DIY Wrapping Paper Mod Podge Plastic Drawers

I have these plastic drawers next to my desk that store everything from papers to be shred, craft supplies, and scarves.  I usually keep the drawers pretty organized, but the drawers inevitably get messy and I don't want people to see the mess!  So I decided to mod podge wrapping paper to the outside to help hide messy drawers =)  I will warn you - this can be a pretty time consuming project....I do not like cutting and measuring paper....I think this is why I am not a scrapbooker.  However, it is a fun project and if you have a few hours, strong coffee, and a friend to do it with it can be really awesome! 


Tools:  Spray paint for plastic, wrapping paper with a cool design, mod podge, paint brush, scissors, strong coffee, lots of chocolate. 


STEP ONE:  PAINT THE PLASTIC FRAMES


1.  I went to Walmart and bought black gloss spray paint for plastic - it must be for plastic or it will NOT work!!!  I did this project on a pretty windy day so I used the entire can - and I only painted the front and sides of the frame because you can't see the back of them =)  You might want to get 2 cans of spray paint....or do this project on a non-windy day =) 

I spray painted my frames glossy black.  This is the frame that is dry.  I allowed the frame to dry overnight but it only took about an hour for it to feel dry to the touch. 

STEP TWO:  MOD PODGE WRAPPING PAPER TO THE DRAWERS

1.  Cut wrapping paper to fit the front and sides of the drawer.

2.  I used a foam brush to shmear mod podge onto the drawer.  Then I put the wrapping paper on the drawer.  

3.  After I had all of the drawers covered with wrapping paper I let the mod podge dry overnight.  

4.  The next day I sealed the wrapping paper by applying mod podge all over the wrapping paper.  I made sure to seal down the edges really well by globing on the mod podge and then using my fingers to push the wrapping paper tight to the drawer.  This was an important step because sometimes I had a little extra paper on the drawer so I globed on the mod podge and then pushed the paper down over the corner - like this:  

I love the mark on my knuckle...that is what you get when you don't wear gloves when doing DIY projects with barn wood....see post on Barn Wood Signs =) 

5.  Let the mod podge dry  - I let it dry for about 3 hours.  

6.  Then you can put all of your stuff into the drawers and put the drawers into the frame.  

I used paper that I bought from Michael's.  It was hot pink with white flowers on it....the pic was not taken in the best lighting - but you get the gist!  You could also use scrap book paper if you cannot find wrapping paper with a design that suits your needs =) 

DIY Barn Wood Signs

My Sweet Husband makes the most beautiful barn wood tables....

This is the top of the table, the barn wood is over 100 years old.  He is getting ready to add the legs which are made out of black cast iron.  He is so handsome...and handy...and those are two of the MANY reasons I love him!  

I took the barn wood that he did not use and made some barn wood signs to hang in our home!  


I just used regular paint for the signs.  I used a permanent marker to draw the letters and then painted them.  I let the paint dry and then sealed the entire board with clear coat.  Here is a pic of the clear coat I used and the finished signs! 

The EAT sign is 3 separate pieces of wood.   I have it up on the top of our cabinets in the kitchen!

We hung this in our bathroom  =) 

DIY Ladder Card Holder

My Sweet Husband and I found this ladder outside a trashcan on moving day in the apartment complex we used to live in.  I was going to turn it into a pot rack for our kitchen but decided to make it into a card holder instead.  Here is how you do it!  


Things you need : A ladder, Glidden Gripper, Paint of any color, Twine/Ribbon, Wood Close Pins, Cards or pictures from your nearest and dearest!

Another project that is perfect for gripper!!!!

STEP ONE:  PREP LADDER FOR PAINTING

1.  Paint the entire ladder with Gripper

I painted it with one coat and then did a second coat in areas where it needed it.  I used a sponge to apply the gripper but you could use a paint brush if you wanted!  I did not sand the ladder at all before applying gripper. The ladder had lacquer on it but the gripper does the trick!

STEP TWO:  PAINT THE LADDER

1.  I used a paint brush for this step....not sure why I used a sponge and then a paint brush but I did - it really doesn't matter =)   I applied one coat of paint and then did a second coat in areas that needed it.  

