overwintering annuals.

Published on by Quandie8 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Do you remember last year when I said I was going to attempt to overwinter my caladium?

I went back to read that post and was reminded that we had a ‘feels like’ temp of 12° in October last year!  We are having a much milder fall this year, we had temps near 60° this past week which was delightful.

Anyway, my attempt to save my caladium was a dismal failure.  When I pulled the tubers out of their box in the spring to plant them they were totally dried up.  I totally overdid the ‘keep them dry’ thing.  I should actually have kept them slightly damp, but not too damp, and definitely not completely dry.

Maybe overwintering caladium tubers just isn’t for me.

But I am going to attempt to overwinter a couple of other plants this year, the first being the Streptocarpus Ladyslippers™ Deep Blue Vein that I had in my front window box.

These actually weren’t a great choice for that spot and I considered them to be a bit of a fail.  They were totally swallowed up by the more vigorous annuals planted around them (Dutsy Miller, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Dark Eyes Fuchsia).

I was quite surprised by how large they had gotten when I dug them out before our first frost though.  They were so buried under those other plants, but they’d still put on a good bit of growth.  I hadn’t planned on keeping them, but they looked pretty good and were still full of blooms.  So I decided to pot them up and see how they perform as houseplants over the winter.

They’ve been blooming like mad since I brought them in.  Some online sources say they will continue to bloom all winter long indoors.  Since they like cooler temps, between 60° and 70° they should be quite happy situated next to our fairly drafty windows in winter.

I also decided to try and save my scented geraniums.

You may remember that I picked up a pair of them at Tangletown Gardens back in July.

I brought these indoors a week or so before I headed off to visit my mom.  They were growing in terracotta pots outside, so I didn’t have to dig them up or anything.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get watered while I was away and I came home to mostly dead looking plants.  After cutting away all of the brown stems, this is what I was left with.

Um, yeah.  Not much.

But they aren’t entirely dead, so I’m still willing to give it a go.

There are multiple ways you can overwinter a geranium.  You can let them go dormant and then hang them upside down, or place them in a brown paper bag, and put them in your basement.  However, if you use this approach you do need to give them some water about once a month.  I’m definitely an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ kind of gal, so I’m pretty sure I would have the same success with this method that I did with the caladium (in other words, none).

You can also take cuttings from your plants and place them in water in a sunny windowsill.  Once they develop some healthy looking roots, you can pot them up in small pots and keep them indoors until spring.  This would have been a great option had the leaves not all fallen off while I was away.

But the option I’m going to try is to just keep them as houseplants over the winter.  I’ve got three more trips planned for this winter though, so we’ll see if they manage to survive.

Last up is my newspaper roller full of succulents.

You may remember that I purchased this strange looking item at a garage sale last summer and learned that it was meant for rolling old newspapers into ‘logs’ for a fireplace.

I decided to turn it into a succulent planter, and it worked out beautifully.

I couldn’t bear to just let those succulents freeze, so I brought the entire thing in the house.

I made a spot for it in a sunny windowsill, so we’ll see how it does.

One downside to this arrangement is that the newspaper roller isn’t entirely watertight so I have to use caution when watering and not overdo it.  So far, so good though.

How about you?  Do you have any plants that you attempt to save each winter?  Leave a comment and let me know!

the bomb box.

Published on by Quandie9 Comments

Earlier this year I picked up this wooden crate at my friend Jackie’s garage sale.

Apparently it once held bombs.  I’m not sure what she was doing with a box of bombs … uh oh, maybe I shouldn’t be saying ‘bomb’ so much, my blog is going to end up on some kind of a watch list.

The rope handles on the sides were intact, and I think they add a nice touch.

I didn’t want to alter the original stenciling on the crate, just in case someone … you know … likes it?

But the opposite side was completely blank, so I knew I could do something there.

I also thought this box would be the perfect size to hold a small tabletop sized Christmas tree.  It is 10″ tall x 13.5″ wide x 12″ deep.

I went through my numerous Christmas stencils and decided that the smaller version of the Rudolph & Co stencil I had would fit quite nicely on the blank side of the box.

I stenciled it using Dixie Belle’s Caviar.

Next I pulled out this faux tabletop tree that I purchased at Target a few years back and it fit perfectly in the box.

Obviously this was a super quick and simple project.  But how perfect is that box for a little Christmas tree?

