Lime Coconut Shortbread

May 25, 2012

You put the lime in the coconut…. Sorry I couldn’t help myself. I’m a sucker for shortbread – I love all that butter. These shortbread have a bright summery taste with the zest of lime and rich flavor of coconut.

Lime Coconut Shortbread
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cold butter (cut into 1/2″ cubes)
zest of 2 limes
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. vanilla

This is a quick cookie to whip up. I did all the mixing in the food processor.

Start by putting the coconut, vanilla, powdered sugar and lime zest in the food processor. Pulse until the coconut is chopped up quite fine. Add the flour and pulse again. Put all the butter in and pulse until the dough starts to come together. It will probably be quite dry and crumbly. Add one tbsp. of fresh lime juice and pulse one more time. The dough should come together now, if it doesn’t add a tsp. of lime juice at a time more.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour in the fridge.

Roll out the dough on a well floured surface to about 1/4″ thick. Cut out desired shapes. Chill again for 20 mins. Bake in a 350 F oven until the edges turn ever so slightly brown. Cool on racks.

The icing is simply the juice of one of two limes (depending on how juicy they are), the zest of one lime, and about 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix well to make a thick glaze. Top each cooled cookies with about 1 tsp. of the glaze and spread it out to the sides. While the they are still wet, sprinkle with a little shredded coconut.

I served these and a couple other treats at O + P’s second DIY workshop this Wednesday evening. We made painted wooden spoons. It was a nice evening, with great company. I’ll keep you posted on the next event. Hope you can make it. What should O + P’s next DIY workshop craft be? Any suggestions?

etc.

Thrifting Thursday: School Chair

May 24, 2012

I had to share this cute find. I got this little metal and wood school chair at a garage sale recently. I had walked to the store with Olivia to get some milk, and on the way back I spotting the sale. I decided to walk by. This chair caught my eye. I got it for $3. So, I carried it with one hand and pushed the stroller with the other about 7 blocks home. I’m sure I was an interesting sight.

I really bought it with no purpose in mind. I just thought it was too cute to pass up and especially at only $3.

Do ever buy things just because? No reason or purpose in mind – just because it’s a dang good deal.

etc.

Painting Laminate Furniture

May 23, 2012

I shared earlier that I was going to attempt to paint a piece of laminate furniture. In my thriftiness, I decided that it couldn’t hurt to try. I did a lot of research on what products to use. I’m really happy with the results, so I’ll share how I achieved them.

First of all, if you want a great finished look, there are some steps you can’t short cut. Definitely take apart the piece of furniture as much as possible. When I took mine totally apart, I ended up with 15 piece to paint. But, then you don’t end up with cracks and crevises that you are trying to get paint into. It worked out to be easier, I only have flat pieces to work with. The second thing you should short cut is sanding. There is not replacement for it. I used a power sander and had all the pieced sanded in less then 30 mins. There was some water damage on mine too, so this allowed me to smooth out any bubbles or imperfections. When you are done sanding, make sure to dust off all the surfaces really well with a tack cloth or damp rag.

Before

Now this is where I took a shortcut, I decided to use spray paint to save me some time. It ended up only costing about $4 more for the primer and about $3 more for the yellow paint. So, I thought it was worth it.

There is no substitute for sanding.

First I primed everything with Zinsser Cover Stain Oil-Base Primer Primer (purchased at Home Depot). It is oil based and bonds fantastically and dries super fast. When the primer was good and dry I put on the first coat of yellow paint, I used Rust-oleum Painter’s Touch Gloss in Warm Yellow. It took two coats of the yellow to get good coverage. I learned from my dad to put on a light coat and then go back and do another coat. Putting it on thick to start with does not work as well.

Then there was just the puzzle of putting it back together. Taking a picture beforehand was helpful. It really looks like a new piece of furniture. I’m so happy with the results. I hope to get the rest of the room together later this week, so I can share it with you.

To see this cute cabinet in the finished bathroom, click here.

BE A FRIEND! Leave a comment, follow Oleander and Palm by email, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

etc.

Grey and Yellow Bathroom Inspiration

May 22, 2012

Yesterday I shared some of the mess, today is a little prettier. I put together a little inspiration board for the bathroom I am re-doing. It’s just a jumping off point of some ideas, objects, colors and patterns I like for this room.

1. Vintage style yellow towels.

2. A yellow piece of furniture (via pinterest).

3. Kind wish I was brave enough to paint our claw foot tub (via pinterest).

4. Definitely some yellow chevron fabric, maybe curtains.

5. Cute storage for TP, towels, etc.

6. Some of these cute striped accessories.

7. A striped turkish towel or two.

8. More chevron.

9. This will definitely need to go in the room.

How do you feel about this color combo? If you had a claw foot tub, would you paint the outside of it yellow?

etc.

