Rustique Art Blog

easy homemade Italian meatballs

by Cindi Albright

I’m pretty lazy when it comes right down to it; therefore if there is a way to cut corners and not sacrifice quality, in this case taste; then count me in.

Last night I made my famous meatballs. They’re really only famous inside this house, but you know what I mean, my family loves my meatballs and so do I. Since I cook my meatballs in the sauce I figured why waste another dish to mix them up in…right?

Want to know my recipe? Begin with a saucepan, large enough to hold the amount of meatballs you wish to make. I used a 3 quart for this demo.

I used 2 lbs. of 98/2 Laura’s Lean Ground Beef, 2 eggs, salt, pepper, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, Italian Seasoning, about 1 cup of bread crumbs and if I have it, I will toss in some fennel seeds. I mix right in the sauce pan.

After mixing well, I then rolled into meatballs. 2 lbs of meat makes 16 meatballs for us because I roll them large. Then I pour 2 jars of sauce over the meatballs. I prefer Barilla Marinara, but any sauce will do.

Cover and cook on medium heat. Sauce should simmer long enough to cook meat through. This is where I typically make a mess because I set it too high and sauce pops all over the stove when I remove the lid to stir.

I simmer for about 40 minutes and prepare the pasta.

Then we eat…. Yum!

bon appetit

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essentials tools & building materials (of sorts)

by Cindi Albright

sorry…my intent was not to mislead you with the title, but only to get your attention. I’ve read that blog titles should be catchy and entice the reader into reading more.

I just couldn’t let this one get away, I mean after all it is Mother’s Day weekend and I am a mom, so I had to share this with you.

This really happened, except the people in the observation were rearranged.

The whole story goes like this:

Our daughter was driving, my husband was in the front seat, I was sitting in the back. We were on our way to see a movie; “The Avengers” (side note: great movie!)

We pull into the parking lot to look for a space. Being it was opening weekend for this particular movie, the parking lot was crowded and spaces were few. But we all spotted this one car backing out and DD waited for the car to pull away and then we began our approach to claim the coveted spot. And then there it was…a white bag, gleaming as if a spotlight was shinning on it, a very large fast food bag.

Now I know that it’s quite possible that the car that just left, might not have left it there, maybe it was from another person…who knows?

The way I see it…we all have a choice at this moment. Wait, but really?… do we? I mean when we claimed that spot, at that point didn’t it become our responsibility to pick up the trash?

What do you think?

My (hero) husband opened the door and swooped it up, carried it up to the theater and simply dropped it into the garbage can.

Did he want a pat on the back, applause, accolades for this deed?

Absolutely not!

But he did get a hug from his daughter and a kiss from me, and in our daughter’s eyes, her daddy was a man of integrity. I know this because in my eyes he was. He always has been, but those moments like this… when we have the chance to leave a lasting impression on our children and others around us, it was the fact the he seized that moment, that’s when integrity shows… and he did it with humility to boot! That is when character begins to take root in those who observe our actions and reactions to situations.

How about you? Do you seize every opportunity to teach and build character in your children?

Thank you for allowing me to share this story with you today.

Do you forgive me for pulling you in with the title? Ah, come on…it was worth it, don’t ya think?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

“HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY”
Linking up & Sharing my Style:

Studio JRU: In the Studio

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a late entry into Spring {seasonal decor}

by Cindi Albright

I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. More like a season. Spring is here and up until the past Saturday, my home…well small spaces of it, was still wrapped up in a winter blanket. Warm rustic colors are wonderful in those chilly months following the Christmas season, but since we’ve had green grass since February, you would think I’d be more proactive about bringing the seasonal colors into our home. What can I say? Maybe I’m just a late bloomer, ya think?

A few days ago I wrote about how I freshened up an old lamp, gathered some lightly hued vintage treasures and pulled together a sweet little vignette that prompted the awakening from my decorating funk. Once I get started I am motivated to continue until I’ve cleaned, reset and redecorated our cozy little abode. When we repainted our walls in our den, entry area and a small space off of the den back in the fall, we choose a much lighter shade of paint for the walls and added a board & batten treatment in all three areas. This, to our amazement, opened up our home so much more. Not only due to the lighter walls, but because they were all tied together with the same color walls, it gives the illusion of one large room, instead of three separate areas. We are still very, very happy with our choice of color, even more so when I go through my home pulling very colorful items to make my entry area into a vintage garden vignette. Color is my friend, I love love love color and it’s fun to bring different colors into our home, this is made easier by going with neutral colors for the wall. In my mind, matching isn’t an issue as much as blending.

