Friday, 13 April 2012

Beautiful White Trunk

Hi, everyone!


I bought this trunk a while ago for $30 on Craigslist. I LOVED IT.
I guess you are like me, love many things???!!! 


The wood was "peeled" on the sides; that's why it was cheap.
I was already brave enough to think "I will FIX IT" without EVER having done anything like that, LOL!!!


It was EASY. Bought wood filler, it is like that white paste you buy to fill holes on your wall, but made for wood. Applied it with a spatula, let it dry, sanded with a fine block. Repeat. Wipe. Voila!


I always have to wait a little to decide what to do with my furniture. In this case, I was afraid to paint because it was so shiny... I thought my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint might bleed. But I don't know how to paint with any other paint, lol!
And I could not leave it because the wood filler was obvious on the side. I wish I had taken a picture of that! Sorry. 


I was going to paint Duck Egg Blue or Provence on top, and write some words like a bench I saw but... It looks so pretty like that!!!


It looks "clean" in my bedroom (almost everything here is white)...


The pictures above were taken after two coats of ASCP Pure White and distressed. Note the sunshine...


Finally I had time to wax it, at night... I still need to buff it but here is how it looks now!


I have to say this is my best piece yet!!! I am getting better!!!


I love the details...






I hope you "take the plunge" and paint something in your house, too!!!
Have a great weekend!!!


Today I am partying at:




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Fridays Unfolded
Furniture Feature Fridays

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

EASIEST Chocolate Cake!

I wanted to share with you a recipe that has been with me since I was a teenager. It is my brother's favourite!
It takes only about 15 min to make!


I have made it so many times I know it by heart: 
2 cups of flour 
1 cup of sugar 
1 cup chocolate powder (I use Nesquick) 
Mix this in a bowl and make a little well in the middle. 
Then add: 
2 eggs (whole) 
1 cup of vegetable oil (I use canola, you don't want to taste it) (You can substitute 1/2 apple sauce and 1/2 oil instead of 1 cup of oil) 
1 cup hot water 
In the well mix the egg and the oil a little before you put the water, you don't want the water to be so hot that cooks the eggs, lol! 
I mix by hand, just with a fork, a spoon or wire egg beater. 
In the end, add 2 Tbsp baking powder (shallow tbsp - I use real spoons, not the measuring one, lol) 
Mix a bit and pour it in a rectangular cake pan, greased with oil. If you want to take this cake out of the pan uncut, better line up with parchment paper. I don't because I cut it in squares with a plastic knife or spatula and serve. 
 Bake 350F for 30 minutes. Here is what you get:


It looks "baked" after 30 min in the oven. I don't even use a toothpick to test anymore.

I start making the sauce:


In a little pan, add: 
1 cup of sugar 
1/2 cup chocolate powder (again, Nesquick) 
1 heaping Tbsp of margarine or butter (I use margarine)
1/2 cup of milk
Combine everything in high heat, bring it to a boil, turn down the heat so it boils but it doesn't burn. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Pour over the cake.


I poke holes in the cake so the sauce goes all in...

This time I used a kebab skewer, did not have toothpicks!

The sauce goes on the hot cake (it will be cooled a bit because it is out while you are making the sauce). But the sauce needs to be HOT while you pouring it, so it goes inside the cake.
After the sauce cools it forms a bit of a CRUST so you get moist inside but crusty outside...

YUMMM!!!

My son and husband like it with milk!

Try it and let me know!!!


Today I am partying at:





Fine Craft Guild

Monday, 9 April 2012

Sparkly Chandelier!

A while ago I found this chandelier on Craigslist, for FREE. Silly me, had to pay the lady $20 for it. You can read the whole post here.
Don't you worry, I know better NOW!!!

Since I decided I am going to try to make a business out of re-purposing and painting furniture and maybe selling some antiques, I have become waaayy more "money conscious"!!!
But anyway, at the time, I only thought to use it in my guest room. And that's where it will be!
I wanted to "update it" somehow. But it is kind of a retro style, not the "French" "antique" style...
I did not find any place to hang crystals on it.
So I decided to put strings of beads, to make it more "sparkly"!


Note that it is hanging from the SPOT LIGHTS in my dinning room, since I don't do electrical work!


I went to Michael's and found the beads SO EXPENSIVE!
But bought about $20 worth of material (now the whole project cost me $40): a"string" and the beads.


If you notice there are 6 metal "little posts" behind each glass globe. I glued (with a glue gun) a 7" string of beads in each.
Towards the centre of the chandelier, the little "metal posts" are shorter, so I actually made longer strings, those are 13" I think. And I inserted and glued (with a glue gun again) smaller beads at intervals. So each string has 6 beads. They are spaced.  


The centre of the chandelier has longer strings with less beads falling from it and the outer of the chandelier has shorter strings with more beads and bigger beads falling from it. 



Awww... So cute!!!
I am sure it will be even prettier when the lights are up!!!

I can't wait to see this in the guest room...

I will show you the whole reveal soon!!!


I am sharing this project here:



Saturday, 7 April 2012

Baked French Toast!!!

Hi, everyone! 


I am  SO HAPPY to know that THERE ARE people reading my blog, yaaaayyyy!!!!


I HAD to share with you this wonderful recipe I found at Dwell on Joy blog! I prepared it last night, and baked it this morning, since my son will not be home for breakfast tomorrow.


I followed Sarah's recipe exactly, the only thing I changed was the bread. My husband bought white French bread instead.


Sarah mentioned she had bread left over so I cut mine in thick slices and squeezed them in the Pyrex. I just left the tips out. Everything else was exactly the same!


Here is the result...


Doesn't it look awesome???
I was surprised, myself!!! 

We were also surprised that was not too sweet...
It was PERFECT!!!

My husband cooked some bacon...
I cut some strawberries...

I sprinkled some sugar with cinnamon in mine!!!
SO YUMMY!!!!

Now we need to invite people over for brunch!!!
This was so easy because I prepared it the night before!
 
Make sure you grab the recipe at Dwell on Joy!

Happy Easter!!!





Tuesday, 3 April 2012

Burlap Wreath

I always wonder what to put on my front door.  
It is easy to decorate it at Christmas, 
but what do I do the other times of the year?



I wanted an "all-seasons" wreath, that I could leave there and not have to change it every time a new holiday came on.


I saw this video on how to make a burlap wreath on YouTube

and decided to make my own!!!


Isn't it cute?? This is hanging on my entrance closet because I just made it last night and did not hang it in my door yet...


The little bird and the flowers I bought at Michael's
but you can make flowers out of felt or any fabric if you have leftovers at home.

My entrance needs a makeover. I already bought a doormat, and made the wreath. Now the door needs to be painted!

Here it is in daylight. 
My husband put on our sideboard so 
the dog wouldn't shred it to pieces!

I hope you get inspired to make one!
I will make sure to take pictures when my entrance is all complete!


Today I am partying at:

Fine Craft Guild















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