Mirror, mirror...Fantastic Friday project

Hello and Happy Friday!  This week has been particularly busy for me so I thought I'd finish up a project that has been waiting in the wings.  This project happens to include two small round mirrors that I had spray painted awhile back.  I am moving them to another room in the house, so I though I'd change their color to look better in their new place.  One time consuming thing about painting mirrors that you may have already experienced, is its quite tedious to scrape paint off the mirror after the project is finished if they weren't covered properly.  Been there and done that!  It's by no means hard to scrape off but it does add another step to the project that I'd rather avoid.  So here's a simple solution to avoid scraping paint.

Start off by gathering your supplies.  Mine included the two mirrors, painters tape and a craft knife.

 Next, put one strip of tape along the edge of the mirror and push into the edge with your fingernail to make a sharp crease.  Take your craft knife and cut along the crease being careful not to snag an edge & peel up the tape.  After making your cut, carefully peel the excess tape off.

Now you have the tape exactly where you need it so you can easily paint the inside.  Continue this process until you have fully covered the mirrored surface.  In all, it only took me a few minutes start to finish.

Ta-da!  Here's the result!  Now I can move on to painting and hanging and get this project off the to-do list.  

Trisha

Birthday Bliss

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday!  Well, actually I celebrated last weekend since my birthday happened to fall mid-week this year.  First, my wonderful hubby took me to a Lumineers concert, whom I love.  We then continued the festivities by staying overnight (kid free!) in a downtown Seattle hotel.  Lounging around, swimming, staying up late and sleeping in...pure bliss!  As if all that wasn't enough, my hubby came home from work early yesterday with gifts in hand and told me that he was cooking dinner.  Wahoo!!!  Let's just say I love to bake...anything & everything.  Cooking?  Not so much.  A girl could definitely get used to this treatment!  As soon as my kiddos got home from school, they started making drawings and pictures for my presents and then instructed me to put them on my bedside table so I can see them every morning.  I pretty much had the best birthday ever.  Gettin old doesn't seem quite so bad...

Trisha

Garage Re-Do: The Beginning

When we moved into our 1960's home, it was pretty much in it's original state.  The original (and only) owner had replaced carpet and kitchen counters/cabinets in the 80's but not much else.  At first we thought this was great...much better not to pay for someone else's renovations that we'd end up changing down the road anyways.  So in the case of the garage (a place you might not think of cleaning out before moving in) we just hauled all our stuff in and stored it away using whatever shelving and cabinets were already there.  Now that we've lived here almost 4years (wow how time flies!), we are starting to get really impatient with the areas of our house that are not functioning well.  The garage was quickly becoming #1 offender!  Besides the few scattered wire wall shelves we hung upon moving in, there wasn't any rhyme or reason to how or where things were stored.  So, as I was asking my husband to please create a pathway so I could maneuver through the chaos that was my garage, he decided it was time for a major overhaul.

Here's my hard working hubby beginning this huge project

We began by clearing everything out and tearing every last thing off the walls (old unfinished here & there drywall included). Down to the studs & wires we go!  Even getting it to this stage was fantastic!  A project like this also gave us the much needed motivation to clean out the excess that was building up.  Thrift store piles, Craigslist piles and garbage bags were taking over...awesome!!!

Yuck!

Now that's a garbage pile!

I just cannot believe how much we removed!  We were even lucky enough (ya right!) to find some miscellaneous tools stashed inside some of the drywall left from the previous owner.  So, after tearing everything out and sweeping down the walls and floors and putting all our stuff back in this was our result.

Stunning, right?!

Ok, I know it doesn't seem like a huge change, but it is a fantastic start and it actually felt much better starting from scratch.  Now I can break out all the pictures of perfectly organized garages that I've been saving up!  The list for items needed and things to do seems endless but it will be well worth it when I can not only find exactly what I'm looking for but I can also get to it without wading through junk piles

Beef Stew & Dinner Rolls

Now that it's mid-September, I've decided to kick off the comfort food season with beef stew and dinner rolls.  We try to eat mostly Paleo round these parts and so I am constantly changing and tweaking all the yummy recipes I come across.  Recently I discovered a recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website for Sunday Night Stew.  Here is her recipe and the changes I made.

