Little House on the Corner

Recipe of the Week: Delicious Trifle

2012-02-01T08:30:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I haven't had a "Recipe of the Week" in, oh, a couple months. Oops. But it's back (at least for this week)!

We recently stumbled upon this recipe while searching for a wine & food pairing to bring to a party. According to the recipe, this "Delicious Trifle" pairs well with Apothic Red (which is a good bottle of wine for about $10-12).

I had actually never made any type of trifle before, but I took advantage of the excuse to go out and buy a trifle bowl, which I found at Walmart for only $7. Score!

Here's the recipe, via The Barrel Room:

Delicious Trifle
1 large angel food cake, cut in cubes
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
8 oz. sour cream
10 oz. frozen whipped topping
1 pint fresh strawberries
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced
1 peach, peeled and sliced
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

In a bowl, mix pudding mix, sour cream, and fold into the whipped topping.

In a large glass bowl, place 1/2 of the cake cubes. Add half of the strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, peaches, and pineapple. Cover with half of the whipped topping mixture. Add a second layer in the same order. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fruit from recipe or use mint leaves or edible flowers.

Notes: I made my angel food cake from a box mix and just tore it into pieces with my hands. But to save time you could buy one that's already baked (I saw them in the produce section next to strawberries). Also, this would be a great summertime recipe when all the fruits are in season and cheaper (I couldn't even find any peaches this time of year).

FYI - the original recipe doesn't have a picture with it. You're welcome.

Sure, it looks yummy, but did the Delicious Trifle live up to its name? You betcha! In fact, it could almost be called the Dangerously Delicious Trifle... it's so light and fluffy and fruity, you can eat a lot of it without realizing it. The trifle bowl makes a really pretty presentation too, so I'll definitely need to start trying more trifles!

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Linking up to:

What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Create and Share

Wow Us Wednesdays

Crafty Bottles

2012-01-25T08:30:00.016-06:00

[Alternate post title: An excuse to drink more!]

So we've had an empty Disaronno bottle on our kitchen counter for the past few weeks. I didn't want to throw it out, although I'm not sure why. After my last bottle project from Christmas, I just knew there was probably some potential.

Yum.

I turned to (what else?) my Pinterest boards for inspiration and found these in particular:

wine bottles

yarn-wrapped beer bottles

With these ideas in mind, I headed to Joann's and bought a roll of jute for $2.49. After soaking the bottle in hot water to get the label off, I settled in with my glue gun and began wrapping... and wrapping. I just glued at the corners every few rows or so, to keep it all in place.

About a half hour later, I ended up with this:

It seemed a little lonely by itself though, so I stole another random bottle/vase from a different room in the house and gave it a jute makeover too. I'm kinda diggin' them.

And I've still got plenty of jute to spare! Not bad for $2.49. So, what crafty things have you done with empty bottles?

Linking up to:

Weeekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

Lovely Crafty Weekend @ Lovely Crafty Home

http://www.ourdiydiaries.com/2012/01/fab-not-drab-party-and-features-fridays.html

Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop @ Homemaker on a Dime

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

The Brassy & The Beautiful: Part 1

2012-01-16T08:00:00.004-06:00

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself, Why the hell did it take me so long to do this??

Even though I gave our guest bathroom a makeover over a year ago and added an oil-rubbed bronze T.P holder and towel bar, I neglected to change out the cheap-o hardware on the vanity. So this weekend, I finally decided the time had come to say goodbye to the brass...

...and hello to these oil-rubbed bronze beauties!

4 pulls from Menard's: $15.28
Never having to look at cheap, brassy drawer pulls again: Priceless.

Now we just need to change out that silver faucet to match.... someday....

But back to the present and more realistic goals. Hopefully soon I'll be sharing Part 2: the master bathroom vanity makeover!

What are some small, easy changes you've made in your house that have made a BIG difference?

The Potential of Pallets

2012-01-03T08:30:00.012-06:00

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a blog post that described how to make a free-standing shelf unit out of wood pallets. The 6 pallets were cut in half and stacked on top of each other, creating three large shelf openings. In this particular post, she put wicker baskets on the shelves. The reason I’m describing the project instead of just showing it is that I can’t find that blog anymore, and I must not have bookmarked it (or pinned it, since I wasn't on Pinterest at that time). So if this project sounds familiar to anyone, let me know where you’ve seen it!

The point I’m getting at is that this made me realize the potential of upcycling pallets to use as furniture or home decor, which I’d never really thought of before. Kind of an "industrial chic" look, or something like that. So ever since then, I’ve been slightly obsessed with the idea. Of course, Pinterest has only helped to fuel my obsession. Here are a few of my favorite repurposed pallet projects I’ve come across:

go to pin

Since I’m running out of room for any type of large furniture on the main floor of our house, I’m thinking that a pallet project could be in my future once our basement is finished. Now the question is… where’s a good place to snag some decent used pallets (for free of course)?

If you like these types of projects, check out my boards on Pinterest. And if you're a fellow pinner, let me know so I can follow you!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub: DIY Sugar Scrub

2011-12-21T08:17:00.001-06:00

This year, I was once again on a quest to give homemade gifts to my co-workers. (In case you weren't around last year, I had put together these gift baskets with some baked goodies and a crafty cinnamon stick candle.)

And now that I’ve discovered Pinterest, I’m not sure if it makes my quest easier (because there are so many great ideas out there) or harder (because there are TOO many great ideas to choose from!).

There was one gift idea in particular that I really wanted to try though: DIY sugar scrubs. I researched many different variations and recipes – all which sound amazing. I finally settled on this Coconut Sugar Scrub that I found on Pinterest.

via A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

It consisted of two simple ingredients: granulated sugar and coconut oil. I decided to go with the Nutiva brand coconut oil, which is organic and unrefined (found at local health store - $7.99 for 15 oz.). This stuff is actually for cooking, but according to the label it can also be used for “luscious skincare and healthcare.” Double duty - love it!

Based on a different recipe I had seen, I also decided to mix my plain granulated sugar with some raw sugar, also known as turbinado sugar (found at Walmart). It’s much coarser, and seemed to me like it would add nice texture and make a good exfoliant. (In my non-expert opinion, anyway.) So basically, you could eat this sugar scrub, although I'm not really sure I would want to.

With my three ingredients on hand, I mixed together 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of turbinado sugar, and 1 cup of the coconut oil (for a total sugar-to-coconut ratio of 2:1). NOTE: I had to warm the coconut oil a little in the microwave to soften it up so it would stir better (it’s a solid at room temperature).

Once it was all mixed together to a nice “scrubby” consistency, I of course had to try a little bit out. It actually felt pretty good rubbing it around my hands, and the amount of oil wasn’t too overbearing. I rinsed well with warm water, dried my hands, and I do think they felt nice and soft afterward (and yes, they smelled just like coconut).

I spooned the mixture into the little airtight jars I had bought from Hobby Lobby, then decorated the jars with ribbon and a gift tag (made by laminating squares of single-sheet Christmas paper from Hob Lob).

Another side note: I had some leftover sugar scrub that I saved for myself in a different jar. After a couple of days, it seemed to get a little dry and crumbly, but I think that's just because the coconut oil hardens up. The oil will still distribute itself once you start rubbing it in your hands.

Are you giving any homemade gifts this Christmas?

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Dare to DIY: Christmas Vases

2011-12-11T08:00:00.009-06:00

I'm finally joining in one of Kim's Dare to DIY parties @ Newly Woodwards! This week, it's Dare to Deck the Halls... and I had the perfect project in mind.

So, ever since I joined Pinterest, I’ve been a pinning maniac. There are so many amazing DIY projects that I want to try, but I don’t even know where to start. Over the long Thanksgiving break, I was getting a little bored and decided I needed a Christmas project pick-me-up. So I turned to my Pinterest boards and this pin in particular:

via BadderHomesandGardens.com

Hot glue, a wine bottle, and spray paint? It seemed super-easy and super-cheap (read: right up my alley). So I headed to Hobby Lobby to get three glass “wine bottles” ($1.50 each at 50% off). Since I wanted to use my bottles as vases, I also bought some frosted Christmas berries (64 cents each at 50% off).

Then I started thinking that while I was there, I should probably look for a back-up plan in case my hot glue words didn’t look so…well, hot. In the sticker aisle, I found some glittery foam letters for $4.99 (full price). They’re actually called "Thickers" – clever, right?

Back at home, with glue gun in hand, I was ready to write some Christmas sentiments on these bottles (I chose Love, Peace, and Joy). I started with the word “Love” first.

Let's not sugar-coat things - it looked like it was written by a third-grader. (No offense to any third-graders out there.) My hand was obviously not steady enough to do this with the glue gun, and I’m really impressed with the one that looked so nice on Pinterest. I didn’t even bother trying the other two words. Accepting my failure, I turned immediately to the back-up stickers.

The glue letters peeled right off, and I proceeded to adhere the stickers to the bottles instead. Much better. I was actually kind of digging it just like this, but I wasn’t going to let myself off that easy. (And frankly, I was just really itching to paint something.)

At first I thought about doing each bottle in a different color, then decided to keep it simple (and cheaper) with all white, which would look nice with the red berries. Since I had never spray painted glass before, I decided to buy the Krylon Fusion, which is specifically for slick surfaces like plastic, glass, etc. ($4.34 at Walmart). I put one of the bottles in a big cardboard box in the backyard, so I could spray all the way around it and try to keep the over-spray to a minimum (since I have been known to be a little careless with my spray paint in the past).

After a couple coats, I could tell that the white paint was not going to cover up the black stickers very well. Drat. I didn’t remember seeing any white stickers like this at Hobby Lobby, and I didn’t have the patience to paint 10 coats on each bottle just to try and make these stickers white.

Time for Plan B. (Or I guess Plan C by this point?) Since I did actually like the stickers as they were – black and glittery – I decided to just paint the entire bottle white and add the stickers afterward for a contrasting effect instead of a subtle effect.

Each bottle still needed about 3 coats of paint to get solid coverage, which was already stretching the limits of my patience. But finally they were all Satin White and wonderful!

Once the paint was ~~almost~~ dry, I put on the sticker letters. Loving it!

The final touch was to add a berry pick in each one. And here are my Christmas vases on top of the piano (aka my "mantle"):

Even though they didn’t turn out exactly like the ones I saw on Pinterest, I really like my version! It would also be cute to use other short words or phrases, such as
- ‘tis the season
- deck the halls
- peace on earth

You could even package the bottles up all nice and give them as a gift set. Oh, the possibilities!

The overall cost of this project (bottles, berry picks, stickers, and paint) was about $15, but I still have leftover paint and stickers to use for something else. So, have you done any Christmas crafting yet? If you need some inspiration, head over to the Dare to DIY party for some more great ideas!

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Also linking up to...
Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle

When one door opens...

2011-12-06T17:30:00.008-06:00

For quite some time now, we’ve talked about installing a screen door on our front porch. We only have one operable north window in our house, so it would be nice to be able to open up the front door and let in a breeze every once in awhile. On the other hand, it would also provide more insulation, since our front door alone is a little drafty when cold winds blow during the winter.

And after taking notice lately of all the screen/storm doors in our neighborhood, I was really starting to get door envy. A couple weeks ago, we finally turned our talk into action. I had already done some research and decided that the Larson Lakeview storm door was the way to go. This particular model (Screen-Away) has a retractable screen that rolls up into the frame, so you can choose whether or not you want the screen open. Genius!

Menard’s happened to be having a sale on storm doors, so we got the 36" Lakeview for $268 ($30 off the regular price). We chose white with aged bronze hardware, to coordinate with our existing trim and hardware.

Having never done this before, we didn’t really know how long it would take to install the door, but figured at least a couple of hours. Even though it claimed to have “Easy-Hang Installation,” I wasn’t going to be too optimistic.

Although I have to admit, my heart sunk a little when we opened the packaging and saw all the pieces and parts that we had to put together first. I had foolishly hoped the door would be ready to hang right out of the box. But since it was made to be either right-hinge or left-hinge, we had to assemble the hinges and hardware ourselves.

It took awhile to drill all the holes for the screws we needed, but the instructions were pretty easy to follow (and in color, too!). And I have to say that the hinge rail did allow for easy hanging onto the door frame, once we reached that part.

Here is proof that I did more than just take pictures the whole time.

