Special Homemade Syrup

You have to try this syrup! It is the BEST ever and you will never use store bought syrup ever again! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! It tastes so good on every
thing! A few of our favorites to go with it is cinnamon french toast and scones. YUMMY and it's so easy! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Melt butter in pot. Add sugar. Add buttermilk. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Add baking soda.

Little Girls Summer Dress

Hello! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I just wanted to share my latest project. Let me just start by saying that I am not a seamstress. I took sewing in high school and loved it, but other than that I really have no idea what I'm doing and I just do it as I go and try to teach myself how to sew. Please please please share any advise that you have! I hope this makes sense. I'm a beginning sewer so if you have any questions please let me know. Here it goes! Enjoy!

1. Take measurements for the dress. For my daughter (3 yrs old) Chest: 20 in. Length (armpit to just below knee): 21 in - total length of dress
2. Green fabric measurements (base fabric of dress) 20 in x 42 in (chest measurement doubled so it gathers when you thread the elastic through)
3. Brown polka dot fabric (bottom hem of dress) measurements 8 in x 42 in
4. Fold brown fabric in half length wise and iron (I like to iron so it has a nice crease)

5. Fold green fabric 3 in over on top (it would now measure 17in x 42in). Pin and iron. This will be the top of the dress. Now would also be the time to attach the ribbon (4 pieces 20 in long) for the straps. I forgot to do this step and you don't want to do it the way I did. :)

6. Lay green fabric facing right side up. Lay brown fabric on top of the bottom of the green fabric (folded edge of brown fabric toward the top of the dress) and pin the edges together.

This is the full view. Green fabric is facing right side up. The top is folded under 3in and pinned (top of dress). The bottom has the folded brown fabric on top (fold facing toward the top) and edges pinned together.

7. Straight stitch the brown and green edges together (I went in about 1/4in)



Left side: inside of dress. Right side: out side of dress.



8. Now the brown folded edge will hang down being the bottom of the dress. Run another straight stitch over the seam you just did. This will keep it from moving around.

Sorry this picture is blurry! Left side: inside of dress. Right side: out side of dress.

9. Straight stitch the top folded portion of the green fabric. Then 1 1/2 in down from top of folded edge. Straight stitch entire length. Now you will have a pocket to insert the elastic.

10. Fold dress in half so raw green edges are together and pin. Straight stitch entire length (except for the little pocket you made for the elastic)

11. Insert elastic using a safety pin.





12. Sew the elastic edges together. Sew the pocket edges together so you can't see the elastic.

13. Attach buttons to front and you're done!

Nursery...Painting

So my baby is not such a baby anymore...she just turned one. And yes I'm still working on decorating her room. Why you ask? Because I had a huge flop when it came to painting her room. When choosing a color for her room before she was born I really wanted to do something really girly. My hubby on the other hand wanted to do a neutral color that would go for a boy or girl (can you tell that he really wants a boy next). He talked me into a fun bright green only it looked horrible with our nursery furniture. I got the entire room painted green, moved the furniture in and I hated it. I wanted so bad to like it and fully decorated it two different times in hopes that I would like it. It didn't work. So after a year of living with the horrible green that I absolutely hated I got the energy to paint it again. I decided to do a tan on the bottom half and purple on the top with a rail all the way around the room. This way if we do have a boy next I'll only have to paint the top. I absolutely love how it turned out and no longer cringe when I go into the room. Don't mind the empty walls...it's still a work in progress and I haven't quite decide what I'm going to do with the rest of it. Enjoy!

*Check back for my painting techniques and tidbits. Within the next week I'll be starting my master bedroom and will take pictures as I go so it's easier to explain.