Bathroom Face Lift – the mess

May 21, 2012

This is one of the those posts that isn’t pretty. I wanted to show you some of the behind the scenes, not just the pretty finished outcome. Take a look at my mess.

The “used to be cute” cabinet.

This weekend I took on a huge job, well technically a couple big jobs. The kids/guest bathroom was in desperate need of a face lift. We hadn’t painted it since we moved in almost 9 years ago. In the room we have a tall, used to be cute, cabinet that provides much needed storage. The cabinet had seen better days. It’s a piece of laminate furniture, and with water damage from messy kids, it was pretty dang ugly.

Ugly, peeling, water damaged laminate.

Remembering that we are on one teacher’s salary, I knew I needed to be thrifty with this makeover. So, I decided to paint the cabinet. I did a lot of research on what products to use. And I’m really quite happy with the results (I will share my how-to this week).

A lot of sanding and painting this weekend.

I also knew the room had to be painted. I took a huge risk (well risk for me) and considered painting all the bead board and chair railing the same color as the walls. I love wainscoting painted white, but I felt it looked a little more country and cottagey for my taste right now. I think painting everything the same color will give the space a more modern look. I decided to use the paint left over from Dylan’s room (Benjamin Moore – smoke embers). I had just enough paint, I was definitely scraping every last drip of paint out of the can though.

Had to take out some trim and patch the wall, not so fun with lath and plaster.

Lots of mudding and then lot’s of sanding.

Should I do it, paint the wainscoting and chair rail?

Have you ever painted a piece of laminate furniture? What do you think about me painting all my wainscoting and chair rail grey as well? Are you attempting any thrifty makeovers? Please share.

etc.

Thrifting Thursday: Ombre Owl

May 17, 2012

I’m starting a new weekly post here at Oleander and Palm. It’s called Thrifting Thursday! Every week I’ll share a thrifty find with you. I seem to hit a thrift shop, garage sale, flea market, or antique mall at least once a week. So, I’m sure I won’t have any trouble finding things to share. People often ask me, “Where do you find this stuff for that price?”, so I’m going to try share my favorite spots and what to look for.

This first thrifty find is a pretty great one. I gave him a total make over, and I’m very pleased with the results. I found this handsome little owl at Salvation Army for $2.81. He was cute as is, but I knew I wanted to add him to Denali’s owl collection (Denali and I have had a thing for owls for quite a few years now). So, why not make him a pink ombre owl?

It was really easy to do. I started by priming him, so that I would get better coverage with the pink. Then I started at the bottom first and painted about 1 1/2″ up in Martha’s Pink Flamingo craft paint. Then I added a little white paint to the pink, and painted another 1 1/2″. I kept adding a little more white each time and ended up with 5 shades of pink. I blended the lines between the colors each time so that there wasn’t a harsh line.

etc.

Painted Wooden Spoons

May 14, 2012

I had to do it. I’m sure you’ve seen these cute painted wooden spoon. They called my name and it was an enjoyable hour spent with craft paint (I used Martha’s), a little painters tape, and my favorite brush.

I made two sets. The first is white with different metallic ends on each (silver, copper, and gold) and the second in pastels with gold ends.

I taped off the section of the handle that I wanted painted, and I painted the white and pastels first. When those were completely dry, I taped off about an inch on the end of the spoon and put a couple coats of the metallic paint on. So simple and so satisfying. I love these kinds of crafts.

So, my local friends (Bakersfield, CA). Let’s have another DIY get together! I really enjoyed the Spring Wreath Workshop, so let’s paint spoons together this time. And of course we will eat treats, have coffee, and do what woman do best – chat! Leave me a comment if you are interested in joining in this time round. And I’d love to know if you prefer a week night or weekend. So, tell your friends and “Like” my facebook page to find out the time and day.

I’m not sure even where to start when crediting someone for this idea. I feel very strongly about making sure that the creator or inventor of an idea is given props, but this is one of those crafts that I’ve been seeing all over blogs and pinterest and I don’t know where it all began. I’ll try to credit as many sources as I can. But, if you know the true origin of this idea, please let me know.

Check out these, and these, and these, and how about these.

etc.

Monthly Memory Verse – May

May 11, 2012

This verse seemed so appropriate this month. I know a lot of people that are hurting, especially from the loss of their child. Some have lost an unborn child, some a baby, some their adult children. I can’t understand their pain, but I’m sure they are struggling to go on with life. But there is hope, we don’t have to rely on our own strength. He gives us the strength!

Here’s May’s memory verse. I got a little behind last month, I’m sorry. Hopefully I am back on track and I can have June’s verse ready be the 1st of the month. How about two trends in the design of this verse: ombre and navy blue. I try to come up with interesting designs and then I ultimately just go back to clean and simple. It just appeals more to me. What are your thoughts?

If you want to know more about my Monthly Memory Verse, read here.

etc.