Following the instructions for the hardware was a little more tricky, but we figured it out. The scariest part (for me) was drilling the ½” and ¾” holes into the metal frame. All we had were paddle bits made only for wood, but Luke went ahead and used them and they still cut through the metal (even though it made some awful noises).

Once the hardware was installed, we had to put up the latch rail and mortise on the other side of the door frame, so the door could close and lock properly. And it did! Woo-hoo!

Not quite done yet... We still had to install the bottom of the door, which was adjustable based on how much space you need to the sill.

FINALLY, we had to add the top and bottom closers. With the turn of a screw, they allow you to adjust how slowly the door closes.

All in all, it took about 5 hours from opening up the box to finishing the installation. Okay, so a little longer than we had planned… good thing we started early in the morning. But we really didn’t come across any major setbacks during the process, which is pretty amazing. (Well, except for when Dudley almost swallowed a tiny O-ring that was crucial for the closer installation.)

I’m so glad we have a storm door now, and I think it looks pretty good. It’s been great being able to let more natural light in, and we were even able to open up the screen a few times last month. But when Old Man Winter gets here, the door has heavy-duty weatherstripping to help keep that cold air out. There's also a deadbolt, which is a nice added security feature.

Oh, and I'm not the only one who loves it:

Which means I’ll probably be cleaning the glass every day now to keep up with their snout smudges. Oh well, still worth it!

Photo Gallery Wall: Part 2 (The Reveal)

2011-11-28T08:00:00.008-06:00

If you missed the first installment of my photo gallery wall, here's a quick reminder of what our empty stairwell looked like:

Then I spray painted a bunch of different frames white and ivory.

Then I used frame "templates" to determine the placement on the wall. For the most part, I just eyeballed the spacing between all the frames (I prefer this method over measuring).

Then I had to decide on what photos to display. I went through a bunch of our digital pics and chose several from various vacations, a couple from our wedding, and a couple more random ones. And because we don’t have any kids yet, I of course had to include the dogs. So other than that, we probably look really conceited by having so many pictures of ourselves. But in my defense, I do have a separate collage frame in our living room with photos of our families, so that counts for something…Anyway, I now present to you several gratuitous pictures of the finished wall!

Overall I really like it, and I'm glad I chose to do both white and ivory frames for a subtle contrast. Although now I kind of wish I would have used a couple round- or oval-shaped frames to break up all the square-ness. But I must say, having all our photos displayed on this huge wall really makes a big difference and makes our house feel more “homey” (3.5 years later)!

Someday -- maybe when our basement is finished -- I may add more frames on the second flight of stairs to keep the gallery wall wrappping around the stairwell.

Oh, and if you're curious about the cost of this project, here's my estimated breakdown:
Frames: $25 (I used several I already had, then bought a few more on sale)
Spray paint: $10
Photos: $10 (printed at Sam's Club)

So, whaddaya think? Was it worth the wait and the 2-part blog post?

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Linking up to:
Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou
Make It Great Monday @ Etcetorize
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Show Me What Ya Got #51

November Updates

2011-11-21T17:30:00.009-06:00

Okay, so November’s been a little slow around here, as you can tell from my one measly post this month. Aside from being pretty busy in general, I’ve also been having some computer issues, so I really haven’t been able to blog (or check out other blogs) lately. This makes me sad, but I should hopefully be back in business soon. A few things you can look forward to:

- Photo gallery wall reveal
- New storm door on the front porch
- A Christmas project (or two…or three?)

Oh, and I’ve also finally succumbed to the peer pressure and joined Pinterest! Better late than never, right? I think I had been putting it off because I knew it would become dangerously addicting…and I was right. (I'm pretty sure I could spend days on end just pinning things.) Anyhow, I’d love for you to check out my boards and follow me! I’ll also start adding the “Pin It” buttons to some of my projects on here, so if something really strikes your fancy, you can pin it and make me feel special. ;)

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving! I can’t believe it’s just a few short days away. Where has this month gone?!

Photo Gallery Wall: Part 1

2011-11-11T07:55:00.001-06:00

Dry your eyes, my bloggy friends -- I'm back! But my little hiatus over the past couple of weeks doesn’t mean nothing’s been happening. In fact, I’ve been feverishly trying to finish my latest project to share with you lovelies.

Let's remember a couple months ago when I first hatched the idea for a photo gallery wall...I knew I wanted to display my frames in our stairwell, but I had to choose between the large wall next to the stairs, or the smaller wall above the landing.

Yuck, bad lighting (or bad photographer?). It's not really this orange-y.

Originally, I thought I was going to do the smaller wall above the landing. So I gathered all my existing hodge-podge frames, but my collection seemed a little sparse.

After trips to Goodwill, Walmart, and Hobby Lobby, I had acquired several more cheap-o frames in a variety of sizes. I also bought two small ledges and a decorative "D" from Hobby Lobby (for our last name). Then I laid everything out on the floor in our office to visualize how it would look on the wall.

But first… Since the frames were all such different styles, I wanted to make them a little more cohesive, but not ALL the same, so I decided to buy white and ivory spray paint. This would also provide contrast with the dark reddish-brown wall color and tie in to the white trim in our hallway.

And so began the spray painting. I spray painted like I've never spray painted before. Unfortunately, most of the dark frames needed several coats. Needless to say, I was probably high on the fumes on more than one occasion.

It was definitely an exercise in patience, but finally – after painting in my spare time over the course of a couple weeks -- all of the frames were painted. Because of the materials a few of them are made of, they almost have a distressed look to them, which I actually like. I didn't want everything to look "perfect."

At some point during this process, I changed my mind and decided to put the frames on the wall next to the stairs instead. It was just such a big wall that it really needed something on it. Plus, the photos would be more visible from upstairs then.

So to help map everything out on the wall before going crazy with a hammer and nails, I traced all the frames onto paper and cut them out to make templates. Then I used ScotchBlue painter's tape to place my paper “frames” on the wall. (I'd seen this idea on another blog before - genius!) It really helped to visualize what it would look like.

I ended up switching around a couple of the frames once they were up on the wall.

Once I was finally happy with the placement, I measured where the hangers were on the backs of all the frames, and used this measurement to place my nails in the wall. Luckily, most of the frames had only one hanger on the back instead of two, which made my job easier. Gradually, the paper frames came down, and the real frames went up...

However, I'm not quite finished putting the pictures in the frames (deciding what pictures to use is the hardest part...I'm tempted to leave some of the nice-looking fake people in them). So you'll have to wait until next time to see the final reveal! Yep, I'm totally leaving you hanging.

Look what I found!

2011-10-19T08:30:00.010-05:00

The other day, while perusing through Goodwill over my lunch hour, I came across a rare find -- a decent, good-quality piece of furniture. Even though it was $39 (more than I prefer to spend on a piece of furniture at Goodwill), I couldn't resist. I waited until after work, however, to return and see if it was still there. It was, so I took that as a sign that it was meant to be. Check it out in its new home:

Real wood, sturdy construction, and full of potential! Oh, and extra storage space to boot!

I found the perfect spot for this little cabinet in a corner of our dining room. It's actually not that bad as is, but I still want to turn it into a fun project and jazz it up a bit. I have no idea what I want to do yet though. I do know that paint will probably not be involved this time, like it was with my console table and guest room furniture. I don't want to cover up the wood grain and knots. So maybe just sanding it down and re-staining it, or doing something cool with the inset panel in the door.

Any ideas? Other similar inspirational projects you've seen? Do share!

Pumpkins & Paint

2011-10-11T08:30:00.028-05:00

I normally don’t do a ton of fall decorating around the house, but there is one thing that I usually have to have - pumpkins! So when I saw that Aldi had large pumpkins on sale for $2.49 each, I had to take advantage of this bargain. With my barren front porch in mind, I picked out three pumpkins.

But this year, I wasn’t just going to plop the pumpkins on the steps like years past. No, this year I had other plans.

My fondness for all things paint has grown throughout the past year, and these unassuming pumpkins would soon find themselves face-to-face with a spray paint nozzle.

Pumpkin, meet White Spray Paint:

You might have guessed by this incredibly generic-looking can that I picked up the cheapo 97 cent off-brand at Home Depot. I figured it would be a good time to try it out since this project would only be on display for the next few weeks.

Well, suffice it to say, there’s a reason it only costs 97 cents. The spray was so broad and fine that it took about 4 coats (much closer than the recommended 10-14 inches) to get all the orange covered. (I also used ScotchBlue painter’s tape to cover up the stem.)

In between coats, I also painted my second pumpkin. For this one, I chose to show some school pride with the color of my alma mater (go K-State!).

Pumpkin, meet Purple Spray Paint:

Painting with the RustOleum Painters Touch was a dream compared to the cheapo brand. It was a much more concentrated spray and only took two coats. Lesson learned, it's worth the $3.77.

Back to the white pumpkin… I had originally thought of painting big black dots on it, but then I decided to try something a little more challenging and “artistic.” Maybe along the lines of what Sarah at Hennessey House might do, but obviously not as intricate or impressive (have you seen that girl's artwork?!).

I had bought a sample of black paint at Home Depot, so I got a little paint brush and started painting… and painting… and painting. About two hours later (including a couple breaks), I had this:

Overall, it didn’t turn out too bad. My swirly vines could have used another coat to make them more solid, but at that point I had already invested enough time in them. Plus, you can’t really tell that they’re a little streaky unless you get up close.

Just for tradition's sake, I decided to keep the final pumpkin orange. (Okay, maybe it was also because it was late and I was tired of painting.)

And here are the finished pumpkins on our front porch:

So tell me, what are you doing with your pumpkins this year? Carving? Glittering? Painting? Nothing?

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Linking up to:
Get Your Craft On Tuesday @ Today's Creative Blog
Creative Juice @ Momnivore's Dilemma
Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

Under-the-Sink Panels: From Fake to Functional

2011-10-04T08:30:00.015-05:00

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Yeah, those panels under your sink that look like drawers, but really aren't. Up until recently, I didn't think there was anything that could be done to make these usable. Then I saw something amazing at a friend's house. They had turned their front panels into a storage space.

So this weekend, we went to Lowe's in search of the kit that could make this happen for us, and found it in the kitchen organization section (imagine that). We needed the 14" size, which was $18.57 for two trays.

Rev-A-Shelf Tip-Out Tray Set

See where this is going? Maybe I'm behind the times, but I did not know such a thing existed.

At first, I was determined to make this my own project and do it without any of Luke's help. But it didn't take long before I realized my foolishness. These things just go much quicker when he lends his handiness (as much as I hate to admit it). Oh well, teamwork is a good thing, right?

The kit came with a pretty decent set of instructions, which we followed for the most part.

First, we had to take out the panels and remove the pesky plastic strip things that were stapled into them.

Then it was a matter of measuring and marking where to drill the pilot holes for the hinges and tray slots, as well as the holes in the frame opening itself. The kit came with templates to help do this.

The trickiest part was drilling the screws into the frame openings, because of the tight spaces we were working with. (And during this part, it really was helpful to have an extra set of hands to hold the panel in place.) Finally, we got them all tightened up. The result? Two shiny new storage trays just begging to be filled with crap!

Now I had a place to put the aforementioned, unsightly crap that normally clutters up the sink area (scrubber, scraper, drain plugs, water softener monitor that we never use, etc.)

The whole project probably took about an hour and a half, which I think was well worth it. Our sink/counter looks much less cluttered (except for the wand scrubber, which wouldn't fit), and you'd never know the sink panels are secret organizers now. Genius!

So tell me, did you know these sink tray kits existed? Have you already turned your fake panels into functional panels?

P.S. While we're talking kitchens and sinks, can I just say that I would love to have countertops that are not tiled, and an undermount kitchen sink that is not stainless steel? Maybe someday.... until then, a girl can dream.

"Framed" Canvas Artwork: Corner Conundrum Solved

2011-09-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you about my new canvas print? Here it is again to refresh your memory.

Pretty small in this space, right?

My genius remedy was to paint a "frame" on the wall around the canvas to beef it up a little bit. Well, the result was still underwhelming and somehow incomplete.

My next move? Paint a second frame, of course! (I wasn’t going to give up on this idea, dammit.) So, back to the paint samples I went. I wanted to go with a color just a couple shades darker than the original aqua-ish wall color. We happened to be at Menard’s, so I bought a sample of Pittsburgh Paint Marine Reef for $2.94.

