Raisin Bars

I have very fond memories of my mom making these when I was little and now I make them for my kiddos ;-)



Raisin Bars

2 C Raisins
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 C sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 C butter
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Cover raisins with water and bring to a boil, turn off, cool for 20 minutes. Strain raisins, save enough liquid to equal 1 C. Add baking soda to raisin water, combine all ingredients and blend well. Spread onto 2 greased cookie sheets (the ones with sides). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. When cool, frost with a thin frosting...

Frosting

2 C powder sugar
1/4 C butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix with a little milk to make thin frosting


Enjoy!

Studio Reveal!

Remember the before?

Here she is! I still have a few projects left to do before I would call it finished, but I'm super happy with how things are turning out ;-)

Right when you enter the door...I'm thinking of building a screen door for this...I just love the sound a screen door makes as it slaps shut!!

This is to the left after you enter...

This is my big work table...

My paint station...

All of these tubs hold fabric, art supplies and projects. I'm looking for a couple of dressers to organize it all...

This is a picture of my storage area, it will eventually be covered by a curtain made out of drop cloth...

My Farm Fresh sign and a few projects waiting to be painted...

My cozy reading chair, waiting for a slipcover...

I'm planning on putting bookshelves on this wall...

My sewing table...

The rug my Grandma gave me, topped by a local rug find...

I hope you enjoyed the tour ;-)

Detour!

You know how I promised everyone the after pictures of my studio the next day...well it is not going to happen soon, so let's take a detour!


Do you remember this beauty? No, I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about what is behind me...my built-in hutch. Can you believe this is the only before picture I have of it! I had some others but I think they got deleted when I cleaned up the picture file...anyway here is the before:

*Edited: Guess what? I found another picture!!!!

And here is the after...aaaahhhh, a breath of fresh air!

Be still my heart.

Hey, Hey, Hey!! (done in my best Fat Albert voice)

Can you believe the last time I have posted was in October?! Oh well...I'm still here, faithfully checking out my blog roll almost everyday to see what wonderful things are happening in blog land.

We had a GREAT Christmas! It was time well spent with lots of family ;-) Coming home was a little stressful, what usually takes about 5 hours, took us about 10! 10!!! I don't think we went any faster than 40 mph the whole time.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Anyway, on to the fun stuff...I finally have a place of my own! What I mean is I now have a studio!!!! (Doing a happy dance) I turned our storage room into a wonderful space that I can go and craft/paint/sew/make a mess and leave it for 2 weeks or whatever. I still needed it to have a spot for storage because we have no other place for this stuff (most of it is baby paraphernalia), but I was able to make it work!!! Don't ask me why I didn't do this earlier?

The before:

Ugh! What a mess.

So here's what I did...
1. Clear EVERYTHING (except the giant table) out
2. Sweep the floor and walls (it's an unfinished room so there were/are cobwebs)
3. Paint the walls white
4. Mix 8 gallon cans of half gone various blue paint together and paint the floor...3 coats
5. Organize everything that I took out in the beginning and put most of it back in...in the storage area
6. Set up my studio area

Come back tomorrow to see the after picture...I can't what for y'all to see it!!!

I finally found it!!!

Hey...look what I found at a thrift store a few days ago!

All together both pieces were a whopping $17 !!!!!! I can hardly stand it...I have been looking for a good chair that I can reupholster for years...LOL

The chair is in really good condition, except for the fabric, which I'm changing anyway. The ottoman's legs are a little loose but that will be an easy fix.

Here is what I am thinking fabric-wise...




I've ordered a yard to see what it looks like in person...if I like it I can use it for the ottoman!


Stay tuned...;-)

Farm Fresh

Yesterday I got to work on a project that I have been wanting to do for awhile ;-) I LOVE big signs, especially big wooden ones that are free to make!!!

So I went outside to my junk/stash pile and grabbed 3 leftover cedar boards from a fencing project...

I sanded them down a bit to remove splinters, dirt, and rabbit hair (the junk pile is right next to the rabbit cage)...

I then screwed the boards together using 3 small wooden stakes...

(The backside)

(The front side)

Next, I went to work on my letters. I free-handed them and used chalk to make them stand out against the cedar. After that I paint in the letters with white paint and after it was all dry, I took my sander to it once more.

The finished sign! It measures 6' x 17''. I can't wait to show you where I put it...not bad for zero dollars :-)

The BIG reveal...

Remember the before?

Well here it is now...with 2 coats of primer, 3 coats of Antique White satin paint, a little sanding here and there, and finally a generous coat of antiquing glaze.

All of the hardware is spray painted with Oil Rubbed Bronze...I love this color by the way!!!

I'm very happy with how everything turned out!!! I think my grandma would be proud ;-)