Monday, January 14, 2013

Finally in Oak Island, NC....after all these months of waiting!

Just wanted to update everyone on the situation. As of Friday, January 11th, we are officially at the beach! The unfortunate thing is that until April 30th (or later) we are going to be in a rental. There is good news though, the good news is that I can see the ocean from our front porch and it is so close to walk to it with the dogs!

On Saturday this weekend, I got up the courage to ride my brand new bike Jeremy got me for Christmas. It is a beach cruiser bike and the grocery store on the island is 2.7 miles away. Now, when Jeremy bought the bike for me, he also gave me baskets to put on it, so in case I wanted to go grocery shopping and just ride my bike...I could do so! I thought I would make it a little ways and then turn around because I was too tired to continue, but luckily I was wrong! I made it all the way to the store, got my groceries, and came back for a total bike ride of 5.4 miles! I was very proud of myself for that little achievement and I hope to do it as often as I can. 

Having all four of our dogs in a rental is a hard thing to do sometimes. Right now Bear and Saghani call the GIANT garage their home. We made it into their own doggie bedroom type thing. They have their food and water of course, a large padded mattress thingy with blankets to sleep on, tons of toys to play with, and short walks with us for bathroom runs! At the moment we are unable to take them to the beach because we are getting the prepped and ready for being calm and low active. Bear tore his cruciate ligament in one of his hind legs and he is going to be having surgery very soon for that. Saghani is also going to be having a little medical treatments of her own where she will need to be as inactive as possible for a little while...and if you know Saghani...you know that is going to be HARD!!

Arya and Quorra have been getting better at not barking at people when we are walking on the beach. We have been taking them once earlier in the day and then again around sunset time for beach walks, and they are having a ball. Yesterday they were so happy running around and playing with each other me and Jeremy were having a laughing fit just watching them chase each other around.

On a fun little side note, yesterday when we were walking on the beach Jeremy looked down and saw a crab walking toward us...and it was so adorable, he took a photo of it and put it on Facebook and it got lots of comments already. I am sure lots of things like that will start happening to us! 

Well, I guess that is all for a little update until I am able to start taking some pictures for you all and doing whatever sounds fun! Talk to you soon!

Have A Magical Day!!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Guest Room 95% Complete!

Hi everyone! I hope you all are doing well this Thursday morning! I just got finished putting something up on Craig's List and taking some photos of the Small Guest Room. We got the Carpet in!! Yay! The only thing I am waiting on is for the pillows for the bed to arrive via the mail and then maybe a few other accessories and it will be COMPLETE! I know, it feels like it has taken forever to get this done, but I am not ready to move onto another room for the time being! But I am going to give you some shots of the Guest Room!

BEFORE

This is what the room looked like before we did anything to it! I wanted to give you a sneak peek of the before shot so you will  know just how much work it entailed! Blue walls, leftover border paper/glue that was a nightmare!! Old ugly dusty dealing fan, and the most hideous stained blue carpet you have ever seen! I am not going to reveal the entire room just yet, I want it to be perfect before I do but here are some teaser photos for you to look at until then!!

Auction lantern, antique market dish, grandmother's shell necklaces!

Auction Dresser Repaint!

Goodwill Bookshelf and Frames, Antique Store Finds

DIY Inspiration Board

The pillows should be in the mail soon, I ordered them on the 25th! I already have the sheet set for the bed, so it just needs to be washed and ironed before I put it on there, The desk needs to be accessorized and a few more things need to be hung on the wall, but it is definitely almost there and now I can start on our master bedroom! 

We already picked out the wall color, we are selling our bed/mattress and getting a new mattress set, we are moving up to king from queen! YAY!! I am going to be making a DIY headboard, and a few other things for the master bedroom but you will have to stay tuned for all of that when it happens!! I guess I should take some before shots of that room, well here I go!!

Have A Magical Day!!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

DIY Repaint of $10 Auction Dresser

Lovely Tuesday morning to you all!! Sorry I have been MIA for a few days we have been pretty busy lately. Saturday afternoon we went to an auction down the street and bought a TON of stuff, I believe it was 25 items total, but we got some amazing deals and I am happy to report that I have already started making them over! In the guest bedroom, I needed a small set of drawers for guests to put their clothing in when they stay over. I didn't need nor want anything large so I was hoping that they would have something small at the auction. Well, they did, and I managed to get it for only $10. All it needed was a good cleaning and coat of paint or two...or 5...LOL So I dove in and got it! Here is what it looked like before...


