two twenty one

Low Carb Mashed Faux-tatoes

2012-02-24T07:07:00.004-05:00

I try to stick to a low carb diet. My body hates carbs. HATES them. You're probably all like, "What Chelsea? You make all those delicious desserts, and they don't look low carb to me." This is true. But I always take the majority of those carbtastic creations to parties, or I send them to work with Brad. They cannot be left in our house because I will eat all. of. them.

I've tried a couple different mashed faux-tato recipes, and this one from I Breathe... I'm Hungry is the best I've found so far. They taste as close to mashed potatoes as you can get. Brad likes them and that says a lot.

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Start by cleaning and trimming a head of cauliflower. Put the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/3 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon butter. Microwave on high, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir the cauliflower/cream/butter mixture. Microwave for 4 more minutes on high.

While the cauliflower is in the microwave, scrounge up about 3 oz. of sharp cheese, 1 tablespoon of butter, and some salt and pepper. You'll also need a food processor or blender.

When the cauliflower is finished in the microwave, immediately put it in the food processor with the cheese, butter, pepper, and salt. Puree until the mixture is smooth.

You can serve them plain or loaded. I went with loaded (sour cream, cheese, bacon, green onions) last night. I made these with chicken Marsala a couple weeks ago, and it was delicious.

Here's a 3x5 recipe card. Click on the image to open the download.

Have you ever tried mashed faux-tatoes?

Does your body hate carbs, too?
Any big weekend plans? I'll be cleaning and doing taxes. Boooo.

One Year Blogiversary

2012-02-21T07:08:00.002-05:00

It's my one year blogiversary today!

Image via Sweetopia

A year ago today I wrote my very first post-- my thrifty hurricane tutorial. It's my second most popular post. People must really like vases glued to candlesticks with candles and split peas thrown in 'em.

I joined the wonderful world of blogging in September, 2010 with my wedding planning blog Chelsea Gets Married. I knew I couldn't blog about wedding stuff after our wedding so I decided to start Two Twenty One. And I'm so happy that I did.

I love blogging. (Clearly.) It's the one thing that encompasses most of my hobbies-- DIY projects, baking, photography, and writing. I also love blogging because it's a great friend-maker. I'm so thankful for all the friendships that I've made in the past year. Seriously, you guys are the best.

I hope I can spend many more years hanging out with you guys on the Interweb.

Random Questions Answered

2012-02-20T07:06:00.002-05:00

It's my 1 year blogiversary tomorrow!

On Friday I told you guys that you could ask me any questions you may have, blog or non-blog related, so today I'm answering them.

What's your day job?

I'm an infant and toddler (ages 0-3) developmental therapist and education specialist. I work with kiddos with a variety of developmental delays (cognitive, communication, and social) and their parents/family in their natural environment (home or daycare). To be more specific, I work on things like speech, imitation, turn-taking, sensory integration, attention to task, following directions, problem solving, play skills, and more! I also work with parents to develop behavior programs for their children with behavior issues or disorders.

All-time favorite recipe?

Oh geez, I dunno... my mom's peach cobbler recipe.

5 favorite books?

I'm a horrible person, and I don't read many books. I will tell you my favorite children's picture books though! Piggy Pie!; Click Clack Moo; Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?; Your Favorite Seuss; Dog

5 favorite TV shows?

Justified, Southland, Ellen, Modern Family, The Real Housewives of Atlanta

#1 ultimate awkward/embarrassing moment of your life?

I was 19, and I had to go to my dentist to get a cavity filled. I'm in the chair all gassed up (I was one of those weirdos that preferred gas and no shots), and he starts drilling. It was terribly painful, so I gave in and asked for a shot. He drilled for what seems like hours, and I started sweating. When he was done I realized that the fabric of my skirt and the plastic/vinyl of the chair weren't the best match because I have a HUGE sweaty wet spot on the back of my skirt. So I had to walk out of my dentist's office looking like I peed myself. Awesome. I was just happy I never had to go back there because this was to be my last visit since he was a pediatric dentist. WRONG. I got an inflamed nerve from all the drilling and had to go back... two more times.

5 best purchases/favorite items you own?

laptop, SUV (made the last payment on Friday, holla!), engagement/wedding ring, Jack (best $84 spent), our house

Best gift you've ever received?

I'm gonna be a sap here and say my college education-- a gift from my parents.

5 items on your wishlist right now?

battery for my laptop, DSLR camera, camera bag, new couches for our living room, purse

Favorite guilty pleasures?

