Starting the tile work- all by myself

Now that the Wall is down (good riddance) I started to tile the bathroom. Alone. It was a bigger job than I thought, but it's really not that hard. It's just tedious. I bought porcelain tile at Lowe's for around $1.15/sq ft, so the whole floor cost me about $70 in tile! Pretty cheap if you ask me!

First I started in the middle of the floor so I could get a straight line going (because not all of our walls are very straight). Instead of going off a wall, I went off the hardwood floor boards that were at the very beginning of the doorway - because I knew that was a straight line. See below in the pic....See how straight that is? So I stared the tiling at around 8pm, and worked for a little over an hour. I've only completed two lines of tile so far, but it's a great starting off point for tonight when I plan to finish the floor with my trusty new tile saw. Here is me standing next to my hard work for the night. Even though I work for Quikrete, I decided to use pre-mixed Mortar to speed up the process. Stay tuned for the rest of the fun......

12 Layer Cake

We had a cookout a few weeks ago and Jeff used our new smoker to smoke a couple Boston Butts. It was really good. I took it up myself to be in charge of the sides and the dessert.....but not just any dessert, a 12 LAYER CAKE! And yes, it was just as much trouble as it sounds.

Even though I don't eat desserts at all, this seemed like a great challenge.

First off, you make the cake batter (from scratch) and pour about 1/2 inch into 4 aluminum 9 in cake pans for 12 minutes. This is the first of 3 baking groups you have to do.

After the first group comes out, let them cool for 5 minutes, then go ahead and dump them

on a cooling rack. Then I just wiped down the pans and filled them again and baked those off, then did it for a third and final time. Now I had 12 cakes and had to make the ganosh.

After layering and layering, you finish with the 12 and step back to take a little break...

Here it is looking all pretty on the dining room table after a layer of whipped milk chocolate frosting.

And here it is with a big piece cut out. Pretty inviting huh?

I didn't try it (I know, crazy huh?) but everyone seemed to really like it! They also said it was a bit rich, but aren't desserts supposed to be? If you want to make this bad boy yourself, here is the recipe: http://www.oprah.com/recipe/food/recipesdesserts/food_20030508_cake

GOOD LUCK!

The bathroom DEMO begins!

We have a been living with this dated guest bath for 3 years, mostly because we rarely have to use it! It has peel and stick laminate flooring that I did the week we moved in....and it is WAY too dark. It also had a door seperating the bath area from the vanity area. We removed the door, painted every trim white, and painted the walls lighter, but it was still missing....A LOT.
So, I took it upon myself last Sunday to start to remove the wall that seperated these two areas and made this bathroom super cramped. After a few hits with a hammer (regular one, not a sledge hammer!), here is what I was left with.

It was a MESS! And I realized that there was an outlet and a light switch with millions of cords running into the ceiling that I had no idea what to do with. I cleaned u a little, called an electrician to move to the outlets and light switch, and Jeff started to remove the floor. Things were looking up....

Now after the floor and the rest of the beams were completely removed, we had a sneak peak of what to expect from our new renovation. Here it is minus the old floor and the old wall...

Lookin better huh? I cannot wait to tile tonight and get this new paint on the walls.....stay tuned for a great makeover (HOPEFULLY!). Keep your fingers crossed :)

The Cutest Fourth of July Sweets......EVER!

What could be more American than a burger?

Does this little slider make you think of a BBQ on the Fourth or what? Only it's not a slider- it's a cupcake/brownie with buttercream icing! What's cuter than that? Here's how I did it..

First, I used plain old Better Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix to make about 20 cupcakes....I only got this brand because it was on sale. so any brand will do.

Next I baked them off and let them cool while i made the brownies. Like my St. Pattys Day cucpake liners? That's all I had at the house! You have to line them so they don't look like burnt buns.
Next, I made the brownies (from the box also). This time I used what I had, which happened to be Ghirardelli that we got from Costco a few months ago.
Notice that I didn't even use my trusty Kitchen Aid. No need! These really could not be easier to make. Look how lonely she is.... but still sittin' pretty!
So after the brownies cooled, I actually used a Champagne Flute to cut the brownies into little patties. This is only because I don't own a cookie or biscuit cutter....a girl's gotta improvise! There will be lots of brownie scraps leftover (this is where Jeff comes in to help...or eat). Then I sliced the cupcakes in half and filled them with the brownie patties and they look like this...
I think they are really cute like this, but they need a little extra something. I took one container of buttercream frosting and divided it into three bowls. Then, dyed them green, yellow and red (for lettuce, mustard, and ketchup of course!). Here is the process of icing becoming condiments....
Next, just spoon them into little quart sized ziploc bags and cut a tiny hole in one side to squeeze out the icing onto the patties...
Once you have iced them, dip you finger in some water and dab it on top of the cupcake,

then top it with a few little sesame seeds. Every burger is better with a sesame seed bun!

Add a flag to be patriotic, and you're ready to serve em' up! ENJOY!

A Little Gift For My Sister....

We have had this hand-me-down light wood table for about 7 years. The Benvie's were nice enough to give it to Megan and I when we got our 2nd apartment together and had no furniture....so it's been around a LONG time.

It made the move to the house with us, starting in the kitchen (and looking awful against those yellow walls!)....

Then moving into the dining room during that transition. Here it is before Dad's dining room furniture arrived...SO....other than the dated wood finish, this was a strong, heavy, good quality table. However, once we got all the furniture from Dad's house, we ran out of room....and it became our outdoor dining table, and all the rain and weather turned it into THIS!

That shot was even after a good scrub! Here is a close up of the condition it was in....so sad.

But I knew we couldn't ditch this good, solid table! It had been through so much! I decided that I needed to pass this one down again since we don't have room, and since my Sister is staying in Atlanta another year- I thought that would be perfect for her new apartment! I primed it and added two coats of white semi-gloss paint and it looks brand new!! Check it out:

And guess again how much this cost me to refinish.........NADA. What would I do without leftover paint!

Updating the Kitchen Stools

For years I have overlooked my awful, paint-stained kitchen stools that sit quietly under my island. I have been meaning to prime/paint them to match the kitchen, but needed a free day. I finally got one recently, so here is the mini transformation...YUCK! I'm pretty embarrassed that these things even lasted a month in my kitchen! Look at all the different colors of paint on them (can you tell they're mine?). First, just like any other

wood furniture painting project (and exactly like the kitchen cabinets), had to prime these puppies with some tinted primer so our glossy black paint would stick. How much better do they look already? Even just after one coat of primer! And how completely different they look after the black glossy paint? Guess how much this project cost me? Absolutely NOTHING. Leftover paint is a beautiful thing....

Making Up For Lost Time....

I know I've been MIA- I'm sorry. I have been really busy with projects though, so hopefully the million posts I do today will make up for it. Many more to come, hope y'all enjoy! I promise I will post more frequently....promise.

Just to keep you entertained in this boring post, here is a cute pic of Megan and I building the half wall in our entryway/dining area. You have NO idea how much I wish I had a 'before' of this one. Those turquoise pillars were CLASSIC!