Venerate Vintage

Last week I was trying to use a patriotic quote each day on my IG account and FB account. I would put the quote with some picture I had previously taken. I found the quote you see below and knew instantly it would go well with a flag picture. Then while looking through my files for a flag picture, I came across my fireplace mantel from last year and knew one of those pictures would work. 

All that hullabaloo leads me to the point of the post: This long vintage piece of patriotic fabric I was gifted some 20 years ago. In our Kansas home, the front foyer was decorated in reds and blues and vintage flags and campaign buttons. One of my daughters had a best friend whose mother owned a cute little shop. 

 One day my daughter's friend brought me the long piece of fabric from her mother's stash. She assured me it was okay with her mother that I have it. I loved the piece, which I knew was old when I got it 20 years ago. I found out years later that the girls mother probably did not okay the gift I was given, but also probably never knew it was gone. I have loved it for 20 years. In our home in Kansas it was draped above the stairway window. (To which I cannot find a picture.) At our home here, I have used it several different ways.

 A few years ago, I used it to drape my mannequin-body 'Lola', dressing her up for the summer with the garland. I pinned it using an antique broach. 

 Lola sat in the upstairs hallway in front of a collage of patriotic pictures. It was a perfect place for Lola and her vintage banner. 

 Last year I used it to drape our 6 foot long mantel. I twisted and draped it until it looked natural like one might find on an old gazebo or podium. 

 The fabric, some type of vintage cotton, is a mix between a rough linen and a fine burlap. It is rather stiff and that makes it easy to drape. I have actually washed the piece before. (!!!!)

 It washed up just fine. Just like many old things, it is hardy and ready to serve for many more years. 

 There are some faded spots in it, but they were there when the fabric became mine and I think it just adds to the beauty of the piece. 

See how the piece wrinkles easily like a linen would? It makes it perfect for draping. 

 This year the vintage fabric served yet another purpose. One of my sons is engaged and his wedding date is the 4th of July...2015.  We set out to take some engagement pictures around our little town. I knew there was a place downtown that had an antique fence with a rock wall in front of it for sitting. I knew the vintage banner would be perfect to be subtly seen behind the 4th of July couple. And it was. 

The purpose of this long-winded story about a vintage piece of fabric? Chances are if you are reading this, you too are a lover of all things vintage. Use them. Use them in many ways. Use them all the time. It is not doing you any good boxed up and put away. Enjoy the vintage that is in your life.  

What do you have that you need to put to good use? 

Tiptoe Through National Tulip Day

I saw online today that it was 

National Tulip Day.

(Don't you wonder who gets to make up the occasions for these days?)

 But since I love all things tulips, I am playing along. The tulips I am going to focus on are the tulip wreaths I like to create. I wrote about creating this one last year. You can find it here. It is one of those tutorials, that is almost embarrassing to make into a tutorial. It is that easy. 

 I have created about ten of these now. Many times I use the foam wreath (that I purchase with a coupon at Hobby Lobby). Sometimes I use just a simple grapevine wreath. The grapevine wreaths are usually a little smaller. Keep that in mind. 

 But always, yes always, I use tulips from Dollar General. That means that each bunch costs me $1. You can't beat that for tulips! 

 If you look at that $1 bunch of tulips, you might think it looks a little cheapola. Or the green a little plasticy. Let me assure you that enmasse it is not more cheapola or plasticy, but actually quite cute. 

 Here is one I made with yellow tulips. I added some small tulip buds as well. I also added some white flower that has a yellow and black center. It needed something to break up all that yellow. 

 As you can see I used a twig wreath for this base. I just glued the flowers directly to the twig wreath. Between the hot glue and poking the stems in the twig wreath, I don't expect the flowers to be going anywhere. (And remember, I am in WINDY Oklahoma where the "wind comes sweeping down the plains"!) 

 You can see the three different types of flowers I used in this wreath. The basis for the wreath though are the tulips, glued down in a circle, all facing the same way. Theoretically, there are no tops or bottoms to the wreaths. Even with the bows. It is however you like it to look. 

I gave this one to someone, and I included a green shamrock for St. Patty's Day, this Pier 1 bunny for Easter, and a cute little bluebird for spring. These are all Iphone pics, and I did not get any with the other add-ins. 

