My Black-eyed Peas Recipe

Today we are having one of my favorites meals of homemade comfort food heaven: Southern style barbecue pulled pork, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese.  By far my husband makes the best mac and cheese I have ever had in my life. And sorry, he doesn't give out the recipe ;) So I am stuck with giving you my black-eyed peas recipe, which the whole family loves as well. (At least, that is what they say....haha) It is surprisingly healthy- unlike that macaroni and cheese that makes you gain five pounds just smelling it- and can optionally be made with more liquid added along the way and some favorite veggies to make a yummy soup.

What you will need:

1 Bag of dried black-eyed peas, rinsed and soaked.
10 cups Water
1 Smoked ham hock
1 Green tomato, quartered
1 Small Jalapeno, halved and seeds removed
2 Garlic Cloves, peeled and halved
8 Fresh sage leaves
3 Sprigs of thyme
1/4 Large red onion, halved
1-2 tablespoons Salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon White pepper

Bring first 8 ingredients to boil all together in a large pot or dutch oven.  Turn down burner to low and let simmer for one hour. Stir occasionally and check water level to make sure water is always above the beans as they cook. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue simmering on low until beans are tender and soft with no graininess, always remembering to stir occasionally. Remove ham hock from the pot, and cut of all meat from the bone and chop up into small pieces. Remove garlic, herbs, pepper, and onion (or leave them in and just avoid them when serving). Add ham hock meat back in, and stir. Serves 8-10 as a side dish.

Enjoy!

Quick Upcycle: Cork Board

Hello to all!

It has been an insanely busy Summer so far, but one of the things we have been working on is our home renovations (Yes, still going...but the end is in sight.)  Here is a quick revamp of an old (and ugly) cork board that is now hanging on the wall behind the door in my daughter's room.  It's a tight squeeze for photographing so photos aren't magnificent, but hopefully you will glean a little inspiration of your own from it.

To achieve this look, I covered and taped off the cork board then spray painted the frame.   Once dry, I carefully inked up a large corner stamp (Fancy Pants).  I actually did two trial stamps on the back of the board to get a feel for it- it's hidden, so I highly recommend it so you can get a feel for the ink and pressure you will need :)  A stencil and paint will work fine for the corners as well. Once this is done, attach the hangers that go with the board (if you don't have any, they can be purchased at any craft/hobby store.)

I doubled the twine and tied it off a few inches off to the side, and tied the ribbon and tags to the twine using a bow from the long hanging ends.  You certainly could just do it in the center, but I love the look of offsetting, and am playing with the idea of adding a paper blossom arrangement later.  

Materials you will need:

White paint (I used spray paint)
Large corner stamp or stencil
Ink or paint for stamp/stencil
Thick twine or thin rope
Decorative ribbon scraps
Tea stained and stamped tags
Painters tape and covering for the cork

Have an inspired day!

Faith

Custom Recipe Boxes

I often have customers ask me how the process works, and I thought it about time that I blog about the wonderful way I get the opportunity to create something uniquely beautiful for each customer.

The first thing I do is get an idea of my client's style and color theme.  My favorite way of do that is to send them over to design-seeds.com where they can pick color palettes that suit the look they want.  I also have them go to my facebook page to look at my different created boxes and my pinterest boards for style ideas and inspiration.  Knowing what catches their eye give me wonderful insight into their bent of artistic style.

Once we hit that point, I might ask a couple clarifying questions.  Sometimes, clients tell me to just do my "thing" from there, but usually this is where I send swatches for the client to pick from, reminding them that this is probably a paper from a line of many patterns.  Their box will generally not be exclusively the paper swatch chosen unless requested.  Here is an example:

A client picked the far right swatch-

These three paper swatches I sent were based off of this design seed pick:

Her recipe box turned out to look like this:

As you can see, I use finite cutting techniques to add additional layers to the patterns from papers that are in or match the same line, as is also exampled here:

And sometimes a customer asks for a special personalization: 

The time to create can differ from one box to the next but generally takes a week from start to finish including a painted interior. Each is made to order.  Lead times vary by the amount of custom orders I am already working on, so sometimes it can take a bit longer. 

This is truly one of my favorite parts of my business- creating these special recipe boxes for others.  It's even more heartwarming to hear back from my customers with stories of the way it has been used or gifted. I even get photos of the box in use every once in a while and that just tickles me pink!

So a huge "Thank You!" to my many customers who have given me the opportunity to create a recipe box, just for them!  

Faith

PS If you are looking to have one made as well, just click here.

