Thursday, April 28, 2016

Plate Stand

I just adore these plate stands and they are so easy and inexpensive to make.


I bought the big dish from Dollarama. Which you can kind of tell because they are all a little warped along the top.


I used an old glass candle holder for the base.  They worked so great for this project, because the bottom of the candle holder fit perfectly in the circle on the bottom of the plate.

This is the top of the candle holder, which will be on the bottom once it is glued on.

I painted the candle holder with chalk paint and then I spray sealed it a couple of times to protect the paint.
This is the bottom of the candle holder that is glued to the plate.  This one is painted grey.

Once the candle holder was completely dry, I sanded the paint off the edge where I would be gluing it so that it would be a true bonding. Then I glued the bottom of the candle holder to the bottom of the plate using "Goop".  I found it takes this Goop glue about 4 days to dry to the point where you can't move it around anymore.  So, if that's the kind you use, be careful not to move it too much for the first few days.

I wouldn't want to submerge this stand in water, but it is washable.

This one I'm keeping. I love the blue base.


I think they turned out pretty cute.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crystal

This post is linked up to'

Vintage Charm
Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House
Vintage and Thrifty Finds
Wake Up Wednesday "Linky" Party
Talk of the Town

Friday, April 1, 2016

Making Tomato Sauce From Frozen Tomatoes

I have finally processed the last of my frozen tomatoes. I still had about 30 lbs in the freezer and needed to free up that freezer space.  I have already canned lots of tomatoes and more salsa than I can count, so I figured we need some tomato sauce.


Now, I love freezing our garden tomatoes whole in the fall.  That way I free up my time to process the other garden fruits and veggies in the busy season.  Then, when everything has quieted down and I feel like canning, I have them ready.

Also, when you freeze tomatoes and after they thaw, the skins just slip off. So no need for boiling them.  Bonus!!!

The skins didn't really bother me for this recipe anyway.  Garden grown tomatoes tend to have thinner skins and I was running them through my food processor.

Tomatoes thawing out.

Ready to be processed.

I just made a very simple recipe.  I cooked 3 chopped onions in about 1/2 olive oil.  Then I added 8 cloves of minced garlic.  Then I added all the processed tomatoes and salt and 2 Tbsp crushed chili peppers.  I cooked this until it reduced by about 2 quarts. Then I added a big can of crushed tomatoes and 156 ml can of tomato paste.

I'm sure I could have processed the jars in a water bath, but I chose to do it in my pressure canner because of the oil.

I ended up with 18 pints when it was all done and now I finally have a little bit of freezer space.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crystal


2 Corinthians 9:6

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.