And the Journey Continues...

I finished the laundry room this week and am planning my next project...the dining room.

I have some big ideas, but am not too sure exactly what I want to do.

One of the plans is to put a built-in china hutch in the room.  

I am thinking of something similar to this.
Of course, without the chair in front of it.

Even though I like the wide beadboard as the backing, I am planning on using the thinner version.  I still have some left over from the laundry room.  

I envision displaying white dishes and pitchers.  

I think it would look gorg!

I also want to do a wall treatment by putting board and batten wainscotting on the walls.

I really like the combination of the
beadboard and board and batten.

I also am very fond of the simplicity
of the board and batten.

The flooring is going to be replaced.  

The room currently has carpet.  

Yep, I was convinced by the carpet salesman that 

the room would echo too much without the carpet.  

But, carpet in a dining room is a bad, bad, bad idea.  

Always.  

Wood flooring will be going in it's place.

I am infatuated with wooden shudder blinds.  I would love, love, love to use them in this room, but they are  very, very, very expensive.  

So, I am considering wooden blinds 
or bamboo blinds...
So many decisions.  

I also want to do something very drastic to the current dining table set. We have had it for about 15 years.  I really have never been in love with it...

but it is what I have.  

It has the wear and tear of 15 years too. 

I am thinking of painting it...but don't tell the hubster.  He will probably have a heart attack if he knew!

I also want to put comfy chairs instead of the wooden ones I currently have.

My heart is going pitter patter for this blue one!

I really like the look of this green one too!

There is this great place in Van Nuys that liquidates
hotel furniture for incredible prices.
 I am hoping to get chairs for a steal!

I have a time-line to get this done by the end of the summer, but with my track record, it will probably be closer to Christmas!  LOL

I will keep you posted of my progress...

xoxoxo,

     

         Karen

From Blah to Oh la la...

Okay
Before you start to read this, be forewarned it is a long post.  You might have to get a cup of coffee or tea...maybe even a snack.  You will be here for a while.  


Once again, leave it to me to give an obscure area of my house a make-over.  After 4 months I am finally done with my laundry room make-over!  

I am as giddy as a little school girl.  

Really...I am.

My laundry room is off of my kitchen and also houses our food pantry.  It is also the only access to our back yard through the house.  I go through the laundry room several times a day.  My laundry room was looking a little...well...neglected.  

For years, the hubster and I talked about putting new cabinets in there to match the cabinetry in the kitchen.  Sad truth is, life takes over and more pressing financial matters demand attention.

Now that I have been attacking..uhh...I mean...attending to more areas of the house...the laundry room was looking a bit shabby.  

And not the cute shabby chic kind either.

The first thing I attended to was the current cabinets.  The cabinets are the original cabinets that were most likely built on site when the house was built in 1969.  At the time I am sure they were very modern and chic, but for me they were very plain and in need of some serious attention.  

BEFORE
This the food pantry kind of before I started.  You can see it is very plain and painted white.  It was impossible to keep clean.  Especially when the hubster comes home from work all grubby.  You will see my solution to this problem. Let's just say...if you can't beat them, join them.  

BEFORE
This is the top of the food pantry.  Really plain.

AFTER
I added crown moulding around the top of the cabinet and picture framing around the doors to give it a more traditional look.  I also painted the cabinets black.  Now the grubby hands of the hubster can touch all he wants.
hehehe

AFTER
A close up of the cabinet.  I distressed the cabinets a little bit...just because I wanted too.  I also added those gorg glass knobs.  I got them for a great deal too!  I got all of them for the price of one!  That was a great day for me.
Ahhh...the memories!

AFTER
Just another after.  I love it!

WARNING!

There is an after picture ahead.   It is downright horrible to gaze at.  

BEFORE
I am sorry to have frightened you.  But you needed to see the sad ugly truth to what I started with.

AFTER
Ahhh...so much better.  I put bead board up 2/3 of the wall and then added a board across the top with knobs.  I was thinking I could hang the broom, mop and other items off of it.  But I am not sure I can do it now.  It is so pretty.

AFTER
Another view of the knobs.

