DIY: NO HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN

Here, in Croatia we do not celebrate Halloween. We have All Saint's Day as a Catholic holiday but no Halloween. Instead of it we have Carnival days during February, just like in Venice (Italy) or in Rio de Janeiro...offcourse not that big one. But it is celebrated in many cities around the country. And it last a weeks, not only one night.

Well...we don't need Halloween to love and eat pumpkins, right?

I have found this beautiful idea: see Pin and had to make it.
Mine is just not that glitttery, I've wanted to be much more in real colour.

(I'm still able to resist Instagram, but who says I can't try to copy it in PS) ;)

OLDIES: LIMONCELLO & SCENTED OLIVE OIL

od: http://middlepath.com.au/

Since here are some pretty popular posts on Croatian, I've decided to translate them on my broken English, haha..
I am amazed with Limoncello, traditional Italian liqueur, mostly made in southern parts of Italy from their sorts of lemon. Most of my days spent in Italy were Limoncello flavoured. Before meal, after meal, in between,.... Oh, and I didn't mention that lemon and I have a big crush. It is a lifelong one.

Croatia is Mediterranean country, just like Italy, and we share some history, ideas, mentality and tastes, so Limoncello isn't uncommon here. And I'm happy that it is becoming more and more popular all around the world.
After holidays in Rome and many Limoncellos I've searched through Internet to find a decent recipe but it wasn't so easy. There are many of them with more lemon, less lemon, huge amount of sugar, strange choices of alcohol...so, I took a chance and made a risk with my own amount of ingredients. 

It wasn't a mistake, it couldn't be any better.Here's the recipe:

LIMONCELLO

•  7.5 dcl of vodka or pure grain alcohol (1 bottle)

•  8 bigger lemons, organic

•  2,5 dcl water (little bit over 1 cup, 0.52 pt )

•  250 - 350 g sugar (I don't like too sweet so I took 300 grams) (8.8 - 12.4 oz)

• Stir the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Not more than 5 minutes. Cool completely.

• Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from lemons but be carefull not to peel white layer. You're supposed to use only yellow layer. White one is very bitter and will ruin the whole taste.

• You should take one big or two smaller bottles (better jars) with not too small opening. Count on 1.5 liter or 3.17 pt. Pour in vodka, sugar syrup and lemon peel. Put a lid on and shake well.   

• Leave it for two weeks on dark place at the room temperature. Shake every day. 10 days are minimum. I have left mine for a 2 months and it got a beautiful yellow color.

• Strain through mesh strainer and discard the peels. Transfer the liqueur  to glass bottles an refrigerate. It can stand there for a months (but it won't, hehe). Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as after dinner digestive. You can serve it in frozen glasses also.

• If you want, you don't need to toss those lemon peels. They can be dried, pulverized and kept for further use.

I love lemon, and fortunatelly P (son) and D (husband) love it too. We love olive oil also. We don't cook on it but use it as spice. On the other hand, we use many spices in every meal. So, why not to put some spices in olive oil and have a prepared mixture?

It is handy, practical, and so aromatic and full of flavours...Here are few recipes:

FLAVOURED OLIVE OIL

 - with herbes de Provence

for 1 small bottle (0.5 liter)

1-2 garlic cloves

1 small twig of dried rosemary

3 bay leaves

2 spoons of herbes de Provence*

1 tea spoon of white pepper (not grounded)

1 tea spoon of black pepper (not grounded)

2 small chilli peppers (fresh) - when I say small sort I mean on these peppers only 1 inch long.

0.4 liter olive oil

*These mixtures typically contain savory, fennel, basil, thyme, oregano, majoram.

- with garlic

8 garlic cloves

0.5 liter olive oil

- with chilli

6 small chilli peppers (fresh) - when I say small sort I mean on these peppers only 1 inch long.

0.3 liter olive oil

This one will be HOT!!

Bon appetit!<Marta>

ENTRANCE HALL

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I'm never satisfied and I will get bored soon with everything around me.

Apartment we live in, my son, husband and I , isn't big. D (husband) will tell you it is luck, because my constant redecorating is never ending in 66 square meters (710.42ft² says Google). What would be with bigger apartment?

One of the last changes we made is our entrance hall. It is only 1.5 meters wide and around 3.5 meters long with 5 doors attached to is. So, you assume, it isn't easiest space to organize.

Since I bought this apartment, hall was painted yellow - light yellow, sunny yellow, dark yellow, two toned, three toned, with horizontal stripe, vertical ones.....

I don't want to see any yellow for at least 10 years....(I know I'm jumpin' right into my mouth with this statement).

