VINTAGE HUTCH; MONOGRAMMED MAKEOVER

 

A furniture makeover...my favorite... AND monograms...another favorite of mine...

I found time to re-do this vintage hutch in between snow storms...I actually had a few warm-ish days (and by warm I mean about 50 degrees) where I could paint outside.  It was chilly, but I enjoyed being outdoors... I had to work fast to stay warm...  If you look closely you can still see the piles of snow on the ground.

Unsightly water mark that detoured my original plan

Nicely stripped and sanded...But not so fast...

I had every intention of sanding the top of the hutch and keeping the natural wood... however, the wood had other plans, so I ended up painting the whole piece. I sanded a water spot until it was almost invisible...  I thought, I'll go just a little further...and with that, the wood turned a dark shade--and looked as if I had sanded it in the wrong direction... the top had a thin veneer which I breached by sanding it just one too many times... I think completely painted will have to do in this case.

I LOVE the "P" monogram... It's classy and timeless, perfect for our dining room.

I antiqued it on the outside edges with a fine grit sandpaper.

I applied some wax as a final step...
It's truly amazing what some paint and a little imagination can do.

I re-felted the bottom of the drawer.  A wonderful new home for some of my too many serving pieces... Can a girl really have too many pie lifters... I think not!

I put this in the dining room, as I may have mentioned before...if a new piece of furniture comes into the house I have to move something else out or around...I'm reaching the point of rescued furniture saturation!  I think this hutch will make a perfect bar/beverage area for parties... So often, we have all the food and drinks in the kitchen...I think it will be nice to spread things out a bit and give the dining room a little more purpose... it really does get neglected compared to the rest of the house... I'll be looking forward to seeing  my little hutch all gussied up for parties, I can't wait!

BERRY SWEET; A VALENTINE'S DAY COBBLER

I am in love... with many, many things... however I have this fascination with pie crust cutters... they come in the cutest shapes, usually a box of four has some sort of theme to it, which I enjoy.  I use these little gems to cut shapes out of the pie dough, giving the pie a really finished look. They are darling, and mine all have little plungers that give the cut out dimension... I wonder each new holiday season, what will the next box be like (high drama).  I am ashamed to tell you how many I have collected since discovering them..(more than a few, but less than 50). To be fair, I use them regularly, so it's a worthwhile investment... plus I LOVE them... I think I may have mentioned that.

I have purchased them at specialty grocery and baking stores in the baking department, at gift shops, and most often at Williams-Sonoma.

For a link to the latest
pie dough cutters at Williams-Sonoma click here.

As an aside, while I have never tried to use them with sugar cookies, I bet they would be adorable as petite shortbread or sugar cookies for a tea party... more uses....

I made this a top-crust only, berry-sweet cobbler last night for dessert.  My family was Oooh-ing and awing over it, I thinks it's been awhile since I baked a cobbler.

I used blueberries, blackberries, frozen raspberries (fresh is fine, I just had frozen available) and a handful of fresh sliced strawberries.  I had about three cups or so of washed and drained berries.  It was just enough to fill a pie plate.

Using pie dough, I cut out the cutest valentine hearts... no bottom crust for this cobbler, which worked out perfectly fine and saved us from a few extra calories... to which I quickly added with a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I really don't think I could enjoy the cobbler as much without the ice cream... I could try... but wow, the ice cream and warm berries with a little heart pie crust cut out... it was almost too much... perfect dessert to share with my sweethearts.

 Pie dough blog post, Perfect Pie Crust 101 click here

 

 Click here for the Berry-Sweet, berry cobbler printable recipe

 

 

 

EASY VALENTINE DECOR

I love Pinterest... there is no shortage of truly great ideas out there.  A few weeks ago I saw a darling DIY table runner... I made my own version yesterday and I love how it turned out, AND even better; it could not have been easier.  I can see more of these runners in my future...I have no shortage of cookie cutters... or enthusiasm for all holidays...

I find kitchen center islands to be a tricky place to liven up for holidays; this runner adds valentine color and fun without taking up any needed space.

While I was at it I used some leftover burlap to  make a wrapper for a candle...again, it was very easy and turned out so cute.  I would recommend taking the burlap off, if you planned to light the candle...but for a festive decoration... it's perfect.

The runner: using some leftover burlap, I cut a piece the size of our kitchen center island.  I frayed the edges.

Using a hear shaped cookie cutter, pressing firmly, I painted inside the shape... How cute!

I put newspaper under to protect the countertop.  After painting the hearts, I set canned goods underneath to keep the wet hearts from adhering to the newspaper... it took about 2 hours to dry... I used Americana craft paint in "cherry red"  It took the whole bottle to do this runner.  Soap and warm water cleaned off all the craft paint from the cookie cutter... clean up was a snap.

The big bright valentine hearts add so much to the room... I find that Valentine's Day can be hard to decorate for...this did the trick.

For the candle, use tightly woven burlap... I used an old valentine stamp set and regular stamp ink...really easy.  Using a dot of glue, tape or a push pin, secure the burlap around the candle... again... I would not light the candle with the burlap still attached...