Secret Santa gift exchange

I've been missing from the blog world while away tending to other business this week. I've been trying all week to find a few moments to share a quick tidbit with you. I am so excited and couldn't wait to tell you about an upcoming event. Jessica over at chronicallyvintage.com is having a Secret Santa Gift Exchange. If you've never been to her world you must pay a visit to her site. She always has something incredible interesting to share. I love secrets and can't wait to find the perfect little something to share. Let the hunt begin!  Thank you Jessica for allowing me to participate in the fun. I can't wait!

Be warm,

Kelly

Love potion

I have been busy cooking up some potions from my garden herbs. I like to garden. I grow flowers and herbs and the occasional tomato or pepper. My favorite part of gardening is collecting the fresh herbs and using them in salads and other dishes. I am a mediocre cook that gets bored with the same old thing and likes to get adventurous in the kitchen. My favorite things to cook up aren't edible at all. I love to make herbal salt scrubs and lip balms but my very favorite recipe is what I call my love potion. 

         It's really just rose water made from dried roses, distiller water and citrus vodka. It's so easy to make ( shhh, don't tell anyone its my secret and now yours) and smells heavenly. I use hand fulls of dried roses from the garden (the heavily scented kind) a jug of distiller water and a few swigs, I mean drops, of citrus orange vodka. I boil the water and pour them over the roses then steep them in a covered glass bowl for about 40 minutes. After the 40 minutes are up and the water is a beautiful rose tint  I strain the water and discard or compost the rose petals. I then add the vodka and pour the mixture in decorative jars or bottles with stoppers. I seal a few bottles that won't be used for a while with melted candle wax. No need to refrigerate because the vodka acts as a preservative. It smells wonderful and it's very soothing to dry skin. I keep a tiny jar of it in my home altar as well but more on that later. 

  If you don't grow roses in your garden you can buy discarded petals from a florist and dry them yourself. You can also use fresh petals but you want to be sure they haven't been laced with pesticides. I have never used fresh roses and the  recipe is a bit different from the one I use for dried petals. 

  So even though the weather is a bit frightful here in Michigan I can still enjoy my garden. We are expecting a few more inches of snow and high winds tonight. Brrrrrr!!

Deep thoughts on a frosty morning

I can't recall when it happened but there was a moment when the thought entered my mind and cemented itself deep within like a pillar of stone refusing to move. I tried to dismiss it, walk around it and even push it aside but there was no denying the obvious. I'm talking about the moment I knew that the level I had worked for and tried to attain for so many years just didn't fit. It wasn't me. It was difficult and even a little bit painful but I had to admit that I was not the super woman I pretended to be. 

       From a very young age we are told that we can do and have it all. We can balance everything in life, the family, the career, the good, the bad and even the ugly with ease. I told myself this and even pleaded with myself to stay a working woman who was finally making her way up the ladder. I was too embarrassed to admit that I didn't want to be making my way up the ladder. The truth was I didn't want to be on that ladder at all. It took some time but eventually I admitted to myself and then to others that I wanted to leave my job. I needed time to spend with my family and reconnect with myself. Admittance came first but the letting go was key. I had to let go of the notion that I had made it and let go of the money that came along with. 

That step is behind me now and I am looking forward to time with the people I love, time to create and time to just breath. As I look out across the frosty lawn in my toasty slippers and worn out sweatshirt not fit for the public eye I take a deep breath and head for the Keurig for another cuppa. There is something about the crisp air and magic of morning light dancing across the floor that puts me in a dreamy state and gives way to a moment of reflection. Ahhhh...... So glad to be here!

Horsing around

I decided to share a little fun on a cold grey day. It's already snowing here. I shouldn't be surprised. You know what they say about Michigan weather. We'll maybe you don't, it's unpredictable and if you don't like the weather blink your eyes and it will change. Ha ha.... So true!

The air is cool and crisp and the garden has been put to bed for the season. Every season has its perks but I love the warm sunny days of summer. Fall is beautiful and the spring is magical but I am a barefoot girl already longing for the long days of summer. Not everyone or everything feels the way I do. My minnie horses love the coolness of fall and the frosty winters. This pic was taken when we still had green grass and leaves on the trees but the air was beginning to cool which inspired a little ruff housing between the boys. I wish I shared their enthusiasm for cold weather.

Cheers to the weekend.... Enjoy!

Altered junk with chalk paint DIY

I have become addicted to repurposing with chalk paint. I first started transforming out-dated pieces of furniture with name brand chalk paints, like Annie Sloan, only found in specialty stores or on the internet. They were great and came in several colors but very pricey about 40 dollars a quart.  I was limited by a small color palate and had to make a 35 mile trip to find it. I should probably clarify that chalk paint and chalk board paint are different. Chalk paint is used on furniture to leave an old world appearance similar to milk paint. It is quite often aged to give a beautifully worn patina. It's often used in shabby chic decor. Chalk board paint is used to make chalk boards.

Chalk paint allows me to take a piece that needs a little love or a major face lift and transform it into something fabulous. In the beginning I was spending a small fortune on paint and wax. Eventually I decided to take a leap of faith and start making my own paint. There are several recipes posted on- line. I have listed a couple inexpensive recipes to try. My go to mix is the plaster of Paris recipe below found on Inmyownstyle.com.

