staley mc

Room Revamp Reveal Week: Media Console

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

The last little "quadrant" of my room reveal and quite possibly my favorite.. My media area. After having an old school tv in my room for forever, this past Christmas I finally got a flat screen ha! Out with the old bulky tv and in with a sleeker look. With that bulky tv, I had bulky wire metal shelving housing that tv, it was not attractive. For a while, I've been scouting Craigslist, Thrift Stores and Facebook Trading sites for a better solution to house my tv. I finally decided since I couldn't find what I wanted, I should just make it, or get my dad to.

I found these plans for a console table similar to the Bungalow5 Jacqui Console Table, I showed them to my dad and he said he could make it so I figured lets give it a shot. I asked my dad to make a slight alteration to the plan which was to add a shelf on the bottom for more storage. We bought the supplies, He built, I painted and I'm SO happy with how it turned out. The MDF and paint cost me about 50 dollars which is probably way cheaper than any piece I would have bought. I'm so thankful to have a dad that is able to build things!

Then I spruced up the area with a mirror I found at the Goodwill (I know it seems like everything I have is from a thrift store but that's kind of how it is!) and some frames with fabric as another cheap art alternative. I added in my book collection and now its just so much better than my old "blah" wire shelving.

For now, my room is complete. Of course there are a few things I would like to add or change but thats the great thing- you can always keep changing up and adding on right?

Room Revamp Reveal Week: Desk Area

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I kind of gave a little peak of the desk last week when I shared my awesome Goodwill find and lampshade spruce up. Until I scored that awesome lamp at the Goodwill, I had a broken lamp on that desk that I loved even though it was broken but this one is the perfect replacement. Not much was done to the desk area, I just focused on getting it more organized.

I got this super cute wire letter organizer for my stationery and other things from Amazon. The pen holders are little vases I got from Target. I keep a magazine holder on my desk for Donna Hay magazines and other things I rip out from magazines. Next to that is my inspiration binder which is my paper "pin board" that I use to house things I pull from magazines and other places. Prior to this "revamp," this desk was mainly used as a crap storer. I would just throw whatever on it and it would sit there forever. Not anymore, I plan on using this desk as a way to keep me organized and on top of things. Heck I may even sit at it to blog! My favorite part of the desk is the chair that I made a few years back, you can see that tutorial here-- it was Anthro inspired and I just love it!

Room Revamp Reveal Week: Bed Area

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Day 2 of my room reveal and its my bed area! This is the area that started the whole room revamp to begin with. Over Christmas, I got an itch to make a nailhead trim headboard and so I did with a dropcloth, plywood and nailheads-it was a hassle but so worth it. From there is where I got the revamp bug. I really wish I had thought to take "before" photos but when I started this process I wasn't blogging and I just didn't think about it.

leopard print fabric for pillows. ikea comforter. ikea duvet. ikea pillow. jc penney pillow

I already had the Ikea Stenklover duvet but decided to layer it with just a solid ikea comforter. I then added the greek key pillow from JC Penney and the leopard pillows. I got the leopard fabric from Hobby Lobby and followed this no sew pillow cover tutorial.

I bought these cheetah pillow fillers at the thrift store, I know that's a little weird but I washed them and then made my new sew pillow covers. The pillows cost me $2 each and the fabric was $10. The DIY pillows were the cheapest out of all the pillows and I think they may be my favorite. I also gave my chandelier a fresh coat of spray paint. I got it at a thrift store years ago and at the time, I thought it would be cool to spray paint it hot pink, I'm liking it a lot better now that it's silver. The paintings are DIYs I did years ago and the owls were a thrift store find that I spruced up with spray paint. I feel like this little area of my room is a walking billboard for spray paint. The bedside table was recently re-spray painted plus the chandelier and the owls. The lamp was a $10 Target score a while back, I'm pretty sure it was labeled incorrectly but it was definitely a steal.

I love this little area of my room, its such a fun mix of my DIYs and my thrift store finds and then just other cool things I have gotten for great deals. I love that you don't have to spend a ton to get a great look!

Room Revamp Reveal Week: Another DIY Art Project

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

One of my resolutions this year was to revamp my room a little. I've talked a little bit about this before but I am living at home with my parents while I try to figure out what I want to do next with my life. I really don't mind it but I wanted to "grow my room up" a little. Over the past couple of weeks I have done a few little tweaks that have made the revamp complete (for now!) A few weeks ago I posted about wanting some new art for my dresser area. I debated between a print of an abstract piece and while flipping through this DIY project magazine my mom had I saw this idea for drip art. It seemed pretty easy so I decided to give it a shot.