Real Housewives of Atlanta, cookie dough, Jersey Shore, Twilight Series books (not the movies-- I'm not a Kristen Stewart fan)

Something you've always wished you were brave enough to try?

Hmm, run a half marathon? Hah, notice that I wrote "half".

Favorite vacation?

This is hard to choose. I lived in Ireland for 10 weeks my senior year of college and traveled to Venice and Florence for 5 days. That was pretty amazing. The Alaskan cruise Brad and I went on with his extended family in 2006 is a tie with Italy. If you haven't been to Alaska you. must. go.

Favorite photo?

Oh dear. I'm a photo freak. I can't choose just one.

Favorite photo of YOURSELF?

Currently, the fave photo of myself is this one.

Top 5 tips for bloggers?

be yourself, comment on others' blogs, good photography is a plus, social media is your friend, good blog design is a plus

If you could have one do-over in your life, what would it be?

Hmm, I think I'd change my college major. I put a ton of pressure on myself to declare a major so I could stick to my "life plan" and graduate in 4 years.

Pet Peeves (blogging-related or not)

Well, I already voiced my top 3 blogging pet peeves. My other pet peeves are ridiculously slow drivers, bad drivers, smoking, obvious spelling/grammar mistakes, loud chewers, having my face touched, when clients call or text me at 1AM (or 6AM), enablers, people who put their shoes on furniture.

Do you want spawn some day?

Yes. Some day.

Is Jack going to get a brother/sister?

Of the human variety? Yes. Some day.

Don't you hate when people ask baby questions?

Yes. Very much. So I try to make it awkward for the other person by saying words like "uterus" and "procreating".

Any other questions?

Keepin' it Real

2012-02-17T07:06:00.007-05:00

I'm a forthright person. As my best friend said yesterday, "You're a straight shooter. You say what you mean and you mean what you say. You keeps it real". So for the sake of keepin' it real, here are the top 3 things that I find annoying when it comes to the wonderful world of blogging.

1. Word Verification

The last thing I want to do is jump through a hoop to leave a pleasantry on your blog. I have to squint and question "Is that an I or a T? Do I put a space in between these words?" And if I fail on my first attempt I give up and don't even comment. You don't need word verification. I don't have it and Blogger usually always catches spam. Sometimes it catches comments that aren't spam. It's that stellar. And think about it, do you like it when you have to type in wonky stuff to submit a comment on some else's blog? I'm gonna guess that your answer is no. Want to know how to disable word verification? Go to Settings -> Comments -> Show word verification for comments? -> NO.

2. Music

Nothing makes me flee a blog faster than being startled out of my seat by the sudden and loud Justin Beiber blaring from my computer speakers. If you want to make someone pee their pants in surprise, have music immediately play when a person lands on your blog. If you put music on your blog for this reason you're either dark and twisty or funny. I haven't decided which one it is yet. But seriously, if you cannot live without Rebecca Black on your blog make the listening optional for your readers. Feel free to listen to my smokin' hot playlist while you read the rest of this post.

3. No Reply Commenter

Don't expect an answer to a question you pose to me in a comment and you are a no reply commenter because, guess what, I can't contact you. Sometimes I try to track you people down and leave my answer in a comment on your blog but most of the time your last blog post was in 2009 so I just move on. You probably think I'm a big meanie head who doesn't answer questions. That's not the case. I want to answer your questions. Help me help you, friends. Don't know if you're a no reply commenter or not? Cassie at Hi Sugarplum! wrote a post on the topic earlier this week.

Please know that all the above is coming from a place of love.

Do any of those things irritate you?
Does anything else bug you?

My blogiversary is next week! That means you can ask any burning questions that you'd like me to answer. They can blog or non-blog related. Leave your question(s) in your comment!

Etsy Window Shopping

2012-02-13T07:06:00.002-05:00

Sometimes when I get bored I go window shopping on Etsy. You should try it. I went window shopping the other day and found some pretty fantastic stuff. And because I'm nice person who believes in sharing, I'm going to show you some of the things I found. You're welcome.

I love this pillow. Actually, I love all the pillows by Honey Pie Designs.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

If you haven't heard of Katie Daisy (or seen her work) you probably live under a rock. I love her prints. I don't see how anyone can look at them and not be happy.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

It would be super if these fleur de sel caramels appeared in my mailbox one day. They wouldn't last very long though.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

Did you know that you can get a custom portrait of your pet? Jack won't stop asking us to get one for him. Such a vain dog he is.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

An Indiana shaped pillow? Yes, please!

