Painted Vases (and a little Harry Potter)

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Harry Potter and how excited I am to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this weekend. (So very excited.)
So I thought it would be appropriate to do a Harry Potter themed snack or craft this week. But after much research, I couldn't find anything that struck my fancy. I really wasn't keen on making a wand.
However, I did stumble across this beauty.

It's a 16x20 cross stitched Hogwarts crest. I love the Latin motto. It translates as "Let Sleeping Dragons Lie". So perfect for Harry Potter. The pattern can be found here if any of you feel up to making one. I'm kinda in love with it and definitely want to make one. Not sure where it will go, but let's not worry about the details. One thing I SHOULD worry about: I don't know how to cross stitch. Yet. But have no fear, I got myself a pretty little pattern (MUCH simpler than this one) and some thread and I'm learning. Baby steps.

So instead of a dramatic Harry Potter craft, I have painted vases. Still very cool.

My mom and I came up with this idea (as if no one else has EVER had this idea..) back when I was redoing my bathroom and we couldn't find the right vase for some flowers. I loved it then, I love it now.

Start with glass vases and acrylic paint. It could be any kind of glass vase, but I got mine from the dollar store. We're on a budget here. I did splurge on metallic paint though. It's about a dollar more, but totally worth the finished product.

Squirt the paint all over the INSIDE of the vase. Don't cover the outside. That ruins the effect. Inside only. (Can't you see the glimmer of the metallic red?? So much better than regular red. Regular is boring.)

Start out with less paint than you think you need because only a thin coat needs to cover the sides. Rolling the vase or shaking it around will help spread it out. You can always add more as you go, but if you use too much, it will never dry.

Once you have the entire bottom and most of the sides of the vase covered in paint, turn it upside down on a paper towel or plate or anything you don't mind getting paint all over. This will help the paint seep down the sides, filling in all the extra holes, will get the top rim covered and will prevent an inch thick pile of extra paint trying to dry in the bottom of the vase.

Then let them dry! This is truly only key if you plan to put something in them. This time I'm not adding anything, so it doesn't matter how long they dry because the paint is inside and won't get on the shelves. Because the paint is on the back side of the glass, it gives the vases a laquered appearance. They're shiny in a way that painting the outside will never get you.

Then display them. ...as the only decoration in your new Ikea bookcases... yayyy.

My mom and I did this back in October for a Halloween party, only we didn't cover the entire vase, we just let the paint drip down the edges and then put a candle inside each one, giving it a really creepy look.

We set them next to a very Dark Mark-esque skull.

Apparently I let Harry Potter infiltrate my life more than I thought because I also just remembered that I made this a while back:

I bought this beautiful frame and was struggling with what to put in it and decided that one of my very favorite quotes from Albus Dumbledore was perfect. I guess that kinda counts as a Harry Potterish craft... minus directions on how to make it. Nevermind.

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm pretty pumped. Maybe I'll try out a Butterbeer recipe when I get back.

Retro Futurism (and how I tried to use that style in an outdated kitchen)

My dear friend Kendel recently pointed out to me my love of 1950s' design. She's completely right. I mean, check out my sweet new header. I love almost all things with a retro, 1950s'/early 1960s' style.

I had the opportunity about a year ago to clean out my grandparents home and get it ready to rent. We knew that the kitchen would need a lot of work done. The walls, moldings and ceiling were all painted a dingy cream color that bounced off the warm wood cabinets and just created a little dark hole of a kitchen. When it came time to refresh it, we decided to keep all the original appliances. While they weren't modern by any stretch, they worked and they were unique.

This oven in certainly unique. I think we determined it to be from 1962. Rather than downplay the obviously dated appliances, we decided to focus on them and create a retro futuristic feeling in the kitchen. How space-age do those dials look?

To get an idea of what a kitchen of the future looked like back in 1962, I did a little research.

At first I thought the Jetson's would give me valuable insight, but their kitchen was unhelpful. So then I turned to Retro-Futurism.

Retro Futurism is essentially the future as seen from the past. It's the 1950s' and 60s' predictions of the future. (There's a lot more to it than that, but I'm going for feeling, not for accuracy.)

From a design aspect, Retro-Futurism is present in a lot of famous sights.

The Welcome to Las Vegas sign is very retro-futuristic. The starburst on top is one of the classic icons of the style. The sign is part of the Googie architecture movement. (If you're interested, there are plenty of websites out there full of information on Googie architecture. They're all very futuristic.)

Seattle's Space Needle is also in the same space-age style. The top is clearly supposed to replicate a flying saucer. (Also loving that it was built for the 1962 world's fair, the same year the oven was made.)

And my personal favorite:

Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland.
The whole land is designed with clean lines and metallic colors that create a futuristic look as envisioned from the mid-century years. Its current attractions, like the Astro Orbiter, were created to resemble an intergalactic spaceport and even the restaurants and food kiosks were given names like Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe and Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies. Disney always goes all out.


Once I had filled my brain with what the past thought the future would look like, I tried to convert that to an outdated kitchen.

I couldn't love this dinette ad any more than I do.

It would appear that whites, blues, metallics, clean lines and starbursts were the keys for a retro modern kitchen.

While I would have loved for our kitchen to turn out like this:

(Because I am so in love with this kitchen and those tulip chairs...)

It actually came out like this:

Oh, hi, that's me. :)
We painted the ceiling a crisp white and the walls a beautiful icy aqua blue. We got rid of all the existing kitchen accessories except for the stand mixer on the counter behind me and since we didn't actually decorate the house after we cleaned it up, it was my one little nod to retro 1950s' kitchen decor.

Given the option, I probably would have filled the kitchen with accessories like these.

No retro kitchen is complete without a starburst clock or mirror. Extra points if it's an actual vintage piece.

I would have a hard time deciding between a classic 1950s' metallic diner-style set and an Eero Saarinen tulip table and chair set.
Luckily I didn't have to. I wonder what the renters will put in?

Send a Little Something

(I'm going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in two weeks and I'm a litttttttttle excited!)

When I was younger, my mom would make me send letter to relatives pretty regularly. I hated doing it with a passion. I felt like I had nothing to say. When we cleaned out my grandparents' home after their passings, I saw my grandmother had saved each letter I'd sent. One actually included something along the lines of "well, I have nothing to say, so I'm just taking up space". I was a tactful child. But now that I'm a little older, I really enjoy sending and receiving mail. It's nice to look in the mailbox and see something other than bills. I know I'm not the only one to feel this way.
One of the relatives I used to mail was my cousin. She's just a few months older than I am and we both loved Lisa Frank, so a lot of our correspondence happened on Lisa Frank stationery.

Oh the memories. When I packed up to move I found some left over Lisa Frank stationery and decided to bring it with me, because you never know when you might need something so ridiculous. I recently sent a letter (on my Lisa Frank letterhead) to my cousin reminding her of our old penpal days and to my delight, she mailed me back a letter covered in Lisa Frank stickers! So glad I'm not the only one holding on to remnants of the childhood obsession.

Letter writing is a lost art. Mail has been reduced to wedding invitiations and graduation annoucements. Everything else is sent via email, and even legitimate, non-spam emails are hard to come by these days. Throwing a party? A quick mass text message has become the standard.

I have gathered some guidelines, suggestions and ideas for letter writing. Considering many of us have paper, envelopes and stamps around the house, this is not a big investment, but it will bring such joy to the recipient.

Reasons to Write a Letter
There are several reasons to send personal mail. (Business mail is a completely different story.)
- Apologies
- Thank yous
- Congratulations
- Invitations
- Condolences
- Just to say hi
Some are easier to write than others. Thank yous and congratulations are two of the easiest. Condolences are possibly the hardest.

Thank you notes are some of the most common letters sent. We are supposed to sent thank yous when given gifts or money, hosted at someone's home, or in appreciation of a favor. I say 'supposed to' because this has unfortunately become an overlooked nicety. The best thank you notes include the giver's name, the name of the gift or favor, a mention of the thoughtfulness of the gift and how you plan to use it, if appropriate, and a restating of your sincere thanks. While these notes should be sent out as soon as possible, better late than never definitely applies here.

Invitations are another sadly overlooked piece of mail. It seems that after about the 10th birthday and until a wedding, we forget the importance of invitations. It's certainly not that we stop having parties, we just stop sending invites. Invites set the tone for a gathering and build anticipation long before the event happens. Take a look at these two Christmas party invites. Without even reading the words, you get an idea of the feel of the party.

Pictures say a thousand words and these invites say a lot more about what to expect from a party than a mass text.

