I HAVE EASTER CHICKS SWINGING AT MY HOUSE! REALLY

Happy Sunday to you! Been keeping the busy up.....Easter crafts for decorating, grilling and a cake! Not to mention the everyday cleaning and laundry. Saturday is outing day for us, we thrifted a bit and saw the latest movie Noah, spectacular film! I would recommend it to everyone.

Natalie and I did some paper bag crafting today, I am so amazed at what a brown paper bag can turn into. Keep in mind todays craft used 1 brown paper bag , paint, a stray piece of wood, some burlap and craps of material.

 We cut out the chicks , then wings and beaks, painted them.

 We took a scrap of wood and turned it into a swing that we covered with burlap and hung it onto the fireplace.

 This little guy is trying to hop on if only the swing would stop moving! Brown paper is so versatile and could be shaped when damp.

 Some chicks are holding on to some of the speckled eggs we painted.

 Some have their little legs hanging off the swing.

We used material attached to the wood to hold the swing up. This is a wonderful craft to do with the family, lots of fun seeing the chicks come to "life".

The children can paint the pieces very easily , brown paper takes to paint well too!

Hope you will try an Easter craft with little ones, thanks so much for visiting Sweet Tea N' Salty Air

Come join the party!

A CRUMB CAKE RECIPE EASY AND PERFECT FOR EASTER BRUNCH or ANYDAY!

Good morning to you! We have an overcast day here in Southwest Florida so it may rain but that's perfect for my new garden plants. I usually make big brunch type breakfasts on Saturdays seeing that everyone is at leisure today. I try to pull out my favorite cook books that contain my tried and best recipes. One of my favorite Cook books is

This is a compilation of some wonderful recipes

from the woman of the St. Peter Apostle Catholic Church here in Naples Florida. These good ole girls know their stuff because everything that I have tried has been wonderful. This recipe "Crumb cake" I would rate a 10 on a scale of 1-10.

Moist and delicious, perfect company with an egg dish.

I follow this recipe exactly which is very important with crumb cake.

The only thing that I have changed up with this recipe is that I glaze the top with a simple
about 1/2 c. butter or margarine softened, 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, 1 teas. vanilla and a slash of milk or 1/2 & 1/2. Whip up and drizzle the top of the cake once it is cooled. Just a warning you better hide it until your ready to serve it up !

The recipe is very easy. 

See what I mean , when I was getting my camera ready and came back someone mysteriously took a piece. Thanks so much for joining me today hope you try this delicious easy recipe!

A NEW COAT OF PAINT FOR THE CONCRETE FLOOR AND A FRESH NEW LOOK FOR THE "LOUNGE PORT"! Welcome Spring

Hi there, happy Spring! This week has been busy ! Lucky for me little Natalie and I have been super busy redoing the" lounge port", a name I have made up for this area. It is really a covered car port that brings you on in to the screened in porch. This area gets used very much in the summer time. The pool is nearby so this is where we eat lunch etc, It's also great to sit out there in the evening because you can view the night sky. The first detail was to power wash the total area. Then we mixed up the paint adding a non slip element that really resembled baking soda.

Lucky for me Lowes had 2 gallons of grey on the oops counter so total paint cost was 10.00, the skid guard 5.00.

Ok....so this is what we are covering from last season, trust me we have allot of wear and tear in this area.

Little Natalie can swing a paint roller better than most, she is my painting /craft partner! It's not all work and no play though we are headed out to the circus today! Yay! She is touching up a tad before we decorate and bring the furnishings in. I really don't use new or the best stuff out here, every one sits around with wet bathing suits and beach goers seem to lose their sand here as well, juice gets spilled daily etc so I have to be able to spray this all down as needed with the hose.

We decorated the iron railings that spate a tiny porch that holds a vintage small table set. We used some red chili peppers and white lights and attached some black and white checked bows. I thought chili peppers would be fun seeing that this is where we BBQ.

 Comfy chairs and pillows scattered here and there.

 I used a light summery tablecloth that I made from a shower curtain so it could take the weather and the family!

 This wicker shelf works as a privacy screen when opened out .

