Wall Art, Redo

One of my oldest and dearest friends is having her second baby -- and her first girl. She's naming her Alayna Sue and I am beyond excited for her. Mainly because I was there when she was a little girl and I know what she was like. And much like her mother, I really, really can't wait until Stacy gets a dose of herself. Love you, Stace!

So I went back to HobLob and bought the last clearanced frame that I used for my daughter's room. But I wanted to do something softer for this little, bitty baby girl.

I came up with this:

Aren't those buttons adorable?? This was a little more expensive since I needed to buy the letter (1.99) and the buttons (1.99). But I used the same white paint I used on my daughter's wall art for Alayna's letter and fell in love with the background paper.

Honestly? I think I like this one more than the one I did for my girl. But that's OK. I can always tweak hers. And this one is going to a special friend and her special girl. I'm so excited for her to see it!

Oh, I just added this to my first linky party!

The Dress That Almost Beat Me

I started this dress in 2009 after my little girl turned 1.

Remember -- I've only recently dedicated myself to conquering the sewing machine. So I intended to do this by hand.

But it proved to be more than I could chew -- er, sew.

In the last few days, I've had sewing machine success. I am by no means good, but I am passable. PASSABLE! (Side note: Anyone else watching this season of Project Runway? That girl learned to sew FOUR MONTHS AGO -- as in, when she decided to try out for the show. Crazy.)

So I brought the dress back out and decided that today was the day.

But can we just think about this for a second? I started this for my daughter when she turned 1. She'll be 3 next month. Measurements ... not quite the same. And I'd already cut the fabric.

Let that stop me? Nah.

Good idea? Nah.

But I did it. And I should have added a zipper. But I didn't have one. And I don't know how to put on on a dress. So I painted it on my daughter and then had to peel it off her.

But cute, no?

Oh, she's also 16. Did you know that?

I'm happy, too, love.

Upcoming ...

We're a little busy this weekend, but coming up next week, I'll have a recipe for Salted Caramel Double Chocolate Chunk Brownies and a twist on the wall art I did for my girl.

Stay tuned!

:)

Wall art for my little lady

I've been hitting up HobLob's clearance aisles hardcore lately. They have TWO 90% off areas and while most of it is broken, some of it is awesome.

Like the 18" x 24" dark cherry wood frame I got -- WITH GLASS intact? Oh, did I mention -- it was $3? Yeah. That kind of awesome.

But I also got this:

But I don't have a baby whose name starts with a Z. I don't know anyone who has a baby who starts with a Z. So ... I decided to buy this thing because the frame was beautiful and the ribbon so sweet. BUT ALSO because it typically cost $12 and I got it for $1.20.

I mean, come on.

So, I took it home and did a little of this:

With the help of a small paring knife, I popped off two sides of the frame and the backing, took off the Z (but I kept it. I don't know why. It's just pretty and I'm a little bit of a craft hoarder.).

Then I used these:

To turn it into this:

Look at my sweet girl two years ago! Sniff ...

I used a hot glue gun to affix the scrapbook paper (50% off .44) to the back of the wood. In retrospect, I should have bought some spray adhesive, but the glue gun worked. I just did the outside to avoid seeing bumps.

Then I painted the wood circle (30% off .50 cents, ya'll!) a sweet cream color called Magnolia White ($1.19). Doesn't that sound lovely?

When the paint was dry, I used the hot glue again and put in the center of the wood. With the leftover scrapbook paper, I glued a circular piece to the top of the wood. I'm not sure I love this idea, but, it's OK.

I taped on the picture of my girl so I can switch it out whenever. I think she'll like it. She was asleep when I finished it, but was able to hang it and sneak a picture while the little lady slept.

Here it is on her wall:

I like it! The bow's off center, but heck, that's OK with me. If you guys can make it to HobLob, go! This whole thing cost me $3 and took maybe 20 minutes. You can't beat that.













Just added this to a linky party!

My Heart Beats Pumpkin

Anyone else love pumpkin like I do? Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin butter ... I just love it. Period.

