Seriously, y’all, not only is this chair gorgeous, it’s comfortable enough to sit in for a little reading, working, and napping.
I found this beaut on the local Facebook selling wall a few days before Christmas and begged Sr. to let me get it. Merry Christmas to me! (I have such a wonderful husband.)
Photo Credit: Simple Homme, LLC
This vintage textured chair and ottoman by Bernhardt/Hibriten is in perfect condition; the wood has the perfect amount of wear and patina which gives it so much character. I’ll admit, I never imagined finding so much fondness for a piece with textured green upholstery. Maybe a deep jewel-toned green, but not this green – it’s kind of a vibrant olive green meets chartreuse.
Once we picked it up, I knew exactly where I wanted to put it – in the sunroom, snug in a sunny corner in the backdrop of my zoom calls. The color is the perfect compliment to the greens and yellows in the floral motif on my darling mid-century sofa. This also gave me perfect inspiration to rearrange and the sunroom, which is an ongoing work in progress fro me. *Updated pictures coming soon*.
It seems to hug you into its lap as you descend into it – similar to the way that first sip of coffee tastes oh-so-good – you just melt right into it. I can spend the whole day in this chair. Really the only thing keeping me from doing so is the cold temps. The sunroom is not an all season room, though I wish it was, and lately poor heater cannot keep up with this year’s low temps long enough for me to get more than a few hours in there.
I cannot wait for spring and sunny days, sipping sweet tea, lemonade, or a frozen ‘rita. Until then it’s a few hours with a heavy blanket and hot beverage.
As I shared in another post, I’ve come to love finding beautiful pieces to add to our home. From furniture to stemware, these vintage pieces are adding a bit of character, comfort, and even class to our home. In addition to furniture, I’m becoming quite fond of crystal and silver pieces. Silver is something I’ve always had but never really cared for until recently. I just didn’t have much use for it and it didn’t go with anything else we owned. When I was a teenager my Mother and I ventured into an antique store while visiting family in Washington state. She found a silver-plated tea set that she insisted on buying and having shipped home to Texas. She was so excited and said it would be given to me when I got married. I didn’t understand her enthusiasm but weeks later a large white box was delivered to our door and sent straight to the attic with all the other new and old treasures Mother was storing away for when she had grandchildren.
After Sr. and I married, Mom brought me my silver set the first time she came to visit our first home (a rental then). I had no idea what to do with it. Over the past 13 years, that ray and tea set has been either hidden away in a cabinet or on a shelf as a poor attempt to decorate; only to be dusted once in a while and polished even less. I even acquired a silver urn/bucket somewhere along the way.
While I’ve found some function for the tray from time to time – only when I want to feel fancy – I’ve been hesitant to use any of the teapots given they have some tarnish and I have no idea how to properly clean them for serving drinks and not killing someone.
Maybe I needed to become a little more “refined”, my first few silver hairs, or just the right inspiration but this Christmas I finally found a purpose for that beautiful old silver.
As I was setting everything out for mimosas for a small Christmas brunch we hosted last month figured I could use the silver urn as an ice bucket. This decision was then followed by searching if this was actually what this urn was for and how to clean the tarnish FAST without polish.
I just loved how the Mimosa station turned out with the silver tray and urn.
The mimosas were pretty delicious too!
Since then my Pinterest has been flooded with pins like “Ideas for Decorating with Silver” providing me with new ideas and ways to clean and care for my old silver.
Oh, and I finally found a great way to display at least one of my pieces, the tray. It adds some vintage interest to the collection of cutting boards and serving trays on my counter. How do you display/use your silver?
Oh! And if you have any tips for me on caring for silver/silver-plated service ware, put them in the comments! I am all ears!
I love to being outside. But my Mom takes the whole point of being outside away! She makes me work in in the garden all the time in the summer and spring. It sucks all the fun out of the great weather. I mean, who wants to pull weeds, plant, or shovel dirt and mulch when the weather is nice… or ever?!
