my own horse art

i hope that you all had a very merry christmas.  i know i sure did.  it was great to spend time with my family.  i always have such a fun time when we all get together.

i thought that i would share with you the christmas gift that i made for my mom.  i have spoken about my love for horses and horse art before on my blog and my mom also has that same love for for them.  i don’t really know that there is a more beautiful animal than a horse.  i grew up on a farm in alabama and showed horses until i was about 17.  my love of horses started at a very young age and has been with me ever since. 

recently i have seen two horse art pieces in particular that i really liked.  One is from palecek (it’s discontinued now though) and one is from pottery barn.  i’ve pictured them below.  the palecek piece is on the left and the pb piece is on the right.  palecek’s piece retails for about $500 or $600 and the pottery barn piece retails for about $200.

   

i started thinking that i could probably put my minor in art to good use and make some similar art for my mom for her christmas gift.  here is how mine turned out.  i was pretty proud of myself.  and the best part is that it only cost me around $35 for the two of them plus my time to make them.

i also made one for myself.  here is that one.

if anyone is wondering how i did it made these, here is a step-by-step guide.

first, i found an architectural salvage shop and purchased the old wood.   i got one of my neighbors to help me cut the boards down to the size i wanted. 

next, i roughed the pieces of wood up with a sander.  i also sanded the sides and corners to make sure they were smooth and didn’t have any splinters.  after that i stained them a walnut color to make them darker.  the natural wood finish would have been too light.

then, i drew a horse onto poster board and cut it out.  to get a big enough horse i had to tape two poster board pieces together.  once i had it cut out i positioned it on the 3 boards, taped it down on the underside with painters tape and used ivory spray paint to spray the boards.

i sprayed on two coats of spray paint and once it dried i removed the horse silhouette.  then i sanded the piece all over with really fine sandpaper.  i also distressed areas on the horse as well as the wood to give it an aged look.

when i finished sanding the front i added picture hangers to the back of each board.  the finished art was about 30” x 40”.

and that’s how i did it.  the hardest part by far was drawing the horse.  now i really want to experiment with other silhouettes.  maybe i’ll do my dog next.

LiveJournal Tags: horse art,palecek,pottery barn

merry christmas, and the winner is…

thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for the jill rosenwald rug from csn.  i had 43 comments and 42 entries for the giveaway. 

now for the results.  random.org chose lucky number 13 as the winner.

and number 13 happens to be leigh ann.  here’s what leigh ann had to say.

thanks for your comment leigh ann and CONGRATULATIONS!

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image – by me (my tree)

have a blessed holiday with your family and friends.  i’m headed to the mall for my family’s annual christmas eve shopping outing.  we go every year on christmas eve.  it started one year when my parents didn’t have time to get their christmas shopping done, so we ended up doing it all on christmas eve.  we had so much fun that the tradition stuck.  we don’t do all of our shopping on christmas eve anymore but we just go for the fun of it. 

i’ll be back on monday.  see you then.  i hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas! and please remember the true reason for the season this year. 

xo,

cristi

LiveJournal Tags: giveaway,christmas,jill rosenwald rug,csn,christmas tree

sign off and a peanut brittle recipe

well, i’m signing off until christmas eve when i come back to announce the winner of the giveaway (make sure you enter to win if you haven’t already).  billy and i will be heading up to the smoky mountains in the morning to visit my dad and grandmother.  we’ll be coming back early next week.  then my mom and brother come into town. 

i can’t believe that christmas is 7 days away!  it feels like it was just here yesterday.  this year has been a wonderful whirlwind of a year and has flown by faster than ever.  i hope that your holidays are off to a merry start and i hope they are filled with lots of love.  if you’ll be traveling this upcoming week i wish you and your families safe travels.

i’ll leave you with some beautiful christmas images and my peanut brittle recipe my mom’s peanut brittle recipe.

image – apartment #34

image – cottage living

image – elements of style

image – my home ideas

yummy microwave peanut brittle

ingredients:

1 c - light karo syrup

1 c - peanuts – dry roasted and salted

1 tsp -  vanilla extract

1 tsp -  butter

1 tsp - baking soda

directions:

grease a baking sheet with pam and set aside.

mix together karo syrup and sugar in a large microwavable glass bowl.  heat in microwave for 4 and a half minutes. 

remove from microwave and mix in peanuts.  heat in microwave for 3 and a half minutes.

mixture will be very hot.  remove from microwave and mix in butter and vanilla.  heat in microwave for 3 more minutes.  the mixture should have turned a golden color.  once the 3 minutes is up if the mixture is still a little light put it back in the microwave in 30 second increments until it turns a golden color.

remove from microwave and mix in baking soda.  when you start to mix in the baking soda the mixture will foam up.  once mixture has foamed immediately pour onto baking sheet.  the mixture will spread out on its own. 

place mixture and baking sheet in the fridge to cool for about 5 – 10 minutes.

remove from fridge and break apart.  place in a tupperware container to keep it fresh.

*****the mixture gets really hot so make sure to use a potholder to remove from the microwave.  the mixture will also stick to your spoons and pots.  the best way to clean them is to run them under hot, hot water and let the hardened syrup melt away.

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see you all back here late next week. 

have a wonderful weekend!

LiveJournal Tags: christmas,giveaway,peanut brittle recipe