But one of my favorite ways to incorporate pumpkin is in these pumpkin muffins. I don't know if you knew this, but pumpkin and chocolate are makeout buddies. Yes. And like all good relationships, they each bring out the best in the other. Chocolate muffins aren't chocolatey enough without pumpkin. And pumpkin treats with chocolate? Tears. Of. Joy.

So, want the easiest recipe you've ever had for moist, rich, WONDERFUL chocolate muffins? OK!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or CHUNKS!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, spice and cake mix until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon equal amounts of batter into the muffin cups. Note--they will pretty much keep their shape, so I find they come out looking very pretty if you give them peaks by gently touching the back of a spoon to the top of each uncooked muffin before putting them in the oven.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These are just so wonderful. Guys, I promise you -- make these today. You will NOT be disappointed.

Unless you're on a diet.

And eat 10.

But I always do haven't ever done that. 

For Someday

Eventually I want to have baby #3. Not anytime soon. But eventually.

And when I do, just in case I need to refashion a carseat, I found this great tutorial.

Anyone who's expecting a baby and needs it, GO HERE!

So. Cute.

Cheesecake Truffles = Love

That's right. Cheesecake TRUFFLES.

And easy as can be.

Messy. But easy.

Ingredients:
1 tub (18 oz) Philadelphia Ready-to-Eat Cheesecake Filling (or you can totally make your own cheesecake)
18 oz chocolate almond bark
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:
With the large side of a melon baller, use 3/4 of the tub of cheesecake filling and form into 1″ wide balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and put into the freezer for 10-15 minutes until firm.

Melt the almond bark in one dish and spread the cocoa powder in another shallow dish.

Remove the cheesecake balls from the freezer in small batches and begin first by dredging the balls in the cocoa powder. You want a LIGHT coat, so I always drop mine onto a clean surface to shake some of the powder off. After that, dip the truffles, one by one, in the melted chocolate. This will be a little difficult because the chocolate does not want to stick to the cocoa powder. That’s why it’s important to really get a light coat of cocoa powder!

Note – your hands will get messy!! Wash frequently to prevent chocolate build up. Or eat the chocolate build up. Your choice.

Immediately after dipping in chocolate, roll again in the cocoa powder. The cold balls will make the chocolate start to harden and once that happens, the cocoa powder won’t stick. After dipping in the powder for a second time, place it back on the wax paper. Once these are done, put them in the fridge and take more out of the freezer.

Repeat until all are delicious.

Tell me if you try these. Don't be put off by the instructions -- they're SO worth it.

Dance Moms!

Have you seen this?

It's my new favorite obsession.

A long time ago, I used to dance. I had a horrible director (meaning that at 17 I thought I knew everything and she was harsh, rude, catty, mean-spirited and also excellent at making winning dance teams) who called me -- a size 5 at the time -- too fat to dance after I had knee surgery.

So I quit dancing. I do and don't regret it at the same time. I sort of wish that I'd stuck it out and thought that shoot, screw her. Her opinion doesn't define me. I'm my OWN WOMAN. But I was also still a girl who was desperately seeking a mother figure and this woman, as awful as she was, was one of the closest of those I had. So for her to call me fat? OUT. I'm out.

But this show is fantastic for me to watch. Because now as a mom, I identify with the mothers on the show (in that we've both raised children, not because I'm psychotic). It's been nice to "come back" to dancing via this show, having grown up and accepted that sometimes you need really brash personalities to bring out the best. The director on this show is HORRIBLE and very much reminds me of my director. Terrible personality; excellent coach.

I was talking to the hubs last night about the show and said that if our daughter truly wants to dance, and to be the best dancer, I'd be open to the idea of letting someone so gruff and awful coach her if she were capable of helping our girl realize her dreams. And only if Ella were OK with it. But if she's not that into dance and is getting her feelings hurt by a woman who says she could, "Hide you under my skirt because you're too fat to dance and everyone will believe me when I said it's just because you didn't make the dance," then ... you know what? Quit. You can quit for that.

I did.

Debbie Downer out!