One of the problems with this was room was the lack of organization.  Things were just piled on top of the dryer and sometimes the washer.  No matter how hard I worked to keep it tidy, it just didn't last.  One problem was the hubster's obsession to own every small appliance ever created.  Sometimes I think the Lord put me in his life to keep him out of an episode of Hoarders.  (Just kidding sweetie!)     Once I  decrapified I was able to organize what we wanted to keep.  This was a few day process.  

BEFORE
Yep...there is the proof.  It was a mess.
Part of the problem was that there was so much stuff in the cabinets that there wasn't room for all the things that should have been in there.  Also, the shelf became a catch all place for appliances we seldom used.

AFTER
Except for the picture being crooked, it looks so much better!  Like I said before, I did a lot of decrapifying and threatening of anyone who shoves stuff on the dryer again.
 I added a little curtain behind the washer and dryer so I can't see the hoses and knobs.  I updated the shelf by getting rid of the curvy moulding on it.
I also added baskets on the shelves.  I even numbered them.  If the fam wants to know where the trash bags are...why they are in basket 4.  Hopefully this will help keep it nice and tidy in there!

AFTER
Look!  No ugly hoses to look at. 

AFTER
I wanted to add a pop of color to the room.
So, red it is!

I chose to add wallpaper to finish the walls.  I really am not that big of a fan of wallpaper.  When we bought this house, the previous owner was a big fan of the stuff.  Every wall was covered in it.  Every wall.  And to make it even more exciting, it was the same pattern in the entire house.  Who does that??

I digress.

The black and white is very stark. I thought that a black and white toile would tie the whole look together.  I have to say, I really do like it.  Don't expect to see it anywhere else.  

The back door also needed some attention.  I framed the window with moulding and made a faux roman shade.  I really like the results.  

A little close-up of the rosette.
I think it is so cute!

Now for my favorite addition to the laundry room!  

I have heard that in decorating, one needs to add a little something that is unexpected.  

It's kind of hard to do something unexpected in a laundry room.

I added a mini-chandelier for lighting!  

I just love it.  

BEFORE
In 1969 this light was probably the bees knees.
Not so much in 2012.

AFTER
This was really a splurge in the room.  I did have it on my Christmas list and Santa came through!
I added a little medallion too.
I think it added a nice touch.  
I bet you want one in your laundry room now too!

Well that's it.  It is done!  Finally!
Yep.  

Dating after all these years

I know I have dropped off the grid in blog land.  It's just that I have been very, very busy.  I am up to my elbows in my laundry room make-over.  I don't know why I always think that things will be quick.  I should just always plan to multiply my timeline by 3.  Then, perhaps, I won't feel stressed about getting projects done.  Seriously!

I did take a few days off from my project to start another project for Valentine's Day.  

I am really excited about it.  But before I tell you about it, I want to give you a brief backstory about the project.  

As many of you know, my hubster works second shift and I work day shift.  Basically, we are ships that pass in the night.  In addition to this we will be empty nesters in about 6 months.  ( I take a brief moment to wipe away a tear and hold back a sob.) 

Sooo...we really don't spend too much time together.  

This got me to thinking that we need to make our time together more meaningful and deliberate.  I came up with a plan.  

We need to start dating again.  

Yes... each other! 

So, I made a scrapbook for him for a Valentine's Day gift.  

It's a year of pre-planned dates.  

One a month.  

Some are local and a couple are out of town.  Every one of them is inexpensive.  A couple of them are even freeeee.  Yippee!  

The idea is to spend time together, not spend money.    

Shhhh....don't tell him!

Here is a little look at what I did.  

I chose the 12x12 scrapbook so I could add photos of the date on the opposite side of the page.  

For this date we will just stay home and watch a movie together.
Netflix makes this a free date.  Yay!

Ok...I am Kindergarten teacher...I couldn't resist!
We will go see the Lorax and go to dinner.
If we go to the Matinee, we can save on ticket prices too.

For this date we will go to Barnes and Noble
and have a little scavenger hunt.  Our store has a Starbucks inside
so we can laugh over a cup of joe.  

Here are the scavenger hunt cards we will do while at the bookstore.
Even though memories are priceless, this date should be under $10  Yipee!

Ok...okay.  I know that a trip to the Mouse House is expensive.
But we have season passes so the cost is already paid for.
Also, we never get to go just by ourselves.
It should be a magical day! 

