Maybe you're like me and you don't look forward to helping your kids with science fair projects. You know it's a valuable experience, but it's just not your thing. Maybe it sounds like a lot of work and mess and maybe you're not a scientist so you're not sure how you can guide your kid through a project that won't be judged harshly.
Or could I be the only person with those insecurities? Social science I'm pretty good at, but science science? Not so much.
So when my ten year old girl, Brynn, came up with a great idea for a science fair project that would actually answer some questions that our family had, and when it was clear that it was something she could do mostly on her own...I was pretty excited to find out what her results would be.
So, here's what she did. Brynn made two batches of Monster Cookies -- one using eggs and butter and one replacing the eggs and butter with ground flaxseed and water.
She wanted to find out whether the flaxseed cookies would come out looking appetizing and tasting okay. She wasn't so interested in getting the exact same flavor and texture, but would the flax cookies be good enough to want to eat?
That was her question. Would they be good enough to want to eat? That's my kind of scientific question. And I love how she sets the bar low. She makes success easily attainable.
The answer to her question? Heck yes. They were tasty and she actually found that the texture of the flax cookies was better than the texture of the conventional ones. They were moister and less crumbly than the conventional cookies and they tasted just as good.
Flax cookies on the left, conventional on the right.
Here's the recipe for you, because I know you're going to want to try out these cookies for yourself!
1 1/2 C ground flaxseed + 8 Tbsp water (to replace butter)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 Tbsp water (to replace eggs)
2 t vanilla
3/4 C peanut butter (the real stuff, not with added oil or sugar)
3 1/2 C old fashioned oats
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 C chocolate chips
1/3 C chopped walnuts
Mix wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through bake time.
As soon as I saw it, I really wanted to dive right in and build one for myself. We've been eating at a 2'x3' table since before Christmas -- I sold our old table and haven't had a chance to build a new one. I'd like this design to be our next table but I really wanted a chance at a trial run before building my own.
This is why I'm SO happy to be working with Sweet Pea Interiors in Fountain. I knew that this table would sell easily in the shop, so I went ahead and built it as a test version.
And I LOVE it. Love, love, love it.
But, alas, it is too big for my dining room, so off to Sweet Pea it goes.
I made a few changes from Ana's plan in order to get closer to the Restoration Hardware look, and because I had several reclaimed 4x4 posts in my yard that I wanted to use.
Ana's plan calls for 2x4s and pocket hole construction. I did use 2x4s for the top part of the frame (under the table top) and also for the V supports, but for the legs, stretcher, and end supports I went with 4x4s. If I'd had enough of them, I would have used 4x4s for the V, too.
Since you can't use pocket holes to join 4x4s together, I used my (new!) table saw to cut lap joints. I'm in love with the joints where the end supports meet the legs -- I love the hefty, farmhouse look of them.
For the table top, I used 1x6s cut down to 4.75" on my table saw. I really like ripping off the curved edges of framing lumber to use in table tops. It is a pain in the rear to work with framing lumber, but its got a great, rustic vibe. And, it's cheap. Bonus. Having said that, I think when it comes time to build my own table, I'll build it out of higher quality lumber -- lumber that is straight, precisely milled, and nicely planed. I don't mind spending that kind of money on a table for myself. I've offered the same option to clients, but the price always scares them off. I can't blame them -- it usually doubles what I have to charge for a dining room table.
For the finish, I primed the table base with dark brown primer and then painted it with flat paint that I custom mixed from leftovers in my garage. The top is oxidized with strong black tea, vinegar, and steel wool. I think this is the first time that I've oxidized in sub-freezing temperatures. It adds a whole new element of unpredictability to the process, one I'll avoid in the future if I'm working on a client piece. The two photos above are probably the most accurate in terms of color. The top came out much darker and blotchier than I've experienced before. I don't know what to attribute it to besides the cold. The wood stayed wet much longer than usual, which I guess gave the tannins more time to react with the oxidizing solution.
It's funny...I don't mind if something doesn't come out exactly as planned as long as I'm building it for myself. But when I'm building for someone else and it doesn't go as planned? It worries me and I end up pouring unending hours into the piece. Whew. Working for myself is much less stressful.
If you google "isopropyl alcohol-based wood stain," it's entirely possible you won't find anything that resembles what you're looking for. There's probably a tutorial out there somewhere, but I haven't found it yet. And although the bottle of concentrated tint that I use for staining with alcohol says, "May be be mixed with water or alcohol to create a wood stain," I've been told that the manufacturer recommends using water as the base.
But, you know...I'm such a rebel. I haven't been totally pleased with water-based stain and using isopropyl alcohol (aka: "rubbing" alcohol) seemed like it would solve some of the problems I have with water-based stain.
Alcohol is known for (among other qualities) its quick-evaporation which is why I thought it might work better than water. If you remember from my water-based stain tutorial, I don't wipe off water-based stain like you're supposed to (again, such a rebel). A quick-drying base seemed like it would work better for me since I leave the stain on.
