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Showing posts from 2015

Towel Storage

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When our house was built, we didn't pay attention to the fact that our master bathroom did not include a linen closet.  Mr. C says he mentioned it once, but I don't remember him mentioning it.  We were a little green about building and although we did ultimately invest in a few upgrades, we did not want to go overboard.  So, when he made mention of adding a linen closet, I'm sure we tabled that idea in favor of keeping our costs lower. For years, we used one of those flimsy metal towel racks that goes over the toilet.  Except, we didn't have ours over the toilet.  We had it against a wall in our bathroom.  It served the purpose of storing our towels.  But, it wasn't the nicest thing to look at in our bathroom.  I bought a couple of bathroom cabinets in the past, but they were all too short for our 8 foot ceilings.  And, they didn't look good in such a big bathroom. I had been on a search to find the perfect piece.  For the last two years, I had actually b

Simplicity 1072 Skirt

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Sewing has been on my mind these days.  I've always liked the idea of being able to make clothes that are specifically made for me.  By sewing, I can control the fit and the cost.  Above are a couple of pictures of the finished product.  Don't make fun of my legs, they are always that pale.  Perhaps next time, I may consider pairing this skirt with a pair of black tights as well.  Excuse my expression, I'm so awkward in pictures.  But, at least you can see how I styled the skirt. I picked up this Simplicity 1072 pattern one week when Hobby Lobby had one of their pattern sales.  It was a little more than a dollar with tax. All the reviews for this pattern claimed it was easy.  Since I'm not the best at sewing, I figured I would give it a whirl and see what happens.  I will eventually put up my own review of this skirt on Patternreview.com. I found this beautiful lace look knit fabric.  It can be found here .  First, allow me to rave about this fabric.  It

Jake Costume From "Jake and the Neverland Pirates"

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Halloween has come and gone, but I thought it would be nice to share with you one of my recent projects.  As a mother, I find it fun to create my son's costumes.  There will come a day when he will want to be a ninja or something and he won't want a homemade costume anymore.  So, until that day comes, I will enjoy making his costumes. When we figured out that our son wanted to be Jake.  I immediately began searching the internet for pictures of Jake to get costume ideas.  I saw a few on Pinterest that included jeans.  Since our son is so young, I figured making this costume easy to wear was our best bet.  Excuse the sippy cup, he wouldn't let go of his water for the picture. I made him a blue vest with gold trim.  I know, the real Jake has lapels on his vest, but ours doesn't.  I thought it might be too much for him.  Remember, I wanted this costume to be easy for him to wear. For the vest, I  used one of his t-shirts and folded the sleeves in to create a patte

Slow Cooker Pork Chops and Gravy

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Mr. C loves gravy and rice.  I'm not big on it, but he likes a good meal of meat and rice.  So, every now and then, I cook it.  Since our schedules are so crazy, we try to use our slow cooker as much as possible.  I figured out a way to make pork chops and gravy in the slow cooker.  This recipe seems to be a hit so far with Mr. C and the Little Mister.  And, it's pretty easy to throw together, too. Here's what you will need to start: Pork chops (I used about 8) Worcestershire sauce 1 brown gravy packet 1 packet of dry onion soup mix 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 1 can of chicken broth Lay the pork chops in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour on some Worcestershire sauce the pork chops.  I did not measure how much I poured on, just kind of sprinkled some all over the meat.  If I had to guess, I'd say I used about 1/4 of a cup of it. Add the cream of mushroom soup to the pot. Sprinkle the packet of dry onion soup over the pork chops

New Furniture! The Ashley Wilcot Collection and McAdams Recliner

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After seven years with this cute, but uncomfortable cheap sofa, we have finally moved on to something new.  I had been telling my husband for years, we work hard, at minimum we should be comfortable in our own house.  The problem with this sofa is that the cushions were rather flat, once you sat down on the piece.  Also, the seat depth was too long for my short legs.  It forced me to sit in an awkward position that was uncomfortable and hard on my lower back. Here's our old sofa and living room setup. So, after much back and forth about the type of sofa we wanted, we finally decided on something we could both agree on.  He was team three cushion couch, I was team sectional.  I think the standard three cushion sofa is so uncomfortable.  Who wants to sit down without putting their feet up?  I love sectionals because they are comfy and my favorite spot is the corner seat. But, Mr. C is right, they can be big, take up a lot of room and limit your ability to change the configu

Vanilla Cake Balls

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Mr. C is not a huge fan of chocolate.  When I made the chocolate cake balls a while back, he requested I try cake balls with all vanilla cake and vanilla almond bark.  So, I made these using the exact same process as the chocolate cake balls.  The tutorial can be found here . For these, I used a box of Duncan Hines Classic White cake mix, 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 can of vanilla frosting (Duncan Hines again), and 1 package of vanilla almond bark (again, I used the Albertson's brand). Here's how you make these little yummies happen.  Bake the cake and allow it to cool.  Crumble up the cake into little pieces.  See the picture below, this is what it looks like all crumbled. Then, add the entire can of vanilla frosting to the crumbles. Stir all of the frosting into the crumbles until it is fully incorporated. Now, here's where you will probably get annoyed with me.  For whatever reason, I failed to take any pictures of

French Vanilla Icing

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This is my absolute favorite frosting.  I actually prefer to use this on my red velvet cupcakes.  I'm not big on cream cheese icing, so this works as the perfect substitute for me. Ingredients: 2 sticks of butter (softened) A 2 lb bag of powdered sugar 1/3 cup of French Vanilla coffee creamer (I prefer to use International Delight) 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 1/4 tsp of salt As with other icing recipes, cream the butter together first.  Then add in the powdered sugar and mix. Add in the French Vanilla coffee creamer, vanilla extract and the salt.  Continue to mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. To control the consistency, add more powdered sugar if you want a stiffer icing, add more creamer for a creamier consistency. You can use this recipe to make icing for any of the variety of coffee creamer flavors, simply substitute the French Vanilla flavor for a flavor of your choosing.