Valentine Candy Cane Suckers

Do you have any leftover mini cnady canes from Christmas? I was shocked to find some hiding in the back of the pantry, so I had to make these cute suckers (taken from The Idea Room). They were really easy to do and I made them tonight while I was finishing up dinner. The simple steps allowed me to multitask!

Grease a cookie sheet VERY well. Lay down wax paper, and then grease the wax paper VERY VERY well. Unwrap your candy canes and lay them out like this around your sucker sticks. Make sure you leave space between cane tops like I did, because you will be bending them into shape.

Heat the oven to 350 and bake them for 3 minutes. It doesn't take long for the candy to soften, and it doesn't take long for the candy to bubble either! 3 minutes was just about right.

Enlist the help of another person because you have to work really fast in this step before the candy cools and hardens too much. Shape the soften candy to form a heart. No need to make it conform around the stick because the melted chocolate will meld it all together.

(I don't know why I picked the most crooked heart to take a picture of! The other ones looked better.) Do NOT remove them from the pan until they are 100% cool, and do NOT put them in the fridge to let them cool. The sudden cold on the hot candy will cause them to crack. Let them cool at room temp while you do something else, for about half an hour. Then carefully remove them from the wax paper.

Melt your chocolate pieces in a bowl. I used pink and red pieces from Wilton, about 1/4 a bag for each. It doesn't take much chocolate to fill in the candy cane hearts. Heat them in the microwave on 50% power for 90 seconds, stir, then heat again until you have a smooth texture.

Spoon the chocolate into the center of the hearts and smooth it out. Then sprinkle with something fun!

Now you can put them in the fridge to let them set up. In about half an hour you can eat them!

$10 Collage Ledges

I love marking a project off my list! I finished my ledges and I am so happy with how they turned out. Ever since we moved into our house 5 1/2 years ago, I have hated this long empty wall. It's been hard figuring out how to decorate it with out it looking too cluttered. And it's ONLY taken me this long to settle upon an idea!

You can check out the plans for these ledges here. The lumber only cost about $9 for one. I made mine six feet instead of eight feet because the size suited my needs better. I already had a ton of frames on hand (I tend to collect them) and I had the paint as well. I like the red, black, and white together, although you can't tell some of them are red in this lighting. The other night I uploaded about 50 pictures to put inside them, all in black and white (still need tp pick them up). I think this collection is going to look great.

I painted them with Behr paint that I already had on hand. The color is "off white". After they had two coats of paint, I sanded them again to distress the edges all around. Then I glazed them with Ralph Lauren's faux glaze in "manchester brown" to give them a rustic look. I love how the wood looks really old. Just what I was going for!

A word of caution- when you go to purchase your 1x4s, make absolutely sure that your wood is not bent or warped. I was careless about it and I bought a couple pieces that should have been more straight. If you look closely, you can see that one ledge is slightly warped on one side. But it just adds to the antiquish look...right?? RIGHT??

Also, the plans say to use 2" finishing nails in the front. That is way too long and only makes it more likely that they will split the wood. Since you are only nailing them into a very thin piece which is less than 1" in thickness, chances are you will nail it in slightly off center and 2" nails almost ensures it will not be a good thing. So go with thin nails at about 1" in length.

Have fun building!

New Projects On the Horizon

As much as I love each individual season, I think I am ready for the weather to warm up again. Utah in January can be brutal. The main reason I need it to be warmer outside is so I can be comfortable in my garage. I have been trying to finish my framed peg boards but I am at a standstill. The next step is to paint them BEFORE I can install the frames {which are cut and ready to be drilled in}. But I can't paint because it needs to be about 20 degrees warmer in the garage for the paint to perform like it should. Ugh!

Good thing our basement is still unfinished {and this is the only good thing about it} because it is my temporary workspace. Who cares if I get sawdust and paint everywhere, right? Today I almost finished my 6 foot ledges that will go along the long wall in our upstairs family room. Tomorrow I will distress them and add the topcoat of glaze, let them dry, and then hopefully be ready to install/hang them on Sunday afternoon while Hubby is here to help me do it. It's for sure a two person job! And yes {GASP} I am going to do it on a Sunday! I can't wait for it to be all done so I can take pictures. Aaaaaah, accomplishment.

I have all the supplies ready to build these chairs. Remember the tea party table? Well I sanded it like crazy this week and it's ready to prime and paint. I am painting it "heirloom white" by Rustoleum with a "manchester brown" glaze from Ralph Lauren. It's going to be adorable! All day long while I was finishing the ledges, my daughter kept coming in to see if I was done with her table yet. Sorry Sweetie! A few more days, I promise.

The chairs are going to look similar to what is shown above, except the seat slats are going to be lavender. It ties in their already lavender bedroom, plus my five year old is overly obsessed with purple and insists on a splash of purple on everything. These chairs will hopefully be done by the end of next weekend!

And next on the list {and this is a biggie} is our new dining table and benches. Our table is going to look very similar to the above one but with a different stain. The benches will be these exact ones but will be distressed/antiqued black. My goal in the next year is to acquire the perfect antiquish captains chairs for the ends of the tables, which I will also refinish to match the benches. Yes, I say a year, because I am realistic and I want to find the perfect chairs. I am in no rush!

And then there is this adorable bench. Do I have a need for it? Not really. But it's so cute and I'm racking my brain trying to think of a good place for it in our house. I might try to modify it a bit so it can go by the front door on the porch. It would be great to put potted plants on {and around} during the spring and summer. I'm thinking a very rustic barn like red...think "Old Glory".

Ever since we bought our house, I have wanted a table and chair set for the backyard. We grill a lot in the summer and there is nothing better than gathering around an outdoor table and eating corn on the cob and watermelon. But like always, bringing myself to spend $400 on a table set is crazy. Plus, most sets only come with six chairs and that usually isn't enough. This is why I am a huge fan of benches for a larger family.

This table and bench set is a for sure thing this summer. I am already excited thinking about it being an awesome shade of aqua, and maybe I'll find the perfect red umbrella to go with it. Oh yeah, I will make a hole in the center of the table to accomodate a large umbrella. Gotta have some shade back there!

And the last thing on my long list are a couple of these guys. There is something about adirondack chairs that shouts tranquility to me. I think of a breeze on the shores of Cape Cod, even though I have never ventured out that way. But I found these plans and although they are tricky, I want to make two of them for the back porch. And I would coordinate them in with my aqua and red table/bench set, and maybe make some perfect throw pillows to rest on the seats. It's going to be a great summer!

Entry Way Bookshelf

Would you ever have thought to use wainscoating as the backing to a bookshelf?? Me neither!

We have this space next to our front door that is empty. But it shouldn't be empty. It should be a place for a cute shelf or table with a funky lamp and a vase of something and maybe a favorite family photo, and maybe even a cool dish to throw car keys into. I have been wanting to fill that space with something like this, but there are two problems I keep running into.

#1, the space is only about 30 inches wide.

#2, there is a floor vent right there and nothing can cover it up. Dang those floor vents. They seem to rule our house.

I came across this plan for a bookshelf and I fell in love. The dimensions are almost perfect, but that's the great thing about building something yourself- you can modify as you need to. The great thing about this plan is that the shelf sits up on legs! Therefore, it can sit over a floor vent because air can flow out from underneath it.

I know what most of the lumber will cost and a rough estimate will be well under $30. Where else can you find something like this for an amount like that? This project is number four on my "project priority list". Can't wait to get started!

Refinished Piano Chairs

Several months ago, right in the middle of piano lessons, my bench broke. It's an antique piano and matching bench and the joints in the bench finally gave out beyond repair. Finding an independent bench is nearly impossible, and trust me, I'd looked. I'd gone to several piano stores, antique stores, and thrift stores. My searches always left me benchless.

So I started thinking about the possiblity of NOT using a bench, but rather a chair. Given that it was the correct height, it would probably work! But a chair at a piano? I wasn't sure if it would look right. PLUS, when I start teaching again, I'd need two chairs and I thought I'd be lucky enough just to find one that I liked.

This is the type of chair I envisioned in my mind (not crazy about the wicker seat, but I really loved the shape and style). Pottery Barn, I have a deep love hate relationship with you. Why must your beautiful chairs cost $200 a piece?

One afternoon in late October I was taking a load to DI (our local thrift store) and I had a feeling that I should go inside and just look around. I was not looking for a chair, but I'm always on the lookout for a good piece of wood that I can refinish. I rounded a corner, and I found two matching chairs and my heart stopped. The shape and style was perfect. The horrible bright blue and brown paint on them, hideous. I looked the chairs over with a fine tooth comb and I was flabergasted to find what incredible shape they were in. They were solid wood and the joints were in pristine condition. The rungs were sturdy as well as the cross bars on the legs. My guess is that someone else had redone them and after they looked at the horrible shade of blue and brown, decided they had made a huge mistake but were too lazy to re-do them. Ha ha ha, their mistake was my fortune!

Oh, and here's the fantastic part. The chairs were only $5 a piece. I wanted to scream from sheer excitment!! I grabbed them, paid, stuffed them in the car, made a quick stop at the hardware store for the perfect shade of paint, and headed home.

For two days I did nothing but work on these chairs. The blue paint was chipping off everywhere and I had a ton of sanding to do. I sanded and sanded and primed and primed. Then I gave them each two coats of Rustoleum spray paint in colonial red. I am thrilled with how turned out. Looking at them, even closely, you would never guess they came from anywhere but a place like PB. DEFINITELY not a thrift store! The best thing is that I now have two chairs to use for piano lessons. I keep one at the piano right now, and the other stays hidden down in the basement for safe keeping. I am in love!

Kids Coat Rack

Are you tired of your kids leaving their stuff all over the floor? Our house is set up in a way (we have a multi level house) that doesn't allow for a really good rack system on the main living floor. So we constantly have dance bags, coats, and backpacks all over the place. I had been looking at racks at places like Home Depot, but they are all so expensive for ones that are big enough. But more than that, I hate that they each have pre-drilled brackets on the back. Meaning, if your studs don't line up just right, you can't hang it into your studs so it negates the whole purpose, right? Our house builder did not frame our studs in the standard way that most stuff is pre-drilled for. It drives me crazy.

So one day I found an old 1x4 that I had lying around. I figured the perfect place for a rack was right by the garage door so the kids can hang stuff up as soon as we walk in. I bought some nice but inexpensive hooks for about $3 a piece, and I already had everything else on hand.

First I cut the wood to the correct size that I wanted. Then I primed and painted it with what I had on hand (I really like black because it's classic, doesn't show finger prints as easily, and it goes with everything.) I found my studs in the wall, marked them, then figured where I wanted to line up my wood on the wall.

Hanging the piece of wood was the tricky part because you really need more than two hands. Enlist the help of another person and it will be pretty easy. Drill the holes and put in your screws directly into the front of the wood (or nails will work just fine too because you are putting them into studs and you can cover up the nail heads or screw heads with more paint). You will need to use a countersink drill bit if you are using screws, to make them flush with the surface of the wood.

After it is hanging and is completely level, you are ready to install your hooks. Again, very simple. Measure twice, drill the holes, and screw them in! Easy as pie. The rack is far more sturdy than anything that has brackets on the back. The fact that the screws go directly in through the front of the wood and into the studs makes all the difference. And the hooks hanging independently AWAY from sheetrock only adds to the stability. Kids can practically hang from the hooks and it won't move a bit!

Layered Enchilada Bake

I wish I had a picture of this one, but I didn't take any yesterday because I was thinking this would NOT be a good recipe. But oh my word, I just ate a huge portion of leftovers for lunch! This was a good one and very easy. Cody and I decided this was kind of like a Mexican lasagna. And it's great because it mainly uses staples that you probably have one hand all the time.

For a 9x13 pan you will need-

1 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cups chunky salsa
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp Italian salad dressing
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
6-7 flour tortillas
1 C sour cream
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (I use colby jack)
lettuce and tomato for garnish

-Brown meat and onions in a large skillet. Drain off fat.

-To the meat, add salsa, beans, dressing, and taco mix. Simmer 10 minutes.

-In a greased baking pan, put a single layer of tortillas. Layer that with half the meat mixture. Evenly spread half the sour cream over that, and then half the cheese over that. Repeat layers, ending with cheese on top.

-Bake uncovered for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Take out of the oven and garnish the top with chopped lettuce and tomato. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes.