better late than never

I know Christmas was already a week ago, but I have finally found the time to update the blog. Between hosting Christmas (and the subsequent clean-up), working holiday retail, and D taking my car today because his was dead (so I am stuck at home), this was the perfect time for a new positing.

In hosting Christmas we decided to serve our own Italian favorites. Not only was it something different, but it was so much easier as several things could be prepared ahead. Unfortunately, in the chaos of everything, I didn't get the chance to take any pictures of the food - but here was the menu...

hors d'oeuvres
cold grilled vegetables
goat cheese w/ cranberries
Genoa salami

dinner
manicotti
meatballs
chicken saltimbocca
baked eggplant
antipasto salad (greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, Gorgonzola, sopressata and sweet vinaigrette)
garlic bread

dessert
tiramisu
spumoni
homemade cookies

The hors d'oeuvres and desserts were store bought. The dinner entrees, with the exception of the saltimbocca (courtesy of Mario Batali), were our own recipes.

Now on to the decorations!
Here is Family Room, including the tree.




Next to the fireplace, in the FR is our collection of hand carved Santas.


Tray of silver, hand blown and mercury glass ornaments, and crystal candle holders.


The buffet line gets set up on the dining room counter and the DR table moves to the living room; so to keep everyone from whacking their head on the chandelier, we put a small table underneath to force everyone around it. Remember the candle and plate I mentioned last week?


On the buffet counter is a little centerpiece to hide the ugly outlet (thanks mom!).




Also in the DR is my "new" sideboard. I have had not the opportunity to paint it yet, but here it is topped with mom's nativity - which she insisted we use.


Although the drink counter is not too exciting, I had to share this pic since I love the silver pieces. The pewter pitcher was given to us by my parent's as a wedding gift. My mom found the silver plated wine cooler at an antique store in the UP. It is actually from Pottery Barn and, although you cannot see it, has the letter "C" engraved on the front.


Now to the living room, which was transformed into a dining room...

On one of the tables is the dark red table runner we purchased in Dubai, the ornament filled apothecary jar, and our DIY candle log. On everyone's place we also included a small party favor ornament.




Last year while shopping at Crate & Barrel, I spotted this silver candle holder and immediately thought "we can make this"... so we did. Using a birch log, D cut off a piece to make a flat bottom; then using a 1" drill bit created holes for tealights. Finally I spray painted it silver and Voila. We have used it the last two years it's still holding up!
inspiration from Crate...


and our version...I love the organic feel it brings.


This is the other table, with a 2nd candle log.


Also in the modified dining room is our hall table. From left to right is our pillow covers (also from Dubai) and my repainted stool; $2 milk glass urn and free greens from Home Depot; rustic lantern; silver bowl (from a friend's wedding) with pine cones; $2 worth of old books from the g-town library sale, topped with a mercury glass finial ornament; gorgeous poinsettia they were getting rid of at work.


Also on the table is my grandpa's antique toolbox filled with pine cones, a few sprigs of greenery and vintage red/pink ornaments. I love the look of the rustic and shine.


I can hardly wait to use all the holiday decorations I bought after Christmas this year from Crate&Barrel! Here's a little preview...

adorable husband

I just want to say how cute the hubs is....
For Christmas we will have the buffet line in the Dining Room and have moved the DR table to the Living Room. We need something for under the chandelier in the DR so people are not walking into it, hitting their head, etc.; so yesterday I moved a small round table from our family room to the dining room. I had covered it with a table cloth, topped with a pewter charger, 3-wick candle and some leftover pine cones. I knew it needed more, but was not going to worry about it for a while. Then, earlier today, I had gotten some free cut-off boughs from Home Depot to put in my new $2 milk glass planter/urn from the local thrift store (picture below). While I was setting it up, I had seen D picking up the little pieces I had cut off. At first I thought how nice it was he was cleaning up for me. But then I realized, how did he know I was done? He must be up to something... and he was. He took it upon himself to complete the charger/candle centerpiece with a little greenery. I love it!



and the milk glass with greens....

mo' money, zwei

We officially have the money in it's home, and love it! I am so glad I made a last minute decision to change the mat from white to the tan color it is now. It really makes a great contrast and compliment to the colors in the monies.



I realize the picture is sideways, and unfortunately I cannot seem to do anything about it. The file is the right way up, but when it's uploaded to blogspot, it is magically rotated. Thinking I would be smart enough to trick the system, I uploaded one that was rotated in the hopes it would flip to right side up. I didn't.

mo' money

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have been working on finally getting some things up on the walls. Around that time I was inspired by foreign currency artwork I had seen on art.com. It got me thinking that we could make our own, using currency from places we have been. Unfortunately we don't tend to keep paper money and mostly all we had were coins. So on the hunt we went. Through the help of friends, family and eBay, we were able to find everything we needed in just a few weeks.

I had originally started with only planning to have one piece, but becuase there was so much currency I wanted to include, we knew we had to go to two. However, we didn't think we had enough money for two frames, so we included Canada and Mexico as well. Each frame with 5 bills - one set from before we were married, and one set from after.

I found two frames from thrift stores and spray painted them black.

Here is the inspiration piece:

This was a very inexpensive piece of art. We spent about $10 for the two frames, $14 for the mat board, a few bucks for the spray paint and voila!


(I am going to try to get a better picture tonight, when there is not so much glare from the windows. )

a little Thanksgiving magic

D and I returned on Saturday from our week-long trip to Disney World. It's pretty much taken us the last two days to recover! We planned the trip with D's sister and brother-in-law. They made it a surprise to our nephews (5 and 7), only telling them the night before and the boys only knew we were there when the spotted us in the airport. Apparently they had been having "uncle D sitings" their entire trip, so finally seeing us was not too much of a surprise.

I have to say that the kids were real troopers. We dragged them all over the parks -- early mornings, late nights, no naps, etc. -- and only a few tears shed all week. All in all the weather was good all but one day. It was pouring rain when we were at the Animal Kingdom. Ponchos and rain coats did little to help, but it was also the perfect day to go on the water ride since we were all wet anyway. The upside were the walk-on wait times on the rides... even Everest, which is normally well over an hour. Everyone had left early that day, but D and I stayed a couple more hours and got to see it all.

The first night we got lucky when we just happened to arrive at the Magic Kingdom as a show was starting in front of Cinderella's castle. Here is a shot of the holiday lights on the castle. I want to live there.



On another topic, I have been searching for a somewhat ornate sideboard on Craig's List. I think I finally found it. I have been toying with whether or not I should get it as its more than I would like to spend. The buyer has made an offer at a lower price and I think I am going to offer even less. It needs a little work, but its just what I have been looking for. The fact that it's been posted for 3 weeks, and didn't sell while we were out of town, I am starting to think it was meant to be.
What do you think of it?

classic crock-pot chicken

In my attempt to make one meal in the slow-cooker every week, I decided to go with my fave standby...Roast Sticky Chicken. We were super disappointed in the 40-garlic chicken, so this time I had to make something I knew was good. I have been making the Sticky Chicken for at least 10 years. I have no idea where the recipe originally came from, but I do know it's super easy, cheap and delicious. This chicken rivals any rotisserie chicken you would buy from the grocery store, but after slow cooking all day it falls apart, juicy and tender. Tonight I am serving it with the acorn squash.

Roast Sticky Chicken in the Crock-Pot

* 4 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 onion, sliced
* 1 large roasting chicken (I use about a 4lb bird)

Combine all dry ingredients in bowl and set aside.
Remove all giblets and rinse the chicken well, inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
Stuff sliced onions in cavity and complete rub chicken with spice mixture. Place chicken in the crock pot "bowl", cover with lid and place in fridge overnight. If you don't have slow-cooker that separates from the heating element, then marinate chicken overnight in a large ziploc bag.
Cook on low 8-10 hours and Voila!

NOTE: This chicken is best if made the night before to soak in the rub.

Because of the way chicken so easily falls of the bone, it doesn't make for a great photo.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Since we will be out of town a few weekends between now and Christmas, we decided to put up some holiday decorations this weekend. It was also fairly warm, and you have take it when you can in WI. After all, it could be snowing next week! We weren't even the first house on the block to put them up.
Anyway, the "must have" craft of the season seems to be the ornament wreath and I decided I must make my own. I used ornaments we already had as well a few dollars worth I bought from the local thrift store and some wide ribbon I found in one of our holiday storage boxes.
Below is the finished product on our decorated mantle. Hopefully next holiday season we will finally have the fireplace painted!

what a weekend!

We went to Chicagoland this weekend to do a little shopping at Ikea and place the reupholstering order for our "new" chairs. (My parents bought the chairs in the 60s and they have a groovy green fabric. We will have them done in a winter white for our living room.)

Anyone who knows us, knows we love to eat - and eat well. In our constant endeavors for delicious food, we have become big fans of Guy Fieri and 'Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives' (DDD). We even took a roadtrip to California and mapped out the restaurants along the way. We only ate fast food once on the week-long trip, and it was simply because we had a long day of driving to get from Grand Canyon to Palm Springs.

Anyway...this past weekend we finally got to eat at Frank's Diner. The diner is an old train car and sits about 10 feet wide. There is always a wait, and usually takes no less than 45 minutes to get your food once you order. The last time we went, we were a party of 7 and the other 5 didn't want to wait. This was finally our chance! Our wait was only about 30 minutes and we both ordered the 1/2 garbage plate with chrizo. It consists of a plate of hashbrowns, green peppers, onions, jalapenos, your chosen meat and three eggs (the full plate has 5 eggs) and homemade bread. The plate was good, but the bread was outstanding. We also ordered a slice of Cap'n Crunch French Toast, but it never came.
Then on the ride back north, we stopped at Comet Cafe. All I can say is OMG... the Meatloaf! DEElish.

At Ikea, we bought two pairs of curtains for the bedroom for only $30 and a down throw pillow insert for only $8. The pillow inserts are to replace the Pottery Barn inserts we have. The ones from PB are awful. They are twice the price and the feathers are always poking through and stabbing you. Not mention always picking them up from the carpet once they fall out.

What amazing weather! 65-70 and sunny all weekend!! Plus, we got to dine on Giordano's Chicago-style Pizza with good friends and their kids. It was SO good. Although, D was a little disappointed that Lou Malnati's had an hour long wait for a table... which meant no chopped salad or peanut butter chocolate chip pizza. mmmmm

On Sunday morning we went to the Goodwill near mom's house and scored with the three items below. The frame is going to be used for our foreign money art project. We hope to have it done by Christmas, but still need Canadian Dollars and Czech Koruna to complete it.
D was pretty excited about the Star Wars Galactic Battle Game. It is knock off of Battleship and actually works! I found this gold bowl, held it up to D and said "I was thinking of painting this black, or white, and", before I could finish my sentence he replied with "use it for displaying the skull?" I love that he knew exactly what I was thinking! All this for under $10!

open letter to craigslist seller

For the last few weeks, I have been searching for some fairly specific furniture pieces on craigslist. The more searching I do, the more frustrated I become at the sellers and their lack of information in the postings. So, in a moment of complete and utter annoyance and frustration, I wrote my own open letter to craigslist sellers. And to think, some people cannot understand why their stuff doesn't sell. There is likely one, or several reasons mentioned below...

Dear Craigslist Seller:

If you are going to take the time to post something for sale then you should take the time to have a way for someone to email you. If you do not have access to email, or a working camera, then you should not be selling on the Internet. Period.

I realize you may think it's "gorgeous" and a "must see", but if it was all that great then what are you trying to hide in refusing to post a photo. If it is not the right size/dimension, color, wood, fabric, etc., then it is useless to me. So saying it’s about 4-5 feet long does not help me - get a tape measure. Please do not post "photo available upon request"; save us both the time and trouble and post it the first time. None of us have the time to request a photo from every one of you who are too ignorant and/or lazy to learn how to add it in the first place.

If someone emails you to ask a question, then take the time to respond appropriately. If I question you about the item and you choose to ignore it, then don’t email me a week later asking if I am still interested. Of course I am not interested, since you cannot even be bothered to reply to my inquiry, then why should I be bothered to consider your item. If you are going to be out of town for a week and not able to check emails, then don't post it! If it is sold, then delete it from the site.

The definition of an antique, according to U.S. customs laws, is an item made at least 100 years ago. I realize in general terms an antique can be described as any more than 50 years old. Having said that, the hideous, monstrous piece of junk that your husband/uncle/brother put together in 1976 is not an antique.

Sincerely,
Frustrated Craigslist Shopper

is there anything that can't be spray painted?

It is hard to even begin to list all the things in our house we have spray painted the last 8 years - everything from furniture, bathroom fixtures, photo frames and a fireplace screen. I have even read of some who spray paint doorknobs!

I wanted to share my recent finds and accomplishments. Even though I write with a sore shoulder from all the sanding and spray painting...


A couple weeks ago I purchased an old, black arm chair. I have a thing for interesting antique (looking) chairs. So much so that I need to stop as I really have no other places to use them. However, I could not pass this one up that I found at an estate sale. I fell in love with the natural rubbings on the arms and front rungs. Not to mention how hard it is find arm chairs! However, the seat was quite a mess and I was not so sure what to do with it.

Today I worked on sanding down the seat, and a few other areas that needed some attention. When D got home, he convinced me to just spray paint. So, I taped up the arms and front rungs to keep their natural distressing. There were a few spots I had to fill in with wood filler, then I used two coats of flat black spray paint. Next I took some sandpaper and distressed the other areas. Here is the finished product, although I am thinking about making a chair cushion too. We will see...



I have been struggling for months about what to do with all my long fashion necklaces. They were being stored in a drawer in my lingerie chest and it seems every time I want to wear one, I spend 10 minutes trying to untangle it from others. It suddenly hit me to make a board where I can hang them on the wall. The next step was to find something large and cute to use as a frame

The large gold frame in the picture above was it! It was another estate sale find, and at $5 (with no glass) I could not pass it up. I stripped and sanded as much as possible, then primed with spray primer and finished with a coat of a slightly off-white can of 50 cent oops paint. To complete the Shabby Chic look, I distressed it lightly. Then I spent two hours working to untangle everything so they could be hung.



The little blue box in the above picture is a circa 1960 train/make-up case. I had found it at an antique store with a price of $17. I had gone to another store across the hallway to find a similar case for $34. Really? double the price? I went back to the first store to have another look and that is when I spotted the $6 markdown sticker. SOLD! I plan to use this with some other vintage suitcases I have found in the last couple years.


In my stops at Goodwill, I also found these two little candle holders for a total $3. The white one is pretty cute as is, but I bought it with the intention of spray painting it silver. The already silver candlestick needed a good scrubbing to get rid of all the wax dripping.


Here they are, ready for display, along with a $2 flame less candle on clearance at Marhsalls/Homegoods.



Although Halloween has come and gone, I wanted to share my cute little skull from Goodwill. It was not in great shape and the paint was peeling off, but it was the perfect little guy to paint a nice glossy black - especially since it was a steal at only $1. After painting him, I thought about maybe doing it in silver for a Terminator look. Maybe next year....



Finally, I decided to jump on the bandwagon of making your own cake stands. While I have been collecting antique plates I would like to use, I needed something to test it out. These $.70 plates (from Homegoods) and $.20 cordial glasses (from thrift store) were the perfect trial. I got a $3 tube of Duco Cement to hold it all together. A day later and here is the finished product...(they are not attached to each other, just gently stacked)

buca di coupon

I came across a $10 off $20 coupon for Buca di Beppo and thought I would share. Even better is that it's good thru 12/31/2010!

kitchen tour

Although it has been over a year since the completion of our kitchen/first floor remodel, I wanted to include some before and after photos in my blog. In looking again at the before photos, I am in awe myself!

Full Kitchen


"Desk" Area


Stove/Sink/ Window


Dining Room (notice the green carpet? yikes!)




Hallway (new front door installed)


Stairwell (just looking at that asbestos tile sends a shiver down my spine)


Living Room (this is really more of a "during" with the new window and paint color)


Bathroom




drum roll please.....





This area had been a closet that was impossible to get at. So we installed a bench for putting on and storing shoe, with lockers/cabinets above.


There is a half wall separating the kitchen and family room. Instead of just being dead space, we made it into a media cabinet. It now stores DVDs and CDs.


I realized this is the only shot of the dark island.


I love this sink!


Stove with griddle


Wider opening into DR


New Desk Area


Dining Room - Antique Table, New Chairs and Brazilian Cherry Floors. I am still working on artwork.








Hallway (view from the front door)


Stairwell (no carpet and refinished treads)




Living Room (it's still a work in progress while I finish decorating)


Bathroom - I could not find the vanity I wanted so I had a friend, who works for a local cabinet maker, make it to my specs. I am still on the fence about the mirror. I am thinking something square with a frame.


Custom Stools - I thought I would throw in shot of the fabulous island stools. Everyone who sits in them comments on how comfy they are. (the bead board is the back of the media cabinet)


Behr Paint Colors

Kitchen -
Living & Dining Room - Cup of Cocoa
Hallway - Toasted Cashew
Trim - Powdered Snow
Dining Room Red - Sundried Tomato (SW)