French Door Photo Collage

This is by far the most special project I have been a part of. When my father asked for a photo collage of all his grandchildren, I knew immediately what we should do and called my other "Martha Stewart protege" sister, Jessica. She was instantly on board. We consulted our other siblings, who all agreed. 

Even though we all live far apart, we each undertook an element of the project to make this come together. Luckily, we had ample time to prepare and complete this enormous collage. We all agreed to have this ready for his birthday - more than half a year later. At some point, I am sure our Dad assumed we had forgotten. 

Finding an old french door with 18 window panes was a challenge, but eventually the right one came along. If needed, we could have grouped sibling children together for some of the photos. We might have to do this in the future for replacement photos if more come along.

DIY Nautical Knobs and Handles

I wish I had taken more photos of these knobs and handles, but it was an afterthought. I really wasn't sure how well these would turn out. In addition, I almost forgot to take a "before" picture of the dresser! So, most of the handles and knobs were missing when I took the photo below. The top drawers had standard round knobs. 

DIY 3D Portholes

Recently, I undertook the task of completely making over my son's room. I have to say, I had a lot of fun redesigning this room. Even better was his reaction to the transformation. Slowly, I am accomplishing small projects to really make his room pop - like these DIY portholes! 

I originally suggested having porthole vinyl decals next to his bed so it appears he is looking out to sea. He loved the idea. Then I had a conversation with my father, who suggested 3D portholes would be more realistic and way cooler. Why are you trying to create more work for me Dad?(Even though your idea IS awesome)

Rather than go through the trouble of cutting perfect circles out of plywood, I decided there MUST be something circular on this planet that I can use instead. I also researched the web for ideas and surprisingly really didn't find much help. So, this project was entirely all guess work and pure luck. Which explains why I had to redo them multiple times after trial and error. 

This tutorial will provide the basics, optional material and what ultimately worked for me. What I envisioned was a 3 dimensional porthole with material that mimicked glass and rivets as well. The hardest part was finding what looked like glass, but wasn't glass, that I could cut. Clear acrylic sheet! Who knew this existed? Because I totally knew, just testing you. Honestly, I cannot even remember who first enlightened me to its existence, but this is the part where you bat your eyes at someone with knowledge of a jigsaw and ask them to please cut circles for you (or do it yourself if you're so inclined, but I wasn't).

Nautical Dresser with Stained Faux Wood

Let me say, this is my favorite piece of all the furniture I've redone. It looks nothing like it used to. I tossed around a few ideas on how to paint this dresser for my son's newly designed bedroom. Once I formulated a color plan, I wondered to myself, "just how am I going to pull this off?" 

Wooden Boat Oar Hat Rack

What better way to hang your hat in a nautical themed room than with an oar? This was the easiest project for the entire room and really adds to the decor. I searched for weeks for an oar, but everyone selling them in this area must think they're made of gold. I happened to find this one just browsing at Hobby Lobby and it was 50% off, plus matched perfectly. Score!

I ordered a few boat cleats from Amazon and made markings on my oar and drilled the holes I needed for screwing in the cleats. If you do not pre-drill holes, you run the risk of splitting your wooden oar. 

I screwed in three boat cleats and then attached mounting hooks to the back of the oar. Done. Simple, but really cool according to my son. This would also make an awesome coat rack by an entryway or even a towel rack in your bathroom. 

Nautical Sign

In recent years, my son has asked me to redesign his room because he felt that Thomas the Tank Engine was too baby-ish. This year I finally committed to redesigning his room and what is more perfect that a nautical theme when you live on the coast? 

We came across a framed sign at Hobby Lobby that my son loved, with a whale and a quote from Psalm 93:4, but it was $60. Um no. We wanted it so bad though! How cute it would be to hang just over his headboard. So, I thought to myself, maybe I can make one. I turned to my son and said..I will make it. 

Armoire Upcycled to Entryway Mudcloset

I have struggled for years to keep the front entryway organized and neat with shoes, book bags, umbrellas, husband's junk. I really hated seeing it all. It's a nightmare for someone who dabbles in OCD :/ 

My original plan was to make a mud closet...and I did! See my earlier post here where I re-purposed an old entertainment center into a mud closet. Not bad for my first try. After a couple years of constantly barking orders for someone to straighten up the mess, I decided I wanted an armoire to hide the mess!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

I must say, these cupcakes are absolutely sinful, but worth it. This was my first attempt at lemon blueberry cupcakes and they were a huge hit with my co-workers (guinea pigs). 

