Popcorn Ideas

The Pantry

2012-01-09T07:33:00.000-05:00

The new year started last week. Whenever the new year starts people seem to want to get organized.

While the calendar changed last week my life revoles around the school schedule. So for me the year starts in September and ends in June. When the school ended last summer I was looking forward to...organizing our closets! We had moved in a little more than year before and hadn't done much with the closets since. The morning after the last day of school I was up at 9 and tearing apart the pantry. Fun, I know!

There many awesome looking pantries out there, do a quick pintrest search or pick up a home magazine and you'll see plenty. However, I was looking to finish in a weekend and use organizational tools I had on hand. And of course I couldn't change the size of our pantry.

My method was pretty simple.

1. Take (blurry) before photos

Good luck finding anything!

2. Empty everything out

Hello paneling!

3. Be shocked at how much food there was. I realized never need to buy canned beans again. Reorganize food by type. Put often used/favorite products in containers. I did have a buy a few canisters and jars, but was able to repurpose many baskets.

4. Paint the walls, ceiling and shelves- going with my "use what I have" theme, it's the same paint as the dresser/buffet which shares the same space. We also added a shelf. The bottoms of the shelves become the tops, because they were covered in some kind of vinyl that did not come off nicely. They couldn't be made smooth enough to paint, but needed to be covered. I couldn't find a contact paper or shelf liner I liked....so I decoupaged wrapping paper the underside of the shelves.

What a difference paint makes, huh?

5. Refill pantry. Keep items organized by type/use. The most frequently used are at eye level/easiest to reach. I also added 3 small and 1 large hanging basket things, with tags. I also put some of those tiered shelve things in for cans and boxes.

6. Paint the inside of the door with chalkboard paint. This is a list of the food in the freezers- but that is another post.

It took me a full weekend, including trips to Target, Home Depot, and the Container Store and painting. The result was totally worth it! Is it beautiful and amazing like the magazine ones? No, but it is far better than it was. And it is functional! ~~We've~~ I kept it pretty organized and have been working through the crazy food stash since everything can be seen there is no need to buy duplicates.

1B. And has happens so often one project lead to another. I tackled my "staples" pantry. No before photo, but basically new flour/sugar containers and better organized the oils and vinegars.

What color is your pantry?

Oh, and I tackled 4 other closets last summer...stay tuned!

Happy New Years!

2012-01-01T21:12:00.002-05:00

Happy New Years!

Nope, no year in review post for me....that's a little more time and thought intensive than I want to do.
And no 2012 goals...yet.

Just a simple recap from last night. We went with 3 other couples to the Lincoln Restaurant.

It was a speakeasy themed event, so we dressed the part. It was a great time! They had 20's style drinks and a good band. We had a blast, it was a perfect way to ring in the new year.

The boys also looked equally fabulous, but I'm still waiting for the group shot.

The restaurant was also had beautiful decor, full of pin-worthy decor. Have you seen the penny floor on pintrest? Well, this place actually used 1 million pennys to create their floor. Fitting of the namesake of course.

There was also an awesome multi-sized mason jar light fixture. It was very very cool...too bad I forgot to take a photo.

This ~~morning~~ (well into the) afternoon, we toasted the new year with some fresh homemade bagel. (get it??! toasted... bagel- I'm very funny) I made them Friday using Annie's recipe. It was surprisingly easy. I liked have control of the size and toppings (we made sesame, poppy, everything and parm). New York bagels they aren't but they are better than store bought...if I do say so myself (John ate two today, so I think he likes them too).

How did you usher out 2011? Hope your 2012 is off to a nice start!

Dare To DIY- Crafty Gifts

2011-12-04T22:36:00.000-05:00

Sorry to be MIA- I've been busy enjoying holiday festivities. We've already enjoyed 6 activities- all since Thanksgiving!

That lovely busyness is part of the reason I did not participate in Kim's first two "Dare To DIY" events.

I've participated in the "party" since Kim started this tradition a few years ago.

This week is all about hand crafted gifts. I love making homemade gifts for others. Each year I make 3-10 gifts for the holiday season. Some years a I do lots of the same things, other years I do a few different items. I also love doing food gifts. This year I still have some holiday craft gifts in the works...these gifts have all been given and opened so I don't feel bad sharing.

(Also all these gifts have been inspired by Pintrest....of course)

Owl Heat Pads

These little cuties were created using this free pattern ("thank you" to the creator!). These guys are great- cute, fast and easy to make, all using scrap materials from my stash. They are filled with rice, vanilla essential oil, rosemary and lavender herbs (from my friend's garden- she made the purple striped dude). The backs are soft flannel and corduroy. Nice, soft, warm, good-smelling and cuddly....the guy second from the left is mine- so I'm speaking from experience.

Crinkle Toy

I've made tag toys before but never a crinkle one. I have to say it was not easy and a bit frustrating. The end result was less crinkly than I wanted but the mom-to-be was still please- I guess that's what matters. And I have lots of other cute little friends to give me reasons for practice.

Door Silencer

Another simple baby item I've never made before. And I might add, a genius one at that! I never would have thought of this if I hadn't seen this pin. I was a bit skeptical, but it worked on my craft room door. The silencer was very fast and easy to make. I had all three "ingredients" in my stash.

My sewing table and chair are currently covered with 20 different fabrics for the 4 other projects I'm in the middle of. What are you making this season?

**need some ideas? Go see what others made!

Start Of The Season

2011-11-20T22:45:00.001-05:00

This is it! The start of "the most wonderful time of year"! I love it!

For me, it starts on Thanksgiving morning. I have a tradition I love- I settle myself in front of the Macy's Parade and enjoy some goodies while writing Christmas cards.

I love Christmas cards. I love everything about them- selecting them, writing them and receiving them. I spend a lot of time each fall picking the design and photos. I prefer to get a design from an etsy seller and then print them.

This year I used Natalie from Nattysuedesigns. She has tons- pages upon pages- of designs! I tend to like cards that a bit quirky with a modern design using fun wording and colors. I also try to stay away from a motif that screams "Christmas" (for all our friends who don't celebrated). She had many that fit my requirements, I had a hard time picking one. Also Natalie was fast, friendly and so patient with my "tweaks" and requests for resizes. If you are still card shopping check her out!

This year, for the first time, I'm doing postcards. It is a bit more "green"- both economically and environmentally. They should arrive today. I hope they turned out well.

Without further ado ....

Our 2011 Christmas Card

If you are expecting one in real life and don't want to ruin the surprise- stop reading now!

Happy Holiday Season!

*this post was not sponsored in anyway.

A Yummy Pintrest Success

2011-11-18T06:50:00.000-05:00

Have you seen this Yumminess floating around the world of Pintrest?

crispy gnocchi pesto with tomatoes and goat cheese

Source: 1cupawesome.com via Leigh on Pinterest

This is my "during" photo.

There is no after....it was eaten too quickly!! This was a super dinner dish- it was delish, required only a few ingredients, cames together fast, and yet was impressive. You could totally serve this to vistors...in fact I did!

This isn't from Pintrest...but it should be there! My friend made it/taught it to me on the same evening. Using rolled pizza dough to make garlic knots. These are far better than those that come with delivery pizza.

1. twist open can

2. cut the dough into strips

3. knot the dough

4. mix together EVOO, garlic powder and salt

Brush on knots, bake according to directions

(before serving sprinkle with some chopped fresh greens-basil, parsley, etc.)

Again- no after photo...because they were too good. Light, fluffy and great flavor.

ENJOY!

Have you found a great recipe from Pintrest? Please share!

Pin Plates

2011-11-17T06:42:00.000-05:00

Another Pintrest project completed!

I know everyone has been impressed and inspired by Mrs.Limestone's idea.

Source: brooklynlimestone.com via Leigh on Pinterest

This is my version. This two little plates were a Target clearance find. Since there were only 2, I thought "his" and "hers" would be cute Leigh-bellishments. However, my handwriting is not cute. I used the Silhouette to cut vinyl stencils.

They looked great...until I took the stencil off. The paint bled badly. I was able to use damp Q-Tips to clean it up a bit. If you look closely it still isn't perfect- but I think they are pretty cute.

After removing the stencil.

I have a few more clearance dishes to dress up. I think I'm going to make them for our Cookies and Cocktail party, after I find new stencils.

P Squared

2011-11-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

Another Pintrest success!

This lovely has been floating around for a bit.

Source: virginiaandcharlie.blogspot.com via Leigh on Pinterest

My idea was to use the technique to create seasonally themed artwork. Then rather than using white, paint the canvas a seasonally appropriate shade.

Since my drawing skills are lacking, I created stencils from online images. My first plan was to print an image then use a sharpie to trace it on to the canvas. I was counting on the sharpie to bleed through...didn't work. Then I tried tracing paper...also a flop. Finally I just cut and traced.

My Fall Creation:

The Christmas Canvas:

The inspiration/stencil~

Source: restorationhardware.com via Jackie on Pinterest

Other than my initial issues of the getting the design on the canvas, this is was a simple, fast and easy process. There are so many great ideas and uses for this project. I can't wait to create another.

