Family News and Photos

Happy Wednesday!  We're halfway through the week, and only a week away from Thanksgiving.  What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?  We are going to my parent's house.  I am actually prepared with my part of the meal! (I don't have a fever, I checked). I have my sweet potato casserole frozen and ready to thaw and bake, and I also made up my roll dough and froze it in balls ready to go.  I'm not sure why I am more organized this year than ever before.  Kind of scary, except that it's really great, too!  Maybe it means I'm learning a few things in my old age...

....things like, it's not fun to stay up until 2am the night before Thanksgiving trying to get the food together...

Last Saturday, I spent a few hours painting the bathroom on our main level.  It's just a half-bath, and really just a powder room.  Pretty small.  It actually took me longer to paint it than I anticipated, but that's because I have only painted one other bathroom in my entire life, and I forgot that painting around a toilet and sink/vanity/mirror take more time and care than usual.  Anyway, it is done, and I'm really happy with the color which was Sherwin-Williams San Antonio Sage.  

We have an old wooden stool (I say old, but it's probably about 6 years old).  It was getting to be an eye-sore and needed some kind of a make-over, especially because it always stays in that powder room that now has a fresh coat of paint and looks pretty.  So....I decided to do something similar to it that I had seen on the internet a while back.  Armed with spray paint, scrapbook paper, and mod-podge, I went to work.  These are the results...

Pretty schnazzy for $6 (I already had the mod-podge).  It was easy, and only took about 24 hours to complete including dry time. 

If you want to try this, here is a rough idea of how I did mine.  First, if you can find one of these little spray handles it will make spray painting a lot easier.  NOTE:  This handle will only work with Krylon spray paint.

Second, you will need your spray paint and either some material or paper you like for the decoupage, a bottle of mod-podge (not shown) in either matte or glossy finish.  I used matte because that's what I had, but either would be fine.  I used a clear glossy enamel sealer on the stool at the end so it is glossy anyway. 
I gave the stool 3 coats of spray paint (color was Georgia Clay) allowing each coat at least 30 minutes to dry in between.  After the final coat of paint, I let it dry for a couple of hours before starting the paper decoupage.  I used two 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper. 

My stool had a hole cut out of the top step for a "handle".  I cut this out of the paper prior to putting it on the stool.  Using a foam brush, coat the back of the paper or material with mod-podge and then position it on the stool where you want it to be.  Smooth out any air bubbles.  Once the paper is in place, go over the top of the paper with another coat of mod-podge.  It's okay if you get the mod-podge on the stool itself because it will all dry clear anyway.  Let it sit overnight so the mod-podge completely dries.  Give the stool a final coat or two of a clear enamel sealer so it will stand the test of time.    :-)
I'd love to see your photos if you do one!

Here's a couple shots of the newly painted bathroom.  

There are a couple of recipes we've tried this week that I really liked.  I couldn't decided which one I liked better, so I will post them both!  The first one is from Pillsbury.  It has evidently (from the comments I read about it) been around for a while.  It's new to me, though, and a keeper with the whole family.
Introducing, Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs!  They are basically like a cinnamon bite.  You'd never know there was marshmallow inside, but you definitely couldn't make these without it.  Here is the recipe from Pillsbury's website.

The second recipe comes to you from a website I found last week called Plain Chicken.  The first word in that might be plain, but there's nothing "plain" about this lady's cooking!  Lots of really good looking recipes so if you get a minute you could check her site out.  

Remember in my last post I said I was going to be doing something with biscuits?  Well, this is it.  The Plain Chicken lady made these biscuits (the photo is hers, too), and when we made them we were in love.  She said they taste like Popeye's biscuits.  I've never had Popeye's, but to me they taste very similar to KFC biscuits which is the same kind of joint as Popeye's.  Whatever the case, they are delicious.  With only 4 main ingredients, they're simple and worth making.

7-UP Biscuits

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup 7-up

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450.

Cut sour cream into biscuit mix, add 7-Up. Makes a very soft dough.

Sprinkle additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat dough out into a square.  Cut dough into nine equal pieces. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch square pan.  Place cut biscuits in pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Smile, 'cause you're happy! :-)