Kitchen fear 1

Remember me telling you about things I was afraid to make? One of those was pizza crust. Yes, simple, basic, pizza crust. Why was I afraid of it? I can't tell you. Maybe it's because of the fear of time it would take, I would miss a step (happens frequently in my cooking endeavors- have you read my Tasty Tuesday posts?), I would burn it, whatever.

Enter (my heroine), Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman). You know I love her and her recipes. I was looking to make calzones and didn't want to use biscuits (as I usually do), so I used one of her recipes for pizza crust. It was so stinking easy and basic and wonderful. I loved the crust. It was tasty, simple, and not time consuming! yes, I made it the night before (which is typical for bready things).

So easy. I'm actually looking forward to using it for something else I'm afraid of doing- grilling! Yep, I'm going to grill and I'm going to grill pizza. You watch and wait. I'll report back. I'm sure I'll love it and everything will be fabulous... and if it isn't, it was a learning experience- take out here we come!

Here is the link for the pizza crust recipe I used (I think- there are 2 cookbooks with 2 different recipes- can't remember which book I used and which crust! UGH! I really should write these as I go!). Enjoy!

Changing it up.... Again....

Remember this post about my dining room and how I wasn't sure how hubs and I felt about the dining room redo I designed on a whim under pressure?

As we do, hubs and I decided on a Thursday night that we would change the color. He hated it. I liked it but wasn't in love with it. He headed to Lowe's and picked up the paint I chose for the room and another paint that he wanted for under the chair rail.  We both decided white for the chair rail and crown molding.

The journey to changing the room began at 10 pm on Thursday. We got the first coat of paint on by 11 (including the cut in work). I was surprised. We waited a while then put the second coat of paint on the bottom. Interestingly enough, we didn't need a second coat on the top - only places where hubs had missed in painting. He truly detests painting. I don't mind it. I hate rolling paint, but love doing the trim work. Weird, I know. Most like rolling and hate trim/cut in work.

We finally crawled into bed around 1 am after cleaning everything up. We did not remove tape until the morning. I normally do not let the paint dry 100% before removing the tape (90% seems best to me as it prevents peeling and tape painted to areas). We still had the chair rail and the crown molding to paint.
At this point, the colors looked like country blue and cream. It reminded me of the country decor from the early 90s late 80s. I was ready to start hitting up the thrift store for a goose/duck.

Remember ducks like this???  Image via

It's important to know that I had just painted these a beautiful teal on Monday. Here it was Thursday/early Friday morning and I was going to have to repaint it. UGH! Now, yes, I do like trim work but I HATE climbing a ladder.

Our ceilings are about 10-11 feet tall- guesstimating. I couldn't just stand on a chair to paint the crown molding. A chair is as high as I like to climb. Nope... I had to get out the old rickety wooden ladder my parents handed down to us 12 years ago (no lie this thing has such a sway to it you at times feel like your balancing yourself upon the Leaning Tower of Pisa).  I climbed this thing probably 18 million times between Monday and Friday with painting the crown molding.

I woke up Friday early with my son anxiously waiting to go to the play date at the park. I had an insurance adjuster coming out to look at the roof after a bad storm that knocked over our metal basketball hood (that was in cement none-the-less) in the afternoon and book club at my house at 7:30 that night. To say it was a busy day is an understatment.

Hubs was off so he started on the chair rail while I was at the park with the lil one. I was gone 2 hours and somehow only 1 coat of primer and 1 of paint was applied to the chair rail... nothing to the molding. hmm....

When I got home, we had lunch then the adjuster arrived. Hubs worked with him while I cared for lil man and started painting the 2nd coat on the chair rail and first coat of primer on the molding.

Up and down, up and down, up and down I went pushing the ladder and painting while lil man begged for more this or that. Finally, I put him down for a nap- now momma can work! I finally finished painting everything at 6 pm. I still had treats to make for book club. Hubs ran to the store for me to pick up what I needed. I changed quickly and made dinner. I threw together some goodies. Everyone would forgive me after all once they heard what they day was like. Besides, they don't really care as it's about being together and having adult conversation.

I pulled out a spread of goodies and the guests arrived. Life was good. We all enjoyed ourselves and I love my new dining room. Love it. Thank goodness for the white chair rail and molding that takes away the country decor look.

Tell me what you think...

The kiddo wanted to pose for a picture.

Isn't that the cutest face? totally off topic, I know, but sometimes that's how I roll.

The curtains still kinda work.

Now with the light off to reduce glare. I need to change out the globes so the light bulbs aren't sticking out.

Pic was hiding in the basement. Found at Goodwill for $7. It works for the time being.

No way was I giving up the sunburst mirror. The door isn't supposed to be the focal point in this, but oh well.

Stuff on the wall. Lace jar, garage sale vase and cute owls that were a gift.

The C is not finished. I'm thinking of Zentangling it or wrapping it in twine or yarn. We'll get a pic in the frame soon.

Don't know what the circle is in the pic but whatever. Still nothing on this wall, but there will possibly be shelves or some cool bright white dishes in random arrangement.

Lil man got a hold of the camera to give you a toddler's eye view of the room. Love that kid!

I really love it. I liked my fun color, but this will be so much easier to change decor with and looks much cleaner.

Ever had to repaint something within a week of completing it because it didn't work for you? It's quite the venture, but works out in the end if you are happy with it.

Guess I can cross redo the dining room from the 2012 home goals & goals! :)

Done... for the most part... unless....

I really hope you all had a great Easter. We certainly had a great time with our family and friends. Lil man got to spend time with his cousins playing and hunting eggs. He couldn't have been happier. The best moment (well, one of) when he woke up and asked to go to church with me. We went to the early service and I didn't think he would wake in time, but he woke at 7 (I needed to leave at 7:10-7:15). I hurried and washed him up, changed him and managed to make it to church at 7:33 (only 3 minutes late). On time would have been better, but when your toddler is begging to go to church with you, you don't pass that up!

It's the day after Easter and I must admit to being pretty doggone busy today. I had to visit a doctor whose office is insanely crazy, so my mom took the lil man for me while I went to the doctor. I told her I wanted to paint the trim in the dining room to see if we would like it and want to keep the paint. She said she would keep him for a while so I could get things done. That's what family's for and my mom's fantastic!
  
The morning started at 6:20 with a trip to Lowe's at 7 to get paint and grass seed- my hubby surprised me with a blessing (removing an old rusted broken basketball hoop) on Easter. Now the yard seems more open, however, we needed to fill in the hole so lil man didn't fall in. At 8 I started to paint the trim a color called Gypsy Teal from Lowe's Valspar collection. It is a very rich color and I love it. I'm not sure about it as a trim color for these walls, but I'll let it sit for a few days and see if it grows on me. It's kind of dark for what we have in there.

I ran to the doctor and to my mom's then to the pizza shop. It was 5:30 and I still needed to do touch up in the dining room. I was tired and I just wanted to be done with everything. At 7, I finished painting and cleaning up my mess. I was ecstatic to be finished with painting that dumb room. Yes, I'm reverting to 7 year-old Cheri who just was fed up with the whole thing. Hubby and I were talking and we're just not sure what we think of the room. So, I decided to find things in the house that we have (or recently purchased in the hopes it would work) to put up.

My curtains needed finished, so I hurried and finished them. We put up some pieces we found that work for now while we decide what to do. The fish tank wall still stumps me, but I may have found something to work and I have a project I'm working on this week that could work as well.

Here are the pics of what we have in the room as of now. Let me know what you think. It's all a little crazy. I'll let you know if we decide to keep it like this for more than a month. Although I kind of feel like maybe a neutral (nice sandy color or grey) would be better. My experimentation with bright colors may not last long, but only time will tell.

The view from the kitchen- Yes I need a new rug.

I love those curtains, hate the mini blinds and the chandelier is beginning to annoy- You'll see why soon.

She may have to go, but I'm not sure yet. This was a Burlingon Super Cheap Find. 

Shelves will be painted... some color and the plate at the top will come down to a new home in the room. Working on this.

View from the windows.

The trouble wall with the picture find from Marc's that I'm not sure about either, but it was really cheap. Right now, it's a place holder. The plant was an Easter gift to me.

Cheap finds for the dining room.

We have a huge blank wall... yeah, you know the main focus wall... It's empty (aside from the 75 gallon aquarium). I've been looking for things to go on it.