I’ve brought this box into the shop this week, so if you’re local be sure to head to Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater if you want to check it out!

there is no bad weather.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

Our recent trip was actually the 4th time I’ve visited Norway.  The first time I went was way back in the 90’s when my mom and I took a bus tour around Denmark, Sweden and Norway.  Mr. Q and I have since been on a couple of cruises that stopped in Oslo also.

But this time around my sister and niece were with us, and my sister has always wanted to see Norway, so after six days in Amsterdam we boarded a Holland America ‘Viking Sagas’ cruise around Norway.

I knew Debbie would love the open air museum in Oslo, the Norsk Folkemuseum, so that was our plan for our first port of call.

This time around our ship docked just a little bit further away from pier 3 where you can catch a ferry across to the Bygdøy peninsula, but it was still a fairly easy walk.  We chose to detour through the Akershus Fortress on our way.

It’s super easy to buy a ticket for the ferry at the ticket booth on pier 3.  The ferries depart fairly frequently and we were able to get right on one.

The Bygdøy peninsula is home to the Folkemuseum, the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Holocaust Center and the Polar Ship Fram.  You could easily spend an entire day over there.  Unfortunately the Viking Ship Museum is closed until 2025/2026 while they build a new facility.  My sister was a little bummed about that, she really wanted to see the nearly 1,200 year old Viking ships they display there.

It’s another short walk from the ferry stop on Bygdøy to the Folkemuseum through a very lovely residential area (what the museums calls one of Norway’s most prosperous areas).

In case you haven’t already noticed, yes, it was raining.  But it was only a light drizzle, and it wasn’t cold outside so it wasn’t a problem … yet (that’s foreshadowing).

The Norske Folkemuseum is home to 160 buildings from the middle ages through the 20th century and is Norway’s largest museum of cultural history.  The buildings are situated by region.

This sod roofed farmhouse is from 1845 and from western Norway.

There were quite a few buildings from rural areas of Norway.

Including some spectacular examples of the stabbur, a building used to store food.

The Folkemuseum is also home to the Stave Church from Gol.

This church was built in approximately 1200.  It was moved and rebuilt on Bygdøy in 1884.  Stave churches represent an interesting combination of Christian symbols (the crosses) and Viking symbols (the dragons at the top of the building).

In addition to more rural buildings, there is also a section of the museum called the old town that contains buildings from Christiania, which is what Oslo was called in the 1600’s and 1700’s.

There are shops and townhouses.

You can go inside most of the buildings on display including the shops, although Mr. Q opted to hold up the side of the tobacco shop rather than checking out the inside.

In summer or on weekends there are costumed ‘museum hosts’ demonstrating various activities.  However, we were there on a Monday in September, so we nearly had the entire place to ourselves.

We did run into a woman doing some baking in one of the houses in town though.

  Can I just point out that table she is working on?  If I didn’t know better I’d swear the base of that table was painted in Miss Mustard Seed’s French Enamel.

Speaking of fabulously worn painted furniture, I also took a quick snap of this next table inside one of the buildings.

How’s that for a delicious authentic patina?

When we were done checking out the Folkemuseum, we headed back to the ferry and back across the inner Oslofjord to Rådhusbrygge 3 (townhall pier 3).

By the time we got back to the pier the rain was really starting to come down.  We had initially planned to spend some time walking around, maybe check out Karl Johans gate, maybe pop into a couple of shops.  But we were getting soaked.

We ended up in a duty free shop at the port instead where we found a really nice wool sweater for Mr. Q.  Remember when I mentioned that my first trip to Norway was back in the 90’s?  Well, I purchased a Norwegian wool sweater for Mr. Q on that trip and he literally has worn it for about 30 years!  It had only recently begun to fray a bit around the seams, so it was time for a new one.

We also ended up running into an older Dutch woman from our ship who asked us if we would be kind enough to walk her back to the ship.  She was soaked and didn’t seem to have an umbrella or any other rain gear!  And I think she wasn’t entirely sure she knew the way back.

So, we headed back to the ship where it was warm and dry.

We were hoping for a picturesque sail away out of Oslo, but the rain continued.

We were grateful for our somewhat protected connected balconies because we were still able to sit out there and enjoy it.

The ship’s cruise director gave some commentary on the sights as we passed them, including the Dyna Fyr lighthouse.

You can rent it for events including weddings.  How cool would it be to get married there?

