Just About Home’s Hot Projects of 2011

Wow, we wrote about some really cool and creative projects here on Just About Home over the last year! I managed to convince my mom to write about some of the transformative things she’s been doing to her home of 25 years, and I’ve written about a few things that I’ve been learning how to do in my first home.

To recap the year, here were our top 10 projects of 2011 by pageviews!

10. Zinc Succulent Planters

I got these awesome planters from my husband for my birthday this year and fixed them up, Sunset magazine style, to welcome guests into the front door of my house. They are pretty sweet, and were simple to do with a quick trip to the local garden center! I’ll tell you again that I <3 succulents, and love living in a part of the country where they thrive.

9. Laundry Lines

My mom’s laundry posts got quite the traffic on the blog, too. How could they not, with this awesome pull out laundry line system in her laundry room? She dries most of her laundry right here, even in the freezing cold Minnesota winters. This pic got a bit of action on Pinterest too! Plus, laundry is more fun when you have pretty clothes pins.

8. Guest Room Makeover

Oh this was a fun and longstanding project this year. It was great to tackle a fully thought out design scheme on a tight $200 budget, but I did it! I just kept imagining I was on HGTV, and it was mostly smooth sailing. I think this was my favorite project of the year! It also was fun to make the few accessories for this room– the pelmet, the paint chip art, the bench, the mirror border…

7. Reupholstering a Mid-Century Modern Club Chair

This project finally brought the two Just About Home bloggers together in the same place for an epic project not often tackled by your every day blogger! YES! This was extreme reupholstery!

In November my parents came to visit, and in addition to a fantastic trip to wine country, my mom taught me how to do my first real upholstery job. I am so satisfied and proud of this chair. It’s the first thing you see when you come in my front door.

6. Korin’s Modern Geometric Living Room Design

I helped out my pal, Korin, to decorate her new condo, and this was the inspiration for her main living area. She ended up going in a slightly different direction (I think it’s more my taste than hers!), but it was fun to put my thoughts together to collaborate with her.

I gotta do more mood boards in 2012. They are fun.

5. Pink Christmas!

You must remember this one, right? It was just last week!  Pink Christmas was popular here, with my family and friends, and popular on the blogosphere. I don’t think many other bloggers had a pink Christmas, did they?

Pink Christmas was mostly celebrated by my pink tree, and my pink accented table decor.

4. Garden Curb Appeal

I had to remind myself what this project was…

Tackled early in the year, Brentan and I did some landscaping in the front of the house. This project was hard, manual labor. We dug up old stumps, re-set the brick border, and planted some fun plants (yay billy buttons and kangaroo paw!).

I wish I could say it still looks like this, but it needs a little TLC to not look so overgrown. The good thing is though, you can’t see those ugly sprinkler pipes any longer!

3. Yellow Lattice Pillow

This may have been the easiest project all year. Fabric scraps+ugly ikea pillow+ one hour= PRETTY!

I think I put a little too much algebra in this post (but math is important!). It turned out ok though, since it is number 3 on the list.

2. Faux Bois Floor

My mom showed off some of her updates to her cabin in northern Minnesota. It is button cute, and tiny. Sometimes it seems like you can do more with small spaces. Like you couldn’t make a faux bois floor in your 6,000 sf mini mansion. But a 200 sf cabin seems doable!

1. Painted Floor Cloth

And the number one most popular project in 2011 was the PAINTED FLOOR CLOTH! The combination an anthropologie inspired pattern, DIY spirit and good timing made this a star on our blog, and on Pinterest. So thanks for all the links here.

Thanks everyone for reading in 2011, and I hope you’ll be back in 2012 for even more epic projects, how-tos, DIYs, and fun times!

-Liz

Pink Shimmery Christmas Dinner Table

I thought I’d share with you my Christmas dinner table.

This year, Brentan and I were orphans in the Bay Area– neither of our families came to visit, and we couldn’t make the trip to see them in Minnesota or the East Coast. However, it turned out we hosted a dinner for 9 other Christmas orphans in our tiny dining area. The party included friends from India, Australia, and Sweden!

I continued my pink and shimmery theme from my Christmas tree to my Christmas table. I bought some cheap bouquets of white, green, red, and pink flowers at the grocery store and combined them all in three different thrift store vases for a colorful and festive look.

I used my nice wedding china and flatware, and typed up place cards on some pink cardstock using my typewriter.

We cooked up a feast that included a Christmas ham, duck, beet salad, brussel sprouts,  green salad, stuffing, curry, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, cookies, and an apple pie! It was a festive dinner, that lasted long into the night with wine and a few games of Cranium (which I bet you wouldn’t realize is very American-centric!)

I hope you had a very nice Christmas or weekend doing whatever you did!

-Liz

Happy Holidays!!

Christmas Bokeh

Bokeh photos have been all over the place this season, and I’ve been obsessed since my mom taught me how to take one of my tree over the phone last week.

My first attempt at bokeh went well, and it’s actually quite easy to do:

I like the ones with small objects in the foreground, like the one above, or the elf in the post below. Set your f-stop to a low number, 2-4 works well, and focus on the tinsel or elf, or whatever. The small lights from a christmas tree in the background get all blurry and produce the desired effect.

If you want only blurry pretty lights, set the focus to manual, keep the same low f-stop, and focus on the space in front of the tree.

Some of my favorite bloggers have tried it out!

Decor and the Dog

Peas and Crayons

Centsational Girl has a great tutorial on taking great holiday photos, including BOKEH!

Centsational Girl

And last year, we even featured a happy bokeh santa on Just About Home!

Happy bokeh-ing!

-Liz

Elf on a Shelf

I have not read the Elf on a Shelf Book but I keep hearing about it. This is my elf on a shelf story. I sent this as my Christmas letter about 12  or 14 years ago… I want to share it once again.

A Tiny Christmas Story

Greetings. Snow is blanketing the farm fields around our house, the trees have a powder sugar dusting as I write this, and the sun is peeking through the clouds. I am home today baking and wrapping presents and writing to you. The house is silent except for the occasional chatter from our 2 parakeets. the kitchen is starting to fill up with baking smells coming from the cake that is in the oven. I am making a Buche de Noel. This  is my first attempt and for some reason, I have decided that a person ought to make a Yule log at least once in their life. Well, don’t feel like you have to make one – there is another reason why I’m baking today.

It all started with unpacking Christmas ornaments. I love the handmade ones the best, the ones that have come home from pre-school and kindergarten, but something happened this year that took me by surprise. As we were unpacking the usual holiday doo-dads and bobbles, out popped this little china elf. It belonged to my grandmother and I’ve had it for years. I doubt that it was very precious to her; I’m certain that my dad (her son) has no idea of its existence. I’ve barely given it any notice, it is only 1 3/4″ high and 2″ long. It can’t hang from a tree and is too small to be seen among the Santa collection in the cupboard in the living room. The impish guy is reclining on an elbow with one knee propped up, he has the usual cone-shaped red elf hat with a curl of hair poking out the front and he is wearing a green elf suit with red buttons and of course his ears are pointy. His bright round dark eyes seemed to beg me to look at him more closely this year. I studied him a minute and then took him out of the box. What to do with him?

I propped him on a shelf next to my cookbooks primarily to keep him from cluttering my desk and because I didn’t know where else to put him. This morning, I sat down at the kitchen table to write out yet another “must do today list” when I found myself reaching for my recipes. Before I knew it, an hour had passed and the list was forgotten; I was making meringue mushrooms to decorate the rolled log cake that is in the oven as I write. The little guy will look perfect sitting on the buche. I have been absorbed in play all afternoon by thoughts of teeny tiny elves in the forest. The time has flown by and I can’t believe that I am making a cake for an elf! I scold myself for spending a precious countdown to Christmas day entranced by an ornament that doesn’t fit in with the other holiday stuff. What am I thinking?

The sun is now low in the sky; it is almost 3:30, the kids will be home from school soon. A thick fluffy down comforter of snow has been tossed smoothly over the farm fields like a freshly made bed; it seems to envelope my home. The blanket is sprinkled with crystals that glisten  in the golden light. It is so beautiful. I feel an urge to be outside to walk or sled or cross-country ski. I am aware that the magic of the afternoon is almost over and I am a little sad. Tomorrow I must get back to that list.

