Compass & Coffee Spoons

Hey, That's MY Wine!

As I said in another post, this Christmas, I made wine glass id tags for my wine club, AOC. I had the idea because everyone was constantly wandering around pointing at random glasses and saying "Is that one mine? Is THAT mine?" So, it just made sense. But, like many of my ideas, I kind of had something in my head and no real plan. No matter.

I made sets of charms for a few friends awhile back, so I had an idea of what to do for the thingy that goes around the stem. I did not, however, have a concrete plan of how to personalize. I explored letter charms, letter beads, and metal tags and other tags from Etsy. I didn't get any of those and thought I'd be better off seeing things in person, which brought me to Michaels over Thanksgiving weekend.

As it turned out, Michaels had a crappy selection. I dragged my poor mother around that store to every department, and I know she was getting more than a little frustrated with me. (But she's used to it!) The jewelry department was fine for the earring rings that make up the charm holder. The tag part, I had trouble with. I eventually found something approximating what I wanted in...the wedding aisle! They were on clearance which cinched the deal. The problem was they said "thank you." Oh well, I knew I'd find a way to cover them up.

So, I assembled my tools:

 
I started by choosing a colored or patterned paper for the "covering of the thank you" part. I did consider covering every one with cork and making them like wine corks, so I bought a roll of cork. But, once I tried one or two, I realized they weren't going to come out exactly as I wanted. I did do a few with it as an alternative, but doing every single one that way wasn't something I wanted. So, guess I'll be repurposing that for another project!

Once I chose the paper (in this case, spaghetti-printed for the cooking-themed one I was making), I used the tags as a template to cut the paper with a craft knife to fit. (Oh yeah, please ignore my weather-beaten dry hands!)

 
I then applied the paper using Mod Podge, coating both surfaces with a brush.

 
After applying the paper, I added letters and other embellishments to personalize them. In some, I could fit a whole name; in others, like this one, an initial. As you can see, I stuck a chef's hat sticker and spoon sticker on this for Jason, who is quite the chef and always makes delicious dishes when he hosts along with Lisa.

 
 This whole thing is then covered with another coating of Mod Podge. Because these would see some abuse, I also covered them with some coatings of varnish.

The tags go on an earring ring. These are sold in huge packs usually at craft stores. I strung a few colored beads on, which serve both decorative and a practical function; they look cute and keep the tag positioned on the ring. The ends of these loops are unfinished when you buy them. To finish, simply curl the non-looped end up so that it will slide into the loop. This can be done with small pliers or your fingers. (Pliers shown here, dry fingers edited out!)

 

I can't guarantee you won't lose the beads. I'm sure there's a way to prevent this, but my solution is going to be to replace them!  When you're done, you'll have finished products, like this:

 
These would be super cute for wedding shower favors, cocktail party gifts for guests, or as hostess gifts--either alone or as gift tags for a bottle of wine or accompanying wine glasses.

I'd love to hear if you try this or find other fun ways!

 

Make Your Own Vanilla

I admit. I had no idea 1.) how vanilla extract was made or 2.) that it could be made in one's home.  Then, my wonderful cousin Lauren surprised me and other family members with these:

Aren't they the cutest? And it turns out Lauren was ahead of none other than Ms. Martha! Because I opened Martha Stewart Living this month (Christmas gift!), and this is what I see.

Lauren is so cutting-edge. What really surprised me is how EASY it is. I'm going to shorten this, but basically, you take vanilla beans, scrape out the seeds, and stick the pods in bottles with vodka...and then shake them every day for a month or two. That's it! I'm so going to try this one day once Lauren's runs out. I'm wondering if I can do the same with anise extract!

Hangin' Tough

Why do I need to make every title cutesy? I just wanted to share the wine glass tags I made for my wine group, Another Oneophile Club. I realized that during one of our get togethers, people were constantly hunting for their glass, so I made personalized tags for the regulars! I plan on doing a step by step, but here are some of the finished products:

Where possible, I tried to personalize to reflect people's interests and personalities, but for the most part, I just made them pretty. I'm not showing mine because it has my last name (the top of a cork from a wine with my name), and I'm still a wee bit paranoid about the Internet! :)

Caulk-Sure

If I had to choose one thing I hate about my apartment, the bathroom would be up there. It's fugly. Okay, it's not that bad, but it has a lot that could be changed. Oh, like the cracked tiles and the tub where all the enamel has worn off and a huge area of yellowed disgusting adhesive on the tub where an adhesive tub mat once was. Add to that dried and cracked caulk, and the whole thing is a nightmare. I can clean until I'm blue in the face, and it's still disgusting. Examine:

Keep in mind this is AFTER I just cleaned with an abrasive cleanser.

