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Friday, October 26, 2018

PLASTERED BRICK WALL

I had the pleasure of helping create a plastered brick wall recently and wanted to share it with you.  I think it turned out pretty darn good for my first attempt!
There were several steps along the way to the end result, including caulk, paint, plaster, sanding, did I mention paint?

The first steps I've already shared when I added a faux brick wall to my studio.  The sheets go up fairly easily and really help you feel like you're making great progress.  This particular wall took three sheets.

The next step is the caulking between the sheets to hide the seams, followed by lots of hand painting of the caulk lines and the bricks themselves to give them a more authentic look.  Again, there are additional details on my first blog post.

To create the plaster for this wall, I used drywall joint compound.  In doing research I've read that some folks use this, some use drywall mud and others use plaster.  Since I had some leftover drywall joint compound from our basement project, I went with that.  You put it on with a drywall knife.

It dries a little yellow, so I used a very broad paintbrush to paint white paint over the top.  I used more of a whitewash technique by dipping my brush in paint and then water.   The final step in the painting process was to whitewash some of the bricks beneath the "plaster" since in reality they would have been worn and weathered underneath the plaster.

Once it was all painted to my liking, I used sandpaper to smooth, and in some cases remove more plaster in places creating jagged edges and blank spaces for more of a worn look.

Monday, October 15, 2018

STICKY PECAN CINNAMON BUNS

As I was putting together my brunch recipe for this past weekend, I knew I needed a couple of "sweet treats".  Despite having a number of really good coffee cake recipes, I really wanted to include something a little different, so I opted for sticky buns.......the "easy" version. 
These were so easy and so yummy.  You absolutely have to give them a try!  It all starts with Pillsbury.....

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup melted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
2 (17.5 oz) cans of refrigerated cinnamon roll dough (5 per can....I recommend Pillsbury Grands Flaky "cinnabon")

INSTRUCTION:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Melt butter and add brown sugar; mix well.   Spread mixture onto the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Sprinkly pecans over the brown sugar mixture.  Open cinnamon rolls and separate.  Place in the dish on top of pecans and sugar/butter mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.  Flip out onto serving platter.  Drizzle top with white icing (included with the rolls) if desired.  They looked so pretty fresh out of the oven,  I just didn't have time to snap pics while I was getting all the food into position.  So these were taken the following day (there were only 3 leftover).  

NOTES:  I flipped my rolls onto a parchment lined large jelly roll pan, then transferred them to a serving dish.  I also only used one of the white icings, which was just the right amount in my opinion. 

Enjoy!

recipe c/o:  www.southernbite.com