Condolences are probably the hardest letters to write, but the most crucial. They remind our family and friends that we're thinking of them in some of the hardest times of their lives. While signing your name to a sympathy card that Hallmark wrote certainly gets the idea across, a well written note is much more personal. There are several main guidelines that can help ease the difficulty of writing one of the these letters.
- Refer to the deceased by name, acknowledge the loss and express your sympathy.
- Mention any special qualities of the deceased that you can recall and include a favorite memory.
- Remind the friend or relative of their own personal strengths, the support of their friends and family or the strength of their religion.
- Offer a specific help. Rather than prompting to call if needed, which often times goes unanswered, offer a specific task or favor, such as making dinner, running errands, babysitting children or something equally appropriate in times of need.
- Close the letter with a thoughtful word or phrase. 'Sincerely' isn't as personal or relevant as 'Wishing you God's peace' or 'My thoughts are with you'.

Other Personal Letters
There are a million other reasons to send personal notes or letters. The most common is just to say hi and fill them in on your life. These are my favorite kind of mail. They seem to say that there's nothing more important to me right now than writing you this note to remind you of our friendship. Maybe I'm just a romantic though.

Every once in a while I want to send a more unique letter. Something the recipient will enjoy on several levels. I've gathered some of those ideas too.

Trying a small change like writing with white ink on black paper, or black ink on green paper. A little change can create a big impact.

Write out your letter ransom-style. (Just don't actually kidnap a dog...)

Write the letter backwards so the person has to read it using a mirror. This one would take some planning, but the recipient would certainly get a kick out of the old school secret code.

Write the letter using pictures for words. Rebuses are popular kids' games but with a little planning they'd make for great adult letters too.

Write the letter on a typewriter, or using a typewriter font. Even better, write it as if you were in the past. Use appropriate terms and phrases from the era. "They dun had a little girl child on the 11th of January. She's 'bout the sweetest thing if you don't mind my saying so."

Personalized stationery can make letter writing and receiving a treat. I'm not necessarily saying go get a set of notecards with your name or monogram on them, but there are plenty of places to get inexpensive, unique cards.

I got these notecards from the dollar bin at Michael's. 8 cards and envelopes for a dollar! They look knitted. So perfect for me. I send them out when I mail my knitting to people.

Race car stationery? Perfect for little boys.

Oh, you love owl stationery too? HOOOOOO knew!? (Haha. I really couldn't help myself.)

Or maybe you have a Scottie who wants to be represented in your correspondence?
(I do not. I have a beagle who is offended I didn't look for beagle cards.)

...Watson wanted to make an appearance.

I hope I've given you some ideas for when and why and how to write letters. Now go write some! :)

Smores Bars

Apparently I'm on a childhood favorites recipe kick because I started with rice krispy treats and I'm moving on to s'mores.

S'mores Bars are the deliciousness of a s'more, right down to the broiled marshmallowy goodness, without all the mess. How perfect.

Another short ingredient list: sugar cookie mix, graham crackers (or teddy grahams), semi-sweet chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and butter.

Crush one cup of the graham crackers into crumbs and add to the sugar cookie mix. Just the dry cookie mix, don't add any oil or water or whatever else the bag may call for. You'll all be very pleased to hear that shortly after making these bars, I FINALLY got myself a set of mixing bowls. No more spilling mixes all over the kitchen because they won't fit in a plastic container.

Add one cup of melted butter to the cookie/graham cracker combo and mix until it forms a dough. Press into a ungreased dish. I used a 9x9, but a 9x13 would be better.

Then bake at 375 for 18 to 20 minutes until set and your whole kitchen smells delicious. As soon as it's out of the oven, pour your chocolate chips on the top, covering the whole pan. The recipe calls for 3 cups of chocolate, but I only had about a cup and a half of chips in the pantry. This is the only time you'll ever hear me say that it's worth it to go get more chocolate. Wait a minute or so and the warmth of the cookies will melt the chips, then spread out until smooth.

Cover the chocolate with mini marshmallows. I had plenty of those left over from the rice krispy treats and once again, I should've used more. I know better than to skimp on marshmallows.

Set the oven to broil, make sure the pan is only a few inches from the heat and watch closely. Nicely broiled marshmallows are wonderful. Burnt marshmallows are not. This should only take 15 or 20 seconds.

Let cool for a few minutes, slice and then eat while still warm. You can reheat them in the microwave later, but trust me, it's not as good as fresh from the oven.

While these bars won't replace a nice night under the stars with a campfire and friends, they will work perfect in a big city apartment in the drizzly rain.