Yes, gross. I mentioned the caulk (which was not in great shape when I moved in 5 years ago) to my landlord once, but you know, given that I have decent rent, I hate to push things too much for minor problems. So, I've thought about doing it myself. My first and only other experience recaulking a tub was in 2000 when I lived in a group house. The landlady there was more or less a slumlord, so having her do it was out of the question and there was NO way I was living with the caulk that my roommates had never cleaned.  And so started my first adventure with the caulking. That was enough of an experience to keep me from caulking. It isn't pleasant. What had me come back was, sadly an infomercial, for this:

I saw the infomercial a long time ago, but it caught up with me again at a moment of  particular vulnerability last Friday at Bed, Bath & Beyond. A stressful office move, a 20% coupon, and clearance price all conspired to put me down the path of recaulking again.

On Saturday, I geared up, I was ready, and this time I had the tools for a job: The "As Seen on TV" product, rubber gloves, a utility knife, and flat head screwdriver. I was PUMPED UP! That caulk was going to get it good!

Now, I feel the need to warn you. What follows is not suitable for all viewers. Proceed with caution.

First, you slice the caulk on either side to loosen it.

And then you just dig, and remove and dig and remove...it ain't pretty.

See what I mean? Eventually, it will all be gone. By eventually, I mean like an hour later. You have this.

After that, you clean it out a bit with some bleach to kill whatever gross mold is in there and let it dry. I used rags and a hair drier, just to make sure. Then the fun could begin. My tools:

The caulk came with the As Seen On TV tool. It has "Microban" which is supposed to fight mold. The snaky thing is backer rod. Essentially, if the crack is deeper than 3/8", you need to put something else in there. I just so happened to have some from one of my other escapades.

I didn't photograph the interim process because, well, my hands were a mess. It's times like this I wish I had a husband...to take blog photos! :) The tool helped smooth out the "bead." The end results were wonderful and made such a HUGE difference!

It doesn't change the cracks and lack of tub enamel, but at least I don't have gross cracked moldy caulk anymore!

Cracking Up

Yesterday was not a proud day for Christine's kitchen. I thought I'd bake bread, using my new food processor, but clearly did not leave enough time to do so between laying around and the time I'd have to leave to meet Miss Emily for cocktails and a movie (Shutter Island--pretty good). So, instead, I decided to make crackers, something so Martha Stewart I've always wanted to do it. Well, the day started badly. As I reached for baking powder, a spice jar fell out of the cabinet and broke one of my bread dishes that was sitting in the sink:

I'm thinking of trying to repair it. We'll see. I'm sure it will sit on my counter for awhile.  Anyway, back to the crackers. I was using a recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook but alas, did not follow the cardinal rule. I started before reading through the entire recipe. I put in too much of the salt and threw the butter in before mixing the dry ingredients. I used my food processor to cut in the butter and indeed, it made it super easy. The recipe is also easy: 2 c flour, 1 T sugar, 2 t salt, 2 T chilled butter, & 2/3 c milk. Basically, you mix everything up (only 1/2 t of salt), and then roll out, score, sprinkle w/ the rest of the salt, and bake at 425 for 6-8 min on one side and 5 on the other.

 

Rolling and cutting the crackers was also easy. You just score it slightly, to make them easier to break off later. I used a ravioli cutter for one sheet and a knife for the other. I should have made both sheets during the same round in the oven (mistake 3), but I didn't. 

 

 

 

Now here's the problem. First pan: too thickly rolled and on the airbake pan, probably needed longer in the oven. In contrast, second pan, nice thickness, but the dark pan helped burn my crackers. Sad.

 

 

That said, I liked my cracker baking experience. It was fairly easy and the crackers, even the burnt ones, were tasty. So, I'll take those little "learning moments" and apply them to future attempts!
  
  
 

Where've ya been?

It's true, I've neglected blogging lately. So, what have I been up to?

1.) I fixed my broken blender! God bless the internet. I found out how to remove the broken part, buy a new one, and replace it. Good as new (with the exception of some scratches).

 

 
 
 2.) I went to St. Louis for work.

 

My boss was kind enough to drive me from the suburbs downtown so I could see the arch. But, he also stopped at Union Station. Now a Marriott, it's stunning. Seriously. Stunning. I literally gasped when I walked in. As these things often go, my pictures don't do it justice.

