Before & After- A New Shelf

 

I bought this little shelf a few years back at a friend's garage sale. I'm not quite sure how much I paid for it, but I don't think it was much. I saw great potential for it to be hung next to my front door and function as a key holder, storage bin, and picture frame shelf.....and that's exactly what it is.

 

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER:

 I sanded it, spray painted it Ivory, and painted the baskets with brown craft paint. I first tried staining the baskets, but that was a complete failure. Note to self: straw baskets don't stain. If they do, please share how. Instead, I mixed brown craft paint with water and just used a paint brush. I didn't want a solid brown look. I wanted more of a stained look and it ended up working just fine.

I was pleased with how it turned out. I know the shelf blends in with the wall now, but when you're renting a house and you have white walls, you don't have much of a choice. I didn't want to paint the shelf a color now and have to change it in the future. I really just wanted it white....and there you have it!

 

Have I told you how good it feels to finally re-do all my stuff that has been sitting in my parent's garage for years? I've had these ideas in my head since the moment I bought them and it was killing me to just sit there and watch my junk pile up because I had no where to put it. It makes me so happy to finally use it!

Potato, Pepper, & Kielbasa Casserole Recipe

 

I received this recipe at one of my bridal showers from one of my best guy friend's mom. She is seriously one of the greatest cooks I know (if you know Beverly then you can attest to this). I was really excited to try out the recipe since it had her name written on it. It definitely did not disappoint.

 

Ingredients:

-2 large sweet peppers, red and/or green

-2 medium-sized onions

-1 lb. small red potatoes (peeled)

- 12 ounces Kielbasa sausage

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

-1/4 cup olive oil

-1/2 cup heavy cream

 

Directions:

 

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Core and seed peppers; cut in 1 1/2 inch pieces; place in large bowl.

-Cut onions in thin wedges; add to bowl.

-Halve potatoes; add to bowl.

-Cut Kielbasa sausage into 1/2 inch thick slices ; add to bowl.

-Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss with oil.

-Put into dish , cover with foil, bake for 45 minutes.

-Stir cream into the casserole, cover and bake 10 minutes more.

 

ENJOY!!

 

 Here it is before I put it in the oven.

And here is the finished product. It was delicious!!

Wedding Wednesday #3- Flowers

 

Our florist was awesome. She created exactly what I had envisioned in my head. Not only is she a great florist, but she is the sweetest lady and extremely easy to work with. She is also the aunt of one of my best friends/bridesmaid. We met once to go over everything and look at pictures and that was it. All of the vases used were mine. I spent many mornings rummaging through garage sales to find them, but man did it pay off. They are currently still sitting in my parent's house so if anyone in the area is getting married anytime soon, we'd love to rent them out to you for a fraction of the price you can buy them/rent them from someone else.

 

My bouquet:

 

 

 

 

I knew I wanted a more vintage, wildflower look with soft, pale muted colors rather than lots of vibrant colors. There were a few flowers/plants that I'm in love with that I had to have in it, like Dusty Miller, Succulents, Scabiosa Pods, Lavender, Billy Balls, Garden Roses. It turned out exactly like I wanted it.

 

Bridesmaids Bouquets:

 

I wanted something really plain, simple, and dainty for the bridesmaids and I loved the look of solid Baby's Breath.  I was debating on solid lavender, baby's breath, or billy balls, but in the end we decided on baby's breath. I loved the way it turned out and I think it fit with the mint dresses and the vintage theme of the wedding. Baby's breath is also a plus because it's a lot cheaper....when you have 10 bridesmaids, you have to cut costs somewhere, right?

 

Boutonnieres:

We decided to do something simple for the groomsmen as well. Aaron didn't want any big girly flowers so we picked a single Billy Ball and a Dusty Miller leaf wrapped in twine.

 

Reception Flowers:

 6 large vases filled with baby's breath

 Seltzer Water bottles wrapped in twine

Mason jars wrapped in burlap, lace and tied with twine. Seltzer Water bottles wrapped in Mint yarn.

 Loved these little yellow buds.

 

We borrowed these cute books from a friend. The small clear vase is an empty spice jar that I bought multiples of at a garage sale.

 

 

Didn't she do an awesome job?

 

You want to know what's the best part? I'm still enjoying my wedding flowers a month after the wedding. I've got them displayed in my bathroom, guest bedroom, and kitchen window sill.

 

 

 

It makes me smile every time I walk by them.

 

Stay tuned next week for: A Cancun Honeymoon!

A Lamp Re-vamp

 

 

I bought two of these ugly lamps at an estate sale a few years ago for $10 a piece. I had high hopes to transform them into beauties one day when I got a house and picked out a design for a bedroom. Well, yesterday I transformed these bad boys and I am so excited about the end result.