This time the taping was a little more tedious, since I had to tape off two rectangles instead of just one. After my last experience, I also decided to take Kim’s advice to help prevent the paint from leaking under the tape (due to our heavily textured walls). I painted a coat of the Breakwater White on the inside of the frame in hopes that it would act as a “seal” when I painted the new Marine Reef color next to it.

Then, after a couple coats of Marine Reef, I carefully pulled off the tape. Much to my dismay, there was still some bleed-through. *Insert curse words here.* (I must need Kim to come over and do that part for me.)

Stupid textured walls... Anyway, I couldn’t just leave it like that, so I grabbed a small artist’s paintbrush and painstakingly painted over the excess Marine Reef spots with Breakwater White. It actually wasn’t all that hard, just time consuming. In the end, it turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself) and left a nice, crisp border. *Insert sigh of satisfaction here.*

BUT… this space was still missing something. I scrounged around the house and found this “Relax” word decor, which was originally black. However, a few coats of trusty white spray paint would change that. *mwahahahaha*

But wait, there’s more! My final item to complete the “beachy” theme was a vase filled with sand and seashells, which I hijacked from our master bathroom.

NOW...it finally looked complete. The canvas isn’t floating in the middle of nowhere, and I think the painted “frames” helps give it more weight. The added accents fill the extra space and pull everything together (I hope). Let’s recap again, just for fun:

Before

After #1 (single frame)

After #2 (double frame)

So, what do you think of my cheap decorating solutions for this corner?

11x14 Canvas Artwork - $12 (with discount)
Two Paint Samples - $6
Misc. Accents - Free

Guest Post: Fall DIY Ideas for the Unemployed Homeowner

2011-09-23T08:30:00.008-05:00

Today I wanted to share with you a guest post by Jakob Barry. Jakob is a writer for Networx.com and covers various home improvement topics including house renovation and concrete driveway repair.

via writeawriting.com

The topic at hand happens to be Fall DIY Ideas for the Unemployed Homeowner. (Yes, I conveniently timed this with the first day of fall!) But these tips can really apply to every homeowner. With that said, take it away, Jakob!
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As is the unfortunate case in today’s economy many Americans are doing whatever it takes to find substantial work but overall they are still having a tough time.

Unemployed homeowners are especially hit hard and their situation can be very discouraging when homes need work and the financial means to hire help isn’t available.

Nevertheless, the forecast isn’t completely dreary as various tasks that may once have been assigned to a handyman can be taken on by some of the most novice DIY homeowners and with the internet as a tool there’s a wealth of information and services ready to assist.

It just takes a little bit of patience and some extra confidence to be successful and autumn chores are the perfect place to start:

Yard work: Whether it’s weeding, pruning, or clipping bushes, most of what needs to be done in the yard doesn’t require paying someone else and if you’re careful with all the waste, much of the uprooted vegetation can be salvaged to enhance next year’s garden at no cost. Turning it into compost and mulch will provide much needed nutrients and if you’re really savvy some clippings can also be repotted and sold.

Seal windows and doors: When trying to heat or cool a home these are the most likely places where air escapes or drafts enter. The result is usually rising costs and extra stress on heating and air conditioning systems. With the winter just around the corner, the fall is the latest time to seal windows and doors with caulk and other materials.

HVAC filters: Speaking of heating and air conditioning, if the system has been running often the filters and vents should periodically be checked. After a while they get blocked and start re-circulating dirty particles making the systems work harder and sending unclean air back into circulation.

Check gutters: Rain gutters and downspouts are extremely important as they collect water and direct it away from the home. When clogged from leaves or other debris water sits, overflows, and often finds ways into the roof and walls. The importance of cleaning the gutters and downspouts cannot be underestimated since the alternative could be major water damage to the home. NOTE: Be extremely careful when climbing ladders for this kind of work and if you aren’t comfortable don’t attempt going up without supervision or help.

Roof maintenance: Like with gutters, roofing problems can mean severe water damage. Precautionary measures include removing debris from shingles, checking that they aren’t ripped, warped, or damaged, and inspecting flashings that protect around structural beams, pipes or vents protruding from the roof. Again, take great care when climbing a ladder and if you just aren’t up to it a good substitute is zooming in on the roof with a digital camera or at the very least checking the ceiling in the attic for discolorations, mold, or mildew. If some of these are found, some patchwork may be necessary.

Tools and machines: Preserve garden tools by cleaning them off, and instead of leaving gas powered machines standing with fuel through the winter it’s a good safety measure to empty them out. Also, role up extension cords and disconnect the hose closing the spigots for the winter so they don’t run the risk of freezing.
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Hope you found this post helpful, as it will only be a matter of time before winter's here. Got any other good tips that weren't listed here? Share them in the comments!

For more home improvement articles, check out Networx.com. Thanks again to Jakob Barry!

DIY "Ombre" Canvas Artwork - ScotchBlue Painting Party

2011-09-12T11:00:00.140-05:00

Let's face it, Mondays usually suck. But I've actually been looking forward to this Monday, because I'm part of today’s ScotchBlue Painting Party! Here’s the low-down: A group of DIY bloggers (including moi) all completed projects with the help of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. Now we’re sharing our projects with you to give you ideas and inspiration. Before I go any further, please do make sure to check out all the other fantastic ladies participating in this party... after you're done here, of course! ;)

1. Wendy @ The Shabby Nest

2. Anna @ Take the Side Street
3. Amanda @ Little House on the Corner *You are here!*
4. Rachael @ Lovely Crafty Home *Continue to this blog next!*
5. Stacey @ A Sort of Fairytale

And as ~~a shameless bribe~~ additional incentive for sticking it out through my lengthy post, there’s a GIVEAWAY at the end for you! Three lucky ducks will win their own roll of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. Details to follow, but in the meantime, let’s get this party started!

I contemplated for weeks (yes, really) on what project I should use my tape for. I thought about painting an accent wall in our living room, but couldn’t decide exactly what color(s), so I’ll save that for another time.

Then I started thinking about other bare walls in our house, like the one in the guest bedroom. Don’t ask me why I'm putting so much effort into this room, since no one sees it that often, but it looks so much better after last year’s makeover that I might as well add the finishing touch with some artwork, right?

So, it was time for more decisions (in case you didn't already know, decision-making is not my strong suit). I’ll spare you all my thought processes that led up to my final idea. I’ve seen a lot of “ombre” projects around the web and really like the effect. Here are a couple different applications (i.e. pretty pictures!):

Exhibit A

Pink Ombre Swirl Cake

Exhibit B

Grey Striped Room

Exhibit C

Ombre Lampshade

It was a great opportunity to use my painter’s tape for some stripes (not exactly an original idea, but I’ve never tried it myself). I picked up a 22x28” artist’s canvas at Jo-Ann’s for $12 (on sale). I was about ready to go buy some blue-ish paint, and then remembered that I had a sample of dark teal “oops” paint that I had found for 50 cents at Home Depot awhile back. At the time, I had no idea what to use it for, but now it would come in handy!

I had never painted on canvas before, so I was just hoping that wall paint would be okay to use on it. I decided to do 6 stripes on the canvas and made a small mark on each side at the appropriate width (about 3.6”). My measuring probably wasn’t perfect, but to the naked eye, it seemed pretty even. Then I used the marks as guides to tape off my first stripe, pressing down the edges onto the canvas and around the back of the frame. Time to paint!

I brushed on two coats of the teal color to get it nice and even. After it had dried most of the way, I carefully pulled up the tape. There were a few tiny spots that had leaked under onto the blank canvas, but I kind of expected that with this type of surface. It didn’t matter too much anyway, since I was painting another color right next to it.

After the first stripe had fully dried, I taped off my next stripe. For this color, I poured some of the teal into a paper bowl and added a little bit of white (which I also had a sample of). I continued this process with each stripe, but I was by no means precise with my increments of white. I just kind of mixed it until it looked about right, knowing that I wanted the final stripe at the top to be pretty light.

I was also getting really impatient waiting for each stripe to dry, so I eventually wised up and started using the blow dryer to speed up the process. Finally, my stripes were finished! I was pretty proud of myself with how it turned out.

I'm debating whether I should add some other element to my canvas -- whether painted on or otherwise (any suggestions?). But I don't want to screw up the stripes and not be able to repair the colors, since they were just mixed willy-nilly. In the meantime, I'm pleased with it as is.

I still needed to hang this baby on the nekkid wall, so I got some Sharks' Tooth Hangers at Hobby Lobby for $1.29 and hammered one of them into top center of the frame. All in all, my artwork cost me under 15 bucks. Whaddaya think?

* GIVEAWAY ALERT* (This giveaway is now closed to new entries.)
This was a pretty fun project that I would probably do again sometime, in some form or another. Now, aren’t you all inspired to go use some painter’s tape on your own project?? You’re in luck, because three lucky readers will win a roll of ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector! It's easy to enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me how you'd use your painter's tape.

2) If you want an extra entry, get on your Twitter and tweet the following:
@scotchbluebrand I want #supersharppaintlines for my next project!
Then, leave a separate comment here letting me know you’ve tweeted it.

While you’re at it, make sure you follow @scotchbluebrand on Twitter, and “like” their Facebook page. You’ll get the scoop on the rest of the painting parties and get all sorts of other painter’s tape inspiration that ScotchBlue shares! You'll be amazed at all the creative people and projects out there.

This giveaway will close on Monday, September 19 at 1 p.m. (CST), after which I'll notify the winners (so be sure you leave an e-mail address in your comment!).

Now, go do some party-hopping! Rachael at Lovely Crafty Home awaits you!

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Disclosure: ScotchBlue Brand reached out to me to participate in the ScotchBlue Painting Party to celebrate the launch of their new ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge-Lock Paint Line Protector. My post represents my honest experience with ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape. I am not being paid for my answers, but I did receive ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape to assist in completion.

Speaking of parties...I'm linking this post up to:
Making Monday Marvelous @ C.R.A.F.T.
Motivate Me Monday
Made By You Monday
Toot Your Horn Tuesday
Get Your Craft On! Tuesday
Show & Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Inspired By You Wednesdays
What I Made Wednesday
Link Party @ Cookie Nut Creations
Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now

A "Floating" Cabinet

2011-09-08T08:30:00.009-05:00

Our laundry room has been in dire need of some storage solutions. Currently, we have one wall that we use to stack things up against, but we also wanted to figure out a way to utilize the space above the washer and dryer for additional storage.

Awhile back, Luke scored some free cabinets from a school/office that was being renovated, and we’ve had a couple of them sitting in our basement ever since then, just waiting to be put to use. (And let me just say, these things are heavy.)

I wasn't sure how to go about hanging a cabinet in this space, with all the plumbing/drain pipes against the wall. But Luke had the idea to built a “floating” frame of sorts to house one of the cabinets above our washer. In theory, it seemed pretty simple, but it ended up taking quite a bit of figuring, measuring, leveling, squaring, and tweaking. In a nutshell, this is how it all went down:

First, we measured the depth of one of the cabinets and cut a 2x4 that length, then screwed it into the studs of the wall in the laundry room. Then, we cut a treated 2x3 to the height of the cabinet and glued it to the concrete wall with LocTite. Once it had set, we also nailed it in for extra reinforcement, using our handy Duo-Fast Strike Tool. (We used a 2x3 here because we were up so close next to the drain pipe.)

Next, we attached a 2x4 to the joist above, in case we ever decide to finish the laundry room and add a ceiling.

After that, we cut two more pieces to support the other side of the cabinet. These were screwed together at the corners, and then screwed into the treated 2x3 and the 2x4 above. Now we had a frame for the cabinet to rest in.

It wasn’t fun trying to lift that sucker up above our shoulders and shove it into the space, but we finally managed. It was a very snug fit. From the inside of the cabinet, Luke also added screws to attach it to the frame. I have to admit, I was a little paranoid about how this set-up would support the weight of the cabinet, but it seems pretty sturdy. We may go in and add another 2x4 beneath for extra reinforcement.

Now I have a convenient place to store detergent, dryer sheets, and miscellaneous items that would otherwise be scattered haphazardly around the room.

As you can see, I still need to fill it up. Not a bad problem to have. Eventually, I'd also like to add a rod to the left of the cabinet to hang clothes to air-dry.

What's your laundry room storage situation?

A Future for My Frames

2011-08-30T08:30:00.018-05:00

So it appears I've managed to collect several random picture frames over time.