I also thought using alcohol would probably reduce blotchiness (I can't explain why I thought that...just a gut feeling and probably something to do with the stain drying quickly) and also thought it would limit the grain-raising of the wood, cutting out at least one step in the finishing process (no wetting the wood before hand and then sanding the raised grain back down before staining).
While isopropyl alcohol is not non-toxic, when using the 70% concentration with adequate ventilation I've noticed no harsh fumes. The final finish is not as perfect nor as easy to achieve as an oil-based finish, but the lack of fumes and easy cleanup totally has me sold. And probably, as the "woodworker," I'm a much harsher critic of my work than anyone else. I doubt that most people (my clients included) would see the difference between my alcohol-based finish and an oil-based finish.
There's a huge variety of woodworking dyes and tints available in a rainbow of colors (especially in specialty stores like Woodcraft) but the only ones I've worked with are from Vermont Natural Coatings. I've used their Early American tint and their Dark Walnut tint, both in a base of isopropyl alcohol, which I purchased at a drug store. The tints seem expensive at first glance (high price, small bottle) but they go a very, very long way. The alcohol, on the other hand, is super cheap, coming in at only a couple of bucks per pint.
So, here's how I do it. You know I'm all about trial and error and so if you try this, I hope you'll embrace your artistic side and experiment with scraps before you finish an actual piece of furniture.
I start with a measured amount of isopropyl alcohol in a jar that has a top. For this table, I started with one pint of alcohol. To it, I started by adding 10ml of concentrated tint. I put the top on the jar, shook it, and tested the tint on a scrap of wood from the table. I could tell immediately that I would need more tint, as the color was not dark enough and had sort of a purple hue to it. So, I added another 10ml of tint and tried again. I was keeping track of my ratios, so at this point I was up to 20ml to a pint of tint. Dark Walnut is meant to be a dark color (obviously) and getting the depth I needed was important. A color like Early American, on the other hand, is meant to be much lighter and for me it is easier to work with.
I used this 20ml to one pint ratio to stain the underside of the table so that I could be sure I was happy with the color. As it turns out, I ended up needing an additional coat to make the color work at this ratio. As much as I'd like staining to be a one-coat process, using an additional coat actually gives me some wiggle room in finishing. If the stain is a little too concentrated in one spot or a little bare in another, the second coat evens it out. It also gives me the opportunity to lightly sand a spot that might have come out too dark.
For stain application, I used a foam brush to apply a generous amount of stain (not so much that it drips or puddles, but close) following the grain of the wood and starting and ending my strokes at the wood joints. Since I know I can't go back and wipe off the stain, laying down the stain on the wood has to be done carefully and with some precision. (This is where oil-based stain has a clear advantage -- it's much more difficult to mess up than working with water or alcohol.)
On this table, the aprons needed three coats of stain while the rest of the table was fine with just two. The aprons were different species of wood and absorbed the stain differently.
For the sealer on this table, I used the new Heirloom Wipe-On PolyWhey. When you're using poly (any kind of poly) you have to lightly sand between coats in order to make the next coat adhere to the one before. Occasionally I'll sand with too much gusto and take off some of the stain. In order to deal with those little bare spots, on this table I added a few drops of tint to my final two coats of poly, replacing the color that I accidentally sanded out. Using 400 grit sandpaper and a really light hand can keep this from happening, but when I'm working I almost always end up with a little bare spot somewhere, so this trick saved me a lot of frustration!
If you're looking for a less-toxic, non-fumey stain that is easier to use than water-based stain, this might be your solution. Just keep track of how much tint you add to your alcohol so that it's easy to replicate later!
A friend recently requested a small square table for her kitchen. She wanted a small version of the farmhouse table, preferably using reclaimed wood. I didn't happen to have the right reclaimed wood on hand, but I did have leftovers from an earlier table -- in fact, all I had to buy to build this table was one 2x6, some bolts and screws, and finishing supplies.
Besides being built from what were essentially scraps in my garage (which is always an exercise in creativity), it was also a good test of my skills in creating a piece of furniture without a plan to follow. I used Ana White's Triple Pedestal table as inspiration for the pedestal, but spent a lot of time standing in my garage with the table pieces upside down, trying to figure out the best way to put it all together.
For me, that's a fun process.
But then, on the day I delivered the table, Ana posted plans for a square pedestal table, also inspired by the Triple Pedestal table. Those plans use only one leg for a center pedestal instead of a trestle like the one I built. Maybe next time...
This was also my first time using alcohol-based stain on a table (I've used it on chairs once before). I'll post a tutorial this week for working with it. I think it's easier than water-based but it doesn't stink like oil-based. For this table, I used Vermont Natural Coatings' Dark Walnut tint in isopropyl alcohol followed by Vermont Natural Coatings Heirloom Wipe-On PolyWhey in satin.
That wipe-on poly is the best sealer I've used yet. Not kidding. I'll do a post on it, too. Promise.