It's easy and all you need to get stated is a little paint (color and brand of your choice) plaster of Paris and a soft wax like Johnson's or Minwax paste finishing wax. There are many techniques to try depending on the finish you want in the end. Pinterest is a great resource for ideas and wonderful pics of the end result. I usually go for the more distressed look with a little sand paper at varying grits. 

The best thing about chalk painting is that you can cover almost anything and you don't have to sand or strip the piece first. I love that!

The chest above was a sad piece buried under frames and chairs in the garage of an estate sale. It was dirty (including mouse droppings) and broken but I could see the potential. After a little wood glue was applied to the drawers and trim pieces and the broken door was removed, we ( my dad) cut a piece of wood for a new top. I loved the chippy paint and aged look of the chest already so I applied only a thin layer of oatmeal colored paint. I wanted to preserve the original patina as much as possible but you can create your own with a little aging wax that's readily available at your better paint or hardware store. After achieving the color I wanted I waxed and buffed to a satin finish. I painted inside the drawers and open shelf (created by removing the door) with a pop of sunny color. Then I stacked several colorful boxes in the open space. You could also use a cute little basket for storage or stack of old books. I love how this piece turned out it was a total transformation. I wish I would have taken before and after pics. I always forget to do that. It's because I get so excited and anxious to get started and just dive right in without capturing the original piece. 

The entire project cost me less than 50 dollars. That's right I got this sexy little chest for less than fifty bucks and a couple hours of DIY.  I would love to see some of your transformations with chalk paint, hint, hint! 

Photo a day challenge

Fat mum slim has a photo a day challenge going on. I was intrigued and decided to join in. I joined the face book group and have been sharing my photos there. It's so interesting to see the pics posted by people all across the world. I'm having g a great time.

What I know

Some days I feel exposed as though I am inside out, raw and fragile to the touch. I don't feel like I'm measuring up or doing what is expected of a woman of my age, my upbringing or my potential. Many times I have trouble going the distance and stop a little shy of success. Just about the time I get close to the win, I back down, make an excuse and just bow out. Is it fear of failure or the uncertainty of knowing what I really want or really need that stops me in my tracks? I don't know.

Some days like today I get up charged and ready for anything, like a version of my younger self when I felt like nothing could stop me and I had plenty of time to get everything I wanted in the end. As I am now in the middle of my life and still not sure what that everything is or where I am suppose to be I feel a little uneasy about my life.  But then I think maybe this is where I am supposed to be and maybe I have everything I need. I know I am not supposed to be rich or famous or be solving the problems of the world. I am suppose to be here making a small but important impact on the people closest to me. This is what I know. Everything else is subject to change. 

I would really love to know If you have days of wavering faith in yourself and how do you  know if you're on the right path and where you need to be? 

Studio Pink fun and fabulous

I'm making myself crazy with ideas, too many ideas and not enough finished projects. It's birthday parties, holiday decorating, party planning, stocking the shop and the fact that I haven't even given Christmas shopping a single thought. Don't get me wrong I adore the holidays. The decorating the shopping all of it. I just wish I had the time and the focus to keep up with it all. 

 I think my biggest problem is that I lack the focus to follow through. I have so many ideas and several projects started but not much completed. Sure my studio is picked up and everything stowed away but nothing is completed. I promised myself this would be the week that I would buckle down and get serious, really serious. But then I remembered the big Mad Hatter Tea party I'm throwing in January and spent the day pinning  ideas on Pinterest. Ahh, Pinterest, love, love. We'll the girls and I did manage to cross one little project off the list. We colored several tiny bottle brush trees the most delicious shades of shabby chic. 

It was so easy. A little Martha Stewart paint and glitter did the trick. The girls had a great time painting and sprinkling glitter everywhere. I think clean up time took more time than it did to make the tiny trees fabulously shabby. Did I say there was glitter? My house may not be clean but it certainly sparkles!

We did manage to sit a spell and sip some tea while enjoying a brisk afternoon in the fall leaves. Did I say brisk? It was down right chilly. I think fall is almost spent. I'm definitely not ready for winter but then maybe it will motivate me to get things done and spend a little less time playing in the leaves. 

Maybe but not likely. 

Prayer bottle for the Alter

Hey, I found this really awesome Etsy listing at https://www.etsy.com/listing/210237560/wish-jar-or-prayer-bottle

Chippy paint obsession

I fell in love with the shabby look of chipping paint way before it was cool. I loved the way the peeling colors exposed layers of the past and created a lovely patina. The shabby look of chippy paint creates a feeling of comfort for me. The pieces that used to be thrown in the woodpile or left by the curbside are now coveted by their owners or at the very least sold to friends with a passion for old. I used to wish that others felt passionate or understood how I felt about the shabby look of old furniture. I was so thrilled when friends began to get excited about my finds and ask me to find or refinish a piece for them.  We'll I think I've changed my mind because now that shabby is in and chippy paint is all the rage it has become difficult and very expensive to find a really cool piece. I thought I wanted others to share my passion for character and see the beauty of dingy corners and peeling paint but now Im not up for the high prices and the availability of chalk paint has made everyone a DIYer.  If I ever fall in love with an ugly duckling or unpopular trend again I'll be sure to appreciate "one mans trash is another mans treasure."

Do you have any outdated or unpopular passions?