Fishing themed party cupcakes

One of my nephews recently turned one and his mom wanted to through a fishing themed birthday party so I was recruited for the cupcakes.

I purchased a fish mold from Amazon and made chocolate fish using different color candy melts. The Hubs thought they needed a little something extra so using some of the left over candy I applied some candy eyes I had on hand.

I put those on to some chocolate cupcakes that I frosted with some blue frosting I made.  Then I took some pretzel sticks and pull apart licorice to make little fishing poles.

I also made some cake balls which I dipped the bottom half in red candy melts then the top in white candy melts.  While the white was still a little wet I put a red candy ball on top to look like a bobber.  Those were put on top of some vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.

Thanks for stopping by 

XOXO

Christine

DIY Above the Bed Sign

So I have decided that I am tired of our dark Master Bedroom and my plan is to try and make it light and bright.  My husband is obsessed with red, brown and green and if he had his way our entire house would be in those colors.  I started off by picking up a new bed spread and started the hunt for curtains to match.  While I was online looking for curtains I cam across some above the bed signs and I fell in love with a few.  Unfortunately they were all well over $100.00 and I am just way to cheap to spend that kind of money on a sign.  So I took to Pinterest and found all kinds of tutorials and decided to create my own.

I started off looking for vinyl lettering that I like and I came across one on Etsy that said "Steal my heart not my blankets" It was about $45.00 with shipping. This was the perfect fit because my hubby is always accusing me of stealing the blankets at night.  Plus he wouldn't have liked it if I would have picked a really mushy sentimental one.  He has this idea that our house should look like a man lives here.  So I ordered the vinyl and waited for it to arrive.  

I started off with a piece of MDF but you could use plywood or pine as well.  I painted the entire board white.  

I then laid the stencil on it.  Note to self to work with vinyl when it's really cold outside it's a royal pain.  Once the Stencil was on I applied another coat of white paint to try and avoid any bleeding. Once dried I put on a coat of a grey blue paint.

  I took one of the pillows from the new bedding down to Home Depot and had them color match as I wanted to try and bring out more of that particular color.  Once the blue was completely dry I used a small craft knife to slowly remove the vinyl.

This took forever as you have to be very careful to not chip the paint around the vinyl.  Once I removed all of the vinyl I took some trim pieces that I painted white and nailed a frame around the entire board.  Well actually the hubby nailed it on and attached some hanging hooks.  Then he hung it up above our bed. 

I plan to eventually replace all of the furniture and paint the walls a lighter color but for now this will do.  Other than working with the vinyl in extremely cold weather this project was extremely easy and completed for about $75.00.  Depending on the vinyl you select or if  you cut your own this project can cost quite a bit less.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christine

Linkd at Stone Gable and
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2017/02/wow-us-wednesdays

Auntie Tine's Bakery

So it's become quite known in our family that if there is a birthday or a party I will supply the dessert. Especially if it's one of my nieces or nephews birthday.  I wanted to be an aunt for as long as I could remember so once I finally became one I decided it was my life's goal to spoil all of them rotten. Therefore I always try to make their birthday cakes or cupcakes something special. Below are a few photos of some recent ones.

Minecraft Cake

Kitchen themed cupcakes for a kitchen themed bridal shower

Thanks for stopping by.  Next month I am swamped with birthday parties and other parties.  We have 6 birhtdays in our family next month so I will be back with more cupcakes and a halloween party!

I Love Molding

I absolutely love molding and the way it can completely change an area.  I have been wanting to do something to the wall that divides our living room and hallway since we bought this house.  The problem is this wall houses a ton of electrical that we didn't want to lose.  I came across a photo on Pinterest of some cabinets and columns.  Unfortanetly for me since we have a sunken living room he wasn't able to make it happen.  This started the wheels turning and he finally decided to just open up the wall and add wainscoting.  It makes the room feel so much larger and brighter.

This the before picture it's a little blurry because I jumped and took the picture right before the hammers started in.

 He still needs to add some crown molding to the top but I couldn't be happier with the way it's turned out.  The hubs did all of the molding and paneling and I followed behind and painted.

Backyard Progress

We have made a ton of progress on our unexpected backyard project. There is still a ton more to do but we are loving it so far and trying to get in as much use out of it before it gets too hot out.

This whole project started because we spotted this beautiful gazebo from Costco.  To get to this point took about 3 months.  We extended on to our RV parking and we knew we wanted to have plumbing and electrical ran to it so other than that and the slab we did everything ourselves.

The gas fire pit came from Lowes.  I love it because the tank fits in side.  We always had wood burning fire pits before and would get smoked out the entire time so I am loving this gas one.  I couldn't find the chairs I wanted and I didn't want to spend a fortune so these will do for now.

I fell in love with this swing / hammock at Home Depot and bugged the hubs until he caved in.  I love that in adjusts down to become a hammock or can be left up as a swing.

These sconces came from Lowe's as well.  They are motion censored which is really nice.

The ceiling fan came from Home Depot and matches the ones on our patio.  The hubs added the board in the center so we had something to secure the fan to.  The gazebo comes with a hook in the center so you can attach a lantern but we knew a ceiling fan made a lot more sense for those warm Arizona nights.

Eventually when the hubs gets the kitchen portion finished we will wrap it in the stone below.  It looks very similar to our fireplace stone so it should all tie together nicely.

There's a lot more to be done.  We have some great ideas for adding storage to this area as well as some plants and other things to add some color to the space. 

 Stay tuned for more updates to what has become my favorite part of our home.

Linkd to http://www.worthingcourtblog.com/scoop-link-party-217

http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2016/04/april-before-and-afters.html

Backyard Update

On a recent trip to Costco we spotted this beauty and from there sparked a large backyard remodeling project.

We have been wanting to do a project like this for awhile but just hadn't pulled the trigger until we saw this beauty all ready to go.  The size of 12' x 12' was just right and the price was even better compared to what we have seen.  The hubs decided to extend the RV parking on the side of the house so that we would have plenty of room.  We also knew we would eventually be adding an outdoor kitchen so having plumbing and electrical ran to the area was a must.  The concrete guys came out one Saturday morning to prep the area.  Below is a before picture.

I am so excited for this project we have so many ideas from the outdoor kitchen to a fire pit area.  We only have a few months out of the year where you can really enjoy the outside without dying from the heat so I am ready to put this area to use.

Stay tuned for an update this project should be finished in the next few weeks.

linkd at: http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net
http://www.worthingcourtblog.com/scoop-link-party-213
http://www.thatswhatchesaid.net/

Christmas Living Room Tour

Have I said before that I absolutely love decorating for Christmas!  I am so happy to decorate our living room this year now that the remodel is complete. It's so much fun having all of this extra space to decorate.  I purchased a few new items this year for this space. I have been collecting Christmas decorations for the last 18 years so there is a lot spread out all over the house.

 

I didn't get my Christmas pillows this year that I wanted but hopefully they will make a nice addition next year.  I did finally get my Pottery Barn stockings that I have been eyeballing for a couple of years now.  I didn't want to spend $30.00 each so when they went to 50% off I jumped all over them.

 

 

 

 

Just like my kitchen tree this tree is full of so many wonderful memories.  Now that my son is getting older I love looking back on all of the ornaments from when he was little.  There are even some from when I was little.

 

I have had this one for probably 35 years.  I can't believe it's held up so well.

 

This one was from when the hubs and I got married.  It was part of our wedding package.  We were married at the cutest little bed and breakfast in Michigan and spent out honeymoon traveling all of our Michigan.  My niece makes the joke that the only reason we got married there was because they gave me an ornament.  It was definitely an added bonus.

 

Look at that sweet little face it just melts my heart :)

 

This one I bought for my husband for his mother who passed away many years ago.  It's the only ornament that he actually puts on the tree.

 

This little girl doesn't like the noise from bringing everything in and out so she is staying as far away from the living room as she can.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I have been working on our hot chocolate / coffee bar and will post an update on that soon.

 

Linkd to :
http://designdininganddiapers.com
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/link-party-palooza-123/
http://www.theidearoom.net/2015/12/31682.html
http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=588904
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/2015/12/12-cozy-christmas-projects
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2015/12/wow-us-wednesdays-252.html?utm_source=feedburner