jerseygurl's Profile

For a "sweet dip" that is not made from--odd--beans try this super super simple one:

One small jar or container MARSHMALLOW FLUFF
One 8 Oz brick of CREAM CHEESE (or one container soft spread cream cheese)
Few drops of VANILLA EXTRACT or other flavoring

Soften cream cheese, beat till fluffy with either beater or by hand (can use a fork) add fluff and flavor.

Done.

Serve with fruit slices, graham crackers; top pound cake with it; cupcake topping; between cookies filling; brownie frosting or (after cooling) filling---endless uses.

And we have never had leftovers. But I have read that in some seriously disturbed households THEY store the left over delishisness in the fridge.

Somewhere on AT there is a kitchen re-do where some clever person used plain old Craft Aisle acrylic paints--the ones in the wee little bottles---and some poly to seal and did "Faux Granite" on top of her old formica or? counters--and it looks AMAZING.

I think it just involves cleaning the counters well, caulk if needed, and using some sponges to apply different stone coloured paints in a random stone like pattern and applying poly to seal. For a practically zero budget. Def going to think long about this when re-doing my 1970s kitchen with white counter tops--particularly when the re-do will involve moving some "orphan" cabinets sitting in the middle of a wall that actually belong on the OTHER side of the kitchen---where the lower cabinets just----end. And the upper ones go---on. No idea what was planned to go there but have been living with that space filled in with a sturdy but nothing special old kitchen table for--well--a long time. So we will need to "butt" together the countertops from the two sets of cabinets and a broken field pattern will conceal this well. To replace the "missing" orphan cabinets and gain some actual useable space there I bought a tall microwave cabinet for 15$ at a tag sale and this will make the wall look more like it "belongs" and flank the fridge with something better.

Now if I could only come up with some way to replace all of that incredibly UGLY 1970's mud-n-mustard fake "Spanish" tile vinyl flooring on the combined kitchen and dining area! UGH Who thought these combos up?

Someone mentioned the old SEARS catalogs---at the turn of the LAST century and a while after that wood was actually beginning to become scarce for these things and the huge population booms were making the old one of a kind craftsman built items hard to come by.

These "veneered" pieces were actually built from SCRAP WOOD in a lot of cases and covered over with more prettier SCRAP WOOD cut thin and GLUED on. IF you think about 100 year old HORSE HIDE GLUE flaking out there you might just run screaming for the nearest exit---or the nearest paint can.

Back in the 1970's the "Waterfall" pieces of the 1930's were being hauled out of Granny houses EVERYWHERE and picked up curbside and--horrors!! painted over. Because the veneer was coming loose; the glue was flaking off; they smelled from 50 years of smoke and cooking and perfume. The hardware had rusted and couldn't be matched IF you could get the old wood to accept new screws etc. My husband had one of these beds he got at college and hauled home for some reason known only to the Furniture Gods--and to irritate his mother. WE schleped it around the country side watching the veneer further degrade and fall off and look uglier and every time you went near the thing it BIT you from all the lovely jagged veneer edges. And underneath that jagged veneer was---bits and pieces of oddly assorted wood that would have looked ridiculous if we HAD decided to "refinish" it. And it would have been extremely difficult to paint it and NOT have the same thing keep happening. One night the entire thing collapsed and I can't say I was "sorry" that it did!

Now I KNOW from wood and at this very moment have several old UNPAINTED wood bed frames inc a 17th century four poster sitting on blocks in my basement storage room along with a rope bed made by my great grandpa with a solid one slice of wood for the headboard that is over 2 FEET wide--imagine THAT tree! --; an Adirondack PAIR of "tree beds" made of hemlock TRUNKS peeled with some of the bark on and varnished, with jute rope trimming--how up to THIS minute is THAT!!!---and probably at least one more I can't remember. And--we are not using ANY of these. First off getting the correct size mattress' are almost impossible and cost the earth. Second getting the Adirondack beds back together would require having side rails made for one of them and the hand made hardware would have to be replicated. I see them "someday" as a matched pair in a room with Hudson Bay blankets (I HAVE the blankets!) and--- well you get the point.

What DO we end up using? We had the Adirondack and the rope beds for the kids when they were smaller. But as they got older these were not practicle so they ALL ended up with Captains beds. Do I for ONE SECOND believe that THOSE beds will EVER be some sort of treasured antiques? Heck no! One has been "handed down" to our grandchild but---the kid is 6.

Furniture needs and styles and construction changes. And since these pieces do NOT belong in the Louvre---leave the poor woman ALONE.

And for the record--I LOVED the AFTER pics. The BEFORE pics were a great trip into Nostalgia Land. But--you could see a Martha Stewart Fire Pit in their futures if this woman had NOT happened by.

Why oh why do people here feel the NEED to nit pick the poor homeowners to pieces over stooopid stuff like--a hairdryer-in plain sight! The horror! And--a pair of jeans--on the WALL! Surely THIS is why the terrorists are winning.

If you don't like something--GO AWAY. Didn't you learn this in grade school?

I LOVE what she's done to the place. And I think a lot of people didn't READ the post --ya know; the part where it just happened to mention that she is running a BUSINESS out of one of the rooms here? One that REQUIRES clothing and decorative items to be on display? And in this small a space with NO closets or much other hidden storage she is doing well to CELEBRATE that fact with beautiful and interesting objects.

I make my living scouring thrift stores and flea markets and church sales and then re-selling the items. And a lot of times the ONLY place I have to put these is--hanging about the joint. I enjoy seeing them for the nonce and then--they fly away. And meantime because altho I live in a bigger place than this--I live with 6 OTHER people and all of THEIR stuff and 3 dogs and assorted creatures and little kids. And--none of us is Martha Stewart or on the staff at REAL SIMPLE. The minimilist lifestyle is great for SOME but in real life--not so much. Real life is-messy. And there are just so many sacrifices we can or are willing to make to look like modern day hermits owning nothing but a begging bowl.

Reality bites. Real life is amazing. Get over yourselves.

Tin foil was replaced with aluminum due to its LEAD content.

You can buy the "Old lady shower cap" stretchy lids at Vermont Country Store and use them almost forever---they come in different sizes for different bowls and I think they also have clear ones now. Just wash them gently and wipe them dry or stretch over a bowl or a jar to dry.

We often have leftovers when out on our motorcycle and after a very tragic General Tso's "Incident" involving my having to take apart saddle bag and replace maps (yes old fashioned paper maps---and yes we have 2 GPS systems on the bike!) and clean everything in there I got a couple of nesting plastic re-useable containers and we store them with the lids underneath for a bit of extra room and so far no more tragedy! Also good for when we over night on the bike for insulin cold pack storage. And no- sorry- glass in saddle bags is not a happening thing!

Where do you get Bento boxes? We live in the howling wilderness and no such things have turned up at the "Asian Grocery Store" we managed to locate in State Capital. B