In addition to all the other firsts, this was my first time using hex bolts to attach a table top to the base. Actually, it was my first time using them for anything other than decoration (on the X Tables). For me, it's fun working on a project that stretches me, that forces me to learn something new.
What about you? Have you been learning anything new lately?
You all know how I try to use the "friendliest" materials when I'm working around the house, right? Oil-based stains and conventional finishes give me headaches and I know they're not good for the environment.
But, as much as it hurts to say this, it seems that most "friendly" finishes have a ways to go before they achieve the look, durability, and ease of application of more traditional finishes.
I'm always experimenting with finishes, trying new things to figure out if there is something I've missed, something that works well and looks great and won't make me (or my kids or the earth) sick. That's how I ended up trying water-based stains.
Here are the drawbacks that I've found with water-based stains:
They raise the grain
They have less "open" time (not easily wiped off)
They seem more opaque than traditional stains (this could also be a benefit)
Not widely available
Hard to predict the color when you dilute the stain
And the benefits:
Easy to dilute using water (rather than having to keep mineral spirits on hand)
Super easy to clean up (you can wash applicators in the sink rather than worrying about how to dispose of them "appropriately")
Have very little, if any, odor. Most of what I smell is just the smell of wet lumber
Available at specialty stores with employees who *might* be able to give you good finishing tips (or they might not have tried water-based stains and will tell you to try something else)
Environmentally-friendly
Through lots of experimenting, I've managed to find ways to get around a few of the drawbacks with water-based stains. If you're used to working with oil-based stains, the transition to water-based takes some practice but it's worth it.
First, when I'm using water-based stains, I do two things before I start staining. I always rub or paint water onto the raw wood before the final sanding. This raises the grain in the wood. Once it's been raised and dried, if you sand lightly the grain-raising will be minimized when you stain. If you sand too hard, you'll get down to wood that wasn't touched by the water the first time around, and your grain will end up raising later.
Second, I usually use wood conditioner. I really don't know whether the wood conditioner helps after I've already done the water step, and it probably depends on how dark I want the stain. If I'm going to let the stain be pretty opaque, then I might not need wood conditioner. If I want to see lots of grain, then I absolutely will use wood conditioner in order to prevent blotchiness. When you buy wood conditioner, be sure to look for one that is meant for water-based stain. Minwax has one, and so does General Finishes.
Third, if I want to see the grain at all, I dilute my stain even more than the can says is appropriate. I don't follow any of the other directions on the can, so why follow that one? The can says not to add more than 10-20% water, but I find that 20% just isn't enough. Sometimes I add as much as 50% water or even more. The problem is that sometimes a diluted color can look very different from the full strength color. With the colors I've worked with (usually darker, less yellow-based tones), the stains tend to get cooler as they're diluted, so I test it on scrap and then mix in warmer tones as needed. If I need to warm it up, I actually really like mixing in a tiny bit of General Finishes Yellow Ochre glaze. I'm sure it's against every rule in the book, but it seems to work for me and I only need a touch to get the warmth I'm looking for. I've considered mixing in some honey-toned stain to add warmth, but I never seem to have any around, so I go for the next best thing -- yellow glaze.
In the image below you'll see some photos of different pieces I've done using General Finishes Espresso stain. The top two are full strength (100% stain) and super opaque. The bottom two let some grain show through. One is 60% stain/40% water, and the last one is around 15% stain/85% water The last one, where I used mostly water with a touch of stain...that was kind of a mistake. I was nearly out of stain so I thinned it enough to get through the project. I was finishing some closet shelves and just needed to get them done.
I'm sure nothing like that has ever happened to you, right?
But I'm actually happy with the rustic-ness of it and it was a great lesson in how much water I could add to the stain and still get some color out of it.
I think it's also important to remember that you can always go back and add more color to your stain for a second coat, but if you start out too opaque and you're not happy with it, you pretty much have to sand the whole finish off and start over.
That, my friends, is a total drag.
Lastly, I try to avoid wiping off water-based stain. The directions say to put the stain on, wait a few minutes, and then wipe it off, but I haven't found a way to wipe it off evenly. That's what started me diluting the stain, so that I could just lay it down and leave it. You have to be more careful with your brush strokes when using this method (the fuller strength the stain, the more the brushstrokes show), but it seems to work for me.
If you're curious about trying water-based stain but you don't want to go buy a whole can, grab some leftover paint and water it waaaaay down. Now you've got water-based stain. I know, it's crazy simple but it works. This is a great way to get colors and greys or whitewashes. For traditional wood colors, I buy a can of stain. But for fun and funky colors? Just grab some paint and start mixing!
I wish I had before photos. What is wrong with me? Laziness? They were so hideous. For more on their before, check out this post.
Now they're done! The center panel of fabric is super cute, covered by a 16x20 pane of 1/8" glass and trimmed out in 1/4"x 2" wood painted to match the tables.
I don't think I told you this...my original vision for these tables was to turn them into little ottomans. But after I got the center panels upholstered with foam underneath I wasn't happy with the result, so I took the tables apart and kind of started over.
