Say Cheese

Since we moved in to this home I have wanted to arrange a picture gallery wall. I finally decided the best location for the gallery wall would be the hallway between our entryway and family room. I looked at numerous gallery wall examples and tons of picture frames, before deciding on picture frames from Ikea.

After deciding on which pictures to use for the wall, it was time to make a list of sizes of frames needed and quantity. Of course I left the list at home, which we discovered when we arrived at Ikea.....so good thing I pretty much had memorized the list. 

We decided on the Virserum Frames sizes 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10. The frames range in price from 1.99 to 4.99. 

Photo from www.Ikea.com 

I found a tip online to use paper scraps to make outlines of photo frames and arranged them on the wall using painters tape. This tip was a lifesaver and made it very easy to rearrange the photos without leaving tons of holes in the walls. 

I arranged the photos on the floor, which it made switching the photos around easy

Our Gallery Wall 

The cost of project was: 

Picture Frames from Ikea $ 49.80 

"N" Initial from Micheal's  $0.99

Total of                          $ 50.79 

Nightstand Refinished

I found a cute and cheap nightstand on Craigslist, but it was brown and had a watermark stain. I bought the

 nightstand for $40.00 and decided I would paint it black. 

I researched how to paint the furniture, best paint to use, etc. Well after scouring many DIY blogs, I headed to Home Depot and decided to use Rust-Oleum Painters Touch Black Semi-Gloss for this project. I also picked up some 3M Sanding blocks in 100 and 120 grit....these were excellent to use for all the small crevices and after using the electric sander.

I shocked myself and my husband with the final result! It could not have turned out better for my first DIY furniture redo.

This project cost be about $60.00 to complete including the cost of the dresser, as we had the sander, sandpaper, and miscellaneous painting supplies.

Home / Office Organization

So our home office has been a dumping ground since we moved in March.....its not pretty and we usually just shut the doors when people visit :)  I am making it my goal to finally organize the office!

I completed one small project of organizing all the home manuals, warranties and general home information into a binder. I decided to use some scrap pieces of scrap booking paper and die cut letters in order to make it pretty.....its girly to my husband, but that is ok since I am the one whom is usually having to locate all these items.

Items Used:
Bought a 1 1/2 inch Binder  ($ 3.00)
Sheet Protectors (Already had on hand)
Scrap booking paper / Letters (Already had on hand)

So I have recently refinished a nightstand and I think it turned out great! While browsing Pinterest I found this inspiration picture for a dresser turned into a File Cabinet.....this is my ultimate goal and can't wait to finish the office one day

Sewing Again

So over the weekend I started sewing again.....it's been at least 10 years since I have completed a sewing project. We have a baby shower next weekend, so I decided to sew some simple burp cloths. I dusted off my sewing machine and decided to give it a try.

I bought the Gerber prefold cloth diapers, as I have heard these make great burp cloths. I got the cloth diapers at Target for about $8.00

I had some left over cute fabric from previous project. I always prewash my fabric prior to any project, it helps with shrinkage and color bleeding.

1. Started by ironing the prefolded diapers.

2. I cut my fabric to size. Depends on how wide you want your fabric strip on the burp cloth and remember to account for the seam (used a 1/2 inch seam)

3. After cutting the fabric to size, then iron the fabric

4. I then fold my seams and iron them flat and pin the fabric to the cloth diaper....now it's ready to sew!

My finished project! They are not prefect, but not too bad considering I haven't sewed in sooo many years.

Taco Cupcakes

Wow, this is such a easy, quick and delicious meal! Of course I found the recipe on Pinterest, then changed it up a bit to our tastes :)  My husband had doubts, but was surprised by how much he liked these.

Taco Cupcakes

1 lb ground beef (can use chicken or turkey)
Taco seasoning (I make my own with Ppaprika, Cayenne pepper, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder)
1 can Jalapeno Beans
1 Jalapeno chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup Salsa
Cheddar cheese, shredded
Wonton wrappers
Optional toppings - salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole
Cooking spray (I like Crisco)

Preheat oven to 375.

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain off fat. Return the meat to the skillet; add the taco seasoning, onion and jalapenos, salsa and beans.  Mix and simmer for 5-10 minutes

Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.  Place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup, then divide half of the taco meat mixture between the muffin cups.  Sprinkle cheese over the meat.  Repeat layers - wonton, taco meat and cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.  Top with your favorite taco toppings

I like to serve with Chicken Tamales! Enjoy

Source

Now you see it, Now you don't

So the title of this post is referring to a problem we had in our master bathroom. We have two windows surrounding the master bath, which wasn't a problem until we lived here a few days. The master shower is located to the left of the tub. The windows have wooden blinds, but each window has an arch circle window above the blinds that was not covered.....

Here is the arch window which faces the front of the house



Well the arch windows were no big deal, until when taking a shower one night I looked up......to my surprise I could see my neighbors lights on through the arch windows and could see through their blinds. So I then realized I bet they could see down into our shower from what I think is their game room (not that I think our neighbors are peeping Tom's). I yell for my husband and tell him to hang a towel over the glass shower panel so I can finish my shower.  My husband starts to make jokes about making extra money for peep shows....he thinks he is funny ;) 

So my solution was to use Rustoleum Frosted Glass Spray paint. FYI have the room vented well when using Frosted Glass spray paint....I learned the hard way and thought I would pass out from the fumes. I started by taping off the top drywall and the bottom blinds with newspaper and painters tape. I put about 2-3 coats of paint...wanted to make sure it was frosted well.



Frosted Glass Window

 It was so easy and looks great! I had no dripping or running of the spray paint. I can now take showers in peace :)

Our New Home

So our house hunting is finally finished and we closed on our new home last week. We moved in last weekend and today marks one week in our new home! I absolutely love our home it has everything and more than we could every ask for :)  The home is 5 Bedrooms and 4.5 Bathrooms with 3 car garage and a game room.....that's Texas for you :)

Get ready for a ton of pictures....

This is the from the realtor website as its gloomy here today and I forgot to take a picture of the front of the house the other day.

Entryway

 Formal Living Room / Dining Room

Study

 Kitchen

Eat in Kitchen area

 Master Bath

Game Room 

My soon to be Craft Room..... I can't wait

Upstairs Bathrooms - they all look the same

Lots of storage!



Backyard Patio



Pool and Yard

Bootsie...aka the tour guide and my constant companion



She finally ventured upstairs!

That's our new home.....we can't believe we actually bought this house. We always say everything happens for a reason and this fell into our laps for the right price and a great location, so we are truly blessed.