Eat. Craft. Love

Back in the fall, I found this cute sign on the blog, Crafts By Amanda:





craftsbyamanda.com




And I loved how she saw something she loved in a store and made it her own.

She saw this cute wall art at Pier One. No bother looking for this, I checked and it is from last summer.




But my personal favorite stage of her process was this:


craftsbyamanda.com






I really love signs that are distressed but these can cost serious moola in stores and catalogs…..



Like this adorable sign from, whom else, Pottery Barn:



potterybarn.com






For just a little chump change….$119.00…ON SALE.

Pottery Barn never disappoints.


I was also impressed with Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors and her tutorial on how to make distressed signs here.



funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com



Isn't this adorable? And it looks like she actually got it from an old grocery store. Not a Pottery Barn catalog.

funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com

Here it is in her kitchen. I love her windows above her sink and the two lamps!! But one question, is it really safe to have two lamps next to a sink? Hmmm....

The only problem is that I do not possess a Silhouette machine.

What is this, you say??

Well, it is this great machine that can create many a thing but the biggie is that it can create decals or what I like to call, wall words. Yes, those things you pay 20 bucks plus for in stores? Well you can make these on this beautiful creation:

modernchictots.com

Cost of one of these puppies: $299 smackeroos…..not too budget friendly for a stay at home momma. I was gonna use my money I made from the craft shows/business venture to get one of these but I only made $40.00. So I bought some new dinner plates from Target instead.



Priorities people.



So back to Amanda’s craft, I really wanted to do this but there was one thing standing in my way.

My fear of Home Depot…insert any other home improvement store here……


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I know, weird.

The thing is, I see these great blogs about working with wood, molding and the like, girls using power sanders, Dremel machines, and I get all nervous. My eye starts to twitch and then it all goes down hill from there.

 I don’t know how to do these things.

 I have no one to show me and I am as nervous going into these places as I am going into a car dealership.

So I just buy my spray paint/drawer pulls/flowers and move it on outta there.



But then I noticed this piece of wood in the garage propped up against the wall:

And I thought, did this just drop down from the heavens??? How did this get here? I think it was left from the previous owners five years ago but who cares, it was THE perfect size for what I had in mind.

So I followed Amanda’s careful instructions and bought the right paint colors:

I also bought letter stencils (in place of a Silhouette Machine) which I found on clearance for nine dollars that included the whole alphabet, numbers (swoon) and even punctuation marks. These are usually found in the Art section of craft stores. I found mine at Michael's in the clearance section.

Then I got to work sanding the wood to prep it and then I painted the three coats in the order that Amanda stated on her blog and it looked like this:

I know, ugly right?

Then I added my stencils:

And added some flatware I got at Goodwill for the project:

And here is the finished product:

Not exactly as good as Amanda's and I truly blame the lack of a Silhouette machine here because I think I did a pretty good job at the painting and making it look like an old distressed sign but the letters need some work.

 

Cost Round Up Time!


Plank o wood- $0

Paints- $6

Stencils- $9

Spray Finish- $6

Utensils found at Goodwill- 50 cents



Grand Total-

$21.50!!




In honor of our new EAT sign……..RECIPE TIME!!!




I get lots of requests for this recipe from friends and family and once you make it, you will see why. The original recipe I had came from Bob Golic of  Cleveland Browns fame.

obsessedwithsports.wordpress.com

I think he was a guest on this morning show in Cleveland when my mom got the recipe.

Clevelandwomen.com

Do any of my Ohio friends remember this show? My mom and grandma went with some friends to see them when they came to our hometown which was such a big deal.  I remember watching it when I stayed home from school sick or in the summer. I even remember three of their names: Joel, Fred and Jan. See what an impression media made on me at such a young age?


 I blame them with my obsession of People magazine.




But I have changed the recipe up a bit to fit my needs. If you would like the original recipe, I can give it to you but this is my take on it:

evernewrecipes.com

Shepherds Pie

-1 pound ground beef

-1 onion, chopped

-1 can cream of chicken soup

-8 serving’s instant mashed tots (you can use homemade mashed if you like but it tastes so much better with instant)

-1 package of shredded cheddar cheese

-8 slices of bacon, cooked (I microwave, better for you)



Brown the beef and onions until fully cooked. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and start the process of cooking the instant potatoes. You have two options at this point: you can put this recipe into one pie plate which will make a HEAPING pie OR you can divide it between two pie plates (which is what I do, especially if I have company as it seems like you have more and everyone won’t feel bad asking for seconds. Which they will do, trust me.) So after the beef is browned, add the cream of chicken soup (I use low fat or fat free) and combine. Then take the beef mixture and add it to the pie plate(s) and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes to get it set; all the while you have cooked the potatoes and the bacon. After you bring the beef pies out, top with the potatoes then the cheese…(the more the better) and the bacon. Put it in the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

I serve this with a salad and crusty bread and it is TO DIE FORRRR!!

Oh and the leftovers are even better.

Enjoy!!


See ya tomorrow with a fun Valentine themed post. :)