Functional Fruitions

T'is the Season

2012-10-22T09:22:00.003-04:00

I busted the embroidery machine out again! Now adding customized bibs to the mix! Right now I am offering Christmas and Hanukkah bibs but get orders in early... I already have a few orders to work on and I want to make sure everyone gets their's in time for the holidays which will be here before we know it! Remember, blog friends get 10% off using coupon code BLOGFRIEND Order Here

Attention Sports Fans!

2012-10-14T10:35:00.003-04:00

After many requests... Buffalo Bills clip in bows are done and ready to ship. They can be ordered as a headband as well. These are also perfect for NY Giants & New England Patriots fans and double for the 4th of July. Come sealed in a plastic bag so they are perfect for gifts. Remember, blog friends receive 10% off using coupon code BLOGFRIEND. Stay tuned for more sports teams colors :)

Order on Etsy

I'm Baaaaack!

2012-10-13T11:51:00.001-04:00

Well, as some of you may know... I gave birth to my first child in May, a little girl named Raegan. She is the joy of my life and the absolute best thing that has ever happened to my husband and I. With that being said, I have been going crazy making adorable hair bows and headbands for her and have also been selling them. I have my Etsy site and Facebook up and running. Please check out my items and for any of my blog friends that would like to order, enter coupon code BLOGFRIEND to get 10% off.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FunctionalFruitions

Also, I am running a contest through the end of October. Anyone who likes my Facebook page will be entered to win one of five headbands or hair bows. For an extra entry, share the contest post at the top of my facebook page on your wall. It's that easy, I will draw the winner at the end of the month and will ship out soon after. Winners can choose from any of my posted items or can request a custom order and I will do my best to accommodate.
http://www.facebook.com/FunctionalFruitions

The Pink Links!

2011-07-07T13:43:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that in honor of my Step Father Dino (who is a cancer survivor), on Sunday, August 7th, my team member and I (The Pink Links) will follow in the footsteps of the New York Yankees as part of the third annual Damon Runyon 5K at Yankee Stadium - a unique fundraising run/walk that uses the Stadium as its course. I'll get to explore the concourses and ramps, climb stairs between levels, and take my own victory laps around the warning track that circles the field.

100% of the money I raise will be used by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation to fund innovative research by today’s most brilliant young scientists, who are racing to find the causes and cures for all types of cancer.

Please make a donation that supports my run/walk, every little bit helps.

You can choose the amount you want to give - all donations are gratefully received!

If you want to make a donation please visit this link ... Donation Link

Thank you for your support.

Bling Bling Shoes

2011-06-30T10:26:00.003-04:00

After recently seeing a lot of shoes with Swarovski crystals on them I knew it was something I could attempt to do myself. I wanted to make sure I attempted my first pair with shoes I already had, that way if I messed up it wasn't a big deal. I chose to use a pair of black satin shoes since I thought the crystals would stick the best. I already had the "hot fix" tool from previous projects I have done so all I purchased was the crystals I used. I bought them on eBay because you can get a really good deal on them but you can also purchase them at a craft store like JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I purchased 4 different sizes to give it a little extra texture.

I started with the largest Crystals first, I placed a few long the section where the heel meets the shoe and also a few scattered throughout the rest of the heel. I then worked my way out from those ones using the rest of the 3 sizes, choosing the ones that fit best. The Crystals I purchased have an adhesive already on the back of them so they are easy to work with, the Hot Fix tool will melt the glue and allow you to place the crystals where you want them. Like the crystals, you can also purchase the hot fix tool at a craft store- go when you have a coupon, most stores offer a 40% off!

And done! I can tell you- this was a LOT of work. I did this one heel over the course of 3 nights which I spent about 2-3 hours/night so there were a lot of hours that went into them. I really like the way they turned out so it was worth it in the end, especially when you factor in the cost savings. I think I spent $15 on the crystals, the hot fix I think I originally purchased for around $10 and the shoes I got on sale for $9! These types of custom "strassed" shoes can run upwards of 300 big ones!