               

                                                                                  

                   

BEFORE

All the years I've lived here alone, and all the time since there is three of us we didn't have a place to put our or guest coats on. Well, I'm satisfied with the habit of putting our clothes right into closet (don't like to see anything hanging around) but having guests was bit of problem.

What is not seen on photos is shoe cabinet right behind entry door.

Another problem was radiator which is actually never used. We heat it only a few times in winter to dry wet shoes.

So, after all we ended with this solution:

It is not finished yet, but I'm relieved with it's state now. 
Walls are all painted in light shade of gray: I have mixed it with blue and small amount of red and green. I would call this shade sky blue/gray.
Originally gold frames are painted in glossy black and yellow. Half of them are framing blackboard instead of picture, and other half family photos.
Shoe cabinet has fresh coat of paint, too. It was maroon brown, and now is black with white doors. I still have no solution for umbrellas, as you can see on photo.
The biggest intervention was to create fake wall from MDF which will hide hanged clothes. When you entering apartment everything is hidden with 4 shelves.
Our original idea was to hang the whole construction from wall and ceiling because this whole panel isn't sitting on the floor. We wanted to hide radiator but also to leave space for wet shoes.
Well, we weren't sure that it won't fall down so the whole construction ended on two legs....I know they're black. We had only them....will find white ones soon.

I'm still unsure what to do with dark brown console...but I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out! ;)

DIY: DECOUPAGE FURNITURE WITHOUT DECOUPAGE PAPER (BOOK CABINET REDO)

For years we have a small open cabinet used for cookbooks, architecture and Feng Shui books, and some magazines.
I hate open shelves. They're always dusty. And since I'm an organizing freak who is unable to keep order all the time - when something is open, you can't hide eventual mess.
So, I've decided to put some doors on it.

It looked like this: 

usefull but tasteless....and it isn't so redish in nature. It is pretty light colored MDF.

It was impossible to put MDF panel for a door because of space, so we bought 6 mm thick plywood hoping it would be thick enough not to bend.

We also bought a pair of hinges (when I say 'WE', I mean my husband and I), and magnetic door handle (just in case if it bends).

After we mounted the door, I painted them white.

Well...it was better but I wasn't satisfied. You can see mood of photo below, haha.

After some thinking, decision was made - I want a picture of Houses of Parliament and Big Ben on it! Easy to say, but where to find this sized photo? This is how the adventure started. I' ve found a good photo, printed it with laser printer (on 9 A4 papers), cut them all to fit perfectly and prayed to succeed.

If you want something like this, you'll need: spray bottle with water to wet your print, towel to put wet prints on, diluted wood glue or Mod Podge and foam roller to attach your prints on furniture.

Wet your first print, put it on towel wrong side up, coat it with glue but don't overdo. Paper will tear if it is too wet. Next step is to coat furniture with glue and attach print on it. And then, roll and roll and roll until it is glued completely without any bumps.

Repeat this steps until whole picture is done. Let it dry for 24 hours and then finish it with varnish. I had water based semi- gloss varnish. It' not glossy enough for me but it dries very fast.

So, here is result and it looks great. Now I'm satisfied!

Have a nice weekend!

Marta

INTERIOR TO LOOK AT: IF I WOULD DECORATE MYSELF, IT WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS ONE

Here it comes - first dose of my weekly inspiration! Linnéstaden apartment designed and decorated  in pure and simple Scandinavian way! And all of it in old town building from 1891.

It has everything I would choose: 3 rooms, not too many square meters (only 66, but they seem much larger), bright walls, white floor, walk in closet and high ceilings...I'm only missing balcony or loggia. I've heard that outdoor space in Sweden is a must? 

Bedrooms are courtyard located. There is plenty of storage in built - in closets and other closets around the apartment....


What more can girl ask for? Maybe some touch from old times: paneled doors?, stucco?, ceiling medallions?, old tiles on the floor?

Like in every fine Scandinavian home, space is not overcrowded with furniture, there are some flashes of bright and strong colors, walls are light (white and gray), and floors are either. In overall there is plenty of light...in every way.

Living room

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Kitchen. White, white, and some more of white! Love it! Even it is not updated.

Bathroom. Surprise! I'm used to completely white tiles in most of Scandinavian homes, but there it is - black line of tiles along the wall and black floor in shower cubicle! I am a shower girl....I don't like to bath.

I'm searching through Internet for years and I'm still surprised with the design and beauty you can get when buying real estate in Sweden.

I am impressed every time...

Photos by Alvhem