DIY Knife Holder

I hate stuff on my counters.  It's really hard to keep them cleaned off and organized.  It's too easy to just throw stuff down and let it sit there. 

Today while cleaning off all the stuff I had a moment of brilliance.  No Pinterest inspiration here.  Just straight out of my own head.  I knew there had to be something in my garage that I could use and make for free that would clear off my clunky knife block and give me more space.  Not much more space but at least it would be one less thing to stare at.

I went out to the garage and found a piece of wood that worked perfectly.  So here's how you can make your own knife holder for your drawers.

First, measure the width of your drawer.

Cut down a piece of wood to fit tightly in the drawer so you don't have to use any brackets to hold the wood in place.  Draw a line at the bottom of the wood so you know how far down to make your cuts.  My slots are spaced 1 inch apart.  The last slot on the right is longer for my biggest knife to fit.

Make sure your wood fits in the drawer and looks right.  Then prime and paint if you choose.

After the everything is dry put the wood back in the drawer and place your knives in the drawer. 

It's that simple and it didn't even take that long to make. 

I hope you have a great week!

LUNCH anyone?

Since we built the shelves in the kitchen I haven't been happy with what I had up there.  It just wasn't looking right to me.  So I went to my go-to place for inspiration, Pinterest. 

I found my inspiration picture very quickly.  I was looking for something easy and inexpensive.  Basically I wanted to "shop" my house and use what I already had. 

Source

 

This picture looked simple and elegant and I had pretty much everything I needed except for the artwork.  But remember, I'm doing this on the cheap so I don't want to spend anything.

I also found the picture below while doing the same search for kitchen shelves and I loved the vintage "LUNCH" sign. 

Source 

I remembered a friend gave me a piece of wood that she hadn't used and it was sitting in my garage waiting for me to find a place for it. 

So I got busy.

I sized out my letters in Microsoft Word, printed them out, cut them out, traced them on contact paper and then cut the letters out of that.  The first time I did this I wanted my board to look just like the inspiration picture. 

First, I spray painted my bottom coat black then put the letters on once the paint was dry.  Then I spray painted white on top of the letters so when I peeled off the letters the black would show through.  I got too "sand paper happy" and sanded off too much and it just didn't look right.  So I started over.

I followed the same method here.

I sanded the board back down where there was just a little bit of black left.  I spray painted a layer of white over the black then put down new letters cut out of contact paper.  Then I sprayed green over the white.  I peeled off my letters and started sanding. 

The more I sanded more black came through on the white letters.  When it comes to distressing something I'm always a little nervous to do it.  I'm afraid I'm going to go overboard and mess everything up (like I did the first time) so this go-around I was very cautious not to do that. 

This was a happy accident that turned out lovely.  Now I need to figure out what to do for art on the top shelf in the kitchen.  Sometimes I look at the sign and think it still looks too perfect but quite frankly I was tired of sanding.  So here it is all finished.

Have a great weekend!

Tis the season!

Gosh...I have really been ignoring my blog lately.  I have MANY things to update on and just haven't had the time to do it.  I remember once upon a time I used to be so good at posting projects and family updates.  Having 3 kids really changes your free time...duh!

So here is my first of many updates to come.  We wanted to start a new tradition since this year will really be the first year that Levi understands about Santa/Christmas/Jesus.  So where do I turn for inspiration on Christmas traditions or countdowns?

PINTEREST!!

I found this idea from Design Dazzle and loved it.  So did Matt.  I purchased all of my socks in the $1 spot at Target and Dollar Tree.  The Santa socks on the end were the most expensive ones at $5 from Target.  Design Dazzle has printable ideas for each night that you can use and even has blank tags for your own ideas.  Like them on Facebook and you can download the PDF file.

I'm so excited to see how much fun Levi and Jax are going to have with this.

Merry Christmas!

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork

I have no clue where I found this recipe so I don't know who to give credit to. This was my first time making this recipe and let me tell you something...it was finger lickin' good!

Want to try this for yourself? Well here's how.

Printable version

2/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tomato paste
1 medium white onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 boneless pork shoulder or butt

In a 6 quart crock pot mix all ingredients except pork. Once combined add pork, turning to cover. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove pork and shred with two forks. Return pork to crock pot and stir into sauce.

