Witches Stitches - Chalk Paint Decorating

I know this post  has nothing to do with sewing, but I think it is a great decorating tip. Next week I will be back to sewing.

I am in the middle of getting ready to move. Moving is an opportunity to rearrange and redecorate.  I don’t like the idea of all the packing, but the thought of redoing some pieces of furniture to fit a new color scheme is always fun. I am changing the color of my living room and my kitchen so I thought this would be a great time to paint some furniture with chalk paint. I went to a local antique store to see  what my color options were. They did not have the color I wanted and then I saw it…the price!!! Wow it is expensive! Much more then I wanted spend. I thought I would just use other paint, but then again, regular paint does not have that great look that chalk paint has. I decided to look around on line to see if I could find a less expensive solution.  I found a way to make my own chalk paint that is easy to do and gives me the same look as the ready made kind. It also is very easy to distress. So here is how to make it and how to use it. Enjoy!!! 


Mix the following to make your own chalk paint:
2 Cups Latex Paint

5 TBSP Plaster of Paris

3 TBSP Cool Water

1 - Mix the Plaster of Paris and cool water together in a separate bowl.  (make sure the water is cool)
2 – Mix until the plaster is smooth with no lumps, kind of like pancake batter. (not like my pancake batter, mine always have lumps)
3 - Add the plaster mixture to the paint and mix. 
4 - When the chalk paint dries you will begin to see a chalky look .

5 – You can add more plaster if you want a more chalky look. It is all up to you.

6 – After your item dries you can distress it by sanding the edges . If you want a more distressed look, paint your item black. When the black chalk paint dries paint over it with the color of your choice. Before you paint the second top color use petroleum jelly on spots where you don’t want the top coat to stick. After the top coat dries wipe the piece down and the spots where you put the petroleum jelly will wipe right off. Go over with sand paper if you want. It gives a piece a deeply distressed look.  When your piece is dry you can give the piece an even older look by going over the entire piece with a paste wax. You can get a wax that has a tint or you can add stain to it for an even darker look. 

I hope this helps anyone who wants to get a great chalk paint look without the big price tag.

Enjoy,

Faith

Tutorial - Making Raspberry Jelly

Please welcome Colleen Bass of Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries as she walks us through the process of making homemade raspberry jelly.

JAR PREPARATIONS:

You need to sterilize your canning jars, rings and lids. I reuse my canning jars and rings every year, but NEVER reuse the lids. Always buy new lids.  I sterilize them and leave them in the water while I am cooking the jelly.

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh wild raspberries (takes about a 1 gallon freezer bag of berries for 4 cups of juice)

Sugar
Pectin packets (from the grocery store)
Lemon juice

You only need the juice from the raspberries so you get this by putting the cold berries in a cheese cloth or berry bags and squeezing the juice into a bowl.

Place 2 small plates in the freezer for testing the jelly later. After you get all the juice out of the berries discard the squeezed berries. Pour 2 cups of berry juice in a stainless steel pan. The stainless steel works the best. Bring this juice to a boil. Then add 2 cups of sugar and dissolve. Add 3 teaspoons of lemon juice and ½ a packet of pectin. This is what you start with….after testing the jelly you may have to add more lemon juice or sugar.

Cook 3-4 minutes while boiling. Now you need to be careful with this step as the jelly juice in the pan when boiling will rise to the top of the pan, so to prevent overflowing I always lift the pan off the heat until it goes back down. After about 3 minutes or so, take the little plate out of the freezer and spoon a tablespoon or so on the plate to test if the jelly will jell ok. After you put the jelly on the plate wait a few moments and then tip the plate and see how the jelly runs down the plate. If it is slow and creeping and seems to be jelling then the jelly is ok….if not and it runs fast you will need to put a little more ingredients in. I start with about ¼ cup of sugar and another teaspoon of lemon juice. After letting it boil a little I test again. You shouldn’t have to add too much to the original ingredients. Just depends on the quality of the berries that year. Once and awhile I have to add a little more pectin if the berries aren’t as high quality that year. You will learn what is best for that year.

When the jelly is jelling ok you then take the jars out of the water and ladle the cooked jelly into them. Leave the lids off for several hours for the jelly to “set-up”. When the jelly has set you can put the lids on and tighten them up and put them in storage. Whalla…..you have just made jelly.