You should make one... but I have a few tips first:

1. use the thickest, puffy-ist paint you can find- to make thick lines!
2. since you'll be using thick lines... avoid detailed and intricate designs- especially ones with narrow gaps. Also round shapes or curves can be tricky.

3. use the same color puffy paint as acrylic (or as close as possible)
4. use a foam brush to paint

Anyone else use puffy paint lately?

Pintrest Craft

2011-11-15T07:17:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've seen these floating around the big P.

Go Pin It!

Well when I hosted neighborhood craft day a few weeks ago (more on that later), there were a few variations created (none by me).

Have you made any seasonal Pintrest inspired decor?

Switch It Out

2011-11-14T07:15:00.000-05:00

I'm on a (painfully slow) mission to replace all the lighting in our house. All the overhead lights in this house are horrible, old (and not in a pretty retro way) and nasty. I've just completed the third switch in almost 2 years.

This dark little spot is right outside the pantry/kitchen nook. It is narrow, dark, and oddly shaped space. I was looking to add more light and certainly more style.

I found this shade I loved at Tar-jay. We used the existing hardware, with a few extension for length. It is a soft gray pleated fabric. I thought it was a nice neutral, since I have a lot of colors going on there. And the texture is great too.

Notice how you can see the gold hardware underneath? That is making me crazy! Yes, I could paint it but what really makes me nuts is that it hangs low enough to be visible. Ideas?

Yes, the wrapper is stil on...just till I'm 100% sure.

What do you think?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T23:27:00.002-04:00

Hope you have a fun and spooky day!

Pumpkin!

2011-10-18T06:49:00.000-04:00

Remember how about a month ago I was having a lack-of-pumpkin issue? Well, I've now overcompensated- I have 20 cans. And my mom has 14 waiting for me come Christmas. I'm a happy girl! And I'm all set for next year, I heard the shortage will be worse next year due to the flood in the early fall.

What have I made? Good question- photo was taken with "photo booth" which somehow caused the label to be mirrored.

pumpkin pull apart bread- good but gets stale fast (even when covered) and a bit time intensive

pumpkin snicker-doodles- I added cream of tartar, otherwise in my mind it isn't a snicker-doodle. Next time it needs more pumpkin but everyone at work loved them.

In addition to the pumpkin baked donut holes from a few weeks ago.

What's your favoriate pumpkin baked good?

Weekend

2011-10-17T06:44:00.000-04:00

We had a busy weekend. We were out of town all day Saturday- fun but tiring. Sunday was spent doing some yard work and doing little house projects. Our last major front yard project was to deal with the hill of bushes, John spent hours chainsawing and pulling up bushes. Not totally done yet- hope to have a photo by the end of the week.

Chester was a big help.

What did you do this weekend?

Decisions, Decisions

2011-10-14T06:48:00.000-04:00

One of the big challenges of our house was dealing with the "kitchen nook". That is the space which use to hold part of the original kitchen and then at some point housed a washer/dryer. Last spring I Leigh-bellished dresser for the spot.

Above it we hung two Ikea picture ledge shelves.

Great, except due they are shallow and have a little lip. That means nothing thicker than the tall frames can fit on the shelves.

So then we got two wider/thicker shelves. Well, they stuck out too far..they were much deeper. The bottom shelf was switch backed to the original style. However, the top was left as the deeper one.

Of course, we can't agree on which set up to go with. What do you think? Please share your opinion. I need this nook to be "done"...are so many other to deal with.

Less Words More Pics

2011-10-13T07:27:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the week I shared my newly created fall wreath. After hanging it on the door I got in the swing of fall decorating.

I don't let think you need captains for gourds and leaves...so here you go my simple fall decorating. The photos were taken after dark, with and without flash...sorry.

The pinecones are cinnamon scented- awesome. They and the cute baby gourds were from HD.

Does it look like fall around your house?

Welcome Fall

2011-10-12T07:28:00.000-04:00

The fall wreath is only part of our fall doorstep. It barely seemed to stop raining in September, hence the wet, overcast photos.

I've never seen two-toned mums, I had to get the purple and yellow ones! I'm hoping they'll be hardy enough to come back next fall.

I've never planted ornamental kale but these green and purple ones seem fun.

We loved these little (non-eatable) peppers. They were used in the awesome Bellagio conservatory display from our frist wedding anniversary trip. And they can come inside once the cool weather hits. So fun!

Do you have any favorite fall flowers?

Say It 3 Times Fast

2011-10-11T07:10:00.000-04:00

Cheap Wreath, Cheap Wreath, Cheap Wreath

One of my September goals was to make something for me. Well this is technically for the house, but I'm counting it as the same.

Pretty huh?

Kidding- when visiting John's parents this summer I found the wreath at Goodwill for $0.95.

The front color was ok (it actually photographed prettier than in real life), but too light for my needs. FYI- the back was gold. A few coats of Lab Brown later.....

Some fabric, buttons, glue and the final product.

One bummer about my black door is that dark items don't "pop". In fact I think I'm going to have to make a "back board" for my black Halloween feather wreath.

Have you made anything for your house lately?

September Where Did You Go?!

2011-10-10T07:38:00.000-04:00

In the beginning of September I had the great plan of making monthly goals. I guess I should have made "regularly reviewing the goals" a goal.

And before setting the goals I should have checked the calendar and realized that in the weeks between Labor Day and New Year's Day we have about 2 free weekends. I should have factored that in- opps.

How'd I do?

Personal:
- Finish a baby blanket- the baby was born in May -haha, I did finish pulling out all the stitches, took about 20 hours. I should have just made a new quilt.
-do a "me" craft I'm counting the new fall wreath as a "me" craft. I'll share soon.
~~-keep my nails pretty- since I do a lot of writing at work, I hope it will brighten my day~~ -good enough to meet my low standards.
-work at three times a week- before school??? - I averaged about 1 time a week, but never before school. No matter how I try, I'm never going to be a morning person.
-~~blog once a week~~ There was one week without blogging but a few other weeks with multiple posts- I'm calling it achieved.
-nightly writing three times a week- I've never been a great journaler but I jotting (in no organized fashion) thoughts and worries will help me relax and fall asleep at night -Haha, didn't happen once.

Home:
~~-clean out and organize my closet~~ Done! There are a few things I still want to do, labeling etc but good enough for now. I'll show it soon.
-work on decorating the craft room A thought didn't even cross my mind.
-fall gardening- research, order, plant some cool weather veggies and spring bulbs? Done I'm really excited about some of the bulbs we planted. I'll show them off soon.
-~~keep up our cleaning routine~~ We did pretty well, more or less.

Work:
~~-make it through the 1st month of school by leaving at 6pm, doing no more than 1 hr a night at home, 2 hours max on the weekends~~ On average I kept this goal- super pleased with myself.

Us:
-dinner at the table 3 times a week Maybe once in the whole month?
-~~meal planning weekly~~ Pretty good but we didn't always stick with it.
-2 date nights None but we did have lots of fun evenings hanging out with our friends.
-weekly family meetings- to look at the schedule for the week ahead and plan meals - Some, could do better. Mostly for the purpose of meal planning.
-create a new year budget (to me the year goes from Aug-Sept) - nope
-plan anniversary trip -sadly no, and we paid the sad price .

Hopefully I'll create some, more reasonable, October goals soon. I know it is a week in, please don't remind me.

How was your September?

Sunday Night

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

We've had a busy weekend. Yesterday we made our annual trip to Harrisburg for JMU's homecoming. For me the event is more about friends, tailgating, and local food...not football.

We had a great time....we even won the game, against an in-state rivale. Sunday morning we got up, enjoyed breakfast at a local bagel then drove home.

On our drive we stopped at a recommended apple farm. However it started raining, so instead of picking our apples we filled a bag and grabbed two jugs of apple cider. I struggle, and complain about, ever fall to find "real" apple cider. This was the real deal! And they were making it right in front of our eyes.

After a quick nap, with football in the background, we decorated for fall. I even did some research for school. Pretty nice rainy Sunday.

Made even better by this great "night cap".

Warm cider, a brownie bit and two little pumpkin doughnut holes. They doughnut holes were a star of the tailgate. I definitely recommended them. One can of pumpkin is a double of the recipe, I got 5 dozen holes out of it.

What did you do this weekend?

The Great Pumpkin Caper

2011-09-19T00:29:00.001-04:00

I'm having a bit of an issue.

I'd really like to make this

Baked Pumpkin Spiced Donut Holes- via pintrest

and this

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies- pintrest

oh and these look good too

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie- pintrest

and the other great-looking 583 pumpkin flavored treats on pintrest.

But there is NO pumpkin in the stores. In the past week I've been to 8 different grocery stores...without finding a single can of pumpkin. There are cans of pumpkin pie mix...not helpful. And don't tell me it isn't the right time of year, because I've bought it in late winter, early spring and summer. I used my last can to make the pumpkin scones, which are good, are few weeks ago.

