Wow. I stumbled across a blog post of mine in my Facebook Memories today. I had no idea this blog was still up! Over the last several years my life has changed so much, but one thing that stayed constant is my love of making things over. I actually had a booth in shop and did quite well selling my furniture make overs and home decor.

To think of all the wonderful things I've learned over the years and how many things I have to share with you that are still here makes me so happy!

It will take me awhile to get the hang of things again and transform the layout and name to my "shop name" Bleu Pom. But I am very excited to see what happens!

Is anyone out there? *taps mic*

Hi, everyone! Remember me? I just wanted to let you know I am moving my site and the name will also be changing.

I've been doing a lot more crafting and will also be writing a monthly crafting column for a magazine! How exciting, huh?

The site is called Bleu Pom (which is not finished yet) and it is currently being housed on Wordpress. Don't worry, all of my favorite tutorials will still be there!

Dresser Redo

Howdy, all!

I know I have been MIA for several weeks now, and I appreciate you guys hanging in there with me. My Grandma will be living with me starting Wednesday and I have been frantically trying to get everything ready. It's been a busy time!

I have made time to do some projects, like the one below!

I found this great dresser in a junk store. It was listed for $40 and I paid $30. It had broken runners inside the dresser, and my dad was kind enough to make new ones for me.

I lightly sanded it to get the gunk of, primered it once and then spray painted it with RustOleum satin. I used 3 coats.

I purchased some rub n buff and did the handles in pewter.

I then put liners in the drawers and placed the dresser in the room that will be my Grandma's bedroom. I think it turned out pretty darn cute, don't you?

Edited to add: The picture shows some discoloration on the front of the dresser, but that is just shadowing. :o)

Remember me?

Hey, everyone! I feel like I have been gone for ages! Grandma's coming home date has been bumped a few times, she fell down in the rehab hospital the week before last and just underwent a surgery on Thursday. :o(

In the meantime, I have been feverishly getting my house ready, cooking lots of food and freezing it, and also working on some projects! I have some cute refurbs to share, as well as some other fun DIY projects that I did prior to all of the life changes.

I look forward to sharing these with you all soon, and thanks for hanging in there with me!

Love,

Changes at Home

Well, it looks like I am going to be a very busy girl come next week! My Grandma is going to be released from the hospital next Thursday and she is going to come live with me. It was either this or a nursing home, and I just can't bare the idea of her being in a nursing home, as long as I can manage to take care of her.

Life is going to be a'changing, for sure. She will require 24 hour care, so I will not be able to leave her alone at all. If I need to go somewhere, I will have to schedule it in advance and have someone come stay with her.

What a change for someone like me! I love to pick up and go and go see movies, visit my friends and family, just whatever my little heart desires. I would like to arrange to have someone come sit with her every Sunday so that I can continue going to church, because I think that will be a good outlet for me, as well as the gym. So I guess we will just have to see what happens!

She seems so little and vulnerable now, so I feel like bringing her here is the best thing to do. She turned 91 last November. I don't want her to have to worry about anything, I want her to just enjoy her life.

Love,

Pardon the mess!

Just uploading my new blog layout. Thanks for your patience! :o) It will be making it's full transformation this week. Please let me know if you find a broken link!


Update 2/1/12: Working on fixing the navigation on the image map, it is a tad bit off. Thanks for your patience! :o)

Learning how to sew

So, I am sure most you remember how I volunteered to make a quilt for Heidi, from some of her favorite clothes that belonged to her mom. I am sure you will also remember that I have no quilting experience, nor have I touched a sewing machine since 9th grade. LOL

Today, I decided it was time to tackle the beast. Last night I picked up a cute black and white reminent at Walmart and thought I might try to make a curtain for my new laundry room (that I still have to share with you guys). I spent quite awhile looking at curtains, pillow cases, then fabric and just didn't see anything that caught my eye. Then I caught this pretty piece! I was a little worried about the top of it being pre-gathered, because I knew that was not wide enough to cover the window in my door leading to the backyard. I liked it enough, I figured I should take it home and give it a try.

After measuring the window I decided I was going to need to pull the gathering out in order to have enough material. I did that, washed it, dried it and ironed, then I pinned a seam of 5/8" on the sides and the bottom.

Next, the hard part. The sewing machine. *gulp* We stared at one another for quite awhile. Don't let a sewing machine fool you. They may seem sweet and innocent, but trust me, they are secretly very tricky! It took me about an hour, carefully following instructions in the book, but I managed to thread the bobbin, the needle, select a stitch and begin to sew.

Once I got all the technicalities worked it, it wasn't too bad! I managed to get the thread tangled a few times, not quite sure how that happened or to prevent it from happening again. Overall, I am thrilled with the result. Granted, a curtain isn't that hard to make, but I am pretty darn proud of myself!

What do you think? And what was the first thing you sewed on a sewing machine?