I also considered using burlap for the fabric in the center. It probably would have made selling them easier, but the fabric that's in there now is so unique and textural, I just couldn't pass it up.
It's funny how a simple Goodwill purchase like these tables can take on a life of its own.
These two tables will be for sale at the Sweet Pea Boutique in Fountain, beginning at their grand opening on January 26th!
You know from this post that a couple of months ago we ripped out our sorry excuse for a deck. That was the first step in renovating our backyard, something that has been on our to-do list since we moved into our house in 2004.
I liked to call our old deck "the raft." Or "the dock." It reminded me of a little dock out in a lake...the kind you'd swim to when you were a kid and then lie around for hours in the sun, occasionally doing flips off the side of the dock into the lake?
I didn't spend a lot of time at a lake with a dock as a kid, but somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I know that at some point I experienced a dock like that. And I'm certain that docks like that belong in lakes, not attached to houses and surrounded by grass.
Our backyard before we started work on it.
Another before, but from a different angle. There are, ahem,
a few extra pieces of furniture sitting back there in this shot.
The dock/raft was not a great place to gather. It wasn't big enough, for starters. There was no great focal point and no good way to arrange furniture to seat more than six people. I always kind of wondered when I might fall off and break my ankle. It also lacked afternoon shade and in the summer it turned into a great place to get a tan as long as you had a ten gallon jug of water to keep you from dehydrating like a raisin.
The patch of grass between the deck and the retaining wall wasn't really big enough to play in and it was hard to keep it green. We live in the desert. Grass doesn't really belong here, so to have grass in the back that wasn't even the right shape or size to use for anything seemed kind of lame.
Shall I continue with the multitude of problems in our backyard? Let's see...we back up to a hill and at the top of the hill is a neighbor. There are two scrawny pine trees between our house and theirs, but no trees to provide a great screen.
Deer walk through our yard regularly and browse on whatever is not deer resistant, so the few trees we've attempted to plant have been consumed. The back hill is hot and dry and the soil is a crumbly mess of dried clay. We have a drip system but we never enriched the soil and because it's not an area where we like to hang out, I haven't put much effort into getting anything to grow. So it looks like crap.
I do have some awesome peonies, though...for two weeks a year.
When we were ready to get to work on the backyard, we knew it wasn't something we could tackle ourselves. Plant a few plants? Yes. Reroute the sprinklers, pour concrete, dig out part of the retaining wall? Uh, not so much. That's the kind of stuff we leave to the professionals.
So I started with my friend Patrick's awesome service, Home Project HQ. I listed our project there and got bids from a few different contractors. The one who we ended up going with, the one who I now consider a friend, was Andrew Newland of Newland-Scaping and Whole Yards.
When Andrew came over to see the yard and chat about what our goals were for the space, I knew pretty much immediately that he was the one I wanted working on my yard. Andrew is not like other contractors I've encountered. Let's just start with this: he doesn't look at me like I'm nuts. That was enough of to sell me, right there. But on top of that, he's creative, artistic, and willing to try something different. He gets bored when he does the same thing over and over again and he seems to enjoy the challenge of working with materials in unconventional ways. He cares about sustainability and we see eye to eye on the elements of a healthy lifestyle. My initial impression of him was super positive and I'm thrilled that we were able to work with him on our yard.
During our initial meeting, these are the goals I gave Andrew for our yard:
rip out the whole concrete block retaining wall and replace with river rock
bump back part of the wall to enlarge our backyard space
pour an exposed aggregate patio with a flagstone border and make it big enough to cover almost the entire backyard
install a wood-burning fire pit
build a pergola using wood from the existing deck (this made other contractors squirm)
plant at least three, preferably more, Blue Spruces to screen our yard from the neighbors
I gave him a budget of $15,000 to work with which is, frankly, not nearly enough for the kind of work I was asking him to do, but that's what we had to work with. I also asked him to incorporate used wine bottles into the retaining wall. Between that off-the-wall request and the undersized budget, I figured Andrew would be totally justified in walking away and never coming back again.
But instead he sent me this amazing video of what our yard could look like. Not everything on the video was within our budget, but Andrew was willing to work with us to get the yard done in phases or to let us do what work we could do ourselves in order to get close to our budget.
Here is the proposal that Andrew sent:
I know, right? Is that completely amazing?
To stay close to our budget, we agreed to shrink the patio a bit and only push back the retaining wall in the immediate vicinity of the fire pit. We also agreed to use river rock to replace just the part of the retaining wall that we pushed back instead of all ten million feet of retaining walls that we have in our yard. Instead of doing all the planting for us, we agreed that Andrew and his crew would just plant four Blue Spruce trees. Scott and I will landscape the rest bit-by-bit. We also agreed (after some research and discussion) that the fire pit should be natural gas instead of wood burning, and so in his bid Andrew included the cost of running a gas line.
I was a little wary of having a fountain -- I wasn't sure that we could deal with the maintenance, but Andrew talked me into it and Scott and I are both thrilled that he did. It's much less maintenance than I thought it would be and it looks and sounds lovely. Plus, it's made out of copper pipe, reclaimed wood, and reclaimed corrugated metal. My vocabulary sadly lacks the appropriate words to describe its beauty. You'll just have to see for yourself.
I'll be back in a few days to show you how things are progressing!
psst...for more about our backyard redo, check out these posts.
Inspired by this pin, on Monday I painted the Joy sign you see above. I'd been working with CeCe Caldwell's mineral-based paint on a table and was getting frustrated because the top wasn't coming out exactly how I wanted it -- there is definitely a learning curve to CeCe's paint when you're transitioning from conventional latex paint. So instead of driving myself crazy with the table top, I took my frustration out on something I knew I wanted heavily distressed...and I looove how it turned out! (Eventually I got the table right, too! More on that next week.)
Here is what I did to make the sign:
Lightly sand the surface of the wood. I used reclaimed dark-stained plywood from an old closet shelf.
Slap the Omaha Ochre CeCe Caldwell paint onto the board. I literally slapped, smooshed, and dragged it on to leave the surface far from smooth. I did this on purpose, so that when I waxed it at the end with dark wax, the wax would have crevices to stick to and add more depth and age.
Slap on a second coat. In retrospect, I could have gone without the second coat probably.
Lightly sand (with 320 grit) the dry paint to give me a surface smooth enough to take the letters.
For the fifth step, I should have distressed with a sponge and then sealed the Omaha Ochre paint. I'll explain why later. If I were to do it over again, I'd use my favorite PolyWhey sealer to seal the distressed paint.
Using a pencil and a 1x3 board to loosely measure my letters, I outlined the letters.
Fill in the letters using CeCe Caldwell's Traverse City Cherry paint. Again, I slapped it on and smooshed it around.
Once it was dry, I lightly sanded again. Here's where I got into some trouble. Sanding mixed the red into the ochre paint and then I had to be super nitpicky about rubbing down the ochre paint with a sponge to get the red out of the cracks and crevices. If I'd sealed the ochre first, this wouldn't have been an issue.
Distress with a sponge -- CeCe's paint is like unsealed drywall compound; it comes off with a damp sponge until you seal it, then it becomes impervious like conventional paint.
Wax with brown wax and then "clean up" extra brown wax using clear wax, which takes off and disperses colored wax.
Wax plywood edges with brown wax.
Buff the heck out of the whole thing with a soft, dry rag.
Here are a couple of close ups so you can see how the dark wax sits in the grooves made when I mooshed the paint around.
In addition to the Joy sign, I made this Noel sign.
These two signs took almost no paint -- you could easily buy two small CeCe paint containers and do this project plus several others before running out.
I had originally planned to sell the Noel sign, but I'm pretty crazy about it sitting out by my front door with my Craigslist antique sled. So...who knows. It may be in my family for years to come. The Joy sign is at my friend Emily's house -- the first in a series of a few pieces I'll be making for her to repay a barter for some sweet Frye boots she gave me.
I'm pretty sure I got the good end of that deal -- an awesome pair of boots and a chance to go crazy with wood and paint. What's not to like about that?
American Classic Modern Satin Nickel Spiral Pull-down
Kitchen Faucet purchased on Overstock
A few weeks ago, our old kitchen faucet died.
It had been in our house since the 2nd incarnation of our kitchen (we're now on number 3). Here's what it looked like the first day it was installed, back in 2006.
Sorry it's not the best shot. I'm sure you can understand that in 2006, I didn't think I'd be blogging, much less writing about a kitchen faucet.
But I think you get the idea -- it was a slightly above builder-grade faucet from Home Depot. And it was okay. Never great, but it was good enough to make a re-appearance when we really remodeled our kitchen. Here it was in our current kitchen:
Again, not a great photo but I actually have an excuse. Scott pulled the faucet out and started replacing it while I was putting the kids to bed at 8:30 at night. Who does that? And then, at 8:50 we realized we needed a longer supply hose and he had to run to Lowe's before the 9pm closing time. He didn't make it. So we went without water in the kitchen for a day. Not really much of a hardship, actually. But the not having a before photo? That's kind of a bummer. Anyway...
I'd been thinking about replacing the faucet for a while now, so when it was handled a bit too roughly and then wouldn't turn off, I knew it wasn't worth fixing. Scott got it back up and running (loosely) for a few day, just long enough to receive our new faucet. It wouldn't have lasted much longer.
When the old faucet busted, I found this new one on Overstock, which I'd actually eyed in the past but it had been sold out (and now is sold out again). Overstock has become my go-to source for plumbing fixtures. They usually have a decent selection at a good price, and I know from experience that their returns (even on plumbing fixtures) are zero hassle. At $118, the new faucet didn't break the bank, especially when compared to other spiral pull-down faucets. I loved the traditional design of it (since most of the pull-downs I'd seen were very modern looking). What I loved most was the satin nickel finish. I knew from having a polished chrome finish on the old faucet, I definitely wanted satin.