I've tried google search. There isn't much info but it seems like last fall there was a pumpkin shortage. I don't remember having trouble last year. There aren't articles about this year, but some people have posted comments about having trouble this fall as well.

I'm frustrated...and in need of pumpkin goodies!!!

Does your store have cans of pumpkin?? More importantly, do you wanna send me some? Just don't tell me about your favorite pumpkin sweet...I can't handle it.

Oh, amazon does sell canned pumpin but after shipping each can is like $6. And I'm not that desperate...yet.

Freezer Food Review

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I shared a list of foods I made and froze in preparation for the school year. I said after we had each dish, I'd try to give a little review to help anyone else out there. Last week we had the Pesto Chicken Stuff Manicotti.

Review~

Before being baked- still frozen

After baking

They were tasty but next time we'd make a few changes:

-the recipe said to bake for 30 min, since we didn't thaw it first I thought they might take a bit longer...but we should have done 20 min (although we have a convention oven which cooks a bit faster)

-they weren't very filling...maybe more chicken next time?

-they were cheesy but could use a bit more flavor, maybe mix in more pesto

-definitely need to be baked with a sauce, next time I'll top with pesto

- they need more cheese on top

-would also be really tasty with goat cheese

What have you been cooking?

Campy

2011-09-14T06:03:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a Camp Pie? Have you ever even heard of a Camp Pie? Until a few weeks ago, we hadn't either. Then we went to our very DIY-savvy friends' house. That afternoon they had built a lovely firepit. Our friend is from upstate NY where, apparently, camp pies are traditional.

sorry- photo was with my iphone and there is no "after"...wait till later in the fall season, I have a feeling there will be more camp pies in our future

What is a camp pie? Well according to dictionary.com, it is an Australian word "tinned meat". Clearly we were not enjoying tinned meat. A camp pie is 2 pieces of bread with a filling- they can be sweet or savory. On this particular night we enjoyed pizza camp pies (shredded motz and pizza sauce) and apple camp pie (canned apple pie filling).

They were tasty and I already have ideas for different combos: Nutella with...well anything, using croissant dough, using cinnamon bread, etc.

Want to make your own Camp Pie??? This site is dictated to Camp Pies.

What camp fire food do you like? Really, I want to know...my friend is planning a camp fire dessert party.

My Thoughts Exactly

2011-09-13T06:22:00.000-04:00

One of the many things I love about Pintrest are all the great quotes. I have always loved quotes! I mark them when reading . My sister and I often send quotes back and forth, we both have quote journals. On pintrest I've found many quotes that "fit" me or describe something I believe...just better said. Even better- they are pretty to look at. Ready to see some of my favorites (with some commentary)?

Ohh...wanna follow me on Pintrest click HERE!

Right On!

I have many virtues...patience is not one of them.

I know this... but it doesn't stop me from worrying- often

Every freaking day!!

You're welcome...trust me.

Running and I are BFF's...just like singing.

You got it!

I know my name looks easy...but I can't tell you how many times I've been "Leah", "Lehigh", "Lea", "Leia".

My kind of Friday night.

I Try...

I wish I could practice this belief.

I have this card in three different places...still struggling with it.

My Professional Life

Like the day a student kept referring to peer as a "pussy" during a class in which I was being observed.

Please stay the Hell out of my classroom.

Do you pin? Do you have a favorite quote or two? Please share!

All images via pintrest.

The long or short of it?

2011-09-09T05:57:00.000-04:00

I love our dinning room curtains. I've kept the same ones for 5 years...that is a long time for me. They were originally dishtowels or napkins from Crate and Barrel.

But recently I've been wondering if I need to layer a sheer curtain below, to provide some length.

What do you think?
Short

Long

If I actually go with the long ones...they will be "sheerer", in the photo they are folded into fourths.

Fast Fix

2011-09-06T22:37:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago, while visiting John's parents, I picked these beauties up at Goodwill.

Clearly, I was a big spender- the one on the right was $.95 and the chunky one was $1.50

A couple coats of primer helped.

So much better!

Have you spray painted anything lately?

Freeze!

2011-09-05T22:58:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day of school. Early in the summer I had this great idea... before school started again I'd stock our freezer with prepped meals. Even if we used one a week, it would be one less night of cooking and cleaning. Also, since it is just the two of us most meals make enough to provide leftovers for lunch. Having the meals ready to go might be useful for entertaining and food gifts (illness, babies, etc.) as well.

I did some online research to find recipes that freeze well. Then we did a major shopping trip to B.J.'s....that was followed by the classic Leigh mistake. "Oh,this will be great, fun and fast. I'll get it done while John's at the baseball game." HA! Four days later and our freezer was filled! Oh, and I literally had a blister on the outside of my pointer finger from all the chopping.

I used disposable containers and labeled them with cooking instructions, so I wouldn't have to look up the recipe. The bags below hold crock-pot meals, so they just need to be dumped and heated.

I stopped taking pictures after the first day.

This is the complete list (with links, where possible) of everything I froze. I'll do my best to give updates and reviews as we enjoy the meals.

~ Chili
~Buttermilk Biscuits
~ Cheesy Chicken Lasagna
~ Lasagna Cups
~ bags and bags of pesto
~ couple bags of pizza sauce
~Chicken Pot Pie
~Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos
~Baked Chicken Pesto
~Goulash
~Pizza Dough
~Beef Stew
~ Chicken Kiev
~ Pesto Chicken Stuff Manicotti
~ Balsamic Braise Short Ribs
~Pasta Casserole
~Stromboli
~ Pumpkin Scones
~Chicken Enchiladas
~Honey Yeast Rolls
~Potato Rolls
~Burger Buns
~Hot Dog Rolls
Do you make any freezer meals?

Goals

2011-09-01T02:58:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late joining the party... but we've decided to set monthly goals. My hope is that it will help me have a little work-life balance...something I struggle with. However, I also have trouble setting reasonable (as in can be truly accomplished) goals. John is pretty good at helping me refocus but I also created goal categories to assit in organizing my thoughts.

On with the show....

Personal:
- Finish a baby blanket- the baby was born in May
-do a "me" craft
-keep my nails pretty- since I do a lot of writing at work, I hope it will brighten my day
-work at three times a week- before school???
-blog once a week
-nightly writing three times a week- I've never been a great journaler but I jotting (in no organized fashion) thoughts and worries will help me relax and fall asleep at night

Home:
-clean out and organize my closet
-work on decorating the craft room
-fall gardening- research, order, plant some cool weather veggies and spring bulbs?
-keep up our cleaning routine

Work:
-make it through the 1st month of school by leaving at 6pm, doing no more than 1 hr a night at home, 2 hours max on the weekends

Us:
-dinner at the table 3 times a week
-meal planning weekly
-2 date nights
-weekly family meetings- to look at the schedule for the week ahead and plan meals
-create a new year budget (to me the year goes from Aug-Sept)
-plan anniversary trip

I even made a little calendar to chart our progress. We also talked about a little reward system....but decided to wait on that. Is the teacher in me coming out?

What are your plans for September?

Because every post needs a picture~

Back To Reality

2011-08-29T23:25:00.001-04:00

So, I inadvertently took a summer vacation from blogging. Opps. I had a great summer and was pretty busy.... I have plenty of bloggy material stored up. I went back to ~~school~~ work today.

My last week of vacation was, unexpectedly, eventful. First, there was the earthquake. We are fine, no damage. I was home, so Chester and I crotched in the hallway together. He didn't leave my side for the rest of the day. John was evacuated from his building and spent 3 hours trying to catch a metro train. Then a few days later there was a late night aftershock. Finally, the week ended with a hurricane. Again, we were very lucky to have no damage. Although Buffett Day was rescheduled (to a weeknight- boo!). Even though the best day of the year (aka Buffett Day) was moved, my good friend still came up for the weekend. We had a great time shopping, eating, chilling.

Since we weren't enjoying "island time" with Buffett....we Chelsea complete a puzzel during the hurricane.

PS- This took 7 hours and I hate puzzels- so you should be super impressed.

How was your weekend?

A La Cart

2011-08-03T07:37:00.000-04:00

While I was busy painting the outdoor tables and chairs, I heard the saw going. John had decided we needed an outdoor bar. I wasn't sure if we needed a bar, but it certainly would be helpful to have a prep, serving and storage space for grilling and summer-time entertaining.

We added casters so it could really be multi-functional.

Three hooks and a bottel opener are nice additional features.

That white hose is a special potable hose, so that it is safe to drink from. It is the same hoses as on RV's. The flower pot is to catch excess water.

I've asked a for a swim-up bar to be the next project.

Getting Started

2011-08-01T21:25:00.004-04:00

We hosted last day of school party for my school. Since we are lucky enough to have a pool, this was obviously going to be a pool party. Our outdoor furniture was definitely not party ready.

The two adirondack sets were a deal from the Christmas Tree Store in 2008 (see more here). And I still loved them, but I've always wanted them to match and the paint was badly peeling.

These metal tables were left by the pervious owners.

