Roman Shades & Free Quilt Pattern!

I have been looking for a fabulous fabric to make a roman shade for the laundry room for quite a while now. I want to make a roman shade similar to the photo below. Jen Duncan's blog has a complete tutorial that we are going to attempt in the near future.

I have been a fan of Heather Bailey's fabrics for a while now & became an even bigger fan when I saw her Garden District line of fabrics, which can be seen here.

I am going to be using the St. Charles Bouquet in Pink. Isn't it gorgeous?

Then I happened across this amazing quilt pattern using the materials from this wonderful line.

My mom actually just purchased all the fabric to make this quilt & I am so excited to see how it turns out in person.

And check out this site for a bunch of free quilting patterns!

Lastly I found this awesome tutorial on how to 'frost' a window with contact paper. My mom & I are going to attempt this today! I can't wait!!! Found the inspiration on Pinterest from Seven7th House on the Left.

30 Sec. Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug!

Oh for the love of Pinterest! So many deelish recipes, so little time! I was having a major sweets craving & found this fantastic recipe on Pinterest from Back to Her Roots' blog. Check it out, its super easy & bakes in your microwave in just 30 short seconds. You can't ask for anything better!

The chocolate chips make this dessert to die for! Yum!!!!

I made some red velvet chocolate chip cookies last week too for an ornament exchange party I went to. Check out these beauties! :) I am not going to post the recipe I used because I felt like it was lacking a bit. They were very dry & crumbly. However, here's another recipe I found from Baking Serendipity, I think this recipe this has a lot more potential! :)

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Laundry Room Update

Holy cow, I cannot believe it has been so long since I last blogged. I fall off the blogging band wagon fairly easy as you can see! LOL!

Anyhow, I thought I would post some before & after photos of our laundry room. Its pretty much done. I want to get some white blinds for the window, as well as have a cute roman shade made for it. Hubby also has to install the new faucet for the sink sometime soon. Eventually I would like to remove the single shelving unit & have some smaller cute shelves put in its place. But I am happy with how it turned out!

Check out the cute chandy from IKEA & the gorgeous ceiling pendant too! Love it!!!

Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats!

Yes, you did you read the title correctly. Cake batter rice rice krispy treats are pure deliciousness sent from heaven. Where else did I find the recipe for this, but good ol' Pinterest.

I made two batches for Brooklyn's 6th birthday. She took them to her 1st grade class to share with everyone & from what I hear they were a big hit!

Here's the recipe & photo (thanks to Gimme Some Oven!) for all of you who want to test them out. I assure you they won't last long...

Stay tuned for red velvet krispy treats... coming soon!

Check out Gimme Some Oven's blog for more fantastic recipes.

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Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter
1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
1/4 cup yellow cake mix
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles
Method:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.

Ali’s Tip:

I actually increased the cake batter to 1/3 cup for my recipe to give it a little extra cake batter kick (the 1/4 cup seemed just a little too subtle to me), but add as much in as you like! (And you better believe I used the 1/4 cup option for full cake batter taste!)

CrossFit

Now that my kiddo is in school all day long I have decided that its time for me to get my butt in shape! I am not getting any younger or any thinner, so what the heck?! Especially since one of my good friends has started doing fitness competitions, I figured if she can get her body in amazing shape, so can I!

I found a place here in Castle Rock that offers the CrossFit program for $100 a month. For those of you who are not familiar with CrossFit, click here for more info on it. I went to a free class today to get a feel for the program & I really liked it. Although I can now barely walk down the stairs & I am sure I will be feeling sore as heck by tomorrow. I went ahead & signed up for a monthly membership & am excited to start next week! I'll have to take some before photos, but don't expect me to post those photos, at least not anytime soon. LOL!

Laundry Room Board & Batten

Our laundry room has been an ongoing project for a good two months or longer now. Not sure how the smallest room in the house can take this long to finish. But I guess we are getting closer to completion.

We painted the laundry room a few months ago & then my hubby tiled the floor a few weeks after that. I begged my hubby to start the board & batten treatment & finally he gave in. After purchasing several crappy paint sprayers & finally getting one that wasn't a total P.O.S. (excuse my abbreviated french) we could finally move forward & finish painting all of the boards, etc.

The painting was the biggest ordeal & once that was done everything else seemed to fall into place within a few hours. Here's a photo of the progress. We aren't quite finished. We still need to fill in the nail holes & do some touch up painting. I ordered a ceiling medallion for the chandelier & am trying to pick out some cute photographs that I can frame for above the shelf. I am also going to add some cute little hooks in between the boards & ask my mom or aunt to sew a pretty little window treatment for me. Then everything should be complete. Stay tuned for the final before & after photos. :)


Here's the prints I am leaning towards... So beautiful! Check out Ciao Bella Photography's Etsy store for more gorgeous finds!

Oh & quick question for you all. See how I left the inner part of the window white? Should I paint that the aqua color too? Does it look strange that I didn't paint that part of the room? Thanks for your input!

