Cyber Monday

 

Looks like someone had a busy day of internet shopping.....

DIY Frame Project

I came across this post for a 'Christmas Present Frame' over at Craftily Ever After and had to give it a try. Although I wasn't looking to make a Christmas themed frame, I thought I could try and make a few frames for our guest bedroom. Here is my version of this DIY frame project.

SUPPLIES:
Wood Frame ($1.00 at Michaels!)
Mod Podge
Paint
Fun Printed Paper (or wrapping paper)
Paint brush
Razor blade or exacto knife
Ribbon

First, I painted the wood frame black since my paper color scheme was black and white. Technically I didn't have to paint the entire frame since the paper was going to cover all of the front, but I was toying with the fact of distressing the paint, but ultimately decided against it.

Once the paint dried I cut the paper roughly one inch larger than the frame itself. Applied a layer of Mod Podge to the front of the painted frame and pressed the paper on and smoothed it out. This adheres the paper to the frame. Once this dried, I cut the excess paper by flipping the frame over and using a razor blade and cut the around the inner and outer edges of the frame. 

Next, I applied a layer of Mod Podge over the paper and around the side edges and let dry. I liked the frames as is, but they seemed to be missing something. 

So I decided to add some ribbon to spruce them up a bit. 

I just adore the finished product! What do you think?!

Homemade Pop Tarts

I love anything with cinnamon and sugar. So when I found this recipe from Pam over at For The Love of Cooking for homemade cinnamon and brown sugar pop tarts, I had to give it a try. Here is my interpretation of her recipe. I think my pop tarts turned out a bit smaller and I decided to add a drizzle of icing on top. I would definitely make these again. It was very easy and they were yummo!

Hello Skinnygirl

Hello Skinnygirl Margarita. Looks like my Saturday night just got a whole lot better! I thoroughly enjoy a good margarita. Believe it or not, the best margarita I had was at a bar in NYC, on the rocks with salt of course. I have yet to meet it's match. I don't expect Skinngirl to be a match, but hope it comes damn close. Will let you know what I think...stay tuned. 

UPDATE: I wasn't swept of my tipsy feet by Skinnygirl Margarita but did think it was good, but nothing more. I had it on over ice with salt and a twist of lime. It was better than most mixes I have tried - those tend to be too sweet. If I had to rate it on a scale of 1-5, I would give it a 3. It may taste better on a hot summer day while listening to some Jimmy Buffet and eating a cheeseburger. I'll have to give that a whirl in about 6 months.

Ribbon = L.O.V.E.

My bargains!

For those of you who know me, you know that I love bows. Anything with bows will get my attention. Simply love them. So naturally I love ribbon. I love wrapping gifts and always said that when I retire, I am going to work at a department store gift wrap counter or even open my own gift wrapping business.

I had the chance to go to a ribbon outlet recently, and I was super pumped. My mom, my sister, my mother-in-law and I piled into the car and were as giddy as schoolgirls. We kept joking that we were going to be throwing our elbows at each other in order to grab the best bargains. 

My bargains!

When we arrived at the small sized, "no-frills" outlet, I was surprised that the shopping customers weren't running around the place, gasping at all the gorgeous deals that appear before them and singing. I had to contain my excitement and thought to myself that I must have died and gone to heaven because no one in their right mind would sell an X-large roll of grosgrain ribbon for $1.25. I was throwing spools of ribbon in my basket like the crazy contestants on Supermarket Sweep. Check out my sister's bargains here!

Blonde Joke of the Day

Q: What do you get when you put seven blondes in a freezer? 

A: Frosted Flakes

BAHAHAHAHA

The Adventures of Emmit Continue...

Dining Room Table Re-do Part 1

In our pre-'burbs life, we lived in a small condo which had a very small dining room. The hubs and I had bought a small dining set that fit perfectly in that space. This dining set moved with us to the 'burbs and somehow seems oddly small and almost cartoon-like in our new dining room. But we have "made-do" with what we have for the last year and a half. 

Confession: I often drool over the Sumner dining room set from Pottery Barn. I love everything about it except I think it may be a bit too large for our modest dining room.

Soooo....recently my wonderful in-laws purchased a new dining room table (so jealous!) and offered us their old table, which by the way, they have had for 30+ years! It's a smaller scale dining room table, but definitely larger than our current dining set. Of course the hubs and I jumped all over the offer. This table has hosted many family gatherings, holiday's, birthdays, and Sunday dinners - and now we get to continue these traditions! Priceless.

In it's current state, the table has several pot marks, scratches and general wear-and-tear. It is, after all, older than me! We were given "permission" to refinish the table. I had to ask for permission since it is an antique and has a lot of sentimental value to my in-laws. And I had to also ask myself - were we up for such a task of refinishing this table??? Of course! In fact, we got started on this re-do a few weekends ago....

Here it is in its original condition. It's stained pine. (No, it doesn't have metal legs, that's just the saw-horse we put it on)

After several yucky coats of stripper, it was lighter but not down to it's natural wood just yet. The hubs helped me sand it down. 
Oh - and here is the best part....

The hubs got to wear his LL Bean boots. Let me explain...the hubs is OBSESSED with his LL Bean boots and will wear them on any occasion possible. In fact, he would probably wear them to work (with his suit) if he could. I love it!

Here is the hubs hard at work! 
In his LL Bean boots!

And here it is after being stripped and sanded. There is definitely more sanding to be done to make the color as even as we can. But I never though it would be this light! I love it! What do you think?

More to come, so stay tuned!.....