Here is a link that might be useful: broach bouquets

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups shortening
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg
1/2 cup very cold water

Add flour, shortening, sugar, and salt to a large bowl.

Mix flour and shortening with a pastry cutter until it looks nice and crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, egg, and water, and add it to the flour mixture, stirring until well moistened.When dough starts to pull away from the bowl, take you hands and pull out the dough and make a large ball, then divide into 4 pieces (this recipe will make 4 single crusts), shape into a ball, wrap in Seran wrap and place in the frig for about half an hour.
When ready, sprinkle some flour on your board, or waxed paper. Sprinkle some more flour on top of dough then just roll it out,lightly adding more flour if necessary to keep from sticking to your rolling pin.You donot have to handle it too much.
Place dough in a greased pie pan, and flute or crimp the edges.

This dough will last a few days in the frig.

1 pound medium to large shrimp/prawns
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

About an hour prior to grilling, soak wooden skewers in water to keep from burning on grill.
Peel shells from shrimp leaving an inch of shell on tail, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients and toss with the shrimp. Let marinade for 30 minutes. Thread shrimp onto wooden skewers. Barbecue on hot grill about 1-2 minutes per side or until shrimps turn pink and the marinade is slightly charred.

These can also be made on the stove top by heating heavy skillet on medium high, add a drizzle of olive oil to pan and cook shrimps until they turn pink.

Since I can't shop there, I'm sticking to eBay. You may remember my recent brass faux bamboo 1970's coffee table find (sounds icky when I describe it like that, but it's nice). I won this similar, but not 'matchy matchy' side table last night. 23" tall, 22" x 16".

Before I left for OH on my business trip last week, I won this 'Old French brass lined wormwood bowl'. It's about 8.5" high by 9" around. Isn't it beautiful? It's not staying on the radiator, as shown in the first pic, but it was the best spot to photograph it this AM. I cleaned the dust and dirt off it and love the warmth of that wood.

And, I watched this for ages and finally bought it last night for $9.99. It's from a seller who has a lot of 'Hollywood' memorabilia, and he says it's from a Disney prop studio. Whether it is or not doesn't matter. It's a solid brass lion lamp and I'm a 'Leo'. It's about 11" high to the cup holding the 'candle' and looks about the same height above. With a nice shade....Simba will roar! And he was very inexpensive. Photo from auction.

I live on a small river which forms my irregular property line. I have many perennial beds...here are a few. This photo was taken in the spring, so not much is in bloom.

You enter through this 6' x 6' porch. 99% of furnishings, wall paper , chandy in here are from eBay.

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I added this half bath years ago. The only bathrooms in the house when I bought it were upstairs and a 'rustic' one in the cellar!


I made the vanity from an old bureau that I bought for $100. Top is a remnant of Delicatus granite. Again, most accessories are from eBay.

Again, it's a modest home, and I remodeled the kitchen in the early 90's! It had a large wood stove in the kitchen when I bought it, 24" of counter space, and dark plywood cabinets. This remodel still works well for me today.

As you see from the above pic, some of the rooms still have their original, and beautiful (IMO) radiators. The house is primary heated with oil, but it also has electric heat, a gas fireplace in the LR that I put in, and the old kitchen wood stove is in the cellar now. I can use whatever is least expensive at the time, and won't freeze.

The back of the LR isn't that 'country, any more, and now looks more like this. The vintage secretary is the largest item I have ever bought on eBay. Hunting toile on the re-covered (but not by me) love seat is also from eBay.

I make all my own window treatments, and this is what is in the kitchen for the summer. A Pierre Deux 'Geraine' bargain from eBay.

Whatever fabric I use for the kitchen WTs, I also shirr on dowels that I mounted inside the glass doors, and use them to cover cook books etc, on the pantry wall in the kitchen.

Whew, I'll take a break and post a few more, if you want to see any....

Rug #2

This one isn't as nice, but isn't so expensive

Rug #3

Could I do a circle? Probably not, but I like this pattern.