 
 
 

3.) I was being promoted. You might assume that that sounds like something that doesn't take much effort, but that would be an incorrect assumption. Firstly, I had to basically campaign for it, and then had to give a little presentation to a panel. No photos to accompany this. Well, I could put the picture of me driving two of my coworkers in my little car that my coworker took with his cell phone, but...well, it's not that interesting!

So, that's a little of what was keeping me busy. Too much excitement!

Home Improvement...or Self Help?

So, the paint's up! My brother came Thursday and got working straight away and was done around 11 on Thursday night. I'll have some touch up to do, but it's looking GREAT! It is amazing to me what something so simple as a coat of fresh paint and some color (albeit neutral soothing rather than saturated bright) can do. All of a sudden, things that seemed disparate in my rooms come together.

What I did realize is that I'm not well adjusted when it comes to having my home in disarray. Someone please dissuade me if I decide to remodel extensively while living in a place. I don't think I could handle it! I have some clean out and clean up to do and things are not where they should be. I think this is good. It's good to shake it up a bit and get the dust off. It's good to change your surroundings and see things in a new way.

Those antique frames I found long, long ago are still sitting where I placed them. So, either I do my little fix up in the next few weeks or they're back on the curb or on Craigslist.

The mirror from my dresser? I either have to sell it or hang it. I have determined the backing it's on won't work to attach to the dresser and I am going to pitch it. The mirror is in great shape though.

I have a ton of other things still hanging around awaiting their fate--my old laptop, my old digital camera, bags of clothes. Now is the time! (Pictures to follow)

There Must Be 50 Ways to Choose Your Color

Well, my next home project is painting. Something I've planned to do for ages. After being here in my rental apartment for 4+ years, the paint's seen better days. It wasn't designed to last--my landlord paints after every tenant, and the average tenant's stay is probably 1.5 years or something. I asked him ages ago if he'd mind if I painted my own colors, and he said "whatever makes you happy" with a tentative "Uh, what colors are you thinking of?"

The answer was I didn't know. And, a year or more later, I still didn't and had gotten no further in my plans. Finally, after deciding to forego buying a condo immediately, in a trip to Home Depot to help a friend pick cabinets for HER new condo, I picked up a few color samples and promptly marked most of my walls with them, precluding me from NOT painting. It was a good strategy. Looking at those stripes, I got desperate last week.  I called my brother, who offered to help me, and he's coming this Friday, bless him, to paint for me.

But, what color? Unfortunately, the colors I originally tested would not work. I originally had these for the living room:

Ralph Lauren Lamp Room Grey

 

On the wall, it just appeared too dark and not right.

Behr Chocolate Froth

 On the contrary, this one was too light. Too similar to the beige that was already there.

For the bedroom, I thought Behr's Quietude was perfect. I was wrong. 

 

It just appeared too bright on the wall. And too cool when compared to the warm white of the trim, which is not being painted!

So, it was back to the drawing board. On Sunday, after church, I settled down with my computer for over an hour, looking at paint sites, primarily Behr and Glidden because I was going to Home Depot. My goal for the living room was to match the "vein" in my rug:

 (Like my feet?)

So, I kept glancing at the screen, glancing at the rug (keeping in mind they can vary). I settled on a list, which I took to the store and then looked at chips. This was infinitely easier than just showing up there and trying to guess. I then narrowed it down in the store to 2 samples for the living room and 1 for the bedroom. As it turned out, I kind of liked Chocolate Froth in the bedroom. But, I needed to compare. Who knew greys and taupes could be so different!?

For the living room:

Glidden Forest Khaki

Behr Sandstone Cliff

 

I also picked up cards with other potential contenders. But, when I put them on the wall, Sandstone Cliff was the standout. Forest Khaki was still too dark. Here's one of my test areas.

 

This is on my back wall.  I also had testing happening by my curtains and by the trim on my front door. Sandstone Cliff is the paint on the bottom left. (Forest Khaki to the direct right). The flash is making it a bit brighter.

For the bedroom, I settled on one sample, Glidden Polished Limestone.

 

It was wonderful, though I still am deciding between this and Chocolate Froth. One of the bedroom walls (also three test areas there):

 
  
  
I tried doing this without a flash because it was making it way bright, but it turned out fuzzy. The Polished Limestone sample is to the top right (you can tell it's eggshell v. flat on the others). Quietude is to the left. Chocolate Froth is the one by the light switch.

I surprised myself by not being as color adventurous as I thought I'd be. I gravitated way away from brights. In some ways, choosing a neutral is harder, I think. I guess I'd be more willing to go with something with more saturated color if I owned my place. I just can imagine the look on my landlord's face if he came in and saw red or black walls. Even if I offer to prime over it, I can just imagine. Besides, to really make that work, I'd feel like I needed to really coordinate my furniture and everything. As it is, I think the neutrals will look better and fit more with my decor choices.

Take aways for your next paint picking project:

1.) Use the computer. Though screen resolution can change colors, it helps reduce the sense of being overwhelmed. Or, go to the store (don't buy anything yet), and get a few (and I mean a few--I know how a few can change into 50), bring them home, and then use the web tools offered by the paint companies to find ones slightly darker/cooler/warmer to find the perfect one.

2.) Though Glidden offers those cute nail polish looking samples with an included brush, these cost the same as the little pot of sample which has much more paint. Might as well get that one and use your own brush. If you don't use it to cover a wall, you can always use the paint for another project or if you choose the paint, to store touch up paint (that was Mom's idea).

All in all, I'm excited! This is my first painting project (that my brother will execute! Thanks, bro!) since I lived at my parents. It's VERY exciting! You know you'll see before and afters!

Quick and Easy

Saturday, I had one of those days where, because I had nothing concrete planned, and so many options, I had difficulty committing to anything. This led me to actually complete a project I've been meaning to do for awhile--recovering the seat of a chair. After completing it, it's rather embarrassing how long it's taken me.  If you've never done this, it's really easy.  The subject in question was a chair I acquired at an estate sale in my hometown before leaving for the big city (or, the suburbs of Bethesda, MD) and my first apartment.  It's a cute Gustavian sort of chair that serves so little purpose in my bedroom other than holding discarded clothing. But, that is neither here nor there. At some point, I am planning to use it as a desk chair (which I did at one point when I had a desk). I had originally recovered it in a nice purple jacquard. However, I was tired of that. I decided to recover with leftover fabric from my shelf project.

Here is the chair seat and chair as I started to remove the existing fabric.

 

 
 

And here's the ORIGINAL fabric, which I left on for posterity.

 

As it turns out, the bed is a less than ideal workbench. So, I moved it to the living room and my bench. Tip of the day: if it has bench in the name, it will be a better workbench. I wrapped the seat with 2 thin layers of poly batting that I also had hanging around. This is for cushiness. You could also add a layer of foam to the top, but not too much or the fabric won't lay properly.

 

The process of applying the batting and fabric couldn't be less complicated. Wrap, make sure it's taut, and then staple the heck out of it. If you have stripes, just make sure they're aligned. I love my staple gun. It's a very gratifying activity. Here is the finished chair. 

 

Voila! I may paint the chair at some point, or not. I haven't yet because I don't like to paint furniture (and haven't had much success with it...), but you know you'll be the first to hear about it if I do.
 
 

Organizational Therapy

For some reason, starting 2 weeks ago when I hurt my back, I started to organize and clean out like crazy. Every so often, I become afflicted with purge fever, and feel the need to clean out, organize, and reorganize.

My back was injured during the linen closet clean-out. And, because I couldn't actually complete that, I think that fueled the fire. I had to look at the incomplete project with stuff spilling out into my bedroom. Sure way to make me nuts. The only therapy? More organizing!

This weekend saw much much cleaning out. I dragged out the box of "techno trash" I've had in my closet for awhile--an old laptop (inoperable), an old digital camera (also inoperable), old VCR "blank" tapes with TV shows taped on them, my old cell phone, and who knows what else. I also have a bag of rags (basically clothes that are too worn to be donated), a bag with some random housewares and other items.

This weekend, I finally admitted to myself that I probably haven't used my VCR or associated tapes in well over a year. (and probably multiple years--how can I confirm this? See photo.

 

It's hard to let go sometimes. Even when you know that you have absolutely NO use for something. I have walked myself through some of these difficult choices by telling myself that it's nice to release the unimportant things to make ROOM for the things AND the experiences that ARE important.

I'm also working on thinning out some of my books. Books are much harder to let go of than VCR tapes for me. Having books around gives me a sense of comfort. But sometimes, comfort isn't comfortable. I'd say 98% of the books I own I rarely touch let alone read. I think it's OK for some of them--most of my poetry books are nice to have around to pick up every once in awhile, and some have sentimental value to some degree, but for others, there's just no reason. It would be one thing if I had a library in my house, but I don't. I have this:

An ugly second bookcase that cost me $19 at Ikea. I would LOVE to get rid of it to give my apartment some breathing room. I've managed to weed out some books. For now, they're piled on this case awaiting their final fate.

Right now, it looks like I'm getting ready to move (and I'm not!). This is a good thing--I haven't had moving as a motivator for 4 years!  I've piled things in the corner of my bedroom. Next step: finding a place for all my junk!