   I was going to make a large artwork on canvas and still may, but I'm not sure. I have a few other ideas that may work. I kind of would like a paint chip piece, a painted piece, a focal piece and some random objects. I'm funky like that. This one I love!

Image credit

Anyway, I was shopping at Marc's one day and got stuck in Aisle 1... you know, the junk aisle. I'm glad I did! I found this:

The kicker: It was $9.99. The dimensions are 36 x 36. Decent size, but not big enough. I'm off to find what else will work- Maybe make a mini wall art from paint chips. I'll let you see it all when it's put together... :)

Don't you love when you find deals like that?! We all know I do!

Dining room progress.... or lack thereof!

I haven't given up on the dining room yet. I just have to get my act together to get things on the walls and "git r done". Despite the fact I hate that saying, I just used it. The goal is to have a mostly complete dining room by the end of spring break. The only things I'm thinking that will not be complete will be the pieces of artwork on the big wall. I do have an idea for all of that though.

I've focused a lot on curtains and what color to paint the trim. I haven't decided on the paint color, but tomorrow hubby and I are going to Ace for the free quart of paint so decisions MUST be made.

My cousin works for a fabric shop, so I perused the website to find some cute fabrics. Here are some I found:

Hanging on the window... which to choose....

Don't forget the pretty white one!

A Dena Designs print... so many colors, so pretty, so easily dirtied by lil mans' hands.

Kind of cool.

How I love this Amy Butler print. So pretty.... So bright....

Another Dena Designs. Really calms the paint down.

So, those are what I've been looking at for a week. I think I've chosen. You'll find out soon enough!

A Good Surprise???

For the past few weeks, my husband has been talking about putting the TV up on the wall instead of using the TV stand we bought from Ikea a few years ago.  I must admit- I am not a fan of TVs on the wall. UGH! They are not very attractive hanging there. Of course, they're not attractive on a TV stand either, but at least there aren't exposed wires and such.

One night last week, my husband decided to call up a friend and rearrange the living room to mount the TV to the wall and open up the room. I'm all for opening up this room. It's a long skinny rectangle and can be hard to work with.

There was a large hideous nonworking fireplace in the room a few years ago. It was literally about 3.5 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 4.5 feet tall. It took up a LOT of the room. I really wanted to keep it and fix it up to work with it, especially if we could get it working. I called out some chimney guys and we found that there was no way to get it working without spending $1500. I'm not spending that much on something I'm not fond of. So, hubby and I knocked it out and put up shelves to change up the room. (I know, many of you are screaming, but really, if you had an ugly brick nonworking fireplace that took up 1/4 of the room, you would have made a similar decision (I think)).  Here it is after we finished it.

The fireplace took up where the TV and half the chest are in this picture. It was up to the bottom of the top picture.

This is the view of the room from the shelving.

 Anyway, as I was saying before I ventured through a time warp, hubby on a whim decided he wanted to change up the room. I'm all for change, just hate the fact that the TV is possibly going to be hanging on the wall. Yes, it makes sense and everyone's doing it, but I go against convention at times.

So, the guys came over and they started working... and they worked and worked and worked. I didn't think it would be so much work, honestly. I woke up at 1:30 to the sound of drills. Yes, 1:30 A.M. The house was a MESS (notice the capital, bold, italicized letters). I peeked down the stairs (as you see lil man doing in the pic above). I almost fell down them in shock at how big of a mess there was. Mind you, lil man was asleep upstairs. If he would have woke, I'd have been pretty doggone ticked. Yes, I get that way in the middle of the night when I'm woken up by noise only to find a mess everywhere.... (breathe, breathe)... I'm okay now...

I figured they were done. The TV was on the wall and surely all they need to do is clean up. Right? Imagine my surprise on Sunday morning when I wake up to a kid with a fever and a downstairs that looks like this: (Needless to say, I wasn't pleased and this wasn't a good surprise)

AHHHH! no place to sit and cuddle lil man!

Be careful walking on the open floor! Parts everywhere!

Oh boy!

Then to see it spill over to the dining room (which needs finished)!!!

Really????

 It was clearly a mess. However, I know it often takes making a mess to make something better and more organized -right? I mean, you can't organize a junk drawer with the stuff in it- or can you??? Not the the living room was a large junk drawer.

