New crochet Pattern to try.

Have any of you tried this new kind of yarn? It is called Sashay Yarn, Ribbon or Ruffle yarn.
I found a pattern on the Mary Maxim website. It is a free pattern but you must register with the website to get the free pattern which is no biggie. Here's the link: Sashay Scarf Pattern

I watched some videos on You Tube on how to do this type of crochet because I didn't want to mees it up! This yarn is really cute! The pattern I used was pretty self explanitory so I gave it a go and finished the scarf in like 30 minutes!!!  Love it! Let me know what you think once you have tried this yarn! Come back and post pics of your projects! I want to see what else can be done with this great yarn!

Don't Let Our Elf Be a Bad Influence on Your Elf!

At our house, the Elf on the Shelf Tradition has been going on for the past 3 years. Our Elf, Marvin, has  always just found a new spot to sit and watch the kids, but this year he has been naughty! Here are some of the things that our little elf friend has been up to....

On a date with Barbie! (Ken is not going to like this!)

The Playmobil Guys aren't thrilled with Marvin's Mischief!

Making the Kids look more distinguished with dry erase mustaches.

Sneaking the Chocolate!

Getting into the ring and getting smacked down!

A little Cirque Du Soleil!

Getting his tan on under a book light!

There were a few that I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of... Shaving in the bathroom with Dad's shaving cream all over his face, Being fabulous in Mom's costume jewelry, playing Black Jack with a roudy group of toys and hiding out in the kids' Lego fort!

Don't let Marvin be a bad influence on you Elves!

Some Spooky Decor!

I am getting out all of the goodies in preparation for Halloween! I think my dining room is done. I got this AWESOME Skeleton from the local drug store for such a steal!!! Maybe I will add some spiderwebs, but it looks spooky, what do you think?

Here is the staircase...

 

Spooky Dessert! Easy!

Here is a cute seasonal spin on one of our favorite desserts! A spooky graveyard scene on top of "Mud"!

"Mud" is that yummy dessert made with crushed up oreos layered with a whipped cream and vanilla pudding mixture. It is a favorite here with kids and adults!! I just put some candy pumpkins, vanilla sandwich cookies (I decorated them with icing but I don't even think that was necessary!) and "glued" some pretzel sticks together using royal icing! The kids went wild for this sppoky graveyard treat!

Here's the "Mud" recipe I use:

 

1 stick of butter softened

8 oz cream cheese softened

Mix those together

Add- 1 cup powdered sugar

Set aside

 

2 instant french vanilla pudding

4 cups milk

Blend for 2 minutes

Add 12 oz Cool Whip

 

Blend Pudding mixture and cream cheese mixture.

 

Crush 16 oz Oreo Cookies

 

Layer in a bowl or pan.

 

Chill for at least 1 hour.

:)

 

 

 

 

Ta-dah! The TV Table!

OMG!!! It turned out great!

I have surprised myself! The "hunk of junk" that I bought at the thrift store turned out better than I had imagined! When I brought this beauty home most of my family and friends laughed at what an eyesore it was. I heard a lot of "Well, you have your work cut out for you"!

It was definitely ugly, but I saw the potential! When I was looking the cabinet over before buying it, I noticed that there was a cord coming out of it with a plug on the end! After further inspection, I realized that it had a light "feature" that I figured since this was in pretty bad shape wouldn't work. But, it totally does work!

 On the inside of the cabinet doors, was this weird avacado green velvet! Then I realized that the velvet panels were meant to face outward!

This cabinet just kept getting better and better to me! Ha! So, I decided it had to be mine, and for fifteen bucks, why not? YES!!! It was ONLY $15!!!!!!!I could afford to put some work into this baby!

Some cleaning, this thing smelled super musty! A little sanding, almost 10 cans of spray paint, glaze and polycrylic, and a few more finishing touches and I was done. Here it is!

I laugh when I think about the fact that I spent under $100 on this piece! It is seven feet long! Let me know what you think!

Here is a close up of the "bling" knobs!

And below is a picture of the light "feature" on with the new red glass!

 



And here is the before and after comparison!

 

Mercury Glass Pumpkin!

I love how mercury glass looks! I saw these at pottery barn...

Aren't they GORGEOUS?!?!

But.... they were a little $$$$ for my liking so I was on a mission!

While at the local thrift store, I stumbled upon a cute little glass pumpkin jar! I picked it up for $3.05! Sweet!

I bought some looking glass spray at the craft store with a coupon...so like 6 bucks.

Then, I got to work. I washed and dried the glass pumpkin. Then, I grabbed a spray bottle of regular water. The spray sould be done on the inside of the glass to get the "mirrored" look, so I LIGHTLY spritzed the inside of the pumpkin and the lid with water. Next, I gave the inside a good coat of the looking glass spray paint and let it dry for about 10 minutes. After the drying time, I wiped the excess water dropplets out with a bit of dry paper towel. Then, I repeated the process starting with the water spritz. Keep doing this until the piece gets to the desired look!