Displaying Short Stemmed Flowers

There are many times, as an avid gardener, that I have trimmed up and thinned out flowering plants and am left with an assortment of short stemmed blossoms.  I never have the heart to throw away this pretty little beauties.  I used to throw them in a short glass or mason jar, but many times they were either too short even for those glasses, or there were just a couple of flowers so they would forlornly fall over to the side of the glass to sit miserably on my window sill over my kitchen sink as they died.  Recently though, I came up with this simple solution, which really does look lovely wherever I put it, and I can "stand" the flowers to arrange heights.  They stay in place, and still receive water  Here's my resent trimmings of dahlias:  

The cost: $1 for the shallow glass bowl/vase, and $3 for the decorative rocks.  Both can be purchased at Hobby Lobby. Simple, reusable, inexpensive, and versatile....the rocks can be placed in any pretty glass piece to help with arranging your short blossoms. 

Have an inspired day! 

Faith

Great interior design tool!

So while in the midst of designing the boys' bedroom, I came across this FREE design tool by Autodesk.  I love using it!  Even though the selections are somewhat limited, it still gives me a basic understanding of my space.  It also helps me give my dear husband who struggles understanding my inspiration for designs no matter how well I describe them, a tangible visual of what I am trying to accomplish. Several times it has helped pull us from the brink of an avoidable argument. How's that for Awesome?

So here is a snapshot of the basic layout I designed in the attic room:

Because we had to gut the attic after the extensive storm damage,  (See blogs: It Could Happen to Anyone and Trying to Play Catch-Up) we reconfigured a couple of areas like the stairwell and closet to make them safer, more efficient, and get them into code.  Just building up the floor at a bizarre drop allowed us to push back a wall and add square footage to reduce the overall pieced-together feeling of the space. I am so grateful that this CAD program was available for free..it saved us from many headaches.  Hope you enjoy using it as much as I have!

And as a little extra holiday weekend bonus- A fun curation for your Friday viewing pleasure:

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!


Faith

Decoupaging Clothespins

I haven't done a "how-to" in a awhile, so thought I would do a small one today while the house is still relatively quiet.

Many of you have seen my decoupaged clothespins. They are pretty easy to make, but there are a few tips to make sure you are creating something that isn't going to fall apart on you and will look their best for years to come no matter how you use decide to use them.

(Click Here to Pin on Pinterest)

What you will need for this project:

• Plain wooden clothes pins
• Decoupage 
• Matching printed  paper selection 
• Small bowl of water
• Sponge brush
• Paper towel or rag
• Trimmer
• Distress Ink/Chalk (optional)

Directions:

Measure the flat side of the clothespins. Cut the paper strips to the measurement. Using your lightly dampened brush, apply a thin layer of decoupage on both the side of the clothespin you will be placing the paper on, and the backside of the paper. Adhere together.  Make sure placement is as exact as possible.  Gently wipe off excess decoupage, trying to avoid getting decoupage on the printed side of the paper.  Set aside with paper side upright on paper towel or rag and let dry.  Repeat with all the clothespins for your project.  Let them dry completely (see the directions for dry time on your decoupage bottle).  Optional: distress ink/chalk edges.  Once dry, put another layer of decoupage on top of the papered side and let dry.

Here are some important tips:

Measure the flat side of your clothespins and cut to size as exactly as possible.  This is very important.  Paper that is too big or too small on the clothespins looks shoddy, and larger strips will not stay adhered as well. 

Heavier stock paper works much better for this project.

Do not use xyron, zipdry, or other adhesives instead of decoupage.  For something as small as a clothespin, it does not work as well. The firmness of the top protective layer causes the paper to eventually lift off the clothespin.

I do not recommend homemade decoupage because is yellows and is more likely to crack on this project.

I like to boil (about 15 minutes) and dry my clothespins to breakdown the wood sealant a little.  Clothespins that you buy at the store for laundry use typically have a bit of weatherproofing seal on them that can make it more difficult for a good initial adhesion.

The final seal on top of the paper can be done a second time to make sure it is well-protected.  Just remember to allow the decoupage to dry completely between coats.  

Using high-gloss for the top coat process gives a very unique look. I usually use matte, but using gloss, glimmer, outdoor, or another sheen is totally fine.  

Have an inspired day!

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

April was an insane month.  Too much illness, doctor's appointments, business hiccups, business changes, issues with parenting a teenager, gardening through roller coaster weather, travelling...I seriously hit my capacity.  And my home definitely looks like the May remnants of the April whirlwind.  So while browsing the net, I found this link from Martha: http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/2009Q3/ms_checklist_sixthings.pdf

Great list, isn't it? This is totally tangible for me. When I get overwhelmed with a mess, and feel abandoned by the other occupants of the house when trying to create a solution ;), I tend to just shut down and get tunnel vision on something else.  Unfortunately, as many of you probably know, that isn't a long-term solution. One step at a time, and I think we will get back on track...

Wish me luck!