Friday, February 18, 2011

a can of paint, a few changes....


I am linking up with Cindy's Romantic Home Show and tell Friday . Now that I look at the pictures , it looks so plain. It seems like a bigger change in person. And, of course, I forgot to take "before" pictures. This is a bedroom belonging to one of my daughters away at college. It was deep turquoise and white . I researched and found that people were happy with the paint "Mindful Gray" by Sherwin Williams so that is what I used. She already had this pretty light fixture in there that she bought on ebay when she was about 13-yrs-old. We still love it and it's white!


I already had the white sheets, curtains, bedskirt and lamp. So I bought a new quilt at Homegoods and a few pillows and this is what I have now. Very plain I know, but I am still trying to think of an idea for a headboard.
She already had these white shelves and shells up too.

A pillow from Pier 1 and a few from etsy. And an ikea chair that I dragged in from another room.

This is the most precious item in the room to me. A huge map of New York City that my daughter made on the computer years before she ever got to move there. And yes, I did ask her before I made any changes and she said to "go for it"!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Playing with chocolate

Valentines' Day is only a week away so I thought I would try making chocolates with molds. It's an easy afternoon with almost instant gratification. My favorite kind of craft! I used Merckens chocolate discs. I bought them locally but I think Micheal's and JoAnn's carries them too.


I used a simple double boiler....a bowl over a pot of simmering water....to melt the chocolate.
I tinted 1/2 lb. of white chocolate with a drop of red food coloring to get the palest of pale pink. If I was doing it again, I think I'd add another drop or two.
I bought my cameo mold locally but you can order them online. Even Amazon has them for sale. The next part takes a little practice but if I can do it so can you. Drizzle a small amount of the white chocolate into the cameo recess and spread it around with a toothpick. Then set these aside to cool while you melt down the dark or milk chocolate.
After the white chocolate is hardened, fill the rest of the mold with milk or dark chocolate and tap lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles
Place the molds in the refrigerator till they harden (or the back porch will do if you live in the snow like me!) and then easily pop them out of the mold. It was so much fun I had to stop myself from making too many. What are you making for Valentine's Day?