Some Girly Decor

My friend Corinne told me about a great clearance sale going on at Hobby Lobby... I ended up scoring some great stuff!

I found this frame and cut the artwork out of it (it was a cowgirl-themed painting... SO not the style of my daughter).  I replaced it with a print of a quote that describes her perfectly.  I made the artwork in Adobe Illustrator then had it printed as a photo.

Anyone who knows my daughter just laughs when I show them this quote.  She is tiny.  But man does she have an attitude!

I was inspired by this artwork on etsy.

I can't believe how perfectly the frame and mat match the room; I've been slowly but surely decking the room out in hot pink and leopard print.

  Here's a sneak peek of the room

And here's another piece of art I bought at Hobby Lobby

The canvas painting was only $7!

I'm hoping to have both the kids' rooms done in the next couple weeks.  I'll have a big reveal when they're done!  We've been in this house for over a year now and I still haven't gotten around to painting anything fun in their rooms.  Every time I have a mural job to paint a child's room, I feel pretty badly about not taking care of my kids' rooms first.

Anyone else out there work in other people's homes but never get around to taking care of their own???  Let me know if you can relate in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life

The Way, the Truth, the Life

I recently painted this at church

I love the simplicity of the quote; it is a great reminder of who He is.

"Jesus Christ" is hand-painted and I made a stencil with the Silhouette to paint bottom part.

My friend, Sandy, asked me to paint this in the Connection Corner at our church.  This is a room in the lobby where new believers go to learn more about Jesus and how to grow in their relationship with Him.

Sandy has such a gift for sharing Christ's love with others; you can find out more at the Sharing God's Grace website or by following on Facebook.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Buckeye Brownies Recipe

 Oh.  My.  Goodness.  These things are so amazing!  I found the recipe on Pinterest, but they were adapted versions of the original from Buns in My Oven

Warning:  They are rich!  But anyone who loves the peanut butter and chocolate combo (and who doesn't?) will flip for these brownies.

*note:  It helps to get a head start on this recipe.  Make the brownies the night before or in the morning on the day you'd like to have them

Here's what you need:

1 box mix brownies, prepared according to package directions (I used Ghirardelli and added extra chocolate chips)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter (I microwaved it for 15 seconds)
2 cups powdered sugar 
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed (I didn't end up needing it)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here's what you do:

Prepare the brownies according to recipe or make brownies from a box mix.  I added extra chips to mine because, you know, they probably wouldn't have been rich enough without more chips.  Allow brownies to cool completely.

With a mixer beat together the peanut butter, butter, and 2 cups of powdered sugar until well combined and smooth. Add more powdered sugar if needed to get the consistency you prefer. The mixture should be thick, but add a tablespoon or two of milk if needed, so that you are able to spread the mixture easily on the brownies.

Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Whisk until the chocolate is melted.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the peanut butter and brownies. Smooth with a spatula and then place the brownies in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour.

You can really see the layers here.  It doesn't matter if they're a little messy looking, they'll look great when they're cut.

Let me know if you decide to try these... you won't regret it!

Blessings,

Jamie

This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life

Mason Jar Storage for the Kitchen

The pantry in our new house is very small.  I'm not complaining... it's actually easier to find things in a smaller pantry, but I really have to stay on top of keeping it organized.  Small bags of nuts, rice and things like baking soda would still get lost regularly.  So I decided to bring some of those items out into the light of day!

I used the Silhouette and some Armour Etch to put the labels on each of the jars

I used a white painted 2 x 4 for the "shelf" that the back row is sitting on (actually, it's this sign until I replace it with another piece of wood)

You can see it peeking out behind the pecans in the picture above.

I love the way they look!  But my favorite part of this project:  all the space that is now freed up in the pantry.

What do you think?  Do you have any tips for organizing your food?  Let me know in the comments.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life

Some Yankees and Nationals Baseball Murals

I have been painting a lot lately!  The government furlough is going to have a big impact on our family's finances this year so I've been taking every painting job I can get.  This is also the reason I haven't had a lot of time for blogging.  I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you one of the jobs I recently worked on...