An oldie but goodie

2011-06-26T23:45:00.000-04:00

So while my husband was away for work for about 6 months last year I got really bored and worked on a lot of projects. Here is one that I did last summer that I wanted to share. I painted this all free hand and it was very easy to do. It's in the hallway leading into my kitchen and it's very subtle, some people don't even notice it right away which is what I was going for. I wanted a mural that was not over the top in your face. I say, if this is something you want to attempt in your home- go for it! What's the worst that can happen, you don't like how it turned out and you just have to paint over it- no big deal.

Sum Sum Summer Time!

2011-06-24T08:01:00.000-04:00

Last night I made some very yummy fondant covered cutout cookies for a friend at work. These are really easy to do- just make your standard cut out cookie dough, bake them and let them cool. While you are baking you can start to make your Marshmallow fondant and it's easier than you think. You just take mini marshmallows and melt them with a little water in the microwave then add powdered sugar. Here is the recipe I use, a word of advice- mix it as much as you can in the bowl with a spatula. If you don't get it workable in the bowl you will have a sticky mess on your hands.

Ingredients:

8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp water
Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.
2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.
3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.
4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powdered sugar, and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands.
5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth--too much sugar will make it stiff and difficult to work with. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.
6. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.
7. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

Another tip, when rolling out the fondant- make sure you check every few rolls to make sure it's not sticking to your surface. You may need to lift it and add more powdered sugar to your surface so that it doesn't stick, There is nothing more annoying than getting it rolled out all nice just to find it's stuck to your surface and having to start all over. Once you have it rolled out you can use your cookie cutters to cut out the covering. I simply brush the top of the cookie with corn syrup to attach the fondant to the cookie. If the shape is a little to large for the cookie just use your hands to mold and shape it to fit the cookie. You can then use royal icing to add some color to the cookie. I ended up messing up one of the butterfly cookies so I used a gum paste flower I had left over from another project to cover it up. Let the cookie sit out for a while to allow the Royal icing to set up. Next step... Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

Aloha!

2011-06-20T14:26:00.001-04:00

So no step by steps here but I wanted to get this posted considering I have been slacking like crazy. This is a cake that I made for a Luau themed going away party for a friend. She wanted angel food cake with strawberry filling. Just to make it fun I took the cake batter and divided it up into 6 different bowls and died them each a different color... Pink, blue, green, purple, orange & yellow. I then covered the cake in butter cream frosting and let each tier chill in the fridge to harden up the frosting. The night before I had make all the decorative elements that I could place on after decorating. I used white chocolate to make seashells and gum paste to make all the rest. The flowers, surf board and palm tree were made out of gum paste. Let me tell you, it took 3 tries on the palm tree but I finally got it right. For the trunk of the tree I took a small wooden dowel and wrapped it in gum paste and then just used a tooth pic to texture it. I then made the leaves out of gum paste with floral wire in the middle- I found this tip online. It's best to do these things a day or two in advance because they need to harden and they wont go bad anyway. I used marshmallow fondant to cover it, airbrushed everything for color and used royal icing for the piping (it was my first time piping so be nice, lol). The "sand" is just brown sugar. Here is how it came out...

Beaded Necklace

2011-04-23T11:00:00.004-04:00

I just made quite a few pieces of jewelry to donate to a benefit and I took step by steps of how I did it. Here is what you will need...

~Beads
~Beading Wire (sometimes called Tiger Tail)
~Crimp Beads
~Clasp (I would start off with a variety pack because they will usually also have the wire ring that you will need to attach the dangle part of the necklace and sometimes even the Head Pin as well)
~Bead crimper (You can substitute your pliers if you need to but a crimper is best)
~Needle Nose Pliers
~Wire Cutters or Heavy Scissors
If you want to add on the dangle part of the necklace you will need a Head Pin

You will start by taking your wire and cutting it to the length you need, leave about 2 inches extra for attaching the clasp. Place a bead crimp on the wire and then one end of the clasp. Then loop the other end of the wire back through the bead crimp and crimp the bead. Crimping is a 2 step process and the instructions will be on the box when you buy your bead crimper. If you do not have a bead crimper you can use pliers and just crush the bead flat. This will do the job although the crimp will not be as sturdy and wont look as nice.

