My bedroom

The second part of my home tour is my bedroom.  My bedroom is not finished yet but like I stated in the last home tour post, I would rather update my blog when I make changes instead of waiting forever for my bedroom to be finished.

This first picture is taken from the doorway into my room.  You can see my bed that I refinished myself (I will post about that one day).  I have never in my life loved my bedroom the way that I do now.  Every time I walk into my room, I feel so complete.  I love the way my room has turned out and it is perfectly me! 

The duvet cover on my bed is from IKEA.  I bought it for $29 on sale and two weeks later I saw it on sale there for $19.  This is my favorite duvet by far and the cheapest one I have ever bought!

The flowers above my bed are from Target.  They came in a box with maybe twenty or so and in three different sizes.  The crown was bought at Kirkland.  My mamma gave it to me for my birthday :) The nightstands are two separate ones, one has been painted white but the other one is still the original color.  I am going to refinish that one....one day.  I need to take a picture of the lamp that is on in this picture, it is so cute and is different than the one that is not turned on. The open door on the right hand side of the picture is my master bathroom.

The curtains were bought at Family Dollar for $5 a panel but the mistake I made was only buying two of them....I need two more because the window is too big.  I would also like to repaint the curtain rod a white color....I am not a fan of black...dunno if you noticed that lol

The two shelves that are higher up, were bought at AC Moor many years ago and were a brownish stain and the lower, smaller shelf was bought at some thrift store years ago as well and was brown.  I decided to sand them down and refinish them and give them lots of charm by distressing them.  The three crocheted jars on the middle shelf are made by my sister, she has her very own blog that you can check out here. 

The chair in the corner by the window is one of my favorite pieces in my room.  My aunt Sharla gave it to me when I moved back to the states in 2011 and I love it!!  The chair is older than me by far (I don't remember exactly how old it is) and it is hand painted.  The details are beautiful and I will never refinish this chair because never in a million years could I make it look better than this!!!

Here is a close up of some of the details on the chair.  Does this make your heart flutter the way it does mine?  

Another close up of the chair showing you just how beautiful it is :)

This heart is on the wall above my dresser....I didn't take any pictures of my dresser because I haven't set up that area yet.  I will update pictures when I finish the area where my dresser is. 

I will end this post by putting another picture of my bedroom with me standing at the doorway.  My piece of heaven, my retreat from the world, my place to dream.....my bedroom!

What do you think about my room?  What was your favorite part?

Precious moments with the ones I love

I love fall, the colors of the leaves, the temperature dropping, the hoodies, boots, and leggings!!!  Oh, I love fall clothes and wish I could start each fall by going on a big shopping trip and buy all new clothes and boots.....I LOVE boots!!  I have a few (read A LOT) of boots, but I don't have enough and I need a pair in black.  Both flat boots and high heeled black boots.  Aaaahhhh

Oh my....I didn't mean to get so off track, I'm back from daydreaming about boots and clothes.

One of the things that I love about fall is when the weather starts to cool down and the boys and I get some hot chocolate.  I am not a coffee drinker, never have been.  I am not part of the pumpkin spice latte club, sorry ladies but you can have them all!  I do like caramel frappaccinos though....with half the amount of coffee in them lol

Being that I am not a coffee drinker, I have never really had a coffee maker.  This is never a problem except when my parents, sister or Aunt come and visit....that doesn't happen often because my parents and sister live in Iceland and my Aunt lives in Pennsylvania.  Every time I got company that drinks coffee, I would just get instant coffee for them to drink.  Then this summer, my parents came to visit and they decided to buy me a coffee maker so they could have good coffee at my house. Never in a million years did I expect them to buy me a GOOD coffee maker....they didn't buy me a good one, they bought the best one!!  

+

They got me my very own Keurig!!!!

At first I was not really sure how to feel about it, I didn't know if it would ever get any use other than when I had family here.  Then my mamma started showing me all of the different kinds of drinks that can be made in the Keurig.  I can make tea, hot chocolate, coffee (of course), and iced tea.  Who woulda thunk it???  

Well, now that the weather is getting cooler, the boys and I decided to put the coffee maker to work by making some hot chocolate.

How cool is it that I can buy Swiss Miss for the Keurig :)

Can't believe I am actually using these cups.....they never get any use in this house lol

My little man loved his hot chocolate mixed with some milk to make sure it wasn't too hot for him.

My middle man loved the hot chocolate too!!

I love how the pumpkins are in this picture....finally there is something fallish around here :)

I love doing simple things like this with the ones I love mostest in the world.

What's your favorite thing about fall?

