MAPLESTONE

 "Wicked" 'The Live and Times of the Wicked Which of the West', BY: Gregory Maguire

I have inherited a couple of comfort food recipes from my fathers side of the family. This is one of those dishes that has been made the same...........at least as far as I know.............for at least 60+ years.

The recipe is quick, simple and has very few ingredients. The only thing ingredient that I don't use is the cabbage.



I have started serving mine in pasta bowls and using a small plate for the mac & cheese on the side.  Believe me when I tell you that NO SALT will be needed.

 Can you believe it is the end of May? Time sure is flying.

Now on to the subject at hand.....
I have seen tinted bottles throughout blogland.

via Carolyn's blog Homework

via Creative Little Daisy

via Aimee @ It's Overflowing

 Back several weeks ago I spotted the bottles (below) in the cutest little metal carrier while wondering around 'The Christmas Tree Shoppe'. I knew they would be perfect for tinting.



















After purchasing these and a few other things I ran down to Michaels and purchased the largest jar of gloss Hodge Podge I could find. I already had several tubes of gel food coloring at home, so there was no need to buy any.

The first step was to wash and dry the jars & bottles thoroughly. Then I had to decide what colors I would use. For the bottles, I decided to use yellow and green, since those two colors are in the family room curtains.

Now, I do not have exact measurements on the ratio of H.P. and water. I just kind of eyeballed it.

In a plastic cup, I poured in the H.P. and added a couple teaspoons of water and mixed well. It wasn't a very watery consistency but it wasn't thick. I know it doesn't help y'all a lot.

Then I added in about 8 drops of yellow food coloring and mixed well.

Preheat oven on the warm setting, my oven only drops down to 170.

I poured the mixture into the bottle and rolled the bottle until it was completely covered with the mixture.












I then held the bottle over the cup so the excess would drain, next the bottles were placed upside down, so they could drain on several paper towels.


They sat this way for about 30 minutes while I went on to the green bottles.

Once the 30 minutes was up, I removed the bottle from the paper towels and wiped any excess mixture of the rim and place them in the oven. *Now this is where I discovered that you should make your tint mixture either very water or they need to drain a lot longer than 30 minutes.

Here are the yellow bottles in the oven after 30 minutes.



It actually took the bottles one and a half hour to completely dry. Unfortunately, there is a rather thick collection of mixture dried on the bottom of the yellow bottles.



That is ok though, we learn from our mistakes.

Now the green bottles drained for an hour before they were put into the oven for one hour.




After that hour they were removed from the oven ***MAKE SURE YOU USE OVEN MITTS TO REMOVE THEM, THEY WILL BE HOT***. I left them to cool for 30 minutes.

I placed the bottles back in the basket, threw in some fake flowers and placed it on one of my burlap end tables.




















 **Eventually you will get to see the finished family room.**

The red mason jars, which will be used in the dining room, were worked on while the bottles were cooking and draining. When I mixed up the red I just kind of winged it. I cannot tell you how many drops of red food coloring I used, I just kept adding until the mixture looked right. After making sure the jars were covered thoroughly I let them sit upside down for a little over two hours.






I cooked them in the oven for 90 minutes. Removed them and let them cool for 30 minutes also.











Two of the five jars I purchased will be used to hold cut flowers. So, I didn't tint them.

**Finished dining room and decorated jars will be revealed in a future post.**

Great rainy day craft, not to mention inexpensive or free (if you already have everything), which we all love

Enjoy your day!

I am sure many of you have not seen the message center that I have in my kitchen. If you would like to read the how-to •HERE• The instructions aren't very clear, since it was installed before I started blogging but you will get the basics if you want to make one your self.

Now every month I fill out the above calendar with all the events, Dr. appt, comings and goings, etc of the household. Usually, I run out of room for any up coming birthdays and I or 'my precious' have to write them on the chalk board.

When I saw these I knew I needed to make one.

or
here for more info...Cricut

I already had the wood and a few other supplies on hand. I asked DH to cut and router the plaque. The size: 23.5 in x 1in x 6in, you can make yours any size, this is what will fit within the chalk board area of the message/life center.

I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and purchased two packages of wood tags ($1.69 per package of 10)


plus three drawer knobs that were 50% off! I chose the clock face knobs, it just seemed to fit.


I sanded any rough edges on the plaque, painted a base coat of brown paint, over that I painted it white, then distressed it.


I added "Birthday" across the top, then applied poly.


I set to work on the tags next. I sanded, painted them white, added names and dates, add some water downed brown paint to distress them, then added twine to use as hangers.


I marked off and drilled the holes for the knobs. After attaching them I marked and drilled holes in order to hang the plaque, anchors were inserted and the plaque was hung. Since I was moving the chalk board, I painted the area below the plaque the same color of the surrounding wall.


I taped off an area on the magnet board and painted it with the chalk board paint.

I then added a piece of decorative molding to separate the two areas. The nice thing is I can still use the entire area as a magnetic board!

Enjoy your day,

       (Editorial review)

 "After five back-to-back #1 New York Times bestsellers, national radio and Fox News television host Glenn Beck has delivered a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller that seamlessly weaves together American history, frightening facts about our present condition, and a heart-stopping plot. The Overton Window will educate, enlighten, and, most important, entertain--with twists and revelations no one will see coming."

Happy Reading,

♡ Tina ♡

This first book is for any young baseball fans. Back during 'Black History' month my grandson did a report on Jackie Robinson. I downloaded this book for him. He really likes it, in fact he has read it twice!



1."Who Was Jackie Robinson?" BY: Gail Herman, Nancy Harrison

Back when my middle son 'pretty boy' was about 10 or 11, I bought these books for him. Now, I am going to tell you right off the bat, it was difficult to purchase books for this child; you never knew what he would like or dislike. Well, I struck gold with these next selections.

2."The Red Badge of Courage" BY: Stephen Crane


   3.'White Fang" BY: Jack London

Happy Reading,