy.

I never thought I would be painting furniture. I am an artist and I paint and sell canvas usually but I fell in love with furniture and transforming it into a work of art.

custom painting

Painting canvas has helped me when it came to painting furniture. I applied what I knew to give it my spin on things~

I have papered the fronts of pieces.

This red hutch was a fun piece to work on. I always love the before and afters!

I like using different hardware on furniture. I find knobs I like and buy them and hope I have a piece that will fit them. I know I am crazy but I guess you can say I am a knob kinda gal!

I loved these crystal knobs!

This grey buffet was beautiful at Christmas! Funny though I decided to put this in my living room when I needed a place for my husbands huge TV to sit upon!

As an artist I get bored with doing the same things so I decided to start painting and trying different patinas. I even layered colors to get the looks I was going for and Annie Sloan featured one of them.

My French Patina painted night stands.

The key to it all is have fun! Know that there are no rules and think outside the box! I really love doing this but after you paint so much it can be tiring so I have to try and recreate the wheel to keep it interesting!!

I will leave you with what I think is my biggest transformation of all time and my favorite piece I painted...

Biggest transformation

my roll top desk without the roll! The before was horrible! Brad Paisley would have loved it for his song Camouflage! ( Sorry Danni I put a country song in there) But it was ugh ly!  ....and there were lots of surprises!

The end result was soooooo much better!

My favorite painted piece is still My Audrey Hepburn Dresser!

I hope you have enjoyed the few that I shared. Please stop by my blog and look around at some more. You can search on the side bar.

Thanks again Danni! I love that our blogs have brought us together and started a friendship! 

Thanks to everyone for reading!

Transforming Furniture the Dreaming-n-Color Way

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Meatloaf Sandwich...for real. Soup and Sandwiches Series

Hello, it's Heather from The Beating Hearth and this series is such a fun one for me. Sandwiches and Soups are two of my favorite things to eat. They've got an element of simple heartiness to them which translates into complete satisfaction when eaten.  I've shared a couple, personal family recipes here, and well, add today's to the bunch.  But, you're going to tease me for it...and that's okay.  I can handle it.

Yes!!!!  Meatloaf Sandwich.  Do not give me that look.  Meatloaf is so misunderstood.  I have a historical love of loaf and an inside joke with my sister about...well...What is loaf? And, just so you know, there is bad meatloaf out there.  It does exist.  In fact, most people I know have only had terrible loaf.  Not this loaf.  I'm just asking you to give it a try. My Mama's meatloaf has converted die hard haters into lovers.

I am actually giving you several meals with this recipe, not just a sandwich.

Day 1: Make loaf, eat one for dinner and freeze the other for a meal a couple weeks later (you're making two loafs...or loaves?)
Day 2: With leftover loaf, make the best sandwich

p.s. these are eggs from my hens....just laid that day.  FUN!!!

Pam's Meatloaf
1 lb. pork sausage
2 lbs. 80% ground chuck
1 onion, diced finely
3 eggs, whipped with fork
8 oz. can tomato sauce
Several dashes Worcestershire Sauce
4 Slices white bread, cubed
1 tsp. ground sage
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In large bowl you are going to combine all of the ingredients together.   Make sure to really whip the eggs good and season well with salt and pepper.  You want nicely seasoned loaf.  A good rule of thumb is about 1/2 tsp. salt for every lb. of meat.  

Using very clean hands, get to mixing.  Now, you hear all the time do not over mix your ground meat.  This is true.  Just mix until everything is nicely distributed and the meat is broken up.

Divide meat mixture in half and form two loafs on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. Don't pack the meat down hard, just form it loosely into loaf shapes.

Bake at 375 F. for 30 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 F. and continue cooking for 1.5 more hours until gold brown and delicious.  You do not want to over cook loaf, but you also don't want to under cook it.  You can use a cooking thermometer, just make it sure it reaches 160 F. internal temperature.  You want your loaf to be moist and flavorful.

Let cool.

Serve for dinner.  

Now let's get to the purpose of this post....the sandwiches you're going to eat the next day....cold.  Do not reheat your loaf for your sandwiches.  There is nothing like cold loaf.  

Just loaf.

 Mustard.  Mmmmmm!!!

Mustard and pickles....the tang of pickles is a nice compliment to the rich meat.

You could do just mayo, or as I've done here a combo of mayo and mustard.

Delicious, filling and reminiscent of Mom.

I felt like this was such a long post and that a meatloaf sandwich really does stand alone as a meal, that I didn't have space for soup and it's a shame because I love soup.  So I'm going to include a couple of soup links from the Beating Hearth that are guaranteed to warm you up on a cold day.

Sunday Ham and Bean Soup
OMG Beef and Vegetable Soup
Taco Soup

If you have a favorite soup or sandwich recipe (or both) be sure to come back and link it up Monday, Nov. 4th.  We'd love to see what you've made!