Blessings,

Versatile Blogger Award!

I am so truly touched! The lovely, funny and endearing Dusty over at Girls Love Fried Pickles has awarded me with the versatile blogger award! Since I am fairly new to the blogging world, I can't tell you how honored I am by this! If you have not read her blog before, you must pop over there and check it out. Girl is seriously funny. Like tears rolling down your cheeks funny. Love her!

So the rules behind receiving this award are as follows:

1. Give a shout out to the person who awarded you.
2. Share 7 random facts about myself.
3. Send on the award to 15 other bloggers whose blogs you enjoy and appreciate and then let them know they were awarded!

All righty! 7 random facts, huh? Well, here we go!

1. I still think Donnie Wahlberg is pretty darn hot. ;o)
2. I don't know how to thread a sewing machine.
3. I like to rearrange furniture on a regular basis. Unfortunately I can't do it very often in my bedroom or my living room because of how they are set up.
4. I can pick things up with my feet. LOL
5. I am incredibly naive, as much as I try not to be.
6. My little brother is 12 years younger than me, and my mom is 12 years younger than her sister.
7. I have never been outside of the United States.

Wow! That was way harder than I expected. Now on to the most difficult part- choosing 15 bloggers that I love! I enjoy so many blogs, it's hard to narrow it down to just 15! I will do my best!

• Better After
• A Suitcase and Stilettos
• Emmy Dickins Purrposes
• Sweet Little Gals
• Delightful Order
• Days of Chalk and Chocolate
• Honey Sweet Home
• Passionately Perfect
• French Country Cottage
• O Alouette
• Millie Morgan Media
• The Girl Creative
• It's Overflowing
• The Shabby Creek Cottage
• Contemplating Beauty

Well, there you have it! I have to say, it took me over an hour to write this post! There are so many blogs that I enjoy reading and getting tips from.

Please take a moment to check them all out.

All my best,

Oh the fun I shall have!

My sister and I drove about a half hour to pick up my new hutch! We made a deal that if she went with me, we would go to the Bull and Gelding Sale. Really, I wasn't about to say no to hot cowboys.

We stopped at the Salvation Army first, to see if we could find anything fun. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I noticed this bit of wood poking out from behind a bunch of "junk". I wandered over to it and saw that it was a stereo cabinet. I called Kristen over and we cleared everything away from it and were pretty amazed at how cool it was. It was beat up, sure, but still, what potential! The sale tag was $50, but it had been sitting there since August of last year. I knew I could get it for cheaper.

Life Update

Well, things are still pretty crazy. As I type this I am taking care of my little brother, who is fighting off a possible flu. My dad is up at the hospital with my stepmom, who has pneumonia and it doesn't look like he is far behind her. Ugh.

Grandma is still also in the rehab hospital and they are not optimistic that she will be able to go back to her apartment, much less live with me. They think she is going to require too much care.

Sigh. Prayers needed, please, for this uber stressful start to the New Year!

Blessings to you and yours,

Guest Post by Meagan: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Meagan is such an awesome friend! Knowing how busy everything has been for me lately she offered to do another guest post, and this time she is sharing her super delectable, super yummy dark chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!!! Hold on to your hats, ladies, because when you are done looking at these pictures you are going to be running to the kitchen to start baking your own! What's that? You don't bake? Don't worry! Because my lovely friend Meagan has decided to start selling and shipping these gorgeous, sinful creations! Check out her Etsy Shop for details.

And now, on with the show!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

What you will need:

1 chocolate cupcake recipe with a 24 cupcake yield

2 lbs dark chocolate for melting

PB Frosting Ingredients:

2 cups smooth peanut butter (processed works better than natural)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup - 1 cup milk or cream

Make 2 dozen cupcakes from any recipe of your choice. Make sure the cupcakes are cool before frosting them or the peanut butter frosting will melt. 

To make the frosting measure out 2 cups of peanut butter into a medium size bowl, add 2 cups powdered sugar, and 1/2 cup milk/cream, use a whisk to mix it all, add more milk/cream 1 tsp at time if you want a thinner consistency but be careful! It can get too thin very easily. 

Once you've got the peanut butter frosting just right, add it to a frosting bag and pipe away! (Note from Jennifer- Don't have a piping bag? Put your frosting into a baggie and cut off a small corner!) There is just enough frosting to make 2 layers of frosting on each cupcake. 

Once you've got them all frosted melt the 2 lbs of chocolate via microwave. A double boiler is great but it can keep the chocolate too hot for the dipping. 

Dip each cupcake and pull it straight up & out, hold it there for a beat to let any excess chocolate drip off and set it aside to cool. 

You can eat these right away or let the chocolate harden and enjoy them with a satisfying crunch. 

Serving suggestion: with Joy

Thank you so much, Meagan! By the way, where are my cuppies? Hope you have some ready because Ima coming ova! *laughs* I can have cuppies for breaky, right??

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