How to Refinish Wrought Iron Patio Furniture

Wrought iron patio furniture has a timeless style.... IF you maintain its finish. The good news is that it is super easy and inexpensive to refinish your wrought iron!  And if you are like me, refinishing is the perfect opportunity to add bright color to your backyard!

We have had our wrought iron furniture for 7+ years--all of which was in humid climates.  It has held up remarkably well, but the time had definitely come for a new coat of paint. 

All you need to make your wrought iron like new is: 

• Wire brush

• Sandpaper

• Rust-resistant Spray Paint I used 7 cans to cover 1 large round table and 5 chairs. I bought mine at a local store for about $4/can.  I already had the other materials, so my entire cost was $30. Pretty awesome!

         

• Old cloth rag or towel

• Drop Cloths/ tarps/ or large sheets of paper 

Directions: 

1. Use the wire brush and sand paper to remove old flaky paint and rust from your furniture. The wire brush worked especially well on all the welded joints. The sandpaper was great on the flat surfaces. This will not only give your finished product a smooth finish, but it will ensure that the new paint sticks well. 

2. Using an old cloth rag, wipe down the furniture to remove dust. 

3. Lay out drop cloths. I have a ton of drafting paper, so I used sheets of that as my drop cloths. Place furniture on cloths.

4. Spray about 10-12 inches from the metal using short back and forth sweeps. Don't spend too much time in one area to avoid drips forming. Let dry according to directions on the can. 

My table top was easy to remove from the legs with a pair of pliers. Just 4 little hex nuts to take off. Be sure to allow plenty of room for over-spray when you lay out your drop cloths--especially if it's windy. 

Here are my legs all laid out. I painted one side in the morning and the other side in the afternoon. I did the same for my chairs--allowing 8-10 hrs before turning them. 

This also shows how dirty your wiping cloth will get. Be sure it's one you don't care about!

The paint I used mostly covered in one coat. I went back over it to do touch ups, but a full second coat wasn't required. 

I LOVE looking out my back window at bright colors! I have always loved color, but I think I crave it even more now that I live in the Pacific Northwest where it is so often cloudy!

Sharing at these link-ups.

Hardware Close-ups: 

Cooking in the Wilderness Part 3: Backpacking Meals

My husband, 4 kids and I just returned from a successful 26 mile, 3 night backpacking trip last week. Before the trip I FINALLY took some pics of meals so I could share some of what I have learned about feeding my family on the trails. 

As the title says, this is the third part in my "Cooking in the Wilderness" series. 

Here are the first two parts if you missed them: 

Cooking in the Wilderness Part 1: DIY Cup and Pot Cozies

Cooking in the Wilderness Part 2: Alcohol Stoves

My goal in these posts is to share what I've learned. I am not an expert. My husband and I learn many new skills each time we go out with our family. On our excursions, we have eaten some gross food, some decent food, and some excellent food. And so far we haven't starved.

If you are backpacking for 3 nights by yourself, meal planning is fairly easy. You may just purchase some meal bars and Mountain House Meals (or other pre-made just-add-water meals), and you are good to go.  

But planning meals for a family of 6 for 4 days is more of a challenge. We would spend a fortune if we bought Mountain House Meals for our whole family every time we went. They run about $6-7/meal. We'd be spending $60-$80 a day just to eat on the trail! 

I have come up with some essential criteria for backpacking food:

1. It must use minimal packaging. Remember, all trash must be packed out.

2. It must be cooked in a pot on a backpacking stove--so "just add water," "pre-cooked," and "quick" are desirable features.

3. Calorie dense and high sodium=good.  Your food is your fuel. And you have to carry it on your back. 

4. It needs to be YUMMY.  My kids like knowing what is being served for dinner is something they can look forward to as they walk for miles and miles with a heavy pack.  Delicious food helps our psychological state everywhere, but especially while backpacking. 

First I will share how I do SNACKS on the backpacking trail: 

Before the trip I make a pile of snacks for each member of the family.  Granola bars, trail mix (nuts, cereal, mini-graham cookies, dried fruit, etc). and bags of candy (jelly beans and Sour Patch Kids are family faves). As you can see, Corn Nuts are also a favorite. Everyone carries their own snacks in their packs.  We encourage them to ration it so it can last the entire trip. (This especially applies to the 5-year-old with the jelly beans).

Second, BREAKFAST:

(Who just thought of hobbits?)

