Grilled Sea Bass

I am so thankful for a husband that can grill!!! That means I dont have to cook dinner every night! lol When I say he can grill, I don’t just mean burgers and chicken. Over the past several years he has really gotten good at grilling and smoking, and one of our favorite meals that he makes is grilled Sea Bass. We like to splurge and get this for dinner every once in a while and tonight he got scallops to go with it. YUM!! Asparagus is our favorite veggie so we make that every time and I normally make some rice too but I skipped it this time.
All he puts on it is salt and pepper and tarragon with olive oil, and it only takes a total of about 6-8 minutes to cook and it gets a nice crispy layer on the outside, which is the best part! The scallops got oil, salt and pepper. That’s it! So easy, yet so good!
For such a healthy meal, it sure tastes like it is bad :)!

DIY Mirror

Check this stuff out!! I may be late at discovering this but I am working on a project (hopefully revealing soon) in which I need a mirror. Easier said than done. It needs to be a very funky size so the only way I was going to get one to fit would be to buy a larger one than I needed, but they were always in some large pretty frame that I didn’t want to pay for, so I did a little browsing through the craft store and came across this paint:

This is so awesome! All you have to do is spray it one the back of plain glass with several thin layers (the can suggests 5). I would not come as far as to say it looks like a normal mirror, but for a rustic project where you don’t necessarily need perfect reflection, I think this is a great fix. I tested it out on a small piece of glass. Here is me trying to take a picture of the reflectiveness for you.

It’s a bit dark and not a perfect finish but I am hoping it works good enough for the larger piece I need to do.

New Layout

I get really tired of the same layout for my blog so I have to change it up here and there. I am obsessed with green and grey combo right now. Why? I have no idea. Green has always been my favorite color, and I guess since grey is “in” right now, the two just magically came together in my head.
In case you are wondering how I made the header, it was super easy! If it weren't for my stupid PC acting up (I really really want to make the full switch to MAC one day when I have the $$ but that is besides the point) it would have maybe taking about 1 hour to do.
I found a font I really liked on Pinterest and downloaded it from dafont.com. Then, I took one of our family photos I took last summer and, in Photoshop, I cut our bodies out and overlaid a grey color. Put the title and picture together on the same background, added the dotted line and was done!
Adding and adjusting the colors and fonts in Blogger was not so easy. Another reason I want to get a MAC so I can use Wordpress. Blogger is so finicky (sp?) and temperamental so it takes a while to get everything lined up. It still isn't perfect but every time I tried to adjust something, the website would crash so I just left it. Hopefully it’s not too terrible! lol
I really want to figure out how to do some different links for the categories I have a the top but that is going to take a while. Hopefully I can figure it out soon. I also want to add a Pinterest button but that doesn’t seem as easy as I thought, either. Give me some time and I will get it…. just in time for baby #3 to get here and then I will disappear for a while lol.
Enjoy the new layout! Off to work on another project

Computer issues

Sorry! I am working on changing my layout so my blog may look a mess. Bare with me while I work on it and fix some computer issues!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Heirloom Wedding China

I realized that I never posted about this since I hung these during my “hiatus” from blogging.
I have seen collages of plates on walls before and I thought that would look really pretty in our dining room since we have some small square windows high up that are too funky for window treatments. I then thought that it would be awesome if I could call around and collect a piece of wedding china from relatives just hoping to get a few but fully expecting people to tell me they didn’t want to give up a piece. Look at how many I was able to get!! Thanks to my wonderful grandma, who is amazingly organized and remembers everything about everyone and everyone name, birthday, anniversary, etc, she had lots of pieces from relatives I didn’t even know. It was so much fun going through the family trees to find how exactly I am related to some of these people. She even labeled the back of the ones she sent so I can remember. I can bet you that a few of these pieces are at least 100 years old! I was also able to find several from Jeff’s side of the family too. I have mine, my 2 sisters, my mom’s, all 4 grandma’s and then some up there. I love that this is not just a collage of random plates I found at thrift stores or such, but there is a story behind each one! I hope this wall can continue to grow over the years!

Spring is on its way!

We got excited this morning (probably a little unproportionately so) because our bean plant sprouted! This momma does not have much of a green thumb so I was praying her bean would grow. It was so cute, after we planted it, she would stand in the window staring at it waiting for it to pop out of the dirt. Let's just hope it has a long life!!

Breakfast Nook Remodel

I am so mad because I can not find my before pictures ANYWHERE!! I know I took some when I decided to take this project on but the only thing I can imagine is that they are on my old phone which is no where to be found (my kids love playing with our old phones so naturally it is MIA). I was able to find this photo from when I was selling our old table. It at least gives you the idea of how boring this corner was.

No window treatments, a tiny table that only sat 2 people, TV trays used for extra table space (BOO!), a not so pretty chandelier. I at least had something hanging on the wall, which I have not found anything to replace with yet, but overall it needed help.
When this all began I wanted to get a larger table for our growing family but I did not want to spend a fortune (surprise surprise). I knew that this table was going to get a lot of use and damage since Avery was starting to get into crafts. We have a craft room that I can trust her in but I really like to keep my eye on her so this would really be the best place. I started looking on Craigslist and found a table that I liked but needed some immediate TLC. Long story short, the lady fell through on me and sold the table to someone else just hours before I was supposed to meet her! Some people really annoy me! It was all for the best, though, because I kept shopping and was able to find an even better table for less $ and it needs some work but nothing major right away. I found it on the same local site that I found my new office chair. The lady selling it wanted the same amount of money that I had sold the small table for so I broke even!! I was over the moon!!! Here is the table after we got it home.

It’s a little old school but I LOVE the legs on the table and the little details like the knobs on the corners of the table. I also love the little metal piece that covers the screws at the base of the legs. There are 2 leaves that are each another 12” and when you open the table to add them, the gears are awesome! I would love to know where this table originally came from and when it was made. I doubt it is really that old but I think it was well constructed! I was not in love with the chairs but I thought they could be painted and be really cute. Like I have said, wood furniture with good bones can always be refinished!! As you can see, there’s already puzzles and crafts on the table; did not take long! lol

I decided to pain the chairs white to give the set the two tone look that is popular these days. That was a horrible mess!!!! I did a lot of research on painting wood furniture and found that you could get spray primer called “cover stain.”

It was supposed to work great so you didn’t have to strip and sand the furniture first. That was a MESS!! I do not recommend this stuff at all!! it came out chalky and bumpy and did not go on smoothly at all! I ended up having to sand anyways but then I was sanding the primer on top of everything else. I have read and heard a lot about chalk paint by Annie Sloan so I think that will have to be the way I go next time. After about a week of getting the chairs painted, I was basically forced to distress the chairs since the painting was such a disaster. All in all I think it turned out ok to have them distressed. I have lots of other distressed pieces in our house so it wasn’t out of place. Here are the after pictures now that it is all done (about 6 months later!!!)

Here is the new chandelier that I found for only $20!! There is a place in Houston where Habitat for Humanity takes all of their left over items and sells them for dirt cheap. I found this among the pile of light fixtures and thought it would look so cute with the table. I realize it is intended to be an exterior light, but who cares, I like it. It was missing a piece of glass but lucky I have glass cutting tools (what? you don’t? lol) so I just found a piece that matched at Hobby Lobby, used one of the good pieces as a stencil and Voilà! it was fixed. Next was an all day endeavor by my husband to get it hung since he had to rewire the whole thing. I told him we could just scratch the whole idea since it was only $20 but it became a manly pride thing that he knew he could do it! lol After he got it hung I was kind of disappointed. I like the look of it but it only holds 40w light bulbs so it doesn’t light up the space well enough. Jeff put so much effort into getting it hung that I think it is staying lol.

I found some green seat cusions at Pier 1 that I loved but they are about $30 a piece I believe and once again, I knew that they were going to be spilled on and food smashed into them, so spending $120 on seat cushions was not ideal. Luckily I found some at Home Goods that were the exact same color (just not as frilly) for $20 for all 4!!! I think I get a high from a good deal haha.

Here is a close up of the table leg with the little metal piece I talked about. love! You can see some of the wear and tear on it; one day I will refinish it!

These little yellow pots are from this post. This set of plants is the third round of plants. I do not have a green thumb, despite my best efforts

Here are the curtains I made. I found the fabric online and I love the colors. You cant tell in the pictures but it almost has a sheen to it and the green seat cushions go perfectly!

This is my least favorite spot. I had these hanging before and I still don’t love it. The watercolor pear painting is something that I made in college and is one of the only pieces from that art class that I like so I want to keep it hung but I really want to find a large painting or art piece for this wall. I am going to The Woodlands Art Festival in April so I will be keeping my eyes open!

Case In Point

This is why we do not buy expensive furniture with kids. Luckily it is just chalk and wipes right off but it could have (and has been) worse!

Guilty toddler in the background.

Cure For Dry Chapped Lips

Everyone wants silky smooth lips, right?!  I have searched and searched for a lip exfoliator that will help my horribly chapped lips. I think I have chronic chapped lips; I use medicated chap stick constantly!
Years and years ago I used this stuff from a company called Beauti Control but I really wanted to find something that didn’t cost $22 a jar (plus shipping) and was more natural.

I came across several ideas on Pinterest but the one that stood out to me was the simple mixture of honey and sugar. I love it so I had to share.

Let me just say, you should stop reading right now and go to your pantry and mix the two together and rub the mixture on your lips! (but please come right back) you will thank me! They will feel AMAZING and be silky smooth for days! I love doing this about once a week. It’s cheap (everyone has honey and sugar in on hand, right?), it’s fast, and best of all it works!! You really only need a fraction of what I have in the picture above but my honey came out really fast lol. I like to put a little Burts Bees chap stick on afterwards but you really wont have to.

Enjoy!!

New Office Chair

I know I said that I was not in a hurry to find a chair for our office/playroom…. well I lied. Just kidding. I was telling the truth when I wrote that but I came across a steal that I couldn’t pass up shortly after I wrote that post.
See, you know how there’s online classified websites like Craigslist? Well, there is one for my little community and it is terribly addicting! I don’t normally buy something used unless it is a real gem and a steal (oh and I have a rule that it can’t be upholstered either. Never know what is growing in that fabric! eeeek!!) ha! Furniture with good bones can always be refinished! I was on that website just browsing around and I found an antique office chair for sale for only $50!! I had my eye on one of a similar style from Restoration Hardware:

Or Potterybarn:

but there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on a chair that will probably get blueberries squished on it and juice spilled on it!

Here is the one that I found. I love it but it needs a little TLC and a seat cushion. I will have to wait till I am no longer pregnant to refinish it but I can add the cushion to my list of projects to do pre-baby 3. It works great in here and I think it looks great with the trundle bed!