Creativity & Domesticity

This might be my favorite cake

2011-01-18T21:41:00.000-05:00

For my nephew's 5th birthday party, my sister and I made him a cake. Gavin wanted Cat in the Hat, so we delivered. The cake turned out so great! This was the first cake we've ever decorated with an airbrush set. I felt like I was on Cake Boss. :-)

Using the airbrush was easy. The colors went on fairly even and, for the red stripes anyway, spraying the color was more effective than mixing red food coloring into fondant and cutting out the stripes. We used ribbon to "tape off" the stripes and then outlined them with a black food color marker.

Gavin's party was at the Olympic Fun Center in Hermitage, PA. It's similar to a Chuck E. Cheese because it has arcade games and a play area, but it also has a laser tag area, a roller rink and party rooms. The party rooms must have been painted in the late 80s or early 90s because they are all bright yellow, orange and green. It's a little wild as far as decor goes, but the colors made a fun, colorful backdrop for the cake.

The cake was very tall. I think it was over two feet high. It was also very heavy. Cake weighs a lot!

And, what would a birthday party post be without a picture of the birthday boy?

Gavin & Pokey

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Something to Stare at When Staring at the Wall

2011-01-12T10:32:00.000-05:00

While we do have some artwork and prints on the walls, we also haveve a few bare walls throughout our home. Most of our artwork has been obtained from Goodwill stores, yard sales and auctions. We also have a few wedding photos framed and hung in a few different rooms. I have lots more wedding photos I would love to use, but let's face it, we don't need a million photos of us hanging up everywhere.

I found out on Dealnews.com (best site for bargains--check it out!) that AllPosters.com is having their semi-anual clearance sale with up to 75% off select items. They have lots of art prints on sale in addition to posters. I'm thinking of ordering a few prints for our various bare spots in our house. Shipping is free with a $14.99 or more purchase, so it's a good deal all around.

Here are some I'm thinking about:

This one would look nice in the office or event the bathroom.

B&W Poppy Art Print

I think this could work in our living room or maybe even our bedroom.

Flowers and Vases Print

This would be a nice image to stare at while I'm crafting in the office.

Durdle Door Print

And, I really think this would work well in our bedroom.

Joe Jonas Print

JUST KIDDING!!!!

So, check out the sale if your looking for some new art. With the low prices, you could pick up some thrift store frames and have some very inexpensive, great-looking art for any room in your house.

A special birthday cake

2011-01-09T23:39:00.001-05:00

My husband's birthday is a few days before Christmas. Because of the holidays and the last minute shopping, wrapping and cookie baking, it's the unfortunate truth the his birthday isn't always celebrated to the extent it should be (I'm a bad wife, I know!) I wanted to turn that around this year. He deserved a proper birthday and I was set on delivering.

For starters, I let him pick the restaurant for a birthday dinner. He chose a high-recommended steak house on Pittsburgh's North Shore, so I made the reservation. Dinner was amazing! We both loved our meals (filet mignon and crab cakes) and the restaurant had a great atmosphere.

For another part of his birthday celebration, I decided to make him a cake. I always feel bad that I make other people cakes, but have yet to make a fun birthday cake for him. I asked him what he wanted (something simple--white cake, coconut filling, buttercream, no fondant and Pitt) and got to work. Here is the end result:

I thought the Pitt logo in the school colors would be perfect. He really liked how the cake looked, but I think he liked how it tasted even better.

If you want to try the coconut cream cheese filling, here's my recipe. This has quickly become a favorite for cakes I'm making for family and friends. It is so good!

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting/Filling

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until fluffy.
Add the confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream.
Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring and vanilla.
Beating until mixture is smooth.
Add additional confectioners' sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin.

Time to pick up the sticks

2011-01-03T23:58:00.000-05:00

I know a couple of ladies who will be having babies in the next few months. My go-to gift has become knitted baby blankets. I just bought some yarn and I'm anxious to start on my favorite blanket pattern. The next blanket I'll be making is for a boy. After using a non-traditional tweedy yarn in a taupe color for a recent baby girl blanket, I really think stepping outside of the pastel pink, blues, yellows and greens makes for a unique, heirloom-quality piece.

The mom-to-be mentioned her nursery theme and said there were different shades of blue in the palette. When I was out shopping at Pat Catan's, I came a cross this yarn in a really mutted shade of blue.

Vanna's Choice in Dusty Blue by Lion Brand

I really like the color and the feel of this yarn. I really think the color will transition well from infant age through the terrible two's and beyond.

So, now I just have to locate my #9 circulars and get started. I think her due date is in April, so the shower has to be right around the corner.

Upgrade!

2011-01-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to me! One of my Christmas presents from my husband was a the iPhone 4. I thought I needed to upgrade my 3G, but didn't want to do it around the holidays. Spending the extra money this time of year just didn't make sense. I didn't ask for an upgrade, but Chris is pretty awesome for picking this up for me. He was super sneaky and wrapped it in an alarm clock box, which I also asked for. I was very surprised.

I am in love with the retina display, 5-megapixel camera (which should improve some of my on-the-fly shots I take for the blog), and the HD video capabilities. And, Angry Birds is so much better on the iPhone 4!

A Clean Slate

2011-01-01T23:50:00.002-05:00

2011. It's really hard to think that 2010 is already over. While the past year brought many wonderful moments, there were also some less-than stellar experiences.

I may have appeared to be absent from blogging for the last few months, but I remained active in my writing. After some work and health-related issues caused me to feel defeated and withdrawn, and probably slightly depressed, I discovered the beauty of making blog posts "private" from the eyes of the world. In a way, I felt guilty for keeping things to myself. I know there are people, either those who already read or may potentially stumble across this blog, who might relate or be a sounding board for advice and opinions on my struggles, but I also felt that enlisting privacy on my writing gave me a personal therapy release that was more important to my mental well-being.

I've thought about making those posts public, but ultimately feel that keeping them to myself is what would be best for me. I'm ready to move on from the places my blogging has taken me, so I'm starting 2011 with a clean slate.

I'm not one to make resolutions with the new year. I like to think of myself as a goal-oriented person. To me, making a resolution is deciding to make a change. When you resolve to do something, you change your direction. When you set a goal, it's deciding to work towards something that will improve your current state. I think the reason most people fail at their resolutions is because it's hard to change and there is a lot of self-pressure, which can make a resolution quickly turn into a negative. The good thing about a goal is that they don't have to be finite--you can work towards a goal throughout your entire life. It doesn't really matter when you meet your goals, just that you see them through. And, when you set a goal for yourself, you give yourself something to look forward to and it gives you hope.

With my clean slate, I'm going to set some new goals for myself. Because sharing them keeps me accountable, here are my goals (which are not necessarily goals for the year):

1. Organize. I'm not a terribly unorganized person, but I could use some improvement in this area. Mostly, I would like to organize my craft room/office and our basement. We've done a good job of keeping a clutter-free house with the exception of those two areas.

2. Start grad school. I've always wanted to get my Master's degree and I think next summer or fall would be the time to get to it. I'm leaning towards taking online courses through the school my husband works for (can you say tuition discount?!?) because I want the flexibility, but I'm also worried that I won't have the discipline. When I start, I'll probably just start out with one class and see how it goes.

3. Catch up at work. The quick and dirty of my work situation is that the company where I worked since college, all seven years of my professional career, closed it's doors on September 30th. Fortunately, I was able to find a job immediately and was only off work for a week. There are some aspects of my new job that are foreign territory for me, but I am trying to learn as fast as I can. The learning curve, along with the to-do list that was waiting for me at the start, has left me to feel like I'm on the defense with my projects. I want to get to a place where I feel caught up so I can approach my job from more of an offensive perspective. I think I'll be most effective once I get to that place.

4. Try new recipes. I'm always trying new recipes, so I guess this isn't a new goal. I do, however, want to do a better job of documenting my cooking because I'm always tweaking recipes. I've always wanted to make a personal cookbook through Blurb or MyPublisher, so I'd have all of my favorite recipes all in one place in a nice, bound book with pictures and notes.

5. Create opportunities to be creative. I need to make more room in my life for my creative outlets. Whether it's knitting, scrapbooking, cake decorating, home decorating, writing, singing, sewing or photography, I want to continue to be creative and improve on my skills. I want to push myself to learn more and to try new things.

6. Put more into my blog. I'd love to update the content more often. I'd love to maybe start a blog just for all of the things I wrote about on private settings. I'd love to get a blog design makeover. Oh, and I'd love to finish blogging out our wedding--which can happen now that I got the rest of my photos from my photographer when I picked up my album last week. I'd also like to be more interactive on other blogs. I think I follow some great bloggers and I would like to make my presence on their sites a little more known by being a more active commenter.

7. Read books. I have a lot of books laying around just waiting to be read. I pick most of them up at yard sales and thrift stores, so I get them pretty cheap. Not paying much for them makes me want to buy more and leaves me with no sense of urgency to read them. I got my husband a Kindle for Christmas. He really likes it and, no surprise, I like it, too! I think I want one, but I need to read more to justify it.

So, that's it. These are the goals I'm putting on my plate, sans deadlines. But, here's hoping at least some of them can be achieved in 2011.

Cake Makin'

2010-07-23T11:16:00.001-04:00

The last few months have brought some first, paid cakes for my sister and I. We have been making cakes for a few years now, mostly for our nieces' and nephews' birthdays, family events and church functions. Through a few referrals, we've been approached to make cakes for a baby shower, a wedding and a first birthday party.

Last weekend, we baked and decorated the wedding cake and it turned out looking great. (I was told it tasted good, too!)

The couple wanted a simple, fondant covered cake with purple ribbons. They wanted it to look similar to the card box they made and they gave use some artificial flowers and petals to use for the display.

Their cake topper was simple and elegant and a simple cake design complimented it nicely.

The baby shower was back in June and, for the cake, we were just told "it's going to be a boy, so put some blue on it." He had some fun with it.

The giraffe was modeled from fondant mixed with tylose powder. (a hardening agent)

We also made some iPhone app cupcakes for our oldest sister's May birthday. She was attending a meeting for app developers on the day of her birthday and made the request for these. Some of the cupcakes were custom made for apps designed by those in attendance. They were a big hit!

And I made some floral-themed, fondant-covered cupcakes for Mother's Day.

I'm really excited about the recent business. We've been wanting to make a cake business/home bakery official for a while and are in the process of making that happen. I've been thinking of some potential business names and brainstorming some ideas for marketing our services. The pieces are falling into place! :-)

Adventures in Gardening

2010-07-22T11:07:00.001-04:00

I never really showed an interest in gardening until this year. My parents always had huge gardens and I hated having to help them weed. To me, gardens always meant too much work. When we bought the house, I thought it might be nice to try growing a container garden with a couple tomato plants and a few peppers. I bought some large pots and vegetable-friendly potting soil, then figured I would pick up a few plants the next time I was at Lowe's or Home Depot.