The Tale of the Sandbox

I got it in my head that my kids needed a sandbox. Being the type of crafter who never uses power tools, has never worked with wood or knew anything about building, I also thought I should be the one to make it. From scratch.

Armed with a rudimentary grasp on how to measure twice, cut once and a husband with access to a large shop, the sandbox went from idea to reality.

Hi Lowe's! Hi intimidating wood pile!

We bought four planks of 6" x 8' x 2" wood, two large sheets of plywood, screws and four planks of 4" x 8' x 1" wood and set to work. We didn't have a good saw to cut wood, but my husband, who builds custom chassis for fun, has lots of metal-working tools. So we used those on the wood. Which made the shop smell like burning wood, which, had it not been summer, might have been nice. 

I wanted the box to be large enough for our kids to grow into and also allow room for their friends to play with them. So, 6' x 8'. I also wanted to have an umbrella in the corner so they could have some shade and a small table for snacks, drinks, etc.

This is what came of that:

Not bad!

So big we had to use a forklift to put it on the car!

I took pictures of the sandbox after I painted it, but my phone deleted them. The blue is the color on my front door, and the green is a wonderful shade that reminds me of spring grass. Really, really bright spring grass.

It took us a while to get sand, but we just finished it all this week. The kids LOVE it.

Total project cost about $100 -- $80 for wood and supplies (we didn't end up needing the plywood. We used a $6 tarp on the bottom to hold the sand in so it didn't leak out and another tarp to cover the top so cats don't use it as a litter box) and $20 for the sand. We bought one ton of mason's sand at Dolese and it's been great. There are a few rocks, but it's mostly fine. My son thinks finding the rocks is treasure hunting, so win!

Umbrella: $7 at Big Lots. It's a shade-providing savior. Love!

Bathroom Counter Top Upgrade!

When my husband and I moved into our house five years ago, we had one thing on our minds -- upgrade.

As I've mentioned, the house was in a sad state of disarray. The owner didn't update anything -- not the carpet, the lights, the appliances. It was rough. So rough, in fact, that as part of their offer, they gave us $2000 for new flooring. Yeah. That bad.

We've done a LOT to this house in the five years we've been here. But the bathroom is one of my favorites. I feel like everything is always in a constant state of "better, but not done!" (having a two year old and four year old is a project, in and of itself!), so there are still things I'd like to do to our bathroom (see this!).

However, when you start with this:

That's right. There's carpet. In the bathroom.

It's not too hard to upgrade.

We painted the bathroom a color a creamy latte color. I couldn't tell you what the actual color was because we got two colors for $5/gallon at Sherman Williams' mistint collection. Did you know about that? If you go to Sherman Williams, they'll let you look at colors that other customers either didn't pick or didn't buy because they weren't the shade the expected. For CHEAP.

So then it looked like this:

At this point, we'd also replaced the stock sheet of glass mirror with one from Hobby Lobby. I think it cost $15 on sale. We'd also added a couple small shelves for $3/each from Walmart. Oh, and painted the cabinets white and replaced the knobs. And tiled the floor. And replaced the faucet. And the toilet paper holder. And the toilet. And the light.

I told you we've done a lot.

Next, and I'm telling you, I felt like a genius with this idea, we used laminate flooring tiles to cover the countertops. Yes, that's right. FLOORS ON THE COUNTERS. I saw this in a craft store and it looked great. So we went with it. In total, it cost maybe $35?

Not bad, right? We added slate tiles to the back splash and used a chocolate grout to go in between the tiles on the back and the counter tops.

I'm very happy with how well it turned out. It looks much better than when we moved in. I'm not done yet. I still want to touch up a few more parts to it (and I've come to terms with the avocado shower tiles -- anyone know a quickish/easy way to fix those?), but I'm happy!

Spicy Tuscan Soup ... For your SOUL

I hate to do back-to-back food posts, but today's thrifting adventure was a BUST. At Goodwill, they have a "color of the week" -- if your item is tagged with that week's color, you get the item for 50% off. So I've tried to make thrifting extra hard fun by only buying things that are currently on sale.

Which, sometimes (like today), poses a problem. I just couldn't find anything I wanted so badly I was willing to bash my head against the wall use my sewing machine for.

