Bedroom Makeover

Finally! We have a headboard for our master bedroom. I'm so happy we didn't end up purchasing an entire set of furniture (we had some on layaway over a year ago but then canceled it). This is the shabby, chic, cottage feel I was going after - to me at least! A journey out west toward the Covered Bridge Festival last month helped me land an old, shabby $10 door that is now our headboard. Not knowing exactly how wide our king bed was, I was worried the door might be too short. Bye, bye silly worries. It fits perfect.

Before

After

Our room has been beyond neutral. Using the colors fr om our wedding (light green and navy) and inspired by our rock star wedding invites (thanks Amy & Ash), I found pillows at Marshall's for $30 that bring in the blue. The door is a a very pale, mint green-ish, matching the color scheme of the wedding invite almost to a T.

Wedding Invite

Door

Check out that hardware!

Pillows from Marshalls

Our favorite handyman came by and helped mount the door to the bed. Total cost of the headboard, $30.

Where we did splurge was on the wall lamps. Found these two hotties from Crate & Barrel, but the fun part was that we had a gift certificate from there, so that made the price much easier to handle, $115 after gift card. We're not sold on the lamp shades yet, hence the plastic is still on them. We're thinking maybe a smaller shade. Any suggestions are welcome.


We have two frames to hang on the adjacent wall still, $14 from Target.

Total Cost of Bedroom Makeover: around $200

Mystery Plant

Any idea what this vining wonder is in our garden? I think it grew out of seeds from our compost, similar to what Steph & Scott experienced last year directly in their compost pile.

The leaves are huge. To put it in perspective, even my size 10 feet pale (literally) in size next to it. I'm guessing some type of squash . . . we'll see!

Garden Progress - July

I don't want to jinx anything, but our garden is rocking this year. No harvest yet, but I think we're just around the corner from cucumbers and basil.


A couple lessons I've learned this year:

1) Cucumbers sprawl like crazy! I made the mistake of putting the chicken wire fence on the wrong sided of the cucumbers, and they overtook the row of lettuce. We have a handful of good looking cucumbers though, so hopefully they'll be equally as tasty.


2) Put in taller and stronger posts for snap peas. These poor guys had no more room to climb, so I had to tie some string from a tall stick to the tomato cage to give them something else to vine on. I hope they make it. They're a bit crowded, so I'll space them out better next year if they end up working.

A sunflower not quite ready to bloom. Reminded me of the XBox logo.

So excited that the sunflowers worked! These little guys can't help but make me smile. They're only about 3.5 feet tall and have a much smaller bloom than their full size cousins.

How Does My Garden Grow....Like Sow

Ahhhh Spring! We planted our garden on May 13. These pictures were taken on May 28th (happy birthday, Kelly!) With the help of our very own compost and a bag of organic garden soil, our tiny garden plot came to life.

This year we're trying:

Cherry tomatoes (1) -new!

Grape tomatoes (1) - the only tomato to turn red on the vine for us last year

Roma tomatoes (1) -new!

Cucumbers - new!

Snap Peas - had success with these last year

Green Beans - had success with these last year

Lettuce - new!

Basil - new!

Green Peppers - not very successful last year but keeping my fingers crossed

Jalapeno Peppers - new!

Sunflowers -new! I think these will be a long shot.

Cucumbers (above)

Snap Peas

Grape Tomato Plant

We condensed and moved our garden spot slightly. I love our trees, but they severely limit the sunlight in our backyard. We're taking the lessons learned over the last two summers and downsizing the space.

I placed newspaper over the bare soil spots and covered with grass clippings to deter weeds.

Happy to report everything has sprouted. The first week of April I started basil, cucumbers and sunflowers from seeds inside. They have made the transition to the great outdoors. All other plants were pre-potted.

Anyone else working their green thumbs this year? Potted gardens count too!

Photo Week: Checkered Flag Style

I love Stephanie's inspiration for the past week's photo challenge: The Indianapolis 500. I absolutely love the month of May in Indiana. The month kicks off with the Mini Marathon, a race where anyone can compete and the city comes alive with such enthusiasm. I'm not a huge racing fan, but I've come to love Indy Cars, the Speedway and everything that surrounds this month. I'll admit it. I tear up when I hear Jim Nabors sing on race day and during the fly over.

I didn't get the camera out this week, but I can't pass up posting for a Photo Challenge. Here are some of my favorite black and white puppy dogs. Tippy, the black lab/golden retriever mix, is a 6 month old service dog in training in the ICAN program. He is an amazing pup and is going to be a rock star service dog. Ruby wasn't really keen on him the first day or two, but by the end of week three, she hated to see him go just as much as we did. Hopefully he'll be back with us on another furlough in a couple months.

Also fitting are pictures from the Mutt Strut at the Speedway on April 26th.

Thanks, Steph for sharing the spirit of the race and all its fun!

Photo Challenge: Capturing Spring Results

Thanks to Steph for sharing her gorgeous spring in action pics!

Despite last night's freeze warning, the calendar confirms it's spring even if the temperatures do not!

These Virginia Bluebells in our front yard are so fun this time of year. Unfortunately, their lifespan is not long lived (or at least our past two springs here, they didn't last long). By June we'll have to pull them, but for now we enjoy them and their droopy glory!

Photo Challenge: Capturing Spring

Greetings and happy Spring to all! I've noticed our plants in the yard are growing super fast. My challenge to you is to capture a particular plant and photograph it everyday (or every other day, whatever works) for the next two weeks. Then create a series of shots that capture the buds, blooms and blossoms of the season. As always, please let me know if you plan to participate, and I'll add you to the post.

Start: March 23

End: April 6

Images of late Spring 2008 - Casa de Laycock

Pledge to End Hunger - Join the cause!

Indiana is leading the charge! Woo hoo! Learn more and join the cause here.

Fun Find: Color Prints

I was just gabbing to a few folks about my obsession with silhouettes. You may recall the amazing Amy granted our wish and incorporated our Ruby dog's likeness on our wedding invitation, as seen below. I heart and hearted it so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you Amy!

Check out these super, fun prints by Avalisa Fine Art Prints. So many colors! So many fun animal shapes! It has me thinking I could dabble around with ideas like this. Here are a few favorites - and my list is growing:

Pencils Out: Decorating Style Quiz

I came across this quiz on a lovely blog. Sproost offers a design quiz that helps you determine what decorating styles you like, then it shows you room examples of things that fit your style.

I never would have pegged myself as a "Classic, Traditional Country and Mountain Lodge" gal all wrapped into one! When I first saw "country" I was appalled, but quickly felt better (and bad that I passed judgement on the word country) after reading the description for Traditional Country:

"You love spaces that feel casual and lived in. Furniture is practical and comfortable, and yet at the same time its very stylish. The best part of country style is how much it highlights collection and found objects. Antiques here, garage sale finds there and Aunt Milly's hand-me-downs throughout. Unique items that used to serve very practical purposes are now on display, and their history seems to permeate the home. Each space in the home seems to invite friends and family to come in and stay a while. There is a true sense of home felt throughout."

Yes, yes, and yes! I think that's me. Take the quiz and let me know what you come up with. I'm going to ask Himself to take the quiz too to see how we match up (or not!). Here is the rest of my style as described by my quiz results:

Mountain Lodge
"You love nature! And really, how could you not? The more exposed wood (be it in log form or paneling) the better. And having natural stone in your home is a must! Especially at the fireplace, but stone top tables work too. If you could clad all the furniture in wood and stone you would, but splinters aren't fun and stone is cold! So when you need a place to sit (or recline in!), it should be comfortable and warm. Bigger is better when it comes to your favorite chair for watching TV or reading the newspaper. Leather is great (go natural!), but soft fabrics in warm tones also suit you well."

Classic
"What's old is new again! The beauty of Classic style is how well it takes all of the beautiful forms, colors and textures of the past and reinvents them in a way that feels both fresh and inspired. The style itself is a mix of European influences and French, English and Italian antiques and replicas are often used together. Furniture is well proportioned and comfortable and the rooms give off an air of sophistication and grace. Oil paintings depicting still-life or nature scenes and emphasizing symmetry of pairs helps maintain the traditional nature of the room. Windows are often covered with opulent fabric shades and/or drapery. Traditional rooms give off an air of history that seems to say "I was here long before you, and will remain long after you've gone." And yet, even with this level of sophistication, the rooms are soft and inviting."

Rainbow Cake!

Update 4: The post that will never end! Here are pictures of what the cake looked like inside:

Update 3: Sorry I didn't finish this post yesterday. We had to get to the party! The cake turned out well. Here are the ingredients I used:

Can you tell where the batter got out of line? (Bad red, bad!)

It made for a lovely dirty dishes display if there every was one.

Tips for next time: I stirred the frosting mix by hand. It might have spread easier if I had whipped it with the mixer.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera to my parents' house, so I don't have a shot of what the inside looks like, the whole reason the cake is cool! I'm really sorry - I'm such a bad blogger! It looks awesome inside, I promise. Next time I'm going to use a regular recipe and not the "diet" version. The cake was too dense for my taste, but it didn't stop me from eating a big chunk! Bottom line: this is such a fun cake and a guarantee smile booster on a cloudy day

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Update 2: So far, so good. I didn't use as much food coloring as The Onomicon did, so a few of the colors may come out a bit more pastel. I had to bake the cakes almost an extra 30 minutes, so I'm a little concerned about how the bottoms of the cakes will turn out. I checked them every 5 minutes using a toothpick in the center after the initial 29 minutes. As she mentioned in her blog, the density of the soda-cake method will need longer a longer baking time. I just was not expecting that long!
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Update 1: I'm attempting to make this super fun Rainbow Cake from The Omnomicon which was featured on One Pretty Thing. It's for Mom and Grandma's birthday celebration later today, so wish me luck. I'll update the results later. Happy Sunday!

Heart Day

In honor of sleepy bunny rabbits and a sweet day for all: video

Photo weekend: Killing Him softly

Thanks to Sue for getting us rolling on the theme. Thanks to Steph and Scott for the inspiration!

I have a guest blogger for today's story. His pen name: Lob Cockray.

Killing Him softly by Lob Cockray

As a pre-pubescent teen, Jesus got in an argument with three boys in His class regarding His ability to take a life of an animal by one silent gas-pass. After much prodding by the boys, Jesus lifted His left cheek, winked His right eye and smiled while a pig and a cow dropped dead outside His classroom window.

The boys were amazed. Their classmate Jesus just killed two animals with a flatulent.

Like the high majority of Jesus' acts, there was an alterior motive. Jesus was very hungry.

That day, Jesus took the pig and the cow home to the manger and invented His soon-to-be favorite dish: a beef-filled, cheese-covered, bacon-wrapped, tubular-shaped pork meal.

Unlike His earthly children, Jesus didnt't have to worry about poor-eating decisions. He could eat whatever he wanted. And he did.

For the next ten years, Jesus ate this 3,500-calorie meal every day -- sometimes taking seconds and thirds. He laughed at His mortal friends who were unable to do the same and still sustain a healthy lifestyle.

Here's where the story begins to read familiar to modern-day history classes. The population turned on Him. They formed an anti-Jesus group. They developed a death plan and carried it out.

One early Spring day, Jesus was killed. All for a hot dog.

The best hot dog ever. Even the Heavens couldn't replicate it.

How was this known? Jesus came back three days later. First meal? Hot dog. Filled with chili and cheese and covered with Thick-striped bacon.

Follow Jesus' steps with these simple directions:

• Chapter 1. Cook chili by following directions on 99 cent chili powder package
• Chapter 2. Cut an XL hot dog like a surgeon. Don't cut completely through it -- mortal sin.
• Chapter 3. Fill hot dog with chili and cheddar cheese (shredded)
• Chapter 4. Wrap hot dog with thick-striped bacon (4 to 5 pieces minimum)
• Chapter 5. Stick 4 to 8 toothpicks through hot dog
• Chapter 6: Cook on grill for 20 to 30 minutes rolling it on every side until bacon is very crisp
• Chapter 7: Serve on bun. Consider putting additional chili and cheese on top. Maybe even catsup or yellow mustard.
• Chapter 8: Eat it.
• Chapter 9. Repeat 24 hours later for ten years.

Redemption Comes in the Form of Chocolate

After a disastrous "Meatball Monday" dinner, I was in need of a confidence boost in the kitchen. I am not a good cook. Yet. I'm many moons away from being considered a good cook. However, I can bake. Not an excellent baker either, but I seem to have more edible success when it comes to baking.

I've been wanting to try the "Chocolate Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies" recipe in the More From Magnolia cookbook that my mom & sister gave me. SNL fans - this is the "Magnolia Bakery" highlighted in the Lazy Sunday music video by Chris Parnell & Andy Samberg a few years ago. The first time we tried to hit up the Magnolia Bakery featured in the video during a trip to NYC, the line was out the door and wrapped around the block. A later trip proved more successful, however it was at a second Magnolia Bakery in the city. The cupcake was delish.

Happy to report my kitchen ego was recharged after making these cookies. Unfortunately my batch didn't yield the 2 dozen cookies as the recipe states. Himself and I enjoyed too much of the cookie dough.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

From: More from Magnolia by Allysa Torey

1 cup flour

6 T unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

5 T unsalted butter, softened

5 T solid vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar plus 1 T (for sprinkling)

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Sprinkle lightly with the sugar. Place the cookies in the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 10-12 minutes. (10 minutes worked for me) Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy. You'll need a cup of milk.

Apple of my Belly

Oh that Beantown Baker. She got me with her posting of Deb's Mom's Apple Cake earlier this week. After her description of just the smell of this cake, I was hooked on trying it. What better baking occasion to utilize the snazzy and oh so adorable apple pattern apron my sister gave me for Christmas than when making an apple cake! Double bonus: I was able to use the round cake container/carrier that I got from my shower for the first time!

As I peeled the apples, sporting my new apron and listening to Bella Fleck on my iPod, I was quite the happy camper. I took Jen's recommendation of making the cake three layers as opposed to two that the recipe called for originally. I baked it for an hour and ten minutes.

I was a little worried because the cake actually poured over the pan while baking. It turned out fine though. Jen said the gooey part was the best, but I was a little unsure if the cake was actually done because mine was gooier (is that a word?) than I expected.

She wasn't exaggerating about the aroma. It was decadent. I found the cake tasted better the second day. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Jen, and thanks for the stylish attire, Kelly!