Mantel design

After Christmas came down the mantel was bare. All year I have had temporary designs and seasonal decor only because I did not know what to do. Now that I have had some time I put together a new mantel for the new year. ( of course it will change for the holidays but have a back design that stays ).

The clock was a great find, only $14 at Burlington coat factory.

I used spray starch to try to attach the fabric to the wall but to no avail. I did just leave it up with push pins instead ( I like the color and design, breaks up the plain walls).
I love old books, clocks, and owls. I got everything squeezed in for a cohesive design.

Lunch on GAPS

Meal planning on a special diet can be a chore. With each season I find ways to make meals easier and enjoyable. Some of the American staples of macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and fries we are not able to eat. Vegatbles and meats are our family staples. Soups are a good choice for lunches and with fall, squashed can make meals easy as well. Speghtti squash is one of my favorites and gives the kids a comfort style food. I like to put a squash in the oven at 350 in the morning for about an hour. Then when I am ready to use it, I sauté with plenty of butter or ghee, then cover it with tomato sauce. We do eat tomatoes sparingly, but they are nice to have once and a while. Cooking vegetables in broth or butter for the side with broth to sip. A great quick lunch for kids at home.

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween fun has started with door to door treats. With kids on special diets this is one night they get candy. So how I the best way to handle holidays? I decided to give my kids one day of all out candy and then donate what's left. This weekend we will be stuffing piñata and donate them to the local family housing. As fat as the aftermath of sugar in my children's system detox baths and charcoal tablets to help absorb the grains and sugar tonight. It certainly is so much more of a treat when candy is so rare in our diets.

Portland Art Museum

Today with school out I took my family to the Art museum. To my surprise was the Greek exhibit. This meant an education on the body. At first my boys were a bit embarrassed but quickly it wore off. Being able to talk about the form of body and sculpture changed how we looked at the body in the eyes of the Greeks.

Quietly going through the museum we found pieces that we liked and some we didn't. It's amazing how some art affects us differently.


Pictures of:
Dionysos god of wine.
Two boys fighting over knuckle bones

Homemade soda alternative

With our new family diet I am very limited to what treats my family gets. I have had to be very creative with offering treats. I just can not keep even honey around otherwise my kids eat it in anything from herb teas to yogurt. I finally switched to Maple syrup just because they don't think about it to sweeten.

Today I came up with a good reward treat that works for us. Homemade pop. It's simple and unsweetened. Root beer extract and carbonated mineral water. Other extracts can be used like cherry, anise, or vanilla. I prefer essential oils like grapefruit or wild orange. The root beer really offers the flavor without sweeteners.
For those of you that just can't quit pop or want to offer your kids something other than pop or treats this works well for my family.

Now I just need to find a pure organic extract for my family.

Fall Decorations

I am so excited for Fall and most importantly Halloween.  I love decorating for this season.  I thought I would even change the blog for the month.  I wanted to show off my fall decorating.  I kept it simple and more fall this year.  Less skeletons and more leaves and pumpkins.

 I love the new banner looks.  I had this from a swap party and thought it would work well.  I also used my Silhouette to create bats that are all over our house. 

 Dollar tree is great for the little things like these hanging skeletons.

                                                             Happy Harvest!!

How to paint a Door

Painting can be frustrating but once the basics are understood, it can be quite easy and rewarding.

My front door was in need of renewing.  Black doors always look nice and I decided it was the way to go.  There are a few things to consider when painting a door.

Weather exposure can determine what colors should be avoided.  Full sun, whether it is day or evening doesn't matter if it is long hours of sun.  This sun can cause bubbles in paint, glue oozing from joints or window inserts, and warping.  Dark colors will increase these problems.  Especially black!

Sheen is also something to consider when painting a front door.  Flat is a standard for exterior painting and flat or a low sheen for a front door is becoming more popular right  now.  Often times a satin door is better to improve fade resistance and wash-ability.  This door is going to be satin black.

My maroon door was faded, otherwise in good shape.  I removed the kick plate to paint and cleaned the door.
It is best to do any brush work first to limit the brush strokes. 

Painting in the panels and then around the door handles. Next use a small cat paw roller.  Always paint with the grain up the vertical grain (otherwise known as rails) and then the horizontal grain (skids).  Rolling over areas that are brushed to get a smoother finish. 

Once paint is dry an hour or so, a second coat can be put on.  A second coat will ensure a good coverage and offer longevity for the finish. 

Primer?  Exterior paints are self priming.  It gives them the ability to cover evenly on all sorts of surfaces.  The paint will look the same on wood as it does brick or cement.  This makes it much easier to paint with dark colors.  A good paint will cover in two coats without the use of primer.  Some colors will do fine with out a second coat.  

On a beautiful fall day the paint dries quickly but if the door needs to be closed the weather stripping may need to be taken off for several days.  The avoid this try putting Vaseline on the rubber weather strip, this will stop the door from sticking.

Vaseline can also be put on the hardware instead of tape.  This will allow paint to be wiped of after the door has dried.  

Now for the kick plate....

Once removed lightly sand to scuff finish and remove rust.

Prime with a spray can metal primer.

Lightly sand and paint using metal finish.

Coat with clear coat and install.

Just the right touch to finish off the front door.  Now it is much more inviting. 

Now I am just going to finish the fall decor. 

Tricia