One Friday, when the Mr. and I were at a large flea and farmer's market in Rogers, Ohio, we purchased a flat of vegetable plants for $12. This was way more plants than what would fit in my containers and pots, but I thought that maybe I could plant a few among the landscaping and see what would happen. We got Roma and Beefsteak tomatoes, red, yellow and green bell peppers, hot banana peppers, red chili peppers, and one each of cucumber and zucchini plants. After thinking it through, and potting a few plants, I asked my dad to use is rototiller to prep a small garden space behind our garage. I had low expectations for our garden since I did nothing to prep the soil, but I figured it would be worth a shot at growing more plants since I'd only be out the $12. I still didn't have enough room to plant everything, but I got a nice mix of vegetables in and they started to grow.

I picked up a couple of herbs (basil, parsley & mint) and some more pots and we were well on our way to becoming green thumbs.

Since then, I've seen a lot of growth in my garden. This hasn't been without a few losses. We have squirrels and rabbits that created some damage early on, but things are really starting to produce. I've learned some things along the way and am already thinking about changes I'll make for next year's garden.

Just yesterday, I noticed that our tomato plants are starting to turn. Check this out!

This is a Beefsteak.

And we are starting to see some color changes in the Romas.

Right now, in all of my bell pepper plants, I have four tiny peppers. There are lots of flowers, so we are expecting a few more.

The banana peppers are really taking off! I have already picked two of them and there are lots more on the way.

So far, we've only had one zucchini, but I know these plants are big producers. We are expecting lots and lots more!

And lastly, here are some chili peppers growing nicely in one of my pots.

I don't have pictures of my cucumbers, but they are super small right now (about the size of a pinky finger). The basil and mint is also doing well in the pots. The parsley, sadly, was lost due to bunnies.

For the garden, I laid some black plastic to eliminate my need for weeding. So far, it has served me well, but I will have to watch my plants closely as we enter into the hotter months to be sure the roots aren't suffering from heat damage. I might try mulch next year.

It looks like we are going to have lots of ripe, red tomatoes soon and that makes me pretty happy! I figured I'd be lucky to get a few veggies and it looks like I'll be getting a decent amount. I'm also really excited about the hot peppers. I love hot peppers!

The Big Kitchen Reveal

2010-07-12T14:44:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry if I teased you with a sneak peek of our little kitchen and then slacked off with posting some more pictures. The good news is that today is your lucky day! We had an open house with a small group of family and friends on the Fourth of July and I finally got the kitchen/dining room looking presentable and somewhat decorated. So, that means there are some pictures to share with you!

First up, let's not forget where we've been:

A kitchen in this bad of shape left little to be desired.

And paneling so ugly, it had to be removed. Heck, this entire wall needed to go.

The tiny dining room seemed so dark and cramped. That paneling wall is what's on the other side of the fridge photo above.

And carpeting in the kitchen? Very bad. This whole space was very bad. The only answer was to completely gut and start over.

So, we got to work. On demolition day (back in August of 2009) we started the transformation.

Goodbye paneling wall! That's my dad getting down to business. Notice how bad the floor was under the carpeting. We found a layer of tile under the carpet, which was applied directly on top of our hardwood with some type of tar glue.

The cabinets all came down, along with all the paneling. (Chris' mom got in on the demolition action.) Nice hole in the ceiling, huh? Turns out, the previous owner had some plumbing problems in the upstairs bathroom and whoever she contracted to fix it just hammered a hole in the ceiling to access the pipes. She patched it herself by placing cardboard from a pizza box in the hole and covering it with what we believed to be spray foam. That was a fun discovery.

And then, with the wall down and the paneling gone, we got to work chiseling the tile off the hardwood.

Over the next several months, our kitchen received new drywall on both the walls and the ceiling.

My father-in-law installed a bulkhead.

And then he started to install our cabinets and counter tops.

The floor in the kitchen was tiled and Chris and I sanded and refinished the hardwood in the dining area (and everywhere else in the house!)

And I got busy painting the cabinets, which were purchased on eBay. Thanks to Edie at Life in Grace, I was inspired by how great painted cabinets can look!

Things started to fall into place after we painted the rooms, installed subway tile and had appliances delivered.

Thanks for hanging with me! Sorry to drag this on, but I thought you might appreciate the next series of pictures more if you saw what all was done to get it looking this way.

So, here goes! Our ugly little kitchen was transformed into a bright, beautiful space. We still have some more to do, but for now, I am in love!

Being that Chris & I are both tall, having a refrigerator with a bottom freezer made a lot of sense. We love it! Having our food at eye level is super convenient.

The subway tile turned out great! I was a little worried about white tile with white cabinets, but I'm so happy we went this route.

Here's a close-up of the tile job. My father-in-law did a great job.

With the wall removed between the kitchen and dining room, the space is much more open and bright. I'm a huge fan of the poppy and aqua color combination made popular by Martha Stewart. I really like how the white kitchen really makes the little red and blue accents pop.

I love my little "baking center." The shelf was purchased at Cracker Barrel, of all places. I bought it when we stopped for breakfast on our way to Cleveland to get the eBay cabinets because I loved the color. I'm still debating what to hang on the wall on either side of the shelf. I may try and pick up some red-handled antique kitchen utensils.

I hang my measuring spoons and baking utensils from the hooks on the sides. My flower sifter is on the top and the mason jars, given to me by my mother, hold our flour, oatmeal and powdered sugar. Cupcake liners and cookie cutters are stashed in the drawer. I keep sprinkles in the jars next to the sugar tin, which was a Hobby Lobby clearance steal at $1.80!

The cupcake print was purchased on sale at Joann's. It came in that frame and I only paid $7.99. I love how the colors coordinate with other decor elements in the room.

Our built-in shelf, which was a window at one point long before we owned the house, still needs a little decorative assistance. For now, it displays my serving dishes and a few plants given to me by my sister out our open house.

Those baskets are great for hiding the little stuff I don't use very often, like our gravy boat, sugar & creamer set and some candles.

On the opposite side, I have a small shelf and a mirror made from an old window. You can kind of see our dishwasher (black part of the peninsula counter). I was part of the eBay kitchen and we made an offer on it while we were there removing the cabinets. I'm so happy we have a dishwasher! (Who wouldn't be, right?) It seems to blend in well because it's black, but one day I hope to replace it with a stainless model to match the rest of the appliances. For now, it works and doesn't look too bad. That's good enough for me!

The mirror was purchased at Goodwill for $5. I bought the shelf at a yard sale for $2 and painted it. It's the perfect size for this space and gives us some much needed storage for glassware and a couple serving pieces. This wall still needs some more decorations.

Just for the fun of it, here is the shelf before I painted it. Paint is like a magic wand.

Here's a good shot of our light fixture, with the lights out for a better look. It was purchased at Lowe's and installed by me. Electric work is a little scary, but you can do it! Just be sure to kill the circuit breaker! The artwork in the dining area (can I call it a dining room?) is also from Joann's.

And here are our floors! A tremendous amount of hard work was put into these, but it was worth the effort! I'm still amazed by how good the wood looks. I was so discouraged when we saw the tile beneath the carpet. My dad told me the sander would make it better. He was right! The kitchen tile is ceramic and we chose it in a slate color to coordinate with the counters.

My kitchen makes me so happy! Lots of cakes and cupcakes will be made here!

We moved into our house in April. I told you I was a big slacker with posting pictures! Although, hanging stuff on the walls was one of the things we didn't do until last week, after deciding to host the open house. I think that after patching so many holes, we were a little hammer shy when it came to putting any new nails in the walls. It's amazing how hanging a framed print or some curtains can really dress up a space and make it look more finished.

Things we still have to do in this space include:

Find a corner hutch for the dining area
Add some more decorative elements for the walls and shelves
Finish sewing the curtains for both windows. I bought some aqua-ish blue fabric, but ran out of time before the open house.
Purchase new stools and dining chairs. The current stools were picked up by Chris' mom at a rummage sale and the dining table and chairs came from my parents' neighbors. Er, umm...from my parents' neighbors' junk pile on neighborhood clean-up day. Yeah, that's how we roll!

And, here's a little breakdown on some of the details:

Cabinets - purchased on eBay (I won the auction by 3 cents!) and painted with Ace Hardware's Cabinet and Trim paint in Contemporary White. (This paint is amazing! Our cabinets have a smooth, brushstroke-free finish.)
Appliances - All from Sears. The fridge is LG and the stove and microwave are Frigidaire Gallery.
Paint - Walls are "Linen" and trim/shelves are "String of Pearls". Both are by Valspar from Lowe's
Subway tile back splash and ceramic floor tile - Home Depot
Light fixtures - Lowe's

Thanks for checking out this extremely long and picture-heavy post! I'm super proud of all the hard work we did and of how we were able to complete the whole project on a limited budget. Our only splurge was the stainless appliances, and I think they were worth it! Of course, we would never have been able to do all of this alone. Our parents, especially Chris' dad, were amazing in helping with everything!

I'm planning on doing some posts very soon on my little vegetable garden and also on the buffet of mini desserts I put together for the open house. So, stay tuned for yummy treats! And, of course, I'll have to get around to taking some photos of the rest of the house.

We celebrated one year!

2010-05-27T16:30:00.001-04:00

Monday was a momentous occasion for us----we celebrated our first wedding anniversary! We've been through a lot in the last year. But no matter what life gave us, we took each challenge as an opportunity to grow together in love and as a couple. We celebrated the day by enjoying a fancy dinner at The Capital Grille in the 'Burgh and then went home to enjoy the top tier of our wedding cake.

For those of you that don't know, my sister and I made my wedding cake. It was a hybrid of real and fake tiers with sheet cakes being served from the kitchen. Our top tier was a decorated cake dummy. In order for us to do the traditional wedding cake sampling on our anniversary, I had to make a replica of our cake as a substitute for the fake one.

Here's how it turned out:

Courtesy of my iPhone---sorry for the poor lighting.

And, for comparison sake, a shot of the original:

At the request of my Mr., the anniversary cake was fondant-covered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and filling. It was yummy! I tweaked the recipe I've used in the past and swapped out some of the fresh grated carrots for a few jars of carrot baby food. This intensified the flavor and made it very moist. I was really impressed with how it tasted.

I know some couples enjoy eating their frozen tier, but fresh-baked cake is better than frozen any day. Ours was delicious!

Here is the recipe, in case any of you are interested:

CAKE:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 ts salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 lg eggs; at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots (swapped with four 4-ounce jars carrot baby food)
One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple; well drained
3/4 cups chopped walnuts (I omit these because I don't like them)
1/2 cup raisins

FROSTING:

8 ounces cream cheese; at room temperature
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter; at room temperature
1 tbsp. half-and-half or milk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar (1 pound)

Directions

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 13 x 9-inch baking pan, tapping out the excess flour. Sift the flour,baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the carrot baby food. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and mix until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the pineapple, chopped walnuts, and raisins. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake until the top springs back when pressed lightly in the center, about 1 hour. Cool completely in the pan on a wire cake rack.

To make the frosting:

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, half-and-half, and almond and vanilla extracts until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar.

Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Cut into 15 pieces. If desired, garnish each piece of cake with a walnut half.

Copy Cat Pizza Hut

2010-05-27T10:29:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you can't imitate an original, but sometimes you can---and it turns out tasting very yummy!

The other day, I made copy cat Pizza Hut Pan Pizza and I was thrilled with the results!

Here is the recipe I used.

From cdkitchen:

Pizza Hut Original Pan Pizza Recipe

Ready in: 1-2 hrs

Serves/Makes: 4

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup Warm water (105F)
1/4 cup Non-fat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 pk. Dry yeast
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil (for dough)
9 ounces Vegetable oil (3 oz. per pan)
Butter flavored Pam

Directions:
Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large (2 qt.) bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans, put 3 Oz. of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans. Spray the outer edge of dough with Pam. Cover with a plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
For Each Nine Inch Pizza:
1. Preheat oven to 475F

2. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge.

3. Distribute 1 1/2 Oz. shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce.

4. Place toppings of your choice in this order: Pepperoni or Ham Vegetables Meats (cooked ground sausage or beef)

5. Top with 3 Oz. mozzarella cheese

6. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown.

If you click on the link above for the recipe, you can get the details on making the sauce. I just used a bottle of store bought. (I am lazy!)

I swapped some of the flour for whole wheat (about 1.5 cups) to make it a little healthier. I used two 8" cake pans on one 10" pan because that is what I had on hand and I used way less oil to coat them than the recipe calls for. The pizza did take a little bit of a time investment with all the kneading and rising, but it was worth it. We both really enjoyed this recipe!

Kitchen Sneak Peek!

2010-04-22T11:43:00.000-04:00

It's been a rough few days, so I thought I'd share a little sneak peek of our kitchen. Sharing cheers me up! I have a few more little things to do in here before I take some more pictures. I hope this iPhone photo isn't too dark.

Appliances are Frigidaire Gallery from Sears

Cabinets, purchased used from ebay, are painted white with Ace Hardware's Cabinet, Door and Trim Paint

Subway tile is from Home Depot

Everything on the counter is from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's

Setbacks

2010-04-20T17:26:00.000-04:00

Setbacks suck. And we've had our share of them during operation house rehab. Saturday morning, we were gearing up for a day-long wait for the cable company to FINALLY, between the hours of 8:00 and 4:00, install our cable and internet. (oh, how I've missed you internet!) I really wanted pancakes and I really wanted to make them on our new electric griddle. The griddle was in the basement on the storage shelf, so down the stairs I went.

The crummy part of this story starts when I tell you I sleepily took that last step down and found my foot in four inches of water. Lucky us. We hit the sewage water line backup lottery two weeks after moving in. What a crappy way to start our Saturday. Thankfully, the backup was in a clean water sewage pipe and did not cause our actually sewage to fill our basement. Just water. Lots and lots of water.

We were assessing the damage and calling in reinforcements by the time the cable guy showed up. When does a cable guy ever show up at 8:00 am when they give you an eight hour window? Just our luck again, right? He initially said the install would not be a problem. He only had to check the wires in the basement and he was wearing waterproof shoes. Twenty minutes later, he tells us his supervisor recommends he not do the work because of the water. Fair enough, cable guy. But if you wouldn't have arrived on time (as is your reputation) we'd have time to get rid of the water before you got there.

Anyway, the reinforcements came by way of a well-connected brother-in-law with a drain cleaning snake he borrowed from a plumber he knows. After a few minutes of running the machine, the clog was found (old rag from who knows what decade) and the water receded.

Our Saturday of painting the hallways and various doors throughout the house turned into a day of sorting through the wet mess that was all the junk in our basement. We were really lucky to have very little damage to the contents of the basement. Most of the items down there were building materials from the remodel just waiting for a dumpster rental. Our washer and dryer are on a higher-sloped part of the floor, so they only got about two inches of water---not enough to do anything because they were sitting on small blocks. We ended up clearing out the entire basement and moving it to the garage. We had been planning to clean all of this eventually, so I guess being forced to do it earlier than planned isn't all that bad. We are hoping to get a dumpster in the next week or two so all of this stuff can be out of our way for good.

Setbacks still suck, whether they mess you up for a month or for a day, or whether they cost you thousands or nothing. On a scale of one to ten, this one would probably be an eight--minimal damage and cost, but several straight hours of hard work.

Oh. And I never did get those pancakes.

Favorites

2010-04-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

We've been busy settling into the house and tackling the remaining improvement projects. While I'm jumping right into the housekeeping and homemaking, there are ten products that I absolutely love and want to share with all of you.

1. The Shark 2-in-1 Cordless Stick Vac and Handheld Vacuum Cleaner. We have hardwood or tile floors throughout the house and have low-pile area and accent rugs here and there. Since we don't have pets or kids, we didn't really see the need for a big, cumbersome vacuum cleaner. I wanted something lightweight, cordless and capable of sucking the dirt off our our floors and the Shark 2-in-1 works perfectly.

I like how I can vacuum the whole house on one charge and how it is great for quick pick-ups here and there. I also like the conversion to a hand-held vacuum. It's not the easiest conversion, but it works fine and does it's job. For the money, this vacuum is so much better than the old broom and dust pan.

2. Gold Canyon Candles. A few years ago, my mom, sisters and I went to a candle party where I reluctantly purchased two small candles due to the guilt one gets from attending a home candle party. I was skeptical, but when I received them I was surprised by how clean they burned and how great they smelled. I like them so much that I was hesitant to burn them more for fear of using them completely before I could order more. That same year, I held a candle party of my own right before Christmas and earned about $250 in free products. (It was the demonstrator's best party to date.) Fast forward and now one of my sisters is a demonstrator and my family has turned into candle snobs. If it's not Gold Canyon, we aren't buying or burning it. They are a better product and better value than Yankee and PartyLite and they come in a wide variety of delicious scents.

My most recent purchase was Grass. This candle is spring in a jar. It smells so good and so much like a fresh-mowed lawn. Love it!

The company also sells great candle holders and care products. Their wick trimmer is a must for any candle lover---seriously, go buy one!

3. Gold Canyon's Homeology Cleaning Products. After professing my love for their candles, how could I not profess my love for their line of plant-based cleaning products. My favorite is the floor cleaner because it smells amazing and it makes our hardwood floors look so shiny. I just spray it directly on the floor and then use a Swiffer with a dry cloth to "mop."

The all purpose and glass cleaner also have nice fragrances and work wonders. I just purchased the all natural cleanser (it is similar to Comet, but smells way better and is plant based.) The products are a little on the pricey side compared to other cleaning products, but they last a long time and are green. Purchase from my sister's site here.

4. Martha Stewart Collection 6-Piece Multi-Colored Melamine Bowl Set. Who ever though mixing bowls could be so fun? I received these as a wedding shower gift, but they came from Macy's. I love the colors, the sizes and how easy they are to clean. These bowls make my kitchen happy.

5. Potato Peeler. I don't know the proper name or brand for this, but I got it as a shower gift from a cousin who works at the Kitchen Collection. I'm not a huge fan of peeling potatoes, but doing the deed with this little guy made it more enjoyable. I mean, how can you not smile a little when you use this little guy to peel the spuds? I even received a matching potato brush--too cute!

6. Hamilton Beach Smiley Mixing Spoons. Again, got these as a shower gift and they came from the Kitchen Collection. They are literally my happy spoons. (and I refer to them as such.) They are fun, colorful and I like them. That's enough for me!

7. Scroll Banana Hanger. I purchased this functional and decorative item at Kohl's. The Mr. really wanted one and this one looked pretty, so I bought it. It keeps our bananas fresh and yellow longer. It also helps to keep the bananas in view so we eat them. We can put a big bunch of bananas on this thing and they'll stay good for about a week. Setting them on the counter could never give us the same result.

8. Bounty Quilted Napkins. The Mr. is a paper towel waster. This is a tough habit to break him of because he uses paper towels for everything. I found that buying cheaper paper towels just meant that he would used more than one at a time. I've decided that, despite the price, Bounty paper towels are necessary. While shopping in the paper goods aisle at Giant Eagle the other day, I found Bounty Quilted Napkins on sale, so I picked up two packages.

These napkins are basically folded paper towels, but they are cheaper per sheet and effective enough for a paper-towel-loving husband to use for little spills without wasting the paper towels. I'm still working on getting him to use dish towels to clean up water splashes and to dry plates and pans, but until then, the napkins are an economical stepping stone.

9. Plain Jane White Dinner Plates. I don't remember what brand ours our (they were a wedding gift) but they are just your basic rimmed white plates. They are classic and will never go out of style. I love how colorful and appetizing our food looks when we use them and it's an added bonus that they go with everything. I'm looking forward to how they'll adapt to different holiday decor ideas. They provide a clean canvas for tablescapes and dining room decorations. I love them!

10. Fire King Jadite Mixing Bowl. I purchased my mixing bowl at a flea market last summer and it is, by far, my most favorite thing in my kitchen. I have always loved Jadite, but never bought any before. When I saw this bowl, I new it had to be mine. Thus, the collection began. One day, I will have cupboards filled with Jadite plates and bowls and will serve dinner on them daily. I would love to have a display of unique kitchen serverware and containers made of Jadite. So far, Etsy and ebay have been my go-to places to search for great additions for my collection. This bowl is my favorite piece so far and I love that I can use it for everyday mixing and serving. (The Mr. likes to use it as a popcorn bowl.)

So, now that you've seen my list, what are some of your favorite things to use around the house?

Full disclosure: I have not been compensated in any way to review or promote the products mentioned above.

Refinishing our floors Pt. 2

2010-04-08T11:51:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know. This blog has been severely neglected over the last month. But, I do have a VERY good reason. It involves this:

Yes! We moved in! FINALLY! There is still so much more to do (and still more stuff to pack and move), but the place is livable and we are slowly settling in.

I want to finish a few things before I take pictures of our kitchen, bedroom, living room, dining area, bathroom and other areas to share with the internets. In the mean time, I figured I could give you a run down of the rest of our floor refinishing project.

After we sanded all the floors, we removed all the dust from the rooms. We wiped down the walls, the trim and any nook and cranny where dust might settle. For the floors, we first swept them with a broom, then followed with a shop vac.

