It's Christmas Time With the Dickeys

I do not shop on Black Friday. Part of the reason is because I disagree with crazy consumerism, but the biggest reason is I wouldn't deal with the crowds very well. Black Friday=PANIC ATTACK. The day after Thanksgiving for me should be called Deck The Halls Day.
Back when my kids were little I would load them in the car and take them to the babysitter for the day. I would grab my Starbucks on the way home and I would spend six hours beautifying the house for the Holidays. When I was done I would pick them up and bring them home to a transformed magical place. Now, my kids don't have a babysitter (just our live in Nanny Nana) and I have to decorate around them.I started at nine in the morning and threw in the towel at ten at night (it took forever because my kids still need me!)I still have my trees to put up (yes we have at least two trees every year), but I generally wait a week or two for them.

Here is this year's mantle. I went with a "natural" theme. I like the white and silver.

My brother literally picked this skull/rack/? up at his wife's family ranch in Heppner, Oregon. Do you think it is a bit too much?

 I tried selling this banner last year, but have decided it should stay with me instead. I am trying to sell it on Etsy however. Check out my shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DickeysDecor

I picked up these "putz" houses last year at Marshall's after Christmas. I LOVE them.

Our leg lamp is famous in the neighborhood. You can see it clearly from the street. It is fageelay.

This is the fireplace downstairs. I have big plans to build a mantle for it after the holidays. This banner is also on Etsy! http://www.etsy.com/shop/DickeysDecor

Can't forget the top of the television.

I have a few things I need to finish up for our outside decorations this weekend. I also need to hang my AWESOME new vintage poster I picked up. I will share pictures of of that soon. Next week I will be busy gearing up for a big event at my children's school and the only bazaar I am doing this season. Whew.

Opps I Did It Again...

I decided to give milk paint another go. I kind of had to since I bought a sampler pack and still have five more colors to try. This time I actually watched the tutorial and used my hand held mixer to stir the paint (If you live with me you may not want to use the wire whisk attachment ever again.). I used Tricycle this time. It seemed appropriate for the holidays. I mixed it well and liked my results much better than the first time!

My son is a huge Red Sox fan. This summer I painted this desk for him:

 He has used a tiny table as a nightstand since we moved into our house seven years ago. As he gets older it is not big enough to hold his "stuff". Five-year-olds don't need alarm clocks or chargers...eleven-year-olds do. A few months ago (okay it was actually back in July) I picked up a solid wood night stand with two drawers for $7. This baby was in good condition and was SOLID. It reminded me of a relative's furniture purchased in the 1990s for big bucks from a furniture store that specialized in oak. It was nice, but certainly dated. I decided to paint it red so it could go with the whole Red Sox theme we have going (and it also goes with his other favorite The Portland Trail Blazers).

Here it is:

I forgot I need to get him a new bed skirt. Believe me an eleven-year-old boy will not remind you about bed skirts.

I had a little extra left and decided to paint the plain pine frame of this chalkboard. Doesn't it just scream  sing Christmas?

Minature Tree

I spent a good chunk of a day organizing my crafts last weekend. I have stuff  in several spaces making it easy to forget what I have. One day I will have everything in one place; oh yes I will. Anyway, I finally got around to doing some crafting tonight.

I am not exactly sure what one might do with this little ditty. A gift for the music lover? The seamstress?

I took a spool (this one isn't vintage, but purchased at the craft store) and wrapped it with vintage sheet music. Next, I hot glued the bottle brush tree into the spool hole. I bleached this one myself. I embellished it with vintage buttons in cream. I added some bakers twine as a garland. At the end I added the musical rosette. I may take it off, but kind of like it. A quick and easy project.

I may get one more project done before Thanksgiving. The day after I will decorate. No Black Friday for this chick.

Beachy Tree

Our family lives for the beach. We try to make it there about

 every three months. While there I spotted some lovely driftwood trees in a high end shop for about $60. Whew. I started collecting driftwood for free and saving it to create my own.

 

 

My tree has a wooden base


 

I have some driftwood left and hope to make a few trees from it. I found some Pintrest inspiration as well.

