Pallets and Birds - Wall Art

I've been super busy getting my next batch of wall art pieces ready 

to deliver to Twigs and Twine over at Zinnia's in Phoenix.  

It's kind of a scatterbrained process since I don't do one from start to finish, 

it's a little here, a little there, then wax it all, add some hanging hardware and call it good.  

So for the next couple of days I'll share what I did.  

Since I'm kind-of... OK "obsessed" with pallets, 

I thought I start with this one.

The basic design is similar to this one I made last time.  

These boards sold like hot cakes so of course I had to make more.  

But this time I needed some color so I chose I beautiful sky blue.  

And since I'm in Arizona, we get plenty of beautiful blue skies!

Sorry for the ditch in the foreground. 

I was too busy trying to catch the puffy white clouds!

Ok.  let's get started.

I cut some random pieces of pallet slats and screwed them together 

with a cross piece in the back just like this one.

Then I mixed some water with my blue paint to thin it out.

I wanted a wash effect.

It got a couple of light coats to create a layered look.

Next I cut out some birds from the Home Decor cartridge for the Cricut out of contact paper.

Love that stuff.

You will definitely see more projects using it coming up.

Place the contact paper stencils where you want them and press firmly.

Sorry this pic is a little blurry.  

I think my hand was shaking.  Not sure why.

Brush on the contrasting paint and let dry for about 15-30 minutes before removing the stencil.

I did get a little impatient and moved them sooner than that, but for best results let the paint dry.

Give them a good sanding and finish with a wax paste top coat to seal the wood.

I got tired of buying expensive hardware for the wall art pieces so I thought I'd try something else.

It's super easy and SUPER cheap to do.

You will need some bailing wire and screws. 

You can get it at a home improvement store in good size rolls for about $2 to $3.

I'm not sure how long I've had this roll, months at least and it's just now starting to diminish.

Create a coil with needle nose plyers like shown.

Place your screw into the center of the coil and screw in place.

I sink the screws as far as I can into the wood.

Stretch out the wire and do the same to the other side keeping the wire as taught as you can.

Done!  

These backside pics are from some different boards but the process is the same every time.

Hang and you're done!

Pallets and birds.

It's a beautiful thing!

Crock-Pot Peach Butter - Low Sugar

Yumm....

Still Peach Season.

I've tried apple and pear butter with fabulous results, 

but this time I wanted to try a spiced peach butter. 

Then make it low sugar. 

 I've been loving replacing sugar with dates.  

If I can go 'ah natural' I will try to.

This recipe is super easy to make.

I modified the original recipe from Pick Your Own.

She has a great site all about preserving nature's bounty, where to find pick your own fruit farms, and more.

So let's get started.

Spiced Low Sugar Peach Butter

Since this is a low sugar version, I'm using dates.

You will need just shy of 2 cups dates.

Cover them with water and set aside to soften.

Wash, pit, and dice about 20 peaches.

Put them in your crock-pot.

I didn't peel them.

The original recipe says to peel them, 

but I believe there is extra nutritional goodness in the peels, plus I'm a little lazy.  

This saves an extra hour-ish of work to par-boil the peaches to slip the skins.  

If you don't want the peels, feel free to remove them.

You will  need about 5-8 more peaches washed, pitted, and sliced.

Don't worry about dicing them because they are going into the blender with the dates

When you have the crock-pot mostly full of diced peaches, drain off most of the water from the dates and pour them into a blender along with the other 5-8 peaches that have been pitted and sliced.

Add the following spices:

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp nutmeg

3 cups sugar

1 Tbsp Molasses

Blend well to make a puree.

It looks kind of like peanut butter to me, but it's the yummy syrup for the Peaches.

Pour syrup over the peaches and stir to coat.

Loosely cover the crock-pot.

You want some of the steam to escape but none of the splatters.

Cook on low for at least 12 hours.

This is what it looks like after cooking.

It has reduced down by about 1/3.

Use your immersion blender to smooth out the peach butter.

This batch yields 6 pints.

Prepare the lids and jars by putting the lids in hot water to soften the rubber.

I use a steam canner, but the timing would be the same for a water bath canner.

Attach lids and rings and process in a canner for 15 minutes.

Remove from canner and set on a cooling rack for 24 hours to ensure the lids seal.

Label and add to your pantry.

There was just enough left for a topping on my waffle for breakfast.

It was heavenly!

Happy Canning!

Fresh Fruit Crock-Pot Cobbler

We are full fruit season which I'm so loving right now.  

We are definitely at fruit loving family.  

If my crisper drawer ever runs low of fruit, I hear about it... loudly.  

I don't mind though because whenever the kids reach for a snack it's usually a piece of fruit.  

My oldest will complain once in a while that we don't have anything unhealthy in the house.  

Sorry bud.  

Just doing my job! ;)

For family dinner last Sunday I wanted to do something fun with some of the fruit I recently got. 

After looking through most of the online cobbler and crisp recipes I discovered that most of them used pie filling which I didn't want to do, and very few used fresh fruit.  

Plus if there was fresh fruit, it was only one kind of fruit.

I think I have what my husband calls "The Architect Syndrome."

Let me explain.

My Dad is an Architect.

If you have known any architects and have been to their homes you will know what I'm talking about.

My dad had friends that were architects.

Their houses were very different from the tradidional design.

