El bano

Here's the most used room in the house. Our bathroom is a small space. Our hope is to do some changes in here this year. Oh the lovely to do list - it's never going to be done, is it?? We haven't made many changes in here other than cosmetic ones.

So the before...

And the after...

We changed out the lighting, painted and added some fluff. But that's about it. Amazing what a little paint can do, huh?

We did very inexpensive frames (like $3.99 each!) and displayed some photos I took in Charleston SC one year.

I love our monogram towels - that was a gift from my Aunt Mark. She made them on her sewing machine just using a thick stitch. Pretty easy breezy and super cute!

A little shelf from IKEA - the back piece was originally white and I painted it the same as the wall color so it would blend away. It's nice to have a small shelf to provide a home for a little lamp. Cool clock, huh? Gift again - from my friend Cindy. Lurve it!

So we are just in the planning stage of what the re-vamp plan will be for this space. I found some bargains the other day at Marshall's that may find a home in here.... decision decisions. I would love to do a major redo like Sherry and John did, but I don't know if we'll be that brave!

Any bathrooms that you just love? Would love any ideas, suggestions, etc. you may have!

Next stop

We're moving from the front of the house to the back left. This room has previously been our guest bedroom, and then was our den, and now it's our Master Bedroom. I know it's confusing - I like to keep Joe guessing! What can I say you can just move your rooms around in your house and not actually have to move out of your house!!

So this was they way it looked 10 years ago...

And now as our Master Bedroom...

You may remember some of this re-do here. Or how we painted some art on the wall.
Next stop - nobody knows...

First stop

on our tour is the Living Room. As you remember from yesterday, we are celebrating our 10th year in our home. And the transformation tour is beginning in the first room you walk into through the front door. So here's is what we saw the first day we saw this house.

BEFORE:


Now I will say that the previous owners style is not mine, but I loved the space. The large front window. The dentil molding on the mantle. It all spoke to me! You can see the green carpet that was there. Thankfully before we moved in we removed all the carpet and refinished all the hardwoods.


And the now...





Now you should know that in the past ten years, this room has been three different colors. What can I say I love paint! The first color was a deep chocolate brown. And then we progressed to a really deep orange, called New Penny. So this is a new thing for us being a light and airy wall color.

So there you have it for the Living Room and it's ten year transformation. What do you think of the before and after? Which room would you like to see next??

10 years

I can't believe it's been 10 years since we bought our home. I grew up in a similar home - 1950's brick ranch, so I am always drawn to homes like that. I love our house. It's not very big - just 3 bedrooms and 1 bath (the one bath is the big challenge!) But it's perfect for me, Joe and the pup.

I thought a great way to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, would be to show you the before and afters. We took pictures the day we had the inspection, so the previous owner was still living here at the time. We saw lots of potential with the bones of the house! So over the next little bit I will share our 10 year transformation, and needless to say there's still a long list of "to-do's!"

We'll start with the exterior...

This was the picture of the house on the MLS listing. Pretty sweet, right? I love the big trees but we still manage to get a good bit of sunshine. The way it's set back of the street is also really nice.

And here she is on a snowy day a few years back. I have to say the yard is not in any shape in mid-January for blog worthy pics. So you can get the idea from this one. Maybe we'll come back in the spring for a better landscaping update!


And the floor plan - this will give you a feel to how the house is laid out. We do have nice size rooms which a great plus!


Well that's the exterior of our "Home Sweet Home." I look forward to taking y'all inside next!!

In the works...

I wanted to show y'all what I am working on. This chest is going to go in the Master Bedroom as my bedside chest. I am trying to maximize all of our square footage for storage and I have a piece of furniture for my bedside chest now that is the same size but doesn't really provide any storage. So... in comes this beauty

I have sanded, painted and applied one coat of poly so far. Can you guess what color I painted it? I'm not telling yet - you'll just have to wait to see the finished product!

What projects are you working on this weekend?

Crunch Bars

photo & recipe courtesy of Kraft.com

This recipe is right up my alley for easy breezy and super tasty!

Not that the butterscotch pie wasn't totally worth it! ;-)

Line cookie sheet with foil. Put a single layer of saltine crackers down.

Melt 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar over medium heat. Bring to boil for 3 minutes. Pour over saltines and put in 350* oven. Bake for 5-7 minutes until golden brown.

Take out of oven and pour about half a bag of chocolate chips over crackers. Let sit (melt). I actually put it back in the warm oven - after I have turned it off. When you see the glossy color on the chips it's time to spread. It should spread rather easily. While chocolate is still warm spread a cup of chopped nuts over. Then press down (you can use a sheet of waxed paper if you don't want to use your hands.) Put in the freezer - let cool completely and then break into pieces.

**Side note - Just so you don't make the same mistake I did - don't try and use white chocolate or butterscotch chips they don't melt like normal chocolate. It was a tasty combination just not pretty**

This was a big hit at one of our Christmas parties. Another really big hit were Pizza Bites. Good Stuff!!

Butterscotch Pie

Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Over the holidays I made a delish Butterscotch Pie. Now this is the real deal. You make the butterscotch from scratch, caramelize the sugar, whip the cream, and make gingerbread cookies for the crust (I used Aunt Pine's recipe for those) - it's serious. But the payoff is unbelievable!! This is not a recipe I would normally tackle - as you may remember I'm all about making a tasty dessert but I'm more of the short - cut kind of gal.

My mom asked me to bring this dessert to our family Christmas celebration. I had no idea what I was getting into when I said yes. I will not even attempt to give you my version of the recipe in this post. This should be left to Martha Stewart to explain. And I highly recommend you watch the video provided by Martha to get all the details. Then make the pie. And then call me so I can have another piece!!

Here's how our pie came out. Pretty good looking if I do say so myself! Needless to say there was very little leftover. Everyone said it tasted divine! Although I had informed them that they were only allowed to have such a reaction.

Did you make a super yummy dessert over the holidays that you would recommend?? Please let us know, I love an excuse to bake!

1st Blogiversary

Today is my 1st Blogiversary (that's anniversary in blog world.) I started this journey with the recommendation from my friend Julie. It's been extremely enjoyable. I really appreciate those who follow my little blog and look forward to sharing more with you in 2010. We've got some upcoming projects that should be fun! And I would really like to start sharing some of the beautiful homes my family and friends have. (We'll see if there up to that!) I am surrounded by very talented people! You've met my Aunt, and my friends Julie and Shannon. I haven't even begun to mention my talented Mom! There should be some good posts, if they'll let me (and my camera) into their homes!

Again thanks for following along. Hope you all will be here next year this time! And Happy New Year to all!!

2009 Recap Part B

Yesterday we reviewed the first part of 2009. And now we move into the latter part of the year. What a great way to start... with dessert! Just looking at this cake makes my mouth water! It's so YUMMY!!

The beautiful artwork my Aunt did in our Master Bedroom

Thanks to some inspiration I attempted a fall wreath.
Wedding shower present that turned out super cute!

Celebrating Katie's baby to be...

A great idea for a hostess gift

The OUTstanding Aunt Pine's Gingersnaps

A Winter Wonderland


Craft day with Shannon

And a sweet star to finish up with.

2009 Recap

This has been my first year of blogging and it's been a lot of fun keeping up with different projects, cooking experiments, and crafty explorations. With our blogiversary coming up on the 3rd, I thought it would be a good time to recap what we've done this year.

We started with a "Little Re-arrange" in January. I have to say I am loving the move and we have really enjoyed having the den in a bigger room.

A little knitting project for my Godchild. Turned out super cute!!

It took a little more effort to get the Master Bedroom updated after the re-arrange. I have some ideas for a few more projects in here this year... More to come on that later! Also don't forget about the great wall art my Aunt did here.

Loving the new color in the living room!

Our first attempt at a garden. We definitely have more to learn, but it was a great experience and produced some yummy veggies!

A fun little project borrowed from the girls @ Bab's Blog

A summer refresh on the front porch. We've loved using this space! Check out me and Ellie enjoying breakfast one morning.

Well that gets us through half the year. We'll finish out the rest of the year tomorrow!