Creating a New (Accidental) Tradition

originally published in The Leaf Chronicle on Dec 1, 2013.

As I am writing this, the dressing is waiting in the crock pots, the pies are cooling on the sideboard and the cranberry sauce is at the ready. Mom is rending the meat of the baked sweet potatoes from their skins and preparing to top them with dried cranberries and almonds. All is (mostly) right in my world. I am, however, a day behind in composing my column and not even sure they will be able to insert it in the Living section, but feel compelled to sit down to write.

I love preparing meals for the holidays—almost more than eating them. I enjoy planning menus and table settings; I love cooking. Yup—pretty much the entire process ranks rather high on my list of things I like to do. The funny thing about Thanksgiving preparations though, is that—although a month separates them—they go hand-in-hand with Christmas planning.

As I prepare my menu for Thanksgiving, I am conscious of the fact that I will be preparing similar offerings for the Christmas meal(s). With a collection of more than fifty cookbooks, one might think there is no way duplicates should even be offered, but it’s difficult to not fall back on the tried and true. I like to experiment with new recipes, especially when we are entertaining, but have not venture too far from my standard menus for the past few years.

One new development I noticed yesterday was when I was rifling through my cookbooks to find a recipe I typically use; Mom opened the kitchen cabinet to look at the notes from last year’s menu. I know they are there, but it just occurred to me how helpful that is. (Evidence that my inability to throw things away is, in fact, borderline brilliance—it’s not the cure for cancer, but will aid my sanity.)

If you open the cabinet door where I keep my spices, you will find the notes and menu plans for the week of Christmas 2012, just under the plans for Thanksgiving 2013. I think most of us write out our menus for special events like this. Ours has notes about who will be preparing which dishes and which Southern Living Annual Recipes book contains the Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie (it’s 1998, by the way).

Notes like these have already proven useful this year, but I think there are added benefits.

For instance, when I say things such as, “You know, I would like to try cooking a beef tenderloin for Christmas,” and my mother looks at me like I’ve got lobsters coming out of my ears, she will be able to back-up her “are you nuts” look with my own hand written menu from 2011 as evidence. (For your amusement, I will confess that this memory lapse actually happened last year, all expect for the “evidence;” we don’t have that menu taped to the cabinet. The fact remains, however that I completely forgot having prepared a beef tenderloin—a cut of meat which is to dang expensive to forget!)

So, through happenstance, I’ve decided this will be a new tradition for the King Kompound. I will now purposely keep these notebook pages taped to the insides of cabinet for two years. After which they will be retired to a page protector in my black three-ring recipe binder, for posterity and reference. My kids will likely never need/want to reference them, but I like to think they might. I know I’d love to have something like that from my mother, but at least I’m making these memories with her.

I hope you enjoy (and remember) your menu planning this holiday season.

Fall Fluff

originally published in The Leaf Chronicle on Nov 17, 2013.

Please tell me my calendar is wrong. Please tell me I did not lose two weeks of my life-especially at such a critical time in my life. As I told my husband the other day, I feel like I went to sleep on the 28^th of October and woke-up mid-November.

By “critical time in my life,” I am pretty sure you think I’m referring to the announcement that we are closing Hodgepodge, but actually, I am talking about the holidays. I mean, I live for this stuff! What a time to have to be worried about the nuts and bolts of wrapping-up nearly a decade of boutique ownership.

I wonder how your preparations are progressing. Did you print a check list? Did you laugh your way to the recycling bin, with my column in hand? I have to admit, I haven’t figured out my preparation timeline yet, but I am looking forward to my favorite holiday and enjoying time with family.

As you read this, my sister, Kendall, is (hopefully) on her way here with my mother riding shotgun. Her infinite number of bags and boxes neatly packed in the trunk and backseat for her extended winter visit. I’m giddy! I love it when she comes to visit. I enjoy sharing our days, making plans for my occasional days off—heck—just having someone to plan meals with is fun!

I finally took down my Halloween decorations and am slowly beefing-up the Thanksgiving vignettes throughout the house. After my column last week, I noticed I use a lot of faux and dried florals through the fall and winter. There are several reasons for this additional fluff.

