Keep Calm and...Fill a Blank Wall Without Paint!

Today I was feeling quite exasperated with out laundry room. We have tried painting it more than once, but the paint always peels. Apparently we would have to sand the walls and then paint so many coats of various paints on the walls just to make one coat stick. I give up. You hear me? I give up! Or do I...

Here's the wall. Think what you will. Yeah, I know...it's gross. It's not even white anymore, it's that horrific off white that looks like yellow or dirty white or etc.

Here it is completed. I know, it's still not paint, but the bulletin board added free flair and color to the room that it lacked before. I promise I'll paint this summer if everything else in my life doesn't get in the way. Okay? Happy?

Also, slightly off topic. On the other side of the room there was a lot of blank wall too. I found a lot of our old Texas license plates and think they're charming. If anything, they take your eyes off the walls. TTFN!

Read More

Keep Calm and...Throw a Budget Friendly Wedding Shower!

The wedding shower. The party that everyone remembers. So why did I decide to give one when I had a choice? Well... About a month ago, I decided that I should give a wedding shower for my church's youth director. It was the least I could do for a guy who has done countless things for my church. I mean Pinterest makes party planning seem really easy right? Wrong. I found myself a little over my head. Who wants to spend $100 on just cake? Not me. So, here are my tips on really giving a low budget wedding shower that is not unmanageable.

Here's the finished dessert table. We were in the church fellowship hall, so it's not stunning, but it did it's job! The shower also included a main dinner, but that was in the kitchen. Everyone just wants to see the desserts right?

On a second table, I had all the gifts. If you can see the sign, it's an old whiteboard covered in tissue paper. I bordered it with dollar store ribbon, and then printed off all of their photos together in black and white to give it a more formal look. This was one of the party favorites and it cost 2$ max! Yay!

Here's some of the food. I just had pretzels and nuts out, nothing special there, but they provide easy, cheap snacks.

I used an old chalkboard and ribbon to create the Wedding Countdown! The couple had no idea how soon the wedding was! This served as a cute reminder and decoration. 2 for 1? Yay again! Oh and can you tell purple was her favorite color?

Here's a far away view of the dessert table. The tissue paper flowers I made on my own! You can get a tutorial here, but I just used scissors to cut the edges of the tissue paper and spare wire from around the house.

The little white cookies on the silver platter are known as Mexican Wedding Cookies, so they fit the occasion perfectly. I don't want to post too much about these cookies because I'll be posting a recipe soon, hint hint! All I can say is they are light and fluffy and oh so good!

I made mini vanilla cupcakes with purple frosting and sprinkles. They were just from a regular ol' cake mix, but I had quite a few people ask for my recipe. We forget about the cake aisle sometimes don't we?

Sam's Club has AMAZING hershey brownies in a big box of four, and at this shower, we needed every box. I just popped the mix into the oven for around 20 and sprinkled purple sprinkles onto to make them seem somewhat elegant. Bam, easy dessert done.

For a cheap yet pretty dessert, dip pretzels in chocolate. I dyed some of the chocolate lavender, but it wasn't working too well. The chocolate got too thick. If you leave the chocolate white and just add color sprinkles, the pretzels still look really tasty. Everyone at the party was excited about the sprinkles! Ah, childhood memory lane...

For the base of this giant marshmallow stand, I used floral foam from Walmart (it cost around $5) and wrapped it in tissue paper and tied it off with extra ribbon. I put marshmallows on lollipop sticks (You can get them at Michaels or any craft store!), then dipped them into store bought block chocolate. I stuck them into the floral foam and sprinkled them before the chocolate cooled. I actually didn't have many drips, and it took around 10 minutes to make all 4 blocks.

Well, good luck and may God bless you if you are planning something to this extent. I hope I provided some somewhat useful ideas for you!

Read More

Keep Calm and... Make a Birthday Card out of Candy!

Last week was my good friend Ceci's birthday. Let's just say I was so busy excited, that I completely forgot to get her a meaningful birthday gift. You're probably thinking this is some sad tale about how I lost a friend. Let me tell you it's not. Here is my last minute birthday card that gives her well wishes with candy and became the party gift of the century. 

 My brother kindly hauled me to Dollar Tree, where I spent 8 dollars buying the following candy: 100 grande bar, sprees, Slo Poke, Crunch, Good and Plenty, Chunky, Butterfinger, and Hot Tamales. I already had the Sweet Pea and Carried Away Bath and Body Works Soaps at home!

I taped all the things onto a white posterboard to create the following message:

Dear Sweet Pea, I wanted to give you 100 Grande, but my mom told me not to get Carried Away and go on a spending Spree. I was a Slo Poke, so it came down to Crunch time to get your present. So, I wish you Good and Plenty, and remember, don't let fun times slip through your Butterfinger. Don't get Chunky eating all this! Love, your Hot Tamles.

Well, I had fun making this. I hope one of you can amend this to create the perfect gift!

Read More

Keep Calm and... Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Well, since I finally did the hard work and created my blog, I deserve something special right? At least, that's what I thought around lunch time when we had "nothing to eat," anywhere in the house. Therefore, I made a batch of Oatmeal and Oatmeal/ Chocolate Chip Cookies. Make that gooey, warm, chocolaty, and healthy oatmeal cookies. Salivating yet? I sure am. Here's the recipe.


First, mix 1 cup of shortening, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of packed brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.


Then, add 2 eggs, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1 tsp of salt.


Finally, mix in 3 cups of Oats, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and one tsp of baking soda. Chocolate chips are optional (I did half and half!)


Here's how they should look when you roll them into balls in the bowl. (Or you can drop them from a spoon, either way works!)

Put the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet!

and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Once done, let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes or...

eat them warm and gooey, straight from the oven. Enjoy!

Read More

Keep Calm... and Start a Blog

       Hello everybody and welcome to my blog that I finally started today! Here are a few things you need to know about me: I am absolutely obsessed with cooking (I cook just about anything) I love decorating a room and then redecorating it. My house is an ongoing trial of decorations. Christmas is my favorite holiday (As you can see in my about me, I have a tree up all year round. No worries, it's silver and changes with the seasons.) Since I have time this summer, I decided it was about time to share my adventures in finally cooking things I pinned on Pinterest and attempting DIY crafts that usually fail provide a wonderful learning experience. I hope you enjoy life as I see it from South Texas.

Read More