A lot of the recipes I researched had Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and I specifically wanted to avoid cream cheese frosting, since not everyone likes it. 

The cupcake recipe I tried is from best.momscook.co. There isn't a website name listed, just a list of recipes and an author. I personally found her recipe and information to be fabulous. She gives a lot of tips and tricks. I accidentally forgot to add the lemon zest to my batter, but I did put in her optional lemon extract. Next time, I will add both. I want more than a hint of lemon. In addition, make note that her recipe makes only approximately 15 cupcakes. I failed to notice this until the last minute and had to bat my eyes for my husband to please rush to the grocery store for more blueberries! I was able to get 18 cupcakes from my batter and was not upset in the least that I ended up with 36 cupcakes.

The lemon buttercream frosting recipe I found is from Two Sisters Crafting. It's titled The Best Lemon Buttercream Frosting and they are not lying! I have made this frosting twice and it is wonderful! I made this frosting for Easter and colored it yellow. This last time I chose not to color my frosting so I could decorate it with lemon zest and blueberries. These cupcakes not only looked delicious, they were delicious!

If you have any suggestions or comments for altering the recipe and/or new dessert ideas please feel free to comment :)

Distressed Cottage Style Coffee Table

I found this coffee table at an estate sale for $20. I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, but for $20 you buy it anyway. I thought about painting it antique white and actually started the process, but hated it and began again. 

I really enjoy coastal cottage colors, so I proceeded with a soft blue. I made my own chalk paint and you can find the recipe I use here. In most cases, I usually apply 2 coats, as I did with this table. After each coat has dried, lightly sand for a smooth finish using a very fine grain. I use 400 grit. To distress furniture I use a course sanding block. I have a very detailed article on distressing and waxing here. The instructions will show you how to distress, what kind of sanding block to use and how to apply clear wax and dark wax. Speaking of, I've also made my own dark wax!  

For this coffee table I only distressed it slightly. I added two coats of clear wax for protection using SC Johnson Paste Wax. Remember to click my link above for full instructions on how to apply this! 

Now to find this coffee table a happy home!

UPDATE: This table found a home in beautiful island cottage!

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

This recipe is so simple and so good. This is my first time making a Peppermint Buttercream and I must say, I will definitely be making this again before the holidays are over! 

I made a Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe, which I have a link to here. There is also a link for Chocolate Buttercream as well. I bet the peppermint would taste great with the chocolate too!

The only addition I made to the vanilla buttercream recipe was 2 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil. That's it! This is my first time using an essential oil in my baking. I will definitely have to venture out of my comfort zone more and try other oils. 

To top off my cupcakes I took a few candy canes and put them inside a Ziploc bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. My daughter had a lot of fun helping with this part!

There you go! A very easy, but festive holiday dessert that is sure to impress. 

Faux Fireplace

I know this is pretty unconventional, but I certainly didn't want to waste a good piece of furniture. This is an old mirrored shelf from an outdated dresser. I bought the dresser to makeover, which is still on my "to do list". These old dressers usually sell better without the bulky mirrored shelves. I originally considered turning this piece into some type of foyer storage shelf with hooks for jackets and coats. I even saw someone on Pinterest who turned hers into a hutch on the wall. Nice! I felt this piece was too heavy for a wall though. 

It is the perfect size for a fireplace however! In the deep south we really do not have the need for a fireplace, yet they are so pretty to decorate with. I love my fireplace just for it's facade. I rarely actually utilize it though. So, I assume others out there would find this faux fireplace convenient. Nice soft glow of fire, without all the mess, and a mantle to decorate!

In all the excitement, I forgot to take a "before" picture. This is as close as I got. I barely started so we'll say it counts. As you can tell I had already removed the mirror. We'll get to that in a bit. 

I used Glidden Antique White latex paint. I found this ready made color in a sample size at Walmart. I had no idea they sold premixed colors! 