I spent a couple days sanding and painting. FIY- the chairs were a pain to paint- so many nooks and crannies. Next time I would use spray paint.

Chester provided the entertainment.

Both chairs and foot rests became a high gloss white.

All 4 tables (2 round metal and 2 square wood) turned green.

Ready to party!

What summer gatherings have you enjoyed?

Hello? Are you there?

2011-07-29T16:07:00.003-04:00

Hi There! I can't believe it's been close to 2 months since I blogged. I hope some one is still there???

Summer is flying by! In one month from today I have to go back to work- bummer. My summer has been great- and busy. Doesn't it always seem when you have the most blogging material is when you have the least time to blog? I hope to stockpile some posts over the weekend.

In the meantime, this was the delicious summer lunch I enjoyed today. Caprese salad with avocado, using tomatoes and basil fresh picked from my garden.

Hope you're having a great summer!

Door Re-Do

2011-06-09T07:03:00.000-04:00

Two months ago I gave a teasing shot....well, over the course of the 1 month when I didn't post- I Leigh-bellished our front door.

You know we've spent the spring re-doing our front yard, trying to interject some curb appeal. One thing we really wanted was a new door.

You can see the white paint is dingy, the doorknob was a unclassy mix of old and new. It isn't noticeable in this photo but the glass was a pebble pattern in lemon-lime color. I also wasn't a fan of the doorknocker. But new doors are pricey and being that our house is 60 years old, nothing is flush so it would require a custom job.

Rather than shelling out the bucks, I Leigh-bellished the door. I wanted a fun, funky color- lime, purple, peacock, teal....but I was vetoed.

The door, surprisingly, required 4 coats of high-gloss black paint.

But the Leigh-bellishment didn't stop there.

It is very "in" to have your house number on the door but ours in on the mailbox. Others have "welcome" on their door, but we aren't that formal so I used my silhouette to cut "hi".

Little JMU stick people, the dog doesn't look like Chester but better than nothing.

Maybe I'll change the "hi" to a fun color??

I think I'm going to paint the pots white

What color is your door?

Moss Around

2011-06-08T07:38:00.000-04:00

I seem to have a thing for making wreath this year. Last spring I made a hydrangea wreath using our wedding flowers. Over the winter I made a trendy yarn wreath.

You'd think that would be enough but I wanted something different for the spring door. Moss wreaths are really popular, but not cheap- especially when I came make my own.

one two three four

I like the square/rectangle ones best. But have you ever seen a square or rectangle foam wreath form? I don't know because I never looked for one before....but after 3 stores I gave up. I just bought a solid foam rectangle.

I only needed to buy a few project supplies. The moss is from jo-fabs.

I drew the cut lines right on the plastic packaging, thinking it would be a smoother writing surface. And if I messed up it would be less of a hassel.

Using an exacto knife I cut my wreath. I wasn't hard to do, but was more challenging and time consuming than I predict (the story of most of my crafts).

Oh, and it was messy.

I wrapped and cut the moss. It was pretty simple, but messy, which this time I predicted so I used an old box to help with clean-up. The moss was attached with the glue gun, carefully as the moss is not very thick and easily burned my skin.

Finally product. I realized how easily the moss shed, so I spent 10 minutes knocking the wreath with my hand and on the table. A bunch of moss came off.

However after close to 2 months hanging on the door, the shedding (just from daily use) hasn't stopped. And the wreath is starting to look a bit bald in spots- look at the bottom right corner and bottom sides. I think painting the foam before attaching the moss might have helped with this issue.

Have you ever used moss in your decor?
What is hanging on your door?

H-O-T-T

2011-06-06T06:12:00.001-04:00

It is only early June but we've had a streak of 90+ days, where the heat index has reached over 100.

This candle has been sitting on our front stoop since last summer....but even it finally couldn't take the heat.

Is it hot in your neck of the woods?

Summer Juicy-Juicy

2011-06-03T06:17:00.000-04:00

While lounging around the pool over Memorial Day weekend, my friend introduced me to a new sangria. I've always enjoyed a glass of sangria, but this one is so light and with just the right amount of sweetness, it is easy to drink (over and over again). Not to mention, it has a few simple and easy to find ingredients.

opps forgot to a take a photo before putting it out for book club

1 large bottle sauvignon blanc

2/3 c. peach schnapps

1/4 c. honey

1 small bottle of tonic water

1 granny smith apple (important that it be granny smith)

1 orange

1 lemon

Enjoy!

Do you have any summery drinks you enjoy?

Memorial Day

2011-06-01T22:11:00.000-04:00

Part of our holiday weekend was spent car shopping (my transmission died, and it isn't worth fixing)...but most of it was spent like this

actually most of the time people (and dogs) were in the water, this was after Monday's dinner.

I made a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie.

What did you do with your long weekend?

Getting Ready For The Season

2011-05-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

Oh, my-where have I been?! A whole month flew by without a post- opps. I've been up to a lot (not blogging clearly), so I have much to share in the coming weeks...get excited!

One thing we've been busy doing is working on our curb appeal. Chester has found a new way to help with the gardening.

And we John spent a week getting the pool ready. Our holiday weekend plans are to lay around the pool- Chester is already enjoying it. (he was so excited to have it open again, he has been doing nightly laps)

How are you spending the three day weekend?

Whatever you do- have fun and stay safe!

Blooms

2011-04-29T09:25:00.001-04:00

Our Clematis is blooming! And it is slowly being trained and climbing the post.

Have a great weekend!

Your Thoughts....

2011-04-27T09:55:00.021-04:00

In a few weeks we are hosting a baby shower.

The invitation was orded from Sugar Tree Studio on etsy, it came as a pdf for me to print and back.

Most people coming to the shower won't know each other, it is a mix of "groups". In fact I only know 3 of the people coming (besides the mom-to-be of course). So I'm wondering if I should so some sort of name tag. Maybe name and how the person knows the parents??

I'll be sure to share all the details after the shower. I made 10 tissue paper flower pom-poms (a la Martha) over the weekend.

Front Yard

2011-04-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

Before I share all the projects my mom and I completed, I need to show off some of John's hard work. A few weeks ago, I shared this "teaser" image.

This is the exterior of our house as seen last spring. The two sides are mirror images.

Early this spring John removed 8 bushes/trees from our yard, so we had a blank slate.

Notice the changes? One thing that never changes- can't get Chester to move out of picture.

We hung new shutters- they are a different color (black instead of white) and the panel style (we had the slates before) and are correctly sized. We also replanted the front beds.

I hope everything grows fast!! The poor ivy is almost dwarfed by the flowers!

The bed on the right side is longer, which is why it has the evergreen at the end (see photo above) but otherwise they are identical. Next to the steps are dwarf albert spruces then two Korean boxwoods and finally variegated holly. In front of the bushes are purple creeping phlox.

How is your yard work going?

Easter

2011-04-25T08:48:00.000-04:00

I was on spring break last week and my Mom came to help me with a bunch of projects. I was too busy to write any posts. We got a ton done! I have a lot to show. (and a lot to finish still)

Although my Mom left before Easter, I still wanted a bit of a traditional Easter dinner. We actually had Easter dinner Saturday night. The plan was to go out of a nice brunch on Sunday....but we had a bunch of leftovers and woke up to a lovely sunshiny day on Sunday- so we canceled brunch.

This is the fastest (and least cute) bunny cake I've ever made- oh well.

Springy colored eggs

"Easter dinner"- baked ham with raisin sauce, almond green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls

Did you do anything special for Easter or Passover?

These Happy Changes

2011-04-14T10:44:00.003-04:00

Last week I showed off a few of our curb appeal projects and Monday I hinted at few "in-progress" projects. We had been itching to tackle these projects since we moved in last year, but it just wasn't a priority last spring. So when we sat down to make our "to-do list" a few weeks ago, it was a quick process.

*this photo list does not include all the landscaping to be done

What yard work are you tackling this year?

French Bread

2011-04-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

My lovely friend Sohira shared this French Bread recipe with me a few weeks ago. She did a guest posted a Ciabatta recipe month ago.

French Bread
6 cups unbleached bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups water, ice cold (40F)

1. Combine flour, salt, yeast, and water in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and mix for 2 minutes on low speed. Switch to dough hook and mix for 5 to 6 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be sticky on the bottom of the bowl but it should release from the sides of the bowl, If not, sprinkle in a small amount of flour until this occurs (or dribble in water if the dough seems too stiff and clears the bottom as well as the sides of the bowl). Lightly oil a large bowl and immediately transfer the dough with a spatula or bowl scraper dipped in water into the bowl. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

2. Immediately place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

3. The next day, check the dough to see if it has risen. It will probably be partially risen but not doubled in size (the amount of rise will depend on how cold the fridge is and how often the door was opened). Leave the bowl of dough out at room temp for 2 or 3 hours (or longer if necessary) to allow the dough to wake up, lose its chill, and continue fermenting.