A dinner and bowling date!

We will cheer the home team
onto victory at a baseball game.
Tickets to our games are very reasonable.  

We will go to the fair.
They often have free seating at the concerts too.

We will go on an evening picnic to the local park.  

This is our anniversary month.
For this date we will order take-out,
look through our wedding album and view our wedding video.

We love camping!
We have a camping membership
so this little trip will just cost us the gas there!
Love!

For this date, the hubster has to do some planning.
He needs to plan a dinner and I will be his
sous chef.  Then an evening in front of the fire.
A nice little break!

This will be our last date for this project.
We will meet for breakfast (his choice) to discuss our
year of dating and plan for our next year of dates!  

I am excited for him to see this project.  

Even though we have been married for 20 years now, I want him to know that he is still very important to me, even though life makes it hard for me to let him know it all the time.  

Coming up with the ideas for the dates were not that hard...really!  

I was actually very surprised that a google search came up with dozens of sites and blogs about dating.  

Who knew???  

Once I saw these, I was inspired to come up with a few on my own.  As I said earlier, the idea was to spend time together and not go broke doing it.  

Now back to that laundry room project!  Aye!

Happy Howlidays!

In my rush to get ready for Christmas, I can't forget my sweet little dogs.  Gift giving to dogs may seem odd to some, but they are a part of the family.  I can't forget a gift for a family member!  

They don't need another toy.  They are kinda funny in that they are each a one toy dog.  Gingersnap loves her ball and Cinnabar loves his stuffed elephant.  I could spend an entire blog post just telling you about their funny toy stories...but I won't.  Yeah...I just spared you.  Whew!

However, they both are chowhounds!  Seriously, in retrospect, I should have named them Hoover and Dyson.  So what to get two doggies who love to eat and save some money while I am at it?  

Doggie cookies!

I came across this recipe for Doggie cookies from my bestie who first introduced them to my dogs a couple of years ago.  I modified the recipe a little bit since the original recipe called for milk and one of our dogs is milk intolerant.  Most importantly, I had all the ingredients already on hand...so there was no added cost or shopping for "special" ingredients.

Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter

3 cups whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats

2 t baking powder

1 3/4 c fat free reduced sodium chicken broth

1 T molasses

1 1/4 creamy peanut butter

1.  Combine all ingredients until well mixed.

2.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured flat surface roll out to 1/4 inch thick.  

3.  Cut out as many cookies as you can.

4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.  

5.  Remove trays from oven and cool to room temperature.  Turn off the oven.

6.  When cookies have cooled, put them back into the cooling oven.  Leave them undisturbed, without opening the oven door for 8-16 hours.  

7.  Store cookies in an airtight container.

My dogs love, love, love these cookies.  Cinnabar kept going to the oven and sniffing the air.  He then would look at me and "ruff".  As if to say..."Are they done yet?"  

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas season!  

Happy Howlidays!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Are you done with your Christmas Shopping yet? 

I finally finished last night!  

I did a little happy dance and a celebratory jig. 

Right there in the store.

Not really...but in my head I did.

As I was humming carols to my car, I realized that although my gift quest was over there were still gifts to acquire.

There are gifts to people that I always give to...neighbors, the mail carrier, the gardener...

Ahhh!  Christmas is about showing others how you appreciate them...not being sent to the poor house! 

I came across this idea from my 1st grade buddies at my school.  I sure would like to take credit for this fabulous idea, but I can't.  Teachers are the some of the most frugal creative people I know.  

That's said with the utmost awe and admiration.   

Isn't it ca-ute???
Wait...you don't know what it is.
Just sit back and be amazed!

You just open it up and there are 4 little sleeves to put "little" gifts into.  

My mind is racing with ideas of what to fill this wonderful little gift!  

You could fill the sleeves with little "love coupons" for the receiver...such as..."I will wash the car for you"..."I will do the dishes for you"...you get the idea.  
You could also fill the sleeves with little scriptures or prayers for the receiver.  
You could put little notes in the sleeves about what you admire or like about the receiver.
You could put little candies in the sleeves.
You could put gift cards in the sleeves.  

The ideas are limitless.  It could be as inexpensive as you like or as costly as you want!