After a week of working off and on on the project (It's hard to get everything done in a day when you work full-time), this is what it looks like:

View from loveseat and old fireplace wall.

Removed some shelves (for under TV) and lowered these. View from entry/stairs

My favorite things: those awesome green chairs- more on those later.

This is a much better surprise to come down to. A nice, clean, organized living room.... Ahh....
As you can see in the pic above, there are still exposed wires we need to fix. Hubby's working on it. The majority of what we have in the room are things we had, found thrifted, were given or got a great deal on. I loved that we were able to reuse the shelves in other places. Now to just clean up a little of those wires and darker things. Maybe I could make a cool TV cover/artwork like Maria at John's Journal did with hers.

Image from John's Journal

Although, I'm not sure what would happen with that painting when the TV was on, which is every night. It might get to be a pain to remove and replace all the time. Still considering it though.

So, what are your thoughts- pleasantly surprised/none-to-pleased?  I'm curious! :) Leave a comment below. 

Oh! I do know it seems weird that I tagged this in 2012 goals, but we are getting organized through this project- Now to tackle that ugly Little Tikes toy box into something else.

A Work in Progress Part 2

As you know, I've been working away in my dining room and my 2012 goals... It's quite the project, but a fun one at that. Anyone who knows me that everything is always on a super tight budget. I thrift, garage sale, tag sale, coupon, have been known to check out what's on the curb, and taken hand-me-downs.  With this new color in the dining room, I was fearful that I wouldn't have ANYTHING to go with it and would have to go buy new stuff.

Enter shopping at home. Ever try this? I don't mean watching Home Shopping Network or QVC (anyone know what that stands for? I don't and am too lazy to look it up- even though I would have found it by the time I finish typing this run-on sentence) or shopping online. I mean going through all the stuff tucked away in the attic, basement, crawl space, wherever and seeing what you have.

I ventured down to the basement. Since we redid it in the summer (see this and this), it's pretty bare down there, so there wasn't much to choose from (insert frown). As I came up the steps from the basement, I saw the mess that is our cubby hole.

Anyone want to come clean this mess out? Me either.

In it were three wooden shadow boxes. Yes! I can use those. I may need to paint them in the future, but they work for now- just to get something up to see what my thoughts are with this paint.

I then grabbed the picture that inspired the room.  I love it. Don't know why, but I'm thankful for the winery that had this picture and was so willing to sell it to me- and the hubby who surprised me with it. I think I only drooled 2 hours over it, gazing longingly at it throughout the time with friends, old and new. 

 Last, as hubby was putting things up on this wonderful plaster walls that I cannot seem to work with. Yes, my confession, I'm not good with a drill to hang things on the wall. There's another confession in there that I'll write about one day when I can admit to the mistake I made. While working he lovingly asked if there was anything else I needed to hang. I said no. Ten minutes later, I said "Wait!" I needed to check the attic.

I dug around and dug around. I ended up finding "Sunflowers" by Monet hiding in the attic closet behind a big indoor inflatable jumper. I dug it out (and practically ended up buried in the plastic mess that is my son's favorite exercise activity). Hubby is not a fan of this painting. I will admit, I'm a little over it too, but it works. Once again, hubby got out the drill and measured, leveled then hung my picture.

The next day (tonight actually), while cooking dinner, I looked up to find a garage sale vase I bought in bright blue for 10 cents. I figured I'd give it a few days in court. So, it sits in there too.

I did find one other tray I want to hang on the wall in a pretty teal/green color. I just have to get the hanger thing to hang it. (I'm usually a picture girl, but I'm branching out).

There are still things to do in this room... Like, take care of the very large bare wall that is the focal point, choose a paint color for the trim and paint it. Why do I hate these spaces? I need new curtains and I may venture to get a new rug that my work better with the room.... but I could save this expense if I just love everything the way it is and if need be, repaint to a less "in your face"/daring color.  For the time being it stays, stains and all.

Yes curtains, but I want a loong storage bench here. We've looked everywhere. Thinking the comforter/drop cloth could be a dog bed in cute cloth while we figure out the bench idea.... The dogs like using it for a bed right now, but it sure could be cuter. I didn't put it away because I wanted them to sleep there instead of on the black chair that they constantly get dirty.

