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  • Monthly Archives: November 2013

    • Staircase Transformation: Complete

      Posted at 12:31 pm by Lisa Cavallari
      Nov 30th
      After
      After
      Before
      Before

      After                                                                                   Before

      The staircase is complete!  I am happy, but my husband is probably even happier because he won’t ever have to sand, ever, again!  I really appreciate all of his hard work on this one.

      Once I got into my groove and located the right tools, this job became a bit more manageable so if any of you are inclined to try this for yourself, make sure you purchase the two products listed below.

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      The first paintbrush I used did not give the railing an even, smooth finish.  It also shed bristles all over the place.  Messy.  I found the paintbrush above at Menards by pure luck and I loved the results!  The angle kept the stain from dripping and the bristles were great quality for the price at under $5 for the brush.  An employee at Sherwin Williams recommended the protective film for our carpets and this made me breathe much easier while I applied the stain.  The drips didn’t soak through like they would on a dropcloth.

      I made sure to wrap painter’s tape at the top of all of my spindles and applied one coat of stain.  Then I used some very fine steel wool and rubbed it all along the surface after it was completely dry.  I used an old cloth to remove the debris from the steel wool and then I started staining again.  In total, I did this process three times.

      When the staining was done, it was time to work on the base of the staircase.  I carefully cleaned any dirt or sanding dust between all of the spindles and applied one coat of primer.  Next, I applied two coats of white paint.

      Yay!  I am so glad this is all done.  I have to admit that while the tape was still on and I was nearly finished with staining, I was beginning to worry that the railing might be too dark, but now that it is all done, the results are fantastic and I am pretty pleased.

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      Before                                                                   After

      What are your thoughts?  If any of you have ever tried doing something like this yourselves what were your results?

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      Posted in diy
    • Butternut Squash Soup

      Posted at 10:07 am by Lisa Cavallari
      Nov 24th

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      With Thanksgiving almost upon us and Christmas just a breath away, I wanted to include a recipe that is simple, tasty and healthy…that is, if you omit the bacon.  This soup has many layers of flavors that meld together perfectly.  My father-in-law devours it and I recently had someone ask me if it was an old family recipe.  I actually found it a few years ago in a magazine so here it is without further ado.  Happy Thanksgiving!

      Butternut Squash Soup

      serves 8

      1   2  1/2-3 pound butternut squash

      1/4 cup butter

      1 medium onion, chopped

      1 large carrot, coarsley chopped

      1 stalk celery, coarsley chopped

      2 cloves garlic, minced

      2 large Braeburn or Gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped

      1 48-oz box reduced sodium chicken broth

      1 cup apple cider

      2 chipotle peppers from can with adobo sauce, coarsely chopped

      1/2 cup light sour cream

      3 oz smoked Gouda or smoked cheddar cheese finely shredded

      Crumbled cooked bacon (optional)

      1. Peel, seed and cube butternut squash.  In 6 quart Dutch oven melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add fresh squash, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic.  Cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Add apples, broth, cider and chipotle peppers.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Cover, simmer 25 minutes or until vegetables and apples are tender.  Remove from heat; cool slightly.

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      2. When slightly cooled, puree in pot using an immersion blender. (Or puree in small batches in a blender; return soup to saucepan.) Blend in sour cream. Heat through. Remove from heat; stir in shredded Gouda until melted.  Top with bacon.

      To make ahead, simply freeze the soup after it had been blended.  You can add the sour cream and Gouda after it is thawed.

      Good luck!

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      Posted in Cooking | Tagged butternut squash, butternut squash soup, chipotle, soup, squash
    • Oak Staircase Transformation: Take 1

      Posted at 9:09 am by Lisa Cavallari
      Nov 11th

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      We have an oak staircase that never used to bother me until I happened upon Pinterest and it’s vast array of oh-so-easy DIY projects.  At first, I tried something simple like painting our oak fireplace white.  Easy peasy.  Then I painted our front door black.  Pretty simple.  Then I saw how a woman transformed her blah oak staircase to a showstopping espresso railing with white spindles and I had to try it for myself.  We already had the white spindles.  After all, how hard could it be?

      Very.  VERY!  VERY!

      The first part was sanding the blasted thing.  We have a split staircase as you can see in the picture above so my husband was having a hard time getting into the grooves with the sander.  FYI: we started this project in September as a thing we were going to tackle on the weekends.  It is now the middle of November and our goal was is to get it done by Christmas.

