Painted Bud Vases

I found these precious little bud vases at Walmart for something like .96 or .98 cents.  I grabbed three.  I picked out 3 of my acrylic paints for the colors.  Dark Hydrangea, Heritage White, and Lipstick Red.  Wash and air dry the bottles first.  Mine were quite dusty.

Pour the paint in..I put a little too much, but it made coating the insides easier.  You can always pour the extra back in the paint bottle.

Then, I put a piece of wax paper on top, and you shake, shake, shake.  I had to hit it against my palm a couple of times to get it to go where I wanted it to.  The extra usually comes up to the top, and I just poured it out onto the wax paper, then scooped it back up into the paint bottle.

I swirled a paint brush around the mouth of the vases to smooth the paint, and then just let dry.  It seemed to take forever.  Probably because it was so thick inside.

And finished, wish a couple of silk buds since we don't have too many flowers around here this year.  The heat seemed to finish them off pretty quickly.  Even with regular watering.  I placed them around the house.  One in the office, one in the living room, one in the dining room.  The flowers are trimmed off of a strand of flower garland that I've had for a few years and never used.  Worked pretty well.

Floor Vase

I was so excited to find these gem at a little primitive store down here at the coast.  It was a little more than I wanted to pay, but it was perfect in every way, so it came to live at my house.  After it sat on my dining room table for about a week, I decided what I wanted to do with it.  So off to Michael's I went.  They almost always deliver good results when it comes to fake flowers.  And once again, they did.  I found these cherry blossom stems.  And they weren't pink!  An off white/brownish color that matched the picture in my head pefectly!  It's sitting by a basket with cross stitch supplies, magazine inspirations, and off course, my handy-dandy fur brush.  It's a necessity when you have an overly furry kangaroo, I mean, dog.

Baking Day

J has been working...A LOT.  So one afternoon, I decided to do some baking.  Plus, baking breads always makes it feel a bit more like fall to me, and the house smells heavenly for hours.  This day, I decided to do banana bread and oatmeal scones.  Two favorites in our family.

The banana bread baking to a beautiful golden brown (please don't judge my dirty oven, it's about time for a good cleaning).  This time, I added chocolate chips, you can add about anything you want to this bread!  Raisins, different types of chips, nuts, dried fruits, whatever strikes you really.

While that was baking, I got the stuff ready to go for the oatmeal scones.

Blending it up.

Ready for baking! You have to shape it into a circle if you aren't using a round cake/pie pan.  I like the way this bakes on the stone, so I use this method.  Then you score it into 8 pieces with a knife before baking.  Makes them easy to break off afterwards.

Ummm..yum!

Banana Bread

Combine:
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar

Mix well, then add:
2 eggs
3 large very ripe bananas
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir it up, don't beat.
Put in an 8 or 9 inch pan, well greased.

Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

*If cut into 9 pieces, each piece has 280 calories.  12 pieces makes each piece 210 calories.

Oatmeal Scones

Pulse in food processor:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup raw sugar

Beat together:
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk

Mix all together until just blended.  Pat into greased 8 inch cake pan or into an 8 inch circle on cookie sheet.  Score 8 wedges with knife.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cool 15 minutes on cooling rack.

*Each piece is 235 calories.

Baking Center Organization

Eeek!!  This was dancing all over my OCD tendencies.  I just could not figure out a good way to keep this part of the kitchen organized.  It's my baking center, and maybe I just have too much stuff, but after sorting through it, there was nothing I could part with.  Not a durn thing.  So off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to search for cabinet organizers.

And this is the after.  Ahhhh....  (that was a calming ahhh, not a scream.)  I cleaned out a few canisters from the pantry to give me some more storage for packets like hot chocolate, cider, gravy mixes, etc.  I purchased a set of spice "stairs" (I don't know what they are really called), so I could tier the spices and now I can see them all and reach them without it turning into a scavenger hunt.  I got all the hand mixer stuff and stand mixer attachments out of this cabinet and moved them to a cabinet off to the right, beside the fridge which is to the right of the baking center.  So it is all right beside of this.  Still within reach, but not crammed overhead.

The mixer stuff and a merry-go-round (I don't think this is the right term either) in another cabinet.  All my cookie and cake decorating stuff is in here too, on the merry-go-round, so I can get to it easily.

Much, much better!

Dressing A Wall With What Ya Got

After deciding that this wall in the dining area was too bland, I added a few pictures from different places around the house.  I had the middle print by the front door, but decided it looked better here.  The smaller frames are a matching set and they both had primitive prints in them.  I took one of them out, and used the frame to put around the thermostat (because it's so ugly and kinda just stuck in the middle of this wall).  Now it fits in a little better, and the frame dresses it up.

See...  Isn't that better?  As you can see, it's set at 75.  That is a record for me, I hate my house this hot, but this summer is killing us in cooling costs, so I had to sacrifice.  Thank heavens for ceiling fans.

And, I added a little flower arrangement.  The jar was a find from back home at a little antique store, and I finally found some rusty hydrangeas that matched the style of the jar perfectly.  It came with a flower arrangement wired metal lid, so it was made for some pretty flowers.  I filled the vase with cinnamon potpurri (from Walmart for 1.00 no less!), and it smells divine.  Cinnamon hydranges, mmm...

No More Plastic Tray!

