Tins Stacked

I got the best deal on a box of old tins at the flea market, especially after seeing what other sellers were asking for individual old tins. I guess they’re not as easy to come by as in America.

I got a few diamonds in the rough too! See that turquoise and beige striped one with the handle on the lid? It cleaned up nicely with a baking soda and lemon juice paste. It’s now sitting on my mantle! The Ocean Queen tin is vying for a few different spots in the house. We’ll see.

Yet I bought this box of tins because I wanted to copy this, a lovely tiered organizer from Scene of Sublime.

My chosen tins, candlestick like parts and a neutral spray paint… I didn’t know where I’d set it in our house, and I wanted to be able to use it for any holiday or birthday party.

My husband drilled pilot holes through the tins and then used screws into each stick. It made it a little wobbly so he added a few more for balance. If you make one, remember to line up the tin seams on one side—we forgot.

Yet, the finished product turned out really fun! I love how you can still see the embossed areas of the Mozart chocolate tin—chocolate balls we always saw for sale in Germany.

It’s citrus harvest time around here, so we’ve been give a plethora of every kind of citrus {quite a blessing!}. This had been a nice spot to keep the lemons. We’ll see what to put in it next!

Guacamole

I’m not talking about the dip, although they have it there. I’m talking about the restaurant! It’s a new establishment in Portugal, thankfully not too far from where we live {and that means about an hour—Lisbon}. Look at this pico!

We’ve tried several Tex-Mex restaurants in Europe which have left us thankful for a decent meal, but wishing for what we’re used to in Texas! It’s really made me try to hone in on my salsa and Tex-Mex dish making skills.

But Guacamole is a welcome similarity to Chipotle—one of my favorites when we go home!

To top it off, the cook lived in America for many years, so she knows how to cook great Tex-Mex and give over-the-top service. Did you notice the big ice in the cup {for those of you living outside the U.S.}?

I think there’s a Guacamole restaurant in England too, so you guys get to share in the wealth. It’s worth the trip if you’re on this side of the ocean.

Healing Post-op Takes Time

Cut to the details: Last summer I had a hysterectomy leaving my ovaries in. I’ve had a history of gynecological problems, and an MRI last spring showed adenomyopathy. This was a welcome diagnosis since it meant that having my uterus taken out might stop the pain. Having such a surgery in a foreign country was quite an experience, but I’m really thankful it all went well. I can’t forget to mention there were many people praying for me, and God took care of so many of my concerns!

I expected my initial post-op days back at home to be pretty difficult hearing about my friends’ experiences with the same procedure or those who’ve had C-sections. Low expectations helped things seem like they were going really well! One thing I learned was how reaching up for something or pushing down on something like a hole puncher really hurt—I wasn’t told to avoid those movements.

My doctor had me wear a HUGE elastic band from the start for a month! I had a love/HATE relationship with that thing! Two weeks into it, I cut the width in half! After taking it off for good a month later, I saw how it had protected my wound, kept me walking slowly, and supported those muscles—probably one of the reasons I could do so much right after my surgery! Of course it meant those supporting muscles now needed to regain strength a month later, so that part of it wasn’t fun to face.

Another late revelation came in the fall when I started wearing jeans again. Who knew that low-rise jeans would jab into the wound?! It seemed I needed a new wardrobe! Thankfully I pulled out dress pants from my working days or any pants with lighter weight fabric that didn’t fold into the incision spot when I sat down—perfect timing for being a full-time homeschool teacher.

The new year has rolled around. It’s been over 6 months. I am thankful to say my jeans aren’t bothering me when I wear them now! It just took some time! {A dear friend of mine had encouraged me with similar words this past fall when I was bewildered by the “new” jeans pain. You were right Rachel!}

I am starting to pick up my kids more and not be so concerned about how much something weighs that I move or pick up. I usually feel it a day or so later but the after-pains are happening less and less. I look forward to reporting even more noticeable healing later.

I hope someone else is encouraged that healing will come for them too, in time.

January Blooms

Portugal is chilly {especially in the shade or inside!}, but not cold enough to kill the beauty that abounds. So fun to pay attention to what’s blooming around our house!

Even the strawberries keep coming. Need to catch them before the birds do.