I used a couple tips to paint the pinstripes:

Use a credit card to burnish the tape before you paint

  paint one coat of the background color and let it dry before you paint the stripe color.

  The stripes came out really crisp and there were only a few touchups for me to do!

I adore the family I worked for; they planned for me to paint as a surprise for their boys while they were all on a missions trip in Mexico.  Everyone in the family is a die-hard Yankees fan, except for the older son.  He loves the Washington Nationals.

He also had a baseball painted on his wall.  I have been wanting to paint a mural like this ever since I saw the inspiration here

This is how the wall I painted turned out.

It was so much fun to do!  I made a messy faux finish on the walls first with tan, off white and white paints

I just brushed each color onto the wall and then smushed them together with another brush.  This is what made the "leather" of the baseball finish look old, dirty and worn.

Then I drew in the line the stitching was to follow with some chalk.  I added detail from there with a light tan paint.

 I then followed those lines and painted the stitches in bright red, adding more detail as I went.

I love these rooms because I am confident the boys will enjoy them for years to come!  So often kids outgrow murals quickly.  We have a neighbor who has the Yankees logo painted in his garage, which goes to show some boys never outgrow sports murals!

What do you think?  Do you have a little (or big) boy in your life who'd love a baseball mural?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blesings,

Jamie

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This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life

Bring Some Life Into Your Decor {the Low-Maintenance Way}

Terrariums!!!  We needed something short on the mantle and I've been trying to bring more green into our home.  They were the perfect solution for a Spring Mantel!

Here's the story on how to make them for yourself

1)  Go get all this stuff

-glass containers

-rocks

-charcoal (to help with drainage, I got it from the pet store)

-small plants that don't need a lot of water

-soil (I used a well draining soil that is mixed with sand)

So that picture of all the things you'll need is cute, right?  It all ends up looking like this

And you'll never believe where I got a lot of my plants...

The succulents are good for the open containers.  The ferns and mosses do well in the covered containers.

2) Now start layering (from the bottom to top):

-rocks

-charcoal

-soil

-plants

Pay close attention to how your layers look from the outside of the glass.  

You kind of have to make a hole in the center of the soil layer to get your plant's roots in there.

Here are a few of the individual terrariums

3) Water your plants next to never!

The moss in the open containers needs a little extra care in keeping them moist, but the succulents are so low maintenance!  The closed containers really hold in moisture so they rarely need water.  When I do water any of these plants, it's just a tiny bit until the soil is moistened.

Seriously, I have a pinterest board titled "I kill plants".  It's that bad (usually) yet everything is still alive so far!

This tutorial from Apartment Therapy was a huge help to me, as was this one from the Fern and Mossery.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jamie

This post is linked here:  Today's Creative Blog Blue Cricket Design Kurtz Corner Mommy by Day Crafter by Night Cherished Bliss Lines Across My Face Southern Lovely Bear Rabbit Bear French Country Cottage Craft Junkie Too DIY Home Sweet Home Saved by Love Domestically Speaking Funky Junk Interiors Homemaker on a Dime Eisy Morgan The Answer is Chocolate Making the World Cuter Craft-O-Maniac lolly jane 504 Main I Heart Naptime Singing Three Little Birds mad in crafts House of Hepworths Somewhat Simple Chic on a Shoestring Keeping it Simple Be Different Act Normal Sew Can Do Sew Chatty Pinkapotamus The Girl Creative Flamingo Toes Tatertots and Jello Sisters of the Wild West Reasons to Skip the Housework Giggles Glitz and Glam Tip JunkieThe Trendy Treehouse Ladybug Blessings Night Owl Crafting Tea Rose Home My Girlish Whims Allie Makes Gluesticks Thrifty 101 Momnivores Dilemma A Little Knick Knack Miss Mustard Seed Freckled Laundry kojo designs A vision to remember Primitive and Proper 733 Rook no 17 Home Stories A to Z Naptime Crafters Whipperberry delightful order blissful and domestic elizabeth and co diy by design gingersnap crafts>my repurposed life