Incomplete Guide to Living

Super Scary Pumpkin

2013-10-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

Since we've been married, I've never really been that into decorating for Halloween. I think it mostly has to do with my phobia of pumpkin guts. I mean, really. Why are they so gross inside? This year, I wasn't given a choice by my friend Jess. We were decorating pumpkins. And we were going to like it!

So, I said I would paint mine, due to aforementioned pumpkin gut-a-phobia. My friends laughed at and made fun of me, but I was all "Who's laughing now?!" when Jess was digging through the slimy innards of her pumpkin yesterday.

I wanted to use some paint I already had, so I opted to paint my pumpkin black with chalkboard paint. I drew a spiderweb on it with chalk, and I think you'll agree, it is truly scary.

I'm usually not a fan of spiders, but this is Claude. He's cool.

It was really easy to draw on the spider web with chalk. I just followed each line of the pumpkin about half way down and then drew little horizontal curved lines in between vertical lines all the way around the pumpkin. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty cute!

One thing I found is that the paint doesn't stick very well to the flesh of the pumpkin. If I pressed too hard with the chalk, the paint chipped. So, I just used a black sharpie where needed to "erase" any mistakes or touch up chipped paint. Worked like a charm!

Have you decorated a pumpkin for Halloween? Or do you go all out and decorate the whole house??

September in Review

2013-10-07T04:05:00.000-07:00

I'm baaaaack from America! I don't have any amazing projects to share with you today, as I have had zero energy to do anything other than our basic household necessities since I've been back! I am still living in a fog of jet lag and strange sleep schedules. We had a great time seeing friends and family, but I have to admit that even after 5 years, saying goodbye has not gotten any easier.

Let's take a little look back at what we did around here in September:

I re-painted our bedroom feature wall.
I made some sinfully delicious Millionaire's Poke Cake.
I made 30 crock pot freezer meals and shared a Shopping List Printable
I got together with 2 beautiful friends to make some pretty Autumn Wreaths
I organized my travel budget and almost stuck to it. ;)
I shared a DIY Herringbone planter
I made these Fig, Bacon, & Goat's Cheese Crostini
I contributed some storage ideas over at Pretty Organized.

This all took place in the span of two weeks........AND I made a transatalantic flight with a 15 month old, who started walking and got his first haircut! September was a busy month in more ways than one!

I was thinking about the blog yesterday, and realized that it started as a fun hobby but was beginning to feel like work. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to come up with good ideas and complete projects. Combine that with all the writing, photo editing, and networking that goes on in blogland, and I could end up spend a good chunk of time doing "blog stuff" each week. (Perhaps I could have justified this if I was making more than roughly £4/month? ; )

I realize now that other, more important areas of my life were getting somewhat overlooked for the sake of home projects and/or the blog. First off, I need to spend more quality time with my boys. Second, I need to exercise more. Third, I need to take some time to relax and enjoy our home in its current state. All of those things are vital to my long term emotional and physical health.

That's not to say that I still won't be blogging. I still have some good ideas up my sleeve, and I still find so much inspiration in reading other blogs, that my hands won't stay idle for long. I basically wanted to give a heads up that my posting schedule will be going down to 1-2 times a week for the foreseeable future. I'm going for quality over quantity here, folks. I hope you'll stick around!

What were your September highlights? Did you have a crazy busy month like we did??

Fig, Bacon, & Goat's Cheese Crostini

2013-09-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that "crostini" means "little toasts" in Italian? Well, these Fig, Bacon & Goat's Cheese Crostini could easily be called "Little Toasts of the Gods". They are super easy to prepare, and would make a great appetiser for a dinner party. They'd also be great for a party where you are just serving various finger foods!

Ingredients:

1/2 white baguette
100g (3.5 oz) creamy goat's cheese
About 5 rashers smoked bacon (U.K. Readers: Streaky bacon is best )
~3 Tbsp Fig Relish (fig jam would probably work too)
~2Tbsp Olive Oil

Method:

Fry bacon over medium-high heat until well done.
Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel.
Thinly slice the baguette (roughly 15 slices), and brush each slice with a little olive oil.
Place the baguette slices under the grill/broiler on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes.
Meanwhile, divide the goats cheese into about 15 equal "slices". (It will probably crumble when you cut it, so don't worry about trying to make it perfect)
Put about 1/2-1 tsp fig relish on each baguette slice, followed by the goats cheese.
Place the topped baguette slices back under the grill for another 3 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown.
Crumble the bacon slices over the top of the crostini.

Serving Suggestion:
Serve with a simple, spinach salad, dressed with olive oil & balsamic. Goes great with a glass of a nice, buttery Chardonnay. (This recipe serves 4-5 as an appetiser)

If I had to guess what heaven tastes like, I would have to bet it's pretty close to these little bites of wonderful.

Herringbonified Planter

2013-09-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

So, you guys remember a little while ago, I posted about my crush on herringbone. I thought I could incorporate some herringbone into our decor...for free! It was going to be awesome!!

I decided, that I'd like to have a plant (which ~~I will probably kill~~ is already dying) in our room. So, I thought I would make over a boring, black plant pot that I had laying around. Here you have it: my herringbone planter!

First, I painted it white. (I really need to start painting stuff a colour other than white. I'll get on that soon. ;) )

(Everyone say "Hey!" to Murphy's butt! ha)

Then, everything went a little bit........horribly wrong.

I thought I'd use a silver sharpie to do the herringbone pattern. It didn't end well. So, instead I used painters tape to tape off a herringbone pattern, and sprayed it with metallic silver. That didn't go as badly, but it still wasn't great.

If I put some pretty, mini roses in it and tell everyone to squint when they look at it, maybe no one will notice the paint bleed? Maybe....

Don't judge me okay?

At least it's going in our room. It doesn't look terrible with our temporary windowsil display, right?

By the way, we have moved back into our room now, which may have been a big mistake. The new black out curtains keep it nice and dark. And the bed is so warm. And it's starting to get cold outside.

Have I mentioned my tendency to hibernate over winter? Between that, and the fact that I'm in America on my own with a toddler this week, let's just agree not to expect a "reveal" of our bedroom until next spring! ;)

Just kidding. I'm hoping to get our new dresser stained when I get back from America. So hopefully sometime in October I'll finally be able to show you our room!

How do you guys avoid paint bleed when doing more detailed projects like this? Is "Frog tape" really better than normal painter's tape?

Organizing your Travel Budget

2013-09-13T03:28:00.002-07:00

Well, I am about to attempt the transatlantic trip with a toddler on my own. It's going to be an experience, or as I like to call it, "The Big Crazy". I already know that nap times will be non-existent, and I'm hoping/praying for a lot of grace and kindness from the strangers in our immediate vicinity on the airplane!

In order to make The Big Crazy a little less loco, I actually sat down and discussed a trip budget with my hubby. While I'm on my own with Eli, I knew it would be far too easy to pull out the trusty credit card in moments of desperation, without thinking about the source of that mystical plastic card's magic. (Hint: The source is our bank account. Unfortunately not magical.)

Since I'm headed home on a budget, we decided that cash would be the best option. Obviously, I will still have the magic plastic in case of emergencies. The first step was to work out what my estimated expenditure would be for various items. I know I'm getting my hair done, I know I'll eat out a good bit, and I know I want a little "fun" money for those miscellaneous goodies!

With my new, crisp dollar bills, I used an oldie but a goodie to organize my travel dough: the Envelope System.

I debated whether or not to get cash before I fly, for fear of losing it, etc. In the end, Jim and I agreed that the better exchange rate I would get by getting cash here in the U.K. was worth the risk. If I carefully organize my carry on luggage, I figure I'll be less likely to accidentally misplace any of the cash.

I found a small plastic wallet for less than a pound, which will easily fit in my purse, and will be handy for the cash envelopes. It's also a good way to corral our passports and itineraries while we are travelling, so that they don't ~~get lost in~~ drown in the abyss of my carry on bag.

This is my attempt to stick to a budget while travelling, and I'm really hoping our credit card bill (and my husband) will thank me.

Before I hit the road next week, I'll share how I organized the rest of my carry on luggage. (Psst....I haven't actually done this yet, and I could ~~probably~~ definitely use some tips from YOU on organized travelling with a toddler).

How do you organize your travel budget? Can you give me any tips on airplane must haves with a toddler?

Linking up at the Link Party Palooza via I Heart Nap Time

Autumn Wreath: 3 Different Ways

2013-09-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

"To craft or to hibernate?" That is the question....

There is an autumn chill in the air. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but I really just want to take naps, and bake. {The baking probably has something to do with the need to store up fat for winter. ;) } I was day dreaming about taking a nap when I got a text from a friend about making a wreath. I knew I should immediately abandon my nap time plans and get on that bandwagon.

So, we headed over to another friend's house, and the three of us got to work making out wreaths. They are all different, but I really love the way all three of them turned out!

From left to right, the wreaths were made by Jess, me, and Heather.

Now, let's talk through the basics of our three wreaths.

First up: Jess!

Her supplies:

foam wreath
burlap
felt & fabric flowers (which she made...she is the bomb!),
little pine cones
pins
hot glue gun

Her Method:

Cut the burlap into strips and wrap it around the foam wreath, securing with pins as needed.
Make flowers, and secure flowers using hot glue.
Secure pine cones with hot glue
Hang wreath with white fabric

Next up: Me

My supplies:

wire wreath
old Ikea curtain panel
flowers (from an old headband)
wooden W
hot glue gun
white fabric to hang
1 thumb tack

My Method:

Cut the curtain panel into strips about 6" wide as needed.
Secure the end of the strip on an inner wire, and push small "bubbles" of fabric between the wires, bunching and wrapping as you go. (I promise this is way simpler than it sounds!)
Wrap the fabric for hanging the wreath in the desired location, and cut a small slit in the fabric on the inside of the wreath.
Using another piece of fabric, push one end through the hole, over the top of the wreath, and back down through the hole.
Secure both ends of the fabric to the back of the wooden letter using a thumb tack or nail.
Attach flower embellishments using hot glue, and hang.

Last but not least: Heather!

Heather's supplies:

The matte from a 10"x12" picture frame (genius!)
Burlap
Purple/White fabric
Purple/Pearl Embellishments
Pine cones
Twine
Hot glue gun

Her Method:

Cut burlap into strips and wrap around the matte, securing the ends with the hot glue
Add flower/pine cone/pearl embellishments and secure with hot glue.
In a looping pattern, secure twine around the flowers and pine cones.
Hang with purple fabric.

I couldn't believe how quickly we made these beautiful wreaths! There was even a 14 month old, and a 4 month old to contend with! That could have something to do with Heather's living room looking like this when we were finished:

Oops! Totally worth it. Although, I guess I'm not the one who had to vacuum. ;)

Have you made an autumn wreath yet? Or did you like to hibernate instead of using valuable energy on crafts?

P,S. Make sure you head over to Pretty Organized for some Autumn organizing tips from me and the rest of the team!

I'm linking this post to: Get Your DIY On , Remodelaholic & Link Party Palooza via I Heart Naptime.