You can now cut the excess on the wire tail but leave a little so that you can cover it with the beads you start to add on, if you don't cover the wire with the beads it will itch your neck.

Now start to string on the rest of your beads until you have about an inch or inch and a half of wire left. Now you will do pretty much the same process you started with. Place a bead crimp on the wire along with the other part of your clasp. This part will be a little tougher than the first part because you have to loop the wire back in through the bead crimp and also push it back through the beads you have already strung on. You will want to make sure you do not leave any gaps in the string, crimp the bead on so that it is tight to the string of beads.

If you have some wire left that you cant push through the beads simply use your wire cutters to cut it very closely to the beads so that it doesn't stick out and scratch you while you are wearing it.

You can now start on the dangle part if you want to add it. Take your Head Pin and add on the amount of beads that you want. If you have excess wire left you can use your wire cutters to trim.

Then you will use your needle nose pliers to shape the wire into a loop, if you have round nose pliers these will work really well here. Close the loop completely and then take your wire ring which you will need to open a bit and connect them.

You can now attach the ring to your claps and your done! Here is the finished product.

Spring Flowers

2011-04-22T08:04:00.001-04:00

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. These past few weeks have certainly been busy with family in town and so many other things to do. I just wanted to take a few moments to post some of my recent flower arrangements. No step by steps with this, I think flower arrangements should be what you want them to be.

For this arrangement I used light purple stock, white hydrangeas, purple wax flower and filled in with some lemon leaves with steel grass looped throughout. I also took a group of steel grass and made a ring of it to put inside the vase. The ribbon was attached with double sided tape and I also added a ring of rhinestones.

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This next arrangement was made mainly with things I found in my backyard. I took daffodils and some budding branches to add some green. I also used the steel grass that I had left over to hide the glass container that I had inside my moss pot. I then used some other branches to add some heighth to the arrangement.

It's Official!

2011-04-14T12:42:00.000-04:00

I now own www.FunctionalFruitions.com and I could not be more excited! It's all starting to come together, I will soon have my new Etsy account running too. I have decided to start selling the things I make, I can't wait to share. Stay tuned!!

Easter Egg Craft

2011-04-04T09:56:00.002-04:00

This project is fairly easy and would be great to do with kids. Here is what you will need:
~Empty egg carton (paper not plastic or styrofoam)
~Eggs to paint (I found great paper mache ones at Micheals- a pack of 6 for around $2)
~Acrylic paint in your desired colors
~Paint brushes
~Glitter if you want to add a little something extra
~Scissors
~Twig
~Hot glue
~Ribbon

Start by taking your egg carton and cut it into three sections of four egg holders

Next, paint your section of four the color you want, I didn't fully paint the underside and the bottoms of where the eggs sit in since you wont be able to see those spots.

You can now begin painting your eggs. Paint them flat colors, add stripes, dots, glitter... whatever you want.
I used my paint pallet to set them on to dry but you could place them in your egg carton but set them in lightly so you don't mess the paint.

Once everything is dry take your glue gun and add some hot glue to the inside of each egg holder so that the eggs will stay in place.

You will then poke two small holes at each side of your egg carrier, one at each side. This is for the twig to go through, use a twig that is bendable otherwise it will break when you shape it. You may want to use a knife to shave the ends of your twigs down a bit so that the go into the holes better. Obviously an adult should do this part.

Next put your twig ends through each hole and use your hot glue to glue the twig on the underside of the carton.

You can now add your bow, tie it on however you want and your done!