Linking up to:

“Custom” Dining Room Chairs

This isn’t my first post about our dining room chairs. They’ve been one of those seemingly expensive projects we’ve ignored for a LONG time. We’ve been content with the mix-match group we had, yet for dinners where we had a lot of people who sat in those chairs for a long time, I felt bad for them! In light of the fact that our job is hospitality, we decided this would be the next project to tackle when money became available.

Last fall we found some cushioned faux-leather-but-you-can’t-tell chairs we loved on sale! We had to wait until February for them to come in, yet in December we got a call that the manufacturer was not going to make more. We got our money back and started looking again. We went to several different places in Lisbon hoping we could find a decent alternative. I did find out that custom upholstered chairs are expensive in big furniture stores and mom-and-pop shops the same. IKEA had a sale on their chairs at the time, and I have always liked the INGOLF chair:

My husband wanted to get these chairs and add a padded seat of our own {?}. We had seen some great outdoor fabrics so this sounded like a possibility. I agreed to it when he said we could ask our local upholstery man to pad the chairs for us…for the right price. This was something I didn’t want to mess up! Guess how much the man said it would be:  10Euros per chair—unbelievably good!

What do you think? We are VERY pleased! My husband got to see the fellow carve out the foam to fit the chairs perfectly. They are as comfortable as we hoped! The fabric is a linen-look wipe-able outdoor fabric. Perfect for all our projects at this table and meals with kids!

You might can see the end chairs are not the same {two of the matching mismatch set!}. We hope to find something unique for the ends…someday.  For now we are happy with such a welcome change!

Winter Wreath

So you probably can guess what I made this wreath out of! I had seen a tutorial for a wreath made from cute striped socks, so I thought I’d raid our stash of less than optimal socks! The girls contributed tights that itch them, and I had two pairs with holes.

I remembered to take the photo after I’d already started cutting! Once your socks are cut, you slip them on a styrofoam wreath form you’ve made a slit all the way through.

Once I had the wreath covered, I cut out the “Brrr!” with my Silhouette and attached the vinyl to a piece of lightweight hard plastic I had cut to fit the back of the wreath.

I hot glued the edges of the plastic to the back of the wreath. Next, I added a felt snowflake I had from a gift box with a button of sorts with a nail-like shank. It feels great when I can use things I’ve held onto for projects like this!

I decided to use a wire hanger attached with straight pins and strengthened with hot glue. We have to use these big power suction cups to hang wreaths on our glass front door panel since a wreath hanger won’t fit {but I am thankful for that glass so I won’t complain!}.

Happy winter everyone from sunny but chilly Portugal!

Linking up to these parties:

Parcels, Cards and Luminaires

We’ve learned a few fun new crafts and games this December that I thought were worth sharing!

At our neighborhood Christmas party, the kids played Pass the Parcel led by our British neighbors. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who didn’t know about this game or if it is truly a British game per Wikipedia. Anyway, it’s similar to Musical Chairs but a wrapped package is passed while music plays. When the music stops, the child holding the package unwraps one layer of the wrapping.

Our neighbor so kindly put a small chocolate Santa in each layer so everyone got several chocolates since there were at least 10 layers! Finally the child holding the package for the last layer of wrapping paper gets to keep the gift. Then she brought out gifts for each child—so diplomatic and thoughtful!

At the other party we got to attend, the kids did a bunch of fun crafts. Thanks Cristi and Kim {waiting for the yarn hat tutorial on her blog}!

I added to the mix with a craft I based on a Christmas lanterns tutorial from Our Best Bites. I had a bunch of dessert jars I couldn’t bear to throw away yet which I thought could be a small version of their project. The kids cut up small pieces of tissue paper and glued on with a half water/half glue solution. Some of the candle holders looked more Christmas-y than others which is great either way.

The kids got busy with other things before they could have added ribbon and glitter snowmen or trees we had to the outside, but I still think they turned out really cute—and talk about a cheap craft!

We also tackled a few homemade cards for neighbors and local friends this year. Styled after one from Meet the Dubiens' blog, I drew a “cord” for the girls to add finger stamped light bulbs to. Inside I glued on little tags that said “All is calm, All is bright.” Imperfectly perfect?!

One last thing I had to share was one of the “gifts” the girls have put together for another {they ran around the house and put some items together for a “new” gift}. I love the wrapping on this one under the tree—it says “I love you Miah”! Sweetest ever!!!