Only Cook Once a Month {& an Ombre Printable}

2013-09-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm just now realising that being a mom is pretty tiring work. Shocking, right? I can't remember who it was, but I'm sure someone told me being a parent was the easiest job they'd ever had. Just kidding. I knew that motherhood would be tough. What I didn't know, is how often I would resort to frozen pizza, grocery store Indian food, and Chinese take out in order to feed Jim and myself. At the end of every day, I'm wiped out. I don't want to chop vegetables and handle raw meat. (And then voraciously disinfect the whole kitchen due to salmonella phobia).

All those insta-foods are pretty tasty in moderation, but eating them too often isn't good for the budget or the waste line.Yesterday, I decided enough was enough, and I stocked our freezer with slow cooker meals for a month. Everything is in freezer bags, labelled and ready to go!

Obviously, before I got started, I needed to sit down and figure out which recipes I was making, and what ingredients I would need. I used a shopping list sort of like this, but mine wasn't all pretty (and ombre) like this free printable I put together for you.

{Psst....This shopping list also coordinates with my printable Patchwork Meal Planner }

With each recipe, I added the ingredients to the list. Then, I just updated quantities of any duplicate items as I went along. Before heading to the store, I "shopped" my kitchen to see what spices and ingredients I already had on hand. I spent about £170 for 30 dinners for 3...and I'm willing to bet some of them will even have leftovers. That works out at just over £40/week, which isn't too bad if you ask me!

Here are a few of the recipes that will be gracing our slow cooker over the next 30 days:

{via}

Make sure you head over and check out those lovely ladies' blogs for some more fantastic recipe ideas!

You can follow me on Pinterest if you want to see some more of the recipes I made yesterday. I also used some "cheater" recipes that are basically just meat, veggies, and a jar of sauce. I did this with chili con carne, turkey jalfrezi, and some sauce that I'll use for slow cooker lasagna.

I'm not gonna lie...it was a lot of work. Between the grocery shopping and the cooking, it took me just about all day. I feel like it was worth it, because now I can feed my family well for the rest of the month without any hassle. Let's just hope that none of the recipes are a big fat flop!

Do you like to do your cooking "in bulk"? What other tricks do you use to stick to your weekly grocery budget?

I'm linking up at Give me the Goods & link party Palooza!

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/link-party-palooza-6/

Millionaire's Poke Cake

2013-09-07T03:13:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been a bit quiet around here this week. We've had a busy week! We moved back into our bedroom, and we've been working out our budget for the next few months. I also stocked up our freezer yesterday with some healthy, homemade meals that can just be popped in the slow cooker!

We had some friends over last night, and I used them as guinea pigs for a new recipe....

I call it Millionaire's Poke Cake!

Ingredients:

1 Vanilla Cake Mix, prepared according to instructions on the box
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup caramel
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 package shortbread cookies
Chocolate Sauce for drizzling

Method:

Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.
Fold in the chocolate chips, and bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While the cake is still slightly warm, poke holes all over the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon.
Spread the caramel evenly over the top of the cake, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Whip the cream, and refrigerate.
Spread the whipped cream over the top of the cake.
Crumble the shortbread cookies, and sprinkle them over the top of the cake.
Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Refrigerate about another 30 minutes before serving.

This cake is SUPER rich, so you don't need a lot! It was pretty easy to make....hope you'll try it and enjoy it as much as we did!

Have you ever made a "poke cake" before? What is your favourite cake recipe?

Painter's Remorse {Don't let it happen to you!}

2013-09-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

So, you guys remember my navy blue wall I told you about a few weeks ago? I told you how much I loved it, right?

Lies. All Lies. I hope you can forgive me.

The thing is, I painstakingly painted two coats of "navy" blue on that wall. The first tingle of excitement was real. I loved the bold colour and my vision for our room. Then, I wrote the post in which I revealed that lovely accent wall to all of you...

"Wow!" I thought to myself. "That wall looks SO blue in that picture. It definitely isn't that blue in person."

More lies. It definitely was that blue in person. Royal Blue. I lied to myself for a good week or maybe even two? Then, we got a date to have the carpet fitted. {The carpet went in TODAY! woohoo!}

It was at this point that I had to face the cold, hard truth. The blue was too blue for me, and if I wanted to re-paint this wall I should probably do it before we had the new carpet installed. Otherwise, I'd have to do things like move furniture and cover up carpet. Ain't nobody got time for that!

So, over the course of a couple of days, I did my research, bought some more tester pots, and made some decisions.

via

Here's what I learned from this process:

1)Take pictures of your sample colours on the wall. If you look at a picture and think "woah! That's not what it looks like in person!" You might look at it again and realise that your camera "saw" something in the colour that you didn't see at first.

2) If you are using a dark/bold colour, use MATT paint. This is especially true in a room with plenty of natural light. I originially went with a silk finish. While sitting and staring at my new blue, blue, blue wall in dismay, my brilliant husband said "Do you think you should get a Matt finish so that it doesn't reflect as much light?" Duh. Why didn't I think of that?

3) Undertones are important. This doesn't just apply to neutral shades of paint. Even a "blue" paint can have more purple or green undertones. I wanted something with definite blue undertones.

4) Sleep on it. Never use a paint tester, and run to the store to buy a tin of paint as soon as it dries. Once it's dry, look at it. Then, look at it from different angles, in different lights. Then, sleep on it. If you still like it the next day, (or better yet...after a couple of days) go for it!

5) Don't feel that you have to stick with your "usual" brand of paint. Although, I did go with a paint from my usual brand in the end, I came across some great colours available from other brands.

Let's take another quick look at the blue, blue, blue...

Here's the new colour we went for...{sorry. It's a phone picture ;)}

Now that's navy blue.

The new wall colour is a shade darker than previous colour. That subtle colour difference combined with the matt finish, makes a big impact in the way the room feels. The new colour looked almost black next to the first blue. I went with my gut, and I'm so glad I did! The new navy seems more "moody" to me, which was a big part of my original vision for our new, sophisticated room.

I think that the original blue, while a nice colour, didn't fit into my original vision for our room. This resulted in a lot of decorating confusion on my part. Now that I'm back to where I want to be in terms of colour, I feel like the rest of the room will come together much easier.

The next time I post about our bedroom, we will be moved in....praise the LORD! Last night, we got the curtain rail brackets hung, and we are hoping to be back "home" tomorrow.

What's your process for choosing a paint colour? Have you ever suffered from painter's remorse and had to re-paint a room?

Next Stop: Pretty Organized

2013-08-29T01:38:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm sharing over at Pretty Organized. I'm sharing some tips on how I used the combination of open storage and drawers to maximize function in my new coffee bar.

Everyone say "hey" to Casey from me!

Something's Brewing {Coffee Bar}

2013-08-28T02:24:00.000-07:00

In our dining room, we have this amazing open china cabinet/sideboard (I'm not really sure what else to call this piece of furniture?). I was always a little stumped when it came to decorating it, and what it's function should be.

Then, I decided one evening while I was thinking about ~~that sweet life giving nectar~~ coffee, that I'd really like to have a coffee bar in our house.....

Problem solved.

Now, there’s a few ways I styled the coffee bar before I landed on this set up.

First, I started with a bare bones coffee bar…..Cups, Tea Pot/ French Press, Coffee maker, etc. It was a little too simple for my taste…and didn’t really have that fun factor I was after.

I did add a little blue and white fabric as a runner to break up all of the wood.
It was nice, but still not quite what I was after!

We usually have a nice bag of coffee beans that we reserve for weekends and guests, so I thought it would be fun and add a bit of interest if I displayed the fancy coffee bag so that our guests could see what was brewing.

So, I tried this set up....

I displayed our fancy coffee and some candles on a cake plate....

I liked the cake plate setup, but I wasn't totally sold.

Then, I found a great pillar candle holder for £1 at Matalan, and I knew what I had to do….it spoke to me and said "Thou shalt display thy coffee upon my head, and all shall know what breweth". True story. (Not really).

The chalkboard adds a bit of whimsy, and I think this is an interesting way to use a candle holder! It's my favourite set up, for sure.

When we ran out of our fancy coffee, I just re-arranged a little again, and grouped some candles together on one side, so it looked something like this:

As you can see, there are plenty of ways you can style up a coffee bar in your dining room!

I'm already looking forward to decirating it for CHRISTMAS!

What? It's not even September yet?

Sigh. I love Christmas.... ANYWAY.

Who wants to see how I styled this piece before it was a coffee bar? It's pretty confused and neglected. Hey, at least I made sure that ~~china cabinet~~ ~~sideboard~~ mystery furniture was feeling the love....(I do like that word art and frame....I think it was just a little too much love all in one place!)

And let's remind ourselves how she looks now!

Much happier.

Who wants to hear the best part? This coffee bar only cost £1.

We had all of the tea and coffee supplies already. The only purchase was the candle holder....win!

Do you have a coffee bar in your house yet? How did you style it? Can anyone tell me what that piece of furniture is called?

*My husband got the coffee grinder/canister before we were married....no idea where he got them!
Here is a similar style grinder on Amazon.
Here is a similar style canister on Amazon.

I'm linking this post to Give Me the Goods @ www.maisondepax.com

"Done" List

2013-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you are anything like me, there are times when perfectionism can creep into your life making it difficult to complete even the smallest of tasks. You find yourself making mental (or actual) to-do lists that seem never ending! The enormity of the situation overwhelms you, and the to-do list is ignored in favour of a glass of wine and/or a bar of chocolate.

{image source}

Last week was one of those weeks for me. We are still in the midst of a major bedroom update, there is one bedroom which is literally full of furniture, our office is piled with bedding, and the landing houses lamps, lamp shades, and accessories waiting to go into our room. All of this combined with the fact that I haven't exactly had time to keep up with our usual cleaning routine, creates a feeling of total chaos. It's times like these, where I tend to go into "shut down" mode, and I adopt a "why bother?" mentality.

As I was thinking through all of this last night, I remembered something I did a while back to help me to combat the sense of impending doom I feel any time I spot a cobweb in our house...

A "Done" List.

Throw your to-do list out the window. It is too long, and burdensome, my friend! Instead, write a list of all the things big or small, that you accomplish in a day. It could be as simple as "Loaded the dishwasher", or "Folded the laundry", or "Quality time with kids". (Let's all remember what's important here!)

As you add more and more things to the list, you will feel empowered in two ways:
1) You will realise how much you accomplish in your normal day to day activities. You do things that you might not even think to put on a "to do" list!
2) Focusing on all the things that you have done, rather than a list of the things you haven't done, may give you the feeling that you have "earned" the right to a little bit of a break.

Who am I kidding? All wives/moms deserve a little break from time to time! Check out your "done" list at the end of the day, grab a glass of vino, put those feet up and revel in the freedom of a day without a to-do list. Who knows? Maybe you'll even do it again the next day!

So...Who's going to scrap their to-do list for at least one day this week? What other tactics do you use to keep from feeling overwhelmed by all of the housework?

Herringbone Crush

2013-08-23T02:57:00.000-07:00

You guys know all about chevron, right? So hot right now. I have yet to use any chevron in our house, considering I don't think that ultra-modern vibe blends too well with some of the 16th century features of our home.

However, I think I may be able to incorporate some freehand herringbone (Chevron's cousin that knows how to have a good time) somewhere without it feeling too modern for our house. This could be wishful thinking. In my opinion, herringbone seems a little less rigid, while still offering some kind of geometric order. I first started crushing on this pattern a few weeks ago when I came across this fabulous mudroom by Ann Marie at Twice Lovely.

Today, I grabbed some inspiration from around the web of some fun ways of incorporating herringbone into home decor....

Add a bit of whimsy with these multicoloured herringbone glasses. For just $85 each, $525 for a pack of 8, they are practically a steal! (If you grow money trees in your back yard).

You could add a herringbone rug, to liven up a neutral living area.

Or how about one of these gorgeous herringbone throws? (Again, you may need to raid the money tree for one of these).

Last, but certainly not least, you could add an entire herringbone feature wall like Jen from Tatertots and Jello !

Personally, I don't think I'd have the guts to put that much work into a whole wall of herringbone, but I'm definitely going to find a way to sneak some into our house this weekend.

If you had money trees, would you totally buy those glasses? I definitely would. How do you incorporate trendy patterns into your home?

Pizza Poppers {a.k.a. Mini Calzones}

2013-08-21T08:22:00.001-07:00

Things are a little slow on the project front around here. We are now waiting for the bedroom to be carpeted before we can do anything awesome like hanging the curtains etc. Also, in the interest of a healthy marriage, I've promised my husband not to take on any more projects until the bedroom is finished! ;) Also....I'm recovering from sewing our curtains last week. Seriously....I was up WAY past my bed time for lots of nights in a row....

You're all in luck though, because I used to share a few recipes/ideas over on the family blog, and today I'm revisiting one of those little gems.....

Pizza Poppers! This recipe was pretty simple once I got the hang of dealing with the dough......(lightly floured surface? Yeah right.....try lots and lots of flour everywhere to prevent the dough from turning into a sticky mess).

Before we get started, here's a handy tip: If you're anything like me, flour goes EVERYWHERE in your kitchen when making any sort of dough. Use the hose attachment on your vacuum cleaner to get the worst of the mess off of the counters before wiping them down....then you can wipe the counters down with your cleaner of choice without fighting sticky flour! (I recommend a bleach based cleaner if your vacuum cleaner is as promiscuous as ours ; ).

Ingredients:
1 pizza base mix ( I'm no dough expert, so I opted for a "just add water" pizza dough mix, which was really easy)
1/2 jar pasta sauce (and 1/2 jar to serve)
1 pack mini mozzarella
1/2 pack pepperoni
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
Medium Biscuit Cutters
Fresh Basil to serve
Makes 20

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 180°C (375°F)
2. Dice the pepperoni and mozzarella.
3. Prepare pizza dough according to package instructions (or from scratch if you have the time for that sort of thing...who can wait for a whole HOUR for dough to rise?!)
4. Knead the dough and roll out on a WELL floured surface.
5. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into as many circles as you can. Hints: My biscuit cutter was about 2" in diameter...next time I would use a larger one to keep the sauce from leaking out of the sides. Combine the "scrap" pieces of dough into a ball and roll it out again to get more circles.
6. Put a piece of baking paper onto a pizza stone or baking tray, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place the pizza dough circles onto the paper.
7. Spoon about 1 1/4 tsp sauce onto each circle and add toppings.
8.Fold the dough over and pinch it together around the edge.
9. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
10. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, and serve with basil garnish and the remaining sauce for dipping.

Do you have any fun recipes for serving pizza as a party food? How do you get rid of the massive explosion of flour after making dough?

DIY Babyproofing: Bannister {Banister?} Guard

2013-08-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed "No Post Friday" last week! No? Just me? Sorry....I was busy sewing!

Anyway...is it "banister" or "bannister"? You tell me. I don't know the correct spelling. According to Wikipedia, they are both right?

Anyway....There a million and one things I would do differently if I was to do this project over again. Having said that, I'm calling it a success, since the whole aim was to create a safer environment for our little boy-- and that is the one thing that I would say we did well! (Make sure that any baby proofing you do in your home is safe. This was a good solution for us, but it doesn't necessarily mean it would be the best solution for your home.)

Allow me to introduce you to our wooden, Jacobean banister (from the 1600's). It's one of my favourite features of the house. It has been adapted by previous owners (Jim's grandparents) to fit the staircase as it is now, since the staircase used to be in a different part of the house. Pretty cool, right? Like I said, it's one of my favourite features of our home.

There's just one problem.....There's about a 9- 10"gap between the bars around the top... Plenty of space for an inquisitive little boy to crawl right through if he got the chance! Yikes!

We looked into putting perspex (plexiglass) all the way around the top, but it was going to be too expensive. So, I got to thinking. Why not just use some pieces of ply-wood, cover them in some nice wallpaper and attach them to the banister? ~~And that's just what we did!~~ That is not really what we did at all, because nothing about this project went according to plan. I didn't really take many pictures of the process, because I just wanted to get it done so I didn't have to deal with it anymore!

Here's how it all basically went down.

Jim measured the length of the wood we would need, and cut it to size.
I painted the wood white.
I cut a long strip of wallpaper about 10" wide, folded it in half over the top edge of the wood, and attached it with wallpaper adhesive to avoid tiny hands getting splinters.
Jim drilled some holes (without measuring...and at indiscriminate lengths apart) through the guard where we would attach the wood to the railing.
Using ribbon/cable ties, we attached this monstrosity to the banister railing.

There are ~~a few steps~~ probably about 5 steps I left out, where things went horribly wrong, and I had to re-think how the project was going to work. Let's just say, this project was a serious thorn in my side for a while. I was glad to finally call it done. It doesn't look that bad now that it's all finished, and it's not too obtrusive. So, I'm choosing to laugh and move on! :)

What sort of DIY baby proofing solutions have you come up with?? Did you save a lot of money by using creative solutions to make your home safer for little ones?

Did you enjoy this post? Check out my other projects, recipes, decorating ideas, and general shenanigans! Or, you can follow me via Facebook , Twitter, Pinterest, Blog Lovin', or RSS.

The Midas Touch {Ikea Curtain Pole Hack}

2013-08-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading for a while, you may remember my little friend Goldenballs. Goldenballs, the lamp. He is round, and cute, and painted gold.

Everyone say "Haaaaay, Goldenballs!"

Ever since Goldenballs has come into my life, I've had a fever. And the only cure is more gold accessories. Yesterday.....I took a few steps toward recovery.

We are about a month into the process of updating the master bedroom, {You can see what it looked like before we started here, and since we've painted it and added trim here} and now that the painting is done, I'm in the process of sewing our curtains. Unfortunately, we blew our budget for new curtain rails when we splurged on an Ash chest of drawers from our local antique store. (More on that some other time).

So...who can guess how I updated our boring, black, box-standard Ikea curtain poles?

Here's what happened...

1) Took them down off the wall, and removed the brackets/finials. (This was done before we started painting our room)
3) I slid the curtain poles onto some bamboo sticks, which were stuck in the grass (we use these in our greenhouse)

4) I also sort of balanced the finials on top of some screws that I stuck in the grass .

*Standing the stuff up like this meant I could spray all sides of everything at once, saving me time waiting to turn stuff over! (And sorry for the overexposed pics...it was sunny out and I didn't realize quite how blown out they were until I uploaded them!)
4) The brackets/screws were placed on a piece of cardboard nearby....nothin' fancy there!
5) Sprayed ALL THE THINGS gold (3-4 light coats).

Goldenballs is so proud.

This update, only cost me £3 for a can of gold spray paint, and painting the curtain poles/accessories only took a few minutes (plus drying time). When I brought them in, I stood them next to the white curtains in our dining room so that I could ~~fantasize about~~ see what they would look like next to our bedroom curtains....

Oh yeah. Come to Mama.

I also laid them next to a candle lid made of dark wood with silver accents to see how all of the finishes would look together.

It's a little much all close together there, but I think that it's going to work really well! Things are starting to come together, and I'm having a lot of fun planning the finishing touches.

Oh! We now also have a fancy, gold blasted tree in our garden....

Oops! I guess I've got the Midas touch! Hope it doesn't die. I'm out of gold spray paint now, though, so at least the rest of the garden is safe.

What have you been painting gold recently? What other metals/finishes do you like to mix with gold accessories?

Cookies'n'Cream Fro-Yo

2013-08-12T06:35:00.000-07:00

There comes a time ~~of the month~~ in every girl's life, where she's just gotta curl up with some ice cream for dinner. Unfortunately for me, this time came one evening before my Weight Watcher's meeting. I could just imagine the disaproving look on my leader's face when I explained why I had gained 5 pounds that week. "It's not my fault! I blame Ben. And Jerry. Okay...I ate a pint of ice cream last night. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

In order to avoid the wrath of Marion (my WW leader), I concocted a genius plan to beat Ben and Jerry while I was on my way to the store....

Ingredients:

900ml (2 pints) of light (4%fat) Vanilla Ice Cream
250g (1 Cup) of 0% fat Greek Yoghurt
4 x Mini Oreo single serve packages

Method:

Blend half of the ice cream, all of the yoghurt, and 2 of the packages of oreos in a blender until just combined.
Lightly crush the mini oreos in the remaining 2 packages.
Combine the yoghurt/ice cream mixture with the remainder of the ice cream and crushed Oreos by hand.
Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or so before enjoying a scoop or two!

A serving of this is about one scoop. And it's roughly 95 calories (maybe a bit less). I was going to work it out more specifically........but my fro-yo was melting. Also, Ben and Jerry's can't be mad at me for denying them my business on this occasion, since I'm pretty sure that I singlehandedly kept their business afloat during my pregnancy.

How do you get your ice cream/chocolate/sweet fix for less calories? Or do you just indulge in smaller quantities of the "real" thing?

DIY Banister Guard {@ Maison de Pax}

2013-08-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Do you guys remember my friend Rachel who stopped by last week to tell us her fabulous, classy baby gate?

Well, today, she's invited me over to Maison de Pax to share about a similar, albeit not quite as polished and beautiful, venture in DIY babyproofing. I'm talking about how we made our 400 year old banister safe for one adventurous, little resident who could have crawled right through before!

I really hope you will stop by to check it out, and tell her "Hey" from me!

Master Bedroom Update {Trim & Accent Wall}

2013-08-07T02:21:00.000-07:00

We've still been busy working away in the master bedroom, and I've got a couple of exciting updates!

We have new trim! Below, you can see my husband's very official and recommended method of holding the baseboard in place while the adhesive bonds to the wall. You just stick a screw into the floorboards and lean whatever tools you have on hand between the screw and the trim. As you can see from the photo, chisels/putty knives work particularly well...

Jim still needs to do put some filler around the edges, and then we will stain the trim white like we did in the laundry room. We like the look of stained white trim, rather than glossy white, since you can still see the grain of the wood underneath!

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen my post that I got the navy blue accent wall painted. Here it is in all it's blue glory.

I am so happy with the way it looks. I think the colours in here all look super crisp and fresh, and I'm excited to see how it all ties together with the white bedding/curtains, and the mixture of dark wood/white furniture. (P.S. I've ordered a new, sparkly light shade to replace the boring one you can see peaking out at the top of this picture).

That's it for now! I've still got another coat to put on the windowsills, and a few more touch ups. Plus, I'm in the process of giving some new furniture from the local antique warehouse a little TLC!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the rest of the house is a total mess.....

How do you keep on top of the housework in the middle of a project? Does everything seem to explode everywhere like it does in our house??

No Cream for Me

2013-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, we make important self discoverys. Recently, I made one of my own. I ~~hate~~ don't love the colour cream. I mean....I really ~~hate~~ don't love it. Give me beige. Give me taupe. No cream for me, thanks. (If you looooove cream, stop reading now. There may or may not be some trash talk happening.)

There is a reason that cream also goes by pseudonym "off white"....Because it's white, but there's something just a little "off" about it. It's like...an inbred cousin of white and yellow....it's not quite all there....ya know what I'm sayin'?

Okay Okay....it's not that bad...My main issue is that it just never looks fully clean to me.

I would like to highlight at this point, that there are a lot of people with really beautiful, warm, welcoming homes that are decorated with cream-- cream cabinets, cream walls, etc. For a while, I I was convinced that white just "didn't go" in our house. As it turns out, cream isn't for me....and white can really look great a lot of the features of our home. Cream just isn't really my style!

For instance, we have a pair of wardrobes that were both cream, but I decided to change that...

See what I did there? Taking a picture in dark, dingy light so that it makes the wardrobe look even dirtier? {This photography method is called "remember to take a 'before' picture at 9 PM when it is dark and Jim has already started taking stuff apart", and is particularly useful for making "after" pictures look extra awesome...}

When we got these two wardrobes, it was obvious they hadn't had any sort of clean in quite a while. since they came from an older family friend. So, I set about wiping ....and wiping...and scrubbing and wiping. Lo and behold, they still looked dirty. And then it dawned on me. Cream. I really liked the shape, and the detail around the edges of the doors, so I definitely wanted to use them. So I thought...why not just paint them?? I could paint them WHITE! This may not seem very revolutionary, but I could practically hear the angels singing Handel's Messiah.

HAAAAAlelujah! HAAAAAlelujah! HaleeeEEEEElujah!

And, here's a little look inside:

On the outside: I (obviously) painted them white. I also got rid of the decal things on the top of the doors. Then, I added some blingin' handles!

Who wants another peak inside? Okay....if you insist. (I'm actually trying not to jump up and down right now with excitement over the pure happiness that lies within these wardrobes).

On the inside, I painted them white as well. I just wanted to freshen them up from the inside out. So, I added some gorgeous, yellow shelf liners from The Macbeth Collection, and also some subtle grey/white patterned wallpaper on the inside of the doors. (This was to avoid having to paint both sides of the doors. I was not about to do that.) The combination of grey, white, and yellow looks super pretty!

I LOVE them. They have been hangin out in the guest room, but remember that master bedroom makeover we're doing? I'm totally taking these beauties into our room so I can see that happy yellow every. single. day. That's why there's nothing in them yet.

I can't finish this post without giving a shout out to Jim, and my mom and dad! Having never re-finished furniture before, this project was a bit more than I bargained for, and I wouldn't have completed it with my sanity in tact if it wasn't for their help.

Have you attempted any major furniture overhauls like this? What was your favourite/least favourite part?

I'm linking this post to Remodelaholic, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show and Tell Wednesdays, Tasteful Tuesdays, Made by You Monday , I Heart Organizing and Give me the Goods

It's Classy, Baby! {Featuring Maison de Pax}

2013-08-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to be featuring Rachel, from Maison de Pax today! This girl is so sweet, creative, and talented! Seriously. She's stopping by to share a super classy, DIY babyproofing tip to redeem my epic DIY babyproofing fail from earlier this week. Gone are the days of ugly, white, plastic baby gates (at least at the bottom of the stairs).

Besides the creative solution, one of my favourite parts of this feature is that she starts off her post with "Hey y'all!" I. love it.

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Hey y'all! I'm Rachel, and I have so enjoyed getting to know Beth recently; we are, after all, fellow Southern gals with little boys, and though I only lived as an ex-pat for two years, I so appreciate watching Beth make such a fabulous life in the UK. I love how blogs allow us to connect with friends all over the world! Ok, sorry for the tangent...Thank you for having me!!

Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like "baby" and "classy" can't even be in the same sentence... Am I the only one? But, I am pleased to say, I find this to be one of those paradoxically beautiful things: a classy baby gate. Unfortunately, due to the shape and location of our banister and post, we didn't really have a place to secure a traditional baby gate. Fortunately, I have a handy husband. :)

And since our stairwell is the first thing you see when you walk in our home (you can tour the entryway here if you like), it was important to us that the gate not be an eyesore. So Mr. Pax and my father teamed up to make a two-paneled gate that would echo the original doors in our 1940 colonial.

Though a traditional gate (one that secures on either side and swings open) wouldn't work, we devised a panel that simply slides in its "track"--the small gap between the baluster and the next step. It's a perfect solution for us. We cut a notch to fit the molding, and put felt strips (the kind you put on the bottom of furniture to protect the floors) along the side and bottom.

We can even slide the entire thing out and hide it in the closet if we want to.

Now, for the record, I definitely wouldn't recommend having something like this at the top of the stairs where a child can push from behind. But don't call CPS on us or anything; the gate has worked like a charm for us. You should carefully consider and test anything you might use in your home to protect your children. Ok, disclaimer complete. :)

Now on to one more picture that I think sums up why I love this: it was a creative solution that I think melds beautifully into the character of our home.

What do you think? Anyone else with an outside-the-box baby gate solution? Or how about you moms out there - when you have managed to combine baby and classy?

Thank you again to Beth for having me!

My name is Rachel, and I blog at Maison de Pax, where we are busy restoring, remodeling, and redecorating our 1940 colonial while chasing two little boys, 1 and 3 years old. As I you can read in my about me page, our goal is to create a home where peace can be found.

If you like this project or would like to see more, please visit me at Maison de Pax. You can follow along here:

Bloglovin, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, RSS, Twitter, Instagram

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Thanks for stopping by, Rachel! Seriously guys, make sure you check out her blog...she has a lovely home, and fantastic ideas!

Watermelon & Lime "Ice" Cubes

2013-08-01T02:01:00.001-07:00

FACT: The most refreshing food you can consume on a hot summer day is watermelon.

Don't try to argue...you all know it's true! Well, now that summer's almost over in England, I had a brilliant and refreshing idea.

Newsflash: Water does not have to be boring! Everyone has had water with lemon or lime in it. But, you can put all different kinds of fruit into water to make it all fancy, and extra refreshing! When Jim and I were at the spa on our honeymoon, they had a variety of waters to choose from with fresh lemon, lime, cucumber, apple/mint, pineapple, and watermelon! They were all ice cold, and so good!

We don't always have a lot of room in our freezer for ice, so I decided to turn the watermelon itself into ice cubes. Also, this way it will last longer than if I just cut it into cubes and stuck it in the fridge.

What you'll need:

1/4 seedless watermelon (cut into cubes)

Juice of 1/4-1/2 lime

1/4 cup water

Method:

1)Add all the ingredients to a blender, and blend on high until liquefied.

2) Pour liquid into ice cube trays and freeze.

3)Fill up a glass about half way with the watermelon/lime cubes, and then the rest of the way with normal ice cubes.

4)Fill the glass with water for the perfect, refreshing drink.

Tip: You could also freeze these into popsicles, because they taste amazing on their own!

What's your favourite way to dress up water? Are you a classic "ice and lemon" or do you take a more adventurous approach to getting your 8 glasses a day?

P.S. Hope you enjoyed today's quick, delicious tip! We are still busy, busy working on the master bedroom around here!

I'm linking this post toWhatever Goes Wednesday, Show and Tell Wednesdays, Tasteful Tuesdays, Hookin Up with HOH and Give me the Goods

Not Quite White (Master Bedroom Progress)

2013-07-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we are still waiting on electricians to come in and sort some things out in the Master Bedroom.
However, we haven't let that stop us, and last week/weekend we cranked out some serious progress on the project!

Here's what Jim has done so far:

Ripped out the old carpet
Taken off the old baseboards and door surround
Removed/capped off the old radiators
Got the new radiator ready to go on

In the mean time, I have:

Measured/Purchased material for the new curtains (£130 total...not bad!)
Chosen the new carpet (which will be fitted after everything else is finished
Painted the ceiling white
Painted the three "main walls". (We have to wait for the electricians to do their thing before painting the last remaining wall- which will be an accent wall).

So, we've been busy, busy!

Jim thinks the colour I have chosen for the walls is "white", whereas I would call it a very subtle blue/grey. Last night, we decided to call it "Not Quite White"

I love it. It's going to look fabulous once we get that navy accent wall painted!

What have you been up to for the last week? Any fun projects in the work!

Porridge {Featured Blogger}

2013-07-26T06:02:00.001-07:00

My friend Dawn has an incredible talent for making seriously awesome food. Luckily for you and me, she shares her incredible recipes on her blog, Porridge! Today, Dawn is stopping by to share a recipe inspired by a dish we had in the Yucatan Peninsula about 7 years ago.... Are you ready for a fiesta in your mouth? I hope so....because this is happening.

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About 7 years ago I went on a trip to the Yucatan, the South of Mexico. I went with the students of Timberline Lodge, which is a small Christian school in Winter Park Colorado. We stayed with a family in a small village near Merida. We were there to help build an orphanage in a local village nearby. Every day our host family would make us lunch. One particular lunch was grilled chicken and rice with a creamy cilantro dressing. It was one of the best things I had ever eaten. I never forgot about that cilantro sauce, and it took me 7 years to even attempt to recreate it. It’s a pretty close match as far as I’m concerned. This dressing goes perfect in a salad or over chicken or salmon. It’s really good to dip tortilla chips in too!

{Source: Porridge}

Ingredients
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, stems removed
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (you can use avocado instead of yogurt)
2 Tbl fresh lime juice
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 C olive oil
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1. Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until combined and creamy.

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Thanks, Dawn! It seemed like such a simple recipe, so I thought I'd try it out too. I served it with some baked fajita chicken/veggies, a sprinkling of cheese, on a bed of rice. It tasted like Mexico and awesome.

Clearly, I could not be a food blogger, as my presentation leaves something to be desired. But,like I said before: FIESTA IN YOUR MOUTH. I used low fat Greek yogurt, and it still tasted great. Though, it would have been even more awesome with a plain, grilled chicken breast, and some simple roasted or stir fried veggies, since the flavour from the cilantro sauce packs plenty of flavour on its own.

By the way, I had some left to use as a salad dressing! Can you guess where it ended up?

Baby food jars for the win again!

I was so excited to feature this particular recipe, since that year at Timberline is when I met Jim! Also, we may or may not have had our first kiss on that trip to the Yucatan, but I guess you'll never know.

Are you guys going to try this sauce out? Anyone out there have a killer Margarita recipe that would complete the fiesta?!

Pretty Excited!

2013-07-25T12:14:00.003-07:00

Do you guys remember a while ago when I shared my DIY Camera Purse over at Pretty Organized?

Well, I'm pretty excited (like how I did that?) to let let you all know that Casey has asked me to be a regular contributor! She asked if I was into the idea of stopping by about once a month to share an organizing/decorating tip, and I was all "Heck yeah, man!"

Head on over today to check out my first post as a contributor. I'll give you a hint....what's glass, pretty, and can be filled up with all different kinds of awesome? The choice is clear.