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

You guys. This handbag would look amazing on my shoulder.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

I love this love sign.

Source: etsy.com via Chelsea {twotwentyone} on Pinterest

Do you ever aimlessly browse Etsy?

What's your favorite Etsy shop?

Any big plans for Valentine's Day?

I have a date with my hair stylist. I love her and the things she does to my hair, so I figured why not see her on V Day. Just kidding. Well, kinda. She straightens my hair, and Brad likes that, so my hair will be his Valentine's Day present. Double-duty!

Why I Hope No One Ever Google Maps Our Address

2012-02-10T07:08:00.006-05:00

You wanna know why? Because the "street view" looks like this.

Doesn't it scream "hoarders live here!"? Seriously, all that's missing is a car on blocks in the driveway and a bunch of rusty tricycles in the yard. Look at those weeds growing in front of the garage door!

I get nervous that someone (friends, family, an Etsy buyer!) will type in our address to see what our house looks like. (Yes, these are the crazy things I think about.) And to their horror they see the above image and think to themselves, "Oh. My. Goodness. I need to call 'Hoarding: Buried Alive' so I can get Chelsea and Brad some help" or "Uhhh, I bought a wreath from this place?" or "Uhhh, I bought an ugly Christmas sweater from this place? Hmmm, kinda makes sense."

So I'm going to petition Google to drive their little Google Maps car down our street this summer. That way, our house will look like this instead of that.

What does your house look like on Google Map's street view?

What would you think of me if you saw that first photo? Be honest. I can take it.

In closing, here is a photo I snapped of Jack with my phone on our way home from his "Morning of Beauty" on Wednesday. He's saying, "You're such a big meanie, mom. You know I hate smelling good and having trimmed nails."

Faux Nail Head Trimmed Cork Board

2012-02-08T06:48:00.002-05:00

It never fails that whenever I go in to JoAnn Fabric to buy fabric for a project one of the nice ladies asks me, "Oh, whatcha makin'?" 95% of the time I say that I'm making a pillow. It's just easier to say that I'm making a pillow rather than going into detail about how I actually intend on using the fabric. So I'm probably known as "the chick who only knows how to sew pillows" at my local JoAnn Fabric. This project is a "pillow".

This is something that I had been wanting to do for a while but I had to wait until I took a trip back to my parents' house to get my old cork board. Who buys a new cork board when there's a perfectly good 12+ year old cork board in their parents' basement? Not I.

So I brought the cork board back to our house, bought some "pillow" fabric at JoAnn, some thumbtacks from Walmart, and got to work. I started by ironing the fabric because no one likes creases on their fabric-covered cork board.

I sprayed the cork board with adhesive before laying the fabric on top. I smoothed out the fabric with my hands so there weren't any bubbles. Notice that I left 4-5 inches of excess fabric around the edge of the cork board.

Then I started to push in the thumbtacks. (Push it real good.)

After all 200+ thumbtacks were in place ~~and my fingers felt like they were going to fall off even though I did this over the span of a couple days~~, I hot glued the excess fabric onto the back of the cork board.

The original cork board hung horizontally but after deciding to put it on a small wall, I moved the little hangy things so it could hang vertically.

That's it! This project cost me around $12 because I used a 40% off coupon for the fabric.

Note: If you plan on taking on the self-torturous task of pushing 200+ thumbtacks into a cork board I suggest spreading it out over a few days. Your fingers will thank you.

Could you see my sparkly thumbtacks in the first photo? No? Here's a close-up.

Regular thumbtacks are boring so I glued rhinestones onto a bunch of thumbtacks.
Now they are fancy schmancy thumbtacks.

What do you think of my faux nail head trimmed cork board?

Can you tell that they are actually thumbtacks?

Do you ever fib to the ladies at JoAnn Fabric to save yourself from a 5 minute long explanation/Q&A session?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

2012-02-06T10:21:00.001-05:00

How about them Giants? Sheesh, that was a nail biter. Needless to say, we were pretty pumped that a Manning won it. Sorry, Pats, but not in our house.

We ended up going to our friend's house for the Super Bowl, so I didn't get to use my festive felt football banner. Shucks. But the plus side is that I didn't have to cleaning up. Yay!

I'm not one to show up for a party empty handed, so I whipped up some jalapeño popper dip, rice krispie treats, and chocolate chip cookie brownies. This was my first time making chocolate chip cookie brownies. They are ridiculously easy to make and delicious. I mean, how could a brownie chocolate chip cookies hybrid not be delicious?

All you need is a brownie mix and cookie dough. Well, for the simple version at least.

Prepare your brownie mix according to the box. (I'm a big Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix fan. That Betty makes a mean brownie.) Pour your brownie mix into a 9x13 pan. Plop pieces of cookie dough into the brownie mix. Did you know that you're not supposed to eat that kind of cookie dough raw? I live on the edge and eat it anyway.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. It should come out of the oven like this. Now, you can stop here but I didn't.

I came across Cheryl's recipe for her chocolate chip cookie brownies. She took them to the next level by adding chocolate ganache. Hel-lo! You bet I added the ganache (butter, heavy whipping cream, and semi-sweet chocolate chips).

Here's a printable recipe card. Click on the card to download it.

How was your Super Bowl Sunday? Eat anything tasty-delicious?

What did you think of Madonna's half-time performance?

What was your favorite commercial? I was kind of underwhelmed.

Super Bowl Football Banner

2012-02-03T13:52:00.001-05:00

We're very lucky to have the Super Bowl in our backyard this year. Brad and I headed down there on Tuesday night to check out everything. Walking through Super Bowl Village was very cool and possibly a once in a lifetime experience. And as we were leaving downtown, we were able to see Jimmy Fallon shoot a segment for Late Night.

This week has been filled with celebrity sighting gossip-- Ryan Gosling buying rounds of drinks at bars, Will Smith and his family chillin' at a Dairy Queen, and evidently Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp are even in town. I'll be believe all this when there is photographic evidence or see it with my own two eyes.

With the Super Bowl comes Super Bowl parties, right? Well, Brad sort of volunteered us to host a party for all our friends. And who has a Super Bowl party without festive decorations? Not this chick. So yesterday I whipped up a football banner. I figured I could reuse the banner for our college football tailgates. Yay, double duty.

Sorry I wasn't a fancy blogger and made food to display on the serve ware for this photo. Just imagine that there are pigs in a blanket, chips and salsa, and brownies.

Here's what you'll need:

Brown felt (I got the sturdy kind.)

Ribbon

Embroidery needle

Embroidery thread

Football template (I got one online and printed it onto card stock.)

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Use your template to cut out the felt footballs. I used double sided tape on the football template to secure it to the felt while I cut.

Now that you've cut out the football, grab the embroidery needle and thread. Make a straight stitch across the football.

Send the thread back to the front of the football to start making the laces.

To make a new lace, move the thread down a little and send the thread back through to the front. Once you've made all the laces, tie the two ends of thread together. Here's what the back side of my footballs looks like.

I used short pieces of ribbon (about 3 inches) and hot glue to secure the footballs together. I spaced them 2 inches apart.

The banner cost me about $5, and it took an hour or so to make it.

In need of a tasty appetizer to take to a party? I have you covered with my jalapeño popper dip.

What are your plans for Super Bowl Sunday?

What team are you rooting for?

Big News! (No, I'm not with child.)

2012-02-01T06:42:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know this and some of you may not, but last Monday the craziest thing happened...

I won a ticket to Haven from The Nester!

When I got the email from The Nester I let out an audible "Oh, holy cow!" Then I went to her website and saw my mug. Seriously. My face on the main page of Nesting Place.

Back it on up to the Saturday night before I won the ticket. A lovely lady emailed me and asked if I sold my jute wrapped monogram wreaths. She was interested in having me make some to spell out her soon-to-be-born son's name. Well I have a hard time saying no, especially to pregnant ladies who are also Phi Mu's (my college sorority). So I told her I would get to wrappin'. Here is the almost-final-product (I added brown ribbon so they could be hung).

You're probably all like, "OK, Chelsea, that's great but what does this have anything to do with winning a ticket to Haven?" Don't worry, I'm getting to that.

I have every intention of traveling to Atlanta to attend Haven ~~and stalk The Real Housewives of Atlanta~~, but let's face it, traveling costs money (airfare, hotel, food) and I'd rather not hitchhike 550 miles to save some cash. So I took the jute wrapping thing as a sign-- I've decided to offer up my jute wrapping services in hopes of partially funding my trip to the ATL. In need of a jute wrapped monogram wreath or jute wrapped letters to spell out a name or word? I'm your girl! If you or someone you know is interested please email me. I'd love to wrap a letter in jute for you or your family member or friend or co-worker or neighbor or cleaning lady or child's teacher.

Are you going to Haven?

You totally should. We could be roomies.

EDIT: I decided to open an Etsy shop to sell my jute wrapped wares.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2012-01-30T07:36:00.006-05:00

I've always wanted to make a red velvet cake or cupcakes from scratch. It's something that's definitely on my baking
must-make list... that I keep in my head along with things like Baked Alaska and salted caramel cheesecake. And now I can check red velvet off the list.

Clearly I'm going for a Valentine's Day theme in the photo, but I made these red beauties for Brad and his youngest brother's joint graduation party this weekend. Last month Brad graduated with his Masters degree and his brother, Chris, graduated with his Bachelors degree. Yep, I'm married to big bad MPA now. Know of someone looking for a town manager or government consultant? Yes? Great! Email me.

Everyone at the party said the cupcakes were delicious. But who's going to tell you to your face that your cupcakes taste like crap? Nonetheless, they were all gone by the end of the night.

I found the recipe at Annie's Eats. Annie just so happens to live in the same city as me. Small blogging world it is. You should definitely check out her awesome blog.

Here's the ingredients for the cupcakes.

The vinegar is not pictured because I buy those massive bottles of vinegar, and it just wouldn't fit in the photo.
You can never have enough vinegar in your house. Remember that.

And here's what you'll need for the cream cheese frosting.

I did have some issues with the cream cheese frosting being too runny. I don't know if it was because I beat the cream cheese and butter too long, or if I should have added more butter than the recipe called for. Or if I should have stuck to the recipe and used unsalted butter instead of salted. Undeniably, I need to work on my cream cheese frosting making skill. Who wants to be my quality control specialist?

So, have you ever made a red velvet cake or cupcakes from scratch?

Do you have a baking must-make list? What's on it?

I'll also be linking at up Decor Chick!

The Importance of Watermarking

2012-01-25T07:06:00.005-05:00

OK, so how would you feel if someone took photos from your blog and posted them on their blog or website and claimed that they did the work in the photos and they took the photos? I don't know about you, but I'd be livid. Someone else taking credit for my hard work? Not cool. Not cool at all.

Seriously, I don't know how many times I've heard about people taking other people's photos and saying that either the child in the photo was their own (uh, super creepy, no?) or the work in the photo was their own.

And with the immense growth of Pinterest, I think it's more important than ever to watermark your photos.

Don't know how to watermark? Don't worry, it's a cinch. I use Photoshop to watermark mine, but If you don't have Photoshop you can watermark your photos in Paint. I mean, everyone has Paint on their computer. Right? Just open your photo in Paint and use the text tool to create your watermark. Paint allows you to choose the color and placement of the watermark, which is nice. There are also some websites that offer free watermarking. PicMarkr and Watermark are two of them. You can watermark in Picnik, but since that will be leaving us in April you may not want to get attached.

How do you watermark your photos?

Has anyone taken your photos and said that they were their own?

Did you grab your DIY brass knuckles and beat them up?

EDIT: You can also use Picasa to edit and watermark your photos. It's free, and I don't think it will be leaving the Internets in April.

Valentine's Day Vignette

2012-01-20T06:05:00.001-05:00

Not gonna lie-- I was pretty lazy with my Valentine's Day decorations this year. I blame Christmas. Christmas exhausts the decorating portion of my brain.

Seriously, I think I spent a total of 10 minutes on this vignette. You won't offend me if you say that it looks like I spent 10 minutes on it. Well, maybe you will, so just keep that to yourself.

I also think this is a good time to tell you that I have an obsession. An obsession with hobnail glass, especially milk glass. Yep. I love it. If hobnail glass was a person we'd be best friends. I love it so much I met a man in the parking lot of a McDonald's to buy a turquoise hobnail cream and sugar set off of him. Did our transaction resemble a drug deal? Hmm, probably. Did I care? Heck no! It's Fenton, it's rare, and now it's mine. All mine.

I thought that Valentine's Day would be the perfect opportunity to showcase my hobnail milk glass ~~obsession~~ collection. So I rounded up ~~all~~ most of my milk glass and got to work. I grabbed the manzanita branch from my Christmas centerpiece and slapped it in a milk glass vase. Then I added the pink heart ornaments-- a Hobby Lobby Valentine's Day clearance find from last year. I plopped some leftover artificial pink peonies from our wedding in the vases, and I threw some conversation hearts in the bowls. I went the extra mile and added some tea lights for dramatic effect.

How did you decorate for Valentine's Day this year?

Do you collect anything?

Sewing Cabinet Makeover

2012-01-18T07:05:00.006-05:00

Hey friends! Today I'm sharing my first major furniture painting project. This project was near and dear to my heart because it's my late Grandma Mildred's sewing machine cabinet. She willed it to me before passing away the morning of our wedding day. While I loved the cabinet, it needed a bit of a face lift. And I LOVE how it turned out.

Let me just say that I have a greater appreciation for all you furniture painters out there. This project took me ten times longer than I thought it would. You definitely won't catch me saying that it was so easy I could have painted it blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back.

Kate's tutorial on how to paint laminate furniture helped me get the job done. First, I primed the cabinet with Zinsser primer. I added Penetrol, an additive that minimizes brush strokes, to the primer. Then, I painted it with Valspar's ultra white semi-gloss latex paint with some Floetrol mixed in (an additive for latex paint that helps minimize brush strokes). The grey detail color is Valspar's Porch Grey with Floetrol. Penetrol and Floetrol are awesome. I highly recommend using them. After all the painting was done, I put on a few coats of Minwax's Polycrylic.

I swapped out the brass handle for a brushed nickel one, and I primed and spray painted the hinges silver. The storage fixtures on the inside of the door were primed with Rust-Oleom and spray painted with Krylon's Classic Gray (gloss).

My grandma also willed her sewing supplies to me. The pink spools in the big apothecary jar were hers. I found the vintage tatting threads in the smaller jar at a thrift shop for $2. The "Keep Calm and Sew On" print was something I found online. I edited it in Photoshop to clean it up a bit.

I hope my grandma would be happy with how I updated her sewing cabinet.
She was a very vocal woman, so I'm sure she wouldn't hold back her opinion.

What do you think of the makeover?
What are your thoughts on painting furniture?
Was your first experience harder than you expected?

Happy Birthday, to me!

2012-01-16T07:35:00.059-05:00

Today is my 27th birthday!

Age: 6 months

You know, the last time my birthday fell on MLK Jr. Day I was celebrating my 21st birthday.

Oh yeah, my friends and I tore the ~~empty~~ bars up on that rainy Monday night.

I'm flying home tonight after a girls weekend in Pittsburgh with my closest friends/sorority sisters. The celebrating will continue on Friday with dinner at Ruth's Chris with Brad and my other friends. I've never been there, but I heard it's quite tasty.

Feel free to eat a cupcake in my honor today.

How to Back Up Your Blogger Blog

2012-01-11T06:48:00.003-05:00

What if your blog disappeared out of thin air? Would you go into sheer panic and have the urge to vomit? Because I would. That's what happened last night to Alison, a fellow Hoosier blogger who I adore. Guh, could you imagine?

So I decided to write a post on how to back up your blogger blog. It's super simple. And, I'll apologize in advance for the fuzzy images. I don't know what the deal is with them.

Go to "Settings". You'll automatically arrive on the "Basics" page.

Click on "Export Blog".

Click on "Download Blog".

A "Save As" window should pop up. Decide where you want to save your XML file (aka your blog). I made a "Blog Back Up" file where I keep each back up file. I should really back up more often. Maybe that will be a new New Year's resolution.

There. Now go back up your blog.

Are you already a blogger-backer-upper?

Has your blog ever disappeared?

Did you know that my birthday is on Monday? I'll be 21+6.

DIY Lucite Tray

2012-01-09T07:03:00.009-05:00

Hello, friends! I was going to post this last week, but my body decided to channel my childhood and come down with a vicious ear infection. So I spent the better part of last week confined to my couch with a heating pad attached to the right side of my head.

OK, so who doesn't love all these fun lucite trays popping up all over the place? I know I do. But, I don't like the price tags associated with them. We're talking $80-$140, folks. I dunno about you, but I don't have $80 to blow on a tray. I do, however, have $15 to spend on my own lucite tray.

Pin It

Here's what I did. I bought a 13" x 8" acrylic tray at The Container Store (love me some Container Store) for $10. Then, in Photoshop, I created a couple 12.5" x 7.5" liners to lay in the tray. I saved the liner designs as PDF's and had them printed and laminated at Office Depot. Printing and lamination cost about $5 per liner.

The liner lays pretty flat in the tray, but if you were worried about its stayability (yes, that's a word) and didn't want to switch out liners, you could secure it with, my good friend, double sided tape.

I even made one of these lovelies for my best friend for her birthday. She loved it.
Well, at least that's what she said. She could secretly hate it, but I doubt that.

Here's the other design I made. Clearly, my last name isn't "Lastname".
I'd just prefer that we stay on a first name basis. No offense.

The quatrefoil (phi mu love) and chevron designs are by Aimee over at Sprik Space. She's a pretty awesome sharer.

What do you think about my $15 (make you holler) tray?

Would you pay $80-$140 for one of these?

Have you ever had an ear infection as an adult? Holy crap painful, right?

Happy Birthday, Jack!

2012-01-03T07:02:00.006-05:00

Our little man is 4 years old today.

Brad and I got Jack on March 22, 2008 from a pet rescue adoption event. I didn't really want a male dog because I had never had a male dog before, but Brad talked me into it. And boy am I glad that he talked me into taking little "Bart" home with us. Yes, he was the puppy formerly known as "Bart".

Wasn't he the cutest puppy in the whole wide world?

I've seen some people write character descriptions of their child on a photo of said child. Who says you can't do it with a photo of your beloved pet? I mean, he's like our child, only we can lock him up in a cage when we leave the house-- something you cannot do with a child.

You want to see more puppy pictures, don't you?

We love this little guy to pieces. I couldn't imagine not having him in our lives.

One of the most enduring friendships in history — dogs and their people, people and their dogs.
Terry Kay

Top 6 Recipes of 2011

2011-12-29T07:03:00.002-05:00

I was going to feature five recipes, but I figured you guys wouldn't mind if I included one more.

Here are my top recipes from 2011! So grab a napkin to wipe the drool from your chin and start scrolling.

Cake Batter Blondies

Peach Cobbler

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

Oreo Truffles

Buttery Cream Cheese Bars

Peanut Butter Balls

There ya go! I don't know about you, but I want a peanut butter ball now. And speaking of peanut butter balls, I'm super sorry if you made the peanut butter balls before Christmas. I shouldn't be allowed to create recipe cards after 11PM. Because when I do, I channel Paula Deen and tell you that you need double the amount of butter required
(1 1/2 sticks of butter, 1 1/2 cups of butter -- potato, potahto). No worries, I fixed the problem.

Which one makes you salivate the most?
Did you try any of these recipes?
How did it/they turn out?

I'll be linking up here!

Top 5 Projects of 2011

2011-12-28T06:02:00.004-05:00

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. With only 4 days left in 2011, I thought I'd share my top 5 projects of the year with you. Be sure to come back tomorrow-- I'm sharing my top recipes of the year.

Wine Cork Candle Holders

Thrifty Hurricanes

Jute Wrapped Monogram Wreath

Pink Peony Topiary

Mossy Ampersand

Did you have a favorite project that you completed this year?

What's on your project to-do list for 2012?

What did Santa bring you for Christmas?

I'll be linking up at Southern Hospitality, Thrifty Decor Chick, and here!

Simple Christmas Card Holder

2011-12-23T07:06:00.002-05:00

I was going to call it the "Cheap and Easy Christmas Card Holder", but my mind kept going to immature places, so "Simple Christmas Card Holder" it is. This is the perfect card holder if you don't have your cards displayed yet and your family is coming over for Christmas. Because if they're like some people I know, they won't see their card displayed and ask if you received it and you'll have to be all like, "Yeah, it's in that pile over there..." So don't worry, I'm here to help.

All you'll need is ribbon, thumbtacks, double sided tape, scissors, and Christmas cards.

Cut your ribbon to your desired length (mine were about 40 inches). Attach the ribbon to your walls with thumbtacks. If you're lucky, you'll find the same holes that you made the previous year.

Grab your double sided tape. Slap a small piece of tape on the ribbon. Slap a card on top. Repeat until you cover the ribbon with cards. I leave about an inch in between each card. After putting all the cards on I secure the bottom of each ribbon with a small piece of double sided tape. That way when someone walks by the cards aren't flapping around.

If you're a weirdo like me and keep Christmas cards every year for no apparent reason other than the fact that you have hoarding tendencies, don't fret about the double sided tape sticking to other cards when you store them away in your Ziploc storage bag labeled "2011". Most of the time the tape peels off. If it doesn't, I put a little piece of paper over the tape so it can't attack other cards.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas filled with love, laughter, and happiness! Safe travels for those of you making the trek to be with your loved ones. Brad, Jack, and I will be putting a good 700 miles on the car this long holiday weekend. Good thing I have a sizable stack of magazines and books to read.

source

What is your method for displaying Christmas cards?

Are you a Christmas card hoarder?

Can you top our Christmas driving mileage?

Wedding Invitation Ornament

2011-12-21T07:07:00.005-05:00

Our 6 month wedding anniversary will be on Christmas Day. Even though I'm not a fan of odd numbers I was OK with the 25th because, to me, it's the most popular odd number. Does that make sense? No? Oh well. I also figured that Brad would be more apt to remember our anniversary since it will always be 6 months from Christmas. It was also the only Saturday available in June at our venue so I kind of had to be OK with it.

When I saw the idea (on Pinterest, of course) of taking a wedding invitation, cutting it up, and sticking it in an ornament I knew I had to do it. Christy from ...from glitter to gumdrops created my Pinterest inspiration. Other bloggers have done the same, like Jenny at Simcoe Street.

Here's one of our wedding invitations that I ~~labored on for months~~ happily designed and assembled.

I had a handful of the actual invitation parts leftover, so I cut one up with my paper cutter.
Then, I used a pencil to curl the pieces.

I used leftover ribbon from our wedding ceremony programs for the bow on top.

I'll be linking up here!

Were you weird about your wedding date?

Are you an even or odd number person?

When Birds Attack... Your Dryer

2011-12-19T06:35:00.002-05:00

This is a cautionary tale... and a true story.

It all started on a Wednesday this past March. I kept hearing a strange sound coming from our laundry room. Perplexed, I called Brad at work, told him about the noise, and said, "Could there be a bird in our dryer vent line that goes outside?" I'm pretty sure he brushed me off. By that evening the sound had stopped, so I figured if it was a bird, it went on its merry way.

Thursday evening I needed to do laundry. I put my first load into the dryer, set it for 60 minutes and went about my domestic business. After about 20 minutes I heard the dryer stop. I thought that was strange but then again maybe I had lost track of time. Brad was passing me on his way toward the laundry room so I asked him to check on the laundry. A few seconds later, I hear him say, "What's that burning smell?" We tried restarting the dryer. Nothing. As you can imagine, my first thought went to that stupid bird.

source

A few days later our appliance man came over to figure out what happened with the dryer. Our problem? A sparrow. Decapitated and stuck in the blower of the dryer. Yep, "Jack Sparrow", as I called him, decided to commit suicide in our dryer. Jack Sparrow managed to climb through our outside dryer vent cover (the crisscross pattern was big enough for the bird to collapse its rib cage to get in), and make its way down the vent line and into our dryer.

Our appliance man said that he does about a dozen of these bird removals a year. When he opened up the back of the dryer and declared that it was a bird, I handed him my camera and asked him to take a picture. He laughed and said that I was the first customer to ask for a photo. You betcha, appliance guy, I needed photographic evidence. Want to see the photos? You know you do. Ok, click here. Keep in mind that these images are of a mangled bird, but it's no worse than looking at roadkill.

$125 later, Jack Sparrow had a proper burial... in our garbage can.

Our appliance man sold us a $5 pest barricade to put over our current vent cover. So, the lesson from this story is to buy a pest barricade and save yourself from a $125 sparrow removal fee. Remember, it's getting cold outside and dryer vents are warm and toasty. Warm and toasty death traps.

And get this. A couple weeks after the dryer incident, I hit a bird with my car. Well, actually, it flew into the grill of my car while I was driving. I drove around with it stuck in the grill for the entire day until Brad got home from work to remove it. Was it bird revenge for Jack Sparrow? Perhaps. But I win, you lose, bird.

In closing, I'll leave you one of my favorite Portlandia clips.

Have you ever had to deal with an avian suicide?
Be honest, who was curious and looked at the photos?

Free Crappy Portrait

2011-12-16T09:59:00.000-05:00

Have you guys heard of Free Crappy Portraits? The name basically sums it up. In the end, you get a free crappy portrait. Although, I don't think ours is crappy at all. I think it's pretty amazingly awesome.

The process is pretty simple. In an email, attach a photo, tell them about yourself or whoever is in the photo, send it off, and wait.

Here's the photos and information I sent them.

We're Chelsea and Brad. We were married on June 25, 2011. All of our family was at the wedding, except our beloved dog, Jack (dogs weren't allowed at our venue). A little about us: Chelsea loves photography, blogging, DIY projects, and traveling. Brad loves his guitars, xbox 360, watching football (specifically Indiana University and the Colts), and traveling. Jack loves his big red tennis ball, chasing rabbits, walks in the park, and napping.

Seriously, you need a free crappy portrait. Go get one. Now.

What do you think about our portrait? Spectacular, right?

Purple Finch Giveaway Winner

2011-12-16T09:19:00.000-05:00

Drum roll, please.

The winner of the vintage-inspired earrings from Purple Finch is

SARAH!