National Autism Awareness Day

2011-04-02T18:07:00.001-04:00

So today's post is more therapeutic for me than anything. Today is National Autism Awareness Day and that is such a great thing. I have a 5 year old brother who is affected by autism and I love that attention is finally being brought to the disease. Today started out pretty well, my husband wanted more than anything to go out on our boat fishing so like a little kid he woke me up bright and early raring to go. We went out for a few hours and didn't catch a thing, not even a bite. That's ok though because I knew he had fun. When we got back home I turned on the tv to notice that a special on autism was on and I definitely wanted to watch it. Today is about education and awareness after all and I am always looking for more information on the very thing that so deeply affects my little brothers life. After watching this show I found myself just that, totally aware. Aware to the fact that I have been so blind as to how much my brother is actually affected. Aware that he is so much worse than many other children labeled with autism. I found myself at one point saying to my husband, "gee, I wish James were as far along as this little boy". The majority of the show focused on the little boy when he was around ages 2 and 3. My little brother is nearly 5 and a half and he is much worse than this little boy at the age of 3. At least this child is verbal and you can communicate. How is it that they are focusing on the little boy and having him be the depiction of "autism"? I fear that people will see this special and think that autism isn't that bad because in my eyes this boy seems fairly normal. I find myself wondering how my brother will end up. How will he develop so that he can lead a somewhat normal life. I have been aware of the disease for a while now yet so unaware of the severity to which my brother is affected. Today is the first day I actually sat and cried thinking about my brothers future. I just sat there and cried, no, sobbed.

On the other hand I do see the progress he is making and what he could become. He is so lucky to have my mother and step father there fighting for him. They work tirelessly everyday to get him the help he needs. Speech, OT, play therapy, swim therapy, or whatever else might work for him. I see my mother completely consumed everyday my his disease, consumed by research, treatment and just trying to manage day to day life. I don't know where he would be today without her there fighting for him every minute of everyday. She is truly an angel and I don't know how she manages to do what she does but she is a miracle worker.

April is National Autism Awareness Month and I urge everyone to get educated on this disease because it is so much on the rise. Next time you are out and you see a child misbehaving and you think to yourself, "what a brat, why can't they get their child under control?"... I want you to stop and think, maybe that child isn't a brat, maybe there is more there than I can see. You never know what the circumstances are and why that child is acting out. That child could be acting out because they are autistic and something very simple set them off. It could be that something is out of place, they don't like the color of the walls, or one of my brother triggers... Babies with pacifiers in their mouths.

So what's next? I pick myself up, put on my blue shirt in support of autism awareness day and move on with the day. You have to keep moving on and forward and pray. I pray that my mother and step father continue to have the strength to keep fighting and I pray that my brother will start to progress more. I pray for a treatment for this disease. I pray for the families so deeply affected by autism, and esspecially the ones effected even more so than mine because there are children that are much worse than my brother. Tomorrow is a new day and another opportunity for advances to be made.

I love my brother more than life and he is truly a blessing to our family!

Cake Balls/Pops!

2011-04-01T13:24:00.002-04:00

Am I behind on posting or what! It has been a crazy week. This is a project I did last week and thought you guys would enjoy this, it's a great one to do with kids too.

Here is everything you will need...
~Cake mix and whatever ingredients it calls for
~Frosting
~Chocolate (I used chocolate chips because it's what I had at home but I would strongly suggest using baking chocolate since it makes for better presentation) Get creative with this, use pink, purple or whatever color you want. Michaels and most other craft stores will sell pre-colored baking chocolate.
~Sprinkles or whatever you want to use to decorate
~Wax paper
~Bowls for mixing
~Spoon
~Baking sheet

Start by baking the cake and letting it cool, then cut around the edges so that you do not have any hardened pieces in your mix. Cut the remainder of the cake into small squares, this makes it easier to work with.

Place your cake squares into a bowl and use your hands to break them up into a fine mix (obviously make sure your hands are clean for this). Then take about 5 tablespoons of your frosting and add it to the cake.

Use your hands again to knead the frosting into the cake mix, much like when making meatballs. The mixture should work up into a mix that you can work with and mold into balls. If you need to add more frosting go right ahead.