Party Hat Mailboxes

I am so lucky! In my church I get to work with the youth in the Young Women's program and I get to serve with some of the most amazing creative ladies! Our theme for girls camp this year is "Happily Ever After" based on a talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency. If you'd like to read his talk click here. I wanted to share these cone mailboxes we made in our Young Women activity last night. We'll be hanging them on trees branches up at camp and using them as mailboxes. They turned out so cute! The picture doesn't do them justice! I wish I would have had a solid wall to hang them on for the picture. Anyway they were so easy and you could use them in so many different ways...I'm thinking birthday party decorations or party favor holders! My three year old was so excited when she saw them that I have plans to make one with her for an art project and hang it on her door. We're all girl at my house and love sparkly frilly things! Here's what you need:

1 - 12x12 sheet of cardstock per cone

craft glue

hole punch

scissors

tulle/ribbon

any accessories

1. Roll cardstock into cone shape and glue. The top will not be a circle you will need to cut around so it is a circle. Don't worry if it's not perfect the boa will cover it.
2. Next punch 2 holes across from each other to attach tulle. This will be how you hang your cone.
3. Thread tulle (or ribbon) through each hole and tie a double knot to secure it. Don't pull the knots tight. I also left a tail of tulle on each side.
4. Next add your accessories. We used feather boas around the top and some used them around the bottom. We put the girls initials on them and some have princess tiara's and of course some bling!

Hope you enjoy!

Desk Makeover

Hello there! As you know I've been working on making my home beautiful and a place that represents my personality. We recently moved our computer into our bedroom and needed something to put it on. By now you probably know that I don't pay full price for anything and love to purchase furniture off KSL or from local thrift stores. We found this lil desk on KSL for $20 and it is perfect for what we needed it for. It is solid and well built and had a glass top, but it had a horrible paint job. Not a problem for my new found love...SPRAY PAINT! Here's the process:

1. Prime with KILZ spray primer. The best primer in the world! Make sure you have and even coat and everything will be smooth sailing!
2. Spray paint. I used Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze and I applied a couple coats.
3. Add glaze to your desired look.

I think it turned out beautifully and I love the color! I'm still working on my master bedroom so you'll see full room pictures when I do that big reveal. I'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment and click to follow me. Thanks for stopping by!

CSI #1 Project

I'M SOOOO EXCITED RIGHT NOW! I linked my dresser makeover to a few parties last week (my first time ever) and I was featured at Tales From Bloggeritaville and I was chosen as the #1 project by my idol and lady that introduced me to the world of craft blogging Ms. Mandi Gubler from Vintage Revivals who was a guest judge at The CSI Project. If you haven't checked out Vintage Revivals you need to! Mandi is fabulous! I just wanted to share my excitement! Thanks for stopping by and please come follow me and leave comments. It'll be nice to know if anyone is reading this or if I'm talking to myself.

Diaper Wreath

So I love baby showers! I have had a couple of really good friends have babies in the last couple months and I wanted to share this with you. I've seen some really cute diaper cakes done and I thought about doing one myself, but I wanted something different and wanted some new ideas for decorations and gifts. I came across the idea for a diaper wreath. So here's what you need:

- Wreath form (I got a wicker one from Dollar Tree)
- Diapers in any size (I used size 3)
- clear elastics
- ribbon
- any accessories (I used plastic baby spoons)

1. Put diaper around wreath form and secure with elastic. Continue all the way around. I alternated the pattern doing one diaper facing forward then the next facing backward and so on.
2. Add ribbon
3. Add accessories. I thought of this after the fact and stuck in the spoons because it was what I had on hand. Think how cute it would be with baby toys or shoes and hats. Oh the possibilities!

I think it turned out super cute and not a lot of people have done it! I hope you enjoy!

Cowboy Caviar and Chicken Enchiladas

OK everyone so I am not a cook by any means. You would die if you knew what my husband and I ate when we were first married! Let's just say that frozen fish sticks and tater tots were a common meal. It makes me cringe just thinking about it! Anyways, cooking for me is creating in the kitchen. I started to like cooking and got more into it and brave enough to try it about four years ago. My favorite thing was to watch Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals. It really helped me to see how she did things and I learned what some new things were. I like easy recipes, but I like them fresh and I like to know what's in it. With young and growing kids I also want to make sure that I'm offering the things that are really healthy for them and will teach them good eating habits not only at meal times, but also at snack time. Now I'm not a crazy no sugar fanatic. I like my cookies and chocolate, but I've always been a pretty healthy eater and I know that it's important to put healthy good foods into your body. Here's one of my family's favorite meals. It's super simple and probably everyone already has the recipe, but I'm putting it in here for a reference place for my family if we ever needed it. I hope you enjoy!

