I needed to make some feathers hanging on strings for part of my niece's birthday presents. One for a window and the other for... well... she hasn't gotten it yet so I can't say. It's just added décor. I also was in the mood for something like this after putting up a tension rod in my bathroom window and hanging lovely draping sheers that I can pull back but still enjoy the view when they are open. It's not exactly what I've been itching for in there but it will work. Anyway, I want something special and reflective hanging in that window as well. So. Today at the day care I gathered up feathers and beads and twine and string and within minutes I had some beautiful boho gems! It's going to be hard to let any of them go. But they are lovely charms that are charming the heck out of me!
I simply tied the twine around the top of the feathers and strung beads on. Not a tough thing to do at all but oh so pretty. Please excuse the lack of a good backdrop in the pics!
I have been preparing for my main tree in the house since the beginning of November when I decided I wanted to make beaded snowflakes. I wound up with forty six in total! They were so fun to make and I already had all the beads from long ago projects and yard sales. I also wanted to put big roses all over the tree and wound up loving the snowflakes so much that I didn't want to put the roses on. I finally made myself do it and wound up adoring the tacky look of it along with tons of white feathers all over the tree.
My other idea for our tree this year was to take the loose feathers from all around the house that I have found and collected for... ever... put them in clear glass ball ornaments and hang them with decorative ribbon. My main tree is not a huge tree and once I decided to put two strings of tiki camping lights on the small tree in the kitchen, there was no doubt that the feather balls should be on the tree as well, along with more feathers. I told my sister that I wasn't sure if the tree was more tiki hut or Native American. Either way it is unique and I love it.
Our home is finally decorated for Christmas and I did it all in one day. I hung vintage holly garlands with lights above my kitchen sink and garland with lights, white poinsettias, feathers and gold butterflied above the claw foot tub in the bathroom which is so tacky it's gorgeous. So far I turn all the lights on when I get home each day and when I get up each morning just to illuminate the house in a cheerful way. Hope you're holiday decorating has gone well for you too this year!
I love this vintage holly garland that I scored at an estate sale in October. I paid one dollar for the sack full of this and another garland.
I am pretty pumped about this. This is my first video to make... ever. I did guest star in a couple of videos that my nieces and nephew made that were pretty cool... here's one .
This video is a little different as it shows the process of skinning a bird. A Tennessee Bob White Quail to be exact. Shaun has gone bird hunting a couple of times lately and I think it is interesting and could be useful to some. My loving husband is the demonstrator in the video and also the narrator. If I only had actual video footage with the way he explains things. You'd love it. I tried to put it into his words as much as I could.
*Please excuse the imperfections on the breast. One of the hunting dogs brought this one back and looks like she held it a little hard.*
After you skin and clean the quail, it needs to soak in a cold, salt water bath in the refrigerator at least over night. After that, rinse off the legs and breast in water and dry them on paper towels. In a bowl, add one egg and 1/4 cup milk and a few drops of Texas Pete hot sauce and stir rapidly with a fork until combined. In a separate bowl, prepare a mixture of flour and add a bit of Butt Rub and black pepper or whatever kind of spices float your boat, but not too much... the quail is too fine to over spice.
Dredge breast and legs in egg mixture then toss in flour mixture and place on a plate or directly in to your skillet with about a quarter inch of hot fat or lard or oil. Allow to cook turning after several minutes until brown all over. The legs will be done before the breast. The breast take about 15 minutes total time at medium heat. You can also check their internal temperature to 160 degrees or just cut one open to check for doneness.
Roll that beautiful Quail footage.
Throw some of the flour from the pre-fry into the skillet and work around with a whisk. Then add milk and whisk while you pour. Keep pouring until you get it to the right runny consistency to your likings. This'll be your gravy. I use between a half cup and a cup depending on if it's just me and Shaun or if Otis stops by because he smelled the quail cooking at his house. I swear I don't know how he knows but I am always willing to share.
You can also use the beautiful feather from the quail for just about any craft you can come up with. This dream catcher necklace is what my niece Jessica made for us for Christmas. She was smart to call me for feathers as I plucked these myself. Aren't they gorgeous?
