Craft room progress. It's getting there!

Today's been a pretty slow day so I thought I would post pictures of the progress of craft room makeover. I've added a few accessories. I'm planning on repainting this dresser. I order a quart of paint from Glidden when they were offering the free paint. It's going to be green as soon as the paint comes in. I found this at a local flea market for $60. It's great for holding all my fabric.

I found this at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. I love Hobby Lobby.


I got this lamp from Walmart for $3.00. It didn't come with the shade so I picked one up from Lowes and used ribbon to cover it. I really like the way it turned out.

I'm really excited about this room. There's still a few items I need to make it complete but we're getting there.

Favorite Recipe Blog Hop

I found this recipe on the weight watchers website a while back and I make it at least a couple time a month. My husband and I love Chinese food but I'm pretty picky about the Chinese restaurants I eat at. That comes from being a health inspector for two years and knowing about all the restaurants around us. Anyway, I found this recipe for General's Chicken and fell in love with it. Plus it's a weight watchers so it's pretty healthy.

Here's the recipe:

boneless, skinless chicken breasts- cut into small pieces
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 med garlic cloves, minced
2 cups white rice
1/2 tsp pepper flakes

Heat oil. Add pepper flakes and garlic. Add chicken and cook through.
While chicken is cooking, mix together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. Set aside until chicken is cooked.
Once chicken is cooked, add sauce and let simmer. The sauce will thicken up. Be sure to stir occasionally.
Cook rice according to package directions. I start this before I prep the chicken and sauce. The rice usually takes about 20 minutes and the chicken only takes about 10 minutes to cook.

This is what I'm making tonight and I can't wait. It's one of my husband's favorites and I know he can not wait for it.

Enjoy!

Gym fees not in the budget? Try this...

While gym fees may only be $20 or $30 a month, it is definitely not in my budget right now. Plus I hate that ones you sign a contract it basically takes an act of God to get out of the contract. Not really something I want to deal with.

So what did I do instead?

I got a membership to the local youth center. It only cost me $12 for a membership that is good until the end of the year. They have all the same equipment I would use at any of the big gyms for a fraction of the price. My sister-in-law had a membership for this particular center and told me about it. We decided that we needed to start working out together because we are both the type of people that does better when we go with someone. Its been great. We've only gone a couple of times but I've really enjoyed it.

So if you are looking for a gym and can't afford the membership fees, look into the local youth centers.

Addicted to fabric shopping. Help!!

I realized today that I have a big problem and that I need help. I'm addicted to shopping for fabric. I already have a dresser full of fabrics and what did I do this morning?

I went to the local dollar saver and bought four yards of fabric. Do I have a project that I needed the fabric for.

NO.

I love fabric and I love shopping for it. Today I bought four different prints. Two of them I do plan on using on a quilt for a friend. The other two I bought because I really loved the colors.

I'm about ready to paint the living room, entryway and kitchen and the colors in these fabrics are exactly the inspiration for the paint I've decided on for these rooms.

Here's some pictures of the two I bought to use in the living room.





I love these colors together. I'm planning on painting the walls a yellow color and love yellow with reds and greens. I think I'm going to make some throw pillows for the couch with these two fabrics. The inspiration for these colors came from a painting I have in the living room. I got this at Kirkland's when we first moved into the house. I needed something to hang on the wall above our desk and I loved this when I found it. Of course it was on sale when I purchased it. It seems I don't really purchase anything unless its on sale.


What do you think? Do these fabrics work with the color of my couch?

Thanks for your input. Have a wonderful day.

Opinions Needed

It's been almost two years since we moved into our house and while I've pretty much decorated the rooms our guests see, I still haven't done much to the master bedroom or bath. We painted the bedroom a green color a while back. At the time I was okay with the color, but now I'm just not feeling it. It's a little too green. I like the color but its just not working for the master bedroom. I keep switching between colors I want to paint it and I think I've made a decision but I need some help.

Daniel bought me this duvet cover about a year ago and I really like it. It was a birthday gift ( I asked for this one in particular).

He got it from Target and I would love to keep it in the room. It has a yellow trim on it and so I've considered going with a golden yellow for the room. I'm planning on painting the living room some shade of yellow as well and since bedroom is just off the living room it would blend well, I think.

What do you think? Would golden yellow be a good color? And if so could I get away with red accents as well?

Anniversary!!!

Two years ago I married the most wonderful man. It's amazing how fast time flies. It definitely doesn't seem like its been two years since my husband and I shared wedding vows. It's been wonderful. I'm married to the sweetest man. I tell him all the time that he is too good for me. He disagrees. I let him win this "argument" though.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my favorite wedding photos. We have had other photos taken since we were married but our wedding pictures are still my favorites. So here they are...

Wedding Gown Woes

I don't know if anyone else has problems with beetles but we do. We find them all the time and no matter what we do they just keep coming. Lately, its been worse. Well today my husband found two beetles in our master bathroom. This is where I usually find them too. After finding them, he went on a hunting spree for them. I told him to move my wedding gown bag and he might find where they are hiding them.

I hate to admit it but my wedding gown has been spending the last two years in the storage hanging bag under my rack in the closet. I was reading a post just a couple of days ago on a blog I follow that mentioned how she hadn't done anything with her wedding gown and it had been two years. I completely related with her. Our two year anniversary is just a couple of days away and the dress is still stashed away in the bag. I haven't even had it cleaned. It's awful I know.

I've decided I'm going to do what a lot of people seem to be doing these days and rather than have the dress preserved and stored away somewhere, I'm going to have it made into a christening gown for our family. We don't have children yet but do plan on starting a family in the next couple of years. Neither Daniel or I have a family christening gown (that we are aware of) so I thought it would be a great time to start this family tradition.

I hate the thought of my wedding gown just lying in a box, rotting away. Converting the dress into a christening gown to be passed down through the family feels like a great way to make use of it.

I pulled the dress out today to look at it. This is the first time it has been out of the bag since I placed it back in it after the wedding. It's a beautiful dress. I love it so much. I was amazed to feel how heavy it was. Here's a picture of me in the dress. This is a good shot of the back of the dress.
And here is a picture of the bead detail on the dress. It was ivory with champagne colored details. The beading continued down the bodice and onto the train of the dress.