More (very) little projects..

I'm probably the least crafty person you will ever meet in your life. Really, ask my friend Jenifer about a lamp shade I made out of bamboo.. it was AWFUL. I'm pretty sure she's still embarrassed for me over that lamp. I did however win Ms Art my senior year... but it was kind of a joke. And the art teacher was FURIOUS that my classmates voted me. So yes, I'm horrible with anything crafty. So when I do get something that is a little decent -I'm pretty proud. It helps that I read lots of DIY blogs and copy their steps word for word (and my stuff still isn't as good as their's) but I'm pretty happy with two projects I did.

First is a canvas that was in our kitchen. When we first moved in the previous owners left all their decor for us and it was a chef themed, but when we redid the kitchen we took it all out. So I tried to fancy it up.

The before


The after


and here's this another I did today.


I've been trying to figure out something to do with that wall. I was telling Adam the unused wall space in this house drives me nuts. I knew that I wanted to get that picture printed. I was thinking about getting it put on canvas but I wanted to see it on an 8x10 before I paid that much money. The picture was taken with my Canon Rebel and I just wanted to make sure the picture wouldn't distort being blown up that big. (and it didn't!) I like this so much, I might not even get it printed on a canvas! I found the decals around the frame on clearance, so between the 12 dollar frame, the 3 dollar print, and the 5 dollar decals I did two projects today for 20 bucks! ( I had everything already for the first project)

Lately I've been reading blogs that show cute home decorating projects like this one or this one. I get two ways when I read these type of blogs -motivated and -jealous. Mostly jealous though. I get jealous for several reasons.. these people seem to have TONS of awesome stuff just hanging around the house they can fix up or distress and toss in a corner and it looks awesome, and another reason even if I had awesome stuff hanging around I'm not nearly crafty or chic enough to know how to fix it up and make it look awesome. However, this morning I realized we had some pictures of Em's 7 month photo shoot that needed to be put up. So I had a bright idea to put them in the foyer. My foyer kind of drives me insane. It's not big enough to put a buffet table or something in, but yet it was lacking some sort of furniture. So I decided to steal one of the end tables from my upstairs living and see how it worked in it. I'm pretty sure I love how it looks. Atleast until I can get a table that REALLY works in the area. Here's how it turned out.




I plan on getting a vinyl quote to put above the pictures. Please don't judge my "designing" (Ha!) skills. I'm not Martha Stewart, but you have to admit it doesn't look too bad, right? (I wish I had a before picture!)

Also, here's the space I took the end table from. Which just so happens to be my next project. I need to find something to do with the toys that are taking over my living room.

Boots

Kolton's current favorite thing besides balls and balloons (his favorite movie is Up) is shoes. This boy LOVES shoes. It's borderline an obsession. So when I found these Toy Story Rainboots on sale I just had to pick them up. I knew he'd love them, but I didn't think they'd be plastered to his feet constantly.


Kolton was pretty persistent about what he wanted to wear to bed last night. We were okay with the fact that the top and bottoms don't match, but really, he had to have the boots. We knew were weren't going to be able to get them off his feet for bedtime so we went ahead and laid him down with them on. I thought "Oh, he'll slip them off when he realizes how difficult it is to sleep with shoes on." WRONG! When I went to check on him I found this -


I tried to slip them off his feet but he immediately woke up and said "Shoes!" You have to pick your battles right? So he slept with his boots on last night. Haha!

This past weekend we took a trip to Arundel Mills -one of my favorite malls in this area. The kids love it because all the decor inside is brightly colored, so every time we go we get a good couple hours of shopping. And that's a good thing because this place has TONS of stores. We always find ourselves hitting up the baby stores first, and then we shop for ourselves. I told my husband next trip we make will be focused on OUR stuff because the kids have ENOUGH clothes!

While we were there we ate at Chevys. They have THE BEST guacamole. You can literally smell it down the mall!

I'm pretty sure this picture doesn't even do it justice.


I always love getting out with my family and going shopping is a plus too. ;)

Recipe

I think this might be something I start doing, the whole recipe sharing thing.. Don't get excited. I don't cook that much, and if I do it's usually instructions on the side of the box I'm following, not a recipe.

However, I do really want to share this recipe with you. It's "The Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas"

These are SO good! Adam isn't a big fan of Mexican (crazy, I know) so he wasn't too thrilled at me trying the recipe, but once he tried it he said "Wow. I think this might be the best thing you've ever made" Really?! A Mexican dish is your favorite? That shows how good they are! The recipe is fairly easy. It does have a lot of steps, but don't be discouraged. If I can do this recipe while chasing 2 crazy kids around, you can too! (I was going to do step by step with pictures, but I figured you could just look at Pioneer Woman's)

Ingredients

* FOR THE SAUCE:
* 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
* 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
* 1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
* 2 cups Chicken Broth
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
* 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
* _____
* FOR THE MEAT:
* 1-½ pound Ground Beef
* 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
* 2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* _____
* FOR THE TORTILLAS:
* 10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
* ½ cups Canola Oil
* _____
* TO ASSEMBLE:
* 3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
* ½ cups Chopped Black Olives
* 1 cup Chopped Green Onions
* ½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Whoo loves a good deal?

I just had to share this with you all..

One day last week I ran to the dollar store to get our dogs a little bag of food to get them through until I was able to make it to Costco (Costco is a little bit of a drive, and remember we've all been sick). Well, as I was in there I noticed they sold clothes! Of course I had to check out the kids section, and they had this cute little onesie.
I'm in love with owls these days! It was only 2.50! How awesome! Whooooo doesn't love a good bargain. (ha, get it whooo?)