A little ugly right?? Yeah, so I already had two colors of paint that I thought I could possibly use on it. The one called Beryl from my toy box makeover, and the Sea Glass color from the bookshelf repaint. I looked on the internet to see if I could get some inspiration for a paint job and I saw a really cool gradient paint job on a chest of drawers and I thought it looked pretty cool, so I decided to do that. Yesterday after we picked up a brand new mattress for the bed ($55 from craig's list still wrapped in plastic!) I headed over to Home Depot to pick out 3 other paint colors. I ended up choosing a color called Gull (Off-White) for the dresser itself, and the two other colors for the bottom two drawer fronts Hummingbird Blue and Araucana Teal, all from the Martha Stewart Paint Line by Glidden I believe. So anyway, when I got home I got right to painting and cleaning and before I knew it, I was finished and had a lovely new dresser for the middle bedroom! So what do you think??


I couldn't be happier with it, considering it didn't cost me that much to fix it up..or buy it for that matter! Now I guess I just need to accessorize it and maybe add some liner paper or drawer sachets? Moving on, we also managed to sell our IKEA sideboard yesterday from our dining room. It was really not practical to have it, besides I purchased another piece of furniture that could go in it's place for the time being...all it was doing was holding our board games, and they all didn't even fit in it. I was going to work on the den as my next project but I think I have shifted gears a little bit and am now maybe going to start on the bedroom? I have a really good idea of what I want to do in there, and the only problem is going to be paying for a brand new mattress! EEEK!! 

Have A Magical Day!!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Organized Closet, Guest Room 90% Complete!

Good morning, good morning you guys!! It is a lovely Saturday morning, well for 30 more minutes anyway, then it will be afternoon. Today we are going to an auction just down the street from my house! I have seen some of the pictures of things up for auction online and saw a few things that I think will go well in the den and breakfast room in the new house! I guess we will see if I actually come home with anything or not later on. 

Without having to buy anything I was able to organize the craft closet which I was very happy about. I don't really want to buy anything because I am not sure how the closets are going to be in the new house and I didn't want to buy things for this house only to find out that they wouldn't fit in the closet at the new house! Sorry, I think I am rambling a little bit, but you get the picture! So I was going to show you some before and after photos of the closet! Before it was blue and full of junk, so I took the junk out, moved it where it needed to go and assembled all of the craft supplies from all of the rooms around the house! It is so nice having a place for something, now I know when I need a pair of scissors exactly where they are supposed to be, the only problem might be putting them back when we are done...

Before

After: Nice and Organized!

With the sheets and pillowcases coming in the mail today there are only 2 other things that need to be done for this room to be completed!!! We have to buy the mattress for the bed, and change the carpet! I am so proud of what has been accomplished in here and I can't wait to move onto the next room the den! Soon I will take some photos so you can see the completed room! It took a little bit of hard work (not much) to change this room from the junk room it was before to a usable space with a guest bed, bookshelf, desk with computer, craft closet and ROOM to walk ;) 

I'm sure I will add some more little touches on the way, I always find things that speak to me, like I think it would be nice to add a little welcome tray to the bed, with maybe a little dish for chocolates or something sweet for a guest! This room gets me excited for the time when we get to go house shopping! I have already been sneaking peeks at all of the houses on the market in our new town and I absolutely cannot wait to go and see some of them...darn waiting..it is killing me!!

Have A Magical Day!!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Chicken-and-White Bean Chili with Pumpkin!

Another good morning to you all out there, I have another busy day ahead of me, the closet is finally finished being painted and now I can start organizing all of the craft items! I think this is going to be the hardest part of all of this, so hopefully it won't be too hard of a task. I have been trying to get ideas for a craft closet on Pinterest. I have seen a few things that I like but mostly they won't really help me since this closet isn't permanent, since we are moving in the near future. I am sure it will all work out though. 

So, it is that time of year when pumpkins are showing up in all of the stores and the weather is getting a little cooler. It is my absolute favorite time of year.  The weather is always perfect, blue skies, beautiful trees, breeze, just everything about Fall is wonderful! With that in mind, last night I made a really great dish. I was so impressed with how good the recipe was that I thought I would share it with you all here! It may inspire you to make your own during this wonderful season! 

Chicken-and-White Bean Chili with Pumpkin
Coastal Living Magazine October Issue

Packed with flavor, this recipe can easily be adapted for vegetarians. Simply exchange vegetable broth for chicken and omit the cubed chicken and stir in more beans!

Prep: 25 minutes  Cook: 32 minutes

2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups peeled and cubed pumpkin, calabaza, or butternut squash
2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (15.5 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Garnishes: sour cream, sliced jalapeños, chopped fresh cilantro

1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Combine chicken and 1 Tbsp spice mixture in a medium bowl, and toss to coat. Set aside remaining spice mixture.

2. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat; add chicken and cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Transfer to a plate.

3. Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño to soup pot; cook over medium heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Stir in garlic and reserved spice mixture; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.