Last but not least we finished that old bench that we picked up at a garage sale in the beginning of summer. Here's a before & after. I think it turned out pretty good. All I need to do now is add a few pillows & figure out a good location for it in the house! :)

Boutique Modeling

Recently on Facebook I found that there is a huge market for boutique modeling. There are tons of these types of businesses on Facebook, in which they are connecting, boutiques, models & photographers. Its a genius idea & I wish that someone would have thought of this sooner. I could have greatly benefited from this a few years back when I had a boutique hair accessories business.

Needless to say I jumped on the bandwagon & signed Miss Brooklyn up to model. In exchange for photographing their product on Brooklyn, we get to keep the item(s) & the boutique gets fantastic photos to use for their store. Its a win, win situation!

Brooklyn is signed up with these three companies.
Little Diamond Models
Boutique Beauties
Sweet Grace Models

They have a very small fee for models to sign up, which I am fine with because this is how the listing companies make their money. In a little over the month that we have been listed between the three companies, we have booked over 10 jobs! Yes, isn't that crazy! But we love getting all these fantastic goodies in the mail! Its so much fun!

And we have to tell you about Izzy Diane's Bowtique! She makes the cutest hair pretties. You have got to check out her store & see all the cuteness.

Here's a little peek at one of her awesome hippie headbands. Isn't it gorgeous?

Red Velvet Brownies... yes please!

I am pretty much obsessed with Pinterest! Have you heard of it? If not I highly suggest you check it out. You may need an invitation to join. If you need one I can send you one! Just message me with your email & I will get an invite over to you ASAP!

I found a recipe for these delectable treats a few weeks ago & I decided to whip up a batch! You can find the recipe on Smells Like Home's blog. I tweaked the recipe just a bit & only added half the amount of food coloring. The color was still a deep red with just half the amount. Any less dye we can put into our bodies the better, right?

(Photo credit: Smells Like Home)
They were seriously yummy & very rich! I think my hubby may have eaten almost all of them. They were that good! Shhhh, don't tell him I told you! ;)

It's been a while...

Man oh man, August seems to be the busiest month ever! Miss B started first grade on the 8th of August & the craziness has not seemed to die down since. Can I just say that I was so sad to see my baby go off to first grade? Preschool & kindergarten didn't seem to bother me much, but first grade seems like such a big jump. The past 5+ (almost 6) years has flown by in record time. I am still in disbelief that she is in elementary school...

Here's a few pics of her first day of school!

I've started planning her birthday, which is coming up here on September 8th! We've decided to go with a Rhinestone Cowgirl Rodeo theme. There is this great place I found here in Colorado called Parker Valley Farm. The kids get to ride horses, groom them, tack them & play lots of fun games! Should be a fun time & Brooklyn is super excited!

Well I have lots more to blog about, but will return this week to talk about the rest! ;)

I have an almost 6 year old?

I can't believe my baby is almost 6! She will be 6 in the beginning of September. Where does time go? I am a little sad this year about her going to a public school & starting 1st grade. She is super tiny for her age & because of when her birthday falls, she will be one of the youngest in her grade level. But how can I be sad when she is soooo excited about being a first grader? Makes me a little nervous, but I know she will do great!

I took some new photos today for her portfolio. She does some boutique modeling on the side & she's also involved in acting classes. She's even been a part of an Indie film. She's filming the rest of the film this year. Pretty exciting stuff.

Here are the photos of my little B... she looks so grown up! *sniff* :)

Vanilla Bean Cupcake Heaven!

As I mentioned in the last blog entry, I made some yummy red velvet cupcakes this past weekend. I had lots of delicious almond buttercream frosting leftover & it was too good to let it go to waste. So I just had to whip up another batch of cupcakes. I found a fabulous recipe over at Sprinkles Bakes. It's called Lucky Vanilla Cupcakes. This was honestly one of the easiest homemade cupcake recipes I have attempted. Quick & easy, just the way I like it. ;) Anyhow these have got to be the yummiest cupcakes I have ever had... & I have had a LOT of cupcakes. They are absolutely heavenly & I recommend you go whip yourself up a batch this very moment! You won't be sorry!!!

Sweets...

The other night as I was opening my front door I noticed this little baby birdy perched up along the top of our front porch. Over the past week, he brought his siblings with him & we see them sitting on our porch each night. They must have just gotten their feathers in because I can see little spots of down blowing in the wind. They are just sooooo cute!

So we started the whole 'Board & Batten' process on our laundry room today. Poor Karl had lots of frustrations today so we didn't get very far. He's going out of town for a few days, so it doesn't look like we will get this done til next weekend. What a bummer! :(

In the meantime, I did happen to bake some homemade red velvet cupcakes. I topped them with a homemade almond buttercream frosting. Can we say yum?! Click here for the cupcake recipe.

Almond Buttercream Frosting
1 cup butter, softened
3 tsp. almond extract
8 cups powdered sugar (get two large bags, because you will go through more than an entire bag of it)
2/3 cups heavy whipping cream

Beat butter until fluffy
Beat in extract on low
Beat powdered sugary & cream, alternating the two until frosting is smooth.

I also took a few pics of my daughter & my cousin's daughter this week. Thought I would share a few!

Isn't she pretty?

Projects Galore!

I haven't blogged in a while now... so sorry! I had a bunch of family in town visiting earlier this month, so blogging has kind of escaped me. Anyhow, I have so many projects going on that I don't even know where to begin. I have also found a few lots more 'treasures' this past month. Yeah!!!

While my parents were in town we went up to my grandfather's cabin they are renovating, which is looking fantastic by the way! They had a TON of antiques in that little old place. They were kind enough to give me a few goodies they didn't have a need for. I ended up taking two beautiful antique doors & a charming old wooden bed.

I don't have any immediate plans for the doors, but they will eventually end up somewhere in my house as everything comes together. The bed is full sized & I want to put in B's room. It's pretty heavy, made of solid wood & has some really ornate woodwork on the headboard. It needs a LOT of work. I got it home & my grandfather then told me that all of the brown stains on it is actually rat urine. Wow! Never thought in a million years that I would be scrubbing off rat pee from a really old bed. Needless to say this is not going to be a quick project.

Headboard (after it had been cleaned)

Footboard with paint stripper applied.

Also scored an awesome mirror from this local estate sale warehouse. Just look at this beauty! It will definitely be painted at some point, not sure what color yet. It's huge & the best thing is I only paid $20! I am super excited about this gem!

Look at the detail...

And this majestic chair, dying to be painted & recovered. Only $3.99 baby! Thanks to Savers thrift store.

Look at this coffee table I found for FREE on Craigs List! Gotta love free!!! Its beat to heck & I took the photo after I had already sanded the top. There was even a piece of chewed up gum stuck to the underside of the table. Thanks for that little chewed up treasure!

Here's a lovely little antique dresser I got from the estate sale warehouse as well. Not too bad of a price at $30.

Picked these up at Goodwill for $3.50. These are going to be gorgeous once they are painted a bright, fun color! I am going to place some colorful fabric in the cutout areas.

Found these mason jars at the thrift stores/estate sale warehouse. Didn't pay more than a buck a piece! And the sweet little bird cage was from a local antique store. Love it!

This ginormous brass lamp I thought would look great in one of the guest bedrooms. Don't worry, I won't leave it gold... ;) Just $5 at Goodwill.

Last but not least I got this cheese cloche at Goodwill. The photo isn't mine, I borrowed it from Flickr. However, it looks exactly the same. I am painting the base & need to find a small candle stick holder to attach it to, similar to the awesome one found here at Live It. Love It. Craft It.

Fun Furniture Redo's!

Head on over to Perfectly Imperfect's blog for some gorgeous furniture redo inspirations! They are even having a link party.

Look at this gorgeous coffee table by Red Hen Home... Love it!

And look at this beauty from Blue Eyed Owl! I just love pink!!!

Some finished projects!

I have been busy almost everyday working on some small (or big) projects around the house. We have company coming this weekend, so I am trying to get some of the bigger furniture finished. Can't wait to see my parents, my aunt, uncle & cousins!

Remember those cute little suitcases I got last week? I panted the smaller brown one a pretty aqua color. It turned out adorable! Not sure if I will use it as decor or as photo prop. Also check out the candelabra that once was black.... its now a pretty ivory shade!

I know you've already seen my awesome porch chairs, but here's a before & after of those as well.

And I just have to show you this awesome little metal (tin perhaps?) star I found today! I just adore it!

Before I go look at this cute little printable freebie on eighteen25's blog.
So stinking cute!

Linking to:

Little Treasures

A week or so ago while scanning Craig's List for goodies, I found some local shops. I wrote the details down with plans of visiting the next time I was down that way. Well today was the day that I decided to check them & boy am I glad I did! I found this little gem of a warehouse that is run by a few men who deal mainly with estate sales. Whatever they don't sell from the estate sales they bring to this local warehouse & sell most items for ridiculously cheap!

I found a coffee table, two vintage suitcases & a cute little flower pot. All for a grand total of $17.00! Wahoo!!! Best deal I've scored in a while. Needless to say this is going to be a place I frequent often. I love finding places like this, totally makes my day!!!

Anyhow, here's some photos of the goods...

I cannot wait to get my hands on that blue suitcase, so I can make a cute little doggy bed for my Lulu bean.

The photo below is from Etsy store: Kaleidoscope of Colors This is my inspiration for the bed I am going to create. Isn't this a darling idea? Love it!

And completely off topic here for a moment, but I just had to share this gorgeous little number I got for Miss B for her yearly photos. So cute I can't stand it! Check out Amazing Gracie on Etsy for lots more cuteness!

Fun filled weekend!

Didn't do much in the way of projects around the house, but we had a fun filled weekend which included going to a festival downtown & a Rockies baseball game! I have been slacking for the past few months in taking photos of little Miss B. So I got some cute ones of her this weekend. I suppose I will share a few... :) The top two pics were taken with my little crappy point & shoot, so pardon the poor quality! She got to show off her new dress that I ordered off Etsy a few weeks ago. Check out Mariah Made's Etsy store for lots of cute little girls clothing.