Camping Food: Hobo Meals

May 9, 2012

As summer is approaching, I’m getting excited about all the camping opportunities we have. One of the best parts of camping is the food! For some reason, when you are in the wilderness, you give yourself permission to eat things you would normally stay away from (like s’mores with homemade graham crackers). And I think every thing just tastes better when your camping. Hobo meals are something my mom made when we camped. I guess they are named this, because Hobos ate these? Or they would have been a good meal for a hobo, no pots or pans or stove necessary. Just tin foil and a fire with good coals.

Hobo meals usual consist of meat and lots of veggies. Then they are wrapped up and cooked in the coals. The steam that gets locked in the foil cooks the food, and it stay moist and flavorful. This is my new twist on the traditional Hobo Meal – Sweet and Sour Meatball Hobo Meals. This meal is now our new family favorite camping meal.

Sweet and Sour Meatball Hobo Meals

2 lbs of ground beef

1 egg

a couple dashes of maggie sauce

1 garlic clove

1/4 rolled oats

salt and pepper

1 can of pineapple pieces (don’t you love the cute Trador Joe’s can of pineapple)

red, yellow, orange, or green pepper cut into pieces

1 red onion cut into wedges

Teriyaki Sauce (I used Lawry’s)

Make the meat balls ahead of time and freeze them. Mix together the first 6 ingredients. Then roll the meat into 1″ meat balls. Freeze in a ziploc bag until you are ready to go camping.

When you are ready to cook the meals, cut two 12″ pieces of foil for each hobo meal (I made 4). Divide the meal balls and veggies onto the pieces of foil. Pour at least 4 tbsp. of teriyaki sauce on each meal. Roll up the ends and seal the foil well, then just to be safe, seal each meal with a second piece of foil. Place the meals in the hot coals of the fire. These meals cook in 15-20 mins depending on the heat of the fire.

Serve with rice. I used instant brown rice, because it’s fast to make. Eat them right out of the foil, no dishes necessary.

I actually had made my own sweet and sour sauce before we left, but it got left in the fridge. So, on the way to our campsite, I stopped at a little shop and found this teriyaki sauce. It worked well and tasted great, so I think this is what we’ll use from now on. And it saved me some work.

Here’s some of the fun we had.

etc.

Riley, my vintage trailer

May 8, 2012

Last weekend we took Riley out to Red Rock Canyon. It’s just over a hour from our front door. It’s our new favorite spot for Spring and Fall camping (it would be 110+ F in the Summer). Why didn’t we try out this spot earlier. We love to hit the beach, LA and the Sequoias because they are only 2 hours away, but now we’ve got desert camping just on hour away too. We do really live in a great spot. We are close to everything.

We took the awning this time, which was a smart move with the sun. The awning is not original to the trailer, but the former owner had it made with materials that would have been used in 1948 (the year Riley was made). The polls are wooden and the rope is hemp.

The kids had a blast climbing all over the bluffs right behind our camping spot. (Actually I did too). I love desert camping, you just dust off the dirt and you’re good to go without a shower for quite a few days.

I wanted to give you a peek into the inside of Riley. He’s quite charming and cozy. We really haven’t done much to the interior yet. Don’t worry, I have lots of ideas and plans for him though. I did make new curtains for him last Summer. They are just white canvas with black out material on the back to help with insulation. The curtains that came with Riley were forest green, ruffly, faded, and very dusty. I really wanted to brighten up the space and just give it a clean look with these simple curtains.

The upholstery is only about 10 years old and actually it is in very good condition. It looks brand new. It isn’t what I would choose but, I’m trying to figure out how to work with it. The Kit Companion (that’s what Riley is) was made as a hunter’s travel trailer. So, it features wood work with flying geese or I like to call them loons (for the Canadian in me). So, really the upholstery goes well with this then. Not that we are hunters, quite the opposite, remember the geek I’m married to is a biology teacher.

Olivia loved camping in Riley. I recently added a sisal area rug, and she loved playing on it (no that is not a real rattle snake she is holding).

Besides the seat cushions, everything else is original. I love that all the windows still work well, and the hardware for the turn signals and lights still function.

For Christmas, Lonnie put these two prints in my stocking. I finally hung them in Riley. Both prints have retro trailers in them and the Sequoias and General Grants Grove are special spots for us. We also picked up a couple old copies of Sunset Magazine. They issues from 1967 and 1968, we enjoy flipping through them in the trailer and imagining who was camping in Riley during that era.

Riley has a stove, oven, sink, and ice box. I love using this simple, little kitchen. I feel like a kid and I’m playing house. And don’t you love the black and white checkered floor?

I hope you enjoy seeing a little more of Riley. I have a really fun Pinterest Board with all Vintage Trailers, be sure to check it out. I have a look in my mind of how I want Riley to look once he’s styled and decorated. It’s not the floral, feminine, retro look that a lot of the trailers are done in. I love this look, but it’s not me, and definitely not my husbands. So, when I can explain my style for Riley a bit better, I will share it with you.