Many times I’ve wonder just what my style of decorating is, I’ve never been able to really say if asked. I do love to mix things up. After finishing the entry area, I’ve decided that my style is; “Eclectic French Country Vintage Rustic”. Not that it’s necessary to have a specific style, but now I’m ready if someone should ask. However, if you disagree…I’m going to give you the chance to give your thoughts after I finish showing off my entry into Spring.

What is Spring without a pig? It worked so well for E.B. White in the children’s classic; Charlotte’s Web. Yes, my pig’s name is Wilber. The blue plate is my favorite piece to decorate with, it pops no matter where you put it. A touch of rust is a must as you can see.

A vintage sewing drawer was reclaimed and branded with “fraiches” which is French for “fresh”, lovely pears in Spring green add more color to this space.

A vintage incubator tray serves as a magnet board and gives the area some dimension, pulls the eye up and makes a perfect perch for a vintage carpenters ruler as a photo or card holder. Vintage seed packets would look great wedged in there too. I’ll be on the look out for some of those this weekend.

The lamp is one of a pair, I pulled this one from my workroom, it adds more light and touch of French Country to this vignette. Now you can see the size of the large incubator tray, I snagged that on a WUSLU deal months ago, I couldn’t resist this buy and I’ve been looking for the perfect place to use it ever since it arrived. Told you I was slow. To add more color to the Spring garden entry, I grabbed a very special painting and slid it behind the tray. Do you see how it looks like your looking out of a screen door on a beautiful Spring day? My oldest daughter painted this for me years ago, she will never know how much I love this painting even more now that I can enjoy it every day. Metal marquee letters and a galvanized heart spell out “C loves J”, adding a touch of Spring romance. I ordered the letters from Peppercorns, the pretty tag in the first photo was a gift with my purchase. I love gifts. The hearts are from Jack Rabbit Flats. Rusty the owl is nestled in a corner of the tray.

Everything in this photo is from my house. Nothing is new, but it sure feels new because it’s pulled together to create a new space, a new look…a fresh look. There is more up above, but for now I’ll leave it here. One because it isn’t completely done yet, need to find a few more items. And two because I needed to wrap it up and get busy on an order that’s due this week and also because Snoopy was tired….

He and his sister, Charlie are our esteemed house guests for two weeks. They are also my grand dogs and they love coming to visit g’ma and playing with Rudy and Rover.

So what is your decision? Am I Eclectic French Country Vintage Rustic? Did I hit the nail on the head? or did I miss by a long shot?

peace.love.rust

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my trip to the country, a front seat view!

by Cindi Albright

Saturday mornings are really nice around our house. Typically, Mr. Rust and I sit and drink a pot of coffee and discuss what we need to do vs. what we want to do. This morning was a little different because the mister still had some work he needed to finish up, coffee was cut a bit short and he was off until noon. I proceeded to dismantle my entry way, clean and reset with a more summery look. Just when I had everything scattered across three rooms, the mister called and asked if I wanted to ride along with him to the last job of the day….it was out of town, in the country. Although it wasn’t really in the country is was further away from the city, far enough that dogs could be out unleashed, houses sat on larger parcels of land and I couldn’t hear traffic.

I love the country! Love the fresh air, it was cool here this morning, so we rode with the windows down and the wind in my face. My plan was to sit in the truck and read while hubby finished up. I brought water and my book, just in case I get bored. And of course I brought my camera…

I’m just getting to the really good parts and I look for reasons to sit and read. I figured this would be a perfect plan!

But I got hungry so I began eating sunflower seeds…

There is always a bag of seeds in my husbands truck. Sunflower seeds must be a required staple for pickup trucks. I was happy they were there and I helped myself to a handful…I love to see how far I can spit the hulls.

Gosh it’s so wonderfully quite in the country, just the wind in the trees and…a sqreechy, squeally, squeaky sound, what is that? Ohhh….a windmill! I could just barely see it through the trees, but I could certainly hear it. What a wonderful sound. Wind in the trees and the rhythm of the windmill turning.

Oh cool! this country house has a bunny! I can see it in his little hutch. He’s nibbling at something and then begins to give his shelf a bath. He must sense that I’m watching, because he begins to watch me.

or maybe not…maybe he’s watching the other something that is watching me.

aaawwwh….hey there sweet baby! Isn’t she so adorable. She’s wondering why I don’t get out of the truck and play with her. So she tries to make me believe it will be really fun if I do.

we could roll around in the grass and get jiggy! or…

play with my rope…here let me show how it works.

first you go this way, and then…

you grab it like this, then you do this…

hey wait…that’s not supposed to go there.

She makes it look fun, doesn’t she?

and notice how she doesn’t even mind sharing the yard with a the country bunny?

wow! I’m impressed and now bummed because hubby is done and it’s time to go.

Man…it’s a good thing I brought my book!