4. When the dough has doubled from its original size, liberally sprinkle the counter with bread flour (about 1/2 cup). Gently transfer the dough to the floured counter dipping your hands in water to keep the dough from sticking to you. Try to degas the dough as little as possible as you transfer it. If the dough is very wet, sprinkle more flour over the top as well as under it. Dry your hands thoroughly and then dip them in flour. Roll the dough gently in the sprinkled flour to coat it thoroughly, simultaneously stretching it into an oblong about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide. If it is too sticky to handle, continue sprinkling flour over it. Dip a metal pastry scraper into cool water to keep it from sticking to the dough, and cut the dough in half width-wise with the pastry scraper by pressing it down through the dough until it severs it, then dipping it again in the water and repeating this action until you have cut down the full length of the dough. Let the dough relax for 5 minutes.

5. Prepare the oven for hearth baking. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit with a pizza stone or sheet pan inside. Fill a spray bottle with water to mist the oven once the bread is inside.

6. Shape your dough. Place dough on the back of a sheet pan, but make sure you sprinkle flour and some corn meal on top to prevent sticking.

7. Carefully slide dough onto the baking stone. Spray the oven walls with water and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals. After the final spray, lower the oven setting to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking.

8. The bread should begin to turn golden brown within 8 or 9 minutes. If the loaves are baking unevenly at this point, rotate them 180 degrees. Continue baking 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the bread is a rich golden brown.

9. Transfer the hot breads to a cooling rack. They should feel very light, almost airy, and will cool in about 20 minutes.

Still with me?!

I know it looks long, and it does take awhile, but it isn't difficult. The bread was really tasty. And this recipe makes 4 loaves, so I frozen the other 3 loaves unbaked. They will be perfect to boost quick soap or salad dinner.

Do you make bread?

Pita

2011-04-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

A year or two ago I attempted to make my own pita breads. But it didn't go so great. Then I saw Annie's recipe and Leigh vouched for them....so I tried again.

Even though I need to work on my shaping skills, they were tasty. I think next time I'll make smaller, thinner pitas. The recipe was easy. The dough came together quickly, while there wasn't much active time, it did have to raise 3 times. I was disappointed with the number of pitas it made. I'll have to double it next time, especially since we are currently addicted to white bean dip.

Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Busy, Busy

2011-04-11T09:52:00.000-04:00

We had a great weekend. It was a great mix of friends, fun, relaxing and productivity.

Friday we host a game and fondu evening.

Have you ever played Settlers of Catan? It was long and bit confusing, but fun.

Saturday we hit up a few nurseries.

Then Sunday we took a quick trip to Harrisonburg to meet John's parents for lunch. Of course a trip to Klines' was in order.

When we got home, we squeezed in a few quick projects.

Sneak Peeks:

What'd you do this weekend?

Make This

2011-04-06T10:23:00.001-04:00

tonight...or soon. Annie's Chicken Ranch Bacon Pizza

stupid blogger won't show the rotated version

Have you visited this blog? It is amazing-everything looks good and do-able. I had seen it mentioned around the blog-world a few times...why did I wait so long to visit?! I went to see the perfect pizza crust recipe, because you know I'm a picky pizza fan right? This crust is great- taste, texture and easy to make.

When I saw the chicken ranch combo I knew John would love it- he just about drinks Ranch dressing. It was tasty, I'm sure we'll make it again sometime. But we will most definitely use this crust from now on regardless of topping selection.

What do you like on your pizza?

SM- this is the site I was telling you about.

The Post

2011-04-05T10:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I showed off our new outdoor lights.

But we gave the lamppost some special attention as well. Since we've moved in, I have hated that post. I dislike the metal (and it's rusty state), I really dislike the ornate scrolly features but I HATE the bowed-tapered shape (I know that sounds impossible but it is true). Before John added the new light, I used a metal brush attachment for the drill to clean it off. Next it got a fresh coat of Rustoleum Hammered Dark Brozen paint.

That helped the color (and rust situation) and nicely matches the "aged iron" finish of the light fixtures. Of course, does nothing for the shape. While you can buy replacement posts, I knew I wanted a flowering vine to go up the post, so in fact this post is "perfect".

We selected the Clematis Crystal.

Not mine- source

I just hope my grows quickly and is easy to train.

Lighting Our Way

2011-04-04T10:03:00.000-04:00

We are revamping our front yard this year....like totally re-doing it. Over the weekend John has pulled out 8 bushes/trees. Now we have to start replacing what's been yanked out.

This afternoon we worked out changing out the lighting. We have one wall-mounted light next to the door and lamp post further down the walk.

Before:

This is from last spring- see those cheap, granny looking railings? They have also been pulled out.

After:

Question- This is the 7in fixture....is it too small or in-proportional???? It also comes in 9in option but that doesn't have the motion sensory feature. Should I switch it out?

Lamppost before:

During:

After:

What did I do while John was switching out light fixtures?

Spray painting. Our house is up on a hill, so there are a second set steps leading down to the sidewalk and it's railing had seen better days.

Before:

After:

Hard to get a decent photo of that spot, but the paint makes a big difference-looks a lot less trashy now. And yes, I got paint on the plants but those plants will be gone in a few weeks.

While I was at it, I used the Rustoleum dark brozen hammered paint on the lamp post. I'll share what else I did to the post tomorrow.

What did you do this weekend?

White Bean Dip

2011-04-01T11:29:00.004-04:00

I have a favorite new dip-snack-lunch recipe. It is a triple threat-tasty, simple, and not horrible for you. I first tasted Giada's Simple White Bean Dip when a neighbor made it for a game night.

Ready for the specific and difficult directions?

I've made this dip so many times over the past few months I don't measure the ingredients any more. However, I thought that Giada's recipe used too much lemon juice, so I use a bit less than half a lemon. I'm also not a huge garlic fan, so that has been reduced too.

I've also begun making my own pita chips. I like the crunch from the texture and I think the hold the dip (or hummus) better. Again super simple- cut pitas into wedges, toss with olive oil and kosher salt then bake at 350-400 for 10-15 minuteish.

Give it a try this weekend! I can't wait to enjoy some pool side.

Have a great weekend!

Laying it on the table

2011-03-31T09:27:00.001-04:00

Well it has finally arrived.... with some damage. However I think most of that is in concealed locations and I might be able to live with it, if Overstock gives me some cash back. But I've saved the packaging just incase.

Now I'm on the hunt for a colorful lamp and some art work.

After some functional, but pretty, organization (a bench?, a shoe storage area?) our little entryway is good to go.

I'm excited to hunt out fun trays, bowls, and dishes for the table top. I love to find pretty, cheap containers. I use them all over the house, and because I only buy them on the cheap (and at that- I only buy one piece), I can switch them out often.

This plate sits on my kitchen counter holding my napkins.

Where do you find fun storage pieces?

Den "Done"

2011-03-30T09:31:00.004-04:00

Last week I shared that we have "finished" our den. And I shared the dry-erase and cork boards I created for the space.

This was the first room or decorating project we've tackled, after completing all our major "fix-it" projects we are now at the decorating stage. I'm attempting to go room by room, to at least get rooms started.

We started with this room for a few reasons. First to make it functional, when we started it was basically a storage space. Second, it is a small room which made it less overwhelming for me. Lastly, we needed a space where John could work from home and I wanted a comfortable sitting-area without a TV.

Before:

The only things that stayed were a bookshelf, the cork board (which I covered), and, a round wire side table (previously used to hold a now dead plant).

After:

Artwork Close Up-

These are the prints of vintage WPA national park posters. But dear lord, the trouble we've had getting them framed. The one on the right is shorter than the rest, and the center frame is wider than the others. I'm in the process of dealing with A.C. Moore over this issue.

Still To-Do:

-cover pillows

-make a quilt (for color, pattern, texture, practically)

-deal with ceiling fan (John won't let me get rid of it)

-personalization

-what else???

Cherry Blossoms

2011-03-29T09:05:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went to see the cherry blossoms. This is a big DC tradition, meaning it is packed 24-7 and there are a ton of tourists. John and I were both off on Fri so we drove in (so we could bring Chester) at 2pm and it took 1 hour to find parking. Although we are experiencing some cold temps (and waiting for snow), it was a nice, sunny day.

This is what the boys did within an hour of our return.

What did you do this weekend?

Paint On

2011-03-28T09:38:00.001-04:00

The dresser project, as not been my only current painting project. The same day I painted the dresser, I also tackled a bookshelf for our den. My Great-Grandfather built this bookshelf. My parents let my put in my first college apartment and it has followed me since.

Before- I forgot to take a photo before applying wood filler- oops.

After

John selected Martha's Stewart tadpole green (I think that is the name). It is light brown-olive green. Although it was basic statin finish, the paint still has a cool pearlish-shiny finish that I really like.

What have you painted lately?

All Dressed Up

2011-03-25T18:23:00.002-04:00

A month ago I showed you all the dresser set I scored from C's List. I asked for your opinion....and then (other than this quick peek) left you hanging. So sorry 'bout that Peeps.

