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!

4th of July Nails!

Happy 4th!

Coral nails stamped!

Coral nail polish is one of my favorites for summer! I did this for the weekend for a special occasion, because I think the coral color goes great with the summer brights that I would be wearing! I used my nail stamps to do the white part of the design, then the dotting tool to put the green dots, and then finished with a bit of glitter! Love 'em!

Bleach Pen FUN!!!

I have played with bleach pens before, and I love the effect they give to clothing! Then my friend recommended a pin on Pinterest to me the other day and I fell in love with the design! You can view the original design on the blog, The Next Bird, HERE .

 Since I am not good at drawing designs I did my own version and recreated her pattern.

I will be playing with bleach more often! The possiblities are endless!

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes!

Chocolate Carmel Cupcakes!?!?! Yes please! I saw this recipe on pinterest and I just had to try it. Who doesn't love chocolate and caramel???? The original recipe is from bakeitinacake.com and you can find it here: Chocolate Carmel Cupcakes This recipe calls for Fran's Salted caramels... they were a little on the pricey side and I was also short on time to actually order them. So, I found an alternative... Milky Way Simply Carmel! (In the bite size) It actually worked out great and these little babies turned out AWESOME!!! Check out the bake it in a cake website too for other great cupcake ideas! This recipe was great and I thank them for it!!!!

Here's what I did:
This recipe will make about 3 dozen.

For the brownies you’ll need:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 c. flour
about 36 bite-sized Milky way simply caramel
A little kosher salt
Mini cupcake foil-lined baking cups

For the buttercream you’ll need:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
15-20 caramels ( I used kraft)
2 T. heavy cream
2 c. powdered sugar
kosher salt

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
To make the brownies, melt together the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on high heat for 90 seconds. Remove it from the microwave and stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
Add in the sugar, and stir until it is well combined. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and salt. Finally, stir in the flour.
Put a teaspoon of brownie batter into paper-lined mini cupcake tins. They should be about half full. I scooped the batter into a big zip-top bag and cut off one of the bottom corners to make a piping bag and it worked out great! Put one caramel in each tin, sprinkle with a little salt, then cover with another teaspoon of batter so the tins are about 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until the brownies have set. My oven cooks FAST, so mine only needed like 12 mins. They will give a little when you gently press your finger into the top of them, but they should not be too soft.
Allow to cool, then make the buttercream!
First, melt the caramel with the heavy cream. You can pop it in the microwave for 30 second increments, until the caramel is smooth. Allow it to cool in the fridge for a few minutes.
Whip the butter for about 30 seconds on med-high speed, so it gets fluffy. Add in about one cup of powdered sugar, and mix until it’s all combined. Once the caramel is cool to the touch, turn the mixer on medium speed and then drizzle the caramel into the frosting. If it’s too hot, it’ll melt the buttercream, so be patient.
Beat until fluffy. Then add in the other cup of powdered sugar and the salt, a 1/4 to a 1/2 t. at a time, mixing and then tasting after each addition to make sure you don’t add too much. A little goes a long way with the salt. Once it tastes the way you want it to taste, frost the cupcakes!
Grate a few chocolate shavings over the top. Fancy! You can also drizzle a little more caramel on the top but make sure it is not too hot... maybe try caramel ice cream topping for this.

Give these a try and come back to let me know what you think!!!!
Enjoy!

New purse!

Just finished another purse! I did this one last week and it turned out super cute! The colors turned out really nice. I really like the yellow, black and grey together! It's awesome to be able to make this so quickly using fat quarters! Next one I make will have instructions!!

Men's T-shirt to ladies tank top refashion

My hubby was getting rid of some old t-shirts and I snagged this one from the bag! I decided to make it into a tank by tracing the shape of one I had onto the shirt and seeing up the edges!!! I really like how it turned out!! I even saved the cute skull tag!!