As you can see, most of them are also empty. That's because I can't resist a good cheap frame, even when I don't know what I want to put in it. Most of these were either on sale/clearance somewhere, or found at Goodwill.

Once I had pulled all the frames out of the drawer they were stashed in, I got to thinking... I probably have the beginnings of a photo gallery wall, yes? I'm pretty excited about this idea, because there's a lot of pictures I'd love to display but have never gotten around to it. Also, our house is still in need of some personalization (3+ years later).

There are currently two empty spaces that are dying for some attention -- both of which would lend themselves nicely to a photo gallery. One of them is on the wall leading down our stairway, and the other is the wall above the landing in the stairwell. I think I know which one I prefer; what space would you choose? Who knows, you might sway my decision!

[Please forgive the poor photography and lighting]

More to come on this new project later... I think I need a couple more frames (which I can probably wrangle from elsewhere in the house), and I still have several decisions to make.
- What photos to display?
- How to lay out the frames?
- Paint all the frames the same color?
- Paint the frames in coordinating colors?
- Mix in any other wall decor with the frames? (i.e. mirror, vinyl lettering, ledges)

In the meantime, I decided to share some gallery wall inspiration thanks to good ol' Google. Turns out it's quite the popular topic! (I hope I got all the credits right, sometimes it's hard to tell where they really originated from.)

via apartment therapy

via Sawdust and Paper Scraps

via Kasey Buick

via Laura Watson Photography

via K.I.D collective

via The Avid Appetite

"Framed" Canvas Artwork

2011-08-25T08:30:00.014-05:00

Awhile back, I received a special offer from EasyCanvasPrints.com for a free 8x10 canvas print. Of course I wasn't going to refuse this, and I even decided to pay a little extra for a slightly larger 11x14 print. It took forever to choose a photo from my own collection, but I decided on one from our honeymoon in northern California. I love this photo because it's such a relaxing scene. The beach was virtually empty that day, and it's just so vast.

Original photo from my camera:

The ordering process was quick and easy, and in a few days I received the print on my doorstep!

Detail of canvas:

I have to say, I thought the quality of the print was pretty good, considering the resolution of my photo wasn't that big to begin with. Plus, the frame already had a hook attached to the back of it, so hanging it on the wall was a breeze. I decided to put it in our bedroom, which is otherwise devoid of artwork. Here it is above the chest of drawers:

I know what you're thinking: It looks a little puny in this space. I agree. I probably should have gone with a 16x20, but we all know what a cheapskate I am. So a little creativity was in order. My idea was to paint a rectangle behind the canvas to expand the print and act as a "frame."

After some measuring (which my husband probably wouldn't have approved of), leveling, and taping (with leftover ScotchBlue Painter's Tape with Edge-Lock Protector from my bathroom makeover), this was my outline. I allowed for 1.5" of border on each side.

After mulling over tons of paint samples, I decided to go with a very light color called Breakwater White by Behr. I got a sample size for $2.94 at Home Depot, which was more than enough to give my frame a couple coats. And worse case scenario, I could either paint another color over it, or go back to the original wall color.

[FYI: I also had an alternative motive for trying this out. Our walls are pretty textured, so I wanted to see how crisp of a line I could get with the ScotchBlue Edge-Lock tape (since I have another larger painting project up my sleeve). So this was a good way for me to experiment on a small scale first, therefore avoiding potentially catastrophic results later.]

Looking pretty good so far...

Ready for the "framed" artwork?

When the corner light is on, the canvas casts a shadow. (And yes, those are the same $5 temporary paper window shades we've had for three years.)

Okay, so... I don't think I'm in love with the results. In my head, it looked much better. On the wall, it just looks white and flat. Should I have used a different color (darker or lighter than the wall color)? Or made the border bigger? Not painted it at all? Or just let it grow on me? Any suggestions? (Other than going back in time and ordering a larger canvas to begin with.)

P.S. For those who are curious, my paint lines unfortunately did not turn out perfectly. There were a few little spots where the paint leaked under the tape, even though I had tried to press it onto the wall really firmly. I think this can just be chalked up to one of the downfalls of having textured walls. Boo. The good thing is, you don't really notice it unless you get up close. Nonetheless, I may have to alter my future painting plans...

Cucumber recipes, anyone?

2011-08-22T08:30:00.012-05:00

When I returned from vacation last week, I came back to find my "garden" had become even more jungle-like. These plants are HUGE. Seriously, it's getting a little out of control. Pretty soon, I will have no sidewalk left.

I've pretty much lost all hope for the green beans; I think they're being suffocated by the other plants. I've seen a couple tiny zucchinis, but they haven't grown much.

However. My cucumber plant has not given up yet. Look what was waiting for me!

That's right, four giant, beautiful cucumbers! But even more important than looks was the taste test.... and my "burpless beauties" were delicious! I must say, it was a very proud moment to eat something that I had actually grown myself in my own backyard.

There are several more that will need to be picked soon too, so I foresee a considerable cuke harvest in my future, if nothing else. I already made this yummy cucumber salad... any other recipe recommendations?

P.S. I promise that my next post will not be about vegetables. So if I haven't bored you to death already with my veggie saga, I hope you'll stay tuned later this week for my next project!

Gimme a break....

2011-08-11T09:00:00.005-05:00

Not that this really affects my normal once-a-week (at best) blog posting schedule, but I’ll be taking a little vacay and won’t be blogging for a week or two. I know, sad. I’ll wait here while you go grab a Kleenex.

Anyway, my bloggy friends, I do have some exciting projects lined up for later this month and next month. Let’s just say I see some painting in my future… and a fun giveaway for YOU! Hopefully I'll return motivated and ready to get busy.

Until then, have fun with your own projects, vacations, and whatever else is going on!

Live and learn.

2011-08-08T08:30:00.005-05:00

Okay. Y'all were right.

Things are getting a little out of control back here in my "garden."

My plants are ginormous, threatening to overtake the sidewalk. But still no sign of any cucumbers, green beans, or zucchini. I think I planted the seeds either in late May or early June, so it's been about two months. According to the seed packets, they should all be ready to harvest anywhere from 50-60 days after planting. Needless to say, I'm starting to get a little antsy. However, it has been ridiculously hot the past few weeks, and even though I'm trying to water them often, maybe they're protesting the heat wave. If so, I guess I can't really blame them.

$6 Summer Wreath (better late than never)

2011-07-25T08:30:00.007-05:00

Sadly enough, this little wreath has been several months in the making. It didn't literally take me several months to make, but let's just say I've been wanting one ever since it was supposed to be a spring wreath. The only problem was, I couldn't find the right kind of greenery I was looking for and still stay within my usual cheapskate budget.

Then all of a sudden, things started falling into place last week. I unexpectedly found this wreath at Goodwill for $2.49. Score #1.

Then I found this interesting faux flower thing at Hobby Lobby for about $3. It had a bunch of narrow yellow/green leaves, along with small white and yellow buds. The leaves and stems had tiny wires in them, so they'd be easy to stick into my wreath. It was like it was made exactly for the purpose I wanted. Score #2!

So, as I previously alluded to, all I did was cut off the leaves and stems with wire cutters (I only used about half of them). Then I just tucked them into the wreath far enough so it felt like they wouldn't fall out.

About 30 minutes later, I ended up with this.

And here it is, giving our front door a little extra flair. Simple and pretty, but not too flowery.

On second thought, it may be a little on the puny side, but oh well. It does the job, and the price was right!

Don't count your veggies before they grow

2011-07-21T08:30:00.003-05:00

Okay. I'm trying not to get too excited about this.

Remember when I decided to start a vegetable garden?

I have a bit of a black thumb and admittedly didn't really know what I was doing. Planting seeds seems easy enough, but I figured if there was a way to screw it up, I would.

Well, here's what it looks like now. Be still, my beating heart!

Somehow, I have managed to keep my vegetables alive, even despite the scorching heat we've had! I would say the cucumbers are thriving the most, followed by the zucchini and then the green beans.

I should probably mention that in my initial post, a couple of you gave some helpful recommendations to get some chicken wire or fencing for the vines to grow up instead of out. So they wouldn't get out of control. As you can see, I did not heed that well-meaning advice. My only excuse is pure laziness. At this point I've decided to just let them grow wherever they may.

Not all of the seeds I planted survived, but that's probably a good thing given the limited space here. I'm also seeing some yellow blossoms on the cucumbers... another promising sign, yes?

It looks like they should start producing any time now, but I still haven't seen anything yet... So I'll continue to wait and remain cautiously optimistic about my future veggie crop. Cross your fingers for me!

Blog updates

2011-07-18T08:26:00.000-05:00

Look up there, at the top of my blog. See anything new?

I've been doing a little organizing around here, creating a couple new pages for the posts I've done that qualify as "Crafty Stuff" or "Before & Afters." This is my way of keeping them easily accessible for reference and not buried away somewhere in the depths of my blog. There's not a whole lot to start with, but I'll keep adding to them over time.

(And for those of you who are reading this through e-mail or some other type of feed, I guess you'll just have to come visit my blog to see what I'm talking about!)

Sorry, no pictures or anything exciting in today's post. But if you check out my new pages, you'll find pretty pictures there. ;) And I'll have a garden update soon -- I know you've been waiting for it!

If these walls could talk....

2011-07-14T08:30:00.009-05:00

They would probably say, "What the $&*#% took you so long?!"

Three years, three months, and sixteen days after we closed on our house (but who's counting?), we finally have some walls in our unfinished ~~dungeon~~ basement. Before I continue, I realize that if we're getting technical, this is merely the framework. But for the sake of feeling like progress has been made, and because it's my blog, I'm calling them walls, mmmkay?

So ladies and gentleman (hello? anyone still out there who cares?), I now present the proof of our progress:

The first wall

It's up!

Adding the doorway to the laundry room, plus one of the walls for the shower in the bathroom

View from in the laundry room

Okay, there's only so many photos of 2x4s I can show before it starts to get a little redundant. That's all I really have time to post right now, but I had to stop being a tease and actually show the goods. Well, you know what I mean.

I've also determined that summer is not exactly the best time to start any large project, because there are too many other things going on. So at this rate, maybe I'll have more walls to show by, say, November? I kid, I kid... hopefully.

Recipe of the Week: Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-07-05T08:30:00.009-05:00

I recently had the urge to make some chocolate chip cookies, but not just any chocolate chip cookie. The recipe off the back of the chocolate chip bag (although good) wasn't going to cut it this time. So I started searching for some new adaptations and happened to stumble upon Lisa's quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. After perusing a few of the recipes she had tried out (bless her heart!), I settled on this King Arthur Flour recipe, below. I think I was drawn to it because it uses vinegar, which I hadn't seen before in a CCC recipe.

2/3 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 c. white sugar

1/2 c. unsalted butter, right from the fridge, or at room temperature
1/2 c. vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar, cider or white (I used cider)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
2 c. all-purpose flour (no, I did not use King Arthur brand)
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (I just used my baking stone.)

In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, vinegar, and baking soda, beating until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth. Mix in the flour (use a sifter!), and then the chips.

Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough.

NOTE: Upon reading the original recipe from King Arthur Flour, I chilled the dough for about 48 hours before baking. Apparently this is supposed to deepen the flavors or something like that. (Side note: Roll the dough into a log before refrigerating, like I did below, so you can just cut it in slices when you're ready. This is also a great gift idea for anyone who loves freshly-baked cookies... and who doesn't?!)

Just look at these gorgeous, perfectly-shaped cookies!

As you would expect, they were amazing fresh out of the oven -- nice, uniformly thick, and chewy -- but still delicious even after they'd cooled off later on. I think chilling the dough also keeps them from spreading out as much, so they stay thicker. The texture and color are just about perfect, too. If you want a really good detailed review, check out Lisa's post over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies. I really admire this girl for all of her baking endeavors (which we get to benefit from)!

Another thing I like about this recipe is that it only uses one bowl for all the ingredients. (Normally, I'm used to mixing the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another bowl, then mixing those two together.) As far as I'm concerned, this is my new go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

On the subject of cookies, did you know that putting a slice of bread in your jar/container of cookies will keep them from drying out and getting hard? I had heard it before but just tried it for the first time with these. The next day, the bread was hard and dry, but the cookies were still soft and chewy. Amazing!