A I rush around town in the coming days buying last-minute gifts and groceries, attending music concerts and parties, I will return to the business at hand but it will be with a sense of renewal and pleasure. I will also go skiing. Next year, I hope to remember how this little Christmas elf enabled me to see the beauty that surrounds my family and how he gave me a special day to play in my kitchen like a child.

I love this season. Here’s wishing you delightful things, peace and joy.

Love,

Peggy, Jay, Elizabeth, Sam & Henry

PS. The cake turned out well and was devoured by a pack of wild kid elves. My china elf survived and is back by the cookbooks waiting for another day of fun.

Cheers- Peg

Making Super Super Spicy Vegetarian Enchiladas

Photo by: sarowen on flickr

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday and he wanted me to cook him a Mexican meal. I got out my trusty Rick Bayless Mexican Kitchen cookbook and took to adapting one of his yummy recipes: Spicy Tomato Sauced Enchiladas with Jalapenos and Aged Cheese. These are not the smothered in yellow cheese and filled with ground beef enchiladas (pictured above). They are much more focused on the flavors of the chiles and aged cheese, which is authentically Mexican (as far as Mr. Bayless tells me!).

Luckily, there is a Mexican grocery down the street, so I stopped there after work to pick up a few supplies that I didn’t already have at home.

I needed:

4 medium tomatoes

1 small can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (oodles available at the Mexican grocery, I can sometimes find them at Safeway)

Splash of veggie oil to coat the bottom of a big pot

1 cup chicken broth

6 large corn tortillas

Crumbled queso anejo

Leftover goat cheese from the Pink Christmas Party

Handfull of pickled jalepenos

*The recipe called for one white onion, but I got home from the grocery store and realized I didn’t have one. I just did without it.

 

1. First I made the enchilada sauce:

I roasted the tomatoes in the toaster oven close to the heat for 4 minutes on each side. Then I peeled the skins and coarsly chopped the tomatoes in the food processor with the can of chipotle en adobo.

>>>>>This was my big mistake. The recipe only called for 4-5 jalepenos, and I added a whole can of chipotles. They are super super spicy. I should have added half the can or less. Or added more tomatoes.

While the tomatoes and chiles were chopping, I heated some veggie oil in a big pot. I should have added my chopped onion when it was hot, but I didn’t have one. So I added the tomato/chile mixture. I let this thicken, and then added the chicken stock. I covered the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

2. While the sauce was cooking, I prepared my tortillas by steaming them inside a vegetable steamer. I placed them in the steamer inside a pot with a little water, covered and boiled for a minute or so. Then I left them covered for 15 minutes.

3. I whipped up some rice and beans while the tortillas were steaming and the sauce was simmering.

4. When everything was hot and ready, I dipped both sides of the tortillas in the sauce, and placed three on a plate. I filled the tortillas with a little bit of goat cheese, wrapped them up and topped with more sauce, some crumbled aged Mexican queso and pickled jalepenos.

 

The result was super super spicy. Like on a menu, 4 chiles. Or a man with a red face with steam blowing out of it. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so spicy. Brentan loved it.  I had to grab a glass of milk. Other than the spice, (from the small taste I still had) the sauce had a really good smoky, rich, and slightly sweet flavor. I’ll have to try this again with much less chile!

Luckily, I have enough sauce leftover in the freezer to make more enchiladas, but I’ll have to weaken it by adding more tomatoes.

I think my mouth is still tingling.

-Liz

Hosting Pink Christmas!

Well, I had a killer pink holiday party last night. Thanks to those of you who came!

After a few busts, I’ve learned a few things about hosting a good party. Here are a few of my secrets. Shhhh…

1. Send invites early. I wish I could have spur of the moment parties easily, but my friends are busy and need to plan.

2. Personally send invites. Sending a Facebook invite or evite sure is easy, but it doesn’t beat a personal email or phone call. The more you talk about the party, the more likely friends are to come!

3. Add mood lighting. I hadn’t even thought about a lighting scheme, but a room feels more intimate and party-like with low lights and candles.

4. Avoid the circle of death! Make sure you have significantly more people than seating and creating things to do in different zones of the party area. I spread out wine and snacks throughout my living room and kitchen.

5. Don’t cook. I love to cook good food, but a cocktail party is not time to show off your skills. I bought veggies, cheese, and made a bit of guacamole which were all ready to go 15 minutes before guests arrived. Stress free, and allowed me to chat rather than fuss over food.

6. Have something to do. We had a little competition over who brought the best bottle of wine. Guests tasted different wines over the night and voted on their favorites. It’s a great reason to mingle and chat. The highlight (and competition winner) was a bottle of pineapple wine that was made by a guest!

Without further ado, behold my fantastic pink Christmas tree!

-Liz

 

Pink Vintage Christmas

I’m dreaming of a pink Christmas!

I’m hosting a holiday party this weekend and I came up with a theme last night: Pink Vintage Christmas. But shhhh, my husband thinks its a pink hipster Christmas. Well, the two can be merged pretty easily, but the vibe will be totally non-stuffy and fun.

I’m mostly inspired by this Martha Stewart image, and a few others I posted on my Pink and Shimmery Christmas pinterest board:

And also inspired by a party that was featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine this month, that I can’t find online. But it was shimmery and pink, too!

I haven’t finished decorating yet, but I’ll post some festive pictures of the party.

-Liz

Farmhouse Bedroom

Elizabeth tells me that I should post a tour of my house.  This is a daunting task because I don’t think that I have a single room in my house that I could consider done enough to post pictures. Ah well, we have lived here for more than 20 years and I guess that this is simply the way my home will always be. It is constantly in flux, constantly in need of a good vacuum and constantly being tweaked.  But in the spirit of all the bloggers who have opened their homes to the blogosphere, I will post a room occasionally until I cover every room. Maybe this project will spur me on to finish some rooms that are on the list.

Today, I am posting some photos of our master bedroom. It is a wonderful room with expansive views of the rolling farm fields and wetlands that surround our home.

This is what I started with this morning…clean sheets!

I made the bed and started to look at it critically.

So…I hunted around the house and brought in the wrought iron tree from Potterybarn; the lamps are from there as well.  The  throw is a vintage bedspread. The toile coverlet is from Charter House. Everything else is from various estate sales, everything but the cherry bed. That was purchased 20 years ago.

This vintage dresser was free. I found it 25 years ago. The photo of the tree is in my post on trees .

Liz’s brother, Sam made the clay head in high school art class. The old brick is from Chaska brick which is from our local quarry.

This is my added touch to make the photo a little more interesting.  I made the sock and the pin cushion. The bulbous thing is a vintage sock egg that helps you mend socks.

This is Sathi’s doggy bed where she sleeps every night. To be honest, she sleeps during the day on the bed but at night she gets kicked out and is resigned to sleep in her basket.

This is one view from the bedroom. The upstairs of the barn was a playhouse for Liz when she was a little girl!

So, that is the bedroom tour.  I couldn’t possibly show you my disastrous walk in closet – yet. Maybe I’ll get the bug to clean it up. The master bath is also connected and I will take photos soon. I promise.  - Peg

Company Clean – no chemicals required

The Holiday season is upon us; bring on the parties, bring on good cheer and bring on the out of town guests! It is time to ratchet up the cleaning regime. A good place to begin is in the guest bathroom. I routinely swish out the toilet bowl but because my water is full of minerals and some rust (we have a well), my sinks and toilets get hard water rings. Regular cleaners do not do much to get rid of this grunge.

The first time I tried this solution, I was afraid that I would ruin my toilet but it really works. It requires no chemicals, only a bit of elbow grease. Here is what to do…

Get a pumice stone. You can buy one in the cosmetic section of the drug store. Make sure that it is made of 100%  pumice. Pumice is organic rock formed from lava. It is softer than the vitreous china that makes up a  toilet bowl.

Put on cleaning gloves

Scrub the offending stain and hard crusty ring in the bowl.

Swish the bowl and flush.

Step back and be amazed!

Cheers!  -Peg