Monday, April 28, 2014

I HAVE DECORATED MY LATE ! 1800's ICE BOX

Welcome to Sweet Tea N' Salty Air! And that is whats been drunken here, a great way to utilize all the mint in the garden . A past post tells how I make delicious Sweet Tea. Another previous post introduced my Fedex ice box from the late 1800's . My favorite find ever although my children would not agree they believe that it hold terrible spirits within, So far nothing strange going on here. Silly children.... So I took some of my favorites and some white lights and jazzed it up a bit!

 I also draped some pretty doilies on the doors that were hand made by my great gram.

 Cold milk anyone?




Life was so much simpler back then , not to mention less expensive.

Our little kitten was hiding in the crock as you can see his little paw . He is always getting into something but he's much to cute to scold!  Maybe you have something cool in your home that you want to display front and center, how about some pretty lights?  Thankyou so much for stopping by today!    Come party with me!  http://sirthriftalot.blogspot.com  

Friday, April 25, 2014

FISHING LODGE THEMED COASTERS MADE FROM JAR LIDS!

Happy Friday to you!  If your like me you can never find the ideal coasters to set below your drinks. So I have been hoarding saving jar lids for a while, you know you never know when you will need a jar lid. Our screened in porch is fishing lodge themed so I took 4 of my largest lids from pickles and sprayed them black with all purpose spray paint for plastic metal etc.  Easy enough sprayed tops and bottoms , then I took some white rope and attached it to the rims for that nautical look. Painted a fishing lure , sprayed with protective coating and this is what I ended up with

This craft did not cost a penny, all things I had on hand.  Cute and useful.

These cups are super large great for some key lime ice tea!

As you can see they hold these large cups well.

We are talking about a room with fish nets as curtains, Fishing poles propped in every corner, wet towels sprawled about the chairs , blaring country music and lots of fun, this room is used by the teens in the house mostly.


This craft is super easy and the results are useful and fun! So save those lids!
Thank you for visiting today , Have a great week end!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

WELCOME TO OUR FAIRY GARDEN WHERE ANY FAIRY WOULD LOVE TO DWELL!

Hi there, so happy you could come by to see where my garden fairies live. Underneath the mammoth Palm trees and amongst the growing Sunflowers dwells our garden fairies.  

The surf shack houses many garden fairies.

An outdoor table made from a childs playdish and seats made from play food cans. A great place to serve up a Fairy lunch.
A shady spot for an outdoor bed complete with a comfy pillow made from a childs play fry pan.
A swimming pool with a play spatula diving board and mint leaves to float around on in the pool, what fun!
Beach towels dry on the line in the warm Florida sunshine.
There is everything a fairy could possibly want here at the surf shack even a stock pile of logs for a warm evening fire!


Fairy gardens are such a great activity to do with children , they will love gathering all their mini collections and setting up house for the resident Fairies.  Hope you enjoyed your visit to the Fairy garden!


Come join the following linky parties! http://akadesign.ca/weekend-re-treat-link-party-64/ 

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A MAKEOVER FOR THE LAUNDRY ROOM USING NO MONEY!

Hi there , I have been super busy cleaning and painting and sprucing up the laundry room. Unfortunatley my laundry room is connected to the screened in porch its actually a good and bad thing. Its wonderful for swimming because it is also used as a changing room after swimming in the pool or beach so all wet suits are left there in a laundry basket along with all the sand.

So what I did was made a sign from a bolt of muslin that I purchased for a few dollars at the thrift store, I cut some tiny clothes and attached them with a clothes pin and hot glue, I attached to a piece of lattice I had in my shed.


I also hung some mini laundry bags on it actually they were the bags that sheet sets came in. This sign brings back many memories from when I was a child and we were camping they also had lattice behind the sign. We would sit and wait for the laundry eating bags of penny candy, those were fun days!



I had a flat wicker basket that efficiently hold all the laundry items.

I made a skirt out of a brand new twin flat sheet that was given to me to wrap the counter. The counter was covered with a marble heavy contact paper.
I painted the entire cement floor grey , leftover from the lounge port that I recently did over. When it was fully dried I did a stencil in blue then I coated it with sealer.
We even have a change bowl for all the money that every one forgets that they left behind in their pockets. A vintage lunch box holds clothes pins.

