The Cookies of Christmas Past

I love making iced sugar cookies. Period. And mine are so good that my sister avoids all others at Christmas, knowing that they sadly can't compare. This past holiday season I decided to do something a little different for our Christmas Eve party: I made Christmas Dog Cookies to look like our family's pups. Penny and Ulysses are my and my husband's terriers and Rufus is my parents' long-haired mini dachshund. They were a big hit!

I do my cookies a little differently than most bakers because I have never been a fan of the taste or texture of royal icing. But, you know, I want all of the visual appeal. I have test-driven a lot of cookie icing recipes and have finally created one that I'm happy using.


Until next time...

Dining Set Reupholstery

My husband and I are a young and, as of yet, childless couple. We're still playing house and amassing the kind of furniture expected of adults. Truly, until a few weeks ago our dining furniture was comprised of black folding chairs and a Kmart table my husband's friend gave us after his wife deemed it too ugly to warrant continued residence in their garage.

This prolonged lack of improvement has been due partially to a small budget and partially to pickiness on the part of the writer. We have upgraded and filled in various pieces around the house, all the while leaving the kitchen as it stood. Meanwhile, I have been searching for the right replacement at big box-type furniture stores, online, and at antique stores. We stumbled on it at Calypso, a unique store in Valley West Mall of Des Moines. It was a set with prominent detailing neither frilly nor fussy, seating for six, and was originally manufactured in town. It also had a roughly-used finish, some loose joints, and horrid upholstery. For the fantastic price, we were willing to purchase a DIY project.

A cursory search online unearthed some information about our new furniture. It was produced in the 1920's as part of a Colonial Revival movement. One author, in a brief overview of American decorative arts movements, concluded that this mode is actually the only true American furniture style our country has ever produced. Essentially, we had to copy our own decorative style (which was itself a mimicry of English Georgian), before we thought up anything new.

Another online search produced a useful This Old House clip instructing viewers on the best way to reupholster dining chairs such as ours. During another trip to the Des Moines area, we purchased all the necessary supplies. This past weekend, we set about starting and finishing this project.

Our terrier, Ulysses, observes our strange activities, fearful that we may have lost our marbles afterall.

I hope you noticed the horrendous fabric with which our chairs came equipped.

All in all, this project probably claimed a combined 8 hours of work from my husband and me. We are enjoying the results!

Until next time...

It's Been Far Too Long!

Seriously, I had such good intentions when I started this blog. I'm forever working on  projects and it seems a real shame not to keep a record of them or to share what I discover along the way.

In my defense, I wasn't working at the time of my first posts. Now I'm the first lieutenant, so to speak, for a major area nonprofit. I put much of my daily energy into running our events and initiatives and creating our marketing materials.

Excuses aside, I have quite a few things going on currently. I'm knitting two projects, re-planting the organic garden we started last year, designing the potted plants for our deck, and reupholstering a set of dining chairs. Please tune in as I post individual reports on the progress of each!