However, you may want to save up for it.  According to their website, the price of the rent is 4500 NOK + 12% VAT per hour (or around $500 per hour). Lunch is a minimum of 3 hours and dinner a minimum of 4 hours.  Although that price includes the boat trip back and forth, it does not include the food (as best I can tell, it looks like the food is in the neighborhood of $100/person with a 20 person minimum).

This was my 4th visit to Oslo, and the 4th time it was overcast and rainy.  If you’re looking for a warm and sunny vacation, Norway probably isn’t for you.  But as they say in Norway, “Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!” which translates to “There is no bad weather, only bad clothes!”  I totally recommend taking a trip to Norway, but be sure to pack your rain gear!

neutral or traditional?

Published on by Quandie22 Comments

A friend recently nabbed this cute little pair of mini chairs for me.

Although they had an awesome chippy paint on them, they were quite dirty.  I tried scrubbing them down, but they still looked fairly grungy so they definitely needed a paint job.

I decided to give them two different holiday looks; one is more traditional with red and green, and the other is more neutral.

Let’s start with the traditional look.

I painted this chair in my favorite Dixie Belle Drop Cloth.

Then I pulled out those same 6×6″ stencils that I used inside the Christmas clock shadow box that I shared a while back.  As I mentioned then, I ordered these from Amazon, but the exact stencils are no longer available.

I masked off the area for each of the colors that I used and stenciled them separately.

The truck is DB’s Honky Tonk Red, the tree is their English Ivy and the rest is done in Caviar.

It’s a little more time consuming to do a multi-color design like this, but I think it’s worth it in the end.

I painted the 2nd chair in Dixie Belle’s French Linen.

I used another of the 6×6″ stencils on this one too.

I used DB’s Drop Cloth, and this one was a bit simpler since I just used one color for the stenciling.  I did add a little dimension by adding a quick swipe of French Linen on each of the letters.  I just used an artist’s brush and added those free hand.

One benefit to the more neutral chair is that it isn’t strictly a Christmas decoration.  You could leave this one out all winter.

Either way, both chairs turned out pretty cute.

I’ll be bringing these into the shop along with the rest of my holiday merch this week.  They are priced at $22 each if any of my local readers are interested.

Leave a comment and let me know which look is your favorite!

my holiday merch.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

Before I get into today’s post, congrats to Amanda whose name I drew to win my Christmas Inspiration giveaway!

Earlier this week I brought just a small sampling of my Christmas items into the shop where I sell some of my things on consignment, Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater, MN.

By a small sampling, I mean I was limited to just five items this week.  It was a bit of a struggle for me to determine which five things to drop off, but ultimately I went with these five …

First, the skates that I shared with you guys last week.

These are priced at $55.

Next up, this stenciled sled.

It is 37.5″ tall x  22″ wide and is priced at $58.

I also brought in this adorable green kid sized chair …

It is 22.5″ tall x 13.5″ wide x 12″ deep and is priced at $48.

Item no. 4 that went in to the shop already is this wooden stenciled sign.  I thought perhaps I should round out my selection with something that wasn’t in the traditional red and/or green.

This sign is 28.5″ wide x 21.5″ tall and priced at $45.

Lastly, I brought in the birdcage centerpiece that I created last year.

The birdcage is 12″ tall x 10″ deep x 13.5″ wide and is priced at $48.

So that’s the five items that have already gone to the shop.  It’s certainly possible that they have not been purchased yet (although last night was the shop’s holiday open house), but you locals would have to visit the shop to find out!  Check out their Facebook page for hours and location.

Now, how about taking a look at a bunch of the other pieces that I have ready to take to the shop next week?  Let’s call this a bit of a pre-sale for any of my local readers who might be interested.  If you are interested, you can jump on them now by leaving me a comment or by sending me an email at qisforquandie@gmail.com.

I’ve been working hard pulling together a bunch of items for Christmas and I wanted to show them all here, but I’ll be taking the time to write proper blog posts about a few of these items over the next several weeks as well, so stay tuned for more detail.

I have one more vintage sled with metal runners (personally, this one is my favorite with its neutral shades).

This sled is 38.5″ tall x 23″ wide and is also priced at $58.

I also have this next sled, which doesn’t have metal runners, but it still turned out pretty darn cute.

This sled is 37″ tall x 12″ wide and is priced at $48.

I have another kid sized chair, this one is painted in my favorite warm white, Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, and I think it has a bit of a Scandi vibe with the red and white.

This chair is also 22.5″ tall x 13.5″ wide x 12″ deep and priced at $48.