She also makes help her with her projects. For example, the chicken coop, fencing the garden, building her a potting bench… that she hasn’t even used yet!
Building the big garden gate with Mom.
Spreading pea gravel for Mom
The only time I don’t mind working in the garden is if I can get money for it. Mom will sometimes bribe me to do work outside for her. But most of the time, if Mom pays me, she makes it hard work. She says she wants to “get her money’s worth”. 😒
And sometimes I do not finish, so I don’t get paid for the whole job. Mom says working for her is good practice for my business with the Yard Crew (more on that later). But Mom has high expectations. She even fired me once! 🙄
Now, don’t get me wrong, I like having a garden and fresh food. I just do not like to WORK in the garden.
The job I hate the most is pulling weeds. Mom has me pull BUCKETS and BUCKETS of weeds from the front garden. We don’t even grow food there.
See the bucket?
I raked all those pine needles for a path.
My Dad can be worse! He doesn’t make me work int he gardens but he gives me gross jobs outside, like picking up dead animals. And RAKING LEAVES is the job hate the most!!!!
This year my Mom say she is going to make the garden bigger. OH JOY!!!!!!! 😑
I’ve been working on my glass porch/sunroom makeover since late Fall. It all started with a darling mid-century sofa with an eccentric floral print. I recently got a gorgeous vintage chair that paired beautifully with the sofa and really made the room feel like it was coming together. The only issue was the coffee table, a Marshalls find from October, was too heavy for the room and didn’t seem to fit. Besides, we used it more for propping our feet on than holding items. I moved the coffee table to Grace’s room and swapped it for a great side table with mid-century vibes that I’ve had since my college years.
Of course, this still left us with nothing to put our feet on – and with my new chair’s comfortable matching ottoman the sofa seemed the less desirable seat in the room. I really felt we needed a light colored ottoman, preferably with storage for blankets. Then I remembered the drawer I had in the basement. It had been sitting on the floor for two years now, since last Christmas when we removed it from the vintage vanity we got Ella for Christmas. Both girls were dying for a vanity, like Fancy Nancy. I found a beautiful vintage vanity about an hour away.
When we got it to Ella’s room Christmas afternoon, the bottom drawer had almost no more stability left and was barely functional so my father-in-law, Jeff, recommended we just remove the bottom drawer and leave the top on. My Mother-in-law, Becky, told me to keep the drawer and do some kind of up-cycle project with it, like a shelf or something. I didn’t see the vision she had at the time but I kept the drawer and bottom molding anyway. It’s been tucked away in a dark corner of the basement ever since–holding my favorite cowboy hat of Sr.’s and a few old frames. I actually only remembered it because I stubbed my toe on it while trying to hide gift for Christmas.
Anyway, I thought this might be the perfect base for an ottoman. Originally I considered a tufted look like this ottoman I found on Pinterest, but quickly pulled myself back into reality. I mean, it was a few days before Christmas! Who was I kidding? I was giving no more than a half-ass effort at best. Also, I had no idea what I was doing when it came to upholstery and tufting seemed a little too advanced.
The next day, I took my brother Josh (Josh was here for Christmas!) to the hardware and fabric store. I spent more on the one yard of “high density” 3″ foam than I did anything else.
For this project I used:
24 x 32 inch precut plywood
metal brackets and hardware
chalky finish spray paint in Antique white
1 yard 3″ high density foam
2 yard upholstery fabric (more than I needed but it was on sale for $9.99!
Cotton batting
spray adhesive
4 4″ table legs
rotary saw
bread knife
power drill
First, I measured and cut the plywood down. This would butt up against the back of the moulding and serve as the lid. Then I used the spray paint to paint the bottom of the board, the legs and the other 3 sides of the drawer, the front was already painted. It was the perfect mild, sunny December day for sippin’ whiskey and watchin’ paint dry.
