How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar from Scratch with the Mother

My apple cider vinegar is finally ready and what an interesting process.

This Summer we had so many apples I was giving bags of apples away and then one lady who stopped in our caravan mentioned Apple Cider Vinegar. So I looked it up and discovered how easy it was to make and also the health benefits of it.

The worst part of the process is having patience and finding lots of glass jugs. I found glass jugs easier than jam jars and coffee jars as it was easier to pour the vinegar off. This is the recipe I used https://wellnessmama.com/124169/apple-cider-vinegar/ but also I looked at other recipes as I wasn't clear on the 2nd fermentation stage. I decided to do 2 lots. One stirred every few days and the other left to it's own devices. The one that was stirred every few days was stronger and a much darker colour, no scobies. The ones left to their own devices were a much lighter colour and developed a small scoby which I collected and put in a separate jar for next year's starter.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Surplus Apples

Roughly Chopped and put in glass containers

Quite a few Scobies

Finished Apple Cider Vinegar +
4 More large bottles

The apples were left over after giving away as many as possible and were a mixture from different apple trees in our garden. As this was quite a late batch there were a lot of wasps feeding off apples on the ground, but to be honest they didn't bother me because they were soo drunk they couldn't fly. Normally I'd be running around screaming. I left quite a few of the ground fall apples for the blackbirds and other creatures, so many butterflies visited our little orchard too and fed off these. Some of the less damaged apples were used in my vinegar too. Apparently you can make it from just the cores and skins too. Some people like to take the pips out but I didn't, only if they fell out naturally.

They were chopped up and put into jars with filtered water and natural sugar. Empty glass jars were placed on top to hold the apples under and kitchen towel and elastic bands to keep any nasties out.

After stirring every couple of days (actually I just bobbed the jars up and down) it took about a week for the smell of cider to fill the kitchen and 2 week's for the cider to be ready for the next stage. There were plenty of tiny fermentation bubbles to tell me the process was underway and a few over spills as the apples soaked up the liquid and started fermenting. I strained the apples and then it actually took about 6 more week's to reach it's vinegary taste. I actually strained it twice as there was a lot of sediment in the bottom of the jars, at least an inch in some of them. There is still some sediment in the bottom but that's okay as this is the goodness in the natural vinegar. I believe this is the "mother". I have left a bit of space at the top just in case it starts to ferment again but have stored them in the cool shed, so it should be okay. I'm really pleased with how it has worked out and looking forward to making my pickled onions with it next year. Hopefully it will take less time as I now have some scobies to start the process off. I plan on sharing them between my new batch next year and using some of the vinegar to start the process off. Enjoying putting this on my chips and salads instead of store bought vinegar. It really does taste much better. I love it!
😄😍😍

1920's Welsh Dresser Makeover

I was in two minds whether to actually paint this dresser, but on closer inspection decided it needed some tlc. It looked like some of it had been repaired at some time and also there were little splatters of paint on it. A couple of the drawer handles were broken so I decided to go ahead.

1920's Welsh Dresser 

Front View

Dusty cabinets with spider webs

Lovely detail on cupboard doors

Old glass detail on middle cupboard

Broken handle and paint splatters

I really had a bit of a game with the primer/undercoat. Was supposed to be one coat but ended up painting 2 coats on the parts to be painted. Admittedly, I didn't rub it down first because it was pretty rough with most of the varnish worn off so I thought it would be okay. Big mistake, but still, too late to go back now.

In the end, I did 2 coats of primer/undercoat and 3 coats of gloss paint which was supposed to be one-coat. Not impressed. The day was quite rainy but not cold so I'm not sure what was going on with this project and when I took the masking tape off, it peeled some of the paint off. Oh well, shabby chic it is. I followed on from this with some grey chalk paint and luckily this took great. Only one coat needed. We'll see how it all wears with use but at least I know that the chalk paint will work just fine.

I wallpapered the back of the 2 little cupboards with some leftover wallpaper from the lounge and also lined the drawers and cupboards.

2 coats of primer/undercoat

 

One coat gloss, too streaky

Streaky one coat gloss, 2nd coat!

Finished Dresser

Definitely looking different

Almost Finished, just need to wax

Shabby chic detail on flowers

It's quite light in our conservatory, so the grey looks a lot lighter than I would have liked but I'm hoping when I wax it, it will turn a little darker.

Lee replaced the drawer handles with some old handles he had in the garage. I'm just waiting for some door magnets so that the cupboard doors don't keep flying open, but on the whole I think it has worked out okay. I'm a little tempted to do some stencilling above the mirror. Let's see how I feel tomorrow 😋.

Before and After Photo

Gorgeous Decoupage Hare

Little Bronze coloured Hare with no ear

After the Stairs Mission I need a little creativity, so I bought a resin hare off Ebay that was missing one ear ... but I won her for £1.40!

Here she is with cardboard cut to shape and stuck in the hole where the original ear was.

I used white tissue paper and PVA glue with Water and completely covered her with little strips glued all over. Then I got a patterned paper napkin and cut the shapes out. I glued these on quite randomly. I wanted some of the original colour to show through as I liked the textures and colour.

Finally I painted in the eyes, dry brushed over some of the white areas to bring out the texture a little and then some gloss varnish to finish off. I might add a little tree pendant around her neck to finish her off 😊. I love her!

Paper strips and Napkin shapes

Back View

Lovely patterns

Front View

Finished Hare with Napkin

Painted Eyes

A little paint to define nose

In her new home

Stairs - What a Mission!

Stairs Before

The lady before us started to renovate the stairs and get it back to the original wood. After trying to improve a little on the parts she had done this began a huge mission. The wood had been varnished and also stained a really dark colour. No amount of varnish stripper would take this out (I tried) and so I resorted to the sander. Dust everywhere and even this didn't shift it. It's certainly better than it was and a clear coat of satin varnish finished it off but what a mission. It is nowhere near perfect but much better than it was. I re-painted the white struts a light grey (twice) as this looks really nice and lightens up the place and as much as I wanted to sand down the stairs I gave it a light sanding, got out the paintbrush and gloss painted them. The colour is a bit of a bluish grey in the sun, next time round I will paint it a bit darker. Maybe one day I will tackle it again but I certainly won't be doing this in a hurry.

Stairs Before, still some dark stain

Stairs Before

Sanding begins

Struts painted a light grey

Finished stairway varnished & painted

Whoops, missed a bit!

Welsh Dresser Makeover

I've been busy this week decorating the lounge and up cycling my mum's dresser, bureau and a little pine corner cupboard I bought.

Dresser in 2 bits

Bottom of Dresser

The dresser was a bit of a mission. I masked off the glass and edges, sanded it down and gave it a coat of primer/undercoat. The gloss wasn't quick dry, which I think gives a much glossier finish and took about 6 hours to be touch dry and 24 hours before we could move it. It still needs to harden off and really could do with another coat but we have visitor's this weekend so it might have to wait until the next time decorating. Added some new handles and it's beautiful. The paint bled a little under the masking tape but I scraped it off and gave a gentle sanding to get the rest off and now it is fine. I really love it and it makes such a difference to the room.

Finished Dresser

Lovely new handles

Painted Bureau - not finished yet

Bureau with some Bling

I still really don't like the bureau and even with new handles it still look's quite plain, so I bought some stickers from B&M for £2.99 and decided to give it some bling. I'm still waiting for the paint on this to harden, so those stickers are not coming off in a hurry.
Still not my thing but it is certainly a talking point! 😆

One last job to do in the dining area and that's the table. This was such a bargain and cost me £10! on a local For Sale Group. The chairs were from the tip and I re-upholstered the cushions on them. Just rubbed down the rim and applied undercoat.

Rubbed down and Undercoat on

And finally, pictures of the finished Dining Room.

Painted in the same grey gloss

Dresser with all my bits

Bureau in situ

Side by Side

Stairs painted too

Little Corner Cupboard

All back to normal

Forever Painting the Front Wall

Nice clean painted wall

Lee is forever washing and painting the front wall. We live on a main road and it just gets filthy when it rains and the cars go by, so here is a picture of a nice clean wall. We might have to think about changing the colour from white but we still need a light colour as there are no street lights (which I am very thankful for).

Not much else I can say except for the reflectors. They are for me so that I don't drive past the house in the dark 😆