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Manic Monday @ Serendipity and Spice

My weekend workout with a bunch of studs

2011-06-26T09:01:00.006-05:00

No, I'm not talking about hunky men (except for my husband, of course). These studs:

For those of you who were starting to think that my blog was turning into a cooking blog instead of a DIY blog (not that there's anything wrong with that), this is proof that we've had some real projects going on around here. This weekend, I hauled all these 2x4's down to our basement (while Luke was busy prepping/planning/measuring). At least I'm good for something! You can't tell from the picture above, but it was also a 100+ degree day. Just sayin'. So about an hour and a liter of sweat later, I finally had all 51 of them downstairs.

Yes folks, this means we are actually, seriously starting on our basement! There's been a bit of a lull since our concrete/plumbing work several weeks ago (hence all the recipes I've been posting), but things are picking up again. Hopefully I'll be able to show off a wall (or two) soon!

But in the meantime, don't be surprised if you see another recipe from me. ;)

Recipe of the Week: Fruit Salsa

2011-06-22T08:30:00.016-05:00

Now that it's officially summer, I thought it quite appropriate to post this great summer-time recipe, which I happened to make this past weekend. It’s so easy and so delicious - especially during strawberry season!

Fresh Fruit Salsa
1 lb. strawberries
1 cup raspberries
2 golden apples
4 kiwis
2 tbsp. sugar (or more to taste)

Dice all fruits and mix together in large bowl. Add sugar and stir well. Chill at least 15 minutes. (I have also used a food processor to pulse the fruit on low speed a few times until it’s not quite pureed but still chunky.) You could also add any other type of fruit you want (peaches, mango, papaya, pineapple, etc.)

Sweet Tortilla Chips
10-inch flour tortillas
Butter spray (I used Parkay)
Sugar with cinnamon mixed in to taste

Spray tortilla shells one at a time with butter spray. Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture over tortilla shell. Coverage can be thick or thin, depending on personal taste (I use a lot). Spray again with butter spray (this will give them a nice crusty yumminess). Use a pizza cutter to cut tortillas into wedges or strips. Spread on single layer on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (or until golden brown and crispy). Cool slightly before serving.

The chips are good enough to eat on their own, but dip them in the salsa and oh my! Everyone loves this stuff. And that’s about all I have to say about that. The pictures speak for themselves!

What are your favorite summer-time snacks?

Linking up to....

Look What I Made! (Creations by Kara)
Whatever Goes Wednesday

Personalized Nursery Letter Art

2011-06-13T08:30:00.023-05:00

You may be wondering why I would be doing a project for a nursery. Well..... I have some news to share......

Just kidding! No, we are not having a baby. However, a couple of our good friends just became proud new parents of a baby boy (three weeks ahead of schedule). I knew I wanted to do some sort of DIY project for their gift, and I had been thinking along the lines of a personalized photo frame.

Then, I came upon the perfect idea while visiting Hennessy House. I wish I could take credit for myself, but I have to give Sarah all the props; this girl has creativity oozing out of every pore! Seriously, you should see her artwork. Normally I am both impressed and intimidated by her talents, but this letter art actually seemed like something I could attempt to re-create myself.

Basically, the idea is to trace a bunch of different stencils to create the shape of a letter. For a good, detailed tutorial, just check out Sarah's post. In her case (below), she used it as a wedding gift.

via Hennessy House

I, however, was visualizing it in a nursery. Since my friend's nursery has what I would call a sophisticated/modern jungle theme (it's really adorable), that made it pretty easy. I had no trouble finding various elephant, giraffe, and hippo silhouettes on Google Images. I also used a photo of the wall in the nursery to get the silhouette of the simple tree that also matches the tree in her fabrics. Then I printed off all the silhouettes in a variety of sizes.

The baby's name is Elijah, so I found a nice chunky font (Berlin Sans) for my letter "E"and blew it up to about 700 point size for an 8x10 frame. After tracing the outline of the E onto tracing paper, I proceeded to trace my silhouettes inside the letter. It was kind of like putting a puzzle together, trying to decide where they fit best. And although it was time-consuming, I thought it was pretty fun.

I wanted to make a couple different versions to see which one I liked best, but ran out of time and just went with my first attempt. Here's what it looked like as outlines only:

Then, I scanned in the tracing paper, printed it off on regular white paper, and colored in the silhouettes with a black Sharpie. (You could also just use the fill tool in Photoshop to color in the outlined shapes, but this way felt more "handmade.") Here's what it looked like when I scanned it in again:

In Photoshop, I erased the outline of the E, darkened the silhouettes by adjusting the levels, and just cleaned up the image in general. There was also a little blank hole that needed filling, so I added the date of Elijah's birth.

I found this silvery frame at Walmart, which I spray painted with Rustoleum American Accents satin finish in Iris Blue.

Then I just printed out my letter art on matte photo paper, and voila!

I think Sarah's version looks better, but overall I'm pretty happy with mine. This is such a great gift idea -- inexpensive, yet it still requires effort and creativity. With that said, you don't have to be an artistic genius, just have a little bit of patience.

And the season of giving continues...

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Linking up to....
Motivate Me Monday
Anything Related Tuesday
Amaze Me August
Look What I Made! (Creations by Kara)
Whatever Goes Wednesday
What I Made Wednesday (Sweet Peas and Bumblebees)

'Tis the season of giving

2011-06-06T08:30:00.009-05:00

Graduations, weddings, and babies, oh my! Anyone else finding their summer booking up quickly? And then there's the gift shopping... (Whoever said Christmas is the season of giving?!)

This weekend was a baby shower for one of my friends, and the wedding of one of my college roommates. Of course, gift registries make it easy to find something that you know they'll like. And I definitely make use of those registries most of the time! But I also like to try to put just a little extra effort into my gift-giving. (Remember my gift baskets from last Christmas?) Don't get me wrong, sometimes I'm such a last-minute shopper that I have to shove everything into a gift bag -- no tissue paper or anything -- and call it good.

Problem: For the baby shower, I purchased several little random items from the registry, and I didn't want to wrap them individually or throw them in a storebought gift bag.

Solution: Assemble a fun (and inexpensive) gift basket.

White gift basket from World Market: $4
Yellow shred from Walmart: $1
Gift basket bag from Hobby Lobby: $2

Since the bag was clear and you could pretty much see everything inside (which kinda takes away from the surprise factor), I also tucked some squares of different-colored tissue paper around the basket. Add some curled ribbon and a balloon, and voila!

Problem: For the wedding shower gift, I purchased a glass canister set off of the registry. Perfectly fine by itself and it's already packaged in a box which makes wrapping easy, but it still seems a little...boring.

Solution: Since the canisters will most likely be used for some kind of food storage, include some favorite recipes as a bonus.

I went through my recipe binder and picked out 8 of my current, tried-and-true favorites (several of which I've blogged about). I typed them out, printed them onto white cardstock, and cut them into cards. To make them a little more sturdy, I took the cards to work and laminated them (which will also make it easier to wipe off splatters). Then I punched a hole in the top corner of each card and used a little key ring to hold them all together. It still seemed to be lacking something, so I tied some ribbon onto the ring to add a little color.

I thought this "booklet" would be a nice idea because everyone has to eat, and therefore everyone can use recipes, right? You could definitely get more elaborate with this and use prettier paper, more recipes, etc.

What do you do to add a personal touch to gifts? Do you go by the registry or take a risk and "off-list" it?

Coming out of the closet

2011-05-31T08:30:00.027-05:00

No, not that closet. This closet:

The closet off of our master bathroom is pretty decent sized. It's a walk-in at least, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Still, we've managed to fill it to capacity, and then some (Luke blames that all on me, of course). I thought I had taken more photos of the closet before we moved in, but I could only find the one above. It doesn't really show much, but hopefully you get the idea.

Basically, there were (and still are) open shelves on all three walls, with one rod against the back wall for hanging clothes. And you can't see it, but there's also a rod on each side way up near the top of the 10-foot ceiling. (Yes, we have one of those long sticks with a hook on it to reach those clothes. But you can still get a crick in your neck trying to get them down and hang them back up.)

Anyway, it seemed like a lot of space when it was totally empty. Over the past three years though, we've had to make a few additions to accommodate all of our stuff and utilize the space better.

1) We added another wooden rod below the existing shelves (on the left side) for more hanging clothes (all mine, of course).

2) We bought two shoe racks from Walmart (I think they were $10 each) to utilize the space underneath the shelves on the other side of the closet (behind the door). This is great because we can see all our shoes; but on the downside, they can get dusty if they're not worn for awhile.

3) We bought a little organizing rack from Home Depot (about $10) to hang on the wall beside the door. It fits just right and holds ties, belts, and necklaces that were previously scattered haphazardly around the closet.

Our shelves were also getting pretty scary as of late, especially on my side, so I cleaned them up a bit and put some old clothes that I never wear anymore in giveaway sacks. I also organized some other random items into shoeboxes to stack on the shelves. I felt much better about our closet after that, which was what led me to this [somewhat boring] post.

It hasn't been a total overhaul by any means, but these small changes have helped our closet from looking like a complete disaster. What are some of your best closet-organizing tips? If you have a closet makeover to share, leave the link in your comment!

How to grow a flower really fast

2011-05-23T08:43:00.000-05:00

Aside from the occasional recipe to mix things up a little, most of the projects I've been blogging about lately have involved working with dirt and concrete. As fun as that is (insert sarcastic tone here), I have been feeling the need to make something pretty.

With that said, this little project is hardly worthy of a post, because it was so painfully simple. Trust me, I'm well aware of that. Quite frankly, it would be a insult to crafty people to even call it crafty. But I like how it turned out, so now you get to read about it!

Cute brown ceramic container from the local garden center - $8

Green hydrangea stem from Hobby Lobby - $4 (half off, of course)

Square of floral foam placed in container - $1

Cut the stem off the hydrangea, stick it into the foam, and fill around it with some landscaping rock to hide the foam.

Now I have a lovely "permanent" flower that doesn't need to depend on me to keep it alive. Even though I'm pretty fond of the brown & green color combo, it will also be easy to switch out the flower with something else when I get tired of it.

Hey, it's better than looking at more pictures of dirt and concrete, right?

The seeds have been sown...

2011-05-18T08:00:00.010-05:00

If you're a regular reader around here, it's no secret that I have a pretty bad track record with keeping plants alive. Nevertheless, that hasn't quelled my urge to try my hand at growing vegetables. So when the opportunity arose recently, I took it.

Our sidewalk project left us with a rectangular strip of dirt that was just begging to grow something. Remember what it looked like back here before the sidewalk? Let's reminisce...

Yeahhh.... pretty trash-tastic.

So once the sidewalk and resulting landscaping bed were completed, I figured there was no better time to attempt to be a gardener and plant some veggies. But first, I had to clean up the post-sidewalk mess:

Bricks, boards, concrete chunks, more bricks, potted daylilies, snow fence, and more bricks.

So after a couple hours of moving everything out of the way and tilling up the soil, I finally had an area to work with. (I ran out of places to put all the brick, so just had to line it up around my "garden"...maybe I'll actually put a brick border here someday?)

I decided to get zucchini, cucumber, and green beans. Hopefully they are all pretty easy to grow for a novice like me. I have no idea if this is enough space to be planting all these things, but I guess I'll find out. I feel like I've been told that the cucumber plant spreads a lot.... Anyway, after studying the directions on the seed packets, I got out my little hand shovel and got to work.

As it turns out, there are a lot of seeds in these packets, and I didn't end up using them all. Maybe that means I should have a bigger garden than this? I probably put them too close together as it is.

This picture looks pretty much the same as before, but the labeled flags are there as proof that the seeds have been planted.

I think seedlings are supposed to sprout in about a week or two, so now I just have to play the waiting game. And, more importantly, remember to water them. If they all grow, then I'll have some veggies ready to harvest in about 50-60 days. And if not, then I guess I only wasted about $8 on the seeds.

Do you have any experience growing vegetables? What do I need to know?

It was bound to happen eventually...

2011-05-16T08:00:00.009-05:00

You’ll probably start seeing another face around these parts, so I thought it was time to make a formal introduction. Meet Roxy, the newest member of our family:

We have been contemplating getting another dog for awhile and finally bit the bullet. Roxy is a 10-month-old boxer that we adopted from the humane society on May 1. (We're not sure if she's pure boxer or has anything else in her... They had her labeled as a boxer "mix" but they label every dog as a mix!) Roxy has managed to adjust pretty well here in her new home over the past couple weeks, and she’s a total sweetheart, all 40 pounds of her. She likes to come up and rest her head on our laps and gaze up at us with her big brown eyes.