I decided to do these two canvases together and I love how they turned out. This is such an easy art project and I feel like no matter how you do it, it will end up pretty cool. Here is all you need to create your own drippy art.

Supplies:
Canvas
Paint Colors of your choice
Medicine dropper or pipette something that you can squeeze the paint out with
Water

How to:

Paint your canvas a base color (I used spray paint for this part, making it so easy and fast) let that dry. Once the base has dried, mix up your paint colors that you want to drip. I just put the 3 colors in styrofoam cups (for easy clean up) and then add water. I guestimated with the amount of water, you want it to be thin enough to drip all the way down the canvas but not too water-y, just slowly add it and you will see what works best. Prop up you canvas so it is slightly slanted. Take your dropper or pipette and get some paint out and slowly start dripping it down the canvas. Continue this process with your different paint colors until you are happy with how it looks. You can do a lot of drips or not, every drip will look different leaving you with a really unique piece of art!

Now my dresser area is complete. I love these two canvases paired with my JM print and the elmer's glue circle painting I did. I scored the really cool straw tray at a thrift store as well as the brass birdcage. I keep bobby pins and jewelry in the two polka dot bowls I got from a prop sale at Cooking Light, I like to try and keep those things in one spot so I always know where they are. The dresser used to be my grandmothers and I don't love the leaf print on the top drawer but for now its ok, one day I want to try and patch it!

Stay tuned this week to see this rest of my room reveal. I can't wait to share what else I have been up to!

Thrift Store Find of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

During the summer, my mom and I would have Thrift Store Mondays where we would hit up all the different thrift stores around us and scout them out. Now that school has started back, she is back at work and I never end up going thrifting. Last week, I was down near the Goodwill so I decided I would just pop in. Our Goodwill is very hit and miss but I have gotten some great stuff. While I was looking around, I saw one of the Goodwill workers walking around with this amazing lamp. I immediately had my eye on it and I watched him like a hawk hoping he was going to put that out for sale. Eventually I saw him walk back to the back without the lamp. I went back to the front of the store and there was the gorgeous lamp, with an 8 dollar price tag. I scooped that thing up in a heartbeat.

Then I got to thinking about the lamp shade, I had an old IKEA shade that my mom had gotten a while ago and never did anything with. I thought about covering it with fabric but I didn't know what I wanted. Then I got the idea of greek key trim. I saw lots of trims on Etsy I liked but a lot of them were coming from Europe and I'm pretty impatient so I made a trip to Hancock Fabric, hoping I would find something and I hit the jackpot! The month of September is Hancock's anniversary sale so practically everything is on sale. This greek key trim was marked down to 5 dollars a yard plus all decorator's trim was 50 percent off, making is $2.50 a yard! I needed about 3 yards to trim out the shade but I bought 4 yards so I spent about 10 dollars on trim making the total I spent on this lamp 18 dollars! Its so chic but it was so cheap. I'm seriously in love!

Have you scored anything good at the thrift store lately?

Semi-Homemade Baking: Grapico Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Let me tell y'all a little secret, sometimes I don't mind using boxed cake mixes or canned frosting when I am baking. Sometimes its just easier you know? My grandfather is a caterer at this place that holds weddings and when they make cakes, they go and buy out Betty Crocker Supermoist cake mix and that's what they use, so sometimes I think its ok to cheat, and I cheated a little on this recipe.

This local bakery here in town makes a cupcake with Grapico (or Grape Soda, I sometimes forget that Grapico is typically a southern thing) and they only do it on special occasion and when they do it always sells out. I started thinking about developing a recipe of my own and how to do it. 2 weeks ago, I had my first attempt which wasn't a totally fail but it wasn't great. The cupcake is comprised of a grapico cake base, a grapico syrup filling, and grapico icing so its hard to get the ratios just right. Last time, my cake and my filling were just right but the icing failed major. I ended up making more of a grapico glaze to top them. This time I thought and thought of what to do about the icing and then I decided to cheat. Who doesn't love canned frosting? Its delicious and super sugary and Pillsbury now makes a funfetti vanilla icing that is purple, perfect for my grapico cupcake. I got the can and slowly started adding a little bit of grapico to it. I ended up adding about 3 tablespoons and then I put it in the fridge and ended up letting it sit for a couple of days. When I opened up the can, the flavor was perfect, the grape flavor had really soaked in but still maintained the right texture of icing.

When I heard about this cupcake, I was a little unsure but let me tell you, its delicious. You would think you would get totally overpowered by grape soda but you really don't, its a great combination!

Grapico Cupcakes

For the Cake: Basic White Cake recipe (from Martha Stewart)

2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
4 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising)
1 1/2 cups milk
9 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup Grapico or other grape soda
Purple food coloring

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together milk, egg whites, and extracts. In a second bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. With an electronic mixer, beat together the butter and gradually add the sugar. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Add in flour mixture then milk mixture at low speed. Lastly, add in the grapico or grape soda and the purple food coloring, I used a few drops of red and a few drops of blue to get a pretty purple color. Line cupcake tins and pour batter into tins. Bake for 18 minutes.

For the filling:
1 14-ounce can of sweet and condensed milk
1/3 cup grapico
Purple food coloring

To make the filling just pour the sweet and condensed milk into a bowl and slowly add in the grapico and lastly the food coloring, once again just a few drops of red and blue. Put in the fridge to let the mixture set up a little and get a little firmer.

For the icing:
Pillsbury canned funfetti icing in Purple (its just vanilla flavor with purple coloring)
3 tablespoons of grapico

Slowly mix in the grapico to the icing. Refrigerate and let sit for a little bit to let the flavor soak in.

After the cupcakes have cooled, poke holes through the middle of the cupcake and fill with syrup filling. After they have been filled ice with however much icing you prefer (I don't love a ton of icing). Last time I made them I topped with purple sprinkles, this time I didn't but they add a fun bit of sparkle!

Life in Instas: Ways to Display Instagram Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Its safe to say that I am pretty hooked on Instagram. I never really haul my camera around so its a great way to get the candid moments that go on. Up until last month, my mom didn't have a smart phone so she didn't have a way to get on Instagram and see mine and my sister's Instagram pictures (she's now in the iPhone world--yay!) Since she never could see any of our Instagram pics, I started thinking of a way that we could share them with her. For Christmas last year, I thought it would be cool to make her magnets out of all the pictures we had taken. I went to Stickygram, the site that makes magnets for you but you couldn't link multiple accounts and I wanted to use my account plus my sisters's accounts. I then thought, how hard could it be to make magnets myself?

So I did, I found an app called PostalPix that lets you print photos from your iPhone and they then mail them to you. I got my sisters to send me all the pictures I had wanted off their Instagrams and then sent them all through the app. They ship super fast and are only 29 cents per print! After the prints came, I went to Michael's and bought a roll of magnet paper. It costs about 6 dollars then I always go and get a coupon off their website. I rolled out the paper and laid out all the prints on the paper. After they were all laid out, I just cut them out with scissors. I've made a few more batches since Christmas and now our fridge is almost full! We have come up with a couple more ways to to show our insta's throughout the house.

After the magnets, I wanted some way to print some of my instagram pics to have in my room. I had this magnet board from Ikea that I had covered in fabric and briefly used as a makeup board(see that idea here-- It worked for a while, but then I kept forgetting to put magnets on my makeup) I bought these cute mini clothespins at Walmart, I stuck magnet strips on the back of them and then hung some of my pictures from there. This is such an easy way to display and it looks so fun!

After the fridge got pretty full, me and my mom started brainstorming what to do with the instagram pictures we had taken over the summer. We had seen this really cute chicken wire display board at Home Goods but it was 40 dollars and we liked the idea but didn't want to spend that on something that would be so easy to make. When we moved my grandmother, she had a lot of old pictures that she wasn't taking with her, we got one of those frames to make our chicken wire board. My dad had some chicken wire in the garage and I still had the mini clothespins from my board. This project didn't cost us anything! Don't you love when that happens?

I love being able to have the more candid moments around the house and these displays were so easy and look so fun!

new and improved

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I really fell off the blogging wagon. I really don't even know why, I think it was just laziness honestly. Being unemployed has gotten the best of me and while most days I find myself pretty busy, I just let blogging fall to the wayside. I have reached a point in not working where I have begun to question what I want to do, where I am going, and whether or not what I had always thought I wanted is really what I want.

I went to a job interview a week or so ago and the interviewer asked me, "What would be your dream job?" I really had to think about it because quite honestly, I don't know. So I responded, "Well I don't know if this exists but ideally, my dream job would be something where I could bake and craft all day." She then responded with "That sounds like a blog or a lifestyle type deal and I don't really know how much baking and crafting you will do at this job.. probably none." Other things in the interview made me realize it wasn't a good fit but I got to thinking about what she said about the blog. I had a blog and I was abandoning it, and while it may not be a "real job," blogging is an outlet where I can do all those "dream job things."

