Reflection

Happy Weekend ya'll! I know I can't be the first to think of this and I definitely won't be the last. You see, I needed a small mirror for a small section of wall at my work office. I've casually looked around for mirrors when I was out leisurely shopping. I wasn't in a huge hurry; it wasn't a ohmygoodnessgottahaveitnow purchase, you know. The price ranges were always somewhere between $15.00 and well over $100.00. Umm thanks.but.no.thanks, I think I will make my own and that is just what I have done folks. :)

I headed out to one of our local Dollar Tree stores, not in search of a mirror but just a simple project for this weekend to get my fix. I'm a junky who is going through withdrawls because my other life (you know the one that isn't decorating/cooking/DIY'ing and blogging) is getting in this junky's way. While I was perusing the store I happened upon this in the candle aisle.

It's just a mirror that you would put a candle on. Super easy and super cheap!

While I was there I saw their real cheap-o photo frames. I thought why the heck not! At worse if it doesn't turn out then I'm out $2.00. It's a nice metallic like color but up close and personal you can tell it is super inexpensive. It's plastic but it should work.

I had the gorilla glue from another project but I think at Home Depot it was around $4.00. And you don't need a ton for this project.

I put a small beaded line around the picture frame, where the picture would go; I didn't even take off the paper insert. No one will see it so why bother. Once the small amount of gorilla glue was on I layed the mirror right on top and quickly (must work quickly because it is super glue and dries uber fast) arranged the mirror to be centered.

It's not totally perfect but for $2.00 vs. at the bare minimum $15.00, not too shabby.

All it needs is a bit of Windex for all my nasty little finger smears and it's ready to hang on the wall. Another thing you can do is leave it as is on a side table or buffet or hutch. Maybe decorate it with a little bit of vinyl lettering. Or maybe you can decorate the frame with ribbon or an old brooch; I think the possibilities to jazz it up are limitless. This junky's incredibly easy and nearly free fix; what do you think!?!

Winner! Winner!

Thanks again to all those you have supported and continue to support me despite my lack of recent posts. It's hard working full time and going to school full time and feeling the inevitable pull of blogland.

With that said, I wish I could give you all a gift but unfortunately there can only be one winner. Without futher delay...the winner....is....

Woohoo Lucky number 1!! Commenter # 1 is Katie at Ohh Baby. Hit me up Katie at happinessliveshere(at)hotmail(dot)com and I can get your information. Also for those of you that haven't heard, Katie is a fellow blogger and is new onto the blog scene but she has some amazing ideas. Check out her pad when you get a moment!

The urge to purge...plus a giveaway!!

Hello and how are you today? I've been feeling weighed down, frustrated and a little like a basket case. It occurred to me that part of the problem (there is a whole iceberg of other issues) is that I have multiple...yes, MULTIPLE cluttered areas in my house.

It starts out innocent with a designated "junk" drawer/surface and then it breeds into an uncontrollable monster and when I decided to finally take the blinders off, I have lost all ability to reign in the mess and it has spread like wild fire throughout the entire house. Has this happen to you before? Please say it has, I don't want to be the only messy freak out here. :)
The other night something just snapped and I couldn't live one more minute with 2 (out of many) cupboards looking the way they did.

Me, to The Hubs: " I think I'm going to rearrange and clean out the pots/pans cupboard and the bowl cupboard".

The Hub's: {half paying attention and not even looking in my direction}..."umm, ok"

As I start performing the task at hand right then and there, oh I didn't waste another second, it occurred to my better half that I was actually going to do it then and it wasn't just another random thought or item to put on a list to tackle another time.

I am slowly working on other areas of the home that I hope to show you soon but in the meantime since I am on an organizing kick let's talk about the giveaway. One of my "messy" problems is the amount of paper we accumulate. What do I keep, what do I throw away and how do I organize the things I deemed worth holding on to? I need a tried and true system, that's for sure. Mine tactics simply are no longer working.

I have picked out a few items, in very punchy colors because this should be a fun experience, to giveaway to one of my readers/visitors.

I know that I don't dedicate enough time to this blog but yet you still come back and check in from time to time. So much so that I have reached over 250 views. That may not seem like a huge number but I think it's a personal achievment and couldn't be thankful enough.

When I started this blog it was what I thought "a means to fill my time" and it turned into an incredibly enjoyable experience. There is something so cathardic about writing about your experiences and having others find enjoyment in it as well. I never would have thought that anything I did or said would be interesting enough for people to want to continue to read.

 Anyway, I want to give you all a BIG, FAT PINK PUFFY HEART. Also one lucky person is going to win this giveaway. What is it, you ask?

First there is a terrific book, I bought a copy for myself as well; afterall I too need a little help in corraling the mess. It's called Simply Organized, written by Iyna Bort Caruso and Jenny Schroedel. I've started it and let me tell you, just the introduction page had me hooked. I could have sworn they were talking about me and living my life. I've seriously thought about other places to hang my everexpanding closet and the thought of hanging some items from ceiling fans or chandeliers has crossed my mind.

 Also included is a calendar for dates to remember throughout 2011.

Then there are some super fun file folders that have pictures of shoes and handbags. GAH! I love it! In addition, I've thrown in some magnets, a pen (for the calendar writing) and some sticky notes and tabs, maybe for all those magazine pages you just can part with?!?! Oh wait...that's me; I have magazines coming out my ears because I am too afraid to part with the one or two items I liked.

To enter? It's really just simple...leave a comment. Tell me something you have been dying to organize, or tell me about your junk drawer or just say hi! The giveaway will be open until Thursday, January 27th, 2011. I will use random.org to select a number from the comments and I will announce the winner on Saturday the 29th. Thanks again for all your love and support!
***Anyone can enter, even if you aren't a follower. Just leave your name in the body of the comment so I know who to announce***

This giveaway is closed!

Groovy!

I know it has been eons since I said I would post about the 70's party I mentioned here but this whole work full-time and go to school full-time is eating up my precious blog time. Drats...do people still say drats?!?! :)

Anyway the party was fabulous and everyone had the best time. There was lots of dancing, lots of eating and lots of laughing. Here are just a few snippets of the paaartt-y!

 Look at that Stone Fox!!

I apparently was trying to really get in the 70's spirit. I mean, what the heck is up with my eyes closed. Come on Hubs-you could have told me I looked like a dork.

Awesome food; including some far out fondu!

 The Dancing Queen! Boogy Fever!

 Of course there was a disco ball...it's not the 70's without one.

 Just chillin'...and Keepin it real!

 Look at these cool cats! Totally funky and totally awesome!

 The dudes!! Well except for two...not sure where they were when this was taken.

And the Birthday boy! He is blazin! Anyway there were more photos but our camera died (bummer!) so this is all we have cats. Ok I am burned out on the 70's lingo but we all had a blast. Maybe the next time we get together for a birthday bash we can do something closer to my genre...80's!!!

Have a great weekend! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! We are! There is a group of us meeting tonight to throw a birthday party for a great friend of ours (Hoss). The Hubs and his friend, let's call him 'W', decided to throw a themed party. For any of you that know my husband knows that he isn't really into themes so I was compltetely shocked. We are throwing a 70's theme party and hopefully there will be more on that in another post.

Back to the project at hand-cupcakes! I didn't make these from scratch but as you will see a bit later I did jazz them up a bit. So bake your cupcakes according to the box.

Look at that amazing red color!!

 I use an ice cream scoop; it's a bit less messy and it is, for the most part, accurate in filling the cups to the right level.

Once they are done baking, let them cool completely. Trust me on the last one; you do not want to try to handle or frost a cupcake that is not COMPLETELY cool.

So to jazz up the cupcakes I bought one of those frosting kits from Wilton; it was only about $7.00. It comes with bags, a couple tips and directions for different fun ways to decorate.

I decided to pipe a little bit of frosting into the center of the cupcake before frosting the top.

Then instead of smearing the frosting on the top, like I usually do, I piped on the frosting with another tip. This tip is the larger "star" tip. It worked wonderfully.

Due to my excitement that my cupcakes look kind of professional and all freakin awesome, I forgot to take a pick of them all frosted. I'm sorry. :(

I also thought another touch of 'special' was called for so I grabbed a bar of semi-sweet chocolate and was going to put shavings on top of the frosted cupcakes. Now I must preface that I am not a professional baker and I do not possess the appropriate tools for accomplishing certain tasks in the kitchen but I thought I did rather well for working with what I have.

I grabbed a serrated peeler I had and a hunk of chocolate and just started shaving peeling over top the cupcakes.

I think they turned out AWESOME! I can't wait for the birthday dude to check these out. Hopefully he is as impressed as I am.

Have a wonderfully sweet weekend!

I'm a knob

Calling all readers...all 11 of you lovelies. I need your help! For Christmas The Hubs built me a couple items. They are gorg but he left picking out the hardware to me-eeks!

Told ya...it's gorg. It has a ledge (that I can jazz up a bit with some accessories) and it has drawers (for the mail-yay!) and underneath will be a spot for hooks, to hang the keys.

My favorite part of course is what he had lasered into the wood. It's hard to read but it says "Better when we're together". It's a song by Jack Johnson and it was our first dance song at the wedding. Awww, he definitely gets points for romance!

Now back to the dilemma...you see I love so many different styles that it's nearly impossible to pick just one. I need to pick out hardware for the beauty above and also an extra knob (matching because I am psycho like that. Have to be all matchy-matchy) for the side table he built as well.

I could go with nickle, like the one from True Value below...

 Or I could get the same thing in ORB (Oil Rubbed Bronze), also from True Value...

 Or how about Bronze with copper accents, like this one from Home Depot?

 Or maybe something a bit more decorative (Venetian Bronze) from the Home Depot stash...

Or, or, or....do I kick it up a notch and get something with more panache, like this one from Home Depot?

My original thought was to buy cheap ones, maybe even (GASP!-dare I say it) brass and then spray paint them but I didn't want to spend the time to do it right (I'm feeling super lazy). You know-sand them a bit, prime them and then paint them. You have to do this if you are going to 'touch' them alot; and I intend to thank.you.very.much. :)

So if you will pretty, pretty please (with whip cream and a cherry on top) help me with my little situation I will be eternally grateful.

The vaccuum battle

Look at the amount of the snow, folks! Holy moly and it's been frigid to boot. Yesterday it only got up to 8 degrees where we live and on the way home from the New Years party yesterday in the wee hours of the morning there were spots along the way that were -19 degrees (oh yah, negative). Yowza!

Anyway we still had a bit of fun today in the snow and not the type of fun you are thinking. You know, the normal stuff people do like ski, sled or snowmobile. Nope something entirely different. So for quite awhile now we (The Hubs because he does pretty much all the vaccuuming) has had this epic battle with the vaccuum. We have gone through several rollers and a plethora of belts. Today something snapped, and not just the belt again; The Hubs was officially fed up. As he put it "it was the last belt that broke the vaccuums back".

I know you are wondering what on earth is your vaccuum doing outside in the snow. Keep on reading...

Are you starting to see what is about to happen?!?! :)

Two very loud shots later and the vaccuum was blown into three pieces. Oh but The Hubs wasn't done yet...oh no no no. He lit off another 8 rounds just to make his point and to well... feel better.

Oh and if you are wondering what type of vaccuum NOT to buy may I suggest you stay clear of Dirt Devil. :)

He felt liberated and so did I...but then I started to think...with a Saint Bernard at home that sheds A TON now what are we going to do. We intended on waiting it out until February or so to buy a quality vaccuum (woot woot Dyson!). The Hubs decided we couldn't (and neither could the vaccuum) wait that long.

We hopped into the car and headed into town to purchase a replacement that would at the very least (hopefully) last until our big purchase.

So far so good but it has only been a few hours. Time will tell. :) We had a sick and twisted thought to show the new vaccuum it's possible fate if it decided to crap out too but that would be silly, right?!?!

Now that we have a working vaccuum I guess there is no excuse for me not to get off my duff and test it out from time to time. Working vaccuum-check, next up cleaning and organizing the home...AGAIN!