Grits, Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal, or other quick-cooking hot cereal makes an excellent breakfast in the wilderness. Measure out the amount you need of the dry cereal, add salt, sugar or other seasoning, then write the amount of water you need to boil with a permanent marker on the bag.  We also love bringing hot cocoa and apple cider to have morning and night. 

It seems almost silly to have photographed our oatmeal packets, but here they are! I LOVE eating pre-packaged instant oatmeal for breakfast on the trail. We dump it all together (yes--every flavor!) in the pot of boiling water and it is ready in a snap. This simple breakfast is cheap and always tastes and feels so good.

Another breakfast we typically have is homemade or store-bought granola bars. We usually eat this on our last day to save time.

Third, I will share some LUNCH ideas:

Bread brought on the trail should be okay when smashed in your pack. So tortillas, pita bread, and bagels are our go-to backpacking breads.  This lunch was so simple, but so enjoyed! My kids said I should've brought twice as much. Mustard and dry salame rolled into a tortilla.  I did bring the mustard in the small bottle. If you really wanted to conserve space, you could squeeze it into a baggy before going, but I didn't want to risk it bursting open.  

This is one of our go-to lunches. We vary the flavor of bagel, but even if we didn't I think it would still be enjoyed.  I did bring the jar of peanut butter to ensure it didn't get squeezed out of a baggy. I also squeezed extra honey into the jar (it wasn't full).  The sweet and salty flavor of peanut butter and honey and the sustained energy of the carbs from the bagel make it a perfect backpacking lunch. 

Now onto DINNER in the wilderness:

On the left of the butter is our dessert:(from top) Dried apples, cinnamon and brown sugar, and an instant oatmeal packet mixed with graham cracker crumbs. On the right is our main course: Pre-cooked bacon, instant mashed potatoes (with cooking directions written on the bag), and powdered milk to make for the potatoes.  Part of the butter is used in the potatoes, the rest is added to dessert.  This meal was another in which the only complaint was that I should have brought more (but no one starved!). 

This is the baked apple dessert. It would also make a delicious breakfast. Cover dehydrated apples in water. Bring to a boil and cover until reconstituted. Add sugar and cinnamon mixture and butter. Sprinkle oatmeal/graham cracker crumbs on top and stir gently. We LOVE this, and it would work with other dried fruit like peaches or berries. 

Cheddar cheese, dehydrated refried beans, and tortillas. This was our meal on our first night out. We didn't want to chance the cheese getting to hot during the next day of hiking. This was an easy, filling, and tasty dinner.  Reconstitute the refried beans by covering them in boiling water and letting them sit for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the cheese. Spread the beans on the tortillas and top with cheese. If you want to melt the cheese, fold the tortilla in fourths and wrap in the foil. Stack in a pot and heat for about 5 minutes. 

Chicken fettucini!  I LOVE that pre-cooked chicken now comes in a pouch! We add it to quick cooking pre-seasoned pasta or rice for a delicious, hearty meal! This was the family's favorite of the trip. 

Other dinners we've enjoyed included macaroni and cheese (yes, from the box), tuna or salmon in pouch packaging, quick cooking rice, couscous, and of course, ramen noodles. 

Each of these meals fed my family of 6, and cost about the same or less than one Mountain House 1-serving meal. 

When we are packing for our trip, I put the contents of each meal in a plastic grocery sack and label it with which meal it is (ex: "Wednesday Lunch").  Then as we are filling our packs, each of us takes note of which meals we are carrying so we are ready when it's time to eat. 

I hope this is helpful to anyone looking to take to the trails! We are always learning about new trail food.  I'd love to hear ideas for meals you have made while backpacking! 

Backpacking with our family takes a great deal of planning and patience, but when we get to be together enjoying God's amazing creations, it is so worth every bit of work! 

Participating in these link-ups.

How To Make a Camp Stove from a V8 Can

As you could have guessed, I'm not the only one in my house with a compulsory need to make stuff.  It turns out I'm married to a creative guy, and we have breeded some pretty creative offspring.  :)

So the true author of this post is my 12-year-old son.  He, his 10-year-old brother, and my husband have been on a camp-stove-making journey over the past few months. They have made (and we have used) tuna can stoves, Coke can stoves, and various others. Do an internet search for the various YouTube tutorials out there, and you will see there are many. 

We have had a fair amount of luck with the tuna can stoves, but on the trail they only really burned long enough to make ramen noodles or hot cocoa.  The Coke can stoves burn a bit longer, but are less stable (READ: my husband caught his shirt on fire in my kitchen!).   