First, we’re in the house more; during the spring and summer we’re outside, enjoying Mother Nature. There is no need for the addition of flowers inside and if there is, I can grab some from outside.

Second, the dried and silk flowers help cozy-up the place, which isn’t needed during the summer months. We’ve found that is true of vignettes at the shop, too. If we work on a display, but are not completely satisfied with it, we usually add some flowers, a leafy branch or vine and the look is completed. Sometimes, however, too much is too much (profound, eh?). You don’t want to add so much of the stuff that the focal point is obscured.

Third, I prefer fall/winter fakes to spring/summer fakes; for some reason they are more convincing. Or is it that they are less offensive? I can’t decide which. My decorating palette definitely reflects the colors of fall, so that is likely the primary reason. They are well-suited to my décor, so they look better.

Finally, the faux berries, leaves and flowers don’t shed. I think I’ve mentioned how much my husband loves it when I start bringing the real stuff inside—because I do plenty of that, too. His favorite of favorites has to be Nandina berries. Nothing makes him happier than finding the “suicide berries” (those that choose not to hang-on for the slow, inevitable death) all over the floor, table or counter. Since my single goal in life is to make my husband happy—I guess this is the best reason.

My most recent addition to our fall fluff.

Create a Fall Accent

originally published in The Leaf Chronicle Nov 10, 2013.

Okay, I admit it—it’s true. I still have Halloween decorations up. (Of course, it’s only one week gone and I’ve been known to find Christmas ornaments 9 months into the new year!) Is it me, or did that holiday just blow by? (I’m punny.*)

As I walked through the house yesterday afternoon, I thought about how bare the place will look without my Halloween accents. I am especially reluctant to pack away a new wall plaque which I have hanging on the door in my kitchen, which leads to the patio. When I took the dog outside for his evening constitutional, I saw the remnants of an arrangement I once had hanging in the house; it was sadly ruined in our house fire, but I couldn’t bear to throw it away. I hung it outside where it has slowly deteriorated, leaving only a form and vase, which I use for a fresh flower accent outside. That’s when I had the idea to recreate that arrangement and share the process with you.

Here’s what you will need:

A quart-size jar

Chicken wire, 2 feet square

Wire cutters

Floral foam

Hot glue gun

Ribbon

Spanish moss

Flowers and accents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Cut the chicken wire to size. Roll it into a cone shape; cinch the cone about six inches from the base. Fold the sharp ends of the wire into the cone. Roll the top edge of the cone down two- three times.

 

2. Use the ribbon to wrap the top edge, lacing through the chicken wire. Add a length of ribbon from which to hang the arrangement. Tie the ribbon at the ten- and two-o’clock position on the top edge of the cone (as if you were holding a steering wheel).

3. Add a liberal amount of Spanish moss to the inside of the cone. Press the moss against the bottom and sides of the cone, where the jar will eventually rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Cut a piece of floral foam that will fit in the opening of your jar, but is only 2/3 the height of the jar. Using glue gun, drop some glue to the bottom of the jar, followed by the prepared piece of foam. Allow to set, start adding smaller slices/wedges of foam to fill the voids; securing with drops of hot glue if possible.

 

 

5. Start adding your flowers and accents. I used dried hydrangeas, along with faux floral accents to include oaks leaves with acorns, pods and sticks. Once you are satisfied with your arrangement, carefully set it in the cone, arranging the moss to disguise the jar.

6. Finish by adding a knot of ribbon around the cinched base of the cone.

Now you have a beautiful arrangement to enjoy for years to come . . . as long as you don’t have a house fire. PSA: I hope you checked your batteries in your smoke detectors last weekend, if not, do it now. They save lives, homes and flower arrangements!

*we had tornado warnings on Halloween . . . get it?  “blow by?”

I Feel Good . . . I Knew That I Would!

The is the article I wrote for The Leaf Chronicle, which was originally published on Oct 28, 2013.