Once everything dried I traced the lid on the foam and used a bread knife to cut the foam into shape. There with blocks supporting the lip on the molding I needed to cut out as well.
Next was measuring my fabric and batting. I had been thinking about how I’d attache the cushion to the lid all day and still hadn’t decided but felt like I could try to attach it with the spray adhesive first. Of course, this meant that I’d have no great way to stretch the fabric over the foam. I tried it anyway but ended up with more mess than success. My finger kept sticking to the spray trigger and ripping it off the bottle. I felt like Clark Griswold trying to read the magazine after handling the Christmas tree.
Not only that but the velvet fabric was too bulky for the adhesive, or my patience. I quickly changed tactics and found the staple gun. This was much more satisfying. Unfortunately, at least as mush as I have figured it out so far, wrapping the cloth round the lid base means I wont be able to add the hinges I planned for. Never the less, the fabric looks much better and the top is light enough to just lift or shift out of the way to grab a blanket from the drawer.
Josh helped me add the legs by extending the thread posts so they could be attached to the bottom.
And voilà!!
I couldn’t be more please with the project, though I’ll likely do a little adjusting–to my corner seams for example or adding a little trim detail. It’s just the right height and the perfect size for the space.
Grace writes her blog posts using the dictation feature on Google Docs then helps Mom edit the blog after she copies it to the blog.
I love Christmas because I can wrap presents and give people stuff. I like wrapping presents a lot and putting them under the tree for Santa give lots of presents under our big Christmas tree that’s downstairs. I like to wrap presents a lot so I wrapped a bone for my dog Jack. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees the phone I hope he likes it.
I think he knows what it is!
I didn’t wrap anything for Sarah Lee yet but I’m thinking about it. my sister loves my cat Sarah Lee and she’s doing a blog about dogs. Mommy has wrapped a present for me. I can’t wait to see what it is because it’s big! My sister has a present from Mommy too. I didn’t know she wrapped presents yet.
I also love baking cookies! My Mom, sister and I make the BEST gingerbread cookies!
We have elves that come to our house too! Last week the elves got hurt and really sad because they tripped on all of our stuff so we had to clean up. My elf, Heart, has a broken elbow Brian’s elf, Steve, has a broken leg and Ella’s elf, Eggnog, still has something wrong with her eye because I put sprinkles in it. I feel bad about that.
After we cleaned they got better and brought us elf slime, jingle bell necklaces we made, and today… LIPS! Mom said they are wax but we shouldn’t eat them even though they smell good. She’s also not happy they stole her red lipstick.
Oh! And Uncle Josh is here! Lat night we had a sleepover in the basement with him. Mom didn’t sleep over with us but she did make popcorn for us. Josh is staying until Christmas so he can watch us open all our gifts. We play lots of games with Uncle Josh. And read, and cook, and snuggle.
Did you know we have Christmas to celebrate when Jesus was born? I bet he was such a cute baby. He wants us to give love and gifts and be kind to people. All I want for Christmas is love… and a bunkbed and a new sled and a card with money. But what I want most is love and to wish my teacher, Mrs. Gibbs, a Merry Christmas!
Earlier this fall, Tarin told me about this great estate sale in the village that she found and asked if I would mind taking our truck up to pick up the chair and other things she purchased. As pulled up to the sale I noticed wicker furniture in the drive along with mismatched chairs of all occasions. We loaded Tarin’s finds into the truck and she encouraged me to walk around as she took a second glance.
As I walked into the screened sunroom, there were more chairs. And there it was–this darling mid-century sofa with eccentric floral cushions. I fell in love.
Of course, the price tag was in love with the sofa as well. The hefty price almost had me walking away but Tarin recommended I ask if they’d come down. A little negotiation and the sofa was mine and in the truck.
Originally, I planned to put it in the basement guest room but decided that I liked it too much to have it stuffed away in the basement. I mean look at this print! I screams for a spot with a view.
