Laundry Today or Naked Tomorrow - canvas fun

I haven't had much time to get all the pictures ready for the full laundry room reveal.

However, I thought I'd share the cute canvas I made for one of the walls.

I picked up a 14" square canvas with a coupon...always gotta have one of those!

The whole thing got painted with Folk Art's Jamaican Sea.

It's a beautiful aqua color.

I cut some vinyl letters I wanted on the silhouette...

fought with them...measured...lined them up...fought some more.

{Did you know you can use your 40% Hobby Lobby coupon for vinyl? :)}

Now...if I had been smart...I would have put another coat of

paint over the letters to prevent seepage.

Don't you like that word...seepage?

Me neither.

I didn't take pictures in between.  I think I'll blame it on a time warp.

Or a wormhole.

I painted over the vinyl with the same color used on the trim and cabinets,

leaving the edges aqua.

Once it was dried mostly...the letters got peeled off.

And...this is where that seepage comes in to play.

I had some touch up to do with the Jamaican Sea.

Oh well...lesson learned.

 

 

I found these cute little birds in the silhouette store.

They are just perfect with the other accessories that ended up in my laundry room.

Which, by the way...you can see just the color of the wall of in these pics.

I promise...the whole thing IS coming.  Soon.

Until then...keep smiling!

Oh, and if you DON'T get the laundry done and run around naked...

at least close the curtains! :)

©Kelly

Perfect Peach Cobbler

Hello, all!

It's been abnormally stinkin' hot here.

Over a hundred a few days...and it

looks like that's going to continue through the week.

So what do I do?

Turn on the oven.

And who can blame me?

A supplier where I work brought a huge case of sweet,

delicious peaches in the other day.

I think I brought home about 8 lbs.

No one seemed interested and I could see

visions of cobbler dance in my head.

I peeled and sliced about 3 cups worth.

I threatened to stab my husband if he didn't stop eating them out of the bowl.

These were pretty sweet, so I just added about 2 tbsp. of sugar and stirred them

around and spread them in the buttered pan.

I may or may not have slurped out the sugary peach juice after I dumped them.

Just sayin'.

The recipe below says to use and 8x8 pan.

As you can see...this is not that pan.

I recently BROKE my 8 inch square stone by dropping a glass spice jar in it.

I almost cried.

Basic ingredients, besides the peaches, of course...

Flour, baking powder, salt, milk, sugar,

butter (which I just noticed is upside down)...AND...

the brown sugar I forgot to stick in the first picture.

You know you wanted to see it.

Mix all the dry ingredients.

Whisk in the milk and melted butter.

Add vanilla if you please...I did...LOVE it!

Pour the batter over the peaches.

Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes.

It will be bubbly, golden and yummy!

See?

A little while later I found it like this:

My daughter said it was the best peach cobbler she'd ever eaten.

But I don't know how much cobbler she's had the opportunity to taste.

So, if you find yourself with a stack of peaches

and feel the itch to bake something yummy...

here's the recipe!

Perfect Peach Cobbler

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

· ½ cup brown sugar

· ½ cup white sugar, plus 2-4 tbsp.

· 1 cup all-purpose flour

· 2 tsp. baking powder

· ½ tsp. salt

 · 1 stick butter

· 1 cup milk

· 3 cups sliced peaches

· *optional* pure vanilla extract


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Peel and slice peaches. Not too thin or too thick. Depending on sweetness of peaches, stir in 2-4 tbsp. of white sugar.

3. Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Use wrapper to lightly butter an 8x8 baking dish.

4. Stir flour, ½ cup each brown and white sugar, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl.

5. Whisk milk into flour mixture. Add melted butter and whisk until blended…careful not to over mix. {*optional* add 1 tsp. pure vanilla}

6. Spread peaches evenly into bottom of baking dish.

7. Pour the batter evenly over the peaches.

8. Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and yummy.

This is easily doubled or one and a halfed...if that's a real term :)


Enjoy!

  

p.s. I'm partying here:

DebbieDoo's Newbie Party

Eighteen25 Recipe Link-Up

Thistlewood Farms

Anyonita Nibbles

Will Cook for Smiles

I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Easy Life

I Heart Naptime

The Gunny Sack

Dimples and Pig Tales

The Dedicated House
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Love Grows Wild
Home Stories A to Z
Clean and Scentsible
Dwellings
The 36th Avenue
Stone Gable
From My Front Porch to Yours
Crafts a la Mode
A Peek Into My Paradise
Simply Designing
Love of Family and Home
Carole's Chatter

Teacher appreciation and a little more...

And now for a little randomness!

or a lot.

I'm kind of a random person.

I'm not flighty...I'm a multi-tasker.  I can do way too many things at once...and I try to.

Sometimes I change from one thing to the next so fast my poor husband is totally lost. :)

So anyway...I know teacher appreciation week was last month, but I'm behind.

And the little project I'm showing is good ANY time...you'll see.

This kinda got long...sorry.

My daughter just graduated from high school.  I saw tons of great and cute ideas for teacher appreciation.  However, most are better suited to elementary school teachers rather than high school.

Especially when your student has 8-10 teachers.

And sometimes I think the high school teachers get forgotten.

Maybe it's because teenagers don't want to be seen carrying cute little treats in to school...

I don't know.

My daughter's teachers always get sweet treats...I've never had a complaint. :)

This year they got chocolate cupcakes in school colors.

I even got a huge compliment from the catering teacher!

One of her teachers did get a special gift. She is amazing and went above and beyond.

Last year Sara took a fashion design and merchandising class.

For her final project she designed a beautiful evening gown and watercolor painted

it and framed it and used it also for her art class.

This year Ms. Knepper spent countless hours during lunch and after school helping

Sara turn her design into reality.

The original painting on the left, finished dress on the right.

She wore it to prom.

Needless to say, this is a teacher who loves her...and loves her students.

We decided to do something special.

We got her a certificate for a massage and packaged it up in this

adorable idea from The Gunny Sack.

It's Pampering In A Jar!

I stayed pretty close to Tonia's contents and tucked the certificate right on top.

Of course, she loved it!

{Some of the items included lip balm, rich lotion, sugar scrub, aloe socks, etc.}

This past week I made a couple others for the dance studio director/instructor and the ballet instructor.

I was in such a hurry to get out the door I neglected to take pictures.

Edited: I made another...so now I can show the pictures

Imagine if you will, this is what I started with:

source

Just a clear plastic pail from Hobby Lobby.

I lined the inside with cute scrapbook paper...made some cute tags and added ribbon.

Just filled it with the other fun things and added oatmeal blackberry bars.

Which I also did not photograph. :(

I'm still getting used to this whole "take pictures of everything" thing.

But they were a hit.

So...I really do appreciate all the teachers in my daughter's life.
...and all the teachers everywhere who make it their purpose to enrich the lives of their students.
To all of you I say:

P.S.  I do cakes and cupcakes occasionally and would be happy

to put some of them here if anyone would like to see them!

Keep smiling!

Kelly

Striped paper straws, how I love thee...

I, like many of you, LOOOVE how fun striped straws can be at a party.

I'll admit, I have a few colors.

But, you know, they can be pricey if you don't find good deal.

Well...

I found a good deal!

Now, they only come in red and white, but...

Bed, Bath & Beyond has this package of 144, YES, I said One Hundred and Forty-Four

red and white striped paper straws for...

$4.99!!!

They are slightly smaller than the others I have...

but for the price...they're just as fun!

Apologies for the funky pic...it's from my phone. :)

Rush right out and get some!!!

You know you want them.

July 4th is coming!

Happy Sipping!

Master Bath mini makeover ~ part 2, the reveal

Oh.my.goodness.  It's been a while.  Graduation kicked my butt.

We hosted an "art gallery showing" of my daughter's artwork for her party.

It's been over a week and my living room is still not back to normal.

Crazy.

Anyway...

When we last saw our hero, there was chaos in the master bath...

and a tub full of corresponding accoutrements.

We actually finished this project in April sometime...but life has been busy for the moon AND me.

Well, after those gazillion coats of poly, it was time to move on to the cabinets.

I have a picture of them in the process of being painted,

but you really don't want to see that.

I cleaned them all with Krud Kutter and used a liquid sander/deglosser on them.

I probably should have lightly sanded them, but I didn't.

They're still doing great, but it's not like we stab

them with sharp things on a daily basis either.

I primed them with Kilz, but may use something else next time...hmmm...

like maybe some that's specifically meant to use on glossy surfaces?  Huh.

The paint color is Sherwin-Williams creamy.

It's a perfect cream, in my opinion...not too yellow or too grey.

I glazed everything...doors, drawers, main cabinet.

These are the Asphaltum antiquing glaze and Mocha translucent glaze.

I wasn't happy with either one of these colors alone.
One was too black, the other too light brown.

Well, the obvious solution? Mix them together...equal parts.

PERFECT!

You have to wait a couple days before sealing when you use the glazes...

so I couldn't put the hardware on right away.

Bummer.

I found all the cabinet hardware here and I would
TOTALLY buy from them again.
The prices are unbeatable...they ship fast...and I am so in love.

SO, now on to the finished pics...there are several because I do so completely love it!

In this pic below you can see the new pots I painted with the
Oil Rubbed Bronze to take the place of the others that went to the guest room.

Now they're matchy matchy.

Remember that ugly light fixture?

It's amazing what a little ORB spray paint will do!

I'm almost ready to say I don't ever need to replace it!

But let's not get too hasty.  It really is too small for a vanity this wide.

Aaaaand...here are the before and afters:

If we hadn't replaced the faucets, we would have kept it under $100.

I think the finished amount was somewhere around $175

for all the supplies I didn't already have

on hand plus the hardware and faucets.

Not too shabby. :)

I hope you have enjoyed this little adventure with me.

If you missed the first post with the counter top...check it out here!

Let's hope it's not another month before I get the laundry room posted.

You're gonna love it! But probably not as much as I do. :)

Have a great week!

I'm linking up here:

Potpourri Friday at 2805 

DIY Showoff

Homecoming

The Blissful Bee

Carrie This Home

Life With The Crust Cut Off

The Turquoise Home

Living Well Spending Less

Horrific Knits

Glitter, Glue, and Paint

 

 



party here

 

Master bath mini makeover - part 1

So, I am finally getting around to posting the

changes we made to our master bath.

No major remodeling, but I love how it looks

and it has made such a difference!

{this is gonna be a loooong post}

Here's what we started with:

 

you know, your basic builder cabinet/vanity.

(excuse the dirty mirror, I was anxious to get started)

Oh, and that super shiny absolutely lovely chrome light fixture.

 

If everything else in the house is brushed nickel,

why are these fixtures and the faucets shiny?

Hmmmm.  Good question.

First we framed the mirror...smudges and all.

Hey, it was just gonna get dirty while we worked, you know.

 

I'm not going to give you a tutorial...there are gobs, yes gobs,

of them on the internet including here, here, and here.

The paint color is Walnut Bark from Glidden

(wish I had done the Bittersweet).

I just used a sample sized jar.

(sorry this pic seems blurry)

 

 

I DO recommend using an adhesive that dries clear such as Power Grab...

AND painting the back-side of your moulding...

otherwise you'll be able to see it reflected in the mirror.

Since I had already been planning the vanity redo,

getting the mirror finished really pushed me to get it done.

I {love} my mirror like this!

First I took all the miscellaneous stuff off the counter and put it in the bathtub.

Well, where else would I put it?

 

Everything got wiped down with Krud Kutter before I taped every last little thing.

Two coats of primer then a base coat of the same color I used on the frame.

This is when I start to panic...

 

Right now I'm thinking, "what have I gotten myself into?"

But after another coat all was better, I stopped freaking

{a little bit}

and moved on to the next step.

 

Luckily, there are also several great tutorials on painting countertops.

Here are a couple I referenced:

Creative Kristi and Rhonda at Abide at Home.

Rhonda was super sweet when I sent her a question about something!

Here's what some scrunched up paper towels and

craft paint get you...or at least in the beginning.

 

I didn't do a "test board" like the others suggested...

I'm too impatient for that.

I figured as long as I kept working it, it would turn out just fine.

I guess I'm lucky it did! :)

You really just keep layering colors

until it looks the way you want it.

FINALLY...I put a gazillion 6 or 7 coats of polyacrylic over the whole shebang.

It did FEEL like a gazillion, though.

 

After a couple coats and several drip globs on the floor...

I hung some paper to minimize the mess.

 

I'm not gonna lie and say it wasn't work.

It wasn't hard, but it didn't take the weekend like I had hoped.

Of course, I didn't stop with the countertop...

but you'll have to wait to see the rest.

Here's a sneak peek of the top at least.

I hope you all are have a fantastic week!

Check back later for the rest of the redo!

Update...you can now see it here!