DIY Light Fixtures

When it comes to a piece of furniture or a rug, I purchase it intending to keep it forever – those items are investments. When it comes to smaller things, light fixtures, wall paint or art on the wall – I’m fully aware that I change them far more frequently than my husband enjoys. The way I look at it is, everyone has a thing! My husbands really cares about cars – our cars, new cars, old cars. He likes talking about them, he likes reading about them, he likes working on them. Decorating is my cars – I like talking about it. I like reading about it. I like doing it. New light fixtures, wall paint, and art on the walls are easy ways to refresh or update a house without breaking the bank. I love my house and I like to keep it looking nice. Call it a waste, call it unnecessary etc. Everyone has a thing – I don’t buy a lot of clothes, we rarely eat out, and we don’t spend a ton on traveling – keeping my house a space I like to be in is my thing.

Our house has 21 light fixtures in it. Yes, I counted… we have 21 fixtures in the part of the house that we use. (There are another 2 rooms we don’t use but that is a whole other post – seriously, I am already working on it.) I am going to be honest, we can’t buy a new light fixture every time I want to replace one. If it sounds like I am making fun of myself for how often I want to change thing like lights, I am.

I think I do a decent job coming up with creative decorating ideas. Sure, there have been a few times I have failed – I tried to stain a seagrass ottoman from Ikea once… my husband came home and asked why the ottoman looked like it had caught on fire… When you take out the occasional fail, most of the time I impress myself with how much I can do with a small budget and some elbow grease.

I love the light I made for our bedroom. We had an old brass foyer light. I honestly can’t remember where we got it from. I think it came out of a house my husband did some work in. My husbands occasionally brings home things he gets from jobs to check and see if I want it for a project first. He knows the way to my heart. This brass light he brought home reminded me so much of the light my parents had in their foyer when I was growing up – their house house was built in 1987. I removed the glass from it and spray painted the fixture with a can of dark spray paint. I used Rust-Oleum Flat Metallic Spray Paint in Burnished Amber – it is dark like oil rubbed bronze metal but has a hint of brown in it which I think gives it good texture.  I am very pleased with the results of the light. Brass is coming back in style and I actually really dig it but oil rubbed bronze was the right shade for our calm muted bedroom.

 

 

The current light in our kitchen is also one I made. It was made from a bathroom vanity light. I like the results so much that I did it a second time to make a light for our foyer. I started with a 3 bulb bathroom vanity light just like this one – the light I used for the kitchen was just like the one in the link – same brand and color, and removed the glass sconces.

This is what the light in our foyer looked like to start with.

I then removed the center bulb. The entire metal piece where the center bulb is screws completely off. You can then pull the wires out for the center bulb. Each bulb has its only wires that run from the ceiling mount to the bulb socket.

Next, I turned the two remaining metal pieces (which have plastic bulb sockets in them) so that when you mount the light, the bulbs are facing down. One side turned easily for me. The other side was screwed on very tightly. I tried very hard to get it to turn, I eventually had to ask my husband to do it and he got it to turn using pliers. If you feel like the end pieces won’t move for you, keep tying. They may be on tight but the light is assembled by screwing those end pieced on so they will move. The light I used for the kitchen was already oil rubbed bronze but I used the same Burnished Amber spray paint on the silver one for my foyer. That’s it! It is now time to just mount your light to the ceiling using the regular mounting hardware and directions that the light came with. The only thing we have left to do is touch up our ceiling where the new light has a much smaller base. Ceiling paint is now on the list!

Foyer Light

Kitchen Light

You now have an industrial, simple, exposed bulb fixture (which you have been seeing everywhere lately). Bathroom vanity lights aren’t too expensive and if you are like me, you might already have some lying around!

Good luck if you decide to update some of your own light fixtures! Post pictures if you do!!!

 

 

 

 

Let’s bring back the Pot Roast!

Ummm pot roast, I just love it. Yes, it’s not fancy, it’s not sexy, but it’s so good! When you mention a pot roast for dinner you might get the same reaction I would get if I were to tell my kids we were having meatloaf for dinner. It’s not a very exciting reaction because… it is a loaf of meat and no one tried to hide that when they named it.