This wooden ‘bomb box’ is going into the shop priced at $45.

At 10″ tall x 13.5″ wide x 12″ deep it’s the perfect container for a small tabletop tree.

I turned this old beadboard cupboard door into Christmas decor, and it’s for sale as well.

It is 25″ wide x 22″ tall and for sale at $55.

I’ll be bringing this lantern in priced at $32.

I have this ‘let it snow’ kid sized vintage shovel, which I actually painted up last year and kept for myself.  But I’ve decided to let it go this year for $45.  It is 34″ tall.

Speaking of things I kept last year, but am going to bring in to the shop this year, this sign falls into that category too.

This one is 13″ tall by 28.5″ wide and also $45.

I’m willing to part with these petite vintage ice skates for $25 …

and this adorable lantern (on right) for $26.

I also have a few faux grain sack stockings leftover from last year.

I’m marking them down to $11 each, so I’m hoping they sell this time around.

Next up is a random cutting board that I had in my stash.  I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, and then I trimmed up an image from the I.O.D. Candy Cane Cottage transfer set to fit.

Super simple, and pretty cute, right?  It’s for sale at $18.

Did I also mention that I didn’t just buy one of the Candy Cane Cottage sets?  I bought two just in case I really loved it, and they sold out quickly.  Turns out it was lucky I did that, they are already sold out and pretty much impossible to find.

I put that same Hot Cocoa design from my 2nd set on a vintage gingham tray that I had on hand.

That gingham pattern kind of messes with my camera’s ability to focus, but I promise, in person it looks good and it’s priced at a mere $12.

I also used the Grandma Kringle’s Candy Canes design on a vintage enamelware coffee pot.

Once again I had to trim off a little bit of the design in order to get it to fit my piece, but that was easy enough to do.

The candy cane coffee pot is priced at $25 (and FYI, both of the rolling pins in it are for sale at $10 each).

Next up are some bottle brush trees that I dressed up by adding them to vintage silver pieces.

I tucked some battery operated fairy lights into some of them, the battery pack just slipped right inside the silver piece.  Those with lights range from $18 to $22, those without lights are $16.

I also did some bottle brush trees in vintage door knobs, priced at $12 each.

They all look festive grouped en masse on a large silver tray (priced at $24).

And there you have it.  Most (but not all) of my holiday merch.  I’ll still be working on some fun holiday projects and sharing them here along with some more detailed posts about a few of the items shown above.

If you locals (Twin Cities, MN) are interested in purchasing any of the items (other than the first five that are already at the shop), be sure to leave a message here or send me an email at qisforquandie@gmail.com.  I’ll try to modify this post to mark items as sold if they get spoken for.  First come, first served, and you may want to act fast because I’ll be delivering these to the shop next Wednesday.  I should also note that I don’t always see the emails right away, so your best bet is to leave a comment here.

a road trip to Zion.

Published on by Quandie20 Comments

As you know, last week my sister and I were out at our mom’s house near Las Vegas.  It was mom’s birthday on Halloween, and we decided to take her on a little road trip to celebrate.

We loaded up the car and drove up to Zion National Park in Utah.

We opted to take the more scenic route through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area rather than taking the interstate all the way.  This route makes a bit more sense when leaving from mom’s house in Henderson, Nevada rather than somewhere near the strip in Vegas, but it does also add about 30 minutes to the trip.  Mainly because the speed limit on much of I-15 is 75 m.p.h. while the speed limit through the rec area is 50 m.p.h.  Otherwise it only adds about 5 extra miles.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there due to some road construction as well though.

I should also note that you need a National Park Pass to drive through the Lake Mead rec area.  My sister was able to buy an annual pass at the gate for $20 as a senior (you must be 62 or older, so I don’t qualify quite yet).  We were then able to use her pass for all of us to get into Zion as well, so it was definitely $20 well spent.

And Zion was definitely worth both the drive and the fee!

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Zion Canyon and when we drove up to our hotel we were not disappointed.

But honestly, there were quite a few hotels along highway 9 in Springdale, and all of them had a similar view.  I think one could be happy with any of them.

Before planning this trip I didn’t realize that Zion is the 3rd most visited National Park in the U.S. with over 4.5 million people visiting per year (wowza!).  It’s only beat by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Grand Canyon National Park.  I really thought Yellowstone would be higher up on the list, but it’s down at number 7.

