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.