Banana PBJ Muffins

As I was thinking about my blog posts for the week, I looked at my list of blog ideas and noticed a trend. Every weekend I end up trying out at least one recipe! While the hubs is home to keep an eye on the rug rats its a nice break for me to try out something new and I have decided that Monday is now going to be Mange` Monday where I break down a new recipe that we love! And here is the first installment:

Banana PBJ Muffins

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 large scoop Natural Peanut Butter
1 large scoop Grape Jelly
2 tablespoons apple sauce
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk (could sub almond milk for dairy free)
3 ripe bananas mashed

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder

3. In separate bowl, beat peanut butter, jelly, applesauce, eggs, milk, and bananas

4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just till moistened.

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups. We use those awesome silicone ones! Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 2 down muffins.

6. Serve with peanut butter dipping sauce or honey for those picky eaters!

Here is the Original Recipe that I made changes to for those super yummy muffins. I popped half of them into the freezer and they make great on the go breakfasts for those crazy mornings when you don't have time to cook! I actually like them better when they are still a touch frozen!

And that nifty little gadget above? Its a PBJ spreader from Williams Sonoma!

PS. If you are looking for any furniture today is the last day of World Market's 50% off furniture sale. There are some crazy deals! The deals were so good that something new found its way home with us this weekend.... tune in tomorrow to see what it is!

Linking up at Serenity Now!

Friday Stain Fail

I should have known that doing a real time DIY project is just asking for trouble... but I was just so excited about it! Let's back track... Thanks to my Dad I have these awesome new table tops, and thanks to this great DIY stain post I got an update on my tetanus booster.

Here are all of the details!

I dumped one tablespoon of coffee grounds (I used ones that had never been brewed) into a mason jar filled with distilled white vinegar and 2 steel wool pads. I let the concoction sit a little more than 24 hours.

I used a plastic bag to protect my hands from the stain and applied a liberal coat to both of the tabletops.  I let the stain sit and went back to check on it after the hour was up. This is what I found! Beautiful distressed looking wood (excuse the coffee grinds)

So if one coat and an hour is good, then a second coat should be great right? I applied a second coat with bare hands (duh!!!) and as I was waiting for it soak in I looked down at my hands and notices several paper cut sized scratches. Cue major freak out followed by dragging the kids all over town to get a Tetanus booster shot. Needless to say walking in to find that my beautiful distressed tables were now looking like redwood tables was the icing on the cake! They are not photographing nearly as red as they are in real life, but take a look.

In an effort to get rid of some of the redness, I did a vinegar wash and it did help some.

Next up, a vinegar and steel wool only stain. And yes, I will be wearing gloves! So if you are thinking of trying this, my advice would be to use much less coffee and maybe even already brewed coffee. Oh and again, protect your hands!

Linking up at Serenity Now!

Pop's Coffee Tables

Way back in November of 2012 (when I was staying with the rents while the hubs was already working on the new job and the house had sold...) I stumbled upon a project. When I moved into my first apartment many, many years ago, I got one of those horrific matching living room and dining room sets from Rooms to Go. I am mortified to even admit that now... most of the pieces have been long sold on Craig's List. All that remains are a coffee table and 2 end tables that have been hiding in an extra room in my parents house for maybe 7 years! I had totally forgotten about them until we were packing up some of our stuff one evening and it occurred to me that with this new big house we could really use some extra tables. Truth be told, these were slated to be put in the family room since the beautiful PB one that we have does not fit with the sectional (yes - we bought an insanely expensive sectional without measuring the opening where the table would sit. DUH!)

This is what the tables looked like...

I decided that we didn't have enough on our plates with the move and that building new table tops was just what we needed to spend our 'spare' time doing! So my dad and I sketched out two tables. A smaller end table (18 inch square) and larger coffee table (27 inch square). I wanted to reuse the legs from the existing tables and add rustic looking wood tops. Since I had just read Hi Sugarplum's Reclaimed Shelves and Desk post, we didn't have to think too hard about how to make this happen!

We came home from the 'Man Store' with the needed supplies already to cut to size and got to work! It was a super fast project thanks to my dad and our awesome assistant! We basically used 3 of the 9 inch wide pieces for the bigger table and 2 of the 9 inch wide pieces for the end table. We used the same process for both tables so I am going to outline it for the bigger coffee table only.

1. Lay the 3 boards on your work space
2. Place your 3 support pieces going the opposite direction on the 3 boards
3. Attach your support pieces using wood screws
4. Lay your trim pieces on all 4 sides of the table to ensure they fit
5. Attach your trim pieces using wood glue and let it dry
6. We opted to also use finishing nails to attach the trim to the tabletop
7. Attach the leg hardware to the bottom of the table

 And this is how the tables sat for about 2 months as I lived out of a box decided how I wanted to stain them! When I stumbled upon this amazing idea to use Steel Wool, Vinegar, & Coffee Stain! Tune in tomorrow for the full scoop on this awesome stain!

Steel Wool + Vinegar + Coffee Stain = Tetanus Booster!

So as I alluded to in yesterday's post, the mystery in the mason jar was to help me refinish the DIY coffee and end tables. I finally got to try the vinegar, steel wool, coffee stain....

And why is there no post on the outcome today? That would be because I spent the better part of the day dragging the kids around town trying to get a tetanus booster after a cut from the steel wool. I starting googling tetanus and of course my last booster was when I was 18 and heading off to college! I major freaked out but thankfully I am now vaccinated and will be back tomorrow to give all the dirty details.

The 2013 List

Yes, I am a touch slow on the resolutions and to do list for 2013, but I figure as long as I get it out there and make it happen that's what really matters right? So here is my to do list for 2013! I am pretty sure there will be lots of little spur of the moment additions too!

Gallery Shelving (DIY and figure out where it should go!)
Leaning Mirror
Fix sectional Slipcover
Refinish Kitchen table
Laundry Room Plan
Guest room bed and Nightstand
Dining Room (Lamps, Table, Bar, Shelves)
Rug for Family Room?
Stain DIY Coffee Tables
Office Plan
Master Rework
Update Cleaning Calendar

And I am starting right in! Tune in tomorrow to figure out what in the world this will be helping me to cross off!

Happy Blogiversary!

Well, I missed my true blog birthday! But I am still very excited to have made it a whole year! In the last year, so much has changed... I thought it would be fun to look back and see the most popular posts that I have had in the last year.

Of course Pinterest provided the #1 post with the Paint Dipped Lampshade! If I ever were to complete project using paint sticks again, I would buy them in bulk vs driving to store after store to gather 10 at a time!

Funny that the #2 post would happen to be precisely what I posted about yesterday. It's looks like yall liked my Pegboard Pantry too! Make sure to check out the one in the new house here.

And rounding out the top 3 are the Striped Lampshades. A super easy way to jazz up a cheapie lamp and to really make your room pop!

I am very sad to report that both the paint dipped lampshades and the striped lampshades did not fare well in the move. As I removed each of them from their boxes, I was sad to see about half of the paint sticks removed from the shade and that the striped shades had literally been squashed. So it's back to the drawing board for my green lamps who are now naked!

New baby, new city, new house, and with that comes a whole new list of to dos for the upcoming year! Tune in tomorrow for that post!

Pegboard in the Pantry

We are still in the midst of the holiday madness here! Is it already Friday? With New Years, a visit from friends on the 1st, and a quickie trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl (thanks to the grandparents for letting us have a kid free trip!) it's been a busy week indeed! Thus the New Years resolutions start around here next week...

But one of the first things I checked off my to do list just might prove to be very helpful for those of you trying to get organized. It was honestly one of the favorite DIY projects to date and I was very happy to be able replicate it in our new house. In fact I loved it so much that this was up and functioning day 2 in the house before I even got my closet unpacked. Yeah, that is love! So here is the Pegboard Pantry version 2! Apologies for poor picture quality, the camera charger is still missing so all of these are via my new iPhone!

Unfortunately, I did not chronicle the step by step process this time (with being surrounded by 496 boxes and such) but luckily I captured it all in my original peg pantry post. The only difference was that this time the hubs decided to use wood instead of the peg spacers to mount the pegboard to the wall. Its a little easier than trying to hold the spacers and screw them in while working in a tight space like a pantry.

Just think of all the time and drawer space you will save with this easy and inexpensive project!

Linking up at Serenity Now!