So how are Roxy and Dudley getting along, you ask? Well, it did take him a few days to adjust to having another dog around. She’s more mild-tempered, and he can be overbearing and obnoxious at times. We’re trying to make sure he still gets plenty of attention to keep feelings of jealousy at a minimum. They have similar playing styles and like to rough-and-tumble a lot. At the end of the day, when they end up looking like this...

Or this...

...it makes us feel like we made a good decision.

And I didn’t waste any time finding a use for this photo frame (found on clearance at Target for $6) that had previously been lying on the floor in our office for months:

Three photos for our three pets! Guess that means we can't get any more now. :)

Coconut caramel ice cream sundae, anyone?

2011-05-07T21:49:00.003-05:00

I thought that might get your attention.

Every once in awhile, I’ll come across a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine that doesn’t intimidate me with fancy, expensive, hard-to-pronounce, and/or obscure ingredients. And so far, the few that I’ve actually tried have turned out pretty good. Or in the case of this particular recipe (from the June 2009 issue), freakin’ delicious!

photo via bonappetit.com

I had been wanting to try this Toasted-Coconut Caramel Sauce for quite awhile and finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago. (Since then, I’ve actually made it a second time.) The great thing is that it uses basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand, and if not, they’re easy to find at the store. Here’s my experience:

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup sweetened cream of coconut* (Coco Lopez brand is the best in my opinion)
1 ¼ cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 ½ pints purchased French vanilla ice cream (any style of vanilla ice cream will do… just make sure it's a quality brand!)

* found in the liquor section of the supermarket

Directions
Place sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy deep medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. Boil until mixture turns dark amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. The 9 minutes seems to be pretty reliable, so set a timer or watch the clock. You’ll be able to tell when it’s the right color. Remove from heat. Immediately add cream and sweetened cream of coconut (mixture will bubble vigorously). If you’re like me, you might end up with a big glob of sticky caramel right away. Don’t freak out. Whisk over low heat until caramel sauce is blended and smooth and any caramel bits dissolve. It takes several minutes of stirring and breaking apart the glob into smaller pieces, but it will all dissolve eventually. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm slightly over medium heat, stirring often, before using.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut evenly on small baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, about 12 minutes. Cool. I’ve learned to watch the coconut closely while it’s baking, so it doesn’t end up burnt. The coconut on the outer edges tends to get darker quicker in my experience. DO AHEAD Toasted coconut can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Scoop ice cream into bowls. Spoon some of warm caramel sauce over. Sprinkle toasted coconut over and serve immediately.

I was amazed that this sauce turned out so good the very first time I tried it. It actually looked and tasted like caramel (with a slight coconut flavor from the cream of coconut). We took it over to a friend’s house and everyone raved about it. One of our friends also happens to be a really good cook, so his positive review was even more appreciated! He was also impressed that it didn’t require a candy thermometer. I guess that’s why the 9 minutes is really important. Even Luke, who isn’t a coconut fan, really liked the toasted coconut on top. Along with the yummy taste, it adds a nice crunchy texture (and makes a pretty presentation!)

I’m sure there are lots of other sinfully delicious ways this caramel sauce could be put to good use (drizzled on brownies? a dipping sauce for apples?), although the ice cream topping has to be one of the best. I’m thinking it would even make a great homemade gift idea – just make a couple batches and put it in cute little jars (as long as the jars get refrigerated right away).

If all the sauce doesn’t get devoured immediately, it keeps well in the fridge for several days. You can reheat it slowly on the stove or in the microwave on low power.

As far as desserts go, this one is pretty easy and is sure to be a hit! Take my word for it, everyone will be impressed with your caramel-making skills. So…is your mouth watering yet?

Concrete is Really Heavy.

2011-04-27T08:38:00.001-05:00

How do I know this? Because I had to shovel it into about 50 buckets and lift them into this window well to fill in our basement hole.

Let's backtrack. We originally had scheduled the concrete truck to deliver on a Saturday, when we would have had five total people to help us move it. But we found out the Friday before that they didn’t have enough deliveries to work on Saturday, so it had to be postponed until the following Monday at 7:30 a.m. Thankfully, my parents were still able to come and help us out, or else there was no way we could have done it. My dad already had a lot of helpful tools (edger, groover, wood float, finish trowel, square shovel, wheelbarrow), so the only thing we had to buy was a magnesium float. Woot!

Since traipsing through the house and down the stairs with buckets of concrete was not exactly desirable, the only other reasonable alternative was taking it down through the aforementioned window well. So we loaded wheelbarrows from the truck, and my mom and I shoveled it into buckets to hand to Luke.

We got concrete with fiberglass mesh in it (which acts as a reinforcer), since that was what was originally used in our basement. It kinda looks like it has a bunch of tiny hairs in it.

Luke got the crappy end of the deal, since he was the one on the ladder who was taking them down through the window. And it’s not that I’m not confident in his brute strength or anything, but I found myself secretly praying that he wouldn’t fall backwards every time I handed him another bucket.

Oh, did I mention that we only had one hour to unload all our concrete before they started charging us $1 per extra minute? No pressure to get it done quickly or anything…..

Meanwhile, my dad was working on smoothing and finishing the concrete until it was flush with the existing slab. I couldn’t see what was going on down there, so I had Luke snap a couple of pictures. Looks like Dad knows what he’s doing!

Once we had finally shoveled our last bucket, our work was not yet done. We still had an 18-foot-long sidewalk to pour. Although Dad had some experience with finishing a sidewalk years ago, we all gave ourselves some good ol’-fashioned YouTube education in advance.

The sidewalk pouring went much quicker since we were able to dump the full wheelbarrows directly into our formwork instead of hassling with buckets. We started doing this while Dad was still working away in the basement.

After we had pretty much filled the formwork, we realized that was probably not the smartest decision, since Dad would now have to step in the concrete to screed it, instead of screeding and filling at the same time. But we managed to make it work. Good thing he had some heavy-duty Muck Boots on. After screeding with a 2x4, he used the wood and magnesium floats and finally the finish trowel. (Sidenote: I had no idea it was spelled "screed" until I looked it up. What a weird word.)

It was already looking good, but it really began looking like an honest-to-goodness sidewalk once they started the edging and grooving to make the control joints (which allow for expansion and contraction due to temperature changes). Luke and Dad had a pretty good system going, but since the sidewalk was so wide, it was quite a reach to get over to the other side. Rather than fashioning some sort of harness to hold onto Luke, it was easiest for me to just grab onto his shirt to keep him from falling in the wet concrete. Oh, the things one must do when DIY-ing….

Classy.

By noon-ish, the sidewalk was just about finished. Not bad for a morning’s work! We did try putting Dudley’s paw prints in it, but I thought they looked kind of sloppy, so we smoothed them back out. Then Luke tried writing "2011" in it, and that didn’t look so good either. Maybe it had already started to harden too much. Anyway, we ended up leaving our sidewalk impression-free. A few hours after pouring it, it was already hard enough that I couldn’t even make a dent in it with my finger.

Once we cleaned up all our tools, we took Mom and Dad out for cheeseburgers at Five Guys Burgers and Fries (their request), and they headed home. Later that day, Luke and I put a plastic “tent” over the sidewalk since there was rain in the forecast. Providing some extra sun protection also helped the concrete from drying out too fast, which apparently can cause premature cracking.

As excited as I was about our basement hole finally being filled, I just wanted to keep looking at our sidewalk. Who knew watching concrete dry could be so exciting? However, it’s probably not as exciting for you, so I will refrain from posting all the photos of drying concrete... after this one, I mean.

Oh, in case you’re interested, we unloaded the truck in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (In fact, we probably didn’t use all the concrete we ordered.) But the delivery guy said they wouldn’t worry about charging us for the 15 extra minutes. He was really nice!

Concrete Cost Breakdown for Sidewalk & Basement Floor:
Formwork: About $20
Fibermesh Concrete: $132.75 for 1.5 cubic yards
Delivery Charge: $100 plus $8.75 fuel surcharge
Magnesium Float: $15
Labor: paid in cheeseburgers and fries

We’re probably going to take a little break before starting any major construction in the basement, but it’s just exciting to know that our bathroom now has a floor again! Just to clarify: Hole in the wall = good. Hole in the floor = bad.

Anyway, I’m off to go check out our sidewalk again. Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

P.S. Pouring your own sidewalk? Here’s a pretty good tutorial, since mine wasn’t actually very explanatory. If we can do it, you can do it!

Fun with Formwork

2011-04-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well, my friends, I’m extremely excited to tell you that as I sit here, still dirty from the day’s work, our concrete projects are done. But before I reveal our completed sidewalk, I thought I’d share a very important -- albeit not that interesting -- part of the process. The formwork itself was not too difficult to build; prepping the area was probably the worst part, actually. For those of you who didn’t read my last post, here’s what the side of our house looked like before:

Ugh. Can you say, trashy?

So we moved all the extra bricks out of the way, got rid of a bunch of concrete chunks, and graded the dirt. Naturally, it was extremely windy the day we did this. We already had some straight 2x4’s that we were able to use, but had to go buy a 1x6, stakes, and stringline.

We screwed the 1x6 into the fence (it will remain there permanently unless we ever need to pry it out for some reason) and worked off of that to set the 2x4’s. The sidewalk needed to slope from our brick sidewalk down to the grass in the backyard. Somewhere in the middle of this whole process, I made the remark that the formwork looked pretty high in comparison to the grass, but for some reason, we kept on going.

After staking all the boards down (and hoping we didn’t hit our sprinkler line in the process), we realized that yes, it was ridiculously high and we would have a big step down to the lawn. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that could just be ignored, so we (Luke) went back and moved the 1x6, unscrewed all the stakes from the 2x4’s, dug out more dirt, and pounded everything back into the ground. My mood at this point in time was not particularly pleasant, so I didn’t even take any pictures.

With that said, here is the completed, correct-height formwork:

It already looks way better back here, don’t you think? Luke convinced me that a 3½-foot wide sidewalk would be a lot nicer than a 3-foot sidewalk, although it would mean more concrete. The whole thing is about 18 feet long, and there are 8"-wide strips at each end. Which means we’ll have a nice little landscaping bed here… I’m thinking a possible vegetable garden is in our future??

But wait...what about the hole in the basement, you ask? Well, you’ll just have to hang tight until my next post, when ALL is revealed (including a crapload of pictures)!

Bring on the Concrete!

2011-04-15T08:57:00.001-05:00

Although I've been slacking on writing about REAL projects lately, that doesn't mean we haven't been busy working! I’m sure you’ve all been dying to know what’s happening with our basement hole. (No? Really?) Well, as of this weekend, it will be a hole no more! If all goes as planned, of course…

Here’s a quick refresher of the situation, as well as some new updates on what’s been happening. (I apologize if I'm not very detailed about the process -- it's been a lot of off-and-on work over the past couple months!)

The bathroom drain lines for the shower, sink, and toilet have finally been re-worked from their original – and might I add, nonsensical -- layout to fit our new floor plan configuration. In a nutshell, this involved cutting apart the existing lines with the sawzall, redirecting them to where we wanted, and gluing the new lines together. We were able to save some dough by salvaging some of the old pipe, but we did have to buy a few new fittings too.

OLD LAYOUT

NEW LAYOUT

In case you can't tell what's going on here, the vent stack/sink drain has moved to the back wall, the shower drain moved a few inches inward, and the toilet stub-up moved a couple feet back toward to the cleanout.

Luke, of course, did most of the figuring and measuring during all this, and I pretty much assisted by handing things to him and holding the pipes when they needed to be cut.

The shower drain took some extra figuring as far as how high up to set it to be flush with the new concrete floor, yet taking into consideration an ever-so-slight slope and the fact that there will be thinset and tile on top of it. We used a paper clip chain as a lightweight plumb bob to determine where the drain should be located (horizontally).

Once all the underground drainwork was complete, there was still more prep work to be done. With a ginormous 13" drill bit, Luke spent several exhausting hours drilling holes in the sides of the existing slab in order to reinforce the new floor with rebar (approximately every two feet). We then filled the entire hole with a couple inches of fine sand.

The rebar was attached into the concrete with Sika Anchoring Adhesive. We had some diffiiculties with the bottle and the caulking gun, so hopefully we got enough adhesive into the holes. It seems pretty sturdy...

NOW…. It’s finally ready for a new floor, which we will be pouring this weekend with the help of my dad who’s coming to visit. It’s going to cost about $270 for 1.5 cubic yards, and by DIY-ing, we should end up saving a few hundred dollars.

And hey, while we have a concrete truck accessible to us, why not pour a new sidewalk too?

Here’s a look behind our gate on the side of our house, which has become a dumping ground for extra bricks, concrete chunks from the basement, dirt, and a few potted daylilies that ~~won’t seem to die~~ I haven’t managed to kill. Overall, a pretty craptastic area, but up until now it hasn’t been our top priority since no one ever really sees it.

So last weekend we cleaned it up a bit and built some formwork with some 2x4’s, a 2x6, and stakes. When it’s finished, we’ll have a nice concrete sidewalk connecting our fabulous brick sidewalk with the back yard. Not only will it look a bazillion times better, but it will also be more convenient for pushing the mower, wheelbarrow, etc.

Having never worked with concrete before (except for our fence posts), I have no idea what to expect this weekend and am a little – okay, a lot – nervous. But as long as Luke and my dad know what’s going on, I’ll be more than happy to do whatever they tell me to do. It should be very interesting, to say the least.

Wish us luck! Oh, and any last-minute pointers on pouring sidewalks and/or a finished concrete floor??

Recipe of the Week: Fish Tacos

2011-04-11T08:30:00.006-05:00

I like fish and I like tacos; however, I have never branched out and tried fish tacos. For some reason, that just seemed weird to me. Luke has raved about the ones he's tried at restaurants though, so when I saw this super-easy recipe in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine, I had to give it a shot.

Fish Tacos with Lime Sauce
1 lb. fresh tilapia or catfish fillets (I used frozen tilapia fillets from Sam's Club)
3 limes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. chili powder
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
8 small (6- to 7-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cabbage
2 small carrots, peeled & shredded (1/2 cup)
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, thinly sliced

1. Rinse fish and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
2. For Lime Sauce, juice two of the limes into a bowl (cut remaining lime into wedges for serving). Stir mayonnaise and chili powder into juice. Remove 1/3 cup sauce and toss fish in it.
3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil over medium heat. In shallow dish combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Working with about a third of the fish at a time, toss in flour mixture and add to hot oil. Cook 2 to 4 minutes or until fish flakes, turning to brown evenly and adding additional oil as needed. Drain on paper towels
4. Wrap tortillas in paper towels; heat in microwave 30 seconds. Top tortillas with fish, cabbage, carrots, and jalapeno. Drizzle with Lime Sauce. Pass lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.

(Check out the BHG recipe for a prettier picture, complete with lime wedges.)

I was pleasantly surprised with how these tacos turned out! The tilapia isn't very "fishy" tasting, and the breading was light. The cabbage and carrots add a nice crunchy texture as well as lots of color. The simple, creamy lime sauce is a good balance of citrus-y and spicy. And if you like your food hotter, you can just add more jalapenos. Frying the fish was the most time-consuming part, so next time we might try grilling it instead. When I made this over the weekend, it was already a balmy 80 degrees inside our house, so heating up the kitchen didn't help matters.

All in all, this is a tasty -- and economical -- summer meal that I would recommend if you want to try something a little different!

Getting a little fruity

2011-04-03T14:53:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy few weeks (months?) here at our house... Luke has been studying for his architecture exams to get licensed (he passed the first one in January, but there are 6 more), I've been working on making 200 wedding invitations for Luke's cousin and his fiancee (which need to be done by mid-April), we started P90X last week (which is an hour-plus time commitment each night after work), and we finally got around to installing the landscaping drip line for our sprinkler system (but I didn't get any good pictures of the drip line, so I didn't bother blogging about it).

Oh yeah, and we also have an entire basement to finish, starting with the bathroom. Which still has a ginormous hole in the floor. We also have plans to add a sidewalk to the west side of our house in the backyard (not a brick sidewalk this time; a regular concrete one). An update on all that good stuff later.

However, in spite of the aforementioned goings-on, my post today is about... fruit. Yes, fruit. And a money-saving tip for all you penny pinchers like me out there. The fruit pictured below (3 lbs. strawberries, 6 lbs. grapes, 1 bag of gala apples, and 8 bananas) cost us only $11 total. I don't know about you, but that seems like a pretty good deal to me! All that fruit would easily cost at least twice that much at a "regular" grocery store. So where did we get it?

We've recently "rediscovered" ALDI grocery stores and gotten some majorly good deals there --- mostly on fresh fruit lately. One of their recent weekly sales also included pineapples for only 99 cents. 99 cents, people!! (And the quality of the fruit is good too, in case you were wondering.) We dehydrated a couple of the pineapples last time, which tasted great but they don't last long that way... I could eat an entire dehydrated pineapple in one sitting. But we've also been using some fruit in the protein shakes we've been making after our P90X workouts. Yummy!

If there's an ALDI near you and you haven't visited lately (or ever), I would recommend checking it out! Just be prepared for a few things you might not be used to: you have to "rent" the carts for a quarter, there's usually a limit to how many sale items you can buy, and you bag your own groceries. But overall, it's totally worth the trip for the savings you get on certain foods.

I'd also like to mention that it's that time of year for the farmer's market to start up again! Woot! Another great place to score some delicious locally-grown and homemade foods at a good price.

And for those of you that thought today's post was uber-boring, well, I don't blame you. I'll try to catch you all up to speed on the nitty gritty house-related projects soon!

Getting Closer…

2011-03-29T09:00:00.048-05:00

After a couple weeks of inactivity and indecisiveness about bathroom design choices, we decided to visit a wholesale flooring showroom to check out their selection (and prices) compared to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menard’s, etc. Luke knew about this place because his architecture firm works with them for their interior projects. (His connections really come in handy sometimes.)

When I walked into ProSource, I was of course overwhelmed. Where to begin?!

While Luke has had a pretty good idea of what he’s envisioning for the bathroom, I’d kind of been all over the map. But recently we had managed to narrow it down and agree on a general color scheme. Amazingly enough, we ended up finding a tile that we both really liked at ProSource. Since we’re planning on doing a stained concrete floor, the tile would only be used in the custom-size shower (roughly 3x4’) and possibly the narrow wall behind the vanity.

The one we found was called Bombay Salsette porcelain tile (by Emser), and the price is actually pretty reasonable ($2.35 for a 13x13”). It also comes in a variety of sizes so we’d have options for different patterns.

[ image via fastfloors.com ]

The tile is designed to resemble slate, and it has quite a bit of color variation between the blue/gray and the brown. (Although the image above seems a little extreme with the colors compared to what we saw in the store.) But we’re thinking that will help tie it in nicely with a brown stained floor. Since it’s kind of dark, we'd probably install a lot of bright LED lighting in the shower so it doesn’t seem too cave-like or claustrophobic.

This PDF from the Emser catalog shows a coordinating 2x2” mosaic tile (which isn’t available yet), but at the store we found a different 1x1” mosaic accent tile that was pretty much awesome. It’s not part of the Bombay line, but I’m pretty sure it would still coordinate with the Salsette tile. It has a mix of brown and blue glass tiles with a “cracked ice” look, along with some brown marble tiles. At a wholesale price of $27 per 11x11” mesh tile, this was one pricey, but apparently all mosaic tiles are pretty pricey? I don’t know, but I really like it. I couldn't find this one anywhere on the Internet, so here's my own crappy picture:

Then, a salesperson directed us to the matching marble (from the above mosaic) that could be used for the vanity top, called Emperador Dark. It’s got white veining in it, which would work nicely with this Parisian White Vessel Sink, along with the dark brown vanity we're envisioning. I Googled this marble just to read more about it, and apparently it’s a pretty popular choice for bathrooms and other interior applications (see here and here). Anyway, they didn’t offer it in a slab at ProSource, so we still need to contact someone else for countertop pricing, unless we decide to do a tiled countertop instead of a slab.

[ image via mistones.com ]

I was drawn to the Emperador Dark at first. However... I should point out there's also an Emperador Light marble, which is also featured in the mosaic tile above. Although more subtle, it would contrast more with a dark wood vanity. But then a white sink wouldn't quite "pop" off the countertop as much. But I also don't want the bathroom to seem too dark and heavy. I'm kind of torn between these two marbles at the moment, if you couldn't tell. Any thoughts? Anyone?

[ image via granitegurus.com ]

Here's all three next to each other in the store. (Another crappy picture courtesy of my camera.) Also, the Emperor Dark marble looks super dull because it's unpolished.

After our little trip, I felt like we finally had a vision and a palette we could both agree on. We took home a sample of each to look at them closer and under non-fluorescent lighting. They take on a much warmer tone here.

Although I know there are thousands of other choices out there that we’d probably be happy with, I think we just need to make a decision and stop looking, or else we’ll drive ourselves crazy. Right now, I feel pretty confident in these selections and I think it would be easy to pick out a coordinating paint color and the rest of our fixtures. Although these are all on the dark side, we could balance that out with a lighter paint color on the walls, yes? I sense another mood board coming!

So, what do you think about this new direction so far? And do you have any thoughts or words of wisdom regarding certain materials for a bathroom? (porcelain/ceramic; granite/marble/other countertop materials...)

Feeling moody about the bathroom

2011-03-21T09:58:00.001-05:00

Get ready to hear more and more about our basement bathroom!

It seems like it will be in the far-off future when it gets done (let alone the entire basement). But according to Luke, once we get our hole filled back in with concrete, the construction will start going pretty quickly. So I’ve come to the realization that I (we) actually do need to start making some design decisions soon.

And before I go any further, here's a reminder of what our basic floor plan will look like:

So after a few trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot to browse the bathroom fixtures and tile, I wasn’t really feelin’ anything I saw (except for some mosaic tile at HD). So I turned to the internet and became immediately overwhelmed with all the choices, of course.

I’ve seen mood boards on all sorts of other blogs, but now I finally realize how helpful they can be in a situation like this when you’re essentially starting from scratch and need some direction. So my new mission was to put together some ideas and concepts for what I (we) envision in the bathroom.

And since we're building it from the ground up, we know that we have a chance to do something really cool and different from our upstairs bathrooms, so we want to take advantage of that (without spending an arm and a leg).

I wasn’t really sure where to start, but it seemed to make sense to find a sink first and then base the rest of the elements around that. We finally narrowed it down to three sinks – all vessels, but all unique styles. And based on the prices and reviews, I think any one of these sinks is a very realistic option.

From there, I just searched numerous sites to try and find other major elements… namely, the faucet, vanity, tile, and mirror. I haven’t even gotten into shower faucets or toilets yet, so my mood boards are still a little incomplete. Also, the tile would just be for the shower and possibly the wall behind the sink. We're thinking of doing a stained concrete floor.

I know there are so many other choices out there that I haven’t even stumbled upon, but there are only so many hours in the day! So these three concepts below are what I’ve come up with for my initial inspiration. Oh, and I didn’t even pay any attention to costs, so I’m pretty sure a lot of these products would be way out of our budget. But again, it’s just for inspiration. So with that said...

Shades of Gray
1. Bianca 30" Wall-Mounted Modern Bathroom Vanity - Espresso
2. Hampton Bay Brushed Nickel Finish Wall Sconce
3. Quadrate Glossy Black Beveled Wall Mirror
4. Parisian White Vitreous China Vessel Lavatory Sink
5. Executive Vessel Sink Faucet with Metal Lever Handles
6. Coastal Keystones - Tropical Thunder Mosaic Tile
7. Molten Glass Tile - Silver Moon

Classic & Copper
1. Tackwood Vanity Light in Burnished Bronze
2. Tuscan Rustic Large Wall Mirror
3. DeNovo Pomegranate Glass Vessel Sink
4. Aspen Lodge - Golden Ridge Field Tile
5. Aspen Lodge - Golden Ridge Mosaic Field Tile
6. American Standard Cambridge Vessel Stand in Warm Walnut
7. Danze - Fairmont Vessel Sink Faucet in Oil Rubbed Bronze

Sleek and Sophisticated
1. Flat Stock Lighting - Triple Sconce
2. Burnt Espresso Wall Mirror
3. Spark - Smoky Glimmer Field Tile
4. Pegasus 18" Vessel Vanity in Espresso with Black Granite Top
5. Vigo Industries Magma Tempered Glass Vessel Sink
6. Danze - Fairmont Two Handle Wall Mount Bathroom Sink Faucet

So which concept is your favorite? Do you recommend any good sources for budget-friendly bathroom fixtures, tile, etc.?