Because of the large number of people visiting, the park has developed a shuttle bus system to move people around.  There is a shuttle bus line within the park that travels the Zion Canyon scenic drive, and another shuttle bus line that goes through Springdale and has 9 stops including one right in front of our hotel.  The shuttle buses are completely free of charge.

However, you should note that from March through November and around the Christmas holiday you are not allowed to drive your own personal vehicle on the Zion Canyon scenic drive (with one caveat, which I’ll explain later).

After arriving and checking into our hotel, my sister and I decided to walk to the visitor center while our mom rested up a bit.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and even the walk through town was gorgeous.

It took a little over 20 minutes to walk to the park entrance.

After checking out the visitor center a bit, we decided to take a quick hike on the Pa’rus Trail.  This is an easy 3.5 mile paved trail that starts right at the visitor center.

It follows the Virgin River up to Canyon Junction.

It was late afternoon by the time we started this hike and the golden light at that hour was absolutely stunning.

The leaves in Zion were just starting to turn for fall, they weren’t quite at peak color yet but were still very pretty.

The Pa’rus trail isn’t especially physically challenging, and in fact it’s even possible to do it with a wheel chair.  The scenery along it is beautiful, so even if you aren’t much of a hiker, you could still really enjoy a visit to Zion.

As the sun was coming down, we decided to hop on the Springdale shuttle and head back to the hotel to pick up mom and get dinner somewhere.

Funny sidebar tidbit, the two guys we sat next to on the shuttle were from Holland.  Seriously, as I keep saying, it’s a small world!  We were sure to tell them how much we loved our trip to Amsterdam in September.

We’d heard a lot of talk about how crowded Zion can be, and that there can be up to a 45 minute wait for the Zion Canyon shuttle.  So we planned accordingly and decided to beat the crowds with a sunrise hike the next morning.  We used this same strategy when we went to Sedona last year, and it worked out great.

The first shuttle leaves the visitor center at 7 a.m.  So we got up at 6, enjoyed the included breakfast at our hotel with mom, then drove up to the visitor center.  It was easy to find parking there at that hour (but the parking was completely full later).  We also got right on the shuttle with no waiting, and plenty of space (also, FYI, when we returned at around 11 a.m. there was only a very short line for the shuttle, so visiting Zion in late fall is also a good way to avoid the crowds).  We took the shuttle all the way to the final stop at the Temple of Sinawava.

This is where you will find the Riverside Walk that leads to the Narrows.  This is a 2.2 mile trail that follows the Virgin River deeper into the canyon.

At that hour we nearly had the trail to ourselves and it was magical to watch as the sun came up and started to light up some of the peaks around the canyon.

The popular thing to do at the end of the Riverside Walk is to continue your hike up through The Narrows by hiking in the river.

That explains all of the shoes left at the end of the trail.

But I have to tell you, it was 28° that morning.  And we were told that the water was around 47°.  Yeah, even us hardy Minnesotans weren’t brave enough for that, plus I’ve never really been one of the cool kids.

A few brave souls showed up while we were there though, and indeed they headed off in the water.

More power to ’em.

If you’re willing to suffer the cold, late October might be the best time to do this hike.  I’ve seen photos of how crowded this spot can be in the summer months …

But we just took a quick selfie (me on the left, my sister on the right).

And then turned around and headed back towards the shuttle stop.

There was a shuttle waiting, so we hopped right on and headed back to stop number 7 for the Weeping Rock Trail.

This is a short but steep trail that ends at a rock alcove with dripping spring water.  Being rather afraid of heights, I stayed as far from the edge of the trail as I could get.

They had a lot of plant markers identifying many of the wild flowers growing alongside this trail which I found interesting, and they also provided a good excuse to stop and catch my breath periodically on that uphill climb.

By the way, I mentioned that it was about 28° that morning, and here’s proof.

All of that dripping spring water was creating icicles!

After that short hike it was back to the shuttle and stop number 4, the Court of the Patriarchs.

We were able to get to the Sand Bench Trail from this stop.

This was a lovely trail, but it also doubles as a horse trail.  So much like our hike in Forestville State Park a couple of weeks earlier, we found ourselves dodging road apples (a.k.a. horse poop).  We eventually gave up on it and headed back to take the shuttle back to the visitor center.  It was time to return to the hotel, pick up mom, and find some lunch.

While riding the shuttle we asked the driver about handicap accessibility.  The shuttles are handicap accessible and they have a motorized lift that will help people get up and into the shuttle.  However, she also let us in on a not so well known tip.  If you have a handicapped person in your party, you can get a special permit that allows you to drive your private vehicle on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive along with the shuttle buses.  You can also stop at any of the stops and park your car to get out and look around.

We went to the information desk at the visitor center and the park ranger was more than happy to provide us with this special permit.

So after lunch we once again headed into the canyon, this time with our mom.  She enjoyed several of the scenic overlooks, like this one at Big Bend …

and she even walked a bit of the Riverside Walk with us (that paved trail we hiked at sunrise).  She was able to use her walker and the trail is quite flat at the beginning.

We ended up back at our hotel by late afternoon, and mom was a bit worn out.  So I have to admit we just lazed about for the rest of the evening.  In hindsight, I regret not thinking about doing the scenic drive in the Kolob Canyons instead.  That part of the park is about 40 miles north of where we were though, so it would have been a bit of a drive.  Plus part of the scenic drive there is closed due to damage from a rock slide.  So maybe I don’t feel so bad about missing it after all.  Instead we enjoyed a quiet evening visiting with our mom on her birthday.

If you ever have extra time in Vegas, and access to a car, I highly recommend taking a little road trip out to Zion.  It’s a little further out than Red Rock Canyon or the Valley of Fire, but definitely worth the drive.  Have you been?  Leave a comment and let me know!

the candy cane toolbox.

Published on by Quandie22 Comments

Remember back when I said I prefer to work with vintage toolboxes rather than newer ones?

Well, there are always exceptions to every rule, right?

Today’s toolbox was not especially old.

Nor was it in the usual rusty and/or crusty condition.  Which is kind of a bonus really.  It didn’t take a whole lot of prep to get this one ready for paint.  I washed it and then gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear B.O.S.S.  No sanding required.

And really, I probably didn’t even need the B.O.S.S. on this one.  But at the time I was prepping a whole bunch of toolboxes, sort of assembly line style, so I B.O.S.S.’ed them all.

I decided to stick with the red on the inside of this one, just giving it a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Honky Tonk Red.

Once that was dry, I added a candy cane transfer from I.O.D.’s Candy Cane Cottage inside the lid.

Next up I painted the exterior of the box in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Then I started cutting up different elements from Candy Cane Cottage to see what I could come up with for the outside.

Rather than immediately rubbing transfers on as I chose them, I decided to place everything first to see what would fit.  That way if I needed to overlap some elements I could be sure to apply them in the right order.

This time around that only ended up impacting one spot, where the word “Old” overlaps the floral under it a bit.

If I had put down the wording first, I could have rearranged the floral so that it didn’t cover it, but in the end it’s easier just to do a little pre-planning.

Those florals were the sole reason I ordered this particular transfer.

They are such a pretty combination of floral and holiday with those red berries.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I only wish these images were larger.  I used the two larger florals included with the transfer on either side of the toolbox, and then supplemented those with two of the smaller florals on each side.

By the way, I should probably mention at this point that this limited time only transfer is sold out everywhere.  If you didn’t order it immediately upon release, you likely missed out.

I also added some wording from Candy Cane Cottage to the top of the toolbox.

I think it turned out pretty dang cute.

Now, you might be wondering, what in the world would you do with a Christmas themed toolbox?

Well, how about keeping your gift wrapping supplies in it?  Scissors, ribbon, tape, bows, etc.

Or, you could just use it as decor, placing it on a shelf or table top, or even just under the tree.

But I also really like the idea of filling it up and using it as a gift box.  Remember the toolbox I created a few years back as a Secret Santa gift?

This one would be perfect to fill up with the same sort of stuff.  Some peppermint schnapps, peppermint sticks, hot chocolate mixes and some fabulous retro shot glasses; everything you need to make a peppermint patty (the drink, not the candy).

Whatever you’d use it for, it is available for local sale so be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details if you’re interested.  Be sure to act fast if you want to pick it up, I’ll be bringing this one into the shop on Wednesday.

Also, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know if you’ve used the I.O.D. Candy Cane Cottage transfers, and if so, how did you like them?

to paint, or not to paint?

Published on by Quandie17 Comments

To paint, or not to paint?  That is the question.

And it’s one that I often struggle with.

I don’t like to destroy an authentic patina that took decades to develop by painting over it.  In fact, I often cringe a little inside when I see other crafters doing exactly that.

But then again, things almost always sell better for me if I paint them.

And that brings me to ice skates.