So SOUP! This is my all-time, never-to-be-beat, absolute FAVORITE soup. It's my version of a Tuscan soup served at a certain Italian chain restaurant that rhymes with Schmolive Garden. It's spicy, smooth, hearty and warm. So very good.

Spicy Tuscan Soup

Stick with me, folks. I'll get better at pictures :)

Ingredients:
1 pound Spicy Breakfast Sausage
1 whole Medium Red Onion, diced
2 slices Bacon, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
3 whole Potatoes
1 quart Warm Water
3 cubes Chicken Bouillon Cubes
1/4 bunch Kale, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste


Directions:
Crumble sausage into a Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain and set the sausage aside.
Chop onions and dice bacon; add to the Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium and cook until onions are clear. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and cut into 1/4″ slices. Add warm water, bouillon cubes and potatoes to the Dutch oven and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are almost done.
Add remaining ingredients as well as the sausage and simmer for 5 more minutes. Let cool and serve with warm garlic breadsticks.


Please make this soup. It will warm your heart and, in the words of my daughter, dance in your belly.


Enjoy!!

Cupcaaaaakes!

For a while, I had a side business making sweets -- cakes, cupcakes, cake truffles, etc. I love making sweets and I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, so I was never tempted to eat the treats. What I realized, however, was that I like baking a lot more as gifts than as income.

One of my favorite "cheats" now is to use preboxed cake mix and dress it up. Let's face it -- sometimes it's just easier to use a mix. I'm no snob. If it's good, eat it.

photo by: bekah mercer photography

Strawberry Cheesecake Cuppies
These strawberry cupcakes really hit the spot when you want something sweet and sinful like cheesecake but don’t have the time to wait! Really moist. Really good.


Ingredients:
1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Strawberry Cake Mix
1 package (3.4 Oz. Box) Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix
2 cups Sour Cream
3 whole Eggs (large)
⅓ cups Vegetable Oil
½ cups Water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees then line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
Beat all ingredients until well blended. Note that the batter will be very thick and glossy (that’s the pudding!). Fill cupcakes 2/3 to the top and bake for 14-16 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely then frost with my favorite buttercream.

There's no way you're not going to like these. The flavor of the cheesecake pudding gives the cupcakes a very mild tang, like a cheesecake, but mainly works by keeping the cupcakes INCREDIBLY moist. These are some of the most delicious strawberry cupcakes I've had.

And the frosting I linked? It's the simplest, smoothest, most wonderful Swiss meringue buttercream recipe I've ever used. It's my gold standard. You'll love it. Promise.

This is why I sew by hand ...

I hunkered down. I gave it my best shot.

I ended with a scream.

I decided that today was the day I was going to tackle and conquer the sewing machine. I could never even get to the point of sewing with it, because threading it, getting the bobbin to work, getting the needle to pick up the bobbin tread .... none of this ever worked.

Until today.

Thanks to several (an embarrassing number, actually) YouTube videos on how to work a sewing machine, I got it threaded and bobbined. That's a technical term.

And my first attempt at sewing? Buttah.

Like an arrow, baby.

I was MADE for this.

Oh, my ...

Everyone wastes this much thread, right?

And breaks two needles?

Is that helicopter crashing?

Battle Sewing Machine has commenced

It's on, sewing machine. Bring it.

Prepare to get LEARNED.

How does my garden grow?

with pretty white flowers

and sweet basil leaves

and sunflowers all in a row

To Craft list

I was reading No Big Dill's blog recently (love, BTW), and added yet ANOTHER idea to my To Craft list. I feel like it's getting excessive.

Is anyone else addicted to craft blogs? I read so many awesome craft/food blogs -- more than I can usually keep up with -- but they're such a great source of inspiration and motivation when both are lacking in me.

Some of my favorites:
a girl and a glue gun (agaagg!)
Tidbits from the Tremaynes
Ruffles and Stuff
Cotton and Curls

Check them out!