Baked Tacos

This morning I was scrolling through facebook reading status's from friends and family when all of a sudden this delicious looking taco meal slaps me in the face and makes my stomach growl like I hadn't eaten in a year.  This taco meal looked so good that I jumped out of bed and hurried to get ready so I could go to the grocery store and get all of the ingredients necessary to make this dish.

Since I have three boys, two of whom are teenagers, we eat A LOT and I always have to double every recipe. This recipe though, does not need to be doubled.  I didn't know this when starting so I doubled it and let me tell you, there is enough food here to feed an army.....or at least a few families.

Here is a list of what you need to make a single recipe of this scrumptious meal.

One can of refried beans...I bought refried black beans because I love black beans so much 

One can of tomato sauce

1lb of ground meat....I eat ground turkey

1 package of small flour tortillas 

1 package shredded cheese (I buy the Mexican blend)

In the picture above, you see that I bought double of everything and there is no meat in the picture because I had already started frying the meat on my pan and I forgot to put the shredded cheese in the picture.

Here is the mush in the pan.  Doesn't look all that good but it tasted great!!!

I have no clue how to rotate this picture lol

This is how I put the meat into the tortillas and got them to stand up in the casserole dish.

I was able to get eight across and then four on the side.

Then I ended up by putting some shredded cheese on top.

I was able to make 35 tacos by doubling this recipe, that's enough to feed a few families!!

Here is the finished product!  It was delicious and really easy and fast to make.  The boys loved it and so do I.  I served this with tater tots as per the boy's request but I would have liked this with some Spanish rice or something like that.

I couldn't find a link on facebook to post on here otherwise I would have done so.  A friend shared it and it had been shared so many times that there was no finding out the original post.

My Dining Room

Since starting this blog, I have moved to a different apartment.  Instead of living in apartment 201, I now live in the same building but in apartment 102.  I renamed the blog Apt 102 but decided to leave the url the same so my visitors still know where to find me.  

I have decided that I am going to do a tour of my home and post pictures of each room for the blog in its very own tab at the top.  The first room to get a tour is my dining room.   

Here is my dining room.

I love how it has turned out but it is not finished, there is still plenty to be done in this room. My dining room cabinet or hutch, whatever you want to call it, is on the left hand side and I need to write a post about that project.  I love it and can't wait to show you guys the final, finished project.

Here is my little Molly, she always has to be somewhere close by her mamma and as you can see in the picture above, she is next to the wall and then in the picture below she had come closer to me....you know, just in case she misses something!

The decals on the wall of the world were ordered at Amazon for $20 plus shipping and handling.  I was able to choose the color I wanted and I chose to go with brown to match my chairs.  The dining room table will be painted white.....on fine day, to match the rest of my furniture but until then it serves its purpose just fine in its current color.

I had to include the Family Rules canvas that I made a few years ago.  I love this canvas so much and am so glad I made it. I will have to post my post from my old blog on the making of this canvas. I was afraid I would end up bald or in a mental hospital from going crazy making this thing. But in the end...I love it and wouldn't change it or trade it for nothing!  Many people have asked me to make them one or sell them mine but I think this is a once in a lifetime project hahaha.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my home tour.  I will eventually post each room as I finish them (I moved just a few weeks ago and with school and getting sick, I haven't been able to finish the apartment yet).  

I have to say, I never wanted to post pictures of my home until I had everything done but then I realized that our homes are never "done," there is always something that we change or add to so I am just going to post pictures and if I change something or add to it, then I will write another post with some pictures to show you guys.

I linked my blog to one of my favorite blogs.

Liz Marie Blog

Glass Shelf Make-over

When my mamma was visiting me in January, we went to a cute little shop called Deja Nu in Virginia Beach.  It is a shop that sells used furniture as well as furniture that the owner has redone herself.  The owner was so sweet and we had a blast talking to her about all kinds of different techniques on distressing furniture and different kinds of paint that can be used.  I bought a hutch that was half finished as well as a shelf that was undone.  I love both and couldn't wait to get my hands on them and finish them.

I finished the hutch a few months ago (post to come) and today I finally got my hands on that shelf and made it beautiful.

Here is the before picture of the shelf.

Here is what the top looked like after I had taken my little mouse sander to it.

Another picture of the shelf after it was sanded a little bit.

My sister is visiting me and she came out on the balcony and took a few pictures of my project and me in progress.

I didn't know she was taking a picture on the first one so I made sure to smile for the second one.

I used Annie Sloan Old White on this shelf (like all of my projects because it's my favorite) and then I used the Soft Wax in clear with my new brush that I bought a few months ago.

Here is the finished product....

Ta Da!!!

Here is a picture of one of the corners...so sexy!!

Here is the top corner.

Another picture of the top corner, this one with the top included.

Here is a view from the top.

 So what do you think?  

I love it and am so glad that I finally got her done!!

