Notes from the Tulip House

Curb Appeal

A front door mini makeover!

Front door wreath/curtain

We’ve been slowly renovating our house for the past 9 years.  Before Bug was born, the Mister and I would work on house related projects on almost every weekend.   But, since becoming parents, we haven’t had the time or the energy to tackle much of our To Dos.

We have a lovely vintage door on the front of our house.  It’s likely the original door, which would make it 124 years old!  Several years ago I took the door off it’s hinges and sanded it, stained it, and sealed it.  It looked great, however, I made a slight error and sealed it with shellac instead of poly.  Shellac is fine for interior woodwork but outside it doesn’t last.  I noticed this spring that the door was looking really raggedy and worn so decided to give it a quick facelift.  Of course I forgot to take before pics so you’ll have to trust me that it looked sad.

Front door

After

 

Since I had already completely refinished the door once, this time I just did a light hand sanding on the parts where the shellac had flaked off.  After sanding, I removed all the dust and put on a coat of stain.  Once that dried I put on some clear polyurethane.

Wreath and curtain

In addition to reviving the wood on the door, I also got a “new” old curtain and threw together a cute yarn wreath!  I’ve been searching intermittently for a few years for a vintage lace curtain that would fit the window in this door.  It was not an easy thing to find.  Oh, I found plenty of curtains, but not in the size I needed, or not in a pattern I liked.  I am so happy with this one.  It’s vintage, the size is perfect, it’s in good condition, and the pattern is not too busy and not too plain.  And, it lets in plenty of light!  I found it on Etsy, (of course,) at Floral Wonderland . It was very affordable, the shipping was free, and the customer service was great. If you’re looking for vintage linens or bedding, check Raena’s store out!

Entry

I didn’t take any photos of the yarn wreath construction, but it’s so easy you don’t really need step by step instructions.  I bought a straw wreath form at JoAnns, wrapped it with yarn, and then prettied it up with some burlap, fabric ribbon, and dried botanicals.  Everything is adhered with a glue gun.  You can use silk botanicals if you prefer, they will definitely last longer and be less fragile.

Vintage Curtain

Homemade Blueberry Sherbet

Blueberry Sherbet

Weekend before last we had a second 2nd birthday celebration for Little Bug.   My mother made him a yummy carrot cake and I made him blueberry sherbet.  I found the sherbet recipe online at Southern Living and boy was it simple and soo good!  There are only five ingredients and it doesn’t require an ice cream machine.

Blueberry Sherbet

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups fresh Blueberries
  • 1 Cup Buttermilk, (I used 2%)
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions

Process all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Strain using a fine mesh strainer.  Pour into ice cream machine and churn until desired consistency.

If you are not using an ice cream machine, pour into a 9 inch square pan, cover, and freeze for 4 hours or until firm.  Then process in a blender again until smooth and freeze another 4 hours.

*Note, the Southern Living directions do not say to strain the liquid.  I chose to strain mine because there was so much blueberry skin and seeds.

This makes 6, 1/2 Cup servings.

Go make it right now while blueberries are still in season!

Blueberry Sherbet

P.S. I found those adorable little circus-y paper cups at Sur la Table.

Happy Weekend! (belated)

Maple Seeds

Are we in for an early fall?

Ducks

Duck Butts

Walking Path

Contemplating nature?

View of the Sears

View of the Sears, er Willis Tower, from the Humboldt fishing lagoon

We had perfect weather on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Little Bug and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a stroll through the park on Friday.  It was a great start to the weekend, twas not a cloud in the sky.  Hope your weekend was lovely!