 These cute glass turtle voltive holders lend some light to the table.

 I bought this mini Chimminea at Joanne fabric, it works great with a candle

I placed a bakers rack near the grill. We found a nice piece of wood so we made a chalk board that fit nicely on the the rack.

My vintage bird cage hangs along side a decorated tobacco ladder.

 

This is a daytime photo of the BBQ table I added a mirror that did not have a frame so I painted a copper frame around it and gave it a coating of sealer.

I brought out the family farm table and placed it near the grill as an added space to set pans etc.

Floor iron candles are great for some added light and ambience .

 

For now I will keep the floor a solid grey but I have some ideas about painting some "rugs' soon. Thank for stopping by Sweet Tea N' Salty Air!

A RUSTY GOLD MINING PAN, WITH PERHAPS A LOT OF HISTORY!

Welcome to Sweet Tea N' Salty Air, so very happy you could stop by. I have been constantly busy with Spring preparations, mostly gardening Today I want to share a very special piece that was bought for me from a local antique auction from a very sweet friend . If you visit here you know that I love old things that tell me a visual story, perhaps because I am a writer by day so to speak.
When I got my hands on this treasure my mind wandered quickly with thoughts of just how many rivers the gold prospector worked this pan at. This shallow pan was used in shallow water such a river. It would be dunked under and retrieve grains of gravel and sand and hopefully a gold nugget or two. I don't know if it was used in the California Gold rush or not but she sure has seen her day, she wears a cover of rust and truly looks tired. But to me it's beautiful. It looks as though someone had given her a coat of gold paint and drew a line map on it , it also has someone's initials as Y. O. on it.

I made a small garland to decorate it with and my rooster proudly takes guard.

 Perhaps the retired gold prospector drew his treasure map!

 Here it is turned upside down , sure looks overworked right?  Today they still sell gold mining pans with a similar design. Today as well as yesteryears gold is one of the earths best gift! Even though there are several ways to "dig" for gold the pan is still used by many prospectors in shallow water. So happy I could share this little piece of history with you, Thanks so very much for stopping by!

THERE GOES PETER COTTONTAIL HOPPING DOWN THE BUNNY TRAIL.........

Happy Sunday to you! I have been busy with many Spring duties such as painting, power washing, cleaning rearranging. There is something about Spring that always includes clean. So today I thought I would craft a wooden sign out of some old wood flooring.   "Cottontail Cottage" seems like a lovely place to dwell!

 I started by painting the entire board an olive green then I proceeded to paint the entire piece white. I just dabbed some blue paint on and immediately brought it to the sink and washed it off, so the olive paint shows through and some blue gets left behind. I painted on the bunny's backside and included a puffy lace tail.

 

LIGHTENED UP WALLS AND DARKENED UP FIREPLACE!

Welcome to Sweet tea N' Salty Air, so very happy you could stop by. I am thankful for all my readers that I can share all my décor and crafty craziness with. Well you know how I had the cocoa colored living room walls? I tired of it, the darkness of the walls was blocking the perfect Chi that I was trying to obtain. So I scanned the home centers for the perfect color that would be versatile with all my color themes. I finally choose "Whispering Wheat" by Glidden, I choose the paint that was a little more money but primer and paint in one, It actually covered the dark brown in one coat I give that paint an Aplus! I thought I would have to swipe it at least 2xs. The colors that Glidden recommends is Polished Pewter and Smokey Charcoal that will match well.

The contrast works well with the fireplace I painted a deep charcoal color along with the dark mirror , it makes the fireplace pop with color even though its dark.

 I left some white showing through on some of it to add some visual interest.

I added some wisteria to a grapevine swag to give it some height also I hung a piece of milk glass.  I think I will hang some dishes from my latest thrift adventure. The room is much brighter there is recall not a lot of natural light that shines through seeing that hurricane shutters are like an awning so they can be put down in a snap , we are in hurricane area and all glass gets covered when we are alerted.

 

 This is the brown wall and light color on the fireplace the brown was nice while it lasted but the lighter color really opens up the room. Remember contrast is really a plus for making your furnishings pop. Thank you for taking the time from your busy day!