The seller's before picture:

After:

The color is Behr Spring Stream. It is a light seafoam color. As you all suggested, I wanted a bright, fun color (but I have no red in my house) and this color is present in both the utensil art work, the fabric covering the kitchen chairs and my dinning room curtains (which are not only visible from this area but are my overall color-scheme inspiration- my "sue").

Elevated Zinnia Knobs from Anthro...

it is hard to get a good photo of but it has the seamfoam and green colors in it

The shelves are also "done". I need to get some organic item and non-rectangular items.

sorry for the shadow- there is no natural light in this space

Do I need anything on the top? A runner? A little lamp? Some sort of decorative item? Will that help it look "finished" or "cluttered"?

At the same time I started this project, Erin also shared her shelving issues. While it was helpful, these shelves have a little lip in the front, so there is a very narrow display space.

Wondering about what is stored in the dresser? It is serving as my "decor store". It holds all of my neutral, non-seasonal decor items (other than a few XL hurricanes that didn't fit).

Wash Up

2011-03-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Last week I hinted at some projects we had going on...one photo was our bathroom vanity, sink and mirror in the basement (rather than the bathroom).

This is our hall/guest bathroom. At some point we were planning on updating the set, but there was no immediate need. However, there was a combo sink/vanity/mirror set for $150 ($100 off) at The HD....we realized there is no time like the present.

My bathroom isn't normally that dirty but John jumped right into the removal process.

The medicine cabinet was original to the house, while I like the history of it- it was stained, scratched and yucky.

John was so excited to get rid of the mirror, I didn't even get a before shot- just a "during".

I had nothing to do with the project.

The After:

At some point we'll change the faucet but this is a huge improvement!

Have you changed anything around your house lately?

Cork This

2011-03-23T10:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I showed you, my "stylish" dry-erase board. But as I pointed out, the fabric I selected was a bit ho-hum. Well, I used the linen-like fabric because it was the same fabric used to create the custom cork-board.

I used (unwashed but ironed so it stayed crisp) fabric that I wrapped around an old cork board. I attached it used a staple gun (one of my favorite tools), some people use spray adhesive but I worried about wet-marks and gunky pin cushions. That part was very simple and fast.

Attaching each individual nailhead was time consuming. It might just be my perfectionist tendencies, but it took me about 2.5 hours and it still isn't perfect.

Both the dry-erase and cork board are for our newly done den....more coming.

Sweet Success

2011-03-22T11:14:00.002-04:00

Remember my attempt at a stylish-dry-erase board? Also, known as my big, fat, flop.

At last, I've succeed! While it doesn't have the fun, interesting pattern- I finished the project in 5 minutes. I framed some fabric.

This pattern isn't super exciting but I love knowing that for the cost of half a yard, I can quickly and easily change things up.

Party Time

2011-03-20T23:14:00.003-04:00

Saturday evening we hosted the appetizer course of my school's progressive dinner.

The second-load waiting to be placed in the dishwasher, clearly a good time was had by all.

Since this is my first year at this school, I don't really know many of my co-workers and none had been to our house before. Many people gave us wonderful comments about our "cute/charming/lovely house/style". Those compliments made me so happy but my favorite was when someone said "it has beachy colors and feel". The compliments made my night!

In preparation for the event my To-Do List became rather long, luckily we got most of the big things accomplished. I'll be sharing our completed projects throughout the week.

How was your weekend?

Double F!

2011-03-19T13:32:00.007-04:00

Do you ever have projects that frustrate you and only lead to failure?!!?

I've been trying to make a stylist and pretty white board for den. Did you know that dry erase markers work on glass as they do on a white board? That knowledge and this project inspired me to use frosted glass spray paint to make my own patterned glass-white board.

Ugh, the hours and issues kept adding up:
-I two broke pieces of glass before even starting...should have taken that as a sign
-I attempted to make the contact paper stencil using the silhouette machine, but that didn't work
-so then I used the silhouette to make a template from cardstock, then I used that to make the contact paper stencil the old fashioned way

-it took an hour to apply the stencil (mostly) evenly to the glass

-the two coats of frosted glass spray paint went out without a problem...but after peeling off the contact paper I was left with this

Not cool! Big fat Leigh-bellishment fail!

I give up!

But....

I have a new plan- wish me luck!

The End Of The Book

2011-03-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

I have a long row of cookbooks on top of my low kitchen hutch, so many in fact they kept toppling over. Clearly time for a book-end....have you ever been book-end shopping? Cute ones aren't easy to find, and there are even fewer cute ones- especially since I wanted something kitchen-fitting.

A quick etsy search inspired me to create this subway bookend.

The bookend was created from some heavy-ish weight fabric, I had laying around, filled with 5 bags of dried beans. Using my silhouette machine, "I" cut out 10 food/cooking related words in all different fonts from freezer paper.

After playing around with the placement for awhile, I ironed the words down. The next step was to the fastest and easiest- painting.

Finished product-

How do you keep your books upright?

Relay Race

2011-03-17T11:03:00.000-04:00

I love table runners. I Leigh-belished this one a few years ago. I really like the look of two horizontal runners acting as placemats.

I created my own set using revisable pre-quilted fabric. All I had to do was add (store-bought) binding.

I customized the length and width to fit my table and dishes but I still think the two maybe look funny on my table? Each is also long enough to be a single vertical table runner, without any over hang off the the table.

And I'm not sure why the edges are wavy. Yes, Mother I ironed them ;P

Is your table running? Better go catch it....

Sneak Peek

2011-03-15T23:01:00.001-04:00

Sorry I went MIA on you. We are in the midst of multiple blog-worthy projects, but they are keeping us too busy to blog.

A few sneak peeks for you:

I picked a paint color

These are no longer in the bathroom

I'm waiting for this to arrive

What do you have going on?

I've Got Mail

2011-03-08T18:58:00.001-05:00

Thank you for all your feedback on my table issues. I'm still pondering but hope to decide soon. Don't worry I'll share photos.

As you know by now, our house was/is in need of a good deal of updating. One major area that needs work is our front yard. We have NO curb appeal.

Case in point- this was our mailbox. It still has the engraved nameplate of the original owner (2 prior to us).

However, wall-mounted mailboxes are not cheap or cute, nor are they easy to find. I didn't really have many specifications in mind, other than large enough to store a magazine flat (in the original it had to be rolled up) and not-tacky.

About a month ago I spotted this simple beauty at the RH outlet. It was marked down to $38 from $89.

While it definitely fit the non-tacky requirement it was a bit too plain and boring for my taste.

My silhouette machine made it easy to add some Leigh-bellishment.

One last little touch....

since the wall-mounted style don't have flags to make it clear that there is mail to be gathered, our mail carry often failed to pick-up our mail for days at a time. I made this laminated-magnetic envelope with the silhouette (again).

What holds your mail?

*of course last weekend I discovered PB's cute and "reasonably" priced mailboxes. Check them out here.

On The Table

2011-03-07T00:53:00.000-05:00

wow- it has been a week+ sorry- lots of long days and busy evenings. One of my New Year goals was 3 posts a week.

We've lived in our house for close to a year and done all the major-must-be-fixed-ASAP projects. Now we are (slowly) starting to furnish, organize and decorator. I'm attempting to go a room at a time. I don't know if this is how you are supposed do it, but for my sanity (aka stress level), John's patience, health of the bank account, that is how we are starting. (How do you do it?) So get ready for lots of "what do you think?" posts.

While we are technically working on the den right now (more to come), I have a few side projects I'm working on. One baby project is the kitchen nook- thanks for all your opinions on the dresser, I'm just waiting for the hardware to come in...then I'll do the revel.

My other side project is our "entry-way". We don't really have an entry way, you just walk into the living room. But the lack of organization has been making me crazy. After finally getting ride of an old love-seat we have space for a console table.

At first I was thinking a white table would be nice contrast against the walls (MS Driftwood Gray) but for the life of me I can't find a true (not cream, or antique) white console table. My next thought was glass , so it would take up less visual space. But then I found a dark wood piece in a style I really like (yes, I thought of painting it but Someone-else doesn't like that idea). Now I'm stuck!!!! Please give me your thoughts!

~~Messy~~ Current room on a rainy day:

As you can see we already have some dark items in the room (chair, mirror, coffee table, blinds) and whites accents too (lampshade, trim, mantel, curtains, kindof the couch), and I thought another white (or glass) piece would help with the brightness effect.

The Dark Horse:

Creighton Walnut Cherry 3-drawer Console Table - overstock

The Glass House:

Mendocino Console Table- walmart (who knew?)

Metal Sofa Table-overstock

My current thought is that the new coffee table (our current one is a woven bench that a dog snacked one- great for storage but less and less attractive, and not a true coffee table) could be the opposite, or even white, finish than the console table.

**It would be great if the coffee table/bench fit under the console table so we wouldn't lose the blanket storage.

What's your vote?

Thoughts Please!

2011-02-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

I know I still owe you the second part of the kitchen details, and I plan to respond to all comments and questions in a follow-up post (so keep them coming).....but I have an issue I need input on (and that I'm super pumped about).

