Fall Leaves and Apple Pie

Now I know this isn’t a cooking site, but I am a HUUUGE fan of Fall and  I’m into all kinds of things right now.  What else says FALL more than beautiful leaves and apple pie?  Autumn Apple Pie.

I made my own pastry the night before.  Bring your pastry to room temperature and set aside a small piece to color later on.  Size up your bottom shell and trim off excess.  Flute or crimp your pie crust with your fingers.

I also cooked my apples ahead of time and let them cool so they wouldn’t be hot when I placed them on the pastry.  The filling is simply apples, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and a little flour to absorb the liquid when cooking.  I do it by eye, so I have no exact measurements.   Fill your shell.

I thought about just placing the leaves right on the apples, but I thought a background piece of pastry might be nicer.  I used a bowl to cut out a circle smaller than the pie dish so that there would be a rim of apples around the pie.

Color the piece of pastry you set aside with GEL food color.  If you use liquid your pastry will be too moist and sticky.  I left the color semi mixed in leaving an uneven marbled look.  I made the orange vivid enough to allow for the pastry to brown and still show color.

I’ve been wanting to make some fall leaf cookies with these leaf cutters, but for now I used them on the pastry.  I used all the sizes. 

When you’re done placing all the leaves brush your pastry with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.

This is the cookie cutter set I used. 

(The actual leaves are from the vines on the front of my house)

mmmmm … and it was good too !

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Corduroy Cane Chairs

I was lucky enough to come across these chairs at my local Goodwill.  Aren’t they gorgeous? 

The cane was in great shape.  The frames are strong and sturdy, but they were on rollers for some reason.

They just need a tiny bit of work.

First I removed the bottom cushions.  These were the only cushions I wanted to recover.  I didn’t bother with the loose back pillows as I want to use some accent pillows when they’re done.

Again start with your project upside down when painting those hard to reach spots. Give a good two coats of spray KILZ primer, sanding in between coats.  Then a coat of a light cream paint to finish it off.

I didn’t glaze or distress the chairs.  I liked the fresh coat of cream paint the way it was.

Now I have to show you this FABULOUS fabric I found.  Heavy, luxurious, beautiful cream and black fabric. 

I’m totally in love with this fabric.

Since I didn’t recover these seats myself, but had someone I know do them professionally for me, I have no instructions for this part.  I didn’t trust myself with the piping and I wanted the edges nice, square and crisp.

Here is one of the chairs cushions finished.

And one of the chairs…(to tell you the truth I don’t have room for these lovelies unfortunately so I’ll just show one…. you get the gist)

That’s it for now.

Thanks for reading

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway !

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1000 Followers Giveaway !

It’s hard to believe that so many amazing people have accepted my blog into their lives.  I’m truly honoured to have reached so many people.   I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Blogland.

To show gratitude and love for my readers I’ve got a few goodies up for grabs:

1 lb bag of Milk Paint

1 Bottle of Milk Paint Bond

2 Purdy Paint Brushes

If you’ve been reading the last few posts here you’ll see Milk Paint in full swing.  I love using it so much, I want YOU to try it!

The wonderful people at Homestead House Paint Company have graciously agreed to donate their product for the giveaway… so a great big ‘Thank You’ to Homestead House.

A 1 lb bag of paint will mix to 2 quarts of paint and will cover about 150 sq. feet. That should last through a few projects! The Milk Paint Bond will allow the milk paint to adhere to any previously finished piece and because you can never have too many paint brushes, I’m throwing in a couple of those too.

The paint comes in the most fabulous colors.  There’s sure to be something you’ll fall in love with.  I used Acadia Pear for my Armoire Makeover, seen HERE and Steel Blue for the Beachy Entry Tables seen HERE.

If you haven’t tried Milk Paint here is your chance.

There are lots of ways to enter..  You can do one or all of the entries below.

The more you do, you more chances you have.

ONE Entry for Each of these below..

Visit Homestead House Paint Co.,  pick your color and leave a comment with the name of the color you’d like.

• Like this post on Facebook, leave a comment telling me you did for one entry
• Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment for another entry
• Like Homestead on Facebook, leave another comment for one more entry
• Please make sure you are a follower of Recaptured Charm

Pick one or do them all for more chances.  It’s that easy !

Thanks to all of you who drop by each week to see what’s new.

Good luck to all … and a THOUSAND Thank You’s !

Giveaway Deadline:  September 30, 2011

*** Please remember to leave your email address***

DIY Dollar Store Illuminated Pumpkin

Gotta love a project that comes entirely from the Dollar Store.

This DIY illuminated pumpkin  is just that.

Here is how to do it.

Gather your materials from your local dollar store:  A couple of balloons, white glue, some twine and some twinkle lights if you don’t already have some kickin’ around. You might want to use a pair of thin rubber gloves too.

I used two plastic containers.  One to pour the glue into the other to hold the inflated balloon.

Blow up the balloon to the size you want your pumpkin to be. I intend to make a couple more in different sizes to accompany this one.

Pour some white glue into one of the containers.  I used a foam brush to paint the entire balloon with glue, although you really don’t need to use the foam brush you can use your gloved hands.  Cut a good length of twine and dip the entire cut piece into the container with the glue.  Cut it as long as possible but not too long so that it gets all tangled up.  Start gluing your glue covered twine to the balloon starting at the bottom. Make sure to tuck your loose ends in behind the other twine nice and neatly.  Go in all different directions, leave some obvious holes, it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Leave a hole at the top and at the bottom of your balloon.  Just get your fingers in there and pry the wet twine apart into a nice neat hole at both ends.  The top hole doesn’t need to be too big, just big enough to insert a stick or stem.

The bottom hole should be slightly bigger.  Big enough to place your pumpkin over a battery operated tea light or to insert your twinkle lights.

Run your glue covered hands (and they will be) over all the twine, then place back on your container and allow to dry.  Remember to turn it around so the bottom dries too.

When your pumpkin is ALMOST dry (mine took about 2 hours)  it will still be slightly pliable.

Pop the balloon.  Be warned that your twine will still be stuck to the balloon and the entire pumpkin might seem to cave in, but you’ll be able to get it back into shape.

Once the balloon is out of the pumpkin, take your hands and make an indent at the top to form the top of the pumpkin, where you will eventually put your stem. After you get the correct shape allow to completely dry, twine will be very hard.

So now your pumpkin will be stiff and have a hole at the top and bottom

At this point you can paint your pumpkin whatever color you choose. I chose two colours.  I sprayed mine with the dark bronze first and them lightly sprayed it with gold.  Both paints I already had on hand.  Glitter would be great as well, if you’re a glittery type of person.

For the lights, you can certainly use a small string of twinkle lights the way they are, but I found them a bit too green this way.

So I took some black spray paint and sprayed the cord being careful not to spray the lights.  I didn’t get the entire cord black, just enough to take away some of the green.

Insert your lights into the bottom of the pumpkin, allow them to bunch up.

At this time of year it’s not hard to find a branch or twig.  The half dead tree in my yard provides me with twigs and dead branches all the time.  Insert the stem, glue it in place. Stand back and enjoy.

The lights cast the most amazing shadow on the wall

And with my black framed picture behind it.

I think I’ll make a couple more.  I hope you give it a try.

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