*Use extra sauce for dipping your sandwich into.

Just in case you need a close up. Now go make this!

"The Great Wall" {Molding Makes Everything Pretty}

Finally...finally...finally! I'm done with the big wall project in Levi's and Jaxon's room. I love the way it turned out. It was a lot of hard work and took way longer than I expected it would. Without further adieu I present to you "The Great Wall" of Dallas.

click on picture to see bigger version

So how did I create this wall? I did it as inexpensively as possible. I had the idea to save money that for the panels I would use old fence pickets. Matt drove around a few neighborhoods and found old pickets that people were throwing out. I needed 35-36 pickets for the whole wall.

I sanded each picket down and filled in all holes and gaps in the wood. Let me just say though that the new fence pickets sold at Lowes/Home Depot are thicker than the old pickets we found on the curb. But that's ok.

The pickets are sitting on top of another fence picket that Matt put on top of the baseboards. The longest part was all the sanding and filling in the holes. Because I would get so dusty sanding I could only work on the pickets on Saturday when Matt was home to help with the boys. But alas I finished them all and Matt nailed them up for me. He also cut off the dog eared edges on the pickets so they would be straight.

After all the pickets were nailed up Matt added 4 pieces of wood to divide the wall into 3 boxes. This wood was the most expensive part of the project. The wood is thin pieces of pre cut Aspen wood. For the 4 pieces it was $25.

At this point I filled in all the gaps between the pickets with caulk. Then I primed and painted all the wood that was up on the wall. After I was finished painting Matt added an "x" to each box.

I painted each "x" and caulked all around them. The original plan was to put just another piece of 3 inch wide wood on top to make a ledge. But we had extra crown molding in the garage and so Matt added that to the ledge. It gives the ledge more of a finished look.

After the ledge was complete the wall was finally finished. Take a look again.

Now I have a place in their room to put their art and any other pictures or trophies or just whatever on. I need to finish up the rest of the trim in the room and Levi and Jax will finally have a room that I'm happy with.

What do you think?

General Conference Coffee Cake

I love this time of year for so many reasons. We have the pleasure to watch General Conference this weekend and hear our Prophet Thomas S. Monson speak along with so many others.

A tradition in my husband's family is that every General Conference his mom always made coffee cake. I'm not sure where this recipe comes from but it is heaven sent for sure.

I thought I would share it so if you feel so inclined you may want to enjoy its delishishness (Is that a word?)

General Conference Coffee Cake 
Printable version

 

2 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
2 cups brown sugar
⅔ cup butter or shortening
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sour milk* or buttermilk
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp nutmeg
2 eggs beaten

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix up first four ingredients until it looks crumbly. Set aside ½ cup of crumbs. Add in the rest of the ingredients to get cake batter mixture. Pour batter in 2 8 inch round pans. Sprinkle reserved ½ cup of crumbs on top of batter. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes.

*If you do not have buttermilk on hand you can use sour milk. To make sour milk mix 1 cup of milk with 2 tsp lemon juice. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

 

Fall Mantel Decorating

Hey there!

It's finally fall here in Texas!! I'm on the couch now with a blanket and the front door is open letting in all the cool air. A few weeks ago I changed out my summer mantel for my fall mantel. Just about everything on this mantel I already had. I only puchased the pumpkins, picture frame and picture. The rest of the stuff I shopped my house for.

So here's how it all came together.

The pumpkins are from the dollar section at Target. I love the shade of red on them. The ugly owls are from the dollar spot as well from last year. I think they are hideous little owls and they would look so much better spray painted a different color. Maybe I'll get around to it...maybe not.

Our friends down the street had some firewood they were getting rid of. I grabbed a log and had Matt cut it down for candlesticks. I think it adds a natural element to the mantel. (That's me trying to sound like I know what I'm doing or talking about)

The picture frame was an awesome Goodwill find a few weeks ago. It had a gold color on it but I sanded it down to the wood. Now it looks more rustic.

I love the red church picture. It's an Episcopal church in Alabama. I found the picture over at The Lettered Cottage. You can visit over there if you would like to download the picture. I had it printed at Walmart for $5.86 for an 11 x 14 print. It brings a bit of warmth to the room too.