Pintrest

Pintrest

Wouldn't beach glass ornaments be cool? Maybe I will have take a trip to the beach to take a look.

Thanksgiving Decorations

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Growing up we spent Thanksgiving raking leaves at my Grandma's in Central Oregon. My parents would clean her yard, my Grandma would cook and the kids would run amok. Late in the afternoon we sat down to a delicious meal. This picture is vivid in my mind.
Drexler was born a week before Thanksgiving. Throughout my pregnancy I craved Thanksgiving dinner. After my C-section I was told to take it easy, but alas Thanksgiving dinner won out. Mr.Dickey and I headed out the door with Drexler and planned on spending the day showing him off. Major mistake.
To make a long story short I had a nursing melt down and wound up at the hospital hooked up to an industrial "milker". The next month is fuzzy, but all I can say is my stress got the best me. Stressed breast feeder +  lazy nurser = Not fun.
I eventually got things down (with lots of support from my friends and husband) and Drexler nursed for an entire year. However, the following Thanksgiving we decided we would have the  dinner at our house to avoid chaos (real smart huh?).
Over the last ten years I have come to accept I am a control freak when it comes to Thanksgiving. We open our home to anyone who wants to come. Sometimes my family pops in, but usually it is my husband's family. I have a hard time making food assignments because I want things my way. I smoke my turkey, make the potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and other dishes. Our guests bring appetizers, pies, and salads. I enjoy prepping and cooking all day with my coffee and later on, wine. A few years ago I had another meltdown. This time I was upset that my family was never all together for Thanksgiving. We started the tradition that every two years the Altig's (my maiden name) would go somewhere for Thanksgiving with just the immediate family. This includes: my parents, my three siblings and their spouses and five nieces and nephews. I love these years. Next year our plan is to head to the beach. I CAN'T WAIT.

With all of that being said I also love to decorate for Thanksgiving:

I may, or may not, get to creating a few more Thanksgiving projects. Enjoy this time of year...I will.

Milk Paint Virgin

I am no longer a milk paint virgin. Awhile ago I purchased a sampler set of my Goddess Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint off of Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/redposie). It sat gathering dust until I had some time to play. My husband's family loves to dump their cast off pieces at our house occasionally and this table was one of them (Sometimes I think I should have a donation sign in our front yard). Insert before picture here...(oops I didn't take one).
Not being a direction follower I mixed the milk paint up and went for it. I grabbed Kitchen Scale and got going. After five minutes I regretted this decision. The paint was b asically water. I kept painting, but cursed the drips on my garage floor. Once I was finished I took a step back and shook my head. I wasn't feeling it.
A few days later I painted some grey stripes on it and decided I liked it.

I am planning on painting a nightstand for Drexler today in Tricycle. I am going to watch a tutorial before I attempt to try this again. Miss Mustard Seed said it was different to paint with milk paint and she was right. I love the result, but it is going to take some getting used to. They say the first time can be rough :-).

Vintage Christmas Boxes With a German Flair

I have professed my love for Bethany Lowe here several times. How can you not love something that looks like this:



Pintrest.

 I am getting ready for a Holiday Bazaar and after lessons learned last year I decided to focus on Holiday decorations. My style of crafting is manic as I tend to sell many different projects as opposed to "mass producing" one thing. Thus, so far I have made stockings, a few banners and these:



Bethany Lowe inspired Christmas box


I had several gold boxes stashed away in one of my many craft closets (one day I will have everything in one place). I painted them a light pink and blue. Next, I added festooning I recently purchased off of Amazon. What is festooning? It is the tissue paper fringe around the band of the box lid. Festooning isn't cheap and it is difficult to find. I have ordered some from vendors on Etsy in the past. I LOVE them, but for a single color festoon Amazon was the place to go. I paid $1.19 for a twelve foot length. I stocked up on it at this price!
The houses were purchased last year at Wal-Mart after Christmas. I believe I paid .40 for them. They were a basic cream with a silver roof. I added German glass glitter to them to fancify them. I found these great mini-alphabet rubber stamps at Wally World as well. They were only .97 and the fonts are my style.