After that interview, I started brainstorming: I hit up the thrift store for DIY ideas, I started developing recipes, and rethinking the look of this little blog. I've had this blog since I was a freshman in college with the same name "In Staley's Atmosphere" at the time I wanted to pay homage to John Mayer and I feel like I have just outgrown the name. I know most blogs have some catchy title but I just wanted to keep it simple. I may not blog everyday but I hope to have a few posts a week. I want to strive to bring the best content and ideas for my readers. A big thing I want to do is show how you can bake or craft or shop on a budget and still create some pretty amazing stuff. I see blogs that style amazing tablescapes claiming everything is from Target and its not, or a DIY project with a million components that add up in cost. Basically, I want to be Martha on a budget and I hope to share it with you all. I'm really excited about this journey and I hope you all will enjoy!

Cheesecake Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Both of my sisters love cheesecake. My middle sister doesn't really like desserts (weird I know) but cheesecake is the one thing that she really does love so as a first day of school treat I decided I would whip up some kind of cheesecake dessert. I had spotted this recipe for Salted Caramel Cheesecake Sandwiches in Donna Hay and these bars looked delicious and after my first Donna Hay recipe had been such a success I wanted to try this recipe out too. When I went to look at the ingredients I realized there was things that only seem to be available in Australia, the main thing being sugared lattice biscuits so I had to rethink my plan. I just decided on cheesecake bars and they were just as big of a hit, also super easy to make, easier than an actual cheesecake!

Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
1/3 cup butter softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup graham crackers-crushed up
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.To make crust: Cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in flour and graham crackers until crumbly
3. Press mixture into 8x8 pan and bake for 12-15 minutes
4.To make the filling: Beat together white sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Stir in egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract until mixed well.
5. Pour mixture over baked crust and bake for 20-25, then refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Adventures in Floral Arranging

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Hey y'all! After my little break last week, I am back in action! My sisters went back to school yesterday and my mom is a preschool teacher and she started back yesterday too so its just me at home leaving me with lots of time on my hands and lots of projects to do! I decided that yesterday I would take the day to treat my mom and sisters to something for their first day of school. I baked something for my sisters (I will share tomorrow) and I tried to think of something that my mom would appreciate. Every time we go to Costco, she always comments on how pretty she thinks the flowers are in the floral section. They really are gorgeous and are reasonably priced. So I decided to go to Costco then come home and play florist. I had seen a tutorial on Pinterest about taking grocery store flowers and arranging them into beautiful arrangements. I gave it and shot and I think they turned out pretty!

Here are a few tips for taking grocery store flowers and turning them into a beautiful arrangement:

Create a "frogger" or a grid system with floral or scotch tape. This will help you help you get the flowers to stay in the place you want them
Start with the greenery then add in the buds.
Cut your stems 1.5 times the height of your vase
Play around-- In my head I pictured how I wanted this arrangement to look but then once I started at it, I played around and placed things other places and just had fun with it.

For Costco, I think these flowers look pretty good! Of course my mom was super shocked so I think my little surprise paid off!

World Market Wants

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday Everyone, sorry for my sporadic posting this week, I am nannying all week from 8-4 and its a lot of fun but it is wiping me out! When I come home I just want to crash. This weekend I went into World Market to look at their desk accessories for my "Operation Desk Spruce Up" (didn't find anything there but I did finally find the perfect organizer--more on that later!) so even though I left empty-handed, I also left with a major wish-list. They are bringing out the fall stuff and the tableware makes me want to go buy it all and style an awesome fall dinner party table! There was also some furniture finds that makes me want to redecorate something!

table. tiered tray. bird napkins. tree charger. patterned plate. floral napkins. twig flatware. chalk goblet.

lamp shade. lamp. rolling cart. chalk board. rug. chair.

Laundry Basket Spruce Up

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

(snake charmer storage basket)

The other day I spotted this awesome laundry basket from Land of Nod and got a "bee in my bonnet" about wanting a cooler laundry basket. Unfortunately, this Land of Nod basket was WAY out of my price range so I got to thinking about where to go to find a cute basket to put my laundry in. I've been using just a plain laundry basket and it just looks so blah.

My first thought was Home Good so that's where I went and of course I scored! Home Goods always has such a great selection of baskets and I spotted this basket and it looked fairly similar to the basket I had wanted and it was on clearance for only $18-such a steal!

Does any one else suffer from "Laundry Basket Blahs?" If so, I've found a few other affordable baskets that would be a great way to add a little spice to your laundry. I love these options because they hide the dirty laundry but still look like a nice design element to your space.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Fashion Meets Food Photograpy: Chilled Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 04:00:00 +0000

We have had a ton of rain lately here in Birmingham but its the scattered shower kind where the sun comes out later and it gets hot and humid. So why not treat yourself to a chilly treat? I went through my food photography and my recipe boards on Pinterest and found some icy treats that inspired me to make a corresponding outfit, use the color palettes as inspiration or whip up one of the recipes as a cool down.

strawberry soft-serve at home

top.skirt.bracelets.clutch

blueberry moscow mule

shorts.button down. bracelet. sandals.

strawberry margarita pops

dress.necklace.wedges.

I am linking up with Long Distance Loving's Friday's Fancies, be sure to check out some of the other frozen treat inspired looks! To view some of my other Fashion Meets Food Photography Posts, click here and here. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Getting Organized: The Desk

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

(dream desk area)

I've been on a real organizing kick lately. It started when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house for her move, we have just been organizing up a storm. I did my prop closet area, she did our laundry room and now I'm working on my desk. My desk is a weird little area because I never sit at it or really use it. It is basically a vessel for me to store a bunch of crap. Its filled with photos from high school, cards, just a bunch of crap that I don't really want to get rid of but have no better place for. Which is fine because I mean what else do I have to use it for? The main thing I want to organize is the top of the desk. I tend to just put random things on the top of the desk with no real method. Right now I have a stack of Donna Hay magazines, random magazine pages I've ripped out but have no room on my bulletin board for, my desk calendar, a ton of pens and sharpies, and a stack of stationery. So I would really like to get a good method to this madness and get it functional.

1.2.3.

I love lucite and acrylic pieces and I think they would go great on the desk. I already have the acrylic storage on my vanity so why not carry it over to the desk? I own the acrylic notepad from Gifts In 24 and I love it! It is my go-to list paper and there is so much paper in one block. I really want a letter organizer for all my stationery and I love this one from the Container Store, I wish Birmingham had a store because shipping from their site is more than the actual organizer. This acrylic stacking tray also from the Container Store would be good for the other random things on my desk.

1.2.3.

I am loving Martha Stewart's line at Staples. It is really functional for office storage and its reasonably priced. I bought the corkboard a few months back and I love it. I think the desk box organizer could be a good solution for my stationery and the other things that find their way on my desk. The boxes would be great for anything: markers, papers, anything really.. I'm thinking about getting one for my magazine page pulls and just store them in a drawer or under the desk.

1.2.3.

Target, of course, is one of my go-tos for anything and so I eyed some of their desk organization to see what they had. With it being back-to-school time, they have a lot. I really love this gold chevron magazine holder. I actually found a really cool magazine holder in the dollar section while at Target but this chevron one is another good alternative for all my Donna Hay magazines/other magazines I tend to hoard. A few months ago, I bought these Threshold Chalk vases and they have sat on my desk just collecting dust. I decided to put them to use and put all my pens and pencils in them. I couldn't find the vases online anymore but the canisters are still there which would also make a good pen holder. Nate Berkus can really do no wrong with his Target collection and his desk accessories are no exception. I love this little storage caddy, you could put so much in this thing without it taking up a lot of space.

1.2.3.

Of course it wouldn't be a desk without a few fun accessories! How cute is this little frenchy stamp from Anthro? Continuing with my acrylic obsession, I love this stapler and tape dispenser from Design Darling.

So what are your desk necessities? Do you have any go-to's for desk organization?

Glue Art: Not Just for a Kid's Craft Project

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I've been looking for some cool art to put in my room as I attempt to streamline it and look more "grown-up." A freelance photo stylist that assist has all this really cool artwork all over her house and its the perfect mix of pieces that she has done herself and collected throughout the years. There is this one piece that she has in her living room that I just love but I couldn't afford to get one similar from the artist so I got to brainstorming on how I could paint something myself that would look similar. I had seen a bunch of ideas on Pinterest using Elmer's Glue or Puffy Paint to add texture to a pattern or an art project, I already had a thing of Elmer's glue and a canvas so I decided to give it a shot and I think it turned out pretty well.

All I did was sketch out some circles on the canvas and then just traced over them with the glue. I let the glue get pretty thick in some places and then thin in others. After I did the glue, I let it dry for about 24 hours especially with the thick spots, I really wanted to make sure it was totally dry before I painted over. After it was dry, I painted a gray layer first, I let it dry and then painted a light white coat just enough to cover the painting but still have some gray show through. The circles aren't perfect but I think that adds some character. This was a super easy project and really inexpensive, glue is really cheap and canvases aren't that expensive when they are on sale at the craft store or if you have a coupon. I would suggest this project if you are looking for a cool piece of art on the cheap, you don't even have to be that artistic!

Right now this is where the painting is hanging. Above my dresser. There used to be a print below it but I just don't love that print anymore. The John Mayer poster that I got at a show a few years ago has been on the wall for a while and I still love it so I plan on keeping it there, now I just need something else. I got this really cool frame when we were cleaning out my grandmother's house and so I'm planning on putting it there, now its just deciding what to put inside!

Vanity Revamp

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

(finished chair cover-yay!)

A couple of weeks ago I shared my fun patterned burlap find that I planned on using as a cushion for my vanity chair. Well I finally got around to doing it which then made me want to get my whole vanity area in order. My vanity table is actually a vintage outdoor table that my mom had found somewhere so it doesn't have any drawers or built in storage. Basically, I would just have everything scattered all over the top with no sort of organization. It looked a mess. Its also a glass top and I would let it build up and get so dirty which was just gross. This weekend I sat down at the vanity and got to cleaning and straightening everything up.

Voila! Everything straightened up! Looking at it now, I would really like to repaint it, still keep it white but I see places that have gotten kind of dirty and won't come clean because I let it sit there forever and places where the paint has chipped so that might be my next task now that everything is in a spot and can be easily moved. Before everything was scattered everywhere but now I can just take the containers off and move the table easily to paint.

Here are my tips for keep a vanity that doesn't have a lot of storage organized:

Godmorgon Box from Ikea- This little plastic storage container consists of one large box and 4 other smaller boxes that fit nicely inside the large one. One box is long and skinny and I took that one out and I keep my Bombshell curling wand in it and other random things that didn't have a place within the bigger box. I use the 3 small boxes inside the large Godmorgon box and I keep my makeup brushes and other random makeups in them. Behind the 3 little boxes, I keep dry shampoo and other hair products.
Mini tin storage bucket- When I went to Ikea a long time ago, I had bought the Fintorp Cutlery caddy to hang near my vanity and keep my hair dryer, flat iron, and curling iron in a designated bucket. I didn't plan well because these buckets were too light and everything kept falling out. So I've had these buckets for over a year just sitting in a desk drawer. I pulled one out and set it on my vanity to store all my hair brushes. Its next to the storage container and I'm really liking having a spot for all the hair brushes. It also keeps the hair contained to that area so it isn't everywhere!
Take advantage of any little nook or cranny that you have-I was struggling to find a place to put my hair dryer. Since I live at home, its just so much easier to do everything hair wise and just getting ready in general in my room and not have to fight it out for space with my sisters. I just couldn't find a good place to put it and it would lay on the floor and looked messy. I was looking at the vanity and I looked at the little space in between the base and the legs, I just tried propping the hair dryer in that space just to see if it would work and it did! So you never know what little odd space might be the perfect spot for something!

I'm so happy with how everything got in order and organized. Now I am determined to keep it this way! What are your favorite tips for organizing your vanity area?

#dreamhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I love the beginning of the month when all my monthly magazine subscriptions come in the mail. I sit down with the huge stack and just start going through. A new favorite magazine of mine is HGTV magazine. I love the mix of the HGTV stars and normal everyday people and bloggers sharing home decorating ideas and home renovations. This month they featured the home revamp of Quinn and Michael Risdall in Minneapolis. When they bought the home it was in pretty rough shape but they totally renovated and contacted designer Jamie Meares of Furbish when it came time to decorate. It is seriously a dream house to me. I love the mix of bold patterns and colors with classic vintage pieces. Pics of the home and the before and afters can be seen in the new issue of HGTV but I stumbled across these photos on Pinterest that feature the living room, kitchen and breakfast nook. So dreamy right?

Friday Frozen Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Hello! Sorry for my absence this week, this past weekend we started packing up my grandmother's house to get ready to move her to an independent living facility then with Monday's day-trip to Atlanta, I've kind of been wiped out and didn't do any fun projects this week. After our clean out of my grandmother's house, my mom got on a clean out kick this week. After a year of working at a cookbook publisher and my moms many years of cooking, we have a massive collection of cookbooks. We started going through some of our cookbooks and I rediscovered the Ben&Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book. I totally forgot we had bought this and I don't even think I ever made any recipes from it. I started flipping through and found the recipe for Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, which is one of my favorite ice creams so I decided to give it a shot. I never know how easy ice creams will be but this one was super easy and tastes exact. I know you can go to the store and buy a pint of Ben&Jerry's but its so much fun to make it yourself, the book is only $8 on Amazon, buy it and try making some of your favorite flavors.

Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream

adapted from Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

Ingredients

4 Heath Bars (or 2 king sized Heath Bars)

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons instant coffee ( I did maybe 5 tablespoons just to get a richer coffee flavor)

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, chop the heath bars into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks. I just put the bars in a ziplock bag and crushed them up, I think it was easier than chopping them with a knife. Place chunks in a bowl and keep cool in the fridge until needed.

2.Whisk eggs into a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Whisk in the sugar a little at a time and continue whisking until completely mixed. Pour in cream, milk and 2 tablespoons of coffee and whisk until blended.

