Halloween Infestation

A little more house history...When we bought our house, everything was wood. The family room and kitchen had panelling all over. There were original yellow oak hardwoods throughout the entire house, and every piece of moulding was also shiny yellow oak. Most of the floors were in great condition, but the color was not my favorite. And then there was the staircase:

Here's another view with even more wood around the front door:

I loved that the treads were in good condition, and I know there are people out there who would think it was all beautiful, but it was just too much wood. So after a couple months of living with it, I set out on painting the risers, spindles, and trim white. This involved a painstaking hole filling and taping process:



Then I sanded, primed, and painted about 4 coats of semi-gloss white. It took forever and my back and hands were cramped for what felt like weeks. I love the way it turned out, but it was a painful process.


Then I saw this photo while checking out some blogs:

(Thifty Decor Chick)

I knew I just had to add those adorable mice to my stairs - they would really pop against the white. Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick got her paper mice from Michaels, but I downloaded the template from Martha Stewart, printed it on some card stock, cut them out and traced them onto some black construction paper. To preserve the paint, I used some masking tape to stick them on. Here is the finished product:

(in addition to painting all the trim, we also had the floors refinished, so no more yellow oak!)

(You can see a bit of the "spooky fabric" I have hanging over the railing, perhaps I will get a chance to do a post showing my Halloween entrance way and fall decorations outside.)

Verdict: Although it was time consuming to trace and cut out these little mice, it was mindless and worth the effort. If I had more energy, I would probably dress up the stairs a bit more like Sarah, but I am afraid I might trip (I am a bit clumsy these days).

Because of the time it took to cut them out, I am hoping to save them and use them again next year, but one or two might just make a reappearance around Christmas time - just like Sarah who made them into adorable Christmas Mice!:

(Thifty Decor Chick)

Diet Coke Cake

In just under a week and a half of posting, we've just hit 100 pageviews! Thank you for stopping by and helping us grow! Maybe by Thanksgiving we'll be up to 500 views.

Today I decided to try making Diet Coke Cake. The original pin I found on pinterest came from food.com and looked like this:

What's great about this recipe is that it's so simple and it isn't too bad for your waist line. All you do is mix a box of chocolate cake and a can of diet coke. I used Betty Crocker's Chocolate Fudge cake. 

The batter seemed much thinner then normal cake batter and it made me concerned that it wouldn't bake correctly.

But the concern was unwarranted. After baking at 350 for 30 minutes, my cake looked like this...

 

In keeping with the low fat/diet vibe of the cake, I frosted it with Cool Whip Lite.

The Verdict: This is a great dessert for someone trying to watch their figure. It's the perfect sweet treat that won't leave you feeling guilty. The cake is airy and light and the cool whip is a nice alternative to regular frosting. But I will say, this cake just doesn't compare to a normal, hardy piece of chocolate cake. It's a bit blander but then again, for a diet cake it's awesome!

The recipe itself is fool proof and quick to prepare.

You can also try this recipe with different flavor cakes or sodas. Some possible ideas: Orange Cake with Diet Sunkist, White Cake with Diet Spirt, Lemon Cake with Lemonade, or even Cherry Cake with Diet Cherry Cola. The possibilities are endless!

Chalk Holder

Super simple craft review today. A little background first:


My husband and I bought our first home, a fixer upper back in 2008 a few months after we were married. At first it was a whirlwind of activity fixing it up. It has slowed down and picked back up a couple times in the last almost three years. One of the first things we did was rip all the paneling out of the family room and adjoining kitchen, and paint the kitchen cabinets. Once that was done, our gross little pantry door stuck out like a sore thumb. Take a look:

(apparently it was February when I took this pic. and please ignore the wall color, it was the 3rd one I tried - I am currently on #4 and not sure I love this one either)

I was skeeved out by the years of grease and dirt near the handle. Here's a lovely close up of that:

To make it all go away, I decided to pick up some chalkboard paint I have seen in blogs and on tv, and create a little chalkboard/message board for us. I painted a large rectangle in the middle, bordered it with some white paint we used for the trim, and my husband framed it out with some moulding. Unfortunately, I have no during pics. But you can see the finished product in this random photo - btw we don't eat like this every night, my husband recreated the meal we had at our wedding reception for our anniversary. Isn't he sweet?:

(this is kitchen color #4, still not sold on it)

Since then, we have been storing our chalk in a little cup inside the pantry. It worked, but we didn't use the board as much as I think we would if the chalk was out and visible. Once I joined Pinterest, I kept seeing this lovely little idea:

(photo from here)

The pin actually came from a etsy ad for the whole chalkboard. Obviously I already had the board, but what a simple and genius idea! So on one of our weekend Home Depot trips (they usually happen weekly), I browsed the cabinet hardware section and picked out a Martha Stewart cabinet pull. I liked the dark color (it matches the rest of our cabinet hardware) and I loved the square shape. At only $4.97, it was a cheap investment.

(source)

After I got it home I had to figure out the placement. The chalkboard part is pretty narrow, so I didn't want to put it by the door handle, cutting the board in half. I decided on putting it near the top so it wouldn't interfere with any potential large scale pieces of "art". Once I drilled my holes, I ran into a problem...the screws were too short to go all the way through the door into the holder:

(please ignore my fat swollen pregnancy hands and messy pantry)

Having a Plan B is nothing new to this family, many of our projects have been redirected halfway through. My temporary solution? Use command adhesive strips on the back of the holder. Not very conventional or scientific, but I cut up two strips, stuck them on the back of the holder, and stuck it onto the door. I was concerned that the holder would be too heavy and fall down, but it has been a couple weeks and so far, so good. Eventually I will get some proper screws and make it more permanent, but for now it works. Anyway, here it is:

I like that the holder itself blends into the chalkboard and I can even write on it (I love a label).

So there you go, a ton of words and pics for a simple 5 minute project. Stay tuned for some etsy product reviews and hopefully some more recipe reviews before the baby arrives (18 days until the due date!).
-Grace



Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake

This is honestly the best find I have come across on Pinterest. The original recipe is pulled from Big Red Kitchen.

Taken from Big Red Kitchen

This recipe calls for just two ingredients: a box of cake mix and a 15oz can of pumpkin. All you do is beat the pumpkin and the cake mix for 2 minutes and then bake for 28 minutes.

I used spice cake instead of classic yellow cake. The combination of spice cake and pumpkin is a fantastic mix. I also added pumpkin pie spice to jazz it up a bit (I know, then it's technically not 2 ingredients anymore, but whose counting?).

I had a bake sale at work so instead of making a whole cake, I made them into cute cupcakes.

Sadly, I didn't have apple cider on hand so I couldn't attempt the apple glaze. Instead I frosted them with cream cheese frosting.

The verdict: delicious! They are moist and really hit the spot. What's even better, if you don't count the frosting (and who is?), they aren't that bad for you! No egg, and no oil. They were a big ticket item at the bake sale and the first thing to sell out.

Things to consider: The recipe only yields about 14 cupcakes. Also, unlike other cupcakes/cakes the batter doesn't settle as it bakes. Be sure to use a knife and smooth out the top of the cupcake. If not, whatever way the batter plopped in the tin will be the final shape of the cupcake. 

Wine Cork Letter

Grace here again, reviewing my first craft. I am sure everyone with a pinterest account has seen this:

(photo found here)

Being that I love wine, and love having a monogram/initial displayed, I figured I would give this a try. The website linked to the pin gives some basic instructions, but I like a more detailed play by play. I modified it a bit, but actually made it before we started the blog, so I don't have many pictures to go along with it.

First, I ordered a bunch of corks from ebay because I didn't think I had enough at home. I got 100 for $11.50 plus shipping (a lot cheaper and a more sober option than trying to drink 100 bottles!).

Second, I didn't use a wooden letter cutout, I just traced a wooden "V" I already had from Michaels and display on my fireplace mantle onto a thick piece of cardboard and cut it out.

Next, I played around with the layout - trying to figure out where I can fit whole and half corks. Once I figured it out, I went to work cutting the corks I needed. This was the worst part. I tried a couple different methods (after a quick google search), and discovered using a sharp utility knife worked the best - and it still wasn't pretty. It didn't exactly make a clean cut and I had little pieces of cork all over my office. Thankfully I only needed 6 halves so I only had to do it 3 times.

Next up I fired up the glue gun and got to gluing them down. This went pretty easy and quick.

The downside to using a piece of cardboard instead of wood is that the edges arent very pretty. To remedy this, I decided to use a piece of ribbon along the outside of the whole thing.

I used a little dab of glue on the outside of each cork, and stuck the ribbon in it. It was messy, but I think it helped. I made sure the ribbon overlapped onto the back of the letter, and used some straight pins to attach it from the back into the corks. You can see that here:

Then I just attached a bow using the same ribbon and hung it up on my door!

Verdict: I like how it turned out, and I was done in about an hour.

Things I would do different/things to consider: I would probably seek out a wooden letter. Now that I have had it hanging for awhile, the weight of the corks (and probably the fact that it doesn't sit flush on the door) sort of morphed the whole thing - if you lay it out on a table right now it wouldn't sit flat. I think I would also make it a little bigger. It seems a little small on my door:

I would also use a solid ribbon instead of sheer. You can see the glue through it if you look at the sides. I will probably change out the ribbon color when I take it down and hang up something else for fall. Also something to consider - not all corks are the same height. I am ok with that, I like the variation (that's also why I used some with the red side out and some with the red side in), but if you are looking for symmetry and a smooth surface, that's going to take some additional planning.

Like I said, I am happy with how it turned out. Perhaps it is not as pretty as the one from the pin, but I think it looks great on my front door. I can wonder though if my neighbors think we are alcoholics?

-Grace

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Hi all - Grace here - the other Pinster Sister. After days of prodding from Shannon, I finally got my act together to create a post...

After a couple week search, I was finally able to find canned pumpkin last week at the grocery store. I wanted to start my fall baking with something easy, so I went with Pumpkin Snickerdoodles I had pinned the week before from here:

(photo and recipe from Annie's Eats)

They seemed pretty simple based on the ingredients, most of which I already had. Here is my quick review:

The steps were pretty simple, my only wish is that I read the entire recipe before starting them at 8pm on a Monday night (being 8 months pregnant, I don't usually make it past 9pm on a week night!). Unfortunately, after the dough is made, it needs to chill for an hour in the fridge. The good news is, they bake pretty quick. I also need to check my supplies before baking next time, I only had enough parchment paper to cover two cookie sheets, so I lost time letting them cool a bit before loading them up again.

The results:

(please forgive my lack of photography skills - this blogging thing is new to me!)

Delicious. Not very as "pumpkiny" as I had expected, but still tasty. The nutmeg and ginger gave them some extra spice and made them a perfect start to fall baking. My husband brought half into his office and they were gone before lunchtime (with many requests for the recipe).

Would I make them again? Yes - and I can't wait to try something else from Annie's Blog!

-Grace

Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches

I found this recipe on Pinterest, originally from on Heat Oven to 350 (great site!). Brownie Cookie Dough Sandwiches? Sign me up!

[the original from Heat Oven to 350]


I'll be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I found the brownie part to be very dry and the filling not that satisfying. However, that could be just user error. I tend to be the Amelia Bedelia of baking. My friends did love them. I only have one left.

My first issue was finding the 13 oz container of marshmallow creme. The only thing I found in my grocery store was Fluff (which I'm assuming is the same thing as marshmallow creme). And it only came in a 7oz container and a 16oz container. I bought two 7oz containers and just had to eyeball it and guess how much to leave out.

Some tips if you decide to make this treat:

• 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips is not enough. I would up it to at least 1/2 cup.
• Be careful, how big you make the brownie cookies. My first batch was way to big and they fell apart.
• Watch how long you bake them. I burnt my last batch because I let them bake for 11 minutes.

After I finished making these treats, my kitchen was a mess and I used just about every bowl and measuring cup I had! I only have a hand mixer so that may be why I ended up with coco powder everywhere and butter flying out of the bowl.

[my finished product, taken from my phone]