And it is soooo much easier to keep clean. I am really, really happy with it.
But here's one thing I didn't know I was in for. The water pressure!
Seriously, the first time we turned it on, water splattered all over our kitchen. And, I don't know this for a fact so maybe take it with a grain of salt, but I think we're actually using less water.
Crazy, right?
Here is my logic on this one. At full pressure, the same amount of water comes through both the old faucet and the new one. The new one must have a super-powered aerator on it which is what gives it the crazy pressure (read more about aerators here). Because the new one gives us so much more power in the sink, we spend less time rinsing dishes and cleaning out the sink.
Less time rinsing using the same amount of water per second = less water used.
Am I right? Clearly, I am not an expert. But, when I started using this faucet and put all of the clues together, it seemed like we were probably using less water. And, when you live in the high desert, in a drought, something like taking 5 seconds to rinse a plate instead of 8 seconds really adds up.
At worst, the faucet is using the same amount of water per second, but we're spending less time using it. At best, the aerator is a super-charged one that creates a more powerful stream while using less water, so we're using fewer gallons per second and spending less time with the faucet on. Sounds like a win-win to me.
What do you think? Am I on to something? Could replacing your faucet help you do dishes more efficiently and make your kitchen look better, too?
Those of you who have known me for a long time know that for about the last five years I've differentiated between "happy" food and "unhappy" food. For those of you who are new, here's a little primer for you. Happy food is sustainably grown and harvested, sustainably, ethically, and humanely raised (obviously referring to meat and dairy there), and usually (but not always) organic and local. Now that we've moved to a diet of mostly high nutrient density foods (like Eat to Live or Engine 2), our definition of "happy food" has expanded. Now it isn't just about how the food was grown, raised, harvested, slaughtered, etc. but also about what it does to our bodies. So, for example, local organic kale is just about the happiest food ever, right? Cool Whip, on the other hand, uh...yeah. Cool Whip is like really, REALLY unhappy.
Making a Thanksgiving dinner that reflects a high-nutrient-density food pyramid.
Can it be done? I think it can!
Although we've moved away from a diet that includes meat and other animal products (they simply don't have the nutrient density that our bodies crave now), we still have our 21 cubic foot freezer in our basement...an artifact from our local meat buy-a-whole-hog-at-a-time days. And it still has some meat in it, including a beautiful organic turkey that I bought last year at Costco after Thanksgiving.
And shortly after I bought it, we went vegan. And now we're not really into meat.
Luckily, our kids still like meat (although when Callie eats too much meat and/or oil, she pukes -- case in point, last night she puked up a gigantic Pei Wei dinner all over her bedroom carpet). We're having Thanksgiving with a family who eats meat, too. And I'm sure I'll have a slice of turkey, but not because I crave it or feel like I need it. Just because it's there.
Here is what we'll be eating this Thanksgiving, besides the turkey.
We'll have a Gardener's Pie (aka: vegan shepherd's pie) stuffed with lots of veggies and topped with mashed potatoes.
We'll be eating Kickin' Corn Puddin, a vegan spicy creamed corn recipe that we got at our last Whole Foods Health Starts Here class.
We'll have our usual Tangy Cranberry Chutney, similar to this recipe. I've been making this since our first Thanksgiving together and it might be my favorite part of Thanksgiving. It's got apples, raisins, a little cider vinegar, cloves, and a ton of sugar. This year I'll be experimenting with subbing dates for the sugar. But...shhhh...don't tell my kids, okay?
I'll make some baked Stuffed Apples. I plan to hollow out some of the apples from our local CSA, stuff them with the same stuffing I'd usually use to stuff a turkey (mine always has nuts and dried cranberries in it, along with the usual onions, celery, and blend of herbs), and bake them for a while. How long? I dunno. Until they're done, I guess. This is how dinner happens around here.
I'll make some gravy to go with the turkey. I was thinking of including some chantarelles that I picked up at Whole Foods for about half-off, but I don't really want them to get lost in the gravy. Plus, the kids like gravy more than anyone and I don't think they'll appreciate the chantarelles. So if you have some ideas for what to do with 1/4lb of chantarelles, speak up. Seriously.
My friend Emily, who is much better at following recipes than I am, will bring over the Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes and the Tarragon Green Beans from the Forks Over Knives companion book.
For dessert, I bought an unhappy but probably quite tasty Pumpkin Cheesecake from Costco. I'm pretty sure it will satisfy everyone who feels like eating dessert. I, for one, will have a bite but would probably be satisfied with a good cup of coffee after dinner.
While this isn't a super high nutrient density Thanksgiving dinner, it is a mostly-vegan Thanksgiving dinner that will satisfy our desire for traditional Thanksgiving foods, but in a healthier way. I'll report back on what is popular and what isn't and I'll share some recipes. Maybe I'll learn something that you can use for a healthy meal during this holiday season!
This piece has actually been hanging around our house for about a week now, but I haven't had a chance to blog about it until now. Maybe you remember we had some discussion on Facebook about whether the top should be wood, butcher block, or stainless steel? I ended up going with wood because it was fast and easy -- the stainless steel guy couldn't fabricate a top in time for my deadline for this piece. And I wasn't ready to invest in butcher block for a piece I was only *hoping* to sell, not assured of selling.
I built the island for a craft fair that was at my house last weekend -- I knew I would need more serving space in my kitchen, plus I hoped that it would showcase what I can do with reclaimed wood and I thought it would sell relatively easily. It didn't sell at the craft fair (got lots of ooohs and ahhhs, though), but I think it's got a new owner now (care of Craigslist). She's coming to pick it up tonight, and I am pretty sure I'll have to build another one for myself!
This little island has become sort of a workhorse in my kitchen!
I use it mostly as a place to prep veggies -- it is great to be able to face my "audience" while I work (can you tell I used to teach public speaking?) even if my audience is only the dog. Usually, though, my girls are sitting in the kitchen hanging out with me while I cook, and it is nice to be able to work without my back to them.
I've also found that it is a great place to store my juicer and my blender -- two pieces that we use regularly and take up more counter space than I'd like. The storage space under the island keeps my counters clear, which I love.
This size is a bit too big for my kitchen. It is 60"x26" and I need it to be more like 40"x26". I also think when I re-make it, I'll use a butcher block top. My never-ending complaint (or, one of my never-ending complaints) is that my cutting boards are too small (even though the biggest is about 18"x24"), so this should solve that problem. With the way that Scott and I eat, I'm constantly chopping veggies so I think the butcher block top will come in super handy.
I'm also going to add a galvanized pipe towel rack to one side of the island. I've got it sitting in the garage, waiting to be added, but I ran out of time to put it on this island because of the craft fair deadline that was quickly approaching. Plus, industrial-chic is not everyone's thing, so a friend suggested I leave it off and offer it as an add-on. Smart thinking, especially since galvanized pipe isn't as cheap as one would think.
One thing I'll miss about this island is its reclaimed origins. Almost the whole thing is built out of wood from our recently de-constructed deck. There are marks in it from where my girls banged on the wood while taking the deck apart, and some where they just banged on it because they had hammers in their hands and they are kids. We're using most of the old deck wood to build a pergola and I'm not sure how much will be left for furniture. I'm hoping to get at least a few pieces, but I may have to go find someone else's old wood to use or (gasp!) buy new wood.
Do you have a small island in your kitchen? What do you use it for? Do you ever feel like it is in the way? One of my girls is a little bummed that the island leaves her less room for dancing. :)
FYI: if you're looking for plans for an island similar to this one, check out Michaela's Kitchen Island plans over at Ana White. This one is the same overall dimensions, but without the drawers. Also, this one was built using pocket hole construction and sealed with my favorite non-toxic sealer, PolyWhey by Vermont Natural Coatings.
Do you cringe when you see honey oak? You know, orange-stained and super shiny oak that looks like it belongs in 1985? I do. Even more, I cringe when I walk into furniture stores that are selling the stuff now. New. But I guess someone is still buying it new, despite the abundance of the stuff on Craigslist and at thrift stores.
Change your old honey oak piece into a Restoration Hardware-worthy weathered oak piece. Or go buy someone else's old honey oak piece and make it look new old! Here's how.
First, grab some of the paint and varnish stripper that I talked about here. I've only recently become a Möstenböcker's convert, but the stuff works and I will keep shouting it from the rooftops until I find something better. If such a thing exists.
Strip the old honey finish off of your 80's furniture. How long this takes and how much effort it requires probably depends on how thick the original finish is. Keep at it -- it will be worth it. Get ALL the old finish off -- wherever you leave the old finish, the color will stay orange.
Finish prepping your piece by giving it a light sanding with very fine grit sandpaper. Vacuum and wipe off all the dust.
Next, grab your jar of oxidizing solution (which, of course, you keep in your garage at all times). What? You don't have some on hand? Okay, this is going to set you back a few days. Go make yourself some oxidizing solution (AKA: iron acetate) with a jar of vinegar and a steel wool pad. More on the how-to here. Be sure to read all the comments on that post -- it will answer your questions, I promise.
Since oak is high in tannins, you don't want to use your old, concentrated oxidizing solution as-is. I diluted mine with white vinegar -- about 6 parts vinegar to 1 part solution. Yours may need more or less dilution, depending on how long it has been sitting around and how much you've used. TEST your solution on an inconspicuous part of your furniture, let it dry, re-assess and make the needed adjustments to get the color right. Super-concentrated solution will turn your oak black almost immediately. Maybe this is the look you're going for? Overly-diluted solution will make very little change.
Once you've got the solution right, paint it onto your stripped and sanded piece of furniture. Please paint it on with the grain. I used a foam brush for this project and I tried to keep a wet edge. If you let the solution dry and then go back over it, the part you went over twice will be darker than parts that you only went over once. If it is still wet when you overlap, it will blend and look relatively uniform.
That sounds really basic, I know. But if I don't say it, someone will end up with stripes on their piece. The first time I oxidized, I got stripes. Ugh.
Let the piece dry and give it another very light sanding, just to make sure it is super smooth. If you sand too roughly, you'll have to go back and add more solution to the parts you over-sanded. So please, be gentle.
FYI: the more cheaply-made your piece of furniture is, the more variation in color you will end up with, because the piece will be built using different grades of oak or even different varieties of oak. The legs on the pieces pictured here were made from several different oak boards laminated together, and you can see the difference in color between the boards. In my opinion, the variations in color add to the charm of a piece like this.
Your last step is to seal the piece. I prefer Staples Crystal Clear Paste Wax. I buy it at Woodcraft (where the employees call it "bowling alley wax,") but it is also available online. It is inexpensive, goes on easily, dries hard and smooth, and has a beautiful satin finish. AND it doesn't give me a headache. I don't think it is a verified low-VOC product, but it is not unpleasant to work with like most conventional finishes.
So, put on a light coat of wax using a soft cloth. As you put it on, the wood will take on an orangey hue, but don't worry! Once the wax dries the orange will disappear. Give the wax at least an hour to harden before buffing it with a clean soft cloth. Add a second coat all over and maybe a third coat to the top.
Now, why wax as a topcoat? Because every other sealer I've used (ie: polyurethane, polycrylic, and even my beloved PolyWhey) turns the wood orange. Simple as that. Clear wax won't change the color of weathered oak. If you find something else that doesn't change the color of the wood, tell me about it. I'd love to know!
If you go with wax as a sealer, please be kind to your furniture. Use a coaster under your drink to avoid water rings and spots. Don't use harsh cleaners. In fact, don't even use a homemade vinegar-based cleaner unless you are trying to strip the wax. Just wipe down the surface with a damp cloth or a dry microfiber rag. Every six or so months, give it another coat of wax, at least on the top. The sides and legs probably won't need it. Taking care of your piece will keep it looking new. Er...old.
I've got a few pieces out in the garage that I'm working on refinishing. Two will go up for sale, the other one might go up for sale. Scott is pretty attached to it so it would take a hefty price tag to separate him from it. Here's a photo of that one (*cough* makeanoffer *cough*). It's an antique Hunt trestle table and benches. Sturdy, rustic, timeless. Scott's really in love (but we have nowhere to put it!). The top is a little bigger than 2'x3' and it is normal table height. It would be a great game table or breakfast table for two average sized people or four smaller people (or average sized people who don't mind sitting close together).
I haven't quite decided how I'm going to refinish it, so if you have ideas leave a comment! Keep in mind that it may end up outside.
And then there are these two other pieces -- they will definitely be up for sale. Here are before shots of them:
Typical 80's-early 90's honey oak, right? So, as I started to give them a light sanding to get ready to paint, I noticed that some of the sealer was flaking off of the end table. I decided to try a little oxidizing solution to see how I liked it. Usually oak turns black with the vinegar and steel wool solution, but I figured it was worth a shot.
And it was perfect.
So I grabbed a few bottles of stripper and went to work. Here is what they look like after getting stripped.
Better already, right?
If only oak could keep that light, sandy tone after being sealed. But it doesn't. It turns orange. I think if I dilute the oxidizing solution enough, I'll be able to get exactly the grey that I want, and then I'll probably wax it. I'm afraid of going with my usual PolyWhey because I'm pretty sure it will turn the grey to orange. I promise to keep you posted!
In the meantime, let me tell you a bit about the stripper that I used.
I've tried a few different green strippers. The one I've used the most is a citrus one. I've also used Peel-Away. I've not been happy with either one. But this one? Mötsenböcker's Lift Off? It actually works. And, it doesn't make you feel sick nor does it eat through your skin. Bonus, right?
Can I get a hallelujah? Because this is kind of exciting...for me.
Mötsenböcker's Lift Off went on really thickly -- it is a gel. It stayed wet plenty long to release the finish and it didn't leave too much gummy residue. Yes, some residue, but not as much as other strippers I've worked with. I was planning to use these mineral spirits to clean it up, but I only had this paint thinner around, so I used it and it worked well. Möstenböcker's Lift Off is supposed to clean up easily with soap and water but I wasn't ready to try it that way yet. I didn't want to raise the grain of the wood and I haven't had good luck with other strippers that are supposed to clean up with soap and water. Basically, other water-based strippers have traumatized me and I was being lazy for fear of creating more work for myself. Next time I've got a piece to strip, I'll try the soap and water clean up and report back.
For now, I just wanted to share with you that there is a green paint stripper out there that actually works! I picked up mine at Lowe's -- I hope you can find some, too.
This is not a sponsored post. Möstenböcker's has no idea who I am and did not pay me to say nice things about their product.