Salsa "Cowboy Caviar"
1 can corn drained
1 can black beans drained
1 can black eye peas drained
1 can diced tomatoes drained (I use fresh when I can)
4-6 green onions chopped
1 bunch cilantro chopped
2-3 avocados chopped
1 packaged Italian Dressing mix (follow directions on package, but flip flop oil and vinegar measurements)

Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups cooked chicken shredded (I cook mine in the crockpot all day and it makes it super easy to shred)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup shredded cheese
8 tortillas whole wheat

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Fill tortillas and roll in baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Dresser Makeover

We finally have a dresser! For the past two years we've used a dresser that didn't fit in our room. It overlapped the window and made the setup horrible! So I finally sold it on KSL (for $100) but then we didn't have a dresser. We ended up using our master bath as our dresser for over a month, but it was totally worth the wait! When I saw our new dresser it pretty much was love at first sight! I knew I had to have it and all the long hours searching on KSL classifieds paid off. I found this lovely lady for $40 and all she needed was a good cleaning. Here's the process:

1. First I used Kilz spray primer and made sure I had an even coat over the entire dresser. I've tried a few different brands of primer and Kilz is by far the best.
2. Then I used Krylon Glossy White spray paint and this took a couple coats (make sure to let each coat dry completely before applying the next coat). A glossy paint finish is easier to clean so I prefer to use that over any other finish.
3. After the paint is completely dry I applied the glaze. I used Behr faux glaze tinted with black paint. There is so much detail on the drawers of the dresser and the glaze really makes it stand out. When applying glaze I use a foam brush and barely dip the tip in the glaze (a little goes a long way) apply it in the crease and then wipe with a damp wash cloth.
4. Then I used Rustoleum Hammered Oil Rubbed Bronze for the hardware.

And that's it! It took a day to complete and we couldn't be happier to finally after 2 years have a dresser that fits in our bedroom and is beautiful! Enjoy!

A peak at our master bedroom furniture

I've been working on our master bedroom furniture and had to share what I've done so far. Our master bedroom has always been the neglected room when it comes to decorating. For the past 2 years we've lived with a dresser that didn't fit and was in front of the window and wrought iron and glass furniture that only stayed looking nice and clean for 5 seconds and my hubby hated it, but it was free so we lived with it. With my new thrifty skills that I've been learning from one of my favorite blogs to follow All Things Thrifty it was time for an affordable change and I even made money! Does it get better than that? We sold our old dresser, nightstand and bedroom bench for $190 (we still need to list our headboard). Total spent for our new headboard ($2o on KSL), nightstands ($40 on KSL), dresser ($40 on KSL), Kilz spray primer and Krylon spray paint came to about $140. Gotta love it! Enjoy! Also I'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment and ckick on the side to follow me.

*Krylon spray paint used (gloss finish): White and Bauhaus Gold.

I'm loving how this is all coming together! The best part is that I had all the sheets, pillows and comforters in storage in the basement. All were used separately throughout our last house. I love that you can split up sets and combine them with others to make something new and fresh!

Dining Room Table Makeover

This is the project that I absolutely fell in love with and was inspired to do by Brooke at All Things Thrifty. We've been wanting a bigger table for awhile and thanks to Brooke I now had an affordable way of getting something that I absolutely love! I posted our table on KSL (local classified adds) and sold it in a half hour. I started hunting down and searching for furniture at local thrift stores and classified adds and finally found a table at Savers Thrift Store. It is old and heavy and built to last, but it needed some love. I found my chairs at the D.I. (local thrift store) and on KSL and paid $5 each for most of them. A total steal and after some color and new fabric they are fabulous! Of course that is my biased opinion. Unfortunately just over a month ago my computer crashed and took my external drive with it and I don't have any of my before pictures. I wish you could see the transformation! I am absolutely in love with it! For the table, chairs, fabric, primer, spray paint and glaze (enough to last me a long while) I spent about $160. We sold our old table for $100 so we spent $60 out of pocket and I now have a table that extends to seat 8 comfortably.