Here is a little tutorial on how to create this little idea:

1.  First you will need lunch bags. You will need 4 of them.  Easy huh?

2.  Next lay out the bags like shown with the open end on the outside.  Glue the ends together with hot glue.  Easy smeasy!

3.  The next step is the most fun part! You get to decorate.  Decorating can be as elaborate as you want.  On this one,  I used an old birthday card
for the center and some scrapbook paper supplies.  

4.  Decorate all sides of the sleeves,front and back.  You can use scrapbook paper, wrapping paper
or old cards.  For my Christmas one, I used scrapbook paper and clip art images I got off of the
internet.  Cost to me so far...zilch..zip...big fat ZERO!  

5.  Fold it together and add a little button to the front. Add  a ribbon to the back to tie the booklet together.  

Isn't it cute? 

I have made two already.  A Christmas and a birthday version. 

I think that the idea would lend itself beautifully to a little scrapbook.  Every sleeve could have a photo on it and the inside of the sleeve could have the journaling.  

I also think this could be a great way to give gift cards to a grad.  Each sleeve could have a gift card in it to various fast food places and stores to ready a dorm room.

Oh my mind is racing! 

Have a Merry Christmas!

Have A Sweet Christmas!

It's my favorite time of year!  I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season as well!

I have put away all of my DIY tools and all my projects are on hold during the season.  Trust me, it was hard!  Very hard!  I think I started to have some withdrawals.  But the thought of sawdust and power tools amongst the Christmas decorations was a bit much...

even for me.

But of course, I just can not do nothing! 

So, I thought of a inexpensive, easy wreath.  I was inspired by some of the wreaths I have been seeing using candies.  I have seen them made out of candy corn and recently saw one made out of mini candy canes.  Here is my version of the wreath:

Isn't it sweet?!

It was so easy too!  I just took a green styrofoam floral wreath that I found at the Dollar Tree for a...what for it...dollar!  Then I wrapped it with white duct tape.

After that, I just hot glued the starburst candies on the wreath!  Easy, smeasy!  

Then, a ribbon around it to hang it up and viola!  A sweet little wreath!

The wreath was inexpensive to make.  It was $1.00 for the wreath form, $2.50 for the candies and I used a ribbon I already had.  So the final cost was $3.50!   Sweet!

I hope that all you have a wonderful sweet Christmas!

It's all about the pumpkin

For me, there is nothing that screams fall to me more than pumpkin.  I love the look of them.  They are so cute and colorful.  I especially like eating pumpkin!  Pumpkin soup, pumpkin butter, pumpkin pie...really anything with pumpkin!  I also make a mean pumpkin chocolate bread!


My love of pumpkin put me on a quest to discover another tasty way to enjoy my favorite fall flavor.  I found a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing.  The recipe is a little time consuming, but I hope you will agree...it's worth it!

Doesn't it look delish!
Trust me...it is!

For the dough:
Dissolve 1 pkg yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.  Let it rest for 5 minutes.
Add 1/3 cup warm milk, 1 egg, 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1 T melted butter, 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 t salt, 3/4 t cinnamon, 1/4 t ginger, 1/4 t cardamon.
Beat for 2 minutes.


Slowly add 1 1/2 c of all purpose flour (You can add more if needed.  The dough needs to be stiff enough to knead.)


Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.


Place dough into a greased bowl and cover.  Let dough rise until doubled.  (This takes about an hour...maybe more)


After it has doubled, pat the dough into a 16" x 12" rectangle.  Spread softened butter on top. (about 4 oz.).  Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top.


Sugar Mixture:
2/3 c white sugar, 1/4 c brown sugar, 2 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t ginger, 1/2 t  allspice, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/8 t cloves.  Mix well.


Roll the dough into a log the long way.  Slice the log into about 15 slices.  .  Place into a greased baking dish and cover.  Let rise until doubled (about an hour).


Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  They should be golden brown when done.


Frost with cream cheese icing and enjoy!


Cream cheese icing:
Blend together 4 oz. cream cheese, 4 oz. butter, 1 t. vanilla and 2-3 cups of powdered sugar.  


There it is!  I think they are very yummy.  I will definitely make these again.  


So what are your favorite pumpkin recipes?