In the meantime, check back here next Monday to see what Mary from Sweet Little Bluebird is making...and you know it's going to be good!

Thanks for reading!

Shared here:
Create With Joy

Heather

Saturday Weekly Wrap Up 39

  Happy Saturday!! 
We hope you've had a great week and are ready for the weekend.
Lets check out what's been going on in our neck of the woods this week...

 Mary at Sweet Little Bluebird

Spiced Crazy Wacky Cake
Window Illumination Posters Wizard Of Oz 
Cranberry Apple Coleslaw

 Heather at The Beating Hearth

Homemade Costumes...Princess Leia and Ariel

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Danni at Silo Hill Farm

You Are Loved 192

Mel at Mellywood's Mansion

 Thread Holder

Wine Rack to Vinyl Storage

Turn Your Door Into A Planner

Remember to join Mel's LINK PARTY running every Friday

Natalie at NorthShore Days

Cheat's Lasagne Pasta Bake

Revi from Revolutionary Life joined the Junkin Jewels series and shared her thrifty finds with us .

JUNKIN JEWEL'S - Revi from Revolutionary Life

It was Danni's turn for the Soups and Sandwiches series this week:

Pumpkin Harvest Soup and Muenster Sandwiches

Have a great weekend

xxx

 Nat, Mary, Heather, Danni and Mel

 

Inspiration Cafe is looking for guest posters and contributors. If you would like to guest please let us know, we would love to have you. If you would prefer a feature instead, feel free to drop us a line. New or old posts welcome.
 

JUNKIN JEWEL'S - Revi from Revolutionary Life

Please welcome Revi from Revolutionary Life as our contributor for our Junkin' Jewels series.

I have enjoyed the past week - tweaking things in my living room from summer to fall/winter. I think I'm ready to add a few pumpkins, twigs and other fallish things now! Before I get back into the middle bedroom, I'll show you a few more photos of some of the vignettes in the living room...

Family photos in thrift store frames. A thrift store lamp, painted by me, with a Walmart shade. My 3rd grade Bible, open to Psalm 91. A candle bought for me by Mason when he was a little boy...I just can't burn it. 

A mid-century metal tray from Mexico, stripped by me. A vintage seltzer bottle found at Goodwill years ago, a crystal decanter wedding present, thrift store glass decanters, and a glass door knob bottle stopper from one of my favorite Texas bloggers, Tina. 

The table was a curb-side find decades ago, and I made a top for it from boards I had cut-to-size. 

A stack of thrift store vintage wood frames, painted by me. Greenery from Dollar Tree in a wicker plant basket found at a thrift store. 

The basket is great - it is lined in zinc. 

A free storage bench from my church, which I painted in homemade plaster paint. In front of it is a garage sale table painted in ASCP with thrift store items on top. 

Above, a curbside picture frame with a Hobby Lobby cross inside. The throw is all cotton Buffalo Plaid, and I found it for a few dollars at a discount store years ago. 

More stacked frames, painted by me, behind a box (filled with vintage blocks from my children and their grandmother). On top of it, a thrift store file box painted white. It holds scented candles and wax cubes. I love burning nice-smelling things! A thrift store chair, painted in ASCP and recovered in drop cloth. Behind - a vintage chest from a garage sale with more thrifted items on top.

At the front door, I reworked the art on the wall. The previous arrangement had begun to irritate me. 

A contemporary art assemblage by me, a thrift store silver plate platter, a couple of thrift store paintings, re-worked by me, a vintage plaster French frame found at a church tag sale years ago. Thrift store numbers, a T from Hobby Lobby, a souvenir wooden angel from a trip to San Antonio years ago, a ceramic cross from Hobby Lobby, and a souvenir Eiffel Tower bronze piece found at a previous home. The previous owners had a garage sale before we bought the home, and left things there. It was cool, so I kept it. 

Garage Sale silver plate sugar bowls with trophy shapes. Love 'em! Thrift store pumpkins painted white, Hobby Lobby Greenery. An old drawer bought at a garage sale years ago catches incoming mail.

Vintage metal flower frogs. 

A white wooden tray, painted by me. The child's chest of drawers is an oak piece from England, painted in oil. The hardware is original.

Do you know what I just realized? There is scarcely ANYTHING new in my living room. Seriously! A few things from Hobby Lobby, a wedding gift, a few Walmart lamp shades, not really much more. And do you know what else? Given the opportunity to trade it all right this minute for a new set of furniture from a store, with accessories to coordinate - I'd turn it down. I LOVE my old stuff. The furniture is much better than new stuff - solid wood. The old accessories are real, too; wood, metal, glass...I like real stuff. Plastic has it's place, but I really, really like the real, old stuff. 

Be sure to come back next month on Tues., November 12 when the fabulous Tuula from the Thrifty Rebel will be sharing her post!