Sunday, July 30, 2017

Tropical Island Dreaming

Oh Summertime,
How I Love Thee.
I'm a huge fan of pineapples and coconuts.
What better way to enjoy the two together
than mixed up into a Tropical Piña Colada?

It doesn't have to be an alcoholic beverage,
make it a Virgin Piña Colada.
Mix up a batch and pour yourself a tall glass,
then pretend you're on your favorite tropical island.
Close your eyes and feel the
gentle tropical breeze and be carried away
by the soothing sound of the ocean waves.
Life can be hectic at times.
It's o.k. to kick back and relax
and pretend once in a while.
Go ahead, you have my permission to dream.

Tropical Piña Colada

2 oz. light Rum (optional)
2 oz. Coconut Cream (not coconut milk) can be found in most liquor stores
4 oz. 100% Pineapple Juice
1 cup Ice
Pineapple wedge and Maraschino Cherry (to garnish) optional

Place ice, coconut cream, rum and pineapple juice in a blender.
Blend until smooth and creamy.
Serve in a tall glass and garnish.

Here's to Island dreaming!
That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Sunday, July 23, 2017

From Cluttered to Styled

We have a built in bookcase in
our master bedroom. This bookcase
has hook ups for a t.v. but I'm not
a fan of having a t.v. in a bedroom.
I want our bedroom to be a peaceful haven where I can
unwind and escape from all the noise that life creates.
So this bookcase was nothing but a catch all for books
and whatever else happened to land there.
It was cluttered and messy looking,
and to say that it was driving me crazy
was an understatement.

It was time to tackle this area and clear all that clutter!
The first thing I did was remove everything
from the bookshelves and give it a good dusting.
Next, I sorted through everything that was on the bookshelves.
Some things I kept, while other items were
boxed up and carted to Goodwill.
Then came the fun part.
I went shopping at Hobby Lobby to look for
a few more items to style the shelves.
I really didn't have a design in mind as to
how I wanted to style the shelves.
I walked around the store until something
caught my eye, and threw things in my cart
that I felt would blend well together.
I wanted our bookshelves to look like
a designer had come in and styled them.
The one thing I was sure about though, I wanted this
bookcase to be styled so that it appealed to both
men and women, nothing too frilly or too masculine.
I wanted a neutral gender look.

By adding back a few sentimental items,
and a few new and old items,
I was able to transform the look of this
bookcase from a jumbled mess,
to a clean styled designer look for under $40.00.
Let's look at each shelf to see how I styled them,
and at the end of the post I will give you the breakdown
as to what everything cost to style this bookcase.

Working from the top left shelf.
I discovered this concrete planter
and added a round faux grass orb to it.
To the right is this pretty round concrete orb.
Below the round orb is an urn that I found in Goodwill
that was a hideous gold color. I painted it with acrylic paint
to look like concrete. It's even heavy like real concrete.
Do you notice a theme here?
I made a string of wood beads with tassels and placed them
over the urn so that they looked like they were spilling out
and over the urn. The leather piece in the background is
an old purse that used to be my Mother-In-Law's
when she was very young.
To the left of the urn is a fat cat figurine that is sitting on a stack of old books.
Below the fat cat is a champagne colored starburst on a stand.
To the right of the starburst is another concrete planter
with a round faux plant placed in it. The little bird figurine
was from my Mom years ago.
The very bottom shelf is the shelf with the most.
In the background is a woven water hyacinth plate charger.
A large ginger jar that sits on a stack of old books,
and a medium ginger jar.
A faux plant was tucked in between the 2 ginger jars.
A grapevine ball that sits on top of an old Bible that
was Hubby's great grandfather's, and 2 twine balls
that were strategically placed.
Here is a closer look at all the shelves.
So much better to look at.
This bookcase sits in between our master bath
and our walk in closet.
This is the view when you walk into our master bedroom.
No more cluttered mess!
I couldn't have hit Hobby Lobby on a better day.
Everything I bought was 50-80% off.
Gotta love a good sale!
Purchased from Hobby Lobby:
Concrete planters - $3.50 ea. (50% off)
Faux grass orb - $2.00 (50% off)
Faux plant - $2.50 (50% off)
Faux ivy plant - $2.00 (50% off)
Starburst on stand - $6.00 (50% off) - This was the most expensive item I bought.
Large ginger jar - $3.00 (80% off) clearance sale
Medium ginger jar - $2.80 (80% off) clearance sale

Purchased from Goodwill:
Large urn - $1.50 - painted to look like concrete

Purchased from Michael's:
2 packages wood beads - $2.50 ea. (40% off)

Remainder of items were things I've had for years.

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Pucker Up

Now that Summer is officially here
and we are experiencing hot and humid
weather, I like to mix up a pitcher of one
of our favorite summertime beverages.

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade
I make it with freshly squeezed lemons and raspberries.
It's the perfect thirst quencher on a hot and humid day.
Hubby LOVES this cold refreshing summertime
drink, as well as myself.