STEP THREE:  TRANSFORM THE LADDER INTO A CARD HOLDER

1.  I used a thick twine for this step.  All you do is loop a string of twine from the bottom rung to the top rung and then knot it off with a bow.  Then use close pins to attach cards, pictures, etc to the twine!

DIY Chalkboard

My Sweet Husband and I live in a darling home that we rent - I would LOVE to own it because it is about 86 years old and has all the original wood work (floors, doors, etc). However, we are both still in school and not sure where we are going to be living after we finish grad school.  Since we rent, we cannot paint the walls - which means we cannot paint a chalkboard wall in the kitchen - sad face.  So I made a chalkboard out of an ugly painting that I picked up at Goodwill.....here is how you make it!!

1. Go to your local Goodwill and pick up an old, ugly picture - you want it to be pretty large and try to find something with a cool frame that you can paint.  You also want to get something that has glass (not plastic) covering the picture.  My picture was super ugly, but it was cherished by the previous owner because it was professionally framed - it was nailed in the back so I could not take the glass out without a lot of unnecessary work.  My steps show you how to do this if you can't get the glass out easily.  If you can take the glass out of the frame this will be so much easier!  

2.  If you don't have these paint supplies you need to buy them:  

This is GRIPPER by Glidden.  This stuff is a lifesaver!!!  You paint this on over any type of lacquered surface and you will not have to sand or strip off the paint/lacquer!!  This is the greatest stuff ever!!!  I got a small can and I have done multiple projects with it and still have a lot more to use!!  

Indoor/Outdoor Krylon paint - I used Cherry Red Gloss.  This works great for painting your frame!!  I suggest spray paint because it dries really fast =) 

Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint. This paint is perfect for glass.  I used this to spray paint the bottom/foot of wine glasses.  It is the best for glass.  I use Martha Stewart's Chalkboard Paint for other items such as plastic/metal etc. 

STEP ONE:  PREP YOUR FRAME TO BE PAINTED 

(Tools:  your ugly picture, blue tape, notebook paper, gripper, paint brush)

1.  You need to use blue paint tape on the edges and then I covered the rest of the glass with 2 layers of notebook paper.  

My ugly picture of cows.  Blue tape on the edges of the glass

2.  This pic shows the notebook paper I put down over the blue tape and then I held it all down and in place with more blue tape.  Then I painted the frame with gripper =)  Let your gripper dry - this may take awhile  - especially in the corners!  I let it dry for about 3 hours...you might want to let it dry overnight just to be safe =) 

STEP TWO:  PAINT YOUR FRAME

(Tools:  Spray paint, face mask, good ventilation) 

1.  Once gripper is dry you can spray paint your frame.  I put 3 coats of paint on my frame, allowing it to dry completely between each coat.  

2.  When the paint is dry gently pull off the notebook paper and blue tape. 

STEP THREE:  PREPARE GLASS TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO A CHALKBOARD

1.  Place blue tape on your frame - I allowed a little portion of the frame to be painted black - this helped form a nice smooth line between the red frame and black chalkboard so I didn't have to worry about touch ups afterward.  

You can see the little red line - that is my frame and this red part will be painted with the chalkboard paint.  I suggest you do this to keep from having to touch up your frame after you paint the glass =) 

2.  Next, I put blue tape along the edge of the frame.  I did not push the tape onto the frames edge, instead I let it stay sticking out so it would "catch" any over spray.  

You can kind of see what I mean in this picture - the tape is not pressed onto the edge it is extending out from it.  I hope this makes sense =) 

3.  Now you can spray paint your glass with the chalkboard paint!  I put 3 coats of paint on, allowing it to dry completely between each coat.  

STEP FOUR:  REMOVE TAPE AND HANG YOUR CHALKBOARD

1.  Gently remove blue tape.  

2.  If your tape pulls off some of the paint on the frame do not fret!  You can fix it!  Simply spray a little of the spray paint into a bowl and use a small paint brush to dab paint onto the frame.  You want to let it get on there pretty thick and then let it dry.  I only had a few spots where the paint came off of the frame with the blue tape.  A few coats of touch up fixed it!  

3.  If your frame does not have hooks you can go to a hardware store and buy some hooks to attach to the back of the frame.  Sweet Husband took care of this step for me!  

4.  Then you can hang up your chalkboard!  You will need to prep the chalkboard by rubbing a piece of chalk all over the board (put the chalk on it's side).  Then erase it and you are good to go!

I found the EAT letters at Michael's.  A little black spray paint turned them from bronze to black!  The frame was pretty wide so we were able to just set them on the top  =) 

Oh My....

It has been TOO long since I last posted!!!  Ah, grad school, you keep me too buys  =(  However, over Christmas break I accomplished a LOT of DIY projects!!!  I should have all the projects finished and dry by this weekend!  I will post up pics and tutorials then!!!!!

Yummy. Easy. Jambalaya.

I made Chicken Andouille Jambalaya tonight.  It was delicious and easy.  You should make it.  This recipe is so easy and yummy there is nothing more to say - so make it  =)  

I made it with Kielbasa - not Andouille  =)  Just to let you know  =) 

Amazing Herb Roasted Chicken!!!

Herb Roasted Whole Chicken

Last night's dinner was deemed "Deloycious" by Sweet Husband.  He is a man of few words, and displays excitement subtlety.  Saying dinner was "Delyocious" was the greatest compliment ever! I made the Herb Roasted Whole Chicken compliments of The Pioneer Woman  =) This is an easy - let me say that again - EASY recipe!!  You can prep in about 5 min, pop that lil chick in the oven and then be on your merry way to do as you please for the next hour and fifteen minutes.  Here is how my lil bird turned out: 

 You need to put this recipe in your Toolbox so you are locked, loaded, and ready to go on a night when things get crazy busy.  

Creamy Lemon Pasta

The herb roasted chicken was served on a bed of pasta with mushrooms.  I love the phrase "served on a bed of pasta."  However, I do not like mushrooms - I choked on one as a kid and ever since mushrooms make me skittish. I wanted to make linguine with a cream sauce so I found another pasta recipe on The Pioneer Woman and used the section for the sauce.  The recipe is under Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta.  I did not add chicken or basil - I just made the sauce.  I changed a few things in the recipe becuase my asthma goes nuts when I have too much dairy.  You can make her sauce just like the recipe - I just substituted some non-dairy products and the sauce was delish! Here is what I did:  

1.  Heat 1/2 stick of butter 

2. Add 3-4 Lemons (I only used 3, the sauce was very strong so a 4th would have been too much but you can always add more at the end if needed)

3.  She calls for 1/2 cup half and half and 1/2 cup cream.  I used 1/2 cup cream and a 1/2 cup Soy Milk (Silk Very Vanilla).  

4. I added a cup of Rice Cheese. This is the greatest non-dairy cheese ever.  It melts like, tastes like and has the texture of real cheese.  Here is a picture of what I buy - usually only Dierbergs carries it.  It is a little pricey but you can get coupons on line by registering online.   I LOVE this cheese. 

 5.  Then you just whisk the sauce, add salt and pepper.  

G-R-I-L-L

Sweet Husband is a resourceful man.  He is also very handsome, sweet, intelligent, and funny.  He has excellent taste in beer and a keen eye for items he can repurpose.  Sweet Husband will graduate next fall with his grad degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner - we are both so excited!  I am so proud of the way he tirelessly serves others through his profession.  I am so blessed by having him as my husband - I love him, very much.   

So the point of all this mushy mushy lovey dovey stuff about my Sweet Husband is to show you another one of his wonderful creations - our new Fire Pit/Grill  =) 

Sweet Husband found the bricks for free at a house the city just demolished a few blocks over.  His dad gave him grill grates and then Sweet Husband stuck some long metal tongs with handles through the grates to hold them together and allow for easy grate removal.  I don't have a pic of the grates, but I will add it when I get one!  The fire pit makes a perfect grill and it makes the food taste exceptional. 

Love Summer

Summer break is here!  My first semester of grad school just wrapped up and I have a few weeks to do some serious cooking!  I am excited to start exploring some new recipes! Here is what is on the menu this week!!!

Tonight:  Pan Fried Rib Eye Steak with a Side Salad, Roasted French Bread and Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert =)

This is the steak prior to cooking.  I thought the recipe was awesome, but I am not a big fan of lemon pepper.  So I diverted from the recipe a little.  I let my ribeyes marinade for about 7 hours in olive oil, season salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme.  I also put some Italian Parsley on the top while it marinated.  After that I followed the steps in the recipe to cook the steaks =) 

The rest of the week:  

Greek Salad

Herb Roasted Whole Chicken with Linguini (minus the mushrooms for me!)

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya

Grad School

There are many things I love about being in grad school - learning incredible information, having stellar professors, seeing Jordyn Gehret every single day.  But the one thing that I do not love about grad school is the amount of time it takes away from my ability to blog.  I think I am going to have to start blogging once a week on Sunday afternoons.  I am sad about this because I enjoy blogging - but when I prioritize based on what I need to do vs. what I want to do...relaxing and blogging come after school.  Oh prioritization.  This is only for a season though, and what a season this shall be  =)

I do need to get to studying....but before that, there is a book I would like to recommend - I think I am going to get it.  My friend John and his wife Anne Marie gave this book to a good friend of ours that does not like to cook.  The book is The $7 a Meal Healthy Cookbook.  It has 301 nutritious, delicious recipes that the whole family will love - all $7.00 and under!!! I am very excited about this book and I look forward to making some recipes from it!  

OK, study time.  

"If we had no winder, the spring would not be so pleasant:  if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." 

Anne Bradstreet, British Poet. 

M-O-V-I-N-G-

Sweet Husband and I are getting ready to move into a house we are renting!!!  We are so excited!!  We also get our dog on Sunday - also incredibly exciting!!!!  

Here are some not so exciting things about moving: 

1.  Packing

2.  Peeling off the decorative stickers that you put on your wall - I feel like I have done intensive surgery to get them off! They are wonderful but I will never get the intricate patterns again =)

3.  Getting boxes packed and not being able to move around your apartment due to the excessive amount of stuff we have  =(

Things I love about moving: 

1.  We are getting our very own WASHER AND DRYER!!!  No more shared laundry machines! This also means no more surprise articles of clothing ending up in my laundry.  It seems many folks don't double check that the washer/dryer is completely empty.

2.  Bigger place to live

3.  We get our Lil Monster Jake =)

The best part about moving 

1. Having the support of friends and family to help us move all of our stuff - even our piano =)

I will update pics soon - I won't be doing a lot of cooking as the majority of my pots and pans are packed as well as my magical apron  =) 

Sweet Daffodils to Sit On

So today I took on my first painting project for a free awesome find!  I found these wood folding chairs outside by the dumpster in Cougar Village.  

That is right - by the dumpster.  

Now lets just kick off our stilettos and get serious - Drop your fear of checking out your neighbors junk.  If you have a fear of picking up awesome things next to...or sometimes inside....a dumpster you are really missing out!  I wasn't sure what to think the first time Sweet Husband pulled out a huge pillar from a dumpster filled with demolition stuff.  This thing was huge, white, and filled with nails.  But my heart skipped a beat after I saw it all cleaned up and painted the most luscious red.  It now stands in our living room forever reminding me of how someone's trash is truly your treasure  =)  

OK so on to these lovely chairs!  I found them by the dumpster and they have been our porch chairs for about a year but I never painted them.  A few weeks ago I was in Aledo, IL, Sweet Husband's hometown, and saw similar chairs painted yellow.  

That was it - I went to Home Depot and hunted down the perfect yellow:  

Dazzling Daffodil.  

This is the Before shot.  One of the chairs was worn down to the wood.  The other chair (on the right) had paint and some lacquer still in tact.  I used some sand paper to lightly rough up the wood/lacquer and also to remove flaking paint.  

Now here is a key product that you need when painting on wood that has lacquer on it (you can also use this for many other surfaces!)  You need:  Glidden Gripper Primer. This primer helps the new paint stick to the wood/lacquer.  If I didn't use this primer the paint would not have 'stuck' well to the chair.  This primer is amazing and I highly recommend it!!!

 

Next Step:  Start Painting!!!!!

Next Step:  Take a break and take a pic of how hard you are working!!!

It took me about a half hour to prime and then a half hour to paint each chair.  

And then they were D-O-N-E

Lovely porch chairs for Sweet Husband and I

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ladies, hold on to your horses.  These cookies will knock your stilettos off! These are yummy, thin cookies that are crunchy on the edge and gooey in the middle.  

Sweet Husband loved these cookies and I am certain that you and your Sweet Honey will too!!!

First things first - you are going to want a mixer, unless you prefer a great arm work out.  I don't have a mixer so I creamed butter with my own hands/arms.  I also don't have a cooling rack - I have a great solution for this later on...

The best way to cream butter without a mixer is to let the stick of butter get to room temp, cut the butter into squares and then use a wood spoon to chop at it and make it all one hunk.  (The word Hunk might make you think of your Handsome Hunk....don't get distracted....back to the cookies)  =)  

After you get the butter into a nice big hunk (focus) of butter you add in the sugar (brown and white).  At this point I switched over to using my Pampered Chef 4-pronged ground beef thingy (I tried to find it on-line for you at Pampered Chef but I couldn't find it)  This meat thingy also works well for making homemade guac - it's great for crushing avacados!  So you just squish all this around until it looks like this.....

Yummy!!!  WARNING:  This butter/sugar/brown sugar mix is incredibly delish!!!  And yes, I ate every bit that just happened to get on my finger  =)  

It pays to be a messy cook!

At this point you have mixed in the flour, malted milk, and chocolate chips.  I used the chocolate malted milk but I am sure you can use regular as well.  

This is a before and after of the cookies.  2 Main things you should know - 

1.  Make sure these cookies have a lot of room.  They spread out and get really thin.  2.  Let the cookies cool but not too much....they get really crispy on the edges and are difficult to remove without breaking.  I suggest you re-spray your baking pan/sheet between each batch of cookies and also let them cool just enough so they are not too gooey to get off the pan but also not too crisp that they just break.  

OK so actually there are 3 things - 

3.  You MUST watch these cookies like a hawk!  There are only a few seconds between burnt and yummy - set a timer and keep an eye on them!

Speaking of cooling - I don't have a cooling rack. So instead I used a fan and my cookies - aim the fan and you get instantly cool cookies...and a cool pan!  

Hello beautiful!!!!!!

That is one thin, yummy, ooey, gooey, full of goodness cookie!!!

What's Cookin Good Lookin

Here is the dinner menu for this week:  

Bowtie Lasagna

Mexican "Flatbread" Pizza

Beef with Snow Peas

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies  (This is just a dessert, not a dinner - but it would be lovely as dinner!)

Chicken Spaghetti 

Some other recipes I would love to try out:  

Via Cappuccino Muffins

Sweet Cinnamon Scones 

It's Tea Time

Summer is here and nothing compliments summer better than family, friends, BBQ and tall pitchers of iced tea. My new favorite is Blueberry Tea.  It is a light tea but is bursting with flavor!  What are some of your favorite teas for summer?

Want to try some new recipes for iced tea - check out these Iced Tea Recipes

What you should know about making Tea

I love Iced Tea in the summer.  And I love it with some sugar and fresh squeezed lemons.  Since the weather in IL has been rainy for the last month I haven't been able to make sun tea.  So instead I heat up water for tea in my cheery red tea kettle. I like having the tea bags in the kettle while it boils so I get every last drop o' tea out of the tea bag.  Frugal yes....smart....well I thought so, until this happened.  

While cooking a lovely dinner I asked Sweet Husband, "Do you smell that?  Does it smell like something is burning?"  Sweet Husband sniffed the air and agreed something was burning.  I checked the oven.  Negative.  I checked the pasta I was boiling.  Negative.  Then I looked at the tea kettle....the papers on the tea bag were on fire.  Sweet Husband came to the rescue and put out the fire for me.  Lesson Learned:  keep a shorter string on the tea bags. 

Jake's Bed - Made with Love

As Sweet Husband and I were perusing the aisles at Pet's Smart we realized that dog beds are incredibly overpriced.  As I looked at the pillows my domestic side kicked into full gear and out flowed from my mouth, "You know honey, I bet I can make Jake a pillow just like that."  And so, that is what I did.  I made our silly boy Jake a huge dog pillow!!!  In the store the large pillows were priced starting at $80.00 - which is a bit ridiculous.  I was able to make this pillow for $39.00.  My fabric ranged from $5 a yard for the Navy and White and $9 a yard for the Navy Canvas.  I got 2 yards of each, heavy duty needles, thread for denim (it is really strong) and I also bought 3 bags of stuffing.  This bed is for a dog that is about 70 lbs and 3 feet long. 

 

Material - Navy and White stripes and the bottom is Navy canvas

Sewing the sides together! 

Stuffing

Fill er' up

FILLED! 

Jake approved =)