Recipe of the week: Slow-cooker Vegetarian Chili

2011-03-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

If you’re hoping for another basement update, sorry, not this time! Hopefully soon, though. For now, I do have another yummy recipe to hold you over. Aren’t you excited?!

In an effort to explore some other meat-free meals during Lent (don't get me wrong; I love my Tuna Helper and mac & cheese), I decided to try a recipe that my mom had made for us when we went home over Christmas. This one’s a winner, folks!

Slow-cooker Vegetarian Chili
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 28-oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
water as desired

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook until vegetables are tender.

I love any recipe where the instructions are only one sentence long, don’t you? Truly, it doesn’t get much easier than this. Chopping the veggies was the only time-consuming part (and amazingly enough, I didn’t even slice my finger as I’m prone to do when wielding the kitchen knife). But I digress…

Some other notes from my experience:

- I used two sweet potatoes, simply because I felt like one wasn’t enough.
- I mixed in some red peppers with the green peppers (wild woman!). You could pretty much throw in whatever you want into this soup.
- I probably added about 3-4 cups of water
- It took about 5 to 5 ½ hours until the veggies were tender (not mushy though). I had the crockpot on high most of the time.

The recipe ended up making more than I thought it would, so I’m going to try freezing some of it. Oh yeah, in case you’re interested in how it tastes… yummy!! It's obviously missing the flavor you would get from having a meat, but it's not bland. It has slightly smoky flavor from the cumin and fire-roasted tomatoes. I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that this “chili” is a pretty healthy meal, too. Bonus points for that! Oh, and it easily costs under $10 to make. Double bonus points!

Recipe of the Week: Spinach Lasagna Rolls

2011-03-03T20:53:00.002-06:00

I’d like to think that this could turn into some type of series, with me blogging about a new recipe each week, but let's be realistic, that probably won't actually happen. I'm just trying to build up my recipe repertoire a little bit.

With that said, I’ve had my eye on this recipe (via Shopping Candy for my first home) for awhile now. I heart lasagna, and her pictures made it look so scrumptious. My only minor concern was that I’ve only used the “oven-ready” lasagna noodles before -- not the ones you actually have to boil, which is kind of necessary for this recipe. I was worried that they would end up tearing or sticking together, but they came out pretty good! I think I could have boiled them a little longer though.

Even though the recipe is also posted on the aforementioned blog, I copied it here along with my notes. Drool-worthy photos to follow!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

9 lasagna noodles, cooked
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I used full-fat)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
salt and fresh pepper
32 oz tomato sauce (I didn’t end up using this much because it seemed too saucey)
9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used an Italian blend, and didn’t measure out each tablespoon… as far as I’m concerned, you can’t have enough cheese)

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles. (I think I was a little conservative with my ricotta mixture at first, because my last roll was completely stuffed with what mixture remained.)

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese (or 2... or 3). Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls. (Seems like it would make more sense to boil another noodle for an even 10, but whatever!)

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Doesn't everything look fancier when it's all rolled up like this?

When they came out of the oven, they looked so yummy and melty!

But more importantly, they tasted just as good as they looked. I like this recipe because it’s easy, not too time-consuming, and has a simple list of ingredients. I’ll definitely make these spinach lasagna rolls again sometime. They’d also make a good presentation if you're having company for dinner! Next time, I might add some more seasonings to the tomato sauce, or else just use an actual pasta sauce for a little extra flavor. But overall, this one gets two thumbs up from me!

Menards

2011-02-26T09:00:00.001-06:00

Look what’s opening soon in our city… I drove by it the other day and just had to snap a pic with my phone:

I have never been in a Menards before, but I’ve seen it mentioned on several blogs. I’m super excited, and I know I’ll find out soon enough for myself… but what exactly makes Menards so awesome?? How is it different from Lowe’s or Home Depot? Someone give me the scoop!

What Lies Beneath (the bathroom floor)

2011-02-22T09:36:00.003-06:00

You may remember my little tease awhile back about our bathroom downstairs... well, settle in and get comfy, because here's the explanation for the hole! I was going to wait awhile to publish this post because a lot more progress has since been made, but then I realized that's the point of a blog, right? It's a work in progress. Plus, this was already becoming novel-esque and you'll probably lose interest by the end. ;)

After nearly three years of letting our unfinished basement become a huge storage room for furniture, boxes, and dust, we’re finally doing something about it. Our basic floor plan is decided for the most part, but the one thing we know for sure is where the bathroom will be. So, that’s our starting point. And also, it’s probably going to be the most brutal part of the entire process, so we want to get it over with.

Unfortunately, before we can really start “finishing,” there’s some demo work to be done first. Long story short, the plumbing stub-ups are not in the correct location, but that’s because the stairs were built several inches farther north than they should have been. (We know this because we have the original plans for the house from the builders.) It’s going to be a small bathroom no matter what, but I’d rather not have my face just a few inches from the wall when I’m sitting on the toilet.

So where does this leave us? Knocking out the concrete floor to reconfigure the drain pipes, that’s where. Initially, we were just going to take out a small portion and move the toilet stub-up back a few inches, which seemed like it would solve the problem.

As you can probably imagine, removing the floor is quite an undertaking, let alone moving pipes around. We had a couple of plumbers come to give us an estimate for this type of project (including floor demo), which all averaged out to be at least $2000… 90% of which was labor costs.

But meanwhile, my resourceful husband was taking mental notes from them about how one would go about this process. He deduced that with a hammer drill, a sledgehammer, and a lot of elbow grease, he could probably knock this one out himself (pun intended).

I'll be the first to admit that I was very apprehensive about turning this into a DIY project. First of all, I know nothing about plumbing and what lurks beneath a concrete floor. But Luke seemed pretty confident in what he would find, and also assured me that floor was poured separately from the foundation walls, so this would not affect the structural integrity of the house. Good to know.

After I finally gave in, he excitedly purchased a hammer drill for about $70 (which I’m sure will get plenty of use in the future anyway) and got to work. First, he drilled holes in the concrete to help keep any cracks contained in one area. Then, starting at the shower drain, which was already framed out with 2x4’s, he chipped away at the concrete until he could really whack at it with the sledgehammer and break off some sizable chunks. Since it was kind of a one-person job, I merely offered moral support and snapped the occasional photo. It was slow going, but he was making pretty good progress:

It was in the midst of all this when we realized merely moving the toilet back a few inches still didn’t seem to do much to improve the overall layout of the awkward bathroom space. If we were going to all of this work in the first place, why not just take the as much of the floor out as necessary to relocate the shower, sink, and toilet drains wherever we want them? So, Luke drew up a new plan which utilizes the small space more efficiently. Basically, instead of having the sink, toilet, and full-size bath/shower all lined up on one wall, he rearranged it like so:

This is one of the benefits of having a husband in architecture.... he can make cool 3D plans with his nifty software. :) It's obviously not complete as shown here, so just in case it's not obvious, I labeled where the (smaller and custom-size) shower and sink will go. I'll provide more floor plan details in a future post; this drawing is just to give you an idea of the layout for now.

Back to the floor situation. We decided it would be best to cut an outline in the floor, so the concrete would come out cleanly without a jagged edge. We were able to rent a concrete saw for about $60 (for one evening). Knowing this part would get dirty, we stapled up some plastic sheeting along the joists to try and contain most of the dust.

But our two separate layers of plastic were no match. If you haven’t ever had the pleasure of dealing with concrete dust, let me just tell you that it is pure evil ground up into its finest, powdered form.

Even though we were only cutting a few feet of concrete, our basement was immediately filled with a cloudy haze, which eventually wafted upstairs to create a superfine layer of dust on everything. Luke even had to stop several times because he couldn’t see what he was doing. (He was wearing a mask and safety glasses, otherwise it would have been nearly impossible to stay down there for any length of time.) Meanwhile, I was just hoping he wouldn’t cut one of his fingers off. Needless to say, I also didn’t get any action shots of this process.

Luke is somewhere back here, sawing away...

But there was nothing to do at that point except finish the job at hand, and worry about the clean-up later. After a few hours, the outline to the two outer bathroom walls had been cut, so Luke then proceeded to chip away with the sledgehammer to make the hole bigger. (And yes, I felt like a lazy wife while all this back-breaking labor was going on.)

The Aftermath

Eventually, the hole looked like this -- roughly about half the size of the bathroom. It was now large enough to re-work all the drain lines and pipes to fit our new plan (more on that project later). After that, we’ll fill the hole back in with concrete (or probably hire someone to do that), and then we can really start finishing this bathroom! Whew....

Phoebe inspects the progress.

NOTE: In case you’re curious, we spent several hours vacuuming and dusting the house from top to bottom, plus changing our furnace air filter. But it was nearly impossible to get all the dust. Someone later told us that by spraying the floor with water before sawing, the amount of dust could have been reduced (by how much, I don’t know). But in our haste, we didn’t do a whole lot of research beforehand. Anyone else ever learn a lesson like this the hard way??

Giveaway winner, etc.

2011-02-17T12:08:00.000-06:00

First of all, I'm so thrilled about the response generated by the Magnetic Etsy Giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who entered, and to those of you who checked out Marleah’s Creations. Marleah, who generously provided the awesome magnets for the giveaway, also had a little something to say:

I'd like to thank everyone who entered the giveaway for the magnet set, and of course I'd like to especially thank Amanda for hosting it! I really appreciate this chance to share my shop with all of you, and I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful comments that I've read. I know that someone mentioned a custom order, and I would be glad to do my best to fulfill any custom orders, depending on what I have available -- specific colors, a certain area from a map? If you are interested, just let me know!

Check out all the cool stuff in her Etsy shop, if you haven't already. So I suppose you'd like to know who the lucky winner was, hmm? According to random.org, it was…….. comment #11 by Oleander! Congratulations on winning the Robin's Nest Magnet Set!

In other news, I also surpassed 100 followers a couple days ago – woot! I hope that I’ll be able to do another fun giveaway in the near future… guess you’ll just have to check back and see, eh?

Also, I hope to share more about our basement bathroom situation soon, too... be patient with me!

* Fellow Blogger Shout-out *
For any of you who are interested in cycling, fitness in general, or food – and heck, even if you’re not – you should check out my friend Chelsea’s new blog, The Cycle Cow. She started it to document her preparations for the 100-mile (!!!) fundraising bike ride she’s doing this June, as well as other fitness- and food-related experiences. Let’s just say, it should be one wild and entertaining ride! (Pun intended.) Don't get left behind.... she's already on post #2!

A Sweet Valentine's Treat

2011-02-14T18:17:00.003-06:00

This weekend, I made some Valentine’s Day cookies for a church fundraiser and to bring to work. Instead of using my mom’s sugar cookie recipe (which is always reliable), I decided to try a new recipe that I had saved from Better Homes & Gardens (February 2010 issue).

Lemon Butter Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325. Beat butter and zest at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy (I don’t have a stand mixer, so I just used my hand mixer). Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well.

Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Shape dough into a disc.

Roll dough to 1/8" thickness on a lightly surface. (Or, in my case, a heavily floured surface—I hate it when the dough sticks!) Cut with a 2 1/4" or 3 1/4" heart-shaped cutter; place 1/2" apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets (I just used my trusty baking stone).

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. (For some reason, mine took quite a bit longer than this.) Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Cool for 20 minutes before decorating.

And the taste test results? Delicious! I’m not usually a big fan of lemon, but the lemon flavor in these is very subtle. The texture is light, flaky, and crispy (which means it’s easy to eat a lot of them). They’re tasty just plain, but I also glazed about half of them with Sugar Cookie Icing (via AllRecipes), which dries nice and shiny and hard.

My decorating skills leave a little to be desired, but luckily that doesn’t detract from the yum factor. Plus, the recipe is super easy and uses very basic ingredients. I think it made about 30-35 small- and medium-sized cookies (which unfortunately doesn’t last long). I’d definitely make them again!

Did you bake any fun sweets for Valentine’s Day?