Every Cowgirl Closet Needs Painted Cowboy Boots

Have you ever taken a load of old clothes to a thrift store and made yourself a little ill when you tallied up the money you paid for them?  Well, fashion trends come and go, but the best fashion investment I've made is my cowgirl clothes. Though the presence of horses in my life has ebbed and flowed. I still have some Stewart boots that are 30 years old, belts, and even some shirts that are certainly in the vintage category by now (An age category thing that's a bit tough to take when I'm the original owner!)

Recently I took a pair of old Tony Lama cowboy boots I bought at a garage sale and painted them. It's a fun way to play with your inner cowgirl and get something new for your cowgirl closet. Here's a few tips I came up with to paint leather  boots.

• Use oil paints.
• Very lightly sand the entire boot with a 100 grit sandpaper to open the surface of the leather. Don't sand over stitching as it will tear.
• With a rag, wipe the boot down with paint thinner to prepare the surface.
• Let the paints dry for months as recommended with oils, then protect the surface of the boot with a natural oil finish.
• Have fun! 

Note: I painted these boots with thin washes of Cadmium Red Dark and Quinacridone Red on the foot area. On the boot shaft, I painted the gold calligraphic floral pattern with a laquer-thinner based 14kt. gold pigmented paint.
www.CristinaAcosta.com

The Frugal Creative: Dyeing Custom Colors for Your Home

My long tradition of personal frugality has inspired all sorts of creative ways to get high-end interior design style into my life. During the early years of my art career, I worked hard making ceramic tiles or painting for this or that art exhibit or whatever was going on. About 10 years into the process I noticed that I lived in a boring house that didn't reflect me at all. At the time, I was painting tiles then shipping them to ta-ta addresses in Beverly Hills and Vero Beach. I was a go-to girl for high end interior designers and shipping my art work to addresses all over the country, meanwhile none of the creativity I so easily gave to others was part of my life. I needed to revamp my thinking.

I remembered the axiom, "the cobblers children have no shoes," and decided to change my ways. I made a vow to lavish my creativity on my own life, not just on others. It took a while to get into the practice of being generous with myself, but it worked. I started by painting a set of ceramic dishes for myself; tiled the stair risers with my daughter's help; painted the house; and framed and hung paintings and photos. I got my husband and daughter in on the home decor work and we re-did everything. Together we made mosaic lamps, mirrors and flower pots; painted floor mats; built garden art, and whatever I could think of. All of these years later, our house looks great!

Here's an easy way for you to start bringing your creativity into your home. There are three things you can do to immediately change the mood of your house -- Color, color and color! The obvious way to bring in color is with wall paint. Another way is with fabrics. Think about all of the textiles you have in your home. Bed sheets, fabric lampshades, rugs, curtains and most any textile can slip into a dye bath.

Dyeing fabrics is fun and surprisingly easy. If you can follow the recipe on the back of a brownie mix box, you can dye fabrics. My favorite fabric dye and supply catalog company is Dharma Trading Co. Not only does Dharma Trading Co have hundreds of supplies including fabric dyes and fabric paints, they also have a big selection of "blanks" or plain items of clothing or fabric yardage you can dye or paint. On top of that, The Dharma Trading Co. catalog has great directions! The front of the catalog has all sorts of useful info about the fabric dyes and how to use them.

The stack of sheets in this photo shows you the great collection of colors I created for my bedding. I shop at Ross or TJ Max (discount retailers) for bargain cotton sheets with a high thread count and create great looking bed sheets for a fraction of the interior design prices. So . . . take the plunge into color and start dyeing fabrics. Not only will you save money on home decor, you're going to love the results!

The Frugal Creative: How to Make Mint Tea, Dry Mint on a Window Screen

What plant tolerates drought, loves water, is generally deer and rabbit proof, and grows most places without much effort, AND you can eat it? Mint! And, even better, mint plants are available in varieties including chocolate mint, peppermint and spearmint (among the 2 dozen or so varieties of mint, many of which are available as seed or plants in most plant nurseries). Save money and ask a gardener for a few stalks and you can grow mint from a cutting by rooting it in water for a few weeks.

For the frugal creative person with a lavish streak, making your own tea and better yet, giving it away as gifts will save you . . . a mint! (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun!)

So grow some mint and you'll soon have an abundant harvest that will make you feel lavish. Make tea, mix the mint into food or scent a bathtub. Mint is easy to dry. Though I do have a food dehydrator, I live in a dry climate so I usually dry the mint outside. Here are some photos from my garden that will show you what to expect when drying mint.

Here's how to dry mint at home using window screens:

• Hose the mint down (while it's in the ground) to be sure it's clean. Let it dry.
• Clip the plant stalks at the bottom -- a few inches from the ground.
• Spread the stalks across a clean window screen propped across 2 chairs.
• Turn the mint during the day.
• Don't let the mint get rained on or otherwise wet.
• When dry, run your hand down the stalk from the tip to remove dry leaves. Discard stems.
  
• Save the leaves on a platter and let them dry again for at least the day. Put mint leaves in baggies or glass jars and store in a dark, cool cupboard.

Dry mint will be crackly and easily crush to powder under your fingers.

Uses for fresh or dried mint: The strength of flavor varies between varieties, so I did not include amounts. Taste as you add mint to your food.

• Tea, potatoes, lamb, carrots, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate, oranges and other citrus fruits, salsa, vegetables.
• If you love the flavor of fresh mint during the off-season, chop it and freeze it into ice cubes. As it thaws it will subtly flavor the beverage while looking gorgeous. You can also add the mint ice cubes to vegetable water (great with peas) or soups.
  
• Bury a few fresh mint stalks in a couple cups of white sugar for a few days to flavor the sugar. Remove the mint so it won't decay.

Save more money and follow my recipe to make your own bath scrub using mint. Try this and other recipes on my website.

www.CristinaAcosta.com