 

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

I sanded and cleaned the metal and then I sprayed one coat of a metal spray primer. Next, I did two coats of the Krylon Bahama Sea in gloss. I was so excited to find that color because it matched the bedding perfectly and it took me forever to find one that matched since we live so far away from a Hobby Lobby now.

 

The lamp shades are from Target. I've had my eye on them forever. We registered for them a long time ago and it took me forever to find two of them in stock after the wedding.

FYI: these are the old school touch lamps. I was really worried about spray painting them because I thought it would ruin the touch censor. I Googled it and everyone said that spray painting wouldn't hurt them. Well, Google was right. They still work perfectly...YAHOO!! I am in love with these lamps. I can't wait to share the entire room when it's all finished. We're almost there!

My thoughts on kitchens & a few recipes

Prior to being married, you would never find me grocery shopping or preparing a meal. I was the queen of sandwiches, ramen noodles, microwavable meals....anything that was convenient and easy. I was just like my mom, with the mindset of "I don't have time to cook and the last thing I want to do when I get home is spend all my time in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning it up." Obviously, I haven't changed that much in the course of a month, but I'm kind of proud of myself for cooking as much as I have. I'm also happy to say that none of them have been failures. Aaron has approved every meal I've cooked so far....and he's not just saying it either. They have all been really easy recipes. It's very easy for me to get confused with difficult recipes so I have to start out with the easy stuff. It drives Aaron crazy that I follow recipes exactly. He expects me to create my own by adding a little bit of this here....and a little bit of that there. I assure him that we would never have a successful meal if I did that. It's funny because Aaron loves to cook so it's really hard for him to sit back and let me do it by myself. I am constantly telling him to go sit down and watch TV, but after a few minutes he will creep in behind me and say, "You're doing that wrong...let me show you how." Don't get me wrong, I love it that he loves to cook and help out, but sometimes I need to prove that I can do it myself.

 

Here are a few of our favorite recipes we've tried so far:

Crockpot cheesy chicken and rice. Crockpots save my life. They are my go-to meals. I guess you could call that cheating. Recipe here: http://www.southernplate.com/2010/09/slow-cooker-cheesy-chicken-and-rice-the-downside-of-being-a-swan-princess.html

 

 

Skinny Baked Burritos. I made this last night and it was super yummy. Recipe here: http://www.skinnymom.com/2012/04/17/skinny-baked-burritos/?_szp=226691

 

I served it with corn and rice. Note: I am not the healthiest cook. I'm trying to work on that.

 

This last recipe was given to me at a bridal shower by a fabulous cook. It was delicious and it didn't last long at all.

 

Spaghetti Pizza:

-4 to 8 oz. cooked spaghetti, drained

-Stir in 2/3 cup milk and 2 beaten eggs. Place in 9x12 baking dish.

-Pour over top 32 oz. spaghetti sauce. Over this pour 1 lb. browned, seasoned, & separated hamburger meat.

-Slice desired amount of pepperoni on top.

-Add 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese on top.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let set 5 minutes and serve.

 

I've been pinning recipes on Pinterest like crazy, and I can't wait to try them all out. I'll make sure to share our favorite ones with you as we go.

 

I've also learned that it's a lot easier to spend time in a kitchen if you have fun gadgets and tools to try out. We got a lot of cute kitchen stuff for our wedding.

 

This is one of my favorites. I keep it sitting out on the counter at all times.

 

I also got these fun jars a while back. I don't have anything in them yet because I couldn't decide what to store in them. It was driving me crazy having them out without anything written on them, so I just decided to write something anyway. If you have suggestions on what to put in them, please help me out.

 

Lastly, Aaron and I have been working on small projects for the house this past week. We are currently repainting some shelves, lamps, a bar cart and we are recovering a headboard and the kitchen table chairs. My goal is to repaint the kitchen table antique white and stain the table top. I'm not sure when we'll get around to that, but we got the chairs covered last night.

They look so much better already. I can't wait to get them all painted.

Wedding Wednesday #2- Bridals

 

The extremely talented and wonderful Shirley Kay Photography took all of our wedding pictures, including the bridals. She is incredible and I was ecstatic when I got the images back. The day we took pictures, the weather was beautiful. No wind, no rain, and a perfect 70-80 degrees. The skies were blue and the clouds were perfectly white and fluffy. We did have to reschedule pictures once because the first time it was freezing cold for May and rainy and super windy. I let Shirley pick out the location and she picked the most beautiful building. All of the indoor pictures are taken at the same place and the outdoor pictures were in a field nearby. It was definitely a popular place for bridal pictures....there were 4 other brides taking pictures at the same time we were. My mom came along and we had so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned next Wednesday for flowers :)