The barren wall.... the empty space between molding and baseboard is 10 1/2 ft x 8 ft. That's a lot of space to figure out what to do with. Maybe some cool stands on either side of the fish tank.... Gotta thrift for them...

The wall standing off to the side... with the chair rail and crown molding that needs painted... what color? who knows...

Overall, I now have a little to work with in this crazy bright room that I think I'm starting to love.

Linking up with The Nester's IDHTBPTBB party... Check out what others are doing/have done.  My computer is acting up so when you click the link, look for the party on Feb. 20. It doesn't have to be perfect- apparently neither does my computer... Praise God!

A Work in Progress...

Remember those 2012 goals I have? I do. I'm chipping away slowly but surely. I'm certain that some will not get done, however there is one big one I want to finish by the end of this year.... okay, most of the way... the dining room.

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to paint. I had to get somewhere with all the painting that needs done in the house. I don't want to spend the entire summer painting when I could be at the zoo, pool, amusement park, or anywhere else little man would like to go. I looked at the 2 prospects: hallway leading upstairs (lots of trim work) or the dining room (that I've been bothered by for 5 years). I chose.... the dining room!!!

I don't know what came over me. Maybe it's that I hadn't really slept much in 2 nights. Maybe it was the sense that I wanted to get something done over my 4 day weekend. I don't know. I just figured I needed something to show for my 4 days off and painting the dining room would have to be it.

I didn't have much idea what color I wanted. I had pinned a bunch of colors, but I chose none of them. I didn't even bother to review them prior to heading to the store. I simply grabbed the pic I loved from the winery (that hubby surprised me with) and went to the store to find a color to match. Therein lies the problem.

This picture is infused with lots of color goodness- greens, yellows, tans, browns, blacks. It's totally fun and I love it. While looking at the pic, I chose to go with this brilliant yellow-green color that is far more yellow than green, by the way.  This is a far cry from the mauve and tan I had going on. Mind you, I have decor that goes with mauve and tan... not vibrant yellow and green.

Why did I chose this color you ask... I just wanted to do something drastic and different. Boy is it ever! I was thinking, "Gosh, it would be fun to try to mesh modern with classic/vintage (the rest of the house)". I may have also lost my mind or just been overconfident.  Whatever it was, I chose the brightest of the 3 colors I was looking at. Should have gone with the more muted, but what's done is done and I'll be able to change it after spring break if it doesn't grow on me once I start piecing things in there.

So, I painted and painted for 5 hours in my dining room- while hubby cleaned the fish tank and lil man leaned against freshly painted walls, attempted to help daddy with emptying water from the tank only to get dirty tank water on the floor (not a lot, but some), and tried to help mom with the painting. All while saying how "purdy" everything looked. When he saw it finished, he told me it was like a school bus. Yep... although I feel more like I'm sitting in the middle of a lemon while the walls serenade me with "Good Day Sunshine". It's all good. It's paint. It's not terribly expensive and can very easily be changed... with a lot of time and effort!

Before painting- after spackling, removing art, curtains, and decor and starting the taping process.

Before- entry to living room.

Before- opposite side toward living room.

small wall... maybe plate wall???? If I can find some I like

middle of the night... the transformation

Holy brightness Batman!!! Yes, I know... the rug doesn't go now... UGH!

New glimpse into the entry from living room....

Natural lighting in the morning. So need to paint that molding...

Looks almost white here....

So, it isn't beautiful or perfect yet. It won't be for a while and I'm okay with that. Those with SAD, feel free to stop in for a dose of vitamin D from my walls!

I'm thinking I may like it once I paint the molding and chair rail. See those spots on the chair rail? Why would I bother taping off when I know I have to paint them because of all the old paint on there- some of it a glaze.  I'm only painting the molding near the ceiling and the chair rail. I refuse to paint the beautiful oak baseboards and door jambs. REFUSE despite how many people tell me white would be gorgeous. I know it would, but with 2 dogs and a 2 year-old, I'd be cleaning and painting constantly. No thank you. I'm too lazy for that!

Now, I'm sitting here, looking at the old decor wondering what to do with it as it really fits no where right now and what in the heck I'm going to do to try to make this work (teal??? aqua??? plum?? fuschia???). Really, I don't care at this juncture. I'm gonna let it grow on me over the next 6 weeks. If it doesn't, you know what I'll be doing over spring break!