This V8 can stove, though tiny, is mighty. It has proven to be stable and more efficient: able to burn for a whopping 17 minutes without needing to re-fuel! 

This stove along with the windscreen pot rack weighs very little and fits nicely in most mess kits, so it easy to bring on any campout--whether you are backpacking or car camping!

To our knowledge, this is the first tutorial for this particular type of stove. My son took all the pictures (and did an amazing job). He was very thorough with each step.  

You will need: 

• 2 empty (5.5oz) V8 cans
• ruler
• hole punch
• sheath metal (3"x 23", available at home improvement store, roofing section)
• needle-nose pliers
• heavy text book
• sharp scissors
• box cutter/ X-acto knife
• push pin
• 3 metal tent stakes
• pocket knife with an awl tool (or other awl-like pointed tool)
• penny
• denatured alcohol (located in paint section at store)

Step 1. Build the  wind screen. This will be a pot stand and a wind screen when you cook with the stove.  Punch two off-set rows of holes on one length of the sheathing.

Use the needle nose pliers at each short end to make folds (one inside, one out, so they can "lock" the screen). Carefully pull the sheathing to make a circle and lock in place with the folds. 

Punch holes near the top of the sheathing (about 1 inch down), close at one end and wide at the other (as shown). This will create a rack for your pot to sit on.

Step 2. Score the cans. Set scissors in the heavy text book so the top blade is 3/4 inch high. Press down on the scissors while turning the can around the open blade. Be sure to only score with the top blade. 

This is what the can will look like once it is scored. 

Step 3. Use the X-Acto knife to cut  the bottom end of the can off, about 1/2 inch above the score line. This cut can, and will be, rough.

Step 4. Remove excess to achieve a smooth edge. This is illustrated in a few pictures.  Make a few cuts from the rough edge to just barely above the score line.

Fold down the loose pieces. This makes room for the scissors to cut.

Cut along score line.

When you get close to the slits you cut, unfold them and cut them off. 

This is what two "clean-cut" cans look like. 

Step 5. Create burner vents.  This is for ONE of the cans--not both.  Set the other can aside. Get your push pin ready. 

Push 6 equally spaced holes into the ridge of the bottom of the can (as shown).  This can be eyeballed to get estimated even spacing.

Step 6.  Use push pin to make 3 holes in center of can bottom. These should be close enough together to be covered by a penny set in the middle of the can bottom. 

The penny should also be able to be moved to the side, still sitting in the can, with all three holes uncovered. 

Step 7. Widen the burner holes. Using an awl or other similiar tool, widen each of the burner holes to about three-times their original size. This is done by applying a bit of pressure and making a twisting motion with the awl. 

This shows how big the holes should be when done. 

Step 8. Making dimples on the can you just punched holes in.  Using needle-nose pliers, pinch the can half-way up the side, directly below one of the burner holes, bending it in at a 15° angle. 

Here is what one dimple looks like. Continue around the can, making a dimple above each burner hole. 

Here it is with a dimple at each hole.  Looks kinda pretty--but you're not done dimpling yet!

Now make another 15° dimple between each one you already made. 

NOW you are done dimpling. Still pretty. Don't stress out if your dimples aren't perfect. 

Step 9. You have one can bottom with all kinds of fancy holes and dimples and one without. 

Place the fancy can into the plain can, as shown. This will be tight, so do this step carefully and evenly. It will be hard to undo a crooked-placed can. 

Congratulations! You have made a V8 Can Camp Stove.  Now to use it...

Step 10. It's time to set up to cook.  Have a lighter ready. Place the penny over the holes. Carefully pour denatured alcohol into the trough, with the penny in place, just until it fills the trough. Move the penny away and let the alcohol drain.  

Replace the penny over the holes. Pour more alcohol into the trough, this time enough to overflow and cover the burner holes (on the outside edge).  Light the alcohol. This will prime the fuel that is already inside the stove. 

Place the windscreen pot stand over the stove.

Slowly set your pot on the stake racks. 

This fuel burns invisibly in daylight. But turn off the light....

And, let it burn! 

This post is partying at: 

Create It Thursday
Thrifty Thursday
The Weekend Re-Treat Link Party
Frugal Friday
Foodie Friday
Friday Favorite
Say G'day Saturday
Marvelous Monday 
Merry Monday
Treasure Box Tuesday
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