Sounds pretty easy huh? Well, let me tell you we had quite a learning curve when we first started doing this several years ago. This first year the jelly wouldn’t jell and we kept adding stuff to it and I think we had more sugar than jelly in them. Also after letting it sit for hours to jell in the jars some of the batches didn’t set very good so we had to pour them back into the pan
and add a little more “stuff” to them.  The jelly actually tasted pretty good. So it takes practice. This year the berries were great and I think we have the best jelly we ever have had.

So all of you berry pickers out there…..now you can make jelly! Thanks for joining me in my jelly making process. Hope you enjoyed it.  

Colleen
Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Handmade Spotlight - Primitive Summertime

Check out this great selection of Summer Primitives. You can view this entire treasury by Clicking Here, or you can click on each item to see it in greater detail.

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Jacquie's Up-Cycle Nation: Floral Bottle Board

Decorative signs ride current craft trends- but just because one style passes doesn't mean the sign needs to hit the trash pile.  Looking at an object for it's shape instead of the message can often lead to new life for would-be castaways.

This floral bottle board is a good example of "one person's trash is another person's treasure".

Believe it or not, what lies beneath this sign was so outdated, even the cashier at the thrift store gave me a cross-eyed look.  But for just $1, I knew I couldn't pass it up.

Despite the hot-glued bugs, this wood sign is in excellent shape and already has a whimsical wire hanger. Bugs are easily picked off (and set free into the wilds of my patio plants) and a good coat of paint with primer will cover this sign's current message.  Add some vintage bottles I scored for $3 at auction last week and I would have my own custom floral board.

What you will need for this project:

*  Wooden Sign  *  Small Glass Bottles *  Sandpaper * Paintbrush  *  Foam Brush  *  Spare Paint  *  Mod Podge  *  Scrapbook Paper  *  22 Gauge Wire  *  Wire Cutter  *  Ruler  *  Pencil  *  Upholstery Tacks  *  Small Hammer 

Start by sanding the entire sign, front, back, and sides.

Apply one coat of neutral paint with primer.  I used some leftover interior paint from the garage.

Paint that gets on the wire can be scraped off with a damp towel, or use sandpaper if the paint has dried.

 Choose scrapbook paper to embellish the sign.  For this project I used paper from My Mind's Eye's Lost and Found collection.  Once the paper has been cut to suit the sign shape, apply Mod Podge to the back of the paper and adhere paper to the sign.

 Sand edges of paper to decrease the harsh line where the paper ends.

Apply a second coat of Mod Podge over paper and entire front of sign.

Using a ruler, mark the center point of the sign.  From there, make a mark every two inches on either side.

With a small hammer, pound in upholstery tacks at each pencil dot. Leave about 1/4 inch open to wrap wire.  Add some distressing by randomly hammering the board to leave strike marks.

Using 22 gauge wire (or stronger, depending on bottle size), cut 12 inch strips.  Place bottle neck in center of the cut wire, wrap wire twice and twist until the wire is secure and the bottle can't slip through.

Bring wire ends up and wrap around upholstery tack twice, twisting together for extra security.  Snip extra wire with wire cutters.

Repeat this process for all bottles.

  Lightly hammer tacks to be sure any extra space around wire is tapped into the board.

Hang sign and tug bottles lightly to be sure they are secure.

Fill each bottle with 1-2 inches of water.  Too much water could create too much weight.

Now the bottles are ready to display your favorite garden flowers!

Display inside or outside and enjoy!

LOVE  &  UP-CYCLE NATION!

Jacquie Wheeler

Hand of Bela Peck

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Blog Party Sunday - Share Your Handmades

Welcome to our Blog Party Sunday. We would love to have you show us what you are crafting.

You are allowed to add 3 links to your shops or your blog.

The rules are simple:
1. Follow our blog
2. Handmade items only.
3. You may list up to 3 items.
4. Family friendly items only.

The success of this link party depends on the participants so spread the word to your friends, visit the shops,  post about it on your  blog, in a forum or on your favorite social networking site, grab the button and put it on your blog or website.
Just click on the Add Your Link button below and add your items.
And if you would like to add a link to the party you can grab this button below.

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