• STEW
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter (use grass-fed butter for Paleo)
• 2 pounds Beef Stew Meat (chuck Roast Cut Into Chunks)
• Salt And Pepper
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 4 ounces, weight Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock Or Broth, More If Needed For Thinning
• Several Dashes Worcestershire
• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar (I used Truvia but you can also use liquid or powder Stevia if you prefer)
• 4 whole Carrots, Peeled And Diced
• 2 whole Turnips, Peeled And Diced (I didn't have any on hand so I just used some frozen peas)
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley
• Mashed Potatoes (I left this out completely and used diced sweet potatoes in the stew which I added with the other veggies)
• 5 pounds Russet Potatoes (peeled)
• 1 package (8 Ounce) Cream Cheese, Softened
• 1 stick Butter, Softened
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Salt and pepper stew meat. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add butter, and as soon as it melts, brown half the stew meat until the outside gets nice and brown, about 2 minutes. (Turn it as it browns.) Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on a plate. Add the rest of the meat to the pot and brown it, too. Remove it to the same plate. Set the meat aside.

Add the onion and garlic to the pot, stirring it to coat it in all the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Cook for two minutes, then add the tomato paste to the pot. Stir it into the onions and let it cook for two more minutes.

Pour in the beef stock, stirring constantly. Add the Worcestershire and sugar. Add the beef back to the pot, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.

After 1 1/2 to 2 hours, add the diced turnips and carrots to the pot. Stir to combine, put the lid back on the pot, and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be very thick, but if it seems overly so, splash in some beef broth until it thins it up enough. Feel free to add beef broth as needed!

When the carrots and turnips are tender, stir in minced parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve piping hot in a bowl with mashed potatoes, letting the juice run all over everything. Sprinkle with extra minced parsley at the end.

I didn't really have to tweak much with this recipe (which I love) and it turned out beautifully!  The stew meat was really tender and moist which I find is hard to achieve with other recipes I've tried.  Now on to the really important part...the dinner roll!  I have made many Paleo biscuits and rolls but have never really found one that I love and want to make for every meal.  Well, look no more!  I have found my favorite dinner roll recipe that is gluten-free and Paleo which works for everyone in my family.  One thing I have to confess...my 9yr old son doesn't usually like my Paleo baking...sad, right?  He was so used to the taste of regular baked goods that when we switched to a gluten-free & Paleo lifestyle he had the hardest time.  He now enjoys all my gluten-free cooking & baking but still isn't excited when I pop a batch of Paleo cookies out of the oven.  So whenever I can bake something that is completely Paleo and he asks for seconds and thirds I know I've found the perfect recipe.  So, enough said...here it is!  This recipe is complements of Our Paleo Life.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Tapioca Starch or Arrowroot Starch
• ¼ – ⅓ cup Coconut Flour
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• ½ cup Warm Water
• ½ cup Light Olive Oil
• 1 Large Egg, whisked

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the tapioca or arrowroot starch with the salt and ¼ cup of the coconut flour in a medium bowl. Mix well.
3. Pour in the olive oil and warm water and stir until combined. The mixture will be very thick. Add the whisked egg and continue mixing until well combined. Now the dough will be thinner.
4. If the mixture is too thin you should add one or two more tablespoons of coconut flour – one tablespoon at a time – until the mixture is a soft but somewhat sticky dough. No more than 3 additional tablespoons should be used.
5. Using a small scoop, make balls of dough and place on a parchment-lined baking pan, about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. If you are making your rolls larger than 1 Tbsp each, bake longer.
7. When the bottoms are lightly brown, but the tops are not, remove from the oven.
8. Promptly remove from the baking pan and place in a tea towel lined bowl. Serve warm.

And there you have it!  Delicious, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside dinner rolls...yum!

Trisha

Holiday Decorating

I am more than excited that fall is finally here!  Leaves are falling, the air is crisp and I am definitely craving comfort foods and pumpkin desserts!  I have been so inspired by some of the many pictures on the Internet of people redecorating their houses for fall and even ideas for the upcoming holidays.  It got me thinking...I love to look at all those pictures, but I'm torn as to whether or not I just add seasonal decor to my existing decorations or if I should change them out entirely.  In some ways I find that it's pretty easy to change things out, meaning take your current group of items off a small accent table and stow them away so you can bring out the pumpkins and other fall decor.  I've also seen many people actually change pictures that hang on their walls all the way to the entryway rug & dishes in their cabinets.  Unfortunately, I haven't built up my holiday decoration stock pile quite that much so I have to stick to adding seasonal touches here and there.  I am however excited to do a few DIY holiday projects this year that will beef up my limited supply.  What are you doing to decorate for the season?  Here are some very inspiring and beautiful images to get you off to a good start.

Hurricanes Filled with Nuts and Acorns
Pink Roses and Teacups

Gorgeous Table Centerpiece
Bunches and Bits

Thanksgiving Mantel
A Diamond in the Stuff

Now that we have seen such amazing ideas...let the seasonal decorating begin!  

Trisha

The Glories of Free Paint

Recently I saw an advertisement for a free quart of paint at my local hardware store.  Being the cynic that I am, I made sure to carefully ready the fine print to make sure it was really free.   Low and behold...it really was free!  I have been itching to paint some furniture and was more than excited to get started.  The hard part was deciding which piece of furniture to paint and what color!  Decisions, decisions...I finally decided to go with a small wood pedestal table that I've been using as a printer table in my office.  It was painted red and just didn't go with my office decor.  I knew that I wanted to do some kind of blue but wasn't sure whether to choose navy or a peacock blue.  In the end, the peacock blue color won!  The very next day I got to work.

First I had to sand the table to smooth out some of the paint that had been nicked.  Once I sanded and wiped it clean I primed it with Zinsser Stain Cover, my new favorite primer.  After the primer had dried, I sanded down a few spots left from the paint brush and added another coat of primer over some bare spots.  I new I was using a dark color over the red so I didn't use two full coats of primer.

This is my free paint!  I have never used this brand before but I was pleasantly surprised.  It had great coverage and went on pretty thick so I only needed 2 coats.  

Because this is such a fabulous color I can use this little gem of a table in any room of my house.  I just love it when I can transfer furniture and accessories from room to room and basically "go shopping" in my own home!  What a great way to change things up without spending any cash.

Trisha

Don't Judge a re-covered book

I've mentioned before that I have a serious love for reading, so it goes to say that I have a pretty sizable collection of books laying around.  I used to stack them on shelves, squeeze the into cabinets and pile them on top of tables...anywhere I could find.  After scoring a few unique industrial accents at a Vintage Market, I decided that my shelf of books needed a make-over.  I have seen many posts on Pinterest of people covering books in chalkboard paper, old maps and various other creative materials to re-purpose them and use them in their decor.  I decided to make mine stand out on my dark wood shelves by covering them in white paper.  I didn't even have to purchase said paper or look for any in the craft drawer.  How did I do it?  I simply turned the covers inside out...yep!  Would you believe that every jacket cover is white on the inside?!  It was all very simple and took only about 10 minutes of my time.

This is how messy it looked before.  No rhyme or reason, just books...lots of books!

Here's how to begin.  Find a hardcover book and remove the jacket.  Lay the jacket down so the wording is facing up.

Place one edge of the jacket under the book and begin to fold it around the book cover.  You might need to crease it a little before it will fold nicely but it's as simple as that!  Easy and free...my two favorite things!

Now you can actually see the painting and accessories that were hidden by all those colorful book covers!  My favorite part is the pop of black that I used by simply removing the covers from a few black books and leaving them as is.  Ah, much better!  I'd love to hear (and see!) how you've used books in your decorating!

Trisha