Lay out your baking sheet and put wax paper over it. take small mounts of your cake mix and make it into little bite size balls and place them on your baking sheet. I then place my sheet with the cake balls on it in my freezer for about 30 minutes, they are much easier to cover with chocolate like this since they will be harder.

Once your cake balls are almost ready to pull out of the freezer you can begin melting your chocolate. You can use either the double pot method or a microwave but you have to be very careful with a microwave. If using one, heat in 30 second intervals and stir often to get the right consistency. If you over heat, the chocolate will actually harden up again. If you are using baking chocolate just follow the directions on the package. Take your balls one at a time and dip them in your chocolate, a serving spoon will be a big help here. Once it is covered place it back on your wax paper covered baking sheet and decorate with sprinkles if you like.

Wait for the chocolate to harden, eat and enjoy! Mine obviously aren't as pretty as they could be because I used chocolate chips but they were still yummy!

You can also make these into Cake Pops simply by inserting lollipop/sucker sticks into the balls before freezing them. This also makes it easier when dipping them into chocolate. You can also use a block of foam to put the ends of the sticks into and stand them up so that they dry better without a flat end on them from resting on the wax paper to harden. Both the sticks and foam can be purchased at your local craft store.

Homemade Hair Bows

2011-03-27T20:50:00.005-04:00

I had to wait to post this one considering I made these for my girlfriend as part of her baby shower gift and her shower was just yesterday. These are very easy and you can get as creative as you want- add beads, buttons, crystals, etc.

Here is what you will need... Hair clips- I purchased box of 80 clips for around $6 from Sally Beauty Supply. Ribbon- I purchased mine from Michaels and they ranged from $1-$3 a spool. You will also need a glue gun, lighter, thread and needle for this project.

Start with using your glue gun to attach ribbon to your clips so that there are no sharp ends. You should use a lighter to singe the ends of your ribbon so that they do not fray. To do this just hold the lighter to the end of the ribbon but to not touch the ribbon with the flame, you want to hold it close enough so that it melts. Obviously an adult should do this portion of the project if you are working with children for this project. You should always be careful when working with fire and flammable products.

Next you will start to make the bows you want to use. You should also take a lighter to singe the ends of your ribbon on this step as well. I do not cut the length of ribbon until I make the shape of the bow and see exactly how much I will need. Once you have the bow shaped you should take your needle and thread and put it through the middle of the bow, wrap it around the entire middle of the bow loosely once or twice and then while holding the middle of the bow between your fingers pull the thread tightly- this will ensure that the bow pinches the way you want it to and that the ribbon does not turn in a direction that you do not want. Wrap the thread around a few more times and then tie it off.

You can now get creative at this step. If you want to add a knot at the middle to hide the thread just take a small piece of ribbon, knot it and glue the ends of the ribbon to the back of your bow. You can also add beads or buttons if you want, whatever you like would work. Once your bow is complete you will put hot glue to the top of your clip and attach it to the back of your bow.

Get creative, make different types and sizes of bows. I made quite a few and I thought I took pictures of all of them but they are not showing up on my camera. Oh well, have fun with this easy project :)

Time to stock up on....

2011-03-25T14:24:00.000-04:00

Your crafting supplies! Michaels is having an amazing deal this weekend that I wanted to share. From this Sunday, March 27th till next Saturday April 2nd, you can get 25% off your entire purchase- even sale items! I have not seen them give a coupon like this in quite some time so get ready to shop. I know I will be stocking up on scrapbooking, painting & jewelry making supplies.

They also have a 50% off one regular priced item this Saturday only. If you do not already receive their emails make sure you sign up at Michaels.com so that you can get these great coupons.

What woman doesn't love shoes!!

2011-03-24T14:21:00.005-04:00

So no projects today :( Don't you worry though, I'm working on something tonight and I should have it posted in the morning.