Vintage Nautical Dresser

I discovered this vintage dresser at a local estate sale. I had been keeping my eye out for something exactly like this for my husband. Frankly, I'm tired of sharing my dresser :) I bought this piece for $50, which I believe is a very fair price for it's age and condition. It is solid wood and has the dovetail drawers. Nice!

Here is what this little gem looked like beforehand. Built tough, but ugly. This project was a little more difficult than most since I had to consider someone else's opinion on the piece. My husband asked for green and chose his own color, which I agreed with. However, we did not come to a consensus on how to redo the drawers. It took some trial and error (and disagreements) till finally I said I know exactly what to do, you'll love it. Just trust me!

Girls Pink Ombre Desk

I had a friend cleaning out storage and I bought this desk for $20. I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. I had such positive reviews of the Boy's Ombre Desk that I thought it might be nice to redo this desk for a girl. I really like how my Cottage Desk turned out though, so I decided to paint this desk with my homemade chalk paint. 

Simple Wedding Cupcakes

This is the first time I ever made wedding cupcakes. I just needed to come up with something simple and easy to commemorate a special newlywed couple. My daughter and I did lots of Pinterest research and we saw the idea of using piped chocolate decorations. 

To keep this super simple we made a vanilla box cake and our "go to" favorite Classic Vanilla Buttercream frosting. I alternate between the vanilla and chocolate all the time and absolutely love them. Check out the Turkey Cupcakes we made for Thanksgiving and you'll find the buttercream frosting recipe links on that page. 

We bought Wilton's Dark Cocoa Melts to pipe our words onto wax paper. Follow the instructions on the package and place your piped chocolate words into the fridge for 5 mins to set. This was extremely easy even for a beginner like me. I can definitely see lots of future cupcakes and desserts utilizing candy melts. I spent the extra $4 for Wilton's disposable candy melts bags. Throw the candy in the bag and follow the directions for melting, then snip the tip and pipe. No mess.

Use a jumbo tip to pipe on the buttercream frosting on your cakes. We bought black sugar pearls at Michael's and sprinkled them on. Lift the piped chocolate words from the wax paper using a frosting spatula and place on your cupcake. 

Viola! I still need some practice to make my chocolate words and hearts flow smoother but not bad for a first time. We even made two monograms, "T" and "D" for the groom and bride. Displaying your cupcakes on a stand always enhances the presentation as well! 

Zebra Chair Makeover

I originally made over this chair months ago for resale, which you can see here. After I finished my daughter fell in love with it and claimed it for her own. I bought it for her originally, but she didn't think she'd want something without wheels so I ended up redoing the chair differently. However, once she saw the finished product she realized how pretty the chair could be. Gee, this sounds familiar....she did the exact same thing when I made over the zebra nightstand for her room.  

This quick change didn't cost me much except time and about $6 in new fabric. My daughter doesn't like distressed furniture so I repainted over it with the white I already had on hand from her Tween Zebra Room Makeover. I did a bit more research on reupholstering seats since I wasn't all that sastisfied with how it turned out last time. 

I found some great suggestions from the Little Green Notebook on how to upholster corners. For the most part it worked for me, with a minor modification at the end. I removed the fabric and stapled according to her directions. 

I don't think my corners came out quite as nice as hers and I believe it's because my foam is much thicker. 

I modified my corners to accommodate my thick foam. I tucked in my fabric and folded it over almost like you're wrapping a present. This worked out pretty well for the thicker foam. When you're done stapling remember to hammer your staples in so they're not sticking up.

This is an easy update with just a little paint and new fabric. I hope to redo more chairs in the future.

Super Easy Elf on the Shelf Ideas

Because not all of us have time for the Elf!!

So after speaking with a few moms I know I'm not the only one who is frustrated over figuring out what to do with this elf! In the beginning I swore I wouldn't spend $30 on a "stupid elf". However my sister apparently thought my kids should definitely have an elf :) So last year this tradition began and my kids absolutely love their elf Morgen. Yes, I know how to correctly spell Morgen, but he's an elf so he's different. 

This year Mindy joined our family too (because I like to torture myself). Although it really isn't any more trouble to have two elves. Either way, most of us are INSANELY busy and don't have time for elaborate elf scenarios and I prefer not to have the elves "in my way", like rolling in flour on my stove. Um no. I'm not cleaning that crap up nor am I not using my stove for a full 24 hours. 

So here is a compilation of mom-on-the-go ideas that are super easy and not too mischievous, as I'd prefer not to encourage my munchkins, and will also be out of mommy and daddy's way!

1) Rolling in Christmas ribbon:

Distressed Cottage Desk

This desk makes me think of cool mornings by the breezy ocean coast, sipping warm green tea. Complete peace around me, just listening to seagulls and reading a book. 

HAHAHAHA....I wish. I'm currently listening to a medieval battalion attack the Bat Cave in the background while my daughter keeps interrupting me to help her with yet another rainbow loom bracelet. I'm ok with that though. It means they still want to be near me and haven't written me off yet. 

I purchased this desk a few months ago for $50. I got a second desk for $10 along with it and made over that one for my son's room here. I had intended to sell this desk but I think I may keep it.

This is what the desk looked liked beforehand. Not bad, but pretty scratched up. Not sure if it was done this way on purpose or not. 

Homemade Angel Wings

After much debate over this year's Halloween costumes, my daughter decided to be an angel. Great! A white sheet, cut to fit, easy. Angel wings? How in the world do you make angel wings?? I of course Googled this. I found a site with instructions for DIY wings. I went and purchased 12 gauge wire and white pantyhose. The instructions said to shape the wire into your desired wings. The whole time I'm shaping this wire I am thinking to myself, this bends way too easy. How in the world will it hold it's shape with pantyhose stretched over it? But, whatever. The site had drawings and everything, so it must work. Well, my gut was right. The second I tried to put pantyhose over the wire it bent all out of shape....and I'm using my nice language on here. My daughter looked horrified and worried that I could not produce the cool angel wings she so desperately wanted for her costume. 

So after a few choice words and then finally back to logical thinking I decided...FINE...we need wire that doesn't bend? Easy. I have a closet full of stupid wire hangers that I can't stand! I pulled 2 hangers out of the closet and my daughter looked so skeptical and sad. She said that won't look good, it won't work. Wanna bet? Challenge accepted!!

I am going to be as descriptive as I possibly can. I did not take a lot of photos. I had no idea I would even blog about this until I was done and thought holy crap these look awesome!! So, here's what works in real life.

Items you will need:
2 wire hangers
Electrical tape (even duct tape would work)
Pipe cleaners (those little furry wire thingys for crafts)
White pantyhose (queen size)
White Christmas garland
2 feather boas
Hot glue gun
White elastic for the straps
Scissors
Wire cutters

Fall Mantel

I just brought out all my fall decorations again. I have made a few changes since last year's fall mantel. I sold my basket of ginormous ugly fruit, much to my husband's satisfaction. One day recently he drove me to Michael's, where all the fall decor was 60% off, and said go find new fall decor. He'd saved back a little bit of money just for this. How sweet. I bought 2 new scarecrows, one male and one female. Also picked up a cute orange basket and a couple bags of pumpkins, gourds, etc. I used a 20% off entire purchase coupon as well, which can be used even on sale items. 

I also plan to dress up my dining table a bit this year. I had my friend crochet a table runner and I hot glued fake fall leaves to the ends. I am currently working on painting a ceramic turkey to display in the center of the table. I love fall! It's my favorite time of year. My children are already excited about Christmas and they absolutely cannot wait until their Elf on the Shelf reappears this Thanksgiving night...

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is undoubtedly the best carrot cake recipe out there! I cannot take credit however. In my search for a classic homemade carrot cake I came across Sigrid's Carrot Cake. It's as easy as any store bought carrot cake mix, but homemade and way better! 

This is the 3rd year in a row that I've made this particular cake for my boss's birthday. This year however I chose to make cupcakes instead so it's easier to serve at work. This recipe does not give a bake time for cupcakes so I took a stab in the dark and guessed. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Yields 30 cupcakes. 

I did not have enough icing to frost 30 cupcakes. I barely frosted 26 so basically the last 4 were carrot cake muffins. Breakfast. You're welcome. 

I chose not to mix in the chopped pecans since some individuals may prefer no nuts, like myself. I sprinkled half my cupcakes with chopped pecans. Personally I think the pecans sprinkled on top is more visually appealing anyway.

Easy peasy as my daughter says ;)