Wait, what?  Ice skates?  Surely I’m not losing sleep over whether or not to paint vintage ice skates, am I?

Well, let’s look at some ice skates I’ve shared in the past.

The first skates I ever painted were these pretty pink ice skates back in 2017.

So sweet, right?  Well, here is the before photo of them …

Painting those felt like a bit of a no-brainer.

Flash forward to 2019 when I added a floral re.design with prima transfer to some skates after freshening them up with some of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

I LOVED how those turned out!

So then I repeated that idea back in 2020 with this pair of skates.

I considered both of those pairs of skates to be your basic outdated 80’s or 90’s ice skates with no vintage value whatsoever, and probably no real practical value as functional ice skates either.

They both looked pretty much like this before I painted them …

But then there are the skates that I really don’t think should be painted, like this pair that my friend Sue sold at one of our Carriage House sales …

I also have this pair of skates in my stash that I used to stage a photo last year.

I changed out the laces for some alphabet twill ribbon, but otherwise left them ‘as is’.

That brings me to my current stash of skates.  I have one pair that I’m not sure I should paint …

They aren’t quite as fabulous as the pair that Sue had, but they do have a certain aged patina that I like.  What do you think?  Should I paint them, or should I leave them alone?

Before you answer that question, let me share another pair from my stash that I recently painted up.

After giving them a good wash with a damp rag and some Dawn dish soap, I gave them a coat of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  It just took one coat to freshen them up enough to add some transfers.

Then I pulled out the remaining remnants from my Dixie Belle Evergreen and Holly transfer.  I’ve mentioned this transfer quite a few times lately, mainly because it was a limited release for last year and now it can be pretty hard to find (although there are a few still out there).

I had a few bits of holly left from mine, so I decided to use them on the skates.

But I needed to fill in more space, so I also pulled out DB’s Vintage Post transfer.  I used a combination of Vintage Post and Evergreen and Holly together last year on a lock box and I really liked how they worked together.  Once again, they combined beautifully.

In case you’re wondering, I left the opposite side of each skate plain.

I figure most people are going to display these hanging from a sled, or maybe hanging in front of a wreath on the door.  In other words, only one side of each skate will really be visible so I didn’t want to waste my resources (ie. transfers).

Once I had all of the transfers applied, I added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta over the skates to add some protection.  That being said, they would not be terribly weather proof.  I would not display them outside in an unprotected area.  You could put them on a covered porch though.  The cold won’t hurt them, but too much moisture might.

While I was working on painting and applying transfers, I had the original laces for these skates soaking in some OxyClean.  But when I pulled them out I realized that they weren’t really salvageable.  They were quite frayed, and they also had some rust stains that wouldn’t come out.

So I decided to add some velvet ribbon as laces.

I found some wonderfully frayed green velvet ribbon at Hobby Lobby that was perfect for the job.

After a bit of hesitation, I have decided to sell this pair of skates (I was really tempted to keep them!), but I can always make another pair for myself if I just can’t live without them.

So be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details if you’re interested (sorry, I don’t ship my items so you have to be local).  I’ll be bringing these into the shop when I get back from visiting my mom, so speak up soon if you want them!

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the paint, Big Mama’s Butta and transfers used on these skates.

the most beautiful market of Amsterdam.

Published on by Quandie10 Comments

While we were in Amsterdam last month we checked out what is billed as ‘the most beautiful market of Amsterdam‘, the Albert Cuyp Markt.

I can’t really vouch for whether or not it is the most beautiful in Amsterdam because we didn’t go to any other markets.  But I can definitely say that some of the booths were very pretty.

Especially the ones filled with flowers.

I thought their prices were a bit better than ours.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen two bunches of sunflowers for only $5.30 (or 5€) at my local farmer’s market, have you?

Or bunches of zinnias for just over $4.

They had a lot more than just flowers though.

They also had produce …

And cheese.

There were some seafood/fish booths as well, but I had to walk past those quickly wihtout snapping a photo because the smell is a bit much for me!

There were quite a number of food booths too.  We tried a few of the local specialties including the famous stroopwafel, which was delicious.  I’m not a fish eater, but Mr. Q also enjoyed an amazing fish and chips.

My sister and I had to try the poffertjes …

These were little tiny pancakes with powdered sugar on them.  A bit messy, but quite yummy.

There was all kinds of other merchandise for sale as well; clothing, fabric, art, handmade soaps, all the usual suspects at a market like this.

I even found one booth selling vintage items.