After yet some MORE pinterest inspiration, I decided that I wanted a compartmentalized silverware drawer instead of the flimsy little tray we've had for forever that never held all of the silverware.  We made a trip to Lowe's to get some white pressboard shelving (about 4 bucks a piece, and the project took 3 pieces after cutting them all to where they all had a white top piece and the raw wood wouldn't be showing), and some white tipped screws that would go through the metal side of the drawers.  We measured the lengths we would need and how many compartments I wanted, and J headed next door to use the neighbor's table saw since we don't have one...yet.  Once everything was cut, we slid them in, and spaced them out evenly, and then put two screws on each side of the plank.  After they were all in, J caulked the seams, and I touched up any rough wooden edges with white paint.  Then it dried overnight.

The "before" drawer(s):

The next morning with everything put in them (The second drawer was a last minute decision that I threw out, and even though I don't think J was happy with me, he obliged anyways.  Hey, we had a plank left over!  It made the perfect little space for serveware:)).

They are SO much more spacious than the trays, and I am so extremely happy that it turned out just the way I pictured it in my head. I recommend this easy project to anyone who has a drill. For a little under 20 bucks, it was so worth it.

Bathroom Shelves

Another gift from my darling was a wall decal for the bathroom.  I wanted something for the storage shelves over the tub.  This fit perfectly between two stacks of towels.  It still looks a bit empty to me, but I'm not sure what else I want to put up there.  Maybe some baskets!  I need to go to Michael's.  It's about the only type of crafts store we have around here, and about the only option for a good choice of baskets that won't break the bank.  Any other suggestions for this space?

Happiness is a long, hot bubble bath.  Yes, yes it is...

Melon Man

The designated melon picker in our house is Jason.  I never get good ones, yet he almost always picks the perfect one.  Without smelling it, thumping it, or any of the "tricks" they say works.  He just says "that one looks good" and goes with it.  Hey, it works, so I'll keep letting him pick 'em.  The last watermelon and cantaloupe he picked were so sweet and pretty in color, they didn't stay around long.  It's time to send him back to the store:)

Band-aid Bling

One of my favorite Birchbox contents to date is my box of Cynthia Rowley designer band-aids.  They are so pretty, and have the staying power of the band-aid brand.  I took a chunk out of my finger last week putting on my really cute, strappy sandals.  My finger got stuck under the back strap and got snagged in the buckle, only me, right?  Anyways, it really hurt and was bleeding.  Totally needed a band-aid, so I got to break out my new box (I usually use my Tinkerbell ones).  They are 15.00 a box regularly, so it won't be a splurge I make on my own, so for now I will enjoy the pack I have.  And I don't think I have to worry about J using them:)  I'm sporting the buttons band-aid here.  Aren't they just precious!?

Mint!

I'm loving the mint trend right now, and though I only have a couple of mint colored items in my jewelry and closet, I did find some mint nail polish in my stash.  It is the perfect summer color for my toes.  I haven't tried it on my finger tips yet because I find that some of the cheaper nail polishes don't hold up so well on my fingers.  This one is by Revlon, and it's called Minted (appropriately).  Just don't laugh at my stubby, crooked toes.  They have character.

I Heart Mod Podge

Ashwee gave me the idea of recovering with scrapbook paper and mod podge for letters, frames, etc.  So I took a letter that was black and kinda boring, made it polka dotted red with some distressing around the edges.  I also did a couple of frames that Ash gave me that were broken and she wasn't using anymore.  I repurposed those, and once Walgreens gets their online photo order system back up, I will order some new prints for these.  The second one is missing a back, so I have to come up with a replacement for that one, and then I will probably hang it or prop it somewhere.  And lastly, I had a plain wooden frame laying around that I painted with Vintage White acrylic paint, then roughed it up with some sandpaper.  I took the back and glass off, and used it to frame a skeleton key and hung it up in my office.  I like the new purpose of it much better.

All of my "new" frames!

LOL

When we were home over my birthday, we all decided to do Sunday lunch at Dairi-O's after church.  We drove seperately from Dad and Mom, and got there first.  While we were waiting for them, Austin noticed a teenage guy checking Alaina out.  So he promptly put his arm around her to ward him off (because he is SO threatening).  Alaina was tickled and a little embarrassed, Ashley, J, and I thought it rather comical.  I don't think he's ready to share Alaina's attention yet.  Plus he's already protecting the women in his family (even if it is from pimple faced teenagers)..I like it.

New Take on Journaling

I can't wait to start this!  I saw it on a post here.  After looking it up on Amazon (my favorite place to shop!), and getting to look inside, I decided I needed it.  It's a fun way to record random things every day for a year, then you do it again on the following line for the next year, and so on for 5 years.  I think it will be neat to see how my answers change from year to year.  But, being that it's July, and it will bug me to start in the middle of the year (OCD an' all), I'm going to wait and start it in January.  I've been cheating a little and reading different days, some of them will really change yearly.  I'm excited to get started!

Gel Nail Manicure

Another birthday gift from J was a gel nail starter kit with the UV lamp drying thingy;o)  The gel holds up very well.  I bought a few additional colors, and the picture on the right is coral sunrise.  I am so into coral this year.  I never thought I could wear it, but it's actually a great color for me.  I'm at almost a week with it on and there are no chips whatsoever.  The only problem I'm having is that on the parts where it gets on the skin or a little too far into the cuticle, it tends to want to peel off of those areas, thus causing the rest of it to want to follow.  I guess I have to work on coloring in the lines a little better.

Bling For My Mixer

One of my birthday presents from J was a decal for my beautiful RED KitchenAid mixer.  They are called retro dots, and they are from Etsy (I have serious Etsy addiction problems).  They are so stinkin' cute, I can't stand it!  They make my mixer even cooler, if that was even possible.  (Can you tell this is my fave kitchen appliance?)  I am so happy with the way this turned out!