I did want to just take a minute to share a great deal I got today... This is only for today so if you are interested make sure you get it today. Go to Eversave and sign up your email address. You will receive a $5 credit just for signing up and it's free to do so. The deal I got today was for a $40 gift certificate for just $20 to heels.com and with your $5 credit that makes it just $15! This was on the New York City site but I also saw it under Buffalo so it is in multiple markets and it doesn't matter where you purchase it from because it is for an online retailer so you can use it no matter what. I used my gift certificate already to purchase a pair of shoes that I needed for a wedding. Unfortunately I signed up for this site a while ago and at the time they only had a $2 credit which made my gift certificate $18. After everything was done I bought a pair of $49.99 dollar shoes for $27.99 and free shipping. Great deal so I thought I would share :)

Bling Bling Necklace on a Budget

2011-03-23T07:37:00.001-04:00

So for a while now I have been eyeing up a necklace I have seen Giuliana from Giuliana & Bill wear on their show. I have searched long and hard for this type of necklace with no luck, at least without spending a small fortune. While I was out getting some jewelry making supplies I actually found the things I would need to make this elusive necklace. Michaels actually sells these thick chains in all kinds of colors and sizes. I went with a large size gold chain, medium size light gold chain (light enough that it is almost silver) and a small size bronze chain. I did this project last night and it was one of the quickest jewelry projects I've done, it probably took me about 15 minutes start to finish.

Here is what I purchased... 3 strands of chain, package of gold colored rings to attach everything together and a package of gold clasps. I spent around $16 for the supplies after a 40% off one item coupon I had which saved me $2. I used all of the chain but still have plenty of rings and clasps left over for future projects. You can even save more money if you keep an eye out for your local craft supply store sales. JoAnns, Michaels, AC Moore and Hobby Lobby always have coupons as well. This necklace turned out similar to a necklace I found through an in home party jewelry companies magazine for $86. Since I made it myself I saved around $80 compared to the other necklace I found!! :)

Teaser of tonight's project which will be tomorrow's post...

2011-03-22T21:46:00.002-04:00

Love this one...

Signs of Spring

2011-03-22T11:06:00.000-04:00

With this crazy up and down weather we've been having, I just wanted to share this picture of a flower I picked while out for my run on Saturday. Yes we are supposed to get more flurries this week but hang in there, Spring is surely on its way.

Distress furniture using Milk Paint

2011-03-21T23:16:00.000-04:00

For this project you will need:

Piece of Furniture you would like to Distress
Sandpaper- large and small grit (I used 80 & 200)
Damp cloth or Tack Cloth
1 Gallon Skim Milk
2 Cups Distilled White Vinegar
Cheesecloth or Strainer
2 Tablespoons Lime Juice
Acrylic Paint for color
Natural fiber paint brush
1 Small can Clear Furniture Finish (I used a water based polycrylic clear satin finish)

This is what started it all, my most recent project- a wooden end table for a sitting area in my office. I wanted to get a nice white-washed/antique looking table and yes, I found many- for a price. I was not about to pay $150+ for something I could make myself so I decided to do just that, make it myself. I figured I would be able to get a decent table at a garage sale, after all I would be repainting it anyhow. I decided to go to a nearby garage sale that I found listed on Craigslist last weekend to look for a table and I found one- a nice one actually. I knew it had to be solid hardwood- no particle board since I would be sanding it. The table I found was exactly what I was looking for and it was a great price, only $10!! It was in such nice condition that I would have been able to put it in my house as is.

I brought the table home and began to sand it down. Luckily I have a palm sander which made the work much easier and quicker but you could do it by hand if need be. I noticed after getting to the painting stage that leaving some areas sanded better than others actually works in adding to the character of the table. The paint will adhere better to the well sanded areas and will crack more in areas that still have some varnish left on them. If the piece of furniture you choose to use has imperfections that it great, don't forget we want the piece to look old. I would use the rougher sandpaper to start (80 grit) and then move to the finer paper (150 or 200 grit) to finish it off. Once sanded make sure you clean the dust off well, you could use a damp cloth or I used a tack cloth which I used and purchased at Home Depot.