Change in plans

I took my daughter to the dentist today and on the way to pick up the other rugrat, my girl and I stopped by HobLob to check out Styrofoam for a front door wreath. I knew I could get a 40% off coupon in a week or so because of their coupon cycles, so paying $5 for a wreath now when I could get it cheaper next week ... I passed.

On the way to the front door, the girl and I got distracted and I found a wall of really pretty metal/resin decorations. And you know what? They were 50% off. And I liked the idea for the front door. So, I bought it. And paid $8 for it. So, really, not the smartest budget decision, but I like it and I think it works.

What do you think?

  I know, I only have a point and shoot camera and I'm not fantastic with it. I think I still want to add some molding or something to it. But until then, it's better.

I saw a white door ...

So I painted it blue.

I have an issue with our front door. We bought this house (built in the early 70s) five years ago before our son was born. We were YOUNG and thought, "Hey, we're having a baby. Let's buy a house." Made sense.

Except the house is sort of ... well, not our dream house. It's not terrible. But it's NOT our dream house. The original owner had the house built and, when he was old, died here. Well, not HERE, but he died while he was living here alone. His daughter, I think, still lives down the street. Anyway, it was clear he hadn't done much in the way of updating.

This is what it looked like when we bought it:

Entryway. Do you love the shag carpet like we did?

Minus the bling, it's actually a nice fireplace.

Hi stove! Remember how you died a week after we moved in? I do!

On the first day in, we started ripping out the carpeting in all the rooms, removing the tile underneath that was cracked and broken, removing the fake wood paneling ON EVERY WALL (it felt like it!). Since then, we've replaced every fan, every light fixture, all the kitchen appliances, repainted EVERY WALL (literally), painted all the cabinets, redone the counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, replaced the mirrors, put in new floors and molding, painted the doors, replaced the fence ... guys, it's been work. We were stupid to buy this house.

However, it does look a LOT better! And when you rattle off all the things we've done, man, it does feel good. We've put ourselves into this house.

But, again, I hate our front door.

It's just boring. And it's been ignored. It's plain and white and ... boring. So when I built and painted our kids' sandbox, I used the BRIGHT blue leftover for the front door. And, please know this, it's NOT a timid color. It's very blue.

See?

You may need sunglasses.

But now I need something to break up the blue. I've thought about adding molding, then painting them. I might do that. But my first step, I do believe, is to make an all-season wreath.

That's on my to-craft list.

When it's done, I promise, pics will be posted.

Refashionin' it up

So this is a refashion that I did a few months back. I LOVE it. Unfortunately, it shrunk a bit in the wash (might have been dry clean only ... I don't follow "rules" as often as I should when it comes to laundry. Call me wild.) ... so I need to update it with something at the bottom. But still, LOVE.

Here's what it looked like when I thrifted it ($3, what, what?):

Jealous of the sexy? Kindly ignore the dust under the couch. It's clean now.

So, sure. It was a little to the left of hideous. But I adored the buttons and the lacy collar could be utilized better. The shoulder pads, obviously, had to go, but the dress had POCKETS. I mean. Come on. How do you pass up casual pockets?

Alright, so here's my dirty secret. I don't know how to work my sewing machine. I got one for our wedding and it's been collecting dust. I learned to use a sewing machine in 6th grade home ec, but man, that's been a while. I've gotten good at sewing by hand.

So, for this dress I used hem tape and my two hands.

Here's the after:

Look! A white crayon!

Not bad, right? I took off the collar and used the gorgeous lace as pocket details, removed the shoulder pads and made the neckline v-shaped. I also shortened the dress quite a bit, which really helped the overall look.

I'm so happy with this dress. I was able to keep the parts of it that I loved (look at the buttons!), and make it age-appropriate. Love.

In the beginning ...

You know, I read all of these blogs about people's lives, hobbies, loves ... and it makes me happy. I love seeing how creative people are, how they spend their lives. Maybe it's the same thing in me that drew me toward journalism. I'm constantly curious about people.

I'm sure you'll get to know me as the posts pile up, so I'm not going to laboriously detail me and my family in this first post. But if you stick around, I'd be honored to get to know you, and for you to know me.

Caressa