 I put the bow on the side and slipped the bunny down into the wreath. Here you see it with and without. You get the idea of what you can do! 

 This is a different red tulip wreath than the one I made for my front door. This one has regular tulips and others that are very wide open. I had to buy both to have enough for the wreath, but I really like the look of it besides. Again, it is an Iphone pic and the only one I took. 

 The biggest problem I find in making these wreaths are finding enough tulips at Dollar General. I don't know if they just get a certain amount in, or if everyone is creating these. I do drive to two or three different locations to get enough at times. In the case of this wreath, I never did find enough of one color, so I made the wreath hot pink, yellow and orange. 

 It ended up being one of my favorites. When I was looking for more tulips, I found these butterfly "picks" at Dollar General. They came in bunches just like the tulips. I cut the bunch(es) up and glued them all over the colorful wreath. It was very cute. (Go back up one picture and look at all the butterflies.) 

 During summer last year I kept the wreath up clear till August. I simply added flags to the bow area, to "summer" it up. This is the only wreath I have kept of all the ones I have made. They make wonderful gifts to give-away and can be personalized easily. 

If you use a coupon to buy the wreath, you are only out about $20 when you are finished.....That is even after buying massive amounts of tulips!  I have seen these on Etsy for $100. (Don't forget to factor in hot-glue burns as well. OUCH!!) 

Despite the fact I used mainly Iphone pics, I hope you enjoyed our little tiptoe through the tulips. Happy National Tulip Day!

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday

Thrifty Treasures 
The Scoop

SOUPer Bowl Creamy Tomato Florentine

 Last week, one of my fellow teachers was eating lunch in my room with me. She had with her a Tomato Florentine soup that she had bought at a local eatery. 

She had shared a bite with me, and we sat there trying to figure out what all was in the soup.  Finally we Googled it up and decided  we each must make a batch on our own.  She has yet to make hers, but she reassured me that hers would be fabulous. And I have no doubt. But in the meantime, I gathered all the ingredients for my version and proceeded to make several soups over the weekend. Since I loved this one so, it is the first to be posted! 

 My friend's soup was the basic Tomato Florentine.  I looked at the different recipes I had Googled and combined several of them. THEN I proceeded to make my version creamy by adding in whipping cream. I just wanted you to be aware that there are MANY recipes out there for regular Tomato Florentine.  In fact you could probably take my recipe and just not add the whipping cream. It is delicious both ways. I have included the directions for both varieties.  

 Creamy Tomato Florentine Soup

3 TBS Butter

3 TBS flour 

3 TBS Butter

1 clove garlic

1 batch green onions, chopped. (I use all the green part too)

1 TBS dried basil

1 can chicken broth

1  28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 TBS ketchup

2/3 cup vegetable juice (I used V8)

1  14.5 oz can Italian style tomatoes

Several dashes of hot pepper sauce

2 TBS sugar

Handful of chopped parsley (optional)

Black pepper to taste

1 cup macaroni noodle

2 cups Whipping cream or Half and Half

1/2 cup frozen spinach

**************In a small skillet, melt 3 TBS butter and add the flour. (I happen to use Wondra, because it is wonderful to use for gravies and bases. Flour works fine too.) Stir this together until it boils and makes your base. It will be kind of pasty. If it gets too lumpy, don't be afraid to add a little chicken broth or milk. 

When I cook, there is no exactness. Ever. 

After you have done that, let it sit to the side for a few minutes. 

In a big stock pan/dutch oven or whatever you want to call it, add the other 3 TBS butter. Let this melt and add the chopped onions.  Add the garlic and basil as well. Saute until the onion is tender.  This will smell heavenly.  

Add to this the chicken broth (I actually ended up using about 1 1/2 cans, because I had some left over from the other soup I made, so I just added it. It was not a problem. )  Add the crushed tomatoes, the canned tomatoes, vegetable juice and the ketchup.  Stir well. Let simmer. (I tasted it at his point and realized why you needed to add the sugar. The sugar helps tame some of that acidic tomato taste.) 

Add the sugar. (Add more if you think it needs it.) 