I'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment and click to follow me. I hope you enjoy!

*Krylon spray paint colors (glossy finish): Ivory, Raspberry, Blue Ocean Breeze, Bahama Sea, Pumpkin Orange, Bauhaus Gold and Ivy Leaf.

*UPDATE
Some fabulous people that my husband works with were able to fix our external drive and we now have all of our pictures! So fabulous for me and what it means for you you ask? You get to see the before pictures of my table! Enjoy!

Here we go!

Ok peeps this is the beginning! And when I say peeps I'm not technically talking to anyone cause no one even knows this lil spot exists. Not crazy! Promise! Anyway, I'm super excited to be starting my creative spot, to start documenting my creating journey from successes to failures in decorating, cooking, fashion, crafting and everything in between. I am brand new to the creative crafting blogging world and found Mandi from Vintage Revivals when she was on The Nate Show and from there found Brooke from All Things Thrifty. These two ladies have inspired me and have really given me a much needed kick in the rear to get things going with decorating my house and to not be afraid of the things I really want to do. I've always been a do it yourself kind of girl and I love and have to be thrifty. I love color and love when there is a big statement in whatever you're doing, but I needed some inspiration to really get me going. I also can't forget to mention my friend Lindsay from Southern Lovely that saw my furniture projects on my family blog and gave me encouragement to start my own creative spot/blog. Just as I'm writing this post I starting thinking back on recent events and friendships that have brought me to this point of having the courage to be bold and put myself out there and to bring the color in. My family and I moved into our home about 2 years ago and everything has pretty much stayed bare or has been filled up with miscellaneous decor from our previous home.  We've also been going through some very hard financial times from 3 layoffs in 2 years and haven't been able to spend money on new furniture to fit our new space or the fancy things that I fall in love with and that includes everything from fashion to decorating and everything else. I love bright bold colors and to do things that my husband would say are "different." My husband on the other hand likes things plain and what I call "matchy matchy" (is that even a word), but when it came time to decorate my now 3 year old daughters room I just did what I really wanted to do. It's bright and colorful and I LOVE IT! It is still (a year and a half later) a work in progress because as you'll come to realize I'm a multi tasker and a perfectionist and for the most part do multiple projects at once and sometimes I have to wait for the perfect piece of furniture or decor for the right price. Drives my husband crazy, but I have so much going on in my brain I just have to start getting it out! I'll post pics and details of my daughters room in a separate post. I had done a few furniture re dos (you know when crackling was huge...I had no idea what I was doing, but I redid our awful oak dresser and we had it until just a few months ago...8 years), but I think my daughters room really was the starting point. Then I met my amazingly beautiful friend Jodi that is a fashion diva! I would love love love to have her wardrobe! So of course being around her made me want to have those looks to, but we all know that I can't go out and buy anything so I have to work with what I have. I'm loving the idea of making the old new by revamping and giving it new life by using it in a different way. I'm starting to do this with my clothing and I'll be honest I'm having trouble and would love help, but once in awhile an outfit comes together that I really love. Next, I have found inspiration from the fabulous children's books Fancy Nancy. I absolutely love this little girls outgoing daring way of using accessories and items in unexpected ways like Christmas ornaments as earrings and bows tied around her ankles and making everything fancy! And I love that she's not afraid to be herself and tells it how it really is. I want that for me and to be someone my girls can look up to. This is me taking a step in the direction of pursuing something that I love doing. This is a learning journey. I have no idea where to go from here, but I'm having fun so far! I hope you enjoy your time here and thanks for stopping by!