Just to be sure we got everything, we went over the entire floor with a tack cloth. Any dust left behind could end up settling in the poly coat, making the floor feel rough. We wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

We tried a few different brands and really liked the ones made by 3M. We found them at Ace Hardware.

The next step was to cover the floors with a few coats of polyurethane to protect them and give them that purdy, glossy shine. We decided not to stain them because we wanted the look of the natural wood to show as much as possible.

For our floors, we used a water-based poly. We picked water-based over oil-based because we wanted something that was fast-drying and low on odor. Oil-based polys are more durable, but really stink up the place, take longer to fully cure and aren't as easy to clean up.

We bought this at Home Depot for about $38 a bottle. I think we used four of five bottles to do all of the wood floors in the house. That's six rooms and the stairs.

The first coat went on quickly. We did it mop-style by using a Water Wiz attached to a pole. We bought those at Home Depot, too.

We applied the poly with the grain and were careful to work our way out of each room by starting in the corner farthest from the door.

The polyurethane looked like watered down Elmer's glue, was a little cloudy during the application and dried clear. We put it in a paint pan to make it easier to load our applicator.

To cover the areas where the applicator wouldn't reach, or to smooth out any drips or poly build up, we used a small paint brush.

After the first coat completely dried (we let it go overnight), we had to sand the floors again. The reason was that the bare wood expands and the grain rises when it absorbs the polyurethane. The floor was very rough after the first coat and sanding is standard practice.

We used 220 grit sandpaper and did the work through a combination of hand sanding and using a small palm sander. We sanded lightly along the grain until the result was a smooth finish.

Then, it was a repeat of the dust removal process. There wasn't much dust to clean up, but we still swept, ran the shop vac and used a tack cloth. Dust is bad!

As you could assume, we used the same techniques as the first coat when we added two more coats of polyurethane. With the water-based poly, we didn't have to sand between coats as long as we did them within six hours of each other. The floors dried enough to walk on in about an hour, so we jumped right into both coats in one evening.

The floors had to cure for a few days before we could move in furniture. We probably let them sit for about a week just to give them plenty of time to cure.

The results are fabulous! I am so tickled pink with how nice our floors turned out! I love them!

Oooooh...shiny!

It's a big change from what they were before.

The dining room floor after one pass of the drum sander. The edges hadn't been sanded at this point, but you can see how bad the floors were when we pulled up the carpet.

I'm really proud of the work we did on the floors, but don't get me wrong---it kicked our butts! Especially the sanding part. That is some hard labor. But, it's so nice to have beautiful hardwood floors throughout our house! I love the warm, welcoming feeling they provide and the small monetary investment of DIY floor refinishing (which for us, it was about $500 in sandpaper, rentals, supplies and materials) was more than worth it. Carpeting or professional refinishing services would never have been as affordable.

Did I mention how much I love the floors?!?!?

Shopping for appliances

2010-03-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

We needed a refrigerator. We also needed a microwave/rangehood combo. We really didn't need a new range. We have an older one that was my parents', but (there's always a "but") because I love to bake, I wanted a decent range. We weighed the options and decided to just buy everything new. These are items we will use just about every day, so it's worth it to have new, functional appliances in our kitchen.

Sears was having a great sale on all appliances for Presidents' Day Weekend, so we went to check it out. When we got there, they didn't have the fridge with bottom-mount freezer that caught our eye online in stock at the store. We browsed the rest of the display models, but nothing quite sparked interest. We headed over to the ranges and saw a few nice ones in our price range. At this point, we were discussing which color to get. We already have a used dishwasher in black and our cabinets will be painted white. We weren't too sure about white appliances and white cabinets, so we ruled that out. The bottom line on choosing between black or stainless was the price. Going with black would have saved us a few hundred dollars.

Notice how I used "would have"? :-) We splurged a little and went with stainless! Yay! I love the look of it and I think it will look great in our tiny kitchen. Black would have looked OK, too, but we made our decision because over the life of the appliances, spending a few hundred dollars isn't really a big deal and they will look so much nicer!

So, do you want to see what we picked out?

Kitchen Appliances on Polyvore.com

The refrigerator is by LG and range and microhood are Frigidaire Gallery. All should be delivered shortly!

I don't think our black dishwasher will look too bad with the stainless. It's old and, if it craps out on us, we can get a new one in a stainless finish. I'm also looking into swapping out the front panel of the dishwasher with a stainless one or experimenting with some stainless-look appliance paint.

I'm just really happy to have appliances purchased! The kitchen is coming together!

Refinishing our floors Pt. 1: Sanding

2010-02-23T11:49:00.001-05:00

The flooring in our house is hardwood. The entire floor plan was oak and, aside from a few pesky pet stains, the foundation of the floors was decent. We originally planned to refinish the floors in the living room, dining room and the smallest bedroom because they were the worst. After sanding the living room and dining room, we decided to just do all the floors.

Sanding is a tough job. We did the downstairs in a weekend and it completely kicked out butts. It's not that it is a difficult job to do, it's just very labor intensive. We were fortunate enough to have use of my dad's floor sander, purchased at an auction for $5.

Here is the beast in action! This is an older model drum sander, but it works fine. We were able to find the right sandpaper (7" wide) at a local rental store. For our floors, we used the following grits in this order: 20, 36, 80 & 100. They ranged in price from about $1.50 a sheet (100 grit) to about $4 a sheet (20 grit). A 20-grit sheet would pull up the existing finish on about half of a room. We used two or three 36s in each room and only needed one each of the 80s and 100s for a room. The room sizes had a lot to do with how much we used and we had a few new sheets tear or break when we hit a nail or staple we missed during the carpet removal or when we didn't have the paper attached tight enough on the machine. This was frustrating, but I had to keep telling myself that we were saving money by doing this ourselves. Ruining some paper wasn't that big a deal.

OK. On to the actual sanding part! (put your earplugs in!) We loaded the drum sander with 20-grit paper and, since our old machine was missing the dust collector bag, we attached a shop vac hose to the dust blower with duct tape.

For most of the floors, Chris worked the sander. He started on one side of the floor and walked the sander up and down one strip at a time, following the direction of the grain of the wood. At the start, he would gently pivot the sander down onto the floor and move forward at a decent pace. Not too slow, but not too fast. The trick is to keep it moving or else you will gouge the wood where you stop, even if it's for a second. For this reason, we would pivot the sander up at the end of a strip before gently putting it back down and pulling it backwards.

Once one row was sanded, he would go right along side it, slightly overlapping.

After finishing that section of the floor, we turned the machine around to get the other half.

The first pass with the 20 grit was able to remove most of the old finish, but in some trouble areas, we went over them again.

We then used a rented edge sander (loaded with 20-grit paper, too) to get the 3"-4" around the perimeter of the room where the drum sander couldn't reach.

The edge sander is very aggressive. Because it is orbital, the machine pulled to the right. This one had to be moved very quickly to avoid creating swirl marks in the wood and to keep it from taking off too much of the wood at once.

With the corner round removed, we were able to get all of the exposed wood sanded with the use of the edger. In this photo, Chris is moving it side to side with the grain.

The edger was also useful for closets, walkways and other areas where the drum sander couldn't fit.

Once we finished with edging and sanding the entire floor, we swept up the floor, loaded the sanders with 36-grit paper and repeated the whole process. Then, did the same with 80-grit and 100-grit paper.

Since the edger couldn't get into the corners, we used a Black & Decker hand sander with a pointed tip to remove the finish and sand them down.

And, I know what you're thinking: Why is Chris doing all the work? What are you doing, besides taking pictures?

I was holding the hose! We found it was much easier if someone held onto the power cord and shop vac hose because they kept getting in the way.

And I did a lot of the edge sanding. I just don't have pictures of that. Chris did let me do the final few passes on the upstairs floors with the drum sander and I have proof:

So, there you have it. My recap/quasi-tutorial on sanding floors. We just started putting the poly coat on, so that will be part 2.

Stairway to despair

2010-02-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

We ripped up the carpeting on our steps. I pulled up the carpet on the bottom step on the day we closed just to see if they were nice, but didn't really look close enough to see what was really under there.

First, I started at the bottom and loosened the carpeting from the tack strips:

The padding was, for the most part, gone. There was a little bit of cushion on the sides, but the middle part of the step showed the wear.

Then, we took a hammer and a small pry bar and began pulling up the tack strips. Never in my life have I seen so many nails and staples.

Once we got all of the carpet up and all of the tack scrips and staples out, we were left with this:

Look closely and you'll see why I'm a little sad that our stairs will be more of a pain in the butt project than expected. Don't see it? Maybe this will help:

At some point, I'm guessing around the same time the house had a coal furnace, there was either a carpet runner or tread protectors on the steps. The wood looks good in the area covered, but the area outside is dirty and black. I tried cleaning them, but it was a lost cause. We are going to have to refinish the steps. Bummer.

In an effort to make this a little easier on us, we decided to paint the trim and the stair risers, leaving only the tops left to sand and coat with polyurathene. Here are some inspiration pictures for what I have in mind:

Source

Maybe we'll get funky with it and try one of these ideas:

Source

We'll have to rent a sanding edger to do this right. I don't think it will be too bad, but it's just not a project we thought we were going to have to tackle. C'est la vie!

Adding some color

2010-01-11T12:13:00.000-05:00

We were at Home Depot when we decided it's time to buy paint for our upstairs. We gathered some paint chips and picked our colors, which all happened to be Glidden paint. We were really happy with how our walls turned out.

When we needed to pick out colors for our downstairs, we were already needing to go to Lowe's for something else. All of our paint choices ended up being Lowe's colors, or colors available in the Valspar Signature premium paint. We were a little hesitant to spend an extra $5-$10 per gallon, but so far, the paint has been working beautifully. In some cases, we were able to get by with using only one coat, which will save us money in the long run. We kind of prefer the Valspar to the Glidden now, although the Glidden did seem to spread better and go farther.

Picking colors for downstairs was probably easier than upstairs. With shared walls and an desire for more neutral colors, we picked "Linen" for our kitchen/dining room walls.

Top color is Linen by Eddie Bauer and the bottom color is String of Pearls, a Lowe's Creative Ideas for Colors shade.

String of Pearls is the color we are painting all of the trim in the downstairs. This color will also be carried up the stairway through the baseboard trim and the hand rail.

For the living room, we picked Colonial Beige.

This is a Waverly signature color. Again, String of Pearls trim color on the bottom.

It's a little darker than Linen, which is perfect because we wanted a noticeable, but not overwhelming contrast between the two colors. The colors have to coordinate well because the living and dining rooms share a wall. We decided to use Linen on that wall so it would be an accent color in the living room.

For the addition entranceway and the walls in the stairway, we wanted a neutral and coordinating color. Waverly's Natural seemed to be a perfect fit.

It's weird how the colors look so identical/monotone online, but the paint chips and actual paint colors look so much different!

For the bedroom in the addition, which will most likely serve more as a living room, we picked a greyish-blue from Lowe's Creative Ideas for Color line. It's called Hot Springs and it is fabulous!

It's looking a little green on my computer screen, however.

So, with our colors picked and some of them even up on the walls already, We have to start thinking about our decor plans for these rooms. I am so excited over how much like a home this place is shaping up to be!

I always only seem to have my iPhone on me when it's picture time, so I apologize for these. Here are a few shots I took of the Colonial Beige on our living room walls. It looks different in every one, thanks to poor camera quality and weird lighting. The color actually looks more greenish as the daylight goes away. I really like the color next to the String of Pearls trim!

It looks 8,721,624 times better in person. Trust me. :-)

And it looks 9,563,521 times better than the orange and dark grey-blue that were on the walls when we bought the place. (How could it not?!?) Yay for progress!

2010!

2010-01-07T10:59:00.001-05:00

2009 went by way too fast! Between planning the wedding, getting married, buying the house and spending every weekend since (and most week nights!) working to make it livable, we were so busy that the year couldn't have done anything but fly by.

So, welcome to 2010 here at Creativity and Domesticity! This year is sure to bring lots of craft and kitchen projects, as well as plenty of home decorating. And a new year means a new (sort of) look for the blog. I know it's only a new header, but it's nice to have something that's a little less generic at the top to jazz up the whole look of this baby.

Now that it's a new year, and after a Christmas holiday vacation from work (but not a vacation from working on the house, of course), I'm ready to jump right into 2010 and make it a memorable one for the husband and I. We will have our house move-in ready soon! After some significant set-backs with the supports and floors in our addition that had a huge impact on us not being able to have an address change before Christmas, we have made quite a bit of progress in painting the downstairs and getting the floors ready for refinishing. Also, our kitchen cabinets have been installed, the counter top is ordered and the tile floor is going in this week! Yay for kitchen progress!

I've taken some pictures, but still have a few more to take so I can share our progress with you. In the mean time, I want to show you a picture I came across for cool vintage kitchen storage:

Source

I've quickly become obsessed with this! I love it! I can see the bins filled with flour, sugars, chocolate chips, cupcake liners and other fun baking supplies. And the pull-out spice jars? Don't you think they are just perfect for sprinkles?

Easy Hostess Gift

2009-12-22T15:40:00.003-05:00

My office Christmas party was at my boss' house this year and I didn't want to show up empty handed. I don't like to bring wine since I don't really drink it myself, or know what kinds are good, so I decided to put together a hostess gift that was a little more my style---a cupcake pan candy buffet.

Here is what you need:

One cupcake/muffin pan (Mine had 12 cups)
Cupcake liners (12)
12 different candy varieties
Shrink wrap bag
Twist tie
Ribbon
Small decoration or Christmas ornament

1. Place a liner in each of your cupcake pan cups.

2. Fill each cup just to the top with a different type of candy.

3. Place the pan in a shrink wrap bag and gather it at a side or near the top. Secure with a twist tie.

4. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink the bag loosely around the candy, being careful not to melt any chocolate. This takes away the excess plastic without getting it so close that the bag melts into the candy.

5. Use ribbon to tie on a bow. Add a Christmas ornament to dress it up.

And there you have it! A quick and easy gift any hostess would love to receive!

Tips:

Check out the bulk candy section of your local grocery store to get just the right amount of candy for each cup without having to buy larger, prepackaged bags. This is also great for buying specific colors. I was able to pick out red, green and white candies from a bin with lots of different colors.
The Christmas candy aisle at Walmart had a great selection of stocking stuffer sized candies in Christmas colors. I was able to pick up a few varieties and they were a decent amount for filling the cups.
I used Christmas colored candies, but this can be altered for other holidays by changing the colors or the contents.
I purchased a nice pan at Target for about $7.00. I figured it was worth it since, if making a gift basket, the price for a basket would be about the same, and I know that the recipient would be able to use the pan confidently for making muffins or cupcakes later on. (or, I didn't want the pan to sell at their next yard sale, if you know what I mean.)

Here are the candies I used:

Red, white & green Gummy Bears
Red, white & green Sugared Gummy Dots
Hershey Kisses
Red Swedish Fish
Red, white & green Gobstoppers
Mini Peppermint Sticks
White chocolate covered pretzels
Red Starbursts
Red and White Chiclets Gum
Red & green M&M's
Red, white & green Christmas Star Candies
Red & green Mike 'n' Ike's

I think the total cost for putting this together was about $20 - $25 and I had a little bit of candy left over. I'm not sure what a good bottle of wine would cost, but I would guess you'd spend about the same.

I really loved how this turned out and it was very well received! What do you usually bring to parties as a hostess gift?

More fun with Polyvore

2009-12-16T15:18:00.000-05:00

I couldn't help myself. Once I started to play around with Polyvore, I just couldn't stop dreaming up inspiration boards for our house. Here is what I envision for the downstairs rooms.

The Living Room:

Linen Living Room on Polyvore.com

I'm thinking neutral, linen-like colors for this room. It will be a serene place where we can relax, read and cuddle up to watch a movie. I am really liking silvery-blue shades and variations of turquoise as accent colors, but I like how easily other colors, like olive green or rich reds could be used to mix it up a bit.

The Dining Room:

Brown and Blue Dining Room on Polyvore.com

With the dining room sharing a wall with the living room, I was thinking that I might be best to carry the same color palette into this room, but play up the blue hues more and add some dark brown and pewter accents. I really think this room will need a mirror to help make it seam bigger and I want to get an area rug and long to-the-floor curtains to make the space seem a little more formal. We have an oak table, which I wouldn't mind covering with a coat or two of creamy white paint. We also need to pick up some new chairs, preferably ones that are upholstered.

The Kitchen::

Retro Inspired Kitchen on Polyvore.com

Of course, I want to have a super retro kitchen, but this just won't work given our house, appliances and, well, reality. Although, I still want to incorporate some retro-inspired item, like the glass jars in the board, some old, red kitchen utensils and some fun dishtowels and accessories. The kitchen shares space (and a walls) with the dining area, so I want it to blend well, but also allow for a little punch of color. And, with white cabinets and a linen-colored wall, the color is going to come through the accessories and some of my kitchen tools.

I'm sure my ideas will change a few times before we get settled in, but it is way to much fun to create these boards.

Dreaming of when it's all done

2009-12-10T18:35:00.017-05:00

We are so close to having our upstairs bedrooms painted and ready for move-in. The downstairs, with the exception of the kitchen, needs a complete paint job and the floors all need to be refinished. It feels so good to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to completing the bulk of our renovations.

I've been thinking up some ideas for the decor in each of the rooms. This is so difficult because we have lots of hand-me-down and flea market furniture to work with when putting together a home environment we love. I'm going to do my best to slip cover, paint and modify where possible to make everything look like it belongs. This is going to be quite the challenge!

For our Office/Craft room, we already have dark furniture. I would like to pick up a narrow table for use as a crafting/sewing desk and we'll need some book shelves or an armoire for storage. Here is a little inspiration board I put together for the space on Polyvore:

Blue Home Office on Polyvore.com

Visualizing some ideas for the room is a big help. I also decided to put together an inspiration board for our bedroom:

Brown and Beige Bedroom on Polyvore.com

I worked in a picture of our actual bedding set and ceiling light fixture we purchased. I have a dark brown bird cage/candle holder I can use in this room and I am considering DIYing an upholstered headboard. I just don't know if a tufted or simplistic look like the one in the top left photo.

And, why not give it a shot for the other bedroom with the soft meadow green walls. I decided to play around with white and linen colors in this board. Here is how it turned out:

Green and Linen Bedroom on Polyvore.com

It seems that the more I worked on my Polyvore boards, I think I got better at putting them together. The last one is my favorite! That room might actually be something I could pull off. I'm pretty sure I still have a white down comforter somewhere in size full/queen (perfect!), I could easily whip up some linen accent pillows and sew linen trim onto white sheets, and I could paint one of our dressers in the off-white, linen-like shade. I also think we have an old rustic window in our garage that I could paint, distress and hang on the wall.

Yeah, it was fun dreaming up ideas for these rooms. It will be even more fun when we get to start putting stuff in them!

Floor Refinishing -- The Sanding

2009-12-09T16:02:00.002-05:00

My dad bought a floor sander at an auction for $5 a while back. He used it to sand down some of the floors in their house, and now we are using it on our hardwood. With daily rental for one of these babies running at about $85, we are really saving by using my dad's! And the best part is that we can sand floors when we need/want to and take our time since there's no rush to return.

I purchased the sandpaper from a local equipment rental company. The heavier grit ran almost $4 a sheet, while the finer grits were between $1-$2.

Dad brought the machine over to tackle the worst floor---our dining room. If you recall, the floor was carpeted when we bought the house. When we pulled up the carpet, we found a tile and tar on top of the hardwood. We chipped it up the best we could, but lots of tar remained.

After two passes with the heaviest grit, our floor started to look much better!

My dad showed Chris how to work the equipment. He got the hang of it pretty quickly!

And here's my dad changing the sandpaper. We went through a few sheets just trying to remove the tar.

Clean up!

The results were amazing!

Of course, the sander couldn't reach all the way to the edges, so we will have to rent an edge sander. But, wow! Look at the difference! I am impressed with the results! It looks so nice and new where we sanded. We are going to wait until we are finished with all plaster repairs and painting before we stain and varnish the floor. We would also like to sand the floor in the living room, as well, before we do any finishing.

I'm excited about this! Looks like our hopes of having beautiful hardwood floors is going to become a reality! I can't wait to see how it looks once we stain.

Kitchen progress

2009-12-05T08:06:00.004-05:00

While we've been busy painting the bedrooms upstairs, my father-in-law has been busy with the kitchen improvements.

To recap, we removed the old metal and birch cabinets, removed a wall, took out a closet in the living room to expand the width of the area, did a complete overhaul of the plumbing and electric and purchased cabinets used on ebay.

With the plumbing replacement, some of the wall plaster and the entire ceiling in the kitchen had to be torn down. New drywall has been installed there and the patching process has begun. He also built a new wall where we removed the closet. One of the coolest and most unexpected additions to the kitchen has been the bulkhead above where the cabinets will go. He put this in to eliminate an area that would only be good for collecting dust. We won't be able to use any crown molding on top of the cabinets now, but I think the bulkhead will give it a nice, professionally-finished look. And, it will give us a little bit of wall space we can paint for an added pop of color in the room. (I also have visions of getting a wall cling with a cute saying from somewhere like Uppercase Living---maybe this one?)

