the brown shed

Urban Market… and a little craziness

christi — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:41:21 +0000

I am almost recovered from our Urban Market sale. Almost. It was a fast and fun weekend. Holly wrote a great post about our adventures, so rather than reinventing the wheel, go take a look here.

photo by Holly Mathis

The week leading up to the sale turned a little crazy on me. I won’t go into all the details, but to give you a little taste… my high school girl had her senior prom on Friday, my college girl returned home from her study abroad program, I slammed shut the kitchen window on a finger and I had to take an unexpected trip to the dentist.

I have to tell you about the dentist visit. My little guy asked for a package of fruit gummies after school on Wednesday. He ate all but the two orange flavored, and rather than throwing them away, I decided to just pop them in my mouth and be done with it. Well, I never got to gummy #2 because gummy #1 pulled one of the crowns right off of my tooth! When I exclaimed that my tooth had come out, my little guy clapped his hands and got a huge smile on his face… “Good job! You lost a tooth! Can I hold it… can I touch it???!!!” Whilst explaining that it is not good when mommies and daddies lose teeth, my husband chimed in and said, “Well, that’s a new perspective on laying down your crown”. See what I am working with here? It’s crazy.

Speaking of crazy… here we are… the Urban Market crew.

Kelly, Holly and me.

Urban Market is such a fun show. Next sale is October 26th and 27th… mark your calendars. All show information can be found here.

Urban Market

christi — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:27:09 +0000

I will be teaming up with my friend, Holly Mathis, and a couple other gals at the Urban Market next month.

I hope you can make it out to see us and all our vintage goodness.

Spring is in Full Swing

christi — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:48:24 +0000

Yes, spring is in full swing around here. There is no shortage of things to do. I am sure it is true for you as well!

We have been spending a lot of time in the garden. I have several fall crops that are ready to be harvested, and then other plants and seeds that I am slowly but surely getting in the ground. It can be tricky to get it all planned out.

Before we started getting the garden ready, we let the chickens in to do some weed-eating and scratching. They had a great time.

We bought some plastic fencing and some bamboo stakes and fenced off areas we didn’t want the chickens to bother… then we opened up the gate.

It didn’t look all that pretty, but it did the trick.

Holding chickens is still one of this guy’s favorite things to do. Really. He was restricted from holding the chickens for several days last week when he misbehaved. Pure torture for the boy.Here are some of the things we are harvesting now.I grew twice as many carrots this year. They are one of the vegetables enjoyed by everyone in the family and like most root vegetables, they keep pretty well. I have been using them in stews and with roast and most recently in a coleslaw made with fresh cabbage we grew.

Brussels sprouts. They amaze me. Just look at how they grow… little rows of tiny cabbages up a stalk. I am still trying to figure out the best way to harvest them. I was going to pull up the whole plant, but some sprouts are ready and some are not… I guess I will just cut them off individually as they ripen. Any good brussels sprouts recipes you could share?

More carrots and onions. Onions are another crop that will keep really well. I am disappointed that I never got my potatoes in the ground. I should be harvesting them about now. I have a pretty good reason why I didn’t get the chance to plant them… maybe I’ll share more about that another time. (a trip… far away… across an ocean…)

I guess we just can’t have it all… our trips and potatoes too.

Glorious Day

christi — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:11:38 +0000

I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Our day was filled to the brim.

We started out the morning celebrating with our church family. A building full of sinners. Sinners that I love and share this crazy life with. Sinners that can gather together and celebrate because we have hope. Hope in The One that has overcome the grips of the grave. Hope for us… that we might have life… everlasting life and life to the full! Hallelujah!

…

We had a late brunch with my parents.

This brunch menu was my inspiration.

Spring Salad with Herbs
Cheese, Leek, and Herb Souffle Casserole
Oven Browns
Rosemary, Fennel, and Garlic Lamb-Sausage Rounds
Cinnamon-Bun Bites
Raspberry Custard Tart
Minted Mandarin and Strawberry Coolers

{Martha Stewart Living Magazine 2012. You can see it all here.}

The souffle is especially good.

You should try it… really. You will impress your friends and family.

From the original menu, I replaced the sausage with a delicious ham that Mom and Dad made, and I opted for fresh orange juice rather than the “minted mandarin and strawberry cooler”. I have made the cooler before, and it is good… but I was going for easy, and our grocery store is now selling fresh squeezed orange juice so it was an easy decision. And for dessert… I made individual raspberry tartlets. My own version. Super easy… I’ll share that later.

We had quite a down pour during our meal, but the clouds dispersed and the sun came out again and we were able to have a little fun with some great friends when evening rolled around.

Here you can see the aftermath from a blurry phone pic.

I didn’t get everything picked up and “just so” before friends and family arrived, and I managed to get my feelings hurt a time or two when I was working to get everything done… just so you know life is FAR from perfect around here.

The Chickenator

christi — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:08:53 +0000

Life has been full around here.

