We spent Christmas & my birthday at the bottom of the boot, in Italy! Without friends or family around, we hunkered down in a 5 star resort, in the town of Siderno. We looked all month for our traditional Christmas activities, the Nutcracker or the Christmas Carol, but the only Christmas activity we found was called Christmas in the Castle. Souther Italy is covered with old Norman castles. Here we met Santa!
We were told repeatedly that Christmas was not highly celebrated and that stores and restaurants would be open. But we were not told that Christmas Eve everything closes. So without lunch or dinner, we found some other activities to do. The only restaurant open, gelato! A real gelato expert dished up this magnificent cone for us to share.
We went to mass at a local chapel, and listened to their Nativity message in our ever growing Italian. The chapel was lit and completely filled with people, in fact the back was standing room only and there was a crowd outside listening on loud speakers, while they smoke cigarettes and drank expresso. It was a fantastic experience.
And that's what it looks like for two bumbling Americans to experience their first Italian Christmas!
Onto other news, this Scandinavian look is just so hot right now. You know how we work with all the largest architectural and design firms, in the world with Weatherwood? Well, take it from me, this white oiled look is MAJOR right now. I've shared how to get it, for two different projects.
MATERIALS
- 2 clean, lint free rags
- Gloves
- Weatherwood White Weatherwood Maintenance Oil
- Weatherwood Varnish
DIRECTIONS
Now, to get that Scandinavian, white-washed look, you'll want to use the white maintenance oil topcoat.
APPLY: Use one rag to apply oil to the wood's surface, working boards by board or in 10-12 inch sections. REMOVE
Wipe off excess oil in 5-10 min with new clean rag. Keep working in sections, applying with one rag and wiping with the other. You can see how this looks in the below video.
REPEAT (optl.)You can apply up to three coats of maintenance oil. Each coat will continue to lighten the finished product.
DRY: Allow maintenance oil to cure 24-48 hours.
MAINTENANCE: Either apply annually or as needed. Or spray maintenance oiled product with VARNISH TOPCOAT to seal the look for a maintenance free finished product.
SEAL: Use Weatherwood Varnish to protect high touch surfaces, like furniture. Allow oil to cure 48 hours and then apply with a brush,
You can use White Maintenance Oil on your furniture or any other raw wood surface. It's an absolutely beautiful finish and very commonly used on floors. It's provides about the amount of protection as furniture wax, so I recommend sealing furniture with Varnish to further protect.
You can totally use this product on larger projects. If you're picturing this on your hardwoods, like in the home tour above, yes! You can totally do that! You can see me applying it to hardwood floors in this video. Here's the DIY Stain & MAINTENANCE OIL your Flooring tutorial: link