Rug #4

I just purchased a sewing machine for my mother at Costco. It cost about $180 and honestly it's a machine that comparitively would cost around five hundred. It sews like a dream and I'm a complete sewing machine snob (mine cost over $3500....but I sew heavy items and wanted an embroidery machine as well). If you have a costco, you might check that one out. It's compact (in a good way) and comes with a tray which will be handy when doing your curtains.

It was a Singer brand made for Costco. I'd recommend that, and then I'd also suggest that with the rest of the money, you buy a used baby lock serger. I sew drapes quite often, as well as large quilts and bedding. I do it because I love to :) Back a few years ago I made drapes for my husband's condo all done on a Babylock sewing machine, and they turned out great, but sometimes bulky fabric is a bit of a pain to keep tension correct on a sewing machine. It's also an ok lock stitch to be able to clean the drapes, but you'll have a much better product if you serge the seams first, which is a very very strong seam so they'll hold when cleaned, and then sew the hem and header on your machine. I personally also like to sew down the seam with a machine after it's serged, but it's not necessary. The serger can handle the tension much better than a sewing machine alone, even on a very heavy duty machine (sewing) like mine. The finished product after serging and sewing is great.

To attach the fabric I used spray adhesive and just stuck it on.

The nailhead trim is actually this:

SO much easier than individual tacks.

I still have to hang a towel bar and get some additional bathroom accessories, but for all intents and purposes it's DONE.

With and without flash, as the flash distorts the color of the cabinetry quite a bit. They are a soft muted green in real life, but look almost blue when the flash hits:

I've never used construction paper and wonder if it's too porous. Of course you could experiment.

For beginner decoupagers I can't stress enough the importance of carefully removing all air bubbles. I usually use my finger and keep pushing them from the center to the outer edge and keep doing this until they are all gone. That's where the coat of diluted glue on top helps your finger to slide those bubbles out. If you don't remove all bubbles your project will look bumpy and it's not a good look! There are also various other ways of doing this. Depending on the type of paper used you can also dip the paper in water before gluing which "relaxes" it and makes it easier to glue. Not recommended for construction paper I don't think. Not sure what the scrapbooking paper would be like. I've used handmade paper and it was not easy to deal with. I never did get out all the bubbles and later used a pin and fiddled with it. Looked OK but it wasn't perfect to my eye.

I suggest you do a search as there's lots of info on the net on this subject and lots to learn. I'm not an expert but have fun with it anyhow.

My question is about the GE Silicone II, which one is it you guys use? I found several with that name at HD. I came home with the window and door clear sealant, in the blue tube, but I am not sure that's the one I want to decorate my flower pots. Please advise. ;o)

Basically, the product restores the finish without losing the patina. It is applied with 2/0 steel wool dipped in the liquid in a circular action which has the action of redistributing the finish in an even manner. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually pretty easy. Once the finish is restored I put at least 2 or 3 hand rubbed coats of tung oil.

I purchase an ACE brand restorer in gallon cans from my local ACE hardware. I use Old Masters tung oil varnish. The results are astonding.

Now, I'm a couple of steps up from an amature but the results are so much more appealing than strpping which is not a good option if the piece is vaniered. Stripping often reduces the value of pieces especially if they are true antiques. I have an 1835 solid cherry gate leg table that has not the surface touched in any way since it was made.

I don't know how to privately email anyone in GW, or if you even can, so here's the answer to your question about the fringe.
TrimsPlus is an online company that I've used a lot in my home deocorating/sewing projects. Good prices, great selections and fast service. That particular trim has a choice of 28 different colors, so you should be able to find the color you're looking for.

http://trimsplus.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=10082&Category_Code=fringe

Heidi

I typically don't show bedroom pics, as I just throw an old sheet over the bed, due to sharing it with the dogs!

These are hung inside the trim in my office/sewing room.

You've seen these in another post, but fall/winter in upstairs bath

Currently in dining room. I used inexpensive cord curtain tie backs to hold these silk ones up.