Glitter bottle brush trees

  These trees were also found at Wal-Mart. I bought an entire bag (not sure how many were in it) for $7. I bleached them and added some glitter. I am going to try dying some this weekend. Wish me luck.


Another view



This house has a German flair to it. The glitter is German Glass and the vintage paper is in German as well. I can say one thing for the German's they know how to make fantastic decorations for Christmas. This box has tinsel garland around it's lid band. I picked this up after Christmas at Target. This is one of those crafting items that can be marked up quite a bit  when you can find it. Here is a link to some on Etsy: (http://www.etsy.com/listing/94469405/vintage-inspired-metalic-wired-tinsel?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_search_query=tinsel+garland&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all)

My local ENORMOUS fabric store, Fabric Depot, has carried it for .19 a yard in the past, but I couldn't find it there recently. I have found the best place to get it is in the Christmas wrapping section when things go on clearance.

 This is my attempt at a German Glass glitter crown I spotted on MissMustardseed's blog. Her's is much better than mine. I am going to try to make a few more of these as large Christmas ornaments.

First attemp...



A change in lighting


Here is Miss Mustardseed's:

 Here is a link to her tutorial: http://missmustardseed.com/2012/10/glitter-crown-tutorial/



All three of my pieces together.

 The bazaar will be December 8th at Margaret Scott Elementary located at 14700 NE Sacramento St.
Portland, OR 97230. I beleive the hours are 9-4. I will continue to share some of my creations throughout the next few weeks.

Demarle Devotion

About six years ago my husband asked me to go to a party a co-worker was having. He had no idea what they were selling, but he wanted me to go because she had been a huge support to him his first year of teaching. Ugh. I hate in home in home sale parties, but I went. It changed my life...sort of.
Demarle originated in France. It is best known for Silipats,  made famous via Martha Stewart. They are also well known in the restaurant industry. This flexible bakeware is made from silicone, fiberglass, and I dont know what else. I do known it is magic.
Over the years I have picked up an assortment of pieces. Demarle isn't cheap. The average piece is $40-$60. My friends know I am cheap (insert chuckles here), but when it comes to Demarle I will fork out some money...it is that good.

Photo from Pintrest.

The basic premise is Demarle is non stick. No spray, no flour, nothing needed. It was originally designed for baking, but it can be used for so much more. Here is a list of how I use mine:

Cooking casseroles     Roasting veggies     Basic baking     Meatloaf     Roasting meat
Chocolate/cheese molded bowls     Grilled cheese sandwiches (I can make six at a time)
Cookies     Pizza      Egg McMuffins(see below)    Freezing soups/leftovers in individual serving sizes
Fancy ice cubes     Jello molds     Brownies w/ a cavity for frosting/fillings



This list could go on and on. The great thing is cleaning is as simple as soap and water. There is no scrubbing. I am a lazy cook so this is essential. Did I mention it is easy to store as well? I can fit twelve pieces in one drawer...no joke. We go to the beach several times throughout the year and tend to cook gourmet meals there because we have the time. I can slip this stuff in a bag and it takes up no space.

Alright do I sell this stuff? Nope. I could since I believe in it that much, but alas I just don't need anymore on my plate. However, I am hosting a party on the 15th. Friends will come, eat, drink and perhaps buy.   I have my eye on a few new pieces and with the holidays coming up I am sure it will be used. You can check it out at www.demarleathome.com.



This photo is from Pintrest, however this is one of my favorite molds.



Now back to the Egg sMcMuffins. Demarle makes a dish (not sure what else to call it) that has eight circle shapes. On Sunday night  I take a dozen eggs and put two in each cavity. I often put only egg whites in a few and leave out the yolks. I crack the yolks, add a bit of salt and pepper and bake them at 350  for twenty minutes. After they cool I put them in a container for the week.
In the morning I pop one out put it on an English muffin ( they fit perfectly), place a sausage patty or bacon (also made on Sunday on a Demarle product), a slice of cheese and place into a bag. My husband and I take them to work where we warm them up and eat them. Delicious. My students try to buy them off of me, but alas I can't share my food :-).