All together I think it looks good. I love all the warm colors and the mix of the natural with rustic elements.

It's fall ya'll!

Food Storage {Beans}

Geez...I've really slacked off on my blog lately. I haven't posted any updates in a while. I've been busy with several projects around the house and trying to get them all completed. Mainly just Levi and Jax's room though. That has taken me way longer than I thought it would. The end is in sight...hopefully!

So a few weeks ago we had a Relief Society activity on food storage and starting our 3 month supply. Honestly, I don't have food storage except for what fits in my pantry which would not last 3 months. Our tiny 1500 sq foot house just doesn't have space for food storage. We maximize every inch of this house for storage of things we currently have and need. Trust me...I try to purge our stuff frequently.

Then on Pinterest I came across a wonderful idea for storing your food storage in small spaces.

You can go here to read the post about this idea.

Since we are soda drinkers in this house I'm going to start saving our 2 liter bottles. So far I have 3 bottles saved. You have to start somewhere right?

I took the labels off my bottles and then washed the bottles with soap and water. I let them dry over night. I purchased a 4 pound bag of beans and this is how much that will get you.

I put a bay leaf in the bottom of the bottle and then on top. I need to get some bees wax to seal them.

I can fit these bottles in many more tight spaces than big buckets. I'm super excited about starting my food storage now. I'll be doing a little at a time and soon enough I'll have a 3 month supply.

Exciting stuff!

DIY Floating Kitchen Shelves

For the 5 years we have been in our house I have always thought the space above our kitchen sink was weird. I've never known what to do with that space over the years. I've tried a few different things and didn't really like any of what I tried. Last year I put up EAT in that space and that's how it's been ever since.

Blah!

Until now! We had some left over wood from the dining room table that Matt built and I knew the solution.

Floating shelves!

There is exactly 3 feet between the two upper cabinets. So Matt cut the wood down to size. I then painted the wood the same color as our cabinets.

I measured out exactly where I wanted the shelves to go. I measured 7 inches down from the top and 7 inches up from the bottom.

We used brackets to hold the shelves in place. The arrows are pointing to the brackets. We used brackets on both shelves.

I purchased $5 worth of trim from Home Depot and Matt nailed it up. I painted the trim to match the cabinets and I painted the brackets so they wouldn't stand out.

I threw up some cook books and anything else I could find around the house and it was done.

I love these shelves and this space now. I can put all sorts of fun stuff up there for the holidays or different times of the year.

In case you want to see a close up of the little quote block here it is. I found the quote on Pinterest. I made my own pretty version and just glued it to a square scrap piece of wood.

I thought it was a very fitting quote for our family.

Have a great week!

Jaxon's 2nd Birthday (5 months late)

Back in February Jax had his 2nd birthday. I didn't write about it then and I wanted to post a few pictures of the happy boy on his special day. We love Jax so much! He is so energetic and loves to do everything that Levi does. Jax has his sweet and cuddly moments but you have to catch him in the right mood for that. I can't believe he is already 2!

I took Jax to the store and let him pick out the cake he wanted. He pointed to the chocolate and red velvet cakes. I pulled them both off the shelf and he then chose the red velvet. I'm pretty sure he loved it!

A little catch up....

It's been a while since I've had a chance to sit down at my computer and write a post. My husband has been traveling consistantly since April and just finished his last trip last week. Hopefully I'll now have more time to share what's going on with us.

We've done a lot since my last post. I really need to catch up and post pictures of everything. But first I wanted to share with you something special to me that I will be working on.

My calling at church is 1st counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. I've been in that calling since January. I'm loving building the relationships with the girls and getting to know them better.

One of the things we do in Young Women is Personal Progress. This aspect of the Young Women program is very important. As a leader I can complete this program as well. I have set a goal for myself to do just that.

Back when I was in Young Women (that makes me sound so old) I was so close to completing all of my Personal Progress. But I did't. Now I'm determined to complete and set an example to our Young Women that it can be done.

So I'm hoping you'll come along with me as I'll be posting different topics and things I'm doing along the way. Hopefully, this way will keep me accountable and keep me motivated.

