Our Kitchen Remod-ish

Kitchen as it was when we moved in

Upon moving in, we didnt exactly LOVE our kitchen. The cabinets are solid maple but the previous owner decided that wasn't good enough and decided a few colors of brown sponge painted on them was the best idea. Here is a better look:

Well, its not the greatest photo, but you can see the paint and the awful gold hardware in which the gold is wearing off.

So, first we painted the walls green and removed all the cabinet doors

the huddled mass of mess consisting of drawers and doors

 So we obviously can't afford a brand new la-de-da kitchen with all the bells and whistles, so what's there to do? PAINT! We'll see how long this process takes. Its been w/out cabinet doors for quite a few weeks now. Any help is never turned away!
{hint, hint}

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When Choosing that Eames Lounge Chair...

As many of you know, as of late I've been on a mad search for the Eames rocker. It doesn't need to be a real Eames, I just want anyone I can get my hands on... though I do have a story to tell about that. Anyway, even getting a knock-off of any Eames style piece of furniture does not come cheap. Take this Eames Lounge chair for instance...you see them in the $1000s, easily just for the replicas. Real ones can be bought for as much as $5000. One problem I can see with that is how do you know the chair will even look good in your home? I've known peeps who spend a few k on furniture only to find it just does not mesh with their decor. Luckily, the people over at EleganceCode created a "color-chooser" tool that helps with such a problem. You can choose the black or white chair, chose the color of your floors, walls and trim! Quite nifty. The best part is you can buy this very chair for *gasp* $495.00! Now that's a deal and a steal! I saw this same chair today in a wholesale warehouse for $900. Amazing.

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Eames {Style} Rocker; You are SO mine!

Image from Style Carrot

I've been coveting one of these chairs for way too long to admit. They are perfect for rocking babies to sleep..and toddlers too. As of yet, they've been too expensive for my frugal nature. Plus it is kind of hard to justify buying ONE chair that costs over $100 and upwards into the $1000s. But oh the sweet joy of finding one for the right price! You will be mine..oh yes...you will be mine. So since Morgan made some sweet moolah at the Vintage Bazaar, he is kindly and husbandly buying one for me. And here it is...I can't wait to have you...and you'll be mine all mine! Heck, at this price anyone can buy one.

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Craft Everyday Challenge!

OK, ok ,ok. I've got my craft room all set up so no excuses, right? I've decided to challenge myself to at least do ONE crafty thing a day. This does not mean I have to complete a crafty project everyday...I can work on one that takes me a week or a month, but I have to work on it at least once a day. Its hard to stay inspired these days when I feel like I have so little time to do much with the kids, working on the house, etc - which is why I'm pushing myself . So far I have covered the switch plates with some super cute paper in my kitchen:

I also recycled an old coffee can but covering it with some neat vintage fabric and ribbon for a place to put scissors and stuff.

Now my current project is to give a small shelf w/ key hooks a bit of a makeover. We'll soon see how that turned out.

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How To Find the Best Vintage

If you're like me, you love vintage to keep and sell. As a seller, you can't just go to the local Salvation Army and expect to find the most amazing piece of vintage...though its not impossible. There are a few places you can find great vintage:
1. Garage sales - find some gems the owners don't realize the worth of
2. Thrift shops - some unique but often broken/ poor condition items
3. Antique / vintage shops - good finds but very pricey
4. Estate Sales. - THE place to go

Estate Sales are the cream of the crop when it comes to the best vintage finds. Yes, its a bit morbid, kinda sad and makes you really think about you're own mortality but might as well reap some benefits, right? Here you can find items the previous owner cherished and kept in pristine condition. Entire sets of dishes, pyrex, barware, you name it.

 

You can find unique, one of a kind items, old toys, all kinds of awesome gems. And in turn, make a profit or keep for your own use. Personally I love keeping vintage for these reasons: Most are made in America (a rare thing these days), made to last (even rarer), and have great designs you just don't see anymore.

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Craft Room: Before and After

I said I was going to make a project out of my craft/sewing room and I sorta did. I didn't get to paint it but honestly, I just needed to get my little sanctuary up and running. It was cluttered and not even close to being organized but I just locked myself in there and got to work. This is what it looked like before:

As you can see - just a  huddled mass of stuff. Some stuff didn't belong in here so my room was becoming a catch-all. I had to put a stop to that (even though I was a contributor ). So here is the room now...

Sewing a shirt, presently

Some supplies as well as my daughters' old dresser to hold my vast amount of fabric and yarn

More stuff to keep me somewhat organized.

So there it is. Im finally being more productive these days... though it has been tougher to do much with 3 kids. The newborn is not even the hinder-er; its my 2 year old Lucy. That kid is a wrecking ball I tell you what. Look at that face...you know she's about to do something sinister... 

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How to Make Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies with Applesauce

Ok, so since having Levi 4 months ago, losing weight has been one of those things that have been at the back of my mind yet still important. Lucky (I guess) for me when i got tendinitis I lost ten pounds due to my loss of appetite - the pain just pushed eating out of my daily routine, I suppose. Once the ol' appetite returned I thought of baking lots of yummy desserts - but that's not the smartest thing to do when wanting to shed pounds so I've been searching the interwebs for a good low fat cookie... to no avail. Every time - EVERY TIME it called for shortening...which is worse than butter in my book. I always heard of the applesauce urban legend and looked up recipes for that but they all wanted me to do more work than I wanted. I'm lazy like that. So I figured I'll just make my chocochip cookies with just a little switch-a-roo. I only made 1/4 order just in case they turned out disgusting...I didn't want to waste good ingredients.

Let me first say this; they turned out much better than i thought they would. The texture was a bit between cake and brownie...fluffy like cake and firmer like a brownie. This makes me think of maybe omitting egg next time to see how the texture is without it. I recommend dollops of dough on the cooking sheet - rolling won't be possible due to the consistency of the dough... its a bit tacky. So here is how its done:

In a large bowl mix
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1/4 applesauce
Then throw in and mix
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 and egg (yes, I know this sounds weird, but do it!)
Now add and mix
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Then add
- (another) 1/2 cup flour (you can add more in the consistency seems a bit to runny)
- 1/4 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
and mix

Preheat oven at 350 degrees and DO grease the baking sheet - they have no butter to help them off the pan so easily. Cook for about 8-11 minutes or until they start to brown. Cool and enjoy.

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