In the Kitchen Window

I often stand at the kitchen sink, staring out at the view toward the back of our property.  From here, we see the Greenhouse, Shack, Garage, my trusty pick-up truck, and the Barn.  (I also see lots of soggy ground, because we got a whole bunch of rain yesterday.)  What I don't see, however, is much of the garden ... weird, I know.

Looking down onto the windowsill (which is 12" deep) is like my own private game of Seek & Find ... you know, those photos where the idea is to look for certain objects in a composition of lots and lots of items.

I see:  three orchids, a spiderplant, a vacuum-type wine stopper, two thermometers, a whole bunch of paintbrushes, a toothbrush, two paint stirrers, nail clippers, and a cactus.  This assortment appears to accurately represent the mess of stuff that also accumulates in my brain ... seemingly unrelated stuff that all has a common theme.  In this case, it's stuff that I use (paintbrushes, nail clippers, wine stopper) along with stuff that needs to be here (all of the plants).

(Notice that two of the orchids have flower spikes!!  They're Cymbidiums, impulse purchases from Trader Joes, and they reliably rebloom at this time each year ... despite my ignorance at how exactly to properly care for them.)

In winter, staring out the window is how I get most of my exposure to outdoors ... it's too cold most days to do as much outside as I would like to.  This window, and the one in the dining room further down this wall, have my favorite views.  

What's your favorite place to stand and stare out the window, and what do YOU see?

All That Glitters ...

I've been feeling crafty.  The only one of this past weekend's sales that held any appeal for me was the one at Michael's (craft store).  I have an idea for a really unique decoration for our front porch, and I needed to get the components for some of the ornaments.  I left Michael's with a basket full of clear plastic Christmas balls, and a sixteen papier mache stars ... all half price!

I will show you the balls later, once I'm finished with them.  For now, this is what I did to the stars.

 

 

And here is a step-by-step of how I did it.   Normally, I wouldn't do a tutorial about how to paint and glitter some papier mache stars, assuming that everyone knows how how this is done.  I discovered while helping Janet at her shop last week, though, that there are folks out there who have never used glitter and needed to be shown what to do with it. 

 

It seems like most projects around here involve Chalk Paint in some way.  In this case, I used Old White to put a quick base coat onto my stars.

 

 

 

 

 

After the paint dried (which didn't take any time at all), it was time for glitter.  I used Diamond Dust, which is a clear glass glitter that's available in just about any craft store.  It looks like coarse sugar and was exactly what I needed to make my stars sparkle.

 

 

 

Brush a generous coat of glue (I used Elmer's) onto one side of the star. 

 

 

 

Use a spoon to sprinkle glitter all over the glue.  The excess falls into the pan.  Keep scooping and sprinkling till no more glitter will stick to the star, then gently shake any loose glitter into the pan.  Glass glitter is great because it's heavier than synthetic glitter and it doesn't get all over the place.

 

 

 

All done.

 

 

 

I applied glue and glitter to one side of each of my stars, and I laid them out on the counter to dry.  By the time I did the last star, the first one was dry enough for me to carefully do the reverse side.

 

The transformation from brown papier mache star to sparkly ornament is simple and perfect for what I'm planning.  (No hints ... I don't want to spoil the surprise.)

 

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Sending a special Thank You for those of you who have sent your Kitchen Window photos.  I am so excited to share these next week!  Don't know what I'm talking about?  Click HERE for details.

Through My Kitchen Window

A person's kitchen window can tell you a lot about who they are.  Mine definitely does.

 

 

No fancy styling here ... this is exactly what you would see if you were standing at my kitchen sink ... which you sort of are, in a virtual blog-type way.  Because our home's windowsills are so deep, I have to work really hard to keep this one from filling up with all sorts of stuff (the walls of this old brick house of ours are over a foot thick).  

 

On the windowsill right now you see: 

1.  A jar with two paintbrushes (washed out and drying from Chalk Paint projects)

2.  A tiny vase with a sprig of Rosemary that I plan to try to root

3.  A square jar filled with rocks from our trip to Alaska this summer

4.  A baby Saguaro Cactus I got years ago at the botanical garden in Phoenix, Arizona

5.  An empty pot that used to hold an African Violet

 

Outside:

1.  The big green building with the grey roof is our 4-car detached garage.

2.  The white building is our future guest house/studio/workshop.

3.  My greenhouse is all buttoned up for winter.

4.  The area between the house and the greenhouse, surrounded by picket fence, is our dogs' backyard.

 

The view this morning was frosty with a light fog ... sparkly and beautiful.

 

What do you see when you stand at YOUR kitchen window?  I would love to put together a post filled with kitchen windows from all over the world, so we can all visit each other's views.  If you want to participate, email your photo to connie@hartwoodroses.com.  Please include your location, and a short description ... what does your kitchen window say about YOU?

 

 You have a week to send your photo ... I'll put up the post with everyone's photos on  November 30.

 

Are you in?