Cut sugar cookie recipe

 Doodlebug and I were eating popsicles on the hammock Sunday and he started talking about "those yummy cookies we cut with those silver things...."

 Mighty has no idea what she's missing yet!  She was entertained by emptying out the cabinets....

 And he actually did a really great job helping...we haven't done this for awhile...funny to see how he's growing up by the difference in how he "helps"

 Of course you have to make powdered sugar icing to go on them...and in COLORS!

 So intent....but he did say "Mom--I'm having a great time!"

This recipe is SOOO good.  Usually sugar cookies that are cut are a little bland...not these!  They are soo tasty!

Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

6 Tblsp. milk

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugars; add eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Beat well.  Sift dry ingredients; add to butter mixture beating well until blended.  CHILL in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Roll then cut with cookie cutters.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12minutes.  Yields approx 5 doz. cookies

$5

Recently while I was out jogging with the kiddos I spotted this cute little 60's style dining room set....

I went by on my last lap and was all ready to knock on the door but there was a gentleman in the driveway :)  I took that as a "sign"!!!!

Anyways I asked him what was going on with the furniture and he said they'd had it in a yard sale and no one wanted it....he asked if I wanted it.  So I offered to pay him for it and asked how much he wanted...."oh I don't know...$5????"  A table and 4 chairs.  $5...

Then I started pulling staples and kept pulling....and pulling and pulling...

Originally I was going to recover the chairs so I left the webbing and went ahead and painted.  I loved the shape of the chairs...and had a fun paint color in mind for them.

It's kind of a mustard yellow but it's got more green to it than the photos really show....it's called "Gecko" 

Then I was thinking about what to use to cover them with and I remembered something my husband and I had seen...

This seat is in a hot rod ---a car that was completely built by hand and is a real work of art.

Anyways I decided to go back and pull the rest of the staples and get rid of all the upholstery so we could weave some leather seats....

we bought a 3-5 oz 1/2 hide of tooling leather

After alot of measuring and remeasuring we finally laid out all our strips on the back of the hide and cut them out.  (They were 3" wide and we needed 36 strips)

Then each was hand rubbed with the dye and sprayed with a sealer.

Next came the fun part :) finishing up the chairs...

My husband drilled pilot holes, screwed the strips in while weaving the strips....

And now these

Look like this....

 My husband actually said "Wifey, this might be the best idea you've ever had..."

 I'd say I've had a few better ;) but that's high praise coming from my perfectionist husband---

 Doodlebug---STILL celebrating his birthday:) Notice the one shoe on one shoe off...

 two finished, a third almost finished and one to go!

I'm still trying to decide how to do the table.  I'm leaning towards staining the whole thing but we have the dark wood flooring so I thought about painting only the bottom and refinishing the top...but we'll see....

VanHook& Co. original

My husband and I have been working on creating an original piece of furniture....

this is the frame built from aluminum tubing...

the top is different sized widths of poplar connected on the bottom with these strips which are glued and screwed...

Awhile back a man asked him to create this  artwork to paint on the door of his hotrod.  But he sold the car to someone before we got to paint it for him ---so it's been rolled up waiting for something to be painted on :)

 The first color I painted was a blue from the "oops" shelf at Lowe's.  The top coat was the "Fresh Linen" color I've been using...

The artwork was originally done on paper.  But we use something called "Saral" paper to transfer the design.  You can find it at craft stores--I think we got ours at Hobby Lobby.

Here it is all painted, distressed and waxed. 

 I love the boat....

I mixed some acrylic paint (black and brown) into my wax.  Just scoop it out into a separate container and mix it really well....

I also like to warm my wax up a little which makes it easier to brush on.  You can heat it for a few seconds in the microwave or you can sit the can in a bowl of hot water.

My husband and I feel really blessed to be able to "share" our talents.  We are having so much fun working together and using our creativity....GOD is just always so good.  He's blessed us with a wonderful opportunity to share all that and try out ideas we come up with....There is something really satisfying about seeing the idea in your head and then working it all out into reality!
We'd love to hear some feedback on this table...

Feedsack chair #2

Here's how she started out.  With two layers of upholstery on the seat...

She was a little wiggly.  But when we tore into the bottom there was the original horse hair stuffing, hand laced springs, and hand laced webbing with some really OLD nails/tacks.  Pretty cool...she's an old girl for sure!

So my husband tightened everything up...which took some doing...

I painted her this aqua color (a concoction I mixed myself from about 3 other colors)

Then a coat of "Urban Sunrise" color which is a really nice grey color...

I distressed with some 180 grit and 240 grit.

I love the back...when we first looked at the chair I wasn't sure ---I really wanted an upholstered back too....but I think I like this one better than the first one!

Then came the waxing which I tinted with some grey paint....just mixed it right into the wax and brushed the wax on....here she is all finished up!

Is she girly or what!?!?!??!  Nice gams!!!  I was so happy with the whole thing....and she's already sold.  I finished her up yesterday and took her to the store. My friend already had someone who wanted first dibs on her....and she was in love so she has a new home already....

More photos if you want to keep looking :)

Of course I have to link this to...

Bench or Table

This little table/bench started out brown, sad and neglected :)  And I had already started painting without taking the dramatic "Before" photo....

So here it is after sanding and sanding and more sanding and a couple of coats of Valspar's  "Fresh Linen" (not to mention lots of snack breaks for Doodlebug and stopping to play baseball)

 And of course just the paint makes a huge difference....(or maybe it's the orange plastic key off to the side there!!!!  Ahhh our poor garage is just always a mess....)

 I decided to do some artwork just to make her a little more special

 It distressed really well, and I waxed this piece to finish it up...She would make a really great coffee table or entry bench...lot's of possibilities!

She's headed to WC along with another feedsack chair I'm finishing up....