Here is my version!

 

 

 

Fall, already?

It's getting to be that time of year already! Fall! I'm seeing Halloween decorations going up around town and fall themes in the stores. My favorite thing about fall is Halloween! I have loved it since I was a kid. There is something exciting about feeling scared... and I love the idea of getting to dress up as anything you want! In the spirit of fall, I'm going to share with you all today a Halloween costume that I made for my daughter a few years ago and it will always be my favorite!

 I found a parrot costume pattern at the craft store and I just used pink to make her a flamingo! If you think you want to give a little more advanced sewing a try, I think costumes are a safe place to start. They dont have to be perfect! Just fun!

The laundry room makeover! New floor!

My hubby and I are in the midst of a laundry room/mud room makeover. A lot of little projects are going on and some big ones to make this space more functional and of course more stylish. Here are some before shots.

Blah! Yucky! My first "big project" Is the floor. It is vinyl and it it completely ruined and stained from all of the muddy boots and shoes going in and out. I wanted something more durable and darker. so I found this Awesome tile at the local big box store...

It was literally the first one I saw. Perfect! And on sale... even better!

I have to say that on our own, my hubby and I might not have been so brave as to try laying a tile floor on our own. My Father-in-law was a professional so we asked him to help us out! (I cannot tell you how gratefull I am to have him around! Thanks, Dad!) So, the hubby and I ripped out the old floor with the help of our Youngest son! Ha! And together, The hubby and the Father-in-law put in the new tile.

 

Fun hair color!

I had so much fun working on Kaylee's hair today!! She wanted some vivid peek-a-boo highlights in her hair and I was excited that she called to have me put them in! I think it looks great! Maybe I should do some vivid colors again!?!?! I put in purple, pink and teal!

Spray Painting Switch Plates! Easy and Cheap Home Update!!!

I bought another can of rustoleum oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I really love this stuff! I can update things in the house so inexpensively!! My hubby and I were tiring of the plain switch plate covers and the vent covers on the main floor. We wanted to change them from plain white to the oil rubbed bronze. Well... It was $10.97 at home depot for one switch plate cover in oil rubbed bronze! No way! I really didn't think it would cost over $100 to do this simple update. So I was bummed. Then, my hubby said, "why don't we spray paint them like you did for the light fixtures?"
Awesome!!! So I paid $7.28 for the can of spray paint and got all of the covers done! I love it!

before

after

Vacation nail design!

Minnie mouse nails!

Yummy! Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Brownies!

For my husband's birthday, I always ask him what he wants me to makefor him to eat. We LIVE to eat here! It's all about the food! He wanted something for dessert and he loves Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. So we brainstormed and came up with these...

So delicious! They have a chocolate cookie on the bottom, brownie on the top and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the middle. They were super easy to make, too!

Here's what I did:

For a 15X9 inch cookie sheet or Large stoneware bar pan.

• 2 packages of chocolate chip cookie dough. (any brand you like) softened a bit.
• 24-30 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. unwrapped.
• 1 box brownie mix and ingredients to make brownies.

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out the cookie dough evenly on the bottom of pan. Arrange the peanut butter cups on top of the cookie dough. Mix the brownies as the box instructs and pour over the top. Bake for about 25-30 mins depending on your oven. Mine is like on the 22-25 minute range of time... it bakes FAST! Let cool for a bit. Then cut them into serving sizes with a plastic knife.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

I love Pinterest because of stuff like this!

Pinterest is my new favorite thing! I have been obsessed with it since I joined back in February. But when I saw this pin.... I was  amazed!!!

Check out this Awesome Paisley Table HERE

Check out this Awesome Paisley Table HERE! or click on the picture!
This was the coolest idea that I have ever seen! Thank you to Ashley and her Blog, Domestic Imperfection! I have been hunting around my house since seeing this to find something to transform!!!
I found this table...

It was a hand-me-down piece that I got when we moved to this house 7 years ago. It has been a very functional piece but I have never loved it. (Not really my style) Sorry MOM! So it was a perfect choice to refinish! My friend had a stencil that I borrowed and I got to work!

I then had to decide what color I wanted this baby to be. I sampled a red color that I had on hand and I wasn't impressed... So I went with orange! I followed the tutorial from Domestic Imperfection And I am so happy with the results! What a fun project! I just need to get new knobs for the drawer and it will be complete but I couldn't wait to post the transformation!

It is such an awesome feeling to complete a project like this! I really love this piece of furniture now!

Please leave a comment telling me which knobs you like better!