Chop...Chop. Collection of Cutting Boards.

It's been a windy day here at Maywood Cottage, a good day to stay indoors and watch life outside from my kitchen window while sitting at the bar.

I can hear the chimes on the front porch and on the arbor at the side of the house.  They are keeping time with the gusts that are sweeping through.

I've seen this idea for storing a collection of chopping boards on several blogs listed on Pinterest.  Some are stored in baskets, others in sewing drawers and some in crates or wooden boxes.  I found this beachy style wooden box at Target in the 3.00 - 5.00 section of the store.  I fell in love with the rope handles and knew I wanted to use it somewhere in my kitchen.

I painted the box with a sage green color, then varnished it.

Thorough the years I have found a few chopping boards in my favorite vintage/antique shops that I frequent.  I have painted designs on a few and sold them in my Etsy shop.  They are one of my favorite surfaces to paint on.

Create...Inspire...Share...Believe

~willa~

Vinegar...Plus...Herbs...Equal...Infused

I love infused vinegar and olive oils.  I've bought them from speciality shops but have aways wanted to make my own.  Finally....I did!!

Step No-1 in making these infused vinegars was to research how to do it.  And research I did...lots and lots of research.  While there are many recipes for different flavors out there on the ever expanding and seemingly endless information highway, there is also lots of debate about keep these fresh and uncontaminated by bacteria....that's scary, huh!!  While I definitely want the wonderful flavor, I definitely don't want the bacteria.

So, after miles and miles of travel down that information highway, these are the articles I found that best suited me for my quest in making these wonderful infused delights...HERE and HERE But, be sure and research because there are lots of recipes and great advice out there.

 Step No~2 in this adventure was to decide on what bottles I would use.  I looked on different sites that sell speciality bottles but just couldn't get away from the desire to use a couple of recycled bottles.  I prowled through some of my "stored away to be used later" glass jars but none of them screamed "pick me".

Not long after this search I was looking through my cabinet for a bottle of Balsamic vinegar that I needed for a recipe.  I pushed canned goods out of my way in this direction and that direction looking  for a bottle of the vinegar I just knew I had...hadn't I just used it not too long ago.  Finally, I found what I was looking for.  I pulled it out of the cabinet and noticed the bottle looked kind of old.  Hmmm..what's the expiration date on this thing.  2011....what?  That was that....I might have used it if it was stamped 2014 but....nope, not 2011.  I poured the liquid down the drain and rinsed out the bottle.  Wait a minute....that's a nice looking bottle, it would be perfect for my infused vinegar.  So, I washed it and set it aside.

That same day looking through the fridge I spotted a Jarritos flavored soda and had the same heavenly musical thought ring through my head....that's a great bottle for my infused vinegar so I chugged the soda down and washed and de-labled the bottle.

Step No~2 accomplished.

Now for a  step No~3.  What about the lid?  I tried a wine cork in these and they fit but it wasn't the look I had in my creative thought bubble for these. Then, I remembered... I had purchased a package of wine toppers at Target a few weeks prior to this adventure and knew these would be perfect, they are colorful and fit these bottles like it was meant to be.

Step No~4.  A label.  Scrubbing a label off a bottle isn't my favorite thing to do so I eliminated that idea...no sticky labels.  I created these labels in PicMonkey, printed them out on card stock, placed a piece of masking tape to reinforce where the hole would be, punched a hole with a hole punch and used some jute to loop them on the bottle.

Simple, simple, simple!  Now...to use them.

Next, I'm looking forward to making some infused olive oil.

Create...Inspire...Share...Believe

~willa~

Name That Herb

It's that time of year, visiting the local nurseries and picking out a few veggies and some herbs.

We usually don't plant a big garden, just a few tomatoes, green beans, peppers and a plant or two of squash.  Most of our property is wooded, we hate to cut down trees to enlarge our current garden plot.  We are researching container or bale gardening.  I'm looking forward to experimenting with these options.

I made these plant pokes from the bottom of a disposable cake pan. To make these, cut the tin into rectangles with a pair of scissors, and score 1/4 of an inch in on the back side with a ball point pen, then, fold the edges in and smooth them down with a pencil.  Write the herb name on the front side and score it with a ball point pen. Paint the sign with a primer and once the paint is dry cover it with a creamy white color ( I used DecoArt Americana paint, in Buttermilk).  Once it is dry, water down a cinnamon color ( again, I used DecoArt American in Light Cinnamon) and wash it over the corners of the sign.  Next, water down a Burnt Umber color (Also DecoArt Americana) and with a small lettering brush trace over the indented letters.  Punch a hole in the top center with a pointed hole punch.  I used a portion of a metal hanger to create the poke for the sign.  Make a crook in the top and then bend up to form a hook to hold the sign. Of course, any bendable metal will work for this.

I love fresh herbs, there's no other flavor like them!

These pokes were made using carpenter's shims.

For these herb pokes, I cut the shims down the center using a bandsaw.  I painted them with a creamy white, then wrote the herb names in with black paint. Once the paint was dried I sanded over the letters to antique them slightly, and then stained them with a brown stain.  I varnished them with an exterior varnish so they will hold up under the weather.

These were fun to make and look great in the pots. What a help these will be in identifying the herbs once they are plated in a larger container.  Yes, I do forget what they are and need a little reminder.

Create...Share...Inspire...Believe

~willa~