Remember last week when I said I feel energized by this time of year? Well, I have smashed all personal best records since then! Who’s the gal? Me—I’m the gal!!! I admit I’ve been humming the Rocky theme song a lot lately; not “Gonna Fly Now,” but “Eye of the Tiger.” I’ve got a lot to do and this is the time of year, I’m likely to accomplish it. That feels good.

We normally pick-up at the shop this time of year, but things have been exceptionally slow this month. (Gee—I wonder why?) The good news, though, is that I’ve had time to tackle the backroom projects that I’ve had waiting for me. I’ve actually cleaned-out some filing cabinets in order to transfer old records to storage. I’ve packed-up all—okay, most—of my creative/crafting supplies so I can relocate them to my “studio space.”

Studio space? This is the room in our house formerly known as “the back porch,” which it was . . . a long, long time ago. It was enclosed –poorly—at some point in its history and we’ve yet to assign it a proper name or use. It serves as the catch-all storage area, but I continuously try to claim it for my creative space. We will see if that claim stands-up to time and the forces of nature working against it. (By “nature” I am referring to my tendency to keep things well-beyond my ability to remember why I thought I needed them; it’s my nature to be a borderline hoarder.)

As much as I am sure you’d enjoying reading a complete list of all the items I parted with this week, suffice to say I hope my Recycle Clarksville serviceman didn’t suffer an injury when he picked-up the stack of magazines I set-out in the bins this morning. Anyone who knows me knows I have a weakness for magazines, so this was a big move. I tossed my high school yearbooks years ago, but I feel sure I still have a few magazines from the years I graduated!

During the course of all of this cleaning and recycling, I continued transitioning the seasonal décor throughout the house. I like to think I’m done, but I usually do some tweaking right up until it’s time to store it again.

One of my favorite decorating elements is framed art. I like to use vintage art which reflects the season, as you can see in the photograph of my favorite mantel decked out for fall. Here I’ve propped a vintage print of a pair of colorful grouse. I keep an eye out for items such as this at flea markets. This rotation method—changing art with the season—is ideal for our home, as we are concerned our walls may eventually cave in under the weight of all the art we have purchased. Heaven forbid I just say I’ve got enough—not gonna happen!

As for our living room mantel, I decided to make just a few changes this year. My dear friend had recently given me the home altar with the image of Mary on it and I’m not quite ready to put it away, so it serves as the anchor. Beyond that, I just added a few candles in the shape of pinecones, wrapped my battery-operated candles in burlap and switched-out the homemade pomanders for some oats.

 

 

 

I always leave my velvet pumpkins on display, so they are not seasonal, but the branches of bittersweet are the provisional accent the pumpkins needed. The decorated bottle on the floor lamp is a leftover from this past winter—it escaped my notice for a few months, then I just couldn’t be bothered to carry it to the storage area; but I did dust it!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Finally, I’m offering a picture of one of my favorite decorations of the season—my turkey. This is one of those things I had in the shop because I truly loved it and wanted in my home. This happens occasionally; I buy something for the shop because I really would like to have it in my own home, but know that I need to try to sell it. Most of the time, I can happily send inventory home with my customers, but as we sold out of these (I only ordered four), I became very nervous. When we were down to one remaining, I found myself just grabbing it on the way out of the door one evening. I am so glad I did! I love the presence of this guy. This year I’ve placed him in the entry hall along with arrangement of dried lavender and oats and another velvet pumpkin. Perfect.

 

 

 

 

A few other pictures not offered in the newspaper:

“Falling” Productive

This is the column I wrote for The Leaf Chronicle, which appeared in the Sunday, Oct 20, 2013 edition.

As I sat down at the computer to write my column for this week, I posted my confession on facebook. I was there (on facebook) and elsewhere looking for inspiration. I had several suggestions for topics for my article, but mostly just some friends aiding and abetting my delinquency. I did have one friend who made a suggestion which was along the lines of what I was thinking already, so Ruta, here you go . . .

I am finding, as I usually do this time of year, that I am rather productive. There is something about fall that motivates me; even the rainy days. I’ll take a rainy day in October over a sunny day in August every time! Perhaps it is the cooler weather, the fresh breeze blowing through the shop and the house or the excitement of the coming season. Whatever the reason, it seems to come in the nick-of-time each year.

At the shop, I’ve finally started clearing out some of the “stuff” I’ve allowed to accumulate over the years. I’m boxing up some of my creative supplies to take home or donate. I’ve found I don’t have a lot of time for creative activities while at work—well, at least not this type of creativity. This will have the added benefit of clearing some shelves so we can lay-out our Christmas inventory and get it ready to move to the floor in a few weeks; yes, I’m sorry . . . I’m a retailer.

At home, I’ve been trying to accomplish some of the same. I’ve got a donate box, a storage box and the trashcan! As I transition to my fall décor, it is the perfect time to do a little weeding. Of course, this is a slower process than at the store; things are pretty clear cut there—get it on the floor to sell, donate it or throw it away. At the house I slow down. There’s so much more to consider. I’ve got children getting ready to move out of the house—eventually—so I have to consider things which might be useful in their first apartments.

Then, of course, I have to consider the Antiques Road Show. I know you know what I mean. You’re looking at that pitcher that Aunt Ethel gave you for your wedding. You’ve never used it—not even to hold flowers. This time it’s getting donated, but . . . as you place it in the box you notice the marking on the bottom. What does that say? “W. Germany.” Then you’re thinking, where did I hear something about that? If there is a “W” that clearly means is once belonged to the former President, right??? No, that wasn’t it. Think. Right, it means “West Germany.” That place no longer exists! I’ll bet it’s worth something! Wouldn’t that be a shame to donate it, to later watch as some stranger shows-up on the Antiques Road Show with the pitcher Aunt Ethel so thoughtfully chose for you?

So, umm, yeah. Back to how productive I’ve been.

While my daydreams tend to gain some footing, I still feel like I’ve made great strides at the shop and at home. I’ve been slowly adding decorative fall accents throughout the house; they will be firmly in place until after Thanksgiving. Christmas does not encroach on our orderly observation of holidays at the house. (Heck, I’m lucky to have the tree decorated by December 25^th!)

Since I like to share ideas for transitional décor you might want to use in your own home, I’ll close by sharing a picture of the mantel in our dining room. This is one of my favorite places to focus our seasonal décor for several reasons. It is the first room I see when I walk out of our bedroom, it is where we do most of our entertaining and I can also see it from the room where I spend most of my waking hours—the kitchen.

Several weeks ago, I was ready to remove the summer accents I had used to adorn it for the season, but not quite ready for Indian corn and pumpkins, so I decided to add some items that would carry through until Thanksgiving, while giving a nod to the fading summer days. I started with a few books stacked on their side—choosing those with colors that reflected my transitional theme. Then I added brown pillar candles and a hand decorated emergency candle (similar to the one I gave instructions for last week), as well as a few rusty iron accents. The final touch—the hydrangeas I dried a few weeks ago. I left them in the aqua ball jars, because the colors worked so well with the shades of blues and greens in the hydrangeas. I loved this display so much, I was hesitant to take it down for my full-blown autumn mantel, but I do look forward to using the dried blooms again next year.

Next week, I’ll share more pictures of my home and how I decorate for this most wonderful time of year.

UpCycling an Emergency Candle

This is the column I wrote for The Leaf Chronicle, which appeared in the Sunday, Oct 18, 2013 edition.
Time for another “how to” House Arrest column.
First, though, I want to throw-out a reminder about a great event coming up this week. It’s one of my favorite inspiration sources, but I’ve been known to do a little shopping, too. The Hayloft at Port Royal is starting this Thursday, with a preview night and continues through Saturday. These barns sales have become enormously popular across the nation and I am so glad that Shirley and Knox have brought one to Clarksville. Not only is the event wonderful for those of us who like to shop, it’s also great for the local economy. Folks travel from far and near to set-up as vendors, as well as shop; many travelers will stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants and put gas in their cars. In the words or Ms. Martha, “it’s a good thing.”
Today, I’m going to share instructions for upcycling an emergency candle into a decorative accessory for fall. Actually, this project can be adapted to the season, but today I’ll teach you the basics and you can “jump” from here.
The list:
8” emergency candle in glass
Scrap of burlap
Scrap of muslin or other cotton fabric
Rubber stamp with a “background” print (I used one with a script pattern)
Rubber stamping ink pad (I use brown ink)
Raffia
Oats, mini-Indian corn, acorns—anything fall-ish
Rubber bands
Mod Podge®
Foam paint brush
Those well labeled “fabric only” scissors
1. Cut your burlap into a 9 x 7 rectangle—pull threads to fringe one of the long sides.

2. Coat the glass of the candle with a generous layer of Mod Podge®; slip on a couple rubber bands while glue dries.
 

3. Tear a 5” wide length of the cotton fabric (I used flour sack cloth); I tore a long piece because I planned to make a lot of these candles. (You can cut the fabric, but tearing gave the appearance I wanted.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 








4. Use rubberstamp and stamp pad to apply a pattern onto the cotton fabric; allow to dry completely. Cut a length of the fabric to 8”. Attach the stamped fabric to the burlap, using the Mod Podge®.
 
5. Cut a length of raffia, at least 18” long. Wrap it around the candle, securing with a square knot. (left over right and under, right over left and under—pull tight).
6. Now here is where you can introduce various elements of fall, by adding your choice of accent. Use a strand or two of the raffia to attach a mini-bunch of wheat/oats, a tiny wreath and acorn or an Indian corn. I am sure you can think of other accents, as well.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







As I mentioned, this is an easily adapted project for any season. The candles are very affordable and the glass makes it ideal for decorating. I hope you enjoy your candles.

A Harvest Banner How-to

This is the column I wrote for The Leaf Chronicle which was published on Sep 8, 2013.

Well, I’ll bet you had a hard time sleeping last night as you eagerly anticipated this promised “how to make a pennant banner” article. Thank goodness your sleepless nights are over, ‘cause here it is.

I hope this is something you’re as interested in as, apparently, I am. I say “apparently,” because as I was pulling out some of my fall decorations for the house, I came across another pennant banner I made for my Thanksgiving mantel décor. I then I started mentally listing all of the banners I’ve made: “Grateful” for Thanksgiving; “Gloria” for Christmas; the banner of vintage photos of kids in their snow outfits for winter; “America” with crinkled crepe paper fans for the Fourth of July. It was there that I discontinued my mental list, but I think I’ve demonstrated my affinity for this quick-and-easy to make decorative accent.

If you think you’d like to make one as pictured here, the supplies you will need are:

Cardstock (color of your choice, I used parchment)

Burlap

Letter stencils

Acrylic paint

Sponge wedge or foam paint brush

Glue

Jute twine

Hole punch

Reinforcement stickers

Optional—trim materials, such as lace and accent materials, such as raffia

1. Cut your base triangles from the card stock. I use 11 x 8.5” cardstock and am able to get three pennants out of one sheet. (photo A)

2. Cut seven pennant triangles. Punch a hole in each of the top (short edge) corners.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Cut a template for a triangle about ½” smaller overall. (I cut one extra of my base triangles, folded it in half—lengthwise—and cut ½” from the short and long sides.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Use this smaller template to trace seven triangles onto your burlap and cut them. (Let me say here and now—treat yourself to one good pair of fabric scissors. Do not allow anyone to use them on anything—even if they say they need it for fabric—they are lying to you and preparing to go cut a coaxial cable. I am sure of it. I have a pair at the shop and at home—both have “warning” tags on them assuring of a variety of pains that await the perpetrator if I catch them being used on anything other than fabric. So far, the threats have not had to be acted upon. So far.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Back to our pennant banner.

6. Pour a little of your paint (I used Traditional Raw Umber acrylic) on a plate. Center your H stencil on the burlap triangle. Dip the sponge into the paint (do not overload paint), then holding the stencil in place, tamp the paint into the stencil and violá—only A-R-V-E-S and T to go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. While the paint dries, you can add trim to the outside edge of your base triangle. I like using cotton lace when I’m using burlap—kind of fancies it up, but not too much. I pre-cut all of the lengths I needed (I am not looking for precision here—just get it close). Use an old, small paint brush to “paint” a thin layer of glue around the perimeter of your base triangle and apply the trim. By the time you finish this, the paint on your burlap pennants should be dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Apply another thin layer of glue on the base triangle (inside of the trim) and stick the burlap to the base. Allow to dry completely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Apply reinforcement stickers to the backside of each of the holes on the base pennant.

