EPISODE #95 -
SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 2011
When should we
start shifting from fall to holiday stories!?!? I face that
dilemma every year. I want to keep from moving past the fall
too fast, but it seems like the holidays start sooner each
year. I will try to ease into it gently. We will start with a
story on Goodwill and how they are helping people while helping
collectors find a treasure!
Goodwill Decorating
We were
thinking about doing a ‘décor on the cheap’ story when we got a
call from Dale at Goodwill. What a perfect tie in!
Goodwill
Industries of the Columbia Willamette (503-238-6100) helps
employ people with disabilities or with other barriers to
employment in our area. She contacted us to let us know about
their new on-line bidding service at
http://www.ShopGoodwill.com. This is an on-line virtual
store. You can go on your computer and check out new items to
bid on every week. If you win the bid you can then have the
item shipped to you. 98% of all items begin with a bid of $5.
We were able to check out some of the holiday décor/collectables
that they were going to put on-line this week. These items are
hand-picked and are chosen because they are of high quality, are
very unique or are very collectable.
Dale had
some pretty cool things to show use. The first thing that Robin
noticed was a decorative plate from Limoges in France. A fine
collectable for a very low price. The next thing was a valuable
vase that was priced at $150. This one was made in Holland and
had gold leaf and turquoise in the pattern. We then looked at
some of the holiday collectables that they had in their
inventory. These included a couple of nutcrackers, including
one that was a mechanical bank. We also saw some rare ornaments
and an old ‘Santa’ bank from 1950. There was also hand painted
piece of artwork on display too. At Goodwill it isn’t just
about mass produced items, you can find some really great hand
made items as well.
Next we
moved into the other half of the building where they have the
Westside Outlet. The outlet is where you can buy Goodwill
products by the pound! Once the items have been in the regular
stores for a certain time (or too long of a time) they are sent
to the outlet stores to be sold out of large bins. You can get
some really great deals here too. We found a huge assortment of
holiday décor items and an entire shopping cart full of
decorating items for less than $28! If you are looking for an
inexpensive way to decorate your home for any holiday, stop by
your local Goodwill store!
Durable Furniture
If you have
kids and/or pets you may think you have to wait until they are
gone before you can enjoy expensive, fancy furniture. Carrie
Gamache from
Ashley
Furniture (503-726-7490)
joined us to tell us that is not always true. She started by
showing us the ‘durablend’ furniture which is made out of
leather combined with other materials. This is then attached to
a denim backing so it looks like leather but it is more
durable. This will take a beating and do well in the home. Next
you want to look at the stitching. Look for reinforced or
baseball stitching. That type of stitching will handle the wear
and tear better. You will also want to look for zippered
cushions. This will allow you to re-stuff the cushions when
they get old and flat. But what if you don’t want the ‘leather’
look? We saw the latest in polyester. This is a wonderful
woven fabric that can be easily cleaned with soap and water.
One more reminder… If you have pets you want to keep their nails
and claws trimmed. This will help preserve and extend the life
of your furniture.
We also
found out why everything matched so well in the store. Ashley
designs entire groups of furniture including lamps, rugs,
pottery and tables to match so you can get everything for one
low price. Right now you can get a 14 piece set of furniture
for less than $1,000. You can see more wonderful Ashley
products during their grand opening of the new locally owned and
operated location in Tigard right across highway 217 from
Washington Square.
Terra Casa Dressing a Soffit
Most newer
homes, and some older homes have soffits. A soffit is the space
between the top of your cupboards or cabinetry and the ceiling.
These can be huge blank spaces unless you find something to
fill the space with. Some use this area as storage, but there
is sooo much more potential if you are looking to make a
statement in your decorating. We stopped by
Terra Casa
(503-577-8242) to learn more about dressing up this area with
Kathii. The first thing that Kathii told us was to concentrate
on an area that measures about 36 inches wide. If it gets wider
than that you can’t create the visual impact that you want to
have. You will also want to fit everything with in the space you
have and not seem too crowded. Stay at least 2 inches below the
ceiling and make sure that nothing is touching the ceiling.
That just makes it look too crowded. If you have more than one
area to dress make sure there is separation between the
different decorated areas. You can still tie them together by
keeping the same color scheme going, but make sure they are not
identical. You can use artificial greenery to help soften the
edges of the display and bring in more earth tones too. When
building your vignette remember scale. A smaller space needs
smaller items to fill it. When creating the space remember to
use a taller piece to add structure and then create a triangle
of interest by using at least 2 other items below that structure
piece. Always use an odd number of items in your display
(either 3,5 or 7 items). If you are looking for more ideas or
some really stunning pieces to use in your display, then check
out Terra Casa!
Brews and Views
We have done
stories about pairing food and wine but we have never done any
stories about pairing food and beer. To learn how to do that we
stopped by
Salty’s on the Columbia (503-288-4444) and talked with
Beverage Manager, Megann Williams. Megann thinks it is easy to
pair wine with food. The winemaker has it easy in dealing only
with grapes. Pairing with beer is tougher. Beer has more
variables. There are hops for bitterness, barley for sweetness
and then you have all the other ingredients that can be added to
beer like fruits and other flavorings like nuts and spices. As
you can see it is harder to take all those into consideration.
She recommends one of two ways to approach your beer and food
choices. The first way is to look for similar taste profiles.
You may want to pair a rich stout beer with a rich chocolate
mousse. These will help bring the same tastes to your mouth at
the same time so you can enjoy the similarities. The other end
of the spectrum is to contrast flavors. So you have an oyster
paired with a dry bitter IPA. So the flavors cut through each
other and compete for room on your tongue.
Overall she
recommends that you pair the body of a beer with the food you
are eating. Light beers with light foods and heavier beers with
similar, heavier foods. If you are a beer fanatic Salty’s is a
great place to visit and let them help you with these ‘tough’
beer decisions. A good way to learn more is at their 1st
Brews and Views event on the 27th of October. For
$29 per person you can taste over 10 local brews and see how
they pair with beer cheese fondue, pork sliders, pretzel crusted
pork loin and even beer marshmallows! For more information feel
free to contact Salty’s to reserve your place.
Olive Oil Tips
Olive Oil is
known for all its uses in cooking and preparing food, but we
found some other uses that may surprise you. Robin and David
found out that you can use the olive oil to help moisturize your
cuticles and dry skin. Just apply a little dab with a cotton
swab or cotton ball and rub it in. Plus because of its
lubricating properties you can use it when you are shaving to
get a really close shave! Just don’t use the flavored kind!
For the ladies you can use it to remove makeup and smudges from
your mascara. There are many uses around the house too. You
can wipe a small amount around the top of a candlestick holder
and when the wax drips down it can easily be removed. It is
also great for polishing those same candlestick holders or any
other stainless steel item. In small amounts it can also be
used for dusting. Finally, it can be applied to food, cat
food! Adding a tiny amount to your cat’s food will help
eliminate hairballs. We found about an 1/8 of a teaspoon to a
cup of food is the recommended amount. Just a few ways you can
use this very versatile product around your home. |
||||
Website design and content ©2009-2011 Gustin Creative Group.
Please send website inquiries to
gustingroup@comcast.net. |