Again, crappy iPhone photos, but you can see the 6-inch bulkhead at the top of the wall:

Yeah, the area looks a little scary right now, but the base and wall cabinets, appliances and tiled back splash will cover all of the ugly parts. The ugliness is the result of wood paneling attached with liquid nails.

This is the new wall where the closet once was.

Oh, and he even put in a recessed light above the sink and two above where the peninsula will go. (It will separate the kitchen from the dining room and house the dishwasher.)

We've been patching and sanding for the last few days. Basically, we have to get this prepped, primed and painted before Chris' dad can do anything with the cabinet and appliance installation.

We still need to buy three more cabinets from Lowe's to match our used set, a fridge, the tile for the back splash and floor, the counters and possibly a new stove.

What was once scary yellow is now a peaceful shade of green

2009-12-04T11:06:00.002-05:00

Next on our to do list was the scary, school bus yellow bedroom. While the cigarette damage wasn't as bad in this room, covering the bright colored wall presented a challenge. We knew our problem was no match for Kilz and primed that obnoxious room with their Premium product, a primer designed to both block stains and hide colors. It's also good for mildew-prone areas, but we were more interested in its ability to cover up the hideous paint colors left for us by the previous owner.

So, here we go. Scary yellow wall before primer:

(Yes, there were that many holes and imperfections in this wall. We had to do a lot of patching)

Scary yellow wall during the priming:

And no more scary yellow wall!

Now, with a blank slate, we began brainstorming on a color for the wall. Since this room will be our guest bedroom, we wanted to make it a peaceful and serene color that was anything be the yellow it once was. After looking at what seemed like hundreds of paint chips, we decided on Glidden's Soft Meadow:

And, I think it looks wonderful!

And with the trim painted in Behr's Traditional:

The room looks about a million times better and I can't wait to start putting stuff in here. We probably aren't going to refinish the hardwood floor in this room because, between furniture and area rugs, most of it isn't going to show. And, outside of a few pink paint splotches, the floor is in decent shape.

It is so nice to be done painting in at least one of the rooms! Yay for progress!

Painting our house (or making the bad stuff disappear)

2009-12-03T21:02:00.005-05:00

Yes, I know posting has been very light lately. I guess you could say our renovations have been a little less talk and a lot more action for the month of November. We have been very busy painting. VERY busy painting.

We started in the smallest bedroom. As of now, we plan on using this room for an office, but it will probably be converted to a nursery whenever we get around to having children. This room also had the most noticeable cigarette smoke damage of all the rooms. The walls and ceiling were a slight off-white when we scrubbed them down, but the smoke made them more of a light brown. It was pretty gross!

We wanted to be sure the discoloration was completely covered by primer before we painted. And with the amount of smoke damage, we pulled out the big guns to get the job done.

We purchased Kilz Complete because it promised to provide excellent adhesion, hide imperfections and block smoke and nicotine stains on walls. Just what we needed! It's an oil-based primer, so it was really thick, smelled really bad and was a pain in the butt to clean up. But, it was worth it! It did exactly what we wanted it to do. This stuff really works!

Here is a picture of the room when we just started to prime it. Since the primer is super bright white, you get the idea of exactly how nasty the cigarette smoke stains were. Oh, and we cleaned it some with soapy water before painting.

The ceiling:

(See? I told you it was nasty!)

And the walls:

The happy face of progress:

Yes, I was a little to excited to have progress I could actually see. And to see all of the bad stuff disappear.

Chris is happy to see the bad stuff go away, too!

We ended up going back and priming the trim. (That was not part of the original plan.) Using this space for an office and possibly a craft room made us want to pick a more energizing and creative color for the room without going too nuts. We wanted something with a little more darker color than what we picked for the other bedrooms on the second floor, but not too dark because of the small size of the room.

We settled on Glidden's Antique Silver. A nice grayish-blue that would be dark enough to be noticeable without being obnoxious.

And here's the room after we put the color on the walls:

I guess my iPhone doesn't really take the best pictures, but for now, this will have to do. The color is a little darker than it appears in the pictures.

I really like how it turned out! I think the dark brown trim will look great and the dark stained office furniture we already have (thank you, The Price is Right!) will fit right in. The floor will need to be sanded down and refinished in this room thanks to some very bad pet stains. We'll be painting the trim this weekend and then we'll get started on the floors. The work never ends!

Our Bedroom

2009-11-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

We've been making some progress in the bedrooms and I'm most excited about our master bedroom! We primed the walls and ceiling last night and will begin painting them soon. We purchased two gallons of ceiling paint in Glidden's Parchment White, so we will be using this color throughout the upstairs ceilings (and possibly downstairs, as well)

For the wall paint, we decided on Glidden's Navajo Sand. I like this creamy beige color will bring out the lighter colors in our bedding. And, it's a relatively neutral color that will go well with other bedding sets when we decide to make a change later on.

What bedding did we pick? Canyon Crest's Grand Paisley.

OK, so this picture doesn't really help much because it is a bit lighter in person. The best part about this bedding set is that it is a complete room in a bag. Not only do we get the comforter, sheets, pillowcases, shams, dust ruffle and decorative pillows, but we also get two valances and four curtain panels. I love how I don't have to find coordinating fabrics for the curtains or pillows. I think this set will help make the master bedroom come together quickly and perfectly. The entire 24-piece set was a bridal shower gift.

The room is on the small side (14x11) so we won't have much room for anything but our nightstands and our king-size bed. I'm OK with that. I never really liked having a TV in the bedroom (not good for getting a decent rest) and our closet should be big enough to hold our clothes. We may have room for a highboy, but I'm not counting on it. The larger bed is much more important to us (and our sleep) than vanities and large dressers.

Trim and doors in the room will be painted Behr's Sweet Georgia Brown.

Third one down.

So, those are our color choices. I can't wait to get the wall painted and see how it all looks together with the bedding and our light fixture!

Let there be light

2009-11-01T21:52:00.005-05:00

We had to pick up two recessed lighting units for our kitchen, so when we popped in to Lowe's to check out the options, we also found some suitable light fixtures for other areas in our home.

For our bedroom, we currently have a ceiling fan. I have some weird fear of having ceiling fans over my bed, so Chris indulged my wish to swap it out and we picked up a semi-flush mount fixture to coordinate with our bedding.

Since our ceilings are on the low side, we liked that this one had a little bit of visual interest without hanging down too far into the living space.

For the other two upstairs bedrooms, we picked up a 2-pack of inexpensive flush mount fixtures. They are the same style as this one, but in a brushed nickel finish.

For our downstairs bathroom, we decided on a bar-style vanity light. We don't have a lot of wall space, so the three-bulb fixture will fit nicely.

We are planning on using frosted, soft white bulbs.

And, even though we bought these a while ago while picking out other items for the upstairs bathroom, here are the fixtures we purchased for the upstairs bathroom.

This vanity light:

With these alabaster bell glasses:

And this overhead fixture with built-in ventilation:

I love how you can't even tell this is a fan light by the looks of it. It runs very quietly, too!

So, that's what we've decided on so far. We thought about purchasing the dining room and kitchen overhead lights, but we decided to wait until we knew where our table would sit. If space issues don't allow us to put it in the center of the room, we don't want a chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling. And, since the dining room is open to the kitchen, we want the fixtures to coordinate.

For the price and the style, we will probably purchase another 2-pack (both lights are just $19.99!) in brushed nickel for the downstairs bedroom and bathroom overhead lights. Our living room will be light with lamps, so we'll choose those once we pick out the furniture.

Weird, but picking out light fixtures gets me a little excited. It means we are one step closer to moving in!

What's Cookin'?

2009-10-27T08:13:00.003-04:00

Chicken Alfredo Biscuit Casserole, that's what! I made this for dinner last night and it was a hit with Chris. (and me!) It was very, very yummy and I'll be sure to add this to the regular rotation.

The recipe if from Pillsbury's Web site. I was in to mood for some chicken and biscuits, so I did some internet searching to find a decent recipe. An Alfredo dish wasn't quite what I originally had in mind, but when I saw the recipe, I knew I had to give it a try.

Here's the recipe from Pillsbury:

Chicken Alfredo Biscuit Casserole

Parmesan-crusted biscuits top this mouthwatering chicken Alfredo casserole that is sure to become a family standby.
Prep Time:
15 Min
Total Time:
35 Min
Makes:
5 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
1/4 cup milk
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups Green Giant® SELECT® frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 can (7.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook mushrooms and onion in butter, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in Alfredo sauce, milk, chicken, broccoli and basil. Cook until mixture is thoroughly heated and bubbly, stirring constantly. Spoon into baking dish.
3. Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise. Arrange around edge of baking dish, overlapping slightly. Drizzle biscuits with melted butter; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

This is one of those comfort-food type recipes and it's great for whipping up for a quick, but home-cooked tasting meal. I skipped the basil and added a few shakes of parsley flakes to the top for garnish.

When I do this again, I will probably take off a few layers of the biscuits before baking (I used Grands) because their thickness left them a little doughy. I didn't want to bake them any longer for fear of burning the tops. (It was in the oven for 20 minutes.) Personally, I didn't mind the extra doughy-ness, but I'm not sure about others eating it and feeling the same way.

I love casseroles, especially when they are a complete meal. And this was very easy. It looked great, tasted great and filled the kitchen with a yummy smell. All around yummy! Thanks, Pillsbury!

Hole-y Moly!

2009-10-21T08:25:00.012-04:00

One of the surprises that came with buying our home was when we discovered there was no insulation in the walls of the house. Although it has a solid brick exterior, we were worried about how the lack of insulation would impact our home heating costs over the winter.

We got some quotes on getting the insulation blown in and were then surprised by the costs. Spending almost $3K was not part of our home renovation budget and we wondered if the energy savings would ever pay off if we only stay in the house for 5-10 years.

We were able to work out a deal with an insulation professional to get it done for a much more reasonable price if we did some of the work ourselves, so we went for it.

Because of the brick exterior, our option for getting the insulation blown in was to drill holes on the interior of the house between every stud on exterior walls. The bit we used was a 2-inch carbide hole saw bit and Chris went to town turning out walls into swiss cheese. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The holes were drilled towards the top of the wall for the majority of the studs. He had to drill holes closer the the bottom of the wall where there were windows.

Chris working hard, drilling the holes.

Holes at the top.

Holes in the master bedroom.

This is the big truck in our driveway. This housed the bags of insulation and the machine that fed the hose.

Blowing in the insulation.

Holes after they are filled and plugged.

The plugs were made from a sheet of insulation board. They used a hole saw bit slightly larger than the size of the hole to make sure they were a snug fit. The plugs were wedged in and recessed by 1/8" or 1/4"

I didn't go around and count the holes, but I'm guessing there are about 100 - 125 throughout the house. And I will admit to feeling terrified over the thought of drilling that many 2" holes in the walls. I guess it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but it's going to take some work to make the holes disappear.