And you’ll never guess what they had!

A Dutch toolbox!  Can you believe it?

I seriously considered purchasing it.  It was 45€, or about $48, and I would have splurged for it.  However, it was rather heavy and I knew I was already close to the weight limit on my suitcase.

Plus, we were on foot and we still had a bit more walking to do that day.  I didn’t want to lug a toolbox around with me.

After we left the market, we ended up walking to the Holocaust Memorial.

Each of those bricks has the name of one of the more than 102,000 Dutch victims of the holocaust.  The brick is engraved with the victims name, date of birth and date of death (if known).  We saw everything from victims in their 90’s to small babies.  How terribly sad.

After that somber experience, we headed to a brewery, Brouwerij ‘t IJ.   The tasting room is located in an old windmill.

Unfortunately, I’m not a beer drinker, and the beer here did not change my mind about that.

But it was fun to stop in and check the place out.

Before I let you go today, I just have to share a fun little side story.  The woman who snapped that group photo above for us was there by herself.  Shortly after taking the photo for us, another woman walked around the corner and saw her and her jaw dropped.  That was followed by a bunch of ‘oh my god’s!’ from both of them.  Turned out that they knew each other from the U.S. from years ago, both were on vacation in Amsterdam, and neither knew the other was there too.

What are the chances you would run into someone you know at a brewery in Amsterdam?  The world really is a small place sometimes.

Have you ever run into someone you know while on vacation?  Leave a comment and tell me all about it.

need some holiday inspiration?

Published on by Quandie61 Comments

As I think I may have mentioned, my sister and I are off visiting our mom this week (she lives just outside Las Vegas).  Mom’s birthday is on Halloween!  So we thought it would be nice to fly out and spend her birthday with her.

Initially we were just going to hang out at her house, but then we decided to take a road trip to Zion National Park.

It’s only a little over two hours away by car and we’ve never been.  So why not?

While I’m off enjoying some hiking in Zion, and soaking up some sunshine in Vegas, it is rapidly moving from fall into winter back home.  My biggest complaint about fall is that it’s always too short.  The forecast this week at home calls for highs in the 30’s, and the possibility of snow on Tuesday.  Ahhhh, trick or treating in the snow, how fun.

Since fall is over and winter is here, I thought you all might appreciate a little inspiration to kick off your holiday crafting season.

So, let me direct you to the right hand side of the page (if you’re reading this on a computer screen) just below the search box, but above the thumbnail photos, you’ll find the word ‘sorted.’ with a box below it where you can select a category.  Scroll through to ‘happy holidays.’ and click on it.

This will bring up all of my holiday related posts.

You may have to skip one or two posts about painted pumpkins, or a Valentine’s Day toolbox, but for the most part this category is filled with Christmas decor ideas.

Just start scrolling to find inspiration for stenciling Christmas stockings.

Or making your own Christmas gift wrap, either with paint and stencils …

or with stamps …

You can get inspired to dress up a pair of ice skates …

and you’ll find lots of ideas for stenciling a sled.

Or stenciling a wooden box for your Christmas tree.

You could always choose to add an I.O.D. paint inlay to your crate instead.

I’ve got a few ideas for adding a winter vignette to a lantern.

And loads of ideas for turning cast off cupboard doors (find some at your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore) into pegboard signs.

And of course, you could always turn a headboard or foot board into Christmas decor as well.

And don’t forget those kid sized chairs!

They are perfect for the addition of a stencil, transfer or paint inlay!

As are little stools.

It’s always fun to dress up an old kid sized snow shovel too.

Now, just to help you out a bit and encourage you to get in the mood for Christmas, I thought I’d give away some of my favorite paint.  Almost every painted project I’ve shown here was painted in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, Caviar, Honky Tonk Red and/or Evergreen.

So here’s a chance for one lucky winner to try out all four colors!  I’m also including the Country Living Christmas Spectacular which has 136 ideas for a festive season.  OK, the truth is I purchased this magazine for myself only to find out that all of the articles inside were also included in their Christmas at Home book, which I also have.  So I’m passing the magazine on as part of this giveaway.  It really does have some great ideas inside though!

The rules for today’s giveaway:  Simply leave a comment on this blog post (and please forgive me if I don’t respond while I’m out of town, but know that I read and appreciate all of them).

Your comment must be left on this blog post, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, or follow my Facebook or Instagram accounts, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, November 5, 2023 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $160, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, November 10, 2023 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.