Mix up a batch to take to your next summertime BBQ,
family gathering, beach party, by the pool, or just to 
enjoy a glass sitting on your back porch.
It's Summertime at its' best.
SPARKLING RASPBERRY LEMONADE

12 ounces fresh raspberries (or frozen, thawed)
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, chilled
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
1/2 cup honey
1 liter (33.8 oz) club soda, chilled

Place raspberries in a food processor or blender and pulse until well pureed. Force raspberry puree through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard seeds.

In a large pitcher mix together water and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour in honey and mix until blended. Stir in raspberry mixture and lemon juice then pour in the club soda and stir once.
Recipe source adapted from Bon Appetit.

Enjoy your Summer!

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Seeing Starbursts

I long for a more light, neutral, less cluttered look
for our home, yet still have a sense of style, comfort
and inviting feel.

If I were asked to describe my interior design
style I would have to say that I am drawn
to a Classic Refined Farmhouse style.
It's a timeless tailored look, with a bit of sophistication,
but not stuffy or frilly looking.
It's neat and comfortable and will stand the test of time.

Slowly but surely, I am working my way
around our home and replacing decor,
painting furniture and walls, replacing carpets,
drapery, and de-cluttering like crazy.

For me, most of the time designing a room is a slow process.
Sometimes I have to sit and ponder about how I want to switch
things up, other times I just know.

This area happened to be one of those slow processes.
It was finally time to replace this picture.
Not that it's a bad picture, it just no longer fits in with our style.
These stairs are in our living room and lead down
to our lower lower. So whatever I decided to do
it had to blend in with the rest of the room.
Hubby says I have champagne taste on a beer income.
Sometimes I think he just tells me that to see what
I can create on my own for less money.
But you know what?
I can have that champagne taste on a beer income!

I remember back in the 70's my parents had a starburst clock.
I loved that thing.
Nowadays, there are starburst mirrors.
I love the look of Starburst mirrors, but
have you seen the price that these mirrors are going for?

Here is one from Pottery Barn, $349.00.
One from Ethan Allen for $269.00


Unbelievable!
There is no way that I would pay that much for a piece of home decor,
especially since I like to switch things up so much.

So........

This is what I created for a whopping $10.00!
It measures 26".
Yep, $10.00!

You'll never believe what I created it from.

Ta-Da!
Plain old wood shims...
and these floral rings.
First, I laid the shims onto the
floral rings to create a design.
At this point I didn't adhere anything because
I wanted to stain my shims.

Once I had my design figured out
it was time to stain the shims.
I removed the shims from the floral rings
and laid them out in a row onto a drop cloth.
It's much easier to stain or paint the shims before
you put everything together.

I let the shims dry for 24 hours.
Once the shims were dry, I used a hot glue gun
and glued them onto the floral rings.
After I had the shims all glued on it was
time to add a mirror.
I wanted my starburst  mirror to have
a designer look. I just didn't know
what I wanted until I happened to find this
mirror at our local Goodwill store for $2.00.

 Not only does it give the starburst mirror
the designer look I was going for, it had
a brushed champagne gold color.
See, I can have that champagne taste on a beer income!
I know that's lame but I couldn't help myself.
I placed a piece of champagne gold cardstock onto
the back of the mirror and glued the mirror onto
the wood shims.
I couldn't wait to hang it on our wall.
A champagne look on a beer income.

Once I had it hung on the wall, the wall still didn't
have the designer look I was going for,
Soooo...
I added a few more starburst mirrors.
This is the finished look of the wall.

This next picture shows our true wall color.
I wasn't sure that Hubby would go for this
look but it really liked it.
Total costs to design this wall: $25.00!
Here are a couple different angles of the room.


That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Red, White and Blueberries

Happy Independence Day!
Do you have plans for the 4th of July?

I know I'm early but I didn't
want you to miss out on this.
We will be staying home and don't have
much planned for that day, but I did make a
red, white and blue dessert to help celebrate
Independence Day.

Oh My Sweet Land Of Liberty!

Blueberry Crumble Bars
You just have to make these!

Blueberries are so abundant right now.
Why not use some and make a simple dessert
that is sure to please everyone?

These taste great as is....
but I wanted to take it to the next level.
I topped it with a dollop of freshly
made whipped cream topping and
added a Maraschino Cherry.
Talk about your taste buds exploding like a
Grand Finale 4th of July fireworks shows!
How cute is that patriotic bouquet centerpiece?
I dug through my flower and craft stash and
whipped this together in 15 minutes.
You know what they say.
Life's too short,
eat dessert first!
I can see that these won't last long in
our household.

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE BARS

INGREDIENTS:

3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg

BLUEBERRY FILLING:

4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter, and then the egg (the dough will be crumbly). Press half of the dough into the prepared pan.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently fold in the blueberries to coat evenly with the sugar mixture. Spread the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust, drizzling any excess juice in the bowl over the filling. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the blueberry layer.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe adapted from: Brown Eyed Baker

Have a Happy and Safe
4th of July!

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica