Painted Wallpaper: Great Success!

Hey All,

My painted wallpaper wall is all finished!  I think it turned out great and designates that wall for our desk area.  Sooo here are the new pics:

Annabelle was a good little helper:

Side view...

Now all put together: 

And a view of the whole dining room/desk area:

Notice how one chair is still tan...that was my latest project that was put on hold to do the painted wallpaper.  I sanded down each chair and spray painted them with Krylon black satin.  A tutorial on that is coming soon!

This project was definitely worth the time it took to finish...I loove it!  Hope you enjoy it & become a follower too!

Dinners in the Freezer!

Before I got married, I lived with my parents after college because 1. I love my family and it was nice to be home again 2. rent is superrrrr high here and not having a job yet wasn't going to cut it.  My hubby (fiance then) was living on his own renting an apartment close by so I would try my "culinary skills" on him :)  At first, it was pasta, pasta, and more pasta... Eventually I started to make chicken, chili, burgers, etc.

Eventually, we started going back to my moms to eat some days {thanks Mom} and some days were take-out nights.  Last school year, I got a full time teaching job with about a 45 minute commute.  My hubby was working weird shifts and I was so busy lesson planning and getting ready for the next day that there wasn't much cooking going on.  Long story short, it was July {wedding!!} and summer vacation! Yayy for teachers...to all those who complain we have summers off - we need it after all those kids! I love them but boy did it get crazy some days! :)

After the wedding and honeymoon, we were finally living together in our new {rented} home and I was super excited to start cooking for my own little family.  

My sister gave me this awesome book, because she knows me so well and lovingly doubted my cooking skills.

The book is great, I highly recommend it to everyone who works, or has kids, loves their Crockpot, etc...basically everyone would benefit from it I think :)

Being that I was on summer vacay, I decided to create freezer meals that I could throw in the Crockpot in the morning and dinner would be done when I got home from work.  Shoprite was having a really good sale on Perdue chicken so I stocked up and marked recipes both my hubby and I would like.  Most of the recipes I tried first had chicken in them, but there are some really good red meat recipes and pasta recipes.  I do need to be creative at times, as he is somewhat picky.  He makes a face if I make stirfry...so it has a new name of "saute" and he eats it up!  The little things we do for them...

Anyway, in the book they recommend using the "freezer bag method."  Definitely saves room and you still have your containers for leftovers in the fridge.  I also use the freezer bag method to freeze homemade tomato sauce.  I fill the bag {enough for 1 pasta dinner for 2-4 people} and then zipper seal the bag and lay them out on a baking sheet.  Normally I have about 3-4 bags and lay them on top of each other and throw the whole baking sheet in the freezer.  I freeze them overnight then take them off of the baking sheet and stand them up right or flat in the freezer.  When I'm ready to use them, I just defrost them in the fridge and they're ready to heat up and use.

This doesn't look great, but it shows the freezer bag method...it's so yummy

Also, what's great about the freezer bag method is that you can write the directions right on the bag.  This saves time from having to look up the recipe in the cookbook and if the hubby puts it in the Crockpot in the morning, the directions are right there.  Written veryyy clearly just for the reason :)

Crockpot recipe example:

Oven recipe example:

We also have a dry-erase board in our kitchen to write down our crazy {opposite} schedules for the week.  This really helps with meal planning and thinking ahead to what needs to be prepped or defrosted.  On the days we're both working nights, we normally eat at work or leftovers will do. {I'm subbing and waitressing now, due to budget cuts no more classroom for me this year grrrr}  We also have a master calendar on our desk to help keep track of work schedules and commitments we have.  It seems to work for us, so if you're looking to be more organized with meals/schedules try it.  

I hope this inspires you to create some freezer recipes and saves you a little time in your busy day!  Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day :)

Oops...almost forgot: Update on the painted wallpaper wall:

I think the bottom is the hardest part...only because there's not too much room to move around so close to the floor so I left it for last :) I hope to be done by tonight!!

Painted Wallpaper Day One

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jones Design Company!  After reading her blog/ tutorial about "painted wallpaper," I was dying to try it in my home!

The hubby was working a double shift last night into this afternoon, so a quick "I'm doing a project don't be mad when you get home love you" text was all it took to get started! Little did he know that I was painting over a wall which we do not have the paint for... incase there were a few mistakes :) As I mentioned in my last post, we are still renting, therefore the walls need to remain somewhat presentable for future renters/ buyers but everything is coming along wonderfully...

To start, I printed out the template of the pattern Jones Design Company created and read over her tutorial one a few more times, which you can find if you click here.  Again, this was so creative and I couldn't wait to start!

I decided to pick a wall which was small and had an "end" to it.  One of our dining room walls lead all the way to the second story ceiling and a few of our other rooms have been painted already.  I was going to conquer the guest room/kitty room man cave, but I figured I'd start small and see how it goes before deciding to do an entire accent wall.  I also wanted to distinguish between the dining room space and the desk area.

Back to printing out the template... I started like this:

Don't mind the purple/pink color of the Jones Design Template, my printer was running out of ink :(  Anyway, I traced the template onto heavy cardstock paper and practiced tracing the patterns next to each other.  Eventually, I got the hang of it (considering I'm an elementary teacher, you'd think I could trace better hehe):

And to fill in the middle of the full size pattern I traced another and folded it in half:

Now the hard work begins...

 

The corners were a little tough to do, as the staircase backs this wall and is slanted downwards.  I simply folded the template as needed to keep the pattern. 

I also had the cutest helper...our baby Annabelle (she's our little fur baby!) 

Finally, the whole wall was traced and it was starting to look like it's going to turn out great already! 

Sorry this is so light, but you get the idea of how the whole wall will look:

These corners were a little tricky!

Now for the paint...

Our living room and master bedroom are both painted Brookline Beige from Benjamin Moore.  I had a sample can left over so it will tie right into the other rooms.  

I also used a tiny brush to ensure uniform size (most of the time if I didn't slip a little oops) Here we goooo....

After the first few rows, you can really see it coming together I looove it

Eventually, I needed a break.. mistakes started happening...

 Ahhh and no paint to cover it up... therefore a quick tea and Real Housewives break!

Finally, about half way through and I decided to stop for the day (clean up before the hubby comes home) and it currently looks like this:

I looove it so far! I think it will really make that wall pop and hopefully give our desk a designated area.  

 Check back tomorrow for the finished product!! I would love comments or suggestions about it looks so far...thank you for reading & have a great night!

"Fall"ing Around the House

Fall is one of my favorite seasons to decorate for...ok every season is my favorite...but right now I'm loving everything fall.  My hubby and I are still renting so we can't quite make the renovations that we would like, but we're working with what we have.

I started decorating around August ahem September 1st... I can't help it!! A lot of my decorating "stuff" has been taken borrowed from my mom when I go over there to visit.  She has a great sense of style and excellent decorating techniques :)

That being said...let me show you how I've started to decorate for fall.  First, here is our new hutch that we just bought from Lancaster, PA...love it there!

And another, with better lighting:

Again, most of the fall "stuff" was taken from my mom and bought from Home Goods.  I LOVE Home Goods!  It is one of my many favorite stores and I love that there are always new treasures to find!

This little bowl was part of a mixing bowl set that I received at my bridal shower and repurposed to hold these little Dollar Tree pumpkins and foam apples.

The cutest fall sign from Home Goods:

I am also in love with hurricane glasses and apothecary jars...I made these for $2 using a candle stick holder, glass vase, and a little Gorilla glue...thank you to Decor Chick for the great tutorial and idea! 

I also love wreaths, but there are some pricey ones out there! After reading a blog about a diy fall wreath over at Thrifty Decor Chick (love her blog - so creative and inspiring!), I wanted to make my own using a grapevine wreath, Dollar Tree leaves, and a glue gun.  Much cheaper version that those pricey ones  in stores and I think it came out pretty nice for my first diy wreath! 

And our front door...

Still a work in progress but coming out nicely :)  I would love comments/ suggestions!  Thank you for stopping by!

My first blog

Hello Everyone!  This is my first blog and I looove reading diy and decorating blogs.  I have some free time on my hands lately and I've been filling it with decorating, cooking and making our new house a home. Check back tomorrow for a new project I've been thinking about doing for a while!