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      Here he is sanding, and sanding and sanding…

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      So then I tried using some stripper that was recommended by this DIYer.  Bad idea.  That stuff is goopy and a pain in the rear to scrape off!  Then my husband had to sand it all AGAIN.

      Finally, I was ready to start staining.  Folks, this job is not for the faint of heart.  I almost had a panic attack when I saw how fast the stain was dripping down my already-white spindles.  It was all I could do to suppress a scream while my three year old napped soundly on the couch downstairs.  I quickly grabbed a paper towel, but this stuff was not rubbing off.  So, I did what any normal girl with a nail polish collection does, I grabbed my nail polish remover and dabbed some on a cotton ball.  Voila!  It did the trick.  Score one for the novice carpenter.

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      Sad drippy mark.

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      This is what it looks like after the first coat of stain.  I used Minwax stain and polyurethane in one and the color is espresso.  Don’t see the espresso color yet, but I plan to use some steel wool and apply at least one more coat.  Who am I kidding?  It will be three coats.

      Lessons I learned from this experience:

      1. Don’t ever do this yourself again.  Just rip out the railing and replace it with hired help.

      2.  Stripper is a big no-no on blonde oak wood.  Big waste of time.  Just sand.

      3. Nail polish remover has many uses.  Every carpenter should carry some for spot cleaning spills and drips.  Less fumes too! 🙂

      This project WILL be done in time for Christmas.  I am not a quitter and I will definitely keep you all posted.

      Until then…

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      Posted in diy | Tagged diy, oak, staircase
    • The Outpost General Store

      Posted at 3:02 am by Lisa Cavallari
      Nov 4th

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      Recently, I heard that one of my yoga instructors, Joe had opened a new store called The Outpost with his wife, Caroline in Wayne, IL which is not that far from where we live.  Actually, I had no idea where Wayne was located until I looked it up.  Talk about a little town with a big personality; there are all kinds of horse farms along the main road (Army Trail Road for you locals) and the town itself feels as if you have stepped back in time.  There is a small post office and police station -kind of like the towns in the two movies Funny Farm and Baby Boom, but without any of the crazies.

      The first time I went there was with my mom who is my all-time favorite shopping partner.  We were in heaven looking at all of the items in the store.

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      There was an equestrian theme throughout because Caroline loves to ride horses.  I was eyeing a set of placecards with a horse bit design and went back recently to buy them because I kept thinking how perfect they would be when my husband and I host Christmas dinner this year.  “Oh Lisa,” I can already hear my mother-in-law saying, “wherever did you find these?”  Both her and my parents grew up riding horses so I am positive these will elicit rave reviews.

      This store is a gold mine for gift shopping or for a little something for yourself and, might I add, that everything is so reasonable!

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      My mom bought these adorable Matryoshka doll lip glosses that would make perfect stocking stuffers for my girls.  I also found an owl-shaped lip gloss for my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher because she has an affinity for them.

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      Let’s go inside.

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      It is pretty apparent that Caroline has some decorating experience.  This vignette was beckoning me to sink into one of the high-back leather chairs with a glass of wine and good book.

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      I am pining for this hair on hide stool.  Here are also their hours of operation.

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      Another cozy corner.  The bowl of clementines is so simple, yet very chic with the pop of color.  Maybe switch to a bowl of chestnuts for winter?  With little ones in my house this would have to suffice as a centerpiece on our kitchen table, but I love the idea nonetheless.

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      There is an adorable kids corner filled with wonderful books.  The Tiffany’s Table Manners book  is a must for my girls in the not-too-distant future.  They also have lots of penny candy that is priced around 5 cents.

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      There is a bakery section as well.  On this particular day they were sampling brownies, cookies and pies.  The sawdust pie has me intrigued as well as the black bottom bourbon.

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      Pumpkin cookies.  So sweet.

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      Some incredibly beautiful coffee table books are placed about as well.

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      They also have a wonderful assortment of wines and spirits.

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      These bottles of gin scream ‘focal point’ for a bar at home.  Seriously though, wouldn’t they make a great gift for the man in your life?

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      Maybe whiskey is more his style?  They have that too.  I would love a set of antlers like this one pictured.  Gotta love the humorous pieces such as the sign too.  Seriously, I could spend a lot of time in this store taking in all of the details.

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      Check out that rack.  Sorry, couldn’t resist.

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      You can even grab a bundle of locally chopped firewood tied in twine on your way out.

      Go check it out!

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      Posted in Shopping
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