We spent about two hours last night filling them with drywall compound. Since the holes are so big, it will probably be a couple of days before they are dry and ready for the next coat. We are hoping two or three coats does the trick.

Insulating the house puts us one step closer to painting (and I've been dying to paint since we first looked at this place!) This week's plan is to finish hiding the holes and getting the remainder of the walls prepped for priming. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to getting rid of the yellow, orange and blue walls!

Baby Blanket Gift: The Finished Product

2009-10-20T17:40:00.002-04:00

I finished knitting the baby blanket a while ago, but forgot to share pictures. The final product turned our really nice! It was one of about 6 or so hand-knit or crocheted baby blankets Erin received at her shower. (Lucky girl, huh?)

Here it is in all of it's completed glory:

The Baby Shower Cake Reveal

2009-10-18T23:32:00.003-04:00

I decided to join in the fun on A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day. I figured I'd use this post for my first time participating.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to make a cake for Erin's baby shower! I started last Tuesday by baking and freezing the cakes. On Thursday, I made the marshmallow fondant and some butter cream icing. Then, on Friday, I put the cakes together and decorated them.

The process was long, but I enjoyed the creative outlet. I experimented with several new things for this cake and was really pleased with the results. So, without dragging it out any farther, here is the cake:

And, in case you can't make out the little guy on top, here is a close-up of that:

I modeled the lady bug after the one on the nursery set (pink and red flowers are from it, too) and the baby booties are made from a template I found on Cake Central. The cake is covered in fondant and the 3D accents are all made from gumpaste. The pearl dragees are left over from my wedding cake and I used the dot impression mat to make them look so perfectly spaced.

Some more details:

And, all cut up, ready to be enjoyed!

Top slice (top tier of the cake) is white cake with butter creme and strawberry filling.

Middle slices (bottom tier) are chocolate fudge cake with chocolate butter creme filling.

Bottom slices (middle tier) are yellow cake with Oreo creme filing.

All were yummy!

Kitchen Envy

2009-10-13T08:33:00.005-04:00

I really wish our house had a bigger kitchen. When it's finished, it will be very tight on space for storage and moving around. I also wish we had a little more freedom with options for storage and such. We will have one wall of mostly appliances and the sink, so we plan to install a peninsula counter so we can have the extra cabinet space. I would love to have a pantry, but there just isn't room. Our kitchen will never be anyone's dream kitchen.

All of this doesn't stop me from dreaming of kitchens. Kitchens that make me want to spend an entire day baking and cooking. Kitchens that make me want to sleep in them so I never have to leave them. Kitchens that make me want to try new things. Kitchens like these:

I love the little breakfast table and the cream cabinets. The whole look here is very light, airy and slightly country. I would love to have glass doors on some of our cabinets, too.

And this one feeds my apron-loving, retro-wannabe, stay-at-home wife, happy homemaker fantasies. That blue is the perfect shade of retro kitchen blue. And, I adore the open shelving. The way this kitchen is set up, it reminds me of a 50's diner. I love it!

I Made a Pumpkin Roll!

2009-10-11T22:02:00.011-04:00

And it turned out great! It looked good and it tasted good. Woohoo! I used the following recipe from Libby's Web site. (I figured the recipe should be good since they are the authority on pumpkin products.)

LIBBY'S® Pumpkin Roll
Prep: 45 min
Cooking: 13 min
Cooling time: 1 hrs refrigerating
Yields: 10

Ingredients
CAKE
·         1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
·         3/4 cup all-purpose flour
·         1/2 teaspoon baking powder
·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda
·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·         1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
·         1/4 teaspoon salt
·         3 large eggs
·         1 cup granulated sugar
·         2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
·         1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
FILLING
·         1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
·         1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
·         6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·         Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions
FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.
Remember to follow baking instructions before consuming.

I was really surprised by how easy this was. Pumpkin rolls look so much more difficult to make than they really are. I'm really glad I gave this a try. Now, I'm planning on making some rolls for the holidays. I think one would go over great at my in-laws for Thanksgiving, and I'd love to have one or two made up and in the freezer, ready for when we have company.

Oh, and I do have some pictures from when I sliced up some for Chris and my dad.

Yummy!

Baby Cake

2009-10-06T23:30:00.005-04:00

I've been assigned to make the cake for my friend's upcoming baby shower. (for the same friend who will be getting the hand-knit baby blanket) I have been dreaming up ideas to make this cake awesome. I know she's having a girl and I know the theme of her shower is ladybugs. There will be lots of pink stuff with white polka-dots in the decorations and there was talk of getting some ladybug mylar balloons. I was also told that light green will be an accent color.

I searched through her registry at Baby's R Us and found a picture of her nursery ensemble. I'm guessing this was the inspiration for the shower. Check out the rug from the collection:

I would love to incorporate that ladybug into her cake as a surprise. Maybe I could make one out of gumpaste and use it for a cake topper? I also think the flower would make for a cute accent.

I just ordered some new food colorings, edible ink pens, and cardboard circles from Sugar Craft to help me put this cake together. Right now, I'm thinking of making it three tiers, each with a different flavor cake, and making the middle tier twice the height as the bottom and top tiers.

While I was shopping online for cake supplies, I also came across impression mats. I ordered ones to help me make dots and diamonds. I figured this would allow me make some properly-spaced polka-dots and the diamonds would help make the cake ultra-girly. I'm really excited to try them out.

I'm going to start baking and freezing the cakes soon. At the request of the mom-to-be, they will be white, chocolate and yellow cakes. I'm thinking I might play around with the fillings because I've never been to creative with combinations. My usual is standard buttercream or chocolate buttercream. I might try oreo cream filling or Kahlua cream cheese frosting. I'm going to have to experiment with different flavors and see what tastes best with each cake.

What are your favorite cake flavor/filling combinations?

Aprons make me happy

2009-10-01T09:37:00.005-04:00

In the last few years, I've started an apron collection. I love them! It started with a cute one I found at Target and spiraled into an obsession. I only have two that were purchased new from the store. All of the rest are vintage styles I picked up at thrift stores and consignment shops. I probably have close to 20 right now and I'm always looking for more. I can't wait to go all June Cleaver or Donna Reed in the kitchen when we get settled in the house. Wearing an apron while baking or cleaning makes me feel all domestic and by some miracle, it makes chores a little more tolerable.

I recently found a great site for buying new, fun aprons: FlirtyAprons.com. Their styles are so cute and their prices seem reasonable. Here are some of my favorites:

This one reminds me of our wedding colors!

Very chic! I would love to cook some French pastries in this one.

How fun would this one be for springtime? (oooh...it's on sale, too!)

And this cherry one is so retro and cute!

I might have to add one of these to my Christmas list this year.

Tu-tu Success!

2009-09-28T21:50:00.003-04:00

I think she liked it!

And I love how she always poses! Too cute!

I bought the fairy wings at Dollar Tree and doctored them a little to match the ensemble. Everything went together great!

The Tu-Tu Attempt

2009-09-22T09:33:00.001-04:00

Every since I randomly came across these on Etsy, I decided that I would attempt to make one for my niece, Aidyn, for her birthday.

Aidyn was with me on a Joann's run a few weeks ago and I had her pick out three favorite colors of tulle for the project. She had no clue what I was buying it for, but she loved helping me chose the colors. We ended up getting two yards each of blue, sage and light purple tulle. I also picked up some elastic and a princess wand to decorate. The wand was in their $1 bins.

Her birthday party is on Sunday, so last night, I got to work. Here are some easy how-to directions on You Tube:

The only think I did different was wrap a 60 inch piece of 1" wide satin ribbon around half-inch elastic (cut and sewn to the size of Aidyn's waste)..

The whole project took me about an hour and a half, start to finish. It was super easy to make, too! I packed in lots of tulle strips and really made the skirt full. I alternated the colors by tying on three blue, then three lavender and three sage and repeating. When I was finished, I only had about 6 strips of each left over.

I am so excited about how it turned out! It is going to look so cute on Aidyn and I really hope she likes it!

I like it so much, that I'm considering making a neon green, pink and black one for myself if my sister decides to have another 80s party for Halloween this year. I am loving the tutus!

Trevor's Birthday Cake

2009-09-19T16:54:00.000-04:00

My nephew Trevor's birthday was in August, and we celebrated then with family, but he wanted to have a party when he went back to school so he could invite his classmates. He wanted to have a dirt bike helmet cake after seeing one of that style on cake central. My sister got to work baking and prepping the cakes. She called me and asked if I could help with the decorating because the odd shape and weight might be tricky for one set of hands to take on alone. Of course, I obliged!

This cake took a while to complete. When I got to her house, she had the cakes stacked and cut into the helmet shape. We worked to add the front section (mouth piece) and cut out cardboard for the top. After icing it with butter cream, we rolled out the fondant and covered it. We mixed up some accent colors for the stripes and piped some designs (the big "T" on the side and a smaller "Trevor" by the front.)

Here's how it turned out:

Baby Blanket Progress!

2009-09-16T11:18:00.001-04:00

We've been working late into the night on our house lately. We really want to get if finished as soon as possible, and there is still a ton (seriously, a whole heck of a lot) of work to do before we can move in. Our weekday schedule consists of our 45 minute commute, a full day at work, a 45 minute drive back and a quick dinner before we head over the the house and work for 4 or so hours. Weekend time is split between home improvements and trips to the home improvement store. I see yard sales everywhere, but have to use all my will power to stay focused on the task at hand and not stop and waste time. (Although, in my book, a yard sale is never really a waste of time.)

I realized on Sunday that my friend's baby shower is about a month away. I put a good week in to knitting that baby blanket when I first started, but was not near finishing it. I found that I can get some solid knitting time in during our daily commute if Chris drives to work. Just yesterday, I added about 6 inches to the blanket. Not too shabby!

Here are some photos of my progress. I'm about three-quarters of the way finished.

This one better shows the seed stitch border and the contrast between the knit and purl stitches.

Right now, I'm in good shape to have this thing finished long before the shower. Maybe I'll even have time to knit up a matching pair of baby booties!

Our upstairs bathroom

2009-09-12T23:37:00.000-04:00

What was once this:

Is now this:

Such a big mess for such a tiny little room!

When Chris' dad redid the plumbing, he had to remove the old cast iron tub. We decided to replace it with a wider, deeper tub, complete with a tube surround so we could also have a shower. (This bathroom originally lacked one.)

The plumbing also required the replacement of the stink pipe. The original was also cast iron, and after a few decades of use, this sucker was almost completely clogged with remnants of granny poo. I seriously don't know how anything she flushed made it down that pipe.

Along with the new plumbing, we had to remove the toilet and vanity sink. From there, we decided to remove the faux tile paneling and medicine cabinet. Of course, while we were at it, we had to remove the painted on wallpaper and there residue left behind from the glue holding the paneling.

