Thursday, February 23, 2012

I've got big plans!!

Okay, so maybe BIG plans is a bit exaggerated, but I have plans for at least a couple of DIY projects when we finish getting moved in to our new place.  One of the first ones is a fun lamp that I plan on putting in the living room.  I decided I had to share my plans since I am also very pleased with the deals I got on all the components!

This lamp was found for $10 at Restore, a place where you can get all sorts of leftover and slightly used things for your home...and the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.
I found this perfect size lamp shade when I went to Goodwill.  Guess how much it was!  Only 50 cents!  It was a half off everything day since it was President's day.
On the same outing to Goodwill I found this pillow case that had a print that I think will be fabulous for the living room.  And I got it for the lovely price of...50 cents!  Again, half off day was in my favor!

So with $11 dollars invested into this lamp project I think I'm doing pretty good.  I happen to have spray adhesive and a hot glue gun, so I will choose my appropriate tool when I get to this little project and... light up the living room!!
The only question is, should I put the stripes vertically or horizontally?  I'm thinking horizontally, that seems to look right to me, but what do you think? 
vertical? or...
horizontal?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Martha inspired cupcakes


Several months ago I wanted to find a good German chocolate cake recipe to make for Clint's birthday and my search led me to this fabulous recipe!  In all honesty this is what I would have loved to have made for Valentine's day, but time didn't seem to permit me to make this delectable treat.  So, I made time this last weekend and whipped up my spin on the recipe...cupcakes!  For my variation I scooped out a little bit of each of the cupcakes after they baked, and then filled them with the pecan/coconut mixture, the I dipped the top of the each of them in the chocolate ganache. Once the ganache settled slightly I topped each cupcake with an extra pecan garnish.  Yummy!  They seemed to be a hit with our Sunday school class, of course enjoyed with a glass of milk!
*Note I also used semi-sweet chocolate for the ganache to tone down the richness of the recipe. 

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Clean slate!

This week I finally wrapped up painting all of the rooms in our new place, yeah!  I did have lots of help last week from a few family members (a big thank you once again), but I didn't get around to finishing it all until this week.  So I was really happy today to be able to put some things back together and clean the house up a bit so we can be ready to move everything in this next week!
 One of the nights that we went over to the house to work on things after work I decided to bring one single portrait to test out above the fireplace in the den.  Clint just laughed at me as I got into the car with this one item from our apartment to "move" to the house, but it of course made me happy to be able to see the house become our home! As you can see...
Although this picture isn't the best since it's just with a phone (and of course you can see the stain on the carpet that I will soon be having cleaned), I love seeing the room with fresh paint and the potential of this and all the rooms in the house.  Plus I happened to find the fireplace guard just around the corner from the house this morning! :)  I was driving up to the house to start our Saturday projects and I spotted one of our new neighbors having a garage sale, and lo and behold...they had something we needed!  So I got to meet our new neighbors and bargain them down to $12 for the fireplace guard! 

Next is the guest/hallway bathroom.  I have to say the black and white tile motif has grown on me!  At first I wasn't thrilled with it, but after painting the walls in the bathroom a light gray, I'm a believer!  I look forward to adding some pops of color in the bathroom with towels and little accent pieces, but for now the simplicity of the black, white and light gray is making me happy! ; )  You can't tell in the picture that the walls are gray, but trust me they look nice! 
It will probably be a little while before I start to get too involved with the landscaping and gardening at the house, but I am so lucky that we already have lemon trees!  YEAH!  I love using lemons when cooking, so I was thrilled when I noticed after our offer was accepted on the house that we have a mature lemon tree!  This will also save money since Clint won't have to go out and buy me a lemon tree now because I told him when we were buying the house that I had to be able to buy some fruit trees.  Phew, money saved for once!

And, last but not least for the house updates...camellias!!  One of the cool parts about buying an older home is that there are sometimes flowers already planted.  We already seen some flowers blossom at the house (even though it's only February!) like daffodils and geraniums, but my favorite by far is the one little camellia bush in the backyard.  I love camellias because they are such full beautiful flowers but they especially make me happy because they remind me of my great-grandma Laura.  Camellia bushes lined the front walkway of grandma Laura's house and often she would have fresh-cut camellias in her house, which always added a simple elegance to her living room.  Even though grandma Laura isn't here anymore our home will definitely have some of her touch since I think I'll take that trick of her's and put fresh camellias in our living room too!
So with that, I'm really excited to be in our new place!!  It's been a stressful process, but I think it'll all be worth it!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

I wish you love, my snickerdoodle

Happy Valentine's day!  It seems like the weeks have flown by so quickly, so much so that I barely had time to do anything special for my Valentine, yikes!  I wish I had more time to whip up a very thoughtful dinner, create a very sentimental card and bake a delightful dessert...but during this busy month of packing and moving I was just glad to sneak in some time for my sweetie's favorite cookies.  Snickerdoodles!   I put a little Valentine spin on them by shaping them into hearts.  I happened to find this cute inexpensive plate to put them on when I was out last week doing what else, but buying more paint for the walls in the house!  So I'm glad I got to use the plate to put Valentine goodies on.  During a busy time such as this, today just reminded me that it's important everyday to tell the ones close to me that I love them, especially my snickerdoodle ; )

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The "yellow house" is moving!

So where have I been all week?!  Obviously not in blog land!  Since last week I have been a busy bee getting things ready for our move into our new (old) house.  Crazy, but true!  It's been a stressful, exciting, surreal last week and a half since we signed papers and got the keys to the little home pictured here.

I'll be painting the inside (every room!) over the next couple days with the assistance of some helpers (thank you family!!) and Clint will continue to do the handy-man things to make it our own. 
Of course with this new place we have to call our own we happen to have a few extra rooms that I'll get to decorate!  And, there's a big backyard and front yard that will need a gardener's touch!  Can't wait to get started on all the projects!! 

Clint was the camera man.  Love the house, my yellow dress, and flower head-band (made by my lil sis-in-law)!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Finders Keepers: military trunk/side table

A couple of weekends ago Clint and I were at his parents house when I saw I spotted something fabulous!  This military storage trunk.  It was something my in-laws used for practical storage purposes at one point, but most recently haven't done anything with.
So I decided to ask the question, "Can I have that?!"  I'm not sure if they thought I was a little crazy for wanting this ol' trunk, none-the-less, my mother-in-law said yes!  Clint so kindly threw it the truck and hauled it home for me as I explained to him that the trunk would make the perfect side table for the living room, possibly next to the cream chair.  Once we got home I promptly tested out my theory that the ol' trunk would make a great new side table.  I was thrilled with the results, it looked perfect with a little bit of accessorizing!