a little boy's nursery...

I started with a jungle theme in our little guy's future bedroom- but now I'm throwing in a travel theme. Lots of map ideas floating around in my head...


-I love the map split in 3. Might try that.

-I want to find a map of Africa and put little silhouettes of giraffes, elephants and lions on it...

-The TRAVEL letters to instead say JUNGLE and do the letters using a map of Africa.

-I got a vintage looking globe, which I spent too much money on, but I love it. Hoping to add lights to that somehow and make it into a nightlight.

-The black and white pictures in black frames shaped in a heart over his crib. Using the 'E' button picture (doing his first initial instead) and using that as the middle and surrounding with ultrasound pictures, some pictures of mommy and daddy, and maybe mommy and daddy's handprints.

-If I could find some colorful vintage suitcases that would be awesome! love that for a side table.

-Hoping to find some postage stamp fabric to use for a lampshade and/or pillows or bench cushion.

Maybe I'll get around to a registry now that I have some sort of idea and theme to work with.  And maybe I'll figure out a way to incorporate my hubby's obsession with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger into the room. ;)

Decorating Pet Peeves!

There is only one reason why these decorating pet peeves are at the forefront of my brain. Dreaming of that future house.

I feel I should forewarn. These aren't recent pet peeves, these have been very permanently in my brain for most of my decorating experience and they are so common they are not going to change any time soon. I also apologize if you suddenly start noticing them everywhere and it starts bugging you as well.

So, Dreaming of that future house. We have an offer on a house. It's been on the market over a year. Only one other offer has been made on the house, which we heard was about a year ago and the couple decided that they didn't want to wait the 90 days to see if the bank approved it. Did I mention it's a short sale?? Our realtor warned us that it would be a really long wait. She's not kidding. We are over 30 days in and nothing. But our hopes are high. Even if we don't get it there are plenty of other deals out there.

In all of this, I dream of some changes that can be done to the house. Built 6 years ago there is little you would expect that needs changed. This would be true if I weren't such a decorator.

Who thought every house needed Oak stain? Oak flooring? Oak everything? What happened to Walnut? Or my personal favorite Espresso. Everything should be Espresso. The darker, the snazzier. Just sayin'.
Our hopeful house is all OAK!!! Ok, so it's not all oak, just all the wood or wannabe wood. but re-staining everything to at least Walnut is going to be a nightmare. I wonder if the hubby would let me paint the kitchen cabinets. 

thanks Rejuvenation!

Ok, so pet peeves.
1. Lights. I can't stand when people spend hundreds of dollars on chandeliers, pendants, fans, etc. and you can see they got the 4 pack of $2 light bulbs at Wal-mart. Is there no way to hide the lightbulbs? Lightbulbs should enjoyed but not seen. ever. unless they look like this.
Even these don't work everywhere. Use discretion!

Home Depot

2. Electrical outlets. If you are redoing a kitchen or having a snazzy kitchen being built with your dream home, don't buy the .25 cent wall outlets and covers from Lowe's or Home Depot. PLEASE! Buy the nice ones that can be well camouflaged by your backsplash. Not so camouflaged that you can't find them but so that i don't immediately count them all when I walk into your kitchen. Or bath- this applies to bathrooms too! 

Lowe's

I understand they are more expensive-- but 2 in the bathroom next to the counter? Worth it.

Banana Bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest and am borrowing it from A cup of Jo. (And I suppose you can skip the bourbon - if you so desire.) 

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (from about 3 bananas)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8x4-inch or 9x5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 

Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Stop the mixer, scrape down sides of the bowl, and add bananas, lemon juice and bourbon. Beat until well incorporated. 

Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture all at once. Beat until almost incorporated. Stop the mixer and remove the bowl. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips and incorporate the last of the ingredients with a spatula. 

Batter will be thick. Spoon the mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven and allow loaf to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Serve with milky coffee and enjoy!

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

These are so good! Not overly sweet except maybe the topping and I would dare to say they would be just as good with wheat flour.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup raisins

TOPPING:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine the egg, pumpkin, milk and oil; add to the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in oats and raisins.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and pie spice; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle 1 rounded teaspoonful over each muffin. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yields: 1 dozen.

bookshelf: before and after

This is my before picture for the bookshelf. After several weeks of paint last fall and some trial and error, it was finally "finished".
To me it could stand a lot of improvement but for a $10 bookshelf and and $6 worth of paint it was just gonna have to work.
Plus my sister and I were getting tired of carrying it in and out all the time.






There was a slight change with the back board color. Found out that spray paint was my friend and the excess spray could be easily covered with white paint.

It also swapped sides with the other bookshelf on the other end of the couch. (the other bookshelf needs a new makeover but I am slightly less motivated to work on it at the moment.)

This is the top of the other bookshelf. I love how the shades of blue really seem to work together!

Zuppa Toscana Soup (from Olive Garden)

1 lb. spicy* Italian sausage – crumbled 

1/2 lb. smoked bacon – chopped

1 qt. water 

(2) 14.5 oz. cans (about 3 2/3 cups) chicken broth  

2 lg. russet potatoes – scrubbed clean, cubed 

2 garlic cloves – peeled, crushed 

1 med. onion – peeled, chopped 

2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard

1 cup heavy whipping cream

 salt and pepper – to taste

Place broth, water, garlic, potatoes, and onion in a pot.

Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

Brown sausage in a pan over medium to medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.

Drain sausage and set to the side.

Brown bacon in a pan over medium-high heat. Be careful not to cook over crispy.

Drain bacon and set to the side.

Add sausage and bacon to the soup.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add kale and cream to pot.

Season with salt and pepper.

Simmer for 2 minutes.

*Can be substituted with mild Italian sausage for subtle flavor.

Stamp of Approval Spaghetti Sauce

I cut this recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine recently. It looked so good-- which to me is a good enough reason to cut everything out of magazines. I didn't have some of the ingredients like Worcestershire sauce or dried marjoram, but I figured that it would taste fine without. I halved this recipe also since I wasn't going to be serving 12. (I didn't half the seasonings though- gotta love flavor!)

2 pounds ground beef

3/4 pound bulk Italian sausage

4 medium onions, finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained (I put these in the blender for 5 seconds before adding to the sauce)

4 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup minced fresh or dried parsley 

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Hot cooked spaghetti

(1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp of dried marjoram.)

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, sausage, onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain.

Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, oil and seasonings. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Discard bay leaves. Serve with spaghetti. Yield: 12 servings (3 quarts).