A repurposed frame works as a clothes hanger so shirts can be taken from the dryer and hung .
This laundry room is clean and eficiently and actually did not cost me any money I used items that I already had on hand. Take a look around your home and see what you can change and repurpose, have fun!  Thanks for stopping by Sweet Tea N' Salty Air !
 

Friday, April 18, 2014

CAN'T HAVE PRETTY THROW RUGS DUE TO PETS? TRY A FAUX ONE!

Hey it's Friday, good day to you! I always try to put down pretty throw rugs but they either get jumbled up from the children traffic or pets, so I decided to do one of these....

To do this project I used blue painters tape, red. cocoa and white paints and an all weather sealer. I also used a stencil for some design.
First step is to situate the tape and begin painting what ever design or colors you like.

The weather proof paint has a light brown tone to it, so it gives the appearance of aged.




You don't have to be crafty or a painter and the best part is you can use your imagination after adding the weather proofing it is permanent so be sure you love it before that last step.

Be sure to let all the paint dry completely before putting blue painters tape on to make the stripes. Hope you will try a Faux throw rug have some fun with it!    Thank you for stopping by!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

WE MADE EASY REFRIDGERATOR PICKLES AND YOU COULD TOO!

Hi there!  My 13 year old homeschooler loved todays lesson, homemade refrigerator pickles! He worked so hard peeling garlic, cutting , measuring and harvesting our fresh Dill from the garden.  After today he says he may consider a chef career, a far cry from a gaming designer! It sure was fun  working with him in the kitchen, I so wanted to photograph him but he wasn't having it.
 The first detail was harvesting some very aromatic Dill.
Gathering all the ingredients, White vinegar , fresh garlic, cucumbers, kosher salt, onions a couple bay leaves and of course a great big glass jar. When I was a child my Gamma Sally made the very best Polish pickles not in a jar but a huge crock,  we couldn't wait to eat them. I could only wish our pickles would taste half as good as my grams. The best part about this recipe is that there are no heavy canning instructions such as boiling jars etc. Just boil the ingredients as directed pour of pickles and add fresh herbs. The only draw back is you have to keep the jar in the refrigerator until they are finished pickling. The Duggar family prompted us to make the pickles, you know 19 Kids And Counting.

Its so very simple Just boil   4 c white vinegar , 2 c water, 8 tsp. salt, 8 tsp. pickling spice. Meanwhile cut 4 lg. cucumbers which ever way you desire, we cut them into spears also peeled fresh garlic and onions and of course some fresh dill, I told my son to kind of squish the dill in his hands to wake up the flavor and aroma of the Dill, he thought that was weird but funny. So after the first 4 ingredients comes to a boil set your sliced cucumbers, onions garlic and dill in the clean glass jar and pour the boiling mixture right in the jar, simply let it cool cover and refridgerate for about a week or so the best way to tell is to do a taste test after a few days we are hoping to get our pickles on the Easter table.





I so hope you may try this recipe if indeed you are a pickle lover! Gather your children to join in , kids love pickles and helping in the kitchen. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Black Fox Homestead

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Corian , A great counter by Dupont.

Hi there , so very nice of you to stop by. If you can remember a post about a desk made into a kitchen work center. I previously had it covered and used a glass top, but a recent Corian counter top that fit perfectly prompted me to lose the table cloth and paint the wicker.

Corian is made by Dupont and is a perfect non porous work surface. So far I have used it for many things and it always looks wonderful.

I removed the drawers and attached some frilly front curtains.
I had saved these slated pieces from another shelf its working out great with the coffee cups etc.
 Eggs ready for coloring sit in a wooden doughbowl.
I kept the makeshift shelf to hold some of my favorite things.

An old wooden barrel hold rags. An old cookie cutter is hung from the drawer handle for some jewelry
 My daughter cut a tomato and no cut marks although I thing I'll stick to the cutting boards.
 My glass coke bottles hold some spring flowers
.
A vintage flour sifter is home for my little wooden rooster.
I found 2 of these very heavy iron hooks so I placed one on each side of the shelf.
The best part out is that the counter top was a found treasure! Before you toss out furniture see how you might repurpose it into something else. Thank you for visiting!

Why Not Give Your Holiday Tree Some Easter Love!

 Welcome, thankyou for stopping on in today! Easter is swiftly approaching as I have been busy planning decorating and meal plans.  I have a...