3. Transfer mix into ice cream maker and let freeze for about 30-45 minutes.

4. After ice cream has stiffened (about 2 minutes before it is totally frozen) add in the broken up candy and the remaining tablespoon of coffee (or 2 or 3 extra tablespoons) Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for a few more hours before serving. I also topped with some extra heath bar bits just because I never know if my ice cream maker gets the mix-ins fully mixed in.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Phone Case Crush

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I think I may have an addiction to iPhone cases. I'm always finding ones that I love and then I talk myself into buying them and then I get tired of them a few weeks later, its a vicious cycle that I just keep feeding. Saturday I was browsing Pinterest and I saw these awesome Case Mate phone cases made with gemstones. Turquoise, Howlite, Gold Jet and Mother of Pearl, they are so neat! Sadly, they are a little out of my price range but aren't they pretty?

Fabric Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

As I've shared a few times, I'm in the process of revamping my bedroom. Since I know I'll be living at home with my parents a little bit longer, I might as well really love my room right? I feel like everything is almost done but one thing I have been really wanting to do is recover the cushion of my vanity chair. Which seems like the easiest and fastest thing, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it. For starters the cushion right now is hot pink and black polka dot something that I probably picked out in 8th grade when I was in my "Elle Woods" phase. It totally doesn't match my room anymore but I just never got around to changing the cushion. Monday, I finally set out to go fabric shopping and after going through all of JoAnn's (which the people that work there are the WORST!) I ran in Hancock Fabrics in the pouring down rain and stumbled upon this awesome printed burlap.

At first I wasn't totally sure if I should go with burlap because it is kind of rough, but this style wasn't that rough and I'm always wearing my robe when getting ready so I figured it was totally fine. I still haven't redone my cushion yet but I will definitely share when I get done. I didn't realize printed burlap was becoming a thing but if it is, I am so in! Here are a few other cute patterns they had at Hancock!

I also found this painted burlap runner tutorial on Pinterest and I kind of want to try it too, it looks kind of neat!

Wednesday Wish-List: Trip to Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

(the beginnings of my prop closet)

After all summer of saying we were going to take a trip to Atlanta, my mom, sisters and some friends are finally taking a trip over on Monday to do some shopping in Atlanta. So this week I have been online browsing and planning out things I want to pick up while I am there. The 3 main places I am most excited about are Ikea, West Elm, and H&M: stores we don't have in Birmingham. Since my little solo freelance gig last week, now more than ever do I want to start building my prop closet. I've picked up some things while thrifting and in January, Cooking Light had a prop sale while I was still working at Oxmoor House so I was able to get a few things from them and I started prepping for a prop sale while I was at Oxmoor House so I got a few things from there too. I just want to invest in some basics that I can use while cooking or baking things to post on the blog and to have in case I get other solo gigs. Monday, I cleaned out some built-ins in my parents basement and started using that for prop storage, its so nice seeing it all laid out and while its not much, I am getting excited about my little collection I am growing, I see it as preparation for the future and seeing where styling will take me. Its safe to say, I am hoping to do some damage at Ikea and West Elm prop-wise. I also want to look at a few things for fall while in H&M just because they are so affordable and I am really trying to only buy pieces I know I will wear and love for a while, just by browsing online though, I think I'll will find a few things that I will need to add to my closet!

board. glass. runner. placemat. napkins. clear bowl. serving bowl. flatware

melamine plates. potter's workshop dinnerware. utensils. placemats. ombre glass. dots mug. napkins.

denim dress. chiffon top. scarf. tribal dress. printed skirt. beaded top. bag.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Heaven-- My First Donna Hay Attempt

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Sunday morning, I took a trip to Barnes and Noble to browse the magazine section. Sometimes I like to just go and look through all the different foreign magazines and magazines that I don't subscribe to and just get inspired. I noticed there was a new Donna Hay out that I hadn't bought yet and on the cover were these beautiful molten peanut butter and chocolate lava cakes. When I got to the story, it was a whole spread on chocolate and peanut butter desserts aka: my definition of heaven. Sunday nights, I usually cook dinner and then we do some kind of dessert to eat while we watch New Jersey Housewives and Kardashians so I decided I would make my version of these lava cakes. This was also my first Donna Hay recipe that I had tried, I have a bunch of her magazines and her cookbook but I really just use those for photography and photo styling inspiration but I knew I wanted to give this a try. I didn't have dariole molds so I just used a deep muffin tin and they turned out delicious! This will definitely be a dessert I will be adding to list of regular deserts.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Lava Cakes
*adapted from Donna Hay Magazine ( I made a few changes)

8 ounces chocolate of your choice ( I used milk chocolate), chopped
3 ounces unsalted butter, chopped
2 eggs
2 extra egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
6 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (this is a rough estimate, I just played the PB by ear)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Place the eggs, extra egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add chocolate mixture and flour and whisk until combined. Scoop a tablespoon of batter into the well greased tin, then scoop a tablespoon of peanut butter in the center, then top with another scoop of batter. Continue this until all tins are filled. Put in the oven for 17-20 minutes or until puffed. Gently turn the tin upside down to remove the cakes. Serve immediately.

Fashion Meets Food Photography: Summer Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Happy Monday everyone! I had a pretty low-key weekend, Saturday I had a pool day with my sisters and then went to a wedding shower on Sunday, nothing too exciting! The other day I was browsing through my food photography and photo styling board on Pinterest and got inspired to pull together a few more fashion meets food outfits. I did this a few months ago where I took a few of my favorite food images and put together outfits that coordinated with the photo. Since its summer, I picked some images with bright, vibrant foods with an airy feel, the same kind of things I would go to when picking out an outfit during the summer!

(photo source)

top. shorts. sandals. bracelet.

(photo source)

top.jeans.wedges.bracelet.

(photo source)

top.jeans.necklace.sandals.

(photo source)

tank.skirt.ring.sandals.

Digital Table-Scaping

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

How in the world is it already Thursday? This week has flown by! My shoot yesterday went really well, I shared a peak on Instagram and will definitely share more when the segment airs sometime in August. It was really fun getting into stylist mode and being able to do things how I wanted as opposed to assisting. Putting together yesterday's table got me in a table-scaping mood so I thought I would do some "digital" styling and put together some tables with some pieces from my favorite stores. I picked Target, West Elm, and Terrain: kind low, medium, high on the price scale. Terrain would be my dream place to pull props from but realistically Target is my go-to. I love catching West Elm things on sale, the last time I was in Atlanta, I picked up a lot of cool linens for super cheap! When it comes to finding cool pieces for your tabletop, the key is always be on the lookout. You may be in a thrift store and find a super cool cheese board or walking through World Market and spot some unique flatware. When planning your next dinner party, look around, you never know what you might find or if you can't find exactly what you want, make it-- that's one of my favorite mottos!

runner .flatware .dinner plate .salad plate .table. glass. bread basket. serving tray.

cheese board. glass. dinner plate. salad plate. flatware. placemat. table

dinner plate. salad plate. table. forks. tiered tray. glass. napkins. serving bowl.

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Staley Mc) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday! This post will be a little brief because I am going on my first shoot as a solo stylist (not just assisting) for a segment that will air on a local news program. I am super excited! A couple of weeks ago I posted my summer reading list of books I wanted to read and had already read, well since then I have read almost every book on my "want to read" list plus a few more, I thought I would share if any of you may be looking for your next summer read!

The Engagements by J Courtney Sullivan- For me this story dragged on. Its actually a few different stories within one and for most of the book, I had a hard time figuring out how all of these stories connected. They finally did all intertwine but I like to know right of the bat what they each have to do with each other so I just kept reading to figure it out. An interesting aspect of the book is how much popular culture effects our views of engagement rings and engagements, one of the stories focuses on the woman who coined the term "a diamond is forever" and while the story is fictional, Sullivan does use semi-biographical information about the woman. It was an interesting read but it was just a slow read for me.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell- I had seen this on a couple of other summer reading blog posts and decided to give it a shot. Its young adult which is always easy for me to read and overall it was a cute story. Its about first love and high school and all off the stuff that goes with that. I love when you get to see two different perspectives in a book and you get to see both Eleanor and Park's side of their story.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella- Another book where you get to see two sides of the story. This is the story of two sisters, one who is desperate to get married and the other who is recently divorced. They go through a crazy adventure when the one sister who is desperate to get married, breaks up with her boyfriend and rekindles an old flame with whom she had made a deal with when they were 18 that if neither of them were married by 30 they would marry each other. It was not my favorite Sophie Kinsella novel and I can't really explain why. Most of her stories are predictable romances that are pretty farfetched but for some reason I just didn't love this one, it was just a meh for me.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell- After reading Eleanor and Park I decided to give Attachments a shot and I LOVED this book. It was a cute story of two friends who work at a newspaper and exchange emails back and forth. Lincoln, is an IT supervisor, whose job is to flag emails for inappropriate or personal emails on work time. He starts seeing the two friends emails but just can't seem to flag them, he ends up falling for one of the girls and Beth, the girl, starts to see him around the building and develops a crush on Lincoln as well but neither of them make a move. I don't know why I really loved this book but I did, it was just a good twist on boy meets girl love story and I highly recommend it!

What have you been reading lately? Now that I've just finished Attachments I am itching to start a new book!