Up first...FAITH! I have a lot to say about faith but I'll save it for another post.

Wish me luck!

Vintage Drafting Table Turned Dining Table

While I was pregnant with Colten I knew the day would come when we would have family here after his birth and we would all need a place to sit and eat. Our little kitchen table would not cut it anymore. Plus we would now have 3 kids and again the kitchen table that seats 4 would not work. So I started looking on craigslist for dining room tables and I didn't ever find anything that I liked.

I wanted a table that was unique but beautiful and was my style. No luck after weeks of looking on craigslist. Then I came across a listing for a drafting table. I loved the base of the drafting table. The seller was only asking $50, I think, so we bought it. How easy would it be to take the existing table top off and put new boards on?!? Totally easy!!

I didn't take pictures of the whole process because it was pretty simple to do and anyone that is handy with a sander and saw could do this.

First, a look at the table before. This is the picture from the craigslist ad.



Matt bought six 2 x 6 pieces of wood from Lowes. It took forever to find pieces that were straight and not warped. I went out to the garage and picked out the sides of the pieces I wanted to go on top and bottom. This would be easier to do if you had a jig to screw all the boards together. We didn't want to pay the crazy amount that a jig costs so Matt rigged up his own way of screwing the boards together. Don't ask me how though!!



Once the boards were screwed together Matt sanded down all the edges and corners and on top of the boards. I didn't want the pointy edges because that is just a bunch of stitches waiting to happen! Plus, I wanted a softer look.

Matt reused the original support board on the bottom of the table. It was not long enough to go all the way across the table so he also added another support piece. By reusing the original support piece Matt did not have to cut a new piece and then chisel out a space for the semi-circle metal pieces to go.



Most tables sit around 30 inches high and this table was around 32 inches high. Matt trimmed off 2 inches from the verticle piece so that it would be sitting at 30 inches.



After the new top was back on the base I then stained everything Dark Walnut. I put 2 coats of stain on the table. I then put 2 coats of Polycrylic on to protect the table.







And the final product...



Linking up to:
House of Hepworths
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Cheap Crafty Mama
Someday Crafts
Savvy Southern Style
The Taylor House
The DIY Showoff
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Fun summer wreath

I found this idea on Pinterest so this is not my idea at all. I purchased a swimming noodle at the Dollar Tree and the umbrellas were from Hobby Lobby. I taped the noodle together and just stuck the umbrellas in the noodle.





I like the way the colors pop against the black door (which will hopefully be getting a new paint job soon).

Cool huh?!?

I think so!

A Summer Mantel

Spring has come and gone here in Texas. It's hot and that means it's time for summer. So I took down my Spring stuff and threw together something on the mantel for summer. This took all of about 10 minutes to put up. I think it's simple and has my favorite color...blue!

I'm trying to incorporate more color in the house and since blue is my fav I figured I would start with that. Everyting on the mantel I already had except the candles in the lanterns. Those are from the Dollar Tree and I painted them blue. About 10 years ago I went to Mexico and I purchased the crazy sun there. And of course my $1 This Is The Life sign had to go somewhere.

I hope you like it.

Sayin' it loud and proud...

First, let me say that our sweet baby Colten has arrived. He's so perfect and beautiful! He was born via c-section at 8:05. He weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long. It's been a painful recovery but I know it's all worth it when I see that precious little boy. We are so happy to have Colten home with his brothers.

Now, on to the reason of my post. Let me say it loud and proud right here and now...NO I'M NOT BREASTFEEDING OR EVEN PUMPING!!! Gasp!! Shake your head in shame!! I know!!

I hope to give encouragement to anyone who may feel embarrassed or like a failure if you can't breastfeed. This is not an easy task to do. When I had Levi no one told me how difficult it can be to teach your baby to breastfeed. I thought they just came out and knew how to do it.

Levi was a struggle and the whole time Matt was off work was spent trying to get him to latch on. It was miserable. Jax was the same way. The entire stay at the hospital was stressful and I cried a ton. Jax never got it and never was interested in latching on.