I think the pot roast generation is dying out and most likely for many reasons. It sounds like something that my grandparent’s generation would have made for Sunday dinner or would have prepared for a dinner party, something that would feed a crowd. It sounds time consuming – something you would need to check on multiple times or braise with drippings (I don’t know if people do that, but that is what I picture when I think pot roast). I also think people assume you need a detailed recipe and they don’t have one. I am not old, I cook for 6 people, not 16, and I don’t have a detailed recipe but occasionally I crave a pot roast for dinner because it’s classic, comforting and can be cooked in a crockpot – all of those are reasons we need to bring back the pot roast!

You can make a pot roast with basically any cut of meat. I am no expert on meat but I am telling you from experience that I have used several cuts and it always turns out well. You are just slow cooking meat with veggies – so use whatever meat cut you feel like eating. Slow cooking tends to give you a more tender meat so often people suggest using a tougher cut and saving the more expensive, tender cuts for things like steaks. Whether it’s beef or venison, a shoulder (chuck roast) or hindquarter (rump roast), you are good!

We eat venison. I put that out there like a blanket statement because I know there are people that are completely turned off by this. If that is you, it’s completely fine! I realize that it may seem gross if you aren’t use to it. I grew up eating it, my dad still gives me venison and I have a couple of brother in laws that kindly give us venison also. If I had to guess, I would say we eat it once a month. It is a very lean red meat that makes a great roast. Using it for a pot roast helps hide that gamey taste most people complain about with venison. If it’s not your thing, just use beef!

I soak all venison over night in vinegar water (thanks for the tip dad!) to help draw any blood out and soften the meat. It a very hands off step that only takes a minute. Fill a pot with water, add a couple splashes of white vinegar, add your meat and soak over night in the fridge. The next day you are ready to prepare your roast.

I can set my crockpot with a roast in the morning and be done with it until it’s time to eat – I love this!! Here are the steps I followed for my last pot roast. I just did what felt right and it turned out great!

After soaking my cut of meat over night, I placed it in my crockpot. I don’t have any exact amounts for you because you don’t need them – a crockpot roast is very forgiving BUT if you are a “numbers” person, I’m guessing my roast (a deer hindquarter) was about 2 lbs. It had already been cut from the bone – shout out to my brother in law for being awesome!

 

Next, I added my veggies, I used a couple handfuls of purple potatoes because… well, they are purple!  I grabbed them from the store because I knew my kids would find them exciting and they offer more vitamins than white potatoes – they are 4 times higher in antioxidants! The purple potatoes were fun but you can use white, red, sweet – whatever you choose. I cut my potatoes in half.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I added a few handfuls of carrots and a splash or 2 of chicken stock (roughly 1/2 cup). You can add any liquid of your choice – water with bullion, broth etc. I use chicken stock because I tend to keep it on hand. You can make your own stock from leftover chicken. The 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook by Lisa Leake gives awesome, easy instructions on how to make your own stock from the leftovers of a whole cooked chicken. I have done it a few times and loved the results but I keep store bought on hand. Costco’s store brand chicken stock is awesome and has a nice, whole food ingredients list (no sugar or MSG added) and so does the the brand pictured below – Kitchen Basics. I buy both and both are priced comparable to other brands available.

Next I added some seasonings – a couple dashes of garlic powder, a dash of onion powder & a pinch or 2 of salt. I just happen to use Pink Himalayan Salt (it’s higher in minerals) because I had it.

You can use any salt and add enough to taste, you can always add more after it’s done cooking. After you add your spices, you are done!

How beautiful! Love the colors!

 

I set my crockpot on HIGH for 6 hours because that is what I had time for. The meat turned out very tender. If you want to set this before work or are going to be gone all day, you could cook it on LOW for longer (8 hours). Either way, my crockpot, I’m sure others also, go from the “cook” setting to “warm” to keep it ready to eat until meal time. The roast was delicious, my kids enjoyed it and we had enough for dinner and my lunch the next day. Simple ingredients, 10 minutes of hands on time and you have a hot, homemade, delicious meal! Enjoy!