Note: This basement guest room is still a work in progress. Not pictured, the rainforest and macaw print border at the top of the wall.
The glass porch/office/studio came with white wicker furniture–the only furniture the previous homeowners left in the house. We were so thankful for the furniture too, as our moving truck took two weeks to deliver our furniture from Texas, it was the only thing we had to sit on those first few weeks here. Wicker has a bit of southern charm in my mind and it was in great shape. I updated the cushions and added a bright rug and the sunroom was now my favorite room in the house, for more than just the views. It serves as the perfect back drop to my Zoom feed at work with many compliments from folks remarking how they’d like to have tea with me here, and the natural light and scenery make it the perfect place to paint (on the few occasions I pick up a brush).
This was the perfect place to put the sofa. Of course this called for a complete redecoration of the room.
I decided to wait until I had two chairs to go in the room with the sofa, just as our current set up is. I scoured the local Facebook market place, I wanted a rocker, but every rocker was more of a standard rocking chair you’d find in grandma’s sewing room. I searched Wayfair top to bottom, saving a few mid-century style chair but found nothing I loved. Besides, Wayfair just seemed like cheating. I wanted another great find–something well made, with history and character. I searched the local antique barns for a month before I found anything close to my liking.
These two antique chairs were in an antique barn just a few miles from the Camp Farm.
My friend, Rachel, came over one evening to help me switch out the furniture. It’s an excellent start but I’m still working on refining the feel of the room. I also need to fine the right rug. I got one on Wayfair but it clashed with the print so I’m still searching.
Oh! And I also found some amazing crystal stemware at the estate sale which demanded to be showcased. This lead to the search for a cabinet worthy of storing such sophistication.
With the 4th piece of vintage furniture bought in just three months, I’d say my obsession is in full swing! I’m always looking for a bargain and not afraid of a little dust.
As the cold keeps me indoors and the gardens dormant, I’m now focusing more on finding the voice of this home; after 3 years here I feel like I can hear it. It’s a combination of farmhouse, vintage comfort with a touch of retro accented with splashes of fancy. I’ll be sharing a little about the pieces I find and how I’m transforming rooms with them – and repurposing the existing furniture I keep. Also, I have a big remodel planned at the end of next year! Stay tuned, y’all!
If you’re looking for an appetizer that’s sure to impress, you’re in the right place! This one’s creamy with a sweet heat and all the right holiday flavors. But I’m no food blogger so I’ll cut straight to the chase and give you recipe… if you like a little story with your recipes, feel free to read the second half of this post for how this recipe came to be.
Cranberry Heat Dip
Prep Time: About 20 minutes
NOTES:
This recipe requires that you let the ingredients rest in the refrigerator overnight for the best flavor.
This recipe gets it heat from Serrano peppers, which are hotter than jalapeños (about 5xs hotter). Don’t worry, the citrus from the orange with the cream cheese cool it down. If you’re heat sensitive, you can try using less Serranos. If you’re a heat-weeny, you can sub them for jalapeños.
INGREDIENTS:
12 oz fresh cranberries, uncooked
2-3 Serrano peppers (depending on your heat preference)
1/4 cup green onions
1 cup sugar
1 orange
Pinch of salt
16 oz whipped cream cheese
Crackers (I like Triscuits or Ritz)
TOOLS:
Knife
A nice pie dish to serve your dip
A medium bowl
A spoon or rubber spatula
A zester (or a fine cheese grate will work in a pinch)
Colander
DIRECTIONS
Chop your cranberries. If you have never chopped fresh cranberries before, you’ll find these boogers can be messy. You don’t need to chop them all individually but you want to avoid any whole cranberries.
Dice the Serrano peppers and chop the green onions.
In a medium bowl toss in the cranberries, peppers, and onions. Combine the mixture with the sugar and salt
Zest your orange into the bowl then cut it in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl and stir well incorporated.
Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, remove the bowl from the fridge and give it another good stir.
Spoon the whipped cream cheese into your serving dish.
Pour the cranberry mixture into the colander to strain the excess juice.
Pour the strained cranberry mixture over your whipped cream cheese. Cover and put back in the refrigerator if not serving immediately.
Serve your dip with crackers and a spoon to help spread onto crackers.
Enjoy!
The Story
As we all know, 2020 has been one giant shitstorm. The impact of COVID-19 has lasted much longer than we all anticipated and has overshadowed the winter holidays. Despite celebrating much smaller than usual and a day later, we still planned to have the traditional dinner at Thanksgiving with a few family members. A few days before Thanksgiving we were invited to celebrate over dinner with our good friends the Sickles. Having the main, sides, and desserts covered, Rachel asked if I could bring an appetizer. Well, turns out I’ve never made an appetizer for a holiday meal!
So I did what anyone does when searching for inspiration… I hit Pinterest. This Cranberry Jalapeño Dip caught my eye so I had Sr. pick up the ingredients during a last minute run to the grocer. Sr. couldn’t find jalapeño’s so he brought home Serranos. My friend Carlos once told me that Serranos we much better than jalapeño, with a better heat and flavor. To be safe I only used 2 Serranos, since they can be significantly hotter than jalapeños.
Additionally we’ve been binge watching the Kids Ultimate Holiday Baking Championships. So with the inspirations of great flavor pairings and Grace’s desire to zest every orange she sees like the kids on t.v., we decided to replace the lemon in the original recipe with orange.
This dip was a HIT y’all! The creaminess of the soft cream cheese, the sweet tang of the sugared cranberries and orange, and the slow heat of the Serrano make it pure joy. It was so good I let the Sickles keep the rest and made another dish the next day for dinner at our house. Sr. mentioned that it could be a but hooter so the second time I used an extra pepper and will use 4 the next time.
Our chickens have not been laying eggs so we had Ava and Vinny’s GiGi come over because she has 11 chickens and they always lay eggs. She came over Sunday before last and said they needed more sun and room to roam. We need to make our coop bigger. She offered to take our hens over the winter until we can make the coop we’ve been dreaming of making. As soon as our Mom told us we said, “When will they leave!?” She said, “Tonight.”
I was feeling okay until they left. Tonight was too soon! I helped get them all in the large crate and load it in the truck.
When we got back inside I sat on the floor and then I went upstairs and said to myself why did the chickens have to leave? When I walk by the empty coop I feel sad. Ava’s GiGi sent us a picture the day they got to their winter home and they looked happy. I’m still sad though.
Mom said we’ll see them in two weeks. They have been gone a week and a half. I miss them. When I see them, I will hug them. then I will say ” Hi chickies!” When I see them again I will be so happy I’ll…cry!!!
This school year has nearly eaten our lunch here at the Half-Ass Homestead – three online learners at the Camp House and two home schoolers at the Norris House. Work has been even busier than ever for me and Tarin went back to work so the big garden has been just a little neglected 😬
The kids have gotten great use out of it though; picking peppers and tomatoes or digging for worms for the hens
Speaking of the hens, we were getting 4-5 eggs a day from our girls but that all stopped a few weeks ago. We’re thinking this is a light issue but will be investigating more.
Some days I feel Zoom runs our lives. Thank goodness for great weather and the new swing set that finally arrived… and for wine and whiskey. 🥃
The kids have been writing draft posts that I need to catch up on so be on the look out for those. I’ve decided that things won’t be slowing down anytime soon with some exciting work projects, the change in season, and the holidays coming up, let the half-assery begin!
This week is the first week of Fall and you can tell. The weather is getting colder here. We went to my sister’s soccer game on Saturday morning and I was FREEZING! To celebrate the official end of summer, here are my top 10 favorite things about this past summer:
On my neighbors birthday we did a hundred foot slip and slide with tons of dish soap! (see video at the bottom of the post)
THE HALF-ASS HOMESTEAD 