I hope your Saturday was a entertaining as mine was.

peace.love.rust

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my house got a “make over”

by Cindi Albright

Have you ever noticed how different you look and feel when you apply just a touch of mascara, some blush and lip color. It doesn’t have to be much, just a hint. Most of the time I go without makeup, I will even curl my hair and feel wonderful and refreshed. I mean if I only had so much time to get ready, the makeup could wait, but the hair has to look good. When I do wear makeup, it’s just a lite application of mineral powder, some liner, mascara, a lip color. Being that it’s already warm weather, the sunshine has given my cheeks a natural glow. Or maybe that is from the “hot flashes”

Are you wondering what this has to do with my house? It’s simple….we put makeup on our house last weekend. Well that’s what I call it.

Here is what the front of our house looked before the make over…

It’s looks okay. The yard is pretty and that helps. Mr. Rust loves his yard and enjoys taking care of it on the weekends.

Our home was built in 1985 and we’ve been renovating it since we moved in. There is always something being repainted, ripped out or installed. There’s no doubt we love to make continuous improvements to our home.

Now here is the front of our house with some “make up” applied…

Mr. Rust made shutters for the windows. This is something we’ve discussed for a few years but just never got around to it. Now we are wondering why we waited so long. It made a huge difference in the way our house looks.

We also removed the faded and sagging solar screens that were on two of the windows, which I’m sure would have been an improvement without the new shutters. Last spring we repainted the front door, spruced up the front porch and painted the mailbox, the shutters just tie it all together.

I think my mister did an awesome job. He’s pretty handy to have around.

Believe it our not there are a 1000 more things to do…one project at a time. Our goal is to get one project completed each weekend. So far we’ve held close to this goal.

My awesome husband has even offered to help me do a tutorial on the making of these shutters. Isn’t he sweet? I was so bummed when I realized that I totally forgot to get step by step photos when he was making shutters.

That chin quivering trick really works!

Are your weekends full of home projects too? Do you work on little things each week or are you in the midst of a major reno right now? What is one thing you’ve been dying to change in your home?

What’s next on our list? The Garage Door make over…. Now that outta be fun!

peace.love.rust

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11 + ways to repurpose a vintage door knob

April 17, 2012

door knobs, vintage door knobs, how many ways can I use thee …let me count the ways; #1 ~ My all time fave….the “photo holder”, this is my version; rustic of course, but their are some wonderful things being done with a simple piece of wire and a door knob. A few little twists [...]

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my new lamp, my passion for wicker & part 2 of “duck egg”

April 16, 2012

I’ve come to believe that wicker may never go out of style and even if it does or it seems as if it comes and goes over a span of time, it really never goes out of style, it’s always there, we may not choose to pick it up and add it into our decor [...]

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duck egg

April 13, 2012

my newest love. duck egg. as in the color, not an egg. which by the way, are duck eggs blue? i wouldn’t know. but i do know that i’m smitten with the paint color ‘duck egg’. can you blame me? it’s so fun to open a fresh can of paint, especially Annie Sloan Chalk Paint [...]

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a new do for my dresser

April 10, 2012

This might go down as the flop of the year…but I’m just going to have to live with it. I have no desire to repaint, but as with everything in life, there is bright side. I have been toying with some paint colors to paint my kitchen cabinets in, I now know it won’t be [...]

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Oh Glorious Day!

April 8, 2012

Oh Glorious Day! Matthew 28 Jesus Has Risen 1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled [...]

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Pinterest inspired plantings

March 18, 2012

A little of this, a little of that… that’s what I was saying as I walked through my house picking up things to put dirt in. I saw some wonderful succulent container ideas on Pinterest last week, one container in particular caught my eye because I had the same container in my stash. Mine is [...]

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i’ll share my favorite “mexican casserole” recipe…it’s so easy & so yum!

March 16, 2012

Are you ready for the easiest and most delicious recipe in the world? Layered Enchiladas! It’s so easy my teenage son can make it if he had to. This has become my go to recipe when I need a quick meal. I usually have all of the ingredients in my pantry and freezer. This is [...]

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no alarm needed

March 13, 2012

No alarm needed for this week due to Spring break. No vacation plans for this family though, but who needs a vaca when we get a whole week of… no alarms no 7 am work out for my son no 6 am making lunch and breakfast for son getting up when my body has had [...]

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there will always be storms…

February 22, 2012

so prepare and take shelter in God’s word Linking up & Sharing my style @ Katherine’s Corner: Favorite Things Blog Hop

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punched and framed

February 21, 2012

Old fencing, sheet metal and three iron stars and your done! Next time you see a neighbor throwing away old fencing, stop by and pick through their trash pile Chances are they’ll never know you did and old fence slats make really nice frames I never imagined that sheet metal would be a staple in [...]