Make a Clipboard!

In my last post I shared a clipboard I made and promised a tutorial was coming. Well, I'm not sure how much of a tutorial it is since I forgot to take pictures along the way, but here it is!

I am loving the trend of using clipboards to display just about anything that will lay flat but most of the time I want to display something that would be lost on a normal size clipboard. Plus, a run of the mill clipboard can't stand on it's own.

I had ordered some prints from Katy Girl Designs {click here to visit her Etsy shop} and had planned on displaying this one on my chicken wire frame above my work table. Once it came I realized it was too cute to be clothes pinned up to chicken wire.

I used a piece of 2x8 wood I had cut 10 inches long and stained it. The beauty of this is that you can cut one to any size, plus you can use a thinner board if you want to hang it on the wall. And you can paint it to match your décor. I chose to stain this one since I am a huge lover of the beauty of wood grain, especially when it's a little knotty. ;)

I did give it a good sanding the next day once the stain had dried, just to give it a rustic, well loved look. For protection and to give the wood a little sheen I added a coat of furniture wax. It helps deepen the color and keep the wood from looking like it's dried out.

This whole project started because I had found these clipboard clips at Hobby Lobby.

They come in a two pack and have a wonderful vintage feel. Although, I seriously think that Tim Holtz only knows vintage. The only downfall with these clips is that they do not come with screws for mounting. I dug through our boxes of mismatched screws and found the ones that would work best.

Old and a little rusty. I would be lying if I even tried to tell you what they came off of.

Now comes the fun part, displaying whatever your heart desires and having a fun photo shoot!

 

 

 

And as always, nothing gets photographed in the backyard without these two butting in while trying to look like they're not!

 

 



Fixer Upper and Chapel Rd.

If you follow any blogs about home décor, chances are you have heard at least one of them talking about HGTV's new show, Fixer Upper. I decided to see what the fuss is about and I am hooked. I spent a whole day, while working, watching any episodes that were On Demand with Time Warner. The best part? The show is filmed in Waco, Texas which is an hour north of where I live. (My friend Kristi from I Should Be Mopping The Floor and I may or may not be planning on how to stalk meet Chip and JoJo.)

Why is this the best part? Because so many shows that I fall in love with for inspiration, for my own house, always seem to be on the other side of the country. I have come to believe that the New England/East Coast area and the Oregon/Washington area have the most fabulous areas to junk in and that it is hopeless to decorate my home the way I want, within the budget I have. To see a show that is filmed an hour away with the style I would love to have in my own home, that gets the creative wheels spinning.

And did they start spinning.

A while back I bought an old street sign that caught my attention.

It wasn't as old as I would have liked it, so I took a sander to it, roughed it up and then lost all inspiration and it sat in a closet.

After my Fixer Upper marathon I decided to pull it out and dig through my scrap pile. After I found the perfect piece I decided to give this stain color a second chance.

I want to love this shade, I really do, but it has too much red in it for my liking. I let it dry a bit and then started sanding it down some.

One of my favorite things to do with stain is to layer it to either get a custom color or make it look like an older piece that has been handed down. Before the first coat dried completely, I added a coat of a new shade called Weathered Oak, hoping that it would make it look like I had found the wood out in a field.

Nope. I think every bit I put on rubbed right off after letting it sit for 5 minutes. I knew I had to break out Old Faithful...

Dark Walnut. I don't know how many shades I have tried and I always go back to Dark Walnut.

Now I have the shade I want and layering it over the Gunstock gives it some of the depth I was looking for. I even used the stain left over on the rag on the street sign to give it an older feel.

My original plan was to screw the sign directly to the wood, but when I laid it down on the wood I decided I didn't want to lose the rippled shape it had developed over time. I dug through my husband's collection of hardware (I hoard wood, he hoards screws and building hardware...it's a match made in heaven) and found these black plastic pieces that were the perfect height for how high I wanted the sign to sit off of the wood.

Now if the sign was made out of wood I would have used regular screws. Since the sign is metal I had two options, drill a hole for the screw or use these...

Self drilling, or self tapping, metal screws. The funny tip on the end basically drills a hole as you are screwing it in. They are made especially for when you are working with metal and are a lifesaver, especially if you don't have a set of metal drill bits on hand (or you can't remember which set of your husband's is for metal.)

I first drilled the screws in to each end of the sign and then placed the black riser under each screw and attached it to the wood backing.

It's hanging right by our French doors that will at sometime lead out to a covered patio and deck. My plan is to make a collection of signs, as well as some unusual antique finds, to hang on the wall. I'm also working on a fun coffee bar/patio drink server idea to put underneath!

The Great Salsa Experiment

Let me start this with saying that I am not food blogger so I apologize for the lack of photos documenting the steps and my lackluster {boring} set up of the photos I did take!

I have been on a quest. A quest to find a salsa that meets all the requirements my husband has on his checklist when determining a great salsa. Over the last few months I have been experimenting and so far, this one is the keeper.

 

 

 

He likes the texture to be almost soup like. His Memaw used to make and can her own salsa and that is what he holds his standards to. She sent the recipe she used home with him one day and it was quite intimidating. Not the steps, but the part that the recipe was written to make 9 quarts. When I picked up my Salsa and Guac pack from Bountiful Baskets {love!} I sat down and worked the recipe in to a manageable amount. After tons of chopping and cooking it for 2 hours, we realized that we are not fans of a vinegar-y salsa, and this was. Also, the 2 hour cooking time isn't exactly the best when you want salsa right away.

 

 

I tried a salsa verde recipe the next day that only required roasting the main ingredients for 15 minutes and then run it through the food processor. Easy peasy.

 

 

So this past weekend I bought everything I needed to make salsa and tried roasting all the main ingredients and then running it through my Ninja blender. It was good but it was missing something and I made the mistake of throwing 3 {3!!} unseeded jalapenos in and it literally took all night for me to regain feeling in my mouth.

 

 

Out that batch went and I researched what the mystery ingredient could be. The answer: cumin. One more trip to the grocery store and this is the formula that works for us:

 

 

4 lbs. of roma tomatoes

1 onion

2 jalapenos {deseeded!}

2 cloves of garlic

1 bell pepper

 

Cut the onion and bell pepper {after cleaning out seeds} in half. Remove the stem portion of the tomatoes. Place everything on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Flip halfway through.

 

Add items to blender or food processor {I ran mine for a second with half of the tomatoes in it} and pulse a few times. Then add:

 

2 tsp. cumin

kosher salt to taste

fresh cilantro to taste

 

Blend everything to the consistency of your choosing. Like I said, my husband likes his salsa almost soup like so I ran mine for a minute or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This recipe made about 10 cups. I'll have to update you on how long and how well it lasts. Without the vinegar it may not last as long since vinegar works as a preservative.

 

I do know that it is really good. It's yummy on just chips and it was fantastic on cilantro lime rice we had with dinner the other night. My husband even used it on his eggs the other morning. And it looks super cute in these cute little jars that you can use to trick people in to thinking you're an old pro when it comes to canning!