One looked like it had sails instead of a traditional flat or gabled roof.

Another house looked like they built the house square, then set the roof on 30 degrees off kilter.

Super weird.

So we decided that since the Architects have to design things the same way every time, 

when they get to design something for themselves, it's very 'outside the box' kind of a design.

Think Frank Lloyd Wright.

That being said, I in no way compare myself to Frank Lloyd Wright,

just the idea that I don't ususally do things the 'tradiditonal' way.

It's always my spin on the norm.

So here's an Architect's daughter's version of Cobbler.

Fresh Fruit Crock-Pot Cobbler

Core and dice:

4 peaches

6 pears

No need to peel them, but that's a personal preference.

1 dry pint blueberries

In a separate bowl combine the following:

2 Tbsp Cornstarch or Ultra Gel

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

Mix well to distribute molasses and cornstarch.

Then pour over diced fruit and stir to coat fruit.

Pour fruit into crock-pot.

In another bowl combine:

2 cups rolled regular oats

(I use Honeyville's Rolled 6 grain)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cube cold butter diced into small pieces

Stir to distribute butter the pour topping over fruit in crock-pot.

Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.

Let cool slightly and serve.

Ice cream would be a lovely addition, but the only kind we had was Cookies and Cream.

Not the combination I was willing to make.

Super easy and yummy!

Spiced Muffins

Muffins are always a hit at my house and blueberries were a screamin' deal last week so of course I had to make blueberry muffins.  

However my King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet magazine had just come in the mail and one of the first recipes was for spiced peach muffins.  

So I thought, what the heck. 

Lets substitute blueberrys for peaches.  

I can honestly say it was still fabulous.  

So here's my adjusted version of KAF's Spiced Peach Muffins.  

I will give you the original along with my changes.

Spiced Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prepare muffin tins with cooking spray or paper liners.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the following:

2 cups KAF Unbleached All purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 tsp molasses

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

(The original asked for 1 cup dark brown sugar.  I never buy brown sugar because it's just white sugar and molasses.  I always, always make my own.)

In a stand mixer combine:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup applesauce (The original is Vegetable Oil)

3/4 cup milk

1 dry pint of blueberries

(or 1 1/2 cups diced peaches with/without skin)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins.

(Optional: Sprinkle tops with course sugar)

I omitted this step because really, my kids don't need an extra sugar in the morning.

Bake for 22 to 24 minutes for regular sized muffins.

My mini muffin pans only took about 18 minutes.

 Let cool slightly and serve.

MMMmmmm.... Yummy!

A Bit More Wall Art

I'm super excited about my stuff in a new space.  

It's all over at Twigs and Twine in Zinnia's in Phoenix.

Here's a pic of the things I did last time.

You can see her Facebook page here.

I wanted to try some new techniques for the next batch of signs 

so I tried the steel wool/apple cider vinegar method.  

It turned out so easy and super cheap to do.  

I definitely will be doing more.

I've wanted to try this method for almost a year 

but I couldn't ever find plain old steel wool anywhere.  

It always had the soap in it.  

aka.  SOS pads.  

I knew I didn't need the soap so I bided my time and kept looking. 

Finally by a crazy random happenstance, 

I was walking through the paint section of Walmart and struck gold...  

Well, steel anyway.  

It's super cheap and doesn't have any soap in it.  

There were two grit sizes.  

I got the one with the smaller grit size.  

Now to dash home and try it out.  

Since I knew it would be a chemical reaction, 

it had to go into a glass bowl.  

Metal would never do, 

and I'm afraid it would ruin anything plastic so I stuck with a glass pyrex bowl.

I just poured some apple cider vinegar into the bowl 

and set one steel wool pad in the vinegar.  

I made sure the vinegar covered the steel wool.  

Then wait.

24 hours later.

Since life got crazy all of a sudden, the steel wool sat for at least 24 hours.  

I think the longer you leave it in the vinegar, 

the darker the result of the 'stain'.  

So it's up to you how dark you want to go.

I cut and screwed my pallet boards together.

Gave them a good sanding, and grabbed my gloves.

Be sure to wear gloves and work in a well ventilated area.  

I was in the garage with a fan blowing, but outside would work too.

Just dip the steel wool pad in the vinegar and smear it on the wood.  

It goes on like stain, but you don't need to wipe any excess off.  

It seeps into the wood on it's own.

You can see the huge difference as I'm wiping the vinegar on the wood.

Let dry completely.

Next I got out my trusty Con-Tact paper and my sister's Cricut.

{J} over at Twigs and Twine wants clean lines, 

so I made some stencils with the Con-Tact paper.

This time it's LOVE.

Put the contact paper on the mat paper side down and cut at a low depth.

Next I laid the negative contact paper on the wood and pressed firmly.

Sponge on a little paint, remove the stencil and you're done.

I was able to do 3 boards with one Con-Tact paper stencil 

before the sticky-ness wore off.

It was a little tricky to place the stencil, 

but just work from one side to the other 

smoothing out the Con-Tact paper as you go.

Super easy.

Clean Lines.

I gave it a light sanding to weather it a bit, then a wax coat to finish it off.

Some hanging hardware and it's done!

I love it when a pinterest idea really works.

I've got some holiday ideas floating around in my head so hopefully you will see some soon!

Be sure to come back often!

Happy Crafting!