I linked up to a few blogs I enjoy, links are below.

http://missmustardseed.com/2013/07/furniture-feature-friday-link-party-lauras-picks/

http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com/

http://www.lizmarieblog.com/

The Twins and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

On my birthday my Mamma and I went to a Thrift Store to have a look around.  You will never guess what happened next.....

Do you give up?

Oh fine, you are right....I found some furniture to refinish!!!

I found two end tables for my living room that were so darn cute with their Queen Ann legs and cute little hardware, I couldn't pass them up!!  My Mamma actually gave them to me for my birthday because she is awesome like that :)

This is what they looked like when I got them (excuse the picture quality, I was outside using my camera phone).

As you can see in the background....I forgot to take pictures before starting but at least I remembered before I started painting the second one and was able to take pictures to show you guys!

You can see my little baby girl Molly in this picture...she is always near me when I am doing anything and wants to be a part of everything I do :)

This is what the drawers looked like before I got my hands on them (insert evil laugh here).

This was my first project using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint....I had no idea what to expect but was really excited about trying out my new paint!

This is what the table looked like after the first coat of paint.  I was not really liking the paint at first.  It dried really fast, faster than I could have imagined especially sitting outside on my balcony painting in the winter.  

Here are the two drawers after getting their first coat of paint, they were covered up a little bit better than the table....I think it was due to me painting them with a thicker coat than the table.

One of the drawers after getting the second coat of paint and I gotta tell you, I am really liking the results after the second coat of paint.  As a matter of fact, I am also loving the color!!

Here is a picture of the two tables after getting their second coats of paint....I love them!!!  I love distressing furniture but after painting these two tables, I decided that my dining room table will be painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White!!!  I love the way these tables turned out and it didn't take as long as it would have with regular paint because I didn't have to sand the tables before starting (not only does that save time but it saves a ton of money because sand paper isn't free!!!). 

Look at how pretty the top of the table looks!!!  If I would have left the tables without distressing them, I would have gone one more coat to get an even color on top but because I knew I was going to be distressing them, I left them as is.

 I love these tables and their great features.  Painting them white brought out the features that the brown color made blah!

Now, for those of you that say you can't paint and distress furniture in the winter time......I did this project in the winter time and it was 45 degrees out at 6:10 pm....I was out there till 8 pm and it was definitely colder by then.  If I can be out on my balcony painting in 45 degree weather, so can you!!!

Are you ready to see what the twins looked like after I got my hands on them??

Here is the first one...

This is a close up of the front by the drawer....squeal!!!  I loved working with the Annie Sloan wax...I used the clear wax on the tables and it turned out great and made the color of the tables pop even more. The one thing I wish I would have known before starting is how to use the wax.  I applied the wax and then wiped it a little bit and sanded....the paint came off too easily and next time I am going to let the wax dry properly before I do anything to it.  I am thinking I might distress before the wax (I read online to distress after putting the wax on the furniture).

This is what the top of one of the tables looked like....

Here is the other top...

Here are the twins tops together....

Finally, for the big reveal of the twins together...

What do you think???  

I love how the tables turned out and can't wait to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint again!!  It was the quickest and simplest project I have ever done!!  It was a huge time saver and the cost of the materials was not as much as everyone told me it would be.

I actually would like to take a moment to discuss the price of the materials.  I paid about $70 for the wax and paint and maybe $10 for shipping.  This summer I refinished my bedroom set and I bought a gallon of paint from Lowe's and paid about $35 for it.  I used it on quite a bit of furniture and still had half a gallon left when I had to throw out the paint because it was ruined (not sure what happened there).  Besides the $35 for the paint, I probably paid well over $100 for sand paper.  It took me hours to sand my bed and dresser and if I would have used Annie Sloan, I wouldn't have had to sand at all except to distress the furniture.  Imagine the money that would have been saved there!!!  Also, I bought Polyurethane for my furniture and it turned my furniture a yellowish tint....I haven't heard of that happening with Annie Sloan Wax and am hoping that is not a problem I will have to deal with.

What kind of paint do you use to refinish furniture?  Have you tried Annie Sloan or any other chalk paint?  What about Milk Paint....have you ever tried it?  I am going to a class where we get to try out milk paint and I am really excited to see how that works.

Leave me a comment with a link to your blog...I would love to check out what you have been doing :)


I linked up to the following parties...

http://www.blissfullyeverafter.net/2013/02/paint-it-challenge-blog-party.html

http://www.elizabethandco.blogspot.com

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

http://www.handymancraftywoman.com

http://gingersnapcrafts.com

http://www.diybydesign.blogspot.com

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

http://www.missmustardseed.com/

http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/

http://www.lizmarieblog.com/