Not much time for typing out words, but hopefully soon.

Happy Valentine’s Day

christi — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:28:43 +0000

This Valentine’s Day was much like last year’s.

Lots of action in the kitchen. Over two hundred cookies!

The things you’ll do for love.

My little guy was so excited about today. When his daddy told him he was going to work… he said, “…on Valentime’s Day??!!”

But if I were giving these out… I would be excited too!

Happy heart day!

Sweet and Simple Valentine Party

christi — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:21:51 +0000

We had a little Valentine party over the weekend.

My high school girl and some of her friends.

It was super simple, but lots of fun.

We decorated cookies and made Valentine buntings and banners.

Nothing fancy… nothing extravagant… simple and easy.

And here are all the sweet faces.

I must admit, it can be difficult to make time for these things. Everyone is busy, and it does take some thought and effort. But… I am always so glad when I do. And really, we kept everything so simple and easy! I want to share some ideas and recipes in another post… in hopes to encourage you to have a little party of your own sometime. Besides, that is my true hearts desire for this silly little blog. To inspire and encourage others (while stretching myself a bit in the process).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

SALE

christi — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:47:24 +0000

I made a cute little flyer with jazzy colors and fonts… but I can’t seem to figure out how to transfer it to my blog!

I wish I had some graphic skills. Anybody know where I can get some?

Alright… here is the low-down.

I am putting everything in my booth on sale.

Hermann Antique Mall.

Hurry in for best selection!

Be sure to pick up one of these coupons when you head to the check-out. They are scattered about my booth. The ladies at the register will need it to give you your discount.

Happy shopping!

Painting with Miss Mustard Seed

christi — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:17:00 +0000

What a fun and full weekend.

My husband and I headed for the Houston area so I could participate in all of the Miss Mustard Seed events, and so we could spend a little time together. Most of our time together was in the car, but that’s okay… it was nice just being with one another and having some uninterrupted conversation.

Friday’s schedule had Marian giving a milk paint demonstration and then some time for her to sign her new book.

I have been painting for more than fifteen years, but I have never used milk paint, so I was excited to see it in action. Marian is a wealth of knowledge and a good teacher.

Look at this pretty display of Miss Mustard Seed milk paint and products.

As I stood in line to get my books signed, I thought about Marian’s story. She is so inspiring… her book is appropriately named, don’t you think?

I know a few of the above images are a bit fuzzy… but I thought the look on Marian’s face captured her sweet nature. She was every bit as kind and genuine as I thought she would be.

I bought several books…

They will make wonderful gifts. I wish I had bought a few more.

………DAY TWO……..

Saturday morning started off with a fabulous gourmet breakfast from this corner restaurant. Don’t let the name fool you.

Marian graciously mingled among the ladies… as you can imagine everyone wanted a little time chatting with her.

After breakfast there was a little time to mill around before the workshop started, so I wandered down the street to a little antique store.

I spotted this cutie right away. Vintage Shawnee owl cookie jar. Love the gold toes.

His price tag kept him from coming home with me, but I did manage to find a couple of things that did.

The ironstone bowl is a good size, and the silver server says “Merry Christmas”… perfect for all of those pies we eat during the holidays.

I love finding a vintage treasure to bring home, don’t you?

…

The workshop began, and it was so much fun using milk paint. Everyone brought their own item to paint, and it was interesting to see the different pieces and the paint colors each one chose.

You can see some of the finished pieces and read Miss Mustard Seed’s post about the workshop here.

{I will show my finished piece in another post.}

Thank you Mandie from Altar’d for hosting this wonderful weekend.

So. Much. Fun.

Miss Mustard Seed and me.

Guess who is coming to Texas!

christi — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:00:05 +0000

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog, was so I could connect with other women… women who shared similar interests. Interests big and small… significant and not-so-significant. Everything from the Lord Jesus to a great biscuit recipe. And I have certainly found those things as I have hopped around the internet looking at blogs. Haven’t you?

I can’t remember how long ago I stumbled upon this particular blog, but I was hooked from the first click. Painted furniture, slipcovers, antiques, glass glitter…

This girl was talking my language.

You get the idea. Fun stuff.

But more than all of that stuff… was the gal behind it all.

The more I read her blog, the more I could tell there was something different about her. She was so approachable… so generous… so real.

Miss Mustard Seed.

As I read Marian’s blog, it was so fun to see new things happening in her life. I was so happy for her… so proud of her. New opportunities and exciting times. And now her latest adventures bring her here to our area, and I don’t want to miss it.

Marian will be in the Houston area January 11th and 12th for a book signing and a workshop featuring her very own line of milk paint. Mandie of Altar’d will be hosting the event, and it sounds wonderful… a gourmet breakfast, demo, book signing, milk paint workshop.

Don’t you want to go???

Well, you can! There are a limited number of tickets available, AND there is a give-away for two free tickets. Go here to find out all the details.

I hope you can make it.