Add the parsley, black pepper and hot sauce all to taste. 

Stir. Simmer. Taste.

****************At this point, if you are going to make the regular Tomato Florentine, you would just add your macaroni and spinach and let cook for about 25 minutes.  You would not need to make the base.  Eat it up and enjoy.  

IF you are going to make it like the picture, keep cooking! 

It is at this point that you take your base in that small skillet and put it into the soup.  Whisk it up, so there are no lumps.  Stir and let simmer a few minutes.  Add the whipping cream now.  Stir well. Let it thicken up. By now your soup should look delicious and just like the picture. Let it simmer and absorb all the flavors. I served mine with homemade croutons and grated parmesan.  

 I used half of a box (see picture) of the frozen spinach.  I just cut the package in half and put the frozen spinach right into the hot soup.  I stirred it as it was breaking up, so that it would be completely cooked. Florentine means cooked with spinach, so I figured that was a key ingredient! 

 Also, it calls for macaroni noodles, which is just fine. But I always have to play around with recipes. I used the little corkscrew looking noodles (Radiatore) instead. Plus, because I cannot leave well enough alone, I added half a package of the 4-cheese Tortellini noodles. 

 I ate this the night I made it, as well as the next two days for lunch. It is one of those soups that keeps getting better each time. I just warmed it up in the microwave the following two days, but it could be warmed on the stove as well. It could always be thinned down with more broth or cream.  

 It would also be a great soup to make for Super Bowl Sunday.  It would be Souper!!  

 Those homemade croutons....They couldn't be easier. I had some stale hot dog buns. I literally just cut them up, put them in a baking pan and added several blobs of butter. I put them in the oven at 350 degrees and kept them in there until they were toasty.  You can also sprinkle the bread with garlic and/or onion salt. 

 Sprinkle the croutons on top with some grated cheese and you have a great winter meal. 

Come back tomorrow and I will share the Cheeseburger Soup that I made.  It was a man-pleaser for sure! 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday

The Scoop

Wow Us Wednesday

New Years Glamour on the Mantel

 Did you see my post from a couple of days ago when I showed you how to set a great New Years tablescape on a slim budget? Well I've moved the same elements to the fireplace. 

 Many people might not want to host a formal sit down dinner. Or they might have too many people for a decorated table. This mantelscape lets everyone enjoy the same elements, just on a different level. 

 I literally moved the decorations from the table, into the living room and on  the mantel. (Hello me, mirror-photobomber.) 

I did add a little Christmas tinsel to the mantel. I only put a small piece in the middle.

 Depending upon the size of your mantel, you might have to take some of your table elements away, or add a few, such as I did with the damask-like candles. My mantel is almost 8 feet long. It take a lot to cover it. 

 I still love the idea of a clock or clocks as the focal point of New Years decor. I have seen pictures where people had multiple clocks on the mantel. I love that idea too, but I just don't have that many cool clocks. (But I sure wish I did!!) 

 I took all these pictures at night. Some with the lights on, and some with just the candlelight of the mantel. That way it would give you an idea of how things would look during a real New Years party. Keep that in mind when decorating! 

 You want to be able to enjoy the beauty of your hard work in the dim light as well! 

 I used candle votives of different sizes and textures to put some of the Christmas bulbs on. I didn't want them all sitting at the same height! 

 I even pulled out some crystal salt-cellars to use to hold Christmas bulbs. (Do you know what a salt-cellar is?) 

 Unintentional decorating tip (especially using candles). Put your candles in front of a mirror and get twice the beauty!!  (Unintentional because the gianormous mirror came with the house and I have a love/hate relationship with it!!  Tonight it is a love relationship!) 

 See what I mean? 

 See how I have used the same elements, just in a different place? I even used the curly tree ornaments and clipped them on to a little stand that is holding some round ornaments. 

 Look at all those candles!!! (But you know the secret now!) 

 I think the key to this (cheap) glamour is concentrating on three (or four) colors and using many different shapes and textures in those color wheels. It just makes it interesting and fun. 

 Time's a wastin'!  Have you gone after-Christmas shopping or gone through your Christmas bins?  Just look at the fun you can have! 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday