Sara Jane: Spray Paint

A few years back, I discovered spray paint and all the fun, amazing, creative ways that you can use it.  My last spray paint project was our TV stand.  It is BRIGHT yellow and so very pleasant in our family room.  I haven't used spray paint in quite a while though so I decided today would be a good day to get reacquainted with my old friend.

For this project, I went to our local Goodwill store and found these three great pieces:  two tins (each $0.99) and one ceramic rooster ($1.99).  Then I headed to Joann's (which happens to be next door) and picked out a few colors that I liked.  If you don't want to spend oodles of money on spray paint, Walmart has cans for only $0.99!  Its not the most quality spray but it works fine.

Anyway, here are the three pieces I bought today:

First up was the rooster.  I have a special place in my heart for roosters.  Last year, we bought four chickens.  My chicken's name was Mrs. Pettitoes.  She was absolutely beautiful but one Sunday, when we came home from church, she was crowing at our back door and we realized that Mrs. Pettitoes was actually a MR. Pettitoes.  I was sad....

Anyway, I love roosters.

For my rooster, I wanted him to be a deep red.  To start, I sprayed my first coat and let it dry for about 15 minutes.  Then I sprayed another one.  Remember to use short, even sprays for the most even color.  After that coat, I only had to do a few touch up sprays in little cracks and here is how he turned out...

We don't have a permanent home for him yet but I am hopeful that he will have a nice place in my kitchen one day soon.

Next up were my tins.  I have seen spray painted tins all over Pinterest lately so I thought I would give it a try.  Well, the first tin (the one with the handle in the picture above) didn't turn out so well.  Since it is rather hideous (very gloppy and runny), it is now a small trash pail in the backyard for the kids.  The second time, I remembered to slow down and take my time (something I am constantly reminding myself of).  This one turned out perfectly!  For this tin, I sprayed very small areas to start. It took me about three coats and about 30 minutes to get it just right.  It turned out the perfect color and really transformed the tin.

I will definitely be spraying more tins around the holidays to use as the wrapping for gifts.  I love how they look!

Since I had this beautiful tin, I decided that today was a good day to do the cookie of the month for my father-in-law.  I tried out something new and loved how it turned out.

Using my favorite pie crust recipe, I made little cookies (simply make the dough and shape it how you like, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top then bake them at 450* for about 7 minutes or until lightly browned).

While I could eat pie crust all day long, I know not everyone likes it so I put a small jar of some pear jam my husband just made in the middle.  We had to test everything out before we gave them away and let me tell you, they were scrumptious!  It tastes exactly like you are eating a bite of pear pie.

I have decided that I will one day soon make an entire platter of these pie crust cookies and then put out all my favorite jams - blackberry, strawberry, pear, peach- and just eat pie all day.  Yummmm!

Happy crafting, my friends!

Sara Jane

Lisa: Inspiration Boards

Hello!!  Welcome to another crafting week at fivecraftysisters!  What I wanted to share with you this week is something I did for my children last Christmas.  I got the idea from a Pottery Barn Teen catalog but I adapted it just a little.  Here is the original:


It looks pretty cool and like some art that all my kids would like in their rooms.  I wanted to change some of the messages, though, so I thought maybe I should make my own!  I bought used magazines from my library for 5 cents and used some magazines of my own.  Over a few months, I cut out quotes and ideas and phases that I thought described my children or things I wanted them to aspire to or just something to remember!  It was quite inspirational for me as I thought about each of my children and what kind of people they are and what they can become!!  I then took an artist's canvas from Hobby Lobby and painted it a color they like and Modge Podged all the cut outs on.  And here is what they got:

It isn't as chaotically organized as Pottery Barn's art was but I like the personal touch.  I want it to eventually hang over their desk in their bedrooms so that they can remember how amazing they all are.

And they all loved it.  Even my teenage boy whose goal in life is to make a face in every picture I take!!  But I wouldn't have it any other way! 

I love you, my little monkeys!!

Lisa

Lisa: Easy Art and Sloppy Jose`s!!

Hello, once again! Summer is cruising right along at our house!  We are trying to squeeze all the fun we can out of our short break time here!  Between camps and parties and road trips, we are sure enjoying the warm weather and all the chances to be outside.  But on the days we can't be outside, my children (at least most of them) enjoy crafts and creating!  One of the things that we have found to be fun is using the bright summer sun to trace pictures.

 It is super simple and helps my children who don't think they are very good artists to be creative!  What we do is to tape a picture onto a window that has a lot of sun coming through.  Then place a thin paper over the top and also tape it to the window.  (We used a piece of paper from a sketch pad but I think printer paper or most plain white papers would work.)  Then just have the children trace the outlines of the picture and presto change-o, you have art!

   
I wish I had a picture of the originals!  It is fun to see how they compare but oh well!!  It is fun for the kids to color these in like they would a coloring book.  Using water color paints is fun, too! 

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As I said on Friday, I really hate to turn my oven on in the summer so I thought I'd show you another recipe I came up with that helps to keep our poor air conditioner from over heating in the summer: Sloppy Jose`s!!  I can't exactly remember how it came to be but there was some discussion about Sloppy Joes and I thought that I could probably come up with something that had a Mexican flavor to it!  And thus was born the Sloppy Jose`!

Sloppy Jose`s
1 lb. ground turkey, browned (you could use ground beef but we prefer ground turkey!)
1/2-3/4c. salsa
2 t. cumin
1t. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1c. shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, etc)
1/2 c. cilantro
1/4c. sliced green onions
6-8 large burrito sized tortillas

Combine in the same skillet used to brown the meat the salsa, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper.  Let simmer for a few minutes.  Add cheese and let cook until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and add cilantro and green onions.  Take a tortilla and place about 1/2-1 c. of the meat mixture in the center of the tortilla. Fold up one half and then fold over the edges all the way around the meat until you have encase the meat in the tortilla shell.

 Repeat with remaining meat and tortillas.  Next, heat a skillet to 300-350 degrees.  Spray the skillet with a cooking spray like Pam and place meat filled tortillas on the skillet seam side down.  Spray the tops of the tortillas.  Flip when they are golden brown (about 5-7 minutes).  Serve with sour cream and salsa or just eat plain. 

These are such a hit at our house!!  I hope you enjoy!

 Lisa