DIY Cooking at Home

For those of you who care...I've been featured! My ruffled lampshade made it to Under the Table and Dreaming's featured list of Sunday Showcase projects and I couldn't be more excited. Here's hoping there's more to come.

Well, I'm rested up after a couple of weeks of birthday planning and celebrating and now I'm ready to get goin' with some more projects! This weekend, my obliging husband hung our long-awaiting mirror and shelf in the entryway. I'm psyched about it! I'm working on a post about that, as well as one on Liv's birthday party, and one on my Pinterest picks for Easter. But in the meantime, here's something I stumbled on when looking for spring-y projects. I'm struggling with finding artwork I like for the family room, and since I do have a penchant for DIY art, this project from The Single Nester caught my eye. Simple but chic, no?

Hey out there! This post is a day late due to the fact that I spent all day yesterday painting our foyer and living room. I'm soooo glad to have that finished! Today, I completed another onerous task: our taxes. Now that I have those two things done, I thought I'd get back to blogging. Speaking of onerous tasks, maybe you have a junk drawer or craft spot that needs organized? Here's a little idea from the Ivy Cottage to help you with that job. What a great way to reuse glass jars!

Unique paintings and original, artist-signed prints sure are nice but who can afford them? But on the other hand, it's kind of a bummer to buy inexpensive wall art at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Ikea because chances are, you'll see what's on your wall on someone else's, or in a catalog, or just about every time you go into a store. I figure that if you like something enough to give it a place of prominence in your home, you certainly don't want to get sick of it in a few months because you see it everwhere. That's why I'm a huge fan of DIY art. It's original, personal, customized for your home, and...needless to say, inexpensive. I've got several DIY art pieces around our home with plans to include a lot more. Below are some ideas from around the web...prepare to be inspired! One of my all-time favorite things to put on the wall are plates. Next up are framed objects and the possibilities are endless here. Baby clothes, vintage toys, sewi

Woo-hoo! I love this recipe concocted from a basic plan I found in Parents magazine and my own additions. It's easy, healthy, can be made-ahead (Todd, are you reading this?) and tastes like takeout. It's a trifecta perfecta! Here are the star ingredients: And here's the recipe: Heat 2 T. peanut oil in a large skillet and add 3 – 4 c. cooked brown rice that’s been chilled a few hours. (I make the rice the night before, cover and put in the fridge.) Once the rice begins to brown, add 1 c. chopped cooked chicken (I like to poach several chicken breasts at once, wrap individually and freeze for recipes like this and 1 c. frozen peas. Stir in 2 T. light soy sauce and 1 T. dark sesame oil. (I have also added some chopped green onion at this stage, too, but you don't have to. It's good either way.) While this mixture is heating through, whisk one egg then add to the skillet, stirring constantly so that the little scrambled bits get incorporated. Fortune cookies opti

For those of you who read this blog regularly (all 3 of you), I thought I'd update you on the status of our projects around here. Things tend to move at a snail's pace because of that little job of raising a family, but we have made a few baby steps in the name of progress. Here's an updated list of half-done stuff: I've got 4 1 (yes, 4 1!) lamp s that I'm trying to refab...I bought one for our console table, made one into a vase, and put a ruffled lampshade on another. I'm still afraid to plug in the fourth. Read the sad story here . Our entryway still needs the rest of its base molding, a new closet door, paint, a new light fixture...and I've got a mirror in the basement that's crying out to be hung, but why do that until I've painted? I've started painting painted the cabinetry in our upstairs bathroom but haven't finished. now I just have to rehang the doors and find hardware I like for the wall cabinet. I've got paint chips

I've been seeing these jute-wrapped initials lately on Pinterest and such, and just think they seem so simple and chic. Here are some of my favorites: This one is made into a door hanging by Embellished Living on Etsy. From Style Me Pretty... Teal and Lime only wrapped the middle and painted the rest. And finally, if you need a tutorial, Two-Twenty-One offers one here . Here's her "N." Obviously, you'll wrap differently based on which letter you're doing, but anyway...it's a cute idea, no?

If you need a project this weekend, but the creativity well has run dry, pop over to Domestically Speaking for her Power of Paint Party! Get inspired!

Was in World Market the other day, and wow, do they have some cute furniture right now. Like this Cute as Button tufted loveseat that's exactly that. Not too spendy, either...just $449. Sorry for the graininess on this one...a great console table for $229. And this great accent table. LOVE it! And then popped into Wal-Mart for some odds and ends. I always browse their housewares 'cause ya just never know, and I found a couple of wallet-friendly items. They've got a Better Homes and Gardens collection which is pretty good, too...just FYI. Love these Liberty-of-London-esque candles at $5 each! I don't think I've ever seen a subway art inspired piece as cheap. Can't beat it! And finally, a lampshade that would tres chic on a mercury glass base, in my humble opinion. It's a rainy, gray day. I think I might just take a nap. Have a great weekend, everyone!

I am no decorator. I fuss over the tiniest decisions and second-guess any instinct I may have. I'm feeling my way through this whole decorating-a-house-thing, making mistakes, tweaking a ton, and probably ending up with an amateur-looking space in the end, but I figure that as long as it makes this house feel like OUR home, then it will be fine. That said, those of you who know me well probably feel I'm the LAST person to give advice about picking out colors for your home. To say I have trouble making a decision might be a bit of an understatement. I usually have paint chips taped up in a room for a good long while (okay, months), and I ask everyone who walks in the door what they think of the options. But this last round of paint selection taught me a thing or two, so I thought I'd pass along the tidbits, for what they're worth. Buy the sample pots if you can invest in them! Our local Ace Hardware had Benjamin Moore samples on sale for a buck, so I grabbed seve

Hey there, fellow moms and DIYers, hope you had a great weekend! I haven't posted in awhile because my mom came up for a visit last week and we spent time with the kids, re-painted our family room and sewed curtains for our sliding glass doors. I'll share an updated project list with you and pictures of the room later, but for now I wanted to share a Copycat Craft with you. It's also the first time I've taken part in Under the Table and Dreaming's Sunday Showcase Party , as well as Skip to My Lou's Made By You Monday , so follow the buttons at the bottom of this post for more great ideas. Winder and Main's ruffled lampshade seemed like the perfect way to update our ugly floor lamp, so I went for it using her instructions . Here's her version: And here's a before picture of our floorlamp: And a couple of afters with a coat of Rustoleum's hammered bronze spray paint and the new shade: Nap Rating = 3 naps (but this depends on a lot of things lik