This time around I told myself it's just not worth the stress and tears. We didn't want the hospital stay to be horrible and miserable. We went to the hospital with the intention of just pumping and saving my milk. After being in the hospital for a day I decided I didn't even want to pump.

Why? Because I have two kids at home that would tear my house apart every time I'm hooked up to that breast pump. It wouldn't take them long to figure out that when I'm hooked up to that pump they could do whatever they wanted. I know I'm not the first person to have a 4 year old and 2 year old at home and people have made it work. But again, it's stressful and I don't have time for stressful.

This hospital stay was perfect. It was easy and relaxing and actually enjoyable. Over the course of my pregnancy we stocked up on formula. It's expensive and we knew that going in this. I don't doubt or question that breast milk is best. I know all the benefits of it. But I've also raised 2 other kids on formula and they've turned out just fine.

Another benefit of using formula for us is the fact that it also gives Matt a chance to bond with our children. Since I have c-sections it takes longer for me to recover. I have to spend a lot of time in bed or on the couch. This way Matt is able to help out as well.

Just know that you are not a failure if you can't breastfeed. You are not a horrible person if you have to use formula. Your baby will be just fine and will not turn out weird simply because you used formula. Don't let anyone make you feel otherwise.

It still hurts...

It still hurts...a year later. A year ago today I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks. The pregnancy was not planned and was a total shock to us but we were super excited to welcome another child.

I won't go into all the details of how everything happened as I've already written about that last year. But I will say that every day for the last year I have looked at the picture that I got at my dr's appointment and saw the heart beat and said a quiet "I love you" to that picture.

Someday this child will be with us again and I know that Heavenly Father had a greater need for our child than we did. We didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl but it didn't matter to us. We'll find out in the eternities.

We named our baby Taylor Reese so we would not go through the rest of this life just calling the baby "it" or "baby". Taylor deserved more than that.

It's very bittersweet because here I am 3 days before I deliver our 4th child remembering the loss of our 3rd child. If I could have timed it any better I honestly would love to have this child today. It would turn a day of sadness for us into a day of happiness. But I know someday this day will not be painful for me anymore.

I am grateful for the knowledge that I have about eternal families and the beliefs that I have. I am thankful for the sacrifices that were made so that we can live again and see all of our family members again someday.

Closet Built-Ins

In Levi and Jaxon's room there just isn't enough space to have a dresser. If we didn't have the trundle bed then there would be plenty of space. But everyday when we have to pull out the trundle, the dresser that was in the room just got in the way.

A trip to Target solved the problem. I found these shelves/drawers at Target and they saved the day. I knew we could do a "built-in" look in the closet if we purchased two of these and stacked them on top of each other. I will say these drawers are not that big but it works for us...for now!

So of course here is a picture of the closet before. I had already taken the clothes out and Matt was just about ready to start pulling things down when I took a picture.


The shelves were going to be centered in the closet so Matt started out by taking down the support wood and then cutting out a space that was the size of the shelf. The space he cut out was 12 inches since that's what the size of the shelf is.


The shelf was a perfect fit. Matt made sure to screw directly into the studs so this shelf wouldn't go anywhere.


Matt did the same thing for the bottom shelf. He measured out enough space for the drawers to fit in between the existing wood and cut that out. Then screwed the shelf into the studs.


Now, if you notice the shelves don't go all the way to the floor. I knew this would be a problem when I came up with this idea but it was an easy fix. With scrap wood in the garage Matt built another shelf. This also gives more support to the drawers and it's one more space to store stuff.


I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up some knobs that were 50% off. The drawers just looked too plain for me.


I put all the clothes back in and this totally works for us now. I do need to get some baskets to put on the bottom shelf where Jaxon's diapers are and on the other side for more of Levi's clothes.


If I wasn't about to pop I would probably do something cute in the closet like paint stripes but I just don't have the time for that. Plus, I can't really fit in this closet right now!

We spent $70 on the drawers and $10 on the knobs. I'm sure we could have maybe saved a few dollars by building this ourselves but sometimes it's worth it to spend the extra money for something that is already done for you.

How's that for a built in look!?!

Linking up here:
House of Hepworths
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Cheap Crafty Mama
Someday Crafts
Savy Southern Style
The Taylor House