Who would have guessed the wall would be blue under all of that? Wonder if it's the same paint they used in the addition?

They sure did love their colors.

What I'm hating today

2009-09-11T11:21:00.000-04:00

People who paint over wallpaper. They suck.

Scraping this off was terrible. I got a few good strips off with a paint scraper, but I ended up having the best luck with a Brillo pad. Fun times in home renovations, people. Fun times!

Easy-Peasy DIY Baby Shower Gift

2009-09-08T15:02:00.002-04:00

A church friend recently had a baby shower and the invitation encouraged all guests to bring a book for the baby instead of a card to accompany the gifts. This is a cute idea because it helps build the baby's library. I was trying to think of what gift to give them and was a little stuck. With all of the new home expenses, I was feeling a little poor and the handful of items I could afford from her registry were either already purchased or not too exciting to give. I'm normally a registry-gifter, so I kind of surprised myself by going the DIY route on this one.

The idea for the gift just kind of hit me. I thought it would be cute to make a little book plate for the book/card I'd buy, so I raided my craft supplies for baby-themed scrapbook paper. I didn't really have much, but I did have a tablet of pastel stripes, polkadot and patterned paper that would work.

I made a quick design in Adobe Photoshop Elements, printed it out on pink cardstock and matted it on a rectangle of pastel striped scrapbooking paper. I was so happy with how it turned out that I decided to make a bunch of them and give them as a gift. She was going to be getting a lot of books for the shower if everyone complied with the no card request, so why not? I picked up a small tin and a spool of cute $1 ribbon at Michael's for the packaging and then got to work on making the book plates.

I changed the design to be a little more unique. I like how the book plates can also serve as a journal for keeping track of when and with whom the book was read.

Here's the final product:

A close up of the text:

I used photo square stickers as the adhesive for placing them in the books. All you have to do is peel off the backings and stick them inside the front cover.

Here they are in the tin:

And here they are all wrapped up and ready to go:

I think the whole project took me less than an hour. The longest part was cutting out the book plates and rectangles for matting.

Project Baby Blanket

2009-08-24T13:12:00.005-04:00

One of my friends, Erin, is having a baby! She and her husband are expecting their first little bundle of joy in November and I'm so excited for her!

They found out at their ultrasound appointment that they are expecting a girl, and Erin has already set a theme for the nursery. (Ladybugs!)

I've decided that, aside from what I'll purchase for the baby from the registry, I would knit a baby blanket for her. The shower will be in October (I'm also making the cake) and I wanted to get started on it now while I had some extra time. With most of the projects Chris and I can tackle for the house currently on hold until we have some work done to the walls and plumbing, I figured now would be a great time to get started.

When my sister was expecting my niece, I whipped up an acrylic yarn version of the Big Bad Baby Blanket, a pattern featured in the first Stitch'n'Bitch Book by Debbie Stoller. I used a pink yarn with specks of blue, purple and yellow and the end result was a cute blanket with a tweed look!

I've decided to use the same pattern because I love how the pink one turned out and I wanted something easy enough to work on while watching TV.

For Erin's baby's blanket, I purchased Lion Brand's Baby Soft in Cream:

The project calls for knitting with two skeins at the same time, so I picked up four skeins at Michael's yesterday while they were on sale. (2/$7.00) I also bought a pair of size 9 bamboo circular knitting needles for the project.

Even though the pattern calls for wool, I chose the acrylic yarn because I want the blanket to be easy to clean. I would hate to invest all of my time (and money!) on a wool blanket and have the parents-to-be accidentally wash it the wrong way and ruin it. I used acrylic on the first one I made and it's still going strong and looks great.

After working on it last night for about 30 minutes and during my lunch break today, I've only finished 12 rows of seed stitch. (126 stitches across) I have to complete 20 rows before I can move on to the much easier stockinette stitch pattern that makes up the bulk of the blanket. I'm hoping to finish the last 8 rows of seed stitch tonight. The seed stitch serves as the border in this adorable baby blanket.

Here's my progress so far:

So, that 1,512 stitches finished so far and about 18,648 to go!

A little tour

2009-08-10T19:47:00.001-04:00

As promised, here are some photos of the inside of our house. These were taken on my iPhone during the home inspection, so I apologize if they aren't very good.

First up: The kitchen.

The kitchen has old, birch base cabinets and metal wall cabinets. All of them are in terrible condition. This will be one of the first things to go when we get our hands on the place. The drawers stick, the metal is rusting and there isn't much cabinet space.

Carpet in the kitchen...lovely, huh?

The living room:

This room is right off the kitchen and is the biggest room in the house. We can't wait to rip up the carpet and see if there are hardwood floors underneath.

Yes, that is a hunter orange accent wall.

The dining room:

This room is small, but should be just fine for Chris and I. We really don't have lots of space for entertaining, so I'm sure it will be a rare occasion to have his and my family there all at once. We will tear up the carpet from this room, too. The paneling on two of the walls will also go. The built-in cabinet was put in to fill a window opening when the addition was added. I kind of like it.

The downstairs bedroom:

I'm not sure if we will ever use this for a bedroom. Most likely, it will serve as an office/TV room. We're not sure what color we will paint it, but I can promise you it won't be this shade of blue! The seller had a love for bright colors. (more examples to come later!)

The upstairs has three bedrooms and one bath.

The master bedroom:

The walls are covered in a yellowish wallpaper, which I'm hoping will be easy to tear down. The hardwood in here is in decent shape, too. There isn't a whole lot of work needed in this room. Patching holes and cracks, painting and having additional electrical outlets are in the plans.

Bedroom #2:

Yikes! This one is scary!

The yellow paint is so bright and the pink-painted trim is a disaster! This was also a very messy paint job. They must not have ever heard of painter's tape since they painted the trim color on the walls and on the vinyl windows. What a mess! We'll have to scrap most of the trim off before we can start painting since it's flaking off. This room is so bright, I think the light is on every time I walk by it.

Bedroom #3:

This is such a small little room. (probably 8'x9'?) It's very hard to get a picture of the whole thing because there isn't much room to move around in there. I'm pretty sure this will serve as extra closet space for us. It might be a good size for a nursery, but there aren't any babies in the works for the two of us right now. The hardwood floor has some damage from the previous owner's pets. This room will also need some electrical work to replace a bad switch and outlet.

Bathrooms:

There are two in this house and both of them could use some updates. The upstairs bathroom is ripe for gutting. We'll need to replace the plumbing , so the fixtures will have to be removed.

In the downstairs bath, (part of the addition) we will probably just need to re-do the floor and replace the storage unit above the toilet.

So, that's the tour!

Lot's of work, huh? But we see a lot of potential here and through a lot of DIY, we hope to keep the renovations at a reasonable cost.

I can't wait to get started so I can start showing some "after" pictures! We are really looking forward to making this place ours! :-)

The good news and the bad news

2009-08-08T15:57:00.001-04:00

The ink was barely dry on our mortgage papers, but we couldn't wait to find out what was under the carpet in our new home.

The good news? It's looking like the entire house has hard wood floors!

The bad news? They aren't in the best shape. :-( In the dining room area, we found this:

That would be tiled floor on top of the wood and under the carpet. The tar used to adhere the tile is very difficult to remove.

But, one day, this will look good. I promise! We are a little disappointed, though, that we will have to invest a lot of sweat equity to get it that way.

Closing Day!

2009-08-07T23:43:00.001-04:00

We are officially homeowners! We closed today on our little house!

We made a quick stop at Lowe's for some cleaning and painting supplies and then met my parents at the house so they could check it out.

I'll be sure to share pictures soon so you can see what kind of mess we got ourselves into!

I bought a kitchen...

2009-08-04T16:33:00.001-04:00

...on Ebay!

Yep, I did it! Knowing that we needed to replace the existing kitchen cabinets in the new house, I stalked Ebay and Craigslist until I found something suitable. And, wouldn't you know it? I found a lovely, gently-used set that was up for bid in Cleveland, OH.

The bidding on that auction came down to the wire! I took my mom's very wise advice and entered some extra pennies to the end of my bid. And, when the seconds were winding down, I ended up winning the bid by three cents! $0.03! Talk about close! I promptly made arrangements with the seller to pick them up. (and also with my dad, who had the means of transportation to deliver 11 kitchen cabinets.)

Here they are: (from the Ebay listing)

The sale included the sink, garbage disposal and countertops. We also purchased their dishwasher. It's old, but I'm hoping it will last us a year or two until the house renovation costs go down and we can get a new one.

So, why Ebay? And why used cabinets?

The expense! We took our measurments to Lowe's to see what a new kitchen would cost and the total was $4,000! And this didn't include hardware, countertops, sink or appliances. This was JUST the cabinets. Sure, they would have been custom fit for our tiny kitchen. (extra empasis on the tiny!) But, we really didn't want to spend that much money on just the kitchen.

With the Ebay purchase, we were able to get the bulk of the cabinets we need (we will probably have to buy a couple more to complete the kitchen) and not spend a fortune. The grand total for the Ebay kitchen was $555.03!

We will have to spend additional money on the counter, new faucet, flooring, some appliances and trims & molding, but overall, we will come in way lower at a price that is good for our pocketbooks and our sanity.

My ultimate goal is to paint these babies white or some other light shade to brighten them up and help them match the extras we need to buy. The Mr. is not convinced it's a good idea, so we'll see what happens once we get them all in place and see how they look.

I think painting them will help to make the tiny kitchen (remember, extra emphasis on the tiny) seem a little more open and larger.

Regardless, anything we put in that kitchen will be an improvement. Trust me! I promise to share some photos of the current mess of a kitchen soon.

The Run Down

2009-08-01T15:25:00.003-04:00

So here's the deal:

I'm Jody and he's Chris.

We got married on May 24th.

We bought a house shortly after.

After spending most of the past year blogging about our wedding, I'm hoping this blog will document our journey as newlyweds in a new house. The house needs a bit of work---new kitchen, new bathrooms, refinished hardwood floors and lots of paint for starters. So, follow along as I share some of my creative endeavors and kitchen adventures while we work to make this little house our home!

1	tablespoon butter
2	cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2	cup chopped onion
1	jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
1/4	cup milk
2	cups chopped cooked chicken
2	cups Green Giant® SELECT® frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1/4	teaspoon dried basil leaves
1	can (7.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1	tablespoon butter, melted
1	tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2.	In 10-inch nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook mushrooms and onion in butter, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in Alfredo sauce, milk, chicken, broccoli and basil. Cook until mixture is thoroughly heated and bubbly, stirring constantly. Spoon into baking dish.
3.	Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise. Arrange around edge of baking dish, overlapping slightly. Drizzle biscuits with melted butter; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4.	Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.