4. Add pumpkin and next 5 ingredients to soup pot. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 25 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Return chicken to pot; simmer 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice. Garnish, if desired. Will keep, covered in refrigerator, up to 3 days. Makes 9 cups.

I hope you take the time to try out this recipe, it was fabulous and I will definitely make it again! For now Mr. C has the leftovers to take to work for lunch, and I will get back to craft organization!

Have A Magical Day!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Who Doesn't Take Debit Cards??

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great day, mine was a little busy and lazy at the same time. This morning my dogs woke me up at 5:45 barking, they were still on the bed and barking at the hallway? They are weird. I got up and painted a bit more of the closet and it is almost finished now, but a tad left to do and then I can start putting things back inside of it! 

We went to Home Depot this afternoon and got some little storage containers for my cross-stitch thread...I have TONS of it. We also had to stop by Hobby Lobby to get some Plastic Floss Bobbins so I can organize them all by color and number so they are easier to find because at the moment they are in a giant plastic bag! I would never be able to find which one I needed if they stayed in there. 

You wanna know something funny, I keep finding things that I didn't even know I had, and I somehow keep wasting money on things that I thought I needed but it turns out I have surplus of at the house. We are so disorganized it is ridiculous, so I am really hoping to change that. The main problem that we have in our house right now is lack of furniture and organizational things, like bins, boxes, etc. I hope that when we move into our new home everything will have it's place and it will stay there so I can find it when I need it! It is nice to have the time to go through an entire house and organize it before you move o that when you get there it should be fairly simple to get everything where it needs to go. 

On the guest room checklist here are the things that still need to be done before I can start working on the den.

Carpet
Finish Painting Closet
Organize Craft Closet
Purchase Mattress/Bed Linens/Pillows for Bed

That is all!! I am so happy that I am making really good progress on this room. I bet tomorrow we will make a trip to Staples and IKEA to get the things to finish it off! Mr. C is off work tomorrow and so I know I will have some help from him on this project. I have decided that I want everything labeled and I have picked out some really cool Martha Stewart Home Office ones made by Avery from Staples that I think will be perfect for what I am doing. The other thing we need to get are some storage boxes from IKEA, they are really inexpensive but perfect for craft closet storage. Who knows we may even go ahead and get a mattress tomorrow. 

We are really excited to get started on the den, right now it is an office and so we have already been scouring Craig's List for new pieces to put in there. So I guess for now, I am going to get back to putting floss on bobbins and then maybe watch the Dodger game...

Have A Magical Day!

Monday, September 17, 2012

DIY Driftwood Lamp with Jute Shade

Happy Monday morning my friends! It is another rainy one here, so another great day to work inside on some projects! This guest room is really starting to come together and there are only a few other things I need to do to finish it! Last night I started painting the closet, I made it about halfway through and my mom and dad stopped by, she had done a Walmart run and picked me up some glue sticks for my glue gun so I could finish my lamp! Needless to say the closet got put on the back burner until the lamp was done. I really need to have one project at a time on my focus or none of them will get done. With that said, I can finally tell you about our lamp!

I knew I needed a lamp for this room and I have seen plenty, all of them are either boring or really expensive!! I was on some design website the other day looking for ideas and I came across a driftwood lamp. Now, Mr. C and I both REALLY loved them. Only one problem...they ranged in price from $150 to over $1000 EEEK!!! Needless to say I wasn't going to be buying one anytime soon. So when we were at the Antique Mall the other day, they had driftwood for sale. We found a piece that we both liked and that looked like it would be ok for a lamp and got it! Next we went to Home Depot and got a lamp kit that only cost $10.97 I think. I needed a plain lamp shade that I could decorate, so the next stop was Walmart and I found one that would work for $14.97. Last stop was Hobby Lobby, I was going to make a Sisal Shade, but when I got to HL they had Jute which was darker and was going to work with my wood much better so I got that instead. So here is how the cost is summed up!

Driftwood $15.00
Lamp Kit $10.97
Shade $14.97
Jute $4.99

Total Cost for the Lamp: $45.93

Which is good because I have leftover Jute that I can use for another project. I already had a CFL bulb, and lots of random shells I added to it as well! So here it is, finished in all of it's glory!



I think I have become some sort of DIYaholic, I am really having a lot of fun making all of these things. I also gets tons of really great inspiration from Pinterest. I had no idea there were so many good ideas on there! Sometime this week I am expecting a book about Beach House Design, I am hoping that will give me some new creative things to do as I finish up this room and start working on the den! 

I guess for now I am going to get back to the closet, it is staring at me screaming, "Paint me, Paint me!" I am going to give it and do it. After that, organizing the craft stuff, now that is a bug challenge that I hope I am ready for. I have everything from Soap Making supplies to cross-stitch projects. I am in for a treat of a rainy Monday!

Have A Magical Day!