Now we get to the interesting part- making the Milk Paint. This project was really born out of my curiosity of Milk Paint. Before starting the project I had researched what product works best to paint distressed looking furniture and most of the information I found pointed to Milk Paint. You can purchase milk paint on-line, I think it runs about $40/gal. Of course the "frugal" side of me thought, I wonder if I can make Milk Paint. Maybe it's just a watered down standard interior wall paint or maybe, just maybe it actually has milk in it- crazy right! Well, I found out after researching that Milk Paint is just that- MILK. Here is how you make it...

Supplies for making paint:
1 Gallon Skim Milk
2 Cups Distilled White Vinegar
Cheesecloth or Strainer
2 Tablespoons lime juice
Acrylic Paint for color

How to prepare:
Leave the milk out until it reaches room temperature. Pour the milk into a container large enough to fit the milk, you could divide into two separate containers if you need to. Pour the vinegar into the milk which starts the curdling process, remember to pour one cup in each container of milk if you needed to divide the milk between two containers. Let the milk sit out overnight to allow it to curdle, stirring once or twice if possible.

The next day you'll be able to notice the milk solids separating from the liquid whey. Have everything ready prior to mixing since milk paint should be used when it's fresh.

Take the curdled milk and pour it through a cheese cloth or strainer to separate the curds from the whey (I used a strainer since I had one readily available). Do this over a sink since you will end up discarding the whey and keeping the curds for your paint. Take the curds that you have collected and rinse them with water through your strainer, you may have more curds than will fit in your strainer so just do this in portions- be sure to remove most of the water leaving the curds damp but not dripping.

Take your curds in your container and add the lime juice which will help dissolve the curds and also add your acrylic paint for color (I wanted to keep it white so I just added about a teaspoon of white paint with a few drops of a cream colored paint to soften it a bit). Mix everything well so that you are left with a pasty substance with no large curds left. A helpful hint, if you want to speed this process along use a blender- it will also give your paint a better consistency. The paint will cling to the sides of your blender so be sure to stop a few times and use a spatula to push the mix down. Yes the paint does smell but the smell will be gone once the paint dries.

Now you can begin painting your piece. First be sure to place a drop cloth under your piece since the paint gets messy. The paint will go on very clumpy and that is totally fine, imperfection is great when trying to make something look old. With this being the first time I worked with milk paint, the first coat I put on I thought for sure it would flake right off once it dried. I let the table dry for about an hour outside in the sun (you may want to allow for extra time if painting indoors) and to my surprise, it actually worked! The paint dried just like I wanted it to and cracked up perfectly.

You can now lightly hand sand your piece to remove the flaked paint using the fine grit sandpaper. Take a damp cloth or tack cloth to remove dust from sanding and then you will be ready to apply another coat, let dry and repeat sanding again.

You are now ready to seal your piece. I used a water based polycrylic clear satin finish. I applied one coat, allowed to dry overnight and then applied another coat. My table now looks great and I saved at least $100, I can not wait to find the perfect chair to put next to it. Here is just one last pic of it in my house next to a chair I already have to show the feel I am going for. I will post an updated picture of the entire set up once it's complete.

I will be replacing the rug, getting a new chair and possibly keeping the ottoman (reupholstered myself)

What does it mean?

2011-03-21T21:21:00.000-04:00

After some encouragement from my friends at work I have finally decided to start a blog. I am always crafting and coming up with ways to make things very inexpensively and a few people have told me that I need to share my ideas and projects so here goes. Of course the next step was coming up with a name and for some reason Functional Fruitions seemed to fit the purpose of my blog- projects with a purpose coming together as I envisioned them. I hope you all will tune in for more :)

What does it mean....?
func·tion·al

Designed for or adapted to a particular function or use

fru·i·tion

Realization of something desired or worked for; accomplishment
Enjoyment derived from use or possession