10. Now you’re ready to string you pennant banner together. Run the jute twine through the hole starting on the top left of the H, running the twine behind the base triangle . . . oh you get the picture.

 

11. I added the raffia accents to give my banner a little more interest. You could also add a few pieces of mini-Indian corn between each triangle.

Have fun with this project, but be careful, the next thing you know you will be cutting more triangles and stringing pennants to welcome your friends to your guest bathroom.

The first day of September—color me happy!

My column for The Leaf Chronicle, originally published Sep 1, 2013.

My love/hate relationship with our Mulberry tree continues—having just gotten over the black flies and berries, we are now dealing with the falling leaves (which will continue until February). The gardens are a mess—weeds are rampant in the flower bed and the perennials are getting leggy. The lack of rain has wreaked havoc on the gardens and yard; yet I am crazy about this time of year!

Our “above ground pond” is closed for the season, so that is one less thing to worry about. Pretty soon we will be able to open the windows and enjoy the fresh air. Soon, mums and pumpkins will adorn front porches all over Clarksville. Yep—soon it’ll be fall y’all!

In typical fashion, however, I am loathe to push the seasons. Owning a retail shop makes me hyper aware of the changing seasons. You will note that most retailers already have their Halloween décor on the shelves—fall colors, in the form of faux leaves and pumpkins, having been added in July. I have always pushed back at the suggestion that I need to do the same thing at my shop, but I have had to succumb ever so slightly.

I think that, by August, everyone has had enough “summer” and most consider the start of the school year the start of the fall season; however, the warm weather will stick around for a while, so let’s conjure some ideas for making a transition.

This is the perfect time to cleanse the decorating palette. I like to move into neutral tones before I introduce the rich colors of the harvest season. The neutral items will then provide a great base for the future riot of orange, gold and red.

Here’s how I will start. I have a tobacco basket on the front of my house—where I often hang my wreaths. I put it up last fall and decided to use it as the “base” for all of our entryway décor since then. Until recently, a swag of herbs with a garden trowel and bird’s nest was hanging there, now it is the backdrop for an armful of dried oats, gathered together with a knot of burlap. In a few weeks, I will add a pennant banner to hail the harvest season (I’ll be sharing tips on how to make your own next week). For now, the neutral oats will set the tone—then I will add pops of color and seasonal references.

Dried flowers and grasses are a great way to make changes in the house, without pulling out the pumpkins and gourds just yet. Hydrangeas are my favorite dried flowers and my friend, Ruta, just gave me tips for the best way to dry them. If you have a bush with blooms you are still enjoying, now would be a great time to cut a bunch and bring them inside to dry. (If you don’t have your own hydrangea bush, wait until it is dark and sneak into your neighbor’s yard to cut his.) Don’t harvest new blooms—choose the blooms that are already starting to feel papery. Cut a good length of stem and remove all leaves. Then place the blooms in a vase that is filled to about 1/3 full. Add your blooms—don’t overcrowd—then enjoy them until the water evaporates. You should then have beautiful dried blooms. Keep them out of direct sunlight during the drying process and afterward.

Feb 10, 2013--Pleasant Surprises

Mid-February and mid-fifties!  Are you kidding me?  I want winter weather.  I want at least one, really good snow day when we’re all forced to stay home in our PJs, watch movies and bake cookies.  You know you want one, too.

Instead I’m watching in dismay as my daffodils bloom and my winter urn arrangements appear incongruent in this tropical oasis.  (Slight exaggeration, but it helps to emphasize my point.)  As I sit typing my fingers to the bone (more emphasis), the 10 day forecast is predicting more of the same.  I see no snow days in my near future.

I do see, however, some baking in my very near future.  This week I will bake my first King Cake for Fat Tuesday.  We don’t really make a big deal about Mardi Gras around the King Kompound—it usually means Pancake Supper at Trinity Episcopal and that’s about it.  This year, however, I promised my patrons some King Cake, so I better get busy!

Last year we went to celebrate Mardi Gras with my sister and brother-in-law in Northern Virginia.  They host a grande fête each February and one of their guests brought a couple dozen cupcakes, each embellished with a plastic baby figure—like the one found inside a proper King Cake.  I absconded with at least half-a-dozen, so I am set in that regard.  What I need to find, though, is a recipe.  I’ll also be making Pralines for the first time.  I’m actually looking forward to it and will let you know how I make-out.

As we’re going to run headlong into Valentine’s Day, too, I’ve worked-out some plans for that, too.  I really want to go see “Always . . . Patsy Cline” at The Roxy, but we are a going to have to wait until next week for that.  Rather than fight the crowds to dine-out (rest assured, we do our fair share of that), I think I’ll make a nice, romantic dinner for the three of us (you will remember we still have one bird in the nest).  I’m going to make Coq au Vin—it was the first “fancy” dish I ever made for Darren.  I don’t think, to be honest, it was the hook that caught him, but I remember the excitement of preparing such a special meal very fondly!

Does cooking do that for you?  Do you hold onto those memories like I do?  I can tell you the first time I made a lot of meals.  For instance, the first time I made Stromboli I failed to remove the paper casing from the salami, so with every bite, Darren was discreetly pulling the casing out from between pursed lips.  (That one was after we were married, so he gave me the appropriately hard time!)

I really enjoy planning and preparing meals, which is another aspect of my creativity that has been thwarted over the past few years.  Every now a then I have bursts of culinary creativity, but they are far too infrequent.  When we were trying to figure out what to do with some leftover ham the other night, I told Darren that I would use it to prepare Spaghetti a la Carbonara.  His response, “But I didn’t pick-up any of that at the commissary.” 

“Harumph!” said I.

So, last Wednesday, I came home from work and immediately set-about  browning the onions and mixing the half-and-half with some egg yolks.  Thirty minutes later, he was pleasantly surprised that I was not only still able to cook from scratch, but that the results were rather tasty.  (Added bonus, I used a lot of leftovers and we needed nothing additional from the commissary!)  I think I need to surprise him, as well as myself, a little more frequently!

I hope this week holds pleasant surprises for you.

Jan 27, 2013--Creativity Is Its Own Reward

Caption:  A few of the vignettes filling the Christmas void.

Happy to report:  I have made good on my commitment to dedicate more time to my creative endeavors; this has been the case for TWO whole weeks now.  That makes it a habit, right?  It’s my understanding that experts say it takes two weeks for a new behavior to become a habit.  Well, we’ll see about that.

I’ve been known to defeat the law of averages quite soundly in numerous tête-à-tête with the universe.  Albeit, most have been self-prophesized, which experts would likely identify as self-defeating, but who listens to those “experts” anyway?

This venture into my dormant creative self is much needed.  I’ve forced it to take a back seat to many others aspects of my life and it’s beginning to be difficult to conjure.  I fear if I allow it to climb any further into the back seat, it may end-up trapped in the trunk!  I am trying to revive it and already feel better for my efforts.

Last week I wrote about my journal-style calendar, which is a large part of my artistic re-entry.  I often discuss this subject with my friend, Kimberly Santiago.  Kimberly is a local artist who has—conveniently for me—set-up her studio on the second floor of our building.  She has on numerous occasions encouraged me to further explore my creativity.  She is very supportive, however, as I berate myself for my lack of inventive adventures, she will chide me to remember that what I do via my shop requires a fair degree of originality and imagination; she is my art “therapist.”

We are our own worst critics.  (I’m not just saying that for my benefit—I’m saying it for your benefit, as well.)  We expect so much of ourselves, but find it so easy to notice the achievements and successes of our friends.  I will leave that topic open for my next session with my art therapist, but in the meantime, I will take pride in my minor creative successes.

This past week I took time to arrange a few vignettes around the house—things that take the place of the holiday decorations which have made their way into my newly reorganized storage space.  (Hey—I’d like to just take a moment to give myself a pat on the back for that monumental feat of ingenious displacement packing.  How I fit that much stuff into the same space AND made it look more organized is beyond me!)  Back to the new “old” stuff . . .

This time of year, I pull out the silver stuff; not that it ever really goes away, but I pull it front-and-center during the colder months.  When I disassembled the holiday décor on our the mantel in our living room, I left almost everything silver and brown, added a few tan and brown books, as well as a few bare branches to tie the theme of winter together. 

In the kitchen, I’ve arranged a tray of vintage pewter mugs with their white porcelain insert cups, a collection of crisp white linen napkins and transferred our huge container of hot chocolate mix into a vintage style jar.  I also have a jar of the mini marshmallows at the ready.

In the dining room, I’ve begun preparation for Valentine’s Day.  I’m not a fan of hearts being used in my decoration, but the proper amount of vintage influence allows for exceptions.  I employed decoupage techniques to upcycle empty bottles into decorative accents for the impending lovers’ holiday.

So, there you have my journal entries for the past week.  I have carved-out some time for nurturing my creativity and I feel so much better for it.

Jan 20, 2013--Creative, Inspiring Year Ahead

Caption:  My resourceful endeavor to plan and record my anticipated creatively inspired year ahead

One of the best features of a passing into a new year is a new calendar.  I love calendars; so much so that I have a minimum of three—no, wait—four, running simultaneously.  There is the Microsoft® Outlook calendar which is my most dependable, especially since it syncs with my iPhone® calendar, then there is my wall calendar which hangs in the kitchen and lets the family know what is happening.  The fourth calendar, however, is my favorite; it is the one I carry with me pretty much everywhere.  It is the one that ends-up holding more than just my schedule; it is where I stuff receipts, coupons, agendas and more.  This “favorite” calendar has seen many incarnations—from a very corporate-style Day Runner® in a black portfolio to the pocket-style family agenda in a wipe clean plastic cover. 

My favorite, however, has been found.  It is a journal style calendar.  There is plenty of room to write my scheduled activities, as well as some notes about the day or week.  As it seems I have reached maximum capacity in my “grey matter” storage unit, I’ve found it necessary to not only write down where I am supposed to be going, but also where I’ve been and what I did! 

A few years ago, I found the perfect journal-style calendar for my needs.  It was actually designed to resemble a ledger book—like those kept by business folks for their record keeping.  I remember liking that feature immediately.  Then, upon closer examination, I realized it was also appealing because of the design lay-out of its content.  Each week shared a two-page spread, so there was a generous amount of room for my notes.  I liked it so much; I placed an order for the shop.  When November rolled-around and I hadn’t received them, I called the vendor and was told they lost the contract and wouldn’t be wholesaling them after-all.  Rats!

I went into research mode, to no avail, trying to locate the publisher and deal with them directly.  Finally, I found it online through a boutique similar to mine, but located in Ohio.  I contacted the owner and asked her to share the name of the vendor, but she wouldn’t tell me!  I was shocked, but undaunted.  I continued my research and found the journal at our local Borders—the same day I received the negative response from Ohio.

Well, long-story-longer, I was able to scavenge the calendar for only two years.  In that time, I tried desperately to contact the publishers, but the information just led me to a non-working number.

That’s when I decided I need to make my own, using a real ledger book I found at an office supply store.  I worked with my friend, Märtha, and sister, Kendall, and we created our own, but I just couldn’t finish it.  As luck would have it, Patty found one more of the published calendars, which saw me through last year.  Unfortunately, 2013 hasn’t materialized; therefore, I decided to get creative and made my own.  Unlike the last time, however, I am not waiting until it is finished to use it.  I figure, for it to be a truly creative journal, it needs to develop throughout the year.

I will be writing my notes, jotting down ideas and memories and using a glue stick to attach ephemera and other inspirational findings.  This is going to be a creative, inspiring year and I’m going to capture as much as I can in my journal calendar.