Tonight I scored these two bad boys off Craig's List- it was 100 bucks for the set!

seller's photos

The tall one will be fantastic storage in my craft room, and I'm saving the re-doing project for a later date. I was actually only looking for a dresser because there is a funky little insert in our little hallway area between the kitchen and pantry. The space needed something, and I could always use more storage space. The thing is, the space is only 50 inches long and 14 deep, way too small for a traditional buffet or sideboard. I considered built in base cabinets but a dresser just has more personality and is more versatile in the long run.

Before kitchen photo- see the edge of the fridge? It is in the nook.

That is the nook on the left- straight ahead is the pantry (kitchen is behind "us")

Here it is home and "tucked in".

bad photo I know- too excited to wait to take a daylight photo

So now....what color do I paint it? At first I was thinking a brown-gray, like all the colors Kim was investigating, but now I'm thinking something brighter? **did I mention I want to paint it this weekend?

The knobs and pulls I'm currently digging:

Anthro- of course Martha for HD thoughts? too odd?

Little Touches:
The white Ribba shelves laying across the dresser, will be hanging above it (clearly to cover the water hook-ups which are against code to dry wall in).
On the shelves will be this artwork and photos- obviously need to grow the collection and include some objects (looking for a little round mirror).

The utensil art work is a special request from twigcreative on etsy.

And I'm thinking a fun, bright colored lamp will sit on top.

Let me hear all your ideas.....please!!

The 411

2011-02-21T23:07:00.001-05:00

In December I reveled our kitchen re-do (thanks for all your positive comments!), and promised to share the details.....but I just recently remembered to take some day-light photos.
before

after

Details- sorry it is so long...in an effort to keep it shorter, I've just added simple captions...and split everything over two days- in no special or organized manner

Backsplash- marble tiles from Home Depot, I bought twice as much as we needed and sorted through to find the "right" tiles- some were too yellow, too brown or too red, I only wanted white or gray with blue undertones. In hindsight we should have used non-sanded grout, and we still need to clean up the caulk lines.

Our morning fill-up station

The new backdoor John installed all by himself. Chester likes the extra row of windows, so he can now see in easily, we like that he doesn't have to jump on the door. And we all like the extra light it lets in.

The low hutches (which clear on not styled inside or out) are actually media hutches from C&B. Originally there was a desk in that spot, but this extra storage is much more practical for us. And as a double bonus- it was cheaper than recreating the desk and can move with us (when the time comes).

The hardware- both the pulls and knobs are satin nickel. I ordered them from overstock.com, and we are really pleased with the quality- they are heavy weight, easy to clean and came at a great price $60 and $78 (respectively) for 25 of each.

The spice shelf- it is a Lack shelf from Ikea. The spices are in their Droppar jars. I used my label-maker to personalize all the jars. Yes, they are lined up alphabetically. Oh, and the under cabinet lights- they rock my world!

The large cutting board is one of my favorite wedding gifts it stays on the counter 24-7, mostly because it is too large to pull in and out of cabinet regularly. See the cake-stand behind it? Another little helping hand in the kitchen, it keeps my oil, pepper mill, salt and toothpicks (for testing baked goods) close at hand.

What little kitchen helpers do you keep at hand?

BYOB

2011-02-17T22:20:00.001-05:00

Since New Year's I've been seeing a lot of people really getting into a BYOB trend- Baking Your Own Bread. (like our bread bowls) Well, my sweet friend Sohira has a tasty and simple recipe for everyone out there trying to "conquer yeast". Sohira is one of my great friends from college. We attended her wedding in Aruba in summer of 2009- I showed it to you here. Then last year I tried to throw her a baby shower...but Snowocalypse hit. Sohira is fun, funny, always positive and encouraging; while I'm sad I don't get to see her often (I have yet to meet her daughter) I'm so glad she is my friend!

When Leigh asked me to guest post onto her blog I almost jumped out of my skin! Blogging?! ME!? YESSSS!!! I read her blog faithfully and have always loved the easy way she whips crafts up. We have known each other since our freshman year of college – Leigh had to teach me how to make Ramen Noodles (no kidding!!). I have learned a bit since then, though, hence my post today on her fabulous blog!

This past summer I received The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart bread recipe book as a gift and I honestly thought it would be one of my favorite “picture books” – i.e. I would love browsing through it and letting my senses run amok. After a few such sessions I decided to actually try a recipe, the Ciabatta recipe, and I fell in love!!!!

The recipes or “formulas” as Mr. Reinhart calls them are very detailed and, if followed correctly, are fairly easy! I made the Ciabatta with the one-day pre-ferment called a Poolish (basically consisting of flour, yeast, water) and it is my favorite one to make because it takes you just one day. Some formulas in here call for 2 or 3 days for certain types of bread.

Josh and Anaïs (my husband and my daughter) always love helping out with the stirring J

The final product is SOO delicious…technically it must rest for 45 minutes but we make it to 5 minutes before cutting into it (can you blame us, really!?).

So, Leigh, after years of watching you bake, decoupage, decorate, scrapbook, and being your fabulous self, I joined the club and have loved every second of it. I’m actually thinking about getting a sewing machine soon, too! Aren’t you proud!?!

Yes, Sohira I'm super proud of you!! Thanks for sharing your recipe, I can't wait to try it!

Poolish (the pre-ferment for the Ciabatta)

2 1/2 cups of unbleached bread flour (I use King Arthur)
1 1/2 cups water, room temp
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (I use Red Star)

Stir ingredients together...dough should be soft and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temp. for 3 to 4 hours.

Ciabatta, Poolish version
3 1/4 cups poolish (the entire recipe above)
3 cups unbleached bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
6 tablespoons to 3/4 cup water, lukewarm (I usually use the maximum amount, 3/4 cup)

1. Stir together ingredients. With a large metal spoon (or on low speed with the paddle attachment), mix until form sticky ball. Mix for 5 to 7 minutes (medium speed)
2. Sprinkle enough flour on the counter and stretch and fold dough (hold both ends and stretch, let it rest for 2 minutes, then fold over itself like an envelope).
3. Let rest of 30 minutes. Stretch and fold again, mist with spray oil (I use Pam for baking), dust with flour, and cover. Ferment on the counter for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Set up a couche (I take out a sheet pan, line with parchment paper, and sprinkle corn meal/flour mixture on there, with a crease in the middle to hold 2 loaves). Shape bread (cut in two with a pastry scraper, gently roll both sides of dough in a bit of flour.) and mist with spray oil, dust with flour.
5. Proof for 45 to 60 minutes at room temp
6. Prepare the oven for hearth baking (preheat to 500 degrees)
7. (there are some more directions but it's literally 1/2 a page) After 5 minutes turn temp down to 450 and bake loaf for 15-20 minutes, rotating 180 degrees halfway through.
Cool for 45 before slicing (I TOTALLY ignore this one)

Little Things

2011-02-16T00:11:00.000-05:00

Do you ever find that the little, random events are the things that make you happiest? Or that they are the part of your day you remember best? I love that!

I experienced one of those little things tonight. My LOVE of RENT is no secret. And in the fall I confessed my enjoyment of Glee.

Well....tonight my two loves became one. Rachel and Mercedes had a "diva-off" and as soon as I heard the first notes I was giddy.

I can't find a photo online of the scene

They were singing Take Me or Leave Me from Rent!

John might have some bruises from my consent "can you believe this? are you seeing this?" swats. And yes, I totally sang along.

What little thing has made your day?

Pizzabration

2011-02-14T21:10:00.000-05:00

Today is Valentine's Day, while we don't avoid or ban the holiday it certainly isn't a big deal in this house.

The cookies I brought to school, ala Emily's simple-to-do-but-impressive-looking trick.

Our dinner- homemade pizza with fresh made pesto, a mix of goat and mozzarella cheeses and little pepperoni. Tasty!

How we're spending our evening- toasty fire, Monday night TV.

Was this another Monday for you or a BIG day?!

Joining the Crowd

2011-02-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

When the Silhouette machine rocked the crafting blog world about a year ago, I was impressed. I wanted one, but it was pricier than my crafts budget allows. And then it seemed like all the cool kids had one. The more and more cool projects I saw, and possibilities I learned about, the more I wanted my own.

I held off until their Black Friday deal. As excited as I was to get my own machine, I didn't open the box until mid-January. I guess holiday stuff got in the way.

I have yet to buy any of their art work, vinyl or other products. Right now I'm just playing with the free vinyl and art work or creating my own.

What I've made so far

Above our bed- even with rulers I can't equal space things or make them straight...so I've stopped trying

Highlighting my cute new Mac

A birdie in the kitchen- he has a bit of a flat top because I'm not great at lining up the vinyl with the cutter yet

Chester's Treat Jar- the negative and positive of the same image/cut

Fridge-thinking I might do all different languages to cover the fridge doors but maybe frosted or silver vinyl

Pantry Jars- I wasn't planning for the confectionary sugar (jar on the left) to look like hole reinforcements

Bathroom Window- this is my most sophisticated design so far as I had to resize, rotate and attach the three shapes

Thoughts so far: the vinyl is far more matte than I expected -not sure how I feel about that, I wish there was more detailed and extensive directions - I have a lot of questions, there are many things I'm not sure how to do, letters are difficult to work with or maybe I'm not making them large enough, installing the program was very easy

Up next: get different color vinyl to use on the kitchen aid, front door, and who knowns where else, use some heat transfer products, cut fabric

Do you have a silhouette? Show/tell me what you've made!

Lobstah Love

2011-02-08T07:44:00.000-05:00

I am a Lobstah Loven' girl!

From the Bosten Trip July 2009

I don't know when I fist ate lobster, pretty young I'm sure. All I know is that I love it! And I like it classic- please don't F with my lobster! No fancy sauces, don't put in on pizza, no grilling required. All I need is some drawn butter, the crackers and a pick. I take pride in being able to remove the tail and claw whole. And yes, I do suck out the meat leg- just like my dad taught me!

This fall the Red Hook Lobster food truck opened in DC. It quickly became (wait for it...) legendary. The truck's location was announced daily via Twitter. In fact people waited for an hour in the weekday lunch line. I was dying to go, but I don't work downtown (never mind the fact that my lunch is 35 minutes) and the truck was only open on weekdays.

Finally, they started dishin' up the deliciousness on Saturdays. Last weekend Chester, John and I went on a Lobster hunt (in 6 inches of icy snow). Warning: I was drooling too much to worry about great photos.

John's Maine Style Roll (with mayo)

My Connecticut Style Roll (with drawn butter)

See that roll- I didn't bother with, just used my fingers to taste each yummy bit

The creamy, awesome clam chowda ~~we shared~~ I let John have bite of- love that they gave me oyster crackers

I also enjoyed a hot apple cider! And we split a whoopie pie.

How do you enjoy your lobster?

Super Bowl

2011-02-07T09:06:00.001-05:00

I have little more than a passing intrest in the Super Bowl game. For me the best parts are the commercials and half-time show. Super Bowl food is good stuff too.

Most of this year's commercials were nothing special, in my opinion. My favorite was the Faith Hill spot for Telaflora.

A supposed colleague (the guy in the above shot) asked for her help composing the note attached to flowers he was sending his girlfriend. She advised him to write what was in his heart. His note ended up reading "nice rack".

I thought the half time show was terrific. The best in recent memory. I really like the Black Eyed Peas, and I'm glad they did a nice mix of their older stuff. But for the love of God, what where they wearing?

Not their exact Super Bowl outfits, but close enough. While their lite-brite costumes were distracting, it didn't ruin the show for me. Usher and Slash were nice surprises and the dancing was cool.

I find the Puppy Bowl much more enjoyable than the actual football game. I mean aren't these guys much cuter and more entertaining to watch than some sweaty 300lb dude with too many tats?

And these players aren't looking for a big payday but rather a good home is all they want.

Also more exciting than football (to me)- the return of Glee and the end of football season.

What part of the Big Game do you like best?

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-03T22:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year!! We celebrated with homemade Chinese food for dinner.

Skirt steak, water chestnuts and broccoli sautéed in sake sauce. John did a great job!

We've gone though at least 3 bottels of this Williams-Sonoma Sake sauce. My favoriate use- mixed into hamburger mixture.

Did you celebrate?

All Around

2011-02-02T10:04:00.001-05:00

Yarn wreaths are all around the blog world. Lauren made two and earned bonus points for a fancy shaped one, Leigh made one for her dining room shelves. And for some reason I've been on a wreath making kick lately.....so naturally I made one.

It is not at all complicated- clearly. However, it did take more time than I expected- 1 hour to wrap the batting, 4 hours for the yarn.

Step 1 ~ Wrap batting around a wreath form. Notes: I used tacky glue- too lazy for the glue gun, use scrap batting-mine was multiple randomly sized/shaped pieces, any type of wreath form (vine, floral, foam,etc.) works-this was laying around, it was supposed to be a black feather one for Halloween Why? It gives the wreath more "fullness" and a rounder, curvier shape.

Doesn't Chester look cute all framed?

Step 2 ~ Wrap the yarn. Notes: I used tacky glue- too lazy for the glue gun, the whole skein was too cumbersome to work with so I wound and cut little balls to work with, I did two "coats" Why? The first was to make it (kind of) straight, the second was to give full coverage and texture.

Step 3 ~ Add embellishments. I made the flowers from this site- she has some pretty cool yarn wreaths too. Notes: again, too lazy for the glue gun, make some practice flowers and extras to try different size, the pearls were stickers (that I added glue to) in the Michael's dollar section

I need to get a wide ribbon to hang it from

Should I add a larger purple above the gray one? Or maybe a smaller cluster on the upper left hand side (like the 9-10:00)?

There are endless options, it is super addictive, and cheap to boot. I might need to make more- different seasons, different holidays.

As an aside, I really wanted to make a holly berry (marron and champagne colors) but I can't find any stems. Is it really a Christmas exclusive item? Annoying.

What's hanging on your door today?

Snow Day Bake-Off

2011-02-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to have a snow days last Thur. and Fri. While I did about 6 hours of work, because I'm a dedicated teacher, I also spent a fair amount of time lounging in my pjs while watching movies, and surfing blogs (found some great new ones). While clicking-around I stumbled on two tasty looking cake recipes. So without pausing to think, "I have no idea for two large cakes, especially when snow-stuck", I made them.

Number One ~ Applesauce Cake via Erin

Clearly a Monkey Bread pan is not the same as a bunt pan. The cake was good, not too sweet kind of like a spice or carrot cake. I think it would be good for a brunch. My slight recipe changes- since I didn't have chunky applesauce, I used 1 cup cinnamon applesauce then 1 cup apple butter (did you know in the South apple butter doesn't actually have butter in it?).

And for the recorde this is why I don't show many pictures of my cooking

it isn't pretty.

The blogger of this next recipe does a great job of taking "pretty" baking photos. I don't have the patience.

Number Two ~ Peanut Butter Kandy Kake from Shannanigans who was guest posting for Erin.
Got all that?!

stupid blogger won't let me rotate

This one was good, but maybe because we didn't grow up with TastyKakes but we found it too rich and heavy. Almost too hard to eat at room temp.

So what, do you ask, did I do with all that cake? Well some of the Applesauce cake became Snow Day cake I shared at school on Fri. Then half of the Peanut Butter cake went, with slices of Applesauce cake, to our neighbors.

How do you spend your snow days?

How Would You Measure Up?

2011-01-31T08:03:00.000-05:00

If you are willing to let me step on a soapbox to share an opinion please read on.

Florida Representative Kelli Stargel has introduced a bill were K-3 teachers would be required to grade parents.

The assessment would be based on three criteria: quoted from cnn.com article

"• A child should be at school on time, prepared to learn after a good night's sleep, and have eaten a meal.

• A child should have the homework done and prepared for examinations.

• There should be regular communication between the parent and teacher."

As a teacher (and not a parent), I think this is a fantastic idea! This quote from a Huffingtonpost.com article on the topic does a nice job of explaining the rational

"We have student accountability, we have teacher accountability, and we have administration accountability. This was the missing link, which was, look at the parent and making sure the parents are held accountable."

Teacher accountability and judgment has become a bit unrealistic and unfair. I will be the first to admit that there are teachers who are horrible! Few things (in the world of education) make me angrier than complacent and ineffective educators! They should be publicly named, denounced and have their licenses revoked.

But for every horrific teacher I've worked with there have been two terrific, dedicated teachers. Yet, all the passion, training, and hours in the world can't guarantee students' rate of progress and level of accomplishment. There are many contributing factors- funding, time, parental involvement, early intervention/education, housing, natural aptitude, hunger, language proficiency, health (mental and physical), disAbility, proximity to violence, etc., as hard as I work and as dedicated as I am to my kids, I can't combate all the outside factors. As a special education teacher I have multiple examples which illustrate the point that "all kids can succeed , just in different ways and at different times". And how No Child Left Behind is unrealistic, unfair and harmful to my kids (but that is a different post).

Yet, parents (and lawmakers/politicians) judge us. The harsh judgmental, gossip parents spread- verbally, and more and more frequently in public forms like facebook, is inappropriate. It shows a lack of respect for the time, effort, energy we put into educating their child (and the overall profession).

The sayings about "parents being a child's first teacher"and being a "parent the most important job in the world", are very true and it's time they be assessed. If they want their child to be successful, parents should be doing all in their power to make that a reality.

As a special education teacher I've my share of crazy, unreasonable, unfair and unkind parents. There have also been kind, sweet and appreciative parents. Some parents are unrealistic, others are too involved, some should be more involved. But it is not acceptable for me tell them that in, someways, they might be doing more harm than good.

I would expand on the three criteria outlined in the proposal. Naturally, there needs to be some structure and boundaries to ensure the assessment was conducted in a professional and productive form. I'm also curious about the consequences and remediation for a negative grade.

I doubt the bill will pass, but I think it is an interesting idea that should be explored further.

What do you think?